t  tut  »Ut%i,w  „ 
 
 PRINCETON,  N.  J. 
 
 Presented  by  Mr.  Samuel  Agnew  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
 
 BT  212  . H34  1808 
 Hales,  William,  1747-1851. 
 Dissertations  on  the 
 principal  prophecies 
 
DISSERTATIONS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE  PRINCIPAL  PROPHECIES, 
 
A 
 
 Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
 in  2019  with  funding  from 
 Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 
 
 v 
 
 j  t 
 
 https://archive.org/details/dissertationsonpOOhale 
 
/ 
 
 DISSERTATIONS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE  PRINCIPAL  PROPHECIES: 
 
 REPRESENTING  THE 
 
 DIVINE  AND  THE  HUMAN  CHARACTER 
 
 OF 
 
 OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 
 
 RY 
 
 yvilliamAiales,  d.d. 
 
 RECTOR  OF  KILL F. SANDRA,  FORMERLY  PROFESSOR  OF  ORIENTAL 
 LANGUAGES  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  DUBLIN, 
 
 The  testimony  of  Jf.su  s  is  the  spirit  of  Prophecy  : — 
 
 To  Him  give  all  the  Prophets  witness. - New  Test, 
 
 — —■  ♦©  <Ca >  <4£2>  4-  ®=— - - 
 
 THE  SECOND  EDITION,  CORRECTED. 
 
 - - — cto- - — - 
 
 *  lonuon : 
 
 PRINTED  FOR  F.C.  AND  J.  RIVINGTON,  NO.  62, 
 
 st,  Paul’s  church-yard. 
 
 1  SOS  a 
 
/ 
 
 * 
 
 \ 
 
 Printed  bj  Law  and  Gilbert,  St.  Jehn’s  Square,  Clerkenw«IL 
 
 \ 
 
These  Dissertations  contain  the  substance 
 of  a  series  of  Essays  on  Sacred  Criticism , 
 originally  published,  under  the  signature  of 
 Inspector ,  in  the  Orthodox  Churchman" s  Ma¬ 
 gazine,  from  August  1801,  vol.  i.  to  Decern* 
 ber  1802,  vol.  iii.  explanatory  of  the  prin¬ 
 cipal  prophecies  that  delineate  the  Divine , 
 and  the  Human  character  of  our  Lord 
 Jesus  Christ;  which  were  then  newly, 
 and  at  full  length,  translated  from  the  ori¬ 
 ginal  Hebrew,  and  accompanied  with  cri¬ 
 tical  Remarks.  The  high  importance  of  the 
 subject,  at  all  times,  to  the  cause  of  Chris¬ 
 tianity,  especially  “  in  these  dangerous 
 54  days’"  of  heresy ,  schism ,  and  infidelity  ;  and 
 the  advice  of  some  judicious  friends,  who 
 
 a  3  wished 
 
I 
 
 M 
 
 wished  to  see  those  prophetical  evidences  of 
 oar  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  collected  into  a 
 more  commodious  form,  induced  the  author 
 to  revise  the  Essays  ;  to  correct  many  and 
 important  typographical  errors  incident  to 
 their  first  hasty  and  desultory  periodical 
 publication  ;  to  connect  and  condense  the 
 argument,  by  retrenching  superfluities  ;  and 
 to  republish  them,  so  amended,  in  a  single 
 volume. 
 
 Should  this  volume  be  favourably  received 
 by  the  Public,  the  Author  intends  to  re-' 
 publish  in  another,  the  substance  of  a  second 
 Series  of  Essays  in  the  Orthodox  Church - 
 man's  Magazine ,  from  February  1803,  vol.  iv. 
 to  December  1804,  vol.  vii.  containing  a  cri¬ 
 tical  examination  of  our  Lord's  prophecies, 
 relative  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by 
 th e  Romans;  bis  Second  Advent,  •sraovo-iu,  or 
 “  personal  appearance and  bis  final  Advent 
 at  the  general  judgment ;  which  are  recorded 
 in  the  xxiiid,  xxivth,  xxvth,  chapters  of 
 9  Matthew’ 
 
I 
 
 ♦  < 
 
 Vll 
 
 Matthew's  Gospel;  and  are  most  interesting 
 and  important  to  present  and  future  genera¬ 
 tions,  “  to  know  and  understand”  In  the 
 course  of  this  examination  are  introduced 
 some  very  important,  and,  in  some  respects, 
 novel  disquisitions,  respecting  Daniel's  chro¬ 
 nological  prophecies ;  the  grand  prophetic 
 period  of  2300  days ;  the  prophecy  of  the 
 seventy  weeks,  and  its  several  divisions ;  the 
 periods  of  1260,  1290,  and  1335  days ;  and 
 the  synchronizing  prophecies  of  the  Apo~ 
 calypse . 
 
 July  23,  1807. 
 
 A  4 
 
. 
 
 I 
 
 *  '  -  »  4  « 
 
 ' 
 
 .  . 
 
 • 
 
 * 
 
 ‘ 
 
 V  •«  - 
 
uF 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 DISSERTATION  I. 
 
 AN  ATTEMPT  TO  RESTORE  THE  ORIGINAL  HEBREW 
 
 text  of  Balaam’s  prophecy  concerning  the 
 Messiah.  Numb.  xxiv.  7« 
 
 Originally  suggested  by  the  London  Curates  doubt  of  the 
 correctness  of  the  translation  of  John,  xix.  5. — That 
 translation  vindicated. — Reference  of  Pilate’s  declaim 
 tion, “  Behold  the  Man!”  to  Balaam! s  prophecy,  Nunn 
 xxiv.  7. — Corruption  of  the  present  Hebrew  text  and 
 authenticity  of  the  Septuagint  Version  of  the  prophecy, 
 proved  from  the  Chaldee  paraphrmt ,  Philo  and  Jo<- 
 sephus ; — prevalence  of  the  prophecy,  from  Suetonius ; 
 • — gradual  corruption  of  the  present  Hebrew  text,  shewn 
 from  the  Syriac ,  Arabic  and  Samaritan  versions;- — - 
 probable  time  of  its  adulteration,  and  by  whom; — ■ 
 Present  and  Reformed  Text  compared  together; — - 
 the  grounds  of  the  Reformation  shewn; — from  the 
 Targum  of  Jonathan  Ben  Uzziel ,  of  Jerusalem ,  from 
 Cyprian ,  from  the  Samaritan  text; — from  supposed 
 parallel  passages  ; — from  the  context ;  especially  from 
 Numb.  xxiv.  17  ^facility  of  the  adulteration  of  the 
 Hebrew  text. 
 
 DIS- 
 
X 
 
 DISSERTATION  II. 
 
 ON  PSALM  XVI. 
 
 "■r- 
 
 David,  not  the  speaker  in  this  Psalm.,  as  mistakingly  sup¬ 
 posed — but  the  Messiah,  as  proved  from  the  com¬ 
 mentators; — The  title  of  the  Psalm  more  correctly 
 translated; — New  Translation  of  the  Psalm  itself; — - 
 Remarks; — The  Messiah’s  trust  in  God; — as  his 
 peculiar  Father  ; — “  the  saints  upon  earth,"  his  dis¬ 
 ciples  ; — the  apostates,  rejected  ;—  Correction  of  the 
 present  Hebrew  text  from  the  plural,  *pTDn  iir  thy 
 “  saints  ”  into  the  singular  ■p»Dn  “  thy  saint —  its 
 proofs  ; — 10th  verse  not  applicable  to  David ,  from  the 
 testimony  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter . 
 
 DISSERTATION  III. 
 
 ON  THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 St.  Paul  the  author  of  the  Epistle  ; — Why  he  did  not 
 profess  himself  the  author  ; — New  translation  of  the 
 Introduction  ; — Remarks  ; — God,  the  original  author 
 of  all  Revelation,  proved  from  Holy  Writ 9  and  from 
 Jewish  philosophy  ; — the  phrase  “  in  the  prophets”  ex¬ 
 plained  ;  —  the  peculiar  Sonship  of  Christ  ;  — “  the 
 “  worlds ,”  the  visible  creation ;  not  <s  the  ages”  or 
 dispensations  of  the  Socinians ;  —  A oyos,  a7ra.vyoc(T(jLocf 
 and  explained  from  the  Wisdom  oj  Solomon, 
 
 and  Philo; — Superiority  of  Christ  above  Moses ; — 
 above  the  angels ; — Oration  of  Aristides,  in  praise  of 
 Minerva  the  goddess  of  Wisdom,  resembling  Holy 
 
 Scripture ; 
 
 \ 
 
Scripture  ;  5  ©^or,  not  the  nominative,  but  the  voca¬ 
 tive  case,  Heb.  i.  8. 
 
 DISSERTATION  IV. 
 
 ON  THE  ORIGINAL  PROPHECY  OF  CHRIST  THE  SON 
 
 of  david.  2  Sam.  vii.  1-15. 
 
 Importance  of  this  prophecy ; — A  double  sense  of  it  un¬ 
 happily  maintained  by  the  generality  of  Christian  di¬ 
 vines  and  expositors  ; — grounds  of  this  opinion  ; — New 
 Translation  of  the  parallel  prophecies,  2  Sam.  vii.  1-15  ; 
 and  1  Chron.  xvii.  1-14; — and  of  the  second  parallel 
 prophecies,  1  Chron.  xxii.  7-8 ;  and  1  Chron.  xxviii. 
 2-9  ; — Remarks  ; — Difference  of  the  two  prophecies  ; 
 — in  the  times,  circumstances ,  and  persons  ; — mistrans  ¬ 
 lation  of  the  last  parenthetical  clause,  “  if  he  commit 
 “  iniquity  f  &c. — whence  it  probably  originated. 
 
 DISSERTATION  V. 
 
 ON  PSALM  LXXXIX. 
 
 This  Psalm  a  commentary  on  Nathan's  prophecy ; 
 meaning  of  the  title  Maschil ; — Ethan  the  Ezrahite  ; 
 various  guesses  who  he  was  ; — by  whom  the  Psalm  was 
 composed,  and  to  whom  it  related  ; — Mistakes  of  Dr. 
 Geddes\ —  New  Translation  of  the  Psalm  itself; — 
 Remarks;  —  Kennicolt’ s  judicious  rendering  of  Vi?rD 
 “  as  a  soldier ”  or  <c  warrior — Change  of  the  proper 
 name  David,  into  the  appellative.  Beloved ; — the  word 
 Messiah  restored  instead  of  its  meaning,  Anointed ; 
 — ~  the  faithful  witness  in  heaven,  the  Rainbow. 
 
ft  <b 
 
 XII 
 
 DISSERTATION  VI. 
 
 OX  THE  PRIMITIVE  NAMES  OF  THE  DElTlf. 
 
 paPt  T, 
 
 The  great  importance  and  necessity  of  this  disquisition  ; 
 — insufficiency  of  the  Disquisition  thereon,  in  the  Bri~ 
 tish  Critic  ; — The  grand  cause  of  etymological  error  irt 
 this  abstruse  subject ; — This  hypothesis  examined  ; — 
 The  two  simplest  and  most  ancient  of  the  divine  names, 
 ael,  and  n*,  iaii  ; — Supposed  derivations  of 
 ml,  and  iELOH; — Strange  mistake  of  Parkhurst ; 
 
 — Supposed  derivations  of  n»  iaii,  and  mn»  jahoh; 
 
 * — the  leading  ideas  or  significations  of  these  primitive 
 names* 
 
 PART  ir. 
 
 Objection  drawn  from  the  great  abstruseness  of  the  sub-f 
 ject  removed ; — Power,  the  leading  attribute  of  the 
 D  eity  among  ail  nations  ; — Mistake  of  Parkhurst ; — - 
 The  Latin  Uis  or  Pluto,  whence  derived, — further 
 mistake  of  Parkhurst ; — mistake  of  the  British  Critic, 
 respecting  the  application  of  jeloiiim  to  Christ, 
 Ps.xlv.fi;  Judg.  xjii.  22  Apparent  solecism  in  (he 
 very  beginning  of  Genesis  rectified  ; — Philo' s  fine  de¬ 
 scription  of  the  Oracle  of  God. 
 
 part  hi. 
 
 Greater  difficulty  of  this  part  of  the  disquisition ; — Tru* 
 meaning  of  iah,  intimating  “  sameness;'- — the  mystical. 
 iacchls  of  the  Greeks  ; — Its  distinction  from  iah  on; 
 — Clarion  Oracle  respecting  I  AD ; — Whence  the  poly¬ 
 theism  of  the  philosophizing  Pagans; — degenerated 
 
 into 
 
XII  l 
 
 2iito  Atheism. ; — flemarkable  testimony  of  tlie  Pythian 
 Oracle  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Chaldeans  and  Hebrews; 
 —true  meaning  of  iahoh,  signifying e<  one  ^--communi¬ 
 cated  to  Christ  also  ; — mistakes  of  Lindsey,  Dodson , 
 and  Blaney  ; — meanings  of  Adon ,  or  Adoni ; — expla¬ 
 nation  of  Ps.  cx.  1,  and  correction  of  the  Septuagint; 
 — true  derivation  of  Adon  ; — intimate  connexion  be¬ 
 tween  the  Old  and  New  Testament ; — meaning  of  the 
 mysterious  title,  ehieh  a  suer  ehieh,  “  i  am  who 
 am  ;” — enlarged  in  the  Apocalypse ; — fragments  oF 
 the  Orphic  Hymns,  and  Si bylline  Oracles  ; — Remark¬ 
 able  inscription  on  the  temple  of  Neith  in  Egypt ; — - 
 meaning  of  aon  or  on  ; — Indian  Theology. 
 
 DISSERTATION  VII. 
 
 ON  PSALM  II. 
 
 Mischievous  double  sense  of  this  Psalm,  invented  by  the 
 later  Jewish  Rabbins  ; — proved  by  their  own  confes¬ 
 sions; — Solomon  J  orchis  remarkable  acknowledgment; 
 New  Translation  of  the  Psalin  : — Remarks; — Com¬ 
 mentary  of  the  Apostles  thereon; — Miracle  of  the 
 tribute  money  found  in  the  fish’s  mouth,  explained, 
 and  Gilpin  corrected  ; — correction  of  the  Ma  so  retie 
 punctuation  of  Nasachti ; — Note  on  the  present  state 
 of  Sion  and  Calvary ;  —  the  peculiar  Sonship  of 
 Christ  ; — the  resurrection,  the  day  of  his  new  birth  ; 
 t — Voltaire  s  Antichristian  conspiracy; — The  Son  to 
 be  honoured  as  the  Father  ;  —  Conclusion  of  the 
 Psalm,  inapplicable  to  David  as  its  object. 
 
 ©is. 
 
XiVf 
 
 DISSERTATION  VIII. 
 
 ON  PSALM  CX. 
 
 This  Psalm  understood  exclusively  of  the  Messiah  by 
 the  primitive  Jewish  Church;  —  New  Translation  of 
 the  Psalm; — Remarks; — Title  of  the  Psalm; — Why 
 our  Lord  and  lus  Apostles  cited  the  Septuagint  Ver¬ 
 sion ; — Explanation  of  1  Cor.  xv.  22-28 ;— Remarkable 
 testimony  of  Tobit  to  the  final  restoration  of  the  Jews; 
 —the  priesthood  of  Melchisedek,  like.,  but  inferior  to 
 the  priesthood  of  Christ  ;— Second  Adventof  Christ; 
 
 - — Humiliation  and  exaltation  of  Christ. 
 
 DISSERTATION  IX. 
 
 ON  PSALM  XLV. 
 
 This  Psalm  understood  exclusively  of  the  Messiah. 
 by  the  primitive  Jezcish  Church ; — and  by  the  ablest 
 Jewish  Commentators; — its  allegorical  interpretation 
 alluded  to  in  the  New  Testament ; — New  Translation 
 of  the  Psalm  ; — Remarks  ; — Dakar,  justly  rendered 
 “Oracle;’ — Miltons  comment; — dignity  and  per¬ 
 suasiveness  of  our  Lord’s  person  and  address ; — Our 
 Lord’s  transfiguration,  a  most  important  link  between  his 
 antecedent  and  his  subsequent  manifestations  of  himself 
 in  glory; — Magnificent  descriptions  of  the  Messiah  *" 
 in  his  warlike  character,  given  in  the  Wisdom  of  Solo¬ 
 mon ',  and  in  the  Apocalypse  ; — Mistakes  of  the  Monthly 
 Review  respecting  the  term  Logos ; — its  personal  ap¬ 
 plication  in  the  New  Testament  demonstrated; — Sub¬ 
 lime  description  of  the  Messiah’s  throne,  and  of  the 
 general  judgment,  in  the  Jpocalype ; — in  Matthew; 
 
 —The 
 
 \ 
 
 V 
 
XV 
 
 — ' Tiie  Queen,  the  Church  of  Christ; — Harmony 
 between  this  Psalm  and  the  Apocalypse ; — Scepticism 
 of  Michadis  respecting  the  Apocalypse ;  —  The  last 
 words  of  David . 
 
 DISSERTATION  X. 
 
 ON  THE  PROPHECY  OF  MICAH,  V.  2-4. 
 
 The  great  importance  of  this  prophecy ; — the  most  fully 
 authenticated  both  by  th#  Jewish  and  Christian 
 churches  ; — its  first  part  forms  the  groundwork  of  the 
 Introductions  of  Matthew  and  Lake  ;  its  second  part, 
 of  the  Introduction  of  John  ;  its  third  part,  of  the 
 Epistles ,  and  New  Testament  in  general; — New  trans¬ 
 lation  of  the  prophecy; — Remarks ; — Superiority  of 
 Matthew’ s  translation  of  the  first  part  over  the  other 
 ancient  versions  ; — blindness  of  the  Socinian  and  Uni¬ 
 tarian  objectors; — design  of  the  second  part  of  the 
 prophecy; — allusion  to  the  miraculous  conception  in  the 
 third  part; — confirmed  from  Isaiah,  Proverbs,  and 
 Jeremiah  ;  —  Mistake  of  Dr.  Blaney  ; — Accomplish¬ 
 ment  of  the  third  part,  will  probably  tend  to  work  the 
 conversion  of  the  Jews* 
 
 / 
 
 DIS- 
 
* 
 
 ■ 
 
 ' 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 ' 
 
 V 
 
 i 
 
 *s 
 
DISSERTATIONS, 
 
 DISSERTATION  I. 
 
 AN  ATTEMPT  TO  RESTORE  TIIE  ORI¬ 
 GINAL  HEBREW  TEXT  OE  BALAAMS 
 PROPHECY,  CONCERNING  TIIE  MES¬ 
 SIAH,  NUMB.  XXIV.  7« 
 
 X  he  subject  of  this  Dissertation  was  ori¬ 
 ginally  suggested  by  a  communication  to  the 
 Orthodox  Churchman s  Magazine  for  June 
 1801,  vol,  i.  p.  188,  under  the  signature  of 
 a  London  Curate  expressing  a  doubt 
 
 #  One  of  the  earliest,  most  various,  and  most  useful 
 Contributors  to  that  excellent  Miscellany,  the  learned,  the 
 ingenious,  and  the  Reverend  Mr.  Edward  Robson,  Curate 
 of  Whitechapel,  London.  For  many  years  he  has  dis¬ 
 charged  the  laborious  functions  of  that  office,  with  a  zeal, 
 assiduity,  and  ability,  that  well  entitle  him  to  a  higher  sta¬ 
 tion  in  the  Church,  which  he  supports,  defends,  and  adorns 
 by  his  life  and  writings. 
 
 or 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 of  the  propriety  of  our  established  translation 
 of  John  xix.  5. 
 
 44  Then  came  Jesus  forth ,  wearing  the 
 44  crown  of  thorns,  and  the  purple  robe;  and 
 “  [Pilate]  saith  unto  them ,  Behold  the 
 44  Man  !” 
 
 *4  How  does  it  appear,”  says  he,  44  from 
 44  the  construction  of  this  verse,  and  the  con- 
 44  text,  that  Pilate  (which  has  no  corre- 
 44  spending  word  in  the  original  Greek)  said 
 44  unto  them ,  Behold  the  Man?” And  he 
 remarks,  that  the  Latin  Vulgate ,  and  the 
 Bishops  Bible ,  (1539)>  omit  44  Pilate." 
 
 But  although  these  versions,  and  Luthers 
 German  translation  also  (as  remarked  by  th$ 
 editor  in  a  note),  all  omit ,  it  does  not  follow, 
 that  they  meant  to  exclude ,  Pilate  :  the 
 verb  Xsyst  in  the  original  passage  being 
 ambiguous,  and  its  reference,  whether  to 
 Christ  (as  proposed  by  the  London  Cu¬ 
 rate),  or  to  Pilate ,  understood,  as  the  no¬ 
 minative  case  thereto,  being  only  to  be  de¬ 
 termined  by  the  context.  But  this,  on 
 careful  inspection,  I  conceive,  fully  warrants 
 its  application  to  Pilate ,  as  the  speaker,  for 
 the  following  reasons: 
 
 1.  The 
 
3 
 
 I 
 
 1.  The  foregoing  part  of  the  verse  seems 
 to  be  parenthetical :  (“  Then  came  Jesus 
 44  forth,  wearing  the  crown  of  thorns,  and 
 56  the  purple  robe :”)  in  consequence  of  Pi- 
 lates  declaration  in  the  foregoing  verse, 
 
 44  Pilate ,  therefore,  went  forth  again,  and 
 44  saith  unto  them ,  Behold!  I  bring  him  forth 
 44  to  you,  that  ye  may  know  that  I  find  no 
 44  fault  in  him: — (Then  came  Jesus  forth, 
 44  wearing  the  crown  of  thorns,  and  the  pur- 
 44  pie  robe.)  And  he  [ Pilate ]  saith  unto 
 44  them :  Behold  the  Man  !’’ 
 
 2.  The  analogy  of  the  subsequent  14th 
 verse,  in  a  case  where  there  can  be  no  doubt 
 of  the  speaker,  appears  fully  to  justify  this 
 rendering : 
 
 44  When  Pilate  therefore  heard  that  sav- 
 
 •/ 
 
 44  ing,  he  brought  Jesus  forth,  and  sat  down 
 46  in  the  judgment-seat,  in  a  place  that  is 
 44  called  the  pavement ,  but  in  the  Hebrew 
 44  Gabbatha  :  (and  it  was  the  preparation  of 
 44  the  Passover,  and  about  the  sixth  hour), 
 44 and  he  saith  unto  the  Jews:  Behold 
 44  your  King  !” 
 
 3.  The  expression,  Behold  the  Man! 
 seems  to  be  rather  irrelevant,  if  spoken  by 
 
 V 
 
 b  2  Christ, 
 
4 
 
 Christ,  but  perfectly  apposite  as  spoken  by 
 Pilate ,  corresponding  to,  Behold  your 
 King  !  afterwards.  And  as  Jesus  made  no 
 attempt  to  move  the  compassion  of  his  pu¬ 
 sillanimous  judge,  “  when  he  gave  no  answer  ’ 
 to  his  inquiry,  “  Whence  art  thou?" (verse 9), 
 knowing  that  his  fate  was  already  deter¬ 
 mined;  why  should  he  vainly  address  him¬ 
 self  to  the  deluded  and  frantic  multitude  ? 
 On  both  occasions  he  resolutely  maintained 
 that  dignified  silence  foretold  of  him  in  pro¬ 
 phecy  :  46  He  was  oppressed  and  he  was  a  f - 
 “flirted,  yet  he  opened  not  his  mouth  :  He- 
 “  was  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter  > 
 “  and  as  a  sheep  before  his  shearers  is  dumb ,  so 
 u  he  opened  not  his  mouth.’'  Isa.  liii.  7>  so 
 expressly  applied  to  Jesus  by  the  Holy 
 Spirit,  Acts  viii.  32 — 35. 
 
 4.  Influenced  by  such  considerations,  we 
 may  presume,  almost  all  the  ancient  ver¬ 
 sions,  the  Syriac. ,  the  Arabic ,  the  Persic ,  and 
 the  Coptic;  and  the  most  approved  transla¬ 
 tions,  the  Geneva  Bible  (1594),  our  present 
 authorized  version ,  &c.  and  the  most  learned 
 and  judicious  commentators,  the  Critici  sacri 
 in  Poole's  Synopsis ,  Grotius ,  Beza,  Tr e niel¬ 
 li  us  9 
 
5 
 
 lilts,  Hammond ,  Wells ,  Whitby,  Clarke,  Dodd , 
 Nczvcombe ,  Wakefield,  Campbell,  &c.  all  con¬ 
 cur  in  expressly  representing  Dilate  as  the 
 speaker;  and  a  respectable  German  critic, 
 Rosenmuller ,  in  his  Scholia  on  the  New  Tes¬ 
 tament,  makes  the  following  remark  on  this 
 passage  in  question  : 
 
 Joh.  xix.  5.  Ka;  Xeyei  ocurcig,  scilicet  Pila - 
 tus .  Minim  est  vires  eruditos  nonnullos 
 
 statuere  potuisse,  Jesum  dixisse  haec  verba  : 
 tie  o  AvQpuTTog — 46  Videte  ejus  miseriam  et  qaam 
 ridiculum  sit  in  ipso  crimen  affect  a  ti  regni.” 
 
 I.  Whatever  might  have  been  Pilate  s  in¬ 
 tention  in  uttering  these  words,  tSe  o  AvBpu? rog, 
 “  Behold  the  Man*  !”  whether  to  ex¬ 
 cite  commiseration,  or  else  to  express  con¬ 
 tempt,  as  in  verse  14,  t$6  o  BuiuXrjg  vpuv — 
 “  Behold  your  King  !”  they  are  truly 
 remarkable,  as  containing  a  tacit  reference  to 
 a  memorable  prophecy  concerning  the 
 Messiah,  Numb.  xxiv.  7?  which,  amidst 
 the  corruptions  of  several  prophecies  relative 
 
 *  The  learned  Michaeli s  also,  in  his  Anmarkungen  fur 
 Ungelehrte,  gives  this  speech  to  Pilate;  the  latter,  as  he 
 gays,  4f  wishing  to  awaken  the  compassion  of  the  multitude 
 4‘  in  behalf  of  Jesus.” — The  Editor. 
 
 3 
 
 to 
 
6 
 
 to  the  Messiah  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
 has  been  providentially  preserved  pure  and 
 unadulterated  in  the  venerable  version  of  the 
 Greek  Septuagint ,  as  follows  : 
 
 E^sXevcrsToci  Ai9pcc7rog  bk  tv  (T7feppiUTog  ccvtv* 
 
 K oci  zvpibvcrei  sSrau  woXXuv. 
 
 “  There  shall  come  forth  a  Man  of  his 
 “  seed  (Jacob's)  :  And  he  shall  govern  many 
 “  nations” 
 
 And  the  authenticity  of  the  Septuagint 
 version  is  vouched  by  the  most  respectable 
 evidence  ;  by  the  joint  testimony  of  Onkelos , 
 the  Chaldee  paraph  rast,  and  of  Philo  and 
 Joseph  us ,  the  great  luminaries  of  Jewish  his¬ 
 tory  and  antiquities. 
 
 1.  Onkelos  paraphrases  the  passage  thus  : 
 
 “  The  King  who  will  be  magnified ,  shall 
 
 u  grow  of  his  sons  :  And  he  shall  govern 
 “  many  peoples!' 
 
 “  The  King  who  zvill  be  magnified ”  was  a 
 periphrasis  for  the  Messiah,  well  known 
 among  the  Jews  from  Samuel's  days:  1  Sam. 
 ii.  10. 
 
 2.  Philo  thus  renders  the  prophecy,  De 
 Vita  Mosis ,  p.  501,  Colon .  1(313  : 
 
 ev<reTou 
 
 4 
 
-  7 
 
 'EZsXeuriTGi  tstotb  AvSpuorog  tP  vpuv 
 
 K ou  £7rtKp<zTi]<rei  TtrohXuv  eQvuv. 
 
 u  There  shall  come  forth  at  length  a  Man 
 “  of  yourselves :  A  nd  he  shall  rule  over  many 
 “  nations? 
 
 Afterwards  he  again  cites  and  explains  the 
 prophecy:  He  Prcemiis  et  Poenis ,  p.  716. 
 
 E^sXbvtstoci  yctg  Avdpu7rog  1  $y\(Tiv  o  xpy]<r(-iof) 
 xcu  gpocrap^cd v  kou  'sroXsptuv  bQvtj  re  pteyocXoc,  x.ou 
 
 W0\U0CvSpU7T0C,  %GipCt)(TeTX.t  TO  CCpfJLOTTOV  fiTlOtg  S7 n- 
 
 xvpixov  B7Tl7TBpi^0CVT0g  0Stf. 
 
 “  For  there  shall  come  forth  a  Man  (saith 
 u  the  Oracle),  who ,  leading  armies  and  war - 
 “  ring ,  shall  subdue  nations  both  great  and 
 “  populous :  God  sending  suitable  aid  to  his 
 “  saints.” 
 
 3.  Josephus ,  the  great  Jewish  historian, 
 chiefly  attributes  that  fatal  war  with  the  ffo- 
 mans ,  which  terminated  in  the  destruction 
 of  Jerusalem  by  Titus9  to  the  same  pro¬ 
 phecy  :  De  Bello  Jud.  vi.  v.  4.  p.  1283. 
 Hudson . 
 
 To  Jg  B7fupocv  oaiTtsg  pccXifoc  Ts-^og  tov  •nroXepov, 
 Tjy  XpyfpoG  apt(ptSo\og9  opoicog  tv  Toig  iepoig  ypocpi* 
 UOKTIV  lug  “  XOLTCt  KUlpOV  BKBtVOV ,  U7T0  TTjg  X60?^ 
 
 Tig  uvtuv,  ap£ei  tijc  oiKispcBvvjg? 
 
 u  4 
 
 “  But 
 
8 
 
 “  But  what  chiefly  instigated  them  to  the 
 “  war  was  an  ambiguous  oracle ,  likew  ise  found 
 “  in  the  sacred  Scriptures, that  “At  that  sea- 
 “  son  some  one  from  their  country  should  rule 
 “  the  world  A 
 
 4.  And  the  prevalence  of  this  prophecy, 
 not  only  in  Judea ,  but  throughout  the  East , 
 is  mentioned  by  Suetonius  in  Vespasian ,  iv. 
 
 “  Percrebuerat  Oriente  toto  vetus  et  con- 
 “  stans  opinio,  esse  in  fatis ,  eo  tempore 
 “  Judea  profecti ,  rerum  poiirentur  :  Id  (de 
 “  imperatore  Romano ,  quantum  eventu  postea 
 “  patuit,  praedictum)  Judcd  ad  se  trahentes, 
 “  rebellarunt,” 
 
 And  this  will  satisfactorily  account  for  the 
 “  alarm  excited  in  Iierod  and  all  Jerusalem 
 “  with  him,”  at  the  inquiry  of  the  eastern 
 Magi ,  “  Y\  here  is  the  true-born  King  of  the 
 “Jews?”  &c,  Matt,  ii.  1 — 5.  (See  my 
 letter  on  the  Introductions  of  the  Evangelist s9 
 in  the  Gentleman’s  Magazine  tor  June 
 and  July).  And  also,  why  the  Jewish  multi¬ 
 tude  “  thought  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
 “  should  immediately  appear”  Luke  xix.  11. 
 
 Is  it  then  unreasonable  to  conjecture,  that 
 Tilate  also  might  have  heard  of  so  celebrated 
 
 a  prophecy, 
 
9 
 
 a  prophecy,  and  that  he  may  have  con¬ 
 temptuously  applied  it  to  Jesus ,  thus  arrayed 
 in  mock  majesty — “  Be  mold  the  Man  \” 
 — Behold  your  King  !  And  his  in¬ 
 scription  on  the  cross,  Jesus  of  Naza¬ 
 reth,  the  King  of  the  Jews,  seems 
 to  justify  this  conjecture. 
 
 II.  Having  thus  established  (and  I  trust 
 satisfactorily)  the  authenticity  of  the  Septu- 
 agint  version  of  this  famous  prophecy,  JSumb . 
 xxiv.  7.  I  shall  proceed  to  prove  and  account 
 for  the  corruption  of  the  present  Hebrew 
 text,  and  to  ascertain  the  period  of  its  cor¬ 
 ruptions  from  the  ancient  versions,  and  to 
 restore  the  genuine  Hebrew  text,  conform-* 
 ably  to  the  Septuagint  version. 
 
 The  present  Hebrew  text  is  thus  rendered, 
 and  correctly,  in  our  Jingiish  translation: 
 
 “  He  shall  pour  water  out  of  Ins  buckets : 
 “  And  his  seed  shall  be  in  many  waters.” 
 
 The  Syriac  version,  trained  in  the  Apostolic 
 age,  and  probably  soon  after  the  destruction 
 of  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  ?Q>  shews  when  the 
 adulteration  began  : 
 
 “  There  shall  come  forth  the  Man  of  his 
 M  sons ,  and  his  seed  shall  be  in  many  waters  f 
 
 Here 
 
10 
 
 Here  the  corruption  was  introduced  in  the 
 second  line;  the  first  according  with  the 
 Septaagint  and  Chaldee  paraphrase . 
 
 The  Arabic  version ,  which  was  of  later 
 date,  and  framed  probably  after  the  desola¬ 
 tion  of  Judea  by  Adrian ,  A.  D.  135,  shews 
 when  the  corruption  was  completed : 
 
 4‘  There  shall  jiozv  water  out  of  his  buckets  ; 
 And  his  plant  shall  be  in  many  waters A 
 The  Samaritan  version  follows  the  Arabic, 
 both  corresponding,  we  see,  with  the  prefent 
 Hebrew  text. 
 
 And  is  it  not  highly  natural  to  suppose, 
 that  the  adulteration  of  the  Hebrew  text 
 was  perpetrated  by  the  Jewish  doctors  be* 
 longing  to  the  school  of  the  celebrated  Rabbi 
 Akiba ,  who  patronized  the  impostor  that  as¬ 
 sumed  the  name  of  Bar  Chochab  (“  Son  of 
 “  the  Star'),  alluding  to  the  subsequent  fa¬ 
 mous  prophecy  of  Balaam ,  Numb.  xxiv.  17. 
 u  A  star  shall  come  forth  from  Jacob ,  and  a 
 “  sceptre  shall  rise  from  Israel A 
 
 But  both  perished,  and  their  adherents, 
 in  that  fatal  war;  the  unfortunate  issue  of 
 which  led  the  remnant  of  the  Jewish  nation 
 
 that 
 
11 
 
 that  survived  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
 bJ  Titus ,  not  only  to  execrate  the  memory 
 of  that  impostor,  whom  they  have  ever  since 
 styled  Bar-chozba  (son  of  a  lie)  by  a  usual 
 alliteration  ;  but  also  to  adulterate  the  pro¬ 
 phecy  itself,  of  the  lying  Balaam ,  as  they 
 might  have  considered  him,  which  brought 
 such  accumulated  woes  on  their  nation  from 
 the  first  commencement  of  the  Roman  war : 
 — and  a  very  slight  alteration  of  the  genuine 
 Hebrew  text  would  produce  the  present  cor¬ 
 rupt  text,  as  will  appear  from  the  following 
 comparison : 
 
 PRESENT  TEXT. 
 
 v*no  d*d  bv 
 D’Dn  inn 
 
 “  There  shall  flow 
 “  water  from  his  hue - 
 “  hets:  And  his  seed , 
 “  in  waters  many  " 
 
 REFORMED  TEXT. 
 
 .Don  dojo  vnn 
 
 “  There  shall  come 
 “ forth  a  Man  of  his 
 44  children  :  And  his 
 44  arm  on  peoples 
 44  many." 
 
 Having  thus  endeavoured  to  restore  the 
 Hebrew  text  of  this  prophecy,  conformable 
 to  the  rendering  of  the  Septuagint  version, 
 I  shall  proceed  to  state  upon  what  grounds : 
 
 And 
 
12 
 
 And  these  are,  1.  The  external  evidence  ; 
 2.  The  internal  evidence,  and  its  correspond¬ 
 ence  to  other  prophecies;  3.  The  facility  of 
 adulteration  ;  combined  with,  4.  The  tempta¬ 
 tion  thereto  on  the  part  of  the  Jots. 
 
 I.  The  External  Evidence. 
 
 The  venerable  Greek  version  of  the  Pen¬ 
 tateuch  was  composed  in  the  reign  of  Ptolemy 
 Philadelphus ,  near  300  years  before  Christ, 
 long  before  there  could  be  any  temptation 
 to  adulterate  the  prophecies  respecting  the 
 Messiah  ;  and  its  testimony  is  supported 
 (as  stated  before)  by  the  earliest  Jewish  au¬ 
 thorities,  the  Chaldee  paraphrast  Onkelos , 
 Philo )  Josephus ,  and  the  Syriac  version  in 
 part :  about,  or  shortly  after  the  time  of 
 Christ. 
 
 To  these  we  are  to  add  the  concurrent 
 testimony  of,  1.  The  Targuni  of  Jonathan 
 Ben  Uzziel  (which  is  reckoned  by  the  Jews 
 still  earlier  than  that  of  Onkelos .  See  David 
 Ganz’ s  Chronology). 
 
 “  Their  king  shall  arise  from  themselves  ; 
 iC  and  their  Redeemer  from  themselves ;  and 
 
 he  shall  be  among  them ;  and  the  seed 
 
 v 
 
I 
 
 13 
 
 of  the  sons  of  Jacob  shall  rule  over  many 
 44  peoples.’* 
 
 2.  The  Jerusalem  Targum  :  44  Their  king 
 44  shall  arise  from  the  midst  of  their  sons ,  and 
 44  their  Redeemer  from  themselves ;  and  he 
 44  shall  be  among  them ;  and  shall  gather  unto 
 44  them  their  captivity  out  of  the  provinces  of 
 44  their  enemies  ;  and  their  sons  shall  rule  over 
 44  the  peoples 
 
 Both  these  Targums  evidently  followed 
 the  text  of  the  Septuagint ,  with  only  the 
 variation  of  JHT  “  seed,”  for  JTHT  44  arm’’  or 
 44  might  ”  in  the  second  line,  which  was  freely 
 and  finely  rendered  by  the  Septuagint ,  seiz¬ 
 ing  the  spirit  of  the  original,  xvpiev<rei,  44  shall 
 44  rule  over,”  admirably  according  with  the 
 opening  of  that  most  illustrious  prophecy 
 respecting  the  Messiah’s  sufferings,  Isa.  liii, 
 44  Lord,  who  gave  credence  to  our  report? and 
 44  to  whom  was  the  arm  [or  yowerr\  of  the 
 44  Lord  manifested  as  the  prophet  had 
 before  explained,  li.  9?  “  The  Lord  hath 
 44  made  hare  his  holy  arm  in  the  eyes  of  all 
 44  the  nations ;  and  all  the  ends  of  the  earth 
 44  shall  see  the  salvation  of  our  God and 
 they  shall  also  behold  his  vengeance  inflicted 
 
 on 
 
14 
 
 on  the  impious  and  the  wicked,*  Luke  i .57* 
 44  lie  hath  shewed  strength  with  his  arm, 
 “  he  hath  scattered  the  proud  in  the  imagina - 
 44  lions  of  their  hearts /’  Hence  we  rnay 
 fairiv  collect,  that  these  Targums  were  com- 
 
 V  7  o 
 
 posed  not  later  than  the  Syriac  version. 
 
 3.  Cyprian ,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  one  of 
 the  most  illustrious  Fathers  of  the  Church 
 (who  nourished  about  A.D.  248,  and  suf¬ 
 fered  martyrdom  A.  D.  258),  in  his  Testi¬ 
 monies  against  the  Jews ,  b.  ii.  c.  10,  cites  this 
 prophecy  according  to  the  Septuagint .  See 
 the  interesting  account  of  his  martyrdom, 
 
 Lar  drier  iii.  p.  141. 
 
 * 
 
 4.  Although  the  Samaritan  text  of  the 
 foregoing  part  of  this  prophecy  concurs  with 
 the  present  Hebrew,  yet,  in  the  sequel,  it 
 almost  exactly  accords  with  the  Septuagint , 
 and  differs  from  the  Hebrew . 
 
 PRESENT  TEXT.  SAMAR.  TEXT. 
 
 *1 2*7/2  m2  Din 
 
 mi 
 
 44  And  his  king  shall 
 44  be  higher  than  A- 
 
 “  gag> 
 
 44  And  his  kingdom 
 
 O 
 
 64  s/m//  be  exalted A 
 
 JUD  DW1 
 
 woba  Kwnm 
 
 K at  uipuSijirsrai  ij  F uy 
 j3cc(Tl\eiC6  CtVTX' 
 
 K on  <xu%r)8v]cr£Tai  @oc- 
 (TiXeioc  ctvm. 
 
 44  And  his  kingdom 
 
 o 
 
 44  shall 
 
15 
 
 SAMAR.  TEXT. 
 
 64  shall  he  higher  than 
 44  Goo; : 
 
 .  O 
 
 44  And  his  kingdom 
 44  shall  be  exalted A 
 
 Here  it  is  evident,  that  instead  of 
 44  his  king”  as  in  the  Hebrew  and  Samari¬ 
 tan,  the  Septuagint  read  ‘UTDbft  44  his  king - 
 44  dom  ”  in  both  lines,  more  fully  and  cor^ 
 rectly  written  in  the  Samaritan,  as  is  also 
 the  foregoing  verb  in  the  conjugation  Hith - 
 paheL  And  the  triumphs  of  the  Messiah 
 over  Gog,  or  the  fierce  nations  of  the  north, 
 are  repeatedly  foretold  in  Scripture :  44  Son 
 44  of  man ,  set  thy  face  against  Gog.”  Ezek. 
 xxxviii.  2.  44  I  will  give  to  Gog  a  place  of 
 44  graves  in  Israel A  Ezek.  xxxix.  11. — 
 44  And  he  (the  Devil)  shall  go  forth  and 
 44  deceive  the  nations  in  the  four  parts  of  the 
 44  earth ,  Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather  them 
 44  together  for  battle  A  Rev.  xx.  8.  Whereas, 
 the  Hebrew  reading  Agag  occurs  only  once, 
 in  the  case  of  Agag,  king  of  the  Amalekites, 
 tvhom  Said  spared,  and  Samuel  hewed  in 
 
 pieces. 
 
16 
 
 pieces.  Sam.  xv.  9>  33.  And  surely  thia 
 single  case,  which  is  rather  irrelevant,  cannot 
 stand  in  competition  for  a  moment  with  the 
 foregoing,  winch  are  so  wonderfully  apposite 
 to  the  whole  tenour  of  the  prophecy. 
 
 Such  an  accumulation  of  Samaritan  and  * 
 Jewish  authorities,  in  support  of  the  genuine¬ 
 ness  of  the  reformed  text ,  furnished  by  the 
 Septuagint  version,  infinitely  outweighs  any 
 evidence  that  I  have  seen  adduced  in  sup¬ 
 port  of  the  present  Masoretic  text,  and  su¬ 
 persedes  almost  the  necessity  of  66  any  addi- 
 “  tional  testimony  from  Hebrew  MSS.”  all 
 
 of  which  are  framed  on  the  Masoretic  system, 
 
 •  %/ 
 
 and  scarcely  any  older  than  eight  hundred 
 or  a  thousand  years:  and  even  the  Samaritan 
 text  itself  has,  in  many  places,  been  ac¬ 
 commodated  to  the  Jewish  readings. 
 
 o 
 
 II.  The  internal  Evidence. 
 
 U  pon  a  careful  revision  of  the  several 
 parallel  passages  of  Scripture,  supposed  by 
 commentators  to  refer  to  this  prophecy  as  it 
 stands  at  present,  I  find  only  the  following 
 that  appear  to  be  in  any  degree  appropriate: 
 
 “  Hear  this ,  0  house  of  Jacob  ! 
 
 “  Ye 
 
17 
 
 cc  Ye  that  are  called  by  the  name  of  Israel , 
 “  And  that  came  forth  from  the  waters  of 
 u  Judah  ; 
 
 u  That  swear  by  the  name  of  the  Lord , 
 
 “  And  that  profess  the  God  of  Israel ; 
 
 “  But  neither  in  truth  nor  in  righteousness : 
 66  Although  they  call  themselves  of  the  holy 
 “  city, 
 
 “  And  repose  themselves  on  the  God  of 
 ‘ 6  Israel ; 
 
 “  The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  his  name A  Isa, 
 xlviii.  1,  c2 . 
 
 “  Fear  not ,  0  Jacob ,  my  servant , 
 
 “  And  thou ,  Jeshurun ,  I  have 
 
 “  chosen ; 
 
 “  For  I  will  pour  out  water  upon  the 
 u  thirsty , 
 
 “  streams  upon  the  dry  [grow??cZ]  : 
 
 “  J  will  pour  out  my  spirit  upon  thy  seed, 
 
 “  And  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring ; 
 
 “  they  shall  spring  up  as  amidst  the 
 grass, 
 
 “  as  willows  beside  the  brooks  of  zva~ 
 u  ter xliv.  2,  4§- 
 
 But  these  passages  evidently  relate  to  the 
 spiritual  state  of  the  Jewish  nation  ;  to  their 
 
 C  apostacy, 
 
18 
 
 apostacy,  and  their  regeneration  afterwards 
 by  the  Messiah  :  in  further  reference  to 
 which,  Isaiah  invites  them,  lv.  1,  “  Ho  !  every 
 €i  one  that  thirtieth,  come  ye  to  the  waters,9 
 in  manifest  allusion  to  which,  Jesus,  as  the 
 Messiah,  or  Christ,  also  invited  the 
 Jews,  John,  vii.  3?  *  “  If  any  one  thirst ,  hf 
 “  him  come  unto  me  and  drink.”  Whereas 
 the  stream  of  commentators  suppose,  that 
 this  obscure  prophecy  of  Balaam  relates  to 
 the  temporal  aggrandizement  of  the  Jewish 
 nation  :  that  “  their  prosperity  and  posterity 
 u  shall  be  very  great,”  as  well  summed  up 
 in  the  marginal  note  of  the  Geneva  Bible. 
 And  “  the  waters"  alluded  to  by  Isaiah  may 
 as  well  relate  to  the  foregoing  verse,  Num. 
 xxiv.  6,  in  which  the  formidable  host  of 
 the  Israelites  are  represented  spread  forth  in 
 the  valley,  full  in  Bala  arms  view,  from  the 
 top  of  mount  Peor ,  “  as  gardens  by  the  ri- 
 “  vers  side ;  as  trees  of  Lign-aloes  which  the 
 “  Lord  planted ;  and  as  cedar  trees  beside 
 4fi  the  waters therefore  the  present  Hebrew 
 reading  of  the  7th  verse  it  superfluous  and 
 unnecessary,  considered  as  a  point  of  re¬ 
 ference. 
 
 2.  But 
 
19 
 
 %  But  the  context  itself  furnishes  in¬ 
 ternal  evidence  of  the  corruption  and 
 irrelevancy  of  the  present  text. 
 
 The  heathen  diviner ,  by  a  natural  tran* 
 sition  from  the  present  to  the  future  pro¬ 
 sperity  of  the  Israelites ,  was  led  to  advert  to 
 the  fortunes  of  Jacob's  posterity,  and  espe¬ 
 cially  of  Judah ;  foretold  by  the  venerable 
 patriarch  Jacob,  on  his  death-bed,  Gen.  xlix. 
 9>  10. 
 
 “  A  lion's  whelp  is  Judah ; 
 
 “  From  the  prey ,  my  son ,  art  thou  gone  up : 
 
 “  He  lay  down  as  a  lion , 
 
 u  He  couched  as  a  nursing  lioness ; 
 
 “  Who  shall  rouze  him 
 
 To  this  former  part,  Balaam  twice  alludes; 
 in  the  foregoing  prophecy,  Numb,  xxiii.  24; 
 and  immediately  after,  Numb.  xxiv.  9?  where 
 he  expressly  recites  the  three  last  lines,  “  He 
 “  lay  downf  &c. 
 
 The  sequel  of  Jacob’s  prophecy,  respecting 
 the  future  destiny  of  the  state  of  Judah ,  both 
 civil  and  ecclesiastical*  may  be  rendered 
 thus  more  correctly : 
 
 “  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah9 
 
 a  Nor  a  scribe ,  of  his  offspring; 
 
 c  2  “  Until 
 
 / 
 
20 
 
 u  Until  Shiloh  (the  Apostle)  shall 
 #i  come , 
 
 “  And  \imtil J  /o  him,  a  congregation  of 
 u  peoples A 
 
 And  to  this  latter  part  of  Jacob’s  prophecy 
 Balaam  likewise  twice  alludes :  first  in  thus 
 prophecy,  according  to  the  Septuagint ,  and 
 again  shortly  after,  Numb.  xxiv.  17* 
 
 46  I  see  him — but  not  now  ; 
 
 “  I  behold  him — but  not  nigh  : 
 
 “  A  star  shall  come  forth  from  Jacob , 
 
 “  And  a  sceptre  shall  arise  from  Israel A 
 In  this  noble  prophecy  there  is  a  marked 
 reference  to  some  kingly  personage;  the  same 
 noticed  in  the  foregoing  prophecy  in  ques¬ 
 tion  ;  and  unless  that  prophecy  refers  to  liimr 
 and  not  merely  to  the  national  prosperity  of 
 the  Jews ,  there  is  no  personal  antecedent , 
 I  conceive,  to  be  found  throughout  the  whole 
 foregoing  range  of  Balaam’s  prophecies.  And 
 this  argument,  when  well  weighed  and  tho¬ 
 roughly  considered,  will  be  decisive,  I  trust, 
 to  crown  the  authenticity  of  the  reformed 
 text  furnished  by  the  Septuagint  version. 
 
 III.  And  now  I  shall  briefly  state  the 
 
 ...  FACILITY 
 
FACILITY  OF  THE  ADULTERATION  of 
 the  original  Hebrew  text. 
 
 The  verb  KV*  jatsa ,  (which  is  the  term 
 applied  to  Christ’s  birth  in  the  signal  pro¬ 
 phecy  of  Micah,  v.  %,)  was  easily  changed 
 into  7T*  jazal ,  by  altering  the  two  last  let¬ 
 ters*;  and  aish  into  0*3  maim ,  by  alter- 
 
 .  \ 
 
 ing  the  first  and  last  letters  ;  VI 7D  Mildiv 
 into  IHVdM tleliv, by  erasing  the  second  small 
 letter  *  Joel ;  IJTHT  Zdrahu  into  12HT  into  Zd- 
 rahit ,  by  erasing  the  second  letter  1  van  ; 
 and  Hhamim  into  B  a  mini,  by 
 
 erasing  the  second  letter  y  ain . 
 
 Thus  have  I  stated,  as  concisely  as  the 
 
 V’ 
 
 nature  of  the  subject  would  admit,  the  lead¬ 
 ing  grounds  of  the  proposed  reformation. 
 I  presume  not  to  dictate  to  others,  but  I 
 most  earnesly  deprecate  a  hasty  rejection,, 
 until  the  whole  of  the  argument  be  coolly, 
 candidly,  and  ski-1  frilly  discussed.  The  ob - 
 scarify  of  this  text  is  universally  acknow¬ 
 ledged — and  if  any  other  student  will  re¬ 
 trieve  its  character,  or  detect  any  error  in 
 the  foregoing  chain  of  reasoning,  he  shall 
 receive  my  grateful  acknowledgments. 
 
22 
 
 PISSERTATION  IL 
 
 Observing  in  the  Orthodox  Churchman's 
 Magazine,  vol.  i.  p.  292,  330,  373,  392,  some 
 crude  and  desultory  remarks,  and  counter^ 
 remarks,  on  two  most  important  passages  of 
 the  Old  Testament,  Psalm  xvi.  10,  and 
 Psalm  xlv.  6,  (fhe  former,  considered  in  the 
 New  Testament  as  prophetical  of  our 
 Lord's  resurrection  from  the  dead ;  the  lat¬ 
 ter,  as  expressive  of  his  divinity),  tending, 
 perhaps,  by  a  shew  of  learning,  rather  to 
 unsettle  than  to  increase  the  faith ”  of  such 
 orthodox  readers,  as  are  incompetent  to  ex¬ 
 plore  the  sacred  sources  of  information  them¬ 
 selves;  from  ignorance  of  the  original  lan¬ 
 guages,  unavoidably  relying  on  the  most 
 approved  translations  of  Holy  Writ:  I  shall 
 now  endeavour  to  vindicate  the  correctness 
 of  our  public  translation  of  these  passages 
 also. 
 
 On  this  occasion  I  shall  confine  myself  to 
 the  sixteenth  Psalm;  the  drift  of  which 
 
 seems 
 
23 
 
 seems  to  have  been  misconceived  by  the  two 
 correspondents,  J,  B.  Beed  and  J.  Bow- 
 stead  ;  both  considering  David  as  the 
 speaker:  whereas  the  best  informed  com¬ 
 mentators,  ancient  and  modern,  agree  in  at¬ 
 tributing  it  solely  to  the  Messiah: — 1. 
 44  Exaudienda  sunt  verba  David  is,  tanquam 
 44  si  Christus  ipse  loqueretur „  qui  est 
 44  proprinm  subjectum  Jujus  prophet  uc  :  Nec 
 44  enim  omnia  in  Da  vide  evenerunt ,  omnia 
 44  autem  rede  et  optime  Christo  competere 
 44  demonsirabimus  :  Christum  esse  qui  in 
 44  hoc  Psalmo  loquitur ,  sic  probo  :  Qui  loqui- 
 44  tur  ver.  10,  idem  loquitur  per  totum  Psal- 
 44  mum;  atqui,  Christus  loquitur  ver.  10; 
 44  ergo,  idem  loquitur  per  totum  Psalmum. 
 44  Propositionem  probo ,  ex  serie  sermonis ,  et 
 44  singularum  sentential' um  cohar entiaf  See. 
 Poole  Synops. 
 
 2.  44  The  application  which  St.  Peter  males 
 44  of  a  great  part  of  this  Psalm  to  Jesus 
 44  Christ,  Act.  li.  25 — 31,  [ and  we  may 
 44  add  St.  Paul ,  Act.  xiii.  35,]  obliges  us  to 
 44  look  upon  it  as  a  prophecy ,  wherein  He 
 44  himself  is  introduced  as  speaking  to  God 
 “  the  Father.” — Dodd . 
 
 c  4 
 
 3,  *  Ex 
 
3.  “  E v  Act.  ii.  — 31,  Plane  apparct , 
 44  personam  qitce  in  versa  decimo  lmjus  'P salmi 
 44  introducitur ,  non  esse  Daviden? ,  serf  Je- 
 44  sum  Messiah  :  quee  verba ,  si  yzoyfc  s«/rf 
 44  Davidis ,  reiiqua  quoque  ejusdem  personal 
 44  sint  necesse  cst ;  quoniam  ana  tantnm ,  g^orf 
 44  fcrfws  context  us  docet ,  loquitur.  Messias 
 44  igitur ,  qui  at.  Sacerdos  sistitur ,  uer. 4  et 
 44  5,jiduciam  suam  test  at  ur  in  Deo  posit  am : 
 44  a  quo ,  so/m7/7  conversationem  in  mediis 
 
 44  afflict ionibus  spirat ,  serf  e/rf/w  resuscita - 
 44  tionem  ex  mortuis ,  ad  Icetitiam  apud  Deum 
 44  externum  perficiendamP — Da  thins. 
 
 And  this  last  ingenious  commentator  (late 
 professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  university  of 
 Leipsic )  has  judiciously  rendered  the  first 
 word  of  the  title  of  the  Psalm,  DfDD,  Mich- 
 tarn ,  44  Epitaphium adopting  the  Septua - 
 version  thereof,  fy}\oypcc<pia,,  signifying 
 44  «  monumental  inscription  and  the  whole 
 title,  perhaps,  “inb  DrDD,  Michtam  le-Da - 
 vid ,  may  be  correctly  rendered,  44  An  Epi- 
 44  taph  por  the  Beloved;”  for  the 
 word  TH,  David,  in  prophetic  Scripture,  is 
 unquestionably  used,  not  as  a  proper  name, 
 but  as  an  appellative ,  signifying  44  the  Be - 
 
 44  loved  ” 
 
 •  !  # 
 
25 
 
 “  loved.’*  It  is  so  rendered  in  our  transla¬ 
 tion,  Isa.  v.  1,  TH  rfW,  46  a  song  of  my 
 “  Beloved f  meaning  the  Messiah,  in  the 
 exordium  of  an  allegory,  expressly  applied 
 to  himself  by  Jesus  Christ  ;  as  recorded 
 -by  no  less  than  three  of  the  evangelists. 
 Matt.  xxi.  33,  Mark  xii.  O',  Luke  xx.  13, 
 where  the  two  last  evangelists  have  given  the 
 Septuagint  rendering  of.  TH,  o  uycc7ry}Tog> 
 there  applied  to  the  son  of  the  Lord  of 
 the  Vineyard ;  and  most  solemnly  to  Jesus 
 Christ  at  his  baptism  :  O vrog  eg-iv  o  vlog  pv, 
 o  otyot7ry]Tog,  ev  u  buSojctjco,  :  44  Tills  IS  MY 
 ^  son,  the  Beloved,  in  whom  I  am 
 <fi  well  pleased/’  as  recorded  likewise 
 by  the  same  evangelists ;  and  renewed  at  his 
 glorious  transfiguration  on  Mount  Tabor , 
 with  the  awful  and  impressive  addition  of 
 “  Hear  ye  Him  !” 
 
 And  this  may  furnish  a  clue  to  the  right 
 understanding  of  some  signal  prophecies  ap¬ 
 plied,  not  to  David  the  son  of  Jesse,  but  to 
 46  the  Son  of  Man,”  his  divine  descend¬ 
 ant  according  to  the  flesh,  46  the:  Be- 
 **  loved”  at  his  second  coming  in  power 
 and  great  glory,  to  “  restore  again  the  king - 
 
 “  do  m 
 
26* 
 
 u*dom  to  Israel ,”  Acts  i.  6,  as  expressly  pre¬ 
 dicted,  Hosea  iii.  5,  Amos  ix.  11,  Jer.  xxx. 
 9,  Ezek.  xxxiv.  23,  and  xxxvii.  24.  Zech. 
 xii.  8,  &c. 
 
 And  that  the  whole  Fsalm  throughout, 
 admirably  corresponds  to  its  inscription ,  so 
 explained,  may  further  appear  from  the  fol¬ 
 lowing  emendation  of  our  public  translation, 
 and  the  ensuing  remarks. 
 
 Psalm  XVI. 
 
 1.  Preserve  me,  O  God,  for  I  have  trusted 
 in  Thee. 
 
 2.  I  said  unto  the  Lord,  Thou  art  my 
 God  ;  my  goodness  is  nothing  beside  Thee. 
 
 3.  As  to  the  saints  upon  earth,  even  they 
 are  my  glory  ;  in  them  is  all  my  delight: 
 
 4.  [But]  their  sorrows  shall  be  multiplied, 
 that  run  after  another  [god] ;  I  will  neither 
 offer  up  their  libations  of  blood,  nor  will  I 
 mention  their  names  with  my  lips. 
 
 5.  The  Lord  is  the  portion  of  my  in¬ 
 heritance,  and  of  my  cup ;  Thou  art  the 
 maintainer  of  my  lot ! 
 
 i-  4/ 
 
 6.  The  measuring  lines  are  fallen  unto  me 
 
 in 
 
27 
 
 in  pleasant  [grounds] ;  yea  I  have  a  goodly 
 heritage. 
 
 7.  I  will  praise  the  Lord  who  hath  in¬ 
 structed  me ;  even  in  the  night  season,  my 
 reins  teach  me. 
 
 8.  I  have  set  the  Lord  always  before 
 me ;  because  He  is  at  my  right  hand,  there¬ 
 fore  I  shall  not  slide. 
 
 9.  Wherefore  my  heart  is  glad,  and  my 
 tongue  rejoiceth ;  moreover,  my  flesh  shall 
 rest  in  hope. 
 
 10.  Because  Thou  wilt  ?wt  leave  my  soul 
 in  Hades;  neither  wilt  Thou  suffer  thy 
 Sa  i nt  to  see  corruption  ! 
 
 11.  Thou  wilt  shew  me  the  path  of  life; 
 in  thy  presence  is  fulness  of  joy ,  and  at  thy 
 f  ight  hayd  pleasures  for  evermore  ! 
 
 *  Remarks. 
 
 1.  This  verse  is  strongly  expressive  of  our 
 lord’s  implicit  trust  in  his  heavenly  Fa¬ 
 ther,  throughout  the  whole  course  of  his 
 arduous  mission,  and  especially  in  his  last 
 agonies:  to  which  even  his  persecutors  them¬ 
 selves  bore  the  most  unequivocal  testimony : 
 — “  He  trusted  in  God  :  Let  Him  now  de- 
 
 66  liver 
 
r 
 
 28 
 
 <c  liver  him ,  if  he  willeth  [ to  deliver]  him  ! 
 “  For  He  said ,  I  am  tiie  Son  of  God.” 
 2VI att.  xxvii.  43.  And  his  last  words  were 
 expressive  of  the  highest  trust  and  confi¬ 
 dence  :  66  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commit 
 ^  my  spirit !”  Luke  xxiii.  46,  applying  to 
 lmnself  that  noble  prophetic  Psalm  xxxi.  in 
 which  this  ejaculation  is  found,  ver.  5;  and 
 proving,  that  his  former  apparent  desj  ond- 
 ency,  at  the  beginning  of  his  torture,  46  My 
 44  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
 44  me  F  was  chiefly  meant  to  call  the  atten¬ 
 tion  of  the  by-standers  to  the  remarkable 
 accomplishment  of  the  minutest  circum¬ 
 stances  of  the  Messiah's  sufferings,  fore*- 
 told  in  the  22d  Psalm  ;  of  which,  according 
 to  the  usual  mode  of  citation  among  the  Jews , 
 be  recites  only  the  leading  words. 
 
 2.  Our  Lord,  upon  all  occasions,  was  so¬ 
 licitors  to  declare  his  dependence  upon  God  : 
 
 Why  callest  thou  m  e  good  ?  There  is 
 44  none  good  but  one ,  that  is  God.”  Matt, 
 xix.  17-  “  Verily ,  eerily,  I  say  unto  you,  the 
 44  Son  can  do  nothing  of  himself.”  John  v.  J  9. 
 — 44  Of  myself  I  do  nothing.'9  Johnviii.28. — 
 44  My  Father  is  greater  than  IT  Johnxiv. 
 28. — 44  My  Father,  who  hath  <rivcn  them 
 
 “  L  ™!l 
 
29 
 
 u  [my  sheep]  to  me,  is  greater  than  all” 
 John  x.  29-—“  Go  to  my  brethren ,  and  say 
 “  unto  them ,  J  g°^ng  to  ascend  to  my 
 “  Father  2/cmr  Father,  and  my  God 
 “  and  your  God  ”  John  xx.  17-  thus  calling 
 the  Deity  his  God  and  Father,  in  a 
 distinct  and  more  excellent  sense:  n arepoi  iSior 
 
 KTOV  60OJTCV  'CS’OiUV  Tb)  es  M.  “  II  IS  PECULIAR 
 
 ♦  4 
 
 “  Father,  making  himself  equal  [or  like ] 
 
 “  to  the  God/’  as  the  unbelieving  Jezcs  ob¬ 
 jected,  John  v.  18.  —  N.  B.  for  the  new 
 reading,  “  I  said,”  see  De  Rossi . 
 
 3.  The  “  saitits  upon  earth ,  in  whom  was 
 “  his  delight  and  glory/’  were  his  chosen 
 disciples,  whom  he  condescended  to  style 
 “  his  friends ”  and  “  his  brethren  ”  See  his 
 inimitably  tender  and  affectionate  consola¬ 
 tion,  and  pathetic  prayer  to  God  for  their 
 support  and  guidance,  in  the  arduous  and 
 perilous  office  of  his  heralds,  or  ambassadors, 
 to  an  apostate  world,  in  his  solemn  farewell 
 address  the  night  before  his  crucifixion,  John 
 xvii.  6 — 22.  “  Holy  Father,  preserve  in 
 “  thy  name  those  whom  Thou  hast  given  to 
 “  me  [out  of  the  world,  ver.  6],  that  they  may 
 “  be  one  [or  united  together],  according 
 
 “  We  ‘ 
 
# 
 
 30 
 
 44  We.  While  I  was  along  with  them  in 
 44  the  world,  I  preserved  them  in  thy  name : 
 14  those  whom  thou  hast  given  to  me  I  pro- 
 44  tected,  and  none  of  them  is  lost,  save  the 
 44  son  of  perdition  [Judas],  that  the  Scrip- 
 44  ture  might  be  fulfilled/’ — 44  I  ask  not  that 
 44  thou  wouldst  take  them  out  of  the  world, 
 44  but  that  thou  wouldst  preserve  them  from 
 44  the  wicked” 
 
 Such  were  44  the  true  Israelites ,  in  whom 
 44  there  was  no  guile  ,”  aptly  compared  to 
 44  babes”  in  simplicity ;  and  for  whose  pro¬ 
 ficiency  in  divine  wisdom  cun  Lord  44  re- 
 *4  joiced  in  spirit”  Matt.  xi.  26,  Luke  x.  21. 
 44  1  thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  Hea- 
 44  ven  and  Earth,  because  thou  hast  hidden 
 44  these  [mysteries]  from  the  Wise  and  Intel - 
 44  ligent ,  and  hast  revealed  them  to  babes  !” 
 Compare  Isa.  v.  21,  John  ix.  41,  Matt,  xxiih 
 2 6,  2  Cor.  iv.  3,  and  iii.  14,  1  Cor.  i.  18 — 
 23,  and  iii.  19* 
 
 N.  B.  In  the  third  verse,  4he  original 
 term  HHfcO,  Ve-A-diri,  seems  to  be  incor¬ 
 rectly  rendered  by  Montanas, 44  et  inchjtis  ” 
 and  by  our  public  translation, 44  and — the  e$- 
 44  c client or,  according  to  the  paraphrase 
 
 of 
 
 1 
 
31 
 
 of  the  Bishops  and  Geneva  Bible,  u  And — 
 u  such  as  excel  in  virtue as  if  it  were  in 
 apposition  to  OWlpV,  likdoshim ,  “  to  the 
 4i  saints”  mentioned*  before ;  in  which  case 
 it  should  have  been  written  in  the  plural 
 form,  Ve-Adirim  :  whereas  it  is 
 
 plainly  in  apposition  to  Hhephetsi  after, 
 
 correctly  rendered  by  Mont  anus ,  64  voluntas 
 “  mea and  by  the  translations,  u  my  de- 
 “  light  ”  and  should  therefore  be  rendered 
 {according  to  the  customary  parallelism  of 
 Hebrew  poetry)  “  my  glory  A — A  rendering 
 confirmed  by  De  Rossi’s  invaluable  collations,, 
 thus : 
 
 “Agiogr.  Neapol.  aptissimo  sensu, 
 
 magnificentia  vel  gloria  mea ;  omnisque  oh - 
 u  lectatio  mea,  in  ipsis.” 
 
 4.  With  “  his  chosen  saints  ”  the  Mes¬ 
 siah  beautifully  contrasts  the  apostates ,  who 
 forsake  God  and  his  Christ;  whose  pu¬ 
 nishment  he  predicts,  and  whose  unhallow  ed 
 libations  or  sacrifices  he  disdains  to  offer 
 up  to  heaven  as  their  High  Piiest ;  or  to 
 include  their  names  in  his  intercessions  be¬ 
 fore  the  throne  of  grace  for  his  true  vota¬ 
 ries.  And  thus  our  Lord,  John  xvii,  9> 
 
 %  66  I  pray 
 
32 
 
 u  I  pray  for  them ,  I  pray  not  for  the  world; 
 44  but  for  those  whom  Thou  hast  given  to 
 44  me  ;  because  they  are  thine  :  and  all  mine 
 14  are  thine,  and  thine,  mine ;  and  I  will  he 
 44  glorified  in  them.’" — Thus  establishing  and 
 explaining,  I  trust,  the  foregoing  emendation 
 of  or  44  my  glory.33 
 
 5  and  6.  Here  the  Messiah  is  sup¬ 
 posed  to  anticipate,  in  prospect,  the  glorious 
 extension  of  his  kingdom,  or  spiritual  sove¬ 
 reignty,  throughout  the  earth,  on  his  se¬ 
 cond  coming,  in  triumph,  at  the  resurrection 
 of  the  just ;  as  distinguished  from  the  general 
 resurrection ,  at  the  end  of  the  world. 
 
 7.  This  verse  is  expressive  of  the  Mes¬ 
 siah’s  thankfulness  for  the  divine  communi¬ 
 cation,  which  he  received  from  the  Father 
 of  Lights  and  Fountain  of  all  Wis¬ 
 dom  :  and  accordingly,  from  his  childhood, 
 Jesus  increased  in  wisdom  and  stature, and 
 in  favour  with  God  and  man ;  so  that  all 
 44  were  astonished  at  his  understanding  and 
 54  answers ”  and  in  his  manhood,  44  uttered 
 44  the  Oracles  of  the  Deity  f3  for  at 
 his  solemn  baptismal  inauguration,  44  God 
 44  gave  him  the  [Holy]  Spirit  immea- 
 
 44  surablv” 
 
 »  V 
 
S3 
 
 u  surably” — that  44  in  him  might  dwell  all 
 
 44  THE  FULLNESS  OF  THE  GODHEAD  cor- 
 
 44  poreally,  or  substantially/'  Luke  ii.  47 — * 
 52,  John  iii.  54,  Col.  ii.  9* —  According  to 
 the  apposite  and  elegant  imagery  of  Holy 
 Writ,  the  reins  denote  the  affections ,  inciting 
 hint  to  love  God,  44  with  all  his  heart,  with 
 44  all  his  soul,  and  with  all  his  strength/’ — 
 44  Per  renes  erudientes ,  intellige  stimulum 
 M  secretum  ad  bona  quaeque  incitantem/, — 
 44  Renes  hie  significant  intimum  amoris  af- 
 “  fectum  qui  eum  ad  laudationem  Dei  inci- 
 44  tabat.”  Poole  Synops,  And  the  meaning 
 of  this  figurative  passage  is  well  expressed 
 by  I)  at  him  : 
 
 44  Gratias  ago  Jovje,  qui  suas  niihi  dedit 
 44  promissiones  :  noctu  adeo  intimo  ejus  ajjicior 
 44  dcsiderio” 
 
 8.  Here  the  Messiah  represents  the 
 genuine  effect  of  the  divine  communications, 
 in  his  unerring  obedience  ;  and  accordingly 
 Jesus  declares,  John  viii.  29,  44  The  Fa- 
 46  thee  who  sent  me,  is  with  me;  He  sent 
 44  me  not  alone,  because  I  always  do  those 
 44  things  that  please  him” — 44  Which  of  you” 
 — said  He,  with  all  the  dignity  of  conscious 
 
 D  worth 
 
34 
 
 worth — “  convict eth' me  of  sin?”  John  viii. 
 29—46*. 
 
 9.  Instead  of  the  Hebrew  u  my 
 
 u  glory  ”  the  Septuagint  version  substitutes, 
 yj  y\u<r<rcc  pv, “  my  tongue  a  sense  in  which 
 the  Hebrew  term  is  plainly  understood  else- 
 where?  Ps.  xxix.  12  y  and  lvii.  8. — Either  be¬ 
 cause  the  tongue  is  the  instrument  of  glori¬ 
 fying  God,  James  hi.  9,  or  else?  because 
 language  is  the  chief  glory,  the  proud  pre¬ 
 rogative  of  the  human  race ;  whence  they 
 are  styled  by  the  heathen  poets  Hesiod  and 
 Homer,- — pepoirsq  a,v6pw7rot9  u  men  endued  with 
 46  articulate  speech” — And  as  the  Septuagint 
 rendering:  is  sanctioned  bv  the  New  Testa - 
 meui  also,  (Acts  ii.  26’,)  I  have  not  hesitated 
 to  adopt  it,  with  the  Geneva  Bible. 
 
 10.  Instead  of  the  present  Masoretic  read¬ 
 ing,  "]*YDn,  “  tliy  saints f  the  singular,  *]TDi"T, 
 66  thy  saint f  is  supported,  1.  by  the  Septua¬ 
 gint  version,  and  by  Acts  ii.  27,  and  xiii.  35  : 
 all  rendering  it,  tov  ccriov  crx. — -2.  By  the 
 Chaldee  paraphrase,  the  Vulgate ,  the  Syriac , 
 the  Ethiopia ,  and  the  Arabic. — 3.  By  many 
 printed  editions,  with  Vander- TIogh ts,  repre¬ 
 senting  the  latter  jod  (or  mark  of  the  plural 
 
 number) 
 
 1 
 
number)  as  redundant:  and  by  the  lien,  or 
 various  readings  of  others,  exhibiting  the 
 singular,  *]TPn,  in  the  margin.  —  And,  4. 
 by  no  less  than  180  MSS.  of  Kennicoti* s 
 collation  ;  and  100  MSS.  of  De  Rossis  ad¬ 
 ditional  collation,  most  of  them  Spanish ,  and 
 of  the  first  authority :  and,  to  crown  all,  by 
 5.  the  present  Masoretic  pointing,  — 
 exhibiting  the  proper  punctuation  of  the  sin¬ 
 gular  number,  instead  of  the  plural;  which 
 ought  to  be  pointed,  T7?l],  as  in  1  Cl  iron, 
 vi.  41.  And  this  last  argument  infallibly 
 convicts  the  Masorite  editors  themselves  of 
 a  palpable  forgery,  and  ill-disguised  inter-" 
 polation  of  the  latter  jod,  in  order  to  evade 
 the  irresistible  force  of  this  prophetic  attest¬ 
 ation  of  the  singular  number,  to  the  signal 
 resurrection  of  the  only  true  “  Saint,” 
 Jesus  Christ,  “  without  seeing ”  or  expe¬ 
 riencing  66  corruption  ”  or  putrefaction  :  ac¬ 
 cording  to  the  joint  argument  of  the  two 
 apostles  Peter  and  Paul :  that  the  text  was 
 applicable  to  Christ  alone,  and  not  to  Da¬ 
 vid ,  “  who  died ,  and  was  buried ,  and  saw 
 46 corruption .” — N*B.  The  notorious  adul¬ 
 teration,  therefore,  of  this  prophecy  by  the 
 
 d  2  Jews, 
 
 i 
 
Jews,  strongly  supports  uiy  former  argu¬ 
 ment,  to  prove  the  adulteration  of  Balaams 
 famous  prophecy  respecting  the  Mes¬ 
 siah,  Numb.  xxiv.  7-  rl  he  singular 
 -JTDn,  “  thy  Saint/'  pre-eminently,  is 
 also  applied  to  the  Messiah,  Ps.  lxxxvi. 
 1.  The  Hebrew  Sheol ,  rendered 
 
 by  the  Septuagint  and  the  New  Testament 
 'a Syg,  signifies  the  residence  of  departed  souls , 
 as  distinguished  from  the  sepulchre  or  grave , 
 the  receptacle  of  their  bodies .  It  contained 
 the  mansions  of  the  good,  as  well  as  of  the 
 wicked  spirits  of  men,  between  their  death 
 and  resurrection;  though  separated  from 
 each  other  by  an  impassable  gulf.  See  the 
 parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus ,  Luke 
 xvi.  20,  and  our  Saviour’s  promise  to  the 
 penitent  thief  on  the  cross:  46  To-day  Jhalt 
 thou  be  with  me  in  paradise  f  Luke  xxxiii. 
 43,  where  the  souls  of  Abraham  and  the 
 faithful  remain,  for  a  season,  until  their  re¬ 
 surrection  in  glorified  bodies. 
 
 11.  The  finest  comment,  perhaps,  on  this 
 verse,  is  furnished  by  the  apostle  Peter,  Acts 
 in. 32,  33. — “  This  Jesus,  God  raised  upf 
 “  whereof  zve  all  are  witnesses.  Therefore , 
 
 44  having 
 
' 
 
 37 
 
 “  having  been  exalted  at  the  right  [ hand ]  of 
 “  God  [in  the  highest  heavens]  f  Sec.  See 
 Heb.  i.  3.  And  to  prove  that  this  transcend- 
 ant  exaltation  could  not  possibly  be  under¬ 
 stood  of  Davids  he  adds;  u  for  David  did 
 “  not  ascend  into  the  heavens f  &c. 
 
 And  as  an  inference  from  the  whole  of 
 this  argument,  I  will  conclude  with  the  words 
 of  the  apostle :  “  Therefore ,  let  all  the  house 
 of  Israel  know *  assuredly ,  that  God  made 
 “  this  same  Jesus,  whom  ye  crucified,  both 
 *  Lord  and  Christ/' 
 
 d  3 
 
 D  I S- 
 
SB 
 
 DISSERTATION  III. 
 
 ON  THE  INTRODUCTION  OP  THE  EPISTLE 
 
 TO  THE  HEBREWS. 
 
 I  no.w  proceed  to  examine  the  Introduction 
 of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in 
 which  is  cited  that  notable  attestation  to  the 
 divinity  of  Christ  :  u  Thy  Throne ,  O  God,” 
 &c.  Ps.  xlv.  6,  which  properly  terminates 
 (according  to  Bowyers  judicious  division,  in 
 his  edition  of  the  Greek  Testament)  chap, 
 ii.  4. 
 
 The  ablest  critics,  ancient  and  modern, 
 Clemens  Alexandrinus ,  Emelins ,  Origen,Scc . 
 Michaelis ,  J l  et stein ,  Lordlier,  Sc c.  support 
 the  decision  oi  our  Church,  that  this  epistle 
 (which  has  won  the  admiration  of  ‘the  pro- 
 foundest  scholars  and  soundest  divines,  and 
 even  extorted  the  commendation  of  the  most 
 learned  Jewish  Rabbins)  was  the  composition 
 of  St.  Paul; — addressed,  in  the  first  in¬ 
 stance,  to  the  native  Jewish  converts  in  Jo 
 rusalem  and  Palestine ,  who  are  called  He¬ 
 brews, 
 
brews,  Acts  vi.  1,  to  keep  them  stedfast  in 
 the  faith  of  Christ.  Compare  Ileb.  ii. 
 1 — 4,  and  lii.  1,  and  vi.  1 — 9?  and  x.  23-^  275 
 and  xiii.  17' — 24, — written  from  Rome,  or 
 some  part  of  Italy,  about,  or  shortly  after 
 the  close  of  his  two  years’ confinement,  end¬ 
 ing  A.  D.  63.  Compare  Acts  xxviii.  50,  and 
 Heb.  xiii.  23,  24,  with  2  Tim.  iv.  9?  2  Cor. 
 i.  1,  Coloss.  i.  1,  Philerm  i. — and,  like  all  his 
 other  epistles,  in  Greek ,  the  universal  lan¬ 
 guage  of  that  age.  And  it  is  strange,  how 
 such  respectable  scholars  as  Grot  ins  and 
 Michaelis ,  with  several  in  their  train,  Ha  Met, 
 Wakefield ,  Newcome ,  Raley,  & c.  could  adopt 
 a  notion  of  some  of  the  earlier  Fathers, 
 Clemens  Alexandrians 5  Origen ,  &c.  that  be¬ 
 cause  the  epistle  was  addressed  to  the  He¬ 
 brews,  it  must  have  been  originally  written 
 in  Ileb  rew ;  and  was  afterwards  translated 
 by  Luke ,  the  Evangelist,  Clemens  Romanus , 
 or  some  other,  into  Greek!  A  fancy  so  un¬ 
 founded,  and  so  disgraceful  to  this  mighty 
 master  of  Grecian  as  well  as  Jewish  literature, 
 under  whose  auspices  his  assistant  Luke ,  the 
 faithful  companion  of  his  latter  travels,  and 
 of  his  residence  at  Home ,  2  Tim.  iv.  11, 
 
 D  4  might 
 
40 
 
 might  much  rather  be  supposed  to  have  de¬ 
 rived  his  own  proficiency  in  the  Greek  lan¬ 
 guage,  See  Owen ,  Whitby ,  Wetstein ,  and 
 Lardner ,  who  have  ably  vindicated  the  ori- 
 ginality  of  the  present  Greek  epistle.  And, 
 indeed,  the  remarkable  coincidence  in  ex¬ 
 pression  and  phraseology,  as  well  as  in  sen¬ 
 timent  and  doctrine,  between  this  and  the 
 latest  and  noblest  of  Paul' s  epistles,  fur¬ 
 nishes  internal  evidence  the  most  decisive 
 and  satisfactory  thereof ;  such  as  “  The 
 “  God  of  Peace,’"  Iieb.  xiii.  found  also, 
 Rom.  xv.  33,  and  xvi.  20;  2  Cor.  xiii.  11, 
 Phil.  iv.  93  1  Thess.  v.  23.  Jesus,  u  the 
 “  Mediatok,”  Heb.  viii,  6,  and  ix.  15, 
 and  xii.  24  ;  found  also,  Galat.  iii.  19,  20, 
 1  Tim.  ii.  5,  and  no  where  else  in  the  New 
 Testament. 
 
 Why  this  epistle  is  anonymous  in  respect 
 of  its  author;  why  Paul  did  not  style 
 himself  66  an  Apostle”  as  in  his  other  epistles 
 addressed  to  the  Gentile  converts  (though  he 
 evidently  did  not  wish  to  conceal  himself, 
 from  his  styling  Timothy  S  cdieXQo?,  “  the  bro - 
 u  they  A  as  in  his  acknowledged  epistles,  and 
 also  from  his  concluding  with  the  usual  salu* 
 
 tation, 
 
41 
 
 tation,  “  Grace  be  with  you  all ,  Amen  ”  as 
 elsewhere,  2  Thess.  iii.  17,  18),  is  best  ex¬ 
 plained,  perhaps,  by  Clemens  Alexandrinus . 
 
 • — “  Because  our  Lord  was  pre-eminently 
 “  the  Apostle  of  the  Hebrews,  sent 
 “  by  the  Almighty  to  them,  in  the  first 
 “  instance;  therefore  Pau  l  declined,  through 
 modesty  or  humility,  to  assume  the  titled' 
 • — See  Lardner ,  vol.  ii.  p.  211,  and  vi.  p.  411, 
 last  edit. — And  this  perfectly  accords  with 
 that  apostle's  doctrine,  sty  ling  Jesus  Christ 
 “  Minister  of  the  Circumcision”  Horn.  xv.  8. 
 And  in  this  very  epistle,  “  The  Apostle  and 
 “  High  Priest  of  our  profession ,”  Heb.  iii.  1, 
 according  to  the  tenor  of  the  Old  Testa¬ 
 ment,  in  which  He  was  styled  Shiloh,  or 
 the  Apostle ,"  Gen.  xlix.  10,  alluded  to, 
 Exod.  iv.  IS,  Isa.  viii.  6,  and  xlviii.  16*,  John 
 ix.  7;  and  66  Faithful  High  Priest," 
 1  Sam.  ii.  35,  whose  functions  are  so  finely 
 explained,  Ps.  cx.  4,  Zech,  vi,  13;  and  still 
 ;more  minutely  and  circumstantially  in  this 
 epistle  also,  Heb.  v.  10,  11;  and  in  chapters 
 vii.  and  viii*  throughout,  stating  the  infinite 
 superiority  of  the  Evangelical  above  all  for- 
 frier  dispensations,  in  the  transcendant  exalt¬ 
 ation 
 
ation  of  u  the  author  and,  finisher  of  our 
 “ faith fi  Jesus  Cueist,  not  only  above 
 Moses ,  Heb.  iii.  3 — 6,  bnt  even  above  the 
 angels  themselves,  as  shewn  in  the  Intro¬ 
 duction. 
 
 I  shall  first  propose  an  emendation  of  our 
 public  translation  of  the  Introduction,  and 
 then  endeavour  to  illustrate  and  support  it. 
 
 INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  EPISTLE  TO 
 
 THE  HEBREWS. 
 
 Chap.  I.  1.  Cod,  having  in  divers  de¬ 
 grees  and  sundry  ways  [of  Re¬ 
 velation]  spoken,  of  old,  unto 
 the  patriarchs  in  the  Prophets, 
 did,  in  these  last  days,  speak 
 
 2.  unto  Us,  in  a  Son;  whom  He 
 appointed  Heir  of  all,  through 
 whom  also  He  made  the  worlds: 
 
 3.  Who,  (being  an  effulgence  of 
 His  glory,  and  an  impress  of 
 His  subsistence,  and  upholding 
 the  universe  by  the  oracle  of  I 
 His  power),  when  he  had, 
 through  himself,  made  purifi¬ 
 cation  of  our  sins,  sat  down  at 
 
 .the 
 
43 
 
 f 
 
 the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty 
 
 4.  on  high :  becoming  so  much 
 better  than  the  angels ,  inas¬ 
 much  as  He  hath  inherited  a 
 
 > 
 
 more  excellent  name  than  they. 
 
 5.  For,  unto  which  of  the  angels 
 said  [He]  at  any  time;  44  Thou 
 44  art  my  Son ,  this  day  have  I 
 44  begotten  Thee”  (Ps.  ii.  7?) 
 and  again,  44  I  will  be  to  Him 
 44  a  Father ;  and  Tie  shall  be 
 44  to  7ne  a  Son.”  2  Sam.  vii.  14. 
 
 6.  Moreover,  when  [He]  again 
 introduced*  44  the  First-born ” 
 (Ps.  lxxxix.  27?  Rev.  i.  5,  Rom. 
 viii.  29?)  into  the  world.  He 
 saith  :  44  And  let  all  the  angels 
 44  of  God  worship  Him A  Psal. 
 xcvii.  7* 
 
 7-  And  concerning  the  angels , 
 saith  [Scripture] ; 64  Whomaketh 
 44  his  angels ,  winds;  and  his 
 44  ministers  a  f  ame  of  fire.” 
 
 8.  (Ps.  civ.  4.)  But  concerning 
 44  the  Son  :  44  Thy  throne ,  O 
 * 4  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever ; 
 
 44  a 
 
44 
 
 u  a  sceptre  of  equity  is  the 
 
 9.  “  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom :  Thou 
 “  hast  loved  righteousness  and 
 “  hated  iniquity ;  therefore 
 “  God ,  God ,  anointed  Thee 
 
 “  oi/  of  gladness  above  thy 
 “  fellows."  (Ps.  xlv.  6,  7.) 
 
 10.  Also;  “  Thou,  Lord ,  at  first, 
 “  didst  found  the  earth , 
 
 “  the  heavens  are  works  of  thy 
 
 11.  “  hands:  “  They  shall  perish , 
 
 12.  64  77*o m  endurest ;  and  as  a 
 
 “  garment  shall  they  all  wax 
 “  old ,  and  as  a  mantle  shaft 
 u  Thou  fold  them  up,  and  they 
 “  shall  be  changed;  but  Thou  art 
 “  the  same,  and  thy  years  shall 
 “  not  fail”  (Ps.  cli.  25 — 27.) 
 
 13.  But  concerning  which  of  the 
 angels,  said  [He]  at  any  time: 
 66  Sit  Thou  on  my  right  hand 
 “  until  I  make  thine  enemies 
 “  a  footstool  for  thy  feet 
 (Ps.  cx.  1.) 
 
 14.  Are  they  not  all  officiating; 
 spirits,  sent  forth  unto  minis¬ 
 trations 
 
45 
 
 tration,  for  the  sake  of  them 
 who  are  to  inherit  salvation? 
 
 Chap.  II.  1.  For  this  cause,  we  ought  the 
 
 more  earnestly  to  attend  unto 
 [the  doctrines]  which  we  have 
 ^  heard  ;  lest  at  any  time  we 
 swerve : 
 
 2.  For,  since  the  oracle  spoken 
 through  angels  became  firm, 
 and  every  trangression  and 
 
 ,  disobedience  received  condign 
 
 3.  retribution  ;  how  shall  we 
 escape  if  we  neglect  so  great 
 salvation  ? 
 
 Which,  having  at  first  be¬ 
 gun  to  be  spoken  through  the 
 Lord,  was  confirmed  unto 
 us  by  the  hearers:  God  giv¬ 
 ing  further  witness  thereto  by 
 signs  and  wonders,  and  by 
 various  powers  and  distribu¬ 
 tions  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
 according  to  his  own  will. 
 
 remarks. 
 
46 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 I.  1.  In  the  magnificent  opening  of  this 
 epistle,  the  last,  the  noblest,  and  most 
 highly  finished  of  all  his  compositions, 
 the  apostle  represents  'O  ,©EO£,  “  the 
 “  God  supreme,”  as  the  Original 
 Author  and  Giver  of  all  Revelation; 
 conformably  to  the  whole  tenor  of 
 Holy  Writ ,  and  of  Jewish  philosophy. 
 Hence  He  is  styled  “  The  Father 
 “  of  Lights,”  James  i.  17,  who 
 “  spake  through  the  mouth  of  his  holy 
 “  prophets ,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
 44  world f  Luke  i.  7*  For  64  No  Pro - 
 44  phecy  is  of  private  suggestion  :  since 
 u  Prophecy  was  not  uttered  at  any 
 44  time  by  human  volition ;  but  the  Holy 
 44  men  of  God  spake,  impelled  by  the 
 “  Holy  Spirit/’  2  Pet.  i.  21. 
 
 And  Philo  the  Jew  declares  : 
 
 npGQyjTTjs  yap  diov  pev  aSev  a,7?o(pSeyy£- 
 TDUy  CtXXoTplX  $S  'STOCVTOiy  V7TVjX^vrc^  £T£pX. 
 
 <&uv\oo  <T  #  Ssptg  sppsvei  yeyetrdca  Sex' 
 &>s*6  xvpiug,  poyfinpot;  aSetg  evdisrix,  povc*)  Js 
 <TQ$U  TCKVT  ttpUppLOTTZl,  £1 T£t  KCit  pQV0£  0p~ 
 
 yotvov 
 
47 
 
 <c 
 
 (6 
 
 a 
 
 yavov  ©££  Cfw  ‘yjX*sv>  xpvopmv  j tou  'urXijr- 
 
 TOpBVOV  UODOCTCCg  U7T  Al)?X, 
 
 Quis  Rerum  Divin .  Hares .  p.  404. 
 
 66  For  a  prophet  utter eth  nothing  of 
 “  fo's  oow,  but  things  altogether  fo- 
 “  reign,  by  the  suggestion  of  another 
 u  Being.  It  is  not  fit  for  a  bad  man 
 “  to  become  an  interpreter  of  God  : 
 so  that,  absolutely,  no  vile  person  is 
 inspired  ;  since  this  privilege  is 
 adapted  to  the  wise  alone,  who  is 
 only  an  organ  of  God,  sounding, 
 “  beat  and  struck  by  Him  invisibly  ” 
 
 He  nee,  w  i  th  the_B ishops  Bi  bie(  1 5 7 7)* 
 I  have  rendered  tv  rag  TzrgotpYjTc&ig,  44  in 
 ;  the  prophets  ,”  rather  than  66  by  — 
 which  is  a  more  appropriate  rendering 
 of  urn ;  as  in  the  phrase,  ro  ^9sv  Tno 
 tk  Kuf/tf  AIA  'urgctpvjTb f,  44  spoken  by 
 
 “  the  Lord,  through  the  prophet.’5 
 Matt.  i.  22. 
 
 God  indeed  “  spake  in  or  through 
 “  his  holy  prophets,  of  old,”  woXvpsgag, 
 “  in  divers  degrees'  of  clearness  and 
 compass ;  and  'zroXoTpoTrug,  “  in  sundry 
 46  ways  ”  or  modes  of  communication, 
 
 through- 
 
4S 
 
 $• 
 
 throughout  the  patriarchal  and  Jewish 
 dispensations,  from  Enoch ,  the  first  of 
 the  prophets  on  record,  to  Malaclii y 
 the  last  of  the  Jewish  canon ;  until 
 that  clearest  and  fullest  66  Revelation 
 “  of  Jesus  Christ  whic h  God  gave 
 “  llimf  Rev.  i.  1,  during  66  the  last” 
 or  evangelical  dispensation  ;  which 
 sealed  up'  or  closed  “  vision  and 
 “  prophecy”  Dan.  ix.  24.  Altogether 
 composing  that  various  and  compli¬ 
 cated  scheme  of  Revelation,  which  the 
 apostle  elsewhere  styles,  rj  TroXvTroiKtXog 
 co(ptoc  tv  Qev,  “  the  manifold  wisdom  of 
 “  God f  Ephes.  iii.  30,  thus  elegantly 
 combining  in  the  epithet  '&o\v7roixiXog 
 the  import  of  the  preceding  'sroXvpegcos 
 and  'Bro\vTpo7rws. 
 
 2.  To  mark  the  superiority  of  the  great 
 “  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  Faith  f 
 
 e 
 
 Ileb.  xii.  2,  above  all  foregoing  pro* 
 phets,  the  apostle  represents  him  :  1. 
 Not  as  a  servant ,  but  above  a  servant , 
 a  Son  beloved  ;  and  by  a  noble  cli¬ 
 max,  rises  to  his  high  prerogatives ; 
 2.  not  only  after ,  but  3.  before  his 
 
 incarna- 
 
49 
 
 incarnation  ;  —  Whom  66  He  ap~ 
 
 44  pointed  Heir  of  All,”  as  fore- 
 
 \ 
 
 told  of  Him  in  Holy  Writ :  66  Ari.se, 
 
 44  0  God ,  and  judge  the  earth  ;  for 
 “  Thou  shalt  inherit  all  the  nations ,” 
 Ps.  lxxxii.  8.  And  our  Lord  himself 
 declares:  46  The  Father  judgeth  no  one , 
 46  Himself ;  but  hath  given  the  whole 
 “ judgment  unto  the  Son ;  to  the  end 
 46  that  all  should  honour  the  Son ,  ac- 
 <4  cording  as  they  honour  the  Father  : 
 “  He  that  honoureth  not  the  Son,  ho - 
 “  noureth  not  the  Father  who  sent 
 “  Him,”  John  v.  22.  This  was  before 
 his  resurrection ;  and  he  repeats  again 
 after  his  resurrection,64/!//  authority 
 66  was  given  to  Me  in  heaven  and  upon 
 46  earth,”  Matt,  xxviii.  18. 
 
 46  Through  whom  also  he  made  the 
 m  worlds .” — 66  The  worlds ”  (rs^  ociuvuq) 
 here  denote  64  the  heavens  and  the 
 46  earth,”  Gen.  i.  1,  as  in  the  parallel 
 passage ;  46  By  Faith,  we  understand 
 46  that  the  worlds  (r*g  cuuvug)  were 
 46  framed  by  the  oracle  of  God:  to  in- 
 timate,  that  the  visible  [creation] 
 
 E  44  v?a* 
 
50 
 
 64  was  not  made  of  [material]  phceno- 
 menu  ” — i.  e.  was  not  fortuitously 
 composed  of  eternally  pre-existing 
 atoms ,  or  solid  particles  of  matter,  ac¬ 
 cording  to  the  Atheistical,  Epicurean 
 philosophy  of  latter  ages,  Heb.  xi.  3. 
 See  Py/e,  and  Ixosenmiiller . — This  is 
 supported  by  2  Mac.  vii.  28.  A <rs, 
 rzxvov,  otvccCXetyocvTci  etg  tov  vpccvov  xcct  tvjv 
 yy\ v,  kcu  to,  ev  xvroig  iSovtx,  yvcavoci,  on 
 
 OVTtoV  e7T0nf]CT£V  OiVTOi  0  ©£0£,  KOll  TO  TCOV 
 
 av9pci)7rtt)v  ysvog  iroo  yeysvyjTxi.  “  I  en- 
 u  treat  thee ,  my  Son ,  when  thou  lookest 
 “  upon  the  heaven  and  the  earth ,  to 
 “  know ,  that  God  made  them  out  of 
 “  non-existing  [materials]  ;  and  so 
 “  was  the  human  race  made  likewise .” 
 And  accordingly  Philo ,  speaking  of 
 the  framing;  of  the  visible  heaven  and 
 earth,  observes  :  rep  yoc g  'srsprpxi/sg'xnp 
 xxi  rviXocvyeg’a.Tto  ecturv  A oyco,  pvjpuTi,  o 
 Ozog  upLfporepx  t&oizi.  u  For ,  by  his  most 
 “  illustrious  and  most  glorious  Logos, 
 fi‘  hie  Oracle,  God  made  them 
 ^  both." — Lcgis  Allegor .  lib.  i.  p.  33. 
 In  this  remarkable  passage,  the  Jewish 
 
 philosopher 
 
51 
 
 philosopher  has  combined  together  the 
 synonymous  phrases  of  o  Xcyog  tv  ©£#, 
 2  Pet.  iii.  5,  John  i.  1,  2,  arid  gypa, 
 Heb.  xi.  3,  Luke  iii.  2,  whom 
 Philo  personifies,  like  these  apostles, 
 throughout  his  works.  In  the  Rab¬ 
 binical  writings,  God  is  also  styled, 
 D’Dbiy  66  Creator  of  the  zvorlds;’ 
 
 — meaning  thereby,  PITH  Dbiy,  “  This 
 “  world f  or  btti rJT\  D^iy,  66  the  lower 
 “  world  f  i.  e.  the  earth ;  and 
 
 “  the  upper  world ;  i.  e.  the 
 heavens .  And  the  terms  ouuv  and  ouuveg 
 are  frequently  rendered  by  and 
 
 its  plural  in  the  Septuagint  version. 
 (See  Trommius  Concord.)  These  ob¬ 
 servations  will,  I  trust,  sufficiently  esta¬ 
 blish  the  orthodox  translation,  and  re~ 
 fute  the  Socinian  and  Unitarian  ren¬ 
 derings  in  this  place,  Tvg  aiwoi$y — “  the 
 “  ages f  or  dispensations. 
 
 3.  In  the  parenthetical  clause  of  this 
 verse,  the  apostle  proceeds  more  fully 
 to  unfold  the  divine  character  of  Jesus 
 Christ;  styling  him,  1.  otiroL^yoca-^a 
 
 tvj;  Sofa,  KCU  ‘X>a,()CL}lTV]()  TTjg  \J7TQ£a,(T£U  S 
 
 E  2 
 
 ccjvfc. 
 
52 
 
 uutv. — ■“  An  effulgence  (or  ray)  of  Hi# 
 “  (the  Father’s)  glory ,  and  an  impress 
 “  of  His  subsistence  A — And  this  mag¬ 
 nificent  imagery  is  familiar  to  the  sa¬ 
 cred  penman,  and  also  to  the  early 
 Jewish  writers  :  —  “  We  beheld  His 
 “  (Christ's)  glory ,  a  glory  suitable  to 
 “  the  only  genuine  son ,  [proceeding] 
 “  from  the  Father John  i.  14.  “  Hav - 
 “  ///o'  been  made  eye-witnesses  of  his 
 “  majesty ,”  2  Pet.  i.  16, — i.  e.  at  his 
 transfiguration,  Matt.  xvii.  2  ;  and  he 
 appeared  after  his  ascension  to  Paul, 
 Acts  ix.  3 — 5,  and  to  John ,  Rev.  i. 
 12 — 17- — The  writer  of  the  Wisdom 
 of  Solomon ,  also,  in  terms  nearly  si¬ 
 milar  to  the  present,  describes  Wis¬ 
 dom  personified,  vii.  25.  Atto^oiu  tt;; 
 
 TV  n OCVT0K()UT0g0q  SofcvjS  Sl\lKpiV7]S - A770t\J- 
 
 yotcrpct  (purog  octStu.  “  A  pure  emanation 
 “  of  the  Almighty’s  glory’ y — “  an  ef- 
 “  ful genre  of  eternal  light  A — And  the 
 following  sublime  passage  of  Philo  is 
 worthy  of  the  evangelical  writers  : — 
 llpurcv  psv  o  Qsog  pug — ycou  v  povov  (pug, 
 aWa  yccti  TsrotvTig  trzpv  puTog  (xd^tottov — 
 
 TO 
 
53 
 
 to  ptv  yu(>  'srciguSeiypx  o  'srXyj^aTo;  rjv 
 ccvtv  Xoyog  (pug,  ctVToq  Se  xSevi  tuv  yeyo - 
 votuv  opoicg.  De  So7?miis ,  p.  448. 
 
 “  Primarily,  God  is  light — and  not 
 “  only  light ,  but  also  the  archetype  of 
 i€  every  other  light — For  his  resem - 
 “  blance  is  that  fullest  light,  the  oracle: 
 “  But  He  himself  is  like  nothing  that 
 “  Aas  Am*  made.”  And  perhaps  the 
 apostle  might  have  borrowed  his  idea 
 of  a  character  or  impress,  and  the  term 
 itself,  from  the  following  beautiful 
 passage  of  Philo,  happily  preserved  by 
 Eusebius,  Prcepar.  Evangel,  lib.  vii. 
 §  18. 
 
 AXX*  ot  pev  uXXoi,  Tyg  atQeftv  (pvcreug  tijv 
 ypeTSpatv  vvv  poipotv  enrovTE g  etvott,  <rvyye- 
 veiolv  t »  ccv6^u7ra  Tirgog  ctiOe^a.  (rw^uv*  o  St 
 peyug  M uxrvjg  vSevi  tuv  ysyovoruv  ryg  Xo- 
 yocrjg  to  siSog  upotuo’Ev,  ccXX  umv 
 
 ccVTrjv  tv  §eiv  J cut  ctop xtt&  TlvevpoiTog  exsiw 
 Soxipov  Eivoti  vopiG" pot,  cypsiudev  xoa  TU7ru- 
 6ev  S4>PAriAI  0EOT-  *H£  *0  XAPAK- 
 THP  EETIN  ‘O  AIAIOS  AOrOE. 
 
 u  Other  [philosophers]  indeed, when 
 “  they  say,  that  our  mind  is  a  particle 
 
 ]E  3  “  of 
 
 \ 
 
u  of  the  aetherial  nature,  assumed  an 
 “affinity  between  man  and  aether: 
 “  but  the  great  Moses  likened  the  form 
 “  of  the  human  soul  to  nothing  that 
 “  has  been  made,  but  said,  that  it  was 
 “  an  approved  coin  of  that  divine  and 
 “  invisible  spirit ,  stamped  and  impressed 
 “  with  God  s  seal ;  of  which  the  eternal 
 “  oracle  is  the  impress” 
 
 The  third  and  last  member  of  the 
 parenthesis,  (peguv  re  toc  'stocvtoc  tv 
 T7]$  Svvapsvg  Autx,  u  And  lip - 
 6 6  holding  the  universe  by  the  oracle  of 
 “  II is  power f  aftords  the  liveliest  re¬ 
 presentation  of  the  stability  of  the 
 Son's  delegated  sovereignty,  according 
 to  Ps.  lxxv.  3,  “  The  earth  is  zveak 
 “  and  all  its  inhabitants  ;  1  bear  up  the 
 “  pillars  thereof.” — And  Philo  applies 
 the  same  imagery  to  the  same  person¬ 
 age  :  De  plant  at .  Noe .  A  oyog  <5s  utSiog 
 Gev  at  was  to  o^v^vtcctov  nut  fce&ou- 
 
 COTUTOV  TV V  oXw  S^lCTgOt 
 
 66  The  eternal  oracle  of  the  everlasU 
 “  ing  God  is  the  surest  and  firmest 
 “  bulwark  of  the  universe.” 
 
 How 
 
/ 
 
 55 
 
 How  different  was  Moses  (the  oracle 
 of  the  Judaizing  Christians,  whose  in¬ 
 stitutions  they  prized  above  the  Gos¬ 
 pel,  Acts  xv.  1— 29)5  who  thus  la¬ 
 mented  his  inability  to  sustain  the  load 
 of  government :  “  And  Moses  said 
 “  unto  the  Lord, w  herefore  hastThou 
 “  afflicted  thy  servant ! — I  am  not  able 
 “  to  bear  all  this  people  alone,  for  it  is 
 “  too  heavy  for  me.3’  Numb.  xi.  12 — 14. 
 But  “  in  Christ  all  things  consist  ” 
 Coloss.  i.  17. 
 
 5.  To  mark  the  superiority  of  Jesus 
 Christ  above  the  angels ,  in  person 
 and  offices,  the  apostle  adduces  several 
 citations  from  the  prophetic  psalms, 
 declaratory  thereof:  1.  Prom  the  se¬ 
 cond  Psalm ;  in  which  the  inspired 
 David  records  the  triumph  of  Cii  rist 
 on  his  resurrection  over  all  his  foes, 
 “  when  he  was  ordained  Son  or  God 
 “  in  power ,  according  to  the  spirit  if 
 “  holiness ,  on  his  resurrection  from  the 
 “  deadf  Rom.  i.  4,  when,  to  leward 
 his  unparalleled  humiliation  in  “  ex- 
 “  hamting  himself  of  his  divine  form 
 
 e  4  “  (or 
 
56 
 
 “  (or  the  glory  which  He  had  with 
 44  the  Father,  before  the  founda- 
 u  tion  of  the  world),  and  assuming  a 
 44  servile  form ,  and  being  born  in  the 
 44  likeness  of  men;  and  his  consummate 
 44  obedience  unto  death ,  even  death  by 
 44  crucifixion  ;  therefore  God  also 
 44  transcendantly  exalted  him  (ibrspu^ 
 “  and  bestowed  on  Him  the 
 
 44  name  above  every  name  ;  that  at  the 
 44  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should 
 44  bow ,  of  celestial ,  terrestrial ,  a/r/  i/i- 
 44  femal  beings ,  a/irf  every  tongue  pro- 
 “  Jess,  that  Jesus  Christ  w  Lord, 
 46  /o  God  the  Father's  glory” — 
 That  44  new  name '  or  authority,  which 
 no  one  knoweth  the  extent  and  compass 
 of  but  himself — 44  written ,”  or  recorded 
 in  heaven,  44  King  of  Kings  and 
 44  Lord  of  Lords,”  conferred  on 
 him  by  44  the  Lord  God  Omni- 
 44  potent’  —  the  King  of  the 
 reigning  [Kings]  and  Lord  of 
 the  ruling  [Lords] — 44  the  God 
 44  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Je- 
 *4  sus  Christ” — the  One  God 
 
 and 
 
57 
 
 and  Father  of  all  ;  who  is 
 
 ABOVE  ALL  ANP  IN  US  ALL. 
 Compare  in  the  original,  Phil.ii.6 — 11  , 
 Rev.  xix.  16,  and  1  Tim.  vi.  15,  and 
 Ephes.  i.  20—23,  Col.  i.  13—18, 
 Hence  God  is  “  to  Christ  a  Fa- 
 “  the R,”  2  Sam,  vii.  14,  in  a  “  pecu - 
 “  liar'  and  more  excellent  Sense 
 •srccTsgu),  as  explained  John  v.  18,  and 
 “  viii.  54,  and  x.  33 — 36,  and  xx.  17* 
 
 i 
 
 And  “  Christ  his  only  genuine  *  Son 
 — (o  povoywris)  as  Isaac  was  styled,  in 
 opposition  to  his  spurious  brother,  IsIh 
 maeU  Heb.  xi.  17?  as  appears  Gen.  xxi. 
 10,  Galat.  iv,  30 ;  so  well  explained 
 in  Aristides  the  sophist's  oration,  in 
 praise  of  Minerva ,  the  heathen  god¬ 
 dess  of  Wisdom  (who  flourished  A.  D. 
 176,  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Au¬ 
 relius  ) ,  in  the  following  passage,  which 
 strongly  resembles  Solomons  descrip¬ 
 tion  of  primaeval  wisdom  personified, 
 Prov.  viii.  22 — 31,  and  the  tenor  of 
 this  Introduction ,  and  of  the  Intros 
 Ruction  of  John's  G  ospel ; 
 
 T* 
 
58 
 
 Ta  tpccvtuv  PygMoyu  kou  QccariXiug  zroag 
 
 (ft  pOVVJ  $Y]  p.OVU*  '6  yOL(>  SlXsy  GTtf  CfJLOTl^ tig 
 •BTOlYlG’&liV  UlTYJV'  GtXX  OCVdXup'K(Ta'^  CCVTOg  et£ 
 avTGVy  avTog  *  aura  ysvvoc,  re  kou  Tiuret 
 Tvjv  &EQV*  Gogs  sg“i  MONH  BEBAIX1S  FNH- 
 XIA  TOT  nATPOS  e£  «r«  KUl  OpoXo- 
 yxvTog  sctVTh)  tx  ysvvg  yevousvyj — Tliv^apog 
 F  civ  (pyjtri,  AEHIAN  KATA  XEJPA  TO 
 IIATP02  ATTHN  KccGe^opevTjVy  rotg  ev- 
 t aXcog  t otg  Qeoig  ctTFaSsxso’Qcti'  ATFEaOT 
 MEN  TAP  EETI  ME1ZUN  *H  is,  tuv 
 etyyeXctv  ccXXoig  oiXXa,  e7nrccrTSi,  n tqmtvi 
 "sroc^cx.  tx  TtTdT^og  'arag&Xau&o&viSO'a.j  avQ 
 
 *EHHFH TOT  TINOS  rotg  §c oig  kou  avcx.- 
 y&ys&g,  otolv  kou  txtz  Ssvj. 
 
 44  Wisdom  is  the  only  daughter  of 
 u  the  only  Maker  and  King  of  all : 
 46  For  He  had  none  other  of  equal 
 r4  rank  with  Himself  on  whom  lie 
 44  could  produce  her ;  and  therefore 
 44  retiring  into  Himself,  He  begat  and 
 44  brought  forth  the  goddess  from 
 44  Himself ;  so  that  she  is  the  only 
 44 firmly  legitimate  offspring  of  the 
 44  Father ,  born  of  a  birth  equal  and 
 #{4  of  the  same  nature  with  Himself:’' — • 
 
 44  Concerning 
 
59 
 
 44  Concerning  her,  Pindar  also  saith, 
 44  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Fa - 
 44  ther ,  she  receiveth  his  commands  to 
 44  the  gods  :  For  she  is  greater  than 
 44  an  angel ;  and  delivereth  to  divers 
 44  of  the  angels  divers  orders,  first  re- 
 46  ceiving  them  herself  from  the  Fa- 
 44  ther  ;  acting  as  an  interpreter  and 
 44  introducer,  to  the  gods,  whenever 
 
 it  be  needful/'  Cudworth ,  Intellect. 
 Syst.  p.  487. 
 
 Surely  when  44  we  are  encompassed 
 44  with  su.ch  a  cloud  of  witnesses"  to 
 the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  44  who 
 44  (being  God  over  all )  is  blessed  for 
 44  evermore ,"  Rom.  ix.  5,  no  sober- 
 minded  44  Churchman,"  seeking  for 
 44  increase  of  faith  f  by  44  searching 
 44  the  original  Scriptures"  diligently — 
 can  question,  any  longer,  the  propriety 
 of  our  authorized' translation  of  Psal. 
 xlv.  6.  44  Thy  throne ,  O  God,  endureth 
 44  for  everf  &c.  as  applied  immedi¬ 
 ately  to  Jesus  Christ;  and  demon-? 
 46  strated,  indeed,  by  the  very  next 
 verse,  7 :  “  Therefore  God,  thy  God, 
 
 8  44  anointed 
 
 V 
 
60 
 
 u  anointed  tliee”  &c.  meaning  “the 
 “  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
 “  Jesus  Christ.*' — o  Qeog,  in  the 6th 
 verse  is  an  Attic  vocative  case,  most 
 frequently  used  in  the  Sept  no  gin  t  ver¬ 
 sion  ;  see  Trommius ; — t  hus,  Mark  xv. 
 54,  adopts  the  Septuagint  rendering  of 
 our  Lord's  exclamation  on  the  cross, 
 *0  0EOS  MOT,  fO  ©EOS  MOT,  ug  r; 
 pt  tyycccTB\i7reg  ;  which  Matt,  xxvii.  46, 
 more  correctly  renders,  ©EE  MOT, 
 ©EE  MOT,  tv ix.  tl  ps  iyx,ocTe\t7re: ;  My 
 44  God ,  My  Godr  why  hast  Thou  for-? 
 44  saken  me  ?” — And  as  o  Bsog  is  not 
 used  as  a  nominative  case,  where  the 
 verb  Xeyst  is  expressed,  throughout  the 
 whole  Introduction,  it  is  contrary  to 
 analogy,  that  it  should  be  so  used  on 
 this  occasion,  where  Xsyet  is  mistakenly 
 supposed  to  be  understood. 
 
 DIS- 
 
DISSERTATION  IV. 
 
 .  )  -  ‘ 
 
 ON  TIIE  ORIGINAL  PROPHECY  OF  CHRIST 
 THE  SON  OF  DAVID,  2  SAM.  vii.  1 - 15. 
 
 Of  the  several  prophecies  of  the  Old 
 Testament,  cited  as  peculiarly  charac¬ 
 teristic  of  the  Messiah  or  Christ,  and 
 exclusively  applied  to  Jesus  in  the  Intro¬ 
 duction  of  the  Epistle  to  the  He¬ 
 brews,  the  earliest  in  order  of  time,  and 
 the  most  important,  as  furnishing  the  ground¬ 
 work  of  the  rest,  is  that  celebrated  prophecy 
 of  the  Messiah’s  lineal  descent  from  JDa- 
 vid,  recorded  2  Sam.  vii.  1 — 15*,  and  again, 
 
 1  Chron. 
 
 *  The  two  Books  of  Samuel ,  in  the  Hebrew  Canon, 
 were  considered  as  one:  The  Talmudists  ( Bava  Bathra) 
 Kimchi,  suppose  that  Samuel  wrote  the  24  first  chapters 
 of  the  first  book ;  and  that  the  rest  were  supplied  by  Gad 
 and  Nathan,  on  the  authority  of  1  Chron.  xxix.  29- — To 
 undermine  the  evidence  of  these  important  books  (the  first 
 of  which  contains  Hannah's  first  or  earliest  prophecy  of 
 the  Messiah,  1  Sam.  ii.  10;  and  the  second,  this  of 
 his  descent  from  David ),  the  arch-infidel  Voltaire,  by  a 
 
 ludicrous 
 
1  Chron.  xvii.  1 — 14 :  so  understood  ,by  the 
 primitive  Jewish  Church*  and  believed  by 
 the  Jews  and  neighbouring  nations  in  our 
 Saviour’s  time  ; — whence  the  appellation  of 
 “  Son  of  David”  was  appropriated  to  the 
 Messiah  by  the  Pharisees,  Matt.  xxii.  42  ; 
 
 * — by  the  multitude,  Matt,  xii.22,  and  xxi.fri 
 - — and  by  the  Canaanitish  woman,  Matt.  xv. 
 28 :  and  the  prophecy  itself  was  expressly 
 applied  to  Jesus  by  the  archangel  Gabriel , 
 Luke  i.  32,  33  ;  and  by  the  apostle  Peter , 
 Acts  ii.  30 — 32  ;  and  by  the  Primitive  Fa¬ 
 thers,  Tertullian ,  Augustin ,  &c. 
 
 Wishing  to  evade  the  force  of  this  most 
 important  prophecy,  towards  establishing  the 
 descent  of  Jesus  Christ  from  David ,  “  ac- 
 “  cording  to  the  flesh,”  (Rom.  i.  3),  the  later 
 Jews  transfer  it  to  Solomon  solely ;  in  which 
 
 * 
 
 ludicrous  blunder  about  tbe  witch  of  Endor  (exposed  in 
 the  Inspector),  dates  them  so  low  as  the  time  of 
 Alexander  the  Great ; — and  is  followed  by  his  satellite 
 Paine ,  from  the  ancient  term  “  Seer1  applied  to  Samuel , 
 instead  of  the  more  modern  term  “prophet”  1  Sam.  ix.9* 
 A  passage  which  might  have  been  inserted,  in  later  times, 
 like  that  about  Moses,  Dent.  xxiv.  10,  without  invalidating 
 tbe  antiquity  of  tbe  books  themselves. 
 
 they 
 
 V 
 
63 
 
 they  have  been  followed  by  the  principal' 
 deistical  writers,  Collins ,  &c.  while  the  gene¬ 
 rality  of  Christian  divines  and  expositors 
 steer  a  middle  course ;  maintaining  a  double 
 sense  of  the  prophecy,  as  primarily  applicable 
 to  Solomon ,  the  immediate  son  of  David: 
 and  secondarily,  to  Jesus  Christ,  his  re- 
 mote  son,  or  descendant:  —  an  ambiguous 
 mode  of  interpretation,  which,  (in  the  present 
 instance,  at  least,)  I  apprehend,  is  equally 
 unsatisfactory  to  believers  and  infidels,  and 
 ruinous  to  the  rational  interpretation  of  Holy 
 Writ,  and,  consequently,  to  the  cause  of 
 genuine  Christianity. 
 
 The  supposed  reference  of  this  noble  pro r 
 phecy  to  Solomon ,  in  the  first  instance,  rests, 
 1.  On  the  general  resemblance  of  this  pro¬ 
 phecy  to  another,  recorded  1  Chron.  xxii. 
 7 — 13,  and  again,  ]  Chron.  xxviii.  2 — 7, 
 whose  appropriation  to  Solomon  is  unques¬ 
 tionable  ;  and  with  which  Josephus  plainly 
 blended  the  former,  Antiq.  7?  4,  4.  p.  290. 
 Hudson .  And  so  seems  Solomon  also,  1  Kings 
 viii.  19.  2.  On  the  authorized  translation 
 
 of  the  13th  verse  of  the  former  prophecy, 
 “  lj  he  commit  iniquity  I  will  chastize  him 
 
 u  with 
 
04 
 
 zyitli  the  rod  of  men ,  and  with  the  stripes  of 
 **  the  children  of  men  * — which  is  supported 
 by  all  the  ancient  versions,  the  Septuagint> 
 the  Syriac,  the  Vulgate,  the  Arabic ,  and  the 
 Chaldee  paraphrase  : — And  if  so,  it  is  justly 
 contended,  applies  not  to  Christ,  “  zvho  did 
 c<  no  sin,  neither  was  guile  found  in  his 
 u  mouth  ”  1  Pet.  ii.  22.  Whereas  it  fully 
 corresponds  to  Solomon,  who  “  did  evil  in  the 
 u  sight  of  the  Lord f  1  Kings  xi.  1 — 6,  and 
 “  with  whom  the  Lord  was  angry'  and 
 threatened  “  to  rend  the  kingdom  from  him.” 
 
 — 9- 
 
 But  however  specious  these  arguments, 
 they  will  be  found  wanting  in  solidity,  upon 
 a  more  critical  translation,  and  more  careful 
 comparison  of  the  two  prophecies ;  to  which 
 I  now  proceed : 
 
 THE  FORMER  PROPHECY. 
 
 2  sam.  vii.  1 — 15.  1  chron.  xvii.  1-14. 
 
 And  it  came  to  And  it  came  to 
 pass  when  the  king  pass,  when  David 
 dwelt  in  his  house,  dwelt  in  his  house, 
 and  the  Lord  had  that  David  said  unto 
 given  him  rest  from  Nathan  the  prophet: 
 
65 
 
 2  sam.  vii.  1 — 15. 
 all  his  enemies  round 
 about ;  that  the  king 
 said  unto  Nathan  the 
 Prophet:  Behold, now, 
 I  dwell  in  a  house  of 
 cedar ,  but  the  Ark  of 
 God  dwelleth  within 
 the  curtains :  And 
 Nathan  said  unto  the 
 king ;  Go  and  do  all 
 that  is  in  thine  heart , 
 for  the  Lord  is  with 
 thee > 
 
 And  it  came  to  pass 
 the  same  night,  that 
 THE  ORACLE  OF 
 
 t H  eLor d  came  Onto 
 
 * 
 
 Nathan,  saying :  Go 
 and  tell  my  servant 
 David ,  thus  saith  t  h  e 
 Lord  :  Shalt  thou 
 build  me  a  house  for 
 my  dwelling?  For  I 
 have  not  dwelt  in  a 
 house  from  the  day 
 
 1  CHROisr.  xvii.  1-14. 
 Behold ,  I  dwell  in  a 
 house  of  cedar ,  but 
 the  Ark  of  the  Cove - 
 
 t' 
 
 nani  of  the  Lord ,  un- 
 der  the  curtains:  And 
 Nathan  said  unto 
 David ,  Do  all  that  is 
 in  thine  heart,  for  the 
 Lord  is  with  thee . 
 
 A  nd  it  came  to  pass, 
 the  same  night,  that 
 the  oracle  of 
 God  came  unto  Na~ 
 than,  saying:  Go  and 
 tell  David  my  serv- 
 ant,  thus  saith  the 
 Lord  :  Thou  shall:  not 
 build  me  a  house  to 
 dwell  in  :  For  I  have 
 not  dwelt  in  a  house 
 from  the  day  that  I 
 
2  sam.  vii.  1 — 15* 
 that  I  brought  up  the 
 children  of  Israel  out 
 of  Egypt  even  to  this 
 day ;  but  have  so¬ 
 journed  in  a  tent, 
 and  in  a  tabernacle  : 
 wheresoever  I  so¬ 
 journed  with  all  the 
 children  of  Israel 
 spake  I  a  word  to 
 any  of  the  tribes  of 
 Israel  whom  I  com¬ 
 manded  to  feed  my 
 people  Israel,  saying: 
 why  do  ye  not  build 
 me  a  house  o  f  cedar  ? 
 
 N  o  w  the  re  fore,  thus 
 shalt  thou  say  unto 
 my  se  r van t  David  ; 
 Thus  saith  t  ii  e  Lo  r  d 
 oe  Hosts  :  I  took 
 thee  from  the  cote, 
 from  following  the 
 sheep,  to  become 
 leader  over  my  peo- 
 
 1  ciiron.  xvib.  2-14, 
 brought  up  Israel 
 unto  this  day ;  but 
 have  been  from  tent 
 to  tent,  and  from  ta¬ 
 bernacle  [to  taber¬ 
 nacle]  :  wheresoever 
 I  sojourned  with  all 
 the  children  of  Israel, 
 spake  I  a  word  to 
 any  of  the  judges  of 
 Israel,  whom  I  com¬ 
 manded  to  feed  mv 
 people,  saying :  why 
 do  ye  not  build  me  a 
 house  of  cedar  ? 
 
 N  ow  therefore,  thus 
 shalt  thou  say  unto 
 my  servant  David  ; 
 Thus  saithTH  eLori> 
 or  Hosts:  I  took 
 thee  from  the  cote, 
 from  following  the 
 sheep,  to  become 
 leader  over  my  pea- 
 
2  SAM.  vii.  1 — 15. 
 
 pie,  over  Israel ;  and 
 I  have  been  with  thee 
 whithersoever  thou 
 wen  test,  and  have  cut 
 off  all  thine  enemies 
 from  before  thee,  and 
 have  made  thee  a 
 great  name,  like  the 
 name  of  the  great, 
 upon  the  earth  :  — 
 ( also ,  I  will  appoint 
 a  place  for  my  people 
 Israel ,  and  will  plant 
 them ,  and  they  shall 
 dwell  under  their  own 
 jurisdiction ;  and  they 
 shall  not  be  disturbed 
 any  more,  neither  shall 
 the  sons  of  iniquity 
 continue  to  trouble 
 them  as  at  first) — 
 and  I  have  given 
 thee  rest  from  all 
 thine  enemies. 
 
 1  C II RON.  xvii.  1-14. 
 pie  Israel ;  and  I  have 
 been  wdth  thee  whi¬ 
 thersoever  thou  went- 
 est,  and  have  cut  off 
 all  thine  enemies  from 
 before  thee,  and  have 
 made  thee  a  name, 
 like  the  name  of  the 
 great,  upon  the  earth : 
 
 • — (also  I  will  appoint 
 a  place  for  my  people 
 Israel ,  and  will  plant 
 them ,  and  they  shall 
 dwell  under  their  own 
 jurisdiction ;  and  they 
 shall  not  be  disturbed 
 any  more, neither  shall 
 the  sons  of  iniquity 
 continue  to  trouble 
 them  as  ai  first :  even 
 from  the  day  that  I 
 appointed  judges  over 
 my  people  Israel)  — 
 and  I  have  subdued 
 all  their  enemies. 
 
68 
 
 / 
 
 2  sam.  vii.  1 — 15. 
 
 Moreover  the 
 Lord  dec] are tK  unto 
 thee, that  the  Lord 
 will  make  thee  a  house : 
 when  thy  days  shall 
 be  expired ,  and  thou 
 shalt  be  with  thy  fa¬ 
 thers,  I  will  raise  up 
 thy  seed  after  thee , 
 which  shall  issue  from 
 thy  bowels ,  and  I  will 
 establish  his  kingdom ; 
 lie  shall  build  a  house 
 for  my  name ,  and  I 
 will  establish  the 
 throne  of  his  kingdom 
 for  ever ; — I  wile 
 be  to  him  a  Fa¬ 
 ther,  AND  HE 
 shall  be  to  Me 
 a  Son:  (whosoever 
 [shall  be  concerned] 
 in  injuring  Him ,  even 
 I  will  chastise  them 
 with  the  rod  of  men. 
 
 1  chron.  xvil.  1-14* 
 Moreover,  1  declare 
 unto  thee  that  the 
 Lord  will  build  thee  a 
 house :  And  it  shall 
 come  to  pass,  when 
 thy  days  shall  be  ex¬ 
 pired  to  go  unto  thy 
 fathers ,  that  I  will 
 raise  up  thy  seed 
 after  thee,  which  shall 
 be  of  thy  sons ,  and  I 
 will  establish  his  king¬ 
 dom  ;  He  shall  build 
 me  a  house ,  and  1  will 
 establish  his  throne 
 forever;  I  will  be, 
 to  Him  a  Father, 
 and  He  shall  be 
 to  Me  a  Son:  — 
 And  my  mercy  will  I 
 not  withdraw ?  from 
 H  im,  as  I  withdrew 
 it  from  him  who  was 
 before  thee  : — But  I 
 will  establish  Him  in 
 
 & 
 
69 
 
 2  sam.  vii.  1 — 15. 
 i and  with  the  stripes 
 of  the  sons  of  Adam ) 
 And  my  merey 
 shall  not  depart  from 
 II  im,  as  I  withdrew 
 it  from  Said,  whom  I 
 withdrew  before  thee; 
 —  But  thy  house  and 
 thy  kingdom  shall  be 
 established  before  Me* 
 for  ever ;  thy  throne 
 shall  be  confirmed  for 
 ever . 
 
 1  CHRON.  xvli.  1-14. 
 my  house  and  in  my 
 kingdom  for  ever  ; 
 and  his  throne  shall 
 be  confirmed  for  ever » 
 
 THE  LATTER  PROPHECY. 
 
 1  chron.  xxii.  7-13.  1  chron.  xxviii.2-9* 
 
 And  David  said  And  king  David — ■ 
 
 unto  Solomon  :  My  said,  Hear  me,  my 
 son,  I  thought  in  my  brethren ,  and  my  pco- 
 heart  to  build  a  house  pie  :  I  thought  in  my 
 for  the  name  of  the  heart  to  build  a  house 
 Lord  my  God:  But  of  rest  for  the  ark  of 
 
 *  So  render  the  Septuagint  and  Syriac  versions,  sup¬ 
 ported  by  some  MSS.  of  Kennicott  and  De  Rossi,  winch 
 read  instead  of  the  printed  And  the  context 
 
 requires,  and  the  parallel  passage  justifies,  the  alteration. 
 
 F  3 
 
70 
 
 1  cii  eon",  xxii.  7-13. 
 the  Oracle  of 
 the  Lord  came  to 
 me,  saying :  Thou 
 hast  shed  blood  in 
 abundance,  and  hast 
 made  great  wars ; 
 Thou  shalt  not  build 
 a  house  for  my  name , 
 because  thou  hast 
 shed  much  blood  up¬ 
 on  the  ear  ill  in  my 
 sight. 
 
 Behold  a  son  shall 
 he  horn  io  thee ,  who 
 shall  be  a  man  of  rest, 
 and  I  will  give  him 
 rest  from  all  his  ene¬ 
 mies  round  about ;  for 
 his  name  shall  be  So¬ 
 lomon  ;  and  1  will 
 give  peace  and  quiet¬ 
 ness  unto  Israel  in  his 
 days  :  He  shall  build 
 a  house  for  my  name; 
 And  lie  shall  be  to  me 
 a  Son ,  and  I  will  be 
 
 1  c ii  ron.  xxviii.2-9, 
 the  covenant  of  the 
 Lord,  and  for  the 
 footstool  of  our  God; 
 and  had  prepared  to 
 build  ;  But  God  said 
 unto  me,  Thou  shalt 
 not  build  a  house  for 
 my  name ,  because 
 thou  art  a  man  of 
 war,  and  hast  shed 
 blood  : 
 
 A  nd  theLo  rdGou 
 of  Israel  chose  me 
 out  of  all  my  father’s 
 house  to  be  king  over 
 Israel  for  ever  ;  (for 
 He  hath  chosen  Ju¬ 
 dah  to  be  leader,  and 
 among  the  house  of 
 Judah,  my  father's 
 house,  and  among  my 
 father’s  sons  he  pre¬ 
 ferred  me  to  make 
 me  reign  over  all 
 Isra el ; )  fo r  He  sa i d 
 unto  me,  Solomon,  thy 
 
I  ciirOXT.  xxii.  7-13. 
 to  him  a  Father:  And 
 I  will  confirm  the 
 throne  of  his  king¬ 
 dom  over  Israel  for 
 ever. 
 
 Now,  my  son,  the 
 Lord  shall  be  with 
 thee,  and  thou  shalt 
 prosper,  and  thou 
 shalt  build  the  house 
 of  the  Lord  thy  God ; 
 according  as  He  hath 
 spoken  concerning 
 thee:  (Only  the 
 Lord  give  thee  wis¬ 
 dom  and  understand¬ 
 ing,  and  give  thee 
 charge  concerning  Is- 
 rad ,  to  keep  the  law 
 of  the  Lord  thy  God: 
 then  shalt  thou  pros¬ 
 per,  if  thou  take  heed 
 to  observe  the  sta¬ 
 tutes  and  the  judg¬ 
 ments  which  THE 
 Lord  commanded 
 
 F 
 
 1  chron.  xxviii.2~9. 
 son,  he  shall  build  my 
 house  and  my  courts, 
 because  I  have  chosen 
 him  to  be  to  Me  a 
 son ,  and  I  zoill  be  to 
 him  a  Father :  and  I 
 will  confirm  his  kine'- 
 
 o 
 
 dom  for  ever,  if  he 
 be  st rone:  to  do  my 
 
 O 
 
 co  in  m  and  m  en  ts  a  n  d 
 my  judgments,  as  at 
 this  day. 
 
 And  know  thou, 
 Solomon ,  my  son,  the 
 God  of  thy  Father, 
 and  serve  Him  with 
 a  perfect  heart,  and 
 with  a  walling  mind  ; 
 forTHELoRD  search- 
 eth  all  hearts,  and 
 understandeth  all  the 
 imaginations  of  the 
 thoughts:  if  thou 
 serve  Him  he  will  be 
 found  by  thee but  if 
 thou  forsake  Him , 
 4 
 
72 
 
 \ 
 
 1  chron.  xxii.  7-13‘  1  cm ron.  xxviii.  2-9 • 
 
 Moses  concerning  Is-  He  will  cast  thee  off 
 raeL)  Be  strong  and  forever . 
 of  good  courage,  fear 
 not,  nor  be  dismayed. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 If  we  carefully  compare  these  two  prophe¬ 
 cies  and  their  respective  accompaniments  to¬ 
 gether,  we  shall  find  that  they  differ  from  each 
 other  in  several  material  particulars :  viz.  the 
 persons  to  whom  they  were  immediately  ad- 
 
 di  'essed  ;  the  times  and  circumstances  in  which 
 
 *• 
 
 they  were  delivered  ;  and  the  subjects  of  each  ; 
 Bor,  1.  The  former  prophecy  was  delivered 
 bv  “  the  Oracle  of  the  Lord”  or 
 “  the  Oracle  of  God”  to  Nathan  the 
 prophet,  in  order  to  be  communicated  to 
 David ;  whereas  the  latter,  was  delivered  by 
 “  the  Oracle  of  the  Lord”  or  66  God” 
 immediately  to  David  himself  :  and  so  Solo¬ 
 mon  states,  alluding  thereto:  “  As  the 
 64  Lord  spake  unto  David  my  Father  f  1 
 Kings  y.  5,  and  again,  viii.  18. — But  not  to 
 insist  on  this,  which  may  perhaps  be  a  dif¬ 
 ference  more  in  appearance  than  in  reality, 
 because  Nathan  might  have  communicated 
 
 the 
 
 *-  i  •  v  r 
 
73 
 
 the  latter,  also :  2.  The  prophecies  were 
 plainly  delivered  at  different  times  and  on 
 different  occasions;  the  former,  probably 
 about  the  fourteenth  year  of  David's  reign, 
 “  When  the  Lord  had  given  him  rest  from  all 
 u  his  enemies  round  about  the  latter,  about 
 six  years  after,  or  the  twentieth  year  of  his 
 reign*  shortly  before  the  birth  of  his  son 
 and  successor,  Solomon : — For,  David  was 
 not  elected  king  by  all  the  tribes  of  Israel > 
 .until  he  had  reigned  seven  years  and  six 
 months  over  the  tribe  of  Judah  ;  after  which, 
 He  besieged  and  took  the  strong  fort  of  Je¬ 
 hus  on  the  hill  of  Sion ;  He  built  the  city  of 
 David ,  around  it ;  He  prospered  and  grew 
 great,  and  built  himself  a  house  of  cedar ,  or 
 a  sumptuous  palace  ;  he  fought  two  pitched 
 battles  with  the  Philistines ,  and  discomfited 
 them  ;  He  removed  the  ark  of  God  from 
 Gibeah  to  Qbed-edom s  house  ;  and  after 
 three  months  stay  there,  to  the  tabernacle 
 which  he  had  built  for  it  in  the  city  of  Da^ 
 vid  : — AW  these  subsequent  events  could 
 scarcely  be  comprised  in  less  than  six  or  seven 
 years  more;  so  that  we  seem  to  be  warranted 
 in  assigning  the  former  prophecy,  in  conse¬ 
 
 quence 
 
quence  of  David's  intimation  to  Nathan  of 
 building  a  temple  to  the  Lord,  (in  which 
 he  was  unwittingly  encouraged  by  Nathan ,) 
 to  the  fourteenth  year  of  David’s  reign,  or 
 thereabout:  but  the  latter  prophecy  expressly 
 recognizes  Solomon  by  name,  and  was  pro¬ 
 bably  given  shortly  before  his  birth  ;  ac¬ 
 cordingly  his  name  was  called  Solomon 
 (peaceable):  and  the  Lord  surnamed  him 
 44  Jedidiah  (beloved  of  the  Lord)  by  the  hand 
 44  of  Nathan  the  prophet/’  2  Sam.  xii.  24 — 
 25.  But  SolomoUj.  at  his  accession,  was 
 44  young  and  tender;”  1  Chron.  xxii.  5,  and 
 modestly  styled  himself  44  a  little  child”  (in 
 understanding),  1  Kings  iii.  7,  and  yet,  his 
 own  son  and  successor,  Rehohoam ,  was  born 
 the  year  before  his  accession  :  compare 
 1  Kings  xi.  42,  and  xiv.  21  :  so  that,  both 
 circumstances  considered,  we  cannot  deviate 
 much  from  the  truth,  in  dating  this  pro¬ 
 phecy,  and  the  subsequent  birth  of  Solomon , 
 about  the  twentieth  year  of  David’s  reign  : 
 who  reigned  forty  years  in  all  ;  and  conse¬ 
 quently,  Solomon  was  about  twenty  years  old 
 at  his  accession. 
 
 5.  That  David  did 
 
 not  understand  God’s 
 
 gentle 
 
75 
 
 gentle  refusal,  in  the  former  prophecy,— 
 
 Shalt  thou  build  me  a  house  for  my  dwell - 
 <c  ing  ?”  or,  as  the  interrogation  is  explained 
 in  the  parallel  passage,  66  Thou  shalt  not 
 “  build  me  a  house  to  dwell  inf  as  an  abso¬ 
 lute  prohibition,  appears  from  his  still  medi-  _ 
 rating  to  build,  and  preparing  materials,  until 
 the  latter  prophecy  expressly  rejected  him 
 as  “a  man  of  war  that  had  shed  much  blood f 
 and  preferred  his  son  Solomon  ;  to  whom, 
 when  God  had  marked  his  choice  of  the 
 spot  on  which  the  temple  was  to  be  built,  by 
 “  answering  him  by  fire  from  heaven  upon 
 “  the  alt ar  of  burnt-offering  f  1  Chron.  xxi. 
 
 2G,  and  xxii.  1.  David  then  communicated 
 the  latter  prophecy,  near  the  close  of  his 
 reign  ;  and  afterwards  solemnly  repeated  it 
 before  all  the  congregation  of  Israel ,  shortly 
 before  his  decease. 
 
 4.  The  former  prophecy,  in  the  first  pa¬ 
 renthetical  clause,  looks  far  into  futurity, 
 and  the  final  destination  of  the  people  of 
 Israel;  promising  them  a  flourishing  settle¬ 
 ment,  an  independent  establishment,  and 
 permanent  rest  from  all  their  enemies  ;  such 
 as  they  had  not  enjoyed  from  the  infancy 
 
 of 
 
16 
 
 / 
 
 of  their  state — Ci  even  from  the  day  that  1 
 “  appointed  judges  over  my  people  Israel ” — 
 nor  ever  have  yet  enjoyed  unto  the  present 
 day ;  but  which  it  was  foretold  by  Moses 
 and  all  the  prophets ,  should  take  place  “  in 
 “  the  last  days  f 9  during  the  reign  of  the 
 Messiah  upon  earth;  after  a  long-continued 
 period  of  desolation.  Compare  Dent,  xxviii. 
 59 .  Isa.  vi.  11.  Dan.  viii.  13,14.  Ilosea  iii. 
 4,  5,  &c.  with  Deut.  xxx.  1 — 5.  Nehem.  i. 
 9*  Isa.  lxvi.  19 — 22.  Jcr.  xxiii.  5 — 8.  Ezek. 
 xxxiv.  23 — 31.  and  xxxvi.  24 — 35,  &c.  See. 
 
 5.  To  the  birth  and  character  of  this  il¬ 
 lustrious  descendant,  the  prophecy  next  ad¬ 
 verts  with  much  solemnity. 
 
 46  Moreover ,  the  Lord  declareth  unto  thee , 
 “  that  the  Lord  will  make  thee  a  house : 
 u  when  thy  days  shall  be  expired ,  and  thou 
 shall  be  with  thy  fathers ,  I  will  raise  up 
 thy  seed  after  thee ,  which  shall  issue 
 “  from  thy  bowels  or,  as  explained  in  the 
 parallel  passage,  “  which  shall  be  of  thy 
 “  sons f  or  remote  descendants;  as  the  phrase 
 is  applied  to  Hezelciali  s  posterity;  whose 
 captivity  is  thus  predicted  above  fourscore 
 years  before  it  happened  :  “  Moreover ,  of 
 
 “  tin/ 
 
 u 
 
 6C 
 
77 
 
 44  thy  sons ,  a7/o  //  isswe  from  thee,  whom « 
 44  tfAow  beget,  shall  (the  Babylonians ) 
 
 44  fa/ce  away,”  &c.  2  Kings  xx.  18.  And 
 the  passage  is  expressly  understood  of 
 Christ  by  the  apostle  Peter,  in  that  dis¬ 
 course,  which  was  the  first  fruits  of  the 
 Spirit,  on  the  memorable  day  of  Pentecost ; 
 — 44  God  swcire  unto  David  with  an  oath  : 
 44  that  of  the  fruit  of  his  loins  ( according 
 “  to  the  flesh)  He  would  raise  up  Christ* 
 44  to  sit  on  his  throne ”  &c.  Acts  ii.  30.  And 
 it  is  truly  remarkable,  that  as  the  term  44  Son” * 
 was  applied  to  Solomon  in  the  latter  pro¬ 
 phecy,  64  Behold ,  a  son  shall  be  born  to  thcefl 
 See .  so,  to  mark  the  distinction,  we  may  pre¬ 
 sume  the  prophetic  term  44  seed,”  originally 
 applied  to  the  promised  44  seed  of  the  wo* 
 44  man,”  destined  44  to  break  the  serpent's 
 44  head,”  immediately  after  the  fall  of  our 
 first  parents,  Gen.  iii.  15, — and  foretold  by 
 sundry  successive  limitations,  to  be  also  44  the 
 44  seed  of  Abraham  ’ — 44  Of  Isaac ’ — and  44  of 
 44  Jacob ” — 46  in  whom  all  nations  or  families 
 44  of  the  earth  shall  be  blessed as  a  Saviour 
 and  Deliverer  from  the  bondage  of  Satan, 
 and  punishment  of  sin,  Gen.  xxii.  18,  and 
 
 xx  n. 
 
xxvi.  4,  and  ^xxviii.  14, — is,  in  the  former 
 prophecy,  finally  appropriated  44  to  the  house 
 44  and  lineage  of  David, ”  and  was  accord- 
 ingly  fulfilled  at  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ, 
 Luke  ii.  4 — (i.  And  such  is  the  force  of 
 the  apostle  Paul' s  argument :  64  Now  to 
 44  Abraham  and  his  seed  were  the  promises 
 44  declared  :  (God)  saith  not,  seeds,  as  of 
 44  many,  but  as  of  one,  and  thy  seed ,  which 
 44  is  Christ.”  Gal.  iii.  l6\ — 44  And  I  will 
 44  establish  his  kingdom  —  fer  ever' ’ — 44  thy 
 44  house  and  thy  kingdom  shall  be  established 
 44  before  Me  for  ever  ;  thy  throne  shall  he 
 44  confirmed  for  ever” — and  this  magnificent 
 description  of  the  Messiah’s  kingdom 
 (which  is  utterly  inapplicable  to  Solomons 
 in  a  temporal  sense)  is  thus  finally  expanded 
 by  Isaiah  in  that  most  noble  prophecy,  after 
 enumerating  the  titles  of  this  most  illustrious 
 son  of  David  : — 44  Of  the  increase  of  his  go- 
 44  vernment  and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end , 
 44  upon  the  throne  of  David  and  upon  his 
 44  kingdom ,  to  order  it  and  to  establish  it  with 
 44  judgment  and  with  justice,  from  henceforth 
 44  even  for  ever  ”  Isa.  ix.  7*  And  to  crown 
 all,  the  archangel  Gabriel ,  at  the  annuncia^ 
 
 1  tion. 
 
79 
 
 tion,  records  the  completion  of  both,  in  the 
 promised  birth  of  Jesus  :  “  The  Lord 
 “  God  will  give  Him  the  throne  of  David 
 “  his  Father ;  and  He  shall  reign  over  the 
 “  House  of  Jacob  for  ever  ;  and  of  His 
 “  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end  ”  Luke  i. 
 
 'ID 
 
 32,  33. 
 
 — He  shall  build  a  house  for  my  name  ’ 
 
 ■ — not  a  temporary,  perishable  house,  such 
 as  David  then  meditated  to  build  ;  but  that 
 glorious  temple  to  be  erected  in  the  last 
 days,  or  final  restoration  of  the  Jews,  under 
 the  auspices  of  the  Messiah,  described  in 
 the  following  magnificent  terms  by  the  pro¬ 
 phet  Zechariah,  vi.  12—13.  “  Behold  the 
 “  man ,  whose  name  is  the  branch  !.  even 
 “  He  shall  branch  forth  from  beneath  f  (i.  e. 
 from  the  root  of  Jesse ,  David's  Father,  Isa* 
 xi.  10.)  “  and  shall  build  the  temple  of  the 
 “  Lord  ;  Even  He  shall  build  the  temple  of 
 u  the  Lord  :  Even  He  shall  receive  glory , 
 “  and  shall  sit  and  ride  upon  his  throne f 
 &c. — And  Ezekiel,  in  prophetic  vision,  has 
 minutely  described  the  dimensions  and  build¬ 
 ings  of  this  future  glorious  temple,  chap,  xh 
 &c.  which  Tobit ,  who  lived  before  the  Ba¬ 
 bylonish 
 
80 
 
 l ylonish  captivity,  so  critically  distinguished 
 from  Solomons  temple,  and  the  second,  built 
 by  Zorobabe! ,  44  but  not  like  the  first”  in 
 splendor  and  magnificence  —  44  when  after 
 44  the  time  of  that  age  shall  be  fulfilled ,”  [or 
 the  long-continued  period  of  desolation] — 
 44  they  shall  return  from  all  places  of 
 44  their  captivity ,  and  shall  build  up  Jerusa- 
 44  lent  gloriously  :  and  the  House  of  God 
 44  shall  be  built  in  it  for  ever  with  a  glorious 
 44  building ;  as  the  Prophets  have  spoken 
 44  thereof/’ — And  perhaps  to  this  final  tem¬ 
 ple  may  most  justly  lie  attributed  that  sub¬ 
 lime,  triumphant  exclamation  of  David  : — 
 44  Lift  up  your  heads ,  0  ye  gates  !  and  he  ye 
 44  lift  up,  ye  everlasting  doors!  And  tiie 
 44  King  of  G lory  shall  come  in.”  Ps.  xxiv. 
 7- — And  to  this  Solomon  likewise  probably 
 alludes,  at  the  conclusion  of  his  most  noble 
 oration  on  the  dedication  of  his  Temple  : — 
 44  O  Lord  God  !  turn  not  away  the  face  of 
 44  thy  Messiah  (Anointed),  Remember  the 
 44  mercies  of  David  thy  servant  A  2  Chron. 
 vi.  42. 
 
 44  I  will  be  to  Him  a  Father,  and 
 44  He  shall  to  Me  a  Son.” — This 
 
 most 
 
81 
 
 tnost  important  clause,  which  is  cited  Heb* 
 i.  5,  from  the  Septuagint  version,  to  esta* 
 blish  the  transcendant  excellence  of  Jesus 
 Christ  as  the  peculiar  Son  of  God,  dif¬ 
 fers  from  the  corresponding  promise  to  Solo - 
 moil  in  the  latter  prophecy — 46  He  shall  he 
 “  to  Me  a  Son ,  and  I  will  be  to  Him  a  Fa- 
 “  therf  by  a  remarkable  transposition  of 
 the  terms  (ascertained  and  verified  by  both 
 the  parallel  passages,  and  by  all  the  ver¬ 
 sions),  as  if  on  purpose  to  discriminate  the 
 two  cases  from  each  other,  and  prevent  con¬ 
 fusion  in  after-ages.  It  has  been  remarked, 
 that  in  the  former  prophecy  the  promise 
 seems  to  be  absolute ;  God  previously  en¬ 
 gaging  to  become  66  a  Father  ’  to  the  Mes¬ 
 siah,  being  sure  of  his  dutiful  obedience 
 “as  a  Son,y  before  hand  ;  whereas  in  th^ 
 latter,  the  promise  seems  to  be  conditional ; 
 that  if  Solomon  behaved  as  “a  Son”  he 
 might  then  rely  on  God's  dealing  with  him  as 
 “  a  Father see  Pierce  on  Hebrews ,  i.  5. — 
 And  this  ingenious  conjecture  is  strongly 
 supported  by  the  declarations  of  the  Lord 
 himself  to  Solomon :  1.  At  the  beginning  o  f 
 his  reign  ;  u  If  thou  wilt  walk  in  my  ways  w 
 
 G  “  keep 
 
m 
 
 u  keep  my  statutes  and  my  commandment sf 
 “  as  thy  father  David  walked ,  then  I  will 
 “  lengthen  thy  days”  1  Kings  iii.  4. — But 
 Solomon  transgressed,  therefore  his  days  were 
 shortened,  for  he  died  about  sixty  years  of 
 age ;  whereas  his  father  David  lived  to  se- 
 venty ;  and,  2.  Again,  after  the  dedication 
 of  the  temple : — “  If  thou  wilt  walk  before 
 “  me ,  as  David  thy  father  walked ,  in  inte - 
 “  grity  of  heart  and  in  uprightness ,  to  do  ac- 
 “  cording  to  all  that  I  have  commanded  theey 
 “  and  wilt  keep  my  statutes  and  my  judg- 
 “  ments;  then  I  will  establish  the  throne  of 
 
 96  thy  kingdom  over  Israel  for  ever;  as  I 
 “  promised  to  David  thy  father ,  there  shall 
 not  fail  thee  a  man  upon  the  throne  of 
 
 iirr  Israel :  But  if  thou  shalt  at  all  turn  from 
 
 •  '  - 
 
 “following  me,  you  or  your  children f  &c. 
 1  Kings  ix.  4.  Wh  ereas  Solomon  was  se¬ 
 duced  into  idolatry  by  his  heathenish  wives, 
 when  he  was  old  ;  wherefore  God  appeared 
 
 v 
 
 to  him  a  third  time,  and  declared  that  He 
 
 t 
 
 would  rend  the  kingdom  from  his  son,  &c» 
 1  Kings  xi  11. 
 
 1 g 
 
 6.  The  last  parenthetical  clause  intimates 
 the  Messiah’s  sufferings,  and  not  his  “ini- 
 
 “  quity  ” 
 
( 
 
 83 
 
 **  quity  so  irrelevantly  and  ungrammati¬ 
 cally  rendered  by  all  the  ancient  versions* 
 followed  by  our  authorized  translation,  ‘6  If 
 “  he  commit  iniquity  ”  &c. — For,  the  condi¬ 
 tion,  “  if  he  commit  ”  is  totally  wanting  in  the 
 original ; — the  first  term  (to  which  it  is  sup¬ 
 posed  to  correspond),  ashery  signifying 
 “  who  ”  or  u  whosoever as  in  Exod.  ix.  21. 
 “  And  whosoever  regarded  not  the 
 
 “  word  of  the  Lord,  left  his  servants  and  his 
 “  cattle  in  the  field  ,°  Joshua  xv.  16.  — 
 “  Whosoever  smiteth  Kiriath  Sepher9 
 
 “  and  taketh  it,  to  him  will  I  give  my  daugh- 
 “  ter  Achsah  to  wife,’* — the  phrase  being 
 elliptical,  and  put  for  omnis  qui,  or 
 
 quicunque ,  as  in  Psalm  cxv.  8. — u  They  that 
 “  make  idols  are  like  unto  them,  and  so  is 
 “  every  one  that  trusteth  in  them0 
 
 — the  second  term,  IJTiyrQ,  be-haotho ,  may 
 either  be  taken  as  a  verb,  signifying  “  in  in - 
 “  juring  himf  or  as  a  noun,  “  in  his  injury  ” 
 either  from  the  verb  DV,  aoth ,  which  signi¬ 
 fies  “  to  injure  or  wrongy  by  perverting  judg- 
 “  mentf  as  it  is  used  Job  viii.  3,  Lament,  iii. 
 36 : — or  the  noun  nJW,  aothah ,  in  regi¬ 
 men,  Timy*  aoth-thi ,  “  my  wrong f  as  it  is 
 
 a  %  rendered 
 
84 
 
 rendered  Lament,  iii.  59>  (or  by  contraction, 
 aothi).  And  how  exactly  does  this 
 accord  with  the  sufferings  of  the  Messiah, 
 who  was  cut  off”  by  an  iniquitous  judg¬ 
 ment  of  his  foes  !  as  described  by  David 
 himself  in  the  second  and  twenty-second 
 Psalms  ;  and  by  Isaiah ,  in  his  fifty-third 
 chapter  ;  and  by  Daniel ,  in  his  famous  pro¬ 
 phecy  of  the  seventy  weeks ,  chap.  ix.  and  in 
 sundry  other  passages  of  ancient  prophecy. 
 -^-Perhaps  the  ancient  versions  were  led  into 
 this  grievous  error  (which  has  chiefly  contri¬ 
 buted  to  weaken  the  authority  of  this  most 
 noble  and  important  prophecy,  in  sharing  it 
 with  Solomon)  by  misapplying  to  Christ 
 the  explanatory  clause  of  that  sublime  com¬ 
 mentary  upon  this  prophecy,  Psalm  Ixxxix. 
 30  —33. — (“  If  his  children  forsake  my  laws ? 
 “  and  walk  not  in  my  judgments ;  if  they 
 u  break  my  statutes ,  and  keep  not  my  com - 
 u  mmulments  ;  then  will  I  visit  their  trans - 
 
 “  gressions  with  a  rod ,  and  their  iniquity  zvith 
 sti'ipes  :)  But  “  his  children ”  alas,  were 
 
 his  persecutors  I — “  He  came  unto  his  own 
 
 •  **  ,  „ 
 
 “  homer  but  his  own  household  entertained 
 “  him  not  /”  John  i.  11.  He  was  despised 
 
 and 
 
85 
 
 and  rejected  by  that  wicked  and  apostate 
 generation v — who  unwittingly  “  crucified  the 
 u  Lord  of  Glory” — and  have  ever  since 
 
 been  visited  “  with  the  rod”  and  chastised 
 
 ■\ 
 
 with  stripes  furnishing  an  awful  lesson 
 and  tremendous  example  to  mankind,  of  the 
 severity  of  divine  vengeance,  and  of  the  mi* 
 nute  accomplishment  of  the  Scripture 
 op  Tauth, 
 
 G  3 
 
 DI8- 
 
86 
 
 r* 
 
 DISSERTATION  V.  .  • 
 
 i , 
 
 ON  PSALM  LXXXIX, 
 
 X  now  proceed  to  examine  thjit  admirable 
 commentary  contained  in  the  eighty-ninth 
 Psalm,  unfolding  and  explaining  the  conciser 
 oracle  delivered  to  Nathan . 
 
 This  psalm  is  entitled  Maschil,”  a 
 word  prefixed  to  many  of  these  sacred  odes, 
 signifying  an  “  instructive  poem,”  and  there¬ 
 fore  may  justly  be  rendered  “  a  hymn”  con¬ 
 veying  religious  instruction. 
 
 Various  and  discordant  are  the  guesses  of 
 the  learned  touching  “  Etiian  the  Ezra- 
 V  kite,”  the  writer  of  this  psalm:  Ahen 
 Ezra  supposes  that  he  was  the  grandson  of 
 Judah ,  noticed  l  Chron.  ii.  6 ;  and  Solomon 
 Jarchi  makes  him  put  the  son  of  Abraham 
 himself ! 
 
 Hammond  and  others  suppose,  that 
 Ethan  was  not  the  author;  but  that  the 
 names  of  Ethan ,  Neman ,  Asaph ,  &c.  pre- 
 
 *  fixed 
 
.  87 
 
 fixed  to  several  of  the  psalms*  denote  only 
 the  favourite  airs  or  tunes  to  which  they  were 
 set  or  sung  by  the  sacred  choir,  iike  York 
 tune  or  Salisbury  tune  in  our  psalmody  !  and 
 improving  on  the  imagination,  the  Monthly 
 Magazine  for  October,  1801,  p.  219?  has  de¬ 
 graded  “  the  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel,”  David 
 himself,  into  “  an  excellent  harper !”  and 
 denied  him  the  credit  of  composing  those 
 psalms  that  bear  his  name,  and  are  ascribed 
 to  him  in  the  New  Testament. 
 
 -  3.  Hence  a  wide  field  has  been  opened 
 
 to  the  extravagance  of  conjecture  respecting 
 its  author  and  its  drift.  Some  suppose  that 
 it  was  written  by  Isaiah ,  Jeremiah ,  or  some 
 scribe  after  the  captivity  ;  that  it  related 
 primarily  to  David ,  or  to  Hezekiah ,  or  to 
 Jo  si  ah,  or  to  Jehoiakim ,  or  to  Je  hoi  a  chin,  or 
 
 '  •  •  *  r  * 
 
 to  Zedekiah ,  among  those  that  refer  it  ulti¬ 
 mately  and  chiefly  to  the  Messiah:  And 
 such  discordant  reveries  disgrace  the  pages 
 of  the  most  celebrated  commentators,  fo¬ 
 reign  and  domestic,  Ahen  Ezra ,  Grot  ins, 
 Bossuet ,  Michael  is,  Doederlin ,  Knapp,  Ei-r 
 c home ,  Dathe ,  Hammond ,  Dodd ,  Kenniccti \ 
 Madge,  Horne,  & c. 
 
 g  4 
 
 4,  Hival- 
 
88 
 
 4.  Rivalling  Professor  Eichorne,  or  Doctor 
 Gedcles  himself  *  in  temerity  of  guessing, 
 the  magazine  writer  in  question  thinks  he 
 has  discovered  that  *  the  eighty -ninth  Psalm 
 u  was  a  dirge  composed  by  Jeremiah  the 
 66  prophet,  on  the  death  of  king  Josiah ,  who 
 “  was  killed  at  Hadadrimmon  in  battle 
 “  written  with  that  carping  disappointment 
 fi  which  pervades  every  work  o {Jeremiah, 
 “  and  adapted  exactly  to  the  fortunes  of 
 “  king  Josiah  That  it  began  originally 
 at  the  nineteenth  verse ;  and  states  his  de¬ 
 scent  from  David ,  his  anointment  (v.  20), 
 his  respite  (22),  his  piety  (26),  his  renewal 
 of  the  covenant  (28) :  Then,  with  4  somewhat 
 querulous  impiety ,  his  desertion  by  Provi¬ 
 dence  is  bewailed  :  The  irruption  of  Nechp 
 (40)?  the  plunder  of  the  land  (41),  the  tri¬ 
 umph  of  the  adversary  (42),  and  the  mo¬ 
 narch's  flight  wounded  from  the  battle  is 
 
 *  See  the  Inspector,  p.  134,  &c.  Strictures  on 
 Ei c horne,  and  p.  124,  &c.— 151,  Strictures  or} 
 
 CjEDDES. 
 
 t  It  comes  within  our  knowledge,  that  Dr.  Geddes 
 was,  himseif,  the  doer  of  these  remarks  in  the  Magazine 
 alluded  to. — Editors. 
 
 i  1  a  • 
 
 detailed ; 
 
 .  ^  V  .  « 
 
/ 
 
 89 
 
 detailed  :  The  consequent  loss  of  the  throne 
 (44),  his  early  death  (45)  at  the  age  of  thirty^ 
 nine,  and  the  disgrace  of  his  memory,  are 
 successively  lamented.  The  poem  closes 
 with  another  angry  expostulation  against 
 Providence ,  as  if  the  king  had  performed  his 
 part  of  the  covenant,  and  had  not  been  duly 
 seconded  by  the  Loud  whom  lie  wor¬ 
 shipped,. 
 
 Not  satisfied  with  perverting  the  drift,  and 
 reviling  the  composition  of  this  most  sublime 
 and  pathetic  prophecy  of  the  birth,  the  glo¬ 
 ries,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  Messiah, 
 which  are  utterly  inapplicable  to  Jositi/i 
 th  roiighout— and,  in  the  alledged  66  disgrace 
 “  of  his  memory,”  which  was  always  most 
 highly  honoured  among  the  Jezcs ;  contra¬ 
 dictory  to  w'hat  the  autlnir  inconsistently 
 calls,  his  dirve— and  w  hich  in  reality  is  still 
 extant  in  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah,  ch. 
 ii.  iii.  and  jLv.  xx.  and  y.  vi.  Compare  2  Chron, 
 xxxv.  25,  and  Josephus,  Ant.  x.  5,  1.  p.  441. 
 Hudson. — I epBpioct;  o  ztrooOrjTij;  B7nxrJiov  uvrv 
 ,<ri)veT*%e  MEAOX  0PHNHTIKON,  oxen  MEX~ 
 PI  NTN  AIAMENEI. — “  Jeremiah,  the  pro- 
 “  phet,  composed  his  dirge,  an  elegiac  poem 
 
 44  [the 
 
 * 
 
“  [the  Lamentations^  which  subsists  even 
 44  until  now  — this  whimsical  and  malignant 
 leveller  and  detainer  of  Holy  Writ,  to  sup-^ 
 plant  the  authority  of  the  principal  prophetic 
 ,psalms  of  David  characteristic  of  the  Mes¬ 
 siah,  attributes  them  to  Jeremiah  as  the 
 author,  and  strangely  distorts  their  drift : 
 Thus,  for  instance,  in  his  jaundiced  ima¬ 
 gination,  Ps.  Ixix.  8,  alludes  to  44  Jeremiah's 
 44  (fictitious)  quarrel  with  his  nephew  Se- 
 46  raiali’ — although  Jeremiah,  li.  59?  assures 
 us,  44  this  Seraiah  was  a  quiet  prince  !” — 
 Ps.  lv.  13,  to  another  (equally  fictitious) 
 quarrel  with  the  priest  Zephamah .  —  And 
 that  most  important  Psalm,  xxii.  16,  pre- 
 dictive  of  the  peculiar  sufferings  of  the  Mes¬ 
 siah,  is,  by  the  44  blundering  rashness ’  of 
 this  miserable  and  uninformed  critic  (to  re¬ 
 tort  his  own  phrase),  perverted  to  44  the 
 44  painful  punishment  of  Jeremiah  ”  when  he 
 was  44  smitten  and  put  in  the  stocks Jer. 
 xxii.  2. 
 
 But  to  proceed,  from  this  farrago  of  non¬ 
 sense  and  blasphemy,  to  the  Psalm  itself : 
 
91 
 
 PSALM  LXXXIX„ 
 
 A  1I¥MN  OF  ETHAN  THE  EZRAHITE* 
 
 Jo  1.  Thy  mercies,  O  Lord,  will  I  sing 
 for  ever ;  with  my  mouth  will  I  declare 
 thy  faithfulness  from  generation  to  ge* 
 ?.  Deration:  For  thou  saidst,  [thy]  mercy 
 should  be  built  for  ever ;  and  thy  faith- 
 fulness,  established  in  the  very  heavens: 
 
 3.  “  I  have  made  a  covenant  with  my 
 “  Chosen  ;  I  have  sworn  unto  David 
 4>  “  rny  servant :  Thy  seed  will  I  establish 
 fS  for  ever ,  and  build  up  thy  throne  from 
 “  generation  to  generation” 
 
 5.  The  heavens  shall  praise  thy  won¬ 
 ders,  O  Lord  !  the  saints  also,  thy 
 £>.  faithfulness,  in  the  congregation :  For 
 who  in  the  heaven  can  be  compared 
 unto  THE  Lo  rd  ?  [Who]  among  the 
 sons  of  God  can  be  likened  unto  the 
 Lord?  God  is  greatly  to  be  feared  in 
 the  Council  of  the  Saints,  and  to  be 
 Reverenced  above  all  that  are  round 
 (about  Him  : 
 
 8.  O  Lord  God  of  Hosts  !  who  is 
 like  unto  Thee?  O  mighty  Lord, 
 
 even 
 
92 
 
 even  thy  faithfulness  is  round  about 
 {).  Thee  !  Thou  rulest  the  raging  of  the 
 sea ;  Thou  stillest  the  swelling  of  the 
 
 10.  waves  thereof :  Thou  didst  subdue,  as 
 a  warrior,  the  pride  [of  Egypt]  :  Thou 
 didst  scatter  thine  enemies  with  thy 
 
 11.  mighty  arm;  The  heavens  are  thine, 
 the  earth  also  is  thine ;  Thou  hast 
 founded  the  world,  and  all  that  therein 
 
 12.  is:  Thou  hast  made  the  North  and  the 
 South;  Tabor  [westward]  and  Hermon 
 [eastward]  shall  rejoice  in  thy  name. 
 
 13.  Thou  hast  an  arm  endued  with  might. 
 Strong  is  thy  hand,  and  high,  thy  right 
 
 14.  hand.  Justice  and  judgment  are  the 
 foundation  of  thy  throne,  mercy  and 
 truth  go  before  thy  face. 
 
 15.  Blessed  are  the  people  that  know 
 how  to  praise  Thee,  O  Lord !  they 
 shall  walk  in  the  light  of  thy  coun- 
 
 16.  tenance:  In  thy  name  shall  they  daily 
 rejoice,  and  in  thy  righteousness  shall 
 
 J7*  they  be  exalted :  For  Thou  art  the 
 glory  of  their  strength,  and  in  thy  lov¬ 
 ing-kindness  shall  our  horn  be  exalted : 
 
 }8.  For 
 
V 
 
 18;  For  Trife  Lord  is  our  shield,  and  the 
 Holy  One  of  Israel,  our  king: 
 
 II.  19,  Thou  spakest  sometime  in  vision 
 unto  thy  saints,  and  saidst; 
 
 44  I  have  reposed  aid  upon  the 
 44  Mighty  [One];  I  have  exalted 
 
 20*  44  the  Chosen  out  of  the  people:  I 
 44  have  found  the  Beloved,  my  sew - 
 44  ant ;  with  my  holy  oil  have  I  anointed • 
 
 21.  44  Him  :  Wherefore  my  hand  shall  he 
 44  established  with  Him  ;  my  arm  also 
 
 22.  44  shall  strengthen  Him :  The  enemy 
 
 44  shall  not  deceive  Him ,  the  son  of 
 
 23.  44  wickedness  subdue  Him :  And  I  will 
 44  erws/i  /m*  /bes  before  him ,  tfwd 
 
 24.  44  them  that  hate  Him:  My  faithfulness 
 44  g&o  cmc/  mercy  shall  be  with  Him ; 
 44  and  in  my  name  shall  his  horn  be  ex- 
 
 25.  44  ailed  :  And  I  will  set  his  hand  on  the 
 44  sea,  and  his  right  hand  on  the  rivers : 
 
 26.  44  He  shall  call  on  Me ,  Thou  art  my 
 44  Father,  my  God,  and  rock  of  my 
 
 27.  44  salvation  :  Moreover,  I  will  appoint 
 44  him  the  First-born,  higher  than 
 
 .28,  44  the  kings  of  the  earth  :  My  mercy 
 44  will  I  keep  for  Him  for  evermore ,  and 
 
 44  my 
 
94 
 
 **  my  cotenant  shall  he  confirmed  with 
 
 29,  “  Him .  His  seed  also  will  I  preserve 
 “ for  ever ,  and  throne  as  the  days  of 
 iC  Heaven. 
 
 SO.  “  (If  his  children  forsake  my 
 66  law,  and  walk  not  in  my  judgments ; 
 
 31.  “  if  they  break  my  statutes ,  and  keep 
 
 32.  “  not  my  commandments  :  I  will  visit 
 “  their  transgression  with  the  rod ,  and 
 
 33.  “  their  iniquity  with  stiipes.)  But  my 
 “  mercy  will  I  not  break  with  Him,  nor 
 
 34.  “  will  I  fail  in  my  faithfulness :  My 
 “  covenant  will  I  not  violate,  nor  alter 
 “  the  thing  that  hath  issued  from  my 
 
 35.  66  lips:  Once  have  I  sworn  by  my  holiness, 
 
 36.  “  that  I  will  not  lie  unto  David  :  His 
 “  seed  shall  endure  for  ever,  and  his 
 
 37.  “  throne  as  the  sun  before  Me  :  It  shall 
 “be  established  as  the  moon,  for  ever ; 
 u  and  as  the  faithful  witness  in  heaven” 
 Selah. 
 
 III.  38.  But  Thou  hast  rejected  and  ab¬ 
 horred,  Thou  hast  been  wrath  with  thy 
 
 39*  Messiah  !  Thou  hast  voided  the  co¬ 
 venant  of  thy  servant;  Thou  hast  abased 
 
 4Q.  his  crown  to  the  ground:  Thou  hast 
 
 broken 
 
 \ 
 
 1 
 
/ 
 
 95 
 
 broken  all  Ins  fences,  and  ruined  his 
 
 41.  fortresses:  All  that  pass  by  spoil  Him; 
 
 .  He  is  become  a  reproach  to  his  neigh- 
 
 42.  hours;  Thou  hast  exalted  the  right 
 hand  of  his  enemies  ;  Thou  hast  made 
 
 43.  all  his  enemies  to  rejoice :  Thou  hast 
 blunted  the  edge  of  his  sword,  and  hast 
 
 44.  not  supported  him  in  the  battle  :  Thou 
 hast  made  his  glory  to  cease  ;  and  cast 
 
 45.  down ,  his  throne  to  the  ground.  The 
 days  of  his  youth  hast  Thou  shortened, 
 and  covered  him  with  dishonour.  Selah. 
 
 46.  “  How  long ,  O  Lord,  wilt  thou 
 “  hide  thyself?  Shall  thy  wrath  burn 
 
 47*  “  like  j fire,  for  ever  ?  Oh  !  remember 
 “  how  short  my  time  is ,  wherefore  hast 
 “  thou  made  all  the  children  of  Adam , 
 
 48.  “  vanity  ?  What  hero  liveih ,  that  shall 
 “  not  see  death  ?  [Who]  shall  rescue  his 
 “  soul  from  the  [rapacious]  hand  of 
 “  Hades  ?  Selah. . 
 
 49.  “  Where  are  thy  mercies  of  old , 
 “  O  Lord,  which  Thou  swarest  unto 
 
 50.  “  David  in  thy  faithfulness?  licmem- 
 “  ber9  Lord,  the  reproach  of  thy  serv - 
 “  ant  'x  [How]  I  do  bear  in  my  bosom 
 
 all 
 
96 
 
 “  all  [the  reproach]  of  many  people  ; 
 51*  u  wherewith  thine  enemies  have  re - 
 “  preached ,  O  Lord,  wherewith  they 
 “  have  reproached  the  footsteps  of  thy 
 “Messiah!” 
 
 52.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  for  evermore. 
 Amen  and  Amen* 
 
 R>E  MARKS. 
 
 R.  David  Kimchi,  the  most  learned  of  the 
 modern  Jewish  commentators,  naturally 
 ascribes  the  psalm  to  that  “  Ethan'  of  whom 
 such  honourable  mention  is  made  1  Kings, 
 iv.  31  ;  where  Solomon  was  reputed  iC  wiser ' 
 than  the  wisest,  “  than  Ethan  the  Ezrahite , 
 “  and  lleinan”  &c.  who  were  contempo¬ 
 raries  of  his  father  David ,  and  appointed  by 
 him  to  preside  over  the  sacred  choir,  1  Chron. 
 
 A 
 
 vi.  31 — 44.  And  surely  this  hymn^ although 
 the  only  one  of  Ethan's  compositions  extant, 
 is  sufficient  to  rank  him  among  the  most; 
 illustrious  of  the  inspired  bards  of  his  age, 
 and  second  to  none,  not  even  to  David 
 himself.  This  obvious  and  satisfactory  de¬ 
 termination  of  its  true  author,  at  once  ex¬ 
 plodes  all  those  unsatisfactory  and  mis¬ 
 chievous 
 
I 
 
 chievous  guesses  before  mentioned ;  and 
 surely  the  magnificent  and  comprehensive 
 plan  of  this  most  noble  and  highly  wrought 
 composition,  describing  the  fortunes  of  some 
 mighty  personage,  stretching  into  the  re¬ 
 motest  ages,  even  to  eternity,  and  expanding 
 into  grandeur  and  dignity  inconceivable,  is 
 too  vast  for  the  puny  concerns  of  a  David , 
 a  Hezekiah ,  a  Josiah ,  a  Jehoiachim ,  a  Jehoi- 
 achins  or  a  Zedekiah;  who  were  all  too  short¬ 
 lived,  too  insignificant,  too  worthless,  too 
 wicked,  or  too  near  the  age  of  the  writer, 
 to  attract  his  notice,  and  the  Almighty’s 
 patronage,  to  the  end  of  time,  commencing 
 in  those  very  remote  periods  intimated  by 
 the  Psalmist,  ver.  3,  28,  29?  36,  37?  46,  49? 
 52. 
 
 And  here  we  cannot  sufficiently  admire 
 
 j 
 
 the  caution  and  decorum  of  Infinite  Wis¬ 
 dom,  in  not  communicating  44  the  sure  mer - 
 “  cies  of  David ”  in  the  promised  birth  of 
 the  Messiah,  of  64  his  seed”  according  to 
 
 7  o 
 
 the  flesh,  immediately  to  David ,  in  the  first 
 instance,  but  rather  44  through  the  mouth  of 
 44  two  independent  and  credible  witnesses,’’ 
 Nathan  and  Ethan ,  before  the  joyous  in¬ 
 ti  telli  gence 
 
\ 
 
 •98 
 
 telligence  was  revealed  to  the  royal  prophet 
 himself.  This  notification  to  others  also, 
 stamps  an  additional  weight  and  authority 
 on  the  psalms  of  his  composition,  on  the 
 same  subject,  especially  the  second ,  th  e  forty  - 
 fifth,  and  the  hundred  and  tenth ;  and  con¬ 
 firms  their  exclusive  application  to  the 
 Messiah,  and  consequent  rejection  of  the 
 double  sense ,  so  unscripturally  attached  to 
 them  by  Jewish  and  Christian  commentators. 
 And  as  amidst  the  variety  of  guesses  about 
 the  supposed  object  of  this  psalm,  Solomon 
 has  not  been  noticed,  we  may  fairly  conclude, 
 that  neither  is  Solomon  the  object  of  Na¬ 
 thans  original  prophecy,  on  which  this  psalm 
 forms  an  extended  commentary, 
 
 I.  1-2.  In  rendering  the  two  first  verses 
 of  this  hymn,  expressive  of  the  Psalmist’s 
 purpose — to  sing  or  celebrate  Gods  mer- 
 “  ciesfi  or  loving-kindnesses,  which  originally 
 prompted  Him  to  promise  “  the  Blessed 
 “  Seed;” and  his  “ faithfulness ,” or  veracity, 
 which,  in  the  fulness  of  prophetic  time,  would 
 surely  perform  the  same,  I  have  followed  the 
 Septuagint  version  in  preference  to  the  Ma - 
 soretic  Hebrew  text:  1.  To  remedy  that 
 
 8  ungram- 
 
ungrammatical  confusion  of  persons  in  the 
 first  verse,  of  which  the  Syriac  translator 
 was  sensible,  and  endeavoured  to  rectify  by 
 adopting  the  third  person  in  the  latter  clause: 
 44  I  will  declare  his  faithfulness/'  &c.  But 
 surely  the  second  person  in  both,  according 
 to  the  Septuagint*  is  more  lively  and  ani¬ 
 mated,  and  more  conformable  to  the  tenor 
 of  those  inspired  compositions,  as  in  the 
 following  psalm  ascribed  to  Moses ,  xc.  1 : 
 44  Lord,  Thou  hast  been  our  refuge ,  from 
 44  generation  to  generation”  2.  In  the  se¬ 
 cond  verse,  the  substitution  of  the  second 
 person,44  Thou  saidstf  See.  instead  of  the  first, 
 16 1  said  ”  is  supported  by  all  the  ancient  ver¬ 
 sions,  except  the  Chaldee  paraphrase,  and 
 is  infinitely  more  sublime  and  poetical ;  the 
 pious  Psalmist  assigning  not  his  ozm ,  but  the 
 divine  declaration,  as  the  source  of  his  rap¬ 
 turous  effusions  of  praise  and  thanksgiving. 
 It  is  also  more  conformable  to  analogy,  or 
 the  tenor  of  the  psalm  itself,  which  begins 
 the  second  part  in  like  manner,  44  Thou 
 44  spake st — and  saidstf  &c.  ver.  Ip,  after 
 which,  in  the  former  case,  follows  the  con¬ 
 cise  oracle,  ver.  3,  4,  nearly  in  the  words  of 
 
 n  2  that 
 
100 
 
 that  delivered  to  Nathan,  2  Sam.  vii.  16  ; 
 and  its  developement  in  the  latter,  19-37, 
 both  being  represented  as  uttered  by  God 
 himself. 
 
 6.  In  the  sixth  verse,  instead  of 
 Crn^N,  44  the  sons  of  the  Mighty  f  I  have 
 adopted  the  reading  DVlbtt  *33,  44  sons  of 
 44  God”  as  the  angels  are  frequently  styled 
 in  Holy  Writ,  Job  i.  6,  and  ii.  1,  and  xxxviii. 
 7,  Dan.  iii.  25,  and  sanctioned  in  the  pre¬ 
 sent  instance  by  the  Septuagint ,  Arabic ,  and 
 Vulgate. 
 
 9  and  10.  In  that  magnificent  display  of 
 Almighty  power  and  vengeance, inflicted  upon 
 44  the  proud "  king  of  Egypt  and  his  host, 
 who  perished  in  the  Red  Sea,  I  have  adopted 
 Kennicotf s  truly  ingenious  and  well-sup¬ 
 ported  rendering  of  ^SrO,  tanquam  miles ,  as 
 44  a  soldier,*'  or  44  warrior,"  in  preference  to 
 the  ancient  versions,  tanquam  vulneratum  aut 
 occisum  ;  the  latter  of  which  (patronized  by 
 the  Syriac ,  Chaldee ,  and  Geneva  Bible)  is 
 followed  by  our  last  translation,  44  as  one  that 
 44  is  slain C  which  conveys  rather  a  degrading 
 idea  of  Almighty  power,  over  an  easy  con¬ 
 quest,  or  else  a  vapid  tautology,  inadmissible 
 
101 
 
 by  the  nervous  conciseness  of  Hebrew  poetry; 
 and  for  these  reasons,  we  may  presume,  our 
 old  translators,  more  wisely  omitted  what 
 they  did  not  understand.  For,  1.  The  noun 
 V?n  is  expressly  rendered  Ztpcctiutcc;9  “  sol- 
 “  diers”  in  one  passage,  2  Sam.  xxiii.  8,  by 
 the  Vatican  copy  of  the  Septuagint ,  as  a  de¬ 
 rivative  from  the  verb  bbn,  which,  in  the  con¬ 
 jugation  pi  hi  l,  is  taken  actively,  confoderey 
 to  “  pierce’"  or  “  thrust  through.’"  Buitorj'. 
 And  2.  By  this  construction,  the  whole  pas¬ 
 sage  admirably  accords  with  the  description 
 of  the  same  catastrophe  by  Moses ,  Exod.  xv.  3. 
 “  The  Lord  is  a  man  of  war ,  Pharaoh’s 
 “  chariots  and  his  host  hath  he  overthrown 
 “  in  the  sea: — Thy  right  hand,  O  Lord, 
 “  is  magnified  in  power ;  thy  right  hand,  O 
 u  Lord,  hath  crushed  the  enemy/"  Com¬ 
 pare  Isa.  li.  9-10,  Ezek.  xxix.  3,  and  xxxii.  2. 
 See  Kennicotfs  Dissertations ,  vol.  i.  p.  10?, 
 See . 
 
 15-18.  In  this  paragraph  the  Psalmist 
 describes  the  peculiar  happiness  of  his  coun¬ 
 trymen  as  a  religious  people,  “  knowing  the 
 “  trumpet ”  summoning  them  at  stated  times, 
 
 H  3  to 
 
102 
 
 to  attend  the  solemn  festivals,  Levit.  xxiii. 
 24,  Numb.  x.  10,  Psalm  lxxxi.  3. 
 
 II.  19.  Our  Bible  translation,  in  the  ex¬ 
 pression,  “  to  thy  Holy  One ”  seems  to  allude 
 to  “  the  Holy  One  of  Israel”  in  the  13th 
 verse,  which  unquestionably  is  meant  of 
 Christ  :  but  the  original  terms  are  not  the 
 same,  and  therefore  ought  not  to  be  con¬ 
 founded  in  the  translation,  the  most  judi¬ 
 cious  critics  applying  the  present  reading, 
 "JTPH1?,  “  to  thy  saint f  to  Nathan ,  that 
 highly  favoured  prophet,  to  whom  the  ori¬ 
 ginal  prophecy  of  “  Christ,  the  son  of 
 fi4  David f  was  first  communicated.  But  I 
 prefer  the  rendering  of  the  old  translation, 
 M  to  thy  saints  ,”  as  including  these  other 
 worthies,  who  were  favoured  with  similar 
 and  explanatory  communications  afterwards, 
 Ethan  himself,  David ,  lleman ,  &c.  which 
 is  abundantly  supported  by  the  plural  read¬ 
 ing,  followed  by  all  the  ancient  ver¬ 
 
 sions  without  exception  ;  by  a  great  number 
 of  the  earliest  Hebrew  editions,  and  MSS. 
 of  K  ennicott  and  De  Rossis  collations ;  and 
 by  the  most  respectable  of  the  Jewish  com¬ 
 mentators. 
 
105' 
 
 mentators,  David  Kimchi ,  Aben  Ezra ,  $o/o- 
 mon  Jar  chi,  &c.  cited  by  De  Rossi. 
 
 In  the  enumeration  of  the  titles  of  the 
 
 \  . 
 
 Messiah  which  follows,  as  uttered  by  the 
 Almighty  himself,  “  the  Mighty,”— 
 is  supported  by  Isa.  ix.  6,  styling  Him 
 “  mighty  God,”  as  appropriated  to  Jesus 
 by  the  archangel  Gabriel ,  Luke  i.  32, — “  He 
 “  shall  be  great,  and  shall  be  called  Son 
 “  of  the  Most  High,  and  the  Lord 
 “God  shall  give  unto  him  the  throne  of 
 “  Day  id,  his  Father *'  [according  to  the 
 flesh]. 
 
 “  The  chosen,” — “  the  Beloved,”  is 
 supported  likewise  by  Isaiah,  xlii.  1,  &c.  ac¬ 
 cording  to  the  rendering  of  Matt.  xii.  18, 
 rectifying  the  gross  and  palpable  corruptions 
 of  the  Septuagint  version  of  that  passage : 
 
 “  Behold  My  servan  t,  whom  I  have  chosen; 
 “  Mv  Beloved,  in  whom  My  soul  is  well 
 “  pleased  F  A  rendering  twice  solemnly 
 sanctioned  by  a  voice  from  heaven,  at  our 
 Lord's  baptism,  Matt.  iii.  II,  and  again  at 
 His  transfiguration,  Matt.  xvii.  5,  “  This 
 “  is  My  Son,  the  Beloved,  in  Whom 
 
 “  I  AM  WELL  PLEASED!” 
 
 h  4 
 
 20.  And 
 
104 
 
 20.  And  as  I  have  changed  the  proper 
 name  David  into  an  appellation  44  the  Be- 
 44  loved,'  upon  such  permanent  authority, 
 referring  thereto :  so,  on  the  other  hand,  I 
 have  retained  the  original  term  Messiah, 
 as  a  proper  name,  instead  of  the  appellation 
 “  Anointed ,"  because  it  is  exclusively  applied, 
 in  sundry  passages  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes¬ 
 tament,  to  J  e s u s  C ii  r  i  s t ,  as  in  the  very 
 first  remarkable  prophecy  wherein  it  is  in¬ 
 troduced,  1  Sam.  ii.  10  :  44  The  Lord  shall 
 44  give  strength  unto  his  King  :  and  exalt 
 44  the  horn  of  his  Messiah" — which  was 
 delivered  in  the  time  of  the  Judges ,  several 
 years  before  there  was  any  king  in  Israel . 
 And  again  repeated  in  that  noble  psalm, 
 probably  composed  by  Solomon ,  on  the  de¬ 
 dication  of  his  temple,  Ps.  cxxxii.  10-17- 
 Compare  2  Chron.  vi.  42.  64  For  thy  servant 
 44  David’s  sake ,  turn  not  away  the  face  of 
 44  thy  Messiah” — 44  There  will  I  make  the 
 44  horn  of  David  to  flourish  ;  I  have  or - 
 44  dained  a  lamp  for  my  Messiah." — This 
 verse  doth  mystically  refer  to  Christ,  the 
 Jews  confess,  as  Dr.  Hammond  hath  ob¬ 
 
 served :  so  saith  R,  Saadiah ,  44  The  Lamp" 
 
105 
 
 is  the  King  which  illuminates  the  nations^ 
 and  Kimciii  saith,  44  The  Horn  of  David  is 
 44  the  Messiah/’ — And  so  saith  the  pious 
 bishop  Horne ,  in  his  commentary  on  this 
 passage ;  and  yet  so  strongly  44  were  his 
 44  eyes  holder/’  with  44  the  received  hvpo- 
 66  thesis”  of  the  double  interpretation  of  the 
 Psalms,  that  lie  could  not  see,  1.  the  inde¬ 
 corum  of  Solomon  s  supposed  petition — ver. 
 10,  44  Turn  not  away  the  face  of  thy  Anointed39 
 — meaning  by  46  thy  Anointed ,”  Solomon 
 himself! — and  2,  the  strange  perversion  of 
 the  phrase  44  turn  not  away' — 44  that  God 
 44  would  not  confound  or  put  Solomon  to 
 44  shame,  by  denying  his  request,”  in  direct 
 contradiction  to  the  instance  the  bishop  him¬ 
 self  adduces,  1  Kings  ii.  1 6,  where  Adonijah 
 says  to  Bathsheba ,  44  And  now  I  ask  one 
 44  petition  of  thee  — 44  Turn  not  azcay  thy 
 “face”  or,44  deny  me  not.” — Jesus  Christ 
 indeed,  as  we  learn  from  the  higher  au¬ 
 thority  of  the  New  Testament,  was  the 
 sole  44  Horn  of  salvation  to  Israel,  whom 
 44  God  raised  up  in  the  house  of  David  His 
 44  servant,”  Luke  i.  69- — u  Who  was  anointed 
 “  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  paxerf 
 
 for 
 
iod 
 
 for  Got)  was  with  him.’"  Acts  x.  38. — And 
 in  the  next  revision,  by  authority,  of  our 
 English  Bible,  it  would  be  well,  if  the  term 
 Messiah  were  substituted  for  Anointed  in 
 such  appropriate  passages ;  it  is  judiciously 
 retained,  Dan.  ix.  25*26,  “  Messiah  the 
 “  prince” — “  Messiah  shall  be  cut  off.” 
 
 Although  the  Messiah  was  to  be  born 
 of  66  the  house  and  lineage  of  David  f  as  ac¬ 
 complished  in  Jesus  Christ,  Luke  ii.  4, 
 yet,  by  a  seeming  contradiction,  he  was  to 
 be  “  chosen  out  of  the  people,”  •  according 
 to  the  psalmist,  as  foretold  also  by  Moses , 
 Deut.  xviii.  15  :  “  The  Lord  thy  Goi> 
 “  will  raise  up  unto  thee  a  Prophet,  from 
 “  the  midst  of  thee ,  like  unto  Me,”  [in  legis¬ 
 lation,  miracles,  and  intercourse  with  hea¬ 
 ven] — and  this  actually  took  place  when  the 
 house  of  David  was  reduced  to  poverty. 
 Jflence  the  Jews  were  so  often  offended  with 
 Jesus,  on  account  of  the  meanness  of  his 
 condition  :  —  “  Is  not  this  the  Carpenter  s 
 u  Son  ?”• — “  Is  not  this  the  Carpenter  ?” — 
 And  our  Lord  himself  pathetically  remarks : 
 ■6  The  foxes  have  holes ,  and  the  birds  of  the 
 “  air,  nests;  but  the  Son  op  Man  hath  not 
 
 “  where 
 
107 
 
 “  where  to  lay  his  head!” — And  “  Mary 
 “  Magdalene ,  and  other  pious  women,  mi- 
 “  nistered  to  his  wants  of  their  substance /* 
 
 22.  “  The  enemy  shall  not  deceive  Him” — 
 as  the  serpent  deceived  Eve .  Aben  Ezra. 
 
 27-  “The  first  BORN,”or  invested  with 
 the  peculiar  privileges  of  heirship ,  above  all 
 powers,  principalities,  and  dominions,  not 
 only  on  earth,  but  in  heaven  :  conferred  upon 
 Jesus  at  his  resurrection, as  before  remarked 
 Heh.  i.  2-6.  See  Dissert.  III.  and  the  pa¬ 
 rallel  passages  there  referred  to. 
 
 30.  66  If  his  children  f  Sec.  This  paren¬ 
 thetical  clause  is  an  obvious  commentary  on 
 that,  descriptive  of  the  persecution  of  the 
 Messiah,  by  the  Jews,  and  their  punish¬ 
 ment,  introduced  incidentally  in  Nathan  s 
 original  prophecy  (“  Whosoever  [shall  be 
 “  concerned]  in  injuring  Himfl  See.)  as  stated 
 in  the  foregoing  Dissertation.  And  their 
 persecution  of  Him  is  more  fully  unfolded 
 by  David,  in  the  second  and  twenty-second 
 Psalms,  and  alluded  to  by  Solomon  in  PsaL 
 cxxxii.  18,  “  His  enemies  will  I  clothe  with 
 “  shame ;  but  upon  Himself  shall  His  crown 
 u  flourish  ” 
 
 37.  In 
 
108 
 
 37*  In  the  brilliant  comparison  of  the* 
 stability  of  the  Messiahs  throne,  “  as 
 “  the  sun — as  the  moon — and  as  the  faithful 
 u  witness  in  heaven” — I  understand  the  last, 
 with  the  principal  commentators,  of  the  rain¬ 
 bow  ;  that  glorious  emblem  of  divine  mercy, 
 and  of  Cod’s  covenant  with  Noah  and  his 
 posterity,  that  He  would  no  more  destroy 
 the  earth  by  water.  Gen.  ix.  12-15.  In  al¬ 
 lusion  to  which,  perhaps,  the  mystical  throne, 
 seen  by  Ezekiel ,  i.  28,  and  by  John,  Rev. 
 iv.  3,  was  surrounded  by  a  glory  resembling 
 a  rainbow ;  and  Jesus  Christ  himself,  an¬ 
 nouncing  bis  second  coming  in  power  and 
 great  glory,  is  represented,  I  humbly  con¬ 
 ceive,  Rev.  x.  1,  as  “  a  mighty  angel ,  de- 
 “  scending  from  heaven ,  encompassed  with  a 
 “  cloudy  and  a  rainbow  on  his  head ;  and 
 “  his  countenance  zvas  as  the  sun;  and  his 
 “  feet  y  as  pillars  of  fire' — “  and  he  put  his 
 “  right  foot  on  the  sea,  and  his  left  on  the 
 “  earth,”  &c.  John  so  describes  his  first 
 appearance  in  vision,  likewise,  in  the  isle  of 
 Patmosy  Rev.  i.  10-16.  See  a  new  transla¬ 
 tion  of  that  descrintion  in  the  Inspector. 
 
 i. 
 
 p.  72. 
 
109 
 
 The  earlier  commentators,  the  Jewish  es¬ 
 pecially,  interpret  “  the  faithful  witness'  to 
 denote  the  moon ,  following  the  Chaldaic  pa- 
 raphrast ;  others,  the  moniing-star ,  which  is 
 better  supported  in  Holy  Writ,  Christ 
 being  called  66  the  day-spring  from  on  high,” 
 Luke  i.  78,  from  Ps.  cx.  3,  and  46  the  7'oot 
 44  and  of  spring  of  David ,  the  bright  and 
 44  morning-star.”  Rev.  xxii.  16. 
 
 III.  38.  As  the  second  part  had  detailed 
 the  glories  of  the  Messiah’s  reign,  so  the 
 third  and  last  part  of  this  finished  lyric  com¬ 
 position  reveals  His  sufferings,  with  an  asto¬ 
 nishing  degree  of  minuteness  and  precision 
 throughout;  and  Holy  Writ  represents  Him 
 as  subject  to  infirmities  of  human  nature,  but 
 yet  without  sin ;  his  occasional  despondency, 
 and  his  mild  expostulations  with  God,  dur¬ 
 ing  the  course  of  his  arduous  and  thankless 
 mission  and  passion,  are  frequently  recorded 
 both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament; 
 for  66  in  the  days  of  His  flesh ,  He  addressed 
 44  prayers  and  supplications  with  strong  crying 
 44  and  tears ,  unto  Him  who  was  able  to  save 
 44  Him  from  death ;  and  was  listened  to ,  on 
 44  account  erf'  His  reverence.”  Heb.  v.  7* 
 
 “  o, 
 
110 
 
 “  O,  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible 9  let  this 
 66  cup  pass  from  Me :  nevertheless  not  as  I 
 “  rmll9  but  as  1  lion  /’ — 66  0  My  Father ,  if 
 46  this  cup  cannot  pass  from  Me ,  except  I 
 “  drink  it ,  Thy  will  be  done  /  ’  Matt,  xxvi. 
 38-42.  An  1  He  breathed  out  His  soul  in 
 terms  of  the  highest  trust  and  confidence. 
 — *u  Father,  into  Thy  hand  I  commit  My 
 44  spirit !’  Luke  xxiii.  46,  in  the  words  of 
 the  prophetic  Psalm,  xxxi.  6. 
 
 46.  Hence  the  Messiah’s  expostula¬ 
 tion,  46-31,  exactly  accords  with  the  re¬ 
 presentations  of  the  prophets :  David ,  Ps. 
 xxii.  1,  cited  by  our  Lord  during  His  first 
 agonies  on  the  cross,  Matt,  xxvii.  46, — and 
 the  complaints  of  the  Messiah  on  the  fruit¬ 
 fulness  of  His  mission,  Isa.  xlix,  4,  &c. 
 
 50 — In  the  course  of  it,  I  have  substituted 
 “  %  servant f  (meaning  the  Messiah,) 
 instead  of  44  thy  servants' — as  the  preceding 
 and  following  verses  indispensibly  require — * 
 and  as  supported  by  the  singular  reading 
 warranted  by  the  Syriac  and  Chaldee , 
 and  by  several  MSS.  of  Kennicott  and  De 
 Rossi’ s  collations. 
 
 BIS- 
 
Ill 
 
 DISSERTATION  VI. 
 
 OK  THE  PRIMITIVE  NAMES  OF  THE 
 
 PEITY. 
 
 To  acquire  clear ,  distinct ,  and  correct  ideas 
 of  elementary  and  technical  terms,  is  con¬ 
 fessedly  the  first  step  towards  the  attainment 
 of  accurate  knowledge,  or  sound  information 
 in  any  art  or  science  *.  And  as  there  is 
 none,  from  its  nature,  so  noble  and  sublime, 
 so  important  to  the  highest  concerns  of  man¬ 
 kind  here  and  hereafter,  but  yet  so  abstruse 
 and  66  hard  to  be  understood ”  as  theology; 
 of  consequence,  the  import  of  its  elementary 
 terms,  the  Original  or  Primitive  Names  of 
 the  Deity  demands  the  fullest  investiga¬ 
 tion,  The  Name  of  the  Lord  cometh 
 from  far ;  even  in  the  etymological  sense, 
 
 *  See  Lockes  Essay,  book  iv.  chap.  xii.  On  the  Im» 
 yrovement  of  our  Knowledge.  And  before  him  lJiato 
 observed,  Os  av  TA  ONOMATA  «*«),  HGZTOCl  KOU  TA 
 nPArMATA,  “  Whoever  can  know  THE  N AMES, 
 "  will  know  also  THE  THINGS.” 
 
 and 
 
112 
 
 and  like  the  majestic  and  stupendous  Being 
 whom  it  denotes,  is  wrapt  in  thick  clouds 
 and  darkness ;  to  he  traced,  not  without 
 much  labour  and  difficulty,  up  to  its  pure 
 and  unadulterated  source,  in  the  precious 
 remains  of  primaeval  language,  that  have 
 escaped  the  wreck  of  time,  and  are  still 
 happily  preserved  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  and 
 its  kindred  dialects:  insomuch,  that  the  cu¬ 
 rious  and  adventurous  critic,  who  dares  to 
 traverse  and  explore  the  formidable  obscurity 
 of  the  subject,  is  well  nigh  repulsed,  at  the 
 outsetting,  by  a  warning  voice,  like  that  of 
 the  Angel  of  the  Lord,  repressing  the 
 too-inquisitive  Manoah — “  Why  askest  thou 
 “  thus  after  my  name,  seeing  it  is  se~ 
 “  cret  ?” 
 
 In  addition  to  the  real  labour  and  difficulty 
 
 of  such  a  research,  “  through  the  dark  back- 
 
 44  ward  and  abyme  of  time/’  much  adven- 
 
 %/ 
 
 titious  obscurity  and  unnecessary  perplexity 
 have  been  thrown  thereon,  by  the  reveries 
 of  Rabbinical  mystics,  the  subtilties  of  Ma* 
 soretic  grammarians,  and  the  vagaries  of  mo¬ 
 dern  hypercritics,  exhibiting  altogether  such 
 a  medley  of  discordant  and  unnatural  roots  of 
 
 irrelevant, 
 
113 
 
 irrelevant,  offensive,  and  revolting  conjec¬ 
 tures,  touching  the  leading  significations  of 
 66  the  glorious  and  awful  names  of  the  Lord 
 “  our  God;"’  which  ought  not  to  be44  taken 
 44  in  vain ”  by  idle  or  licentious  64  imagina - 
 44  tionsf  as  tend  to  cast  unmerited  contempt 
 Rnd  ridicule  on  the  useful  elementary  study 
 of  Etymology ,  and  materially  to  injure  the 
 cause  of  Sacred  Criticism  ;  as  if  Theology  it¬ 
 self  was  built  on  precarious  and  uncertain 
 principles,  since  its  most  sacred  and  venerable 
 terms,  the  primitive  names  of  God,  will  not 
 (as  has  been  asserted)  submit  to  be  tried  by 
 the  rigid  rules  of  grammatical  analogy  ;  but 
 44  are  of  the  number  of  those,  in  which  it  is 
 44  much  easier  to  detect  error ,  than  to  discover 
 44  the  truth  :  and  if  the  truth  be  discovered 
 44  [discoverable]  at  all,  it  can  only  be  by  the 
 44  slow  process  of  the  method  of  exclusion T 
 — British  Critic ,  1802,  February ,  p.  137- 
 Such  is  the  unfavourable  and  discouraging 
 representation  of 44  the  difficulties'”  attending 
 the  inquiry  into  44  the  true  etymology  of  these 
 <4  words,  and  the  notions  radically  involved 
 44  in  them  ;9  which,  say  the  B.  C.  66  have 
 
 J  44  never 
 
114 
 
 ic  never  yet  been  satisfactorily  resolved,  and 
 u  which  we  pretend  not  to  clear  entirely.” 
 
 Having  myself,  at  an  early  period  of  my 
 theological  studies,  laboured  as  a  hardy  and 
 industrious  pioneer,  to  “  clear”  or  disem¬ 
 barrass  sacred  etymology  from  the  rubbish  of 
 unskilful  or  fanciful  criticism,  carefully  and 
 anxiously  endeavouring  to  acquire  rational 
 and  correct  ideas  of  the  leading  significations 
 of  those  Divine  Names,  through  the 
 channel  of  which  are  conveyed,  in  the  sacred 
 oracles,  the  mysterious  nature  and  attributes 
 of  the  Deity,  and  the  wonders  of  creating , 
 redeeming ,  sanctifying  love:  and  having 
 at  length  satisfied  myself  with  the  results, 
 after  no  short  nor  slight  research  and  con¬ 
 sideration,  in  which  I  was  principally  guided 
 and  protected  by  the  pole-star  of  the  Hebrew 
 Scriptures  themselves,  and  the  ancient  ver¬ 
 sions  (especially  the  venerable  Septuagint ) 
 illustrative  thereof ;  the  appearance  of  an 
 elaborate  tc  critical  disquisition  on  the  ety - 
 mology  and  import  of  the  divine  Names 
 
 “  ELOAH,  ELOHIM,  EL;  JEHOVAH 
 
 “  and  JAH,”  in  the  British  Critic  (referred 
 
 to 
 
115 
 
 to  in  the  foregoing  citation),  strongly  excited 
 my  curiosity :  I  perused  it  with  avidity, 
 hoping  to  find  “  the  method  of  exclusion”  at 
 
 least,  skilfully  and  exhaustively  applied  by 
 
 *  ✓ 
 
 those  master-critics ,  and  established  arbiters 
 of  public  taste,  and  guides  of  popular  opi¬ 
 nion  in  matters  of  Literature,  and  some  ori¬ 
 ginal  and  valuable  lights  thrown  on  the  pre¬ 
 sent  gloom  and  obscurity  of  the  subject ;  but 
 was  much  disappointed  to  find  they  had 
 scarcely  ventured  to  forsake  the  beaten 
 track,  and  in  some  instances  had  rather  con¬ 
 tributed  to  embarrass  what  was  sufficiently 
 intelligible ;  I  thought  it  therefore  my  bounden 
 duty  to  offer  such  strictures  thereon,  as  might 
 lessen  the  weight  of  such  imposing  and  dis¬ 
 heartening  authority  on  “  Orthodox’'  stu¬ 
 dents,  especially  among  the  younger  clergy ; 
 for  whose  sake  chiefly  I  undertook  my  In¬ 
 spectorial  office — 
 
 . . . . Vatibus  addere  calcar 
 
 Ut  studio  major e  petant  Helicona  virentem. 
 
 And  even  proficients  in  Oriental  Literature, 
 and  the  reviewing  B.  C.  themselves,  perhaps 
 may  find  this  Dissertation  not  altogether  de- 
 
 I  2  void 
 
216 
 
 void  of  new,  curious,  solid,  and  useful  in¬ 
 formation,  towards  the  more  satisfactory  pro¬ 
 secution  of  their  biblical  and  even  classical 
 studies,  and  the  more  faithful  discharge  of 
 an  office  of  such  high  trust  and  responsi¬ 
 bility  to  GOD  and  their  Country,  as  that 
 of  Literary  Reviewers ;  who  cannot  be,  in 
 reason,  offended,  if  they  in  turn  be  occa¬ 
 sionally  and  respectfully  inspected  themselves 
 in  momentous  cases, 
 
 JIanc  veniam  petim  usque  damusqm  vicissim. 
 
 The  grand  and  leading  cause  of  erroneous- 
 opinion,  on  this  most  abstruse  subject,  is,  I 
 apprehend,  the  long  “  received  hypothesis*,^ 
 that  in  Hebrew,  and  its  kindred  Dialects, 
 Verbs  are  the  roots  or  themes  of  all  other 
 words;  and  that  these  are,  in  general,  tri¬ 
 literal,  supposed  to  consist  of  three  conso¬ 
 nants,  or  elementary  letters ;  and,  according 
 to  this  plan,  have  all  our  Oriental  Lexicons 
 been  constructed  hitherto. 
 
 *  See  Locke  s  Essay,  book  iv.  chap,  xx,  On  the  Causes 
 of  Error „ 
 
 I  shall 
 
i  shall  therefore  bring  this  hypothesis  itself 
 to  the  rigid  test  of,  1.  Logic ,  or  Universal 
 Grammar .  2.  History ,  sacred  and  profane, 
 
 recording  the  actual  rise  and  progress  of 
 language.  3.  The  Analogy  of  Languages , 
 discoverable  in  the  nearer  and  remoter  Dia¬ 
 lects  of  the  East  and  TVest.  4.  The  con¬ 
 cessions  of  the  ablest  advocates  of  the  re¬ 
 ceived  system :  and,  5.  The  discordances  and 
 contradictions  of  Etymologists  and  Hyper- 
 critics. 
 
 ] .  Every  Logical  proposition  consists  of  a 
 subject  and  predicate ,  corresponding  respec* 
 tively  to  the  nominative  case  and  verb,  in  a 
 grammatical  sentence .  But  surely  the  subject 
 of  discourse  must,  in  the  natural  order  of 
 conception  and  learning  of  language,  precede 
 its  predicate  or  attribute,  as  substances  are 
 the  foundation  of  their  qualities  or  accidents. 
 And  hence  Nouns ,  or  the  names  of  things, 
 must  necessarily  be  prior  to  Verbs ,  denoting 
 their  active,  passive,  and  reflex  operations. 
 And  such  is  the  natural  and  judicious  ar¬ 
 rangement  of  Grammarians  in  every  lan¬ 
 guage,  who,  however  they  may  differ  from 
 each  other,  in  assigning  the  number  and  or- 
 
 i  S  der 
 
118 
 
 der  of  the  parts  of  Speech,  all  agree  in  be¬ 
 ginning  with  Nouns . 
 
 2.  The  Bible,  that  most  ancient  and  au¬ 
 thentic  record  of  the  origin  of  things,  states, 
 Gen.  ii.  19-20,  that  when  the  first  Man  was 
 created,  the  Divine  Author  of  speech  brought 
 before  him  all  the  various  tribes  of  animals, 
 “  to  sec  zvhat  he  would  call  them :  And  what - 
 44  ever  Adam  called  any  living  creature r  that 
 44  became  its  name”  in  the  primaeval  lan¬ 
 guage.  In  this  most  ancient  and  venerable 
 Nomenclature ,  therefore,  Nouns  were  the 
 first  words ;  and  daily  observation  confirms, 
 that  the  most  familiar  objects  of  sensation 
 first  attract  the  attention  of  infants,  and  that 
 their  names  are  the  first  learned ;  and  that 
 these  are  necessarily  monosyllables ,  as  being 
 the  sounds  that  are  shortest  and  simplest  of 
 utterance,  or  easiest  of  articulation ;  such  as 
 are  framed  by  the  first  organs  of  speech,  the 
 throat  and  lips,  like  UK,  Ab ,  66  Father/' 
 DX,  Am,  64  Mother,’"  PlX,  Ah,  64  Brother/’ 
 p,  Ben ,  44  Son/’  y,  Jad, 44  Hand/’  H5,  Bell, 
 44  Mouth/"  &c.  which  are  not  confined  to  the 
 Hebrew  language,  but  run  through  most  of 
 the  kindred  oriental  dialects,  demonstrating 
 
 theit 
 
119 
 
 (heir  common  descent  from  some  parent 
 stock  :  whereas  the  Verbs  in  all  these  are 
 mostly  triliteral  or  dissyllables ;  and  conse¬ 
 quently,  as  being  more  difficult  of  pronun¬ 
 ciation,  as  well  as  more  abstruse  in  their 
 significations,  denoting  ideas  of  reflection , 
 could  not  be  the  roots  of  nouns,  or  the  names 
 of  sensible  objects  earlier  known,  and  easier 
 to  be  understood  and  expressed  :  See  Locke  s 
 Essay,  b.  ii.  ch.  i.  Of  the  Original  of  our 
 Ideas ;  and  b.  iii.  ch.  i.  §  5.  Of  Words  of 
 Reflection. 
 
 3.  If  we  attend  to  the  analogy  of  lan¬ 
 guages,  that  accomplished  scholar,  and  ad¬ 
 mirable  linguist,  Sir  William  Jones ,  asserts, 
 that  “  it  is  the  genius  of  the  Sanscrit  lan- 
 
 guage,  that  the  roots  of  verbs  are  almost 
 “  universally  biliter  aiV — Asiatic  Researches, 
 vol.  ii.  p.  4,  But  the  Sanscrit ,  or  sacred 
 language  of  Hindostan,  is  a  twin  sister  of 
 the  primitive  Syriac  dialect;  consequently, 
 these  roots  could  not  be  verbs  themselves,  (as 
 Sir  William  Jones  supposes,)  but  rather 
 nouns ;  according  to  the  analogy  of  the  lie-* 
 brew  and  Syriac  tongue.  Sir  George  Staun ▼ 
 ton  also,  in  his  account  of  the  late  embassy 
 
 j  4  to 
 
120 
 
 to  China ,  states,  that  in  the  Chinese  lan^ 
 guage  the  words  of  every  kind  are  mostly 
 monosyllables ,  differing,  by  nice  and  delicate 
 inflexions  of  the  voice,  in  the  same  combi¬ 
 nations  of  elementary  letters,  so  as  to  be 
 scarcely  distinguishable  by  European  ears, 
 and  utterly  incapable  of  being  pronounced 
 by  European  tongues;  but  the  Chinese  lan¬ 
 guage,  like  the  Sanscrit ,  is  of  the  remotest 
 antiquity,  both  having  sprung  from  the 
 same  parent  stock  :  and  the  same  original 
 structure  of  roots,  we  may  safely  conclude, 
 is  common  to  the  nearer  dialects  of  the  East, 
 and  the  remoter  of  the  West,  their  de¬ 
 scendants. 
 
 And  that  verbs  are  not  indeed  the  ele¬ 
 mentary  or  essential  parts  of  speech,  we  may 
 collect  from  their  frequent  omissioq,  in  gram¬ 
 matical  sentences,  in  all  the  ancient  lan¬ 
 guages  ;  especially  in  poetical  compositions, 
 the  earliest  of  all : — Thus  the  first  sentence 
 of  the  book  of  Psalms,  in  the  Hebrew,  and 
 all  the  ancient  versions,  44  Blessed  the  man” 
 See.  wants  the  verb  substantive  64  is and 
 the  usual  salutation  in  China,  Hou  poo  hou 
 
 — 44  Well, 
 
121 
 
 — “  Well,  not  well  ?”  intimates  :  [Are  you] 
 well  [or]  not  well  ? 
 
 4.  The  nouns  T,  44  Hand  ”  HD,  44  Mouth  ” 
 ptfif,  44  Sack ”  or  44  bag”  with  many  others  of 
 the  biliteral  class,  are  allowed  by  Kimchi , 
 Jjiixtorf,  Cast  ell ,  and  all  the  lexicographers, 
 to  be  radicals.  And  the  learned  Michaelis , 
 in  his  Supplement  a  ad  Lexica  Hebraica ,  un¬ 
 der  the  head  of  *1%  Manus ,  p.  1055,  acknow¬ 
 ledges  :  66  Primitivum  esse  videtur,  ut  et  alia 
 “  membrorum  corporis  humam  vocabula/* 
 And  again,  under  H Dens ,  p.  87* 
 
 • — 44  Difficilis  est  de  etymolo.gia  nominum 
 44  quorundam  primorum  et  antiquissimorum 
 44  disputa tio,  quod  verba  forte  ex  nomi- 
 66  nib  us  orta  et  denominata  sunt ” — This  is 
 a  notable  concession  from  this  celebrated 
 advocate  of  the  received  hypothesis,  though 
 qualified  with  a  forte ,  44  perhaps  \”  and  be¬ 
 fore  him,  Schultens ,  that  great  Orientalist, 
 candidly  confesses,  in  his  judicious  Institu- 
 tiones  Linguce  Hebrcece ,  p.  158,  44  Docent 
 44  passim  Grammatici ,  (submonuitque  Cl. 
 44  Alting )  Nomina  inter  dura  radicis  ratio- 
 46  nem  habere ,  et  Verbo  originem  dare:  ut 
 44  Anris ,  propagavit  |Tb\  in  Pill,  et 
 
 7  44  in 
 
122 
 
 “  in  Hiph.  —  Aures  prcebuit.  Talia  bene 
 “  mult  a  extant/' — And  the  testimony  of  the 
 accurate  Alting ,  to  which  he  alludes,  is  most 
 express,  in  his  useful  Synopsis  Institutionum 
 Hebrcearum ,  Chaldcearum ,  et  Syrarum ,  &c. 
 vol.  i.  p.  89,  edit.  Bvo.  1730. 
 
 “  Hebr^t,  Verbum  primo  loco  collocant, 
 “  turn  quod  radicem  fere  exhibeat  unde  par- 
 “  tium  aliarum  vocabula  derivantur ;  turn  ob 
 **  amplitudinem  tractationis :  Sed  Nos  Verbo 
 “  primum  locum  in  tractatione  negamus,  turn 
 *4  quia  naturci  snd ,  nomine  posterius  est  (quod 
 “  substantiam  sa3pe  notat,  et  verbum,  acci- 
 ^  dens )  turn  imprimis,  quia  participia  (pars 
 verbi)  sequunturflexionem  nominum;quam 
 “  proinde  cognitam  esse  oportet,  aut  alieno 
 u  loco  jam  pertractanda  est.  Tertium  porro 
 “  locum  Verbo  assignamus,  quia  ob  crebram 
 “  ellipsin  verbi  substantivi ,  Sententia  integra 
 “  ex  solis  Nominibus  et  P articulis  formari  po - 
 66  test ,  nullo  prorsus  Verbo  interveniente .  Vide 
 “  Ps.  iii.  9,  et  viii.  10,  et  xviii.  31-32/’ 
 
 5.  Several  of  the  triliteral  verbs,  set  dow  n 
 as  roots  or  themes  by  lexicographers,  ac¬ 
 cording  to  the  received  hypothesis,  are  ima^ 
 ginary9  and  these  are  distinguished  from  the 
 
 rea ( 
 
 A 
 
193 
 
 real  roots,  by  being  unpointed,  in  Buxtorf \ 
 Castell ,  &c. — x4nd  their  amount  is  consi¬ 
 derable:  such  as  DPU\%  the  supposed  root  of 
 Dtt,  Mother ;  nnK,  of  fltt,  Brother ;  of 
 U\  Sea;  &c.  although  the  biliteral  nouns 
 themselves  are  as  well  entitled  to  the  rank 
 of  roots. as  the  foregoing,  which  are  admitted 
 to  be  such. 
 
 6.  Several  of  the  real  verbs,  suppose*  1  to 
 be  roots,  may  more  naturally  be  derived 
 from  their  offspring,  thus,  Hitt  to  regard  or 
 respect ,  naturally  flows  from  Father  ; 
 na,  to  build ,  from  p,  Son ;  and  accordingly, 
 the  verb  is  used  in  the  sense  of  begetting 
 children ,  Deut.  xxv.  9*  u  So  shall  it  be  done 
 66  unto  the  man,  that  will  not  build  up  his 
 66  brother  s  housed’  The  verb  rf7h\  To  swear , 
 curse ,  or  devote  to  destruction,  naturally  flows 
 from  ^  G  od,  who  was  appealed  to  in  these 
 solemn  acts,-  as  supreme  arbiter.  And  this, 
 even  Michaelis  himself,  who  adopts  the  re¬ 
 ceived  hypothesis,  inconsistently  admits : 
 “  Potius  hoc  ipsum  juravit .  denomina- 
 
 “  tivum  putem  esse  ab  d?  *  quasi  dicas,  per 
 
 Deum  aliquid  affirmavitA  In  like  manner, 
 the  B.  C.  in  question,  although  he  derives 
 
 the 
 
 / 
 
m 
 
 the  divine  nameTV  from  a  triliteral  verb,  ru\v 
 “  to  be  lovely,  fair ,  or  admirable f  following 
 Cocceius  and  Vitringa ,  yet  admits  that  66  it 
 66  may  be  taken  as  a  root  by  itself.”  p.  154. 
 
 II.  Having  thus  shewn,  that  the  received 
 hypothesis,  or  Ma  sore  tic  scheme  of  deriva¬ 
 tion,  is  untenable  in  both  its  branches,  from 
 the  genius  and  history  of  language;  and  that 
 the  elementary  terms  of  all  languages  are 
 naturally  nouns ,  or  names  of  the  most  ob¬ 
 vious  and  striking  sensible  objects ;  and  ne¬ 
 cessarily  monosyllables ,  as  being  easiest  of 
 pronunciation  :  we  may  safely  conclude,  from 
 analogy,  that  the  simplest  of  the  divine 
 names,  ^  iCL,  and  TV  jaii,  are  the  most 
 ancient  of  all ;  the  venerable  parents  —  ^ 
 (ml)  of  mbft,  (iEL-on);  and  of  its  plural 
 (iEL-oii-iM  :  And  rv  (jam),  of  mn* 
 (j  ah-oh),  formed  from  their  respective  roots, 
 by  additional  syllables,  or  by  composition  ; 
 according  to  the  usual  progress  of  language  : 
 and,  indeed,  that  they  cannot  be  derivatives , 
 formed  either  by  contraction  or  elision,  from 
 terms  more  compounded,  I  shall  next  endea¬ 
 vour  to  prove,  by  shewing  the  insufficiency 
 Mof  all  the  roots  hitherto  assigned  to  them. 
 
 N.  B. 
 
125 
 
 jSf.  B.  In  adapting  the  foregoing  primitive 
 names  of  God  to  English  pronunciation,  I 
 have  departed  from  th eMasoretic  punctuation ; 
 and  also  from  the  orthography  of  the  British 
 Critic:  1.  Because  &,  the  first  letter  of  ^ 
 iEL  and  its  compounds,  is  not  a  vowel  but  a 
 consonant  ;  the  softest  of  the  aspirates* 
 Aleph ,  He,  Hheth ,  (Arabic  Him ,)  and  Ain : 
 As  in  the  proper  name  Aaron ,  which  is  pro¬ 
 nounced  Haroun  by  the  Arabs.  And  2.  I 
 have  rejected  the  Pat  kali  Jurtivum  of  the 
 Masorites,  •T1^  iELOAH,  which  is  no  vowel 
 point;  Schultens ,  Instit.  p.  72-118,  and 
 seems  to  have  64  crept  in”  unnecessarily,  if 
 not  mischievously,  to  confound  the  etymo¬ 
 logy  ;  and,  perhaps,  to  assimilate  it  to  3^  the 
 Masoretic  punctuation  of  niJT  ieiiovaii; 
 which  should  rather  be  pronounced  iahoii  : 
 according  to  the  most  ancient  Greek  pro¬ 
 nunciation,  IAfl,  fortunately  preserved  in 
 the  fragments  of  Orpheus ,  and  the  Clarion 
 Oracle ,  and  Diodorus  Siculus ;  and  approved 
 of  by  Origen  and  Jerom ,  the  most  learned 
 of  the  Fathers:  though  long  since  lost  among 
 the  Jews;  not  daring,  out  of  superstition,  to 
 pronounce  u  this  glorious  and  awful  namef 
 
 Dent. 
 
126 
 
 Deut.  xxviii.  58,  as  their  ancestors  evidently 
 did,  1  Kings  xviii.  39. 
 
 1.  Supposed  derivations  of 
 
 and  rnS^,  je  loh  . —  1.  Some  Jewish  gram¬ 
 marians,  , Cocceius  and  the  Hutchinsonian 
 school,  derive  both  from  “  to  swear” — • 
 
 which  is  justly  rejected  by  Michaelis  (as  wo 
 have  seen)  and  the  B.  C.  p.  141-152. 
 
 2.  Michaelis  adopts  the  verb  as  the 
 root,  in  the  sense  of  henefacere  alieui ,  or  bene- 
 volus  fuit ,  from  the  Arabic  noun  Ali,  signify- 
 ing  “good:”  as  intimating  the  goodness  or 
 beneficence  of  the  Deity;  this  is  cer¬ 
 tainly  a  more  honourable  derivation  than 
 the  former,  which  represents  him  “  as  an 
 “  object  of  mere  terror ” — and  more  conso¬ 
 nant  to  Scripture  and  the  first  philosophy : 
 “  Why  callest  thou  me  good?”  said  our  blessed 
 SaviouPv,  himself — 4 6  there  is  none  good 
 66  but  one,  that  is  God'— None,  in  whom 
 goodness  is  an  inherent,  underived  principle 
 of  conduct,  -  Matt.  xix.  17.  And  in  the 
 sacred  commentary  of  the  Persian  rites, 
 ascribed  to  Zoroaster ,  among  several  magni¬ 
 ficent  titles  of  the  Deity,  we  meet  A yeedeov 
 AyxQoTccTo;,  “  Best  OF  THE  Good/’ — New- 
 
 ton's 
 
127 
 
 tons  Chronology ,  p.  353.  Whence  Plato 
 probably  derived  Ins  66  deifying  principle,” 
 r  Ay oc6ou,  “  The  good’’  supreme  ;  noticed 
 by  the  B.  C.  p.  141-149*  And  also  the 
 earliest  Latin  writers,  their — 66  Optimus 
 “  maximus'-  his  superlative  goodness  taking 
 the  lead  of  his  greatness :  And  from  the 
 Greek  ru9-og,  the  contraction  of  A yotQ-og, 
 might  easily  have  been  derived,  the  German 
 Gott,  and  our  Saxon  or  English  term  God; 
 and  perhaps  all  those,  ultimately,  from  the 
 Syriac  *rn,  Jihad ,  the  contraction  of  the 
 Hebrew  “inft,  Akkad,  signifying  64  One  ’ — by 
 an  easy  transmutation  of  kindred  conso¬ 
 nants  ; — for  this  ingenious  etymological  series, 
 we  are  indebted  to  Hallenherg ,  a  Danish 
 critic,  cited  by  the  Monthly  Review,  vol. 
 xxxiv.  Append,  p.  483,  which  happily  il¬ 
 lustrates  the  peculiar  force  and  beauty  of  our 
 Lord's  foregoing  argument. 
 
 Still,  however,  Michaelis  s  derivation  ap¬ 
 pears  to  be  inadmissible,  as  it  is  not  drawn 
 from  the  pure  source  of  the  Hebrew  lan¬ 
 guage ;  and  especially  as  Michaelis  himself, 
 p.  82,  admits,  that  the  primitive  root  L?&,  ml, 
 is  wanting  (or  obsolete)  both  in  the  Arabic 
 
 and 
 
1 23 
 
 and  Syriac  dialects,  although  they  retain  its 
 derivatives,  of  which  Alt  is  plainly  one  :  as 
 also  the  verb  Alah ,  in  Arabic,  to  adore  or 
 warship.  See  Cocceius. 
 
 3.  More  exceptionable  is  the  derivation 
 offered  by  the  13.  C.  p.  152. — 44  It  appears 
 <4  to  come  from  the  root  in  its  primary 
 sense  of  44  approaching  or  coming  close  to'* 
 — accedere  :  (whence  also  descends  the  pre- 
 position  btt  [E/,  signifying  Ad ,  Versus, 
 Junta])  :  according  to  this  etymology,  it  will 
 more  particularly  express  the  omnipresence  of 
 God,  under  the  notion  of  a  44  proximity” 
 or  44  coming  close  up  to  every  thing/'  When 
 it  takes  the  suffix  of  the  first  person  singular* 
 it  expresses  the  suppliant’s  sense  of  God’s 
 constant  proximity  to  him.  In  Psalm  xxii.  1, 
 [T he]  M e  s  s  i  a ii  prays  th  us : 66  My  E L,  My 
 44  EL— i.  e.  Thou  that  art  usually  close  beside 
 “  me ,  wherefore  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?'* 
 
 But  wre  may  well  ask,  How  is  the  relative 
 idea  of  loco-motion ,  intimated  hereby,  to  be 
 reconciled  with  God’s  filling  all  space,  or 
 being  absolutely  omnipresent  ?  And  how  is 
 44  constant  proximity,'1  or  44  perpetual  close- 
 44  ness  to  the  individual,”  to  be  reconciled 
 
 with 
 
129 
 
 with  the — Comment: — Thou  that  art  usually 
 close  beside  me  ? — These  are  inconsistencies, 
 which  I  leave  to  the  B.  C.  to  reconcile.  Be¬ 
 sides,  2.  His  interpretation  of- the  verb 
 accedere ,  is  imaginary,  (and  he  grants  it  is 
 “  obsolete  ’  in  the  Hebrew  language,  p.  147,) 
 not  to  be  found  in  any  Hebrew  lexicon  :  and 
 3.  was  evidently  suggested  by  the  preposition 
 El,  Ad ,  juxta ;  which  he  rather  unskii- 
 fully  deduces  from  the  verb ;  since  all  the 
 lexicons,  without  exception,  agree  in  repre¬ 
 senting  ^  as  a  distinct  root  itself ;  as  well  as 
 the  conjunction  A l,  signifying  66  Ne, 
 “  Nequaqua?n  And  surely  these  are  as 
 totally  distinct  from  each  other,  and  from 
 the  noun  *?£,  (iE  L,  differently  pointed  or  pro¬ 
 nounced,)  as  the  English  words  Ball,  Bell , 
 Bill,  Boll,  Bull,  consisting  of  the  same  con¬ 
 sonants,  and  differing  only  in  the  vowel  in¬ 
 serted.  But,  4.  The  B.  C.  himself  has  in¬ 
 advertently  approximated  more  nearly  to  the 
 leading  signification  of  the  word,  in  that  of 
 its  descendant  p.  150. — 64  In  Exodus, 
 
 when  it  is  said  of  Moses,  that  He  should  be 
 Elohim  to  Pharaoh,  and  Aaron  hi s  prophet;” 
 the  use  of  the  word  is  evidently  figurative ; 
 
 K  and 
 
t 
 
 130 
 
 and  nothing  more  is  meant,  than  that  Moses 
 should  appear  to  Pharaoh  as  possessed  of 
 powers  more  than  human  :  conferring  bless¬ 
 ings,  and  inflicting  plagues,  (both  superna¬ 
 tural,)  at  his  own  pleasure,  and  employing 
 Aaron  as  his  instrument. — 4.  Approaching 
 nearer  to  the  truth,  some  of  the  ablest  lexi¬ 
 cographers,  Kimchi,  Nathan,  Bun  tor/,  Pag-* 
 ninus ,  Castell,  Calasio,  Leigh,  Robertson , 
 Taylor ,  & c.  rank  the  noun  under  the  tri¬ 
 literal  noun  ail,  signifying  fortitudo , 
 vis,  &c.  “  might,  strength/’  &c.  thus  tacitly 
 relinquishing  one  branch  of  the  Masoretic 
 scheme ,  of  etymology  :  But,  as  Michaelis, 
 and  others,  justly  observe,  the  latter  is  more 
 naturally  descended  from  the  former  simpler 
 root,  by  the  insertion  of  a  servile  lod :  W, 
 from  hti. 
 
 5.  Parkhurst ,  in  his  Hebrew  Lexicon, 
 although  he  relinquishes  the  other  branch  of 
 the  Mxsoretic  scheme,  exhibiting  ^  itself  as 
 a  root ;  yet  strangely  and  fancifully  explains 
 it  “  the  Interposer ,  Intervener,  or  Mediator 
 and  says  66  it  expresses  the  omnipresence  of 
 “  God,  i.e.  the  universal  extension  (I  will  not 
 
 presume  to  say  of  his  substance ,  but)  of 
 
 7  V  “  his 
 
131 
 
 his  knowledge  and  power/9 — Although  he 
 himself  had  given  a  plainer  and  juster  inter* 
 pretation,  in  his  Greek- Lexicon,  under  the 
 head  EAX1I — taken  from  Aquilas  rendering 
 of  the  first  word  of  Ps.  xxii.  1. — — 
 Itrxops  px,  I px,  Ci  My  strong  one,  My 
 44  strong  one.”  But  his  whole  interpretation 
 of  that  very  important  citation,  appropriated 
 by  our  Lord  to  Himself,  in  his  agony  on 
 the  cross,  Matt,  xxvii.  46,  and  Mark  xv.  34, 
 is  so  extravagant  and  revolting,  that  what¬ 
 ever  respect  I  may  entertain  for  his  piety  and 
 erudition,  when  untinctured  with  Hut  chin ~ 
 sonian  mysticism  ;  (for  surely  44  the  man 
 46  raves  when  he  talks  of  his  fire,  light ,  and 
 46  spirit”-?—  as  well  observed  of  another  critic 
 of  the  same  school;  Brit .  Crit.  1800,  Feb. 
 p.  208,) — yet,  to  pass  it  by  uncensured,  in 
 elementary  works  of  such  extensive  circula¬ 
 tion,  would  be  ill  discharging  the  functions 
 of  a  Sacred  Critic. — 44  In  this  dolorous 
 ^  exclamation  of  our  blessed  Redeemer/* 
 says  Park  hurst ,  44  there  seems  a  propriety 
 44  and  emphasis  beyond  what  has  been  com- 
 monly  observed  :  for  Matthew  [says] 
 
 • 4  4  About  (zrspi)  the  ninth  hour ,  Jesus  cried 
 
 jc  %  w  out 
 
132 
 
 66  out  with  a  loud  voice ,  My  God, 
 
 44  My  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  F — • 
 64  The  name  by  which  he  then  addressed  the 
 44  divinity  [Deity]  referring  to  his 
 44  pozoer  : — But  4  At  the  ninth  hour ,  (jv  upsi 
 44  tv]  swocTy,  [according  to]  Mark) — when  he 
 44  was  in  the  very  jaws  of  death,  He  again 
 44  cries  out — 4  E Xm,  E Xui,  Eloi,  Eloi,  why 
 44  hast  thou  forsaken  me  F —  [i.  e.] 
 
 44  — -Thou  Jeiiovaii,  who  art  not  only 
 
 44  my  (my  powerful)  God  ;  but  [also] 
 44  bound  to  bear ,  with  my  humanity, 
 
 44  the  curse  due  to  man  for  sin — why  hast 
 44  thou  forsaken  me  F — for  4  who  is  but 
 
 44  Jehovah  ?*  Ps.  xviii.  32.  Compare  Gal. 
 iii.  13,”  &c.  And  in  his  Hebrew  Lexicon, 
 under  44  to  curse f  &c.  Art.  111.  p.  24, 
 third  edit.  He  represents  rnb&,  as  a  par¬ 
 ticiple,  or  participial  noun  passive ,  (formed 
 like  mllj,  Ps.  cxxxviii.  6*,)  signifying  Ethkcc- 
 TupuTog,  one  accursed ,  or  subject  to  a  curse  : 
 And  such  the  Redeemer  [also]  conde¬ 
 scended  to  become  for  us:  For  44  Christ 
 44  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the 
 44  lazy,  being  made  a  curse  (xarapcc)  for  us; 
 44  for  it  is  written ,  cursed  (sTuz^rccpocTog) 
 
1 
 
 133 
 
 **  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree.”  Gal. 
 iii.  13' — citing  Dent.  xrxi.  23. 
 
 So  much  false,  presumptuous,  and  even 
 blasphemous  criticism,  1  have  seldom  been 
 condemned  “  to  cast  down  7  as  a  pioneer  in 
 the  service  of  sacred  literature!  For,  1.  wav¬ 
 ing  the  blasphemy  of  pronouncing  u  the 
 ^  Blessed  and  only  Potentate,”— 
 accursed  ! — And  that  “  No  one  speaking  by 
 ^  divine  inspiration ,  calleth  Jesus  accursed:” 
 (amdepct).  1  Tim.  vi.  15,  and  1  Cor.  xii.  3, — 
 so  derogatory  to  ^  the  ever  blessed  Tri- 
 “  nit y,”  as  the  inconsistent  Parkhurst  him¬ 
 self,  piously  and  devoutly  styles  them  just 
 before,  p.  21,  the  whole  fabric  of  his  hyper¬ 
 criticism  is  baseless  and  visionary,  built,  2. 
 on  a  distinction  without  a  difference; — For 
 the  preposition  ‘arspo  u  about  ”  in  Matthew, 
 and  ey  or  sth,  “  in  or  at”  understood,  in 
 Mark,  refer  precisely  to  the  same  point  of 
 time,  as  is  clear  from  the  context ; — the  ex¬ 
 clamation  having  been  but  once  uttered  :  and 
 His  last  ejaculation,  “  in  the  very  jaws  of 
 u  death” — -being  expressive  of  the  highest 
 faith  and  resignation  conceivable :  “  Fa- 
 
 Til  e  R,  into  thy  hands  1  commit  my  spirit!” 
 
 k  3  Luke 
 
134 
 
 Luke  xxiii.  46,  in  the  words  of  another 
 prophetic  Psalm,  xxxi,  5. — 3.  On  a  blunder, 
 unworthy  of  an  Orientalist,  and  especially 
 a  grammarian  and  lexicographer:  Confound¬ 
 ing  Mark's  Syriac  rendering,  EA of 
 
 the  H:brew  ’bft,  HA;,  in  Matthew;  with  an 
 (imaginary)  Hebrew  participle  passive 
 66  accursed”- — which  does  not  once  occur  in 
 that  sense,  throughout  the  whole  range  of 
 the  Hebrew  Scriptures ;  though  often  oc¬ 
 curring  as  the  proper  name  of  God  ;  (sig¬ 
 nifying  PoTE  ntate  :  as  will  be  shewn 
 hereafter)  no  less  indeed  than  fifty-two  times, 
 as  well  remarked  by  the  B.  C.  p.  147  ;  and 
 which,  with  the  affix  of  the  first  person,  uni* 
 formly  drops  the  intermediate  Van  (according 
 to  the  well-known  grammatical  rule  for  its 
 exclusion,  on  the  accession  of  a  new  syllable) 
 being  universally  written  “  My  God,'1 
 (like  the  Syriac)  except  in  two  cases,  Ps.  xviii. 
 475  and  cxlv.  1,  erroneously,  in  Leus - 
 
 den  s  and  Foster’s  editions  ;  but  judiciously 
 corrected  into  in  Mont  anus s  Hebrew 
 
 Bible  of  157.2j  printed  by  Plantin  ;  and  by 
 Walton ,  in  his  invaluable  Polyglott  Bible,  (as 
 Parkhurst  himself  admits,)  and  confirmed, 
 
 *  in 
 
in  the  former  case,  by  no  less  than  sixty 
 MSS.  of  Kennicotf s  collation ;  and  in  the 
 latter,  by  fifty-four  MSS. — 4.  Besides,  the 
 Syriac  rendering  EA&>/,  in  Mark,  is 
 
 now  considered  as  faulty  by  the  ablest  edi- 
 tors  of  the  New  Testament,  by  II  el  stein , 
 and  by  Griesbach ,  in  his  second  edition  or 
 the  Gospels,  1796:  who  both  give  HAs/  as 
 the  reading  of  the  Cambridge  MS.  (formerly 
 Bezels)  and  of  Eusebius ,  supported  by  several 
 additional  vouchers,  in  the  latter.  And 
 surely  HA<,  (as  in  Matthew),  or  HAz/,  accords 
 better  with  the  context  of  Mark,  in  the  very 
 next  verse- — “  He  calieth  HA ixv  (Elias)”  to 
 which  they  bear  a  striking  resemblance  ;  but 
 EA^i,  only  a  remote :  and  which  might  have 
 crept  into  Mark’s  text,  excluding  the  true 
 word  or  HA/,  by  the  unskilfulness  of 
 some  early  transcriber ;  hastily  concluding, 
 that  because  the  last  word  of  the  exclama¬ 
 tion  was  Syriac,  ( sabachthani  instead  of  the 
 Hebrew  azabthani) ,  the  first  ought  to  be  so 
 too. 
 
 Since,  therefore,  none  of  the  foregoing 
 derivations  of  /cl,  will  stand  the  test  of 
 sober  and  rational  criticism,  and  that  no 
 
 k  4  others 
 
336 
 
 others  can  be  substituted,  we  are  warranted 
 to  conclude,  that  it  is  itself  an  elementary 
 root,  and  that  it  is  not  and  cannot  be  a  de¬ 
 rivative  ;  but  rather  the  venerable  parent  of 
 the  proper  names  of  God,  through  ah  the 
 Oriental  dialects;  oc  ie loh,  in  Hebrew; 
 alah,  Chaldee  and  Arabic;  and  in  Arabic, 
 with  the  emphatic  article  al,  “  the”  pre¬ 
 fixed,  a  la  la  n,  usually  contracted  into  AL¬ 
 LAH  ;  in  Etbiopic,  ullah;  and  in  the 
 language  of  the  South  Sea  Islands,  aloii  ; 
 whence  Captain  Cooke  found  u  alo,  aio, 
 the  name  of  the  supreme  God  of  Hapaee ,” 
 one  of  the  Friendly  Islands — First  Voyage 
 to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  vol.  i.  p,  404,  cited  by 
 Parkhurst ,  Heb.  Lex.  p.  24 ;  who  asks, 
 *c  Could  they  have  got  this  name  from  any 
 
 of  the  Mahometans  ?” — -or  must  wre  refer 
 it  to  a  higher  and  more  ancient  origin  ? 
 
 We  surely  must  refer  it  to  the  remotest 
 */ 
 
 origin •  And,  accordingly,  in  the  book  of 
 Job ,  which  probably  is  the  oldest  record 
 extant  in  the  world  ;  written  above  800  years 
 before  the  Exode  of  the  Israelites  from 
 Egypt,  (as  my  chronological  researches  have 
 Ipd  me  to  conclude:  see  the  Inspector, 
 
 p,  184) 
 
137 
 
 p.  184,)  ^  occurs  no  less  than  fifty-three 
 times ;  whereas,  in  the  next  oldest  book, 
 Genesis ,  it  occurs  only  seventeen  times;  as 
 the  curious  reader  may  find,  on  consulting 
 those  admirable  helps  to  the  Biblical  student, 
 Romaint  s  valuable  edition  of  Calasws  He¬ 
 brew  Concordance,  and  Trommius* s  masterly 
 Greek  Concordance,  adapted  to  the  Alex¬ 
 andrine  version  of  the  Septuagint.  its 
 
 first-born,  is  found  no  less  than  forty-one 
 times  (as  the  B.  C.  remarks)  in  the  single 
 book  of  Job,  out  of  fifty-seven  passages  in 
 all,  throughout  the  purely  Hebrew  Scrip¬ 
 tures:  And  its  plural  again,  (signify¬ 
 
 ing  God  in  a  singular  sense,)  twelve  times 
 also,  in  the  book  of  Job  ;  which  all  critics 
 allow  to  be  a  highly  poetical  composition ; 
 But  how  does  all  this  accord  with  the  B.  C/s 
 “  safe  conclusion ?”  p.  147*  —  “  That  the 
 f6  plural  Eio/iim  is  the  true  prose  word ;  and 
 “  the  other  ( Eloah )  a  word  of  poetry  ;  not 
 used  as  a  name  of  God  in  prose,  till  the 
 Jews,  in  their  captivity,  had  learned  to 
 Chaldaize  A  And  consequently,  that  “  the 
 f4  plural  Eloliim  is  the  word,  in  the  applica^ 
 **  lions  of  which  we  may  search  for  vestiges 
 
 "  of 
 
138 
 
 (s  of  the  leading  sense  of  the  obsolete  root— 
 li  if  it  is  any  where  to  be  found.’' —  And 
 66  that  Eloliim  includes  the  acts  of  making 
 “  and  providential  care ,  and  government,” 
 
 p.  148. 
 
 Non  Nostrum  est  tantas  componere  tiles. 
 
 II.  Supposed  derivations  of  n% 
 I  ah,  and  mn\  i  a  u  oh.  1.  Cocceius ,  Vitringa , 
 James  Robertson ,  and  the  B.  C.  (as  before 
 remarked)  deduce  iaii,  from  the  verb 
 to  be  lovely ,  /hzr,  or  admirable :  “  It  is 
 a  name  (says  the  B.  C.  p.  154)  describing 
 God,  not  barely  as  possessing  these  per¬ 
 fections  in  Himself,  but  as  putting  them 
 forth  in  act ,  for  the  protection  and  benefit 
 of  the  godly.  See  Vitringa  upon  Isaiah, 
 xii.  2,  and  xxvi.  4.  It  cannot  be  adequately 
 rendered  in  any  language.  In  the  Tar- 
 gum  [of  both  passages]  it  is  rendered 
 “  tfVm,  6  timoris  or  ‘  terribilis ’  of  Sionita  s 
 66  Latin  translation,  in  the  Polyglott;  but 
 66  more  correctly,  fortitudinis  or  fortis ;  the 
 “  paraphrast,  giving  it  the  adventitious  sig- 
 “  nification  of  [or  its  Chaldee  de- 
 
 “  rivative  *7*P].  In  Greek,  it  might  be,  in 
 
 “  some 
 
 a 
 
 44 
 
 44 
 
 v4 
 
 U 
 
 44 
 
 44 
 
139 
 
 14  some  degree*  expressed  by  A vroxaXov,  or 
 %i  Auto  notff  otvro  kolKcv  :  In  English,  by  “All* 
 44  glorious ”  or  44  A  il- adora  ble  A 
 
 But,  on  examining  Baxtorf’ s  Lexicon 
 throughout,  (which  probably  is  fuller  than 
 either  his  or  Schroeders  list  of  verbal  nouns 
 in  their  grammars)  I  do  not  find  a  single  in¬ 
 stance  of  the  exclusion  of  the  second  radical, 
 ft,  without  compensation  :  In  sixty-eight  ver¬ 
 bals  it  is  retained ;  and  in  six  more,  it  is 
 compensated  by  an  44  epenthetic”  Vau.  This 
 derivation,  therefore,  fails,  for  want  of  gram* 
 matical  analogy > 
 
 2.  For  the  same  cause,  we  hesitate  not  to 
 reject  the  Hutchinsonian  derivations  of 
 I  a  ii,  from  the  Hebrew  verb  iTH,  44  to  bef’ 
 and  also  of  mrv,  iaiioxi,  from  its  third  per¬ 
 son  future  iTIT,  by  changing  the  intermediate 
 loci  into  VaU)  44  to  give  it  the  semblance  of 
 a  noun” — an  unauthorized  44  metamorphosis” 
 of  the  verb,  which  the  B.  C.  justly  repro¬ 
 bates  in  Dr.  Geddes ,  (that  Mohawk  in  Sacred 
 Criticism,)  p.  153. 
 
 - - J Et  est  Mini  see  pc  voccindm 
 
 Ad  partes* 
 
 3.  Equally 
 
140 
 
 3.  Equally  objectionable  is  the  supposed 
 curtailment  of  JV  from  mnq  according  to  the 
 Rabbinical  gloss,  followed  by  several  lexi¬ 
 cographers  :  For  surely  the  Jews  would  not 
 dare  to  violate  the  Tetragrammaton  or  inef¬ 
 fable  name.  Besides,  it  occurs  as  a  special 
 name  of  God,  Ps.  lxvin.  5,  &c.  and  in  the 
 primitive  cloxology  Hallelu-IAH  — 
 (Praise  the  Lord) — and  is  used  as  dis¬ 
 tinct  from  mn%  being  connected  with  it, 
 Isa.  xii.  2,  and  xxvi.  4,  and,  therefore,  to 
 prevent  tautology,  must  contain  some  shade 
 of  difference  therefrom.  But  it  may  be  ob¬ 
 jected,  that  there  is  a  reduplication  of  IT, 
 in  Isa.  xxxviii.  11,  and  of  mm,  miT,  Exod. 
 xxxiv.  — It  must  be  observed,  however, 
 
 that  in  the  former  case,  the  Syriac  version) 
 found  mrv ;  exhibiting  the  usual  rendering 
 thereof,  which  is  supported  by  two 
 
 MSS.  of  Kcnnicotf s  and  Dc  Rossi’s  colla¬ 
 tions  :  the  reduplication  might  have  arisen 
 from  the  accidental  change  of  the  middle 
 Van  in  mrv  into  loci ;  or,  perhaps,  from  its 
 usual  abbreviation  in  the  Targums,  a  double 
 lod.  In  the  latter  case,  the  reduplication 
 vanishes  before  a  more  correct  translation : 
 
 44  And 
 
141 
 
 u  And  the  Lord  said  :  the  Lord  [is] 
 44  God,”  See. 
 
 Hence,  several  of  the  lexicographers  re¬ 
 present  JT  as  a  separate  root,  Buxtorj \  Pag- 
 ninus ,  from  Kimchi ,  See.  And  the  variable 
 B.  C.  allows  it  44  may  be  taken  as  a  root  by 
 44  itself thus  giving  up  its  descent  from  the 
 verb 
 
 4.  Most  of  the  lexicons,  Kimchi ,  Buxtorj \ 
 Pagninus ,  Robertsons ,  Taylor ,  &c.  rank  mfi* 
 under  the  verb  nln,  44  to  be’ — (the  Chaldee 
 form  of  iTH),  supposing  that  it  is  taken  from 
 the  third  person  future,  Jehveh.  But 
 besides  the  difference  of  pronunciation  be¬ 
 tween  this  and  HUT,  iahoh  ;  it  represents 
 the  first  radical  Jot/,  of  the  noun,  as  borrowed 
 from  a  servile  lod  in  the  verb :  contrary  to 
 grammatical  analogy. 
 
 5.  The  British  Critic,  in  question,  strongly 
 inclines  to  the  opinion  of  Hutchinson ,  Park- 
 hurst,  and  many  others,  that  the  word  mn% 
 (as  being  a  quadriliteral )  is  really  a  com¬ 
 pound  :  44  compounded  of  the  divine  name 
 44  H\  i a h ,  and  mil,  [hoveh],  the  Benoni 
 44  [participle  of  the  present  tense]  of  the  root 
 44  Sm"  And  thus,  the  import  of  Je-hovah , 
 
 will 
 
142 
 
 will  be  “  The  All-glorious  Self-ExistentT 
 And,  consequently,  his  paraphrase  of  divine 
 titles,  Josh.  xxii.  22, — El  Elohim  I  a  ho- 
 vah,  &c.  is,  u  Omnipresent  [is] — the  All 
 46  glorious  Self-existent  Maker  and  Go- 
 66  vernorf  &c. 
 
 But  the  B.  C.  is  equally  unfortunate  in 
 his  explanations  of  iah  and  iahoh,  as  of 
 jel  and  zelohim,  before;  and  his  inser¬ 
 tion  of  the  verb  substantive  “  isf  (which  is 
 wanting  in  the  original,)  is  rather  injurious 
 to  the  connexion,  in  this  most  sublime  and 
 animated,  but  difficult  and  involved  passage  ; 
 containing  the  solemn  appeal  to  Heaven  of 
 the  Transjordanite  settlers,  and  vindication 
 of  themselves  against  the  charge  of  idolatry. 
 The  whole  passage,  I  apprehend,  may  more 
 correctly  be  rendered,  and  the  divine  titles, 
 more  simply  explained,  thus: 
 
 66  The  God  of  Gods,  the  Lord  !  The 
 God  of  Gods,  the  Lord  !  Himself 
 “  knoweth,  and  Israel  also  shall  know; 
 6i  whether  [we  have  done  this]  through  re - 
 <c  hellion  —  (and  if,  through  transgression 
 “  against  the  Lord,  save  us  not  this  day!) 
 — -to  build  ourselves  an  altar,  in  order  to 
 
 65  forsake 
 
143 
 
 “  forsake  the  Lord  ;  (and,  if  to  offer 
 44  thereon  burnt-offering  or  oblation,  or  if, 
 44  to  offer  thereon  peace-offering,  let  the 
 44  Lord  himself  judge  !)  — Or  whether  we 
 44  have  not  [rather]  done  it,  through  a  re- 
 44  ligious  fear  of  [this]  thing :  that  is  to  say, 
 44  Lest  your  children  might  say  unto  our 
 44  children,  hereafter :  What  have  ye  to  do 
 44  with  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel, 
 44  ye  children  of  Reuben  and  Gad?  For  thr 
 44  Lord  hath  made  Jordan  a  boundary  be - 
 44  tween  you  and  us ;  Ye  have  no  share  in 
 44  the  Lord  :  And  so,  your  children  might 
 44  cause  our  children  to  cease  from  worship- 
 44  ping  the  Lord  :  Therefore,  we  said,  Let 
 46  us  build  ourselves  an  altar , — neither  for 
 44  burnt-offering  nor  for  sacrifice,  but  for  a 
 44  witness  between  you  and  us  and  our  pos*^ 
 44  terities,  &c.  for  a  pattern,”  Josh,  xrni. 
 20,  &c. 
 
 This  passage  contains  an  admirable  and 
 authentic  specimen  of  the  purity  and  the 
 simplicity  of  primitive  faith  :  The  leading 
 idea  of  iah,  I  take  to  be  44  sameness ”  or 
 immutability;  of  its  immediate  derivative, 
 lAttQH, 44  oneness or  unity;  of  ;el,  “power” 
 
 and 
 
144 
 
 and  of  teloiiim,  its  descendant,  “  dominion T 
 And  surely  these  most  striking  and  obvious 
 attributes  of  the  Deity  were  judiciously  se¬ 
 lected,  to  repel  the  charge  of  Idolatry  and 
 Polytheism ;  by  professing  their  belief  in  the 
 universal  sovereignty  of  “  the  only  true 
 “  God.” — “  The  powerful  (God)  omnipotent 
 “  (of  Gods)  the  one  (Lord).”  As  the 
 same  august  titles  should  be  rendered,  Ps.  1. 
 I,  in  that  magnificent  summons  of  all  the 
 nations  of  the  earth,  to  attend  the  general 
 judgment ;  so  finely  and  awfully  illustrated. 
 Matt.  xxv.  31-46^  and  Rev.  xi.  17-18,  and 
 xv.  3-4 ,  and  xix.  6,  and  xx.  11-15. 
 
 And  that  these  indeed,  are  the  genuine 
 and  scriptural  “  notions  involved  radically 
 46  in  the  divine  names,”  I  shall  next  en¬ 
 deavour,  with  God’s  help,  to  prove. 
 
 PART 
 
145 
 
 PART  It. 
 
 Tiie  first  part  was  confined  to  the  irksome 
 and  ungrateful  task  of  “  casting  dozen”  ety¬ 
 mological  “  imaginations  ”  imposing,  from 
 their  antiquity,  and  from  the  authority  by 
 which  they  are  still  patronized  ;  but  which, 
 I  trust,  were  fully  proved,  to  be  unsubstan¬ 
 tial  and  fanciful,  and  consequently  injurious 
 to  the  cause  of  S a c r e d  Criticis m ,  w Inch 
 rests  on  the  solid  foundation  of  sober  ety¬ 
 mology  and  sound  theology  : — I  now  pro¬ 
 ceed,  in  this  second  part,  with  more  cheer¬ 
 fulness  and  alacrity,  to  “  build  up”  the  ge¬ 
 nuine  and  scriptural  leading  significations  of 
 the  primitive  names  a,l,  iELOii,  teloiiim  ; 
 and  the  principal  epithets  with  which  they 
 are  connected  in  Holy  Writ;  reserving  for 
 the  third  part,  the  discussion  of  the  signi¬ 
 fications  of  the  remaining  names,  iaii,  ia- 
 hoh,  and  their  auxiliaries. 
 
 And  here,  it  may  be  necessary  to  antici¬ 
 pate  an  objection  drawn  from  the  great  ab- 
 struseness  and  mysteriousness  of  the  subject: 
 
 L  — “  If 
 
146 
 
 — 46  If  the  Primitive  Names  of  the  Deity 
 44  be  so  4  secret’  or  mysterious,  in  their  ra- 
 44  dical  significations ;  if  the  nature  and  at- 
 66  tributes  of  tiie  Deity,  which  they  de- 
 44  note,  be  so  incomprehensible  to  human 
 44  reason,  is  it  to  be  imagined  that  they  could 
 44  have  been  framed  m  the  infancy  of  human 
 44  society,  when  mankind  were  too  much  en- 
 44  grossed  by  outward  objects,  and  the  supply 
 44  of  their  temporal  wants,  to  afford  leisure 
 44  or  inclinations,  for  abstract  speculations 
 44  so  profound  and  abstruse ;  which  have 
 46  baffled  the  researches  and  confounded  the 
 44  skill  of  the  acutest  metaphysicians  and 
 44  theologians  since,  in  the  most  learned  and 
 44  polished  ages  of  the  world  ?” 
 
 However  incomprehensible  in  their  full 
 extent  the  nature  and  attributes  of  the 
 Deity,  even  to  the  highest  orders  of  ra¬ 
 tional  creatures ;  44  intimately  known’  only 
 
 to  44  the  So isr  of  his  Love  yet  as  that 
 
 */ 
 
 all-gracious  Son  has  been  pleased  to  reveal 
 Himself,  and  to  expound  the  Spiritual 
 nature  and  worship  of  the  Father  op 
 
 All,  to  mankmd,  44  in  divers  degrees  and 
 44  sundry  ways'’  of  information,  to  gur  first- 
 
 parents 
 
147 
 
 parents  and  the  patriarchs,  in  ways  suitable 
 to  human  capacity  and  comprehension  ;  is  it 
 to  be  imagined  that  when  Adam ,  by  the  di¬ 
 vine  suggestion,  gave  names  to  all  the  inferior 
 animal  tribes,  he  should  neglect  or  omit 
 some  appropriate  appellation  for  his  Almighty 
 Creator  and  Preserver  ?- — If  man  was 
 formed  a  religious ,  as  well  as  a  social  being, 
 could  he  want  words  to  breathe  forth  his 
 supplications,  praises,  and  thanksgiving  to 
 the  supreme  source  of  all  the  comforts  he 
 enjoyed,  all  the  provisions  appertaining  to 
 life  and  godliness?  as  well  as  the  glorious 
 prospects  of  future  happiness  in  the  eternal 
 mansions  P  No,  surely. 
 
 64  The  Oracle  of  the  Lord/'  we 
 collect  from  the  testimony  of  Holy  Writ, 
 personally  conversed  with  Adam  and  his 
 wife,  in  the  garden  of  Eden ;  with  their  son 
 Cain  ;  with  Noah ,  with  Abraham ,  Moses 9 
 Elijah ,  and  many  other  worthies,  under  the 
 Patriarchal  and  Jewish  dispensations,  44  face 
 44  to  face,”  familiarly,  as  a  friend,  or  awfully 
 as  a  judge  :  sometimes  in  a  44  still  small 
 “  voice  ”  as  a  man ;  sometimes  in  a  voice  of 
 thunder,  as  an  offended  God. — In  ajl  these 
 
 l  2  cases 
 
148 
 
 cases  the  idea  of  supernatural  power *  both 
 to  save  and  destroy,  would  obviously  be  the 
 first  that  occurred  to  the  human  mind,  ex¬ 
 cited  and  verified  by  the  various  and  asto¬ 
 nishing  effects,  displayed  throughout  the  na¬ 
 tural  and  moral  world  :  and  according  to 
 sound  philosophy,  the  idea  of  power ,  active 
 or  passive,  is  one  of  the  earliest  simple  ideas, 
 impressed  on  the  imagination ;  as  the  saga¬ 
 cious  Locke  observed  :  who  has  justly  re¬ 
 marked  also,’ that  however  simple  and  uni¬ 
 form  the  adequate  idea  of  the  Supreme 
 Being  in  his  most  mysterious  and  incom¬ 
 prehensible  nature  may  be,  yet  our  faint  and 
 imperfect  notion  of  Him  is  complex,  made 
 up  of  his  most  obvious  attributes  or  quali¬ 
 ties,  as  exhibited  in  his  works  of  Creation 
 and  Providence  ;  in  which  power ,  wisdom , 
 and  goodness ,  are  foremost ;  calculated  to 
 impress  on  our  minds  the  corresponding  sen¬ 
 timents  of  fear,  admiration ,  and  love  *  ;  and 
 
 ^  See  Bishop  Butlers  incomparable  Discourse  on 
 the  Love  of  God  ;  and  Hales's  Analysis  Fluxionum , 
 Append.  II.  De  Ente  Supkemo,  p.  102 — 1 10,  in¬ 
 tended  as  a  Commentary  on  the  Scholium  Geneualk 
 of  Kentons  Frincipia. 
 
 these 
 
149 
 
 these  several  ideas  were  probably  the  first 
 
 ingredients  of  the  signification  of  the  earliest 
 
 ©  © 
 
 name  of  God,  which  probably  was  TEL, 
 chiefly  denoting  his  pozver.  Traces  of  which 
 are  to  be  found  in  the  primitive  names  of 
 the  Deity,  among  all  the  nations  of  antiquity, 
 civilized  or  barbarous,  throughout  the  globe. 
 Thus  HA,  we  learn  from  Sanchoniatho ,  was 
 the  title  given  to  Saturn ,  the  oldest  of  the 
 Phenician  gods.  And  in  the  various  dia- 
 lects  of  the  Greek  language,  the  true  ortho¬ 
 graphy  of  the  Hebrew  name  is  still  happily 
 preserved,  in  the  title  of  the  Sun,  the  first 
 object  of  Zabian  idolatry,  AsX — tog ,  in  the 
 Doric ,  or  oldest ;  HcA — tog,  in  the  Ionic  of 
 Hesiod  and  Homer ;  and  fHA — tog  in  the 
 common  or  latest. 
 
 Hence  “  the  fear  of  God,”  Gen.  xx.  11, 
 and  “  the  fear  of  the  Lord,”  Job  xxviii. 
 28,  are  both  rendered  Qto<re£eia,  “  Religious 
 u  Worship  f  by  the  Septuagint ;  and  the 
 Heathen  rendering  JAz><rAcctgovicc,  is  used  in 
 the  same  sense  by  St.  Paul ,  at  Athens ,  Acts 
 xvii.  27,  though  degraded  into  superstition 9 
 It  is  observed  of  the  colony  transplanted 
 into  the  land  of  Israel,  after  the  captivity  of 
 
 l  3  the 
 
150 
 
 the  ten  tribes;  46  They  fear  eel  the  Lord/’ 
 (who  had  sent  lions  among  them,  to  punish 
 them  for  their  neglect  of  Him,  44  the  tutelar 
 God  of  the  land ;”)  66  and  served  their  own 
 46  gods  ’ — or  associated  their  worship  with 
 his;  according  to  the  accommodating  spirit 
 of  ancient  polytheism,  2  Kings  xvii.  33. 
 
 '  And  that  the  leading  attribute  of  the 
 Deit  y  among  all  nations,  was  indeed  power , 
 will  further  appear  from  Scripture,  teach¬ 
 ing  us,  in  the  original,  and  the  ancient  ver¬ 
 sions,  the  true  import  of — 
 
 1.  o  Avvocrog ,  44  Powerful,” — o  Qzog, 
 
 God. 
 
 The  term  in  the  abstract  sense,  de¬ 
 notes  power  ;  and  in  the  concrete,  powerful . 
 Thus  Laban  threatened  his  fugitive  son-in- 
 law  Jacob ,  when  he  overtook  him  : — It  is  in 
 44  the  power  of  my  hand  to  do  you  hurt” 
 Gen.  xxxi.  29.  The  original  phrase,  W* 
 ’Y  bftb,  may  be  more  literally  rendered, 
 44  It  belongeth  to  the  power  of  my  hand,” 
 &c.  and  is  well  explained  by  the  Chaldee 
 paraphrast:  *Y2  N'Vn  r>\S%  46  There  is  the 
 44  power  in  my  hand,”  &c. — thus  unequivo¬ 
 cally  expressing  ^  by  its  Chaldee  deriva¬ 
 tive 
 
live  Vn,  of  the  same  import :  And  accord¬ 
 ingly,  in  Neb.  v.  5,  the  Septuagint  literally 
 render  in  the  same  phrase,  by  A wapig, 
 44  power”  although  in  the  former  instance, 
 the)7  have  well  expressed  its  spirit,  by  I<r^ups< 
 q  2'sio  ud, — followed  by  the  Latin  Vulgate, 
 Valet  manus  mea- — 44  my  hand  is  able V — 
 And  the  same  phrase,  in  the  same  sense, 
 occurs  also  in  Deut.  xxviii.  32,  Prov.  iii.  27» 
 and  Mich.  ii.  1,  fixing  the  abstract  sense  of 
 to  be  power ,  either  to  save  or  destroy. 
 
 The  learned  but  fanciful  Michaelis ,  who 
 too  often  acts  the  hypercritic,  not  satisfied 
 with  this  plain  and  obvious  interpretation, 
 prefers  a  novelty  of  his  father’s  mention,  in 
 his  Supplementa  ad  J.exlca  Hebraic  a,  p.  84, 
 expounding  the  phrase — 64  Est  pro  Deo  ma - 
 64  nus  mea:  i.  e.  nulla  Deo  adjutore  opus 
 44  habed’ — and  referring  to  the  arrogant  boast 
 of  the  impious  tyrant  Mczenthis,  Virgil,  2En, 
 x.  77 3. 
 
 Dextra  mild  Deus,  et  ferrum  quod  missile  libro — 
 
 Nunc  adsint ! - 
 
 But  this  is  no  less  at  variance  with  his  own 
 derivation  of  intimating,  as  we  have 
 
 l  4  seem 
 
 -■  /  * 
 
152 
 
 Seen,  goodness  or  beneficence  ;  than  with  the 
 context,  in  Labans  case,  who  was  only  re? 
 strained  from  hurting  Jacob,  by  the  fear  of 
 God,  who  had  warned  him  to  avoid  it  the 
 night  before. 
 
 The  mystical  Parkhurst  whimsically  ren¬ 
 ders  the  phrase,  44  It  is  for  (belonging  to) 
 64  the  interposition  of  my  hand,”  or,  44  if  I 
 44  interpose  my  hand  I  can.” — But  how  in¬ 
 terposition,  in  order  to  hurt ,  accords  with 
 the  notion  of  mediation ,  which  he  assigned 
 before,  let  the  Hutchinsmians  decide.  The 
 title  indeed,  implies  mediation ,  as  will 
 
 be  shewn. 
 
 In  the  concrete  sense,  ^  signifies  Powerful. 
 In  twenty  instances,  it  is  rendered  I cr%upog 
 by  the  Septoagint.  Thus  in  the  two  parallel 
 passages,  Ps.  xviii.  31,  and  2  Sam.  xxii.  31. 
 The  emphatic  term  44  The  God,”  is 
 rendered  o  I<r%i tpog,  44  the  Mighty,”  by 
 the  Septuagint:  and  it  is  still  more  critically 
 expressed  in  the  New  Testament,  Luke  i.  49, 
 by  o  Avvccrcg,  44  the  POWrERFUL  whence 
 Paul ,  Rom  i.  20,  represents  Aiciog  Auti? 
 mpig  kcci  9 -eiQTTjg,  44  His  eternal  power  and 
 
I 
 
 153 
 
 “ godhead ”  as  synonymous;  or  power  as 
 the  leading  attribute  of  the  godhead. 
 
 But  as  “  Powerful ”  was  a  general 
 term,  including,  and  in  process  of  time  ap¬ 
 plied  to,  inferior  agents,  Angels ,  Princes , 
 He i  'oes  ;  and  even  degraded  to  the  inanimate 
 creation,  by  the  stupidity  of  Zabian  idolatry, 
 (or  adoration  of  “  the  Host”  of  Heaven,  the 
 Sun,  Moon ,  and  Stars,)  it  became  necessary 
 for  the  preservation  of  the  patriarchal  reli¬ 
 gion  in  its  primitive  purity,  to  distinguish 
 the  God  supreme,  by  epithets  or  attri¬ 
 butes.  The  earliest  of  which  were  peculiarly 
 levelled  against  this  idolatry:  as,  1.  S^DD, 
 “  from  above  (derived  from  by,  “  above  ” 
 whence  the  verb  to  ascend f )  rendered 
 
 tyis-os,  “  Most  High f  by  the  Septuagint, 
 Job  xxxi.  28. 
 
 We  next  find  the  synonymous  epithet  ]Vbyt 
 derived  also  from  by,  “  above,"  and  rendered 
 also  by  the  Septuagint  'Ti \n$oq,  “  Most 
 “  II  i  o  ii ,”  which  was  used  in  the  adjacent 
 country  of  Canaan,  in  Melchizedeck  and 
 Abrahams  days,  ]Vby  btf,  66  God  most 
 *c  high f  Gen.  xiv.  18.  And  among  the 
 Plmiikians ,  the  same  epithet  prevailed ;  as 
 
I 
 
 154 
 
 we  learn  from  Philo  Biblius — zarcc  rvrvg  yive- 
 rcii  rig  EAIOTN  zxX xpevog,  44  among  them 
 44  there  is  a  certain  God ,  called  elioun.” 
 
 And  in  the  Panic  language  (which  was  a 
 daughter  of  the  Phoenician j  A lon  signified 
 God  ;  and  it  is  so  used  piurally  in  the  Pee- 
 
 nidus  of  Plautus ;  as  the  learned  Scaliger 
 and  Bochart  have  judiciously  interpreted  the 
 Punic  expressions  I  thalonim  JValunoth9 
 (nwbjn  DwVjrntf,)  “  The  gods  and  god - 
 46  desses A  See  Seal.  Be  Emend.  Temp . 
 Fragment .  p.  30,  and  Bochart ,  voh  i.  p.  70/. 
 
 The  Oracle  of  the  Lord  (Dabar 
 I  a  non)  who  appeared  to  Abraham ,  Gen. 
 xv.  1,  did  afterwards  style  himself,  xvii.  ], 
 bft,  (all  sadi,)  44  God  Almighty  ' 
 or  44  All-sufficient  — for  the  Septua- 
 gint  render  o  Izavog,  44  The  Sufficient” 
 
 in  Job  xxxi.  2,  and  xxxix.  32,  Ruth  i.  20, 
 Ezek.  i.  24,  because,  as  St.  Paul  finely  ex¬ 
 plains,  2  Cor.  lii.  5,  H  tKocvoTTjg  qptov  ez  t%  ©ssr, 
 44  Our  sufficiency  is  from  God.” — This  esta¬ 
 blishes  Solomon  Jarclus9  and  the  most  judi¬ 
 cious  grammarians'  etymology,  considering 
 as  compounded  of  the  abridgment  of 
 “  who”  and  44  sufficiency  ”  in  the 
 7  abstract 
 
/ 
 
 155 
 
 abstract  sense  ;  or  “  sufficient”  in  the  con¬ 
 crete. 
 
 And  that  this  is  the  true  meaning  of 
 (which  is  also  found  in  Arabic,)  appears  from 
 its  derivatives  in  the  remote  dialects  of  the 
 west.  The  primitive  Greeks  called  their  su¬ 
 preme  God  At; ;  its  true  root  appearing  in 
 the  oblique  cases,  A t-og,  A*-;,  A which 
 oblique  cases  were  afterwards  retained,  and 
 attached  to  Zev;9  when  the  nominative  At; 
 grew  obsolete,  as  it  did  in  Hesiod  and  Ho¬ 
 mer’s  days. 
 
 The  Latins ,  by  a  grosser  corruption  of 
 Patriarchal  theology,  degraded  Dis  into  the 
 name  of  their  infernal  god  Pluto  : 
 
 Noctes  atque  dies  patet  atri  janua  Ditis.  Virgil. 
 
 exhibiting  in  its  oblique  cases  Di-tis ,  Di-ti> 
 Di-tem ,  its  descent  from  H,  Hi.  As  the 
 name  Pluto  also  derived  from 
 “  wealth”  well  expressed  the  meaning  of 
 the  root. 
 
 But  that  the  original  application  of  Dis , 
 even  among  the  Latins,  was  to  the  God  of 
 Heaven,  appears  from  the  poetical  com¬ 
 pound  Dis-piter ;  (evidently  from  the  Greek, 
 
 At;- 
 
156 
 
 A^-7 TctT't\3,  still  preserved  in  the  oblique  case, 
 7z rarpt,  by  Ilcsiod  and  Homer,)  which  all 
 the  editors  of  Horace,  have  unskilfully  meta¬ 
 morphosed  into  Diespiter,  quasi  Diet  pater  ; 
 Od.  I.  34,  5. 
 
 - Namque  [Diespilei:]  Dis-piter. 
 
 Igni  corusco  nub i la  dividens 
 Plerumquc  ;  per  pur ttm  tonantes 
 [Nuper]  egit  equos  volucremque  curium. 
 
 There  are  various  other  epithets  combined 
 with  as  ‘YQH,  u  mighty, M  Deut.  x.  17, 
 Isa.  ix.  6,  or  taken  separately,  which  suffi¬ 
 ciently  prove,  that  the  leading  idea  of  the 
 primitive  names  of  God  was  pozver,  such  as 
 u  mighty  ”  Gen.  xlix.  24,  T3K0,  “  as 
 “  a  mighty ”  one,  Isa.  x.  13,  whence,  perhaps 
 by  syncope,  “  mighty ,”  Job  xxxi.  25, 
 
 and  their  plurals,  “  Angels /’  Ps. 
 
 Ixxviii.  25,  or  DH’ID,  “  mighty  3  as  waters, 
 Isa.  xvii.  12, — whence  were  evidently  de¬ 
 rived  the  ancient  Egyptian  and  Samothracian 
 gods,  the  “  Cabiriy3  rendered  by  Orpheus, 
 evSwoiTvg:  by  Varro,  Divos  potes .  See  He- 
 podotus ,  b.  iii.  and  Bochart ,  vol.  i.  p.  394* 
 
 II. 
 
157 
 
 ir.  mbt*.  o  Al ivag-yc,  THE  POTENTATE  :  o 
 
 Qeog,  God. 
 
 The  term  as  well  as  its  root  Stt,  is 
 
 combined  with  the  same  epithet,  byDD, 
 “ from  above f  Job  xxxi.  2. 
 
 “  I  have  made  a  covenant  for  my  eyes ; 
 
 “  Why  then  should  I  think  upon  a  Maid  ? 
 
 <c  For  what  would  he  [my]  share  in  God  above*? 
 
 “  Or  [my]  inheritance  in  the  Almighty  on  high*)*? 
 
 Is  not  destruction  reserved  for  the  wicked  ? 
 
 “  And  estrangement  [from  God]  for  the  workers  of 
 “  iniquity? 
 
 How  admirably  and  how  awfully  has  our 
 Lord  commented  on  this  curious  specimen 
 of  patriarchal  ^  Ixeligion  pure  and  unde- 
 “  filed/’  in  his  divine  discourse  on  the  Mount, 
 Matt.  v.  28-29- 
 
 2.  mbtt  is  substituted  for  Thus  in 
 the  passage,  u  If  /io  is  God  save  the  Lord  ?” 
 which  occurs  twice,  2  Sam.  xxii.  32,  and 
 Ps.  xviii.  31 ;  in  the  former  place,  “  God” 
 is  expressed  by  ^ ;  in  the  latter,  by 
 
 We  may  conclude  therefore,  that  mbtf  is 
 intensitive,  or  a  proper  name  of  the  true 
 God,  as  in  Isa.  xliv.  8. 
 
 “  h 
 
 hymn 
 
 +  CD’DnDD  »w. 
 
158 
 
 “  Is  there  any  God  *  beside  Me  ? - *- 
 
 “  I  knotv  not  any  ’ - 
 
 And  it  is  expressly  contrasted  with  the 
 Heathen  False  gods ,  styled  “  Al- 
 
 “  mighties ”  Deut.  xxxii.  17,  (rendered  44  De - 
 “  vils”  in  our  translation.) 
 
 They  sacrificed  to  false  gods ,  and  not  to  God  f : 
 
 To  gods  J  whom  they  knew  not ;  to  new-comers. 
 
 Whom  your  Fathers  feared  not: — Of  the  Rock  that 
 begat  thee. 
 
 Thou  art  unmindful!  and  hast  forgotten  the  God  § 
 that  bare  thee  ! 
 
 Here  again  niV'K  (as  corrected  by  twenty- 
 th  ree  MSS.  Kennicot  instead  of  nbft)  and 
 ^  are  plainly  synonymous :  and  the  plural, 
 applied  to  the  Heathen  false  gods ; 
 like  &c.  which,  in  the  singu¬ 
 
 lar,  bad  been  originally  appropriated  to  the 
 true  God,  before  the  introduction  of  Idolatry 
 and  Polytheism  ;  and  as  an  epithet  of 
 
 64  The  God  of  Jacob  ”  Gen.  xlviii.  24,  is 
 rendered  A 44  Potentate  ”  by  the  Sep- 
 tuagint  Version,  which  is  applied,  1  Tim.  vi. 
 35,  to  44  The  Blessed  and  only  Poten- 
 
 *  rr)V«.  t  mb*,  J  o’hVk.  §  b*. 
 
 •  • 
 
 44  TATE 
 
44  tate,’’  it  may  not  unreasonably  be  con¬ 
 sidered  as  the  most  appropriate  rendering  of 
 : — which  is  used  no  less  than  fifty-two 
 times  in  the  purely  Hebrew  Scriptures,  to  de¬ 
 note  the  true  Cod  ;  and  only  five  times  mis- 
 applied  to  express  a  false  god ;  as  of  the 
 Assyrians,  Chaldeans,  Syrians,  &c.  2  Chron. 
 xxxii.  15,  Hahac.  i.  11,  and  Dan.  xi.  37-38. 
 
 Who  then  can  read  without  astonishment, 
 mingled  with  pity  and  indignation,  the  fol¬ 
 lowing  rash  and  most  unfounded  assertion  of 
 Parkhurst ,  Heb.  Lex.  p.  23:  44  It  may  be 
 46  doubted ,  whether  nStt  [rather  Hl^]  in  the 
 46  singular ,  be  ever  in  the  Hebrew,  (as  dis- 
 44  tinct  from  the  Chaldee ,)  used  as  a  name 
 44  for  Jeiiovah  the  true  God:  I  can  find 
 44  but  two  passages ,  namely,  Dent,  xxxii. 
 44  17,  and  Dan.  xi.  38,  where  it  may  seem 
 44  to  be  so  applied  ¥’ 
 
 III.  <deo(,  Gods;  Geos,  God;  o 
 
 UciVTOXOUTWf),  or  0  gOVOg  AsO’TVOTyjg,  The 
 
 Omnipotent,  or  Sovereign. 
 
 l.The plural,  is  rendered  ©sc/, 44 gods," 
 
 in  a  multitude  of  passages,  denoting,  1.  the 
 false  gods  or  Idols  of  the  Heathen,  as  in  the 
 
 fio  re  go  in  g* 
 
 O  O 
 
360 
 
 foregoing  instance,  Deut.  xxxii.  17,  ExocL 
 xxii.  20,  Jer.  x.  11,  &c.  &c.  2.  Angels* 
 
 as  in  Ps.  viii.  6,  xcvi.  8,  &c.  where  the  ori¬ 
 ginal,  gods ,”  is  so  interpreted  by 
 
 the  Ancient  Versions,  and  by  Heb.  ii.  9, 
 and  i.  6,  intimating  the  application  of  both 
 passages  to  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 “  Thou  hast  made  him  a  little  lower  than 
 “  the  Angels  A  [during  his  incarnation.] 
 “  Worship  Him  all  ye  Angels  of  God.” 
 Where  it  denotes  Judges  or  Magistrates , 
 considered  as  the  Delegates  or  Vicegerents 
 of  God,  invested  with  his  Authority ,  and 
 armed  with  his  power ,  Rom.  xiii.  1-5,  1  Pet* 
 ii.  13-17,  as  in  the  following  passages,  Exod. 
 xxi.  6,  and  xxii.  8,  where  the  em¬ 
 phatic  plural,  is  rendered  in  both  “  the 
 
 u  Judges f  by  the  Syriac  and  Chaldee  Par. 
 and  by  the  Vulgate  66  J ad  ices  ”  and  by  the 
 Arabic  in  both  “  Judge  ’  —  deserting  the 
 Septuagint  Version,  its  usual  guide ;  which 
 renders,  in  the  former  passage,  Tsrpog  to  xptTyj- 
 piov  tv  ©£tf,  “  to  the  tribunal  of  God and 
 in  the  latter,  evu)7 nov  tv  ©s&,  “  before  God  A 
 on  which  Parkhurst ,  misled  by  Gusset ,  forms 
 “  his  imagination,”  that  did  not  signify 
 
 Ruder  s 
 
161 
 
 Rulers  or  Judges”  Heb.  Lex.  p.  23.  Whence 
 the  B.  C.  Feb .  p.  150,  has  hazarded  the  un¬ 
 guarded  assertion — that  44  not  a  single  un- 
 “  questionable  instance  is  to  be  found  in  the 
 44  whole  Bible,  of  the  application  of  the  word 
 44  to  any  such  persons.” 
 
 Besides  these  two  instances ; — in  which 
 D’nbtfH  is  plainly  of  the  same  import  with  D'bbB 
 Pelilim ,  in  the  intermediate  passage,  Exod. 
 xxi.  22  ;  which  the  Syriac  Version  and  Chal¬ 
 dee  Paraph,  (as  in  Job,)  likewise  render 
 44  the  Judges ” — there  is  a  third,  in  which  its 
 application  is  most  unquestionable  ; — decided 
 by  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ  himself, 
 in  his  admirable  Argumentum  ad  hominem , 
 addressed  to  the  Jews ;  who  were  going  to 
 stone  him  for  blasphemy ;  44  because/'  said 
 they,  44  Thou  being  a  Man ,  (avOpuTrog,)  makest 
 44  thyself  a  God ,  (0 eov):’  Jesus  answered 
 them,  Is  it  not  written  in  your  law>  (Ps.  lxxxii. 
 6,)  44 1  said  ye  are  gods  ?”  &c.  If  [then]  He 
 called  them  [the  Judges]  gods ,  to  whom  the 
 Oracle  of  God  came;  and  the  Scripture 
 cannot  be  broken,  [or  controverted,]  How 
 say  ye  of  Him  whom  the  Father  con¬ 
 secrated,  and  sent  forth  into  the  world. 
 
 M  44  Thou 
 
162 
 
 6C  Thou  blasphemest because  I  said,  “  I  am 
 “  the  Son  of  God?"  John  x.  33-36. 
 Surely  if  DTlStt,  in  the  Psalm  cited,  did  not 
 signify  the  Judges  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim, 
 invested  with  the  high  privilege  of  expound¬ 
 ing  the  divine  oracles ,  and  deciding,  as  Dele¬ 
 gates ,  in  cases  of  conscience  and  criminal 
 causes,  and  giving  counsel  in  state  affairs, 
 Our  Lord’s  argument  must  be  imperfect 
 and  invalid :  but  it  is  complete  and  unan¬ 
 swerable  ;  rising  from  their  own  concession 
 in  a  lower  instance, — in  the  case  of  ordinary 
 mortals,  styled  gods, — to  himself,  the  eter¬ 
 nal,  and  only  genuine  Son  of  God  ; — and 
 therefore  a  fortiori ,  entitled  to  the  appella¬ 
 tion  of  a  God,  (®£0£,)  in  the  strictest  sense 
 of  the  word.  And  indeed  Parkhurst  him¬ 
 self  admits,  that  “  in  this  last  text,  (Fs.  lxxxii. 
 “  6,)  the  word  is  applied  to  earthly 
 
 65  magistrates  or  judges  — And  he  rightly 
 observes,  “  that  it  is  only  in  a  comparative 
 “  or  metaphorical  sense ; — the  prefixed  ar- 
 “  tide  3,  ‘  as,'  or  c  like ,’  being  understood 
 “  here  f — as  it  is  actually  expressed  in  the 
 latter  clause  of  the  sentence,  Ps.  lxxxii.  6. 
 
 “  I  said, 
 
163 
 
 u  I  said,  ye  are  gods;  even  all  ye,  sons  of  the  Most 
 “  High  : 
 
 <(  But  ye  shall  die  as  Man ;  and  fall,  as  one  of  the 
 fi  Princes.” 
 
 And  the  cause  of  their  punishment  was 
 
 before  expressed  in  the  indignant  inlerroga- 
 
 \ 
 
 tory  at  the  beginning  of  the  Psalm : 
 
 66  How  long  will  ye  judge  iniquitously,  and 
 accept  the  persons  of  the  wicked  ? 
 
 2.  That  the  plural  and  emphati¬ 
 cally  is,  in  numberless  passages, 
 
 taken  in  a  singular  sense,  and  applied  to 
 the  only  true  God,  is  most  unques¬ 
 tionable,  as  in  the  very  beginning  of  Gene¬ 
 sis  : — “  God  created  the  Heavens  and  the 
 “  Earth  where  the  singular  verb 
 
 creavit ,  decides  the  singular  import  of  the  no¬ 
 minative  And  this  decides  the  singu¬ 
 
 lar  import  likewise  of  the  plural  form  *]*KH*Q, 
 u  Thy  Creator ,  Eccl.  xii.  1,  not  “  thy  Cre- 
 u  ators ,”  according  to  Parkhurst* s  Trinita¬ 
 rian  Mysticism  ;  and  of,  V&y9  “  His  Maker  ” 
 Ps.  cxiix.  2,  not  “  his  Makers in  defiance 
 of  all  the  versions,  ancient  and  modern. 
 
 And  thus,  in  that  explicit  declaration,  or 
 confession  of  faith,  Deut.  iv.  35  :  “  The 
 
 m  2  “  Lord 
 
164 
 
 “  Lord  is  the  God  ;  [there  is]  none  eke 
 66  beside  Him  — where  the  emphatic  term 
 D*r6tfn  ought  to  be  rendered  “  the  God/’ 
 as  it  is,  more  correctly,  in  the  application  of 
 this  passage,  in  our  translation,  of  1  Kings, 
 xviii.  39,  where  the  Israelites  acknowledged 
 the  superiority  of  the  true  God  above 
 Baal,  by  an  animated  repetition:  “  tiie 
 u  Lord  is  the  God  !  the  Lord  is  the 
 “  God  V’ — and  not  Baal ,  the  idol  of  the 
 Sidonians ,  or  the  intelligence  supposed  to 
 reside  in  the  sun.  In  both  places,  the  pro¬ 
 noun  Kin,  rendered  “  lie’  by  our  trans¬ 
 lators,  by  a  well-known  idiom  in  the  Hebrew 
 language,  frequently  supplies  the  place  of 
 the  present  tense  of  the  verb  substantive 
 “  is  and  by  the  same  analogy,  the  pro¬ 
 noun  UK,  I,  involves  “  am,”  in  God's  asser¬ 
 tion  of  his  supremacy,  Isa.  xlv.  5,  “  I  am 
 “  the  Lord,  and  [there  is]  none  else ,  beside 
 ^  Me  [there  is]  no  God  in  this  passage 
 the  emphatic  article  H  is  clearly  understood 
 before  as  in  the  parallel  passages, 
 
 though  not  expressed. 
 
 The  application  of  D’nbK  to  the  Mes¬ 
 siah  is  also  expressed,  Ps.  xlv.  6,  “  Thy 
 
 66  throne , 
 
1 65 
 
 44  throne ,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever,” 
 &c.  and  is  clearly  distinct  from  its  applica¬ 
 tion  to  tiie  Father,  in  the  next  verse : 
 44  Therefore  God,  tiiy  God,  anointed  thee 
 44  with  oil  of  gladness  above  thy  felloivs,” — - 
 as  incontrovertihly  established  by  St.  Paul's 
 citing  the  Septuagint  version  of  this  passage, 
 to  prove  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ; 
 Ileb.  i.  8.  And  it  is  unquestionably  applied 
 also  to  the  Son,  in  Manoalis  exclamation 
 to  his  wife,  after  they  had  seen  him  visibly 
 ascend  into  heaven  in  the  flame  of  the  sa¬ 
 crifice,  which,  by  his  directions,  they  of¬ 
 fered  unto  the  Lord,  Judg.  xiii.  22.  44  We 
 44  shall  surely  die ,  because  zee  have  seen  God  T 
 (D*nSft.) — They  plainly  understood  Him  to 
 be  44  the  Angel  of  the  Lord,"  em¬ 
 phatically  so  styled,  as  being  44  the  Angel 
 44  of  his  presence,"  Exod.  xxxiii.  14,  Isa. 
 lxiii.  9?  or  44  Angel  of  the  covenant," 
 Mai.  iii.  1,  who  appeared  to  Moses  in  the 
 burning  bush,  Exod.  iii.  2,  and  styled  him¬ 
 self  44  the  Lord,"  assuming  the  highest 
 title  of  the  Godhead,  Exod.  vi.3. — Because 
 44  the  name  of  the  Lord"  was  44  intimately 
 44  vested  in  Him,"  Exod.  xxxiii.  21, — even 
 
 m  3  under 
 
166 
 
 under  the  patriarchal  dispensation,  as  the 
 oracle  OF  God,  Gen.  xv.  1,  Rev.  xix.  13, 
 44  whose  face  no  man  could  see ,  and  livef 
 Exod.  xxxiii.  20  ;  and  who,  not  many  years 
 before,  Judg.  ii.  1-4,  upbraided  the  people  for 
 their  breach  of  the  Covenant,  in  not  de¬ 
 stroying  the  idolatrous  Canaanites  and  their 
 altars :  and  in  the  case  of  Manoah ,  when  he 
 came  as  a  deliverer  from  Philistine  bon¬ 
 dage,  declared  that  his  46  name  was  secret/" 
 or  rather  44  wonderful/’  Judg.  xiii.  18, 
 for  so  is  the  original  term,  more  cor¬ 
 rectly  rendered  by  the  Septuagint,  Qocogocgovy 
 and  by  the  Alexandrian  version  also,  in  that 
 enumeration  of  the  titles  of  the  incarnate 
 44  Son  of  God/"  Isa.  ix.  6,  44  His  name 
 44  shall  he  called  Wonderful/"  &c.  And 
 in  that  sublime  and  tremendous  description 
 of  Jesus  Christ  inflicting  vengeance  on 
 all  his  enemies,  Rev.  xix.  16,  66  He  hath 
 44  the  name  written  on  his  vesture  and  on 
 u  his  thigh;  4  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord 
 44  of  Lords.’" — His  new  name,  or  addi¬ 
 tional  authority,  Rev.  iii.  12 ,  44  which  no 
 one  knoweth,  save  the  Receiver/"  Rev. 
 ii.  IT,  but  which  was  expressly  foretold  by 
 
 tfle 
 
167 
 
 the  unerring  word  of  prophecy ,  to  he  com¬ 
 municated  to  Him,  in  and  throughout  the 
 universe,  see  Dan.  vii.  13,  14,  compared 
 with  Rev.  v.  0-13. 
 
 IIow  was  it  possible,  then,  for  the  R.  C. 
 so  far  to  forget  himself,  and  the  reverence 
 due  to  the  mysterious  subject,  as  to  pen  the 
 following  passage  ? — 44  It  must  be  granted, 
 64  that  in  both  these  passages,  (Ps.  xlv.  0, 
 44  and  Judg.  xiii.  22,)  the  name  of  Elohim 
 44  is  given  to  a  single  person  :  and  cannot,  it 
 44  should  seem,  in  these  instances,  imply  plu- 
 44  rality  of  persons.  The  solution  of  the 
 44  difficulty  is,  that  the  passages  are  only 
 44  tzvo  ;  and  in  both  we  must  admit  a  sort  of 
 44  cat  ac  hues  is,  [i.  e.  an  abuse  of  terms  T’} 
 p.  152. 
 
 Is  this  to  discharge  skilfully  and  faithfully, 
 the  perilous  and  delicate  functions  of  sa¬ 
 cred  CRITICS? - Is  this,  44  to  HONOUR 
 
 44  the  Son,  according  as  we  honour  the 
 44  Father  ?”  Or  do  not  such  rash  and  revolt¬ 
 ing  solutions  rather  tend  to  44  dishonour 
 44  both  the  Father  and  the  Son” — by 
 sheltering  ignorance  of  their  glorious  and 
 awful  names  and  persons,  under  hard  words  ? 
 
 m  4  and 
 
1 68 
 
 and  is  not  the  succeeding  passage,  equally  at 
 variance  with  common  sense,  and  with  the 
 Scripture  of  Truth  ? 
 
 “  The  unity  of  the  three  Persons  in  the 
 “  essence,  is  so  strict  and  intimate,  that  any 
 “  general  appellation  of  the  Godhead  may 
 66  be  applied  to  any  one :  reminding  ns  of 
 u  the  plurality  by  that  application,  though 
 “  not  implying ,  to  be  sure,  a  plurality  of 
 “  persons  in  the  single  person :  which  would 
 “  be  a  contradiction  in  terms. 
 
 “  That  this  is  the  true  account  of  the 
 
 “  matter,  is  evident  from  what  has  been  re- 
 
 66  marked  on  Ps.  xlv.  8,  taken  in  connexion 
 
 “  with  its  context ;  and  it  is  confirmed  by 
 
 %/ 
 
 “  what  our  Lord  himself  said  to  St.  Phi- 
 “  lip  :  He  that  hath  seen  Me,  hath  seen 
 “  my  Father  also .  We  may  add  with 
 cc  respect  to  both  these  passages,  what 
 “  Mr.  Parkhurst  has  remarked  of  the  first, 
 **  [Heb.  Lex.  p.  22,]  that  the  word  Elo/iim 
 u  is  applied  to  [ the  Messiah ]  the  second  per- 
 
 son  singly ,  as  the  Representative  of  the 
 u  whole  Trinity 
 
 The  source  of  this  strange  mysticism  may 
 perhaps  be  traced  up  to  the  celebrated,  book 
 
 of 
 
169 
 
 of  Zahar,  the  oracle  of  the  Rabbinists : 
 which,  ad  §  6  Levitic.  states  it  thus :  “  Veni 
 “  et  vide  mysterium  verbi  Elohim  !  Sunt  tres 
 “  gr adas,  et  quilibet  gradus  per  se  distinctus; 
 “  veruntamen  sunt  imus,  et  in  unum  conjun- 
 “  guntur,  nec  unus  ab  altero  dividitur.” — 
 And  the  author  adduces  the  Hebrew  letter 
 Shin  as  symbolical  of  this  three-fold  dis¬ 
 tinction  of  the  Divine  Nature;  comparing 
 the  Godhead  to  the  root ;  and  the  three 
 hypostases  (or  persons)  to  the  three 
 branches  of  that  letter  / 
 
 On  the  contrary,  so  completely  is  the 
 plural  form  teloiiim  singularized,  (if  I  may 
 be  allowed  the  expression)  in  many  applica¬ 
 tions,  to  “  the  Lord  and  also  to  his 
 “  Christ,’"  that  its  adjuncts  and  attributes 
 are  indiscriminately  plural  and  singular;  thus 
 “  the  living  God/"  (inherent  in  the 
 Father,  and  communicated  to  the  Son, 
 John  v.  25,  and  Rev.  i.  18,)  is  expressed 
 by  D”rrD*nbK,  Dii  viventes ,  Deut.  v.  26, 
 1  Sam.  xvii.  26-56,  Jer.  x.  10,  and  xxiii. 
 6-36.  Rut  by  Dii  livens,  2  Kings 
 
 x£v.  4-l6,  Isa.  xxxvii.  4-17*  Both  corre¬ 
 sponding  to  the  grammatical  form, 
 
 Deu% 
 
170 
 
 JJeus  vivens ,  Josh.  iii.  10,  Ps.  xlii.  2,  and 
 jxxxiv.  3,  Hosea  i.  10;  and  to  the  Chaldee 
 form,  ftT?  KFlbtf,  Dens  vivens ,  Dan.  vi.  26. 
 
 * — And  in  the  cases  of  verbs  plural  annexed 
 thereto,  Gen.  xx.  18,  and  xxxi.  53,  and 
 xxxv.  7,  cited  by  Parkhurst ,  in  support  of 
 the  Rabbinical  or  Hutchinsonian  hypothesis, 
 he  ought  to  have  remarked,  that  in  all  these 
 cases,  the  Samaritan  text  exhibits  the  verbs 
 in  the  singular  number;  more  correctly,  or 
 more  conformably  to  the  general  analogy  of 
 the  Hebrew  Scriptures;  as  in  Gen.  i.  1, 
 Nil  Dii  creavit ,  and  in  innumerable 
 
 instances  besides. 
 
 But  how  are  we  to  reconcile  this  apparent 
 solecism ,  with  which  the  Bible  opens,  to 
 grammatical  analogy,  or  propriety  of  speech  ? 
 
 Waving  the  Rabbinical  hypothesis  ;  and 
 also  that  adopted  by  Michaelis ,  Supplement . 
 &c.  p.  88,  “  Pluralem,  majestaticum  habeo ; 
 u  consuet udine  Patriarcharum,  nomen  Phoe- 
 u  nicia  ex  polytheismo  plurale,  melius  [sin- 
 **  gulariter]  interpretanti,”  &c.  And  that, 
 from  the  usual  style  of  modern  kings,  “  It 
 “  is  our  will  and  pleasure, ”  &c.  whereas  David 
 £nd  Solomon ,  Nebuchadnezzar  and  Cyrus ,  all 
 
 spoko 
 
171 
 
 spoke  in  the  singular  number  I  apprehend, 
 that  the  plural  Q^n1/^  is  used  elliptically, 
 either  lor  "7ft,  44  God  of  Gods,  '  or 
 
 D*i"6tf  mn%  46  Loud  of  Gods,"- — as  in  the 
 parallel  passage,  Gen,  ii.  4, 44  The  Lord  of 
 44  Gods  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth;” 
 or  both  together ;  as  in  that  fullest  enu¬ 
 meration  of  the  divine  titles,  44  The  God 
 44  of  Gods,  the  Lord,"  Josh.  xxii.  and 
 Ps.  1.  1,  before  noticed  :  exactly  correspond¬ 
 ing  to  the  fullest  enumeration  of  the  titles 
 of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  in  the 
 New  Testament,  1  Tim.  vi,  15,  Rev.  xix.  16. 
 
 And  indeed,  the  comparison  of  both  Old 
 and  New  Testament  will  furnish  a  satisfac¬ 
 tory  clue  to  the  proper  rendering  of 
 here:  44  The  Lord,  the  God  of  gods" 
 — 44  The  Lord,  the  God  of  Hosts"* — 
 44  The  Lord,  the  God  Omnipotent" 
 or  44  All-governing,  (wai/Toxpar^.)  See 
 Josh.  xxii.  22,  Hosea  xii.  6,  and  Rev.  iv.  8. 
 And  in  these  titles,  do  not  the  plural 
 44  gods,”  or  44  all  gods,"  as  intimated 
 Exod.  xviii,  11. — 44  Hosts,"  or  44  all  the 
 •4  Hosts  o?  Heaven  and  Earth,"  as 
 intimated  {Jen,  ii.  1,  Amos  xv.  275  plainly 
 
 correspond 
 
correspond  to  Omnipotent  or  All-go¬ 
 verning,  or  to  o  (jLovog  A e<T7roTyg9  44  the 
 64  sole  Governor’'  or  66  Sovereign/' 
 in  the  New  Testament  ?  which  may  there¬ 
 fore  be  considered  as  the  appropriate  ren¬ 
 derings  of  the  plural  where  it  ex¬ 
 
 presses  44  t  h  e  One  God  and  Father  o  f 
 44  all/  or  44  the  Son  of  His  Love;” 
 who  is  64  the  image"  (or  Representative) 
 44  of  the  invisible  *  God/' and  44 sitteth 
 44  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on 
 “  High" — 44  Far  above  (unepa va)  every  Prin- 
 44  cipality ,  and  Authority ,  and  Power ,  and 
 64  Dominion  ;  and  every  name  that  is  named , 
 44  not  only  in  this  world ,  but  also  in  the  fu - 
 44  t ure A  Compare  Coloss.  i.  13-15,  Heb. 
 i.  3,  Ephes.  i.  20-21. 
 
 It  is  true  indeed,  (as  Parlchnrst  cites,)  that 
 at  the  creation,  Gen.  i.  26,  44  God  (i.e.  the 
 
 *  'O  tsw  ElfCQN  TOT  0EOT  TOT  AOPATOT. 
 Coloss.  i.  L5.  N.  B.  In  the  parallel  passage,  2  Cor.  iv, 
 4,  the  important  word  A oparv  is  omitted,  by  an  unpar¬ 
 donable  negligence  in  our  present  editions  of  the  Greek 
 Testament  copying  Stephens ,  contrary  to  the  ancient  edi¬ 
 tions  of  Aldus ,  ColinccuSj  Planting  Sec.  See  Wetstein 
 on  the  latter  passage. 
 
 44  Lord 
 
u  Lord  of  gods)  said:  Let  us  make  Man 
 u  in  our  image,  according  to  otjr  likeness 9 
 • — in  dominion ,  and  capacity  of  immortality : 
 
 “  Finxit  in  effigiem  moderantum  cuncta  Degbum.” 
 
 OVID. 
 
 ( 
 
 And  also,  that  after  the  fall,  iii.  22,  “  The 
 “  Lord  of  gods  said  :  Lo  !  the  Man  is 
 “  become  as  on  e  of  Us,  to  know  good  and 
 “  evil f  &c.  and  again,  before  the  confusion 
 of  tongues,  xi.  7?  64  Let  us  go  down ,  and 
 “  confound  their  language — And  I  hold, 
 with  the  Primitive  Jewish  Church,  and  the 
 earliest  Fathers  of  the  Christian ,  that  “  the 
 
 % 
 
 “  Spirit  of  God,53  or  64  the  Holy 
 u  Ghost:” 
 
 (C  Dove-like ,  sat  brooding*  on  the  vast  abyss, 
 
 “  And  made  it  pregnant.”  Milton. 
 
 And  that  He  was  here  employed  in  con* 
 founding,  as  (afterwards  on  the  memorable 
 day  of  Pentecost)  in  conferring  the  gilt,  of 
 tongues,  on  the  Apostles:  Acts  ii.  2-4,  where 
 “  the  sound  from  the  heaven, .as  of  a  rushing , 
 
 *  narDp,  Gen.  i.  2. 
 
 cc  violent 
 
174 
 
 “  violent  blast  [of  wind]/'  bears  no  remote 
 nor  fanciful  resemblance,  perhaps,  to  the 
 operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  at  the 
 old  creation  ;  yet  with  all  due  diffidence,  I 
 apprehend,  that  the  plural  44  Us/'  in  these 
 cases,  is  not  to  be  limited  (with  the  Hut  chin - 
 sonians)  to  the  persons  of  the  Godhead; 
 but  rather  includes,  that  “  multitude  of  the 
 44  Heavenly  Host”  attendant,  as  44  minister- 
 44  ing  spirits/’  on  The  Oracle  of  the 
 Lord,  or  Wisdom  personified,  44  through 
 44  whom  the  Heavens  were  made” — 44  For 
 44  He  spake ,  and  ( the  earth )  was ;  He  com - 
 44  manded ,  and  it  stood  fast.” — Compare  Ps. 
 xxxiii.  6- Q,  and  cxxxvi.  5,  and  Prov.  viii. 
 27*30,  with  John  i.  1-2,  Ileb.  i.  1-2.  For 
 we  learn  from  the  venerable  and  inspired 
 patriarch.  Job  xxxviii.  7,  that  at  the  creation, 
 66  The  morning  stars  sans:  together,  and  all 
 
 O  O  O  7 
 
 u  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy.” — The 
 morning  stars  here,  are  understood  by  the 
 principal  versions,  of  the  angelic  choirs ;  and 
 Jesus  Christ  styles  himself  46  the  bright 
 44  and  morning  star,”  pre-eminently,  Rev. 
 xxii.  1 6.  And  the  angels  are  styled  44  sons 
 44  of  God/’  by  Job  himself,  i.  C).  And  the 
 
 adjunct 
 
175 
 
 adjunct  “  all”  certainly  intimates  a  multi¬ 
 tude  ;  as  at  the  promulgation  of  the  law  on 
 Mount  Sinai ,  Deut.  xxxiii.  2 ,  “  When  the 
 ct  Lord  came,  attended  by  myriads  of  his 
 “  saints ,”  or  angels ,  as  interpreted  Acts  vii. 
 53,  Gal.  iii.  19?  Heb.  xii.  29- — And  that 
 the  declaration  in  the  last  citation,  “  Let  us 
 “  go  down,”  &c.  is  not  to  be  so  limited,  ac¬ 
 cording  to  the  Hutchinsonian  scheme,  fur¬ 
 ther  appears  from  the  parallel  case  of  the 
 destruction  of  Sodom,  Gen.  xviii.  21.  When 
 the  Son  of  God  (as  generally  understood) 
 appeared  in  human  form  to  the  patriarch 
 Abraham ,  actually  attended  by  tzvo  angels , 
 ministers  of  his  just  vengeance,  and  said,  I 
 will  go  down  now ,  and  see ,  &c.  And  again, 
 when  He  appeared  to  Moses  in  the  burning 
 bush,  (“  who  hid  his  face,  for  he  was  afraid 
 “  to  look  upon  God”)  He  said  :  66 I  am  come 
 “  down  to  deliver  my  people  out  of  the  hand 
 “  of  the  Egyptians,”  Sec.  Surely,  in  these 
 two  remarkable  instances,  there  is  no  re¬ 
 ference  whatsoever  to  the  plurality  of  per¬ 
 sons  in  the  Godhead  ;  but  lie  speaks  au¬ 
 thoritatively  in  his  own  person :  and  that 
 these  were  the  sentiments  of  the  primitive 
 
 Jewish 
 
4 
 
 176  . 
 
 Jewish  Church,  before  it  was  infected  with 
 . 'Rabbinical  (the  parent  of  HutcJiinsonian ) 
 
 mysticism,  appears  from  the  following  cu¬ 
 rious  and  valuable  reflection  of  Philo,  strictly 
 applicable  to  both  these  cases : 
 
 'O  yctg  TOT  ©EOT  AOFO£,  ora v  £7 n  to 
 yecoSeg  ypiuv  ctipixETca,  roig  pjctv  ccperyg 
 
 cvyyevea’i,  xott  T&pog  ocpeTyv  cnroKhtwcriv  ccpqyzi  kcu 
 f-torjQet,  cog  xoiTot^vyvjv  xoa  Teorvj^tocv  cajTOig  'zrogi^siv 
 T&ocvTthv\*  TOig  He  ocvTWoiXoig,  chzOpov  xoci  (pQogc&v 
 
 CCVICCT OV  £7Tt7TSUTEl. 
 
 66  For,  the  Oracle  of  God,  when  he 
 “  comes  down  to  this  our  terrestrial  system, 
 aids  and  assists  those  that  are  allied  to  vir- 
 u  hie ,  and  that  incline  to  virtue ,  in  order  to 
 46  procure  them  complete  refuge  and  salva- 
 “  tion  :  But  on  the  adversaries ,  He  inflicts  ir- 
 “  remediable  calamity  and  destruction.’' 
 
 And  does  not  the  very  instance  adduced 
 by  the  B.  C.  to  “  confirm"  what  he  deems 
 “  the  true  account  of  the  matter,”  strongly 
 militate  against  it  ? — John  xiv.  Q,  “  He  that 
 “  hath  seen  Me/' saith  our  Blessed  Lord, 
 “hath  seen  the  Father;'’  that  is,  in  all 
 reasonable  construction,  hath  seen  the  Re¬ 
 presentative  of  the  Father  ;  — 
 
 7 
 
 “  speaking 
 
177 
 
 ,  '  r  ■' 
 
 “  speaking  His  oracles  and  working  HiS 
 u  works' — as  asserted  in  the  sequel :  Surely 
 in  this,  there  is  no  reference  to  the  Holy 
 Spirit,  none,  save  to  the  Father  alone. 
 And  that  it  is  impossible  for  mortal  eye  to 
 see  the  Father  personally,  is  repeatedly  and 
 explicitly  asserted  in  Holy  Writ : — 66  No  one 
 u  hath  seen  God  [the  Father]  at  any 
 44  time9 — 66  Ye  have  hot  heal'd  his  voice  at 
 44  any  time ,  nor  seen  n i s  form  \ — 46  Go©  is 
 44  spirit;’ ’ — 46  inhabiting  light  una ppropch - 
 44  able ;  whom  none  of  mankind  saw,  nor  is 
 44  able  to  see  — 44  save  [the  Son]  who  is 
 44  from  God  i  He  hath  seen  the  Father/' 
 John  i.  18,  and  v.  37?  and  iv.  24,  and  vi.  4 6, 
 and  1  John  iv.  12,  1  Tim.  vi.  16. 
 
 Who  now  that  44  ponders  these  things,’* 
 can  hesitate  to  pronounce  the  whole  Hutchin- 
 sonian  hypothesis  of  the  derivation  of  ;eL, 
 eloh,  and  iELOHiM,  (even  in  the  hands  of 
 the  B.  C.)  unintelligible,  or  revolting,  or  un- 
 scriptural,  as  well  as  uncritical ;  at  irrecon- 
 cileable  variance  with  sober  etymology  and 
 sound  theology. — However  useful  and  valu¬ 
 able  Parkhurst’s  Hebrew  and  Greek  Lexi¬ 
 cons  may  prove  to  proficients  in  sacred  lite- 
 
 N  rature, 
 
178 
 
 rature,  who  are  able  to  separate  the  wheat 
 from  the  chaff ;  yet  I  cannot  but  deprecate 
 their  circulation  in  the  hands  of  novices ;  for  % 
 whom  Biixtorf’s  Manual  Hebrew  Lexicon 
 (sixth  or  seventh  editions),  and  Stocking  s 
 
 vr 
 
 Greek  Lexicon,  are  much  fitter  and  more 
 commodious,  as  well  as  cheaper.  I  mention 
 this  with  regret  and  reluctance,  as  a  sacrifice 
 on  the  altar  of  truth ;  confessing  my  own 
 obligations  on  many  occasions,  to  the  various 
 erudition  and  ingenuity  of  the  pious  and 
 
 learned  Parkhurst . 
 
 »  - 
 
 O  may  the  turf  lie  light  upon  his  breast.  ! 
 
 And  it  cannot,  I  hope,  be  considered,  by 
 any  of  his.  numerous  readers  and  admirers, 
 or  by  the  B.  C.  themselves,  an  insult  to  his 
 memory,  or  disrespectful  to  them,  to  point 
 out  the  faults  and  errors  of  writers  and  cri¬ 
 tics  upon  subjects  of  importance,  whether 
 they  be  living  or  dead  ;  for,  as  Le  Clerc , 
 that  learned  and  ingenious  hypercritic,  once 
 apologized,  on  a  similar  occasion : 
 
 nr  j  \ 
 
 •  '»  ,  '' 
 
 Nec  nocel  Veritas  Martins,  et  mufourn  prodest  vivis. 
 
 0  Eptst.  Crit.  p.  80. 
 
 Truth  injures  not  the  dead,  and  profits  much  the' 
 
 “  living.”  *  . 
 
 5 
 
 FAUX 
 
PART  III. 
 
 In  this  third  part,  still  more  than  in  the 
 preceding,  I  have  to  deprecate  the  rooted 
 prejudices,  and  settled  opinions,  of  pro  fessed 
 scholars  and  critics.  In  the  two  former  parts, 
 the  argument  was  conducted  on  established 
 principles  of  Oriental  etymology,  and  uni¬ 
 versal  grammar,  and  all  the  roots  derived 
 from  the  venerable  Hebrew  stock  :  But  in 
 exploring  the  mysterious  significations  of 
 i  ah  and  i  a  ho  ii,  I  have  been  compelled  to 
 take  a  wider  range,  and  to  traverse  the  novel, 
 unbeaten,  and  bye-paths  of  Greek  and  Latin 
 etymology  also;  hoping,  by  their  joint  as¬ 
 sociation  in  this  most  abstruse  inquiry,  to 
 throw  some  new  lights  on  the  obscurity  of 
 the  subject,  which  has  been  hitherto  involved 
 in  the  mazes  of  Heathen  mythology,  and 
 Rabbinical  mysticism,  or  else  misrepresented 
 and  distorted  by  the  treacherous  glare  of 
 modern  metaphysics,  which  is  not  seldom 
 atheism  in  disguise  , 
 
180 
 
 IV,  H\  o  kvrog,  HIE  same:  0  Kvpiog,  T 
 
 Lo  rd. 
 
 In  Albertis  invaluable  Variorum  edition 
 of  Hesy chins  s  Greek  Lexicon,  the  second 
 paragraph  of  the  article  la  is  thus  explained : 
 44  I  a  (SoKruvofJLZvov  to  a\(pa  kcu  cfcvvopBvov')  tov  Gsoy 
 44  cYifAuivei,  zad’ESgoiivg.  I&h ,  (having  the  letter 
 4C  a  aspirated  and  acutely  accented)  signifies 
 44  God,  according  to  the  Hebrews And 
 the  preceding  paragraph  supplies  its  leading 
 significations:  1.  IVfia,  koci  povrj >  zai  avry, 
 2.  xai  (pcowfo  non  i Gov},  Sc c.  The  first  class  is 
 exemplified  by  the  ancient  scholiast  on  Ho- 
 mer :  thus,  Iliad  iv.  437,  I a  y^vg,  is  ex¬ 
 plained,  pia  nca  uvti)  (pcovrjy  44  One  and  the 
 4-4  same  speech  ”  or  language ;  Iliad  xiii. 
 354,  la  *z jrar^Tj,  is  explained,  povrj — bk  tv  avTV 
 Ttrargog ;  and  therefore  should  be  rendered, 
 46  the  same  parentage  ” 
 
 The  second  class  of  the  significations  of 
 la,  evidently  corresponds  to  Ia%^,  which  (un¬ 
 der  the  article  Ia%^;)  is  rendered  <puvvn  (Hoy, 
 xguuyrj,  by  Hesy  chi  us  ;  according  to  its  fre¬ 
 quent  use  in  Hesiod ,  and  Homer ,  and  in  Eu¬ 
 ripides  ;  but  its  radical  part,  Ia%,  is  clearly 
 the  venerable  name  of  the  God  of  the  He¬ 
 brews r 
 
181 
 
 brews,  aspirated  as  it  ought  to  be  ;  and  the 
 sense  of  vociferation ,  shouting ,  or  exclama¬ 
 tion,  attached  to  its  derivatives,  I^x-7!  and 
 I&X-U,  was  evidently  derived  from  the  primi¬ 
 tive  Hebrew  doxology,  Hallelu-iaii, 
 u  Praise  the  Lord  used  also  at  the  Osco - 
 phoria,  or  **  Procession  of  Branches /’  by 
 the  primitive  Athenians  in  the  time  of  The¬ 
 seus ,  according  to  Plutarch ;  “  when  at  the 
 f6  libations,  the  votaries  exclaimed  E XsXv — * 
 “  Issf as  they  did  also  at  the  orgies  of 
 Bacchus ,  or  “  the  Mystical  lacch-usf  the 
 most  ancient  name  of  this  heathen  god  of 
 revelry  :  whence  the  “  Mystica  vannus  lac - 
 66  chi,”  recorded  by  Virgil,  Georg,  i.  1 66, 
 and  of  which  the  best  explanation  is  fur¬ 
 nished  by  Matt.  iii.  12,  referring  to,  or  citing 
 Amos  ix.  95  and  Isa.  v.  24,  and  xxi.  10. 
 
 The  following  curious  account  is  furnished 
 by  Herodotus,  b,  viii.  §  65,  of  an  incident 
 said  to  have  happened  during  the  Persian 
 invasion  of  Greece  by  Xerxes ,  who  destroyed 
 all  their  temples.  (See  a  remarkable  oracle 
 delivered  on  that  occasion,  Euseb .  Prepar. 
 E.  B.  B.  p,  689-)  “  Dicceus ,  the  son  of 
 
 6 ■  Theocydes,  an  Athenian  exile,  in  great 
 
 n  3  “  reputation 
 
182 
 
 44  reputation  with  the  Medes  [or  Persians ], 
 44  reported,  that  happening  to  be  in  the  plain 
 44  of  Thria ,  with  Demaratus  of  Lacedemon , 
 44  after  Attica  had  been  abandoned  by  the 
 44  Athenians ,  and  ravaged  by  the  land  forces 
 4  4  of  Xerxes ,  he  saw  a  great  cloud  of  dust 
 44  rising  from  Eleusis ,  such  as  might  be  raised 
 44  by  the  marching  of  thirty  thousand  men ; 
 44  and  that  while  they  were  wondering  thereat, 
 44  and  not  knowing  who  could  have  occa- 
 44  sioned  it,  they  heard  on  a  sudden,  a  voice, 
 44  which  seemed  to  him  [that  of]  the  mystical 
 u  lacchus.  He  added,  that  Demaratus ,  not 
 44  being  initiated  in  the  Eleusinian  mysteries, 
 44  asked  him  the  meaning  of  those  words. 
 44  4  Demaratus /  answered  he,  4  some  great 
 44  and  inevitable  disaster  threatens  the  king’s 
 44  army.  Attica  being  now  deserted,  it  plainly 
 44  is  a  divinity  that  has  spoken ,  which,  coming 
 44  from  Eleusis ,  is  hastening  to  the  succour 
 44  of  the  Athenians  and  their  allies.  If  it 
 44  goes  towards  Peloponnesus ,  the  king  and 
 44  his  land  forces  will  run  great  risk;  if  it 
 44  takes  the  road  to  Salamis ,  w  here  his  ships 
 44  are,  the  fleet  of  Xerxes  will  be  in  danger 
 44  of  destruction* 
 
 44  The 
 
183 
 
 *  The  Athenians proceeded  he,  6  cele- 
 brate  annually  a  festival  to  (Ceres)  the 
 “mother,  and  ( Proserpine )  the  daughter, 
 “  initiating  in  these  mysteries  all  such  of  their 
 “  countrymen,  and  the  rest  of  the  Grecians , 
 “  as  desire  it.  The  voice  which  you  hear  is 
 “  that  of  Iacchus ,  which  is  sung  at  this  fes- 
 “  rival/ 
 
 « 
 
 66 
 
 66 
 
 << 
 
 66 
 
 << 
 
 66 
 
 u 
 
 a 
 
 u 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 66 
 
 66 
 
 “  Thereupon,  (continued  Dicceus ,)  jDc- 
 maratus  said  unto  him,  c  Be  silent,  and 
 say  nothing  to  any  one  of  what  has  hap¬ 
 pened  :  for  should  the  king  be  informed  of 
 your  conversation,  you  Mould  lose  your 
 head  ;  and  neither  I,  nor  any  other  per¬ 
 son,  could  procure  your  pardon  :  Be  quiet, 
 let  the  gods  take  care  of  the  army.’ 
 
 “  Such,  said  Dicceus ,  was  the  advice  given 
 him  by  Demaratus .  He  added,  That  after 
 this  dust,  and  this  voice,  there  appeared 
 a  cloud,  which  rising,  advanced  towards 
 Salamis ,  and  the  Grecian  armament ;  and 
 that  by  this  they  understood,  that  the 
 fleet  of  Xerxes  was  doomed  to  be  de¬ 
 stroyed. - Such  was  the  recital  of  /)/- 
 
 cceus ,  son  of  Theocydes ,  authenticated  by 
 
 N  4  “  the 
 
184 
 
 c*  the  evidence  of  Demaratus  and  some  other 
 “  witnesses.” 
 
 Whatever  degree  of  credit  we  may  attach 
 to  this  recital,  there  cannot,  I  think,  remain 
 a  doubt,,  that  the  Grecian ,  and  his  prede¬ 
 cessor  the  Indian  and  Egyptian  Bacchus , 
 were  all  caricatures,  drawn  by  the  extrava¬ 
 gance  of  Egyptian ,  Indian ,  and  Grecian 
 Mythology,  from  a  true  prototype,  the  He¬ 
 brew  TV,  or  lux-os,  whose  feast  of  Tabernacles , 
 at  the  close  of  the  vintage,  was  celebrated 
 with  so  much  festivity  by  the  ancient  He¬ 
 brews,  and  their  descendants  the  Jews;  in 
 allusion  to  which,  the  multitude  of  the  dis¬ 
 ciples  at  oun  Lord’s  last  public  entrance 
 into  Jerusalem ,  on  Palm  Sunday, 44  cut  down 
 
 4>- 
 
 ^4  branches  of  trees,  and  strewed  them  in  the 
 44  way,  and  shouted  Hosanna ,  Seep 
 
 That  I  AH  was  indeed  peculiarly  the  God' 
 of  the  Hebrews ,  we  learn  from  that  sublime 
 Ode  of  Moses,  recording  the  overthrow  of  the 
 Egyptians  iq  the  Red  Sea,  Exod.  xv.  2. 
 
 “  I  AH  is  my  strength  and  song ,  and  hath  been  my 
 “  salvation : 
 
 “  lie  is  my  God  *,  and  to  Him  will  1  make  a  Tar 
 V  hernacle , 
 
 * 
 
 The 
 
185 
 
 ^The  God  of  my  Father  %  even  Him  will  £ 
 “  exalt : 
 
 *(  IAHOH  is  a  Man  of  War  ;  IAHOH  is  his  name  * 
 
 Here  the  inspired  Poet  celebrates  the  Tutelar 
 God  of  Israel ,  both  by  his  ancient  and  mo¬ 
 dern  titles  ;  as  IAH,“  the  Patriarchal  Godf 
 (o'  i trotTQCti©*  ©eo^,  Acts  xxiv.  9?)  and  IAHOH, 
 by  which  he  chose  to  be  known ,  distinguished 
 and  reverenced  thenceforth  by  the  Israelites , 
 Exod.  vi.  3,  Deut.  xxviii.  58,  Isa.  xlii.  8. 
 In  order  to  mark  by  this  title  (intimating 
 his  Unity )  the  decided  abhorrence  of  the 
 idolatrous  Polytheism ,  in  which  the  heathen 
 world  was  then  immersed.  The  prophet 
 Ethan  also,  in  his  noble  imitation  of  this 
 passage,  Psal.  lxxxix.  8-10,  has  recorded 
 both  names:  “  O  Loud  (IAHOII),  The 
 “  God  of  Hosts ,  who  is  like  unto  Thee  !  O 
 
 mighty  Lord  (IAH),  even  thy  faithful 
 ^  7 less”  &c.  See  p.  91,  92. 
 
 Isaiah  has  combined  both  together,  xii.  2. 
 
 (i  Lo,  God  (,el)  is  my  salvation,  I  will  trust  and 
 “ fear  not : 
 
 ft  For  IAII  IAHOH  is  my  strength  and  my  song, 
 
 f-s  And  hath  been  my  salvation d 
 
 un  »nV«  * 
 
 And 
 
186 
 
 And  again,  in  that  noble  parallel  passage, 
 Isa.  xxvi.  4. 
 
 tc  Trust  ye  in  IAHOH  for  ever: 
 
 For  in  IAH  IAHOH  is  the  Rock  of  Ages  !” 
 
 Surely  we  may  well  say  of  both  these  ve¬ 
 nerable  names : 
 
 H  pcsv  a.[A($orEpoi<}iv  optov  ye  Vos’,  ncTia  warp). 
 
 u  Both  indeed  are  of  like  race.,  and  s ame  pa- 
 
 “  RENTAGE.V 
 
 And  their  combination,  in  both  cases,  may 
 be  rendered  the  same  Lord;  admirably 
 corresponding  to  “  the  Rock  of  Agesf — 
 Steady  and  unchangeable  in  his  nature  and 
 purposes;  as  “  theLord  and  his  Christ/’ 
 are  repeatedly  represented  in  the  Old  and 
 New  Testaments : 
 
 “  For  /  the  Lord  (IAHOH)  do  not  change : 
 
 (<  Therefore  ye,  0  Sons  of  Jacob ,  are  not  consumed 
 
 Mai.  iii  6. 
 
 Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect  grace  is  from 
 i(  above ; 
 
 “  And  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  Lights 
 “  — zeith  zchom 
 
 u  There  is  no  variableness  nor  shadow  of  change 
 
 Jam.  i.  17. 
 
 “  Thou 
 
187 
 
 *€  Thou,  Lord,  at  first,  didst  found  the  Earth;  and 
 “  the  Heavens 
 
 “  Are  the  work  of  thy  hands :  They  shall  jperish ,  hut 
 “  Thou  endurest : 
 
 “  They  all  shall  wax  old  as  a  garment ; 
 
 <(  As  a  vesture  shalt  thou  change  thems  and  they  shall 
 “  he  changed ; 
 
 “  But  Thou  art  the  same,  and  thy  years  shall  not 
 “fail”  Ps.  cii.  25. 
 
 Here  the  pronoun  Kin,  “  Hef  is  rendered 
 o  Avto$,  “  the  same  ”  by  the  Septuagint ; 
 whose  rendering  is  adopted  Heb.  i.  10,  and 
 there  applied  to  Jesus  Christ:  styled 
 “  Jesus  Christ,  the  same,  yesterday 
 66  and  to-day  and  for  ever  F*  Heb.  xiii.  8. 
 
 From  this  venerable  title  of  the  God  of 
 the  Hebrews ,  I  AH,  was  plainly  derived  the 
 name  of  the  god  of  Time ,  the  most  ancient 
 of  the  divinities,  both  of  the  eastern  and 
 western  world  ;  called  by  the  Latins ,  IA- 
 NUS;  and  by  the  Hindus ,  Ga-nes,  or 
 Gia-nesa.  See  Asiat.  Res .  1.  p.  226, 
 Virgil  and  Macrobius  represent  Janus  as 
 earlier  than  Saturn. 
 
 "  Hanc  IA-NUS  PATER,  Hanc  SATURNUS  con - 
 “  didit  Arcem : 
 
 fe  Janiculurn  huic,  illi  fuerat  Saturnia  nomen.” 
 
 jEn.  viii.  557. 
 
 And 
 
188 
 
 And  from  him  the  first  month  of  the  ifo- 
 man  year  was  denominated  Januarius  :  Ovid 
 calls  him  “  0  principium  Deorum  ! 
 
 \ 
 
 V.  mil*-  E*V,  one  :  o  Kugio;,  The  Lord. 
 
 Hesy  chius  also  explains  the  article  Iw,  by 
 Iviy  One  ;  referring  to  Horn .  Iliad,  vi.  422. 
 
 *Oi  /X£V  7ZCCVTES  X<Q  XiOV  HMATI  AiC>0f 
 
 "  They  all,  in  one  day,  went  into  Hades,”  i.  e.  were 
 slain. 
 
 Thus  following  the  ancient  scholiast,  who 
 explains  up  r(yccTi,  by  ev  pcioc  yfAepci :  while  to 
 mark,  as  it  seems,  its  descent  from  Ice,  he 
 renders  the  same  phrase  I  to  afterwards, 
 
 tv  T7j  olutyi  qptegcc,  66  in  the  same  day." 
 
 And  that  this  was  the  leading  idea  attached 
 to  the  name  of  God,  IAX2,  IETX1 ;  ZAE,  or 
 ZEYE  *  by  the  earliest  Greek  writers,  will 
 appear  from  the  following  instances : 
 
 AY  hen 
 
 #  The  later  Grech  philosophers  derived  the  name  of 
 their  Supreme  God  'Levs  from  i^sco,  “  to  glozv  or  be  hot” 
 evidently  referring  it  to  the  Sun.  As  Macrobius  expressly 
 states:  “  Nec  ipse  JupiTETt,  Ilex  Deorum,  Solis  na~ 
 ((  turam  excedere  videtur “  Not  even  Jupiter  himself, 
 “  the  King  of  gods,  seems  to  rise  above  the  Sun's  na- 
 
 “  ture  ” 
 
189 
 
 When  the  Oracle  of  the  Clarian  Apollo 
 (founded,  it  is  said,  at  Claras ,  a  city  of  Ionia  f 
 
 not 
 
 (c  ture.”  Sat.  i.  £3.  But  the  Greek  Z zvs  is  more  ra¬ 
 tionally  derived  from  the  Hebrew  nirp,  the  most  sacred 
 name  of  God  ;  which,  by  the  Phoenicians ,  was  pro¬ 
 nounced  I cvm,  (as  we  learn  from  a  fragment  of  Sanchoni- 
 atho,  preserved  by  Scaliger  De  Emend,  temp.  Fragm, 
 p.  37) ;  whence  Isvr,  by  changing  the  Hebrew  termina¬ 
 tion  m,  or  m,  into  the  ancient  Median  or  Greek  2 ;  and 
 thence  Zei/r,  by  transposition  of  kindred  consonants  I  and 
 Z,  all  over  the  world :  thus  Zemindar ,  “  a  farmer,”  is 
 pronounced  at  present,  in  the  vulgar  dialect  of  Hindostan, 
 Iemindar ;  and  the  Saxon  Zour  is  the  present  English 
 1  our. 
 
 And  that  this  is  the  true  derivation  of  Zear,  w7e  learn 
 from  Euripides ,  by  whom  it  is  substituted  as  equivalent 
 to  I co,  the  abridgment  of  I xco,  (the  most  ancient  pro¬ 
 nunciation  of  mn>,  IAHOH).  Medea ,  148. — 1251. 
 
 Aisr  co  ZET,  xxi  FA,  xoci  O.Q2, 
 
 I o *av  a  Sv^xyos  [xzX'nsi  vufxQx  ! 
 
 “  Hear ,  O  Jove,  and  Earth,  and  Light  : 
 cc  What  a  frantic  wish  does  this  wretched  Bride 
 “  whine  !” 
 
 LQ,  FA  re,  xxi  zyxfxtyxnr  axrtr 
 AEAIOT,  xarei^ers,  et^£T£  t«v 
 OXo/xsvav  yvvaixoc,  zzpiv  (pQtvixv 
 Ti  Exvo;r  Z}poaGxk£iv  y£%  uvtoxtovov. 
 
190 
 
 not  far  from  Colophon,  by  Manto  the  daughter 
 of  Tiresias,  in  the  second  Theban  war ;  and 
 
 conse- 
 
 “  Jove,  and  Earth,  and  All-illumining  Ray 
 Of  the  Sun,  look  down,  behold 
 K  This  wretched  woman ,  before  her  bloody 
 *c  Self -murderous  hand ,  she  on  her  children  lay  ” 
 
 + 
 
 Here  IH,  in  the  second  parallel  invocation,  (which  by 
 the  Editors  is  most  unskilfully  degraded  into  a  mere  in¬ 
 terjection  Oh!)  plainly  corresponds  to  ZET,  in  the 
 first ;  the  other  Divinities,  the  Earth,  and  Eight,  or 
 Ray  of  the  Sun,  being  the  same  in  both  ;  and  Euripides, 
 Eacchw,  583,  has  given  us  the  true  rendering  of  I.Q, 
 namely  A hanorns, “  Master ,”  or  “  Lord,”  in  the  exclama¬ 
 tion  of  the  Bacchanals,  I<Q,  IH,  Aeo-Tror a  l  A Ecrrrorocl — 
 Exactly  according  with  the  Septuagint ;  which  expresses 
 p-jy  mm  in  Greek  characters,  Ifl-XEAEK,  “the  Lord 
 “  of  rightousness,”  Jer.  xxiii.  6,  and  which  renders 
 mm,  or  Ill.,  by  AeffTroryjf,  Prov.  xxix.  26,  and  generally 
 by  K vpi&,  which  is  synonymous  therewith. 
 
 The  Latin  Jupiter  is  usually  derived  from  'Levs,  or 
 from  Juvans  Pater ;  but  its  true  descent  is  from  lev;  for 
 the  nominative  was  originally  IOVIS,  as  it  occurs  in 
 Ennius,  and  is  found  since  on  ancient  coins,  IOVIS 
 CUSTOS.  See  Parkhurst,  H.  L.  p.  174.  And  it  ac¬ 
 tually  appears  in  the  radical  part  of  the  oblique  cases, 
 Io-vis,  lo-vi,  Io-vem,  &c.  and  is  fully  confirmed  by  Virgil, 
 iEn.  x.  17. 
 
 Io-fater,  To *—Hominum  Divumque  wterna  potestas  ! 
 in  which,  this  consummate  antiquary  has  given  the  true 
 
 composition 
 
191 
 
 consequently  in  the  heroic  age)  was  consulted 
 which  of  the  Gods  is  He  to  be  accounted  who 
 is  ccdled  IAX2,  the  oracular  response  is  thus 
 preserved  by  Macro  bias,  Saturnal.  i.  18. 
 
 Opyia.  pcev  ^s^txajrocs  £%p}  vw rsvQzoc  xe^ctav* 
 
 Ev  S’  opr  ary  zjaupri  guvegis  xou  v»5  aXoma^MOS' 
 
 QpoiQg u 
 
 composition  of  Jupiter,  in  Io-pater,  Io  t — with  equal  un¬ 
 skilfulness*  degraded  by  the  Editors  with  two  inteijections: 
 
 O  Pater !  O  ! - The  root  is  preserved*  in  the  phrases 
 
 Io,  Bacche  !  Io  triumphe ! 
 
 The  Latin  Bern,  is  usually  derived  from  the  Greek > 
 ©e©> ;  but  more  naturally  from  Zsi/r*  which  in  the  Doric 
 or  Molic  dialect*  (the  parent  of  the  Latin,)  was  Acer. 
 Hesy  chins. 
 
 These  emendations*  (which*  though  novel*  are  not*  I 
 trust,  fanciful  or  unsatisfactory*)  may  serve  to  shew  the 
 importance  of  Oriental  etymology*  when  cautiously  ap¬ 
 plied*  to  explain  and  illustrate  the  Greek  and  Latin  clas¬ 
 sics  ;  and  on  the  other  hand*  several  elementary  Hebrew 
 terms*  whose  leading  or  radical  significations  are  not  to 
 be  found  in  the  present  scanty  stock  of  themes,  furnished 
 by  the  single  volume  of  the  Old  Testament*  and  which 
 are  not  satisfactorily  supplied  even  by  the  kindred  Oriental 
 dialects*  may  sometimes,  be  found  in  the  more  copious 
 remains  of  the  ancient  Greek  language ;  as  well  as  the 
 Latin  or  Teutonic :  in  all  which  a  considerable  analogy 
 lias  lately  been  traced  to  the  Sanscrit,  or  ancient  Syriac , 
 by  the  curious  and  successful  researches  of  Jones *  Hallitd * 
 Wilkins,  and  Wilford . 
 
m 
 
 Wpzfyo  roV  Tzavrcuv  Cttoctov  ©6ov  e/x/^cv’  I  AO* 
 
 Xw/xart  /xev  t’AIAHN*  AIA  V  aa. pos  apy^Ofj.BV * 
 
 HEAION  5e  d’Ep5VS‘-*-MzT07rajptt  o’  d^pov  IA<Q* 
 
 *c  The  initiated  are  bound  to  conceal  Orgies  not  to  be 
 “  inquired  into : 
 
 (i  But  in  disguise  is  small  understanding  and  a  feeble 
 “  mind. 
 
 fr  Learn  then,  that  IAHOH  is  God  supreme  of 
 “  a  l  t.  : 
 
 In  Winter ,  Pluto  ;  Dis  when  Spring  begins  ; 
 
 *c  The  Sun  in  Summer ;  in  Autumn,  bounteous  I  A** 
 “  HOH,”  or  [I  ACC  HUS.] 
 
 On  the  authority  of  which,  according  to 
 Macrobim ,  was  founded  the  following  Orphic 
 verse : 
 
 Eir  ZEY2,  els  ?AAH2,  etr  HAI02,  I,!  AIONY202- 
 "  One  Jove,  One  Pluto,  One  Sun,  Owe  Bacchus.” 
 
 In  this  curious  and  valuable  commentary 
 on  the  oracle,  1.  AIE  is  expressed  by  ZEYE ; 
 and  eA Cgog  IAH,  46  the  Bounteous  or  Festive 
 44  God  of  Autumn,”  by  Bacchus;  whose 
 Grecian  title,  AIONYEOE,  is  best  perhaps 
 explained  by  Macrobius ,  AIOE  NOTE,  44  The 
 44  Mind  of  Jove  whence  I  strongly  suspect 
 that  IAX1,  the  last  word  of  the  Oracle,  was 
 originally  IAXON,  the  44  Mystical  Iacchus% 
 before  mentioned.  2.  It  is  remarkable,  that 
 
 all 
 
igs 
 
 all  these  distinct  characters  are  considered 
 as  emanations,  or  representations,  of  One 
 Supreme  God,  intimated  in  the  emphatic 
 repetition  of  E*V ;  which  we  saw  was  the 
 proper  rendering  of  Iw,  the  contraction  of 
 
 I  OCCt). 
 
 And,  indeed*  that  the  Philosophizing  Pa¬ 
 gans  interpreted  “  the  gods  many,  and 
 “  lords  many/’  of  their  Political  or  Poeti¬ 
 cal  Mythology,  into  so  many  names  or  attri¬ 
 butes  of  the  One  Supreme  Deity,  is 
 evident  from  the  testimonies  of  Antisthenes , 
 ZenOi  Cleanthes ,  Chrysippus ,  Plato ,  Xeno - 
 crates ,  Sccevola ,  Varro ,  Cicero ,  Seneca ,  and 
 many  others,  recorded  by  Cudworth}  in  that 
 copious  receptacle  of  ancient  wisdom  and 
 ancient  folly  blended  together ;  his  Intel¬ 
 lectual  System ,  p.  494,  &c.  where  we  read 
 the  following  fragment  of  Hermesionax  the 
 Colophonian * 
 
 IIXhtwv,  Tlspcstpovv),  /\wfAriTtn%,  K vTTpir,  E p cotes, 
 
 TpiTUl/Sf,  TnQvS,  Kl/aVOX,«iT73f, 
 
 'Epfms ,  y  rg  xXvros,  ILcv,  Z sw  rg  xai 
 
 Apre/Aif,  TjS’Exagpyor  AttoXXwv,  EI2  ©EOS  s?** 
 
 Pluto,  Proserpine^  Ceres,  Venus,  The  Cupids: 
 t(  Tritons,  Ncreus,  Tcthys,  and  Neptune  with  azure 
 “  curls. 
 
 O 
 
 ((  Mercury, 
 
Mercury  and  Vulcan  famed.  Pan,  Jove,  and  JimOy 
 “  Diana  and  Archer  Apollo ,  are  One  God.” 
 
 And  Valerius  Soranus ,  among  the  Latins  r 
 
 - - - —  Deus  Unus  et  Omm s. 
 
 lC  Even  all,  are  one  God.” 
 
 And  the  genius  of  their  Mythology  is> 
 not  ill  expressed  by  Prudent i us  : 
 
 - In  uno 
 
 Constitute  jus  omm  Deo  ;  cui  serviat  ingens 
 Virtutum  ratio,  v arils  instruct  a  Mini  sir  is. 
 
 - - “  In  One  God  it  invests  all  authority  ; 
 
 *  Who  is  served  by  an  immense  tribe  of  Virtues, 
 s<  Attended  by  various  Ministers 
 
 But  how  easily  “  these  imaginations”  de¬ 
 generated  into  Atheism ,  we  may  learn  from 
 Aristotle  himself,  objecting  the  established 
 Theology  against  Zeno  : 
 
 En ctTrccvTO",  STFingoLTifov  tov  Gecv,  XocpZxvei 
 JETO,  SuMT-tiTUTOV  X.OU  /3eX  ngov ,  Xsyuv’  a  Soxer 
 
 TETO  } CCCTM  TOV  VOfJLOV,  OcXXci  VTOXXOC  XpSlTTE£  SlVOii 
 
 aXXvjXoov  oi  Sisor  ekev  ex  te  ScXEvrog  eiX^fpe  rauryv 
 
 XOtTCC  TE  ©BE  T HjV  optoXoyiUV * 
 
 — “  A'V  hereas  Zeno  takes  it  for  granted,  that 
 **  the  supreme  God  is,.  in  all  respects*. 
 
 4t'  the 
 
195 
 
 .  I  .  <  j  ' 
 
 u  the  most  powerful  and  best .  This  does 
 44  not  seem  according  to  Law,  (or  the  Esta- 
 44  blished  Religion,)  which  maintains,  that 
 44  the  gods  are  better  than  each  other  in 
 44  sundry  respects .  It  has  not  therefore  taken 
 44  this  (supposed)  consent  respecting  the 
 44  Deity,  from  the  commonly  received  opi- 
 
 44  nion  - —Which  Aristotle  himself  clis- 
 
 believed* 
 
 Hence  it  was,  that  the  4>l htmoi,  or  Natu¬ 
 ralists)  came  at  length  to  be  considered  as 
 A dsot,  or  Atheists .  See  a  curious  passage  of 
 Plutarch  to  this  purpose,  and  Cudwortli  s 
 remarks  thereon,  p*  305,  306.  And  that 
 they  soon  became  downright  Materialists  in¬ 
 deed,  supposing  that  the  Supreme  God  was 
 a  subtl eJEcher,  or  Electrical  Fluid  pervading 
 the  Universe,  is  fully  proved  in  the  second 
 appendix  of  Hales  Analysis  Fluxionum ,  p. 
 93,  102.  Be  JEthere  Antiquo ,  Deo  ficto 
 Gentilium . 
 
 The  grand  object  and  benevolent  design 
 of  Revealed  Religion  from  the  earliest  ages, 
 has  been  to  inculcate  and  keep  alive  in  the 
 world  a  belief  of  the  Unity  of  the  Su¬ 
 preme  Spirit,  44  The  Father  op  Spi- 
 44  r its/  44  the  One  God  and  Father 
 
 o  2 
 
 OF 
 
196 
 
 u  of  ail;m  this  was  acknowledged  ever? 
 by  those  prime  corrupters  of  Patriarchal 
 Theology,  the  Heathen  Oracles ,  and  Or- 
 pheus .  When  the  Pythian  Oracle  was  once 
 consulted,  which  were  the  wisest  of  All  Na¬ 
 tions  ?  the  response  was: 
 
 Xap^ov,  r/<T  ocp'  KCpoaot, 
 
 AvTOr/E)lV)TOV  AvOCKTOC.  GE^OityfAEVOt  ©EON  AYTON. 
 
 “  Wisdom  is  allotted  to  the  Chaldeans  and 
 “  Hebrews  alone :  Who  worship  the  Self-be- 
 “  gotten  King ,  God  Himself/' 
 
 And  the  honourable  testimony  of  Orpheus 
 to  the  writings  of  Moses  is  most  remarkable : 
 
 A pX*v  AYTOX  £XWV>  “P*-*  xxl  fAZGov,  rj^e  TEXei/Tr,v* 
 
 £ls  “kayos  A pxocuov  us  'YSoyEvys  Siera^ev, 
 
 Ex  ©EO0EN  yvu^aiGi  kccQcov  xtxra.  Snrkecxa  &eg(xo«' 
 
 44  [God]  Himself,  having  beginning  and 
 “  middle  and  end  : 
 
 44  As  Ancients  say :  as  the  Water -born 
 
 \_Moses ]  ordained,  Receiving  from  God, 
 46  a  double  tablet  of  sententious  laws/’ 
 
 Here,  the  name  Moses  (signifying 44  dr  arm 
 44  out  of  the  water,"  Exod.  ii.  10,)  is  trans^ 
 lated  'YSoyevqg ;  the  word  'YSog,  in  ancient 
 
 G  reek 
 
 9 
 
197 
 
 Greek,  corresponding  to  *Y<5a>f,  “  water.”-— 
 Hesychius .  And  it  is  truly  remarkable,  that 
 at  the  Eleusinian  mysteries,  instituted  in  ho- 
 nour  of  Ceres  and  Bacchus ,  (the  oldest  and 
 most  celebrated  of  the  Grecian  solemnities,) 
 “  The  Holy  mysteries  were  read  to  the  in- 
 “  itiated,  out  of  a  book  called  wsTpupa, 
 “  (derived  from  srsrpa,  6  a  stone,  )  because 
 “  the  book  was  nothing  else  but  two  stones , 
 “  fitly  cemented  together.*'  Bolter  s  Antiq. 
 vol.  i.  p.  391*  Compare  Exod.  xxxii.  15, 
 16,  and  xxxiv.  1-28. 
 
 These  rites  were  unquestionably  of  Egyp- 
 turn  origin,  whence  Orpheus  derived  his 
 Theology  ;  but  he  is  said  by  Saidas  to  have 
 flourished  about  eleven  generations  before 
 the  destruction  of  Troy,  about  B.  C.  1550, 
 (=  366  -r-  1183,)  or  about  three  or  four  ge¬ 
 nerations  after  the  exode  of  the  Israelites 
 from  Egypt,  B.  C.  1648.  According  to  my 
 Analysis  of  Sacred  Chronology . 
 
 Hence  it  was,  that  the  very  first  law  of 
 the  Decalogue  began  with  asserting  the  su¬ 
 premacy  of  “  the  only  true  God/'  u  Thou 
 shalt  have  no  other  gods  hut  Me Exod. 
 xx.  3.— And  this  under  the  severest  penalties  ; 
 
 o  3  “  He 
 
198 
 
 **  Tie  that  sacrificetJi  unto  [any  other]  gods3 
 “  except  unto  the  Lord  only ,  shall  be  ut 
 “  terly  destroyed  ”  Exod.  xxii.  20.  And 
 his  unity  is  explicitly  asserted  by  Moses , 
 f6  Hear ,  0  Israel ,  The  Lord  o?//*  God  is 
 66  one  Lord/'  Deut.  vi.  4.  And  this  is 
 cited  and  expressly  recognized  by  our  Lord, 
 as  “  the  first  of  all  the  commandments ? 
 Mark  xii.  29,  “  the  first  and  great  command- 
 
 **  ment  ”  Matt.  xxii.  38.  Since,  therefore, 
 rnn%  IAHOH,  is  here  set  in  apposition  to 
 “  one  ;”as  I XI,  the  contraction  of  IAX2, 
 and  its  descendant  Zevg,  to  'Etg,  “  one 
 and  as  it  is  remarkable,  that  neither  IAHOII 
 nor  ZET£,  nor  10 VIS,  in  the  sacred  or 
 profane  Classics,  are  ever  used  otherwise 
 than  in  the  singular  number,  may  we  not 
 with  an  assurance  bordering  on  moral  cer¬ 
 tainty,  conclude,  that  the  leading  significa¬ 
 tion  of  IAHOH  is  “  one/'  and  that  it  is 
 derived  from  1 A  H,  signifying  “  t  h  e  s a  m  e  ?” 
 
 “  This  glorious  and  awful  name ,  IA- 
 54  HOH,”  appears  to  be  communicated  in 
 sundry  passages  to  44  the  Oracle,”  or 
 **  the  Son  or  God.”  Thus  the  Lord 
 of  gods,  who  conversed  with,  and  judged 
 
 our 
 
199 
 
 ott  first  parents  in  the  garden  of  Eden^  Gen* 
 iii.  8.  The  Lord  who  destroyed  the  old 
 world  by  the  deluge  :  Gen.  vi.  3,  13,  who 
 came  down  to  see  the  city  and  tovrer  of  Bci~ 
 bet ,  xi.  5.  The  Lord,  44  the  righteous 
 judge  of  all  the  earth,  Gen.  xviii.  25,  who 
 44  rained  fire  and  brimstone  upon  Sodom  and 
 44  Gomorrah  (mm  nKD)  from  the  Lord, 
 44  out  of  heaven  19?  24,  was,  by  the  pri¬ 
 mitive  Jewish  and  Christian  Churches,  held 
 to  be  the  Son,  invested  with  the  sacred 
 title  mn%  and  distinguished  from  the  Fa¬ 
 ther  in  this  last  text ;  who  is  denoted  by 
 the  second  mil'  with  the  emphatic  article 
 Jltt,  64  thef  prefixed.  The  Chaldee  Para- 
 phrast  distinguishes  the  latter  also,  by  ren¬ 
 dering  it  Dip,  44  Before  the  Lord ,”  or  u  the 
 “presence  of  the  Lordf  intimating  the  di¬ 
 vine  Majesty  in  Heaven.  And  the  tes¬ 
 timony  of  Tertullian ,  in  all  the  foregoing 
 cases,  is  express  :  64  Filius  est  qui  ah  initio 
 44  judicavii  :  Turrim  superbissimam  elidens , 
 44  Linguasqut  disperdens ;  Orhem  totum  aqua- 
 44  rum  violentid  puniens  ;  pluem  super  Sodo- 
 44  mam  et  Gornorram  ignem  ct  sulphur em , 
 ^  Dominus  a  Domino.” 
 
 o  4 
 
 But 
 
200 
 
 But  the  most  luminous  instance,  perhaps, 
 in  the  whole  range  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
 is  that  remarkable  passage,  Jer.  xxiii..  5. 
 
 “  Behold  the  clays  are  corning ,  saith  (mrv) 
 u  the  Lord  ;  when  I  will  raise  up  unto 
 “  David ,  a  righteous  branch;  and  a 
 icing  shall  reign  and  prosper ,  (or  act 
 “  wisely ,)  and  shall  execute  judgment  and 
 “justice  qn  earth ;  in  his  days  Juclah  shall 
 “  be  served,  and  Israel  dwell  securely :  and 
 “  this  is  his  name  which  they  shall  invoke , 
 “  the  Lord  our  right- 
 
 ^  EOUSNESS.” 
 
 1.  All  the  Jewish  commentators,  ancient 
 and  modern,  with  one  voice  declare,  that 
 the  Messiah  is  here  meant;  and  as  De 
 Rossi  remarks,  “  There  is  not  one  edition, 
 “  or  MS.  copy,  that  reads  the  inferior  term 
 ;  all,  with  singular  harmon}^,  use  the 
 “  ineffable  name  rnnff’  And  he  cites  the 
 express  testimony  of  the  ancient  author  of 
 Delia  Rqbbathi ,  p.  58,  edit.  Venet.  1545. 
 “  What  is  the  name  of  the  I\ing,  Mes-t 
 “  si  ah  ?”  R .  Abba ,  son  of  f Ihqana ,  said , 
 “  His  name  is  (mrv)  IAHOH.  For  it  is 
 u  said ,  ‘  and  this  is  his  name  which  they  shall 
 
 “  invoke , 
 
201 
 
 u  invoke ,  IAHOH  (the  Lord)  our 
 “  righteousness.’"  And  the  ancient 
 Book  of  Ikkarim ,  orat.  ii.  cap.  xxviii.  cited 
 by  Buxtorf  under  the  article  MW,  admirably 
 expresses  the  reason  of  the  appellation— 
 “  The  Scripture  calls  the  name  of  the 
 “  Messiah  4  IAHOH  our  righteous- 
 “  ness/  to  intimate  that  he  will  be  a 
 “  mediatorial  God;  by  whose  hand  we 
 ^  shall  obtain  justification  from  the  name; 
 
 wherefore  it  calls  him  by  the  name  of  the 
 “  name/  i.e.  the  ineffable  name  IAHOH, 
 here  put  for  God  Himself. 
 
 And  perhaps  Paul,  the  worthiest  disciple 
 of  the  famous  Gamaliel ,  alludes  to  these 
 very  passages,  or  to  the  sentiments  of  the 
 primitive  Jewish  C  hurch,  in  the  following, 
 which  he  expressly  applies  to  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 “  Who  was  born  unto  us,  Wisdom  from 
 “  God,  and  Righteousness  and  Sanc- 
 “  tification  and  Redemption/"  lCor. 
 i.  30. 
 
 “  Wherefore ,  God  also  transcendently  ex- 
 “  alted  Him  ;  and  bestowed  on  Him  6  the 
 
 name  above  every  name/"  That  at 
 
 \ 
 
 “  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow , 
 “  of  celestial,  terrestrial  and  infernal  [beings] ; 
 
 “  and 
 
202 
 
 ^  and  every  tongue  skoidd  profess ,  that  Je« 
 44  sus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  God  the  Fa- 
 44  theii 's  glory.”  Phil,  ii.  9?  11. 
 
 Surrounded  44  with  such  a  crowd  of  wit- 
 64  nesses,”  is  it  not  44  strange,”  how  a  notable 
 champion  of  Unitarianism ,  and  seceder  from 
 the  established  Church,  an  ecclesiastic,  Lind¬ 
 say,  could  so  idly  assert ,  44  That  the  name 
 64  Jeiiovah  is  appropriated  to  the  God 
 44  and  Father  of  all,  and  is  in  no  one 
 44  instance  applied  to  Christ  !”  Sequel  to 
 his  Apology,  p.  295,  386,  or  how  Dodson , 
 the  lay  translator  of  Isaiah ,  in  his  note  on 
 Isa.  vi.  1,  p.  183,  could  be  so  warped  by 
 partiality,  or  so  blinded  by  prejudice,  as  to 
 say,  44  that  the  learned  and  worthy  author 
 44  (Lindsay )  hath  proved  it  almost  to  a  de- 
 44  monst ration  !” 
 
 But  is  it  not  44  passing  strange,”  how  Dr. 
 B  fancy  could  thus  translate  the  passage  ; — 
 44  And  this  is  the  name  by  which  Jehovah 
 44 shall  call  him ,  Our  Righteousness;” 
 or  thus  apologize  for  it : 
 
 44  I  doubt  not  but  some  persons  will  be 
 44  offended  with  me  for  depriving  them,  by 
 44  this  translation,  of  a  favourite  argument 
 
 44  for 
 
203 
 
 S6 
 
 b< 
 
 U 
 
 44  for  proving  the  divinity  of  our  Saviour 
 “  from  the  Old  Testament;  but  I  cannot 
 help  it.  I  have  done  it  with  no  ill  design , 
 but  purely  because  I  think ,  and  am  wo- 
 swre,  that  the  text,  as  it  stands,  will 
 not  properly  admit  of  any  other  construc- 
 46  tion :  the  Septuagint  have  so  translated 
 “  before  me  ;  in  an  a«;e  where  there  could 
 not  possibly  be  any  bias  or  prejudice, either 
 for  or  against  the  before-mentioned  doc- 
 “  trine:  a  doctrine,  which  draws  its  decisive 
 “  proofs  from  the  New  Testament  only.” 
 
 And  surely  every  Orthodox  Churchman 
 jnust  be  u  offended’’  at  an  attempt  to  invali¬ 
 date  this  most  illustrious  attestation  to  the 
 divinity  and  sovereignty  of  Christ,  and  to 
 rob  them  of  the  46  decisive ”  proofs  thereof, 
 furnished  by  the  Old  Testament,  and 
 only  recognized,  explained,  or  illustrated,  by 
 the  New  :  and  every  sacred  critic  must  be 
 disgusted  at  such  miserable  mis-translation, 
 
 both  of  the  Hebrew  text  and  Septuagint 
 version ;  doing  justice  to  neither,  but  in¬ 
 congruously  jumbling  both  together:  for 
 1.  The  present  Hebrew  text  will  admit  of 
 no  other  construction  than  either  that  which 
 
 is 
 
204 
 
 is  given,  “  they  shall  invoke  /'  or 
 
 u  call”  (meaning  the  faithful  remnant  of 
 Judah  and  Israel ,)  “  in  his  days/'  or  second 
 coming,  “  in  power  and  great  glory/'  to 
 establish  the  kingdom  of  God ,  or  ( the  king¬ 
 dom  of  the  saints  upon  earth,  Dan.  vii.  27? 
 Matt.  xxiv.  30,  31,  Rev.  xx.  4) — or  else 
 irtlfcnp*,  “  they  shall  call  him  f  as  read  and 
 rendered  by  all  the  ancient  versions,  except 
 the  Septuagint ;  both  w  hich  are  equivalent 
 to  our  public  translation,  he  shall  be 
 “  called  ” 
 
 2.  The  Septuagint  version  is,  kou  tvto  to 
 evopet  OtVTX,  0  KCtXzCTZl  OOJTOV  Kuptog,  IX2-EEAEK. 
 
 And  this  is  his  name ,  which  the  Lord  shall 
 call  him,  The  Lord  of  Righteousness. 
 Lor  1X1  is  evidently  here  the  abridgment  of 
 IAX2  or  IAHOH,  as  we  saw  before;  and 
 the  title  thus  absolutely  expressed,  cor¬ 
 responds  to  MEAXI-EEAEK,  “  King  of 
 46  Righteousness,"  attributed  also  to 
 Christ,  Ps.  cx.  4,  Heb.  vii,  2.  But  the 
 concurrence  of  the  Arabic  version  (that  close 
 copier  of  the  Septuagint)  with  the  other 
 ancient  versions,  and  Jerom ,  in  rendering 
 relatively,  “  the  Lord  our  righteous- 
 
 “  ness,'9 
 
 / 
 
205 
 
 64  ness,”  makes  it  almost  morally  44  certain ” 
 that  the  Hebrew  copy,  followed  by  the  Sep¬ 
 tuagint,  originally  corresponded  with  the 
 rest. 
 
 3.  In  the  first  clause,  this  Christian  pro¬ 
 fessor  adopts  the  Septuagint  rendering, 44  and 
 44  this  is  the  name  which  the  Lord  shall  call 
 44  him”  which  has  been  repeatedly  repro¬ 
 bated  as  incorrect  by  the  ablest  of  the  Jewish 
 commentators  and  editors,  according  to  De 
 Rossi:  44  Notat  etiam  Norzius ,  ex  accentua - 
 44  tionis  lege ,  mn*  connecti  non  posse  cum 
 44  IfiOp*,  (ut  Sensus  sit, — Dominum  vocatu- 
 44  rum  Messiam,  'Up'lV,  4  Justitia  nos- 
 44  tra") — quemadmodum  inepte  connectit 
 44  quidam  Agaon ;  quem  Aben  Ezra  confu- 
 44  tat ;  et  ex  recentioribus  R .  Menasseh  ben 
 44  Israel ,  in  Conciliador ,  t.  iii.  p.  50.  Confer 
 44  Weimar ,  Usus  Accent .  Bibl.  p.  134.” 
 
 Not  recognizing,  perhaps,  the  Hebrew 
 title,  IH-SEAEK,  in  the  disguise  of  a  Gre- 
 cian  dress, — 44  the  Lord  of  righteous- 
 44  ness,”  (which  sufficiently  accords  with 
 the  foregoing  part  of  the  Septuagint  ren¬ 
 dering)  he  unskilfully  substitutes,  from  the 
 Hebrew  text,  44  our  righteousness 
 
 which 
 
20  6 
 
 which  indecorously  seems  to  include  the 
 Supreme  Lord  himself,  under  the  pro¬ 
 noun  66  oup,”  along  with  Judah  and  Israel! 
 for  which,  therefore,  the  pronoun  44 your  ”  if 
 anv,  ought  to  have  been  substituted. 
 
 VI.  pntt,  or  K vptog,  Lord,  or  Re¬ 
 
 gent  :  A B(T7roT7]g,  Master:  M eriryjs,  Me¬ 
 diator,  or  Arbiter. — The  term  pIK  is 
 promiscuously  applied  to  God  and  Man:  It 
 denotes  master ;  as  Gen.  xxxix.  20,  64  Joseph's 
 44  Master  (Vj'TK)  took  him  and  put  him  into 
 44  prison/’ — Or  superintendant  of  a  house  ; 
 or  regent  of  a  kingdom,  as  Gen.  xli.  40, 
 4‘  Pharaoh  appointed  Joseph  over  (by)  his 
 44  house,  and  over  (by)  the  land  of  Egypt;” 
 which  corresponds  to  Gen.  xlv.  8.  44  God 
 44  appointed  me  for  a  father  (2tib)  to  Pha~ 
 44  raoh ,  and  for  a  superintendant  to 
 
 44  all  his  house,  and  for  a  regent  to 
 
 44  all  Egypt.”  And  in  this  sense  it  appears 
 to  be  applied  to  the  Son  oe  God,  Ps.  cx.  1. 
 44  The  Lord  (mPP)  said  unto  the  Regent 
 “  (’riK1?),  sit  thou  at  my  right  hand ,  until  I 
 44  make  thine  enemies  a  stool  for  thy  feet." 
 
 Here  the  Septuagint  renders  tw  tcvpiu  pv, 
 44  unto  my  Lord,”  and  is  followed,  not  only 
 2  by 
 
207 
 
 by  all  the  ancient  versions,  but  also  by  the 
 three  Evangelists,  in  their  citations  of  this 
 unequivocal  attestation  to  the  delegated  do¬ 
 minion  of  Jesus  Christ,  Matt.  xxii.  44, 
 Mark  xii.  36,  Luke  xx.  42,  Acts  ii.  34.  But 
 that  this  rendering  is  incorrect  notwithstand¬ 
 ing,  though  so  powerfully  supported,  may 
 appear  from  the  following  remarks : 
 
 1.  That  the  final  Jod  is  not  the  affix  of 
 the  first  person,  we  may  collect  from  the 
 context,  in  which  no  speaker  is  introduced 
 but  IAHOH,  the  Lord  Supreme.  And 
 our  Saviour,  in  his  citation  of  this  passage,, 
 convicted  the  Jewish  doctors  of  not  under¬ 
 standing  the  spirit  of  their  own  Scriptures, 
 when  attesting  the  divine  character,  of  the 
 Messiah;  “ How  then  doth  David,  when 
 “inspired,  call  him  Lord?"  (Kuqiov)  ;  and 
 this,  in  a  case  where  David  himself  was  not 
 the  speaker,  but  the  relater ;  thus  establish¬ 
 ing  the  propriety  of  the  appellation,  by  our 
 Lord's  application. 
 
 2.  Neither  is  the  final  Jod  significant  of 
 the  plural,  in  regimen;  for  the  plural  is  never 
 used  in  the  absolute  form  to  denote  a  single 
 person,  except  once,  Mai.  i,  6. 
 
 “  A 
 
208 
 
 "  A  kon  honoureth  his  father ,  and  a  servant  tfis 
 
 “  MASTER  :  (VJW) 
 
 “  If  then  I  be  a  father,  where  is  mine  honour  ? 
 
 “  And  if  I  be  A  Master,  where  is  my  fear*? 
 
 *r  Saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  unto  you  priests  that 
 “  despise  my  name  A 
 
 Here  or  (as  more  correctly  written 
 
 in  forty-eight  MSS.  of  Kennicott’s  collection) 
 is  appropriated  to  the  Lord  of 
 Hosts,  not  “  to  insinuate  a  plurality  of  per- 
 “  sons  in  the  Unity  of  the  Divine  Essence, 
 44  by  the  anomalous  construction  of  this  plural 
 44  appellative' with  the  singular  pronoun 
 44  I,"  as  “  imagined”  by  the  B.  C.  Feb.  p. 
 140 — but,  as  used  elliptically  for 
 44  Master  of  the  mastersf  in  the  splendid 
 enumeration  of  the  divine  titles,  Deut.  x.  17* 
 there  rendered  by  the  Septuagint  Kvpto$  rm 
 Kupiuv,  and  applied  primarily  to  the  Fa¬ 
 ther,  1  Tim.  vi.  15,  and  to  the  Son,  Rev. 
 xix.  16,  with  some  variation. 
 
 In  the  other  case,  referred  to  by  the  B.C. 
 Isa.  xix.  4. 
 
 s<  And  the  Egyptians  will  I  give  over  into  the  hand  of 
 “  a  cruel  master ; 
 
 “  And  a  fierce  king  shall  rule  over  them,  saith  the 
 "  Regent  Lord  of  Hosts.’1 
 
 (oum)  * 
 
 The 
 
209 
 
 The  syntax  of  this  passage  does  not  appear 
 to  be  understood  by  the  B.  C.  Supposing 
 that  the  singular  adjective  44  harsh,' 
 
 or  46  cruel”  should  be  joined  in  the  order  of 
 construction,  not  with  the  plural, 
 
 44  masters  but  with  the  singular,  T, 4fi  hand:” 
 as  thus,  44  The  Egyptians  I  will  give  over 
 44  unto  the  harsh  authority  of  masters !’  But 
 all  the  ancient  versions,  without  exception,, 
 connect  HS^p  with  ;  and  indeed  seem 
 
 to  have  read  pi u rally,  D^p,  by  rendering 
 44  cruel  masters f  all  except  the  Chaldee  Par. 
 which  interprets  the  phrase  by  ^p  pin,  44  a 
 44  cruel  master or  44  cruel  lord,”  according 
 to  our  established  translation,  which  is  un¬ 
 questionably  the  true  rendering :  for  it  is 
 clear  from  the  context,  that  a  single  master 
 is  meant,  namely,  that,  44  fierce  king ”  that 
 follows  ;  who,  we  learn  shortly  after,  ver.  19? 
 was  to  be  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Assyria , 
 or  B abylon ;  expressly  predicted  by  name, 
 in  the  subsequent  and  more  circumstantial 
 prophecy  of  Jeremiah ,  xlvi.  2,  against  Pha- 
 raoh-Hophra,  king  of  Egypt,  who  was  ac¬ 
 tually  subdued  by  Nebuchadnezzar ,  and  de- 
 
 P  spoiled 
 
210 
 
 spoiled  of  great  part  of  his  dominions, 
 
 2  Kings  xxiv.  7* 
 
 There  may,  perhaps,  be  a  peculiar  fitness 
 in  applying  the  plural,  D^lft,  to  this  “  fierce 
 “  king,’"  and  mighty  conqueror,  as  contain¬ 
 ing  a  tacit  reference  to  the  pompous  and  ar¬ 
 rogant  titles  of  the  great  Egyptian  con¬ 
 queror,  Sesostris  ;  thus  recorded  by  Diodorus 
 Siculus ,  1.  i. — “  Sesoosis,  King  of  kings , 
 “  and  Lord  of  lords ,  subdued  this  country 
 66  by  his  arms.” — Indeed,  many  curious  al¬ 
 lusions  in  Holy  Writ,  pass  unobserved  for 
 want  of  sufficiently  attending  to  parallel  pas¬ 
 sages  of  profane  history. 
 
 That  in  the  frequent  application  of  the 
 word  ’3*1  ft  to  single  persons,  the  final  Jod  is 
 not  characteristic  of  the  plural  number,  but 
 rather  paragogic ,  or  redundant,  like  other 
 servile  letters,  may  further  appear  from  the 
 indiscriminate  use  of  plft,  and  *:nft,  in  re¬ 
 gimen,  as  connected*  with  mil*,  the  most 
 sacred  name  of  God.  Thus  in  Exod.  xxiii. 
 
 3  7,  the  phrase  is,  HlIT  ]HftH,  “  the  Re- 
 “  gent  Lord,’;  where  the  prefixed  article 
 H  is  emphatic ;  but  usually,  as  in  Gen.  xv.  2, 
 
 and 
 
211 
 
 and  Deut.  iii.  24,  mn*  where  surely 
 
 the  paragogic  ’  is  connected  with  the  singular 
 noun. 
 
 And  perhaps  in  every  case,  where 
 seems  to  be  taken  absolutely,  applied  to  a 
 single  person,  it  is  in  reality  in  regimen , 
 involving  the  consideration  of  some  epithet, 
 understood.  And  such  was  the  sense  of 
 all  the  ancient  versions  of  Ps.  ii.  4,  which 
 render  Adonic  absolutely,  66  The 
 
 “  Lord/'  or  66  Regent/'  applied  by  the 
 Chaldee  paraphrast  to  ”*7  (mimrah 
 
 da  Iahoh,)  u  the  Oracle  of  the 
 “  Lord  ;"  where  it  is  plainly  contrasted  (as 
 denoting  “  the  Messiah")  with  mrr,  IA« 
 HOH,  “  the  Lord/’ ver.  2 ;  and  (as  de¬ 
 noting  "U,  Bar ,  “  The  Son  [of  God"]) 
 with  mrv  DK,  66  THE  Lord  Supreme," 
 ver.  10,  11.  And  in  Joshua,  v.  14,  when 
 u  the  Captain  of  the  Lord's  host," 
 appeared  as  a  man  [of  war\  (ttPN)  standing 
 over  against  him,  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his 
 hand — Joshua  addressed  him  by  the  title  of 
 ’Htt,  which  the  Septuagint  well  render  (Ae<t- 
 TTOTot),  “  Master,  what  dost  thou  enjoin  to 
 "  thy  servant  ?”  — *  And  that  this  was  the 
 
 p  2 
 
 same 
 
212 
 
 same  God  who  appeared  unto  Moses  in  the 
 burning  bush,  appears  from  the  sameness  of 
 the  injunction,  44  Loose  thy  shoe  from  o  f  thy 
 “foot,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  st  an  (lest  is 
 44  holy.”  Compare  Exod.  iii.  5. 
 
 In  the  New  Testament,  the  Father 
 Almighty  seems  to  be  peculiarly  denoted 
 by  the  absolute  term  'O  ©EOS,  The  God, 
 or  the  Deity;  and  the  Son  by  o  K vpog, 
 intimating  the  Regent  Lord  :  thus, 
 1  Cor.  viii.  6,  To  us  there  is  hut  One  God, 
 66  the  Father,  of  whom  are  all  things , 
 44  and  we  in  Him:  and  One  Lord,  Jesus 
 44  Christ,  by  whom  are  all  things ,  and  zee 
 44  by  Him A  And  this  title  of  Christ  is 
 plainly  in  apposition  to  another,  @  Mec-irq;, 
 the  Mediator  ;  as  in  1  Tim.  ii.5.  44  There 
 44  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  be - 
 44  tween  God  and  man ,  the  man  Christ 
 44  Jesus  A  This  title,  which  is  peculiar  to 
 Paul ,  shows  how  profoundly  conversant  he 
 was  in  Rabbinical  literature,  and  in  the 
 Hebrew  Scriptures  :  for  the  ancient  book  of 
 Ikkarim ,  as  we  have  seen,  entitled  the 
 Messiah, (Vk  WnK,) 44  A  Mediatorial 
 “  God/;  as  he  was  described  by  Philo ,  in 
 
 the 
 
213 
 
 the  foregoing  citation,  who  represents  Moses 
 as  M sn-qg,  44  Mediator,”  and  AioiTvjTyjg, 44  Ar- 
 46  bit-rotor  when  he  interceded  for  the  Is¬ 
 raelites  with  God.  De  Vita  Mosis,  lib.  iii. 
 p.  524.  And  these  observations  may  lead  us 
 to  the  true  derivation  of  p*TN%  from  -H,  44  to 
 “judge,  or  arbitrate”  as  assigned  by  Mercer, 
 in  his  valuable  enlarged  edition  of Pagnimtss 
 
 Hebrew  Lexicon,  colon.  1.6*14,  and  judiciously 
 adopted  by  Parkhurst  :  of  which,  it  is  the 
 first  person  future,  44  I  will  judge.”  For  so 
 
 T  H  E 
 
 Sox  of  God  is  described,  Gen.  vi.  3, 
 
 44  My  Spirit  shall  not  always  ('VT)  judge 
 44  (or  arbitrate )  among  men  V  i.  e.  44 1  zmll 
 44  withdraw  my  presence,  or  residence,  from 
 44  them,'”  as  understood  by  the  Septuagint, 
 
 H  g7]  KKTCtpStVVf  TO  TuVtVgCi  £V  TOl q 
 
 T'dToiq,  eig  tov  ouwvu,  44  My  Spirit  shall  not  re - 
 44  main  among  these  men  for  ever.”  The 
 best  commentary,  perhaps,  on  which  is  fur¬ 
 nished  by  the  mythological  Ovid,  describing 
 the  crimes  of  the  Antediluvians,  which  in¬ 
 duced  the  goddess  of  justice,  Astrcea,  to  take 
 her  flight  at  last  from  earth,  where  she  had 
 before  resided  among  men,  during  the 
 Golden  Age. 
 
 O 
 
 V  3 
 
 Vivitur 
 
214 
 
 “  Vivitur  ex  rapto,  non  hospes  ab  hospite  tutus, 
 
 “  Non  socer  a  genero,  fratrum  quoque  gratia  non  est ; 
 
 “  Victa  jacet  Pietas :  et  virgo,  caede  madentes, 
 
 “  Ultima  codestum ,  terras  Astr^a  reliquit”  Met.  I. 
 
 And  Paul ,  2  Tim.  iv.  8,  evidently  contrasts 
 o  Kvgio;,  “  The  Lord/'  with  o  Sixmos 
 “  the  righteous  judge as  Abraham  had 
 done  before,  Gen.  xviii.  22-25.  So  inti¬ 
 mately  connected  together  are  the  Scriptures 
 of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  which, 
 the  more  carefully  and  critically  they  are 
 compared,  the  more  light  they  will  mutually 
 reflect  on  each  other ;  both  being  dictated 
 by  one  and  the  same  Spirit,  even  where 
 they  appear  to  vary  in  the  letter . 
 
 VII.  rrntt  *\m  nntf.  e yu  ^  o  nv.  I 
 
 am  who  am. — This  mysterious  title  of  the 
 Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  Exod.  iii.  14, 
 seems  to  be  a  paraphrase  of  his  ancient  title, 
 TV,  IAH.  The  grammatical  construction  is, 
 “  I  AM  [He]  who  am/  the  pronoun  Kin, 
 “  He”  or,  “  The  same  ”  Ps.  cii.  25,  being 
 understood  before,  T£W,  “  who  /'  as  ex¬ 
 pressed  Levit.  x.  3,  and  in  many  other  pas¬ 
 sages.  And  though  the  form  of  the  verb 
 JVIlK  be  future,  ero,  yet,  in  all  languages, 
 
 the 
 
215 
 
 the  future  frequently  denotes  the  indefinite 
 present  tense  :  44  Thou  shall  not  steal”  is 
 equivalent  to  64  steal  not  ”  neither  nozto ,  nor 
 at  any  time :  and  the  Septuagint  version  has 
 decided  the  point,  by  rendering  the  title, 
 E yco  eipt  o  flv,  the  participle,  Tlv,  being  clearly 
 indefinite.  Compare  John  i.  18,  and  iii.  13, 
 and  ix.  25. 
 
 This  title,  is  evidently  referred  to 
 
 in  that  noble  Psalm,  descriptive  of  the 
 general  judgment,  1.  21  : 
 
 “  These  (crimes)  thou  didst  commit :  and  [< because ]  I 
 “  kept  silence, 
 
 “  Thou  didst  imagine,  that  EI1IEH  was  like  thyself” 
 
 As  formerly  noticed  by  the  sagacity  of  Ah en 
 Ezra.  44  For,  taking  rVHU,  as  the  verb  sub - 
 44  stantive ,  [with  all  the  versions,]  it  is  im- 
 44  possible  to  reduce  this  passage  to  any  re- 
 44  gular  construction  ;  but  taking  it  as  the 
 44  name  of  God ,  the  construction  and  sense 
 44  are  clear 44  that  name ,  by  which  the 
 God  of  Israel  was  pleased  to  describe 
 himself  to  his  people,  when  he  first  called 
 
 them  by  his  servant  Moses ;  and  which  is 
 
 «/ 
 
 here  repeated  with  peculiar  propriety, where 
 44  He  then  entered  into  a  personal  expostu- 
 
 p  4  44  lat ion 
 
 u 
 
 a 
 
 u 
 
216* 
 
 fs  lation  with  them  about  their  infringements 
 fC  of  his  commands,’*  as  well  remarked  by 
 the  B.  C.  A prili  p.  352 . 
 
 And  our  Blessed  Lord  assumed  this 
 title  to  himself,  in  a  conference  with  the  un¬ 
 believing  Jews ,  by  a  most  solemn  assevera¬ 
 tion,  John  viii.  58,  44  Verily ,  verily ,  I  say 
 44  unto  you ,  before  Abraham  was  born ,  (yeusor^ 
 Saif,)  I  am  A  (E^w  eipi.)  See  John  viii.  28, 
 and  xiii.  19?  and  Coloss.  i.  17. 
 
 And  the  Septuagint  rendering  of  the  title 
 is  sanctioned  by  the  highest  authority ;  being 
 interwoven  in  that  fullest  and  most  splendid 
 enumeration  of  the  divine  titles,  Rev.  i.  8. 
 
 44  I  am  (E yea  eigt)  the  Alpha  and  the 
 44  Omega ,  the  Beginning  and  End ,  saith 
 64  tiie  Lord  :  who  am,  (£  Slv9)  and  who 
 44  was,  and  who  is  to  come,  the  Om- 
 44  n i potent.”  See  also  in  Rev.  i.  17?  and 
 xxi.  6,  and  x^ii.  13,  the  communication  of 
 these  most  august  titles  to  the  Son  of 
 God. 
 
 The  following  fragment  of  the  Orphic 
 hymns  is  cited  by  Proclus ,  establishing  its 
 genuineness,  Cud  worth,  p.  301. 
 
 t 
 
) 
 
 217 
 
 'Zeus  zypctjros  yevero,  Zeus-  u$a.ros  ap%ix£pa.vvos* 
 
 ~  *ZjZVS  xECpaX??,  Zjzus  ij.zogsc,  A  10s  tT  ex  wavrci  rsrvx.r cci. 
 
 “  Jove  first  existed ,  Jove  high-thundering ,  last : 
 
 “  Jove,  head ,  Jove,  midst,  from  Jove  are  formed 
 “  alir 
 
 And  that  this  sublime  passage  was  borrowed 
 from  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  likewise,'  is  de¬ 
 monstrated  by  a  various  reading  of  the  se¬ 
 cond  line,  furnished  by  Plutarch ,  Cudworth, 
 p.  SO 5. 
 
 'Z'WS  ocp%v),  ’Zuzvs  iazggoc,  A ios  o’  ex  zzavra.  7z gXovrat. 
 
 “  Jove  beginning ,  Jove  midst,  from  Jove  do  all 
 “  proceed 
 
 For  the  Hebrew  term  ambiguously  de¬ 
 notes  66  head”  or  “  beginning  whence, 
 the  divine  title  “  First/'  in  the  pa¬ 
 rallel  passage  of  Isaiah ,  xli.  4,  and  xliv.  6, 
 and  xlviii.  12. 
 
 The  following  genuine  fragment  of  the 
 Sibylline  oracles  is  cited  by  Pausanias  : 
 
 Zew  yv f  Z zvs  eft,  Ze vs  ecrcrerat*  <0.  (as yaXe  Zei/. 
 
 Jove  was,  Jove  is,  Jove  will  be ;  O  great  Jove  !  ” 
 
 And  most  remarkable  was  the  famous  in¬ 
 scription 
 
218 
 
 scription  on  the  temple  of  NHI0  ( Neith  *), 
 or  64  Wisdom/’  at  Sais,  in  Egypt;  (whence 
 was  derived  the  name  of  the  tutelar  goddess 
 of  Athens ,  A-0HNA,  by  inverting,  or  reading 
 backwards,  the  Egyptian  title ;)  preserved 
 by  Plutarch  and  others:  Cudworth,  p.  341. 
 
 Kyco  sifjLi  mocy  to  y eyovor  xai  ov  xai  e?o/xcvov‘ 
 
 K Oil  TOV  Ept-OV  TSSTrXoV,  ZJCO  S’VrjTOy  OtTrEXOlXw^EV, 
 
 *'f  I  am  all  that  hath  been,  and  is,  and  will  be ; 
 
 “  And  my  veil  no  mortal  yet  uncovered” 
 
 I  am  strongly  of  opinion,  that  this  valu¬ 
 able  fragment  of  primitive  Egyptian  theology 
 was  long  anterior  to  the  foregoing  mysterious 
 title  of  the  God  of  Israel,  recorded  by 
 Moses  ;  and  that  it  subsisted  even  before  the 
 regency  of  the  patriarch  Joseph ,  which  (I 
 compute)  began  about  B.  C.  1872 :  for,  in 
 the  seven  years  of  famine,  44  when  all  conn - 
 44  tries  came  to  Egypt  to  buy  corn  from  Jo- 
 44  sep h,  because  the  famine  was  sore  in  all 
 44  landsf  Gen.  xli.  57?  we  learn  that  Erec- 
 
 *  In  the  primitive  Irish  language,  Dia  Naith ,  signifies 
 Minerva,  or  “  the  goddess  of  Wisdom.’’  See  that 
 learned  antiquary  General  T  allancey  s  Prospectus  of  a 
 Dictionary  of  the  Irish  Language,  Preface,  p.  lxxiv. 
 
 1802.  Dublin. 
 
 *  ^ 
 
 them , 
 
219 
 
 theus ,  the  founder  of  the  kingdom  and  reli¬ 
 gion  of  Athens ,  came  also  to  buy  corn  on 
 that  occasion,  from  the  following  curious 
 testimony  of  Diodorus  Siculus ,  b.  i. 
 
 44  Whereas  a  great  drought  (as  all  confess) 
 u  prevailed  over  almost  the  whole  world ,  ex- 
 44  cept  in  Egypt ,  (on  account  of  the  pecu- 
 44  liarity  of  the  country,)  which  destroyed 
 44  both  men  and  the  fruits  of  the  earth ; 
 44  Erectheus  transported  a  great  quantity  of 
 44  corn  out  of  Egypt  to  Athens,  because  they 
 44  and  the  Egyptians  were  of  the  same  kin- 
 44  drecl :  for  which  kindness  the  citizens  were 
 44  so  grateful,  that  they  advanced  him  to  the 
 46  sovereignty.  After  which  he  instituted 
 64  the  festivals,  and  taught  the  Egyptian 
 64  rites  and  mysteries  of  Ceres ,  in  Eleusis’* 
 And  Herodotus  informs  us,  b.  viii.  55,  that 
 64  annual  sacrifices  were  offered  at  Athens  to 
 44  Erectheus  and  Athene f  (the  goddess  of 
 wisdom ,)  and  the  tutelar  goddess  of  Athens , 
 which  was  a  colony  from  Sais  in  Egypt. 
 
 But  Joseph ,  we  learn  from  Scripture,  Gen. 
 xli.  45,  married  the  daughter  of  the  priest 
 of  (}K)  Aon ,  ©r  On ;  who  probably,  at  that 
 time,  was  a  priest  of  the  Most  High  God, 
 
 like 
 
220 
 
 like  Melchizedek ,  in  A  bra  ham’s  days.  And 
 though  (or  as  more  fully  written,  ptt,  Ezek. 
 xxx.  17)  was  afterwards  degraded  into  a  title 
 of  the  Sun;  and  the  Septuagint  version,  in 
 this  place,  has  rendered  it  9H\iv7ro\tg,  “  The 
 “  City  of  the  Sunf  (whose  ruins  stand  about 
 two  leagues  north-north-east  of  Cairo ,  ac¬ 
 cording  to  Niebuhr ),  where  Herodotus  in¬ 
 forms  us,  b.  ii.  59,  73,  was  a  temple  dedi¬ 
 cated  to  the  Sun,  and  an  annual  festival 
 held ;  like  ptt  rfH,  (written  Bvjd  Aw9  by  the 
 Alexandrine  Septuagint,)  “  The  house  (or 
 “  temple )  of  Ann,  or  Aon,'  '  among  the  Ca¬ 
 naan  itcs,  Josh.  vii.  2,  yet  it  probably  was 
 originally  a  title  of  the  Supreme  Being, 
 the  most  ancient  and  universal ;  the  traces 
 of  which  we  find  in  the  Greek  £lv,  and  in  the 
 neuter,  Ov ;  in  the  Chinese,  Yn ,  or  Un ;  in 
 the  second,  Op,  of  the  mysterious  terms, 
 used  in  the  Eleusinian  mysteries,  K oyp,  Op,, 
 Ucc^,  (so  well  explained  by  Wilford  from 
 the  Sanscrit  language,  Asiat.  Research . 
 vol.  v.  p.300,)  in  the  most  sacred  term 9Aum9 
 or  Om ,  among  the  Hindoos  at  present,  and 
 in  the  Irish,  Omh  ;  all  expressive  (like  the 
 Hebrew  ptf,  or  Chaldee  pH)  of  being ,  or 
 substance ,  and  appropriated,  in  all  these 
 
 countries, 
 
221 
 
 countries,  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  suiij 
 to  the  Deity. 
 
 2,  It  is  truly  remarkable,  that  whereas 
 the  terms  are  all  neuter ,  in  the  Egyptian 
 inscription,  —  Flccv,  &c.  (“  and  among  the 
 “  Egyptians  ”  Pan ,  as  we  learn  from  Hero¬ 
 dotus,  b.  ii.  cc  was  esteemed  the  most  an- 
 “  cient,  even  of  their  eight  primary  divini- 
 “  ties/’)  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scriptures, 
 they  are  all  masculine  :  as  if  (with  all  due 
 humility  be  it  conjectured)  the  God  of 
 the  Hebrews  and  of  Christians 
 meant  to  rectify  the  mischievous  degradation 
 of  his  essence  by  the  foolishness  and  impiety 
 of  Egyptian  philosophy;  and  to  ascribe  unto 
 himself  the  honour  due  unto  his  name:  which 
 Moses ,  who  was  “  skilled  in  all  the  Learning 
 “  of  the  Egyptians  ”  has  tacitly  contrasted 
 with  their  revolting  and  dishonourable  con¬ 
 ceptions  of  the  Divine  Nature.  One  of 
 which  (intimately  connected  with  the  fore¬ 
 going  inscription)  was,  that  his  Essence  was, 
 2KOTO£  ArNaSTON*  “ Darkness  unknow - 
 
 able P  Which  the  Ap  ostles  John  and  Paul 
 have  tacitly  controverted ;  maintaining,  that 
 “  The  God  is  light” — u  inhabiting 
 
 “  LIGHT 
 
222 
 
 «  LIGHT  UNAPPROACHABLE  “  AND 
 
 “  WITH  HIM  IS  NO  DARKNESS  AT  ALL  !” 
 
 Like  the  Egyptians,  the  Magi  or  Brah¬ 
 mens,  gradually  corrupted  the  purity  and 
 simplicity  of  patriarchal  Theology:  for  though 
 they  acknowledge  only  one  Supreme  Being, 
 whom  they  call  Braiime,  (evidently  from 
 the  Hebrew  N*"Q,  By  ah ,  “  Creavit,”)  yet 
 they  style  him  “  the  great  One  ”  in  the 
 neuter  gender.  As  we  learn  from  the  curious 
 observations  on  their  Mythology,  by  Sir 
 William  Jones .  Asiat.  Res.  i.  p.  242.  But 
 that  they  once  entertained  juste r  notions,  is 
 evident  from  the  following  sublime  para¬ 
 phrase  of  the  foregoing  Scriptural  title,  al¬ 
 most  in  the  language  of  the  Revelation  : 
 Asiat.  Res.  i.  p.  33,  245. 
 
 “  I  was,  even  at  first,  not  any  other  thing ; 
 
 “  That  'which  exists  unperceivecl ,  supreme: 
 
 “  Afterwards ,  I  am  that  which  Is  : 
 
 “  And  He  who  must  remain  am  I.” 
 
 Were  I  at  liberty  to  alter  any  part  of  Sir 
 William  Joties's  u  scrupulously  literal  ver- 
 “  sion,”  of  a  passage  in  one  of  the  most 
 ancient  sacred  poems  of  the  Hindoos ,  en¬ 
 titled  Sri  Bhagavat ;  containing  the  life  of 
 7  their 
 
their  incarnate  god  Christina,  (who  much 
 resembles  64  the  mystical  lacchus of  the 
 Greeks;  and  was  counted  a  generated  god 
 of  the  third  order,  among  the  Egyptians  ; 
 Herod.  2.)  it  would  be  the  alteration  of 
 44  that  which  is”  in  the  third  line,  into  44  who 
 44  is” — which  would  accord  better  with  the 
 following  Masculine  pronoun  44  He,”  of  the 
 last  line. 
 
 And  JVilford  informs  us,  Asiat.  lies,  voh  v\ 
 p.  259s  “  That  the  Brahmens  themselves 
 acknowledge,  that  their  sacred  scriptures, 
 the  Vedas ,  are  not  natives  of  India ,  but  that 
 they  descended  into  the  plains  of  Hindostan , 
 through  the  pass  of  Hindwar,”' — The  infer¬ 
 ence  is  obvious. 
 
 4 
 
 X>IS~ 
 
224 
 
 DISSERTATION  VII. 
 
 ON  PSALM  II. 
 
 X  now  return  to  the  consideration  of  the 
 remaining  Prophetic  Psalms  descriptive  of 
 the  Messiah,  cited  in  the  Introduction  of 
 the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews ,  as  applicable  to 
 Jesus  Christ;  which  has  been  suspended 
 during  that  of  the  Primitive  Names  of 
 the  Deity;  but  neither  unprofitably,  I 
 trust,  nor  irrelevantly  to  the  main  design  of 
 these  specimens  of  Sacred  Criticism; 
 which  is,  to  explain  the  Scriptural  6 4  name/' 
 authority  or  character,  of  the  Son  of  God, 
 6C  our  Lord/’  or  spiritual  Sovereign,  and 
 “  our  God,”  or  future  judge  of  quick  and 
 dead: — “  For  we  all  must  appear  before 
 “the  tribunal  of  Christ;  in  order  that 
 “  every  one  may  receive  [a  recompense] 
 44  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body ,  whether 
 “  good  or  bad /’  See  John  xx.  28,  and  v.  22. 
 
 2  Cor. 
 
225 
 
 2  Cor.  v.  10,  Rom.  xiv.  10,  and  9?  5,  Acts 
 x.  3(5. 
 
 The  second  Psalm ,  (to  which  1  next  pro¬ 
 ceed,)  cited  by  St.  Paid  to  prove  the  peculiar 
 Sonship  of  Jesus  Christ,  has  been  mate¬ 
 rially  injured  by  the  double  sense ,  supposed 
 to  be  attached  to  it ;  as  if  it  related  pri¬ 
 marily  to  David ,  and  secondarily  to  Christ  : 
 a  malignant  fiction,  forged  by  the  later  Jewish 
 Rabbins,  to  invalidate  its  prophetic  evidence; 
 and  unwarily  adopted  by  several  respectable 
 Christian  commentators,  Groiius ,  Patrick , 
 Chandler ,  Dodd ,  Mudge ,  Durell ,  Horne , 
 See, 
 
 Happily  for  the  cause  of  Christianity, 
 the  fiction  itself,  or  the  misapplication  of  the 
 Psalm  to  David  in  the  literal  sense,  is  irre- 
 fragably  proved  by  the  testimony  of  the  pri¬ 
 mitive  Jewish  Church,  and  of  the  earlier 
 Rabbins,  and  also  by  the  confession  of  the 
 framers  and  abettors  themselves. 
 
 1.  The  Chaldee  Paraphrast  renders  the 
 clause,  ver.  4,  “  The  Regent  (2*lft)  shall 
 ct  deride  them  ”  thus:  u  The  Oracle  of 
 
 the  Lord  ft*! D*D)  shall  deride  them A 
 — And  in  the  various  applications  of  different 
 
 Q  passages 
 
22  6 
 
 passages  of  this  Psalm  to  Jesus,  as  Tnti 
 Christ,  throughout  the  New  Testa¬ 
 ment,  its  reference  to  tiie  Messiah  or 
 
 * 
 
 Christ,  is  uniformly  taken  for  granted,  as 
 the  unquestionable  doctrine  of  the  Primitive 
 Jewish  Church ;  the  only  question  under 
 consideration  at  that  time ,  was,  whether  the 
 character  corresponded  to  Jesus  or  Naza¬ 
 reth. 
 
 2.  In  the  new  edition  of  the  Breshit  Rabba 
 
 (a  Rabbinical  work  composed  about  A.D. 
 300),  Wilmersd.  p.  30. — 44  R.  Jonathan  said, 
 44  there  are  three,  to  whom  Ask,  was 
 
 44  said :  namely,  Solomon ,  Ahaz ,  and  King 
 64  Messiah. — 1.  Solomon:  For  it  is  written, 
 46  1  Kings  iii.  5,  In  Gibeon  the  Lord  ap- 
 44  peared  unto  Solomon  in  a  dream  by  night , 
 44  and  God  said ,  Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee . 
 64  2.  Ahaz:  For  it  is  written,  Isa.  vii.  11, 
 44  Ask  thee  a  sign  of  the  Lord . — 3.  King 
 44  Messiah  :  For  it  is  written,  Ps.  ii.  8,  Ask, 
 44  and  I  will  give  thee  the  Gentiles  for  thine 
 44  inheritance  A 
 
 3.  It  is  likewise  declared  in  the  Talmud , 
 Cod.  Succa,  cap.  v.  44  Our  Masters  deliver : 
 44  That  the  Blessed  God  said  unto  the 
 
 44  Mes- 
 
227 
 
 u  Messiah,  son  of  David,  (zoho  is  shortly 
 “  to  he  revealed  in  our  days,)  Ask  of  me 
 “  somewhat ,  and  I  will  give  it  thee .  For 
 “it  is  said,  Ps.  ii.  7 — 8,  I  will  declare 
 “  the  decree  :  the  Lord  said  unto  me , 
 “  Thou  aid  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  be- 
 “  gotten  Thee  :  Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give 
 “  the  Gentiles  for  thine  inheritance 
 
 4.  The  Midrash  Tillim  understands  “  the 
 
 “  Gentiles f  (ver.  1,)  of  Gog  and  Magog:— 
 plainly  referring  to  Balaam's  signal  prophecy, 
 respecting  the  Mess  r All's  conquests,  Numb, 
 xxiv.  7.  “  His  King  shall  be  higher  than 
 “  Gog/'  And  the  Messiah  is  represented 
 as  He,  “  who  shall  smite  the  impious  with  lo- 
 “  custs  ''  And  in  a  curious  critical  remark, 
 (on  verse  7)  it  states,  that  he  is  styled  in 
 the  divine  decree,  “  My  Son,"  [abso¬ 
 lutely]  ;  not  p,  “  to  Me  a  Son  or  as  a 
 Son,  [relatively]. 
 
 5.  jR.  Obadiah  Gaon  observes,  that  “  This 
 “  Psalm  alludes  to  the  days  of  Christ, 
 66  when  mankind  shall  be  converted  to  the 
 u  zmrship  of  God.”  [And  this  accords  with 
 the  titles  of  this  Psalm  prefixed  to  the  Syriac 
 and  Arabic  versions.]  And  on  verse  5,  “  He 
 
 Q  2  “  shall 
 
 66 
 
228 
 
 44  shall  terrify  them  in  his  anger  f  he  re* 
 marks,  44  Christ  shall  smite  the  Earth  with 
 44  the  rod  of  his  mouth  ”  Isa.  xi.  4 — as  there 
 predicted  of  44  the  branch  from  the  root 
 44  of  Jesse an  appropriate  title  of  Christ. 
 And  he  thus  explains  the  inauguration  of 
 the  Messiah,  verse  6,  44  My  God  hath 
 44  made  me  to  reign ,  upon  Sion ,  my  mount ; 
 44  and  this  shall  be  in  the  Redemption  to 
 44  come  ” — And  he  applies  the  last  sentence, 
 verse  12,  44  Blessed  are  all  that  trust  in  Him  ” 
 —  64  To  those  that  expect  redemption ,  — -  to 
 44  them  will  the  light  arise” 
 
 6.  R.  Sadias  Gaon  observes  on  Dan.  vii. 
 13.— He  who  is  to  come  with  the  clouds  of 
 heaven  like  ci  Son  of  Man ,  is  44  Messiah 
 44  our  righteousness ,”  and  on  vii.  14. — 44  And 
 44  authority  was  given  him”  44  Because  (the 
 ancient  of  days)  will  give  him  authority 
 and  a  kingdom;  as  it  is  written,  Ps.  ii.  6*, 
 44  But  1  anointed  my  king A 
 
 7.  R.  Moses  Maimonides  also,  in  his  Porta 
 Mosis ,  p.  1 6*0,  allows  the  filiation  of  the 
 Messiah  to  his  Creator  ;  who  said  unto 
 him,  Ps,  ii.  7,  46  Thou  art  my  Son T 
 
 This  is  decisive  evidence  of  the  opinion 
 7  of 
 
of  the  Jewish  Church,  till  the  time  of  Mai - 
 monides ,  who  died  A.l).  1209- 
 
 8.  His  successor,  11,  David  Kirn  chi,  who 
 died  A.  D.  1240,  appears  to  have  been  one 
 of  the  first  who  supported  the  literal  appli¬ 
 cation  of  the  Psalm  to  David :  supposing, 
 in  his  commentary,  that  it  was  composed 
 and  sung  by  David  in  the  beginning  of  his 
 reign,  when  the  neighbouring  nations  were 
 gathered  together  against  him,  according  to 
 2  Sam.  v.  7?  “  And  the  Philistines  heard 
 £4  that  they  had  anointed  David  king  over 
 44  Israel;  and  all  the  Philistines  came  itp  to 
 44  seek  David  J  although  he  allows,  that  the 
 rulers  of  the  Philistines  are  no  where  in 
 Scripture  called  66  Kings  A  but  only 
 44  Lords' 9  or  *44  Satraps  A  and  at  the  conclu¬ 
 sion,  confesses  that  his  own  was  a  novel 
 interpretation :  44  some  there  are,  however, 
 44  who  expound  the  Psalm  ot  Gog  and  Ma- 
 44  gog ,  and  of  the  Messiah,  that  is,  ol 
 46  King  Messiah  :  and  so  have  our  Mas - 
 44  ters  of  blessed  memory  intepreted  it ;  and 
 44  if  the  Psalm  be  expounded  in  this  way, 
 44  its  sense  will  be  clear :  but  it  seeuft  more 
 
 q  5  64  likely. 
 
230 
 
 “  likely,  that  David  composed  this  Psalm  of 
 himself  according  to  our  explication.” 
 
 9.  The  true  reason  of  his  explication  and 
 departure  from  the  Orthodox  doctrine  of  his 
 “  masters  of  blessed  memory, ”  as  we  have 
 seen,  is  furnished  inadvertently,  by  his  con¬ 
 temporary  R .  Solomon  Jar  chi :  “  Our  doc- 
 “  torsf  says  he,  “  have  expounded  this 
 “  Psalm  mystically ,  of  King  Messiah; 
 “  but  according  to  the  letter ,  and  to  an¬ 
 swer  the  heretics,  it  is  expedient  to 
 expound  it  of  David  himself/1 
 Th  is  curious  and  important  confession, 
 niWJH1?,  “  to  answer  the  heretics ” 
 which  is  found  in  the  earlier  editions,  but 
 most  injudiciously  and  unwarrantably  ex¬ 
 punged  from  the  later  editions,  the  Basil 
 and  the  Venetian ,  furnishes  the  fullest  and 
 most  unequivocal  evidence  of  the  double 
 dealing  of  Jar  chi  and  his  associates,  who  first 
 fabricated  the  literal  exposition. 
 
 The  Mystical  interpretation  of  this  Psalm, 
 
 ■ 
 
 was  therefore  unquestionably  the  doctrine  of 
 the  earlier  and  purer  ages  of  the  Jewish  and 
 Christian  Churches,  and  should  not  there¬ 
 fore  be  rashly  receded  from.  Por  although 
 
 it 
 
231 
 
 it  must  be  admitted,  that  the  fashion  of  al¬ 
 legorizing  Scripture  was  carried  to  excess,  by 
 the  philosophizing  Divines  of  both,  especially 
 of  the  Alexandrian  school,  Philo ,  Clemens 
 Alexandrinus ,  Origen ,  &c.  (see  the  Monthly 
 Review ,  December  1801,  p.  394,)  yet  to 
 run  into  the  opposite  extreme,  and  to  decry 
 all  mystical  or  allegorical  interpretation,  sa¬ 
 vours  strongly  of  the  most  blameable  scep¬ 
 ticism, ,  and  leads  to  downright  infidelity . 
 Our  Lord  himself  frequently  inculcates  the 
 peculiar  mysteries  of  the  gospel,  under  pa¬ 
 rables  and  allegories ;  and  Paul  allegorizes 
 the  two  sons  of  Abraham,  Ishmael  and  Isaac , 
 into  “  the  two  covenants f  the  temporal  and 
 the  spiritual,  Gal.  iv.  24  And  it  is  truly 
 remarkable,  that  they  who  are  so  ready  to 
 decry  allegory  in  explaining  the  mysteries  of 
 our  faith,  by  a  usual  inconsistency,  are 
 the  readiest  to  avail  themselves  of  it,  where 
 it  may  answer  the  purpose  of  explaining 
 azvay  the  leading  facts  and  doctrines  of  Re¬ 
 velation  ;  such  as  the  fall  and  redemption  of 
 
 *  See  Bishop  Chandler  s  masterly  argument  on  allego ** 
 neat  interpretations  of  Scripture.  Defence  of  Christi¬ 
 anity ,  chap.  v.  §  1,  p.  255 — 277. 
 
 Q  4 
 
 mankinds 
 
232 
 
 mankind,  inseparably  connected  with  the 
 temptations  of  Eve  and  of  Jesus  Christ; 
 which  the  modern  disciples  of  Philo  and 
 Clemens ,  the  ingenious  Middleton  and  Far~ 
 mer ,  & c.  have  fancied  to  be  dreams,  or  mere 
 visionary  transactions,  devoid  of  reality. 
 And  improving  on  such  66  imaginations, ” 
 the  adventurous  Belsham ,  that  64  over-strenu- 
 “  ous  Unitarian,”  not  only  allegorizes  Satan 
 himself  into  an  imaginary  being,  but  denies 
 the  delegated  sovereignty  of  the  Son  of 
 God  ;  and,  strange  to  tell,  is  applauded  by 
 the  Monthly  Review ,  October  1793,  p.  148. 
 See  strictures  on  both,  in  the  Inspector, 
 
 p.  38,  39. 
 
 That  this  Psalm  is  utterly  inapplicable  to 
 David ,  and  corresponds  in  the  minutest  cir¬ 
 cumstances  throughout,  to  the  Scriptural 
 character  of  Jesus  Christ,  will  appear 
 from  the  Prophecy  itself,  more  critically 
 translated  and  expounded. 
 
 PSALH 
 
233 
 
 PSALM  II. 
 
 Of  Da  vid.  A  Pr  q  p  ii  e  c  y,  concerning 
 Christ  the  LoRD,tf/?c/  the  Calling 
 of  the  Gentiles. — Arab.  Title . 
 
 ].  Why  did  the  Gentiles  rage, 
 
 And  the  Peoples  imagine  vanity  ? 
 
 2.  The  Kings  of  the  land  confederated, 
 Amd  the  Rulers  were  assembled  together. 
 Against  the  Lord  and  against  ms 
 
 Messiah: 
 
 ♦ 
 
 3.  44  Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder , 
 
 66  And  cast  away  their  yoke  from  Us  A 
 
 4.  He  that  sitteth  in  the  Heavens  shall 
 
 smile, 
 
 And  the  Regent  shall  deride  them; 
 
 5.  Then  shall  he  speak  to  them  in  his 
 
 wrath, 
 
 And  terrify  them  in  his  anger: 
 
 6.  44  Nevertheless ,  I  zvas  ordained  King, 
 
 44  On  Sion  my  holy  Mount : 
 
 7.  44  /  will  declare  God's  decree: — • 
 
 64  The  Lord  said  unto  me ,  44  Taon 
 44  art  my  Son, 
 
 44  This  day  have  I  begotten 
 44  thee  : 
 
 8,  44  Ask 
 
234 
 
 8.  “  Ask  of  Me,  and  I  will  give  Thee , 
 
 “  The  Gentiles  for  thine  inheritance, 
 
 “  And  the  ends  of  the  Earth,  thy  pos* 
 “  session, ; 
 
 \ 
 
 9-  “  Thou  shalt  rule  them  with  an  iron  seep- 
 “  tre, 
 
 66  And  crush  them  like  a  potter  s  vessel 
 
 10.  Ponder  now  therefore,  O  ye  Kings, 
 
 Be  instructed,  ye  Judges  of  the  Earth  l 
 
 11.  Serve  the  Loud  with  fear, 
 
 And  rejoice  in  Him  with  trembling: 
 
 12.  Kiss  the  Son  [also]  lest  he  be  angry; 
 Arid  [so]  ye  perish  from  the  way  [of  life], 
 If  his  wrath  be  kindled  even  a  little : 
 Blessed  are  all  that  trust  in  Him. 
 
 REMARKS, 
 
 This  prophecy  of  the  royal  psalmist,  fur¬ 
 nishes  a  third  link  to  that  noble  chain,  de¬ 
 scriptive  of  the  Messiah's  august  charac¬ 
 ter  ;  begun  through  Nathan,  seconded 
 through  Ethan,  and  “  in  divers  degrees  and 
 sundry  ways,”  extended  and  completed 
 through  the  succeeding  prophets,  Isaiah, 
 Micah,  Hosea,  Jeremiah,  Daniel,  &c.  “  until 
 vision  and  prophecy  were  sealed,"  by  our 
 
 Lo  nr> 
 
Lord  and  his  apostles.  This  seems  designed 
 more  particularly  to  illustrate  the  nature  of 
 hisSonship,  and  also  of  his  rejection  and  per¬ 
 secution ,  which  were  briefly,  obscurely,  and 
 as  it  were  incidentally,  noticed  in  the  first 
 prophecy  of  Nathan.  44  He  shall  be  to  me 
 “  a  Soil y — 66  whosoever  [ shall  be  concerned^ 
 44  in  injuring  Him  j’  &c.  and  not  fully  un¬ 
 folded  in  the  second,  of  Ethan. 
 
 In  interpreting  this  prophecy,  we  are  not 
 left  to  surmise  or  conjecture  touching  its  real 
 meaning  and  application  :  The  Holy  Spi¬ 
 rit  himself,  has  furnished  the  true  and  in¬ 
 fallible  key  thereto,  in  that  admirable  com¬ 
 mentary  of  the  apostles  thereon,  Acts  iv. 
 24-3  I ,  suggested  by  his  immediate  influence: 
 during  which,  44  with  one  accord ,  they  lifted 
 46  up  their  voice  to  God,  and  said,  Lord, 
 46  (AzcrTrcTu,)  Thou  art  the  God  who  madest 
 44  the  heaven  and  the  earth  and  the  sea ,  and 
 44  all  things  therein :  who ,  through  the  mouth 
 44  of  David  thy  servant  didst  say : 
 
 “  Why  did  the  Gentiles  rage, 
 
 <(  And  the  peoples  imagine  vanity 9 
 The  kings  of  the  laud  confederated , 
 cc  And  the  rulers  were  ajftmbled  together, 
 
 Againji  the  Lord  and  againjl  his  Christ.” 
 
 44  For 
 
236 
 
 44  For ,  in  truth ,  both  Herod  and  Pon~ 
 u  tius  Pilate,  with  the  Gentiles,  and 
 44  peoples  oe  Israel,  were  assembled  to* 
 44  get  her  against  thy  holy  child  Jesus,  whom 
 44  thou  didst  anoint:  to  do  whatsoever  thj 
 44  council  predetermined  to  happen ,  & c. 
 
 46  And  when  they  had  prayed,  the  place 
 66  wherein  they  were  assembled  together  was 
 44  shaken,  and  all  zvere  filled  with  the  Holt 
 44  Ghost/’  &c. 
 
 In  this  clear,  distinct,  and  authoritative 
 commentary,  44  the  Gentiles'  are  intimated 
 to  be  the  Romans ;  44  the  peoples /’  the  peoples 
 of  Israel,  or  the  Jews',  44  the  kings  of  the 
 54  land ;  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate ;  44  the 
 44  rulers f  the  Jewish  sanhedrim  or  council ; 
 and  44  the  lord's  Christ” — His  Holy  Child 
 Jesus,  whom  He  anointed,  or  ordained,  to 
 be  Messiah,  Regent,  or  King. 
 
 Following  this  admirable  clue,  we  shall  be 
 the  better  enabled  to  understand  and  explain 
 the  Hebrew  text : 
 
 Verse  i.  — 44  The  Gentiles'  or  Heathen 
 Nations ,  (0*13),  are  here  contrasted  with 
 f4  the  peoples f  (p'Dtib J,  or  tribes  of  Israel ; 
 as  in  many  parts  of  the  Old  Testament, 
 
 especially 
 
237 
 
 especially  in  the  Divine  Ode,  usually  called 
 Moses's  Song ,  Dent,  xxxii.  8. 
 
 “  When  the  Most  High  divided  to  the  nations * 
 “  their  settlements, 
 
 “  When  he  separated  the  sons  of  Adam  : 
 
 “  He  assigned  the  boundaries  of  the  peoples f  [of 
 “  Israel] 
 
 According  to  the  numbers  of  the  sons  of  Israel ; 
 
 “  For  the  portion  of  the  Lord  is  his  people 
 
 <e  Jacob ,  the  survey  of  his  inheritance.” 
 
 Where,  the  settlements  of  the  Gentiles , 
 are  finely  contrasted  with  those  of  64  the 
 44  peoples  f  or  tribes  of  Israel:  each  tribe* 
 on  account  of  their  immense  population  being 
 considered  as  a  people  in  itself;  while  the 
 aggregate  of  the  twelve  tribes — 44  According 
 44  to  the  number  of  the  sons  of  Israel f — com¬ 
 posed  collectively  44  his  people  f  whom  the 
 Lord  chose  to  be  44  a  peculiar  treasure  unto 
 44  Himself” — 44  though  all  the  earth  be  his'5 
 — 44  for  Abraham  their  fathers  sake  A — But 
 and  are  often  taken  as  synony¬ 
 
 mous.  See  Gen.  xxvii.  29,  Isa.  li.  4,  &c. 
 
 On  the  authority  of  the  Septuagint  ver¬ 
 sion,  sanctioned  by  tiie  apostles,  I  have 
 
 .cru  *  t  vm  X 
 
 rendered 
 
238 
 
 rendered  the  Hebrew  verbs,  in  the  past  ra¬ 
 ther  than  the  present  tense, — “  Why  did  the 
 44  Gentiles  rage,”  &c. — which  is  their  gram¬ 
 matical  import,  and  also  more  conformable 
 to  the  context;  representing  44  the  transcend - 
 44  ent  exaltation”  of  the  Son  God,  on 
 the  day  of  his  resurrection  ;  after  his  per¬ 
 secution  by  the  impotent  rage  and  idle  ma¬ 
 chinations  of  all  his  foes 
 
 Verse 
 
 *  1 .  When  Simon  Peter,  in  the  name  of  all  the  apoftles, 
 had  acknowledged  Jesus,  to  be  the  Christ,  the 
 Son  of  the  living  God;”  “  from  thenceforth  began 
 Jesus  to  shew  unto  his  disciples,  that  he  must  needs  go 
 to  Jerusalem,  and  suffer  many  things  from  the  elders ,  and 
 chief  priests ,  and  scribes,  and  be  killed,  and  be  raised, 
 the  third  dayV*  Matt.  xvi.  21.  Compare  Mark  viii.  31. 
 Luke  ix.  22. 
 
 2.  Soon  after  his  transfiguration,  while  they  abode  in 
 Galilee ,  Jesus  said  unto  them,  “  the  Son  of  Man  is 
 going  to  be  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  men,  and  they 
 shall  kill  him  ;  and  he  shall  be  raised ,  the  third  day” 
 Matt.  xvii.  22.  Compare  Mark  ix.  31.  and  Luke  ix.  44. 
 
 3.  On  his  way  from  the  coasts  of  Jordan  to  Jerusalem, 
 <c  He  took  the  twelve  disciples  apart,  and  said  unto  them, 
 “  Lo!  we  are  going  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  Son  of 
 
 Man  shall  be  betrayed  to  the  chief  priests  and  elders , 
 ‘c  and  they  shall  condemn  Him  to  death,  and  shall  deliver 
 ie  Him  to  the  Gentiles,  to  mock  and  to  scourge  and  to 
 
 u  crucify  ; 
 
259 
 
 Verse  2.  “  The  kings  of  the  land  confcde* 
 
 rated.” 
 
 The  Hebrew  term  and  the  Greek 
 
 Tuice,  or  ambiguously  denote  either  “  the 
 
 6C  earth' ’ 
 
 u  crucify ;  and  he  shall  rise  again  the  third  day  ”  Matt, 
 xx.  17.  Compare  Mark  x.  33,  Luke  xviii.  3 1. 
 
 4.  When  the  Pharisees,  to  intimidate  him,  said,  <(  get 
 <c  thee  out  arid,  depart  hence,  for  Herod  meaneth  to  kill 
 <c  theef  He  answered,  “  Go  and  tell  that  fox ;  Lo !  to- 
 <£  day  and  to-morrow,  I  cast  out  demons  and  perfoim 
 e  cures ;  and  the  third  day  1  shall  be  perfected :  never- 
 s(  theless,  I  must  needs  [stay~\  to-day  and  to-morrow,  and 
 <£  depart  the  next  day  ;  for  it  is  not  possible  that  a  pro- 
 (<  phet  perish  out  of  Jerusalem  F  Luke  xiv.  31-33. 
 
 5.  Two  days  before  the  Passover,  He  said  unto  his 
 disciples,  ee  the  Son  of  Man  is  betrayed  to  be  cru- 
 (<  eified” — while  the  chief  priests  and  elders  were  actually 
 conspiring  against  him.  Matt.  xxvi.  2.  Compare  Mark 
 xiv.  1,  Luke  xxii.  1. 
 
 6.  The  same  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed.  He  said, 
 during  supper,  cc  Verily  one  of  you  shall  betray  me” — 
 and  he  marked  the  traitor,  <c  he  that  dippeth  his  hand  with 
 i(  me  in  the  dish,  the  same  shall  betray  me” — when  Judas 
 asked.  Is  it  I,  Master  He  answered,  <e  thou  speakest 
 u  [  truth  f — And  he  also  pointed  him  out  to  the  beloved 
 disciple  John  •* — The  same  is  he  to  whom,  when  I  have 
 <c  dipped,  I  shall  give  a  sop  :  and  when  He  had  dipped 
 “  the  sop,  he  gave  it  to  Judas  Iscariot—* (and  after  the 
 
 “  sop. 
 
240 
 
 **  earth'*'  in  general  or  “  the  land"  in  parti* 
 cular.  The  apostles’  comment  limits  it  to 
 the  latter  sense;  “  Herod ”  being  then  te~ 
 trarch  of  Galilee ;  and  “  Pontius  Pilate ” 
 procurator  or  governor  of  Judea ,  which,  with 
 Samaria ,  was  then  attached  to  the  Homan 
 
 “  sop,  Satan  entered  into  him:)  Then  said  Jesus  unto 
 u  him,  what  thou  doest ,  do  quickly.  But  none  of  the 
 <{  guests  knew  for  what  intent  he  spake  [thus]  to  him.” 
 Matt.  xxvi.  £3,  &c.  Mark  xiv.  20,  &c.  Luke  xxii.  21,  Sic. 
 John  xiii.  21,  &c, 
 
 7,  Shortly  after,  during  his  agony,  in  the  garden  of 
 
 Gethsemane ,  after  he  had  prayed  thrice,  he  said  to  his 
 
 disciples,  still  slumbering  and  sleeping  for  sorrow  : — “  Lo ! 
 ((  the  hour  is  at  hand,  and  the  Son  of  Man  is  betrayed 
 “  into  the  hand  of  sinners  : — Rise,  let  us  be  going,  lo ! 
 “  my  betrayer  is  at  hand  :  And  while  he  was  speaking , 
 
 lo!  Judas  came,”  &c.  Matt.  xxvi.  45,  &c.  Mark  xiv. 
 
 41,  &c.  Luke  xxii.  46. 
 
 8.  Jesus  thus  knowing  all  things  that  were  to  come 
 
 o  o 
 
 upon  him ,  went  forth  and  said  unto  them,  Whom  seek  ye? 
 Sic.  John  xviii.  4. 
 
 9-  On  the  day  of  his  resurrection.  He  reminded  his 
 disciples,  of  these  his  predictions  :  —  “  That  all  things 
 written  concerning  him,  in  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  the 
 “  prophets ,  and  the  Psalms ,  must  needs  be  fulfilled.” — 
 4<  Thus  it  is  written ,  and  thus  it  behoved  the  Christ 
 “  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day.” — - 
 “  Ought  not  the  Christ  to  suffer  these  things  [first, 
 “  ami  then]  to  enter  into  his  glory .”  Luke  xxiv.  26-46. 
 
 province 
 
241 
 
 jifovirice  of  Syria.  And  in  this  limited  sense,, 
 the  phrase  cn  fictiriXeig  riis  yys,  cc  The  kings  of 
 “  the  land f  seems  to  be  understood  in  that 
 signal  miracle  of  supplying  the  capitation 
 tax,  for  our  Lord  and  his  disciple  Peter * 
 Matt,  xviii  24*27  **  From  the  reason  as¬ 
 signed  : 
 
 *  This  stupendous  miracle  of  supplying  the  tribute* 
 moneys  evincing  our  Lord’s  prescience  and  his  power 
 over  all  nature,  which  for  its  minuteness  and  frugality  is 
 perhaps  more  wonderful  even  than  the  superfluity  of  the 
 loaves  and  fishes,  has  been  greatly  obscured  by  translators, 
 for  want  of  retaining  or  paraphrasing  the  technical  terms 
 of  the  original ;  and  mistaken  by  most  commentators, 
 supposing  that  it  was  the  capitation  tax  of  half  a  shekel , 
 for  each  of  the  congregation  of  Israel  above  twenty  years 
 of  age,  prescribed  by  the  Law  of  Moses ,  for  sacred  uses. 
 Exod.  xxx.  13.  0<  rcc  Xa/xCavomr,  cc  the  re- 
 
 ((  ceivers  of  the  two  drachmas ,"  were  the  rsKuvtzi  or 
 u  publicans — tax-gatherers  employed  by  Herod  in  Ga¬ 
 lilee,  and  by  the  Roman  governor  in  Judea  and  Samaria : 
 
 * — And  the  two  drachmas ,  or  two  Roman  denarii,  (worth 
 about  seven  pence  halfpenny  of  our  currency,  each)  was 
 the  amount  of  the  “  census'  or  capitation  tax,  paid  to 
 “  Caxarf  Matt.  xxii.  17,  which  was  the  same  as  the  sa¬ 
 cred.  The  stater ,  thus  miraculously  supplied,  was  equal 
 jn  value,  to  the  sacred  shekel,  or  four  drachmas  or  four 
 denar  ii ;  and  the  exact  amount  therefore  of  the  capitation 
 tax  for  Jesus  and  his  disciple  Peter .  Why  our  Lord 
 'those  to  pay  the  tribute  money,  rather  in  this  Grecian 
 
 R  coin. 
 
2  42 
 
 signed 
 
 —  “  But  that  we  might  not  offend 
 “  them meaning  plainly,  the  imposers  of 
 
 the 
 
 coin,  than  in  the  Roman  or  Jezcish,  may  perhaps,  not 
 idly,  be  conjectured  to  have  arisen  from  a  curious  cir¬ 
 cumstance,  preserved  by  Hesychius,  under  the  article 
 FlaX^acior  zspoaojirov — where  he  thus  describes  the  Grecian 
 coin  :  arr/g*  etti  /xsv  hos  ^pns,  A0HNA2  zjpo<7w7TQV 
 
 eth  SzrzpGi,  tyiv  7 "kcLUvia;  “  The  stater  had,  on  one  side, 
 “  Minerva's  face ;  on  the  other,  her  owlT  But  A©HNA 
 or  Minerva,  was  the  Heathen  goddess  of  wisdom;  the 
 spurious  representative  of  our  Lord  himself.  The  stater 
 therefore  bore  “  his  image  f  and  He  reclaimed  it  as  his 
 own  coin. 
 
 It  is  strange  how  such  a  respectable  commentator  as 
 Gilpin,  could  so  greatly  under-rate  this  miracle  in  his  note, 
 as  to  rank  it  “  among  those  of  the  lowest  class-*- a  miracle 
 Si  adapted  to  fishermen  /” — or  thus  fancifully  and  irreve¬ 
 rently  account  for  it — •“  It  would  be  difficult  to  say,  how 
 “  Jesus  could  with  more  propriety  have  obtained  a  sup- 
 
 ply  :- -If  he  had  created  it  on  the  spot,  it  might  have 
 ((  had  the  appearance  of  a  sort  of  legerdemain  ;  or  it 
 “  might  have  laid  him  open  to  the  accusation  of  counter - 
 “  f  citing  the  current  coin  of  the  country  !” 
 
 And  this  note  of  his  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  follow¬ 
 ing  excellent  advice  to  sacred  critics ,  given  by  Gilpin 
 himself,  Pref.  p.  xvii.  quarto. 
 
 “  No  doubt,  as  the  Scriptures  have  been  more 
 “  commented  on  than  any  other  books,  and  as  people  of 
 “  all  professions,  and  opinions,  and  under  prejudices  of 
 “  every  kind,  have  laboured  in  this  work,  there  will,  of 
 
 <( 
 
 course. 
 
243 
 
 the  tax  in  question*  the  Roman  governor,  and 
 Herod  : — not  44  the  kings  of  the  earth' 9  at 
 large,  as  usually  but  irrelevantly  understood. 
 
 In  the  same  limited  sense  also,  is  to  be 
 understood  that  remarkable  decree  issued  by 
 Augustus  Casar ,  Cc7rorypo.(pe(rda.i  urocdocv  ryv  oikx- 
 gevyv  *,  64  that  all  the  inhabited  [land]  should 
 44  be  enrolled l9  Luke  ii;  1. — Meaning  Herod 
 the  Great's  dominions  of  Judea  and  Galilee . 
 
 “  The  confederacy"  of  Pontius  Pilate  and 
 Herod ,  is  also  thus  described  by  the  Evan¬ 
 gelist  :  44  The  same  day  (ev  ccvtyi  tyi  Yiptpa i)  were 
 
 u  course,  be  many  things  said  on  the  subject,  which  had 
 “  been  better  unsaid :  Nay,  even  the  best  commentators 
 “  may  have  their  particular  opinions,  which  may  often 
 “  mislead  their  interpretations :  Let  the  student  therefore, 
 se  with  his  best  judgment,  endeavour  to  find  out  where 
 “  the  commentator  trijies,  where  lie  refines ;  or,  above 
 “  alt  things,  where  he  deviates  from  common  sense, 
 u  which  should  always  guide  our  interpretations  of  Scrip- 
 “  ture. 
 
 *  The  word,  OiK8fxsvn,  was  anciently  used  in  the  li¬ 
 mited  sense  of  “  inhabited  “  thus  Canaan,  is  styled 
 nitinJ  pK,  yYi  oixatAEvw,  “  an  inhabited  land,”  as  distin¬ 
 guished  from  the  wilderness ,  Exod.  xvi.  55,  and  also  by 
 the  first-rate  classical  authority,  Xenophon oixvfAsvn 
 %upoc,  “  an  inhabited  country 7  distinguished  from  epntw, 
 “  a  desert” 
 
 R 
 
 Q 
 
 44  Pilate 
 
244 
 
 u  Pilate  and  Herod  made  friends  together  t 
 “  for  before  they  were  at  enmity  with  each 
 
 other/'  Luke  xxiii.  12. 
 
 “  And  the  Rulers  were  assembled  together 
 
 The  Mess  i ah  is  introduced,  Ps.xxxi.  14, 
 thus  complaining  of  the  railings  and  threat* 
 enings  of  his  foes,  “  while  they  conspired 
 “  together ,  and  plotted  to  take  aw^ay  my  life.'1 
 V  here  the  force  of  the  verb  Y7D1J,  from  (ID*) 
 is  well  expressed  by  the  Alexandrine  copy 
 of  the  Septuagint,  eiri<rvvyx8ii<rct v  : — And  the 
 Evangelist  also  has  expressed  its  full  import. 
 Matt.  xxvi.  2^4. 
 
 <c  Then  were  the  chief  priests  and  the 
 **  scribes  and  the  elders  of  the  people ,  assent - 
 “  bled  together  (o-vvYjxOyjrctv)  at  the  palace  of 
 “  the  high  priest,  called  Caiaphas :  and  they 
 “  consulted  together ,  (o-ui/gSaAsi ktolvto)  to  seize 
 “  Jesus  by  subtilty,  and  put  him  to  death." 
 
 Verse  3.  Let  us  break ,  &c.  These  words 
 express  the  rebellion  and  apostacy  of  the' 
 Jews *  in  rejecting  the  Theocracy ,  or  the  do¬ 
 minion  of  the  Lord  and  his  vicegerent 
 the  Messiah  :  so  remarkably  fulfilled  in 
 the  declaration  of  the  chief  priests  to  Pilate  : 
 
 “  We 
 
245 
 
 i 
 
 “  We  have  no  Icing  but  Cccsar”  John  xix. 
 15.  And  in  the  imprecation  of  all  the  people , 
 instigated  by  the  chief  priests :  “  His  blood 
 “  be  on  us  and  on  our  children  /”  Matt, 
 xxvii.  25. 
 
 Verse  4.  He  sitteth  in  the  Heavens  shall  smile , 
 “  And  the  Regent  shall  deride  them." 
 
 The  permanent  majesty  of  the  Su¬ 
 preme  Lord  is  here  finely  described,  sitting 
 in  the  Heavens  ;  who  “  smiles ”  contemptu¬ 
 ously  at  the  impotent  rage  and  vain  rebellion 
 of  his  Foes,  without  deigning  to  speak. 
 
 This  imagery  is  customary  in  sacred  and 
 profane  classics : 
 
 (C  Because,  I  called,  and  ye  refused — 
 
 “  I  stretched  out  my  hand,  and  none  regarded  : — 
 
 •  * 
 
 “  I  also,  will  smile  at  your  calamity, 
 
 u  And  deride ,  when  vour  consternation  cometli.” 
 
 Proverbs. 
 
 S’  b  Asais.cov  ETr’avfyx  §£p{JLupyw. 
 
 “  The  Deity  smiles  at  a  passionate  man.” 
 
 Mschylus, 
 
 ~ — “  rJnriTEitl  ipse  furentem 
 Risit” — 
 
 Statius. 
 
246 
 
 Verse  5.  “  Then  shall  He  speak  ”  &c. 
 
 The  Regent  is  represented  as  the 
 speaker  in  this  and  the  following  verses :  to 
 suppose  as  usually,  the  Supreme  Lord 
 to  speak  on  this  occasion,  miserably  embar¬ 
 rasses  the  connexion,  and  seems  to  have  ori¬ 
 ginated  from  that  unfortunate  copfusion  of 
 the  significations  of  mn*  and  by  the 
 
 same  ambiguous  rendering,  K vpto?,  Lord, 
 throughout  the  Septuagint  and  other  ver¬ 
 sions.  And  this  led  no  less  than  sixty-one 
 MSS.  of  Kennicott* s,  and  thirty-one  of  IJe 
 Rossi’s  collations,  to  substitute  here  a  false 
 reading  iniT,  for  the  true  ;  which  are 
 contrasted  in  this  Psalm,  as  well  as  in  the 
 parallel  Psalm,  cx.  1.  66  The  Lord  (ITliT) 
 
 66  said  to  the  Regent  where  there 
 
 can  be  no  doubt  of  the  distinction;  and  of 
 the  application  of  the  latter  to  Jesu§ 
 
 Christ,  Matt.  xxii.  44. 
 
 %  ,  *  . k  •  •  •<  j  *  ,  ■  *  > 
 
 Verse  G.  Nevertheless,  I  zcas  ordained  King — 
 
 -  '  \  \ 
 
 On  Sion  ray  Holy  Mount. 
 
 — i.  e.  Notwithstanding  your  rejection  of 
 me  for  your  King  1  was  ordained  or  con- 
 
 i  ■  *  ’ 
 
 sec  rated 
 
247 
 
 secrated  King,  on  my  holy  mount  Calvary 
 (a  part  of  Sion )  the  scene  of  my  crucifixion, 
 \vas  made  the  scene  of  my  exaltation 
 
 This 
 
 « 
 
 << 
 
 it 
 
 *  The  present  state  of  Sion  and  Calvary,  is  curious 
 and  awfully  instructive,  as  described  by  the  most  intelli¬ 
 gent  modern  travellers,  Sandj/s,  Maundrel,  and  lias- 
 selquist. 
 
 According  to  Maundrel,  “  The  Church  of  the  Iloltj 
 Sepulchre  is  founded  upon  Mount  Calvary,  which  is  a 
 small  eminence,  or  hill,  upon  the  greater  mount  of 
 Moriah,  [2  Chron.  iii.  i,  Ps.  xlviii.  2.]  It  was  anciently 
 appropriated  to  the  execution  of  malefactors,  and  tliere- 
 f  fore  shut  out  of  the  walls  of  the  city,  as  an  execrable 
 and  polluted  place.  But  since  it  was  made  the  Altar 
 “  on  which  was  offered  up  the  precious  and  all-sufiicieut 
 “  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  it  has  reco- 
 “  vered  itself  from  that  infamy ;  and  has  always  been  re- 
 “  verenced  and  resorted  to,  with  such  devotion  by  all 
 “  Christians,  that  it  has  attracted  the  city  round  it,  and 
 “stands  now  in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem :  a  great  part  of 
 “  the  hill  of  Sion  being  shut  out  of  the  icalls,  to  make 
 “  l  oom  for  the  admission  of  Calvary .” 
 
 But  by  a  most  disastrous  reverse,  the  once  “  Holy  hill 
 of  Sion,”  that  “  pleasant  place “  the  delight  oj  the 
 whole  Earth,”  as  ic  is  styled  in  Scripture,  “  Is  now. (as 
 “  we  learn  from  Hasselquist)  a  desart ,  fat  and  level ; 
 situated  immediately  without  the  ramparts.  It  is  occu¬ 
 pied  by,  and  left  to  the  Christians  for  a  burial-place, 
 u  where  all  denominations  of  them  bury  their  dead!” — 
 
 r  4  by 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
This  rejection  and  subsequent  exaltation.; 
 is  finely  allegorized  by  our  Lord,  in  the 
 
 parable 
 
 by  a  most  righteous  retribution ! — and  Hasselquist  him¬ 
 self,  “  botanized  .on  the  dry  and  poor  Sion ,  and  found 
 “  some  common  herbs  there :  Garlicky  Buckler-Mustard, 
 ec  Jrfjoil,  and  Shrubby  Horsetail”  So  completely  has 
 our  Lord’s  sentence  of  demolition  been  verified,  Luke 
 xix.  44.  “And  when  Jesus  approached,  and  saw  the 
 “  city,  he  wept  over  it,  saying.  Oh !  that  thou  hadst 
 “  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day  [of  respite] 
 “  the  things  concerning  thy  peace !  but  now  are  they 
 “  hidden  from  thine  eyes :  for  the  days  will  come  upon 
 “  thee,  when  thine  enemies  shall  cast  a  trench  about  thee, 
 •“  and  shall  compass  thee  round,  and  hem  thee  in  on  every 
 ■“  side,  and  shall  level  thee  to  the  ground >  and  thy  children 
 “  within  thee,  and  shall  not  leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon 
 “  another ;  because  thou  knowest  not  the  season  of  thy 
 “  visitation !” —  so  often  foretold,  Deut.  xxviii.  52,  Psal, 
 Ixxix.  1,  Isa.  vi.  11,  Dan.  ix.  26,  &c. 
 
 In  this  most  pathetic  apostrophe,  there  seems  to  be  an 
 elegant  allusion  to  the  name  of  the  city  Jerusalem , 
 (oWn*)*)  compounded  of  “  they  shall  see 
 
 “peace”  Ps.  cxxviii.  6,  which  our  Lord  here  declares, 
 was  “  hidden  from  their  eyes.”  Its  most  ancient  quarter 
 was  Salem ,  Gen.  xiv.  18,  founded  by  Melchizedek ,  ac¬ 
 cording  to  Josephus,  p.  1292,  where  there  was  “  a  taber- 
 “  nacle,”  in  David’s  days,  Ps.  Ixxvi.  2.  And  when  the 
 City  of  David,  in  Mount  Sion,  was  added  thereto,  the 
 whole  u’as  called  Jerusalem,  1  Chron.  xi.  4,  in  allusion 
 to  the  name  given  by  Abraham,  Gen,  xxii.  14,  to  Mount 
 
 Calvary , 
 
249 
 
 parable  of  “  A  certain  man  of  Noble 
 birth  (wyww)  who  travelled  into  a  far 
 
 country , 
 
 Calvary,  the  appointed  scene  of  his  intended  sacrifice* 
 of  his  only  genuine  son  Isaac ;  typical  of  the  great  expi¬ 
 atory  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God*  in  the  fulness  of  time* 
 on  the  same  spot :  for*  according  to  tradition,  the  altar 
 of  Isaac,  was  only  a  few  yards  distant  from  the  foot  of  the 
 Cross  ;  see  Sandy  s’  s  Travels,  p.  126.  “  And  Abraham 
 
 called  the  name  of  that  place*  rt^tv  mn*  (IAIIQH 
 JlliEH)  “  The  Lord  will  provide,”  according  as 
 }ie  had  said  that  day,  on  the  Mount;  “  The  Lord  will 
 u  provide,”  &c.  alluding  to  verse  8,  ntn>  (fELO- 
 
 HIM  1IREH)  “  God  will  provide  himself  the 
 “  Lamb  for  sacrifice,  my  son”  For  this  was  his  am¬ 
 biguous  answer  to  the  natural  inquiry  of  Isaac, “  Where  is 
 “  the  Lamb  for  sacrificed”  And  that  this  is  the  correct 
 translation  and  meaning  of  that  important  Text,  Gen. 
 
 xxji.  J  4,  (so  miserably  and  unintelligibly  rendered  in  our 
 
 « 
 
 English  Bfble  ! )  will  further  appear  from  a  manifest  al¬ 
 lusion  thereto,  by  the  prophet  Isaiah ,  xxv.  7 ,  8. 
 
 “  And  (the  Lord)  will  destroy  on  this  Mount,  the  face 
 “  Of  the  covering,  which  covered  all  the  peoples , 
 
 “  And  the  vail  which  was  spread  over  all  the  Gentiles : 
 
 “  Death  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  victory. 
 
 *'  And  the  Regent  Lord  will  wipe  off  the  tear  from 
 “  all  faces, 
 
 4'  And  will  remove  the  reproach  of  his  people  oil  the 
 “  whole  earth  ; 
 
 js  jror  THE  LCpvl>  spoken.” 
 
 And 
 
250 
 
 “  country,  to  acquire  for  himself  a  king- 
 “  dom,  and  then  to  return  :  hut  his  citizens 
 
 “  hated 
 
 And  as  oW,  Salem ,  signifies  not  only  “peace”  but  a 
 “  pe ace-offering,”  or  expiatory  sacrifice,  Exod.  xx.  24, 
 and  xxiv.  5,  Amos  v.  22,  (whence  Christ  “  himself  ”  is 
 called  “  our  peace”  Ephes.  ii.  14,)  the  phrase  oPurrmn?, 
 ( Iirch-Sulem )  “  lie  zcill  provide  peace,”  is  plainly  equi¬ 
 valent  to  Abraham's  ambiguous  prophecy — “  God  zcill 
 “  provide  himself  the  Lamb  for  sacrifice and  is  admi¬ 
 rably  contrasted  with  the  name  of  the  city,  “  They  shall 
 “  sec  peace  ”  to  which  our  Lord  again  seems  to  allude 
 and  predict.  Matt,  xxiii.  39- 
 
 For  the  clue  to  these  etymological  and  topographical 
 remarks,  1  was  indebted  to  the  following  curious  passage 
 in  Josippon,  or  the  Pseudo-Josephus,  b.  vi.  chap,  lxxxii. 
 p.  362,  of  Gagmers  Latin  translation. 
 
 “  O  Jerusalem  !  City  of  the  Great.  King,  by  what 
 “  name  shall  I  call  thee  this  day !  Was  not  thy  name  first 
 “"called  ttnzu  ( lebus )  from  the  name  of  the  Jebusite, 
 “  who  began  to  inhabit  a  city  in  thy  land  ?  Next,  thy  name 
 “was  called  piv  (Tsedek)  ;  and  from  thy  name  OTirp 
 “  Iehuram,  was  thy  king  called,  p-jy-o^D  Melchi-Tsedek, 
 “  for  he  was  a  ‘  just  king,’  who  reigned  over  thee  with 
 “  justice.  In  his  days  also,  thy  name  was  called,  c&ty 
 “  (Salem),  as  is  written  in  the  Law,  (Gen.  xiv.  18.) 
 “  And  Abraham  our  father,  (on  whom  be  peace,)  chose 
 “  to  possess  thee  by  inheritance,  and  to  plant  in  thee 
 “  the  plant  of  his  good  works.  Therefore  the  Taber - 
 “  nacle  of  God,  even  then  zcas  settled  in  thee,  when  fir. 
 “  revealed  himself  to  Abraham  our  Father,  (on  whom 
 
 “  be- 
 
251 
 
 P  hated  him ,  and  sent  after  him  a  message, 
 saying,  7  Fie  no/  that  this  man  should 
 reign  over  us  f  & c.  Luke  xix.  12-77* 
 
 According 
 
 be  peace).  In  thee  was  the  place  of  his  Sanctuary,  be- 
 <(  cause  he.  bound  his  son,  his  only  son,  on  the  summit 
 f(  of  one  of  thy  mounts,  which  indeed  is,  the  Hohj  and 
 £<  sanctified  Mount- Moriah.  Still  further  wast  thou  en- 
 u  larged,  when  thou  wert  called  by  the  name,  ofettMl? 
 “  ( Jerusalem)  from  the  name,  by  which  Abraham  our 
 ff  Father,  (on  whom  be  peace)  called  the  place  of  thy 
 “  Sand  nary  rmv  mm  laiioh  Hr  eh,  <c  The  Lord,  will 
 u  sec.”  Already  then,  was  thy  name  Salem  ;  and  there- 
 4‘  fore  thy  name  signifies,  oW  NT,  He  will  see  peace ; 
 
 because  Gob  will  see  (or  regard)  the  place  of  thy  sanc- 
 *e  tuary,  so  long  as  it  shall  be  perfect  and  without  spot ; 
 t(  but  He  will  hide  his  face  from  it,  when  it  shall  be 
 “  stained  with  spot,  as  it  is  this  day !” 
 
 From  this  excellent  Jezvish  commentary,  it  appears  that 
 in  Abraham’s  days,  and  long  after.  Calvary  was  the 
 holiest  part  of  the  whole  Mount  of  Moriah ,  until  the 
 Temple  was  built ;  and  even  then,  the  Sanctuary  or  Holy 
 of  Holies,  was  by  divine  appointment,  placed  at  the  West 
 end  of  Solomon’s  Temple,  pointing  to  Calvary ;  but  the 
 Temple  Hill,  Ps.  xlviii.  2,  which  was  the  Northern  sum¬ 
 mit  of  Sion,  (Jehus,  or  the  City  of  David,  occupying 
 the  Southern,  or  highest  summit)  gradually  assumed  to 
 itself  the  name  of  the  whole  Mount,  Moriah  ;  2  Chron. 
 
 v  s  .  *  • 
 
 iii.  1,  and  Calvary  fell  into  strange  and  unmerited  neglect 
 and  contempt,  until  it  recovered  and  improved  its  pristine 
 
 sanctity 
 
According  to  the  Masoretic  punctuation, 
 the  verb  (Nasachti)  is  active,  44  J  or - 
 
 44  dained ”  my  king ,  &c.  supposing  the  Su¬ 
 preme  Lord  to  be  the  speaker;  and  this 
 is  followed  by  the  Chaldee ,  Syriac ,  and 
 £/c,  and  almost  all  the  modern  translations : 
 but  according  to  the  foregoing  translation, 
 the  verb  should  be  pointed  passively, 
 
 ( Nisachti ) , 66 1  was  ordained  ”  supposing  the 
 Regent  to  declare  his  ordination  to  the  regal 
 dignity  by  the  supreme  Lord  :  for  the  Sep- 
 tuagint ,  (whose  authority  in  this  Psalm  is  of 
 the  highest  weight,  because,  sanctioned  by 
 the  New  Testament)  renders :  E yea  Svj 
 Tes*a$iji/  QccariXevg  uV’  A vtx,  44  But  I  was  apr 
 44  pointed  King  by  Him”  And  is  followed 
 by  the  Vulgate ,  and  the  Arabic  copy  of 
 Guyerus.  And  all  these,  judiciously  consider 
 the  lod  final  in,  ( MelchiJ  not  as  the 
 
 affix  of  the  first  person,  44  my  King,”  but 
 
 sanctity  after  the  resurrection ;  being  crowned  with  the 
 niagniiicent  and  spacious  Temple  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre , 
 covering  its  whole  Are$,  and  including  part  of  Golgotha , 
 built  by  the  piety  and  munificence  of  the  Empress  Helena } 
 mother  of  Constantine  the  Great.  “  On  this  Holy  Ilill 
 “  of  Calvary ”  therefore,  (the  true  Sion)  “  wag  our 
 “  Lord  ordained  King.” 
 
 merely 
 
 1 
 
merely  as  paragogic  or  redundant :  or  it 
 rather  expresses  the  word  as  taken  not  abso¬ 
 lutely,  but  in  regimen ,  or  relatively,  de¬ 
 noting,  as  in  the  parallel  Psaltrv  cx.  4, 
 p  ( Melchi-zedek )  “  King  of  Righte- 
 
 “  ousness.” 
 
 The  same  verb  is  used  passively,  Nisaditi , 
 in  the  description  of  the  primaeval  birth  of 
 wisdom  personified,  Prov.  viii.  22  ;  (and  no 
 where  actively,  Nasachti ,  in  the  whole  range 
 of  the  Old  Testament.) 
 
 The  Lord  got  Me,  the  beginning  of  his  way, 
 
 Before  his  works  of  Old ; 
 
 From  eternity  was  I  ordained  *,  from  first. 
 
 Long  before  the  earth  ; 
 
 When  as  yet  there  were  no  depths  [of  the  sea], 
 
 I  was  born. 
 
 When  as  yet  there  were  no  fountains  teeming  with  water. 
 
 Before  the  mountains  were  established,  before  the  hills. 
 
 Was  I  born. 
 
 The  same  term  is  repeated,  at  the  New 
 by  tty  or  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
 in  the  same  sense. 
 
 Professor  $)athe9  endeavours  to  support 
 
 *  \TDDI 
 
254 
 
 the  common  translation  founded  on  the 
 Masoretic  punctuation,  by  the  authority  of 
 the  Chaldee  paraphrase  followed  by  Aquila 
 and  Symmachm ;  and  also  by  that  of  the 
 JKew  Testament ,  Acts  iv.  27.  But  these 
 versions  are  greatly  inferior  to  the  Septuaginty 
 in  this  case;  and  the  expression  of  the  Evan¬ 
 gelist  44  Thy  holy  child  Jesus  whom  thou 
 44  didst  anoint ”  —  is  plainly  equivalent  to, 
 44  who  was  anointed  by  thee  A — As  will  appear 
 from  two  parallel  passages: — Afis  xvii.  31. 
 44  Gou  hath  appointed  a  day,  in  which  he 
 44  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness ,  by 
 44  a  Alan,  for  whom  lie  ordained  it ;  (A  d^os) 
 44  affording  assurance  to  all,  by  having  raised 
 44  him  from  the  dead  A  (avocgyitrcts  ocvtov  ez  vex* 
 and  Rom.  i.  3,  4.  44  His  Son,  Jesus 
 44  Christ  our  Lord,  who  was  born  of 
 44  David's  seed ,  according  to  the  flesh  ;  but 
 44  who  was  ordained  (ts?  ogto-Sevrog)  Son  of 
 44  God  in  power ,  according  to  the  spirit  of 
 44  holiness,  from  the  time  of  his  resurrection 
 44  from  the  dead  A  (g<£  avagucrscog  vzzpuvd)  In 
 these  two  masterly  comments, Taut  has  given 
 the  appropriate  rendering  of  *]D3,  in  the 
 same  verb,  optfa  ;  which  is  nearly  synony¬ 
 
 mous 
 
mous  with  the  rendering  of  the  Septuagint, 
 Koc9ig‘v]fJci,  but  rather  more  apposite ;  while 
 the  import  of  the  active  and  passive  con¬ 
 structions  thereof,  are  the  same  : — both  evi- 
 
 * 
 
 dently  dictated  b y  one  and  the  same  spirit. 
 
 Verse  7.  “  I  will  declare  God’s  decree  : 
 
 “  The  Lord  said  unto  me ” - * 
 
 The  Messiah  still  proceeds  to  speak  in 
 continuation,  to  inform  the  world  of  the  va¬ 
 lidity  and  unlimited  extent  of  his  sway  ;  by 
 reciting  the  divine  decree  promulged  at  his 
 Ordination  :  the  word,  may  ambiguously 
 denote  either  the  noun,  “  G  od/’  or  the 
 preposition  ^  concerning”  See.  In 
 
 the  latter  acceptation,  the  passage  may  be 
 rendered  “  I  will  declare ,  concerning  the 
 “  decree  ”  as  in  Ps.  lxix.  27,  where  the  verb 
 1DD,  is  so  connected : 
 
 “  For  tliey  persecute  him,  whom  Thou  hast  smitten, 
 
 “  And  talk  concerning  the  grief  of  those  whom  Thou 
 “  hast  wounded.” 
 
 i.  e.  they  debate  “  how  to  grieve M — But  the 
 former  is  more  authoritative,  and  is  sup¬ 
 ported  by  the  Septuagint  version,  AiayyeXuv 
 
 A  layyshar 
 
256 
 
 *  * 
 
 &tccyyeXco  to  'ur^ogccypot,  It  is  strange 
 
 how  the  author  of  the  anonymous  notes  in 
 Merrick's  Annotations,  could  propose  ren¬ 
 dering,  66  I  will  declare ,  O  God ,  the  decree” 
 when  followed  by,  u  The  Lori>  said  unto 
 4i  me” — more  especially,  as  the  declaration 
 was  plainly  made  to  the  Kings  and  Judges 
 of  the  Earth ,  ver.  10,  to  warn  them  of 
 the  danger  of  disobedience ;  or,  how  he, 
 (who  is  supposed  to  be  Archbishop  Seeker) 
 and  also  Professor  DatJie ,  could  confound, 
 htt  “  To”  and,  “  Dtt  66  The "  or  represent 
 them  as  equivalent : — not  a  single  MS.  ac¬ 
 cording  to  De  Rossi ,  reads  DK,  for  bit. 
 
 Verse  8.  “  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have 
 
 “  I  begotten  Thee 
 
 Here  is  a  fuller  and  more  absolute  decla¬ 
 ration  of  Christ’s  peculiar  sonship ,  than 
 was  given  in  the  original  prophecy,  by  Na¬ 
 than,  2  Sam.  vii.  14,  as  well  remarked  by 
 the  Midrash  Tillim ,  before*  And  accord¬ 
 ingly,  the  apostle  to  the  Hebrews,  i.  5,  citing 
 both  texts,  places  this  foremost,  as  the 
 strongest  and  most  unequivocal,  explanatory 
 of  the  latter: — “  I  will  be  to  Him  a  Fa- 
 
 a 
 
 TilEK, 
 
/ 
 
 0  4M 
 
 O/ 
 
 / 
 
 *£  ther,  and  He  shall  he  to  me  a  Son." 
 And  as  his  argument  requires  the  exclusive 
 application  of  both  texts  to  the  Son  op 
 G on,  “  whom  He  appointed  Heir  of  all," 
 ver.  1,2  ;  it  cannot  possibly  relate  to  Da¬ 
 vid,  according  to  Kimclii  s  misrepresenta¬ 
 tion  ;  he  himself  unwittingly  overturns  his 
 own  hypothesis,  by  adducing  as  a  parallel 
 instance  of  sonship,  44  He  shall  he  to  me  a 
 44  Son/’  which,  even  by  the  confession  of 
 the  Jews,  is  utterly  inapplicable  to  David 
 himself,  clearly  relating  to  one  of  his  de¬ 
 scendants. 
 
 And  that  this  important  text,  was  so  un¬ 
 derstood  by  David  himself,  may  be  collected 
 from  his  sublime  thanksgiving,  (more  cor¬ 
 rectly  translated)  on  the  communication  of 
 the  original  prophecy  of  the  descent  of  the 
 Messiah,  from  his  loins,  according  to  the 
 flesh,  by  Nathan  :  2  Sam.  vii.  17-29.  — - 
 46  According  to  all  these  words,  and  according 
 46  to  all  this  vision,  so  spake  Nathan  unto 
 46  David  : 
 
 44  Then  David  the  king  went,  and  sate 
 44  before  the  Lord:  And  he  said,  Who  am 
 44  I,  O  PtEGENT  Lord,  and  what  is  my 
 
 S  44  house, 
 
25S 
 
 bouse,  that  thou  hast  brought  me  to  this 
 66  [elevation] :  and  even  this,  was  yet  little 
 6 6  in  thine  eyes,  O  Regent  Lord,  since 
 u  thou  hast  spoken  also  concerning  thy 
 44  servant's  house,  to  a  remote  [period] :  Surely 
 44  this  is  the  law  of  the  Aclam ,  O  Regent 
 44  Lord.  And  what  can  David  proceed  to 
 64  say  unto  thee  further  ?  For  thou  knowest 
 44  thy  servant,  [i.  e.  the  fulness  of  his  heart} 
 44  O  Regent  Lort>.  For  the  sake  of  thy 
 46  word,  and  according  to  thine  own  hearty 
 46  hast  thou  made  thy  servant  to  know  all  this 
 46  great  [mystery.} 
 
 44  And  now,  Lord  oe  Gods,  establish  for 
 44  ever  the  word  which  thou  hast  spoken, 
 44  touching  thy  servant,  and  touching  his 
 46  house ;  and  do  according  as  thou  hast 
 44  spoken,  and  let  thy  name  be  magnified  for 
 64  ever;  saying,  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is 
 44  God  over  Israel  ;  and  let  the  house  of 
 44  thy  servant  David  be  established  before 
 44  Thee:  For  Thou  Lord  of  Hosts,  the 
 44  God  of  Israel,  hast  opened  the  ear  of 
 4;  [revealed  to]  thy  servant,  saying,  I  will 
 44  build  thee  a  house.:  Therefore  hath  thy 
 44  servant  found  in  his  heart  to  pray  this 
 
 44  prayer 
 
259 
 
 prayer  unto  thee.  And  now*,  Regent 
 44  Lord,  Thou  art  the  God,  and  thy 
 44  words  are  truth,  and  thou  hast  spoken  to 
 46  thy  servant,  this  good  [promise]:  Now, 
 44  therefore,  let  it  please  thee  to  bless  the 
 44  house  of  thy  servant,  that  it  may  abide 
 44 for  ever  before  Thee ;  for  thou  Regent 
 44  Lord  hast  spoken  :  and  with  thy  blessing 
 
 let  the  house  of  thy  servant  be  blessed  for 
 44  ever . 
 
 According  to  the  sagacious  explanation  of 
 Peters  on  Jo5,  Preface,  p.  Ixix.  that  myste¬ 
 rious  expression,  rniD  flKH  64  and  this 
 
 44  [is]  the  law  of  the  Adam”  intimates  44  this 
 44  surely,  can  be  no  other  than  4  the  laxv\  or 
 44  fixed  decree,  concerning  the  second  Adam , 
 44  or  blessed  Redeemer,  so  long  promised  to 
 44  us that  44  seed  of  the  woman  9  who  is 
 44  to  crush  the  serpent's  head that  44  seed 
 44  of  Abraham ,  in  whom  all  the  nations  of  the 
 44  earth  are  to  be  blessed that  44  seed  of 
 44  Isaac ,  Jacob ,  Judah  ”  the  44  Shiloh59 
 spoken  of,  to  whom  44  the  gathering  of  peoples 
 44  is  to  bef  and  now  declared  to  be  the  son 
 of  David , 44  whose  kingdom  shall  be  established 
 44  for  ever.” 
 
 s  2 
 
 And 
 
t 
 
 And  this  is  supported,  by  the  parallel  pas- 
 sa  ge,  1  Cliron.  xvii.  17-  —  "lirO 
 
 o 
 
 D'lb'n  44  And  thou  hast  regarded  me, 
 44  according  to  the  law  of  the  Adam  front 
 44  above  A  —  And  accordingly,  our  blessed 
 Lord  explains, — 44  No  one  hath  ascended 
 44  into  heaven ,  except  lie  that  descended  front 
 44  heaven j  the  Son  of  Man,  who  was  in 
 44  heaven,”  John  iii.  13.  44  Ye  are  from  be- 
 
 44  low,  I  am  from  above  f  Johnviii.  23.  And 
 the  Baptist :  44  He  that  cometh  from  above , 
 44  is  above  all”  John  iii.  31.  And  Pauli 
 44  the  first  Adam  was  a  type  of  the  future  f 
 Horn.  v.  14,  being  both  immediately,  Sons 
 of  God  :  But  44  the  first  man  Adam  was 
 44  born  a  living  soul ;  the  last  Adam,  a  quick- 
 44  ening  spirit  a — The  first  man,  is  of  the 
 
 O  X  i'  y 
 
 44  earth,  earthy  ;  the  second  man,  is  the 
 44  Lord  from  heaven/’  1  Cor.  xv.  45 — 47* 
 Nothing  indeed  can  more  strongly  express 
 the  infinite  superiority  of  Christ’s  nature 
 above  that  of  Adam  and  all  his  race:  Mho 
 often  styles  himself  44  the  Son  of  Man:” 
 
 •j  y 
 
 not  out  of  humility,  (as  sometimes  mistakenly 
 supposed)  but  to  mark  himself  as  the  vice¬ 
 gerent  of  the  Deity,  destined  to  ap¬ 
 
 pear 
 
26 1 
 
 pear  in  human  form  ;  according  to  Daniel's 
 magnificent  description,  vii.  15,  14,  explanar 
 fcory  of  Ps.  viii.  4.  And  accordingly,  our 
 Saviour  assumes  the  title,  where  he  authori¬ 
 tatively  asserts  his  divine  dignity :  to  his  dis¬ 
 ciples,  Matt.  xvi.  13,  and  to  the  Jewish  high 
 priest,  Matt.  xxvi.  64,  and  as  judge  of  all, 
 John  v.  22-2?. 
 
 H  ow  well  the  title  of  the  Son  of  God 
 was  understood  by  the  Jews  appears,  1.  F rom 
 Agin'' s  inquiry,  Prov.  xxx.  4.  44  ll  hat  is 
 *c  His  name ,  and  what  is  his  Son's*  name  ?’y 
 2.  From  the  signal  confessions  of  faith ; 
 John  i.  50. 44  Rabbi,  Thou  art  the  Christ, 
 44  the  Kino  of  Israel."  Matt.  xvi.  16. 
 John  vi.  69.  “  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the 
 44  Son  of  the  Living  God."  3.  From 
 the  solemn  charge  of  the  high  priest,  on  his 
 iniquitous  trial,  urging  him,  when  the  false 
 witnesses  failed*, to  criminate  himself,  Matt, 
 xxvi.  63.  44  I  adjure  thee  by  the  Living 
 God,  to  tell  us  whether  thou  be  the 
 44  Christ,  the  Son  of  God."  4  From 
 
 *  See  a  curious  confession  of  the  Jewsf  touching  these 
 false  witnesses,  in  Sharp's  Defence  of  Christianity , 
 
 part  I.  p.  42i 
 
the  ground  of  their  requisition  for  his  con« 
 damnation  to  Pilate ,  John  xix.  7-  “  We  have 
 66  a  law,  and  by  our  law  he  ought  to  die ,  be~ 
 “  cause  he  made  himself  the  Son  of  God;” 
 and  5.  from  the  Poman  centurion’s  con¬ 
 fession  seeing  the  awful  signs  that  accom¬ 
 panied  his  crucifixion,  Matt,  xxvii.  54, 
 Truly  this  was  tiie  Son  of  God,”  where 
 we  may  incidentally  remark,  that  the  phrase 
 is  indiscriminately  used  in  these  places,  with 
 
 and  without  the  article :  o  vlog  tv  — vlog 
 tv  ®£v  —  and  vlog  Gev,  or  Ssv  vlog  * —  and 
 
 throughout  the  New  Testament. 
 
 The  day  of  our  Lords  new  birth ,  or  in¬ 
 vestiture  in  tfie  highest  privileges  of  divine 
 Sonship,  as  before  observed,  was  the  day  of 
 his  resurrection .  It  was  then,  that,  “  God 
 made  Him  iieir  of  ALL-^-after  he  had, 
 through  [the  sacrifice  of]  himself,  made 
 purification  of  our  sins,”  Ileb,  i,  3.  It 
 was  then,  **  when  He  again  introduced  the 
 «  Fi  rst  Born  into  the  world ,  He  said, 
 and  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him’’ 
 Heb.  i.  5,  Whence  John  expressly  styles 
 him,  “  The  First  Born  from  the  dead,’' 
 Rev,  i.  5,  explaining  Ethan’s  epithet :  Ps. 
 
263 
 
 kxxix.  27 •  “  I  will  make  him  my  Fin-sv 
 Born,  higher  than  the  kings  of  the  earth ” 
 
 Verse  9.  “  Thou  shaft  rule  them  with  an  iron  sceptre , 
 And  crush  them,  like  a  potter  s  vessel” 
 
 For  God  declares:  *c  I  will  execute  ven- 
 geance  in  anger  and  fury;,  upon  the  Gen- 
 “  tiles,  such  as  they  have  not  heard/’  Mi- 
 eah  v.  15. 
 
 Instead  of  the  present  Masoretic  reading, 
 ( Terohim ,  or  more  fully  Terd- 
 
 him ,  in  twenty-eight  MSS.  Kennicottf) 
 thou  shalt  bruise  or  break  them' — from  the 
 verb  in  the  sense  of  the  Ghaldee, 
 the  Septuagint  evidently  read  with  different 
 points.,  Dl/Ho  Tirhim ,  wotpotms  avrxg,  thou 
 “  shalt  guide  or  rule  them  f  from  the  verb, 
 JlJH,  u  to  feed”  as  a  shepherd  his  flock  — 
 And  the  word  is  used  in  the  sense  of  severe 
 ,or  rigorous  rule,,  in  Jer.  xxii.  22,  “  The 
 M  wind  shall  feed  on  thy  pastors” — /compare 
 
 *  Hence  it  .appears,  that  however  useful  the  present 
 system  of  Masoretic  punctuation  may  be,  in  furnishing 
 the  sense  of  the  Jewish  Church,  at  the  time  it  was  made ; 
 it  is  by  no  means  to  be  relied  on,  in  critical  cases,  such  as 
 the  prophecies  concerning  the  Messiah, 
 
 •3  4  JcTo 
 
264 
 
 Jer.  iv.  12)  and  in  Ezek.  xi.  7.  “  I  fed  the 
 “  flock  of  slaughter,”  or  the  flock  destined 
 for  slaughter.  In  both  these  cases,  the 
 Septuagint  rendering  is  woifi<wta  ;  which  is 
 in  the  present  instance  supported  by  the  Sih 
 riac ,  l  itigate ,  and  Arabic ;  and  established 
 beyond  a  doubt,  by  a  triple  reference  to  this 
 text,  Rev.  ii.  2 7>  and  xii.  5,  and  xix.  15. 
 And  this  last  passage.  Rev.  xix.  11-18,  (ex¬ 
 planatory  of  Isa.  lxiii.  1,  6,)  furnishes  the 
 fullest  and  most  tremendous  commentary  on 
 this  text,  and  on  the  parallel,  Ps.  cx.  4,  de¬ 
 scriptive  of  that  dreadful  havoc  and  destruc¬ 
 tion,  that  w  ill  be  inflicted  in  the  day  of  ven¬ 
 geance,  on  the  adversaries  of  the  Loud 
 and  of  his  Christ, — not  by  David  him¬ 
 self,  to  whom  it  is  utterly  inapplicable ; — 
 but  by  one  of  inconceivably  greater  authority, 
 “  THE  ROOT  and  OFFSPRING  OF  DAVID/’ 
 Rev.  xxii.  10. 
 
 By  a  striking  instance  of  ominous  infatua-* 
 lion,  the  secret  symbol,  or  watch-word  of 
 Voltaire  ^  Antichristian  Conspiracy,  was  the 
 following  blasphemy  against  Christ  — r- 
 Ecrasez  if  In  fame,  “Crush  theWretch! ! !” 
 r — who,  by  a  righteous  retaliation,  will  “  crush 
 
 then} 
 
265 
 
 €<  them  like  a  potter  s  vessel” — and  will  44  grind 
 Ci  them  to  powder”  Matt.  xxi.  44.  Luke  xx. 
 18.  during  the  empire  of  the  rejected  stone , 
 
 J3an.  ii.  34,  Sj. 
 
 Verse  10.  44  Ponder  now  therefore ,  O  pc 
 
 < 6 
 
 igs /'  See. 
 
 From  this,  to  the  end,  is  the  Psalmist’s 
 solemn  exhortation  to  “the  kin  gs  and  judges 
 *4  of  the  earth/'  to  pay  the  joint  worship,  or 
 *4  religious  service '  and  “reverence*”  dus 
 to  mrr  riN%  44  the  Lord/'  and  *12  [ChakL 
 for  ]2,  Heb.]  44  the  Son/'  as  they  wished 
 to  deprecate  the  judicial  vengeance  to  be  in¬ 
 flicted  by  the  latter — who,  to  his  enemies, 
 will  be  44  a  consuming  jiref  Ileb.  xii.  29 ; 
 but 44  the  author  of  eternal  life  and  salvation 
 44  to  those  tvIio  obey  Him,”  Acts  iii.  15. 
 Heb.  v.  9. — 44  To  the  end ,  that  All  may  ho~ 
 *4  nour  the  Sox,  according  as  they  honour 
 64  the  Father:  He  that  honoureth  not 
 
 %  {C  They  will  reverence  my  Son” — Matt.  xxi.  37- — • 
 ((  Thou  gavest  me  no  kiss' — Luke  vii.  43. — “  Hail  Mas - 
 “ter!  and  kissed  him ’ — Matt.  xxvi.  49.  —  “  N evert  hc- 
 f<  less,  when  the  Son  of  man  cometh,  unit  he  find 
 *■  ?A}TH  upon  the  Earth?’ — Luke  xviii.  8. 
 
 *4  JHE 
 
266 
 
 M  the  Son,  honoureth  not  the  Father 
 “  who  sent  Him”  John  v.  22,  23. 
 
 Verse  12 .“Blessed  are  all  that  trust  in  Him.” 
 
 The  verb,  HDH,  throughout  the  Old  Tes¬ 
 tament,  signifies  religious  trust  9  belief,  or 
 faith,  here  recommended  Howards  the  Son. 
 - — And  accordingly,  our  Lord  declares, 
 £i  Blessed  is  lie ,  whosoever  shall  not  be  of- 
 “  fended  in  Me/’  Matt.  xi.  6.  “  For  God 
 “  so  loved  the  world ,  that  He  gave  ms  Son, 
 “  the  only  genuine,  to  the  end  that 
 “  every  believer  in  Him  should  not  perish9 
 “  but  have  eternal  life  John  iii.  16,  And 
 our  Lord  thus  comforts  his  desponding 
 disciples  ;  “  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled : 
 “  Believe  in  God,  and  believe  in  Me  — 
 “  In  my  Father  ’  s  house  are  many  mansions 
 “  — I  am  going  away  to  prepare  a  place  for 
 “  you — And  will  come  back  and  take  you  to 
 66  myself: — that  where  I  am ,  these  may  ye 
 
 be  also  ”  John  xiv.  1,  3.  In  the  “  many 
 u  mansions”  of  bliss,  therefore,  is  reserved, 
 the  final  reward  of  the  tried  u  patience  and 
 “faith  of  the  Saints'  who  shall  have  been 
 46  purified ”  and  “  perfected ”  (in  humble  imi¬ 
 tation 
 
fcation  of  their  great  Master)  by  sufferings 
 in  this  life :  and  who,  at  his  second  coming, 
 66  in  power  and  great  glory  ”  shall  be  raised 
 at  44  the  first  resurrection ”  or  44  resurrection 
 44  of  the  just  f  as  66  the  first  fruits  thence¬ 
 forth  44  to  live  and  reign  with  Christ;” 
 when  64  the  Kingdom  of  God  shall  come , 
 44  or  prevail  on  Earth ,  as  in  Heaven f  during 
 the  long  prophetic  period  of  44  a  thousand 
 44  years after  which,  at  the  end  of  the 
 world,  they  are  to  be  translated  (as  44  the 
 44  quick”)  alive  in  the  clouds ,  to  meet  the 
 Lord  ill  the  air ,  at  the  general  resurrection 
 of  the  dead  ;  and  so  44  to  he  always  with  the 
 44  Lord/’  in  Heaven,  Compare  Luke  xiv, 
 14.  John  v.  24,  29-  1  Thess.  iv.  15, 17-  Rev\ 
 xiii.  10,  and  xiv.  12,  13,  and  xx,  4,  15, — 
 See  this  momentous  distinction  of  the  Two 
 Jlesurrections, discussed, in  the  In sp ector, 
 p.  68,  78,  and  in  the  Irish  Pursuits 
 of  Literature,  Art,  Second  Thoughts , 
 p.  43,  45, 
 
 The  devout  conclusion  of  this  Hymn, 
 *c  Blessed  are  all  that  trust  in  Him,”  is  evi¬ 
 dently  inapplicable  to  H David  considered  as 
 its  object ;  and  aware  of  this,  which  is  ruin* 
 
 ous 
 
268 
 
 gus  to  his  hypothesis,  Kimchi  wrests  it,  in 
 defiance  of  both  letter  and  spirit ,  from  the 
 Son  to  the  Supreme  Lord,  in  the  fore¬ 
 going  clause  of  the  sentence :  thus  misinter¬ 
 preting  it :  “  Blessed  are  all  ”  &c.— u  As  I 
 ( David )  am  blessed  this  dap  :  because  I 
 trusted  in  Him,  and  have  been  saved  by 
 u  his  help  ”  &c. 
 
 The  spirit  of  this  conclusion,  is  perhaps 
 best  explained  in  the  conclusion  of  John's 
 
 (t  These  are  written ,  that  ye  might  believe 
 “  That  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  Gob: 
 
 “  And  that  believing ,  ye  may  have  life, 
 
 ((  Through  his  Name.” 
 
 I)  is- 
 
I 
 
 DISSERTATION  VIII. 
 
 ON  PSALM  CX. 
 
 Fins  Prophetic  Psalm  forms  an  additional 
 link  to  that  chain,  characteristic  of  the 
 Messiah,  furnished  by  the  foregoing  pro¬ 
 phecies  of  Nathan ,  Ethan ,  and  David  *  ;  in 
 which  the  Royal  Psalmist  proceeds  (in  con¬ 
 tinuation,  as  it  were,  of  the  Second  Psalm) 
 to  describe  the  stability  and  permanence  of 
 the  Messiah’s  delegated  dominion;  the 
 voluntary  adoration  of  his  subjects,  cc  in  the 
 u  day  of  his  power  f  his  primasval  birth  ;  his 
 royal  and  perpetual  priesthood  ;  the  exem¬ 
 plary  vengeance  to  be  inflicted  on  the  heads 
 of  his  foes,  “  in  the  day  of  his  wrath  \  and 
 his  personal  sufferings,  as  the  source  of  his 
 transcendent  exaltation. 
 
 Its  exclusive  application  to  the  Messiah 
 was  the  unequivocal  doctrine  of  the  Primitive 
 Jewish  Church: — 1.  The  Pharisees  confessed 
 
 i 
 
 *  2  Sam,  vii. — - Ps.  lxxxix. — Ps.  ii. 
 
 lt9 
 
270 
 
 it,  when  they  were  silenced  by  our  LdiiO 
 applying  the  Psalm  to  himself;  Matt,  xxih 
 44^  2*  Peter  appealed  thereto,  as  incon¬ 
 
 trovertible  evidence,  in  his  Discourse,  on  the 
 day  of  Pentecost,  which  wrought  the  con¬ 
 version  of  2000  souls,  Acts  ii*  34,  and  3. 
 Paul ,  in  his  Address  to  the  Jewish  Converts, 
 Heb.  h  13,  and  x.  13;  and  also  to  the  Gen¬ 
 tiles,  1  Cor.  xv.  25.  And  4,  instead  of  the 
 present  reading  of  the  Chaldee  Paraphrase, 
 44  The  Lord  said  in  his  Oracle f 
 
 Galatinus  cites, — 44  to  Ids  Oracle ,”  (IT OD’Db) 
 
 *  *  * 
 
 conformably  to  the  Original,  44  to  the  lie- 
 
 44  gent ”  which  it  well  explains  ;  and 
 
 the  emendation  is  supported  by  respectable 
 
 Jewish  evidence  ;  the  author  of  Kahotsim , 
 
 reading  also,  5.  The  Midrash  Til - 
 
 lim  on  Ps.  ii.  7?  saith,  64  the  affairs  of  tiie 
 
 44  Messiah  are  set  forth  in  the  Hagiographa , 
 
 “in  these  words ,  Ps.  cx.  The  Lord  said, 
 
 44  &c”  And  on  Ps.  xviii.  36,  further  saith, 
 
 44  R.  Joden ,  in  the  name  of  R.  Cliama ,  said, 
 
 44  that  in  the  time  to  come ,  God  shall  set 
 
 44  King  ?y1essiaii  at  his  right  hand;”  as  it 
 
 is  written,  Ps.  cx.  44  The  Lord  said  unto 
 
 my  Lord ,  &c.'v  And  6.  R.  Obadiah  Gaon 
 
 5  not 
 
271 
 
 not  only  saith,  “  the  Psalmist  composed  the 
 44  Psalm  of  the  Messiah  but  adds,  that 
 God  further  said,  44  Sit  thou  at  my  right 
 44  hand ,  and  the  ministering  angels  at  my 
 46  left”  And  7-  R.  Saadias'Gaon ,  on  Dan. 
 vii.  13,  saith,  This  is  the  Messiah  our 
 Righteousness,  as  it  is  written 
 
 Ps.  cx.  The  Lord  said  to  my  Lord &c. 
 
 But  the  later  Rabbins— 
 
 /Etas  par  nit  um  ppjor  avis,  tulit 
 Jstos  nequiorts — 
 
 endeavouring  to  evade  its  force,  have  re¬ 
 course  to  their  grand  fastness,  the  double 
 sense  ;  and  variously  apply  it  to  Abraham 
 likewise,  as  R.  Joden ,  Solomon  Jar  chi,  and' 
 Liprnann  ;  or  to  Moses ,  as  Arama ;  or  to 
 David  himself,  as  David  Kimchi ,  and  Aben 
 Ezra  ;  or  to  Hezekiah  ;  or  to  ZorobabeT,  or 
 to  the  people  of  Israel ;  according  to  Justin 
 Martyr ,  Chrysostom ,  &c. — All  44  tossed  to 
 44  and  fro”  —  44  in  their  expositions,  like 
 44  drunken  men”  (^;  ol  peSvovrff  as  Chrysos - 
 tom  remarks. 
 
 % 
 
 PSALM 
 
“PSALM  CX. 
 
 A  Psalm  lor  the  Beloved. 
 
 1.  The  Lord  spake  unto  the  Regent: 
 
 “  Sit  thou  at  my  right  handy 
 “  Until  I  make  thine  enemieSy  a  stool 
 “for  thy  feet” 
 
 2.  The  Lord  shall  send  forth  the  scep¬ 
 
 tre  of  thy  might  from  Sion  : 
 
 Rule  thou  in  the  midst  of  thine  Ene¬ 
 mies. 
 
 3.  In  the  day  of  thy  power,  shall  thy 
 
 people  [offer] 
 
 Free-will  offerings,  in  the  beauties  of 
 
 holiness  : 
 
 From  the  womb,  before  the  morning- 
 star,  [was]  the  dew  of  thy  birth. 
 
 4.  The  Lord  sware,  and  He  will  not 
 
 repent ; 
 
 ,  £C  Thou  art  Priest  for  ever ,  according 
 “  to  the  order  of  MelchisedekT 
 
 5.  The  Lord  on  thy  right  hand,  in  the 
 
 day  of  his  wrath. 
 
 6.  Shall 
 
/ 
 
 27  3 
 
 0.  Shall  crush  Kings  ;  He  shall  judge 
 
 Among  the  Gentiles ;  He  shall  heap 
 up  the  carcases ; 
 
 He  shall  crush  the  Head  over  many 
 countries  : 
 
 7*  He  shall  drink  of  the  brook,  in  the 
 way ; 
 
 Therefore  shall  he  lift  up  his  head. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Aben  Ezra  observes  of  the  title  of  this 
 Psalm,  in’?  TlDTOj  that  “mV,  does  not  sig- 
 nify,  44  Of  David f  intimating  a  Psalm  of  his 
 composition,  (although  he  was  certainly  the 
 author,  Matt.xxii.43,)  but  that  it  was  penned 
 “for  David ”  or  in  honour  of  David ;  agree¬ 
 ably  to  the  Septuagint  rendering ;  YuXftog 
 to)  AauiSi ; — but  mi,  here,  as  in  several  other 
 places,  is  not  a  proper  name,  denoting  the 
 Psalmist  himself,  but  an  appellative,  signi¬ 
 fying  64  the  Beloved  a  usual  epithet  of  the 
 Messiah  ;  as  shewn  before. 
 
 Amidst  44  the  choice  of  difficulties”  fur¬ 
 nished  by  the  various  Translations  of  this 
 Psalm*  ancient  and  modern,  widely  differing 
 from  the  present  Hebrew  text,  and  from 
 
 T  each 
 
cm 
 
 each  other ;  the  venerable  translation  of  the 
 Septuagint,  being  sanctioned  by  so  many 
 references  thereto  in  the  New  Testament 
 though  not  to  be  implicitly  followed  through¬ 
 out,  yet  furnishes  a  safe  standard  of  inter¬ 
 pretation,  in  those  passages,  where  a  rational 
 or  consistent  sense,  can  scarcely  otherwise 
 be  extracted. 
 
 Verse  1.  The  Lord  spake  unto  the 
 
 ‘s  Regent/’ 
 
 For  reasons  assigned  before,  I  have  de¬ 
 parted  from  the  Septuagint  rendering  of, 
 tu  Kvgtco  66  unto  my  hovel;'  though 
 supported  by  several  citations  of  the  New 
 Testament,  and  by  all  the  versions,  (except 
 the  Chaldee,  which  seems  to  have  read, 
 u  unto  his  Regent 'IjTK1?)  ;  principally,  be¬ 
 cause,  in  the  parallel  passage,  Ps.  ii.  4,  the 
 same  term,  is  by  the  Septuagint  ren¬ 
 
 dered  o  j ivoiog,  followed  by  all  the  versions  ;• 
 justly  considering  the  lod  final,,  as  paragogic 
 or  redundant:  if  not  rather  a  mark  of  regi¬ 
 men  understood,  Adoni-Iahoh ,  66  Regent- 
 “  Lord,"  like  Melchi-Sedek ,  66  King  of 
 “  Righteousness." 
 
 Why. 
 
 U 
 
275 
 
 Why  the  Septuagint  adopted  a  different 
 rendering  in  this  case,  (considering  the  loci 
 final  as  the  first  personal  affix)  may  perhaps 
 have  arisen  from  a  wish  to  avoid  the  am¬ 
 biguous  repetition  of  o  uvgiog — tu  ;  occa¬ 
 
 sioned  by  their  not  attaching  appropriate 
 renderings  to  the  distinct  elementary  terms* 
 mn%  and  ;  to  which,  as  well  as  to  the 
 terms,  bft,  m1?^,  and  the  Septuagint, 
 
 almost  indiscriminately  apply  K ugtog  and 
 Gsog ;  by  a  mischievous  neglect  of  ascertain¬ 
 ing  the  precise  and  appropriate  significations 
 of  these  primitive  names  of  the  Deity,  so 
 admirably  and  philosophically  marked  and 
 distinguished  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  by 
 the  Inspired  Penmen  : — as  we  have  seen  in 
 the  foregoing  sixth  Dissertation* 
 
 But  why  then,  it  may  be  objected,  did 
 not  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists  rectify  such 
 ambiguous  and  incorrect  renderings  ?  why 
 did  they  sanction  such,  by  their  citations  ? 
 — -Does  not  our  Lord's  argument  seem  ra¬ 
 ther  to  establish  the  Septuagint  rendering  ? 
 — 66  If  David  then  call  him  (the  Mes- 
 “  s i ah)  Lord  ( 'Kugiov );  How  is  He  (the 
 “  Messiah)  his  Son?’  (t nog  uvtv)  where 
 
 t  2 
 
 gram- 
 
grammatical  analogy,  and  the  argument  it- 
 self*  seem  to  annex  66  his,9’  to  itvoiov, 
 
 44  Lord,"  as  well  as  to  vlog,  44  Son;’9  both 
 intimating  that  the  Messiah;  was  David's 
 Lord,  as  well  as  David’s  Son. — The  reason 
 may  be, 
 
 Because  our  Lord  and  his  Apostles,  in 
 their  arguments  with  the  Jews,  frequently 
 
 cite  the  established  Translations,  as  more 
 familiar  than  the  Hebrezv  Scriptures;  but 
 without  servilely  adhering  or  attaching  in- 
 
 %/  o  7  O 
 
 fallibilitji,  thereto:  Thus  our  Lord,  in  his 
 exclamation  on  the  Cross,  though  he  cited 
 the  three  first  terms,  Eli !  Eh  /  lama — from 
 the  original  of  Ls.  xxii.  1,  to  ascertain  his 
 reference  thereto,  concludes  with  the  Syriac 
 rendering  of  the  fourth, — Sabakthani.  And 
 in  like  manner,  though  Mark  adopts  the 
 Septuagint  translation  thereof,  o  Gsog  px  !  o 
 Geo;  ya  !  &c.  as  more  familiar  to  those  for 
 whose  use  ins  Gospel  was  designed  ;  yet 
 Matthew ,  to  avoid  the  ambiguity  of  the  no¬ 
 minative  case,  taken  vocative! v,  (according 
 to  the  common  usage  of  the  Septuagint) 
 more  skilfully  renders, — Gee  jux  !  Gee  px  !— « 
 thus  actually  expressing  the  vocative  case. 
 
 And 
 
<  { 
 
 27  7 
 
 And  so,  the  Apostle  to  the  Hebrezvs ,  in  his 
 formal  citation  of  Ps.  ex.  4,  adopts  the 
 Septuagint  rendering  of  the  phrase,  by, 
 
 Kara.  txxPiv-  u  according  to  the  order  f  Heb. 
 v.  6,  but  expresses  it  differently  afterwards, 
 in  explanation,  kmtm  tvjv  bg-oior^Ta.,  44  accord - 
 66  /o  i/i€  likeness /*  Heb.  vii.  1 5, — where 
 it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  Iod  final  in 
 Win  is  allowed  to  be  paragogic,  by  the 
 ablest  Jewish  and  Christian  grammarians, 
 David  Kimclii ,  Aim  Ezra,  Buxtorf \  See . 
 
 The  expression,  0£O,  being  solemn!}''  ap¬ 
 propriated  in  Scripture,  to  the  Lord,  or  to 
 his  Oracle,  the  Regent-Lord,  is  well 
 rendered  by  the  Septuagint,  authoritatively, 
 “  He  spake f 
 
 - - — 1 /7/om  at  my  right  hand , 
 
 “  Until  I  make  thine  enemies  a  stout  for  thy  feel.'* 
 
 In  the  second  Psalm,  the  Messiah  was 
 ordained  44  King  here,  the  stability  and 
 duration  of  his  dominion  are  illustrated.  And 
 this  passage  is  expressly  applied  by  our  Lord 
 to  himself,  in  his  signal  prediction,  at  his 
 trial,  Luke  xxii.  6y.  114  Henceforward ,  (avro 
 44  T’d  vw)  shall  tiie  Son  of  Man  be  sitting 
 
 t  3  44  at 
 
u  at  the.  'right  hand  of  the  power  of  God.  " 
 And  as  it  was  before  stated  to  have  com¬ 
 menced  on  the  day  of  his  resurrection ,  PsaL 
 ii.  7,  Rom.  i.  4,  Heb.  i.  3,  so  it  is  here 
 foretold,  to  continue  until  his  enemies  shall 
 he  subdued ;  as  understood  and  interpreted 
 by  St.  Paul : — [“  Christ]  himself,  having 
 44  offered  [only]  one  sacrifice  for  sins,  thence - 
 “forward,  (etg  to  vexes)  sat  at  the  right  hand 
 44  of  God  ;  afterwards  expecting,  until  his 
 “  enemies  he  made  a  stool  for  his  feet /’  Heb, 
 x.  12.  And  he  has  more  particularly  un¬ 
 folded  this  great  mystery,  in  his  discourse 
 on  the  Resurrection,  ]  Cor.  xv,  22-28.  — - 
 u  Even  so,  in  Christ,  shall  all  be  quick- 
 44  ened  ;  but  each  in  his  proper  rank :  The 
 44  first  fruits,  Christ  ;  next,  Christ’s 
 •c  [Elect,  Matt.  xxiv.  31]  at  his  appearance ; 
 44  then,  the  end,  when  He  shall  deliver  up 
 44  the  [fiduciary]  kingdom  to  the  God  and 
 4  4  Eat  her  [of  all]  ;  when  lie  shall  have 
 44  abolished  every  principality  and  every  au- 
 44  thority  and  power,  [adverse  to  God  and 
 $4  Christ]:  For  He  must  needs  reign, 
 44  until  he  shall  have  put  all  the  enemies  tin - 
 44  dev  his  feet (The  last  enemy  to  be  abo- 
 
 lished 
 
'279 
 
 **  lished  is  Death,  Rev.  xx.  14,)  for  [God] 
 44  subjected  all  things  under  his  feet .  (Rut 
 46  when  [Scripture]  saith,  that  all  are  sub - 
 <c  jected, — it  is  plainly  to  be  [understood] 
 a  with  the  exception  of  Him  [the  Fa- 
 44  tiier]  who  subjected  unto  Him  [the 
 
 Son]  the  universe.)  So,  when  the  Uni- 
 <c  verse  shall  be  subjected  to  Him  [the 
 5£  Son],  then  shall  also  the  Son  himself 
 “  become  subject  unto  Him  [the  Fa- 
 64  tiier],  who  did  subject  the  universe  to 
 46  Him  [the  Son];  to  the  end  that  God 
 54  [the  Father]  might  be  the  all  in 
 44  all.’5 
 
 This  most  abstruse  and  involved  passage, 
 (which  I  have  here  humbly  endeavoured  to 
 develope,  from  the  context  and  parallel  pas¬ 
 sages  of  Scripture  supplying  the  ellipses  ne¬ 
 cessary  to  complete  the  sense  and  remove 
 ambiguity)  seems  to  intimate  that  the  Media¬ 
 torial  reign  of  Jesus  Christ  is  graciously 
 designed,  by  a  long  course  of  preparation  and 
 discipline,  “  to  train  s many  sons  to  glory” 
 to  fit  and  qualify  all  ranks  of  rational  crea¬ 
 tures,  who  shall  be  found  worthy  to  be  ad¬ 
 mitted  to  the  inconceivable  honour  and  hap- 
 
 t  4  piness 
 
230 
 
 piness  of  becoming  the  immediate  subjects 
 of  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent,  Rev. 
 xix.  6,  and  so,  by  progressive  improvements 
 in  wisdom?  and  piety,  and  virtue,  draw  nearer 
 through  all  eternity  to  the  infinite  Source  of 
 all  goodness,  the  unattainable  Standard  of  all 
 perfection. — “  Oh!  the  depth  of  the  riches 
 “  and  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  ! — - 
 *6  How  unsearchable  his  judgments ,  and  un - 
 66  traceable  his  ways!’' — “  according  to  the 
 “  eternal  purpose ,  which  he  purposed  in 
 “Christ  Jesus  our  Lord:’'  —  “  that 
 “  God  might  be  glorifed  in  all ,  through 
 “  Jesus  Christ.” 
 
 Verse  2.  “  The  Lord  shall  scud  forth  the  Sceptre  of 
 “  thy  might 
 
 “  From  Sion :  Ride  thou  in  the  midst  of 
 thine  enemies .” 
 
 This  accords  with  the  Messiah's  decla¬ 
 ration 
 
 Ps.  ii.  t).  i(  N  evertheless,  I  was  ordained  King— 
 
 “  On  Sion  my  holy  mount.” 
 
 pore  fully  explained  by  Isa.  ii.  3. 
 
 “  For  out  of  Sion  shall  go  forth  the  Law, 
 
 U  And  the  Oracle  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem ; 
 
 U  And 
 
 <  T 
 
281 
 
 <£  And  He  shall  judge  among  the  Gentiles > 
 
 ({  And  shall  rebuke  many  peoples” 
 
 and  Ps.  ii.  9-  “  Thou  shalt  rule  them  with 
 “  an  iron  Sceptre ? 
 
 Verse  3.  “  In  the  day  of  thy  power ,  [shall']  thy  people 
 “  [offer] 
 
 “  Free-will  offerings ,  in  the  beauties  of  Ho¬ 
 liness” 
 
 As  the  Psalmist,  in  the  foregoing  verse,  had 
 
 7  O  O  J 
 
 ibretold  the  signal  chastisement  of  our  Lord's 
 foes,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles ;  so  here,  in 
 the  spirit  of  prophecy,  he  appears  to  describe 
 the  devout  zeal  of  “  his  ( chosen )  people f 
 of  all  nations  and  kindreds  and  languages, 
 flowing  to  the  House  of  the  Lord"  in 
 Jerusalem ,  in  “  the  last  days,”  (or  establish- 
 ment  of  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  Earth, 
 under  his  regent  or  vice-gerent,  the  Mes¬ 
 siah)  and  there,  offering  their  free-  will  of¬ 
 ferings,  in  his  splendid  and  magnificent 
 shrines. — This  seems  to  be  a  more  rational 
 and  consistent  interpretation  of  this  most 
 abstruse  and  difficult  passage,  than  I  have 
 hitherto  seen  ;  by  only  supplying  the  ellipsis 
 pf  the  verb  understood,  and  suggested  by 
 
 the 
 
2m 
 
 the  context,  “  shall  offer  ” — That  the  ori¬ 
 ginal  term,  should  be  rendered,  “  thy 
 
 “  people  f  (and  not  64  with  iheef  as  the  Sep- 
 tuagint,  by  a  different  punctuation,  render 
 it)  may  be  justified  by  the  other  versions* 
 and  most  of  the  modern  translations ;  and 
 also  by  a  similar  phraseology  :  Judg.  v.  15 
 2  Chron.  xvii.  1.6,  where,  44  the  people  wil- 
 lingly  offered  themselves f  or  volunteered, 
 to  fie: lit  the  battles  of  the  Lord . — And  44  the 
 44  beauties  of  Holiness f  (or,  as  it  may  be 
 rendered  from  the  Septuagint,  44  the  beauties 
 i4  of  the  Sanctuary  f )  corresponds  to  the 
 sense  in  which  the  same  phrase  is  elsewhere 
 understood,  of  the  splendour  and  magnifi¬ 
 cence  of  the  Temple,  to  be  built  in  those 
 auspicious  days  :  Ps.  xcvi.  1-10. 
 
 i(  O  sing  unto  the  Lord,  a  new  song, 
 
 “  Sing  unto  the  Loud.,  all  the  Earth.— 
 f<r  Declare  his  glory  among  the  Gentiles, 
 c<  His  wonders,  among  all  peoples : — - 
 “  Honour  and  majesty  are  before  Him, 
 
 (i  Strength  and  beauty  are  in  his  Sanctuary  : 
 
 t(  Give  unto  the  Lord,  O  ye  kindreds  of  the  people 
 
 <c  Give  unto  the  Lord,  glory  and  strength  ; 
 
 Give  unto  the  Lord,  the  glory  due  to  his  name; 
 
 **  Br  ing  an  offering ,  and  come  into  his  Courts : 
 i£  0  worship  the  Lord,  in  the  beauty  of  Holiness p 
 Sec. 
 
283 
 
 Or  according  to  the  marginal  reading,  “  in 
 “  the  glorious  Sanctuary And  the  Psalms 
 and  Prophets,  indeed,  abound  in  magnificent 
 descriptions  of  the  prevalence  of  such  de¬ 
 votion  : 
 
 “  The  Kings  of  Tharshish  and  of  the  Isles*  shall  bring 
 “  presents, 
 
 C(  The  Kings  of  Sheba  and  Saba  shall  offer  gifts: 
 
 “  Yea,  all  Kings  shall  fall  down  before  Him, 
 
 All  nations  shall  do  him  service.” — Ps.  lxxii.  10. 
 
 “  For  thy  Temples  sake  at  Jerusalem , 
 
 So  shall  Kings  bring  presents  unto  thee.” — Ps.  lxix.  Cp. 
 (C  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  in  the  last  days , 
 
 That  the  Mount  of  the  Lord's  House  shall  be  esta- 
 “  blished 
 
 cc  On  the  top  of  the  Mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted 
 cc  Above  the  Hills :  And  all  the  Gentiles  shall  flow 
 “  unto  it. 
 
 ^  And  many  peoples  shall  go  thither  and  say, 
 
 <r  Come,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  Mount  of  the  Lord, 
 To  the  House  of  the  God  of  Jacob  ; 
 
 “  And  He  will  teach  us  concerning  his  ways, 
 
 (<  And  we  will  walk  in  his  paths.” — Isa.  ii.  2. 
 
 And  most  remarkable  and  explicit  is  the  tes¬ 
 timony  of  Tobit ,  xiv.  4.  “  I  surely  believe 
 **  — that  our  Brethren  [the  Jews ]  shall  lie 
 u  scattered  throughout  the  Earth,  from  that 
 *6  good  land  ;  (Levit.  xxvi.  3.  JDeut.  xxviii. 
 
 “  36.) 
 
284 
 
 **  36.)  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  desolate, 
 c*  (2  Kings  xxiv.  14,)  and  the  House  of  God  in 
 if  it  shall  be  burned,  and  shall  be  desolate 
 64  for  a  time,  (2  Kings  xxv.  9-21) : — And 
 that  God  will  have  mercy  on  them  again, 
 “  and  bring  them  again  into  the  land  ;  (Ezra 
 e'6  i.  3,  and  ii.  1,)  where  they  shall  build  a 
 Temple ,  (Ezra  vL  14,)  (but  not  like  the 
 “  first)  (Ezra  iii.  12,  Haggai  ii.  3,)  until 
 “  the  time  of  that  age  be  fulfilled  (Dan.  viii. 
 “  13,  and  ix.  26,  Matt.  xxiv.  15)  ; — And 
 “  afterwards  they  shall  return  from  all  places 
 “  of  their  captivity  (Deut.  xxx.  1-3),  and 
 shall  build  pp  Jerusalem  gloriously ,  and  the 
 u  House  of  God  shall  be  built  in  it  for  ever, 
 6C  with  a  glorious  building ,  (as  the  prophets 
 have  spoken,  2  Sam.  vii.  13,  Iiaggai  ii.  9? 
 w  Zechar.  vi.  13.)  And  all  the  Gentiles 
 shall  turn,  and  fear  the  Lord,  and  shall 
 tc  bury  their  idols  (Ps.  xevi.  5,  &c.) ;  so  shall 
 66  all  the  Gentiles  praise  the  Lord,  and 
 “  his  people  shall  confess  God  :  And  the 
 £C  Lord  shall  exalt  his  people,  and  all  those 
 cc  that  love  the  Lord  God  in  truth  and  jus- 
 64  tice  shall  rejoice,  shewing  mercy  unto  our 
 v  brethren.” 
 
 / 
 
 And 
 
285 
 
 And  in  the  first  fruits  of  the  Christian 
 Church,  have  we  not  a  sample  of  such 
 44 free-will  offerings f  and  a  pledge  of  their 
 recurrence,  in  the  fulness  of  prophetic  time, 
 at  the  regeneration,  in  the  magnificent  of¬ 
 ferings  of  64  Gold ,  Frankincense ,  and  Myrrhff 
 offered  by  the  pious  Magi  C4  out  of  their 
 44  treasures,”  to  the  holy  Child  Jesus;  Matt, 
 ii.  11,  and  in  the  voluntary  offering  of  the 
 first  Jewish  converts,  who  44  sold  their  pas- 
 44  sessions  and  lands ff  for  the  benefit  of  the 
 community,  and  44  laid  the  money  at  the 
 “  Apostles’  feet?"’  Acts  ii.  45,  and  iv.  34. 
 
 Verse  3.  “  From  the  womb,  before  the  morning-star, 
 “  [was]  the  dew  of  thy  birth.” 
 
 Not  being  able  to  extract  any  rational  or 
 consistent  sense  from  the  various  guesses  on 
 this  passage,  I  have  closely  followed  the  Sep- 
 tuagint  version  ;  conjecturing,  but  with  dif¬ 
 fidence,  that  it  intimates  the  eternal  gene¬ 
 ration  of  the  Messiah;  conformably  to 
 the  account  of  the  primeeval  birth  of  Wis¬ 
 dom  personified.  Prov.  viii.  22. 
 
 v<r  The  Lord  got  me,  the  beginning  of  his  wav, 
 
 *f  Before  his  zeorks  of  old 
 “  From  eternity  zeas  I  ordained &c. 
 
 And 
 
28  6 
 
 i\nd  to  Micah’s  famous  prophecy,  v.  2?} 
 
 ■ - Whose  issuings  forth  were  from  old \ 
 
 «  From  days  of  eternity” 
 
 44  The  womb  ”  therefore,  in  this  passage* 
 may  denote  64  the  womb  of  Time/'  or  Eter¬ 
 nity,  as  warranted  by  the  analogy  of  Pro¬ 
 verb.  xxvii.  1. 
 
 (£  Boast  not  thyself  of  ^-morrow  ; 
 
 “  For  thou  knottiest  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth” 
 
 And  Jesus  Christ  styles  himself,  44  the 
 54  bright  and  morning  Star  f  of  whom  the 
 planet  was  no  more  than  a  faint  resemblance. 
 Rev.  xxii.  1 6.  For  He  was  44  the  day-spring 
 “  from  on  high;  who,  through  the  tender 
 44  mercy  of  our  God,  visited  us.”  Luke  i. 
 ?8. — 44  The  dew  of  whose  birth f  refreshed 
 the  Creation  of  old,  and  will  again,  when 
 44  seasons  of  refreshing  shall  come  from  the 
 44  Lord?  Acts  iii.  19,  when 
 
 “  His  doctrine  shall  drop  as  the  rain, 
 
 “  His  speech  shall  distil  as  the  dew ; 
 
 “  As  the  small  rain  upon  the  tender  herb, 
 
 “  And  as  the  showers  upon  the  grass.” — Dent,  xxxii.  2* 
 
 Verse 
 
287 
 
 Verse  4.  "The  Lord  sware,  and  He  will  not  repent ; 
 
 “  Thou  art  Priest  for  ever,  according  to  the. 
 “  order  of  Melchisedek 
 
 The  Apostle  to  the  Hebrews ,  in  his  pro- 
 found  and  elaborate  argument  on  this  pas¬ 
 sage,  has  stated  the  great  superiority  of  our 
 Lord’s  priesthood  over  the  Levitical ,  as  to 
 several  particulars.  1. — His  divine  nature  ; 
 not  being  a  mere  man,  but  the  Son  of 
 God.  2.- — -More  solemn  consecration,  by 
 Oath.  3.  —  Higher  rank ;  as  invested 
 with  a  royal  and  perpetual  priesthood.  4. — 
 A  more  glorious  tabernacle,  not  an  earthly 
 but  a  heavenly.  5. — A  more  efficacious 
 atonement,  by  his  all-sufficient  sacrifice  of 
 himself;  and  6.— A  better  covenant  of  spi¬ 
 ritual  blessings,  by  his  continual  mediation 
 and  intercession  for  us  before  the  throne 
 of  Grace:  — as  sketched  in  the  following 
 outline  : 
 
 ].  66  Holy  Brethren,  partakers  of  a  hea- 
 “  venly  call,  consider  the  Apostle  and  High 
 “  Priest  of  our  profession,  Christ  Jesus. 
 iii.  1.  Or,  attend  to  his  transcendant  rank, 
 as  the  Shiloh ,  (or  66  Apostle” )  of  ancient 
 prophecy,  Gen,  xlix.  11,  “  Sent ”  or  com- 
 5  missioned 
 
288 
 
 t  1  m 
 
 missioned  to  teach  or  instruct ;  and  46  the 
 44  High  Priest /’  ordained  or  consecrated  to 
 offer  atonement  for  the  sins  of  his  People * 
 Ps.  cx.  4,  where  the  Targiims ,  or  Chaldee 
 Paraphrases,  render  the  original*  Cohen  * 
 44  Priest *”  by  Rabbet ,  or  Cohen  Rabba ,  44  The 
 44  Great  Priest applying  it  by  way  of 
 eminence  to  the  Messiah.  Compare  the 
 Targums  on  Gen.  xli.  45,  Exod.  in  16k 
 44  Having  therefore' a  Great  High  Priest , 
 44  who  is  passed  through  the  Heavens,  Jesus 
 44  the  Son  of  God,  let  us  adhere  to  our 
 44  profession  :  [without  wavering]"’ — iv.  14. 
 
 44  For  we  have  a  High  Priest ,  by  no  means 
 44  unable  to  sympathise  with  our  infirmities* 
 44  but  tried  [by  sufferings]  in  all  respects, 
 44  like  ourselves  ;  yet  without  sin  iv.  15.— 
 64  For  such  a  High  Priest  was  befitting  us  ; 
 46  Holy,  Harmless,  Undefiled,  Detached 
 44  from  Sinners,  and  becoming  higher  than 
 44  the  Heavens” — vib  2(h 
 
 2.  44  And  [as]  no  one  assumeth  to  himself 
 44  the  honour  [of  the  priesthood]  unless  He 
 44  that  is  called  by  God  ;  lik o  Aaron  himself] 
 44  [and  his  posterity]:  So  Christ  also,  did 
 44  not  glorify  himself  to  be  made  High  Priest^ 
 
 44  but 
 
m 
 
 44  but  (Got)),  who  spake  unto  him :  4  ThoU 
 44  art  my  Son ,  this  day  have  I  begotten  Thee:’ 
 44  as  likewise  elsewhere  He  saith :  4  Thou 
 64  art  a  Priest  far  ever ,  according  to  the  Or* 
 44  der  of  Melchisedek.”  v.  4-6. 
 
 44  In  which  case  [namely,  the  promise 
 44  made  to  Abraham  and  his  seed,  vh  13,  14] 
 44  God  being  willing  to  shew  more  aburn* 
 44  dantly  unto  the  heirs  of  the  promise,  the 
 *  immutability  of  his  counsel,  did  interpose 
 44  by  oath :  In  order  that  by  two  immutable 
 44  acts,  in  which  it  is  impossible  that  God 
 44  should  [4  repent’  or]  lie,  [namely,  his  pro* 
 44  mise  and  his  oatli]  we  might  have  a  power- 
 ^4  ful  inducement,  to  adhere  to  the  proposed 
 4,4  hope  [of  salvation];  which,  having  recourse 
 44  to,  wre  hold,  as  an  anchor,  of  the  soul ,  both 
 44  secure  and  steadfast,  and  even  stationed 
 44  within  the  inside  of  the  [heavenly]  vail : 
 44  whither  a  forerunner  for  us  entered,J  esus  ; 
 44  who  is  become  High  Priest  for  ever ,  ac - 
 44  cording  to  the  Order  of  Melchisedek  ”  vi, 
 17,  20. 
 
 44  For  the  [Lcvitical^  priests  were  made, 
 ^  without  swearing,  but  Christ,  with  swear- 
 44  ing,  by  [God],  saying  unto  him :  4  The 
 
 U  44  Lord 
 
£90 
 
 44  Lord  marc?  and  He  will  not  repent ;  Thm 
 44  art  Priest  for  ever ,  according  to  the  Order 
 44  of  Melchisedek:  Inasmuch  then,  as  J  i> 
 44  sus  [was  made  Priest]  not  without  swear- 
 44  ingv  by  so  much  was  he  made  surety  of  a 
 44  better  covenant/’  vii.  £0,  22* 
 
 3.  For  this  Melchisedek  ( 6  King  of  Salem , 
 44  Priest  of  the  most  high  God?  who  met 
 44  Abraham  returning  from  the  defeat  of  the 
 44  Kings,  and  blessed  him ;  to  whom'  also,, 
 44  Abraham  paid  the  tenth  of  all  [the  spoils5]) 
 44  being  first,  by  interpretation  [of  the  name 
 4 4  Melchisedek ]  4  King  q  f  Righteousness?  and 
 44  next  (King  of  Salem?  that  is);  6  King  of 
 44  Peace,’  [but  who  is  unnoticed  any  further 
 44  in  Scripture,  as  to  the  leading  eircum- 
 44  stances  of  his  parentage ,  genealogy ,  birth , 
 4C  death ,  &c.  namely],  without  father,. without 
 44  mother, without  genealogy,  having  neither 
 44  beginning  of  |  his]  days,  nor  end  of  [his] 
 44  life,  [recorded];  but  being  resembled  by 
 44  the  Son  oe  God,  remaineth  Priest  per- 
 44  petually,  [without  any  mention  of  a  suc-> 
 cessor  to  ins  royal  priesthood?  inScripture/’J 
 44  Now  observe  how  great  a  person  this 
 n  was,  to  whom  even  Abraham?  the  Patri- 
 
 4-4  arch,, 
 
291 
 
 il  arch,  gave  the  tenth  of  the  spoils:  And 
 *4  indeed,  of  the  sons  of  Levi ,  they  who  re- 
 u  ceive  the  priesthood,  have  appointment, 
 44  according  to  the  ( Levitical )  law,  to  tythe 
 41  the  people ,  (that  is,  their  own  brethren,) 
 44  although  sprung  from  the  loins  of  Abra~ 
 u  ham  [their  common  ancestor]  :  but  He, 
 44  although  not  of  their  genealogy,  [but  a 
 £4  Canaanite]  tythed  Abraham  [himself]: 
 66  And  without  any  contradiction,  the  less  is 
 44  blessed  by  the  better;  [but  Abraham  was 
 x'4  blessed,  solemnly,  by  Melchisedek.”]  vii. 
 
 i| 
 
 i,  ( . 
 
 44  If  then  there  had  been  perfection  [or 
 44  complete  salvation]  through  the  [ Levitical ] 
 44  priesthood ,  (during  which,  the  law  was 
 u  enacted  for  the  people,)  what  further  need, 
 44  that  another  priest  should  arise,  to  be 
 u  called,  according  to  the  Order  of  Melchi - 
 44  sedek9  and  not  according  to  the  order  of 
 %i  Aaron?  For  the  priesthood  being  trans- 
 44  ferred,  of  necessity,  there  resulteth  also 
 M  a  transfer  of  the  law:  For  He  (Christ) 
 concerning  whom  this  is  said,  pertained  to 
 44  another  tribe,  of  which  no  one  hath  at- 
 44  tended  the  altar  [as  priest]  :  (For  it  is  evi- 
 
 u  2  44  dent 
 
292 
 
 “  dent  that  our  Lord  sprang  from  Judah r 
 “  of  which  tribe,  Moses  said  nothing  about 
 “priesthood.”)  vii.  11-14. 
 
 “  And  this  is  still  more  abundantly  mani- 
 “  fest,  since  another  priest  is  arisen,  accord - 
 “  ing  to  the  likeness  of  Melehisedek ,  who  is 
 “  become  [such]  not  according  to  the  law  of> 
 “  carnal  appointment,  but  according  to  the 
 “  power  of  indissoluble  life :  for  [Scripture} 
 “  testifieth,  Thou  art  Priest  for  every  ac- 
 “  cording  to  the  Order  of  Melehisedek .  Lor 
 “  indeed  there  resulteth  an  abolition  of  the 
 tfc  foregoing  appointment,  on  account  of  its 
 “  insufficiency  and  unprofitableness  [to  salva- 
 “  tion] :  Lor  the  law  perfected  nothing,  but 
 “  the  further  introduction  of  a  better  hope 
 “  [did],  through  which  we  draw  nigh  unto 
 “  Cod/1  vii.  1,5-19* 
 
 “  And  indeed,  of  the  [Levitical]  priests, 
 “  there  are  several  [in  succession]  ;  their 
 “  continuance  in  office  being  prevented  by 
 “  death  ;  but  He  [Christ],  on  account  of 
 “  his  abiding  for  ever,  hath  an  unfailing 
 “  priesthood  :  whence,  He  is  able  to  save 
 44  even  to  the  uttermost,  those  who  come 
 
 “  unto 
 
m 
 
 *4  unto  God  through  him  ;  ever  living  to 
 44  intercede  for  them/’  vii.  23-25. 
 
 4,  5.  “  Such  a  high  priest  have  we,  who 
 “  sat  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the 
 44  majesty  in  the  Heavens ;  [as]  an  officiating 
 41  minister  of  the  [heavenly]  sanctuary,  and 
 44  of  the  true  tabernacle,  which  the  Lord 
 44  pitched  and  not  man/’  viii.  1-2.  44  The 
 
 44  first  tabernacle  indeed  had  liturgical  ordi- 
 44  nances  and  a  worldly  sanctuary:  For  there 
 44  was  prepared  the  first  tabernacle — which 
 46  is  called  Holy;  but  beyond  the  second 
 44  vail,  that  which  is  called  Holy  of  Holies 
 44  [or  the  sanctuary.] — Into  the  first  taber- 
 44  nacle  constantly  enter  the  priests,  dis- 
 44  charging  the  liturgical  services  ;  but  into 
 44  the  second,  once  *  a  year,  only  the  high 
 44  priest,  not  without  blood,  which  he  of- 
 44  fered  for  his  own  and  the  people's  igno- 
 44  ranees :  the  Holy  Spirit  thus  intimating 
 44  that  the  way  of  the  [heavenly]  sanctuary 
 
 *  The  high  priest  entered  into  the  Holy  of  Holies 
 u  within  the  vail’’ — only  one  day  in  the  year  (namely,  the 
 great  day  of  atonement) ;  twice  to  make  atonement  for 
 himself  and  his  household,  Levit.  xvi.  11-14,  and  a  third 
 time— for  the  whole  congregation  of  Israel,  xvi.  15. 
 
 u  3 
 
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 r  \  '  • 
 
 was  not  yet  disclosed,  while  the  first  ta¬ 
 bernacle  was  still  standing :  which  figura¬ 
 tive  representation  is  designed  for  the  pre¬ 
 sent  season  ;  during  which  are  offered  gifts 
 and  sacrifices,  incapable  of  perfecting  the 
 officiating  minister,  [and  the  worshippers] 
 according  to  conscience ;  consisting  only 
 in  [particular]  meats  and  drinks,  and  sun¬ 
 dry  ablutions,  and  carnal  ordinances,  [to 
 be  performed  by  the  priests ,  Levites ,  and 
 people ,]  imposed  on  them  until  the  season 
 of  reformation.  But  Christ  having  gone 
 thither,  a  high  priest  of  future  blessings, 
 through  the  greater  and  more  perfect  ta¬ 
 bernacle,  not  made  with  hands,  that  is  to 
 
 <  .  i  »  i  •  i  1  f 
 
 say,  not  of  this  [worldly]  building;  en¬ 
 tered —  not  by  the  blood  of  goats  and 
 calves,  but  by  his  own  blood — into  the 
 [heavenly]  sanctuary,  once  for  all ;  having 
 procured  eternal  redemption :  For,  if  the 
 blood  of  bulls  and  goats,  and  ashes  of  a 
 heifer,  sprinkling  the  impure,  sanctifieth 
 to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh ;  how  much 
 
 .  .  ,  ,  !  '  ;  •  •  ,  ■  '  '  -  t  ’  •  1  j 
 
 more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who, 
 
 ;  •  -  f  \  \  .  ,  t  \ 
 
 through  the  eternal  Spirit,  offered 
 himself  blameless  unto  God,  purify  your 
 
 66 
 
 con- 
 
**  conscience  from  dead  works,  [enabling. 
 *4  you]  to  serve  the  living  Gox>  ix»  1-14. 
 
 6.  44  And  for  this  cause,  He  is  Mediator 
 **  of  a  New  Covenant ,  that  on  account  of 
 44  [his]  death,  which  happened  for  the  re- 
 44  mission  of  the  transgressions  [committed] 
 44  during  the  first  covenant ;  they  who  are 
 44  called  might  receive  the  promise  of  the 
 44  eternal  inheritance  :w  —  ix.  15.  44  For 
 
 44  Christ  did  not  enter  into  the  sanctuary 
 44  made  with  hands,  (which  is  an  antitype  of 
 44  the  true,)  but  into  heaven  itself,  now  to 
 44  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us, 
 44  Nor  [was  it  intended]  that  He  should  of- 
 44  tentimes  -offer  himself  [a  sacrifice],  like 
 44  the  high  priest,  who  entered  into  the  sanc- 
 44  tuarv  every  year,  with  others  blood ;  (in- 
 44  asmuch  as  he  must  then  oftentimes  have 
 *4  needs  suffered,  since  the  foundation  of  the 
 44  world),  but  now,  once,  in  the  consumma- 
 44  tion  pf  the  ages,  hath  he  been  manifested, 
 *4  to  procure  abolition  of  sin,  through  the  sa- 
 *4  crifice  of  himself  And  inasmuch  as  it  is 
 44  allotted  to  men  once  to  die,  and  after- 
 44  wards  [succeeds]  the  judgment ;  so  Christ 
 also,  having  been  once  offered  to  bear 
 
 u  4  44  away 
 
296 
 
 u  away  the  sins  of  many  ;  will,  a  second  time , 
 u  be  seen,  without  a  sin-offering,  by  those 
 64  who  thenceforth  expect  him  unto  salva- 
 44  tionA  ix.  24-28. 
 
 Here  is  a  most  signal  and  unequivocal  at¬ 
 testation  to  the  second  advent  of  Christ, 
 according  to  his  own  prediction,  Matt,  xxiii. 
 39?  and  xxiv,  30,31  ;  and  xxvi.  64,  the  con¬ 
 founding  of  which,  with  his  final  coming  to  the 
 general  judgement,  at  the  end  of  the  world, 
 seems  to  be  one  of  the  most  dangerous  errors 
 of  the  present  age,  because  the  most  pre¬ 
 valent, 
 
 An  authentic  evidence  of  this  expectation 
 in  the  primitive  Jewish  Church,  subsists, 
 1  Macc.  xiv,  41,  in  the  provisional  grant  of 
 the  high  priesthood  to  the  Asamonian  fa¬ 
 mily,  B.  C.  141,  when  —  **  the  Jews  and 
 44  priests  were  well  pleased,  that  Simon  should 
 44  be  their  governor  and  high  priest  for  ever ; 
 46  until  there  should  arise  a  faithful  prophet  A 
 —-And  their  decree  on  this  occasion,  was 
 44  commanded  to  be  xvritten  on  tables  of  brass, 
 u  and  set  up  in  a  conspicuous  place ,  within 
 i(  the  sanctuary f  for  the  benefit  of  posterity: 
 whence  perhaps  it  may  not  unreasonably  be 
 
 con-t 
 
m 
 
 conjectured,  that  the  apostle,  before  he  ffn- 
 dertook  to  delineate  the  nature  of  our  ^Lord’s 
 priesthood ,  in  the  first  branch  of  the  pre¬ 
 ceding  argument,  was  solicitous  to  evince  his 
 resemblance  and  his  superiority  to  Moses 
 also,  as  a  44  faithful  prophet /’  — 44  Being 
 44 faithful  to  Him  (God)  who  appointed  him 
 44  [ apostle  and  high  priest],  as  was  also  4  Mo~ 
 44  ses  in  all  his  household /  Numb.  xii.  7, — 
 both  in  his  44  apostleship  (or  prophetic  of - 
 “fee)  doing  and  speaking,  as  his  Father 
 f‘  had  given  commission,  (John  xii.  49,  and 
 44  xiv.  10) — and  also  in  his  priestly  office, 
 44  laying  down  his  life  for  the  sheep,  and  re-\ 
 44  suming  it  again,  according  to  the  cornmis - 
 44  sion  he  had  received  from  his  Father 9 
 * — (John  x.  15,  1 8.) 
 
 44  For  this  (personage)  is  dignified  with 
 44  more  glory  than  Moses ,  inasmuch  as  He 
 44  that  .ordereth  the  household,  hath  more 
 44  hond|ir  than  the  household:  (For  every 
 144  household  is  ordered  by  some  one)  but 
 44  He  [the  Son]  that  ordereth  the  universe, 
 54  is  Gop  *,  And  Moses ,  indeed,  was  faith- 
 
 44  ful 
 
 *  This  is  a  roost  unequivocal  testimony  of  the  G  o  d- 
 VfEAD  of  Christ,  for  the  tenor  of  tfye  argument  refers 
 
 to 
 
298 
 
 “  ful  in  all  his  household,  as  a  servant ,  for 
 a  testimony  of  the  oracles  to  be  afterwards 
 “  spoken:  But  Christ  as  a  Son,  [ap- 
 “  pointed]  over  his  [Father’s]  household; 
 “  whose  household  we  are,  provided  we 
 “  maintain  the  free  profession  [of  our  faith] 
 66  and  the  exultation  of  our  hope,  firmly  to 
 the  end/’  in*  3-6. 
 
 Verse  5,  6.  The  Lord,  on  thy  right  hand ,  in  the 
 
 “  day  of  his  wrath, 
 
 “  Shall  crush  Kings ;  he  shall  judge 
 “  Among  the  Gentiles ;  He  shall  heap  up 
 “  the  carcases, 
 
 “  He  shall  crush  the  Head  over  many 
 “  countries ” 
 
 This  is  nearly  a  repetition  of  the  exem¬ 
 plary  vengeance  to  be  inflicted  on  the  ad¬ 
 versaries  of  the  Lord  and  of  his  Mes¬ 
 siah,  before  the  regeneration  in  the  pro¬ 
 phecies  heretofore  explained ;  where,  in  the, 
 verb,  PT,  “  He  shall  judge,’’  we  have  an 
 additional  and  apposite  instance  of  the  radi¬ 
 cal  meaning  and  derivation  of  the  term, 
 
 to  the  term  “  God”  (Ssos)  to  .him,  as  a  proof  of  his  infi¬ 
 nite  superiority  above  Moses.  Compare  Rom.  i$.  5 . 
 Col.  i.  lG.  John  i.  1,  2. 
 
 “  j Regent^* 
 
299 
 
 Regent”  as  &  judge  or  arbiter ,  under  thr 
 Supreme  Lord,  (John  v.  22)  who  is  here 
 represented,  as  closely  supporting  him  by 
 his  Almighty  aid  and  protection.  And  per^ 
 haps,  “  the  Head  over  mapy  countries  ”  may 
 denote  the  grand  adversary  of  God  and 
 man,  “  the  Old  Serpent ,  the  Devil  and 
 “  Satan  ”  whose  “  head ”  was  threatened  to 
 be  “  crushed”  in  the  fulness  of  prophetic 
 time,  by  the  blessed  Seed  of  the  Woman, 
 immediately  after  the  fall. — And  with  which, 
 the  Septuagint  rendering,  cyvOX/tpet,  “  shall 
 f4  crush  ”  so  well  accords. 
 
 i 
 
 Yerse  7.  “  He  shall  drink  of  the  brook  in  the  way ; 
 
 •  4 
 
 “  Therefore  shall  he  lift  up  his  head.” 
 
 Among  the  various  and  discordant  con¬ 
 jectures  about  the  meaning  of  this  figurative 
 passage,  by  which  the  commentators  have 
 puzzled  themselves  and  their  readers,  I  shall 
 adhere  to  the  commonly-received  interpre¬ 
 tation  of  Patrick ,  &c.  That  before  all  these 
 glories  and  triumphs,  the  Messiah  was 
 destined  to  undergo  a  state  of  the  lowest 
 humiliation,  to  live  on  a  precarious  and 
 scanty  diet;  as  did  the  prophet  Elijah ,  in 
 
 his 
 
300 
 
 his  wanderings  and  flights  from  Jezebel ; 
 who  was  providentially  fed  with  bread,  and 
 "  drank  of  the  brook f  in  his  hiding-place. 
 1  Kings  xvii.  6.  And  accordingly  our  Lord 
 pathetically  observed,  “  The  foxes  have  holes9 
 “  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests ;  but 
 <c  tiie  Son  of  Man  hath  not  zchere  to  lay 
 “  his  head  T  Luke  ix.  58.  For  —  “  He 
 humbled  himself  becoming  obedient  unto 
 “  death ,  even  death  by  crucifixion :  zvhere - 
 “  fore  God  also  transcendent ly  exalted  him , 
 (v7rspvijj£d(r£)  and  bestowed  on  him  tiie 
 u  name  above  every  namef  &c.  Phil.  ii.  8. 
 
 JIe  THAT  HUMBLETH  HIMSELF  SHALL  BE  EXALTED, 
 
301 
 
 DISSERTATION  IX. 
 
 ON  PSALM  XLV. 
 
 T  he  Forty-fifth  Psalm  may  be  con¬ 
 sidered  as  the  sequel  of  the  foregoing  chain 
 of  Prophecies,  further  illustrating,  unfolding, 
 and  completing  the  description  of  the  august 
 and  divine  character  of  the  Messiah: — 
 as  of  consummate  Grace  and  perfect  Beauty ; 
 exercising  the  most  tremendous  vengeance 
 on  his  enemies,  and  striking  terror  into  all 
 his  foes ;  reigning  triumphant  for  ever  with 
 delegated  sway,  as  God,  and  King  of 
 Righteousness;  surrounded  with  glory 
 and  maj es ty ;  h is  Spo use  t  h e  C h u  r  c  h , 
 most  splendidly  adorned,  and  highly  fa¬ 
 voured,  for  her  beauty  and  devout  submis¬ 
 sion  ;  and  his  Sons,  the  eminently  righteous, 
 reigning  as  Kings  and  Priests  throughout  the 
 ■world,  under  his  auspices,  and  propagating 
 his  praise  for  evermore* 
 
 Several 
 
501 
 
 Several  injudicious  partizans  of  the  Lite ~ 
 ral  Scheme  of  Prophecy — Grotius ,  Patrick , 
 &c.  injuring  the  sublime  and  beautiful  alle¬ 
 gory,  which  pervades  this  enchanting  com¬ 
 position,  consider  it  chiefly,  if  not  solely* 
 as  an  Epithalamium ,  written  on  Solomon's 
 marriage  with  the  King  of  Egypt's  daugh¬ 
 ter  ;  and  the  chaster  groundwork  of  that 
 luxuriant  composition,  the  Canticles *  But 
 the  concurrent  and  unanimous  testimony 
 of  the  primitive  Jewish  and  Christian 
 Churches,  appropriates  it  to  “  a  greater  than 
 “  Solomon ’ — to  the  Messiah,  or  Jesus 
 Christ. — Most  express  indeed  is  the  testi¬ 
 mony  of  the  Chaldee  Paraphrase  : — “  Thy 
 “  beauty ,  O  King  Messiah,  aboundeth 
 “  above  the  sons  of  man  :  the  spirit  of  pro - 
 “  phecy  is  stationed  on  thy  lips' — which  is 
 adopted  by  David  Ki?nchi9  Abraham  Ben 
 Ezra ,  and  Solomon  Jarchi ,  the  three  ablest 
 of  the  Jewish  commentators  :  and  “  all  the 
 “  Rabbins  agree ,  that  this  Psalm  doth  speak 
 “  of  the  Messiah  as  asserted  by  Muir 
 Arama. 
 
 To  this  Psalm,  John  the  Baptist  evidently 
 
 alluded  ; 
 
 1 
 
303 
 
 alluded;  beautifully  representing  Christ* 
 as  the  Bridegroom,  and  himself  as  his  Friend 9 
 or  Bridesman  :  “  I  am  not  the  Christ, 
 44  but  am  sent  before  Him  :  He  that  hath 
 44  the  Bride  is  the  Bridegroom ;  but  the 
 46  Friend  of  the  Bridegroom,  who  standeth 
 44  [by]  and  heareth  his  voice,  rejoice th  with 
 44  joy,  on  account  of  the  Bridegroom's  voice* 
 44  This  then  my  joy  is  completed/'  John  iii, 
 28.  And  thus,  our  Lord ,  pursuing  the  Al¬ 
 legory  :  44  Can  the  Sons  of  the  Bridecham- 
 44  her  mourn  so  long  as  the  Bridegroom  is 
 44  with  them  ?”■ — finely  contrasting  the  inno¬ 
 cent  cheerfulness  of  his  own  disciples,  with 
 
 the  rigorous  fasts  and  mortifications  of  44  John 
 44  the  Baptist's  disciples,"  formed  on  the 
 usage  of  the  Jewish  devotees  :  remarkably 
 recorded  by  three  Evangelists,  Matt.  ix.  15, 
 Mark  ii.  19?  and  Luke  v.  34  :  —  And  still 
 further  unfolded,  in  the  admirable  and  awak¬ 
 ening  Parable  of  the  Ten  Virgins ,  attendant 
 on  his  marriage,  Matt.  xxv.  1.  —  And  fol¬ 
 lowing  up  the  same  clue,  the  Apocalypse ,  re¬ 
 presents  the  Evangelical  Church,  44  pre- 
 pared ,  as  a  Bride  adorned  for  ha'  Hus 
 44  hand;’ — 44  the  Lamb's  wifef  Rev.  xxi. 
 
 S-9, 
 
 <s 
 
304 
 
 5-9,  deafly  illustrating  the  last  part  of  this 
 Psalm, 
 
 PSALM  XLV. 
 
 For  the  Precentor  on  the  Hexa- 
 CIIORU  ;  FOR  [THE  ChoIRISTERs]  THE 
 Sons  of  Koraii:  A  Hymn,  An  An¬ 
 them  of  Loves,  [or,  An  Anthem 
 for  the  Beloved.  Sept .  Titled] 
 
 1.  My  heart  is  teeming  with  a  good  Oracle; 
 I  will  utter  my  compositions  touching 
 
 the  King  : 
 
 My  tongue  h  like  the  pen  of  a  ready 
 Writer. 
 
 2.  — Thou  art  most  beautiful  above  the 
 
 Sons  of  Adam , 
 
 Grace  is  shed  forth  on  thy  lips ; 
 Therefore  hath  God  blessed  Thee  for 
 ever. 
 
 3.  Gird  thy  sword  upon  thy  thigh,  O  thou 
 
 Mighty, 
 
 In  thy  glory  and  thy  majesty  : 
 
 4.  And  in  thy  majesty,  ride  prosperously. 
 For  the  cause  of  Truth,  Meekness,  and 
 
 Righteousness  y 
 
 And 
 
SO  5 
 
 Aiid  thy  right  hand  shall  teach  thhe 
 Terrible  [exploits] : 
 
 '5*  Thy  Arrows  [are]  sharp;  Peopled  [shall 
 fall]  under  Thee ; 
 
 The  Kt  ng*s  Enemies  shall  fail  in 
 heart. — 
 
 6.  - — &  Thy  throne ,  O  God,  [is]  for  ever 
 “  and  ever  ! — * 
 
 u  A  Sceptre  of  Equity  [is]  the  Scepkre 
 u  of  thy  kingdom  ! — 
 
 .  u  Thou  didst  love  righteousness  and  hate 
 “  tricked  ness, 
 
 Therefore  hath  God,  thy  God, 
 “  anointed  Thee , 
 
 46  With  Oil  of  Gladness ,  above  thy  FeU 
 “  lows/9 
 
 8.  Myrrh,  Aloes,  and  Cassia  [perfume] 
 
 all  thy  garments, 
 
 [Taken]  out  of  the  Ivory  Cabinets; 
 wherewith, 
 
 9.  Among  thy  treasures,  K  ings  daughters 
 
 gratify  thee. 
 
 At  thy  right  hand  is  placed  THE 
 Queen, 
 
 [Clad]  in  gold  of  Ophir : 
 
 X 
 
 IQ* 
 
306 
 
 10.  Hearken ,  O  Daughter,  consider , 
 
 ewe/  incline  thine  ear , 
 
 Forget  thine  own  people,  and  thy  Fa - 
 
 /Aer's  home, 
 
 *  * 
 
 11.  So  $Aa/Z  the  King  greatly  desire  thy 
 
 beauty . 
 
 Jor  He  zs  thy  Loud,  and  worship 
 Thou  Him. 
 
 12.  And  the  Daughter  of  Tyre  [shall  come] 
 
 with  a  Gift, 
 
 The  Rich  among  the  People  shall  sup¬ 
 plicate  thy  presence. 
 
 13.  The  King’s  daughter  is  all  glo¬ 
 
 rious  in  her  presence. 
 
 Her  Vesture  is  of  embroidered  gold 
 and  needlework, 
 
 14.  She  shall  be  introduced  to  the  King: 
 The  Virgins  in  her  train,  her  Compa¬ 
 nions,  shall  be  brought  unto  Thee, 
 
 15.  With  joy  and  gladness  shall  they  be 
 
 introduced, 
 
 And  shall  enter  into  the  King's  Palace. 
 
 16.  — Instead  of  thy  Fathers  shall  be  thy 
 
 Sons ; 
 
 Thou  shall  make  them  Princes ,  in  all 
 the  Earth  : 
 
 They 
 
3  07 
 
 They  shall  record  thy  name  in  every 
 succeeding  generation , 
 
 Therefore  shall  Peoples  praise  Thee  for 
 Evermore. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Among  the  various  guesses  concerning  the 
 import  of  the  obscure  Title  prefixed  to  this 
 Psalm ;  the  most  probable  seems  to  be,  that 
 Shoshannim ,  denotes  some  kind  of 
 musical  instrument  with  six  strings,  (from 
 six9)  like  as  expresses  one  with 
 
 three  strings,  1  Sam.  xviii.  6 ; — one 
 with  eight  strings,  Ps.  vi.  Title ; — And 
 •"ItW,  a  lute  or  harp 9  with  ten  strings,  Psal. 
 xxxii.  2  :  and  cxliv.  9-  —  The  last  clause, 
 “  An  Anthem  of  Loves” — seems  to  be  well 
 explained  by  the  Septuagint,  applying  it  to 
 the  Messiah, —  66  An  Anthem  for  the 
 “  Beloved/* —  Indeed,  the  remarkable 
 length  and  precision  of  the  Title,  intimates 
 sufficiently  in  what  high  Estimation  this 
 Prophetic  Hymn  was  formerly  held  by  the 
 Jewish  Church;  as  it  is  nowin  the  Christian ; 
 it  being  one  of  the  proper  Psalms  appointed 
 to  be  used  on  Christmas-day  by  our  Liturgy  ; 
 
 x  2  as 
 
508 
 
 as  celebrating  the  Spiritual  graces,  the  co if* 
 quests,  the  divinity  of  Christ;  his  everlasting 
 and  equitable  dominion;  his  mystical  Union 
 with  the  Church,  or  congregation  of  the 
 Faithful ;  and  the  ministry  of  his  Saints,  in 
 propagating  his  Praise  throughout  all  the 
 Earth,  to  the  end  of  Time. 
 
 1.  “  My  heart  is  teeming  with  a  good  Oracle , 
 
 “  I  will  utter  my  compositions  touching  the  King, 
 
 “  Mjp  tongue  is  like  the  Pen  of  a  ready  Writer. ” 
 
 In  this  noble  and  animated  exordium y  the 
 Royal  Prophet  represents  himself  as  actuated 
 by  the  overflowing  fulness  of  Divine  inspi¬ 
 ration ,  to  give  vent,  or  “  utterance ”  to  the 
 mighty  subject  with  which  his  “  heart”  was 
 46  labouring” — The  Heathen  poets  frequently 
 adopt  the  same  imagery  :  Thus  Claudian ,  in 
 his  Epithalamium  on  the  goddess  Juno : 
 
 <c  Junonis  thalamos  audaci  promere  cantu 
 a  Mens  congesta  jubet - 
 
 And  Martial  has  well  expressed  the  Psalm¬ 
 ist's  Pen  of  a  ready  Writer  : 
 
 “  Currant  verba  licet ,  manus  est  velocior  illis; 
 
 'v  Non&m  Lingua,  suum  dextra  peregit  opus.” 
 
 I  have 
 
309 
 
 I  have  rendered,  “  a  good 
 
 €c  Oracle,’  because  the  phrase  is  elsewhere 
 used  to  denote  a.  propitious  prophecy ,  spoken 
 by  or  from  the  Lord.  Jer  xxix.  10.  Isa. 
 xxxix.  8.  The  Septuagint  render  it,  Aoyov 
 ccyccQov,  here,  and  in  Isaiah;  and  in  Jere¬ 
 miah,  where  the  oracular  import  is  more 
 strongly  marked  by  emphatic  articles,  nft 
 31DH  by  the  plural,  mg  Xoyag  pa  mg 
 
 And  the  word,  *“Q“T,  Dahar ,  singly,  is 
 frequently  so  understood ;  as  for  instance, 
 in  the  following  passage,  Dan.  x.  1 — 44  In 
 “  the  third  year  of  Cyrus  King  of  Persia,  an 
 44  Oracle  was  revealed  to  Daniel,  (whose  sur- 
 44  name  was  Belteshassar )  and  the  Oracle 
 44  was  true,  and  its  martial  import  great  ; 
 44  and  he  understood  the  Oracle,  and  under- 
 44  standing  was  [given]  to  him  in  the  Vision 
 And  as  this  is  the  sequel  of  the  Famous 
 Prophecy  of  the  Seventy  Weeks ,  the  same 
 word  Dabar  should  be  so  rendered,  46  the 
 44  Oracle  ”  in  its  commencement,  ix.  23, 
 whose  mis-translation,  44  the  Commandment V 
 (usually  mistaken  for  the  Decree  or  Edict  of 
 Cyrus,  or  Darius,  or  Artaxcrxes,  &c.)  has 
 
 x  3  hitherto 
 
310 
 
 hitherto  inextricably  embarrassed  that  most 
 noble  Prophecy.  See  my  Translation  and 
 Remarks  thereon,  in  the  Inspector,  p. 
 202.  In  all  these  cases,  the  Septuagint  ren¬ 
 dering  of  Dakar 9  is  A oyog,  which  should  be 
 therefore  rendered  in  similar  cases,  both  of 
 the  Old  and  New  Testament,  u  Ora - 
 “  cle — where  “  Word '/*  or  “  Thing”  or 
 “  Matter  ”  are  inadequate  to  the  occasion, 
 or  the  context ;  as  in  John  i.  1,  See. 
 
 2.  “  Thou  art  most  beautiful  above  the  Sons  of  Adam] 
 “  Grace  is  shed  forth  on  thy  lips; 
 
 “  Therefore  hath  God  blessed  thee  for  ever .” 
 
 Aben  Ezra  judiciously  remarks,  that  in 
 the  original  verb,  laph-Iaphitha ,  (from 
 
 HD*,  laph-ah ,  66  pulcher  fait/’)  the  repetition 
 of  the  first  syllable  of  the  Root  is  intensi- 
 tive,  and  marks  the  perfection  of  personal 
 beauty.  So  Virgil  describes  that  of  his  Hero 
 AZneas,  iv.  141,  by  a  double  superlative, 
 
 it 
 
 Ipse.,  ante  alios  pulcher rimus  omnes, 
 
 Infert  se  socium  JEneas. - 
 
 And  in  several  passages  of  our  Liturgical 
 
 Psalms, 
 
311 
 
 Psalms,  the  double  superlative  is  introduced 
 with  the  finest  effect :  as  in  Ps.  lxxxii.  6. 
 
 “  I  have  saydc,  ye  are  gods  : 
 
 “  And  ye  al  are  children  of  THE  MOST  HIGH- 
 “  EST 
 
 which  I  cannot  help  regretting,  has  been  su¬ 
 perseded  by  the  tameness  of  the  single  su¬ 
 perlative,  “  Most  High ”  or  “  Highest”  in 
 the  later  Translations,  where  the  Supreme 
 Being  is  the  object. 
 
 An  admirable  literal  Comment  on  the 
 Passage  in  question,  is  furnished  in  Milton  s 
 charming  description  of  Adam  by  the  Angel 
 Gabriel .  P.  L.  viii.  218. 
 
 i(  Nor  are  thy  Lips  ungraceful ,  Sire  of  Men, 
 i(  Nor  Tongue  ineloqiient ;  for  God  on  Thee 
 “  Abundantly  his  Gifts  hath  also  poured ; 
 
 “  Inward  and  outward  both,  his  Image  fair : 
 
 “  Speaking  or  mute,  all  Comeliness  and  Grace 
 “  Attend  Thee,  and  each  word  each  motion  forms 
 
 In  this  paraphrase,  worthy  of  the  Sublime 
 Original,  “  Comeliness”  according  to  our 
 great  English  Lexicographer,  Johnson  “  seems 
 “  to  be  that  species  of  Beauty ,  which  excites 
 
 %  .  •14 
 
 “  respect  rather  than  pleasure consisting 
 
 x  4  in 
 
 i 
 
31*2 
 
 in  44  Dignity  and  Grandeur  of  Mien  an$ 
 44  Look," — And  how  infinitely  more  appli* 
 
 cable  is  all  this  to  44  the  second  Adam  ' 
 
 > _ 
 
 — -c  the  Lojrd  from  Heaven  !”  Even 
 when  he  vailed  64  the  effulgence  of  his  Fa~ 
 44  TH Eft’s  glory  f  and  44  exhausting  himself 
 44  of  that  Divine  form" — of  44  that  glory 
 44  which  he  had  with  the' Father  before 
 44  the  World  zbasf  44  assumed  a  servile  form9 
 — 44  a  human  figure  !'%  Heb.  i.  3,  Phil.  ii.  6*, 
 8,  John  xvii.  5. — Who,  from  his  childhood* 
 44  advanced  in  wisdom  and  stature ,  and  in 
 44  favour  with  God  and  Man  9 — Luke  ii.  52. 
 * — 44  On  whom5'  the  Holy  Spirit  descended 
 from  heaven ,  and  rested  on  Him,  at  his  so¬ 
 lemn  baptismal  inauguration ;  according  tp 
 the  Baptist9 s  testimony  as  an  eye-witness, 
 John  i.  33.  *  And  who  thenceforth,  44  spake 
 44  the  Oracles  of  God;  for  God  gave  him 
 44  the  Spirit  immeasurably  f  John  iii.  34? 
 as  foretold  by  Isaiah ,  lxi.  1,  and  xlii.  7?  and 
 applied  by  our  Lord  to  himself,  at  the  open¬ 
 ing  of  his  Commission,  blending  both  Pro¬ 
 phecies  together,  Luke  iv.  18, 
 
 “  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  Me, 
 
 a  Therefore  did  He  anoint  Me : 
 
 ^  11$ 
 
313 
 
 ft  He  hath  sent  Me  to  publish  good  tidings 
 To  the  Poor  ;  to  cure  the  Broken-hearted  5 
 To  proclaim  deliverance  to  the  Captives ;  • 
 
 ((  And  restoration  of  sight  to  the  Blind ; 
 
 To  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised  [with  fettersj, 
 
 *■  To  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord  ; 
 ff/[Or  the  grand  Spiritual  Jubilee ,  to  Sinners.]” 
 
 “  This  day ,”  said  our  Lord,  (when  he  had 
 read  the  passage  and  closed  the  book)  “  is 
 “  this  Scripture-prophecy  ( vj  ypcapvj  avry)  ful- 
 “ filed  in  your  Ears ” — “And  the  eyes  of  all 
 “  in  the  Synagogue  were  fastened  on  Him — 
 “  And  all  wondered  at  the  words  of  grace 
 “  which  proceeded  out  of  his  Mouth  f  Luke 
 iv.  20,  22. — And  afterwards,  “  the  Multi - 
 “  tudes ”  who  listened  to  his  Divine  instruc¬ 
 tions,  and  to  his  Incomparable  Sermon  on 
 the  Mount,  were  struck  with  astonishment 
 at  his  Teaching ;  for  He  taught  them  4  -  as 
 Ci  having  authority”  Matt.  vii.  28,  Mark  i. 
 22,  Luke  iv.  32. 
 
 And  how  amazingly  insinuating  and  power¬ 
 ful  must  have  been  the  tone  of  his  voice  and 
 mode  of  his  speaking,  when  the  woman  ex¬ 
 claimed  with  rapture,  Blessed  is  the  womb 
 that  bare  thee  !  &c. — even  the  officers  sent 
 {0  apprehend  him,  pleaded  in  excuse  for  not 
 
 doing 
 
 Q 
 
314 
 
 doin"  so,  to  the  Chief  Priests  and  Pharisees 
 — ■“  Never  Man  spake  like  this  Man  V*  John 
 viii.  46.  And  they  who  did  afterwards  ap¬ 
 prehend  Him,  as  soon  as  he  had  pronounced 
 the  words  E yu  eipi — “  I  am”  “  retreated 
 “  backwards ,  and  fell  to  flic  ground  ”  ap¬ 
 palled  ;  nor  durst  they,  we  may  presume, 
 execute  their  commission,  or  lay  their  unhal¬ 
 lowed  hands  on  Him,  until  encouraged  by 
 his  own  permission  :  “  I  told  you  that  I  am: 
 “  if  then  ye  seek  Me ,  let  these  [meaning  his 
 46  Disciples]  retire  ”  John  xviii.  4,  9» 
 
 Nor  is  the  Prophet  Isaiali  s  description  of 
 the  person  of  the  suffering  Messiah,  at 
 all  inconsistent  herewith ;  as  having  66  no 
 “form  nor  comeliness” — and  “  his  visage 
 “  disfigured  more  than  Man ,  and  his  form 
 “  more  than  the  sons  of  Adam ,”  Isa.  liii.  2, 
 and  lii.  14.  For  this  was  the  natural  result 
 of  the  greatness  of  his  passion  ;  when  “  His 
 “  soul  was  exceedingly  sorrowful ,  [even]  unto 
 “  death” — verifying  the  Prophet’s  prediction 
 in  the  next  verse ;  that  He  should  be  66  a 
 “  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief  f 
 Isa.  liii.  3.  Insomuch,  that  in  the  poignancy 
 of  his  agony,  in  the  Garden  of  Gethse?nane9 
 
315 
 
 u  His  sweat  was  as  it  were  great  drops  of 
 <c  blood  falling  dorm  to  the  ground.”  Matt, 
 xxvii.  38,  Luke  xxii.  44. 
 
 But  what  was  the  native  dignity  and  ma¬ 
 jesty  of  his  presence,  we  may  collect  from 
 the  awful  and  astonishing  circumstances  of 
 his  Transfiguration,  shortly  before  “  his  de- 
 u  parturef  attended  by  Ins  glorified  Serv¬ 
 ants,  Moses ,  the  great  founder,  and  Elijah , 
 the  great  restorer  of  the  Law  ;  in  the  sight 
 of  his  confidential  disciples,  Peter,  James , 
 and  John ,  the  great  Heralds  of  the  Gos¬ 
 pel: — and  the  favoured  6t  cue-witnesses  of 
 
 his  Majesty,”  2  Pet.  i.  16,  who  “  them- 
 u  selves  beheld  his  glory  ;  a  glory  suitable  to 
 “  the  only  genuine  [Son]  of  tiie  Father.  ; 
 “  after  the  Oracle  became  flesh,  and  so - 
 u  jour  tied  among  us,  full  of  Grace  and 
 “  Truth,”  John  i.  14.  They  who  furnished 
 the  three  Evangelists,  Matt  here,  Mark,  and 
 Luke,  with  the  following  circumstances  : 
 
 “  And  it  came  to  pass ,  while  He  teas  pray - 
 “  ing,  that  the  form  of  his  visage  was 
 “  changed :  His  visage  shone  as  the  Sun  ; 
 “  and  his  raiment  became  dazzling  bright, 
 u  very  white  as  snow,  such  as  no  Fuller  on 
 
 “  earth 
 
316* 
 
 u  earth  is  able  to  whiten ;  white  as  the 
 u  light ” — 
 
 And  the  effect  of  this  stupendous  Vision 
 on  the  Disciples  is  thus  described — “  they 
 “  fell  on  their  face ,  and  were  greatly  af- 
 u  frighted” — “  they  were  terrified ” — 64  they 
 u  were  oppressed  with  sleep ” — “  But  Jesus 
 touched  them” — and  66  when  they  were  tho- 
 roughly  awake ,  (Sia,y^yo^7jcrai/Tsg),  they  saw 
 46  his  glory ,  and  the  two  men  standing  with 
 «  Him  r 
 
 N.  B.  Compare  with  this,  our  Lord's 
 similar  manifestations  to  Daniel,  x,  5,  12, 
 and  to  John,  Rev.  i.  12, 18.  And  see  the 
 Inspector,  p.  72. 
 
 This  astonishing  Transfiguration ,  so  clearly 
 and  distinctly  described  by  the  three  Evan¬ 
 gelists,  from  the  two  original  witnesses  Peter 
 and  John ,  happening  during  our  XjOrd's 
 incarnation ,  is  satisfactory  evidence  of  a 
 Divine  Nature,  intimately  blended  with  his 
 Human  Nature ;  but  in  a  way  utterly  in¬ 
 comprehensible  to  us  ;  it  is  also  of  the  ut¬ 
 most  importance,  as  forming  a  middle  link, 
 between  his  antecedent  and  subsequent  mani¬ 
 festations,  under  the  Old  and  New  Dis¬ 
 pensations* 
 
sir 
 
 pensations,  as  u  the  God  of  Glory, ^ 
 Acts  vii.  2,  and  44  the  Lord  of  Glory.'7 
 I  Cor.  ii.  8. 
 
 It  is  truly  remarkable,  that  this  was  the 
 second  time,  that  Moses  and  Elijah  were  made 
 spectators  of  his  glory,  on  the  same  Mount 
 of  God,  Horeb  or  Sinai:  The  appearance  to 
 Moses  is  described,  Exod.  xxxiii.  12,  23,  to 
 Elijah ,  1  Kings  xix.  4-18, — graciously  vouch¬ 
 safed  to  both,  for  their  encouragement  and 
 support  under  the  arduous  trials  of  their  mi¬ 
 nistry  ;  after  Moses  had  signalized  his  zeal 
 for  the  Lord,  by  punishing  the  idolatrous 
 Israelites  at  Sinai,  with  the  sword  of  the  Le- 
 vites  who  ranged  themselves  54  on  the  Lord's 
 44  side,”  Exod.  xxxii.  15, 19,  and  after  Elijah 
 had  slain  all  the  prophets  of  Baal ,  1  Kings 
 xviii.  21-40. 
 
 3 — 5.  (C  Gird  thy  sword  upon  thy  Thigh ,  0  thou 
 “  Mighty  ! 
 
 tc  In  tlu)  glory  and  thy  majesty , 
 
 “  And  in  thy  majesty  ride  properously , 
 
 “  For  the  cause  of  truth,  meekness  and  right - 
 “  eousness : 
 
 s<  And  thy  right  hand  shall  teach  thee  terrible 
 “  [exploits].” 
 
 This 
 
 / 
 
318 
 
 This  is  a  magnificent  description  of  the 
 Messiah  in  his  warlike  character;  going 
 forth  in  all  his  terrors,  to  punish  the  adver¬ 
 saries  of  his  kingdom,  like  “  A  man  of  war,* 
 as  described  by  Moses ,  in  the  drowning  of 
 the  Egyptians ,  Exod.  xv.  3,  and  by  Ethan , 
 Ps.  lxxxix.  10,  and  most  sublimely,  Wisdom 
 of  Solomon,  xviii.  14-18,  on  occasion  of  the 
 destruction  of  the  First-horn ,  that  last  and 
 sorest  of  the  plagues,  of  Egypt. 
 
 “  Although  the  Egyptians  disbelieved  all 
 46  [the  plagues]  by  reason  of  the  enchant- 
 “  ments ;  yet,  on  the  destruction  of  the 
 “  First-born ,  they  confessed  that  the  people 
 “  [of  Israel]  were  sons  of  God. 
 
 “  For  when  the  world  was  wrapt  in  still  silence, 
 
 "  And  night,  in  her  proper  speed,  holding  her  middle 
 "  course ; 
 
 "Thy  Almighty  Oracle  #  leapt  down  from 
 “  Heaven, 
 
 "  Out  of  the  royal  thrones,  a  fierce  warrior , 
 
 Into  the  midst  of  a  land  [doomed  to]  destruction, 
 
 “  Wielding  a  sharp  sword  —  (thine  unfeigned  com- 
 “  mand) — 
 
 “  And  standing  there,  did  fill  the  whole  with  death : 
 
 “  He  touched  the  Heaver <  indeed ,  hut  trode  upon  the 
 "  Earth? 
 
 '*  *0  iza.vTO$vvau.os  2*  A0T02. 
 
 9 
 
 And 
 
Slfll 
 
 And  the  future  destruction  of  the  enemies 
 of  God  and  of  his  Christ,  is  also  most  sub¬ 
 limely  described,  Rev.  xix.  11-16,  in  a  si¬ 
 milar  imagery,  recording  both  his  primitive 
 
 and  new  Names  : 
 
 -  ,  ■  • 
 
 “  And  I  beheld  the  Heaven  opened,  and  lo,  a  whit; 
 “  horse ; 
 
 And  his  Rider  was  called  Faithful  and  True  ; 
 i(  And  in  righteousness  doth  He  judge  and  war : 
 
 “  His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire, 
 iS  And  on  his  head,  many  Diadems : 
 
 “  Having  a  name  written,  which  none  but  Himself 
 “  Knoweth ;  and  clad  in  a  vesture  dyed  in  blood : 
 
 ({  And  his  name  is  called  the  Oracle  of  God 
 “  And  the  armies  in  Heaven  attended  him, 
 
 “  On  white  horses,  dressed  in  lawn,  white  and  clean : 
 
 “  And  out  of  his  mouth  proceedeth  a  sharp  sword, 
 
 (t  To  strike  therewith  the  Gentiles  ;  For  f  He  shall 
 “  rule  {hem 
 
 n  With  an  iron  sceptre and  Himself  tread  the  wine 
 “  press 
 
 “  Of  the  indignation  and  wrath  of  God  Omnipotent. 
 “  And  on  his  vesture  and  on  his  thigh 
 “  He  hath  the  name  written  :  King  of  Kings 
 “  And  Lord  of  Lords.” 
 
 After  such  sublime  and  unequivocal  per- 
 ♦  V  AOrOS  TOT  ©EOT. 
 
 sonifications 
 
320 
 
 sonifications  of  the  sacred  term,  Logos,  be^ 
 fore  and  after  the  coming  of  Christ,  and 
 from  such  high  authorities  in  the  Jewish  and 
 Christian  Churches ; — (The  Book  of  Wisdom , 
 being  conjectured  by  the  best  Critics,  to 
 have  been  written  not  later  than  the  time  of 
 the  Maccabees ) — is  it  not  “  passing  strange,” 
 that  even  the  Monthly  Review  for 
 June ,  1802,  p.  145-147,  should  entertain  “  a 
 “  suspicion  that  the  term  Logos  has  a  Pla* 
 tonic  Origin;”  2.  should  recommend  leav-» 
 ing  the  word  untranslated,  in  the  introduc¬ 
 tion  of  Johns  Gospel:  u  In  the  beginning 
 was  the  Logos”  &c.  as  being  “  doubtful  of 
 its  proper  signification and  3.  should 
 expressly  assert, 46  that  after  the  introductory 
 verses,  it  never  occurs  again  either  in  the 
 Gospel  or  the  Epistles  [of  St.  John ] — being. 
 <c  a  term  of  speculative  controversy  — -  for 
 surely, 
 
 1.  The  term  was  derived  from  the  Hebrew 
 Scriptures  ;  in  which  Dabar ,  (as  we  have 
 seen)  is  repeatedly  rendered  Aoyo$,  where  it 
 signifies,  “  Oracle”  in  the  Septuagint  Ver* 
 sion ;  and  Dabar  Jahoh ,  by  A oyo;  Kvgns ,  in' 
 cases  of  undoubted  personality,  as  where 
 
 4  THE 
 
 a 
 
 u 
 
821 
 
 The  Oracle  of  tiie  Lord  appeared  to 
 Nathan ,  1  Chron.  xvii.  3,  to  Solomon s 
 
 1  Kings  vi.  11,  &c. 
 
 2.  The  Apostle  Paul  has  ascertained  its 
 proper  signification  in  the  latter  cases ;  ren¬ 
 dering  Dabar  Jahoh ,  that  divine  person  who 
 appeared  to  Elijah  on  Mount  Hovel),  or  Sinai , 
 1  Kings  xix.  9-18,  by  a  technical  term  of 
 Greek  Mythology— o  x^puTio-pog,  wRich  sig¬ 
 nifies  44  the  Oracle.’'  Rom.  xi.  4,  ac¬ 
 cording  to  Macrobius ,  rendering  it  in  Latin, 
 44  Oraculum  ,”  (Somnium  Scipionis,  1.  iii.) — 
 whose  personality  the  Apostle  has  most  une¬ 
 quivocally  expressed  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
 Hebrews ,  xii.  25-2 9 ,  rendering  it,  'O  Aahuv, 
 44  the  Speaker,”  who  at  first  spake  the 
 Law,  in  Terrors  as  a  God;  and  afterwards, 
 the  Gospel,  in  44  a  still  small  voice”  as  a 
 
 Man ;  but  who,  to  disobedient  Jews  and 
 
 ( 
 
 Christians ,  is  and  will  be  64  a  consuming  jive!' 
 No  44  speculative  term,”  surely.  And  the 
 Evangelist  John  has  well  explained  the  im¬ 
 port  of  the  title,  iii.  34.  Because  44  He  speak - 
 44  eth  (XaAg/)  the  sayings  (or  oracles)  of  God,” 
 and  also  in  his  Introduction ;  representing, 
 
 Y  rO  Aoyog , 
 
322 
 
 *0  A oyog,  “  the  Oracle,”  at  the  begin¬ 
 ning,  to  be,  rO  povoye vvjg  T tog,  “  THE  ONLY 
 “  genuine  Son/’  at  the  close,  verse  18, 
 who  “expounded  (e^rjyyiraro)  God  the  Fa- 
 66  tiie it,”  or  interpreted  his  Spiritual  Na¬ 
 ture  and  Worship  to  Mankind,  John  iv.  24. 
 Coin  pa  re  Matt.  xi.  27-  For  the  verb  E  %vjye- 
 open,  is  forensic  or  technical,  in  the  best 
 Classics  ;  signifying  to  expound,  interpret,  or 
 deliver  Oracularhj, — Thus  in  Xenophon,  O l 
 May oi  e^vjyvvTo,  66  The  Magi  interpreted ”  the 
 O  mens.  And  Themistius  thus  describes 
 Apollo,  the  spurious  god  of  Oracles,  among 
 the  Greeks,  p.  330,  Exstvog  drjpoig  adoaoig,  ev 
 pecru  T7jg  yvjg  e?n  tv  optpcchv  KocSypevog,  efcrtyeiTat. 
 “  That  [A polio]  sitting  on  the  Navel  in  the 
 “  middle  of  the  Earth,  delivers  oracles  to  as - 
 “  semhled  peoples 
 
 3.  If  the  M.  R.  will  more  critically  ex¬ 
 amine  and  compare  the  beginning  of  the  first 
 Epistle  of  John,  with  his  Gospel  throughout; 
 the  Preface  of  Luke  s  Gospel;  Acts  x.  36- 
 43,  and  xx.  32,  Heb.  iv.  12-14,  1  Pet.  i.  23, 
 and  2  Pet.  iii.  they  will  perhaps  be  induced 
 to  think,  with  several  first-rate  Critics,  that 
 
 the 
 
323 
 
 the  Logos  in  all  these  cases  can  be  no  other 
 than  the  Son  of  God  In  perfect  con¬ 
 formity 
 
 cc 
 
 cc 
 
 tc 
 
 #  The  foregoing  remarks  may  tend  also  to  solve  the 
 important  question,  on  which  the  Christian  Observer, 
 for  July,  p.  436,  perplexed  between  authorities  and 
 counter  authorities  “  of  great  name,”  modestly  wishes  for 
 further  information :  namely,  fi  Whether  the  term  kid’d, 
 [Mimra]  in  the  Chaldee  Paraphrase,  (of  which,  Aoyor, 
 is  the  proper  translation)  is  to  be  understood  as  a  mere 
 idiom  ;  or  a  personal  designation?” — For  surely. 
 
 There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  latter,  where  it  is  used  to 
 express  or  represent  the  divine  names,  IAHOH,  or  iELO- 
 HIM,  in  the  Hebrew  Text Thus :  Gen.  iii.  8,  They  hear d 
 the  voice  of  the  Lord  of  gods,  8cc.  is  rendered  by  Qu¬ 
 ite  los,  “  They  heard  the  voice  of  the  the  Oracle  of 
 “  the  Lord,”  Sec.  (Mimra  da  Iahoii)  by  Jonathan 
 Ben  Uzziel,  more  closely,  “  They  heard  the  voice  of  the 
 “  Oracle  of  the  Lord  of  gods,”  (Mimra  da 
 “  Iahoh  JEloiiim),  And  the  next  verse,  Q,  “  And 
 “  God  called  Adamf  8ec.  is  rendered  by  the  Jerusalem 
 Targum,  And  the  Oracle  of  the  Lord  of  gods, 
 called  Adam,  &c.  And  so,  Gen.  xix.  24,  “  And  the 
 u  Lord  rained  brimstone  and  fire  upon  Sodom  and 
 “  Gomorrah ,”  Sec.  is  rendered  both  by  Jonathan  and  the 
 Jerusalem  Targum,  The  Oracle  of  the  Lord  rained 
 upon  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  Sec.  See  several  other  in¬ 
 stances,  Bulli  Opera,  p.  14,  and  Ben  Mordecai,  Letter  III, 
 p.  340,  Sec.  Svo.  Edit. 
 
 Nor  is  it  a  valid  objection,  that  in  several  of  the  most 
 
 v  2  obvious 
 
 o 
 
formity  with  the  foregoing  sublime  passages 
 
 of  Holy  Writ,  both  in  the  Old  and  New 
 
 */■  y 
 
 Testament ,  is  St.  PauTs  most  magnificent 
 description  of  that  a  Mighty  God,”  (Isa., 
 ix.  6,)  in  his  Epistle  to  the  llehrczvs ,  styling 
 him  by  his  primitive  title,  Ilch.  iv.  12. 
 
 obvious  personal  revelations  of  the  Oracle  of  th'E- 
 Lord  ;  as  for  instance  to  Abraham ,  Gen.  xv.  1,  to* 
 Samuel ,  1  Sam.  iii.  1-7-10,  antf  m  the  cases  recited, 
 to  Nathan ,  Solomon,  Elijah,  &c.  that  the  Chaldee  para¬ 
 phrase  of  the  same  Hebrew  phrase  Dakar  Iahoh  is- 
 different;  namely  "VttOjnD  (Pithgama  da  Iahoh) 
 because,  in  all  these  cases,  it  is  also  rendered  by  the  Sep- 
 tuagint,  Py (xa.  Kvpix  ; — which  is  synonymous  with  6  Aoyor 
 r8  K upm,  as  appears  from  Psal.  xxxiii.  6,  where  Dabar 
 Iahoh,  is  rendered  by  Peter,  2  Pet.  iii.  5,  o  Aoyos  th 
 ©ea ;  but  by  Paul,  II eb.  xi.  3,  P-Ji/xa  ©e«,  and  these 
 phrases  are  also  used  promiscuously  by  Philo,  as  we  have 
 seen  in  the  Dissertat  ion  on  the  Introduction  to  the  Hebrews, 
 This  <c  personal  designation  of  Mimra,”  in  such  cases, 
 is  likewise  the  opinion  of  the  most  learned  modern  Rab¬ 
 bins  :  Thus  Rittangelius,  in  bis  comment  on  the  Rab¬ 
 binical  work  Jezirah,  concludes,  that  u  the  most  ancient 
 “  and  most  learned  if  the  Hebrew  Theologians,  from  the 
 “  days  of  Abraham,  have  used  the  term  Mimra  as  a 
 “  common  term  ;  and  their  Posterity  also,  in  their  Syria- 
 “  g08ues>  f°r  several  thousand  years,  as  appears  both 
 “  bom  the  Chaldee  Paraphrases  of  Qnkelos,  Jonathan 
 “  B.  Uzziel,  Jerusalem  ;  and  also  from  the  writings  and 
 “  fragments  of  other  ancient  Rabbins.” — See  Ben  Hor¬ 
 de  cat,  p.  345. 
 
325 
 
 tv  For  the  Oracle  of  God  is  living , 
 v£C  and  energetic,  and  sharper  than  any  two- 
 44  edged  sword ,  penetrating  even  to  the  se- 
 46  paration  of  soul  and  spirit,  of  joints  and 
 44  marrow  ;  and  a  Critical  [cliscerner]  of  the 
 44  imaginations  and  intentions  of  the  heart  : 
 44  And  there  is  no  creation  unseen  before 
 44  Him ;  for  all  things  are  bare  and  exposed 
 44  to  His  Eyes ,  concerning  whom  is  our  dis- 
 44  course/' — To  understand  all  this,  merely 
 of  the  Gospel \  or  written  word ,  is  to  offer 
 violence  to  every  clause  of  the  text ;  and 
 also  to  the  context  both  before  and  after  ; 
 For,  1.  the  term  tfoov,  is  surely  the  adjunct 
 rather  of  a  Person  than  of  a  Thing :  as  in 
 the  parallel  passage  of  1  Pet.  i.  23. — 44  Being 
 *4  regenerated,  not  of  corruptible  but  of  in- 
 44  corruptible  seed,  through  the  Oracle 
 44  of  God,  living  and  abiding  for  ever  ’ — 
 and  the  phrase,  o  hoy  or  tfwv,  is  equivalent  to 
 £  Xoyog  rvjg  fayg,  u  the  Oracle  of  the 
 44  Life/'  which  is  clearly  meant  oi  our 
 Lord,  in  the  Introduction  of  John  s  first 
 Epistle,  in  perfect  conformity  with  the  in¬ 
 tro  -  action  of  hisGospel  . — 4.  44  In  him  [the 
 44  Oracle]  was  Life/’  and  with  Rev.  i. 
 18. — 44  And  lo  !  I  am  living  for  evermore 9 
 
 y  3  44  and 
 
326 
 
 “  and  I  hold  the  keys  of  Hades  and  of 
 
 %/ 
 
 44  Death.” 
 
 2.  44  His  eyes” — must  surely  relate  to  a 
 person  ;  to 44  the  searcher  of  hearts  ”  to  44  the 
 44  Son/'  to  whom  the  Father  committed 
 all  judgement ;  and  made  him  judge  both 
 of  quick  and  dead — ‘4  concerning  whom ” — 
 was  the  entire  subject  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
 Hebt  'ews — and  to  whom,  the  Apostle  directly 
 proceeds  again,  in  the  next  verse,  14,  uHav- 
 44  mg  then ,  a  Great  High  Priest,  who 
 44  hath  passed  through  the  heavens,  [to  the 
 44  throne  of  God]  Jesus,  the  Son  of 
 44  God  ;  let  us  hold  fast  our  profession f — 
 thus  referring,  to  the  beginning  of  the  ar¬ 
 gument,  on  tins  head,  iii.  1. — 44  Holy  Bre- 
 44  thren ,  partakers  of  a  heavenly  call ;  con- 
 44  sider  the  Apostle  and  High  Priest 
 44  of  our  profession ,  Christ  Jesus.”  See 
 an  Analysis  of  the  Apostle's  Argument,  in 
 iny  last  Dissertation  on  Ps.  cx. 
 
 3.  The  same  imagery  is  familiar  to  Philo , 
 who  represents  44  the  flaming  sword f  Gen. 
 iii.  24,  as  44  a  Symbol  of  the  Oracle”— 
 j)e  Cherubim,  p.  86.  And  again,  44  God, 
 44  having  sharpened  the  dissecter  of  all  things , 
 
 <4  IDs 
 
327 
 
 \ 
 
 44  His  O  r  a  CLE  ( TOV  TOfJLta,  TUV  CrV{A7T0iVTCt)V, 
 
 44  avrx  AOrON)  divideth  the  unformed  and 
 44  unmade  essence  of  the  whole.” — Quis  .Re¬ 
 rum  Divin.  I~i feres,  p.  39.1. 
 
 5.  46  Thy  arrows  [arej  sharp  ;  peoples  [ shall 
 
 44  fall\  under  Thee ;  the  King’s  enemies 
 44  shall  fail  in  heart.” 
 
 In  the  usual  way  of  rendering  this  ob- 
 
 J  O 
 
 scure  passage,  44  Thine  Arrows  [are]  sharp 
 44  ( the  people  shall  fall  under  Thee )  in  the 
 44  heart  of  the  Kings  enemies A  The  Hy¬ 
 perbaton  or  44  transition,”  marked  by  the  Pa¬ 
 renthesis,  is  abrupt  and  unnatural;  wherefore 
 to  make  the  sense  plainer,  our  Public  Trans¬ 
 lation  transposes  the  words ; — ■“  Thine  ar- 
 44  rows  [are]  sharp  in  the  hearts  of  the  Kings 
 44  enemies ;  [whereby]  the  people  fall  under 
 44  Thee.”  But  the  ingenious  emendation 
 proposed  by  Darelf  in  his  Critical  Remarks , 
 seems  preferable :  He  refers  the  verb, 
 to  the  following  (not  the  foregoing)  words  of 
 the  sentence  ;  and  renders  it,  44  they  shall 
 44  fail f  or  be  44  dismayed or  44  cast 
 44  dozen  f  in  which  sense,  the  yerb  is  also  used 
 in  parallel  passages :  44  Let  no  man  s  heart 
 ^  fail f  (fh  1  Sam.  xvii.  32.  44  And 
 
 y  4  44  they 
 
 r 
 
“  they  were  much  cast  down  [lbs’l)  In  their 
 “  own  eyes/'  Neh.  vi.  1 6.  This  furnishes  a 
 most  noble  climax  to  the  sentence  :  repre¬ 
 senting  first,  the  sharpness  of  Christ's  ar¬ 
 rows  ;  next,  the  havoc  they  spread ;  and 
 lastly,  the  general  dismay  and  consternation 
 produced  thereby  in  the  heart  of  all  the 
 King's  enemies;  even  of  those  who  were 
 not  engaged  in  the  battle. — And  the  whole 
 accords  perfectly  with  the  representations  of 
 Holy  Writ:-— In  another  sublime  vision  of 
 the  Apocalypse,  Christ  triumphant  is  thus 
 represented,  Rev.  vi.  2. 
 
 “  And  1  saw,  and  lo  a  white  horse ;  and 
 u  his  rider  having  a  how :  and  there  was 
 “  given  to  him  a  crown :  and  he  went  forth 
 “  conquering  and  in  order  to  conquer” — thus 
 marking  his  present  and  future  conquests : 
 and  the  latter  are  thus  magnificently  de¬ 
 scribed,  after  the  opening  of  the  sixth  Seal : 
 Rev.  vi.  12. 
 
 And  lo,  there  was  a  great  earthquake  ; 
 “  and  the  sun  became  blade  as  hair  sackcloth, 
 66  and  the  ?noo?i  as  blood  ;  and  the  stars  of 
 u  heaven  fell  to  the  ground,  as  a  fig-tree 
 casteth  its  early  figs,  when  shaken  by  a 
 
 **  great 
 
329 
 
 great  wind:  And  the  heaven  departed,  as  a 
 scroll  rolled  up,  and  every  mountain  and 
 • 6  island  were  removed  out  of  their  places 
 And  the  effects  of  these  tremendous  judg¬ 
 ments,  on  the  heart  of  all  beholders,  is  thus 
 awfully  represented  in  the  sublimest  imagery : 
 vi.  15. 
 
 “  And  the  Kings  of  the  earth ,  and  the 
 nobles ,  and  the  rich ,  and  the  captains ,  and 
 “  the  mighty ,  and  every  servant ,  and  every 
 “  freeman ,  hid  themselves  in  the  caves,  and 
 “  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains  :  And  they 
 <c  say  to  the  mountains  and  to  the  rocks : 
 
 “  Fall  upon  us  !  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  # 
 66  Him  that  sittetii  on  the  Thkone, 
 
 “  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  ;  for 
 fS  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come ,  and 
 who  shall  be  able  to  stand  1” 
 
 6-7.  “  Thy  Throne,  O  God,  [is]  for  ever  and  ever ; 
 
 “  d  Sceptre  of  Equity  is  the  Sceptre  oj  thy 
 “  kingdom ; 
 
 (C  Thou  didst  love  righteousness  and  hate  wicked- 
 “  ness, 
 
 “  Therefore  God,  thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee 
 (<  With  oil  of  gladness  above  thy  fellows 
 
 Various  and  discordant  have  been  the 
 guesses,  and  abortive  the  attempts  of  the 
 
 open 
 
330 
 
 open  and  the  concealed  enemies ,  or  the  well- 
 meaning  bat  injudicious  friends  ol  Chris¬ 
 tianity,  to  overthrow,  undermine  or  un¬ 
 settle  the  unequivocal  and  decisive  evidence 
 of  this  most  important  passage,  to  the  proper 
 divinity  of  Jesus  Christ:  A  nd  although 
 I  have  already  endeavoured  to  vindicate 
 it  from  misrepresentation,  in  the  foregoing 
 Dissertations,  yet  it  may  not  be  useless  or 
 unnecessary  to  enumerate  the  several  glosses , 
 ancient  and  modern,  that  have  been  put 
 thereon ; 
 
 1.  Aben  Ezra,  to  elude  its  force,  supposes 
 an  ellipsis  of  the  word  throne ,  understood  : 
 44  Thy  throne  is  [the  throne]  of  God,  for 
 44  ever' — as  44  Solomon  sate  on  the  throne  of 
 44  the  Lord,  as  King ,  instead  of  David  his 
 44  Father  ,”  1  Chron.  xxix.  23.  But  a  greater 
 than  Solomon  is  here  meant ;  and  the  ellipsis 
 is  far  fetched,  and  rejected  by  the  Chaldee 
 Paraphrast ,  and  all  the  versions  without  ex¬ 
 ception. 
 
 2.  R.  Gceon ,  supposes  an  ellipsis  of  44  Da- 
 44  vidf  and  of  44  will  establish” — thus, 44  Thy 
 44  throne ,  [0  David,]  God  [will  establish  ] 
 44 for  ever.” — But  to  suppose  David,  the 
 
 writer 
 
 * 
 
331 
 
 writer  of  the  Hymn,  to  apostrophize  himself 
 thus,  is  absurd  and  impious. 
 
 3.  He  also  supposes,  that  the  term  God, 
 may  be  used  in  an  inferior  sense,  as  44  Moses 
 64  was  made  a  God  to  Pharaoh  ”  Exod.  vii.  1 
 —  And  this  notion  seems  to  have  been 
 adopted  by  the  British  Critic,  as  stated 
 before. 
 
 4.  A  Leader  in  the  Unitarian  School, 
 Wakefield ,  renders — %4  God  is  thy  throne  for 
 44  ever  and  ever.”  But  to  convert  God 
 himself  into  a  throne  for  the  Son  to  sit 
 on,  is  44  a  perversion  of  rhetoric  and  reason, 
 64  little  short  of  blasphemy.” 
 
 5.  The  surmise,  44  God  [saith]  thy  throne 
 44  is  to  the  age  of  the  age f  Orth.  Church. 
 Mag.  vol.  i.  331,  cannot  stand,  for  this  ad¬ 
 ditional  reason ;  that  although  Xsysi,  44  saith” 
 might  perhaps  be  understood,  as  marking  a 
 citation  in  the  Introduction  to  the  Hebrews : 
 it  cannot  possibly  be  understood  or  intro¬ 
 duced  without  violence  to  the  context,  in 
 the  forty-fifth  Psalm,  in  which  iCLoniM, 
 God ,  is  part  of  the  original  text;  and  is 
 taken  vocatively,  by  the  Chaldee  paraph rast 
 and  all  the  versions ;  as  o  Qeog,  was  proved  to 
 
 be, 
 
332 
 
 be,  in  the  Septuagint  version  of  Ps.  xxiL  1, 
 compared  with  Matt  xxvii.  46. 
 
 6.  As  a  last  subterfuge,  some  would  fain 
 expunge  ^lohim  entirely  from  the  text,  (see 
 Slichtingius  on  Rom.  ix.  5,)  contrary  to  all 
 ancient  versions,  editions,  and  MSS. 
 
 Rejecting  all  these  “  imaginations,”  as 
 idle  and  mischievous,  we  are  fully  authorized 
 to  understand  the  passage  in  the  usual  con¬ 
 struction,  as  descriptive  of  the  divinity  of 
 Christ;  of  the  duration  of  his  kingdom , 
 and  of  his  transcendent  exaltation,  in  con¬ 
 sequence  of  his  superior  worth  and  excel¬ 
 lence,  above  his  fellows ,  or  the  angels ;  (so 
 understood  in  the  Introduction  of  the  He - 
 brews ,  i.  7-9) — -far  above  every  principality , 
 and  jurisdiction ,  and  power ,  and  dominion , 
 and  every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in 
 this  world ,  but  also  in  the  future  :  Ephes.  i. 
 21.  “  Angels  and  jurisdictions  and  powers 
 u  having  been  subjected  unto  Him,”  1  Pet. 
 iii.  22.  “  to  whom  all  authority  was  given  in 
 “  Heaven  and  in  earth,”  at  his  resurrection. 
 Matt,  xxviii.  18. 
 
 The  following  sublime  description  of  his 
 
 Throne 9 
 
 i 
 
333 
 
 Throne ,  and  of  the  general  Judgment,  is  also 
 furnished  by  the  Apocalypse,  xx.  11-14. 
 
 44  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne ,  and 
 44  Him  that  sat  thereon ;  from  whose  face 
 44  the  earth  and  the  Heavens  fled ;  and  there 
 44  was  found  no  place  for  them :  And  I  saw 
 44  the  dead,  small  and  great,  standing  before 
 44  the  Throne  ;  and  the  Books  were  opened, 
 44  and  another  Book  was  opened,  which  is 
 44  [the  Book]  of  Life :  and  the  dead  were 
 44  judged  out  of  the  things  written  in  the 
 44  Books  according  to  their  works :  and 
 44  Death  and  Hades  were  cast  into  the  Lake 
 44  of  Eire :  (This  is  the  second  Death,)  and 
 44  whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the 
 44  Book  of  Life,  was  cast  into  the  Lake  of 
 44  Fire/’ 
 
 N.  B.  In  the  received  Greek  Text,  the 
 Dead  are  represented,  as  44  standing  fvtan riov 
 44  tz  0e*)  before  Goo” — namely,  the  God 
 who  sat  upon  the  Throne :  and  which  corre¬ 
 sponds  with  the  Psalmist's  Title,  ^loiiim  : 
 however,  as  the  reading,  evco7riov  tz  ©^ovzr 
 44  before  the  throne f  is  supported  by  the 
 authority  of  all  the  ancient  Versions,  the 
 
 Syriac , 
 
Syriac ,  Vulgate ,  JEthiopic ,  Arabic ,  and 
 Coptic  ;  by  the  earliest  editions,  the 
 plutensian ,  Planting  Geneva ;  by  the  Alex¬ 
 andrine  and  Vatican .  and  fifteen  other  MSS. 
 of  character,  and  restored  into  the  Text  by 
 Bengelius  and  Griesbach ;  I  cannot  hesitate 
 to  adopt  it :  more  especially,  as  according 
 to  the  usage  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Tes~ 
 t ament ,  the  term,  fO  ©EOS,  taken  absolutely 
 or  unconnected,  denotes  66  The  God  Su~ 
 44  preme” — who  clearly  is  not  meant  in 
 this  place:  as  will  further  appear  from  oun 
 Lord’s  fuller  description  of  the  last  Judg¬ 
 ment  :  Matt.  xxv.  31. 
 
 6 6  When  the  So ]sr  of  Man  cometh  in 
 44  his  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with 
 44  him  ;  then  shall  He  sit  on  the  throne  of  his 
 46  glory ;  and  all  the  nations  shall  be  collected 
 44  before  him :  and  he  shall  separate  them 
 44  from  each  other,  as  a  shepherd  separateth 
 44  the  sheep  from  the  goats  :  and  he  shall  set 
 44  the  sheep  on  his  right  hand,  but  the  goats 
 44  on  his  left. 
 
 44  Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them- 
 
 %/ 
 
 on  his  right  hand,  Come ,  ye  blessed  of  my 
 
 44  Father, 
 
 i; 
 
335 
 
 <c  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
 “for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  f 
 <Scc. 
 
 “  Then  shall  ITe  say  also  unto  them  on  the 
 
 •/ 
 
 44  left  hand,  Depart  from  me ,  ye  cursed ,  into 
 “  everlasting  fire ,  prepared  Jar  the  devil  and 
 44  his  angels  f  See. 
 
 66  And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting 
 44  punishment ;  hut  the  righteous  into  ever - 
 64  lasting  life  A 
 
 It  is  remarkable,  that  Wakefield ,  in  his 
 New  Testament  travestied ,  unwittingly  bears 
 record  to  the  proper  divinity  of  Jesus 
 Christ;  retaining  the  common  reading. 
 Rev.  xx.  11,  BvcoTuov  ra  ©£R — and  rendering, 
 with  our  public  translation,  44  Before  GodA 
 
 Verses  8,  9*  64  Myrrh ,  aloes,  and  cassia , 
 44  [perfume]  all  thy  garments ,  [taken]  om/  of 
 44  the  ivory  cabinets;  wherewith ,  among thy 
 44  treasures ,  kings'  daughters  gratify  thee  A 
 
 Various  and  perplexing  are  the  queries  of 
 translators  and  commentators,  ancient  and 
 modern,  respecting  the  meaning  bf  this  ob¬ 
 scure  and  elliptical  passage  in  the  original :  I 
 have  given  the  meaning  that  seems  to  suit  it, 
 
 but 
 
336 
 
 but  with  the  letter,  and  with  the  context,  as 
 descriptive  of  the  magnificence  of  his  dress, 
 and  the  quality  of  his  attendants,  the  word 
 **?D*n,  (  Hicheli,)  I  render  with  Durell , 
 
 “  Wardrobes ,  or  Cabinets f — who  ingeniously 
 c  supposes,  with  others,  that  it  was  the  root 
 of  the  Greek  word,  frequently  used  in 
 
 that  sense  by  Homer .  Odyss.  xxi.  51. 
 
 cHo’«y  sf  ir^riXr,s  ox\idos  j07j,  svOa  cis  yrikoiy 
 E sa.Got.Vy  £V  o’  apa.  rrjat  §uco<$ea  h/xocTa.  x«to. 
 
 She  then  went  up  to  the  lofty  floor,,  where  the  ca- 
 “  binets 
 
 tc  Stood  :  in  which  lay  perfumed  garments 
 
 See  also  Odyss.  ii.  339;  xiii.  10-68 ;  and 
 ibid.  xvi.  224-228-254;  and  Euripides  uses 
 Sopot  for  a  wardrobe  or  cabinet ; 
 
 •— - SX  o’  zkHGOL  Y.&ipl'JCOV  S' 0/J.COV 
 
 JLaQnrxy  xog(jlovt\  zuttoetzoos  nGunaxro, 
 
 — “  And  taking  out  of  the  cedar  cabinet  her  dress 
 “  And  ornaments,  she  becomingly  adjusted  them.” 
 
 Verse  9*  “At  thy  right  hand  is  placed  the 
 “  Queen”  See.  As  Christ  is  seated  “  at 
 “  the  right  hand  of  God,’"  Ps.  cx.  1,  so 
 
 THE 
 
337 
 
 u  THU  Church/"  or  congregation  of  the 
 faithful,  his  mystical  spouse,  is  placed  at 
 his  right  hand  also,  like  66  the  sheep”  at 
 the  last  or  general  judgment,  Matt.  xxv. 
 S3.  And  accordingly  the  same  imagery  is 
 pursued  in  the  Apocalypse >  xxi.  2-9,  when 
 “  the  New  Jerusalem ,  the  Lamb's  wife ,”  is 
 represented  in  vision,  coming  dozen  from 
 God  out  of  heaven  ;  as  a  bride  adorned  for 
 her  husband .  —  Hence,  in  the  Prophetic 
 Scriptures,  the  idolatry  of  the  Jews  and 
 Israelites  is  so  often  represented  under  the 
 symbol  of  adultery ;  and  that  our  Lord 
 styles  his  profligate  and  apostate  country¬ 
 men,  “  a  wicked  and  adulterous  genera- 
 “  tion  r 
 
 Verse  11.  “  For  He  is  tiiy  Lord,  and 
 “  worship  thou  Him.” — To  distinguish  the 
 religious  worship ,  to  be  paid  by  the  Queen , 
 or  “  the  Church”  to  Christ,  from  the  or¬ 
 dinary  adoration ,  or  homage  paid  to  earthly 
 kings  by  their  queens.  (See  the  beautiful 
 description  of  Queen  Esther  coming  into  the 
 presence  of  Ahasuerus,  or  Artaxeraes  l.on- 
 gimanus ,  to  intercede  for  bis  people,  in  tha 
 
 Z  Apocryphal 
 
338 
 
 Apocryphal  Book  of  Esther ,  xv.  1-16.)  Oar 
 old  liturgical  translation  renders — 
 
 “  For  He  is  thy  Lord  (God),  and  worship  thou 
 “  Him.” 
 
 As  more  correctly  printed  in  the  older  edi- 
 clitions  ;  the  word  God,  included  in  the  pa¬ 
 renthesis,  being  intended  as  explanatory,  to 
 distinguish  the  spiritual  Lord,  meant  from 
 the  mere  earthly  lord  or  husband, 
 
 Yer.  12.  44 And  the  daughter  oe  Tyre 
 44  [shall  come j  with  a  gift,”  This  intimates 
 the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  to  Christ; 
 analogous  to  44  the  Kings  of  Seba  and  Saba 
 44  shall  bring  gift's Ps.  Ixxii.  10. 
 
 Verse  13. 
 
 “  The  King’s  daughter  is 
 
 44  all  glorious  in  his  presence  f  &c.  By  46  the 
 44  Kings  daughter  ’  is  meant  44  the  Queen 
 To  a  more  minute  description  of  the  splen- 
 c! fa 6 r  and  magnificence  of  whose  person  and 
 dress,  the  Psalmist  returns;  and  as 
 
 Panhno,  signifies  44  His  Presence f 
 
 11 — 7 >  so  by  analogy,  Panimah ? 
 
 should  signify  44  her  presence f  rather  than 
 u  inwardly  ”  or  44  within.”  The  description 
 evidently  referring  to  her  external  appear- 
 
 since* 
 
339 
 
 7 
 
 ance,  and  the  pompousness  of  her  procession 
 to  be  introduced  to  the  King. 
 
 Ver.  14.  Instead  of  thy  Fathers,  shall  he  thy 
 Sons  ; 
 
 Thou  shalt  male  them  princes  in  all  the 
 earth : 
 
 They  shall  record  thy  name  in  every  succeed - 
 trig  generation , 
 
 Therefore  shall  people  praise  thee  for  ever¬ 
 more . 
 
 This  is  addressed  to  the  King,  not  to  the 
 Queen ,  as  is  evident  from  the  context.  “  His 
 u  Fathers”  according  to  the  flesh,  were  the 
 Patriarchs  and  Prophets  of  former  dis¬ 
 pensations.  “  His  Sons,”  the  Apostles  and 
 Evangelists  of  the  new  —  Wherever  tiie 
 Messiah,  or  u  the  Son  of  Man,”  is 
 styled,  “  Father  of  the  Age  to  come,”  Isa. 
 ix.  6.  And  he  promised  his  Apostles,  that 
 “  in  the  regeneration  they  should  sit  on  twelve 
 u  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel f 
 Matt.  xix.  28.  And  accordingly  in  the 
 Apocalypse,  v.  8,  when  the  Latmb, 
 84  who  alone  was  found  worthy  to  open  the 
 “  Book  of  Life,  had  taken  it  out  of  the  hand 
 u  of  the  Most  Highest,”  then,  by  a 
 most  sublime  and  magnificent  description, 
 
I 
 
 540 
 
 44  The  four  living  creatures ,  and  the  four1 
 44  and  twenty  elders  fell  [ prostrate ]  before 
 44  the  Lamb  ;  having  each  a  harp , 
 
 44  golden  phials  filled  zvitli  perfumes ,  (which 
 44  are  the  prayers  of  the  Saints f)  and  they 
 44  sing  a  new  Hymn,  saying ,  Worthy  art 
 44  thou  to  take  the  book  r  and  to  open  its  seals  ; 
 “for  thou  wast  sacrificed,  and  didst 
 “  purchase  us  unto  God  in  thy  blood ,  out  of 
 “  every  tribe ,  am/  tongue ,  people ,  and 
 
 “nation;  and  didst  make  us  Kings 
 
 «  « 
 
 44  Priests  our  God:  And  we  shall 
 
 “  reign  the  earth.” 
 
 And  at  a  subsequent  period  of  the  vision. 
 Rev.  xx.  4,  representing  the  first  resurrection , 
 or  44  resurrection  of  the  justf  John  44  sar<2> 
 44  Thrones ,  and  [certain  persons]  thereon , 
 “  and  judgment  was  given  unto  them and 
 [he  saw]  the  .sow/s*  o/‘  the  martyrs ,  &c.  and 
 44  they  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  a 
 44  thousand  years." 
 
 The  harmony  of  sentiment  and  arrange¬ 
 ment  subsisting  throughout  between  this  di- 
 ivAe  hymn  and  the  Apocalypse ,  (which  is 
 surely  its  finest  and  noblest  comment,)  may 
 serve  to  establish  the  divine  authority  of  both, 
 
 as 
 
341 
 
 •as  dictated  by  one  and  the  same  spir 
 hit,  more  concisely  to  the  earlier,  more 
 explicitly  to  the  later  prophet ;  and  also  to 
 repel  that  strange  misconception  and  perver¬ 
 sion  of  the  external  evidence ,  adduced  by  the 
 sceptical  Michaelis ,  to  render  the  authenticity 
 of  the  Apocalypse  doubtful  ;  which  origin¬ 
 ally,  in  the  primitive  Church,  was  the  least 
 questioned  or  disputed  of  any  of  the  Ca¬ 
 nonical  Books;  being  referred  to,  or  cited 
 expressly  as  the  work  of  the  Apostle  John, 
 by  Justin  Martyr ,  about  A.  D.  140;  by 
 the  Martyrs  at  Lyons ,  and  Irena* us ,  A.  D. 
 173,  who  was  acquainted  with  Polycarp ,  the 
 disciple  of  John,  and  often  quotes  this  book, 
 as  44  the  Revelation  of  John ,  the  disciple  of 
 66  the  Lord/’  And  in  one  place  he  says, 
 44  It  was  seen ,  not  long  ago,  hut  almost  in  our 
 u  age ,  at  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Donation  J 
 Add  to  these,  the  testimony  of  Theophilus , 
 Bishop  of  Antioch,  A.  D.  131  ;  oi  Clemens 
 Alexandrians ,  A.  I).  194,  who  cites  it  several 
 times;  and  once  in  particular  thus:  44  Such 
 44  a  person,  though  not  honoured  with  the 
 44  first  seat  here  on  earth,  shall  sit  upon  the 
 44  four-and-twenty  thrones,  judging  the  peo- 
 
 Z  3  pic  ; 
 
44  pie  ;  as  John  says,  in  the  Revelation  J  Of 
 Tertullian ,  about  A.  D.  200;  who  asserts, 
 44  though  Marcion  rejects  the  Revelation,  the 
 44  succession  of  bishops  traced  to  the  origin , 
 44  will  css  lire  us  that  John  is  the  author/’ 
 After  all  this  luminous  testimony  of  the 
 earliest  witnesses,  and  much  more,  cited  by 
 Lardner  and  Michaelis  himself,  what  a  de¬ 
 plorable  instance  of  an  44  undiscerning  mind” 
 is  furnished  by  the  latter  in  the  sceptical  con¬ 
 clusion  of  his  Introduction  to  the  New  Tes- r 
 t ament  l 
 
 44  1  confess,  that  during  this  inquiry,  my 
 44  belief  in  the  divine  authority  of  the  Apo - 
 44  calypse  has  received  no  more  confirmation 
 f4  than  it  had  before ,  and  1  must  leave  the 
 44  decision  of  this  important  question  to 
 44  every  man’s  private  judgment /’ 
 
 Of  such  miserable  and  uncomfortable  Cri¬ 
 tics,  we  may  truly  say,  that  44  they  weary 
 44  themselves  to  find  the  door — 44  ever  learn- 
 44  mg,  and  never  able  to  arrive  at  an  intimate 
 44  knowledge  oj  the  Truth/ — (ETriyvcopiv 
 aXrjdiiocg)  Gen.  xix.  11,  2  Tim.  iii.  7-  And 
 unwittingly,  if  not  insidiously,  undermining 
 
 the  authenticity  and  integrity  of  Holy 
 
 *  *  »•••.’  ^ 
 
 Writ, 
 
 .  •  «  y  • 
 
343 
 
 W hit,  in  order  to  shake  its  credibility.  But 
 vain  and  idle  is  all  this  manufacturing  of 
 external  evidence ,  while  the  internal  is 
 founded  on  a  rock  ”  which  will  brave  the 
 assaults  of  its  open  or  disguised  foes,  and 
 the  more  ruinous  accommodations  or  con¬ 
 cessions  of  rash  and  indiscreet  friends,  though 
 of  great  name.  To  elucidate  the  internal 
 evidence ,  by  correct er  translation 
 and  comparative  Criticism,  has  been 
 the  leading  object  of  the  authors  researches; 
 being  fully  convinced  himself,  and  wishing 
 to  impart  that  conviction  to  others,  that 
 
 “  The  testifying  of  Jesus  is  the  drift  of 
 “  Prophecy.” 
 
 — “  To  Him,  give  ale  the  Prophets  witness:’" 
 
 both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament. 
 
 1  shall  close  this  Dissertation  with  an 
 Epilogue  to  the  Prophetic  Psalms, 
 furnished  by 
 
 The  last  words  of  David.  2  Sam.  xxiii.  1-7. 
 
 iC  David,  the  Son  of  Jesse,  saith, 
 
 “  JEven  the  Person  highly  exalted,  saith, 
 
 (i  The  anointed  of  the  God  of  Jacob, 
 a  Aud  the  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel  ; 
 
 z  3 
 
 “  The 
 
344 
 
 *  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  speaketh  in  Me, 
 ct  And  his  word  is  on  my  tongue; 
 
 “  The  God  of  Israel  hath  said, 
 
 “  The  Rock  of  Israel  hath  spoken  touching  Me. 
 
 (<  [Of thy  seed]  The  just , shall  be  Ruler  among  Men , 
 “  Ruling  in  the  fear  of  God. 
 
 <(  As  the  morning  light  shall  a  Sun  arise, 
 
 <(  A  morning,  unclouded  in  brightness ; 
 i{  [As]  the  tender  herb,  after  a  shower, 
 
 “  [Springeth  up]  from  the  ground  : 
 
 “ - For  [shall]  not  my  House  [be]  so,  with  God?— * 
 
 Because  He  made  with  me,  an  everlasting  covenant, 
 
 “  Ordered,  and  established  in  every  [age] ; 
 
 “  Because  [II  e]  is  all  my  salvation,  and  all  my  desire. 
 
 “  For  [Sons  of]  Belial  shall  not  blossom, 
 
 “  All  they  [shall  be  consumed]  like  prickly  thorns : 
 
 “  For  they  shall  not  be  taken  in  hand, 
 
 “  But  the  Man  who  shall  touch  them, 
 
 “  Shall  be  armed  with  iron,  and  the  staff  of  a  spear  5 
 “  At  [the  appointed  season  of  ]  rest,” 
 
 DJ  S-r 
 
345 
 
 DISSERTATION  X. 
 
 ON  THE  PROPHECY  OF  MIC  AH,  V.  2-4. 
 
 most  important  single 
 
 prophecy  in  the  whole  range  of  the  01(J 
 Testament,  respecting  the  personal  character 
 
 of  Christ,  and  the  grand  design  of  his 
 
 several  manifestations  to  the  world.  It  is 
 the  most  comprehensive  in  its  plan,  winding 
 up  the  whole  chain  of  prophetic  evidence 
 respecting  the  blessed  66  seed  of  the  woman” 
 both  in  his  human  and  in  his  divine  nature, 
 and  the  benevolent  design  of  his  several  dis¬ 
 pensations,  to  promote  the  peace  and  salva¬ 
 tion  of  mankind.  The  successive  limitations 
 of  his  human  descent  to  the  line  of  Shem , 
 the  seed  of  Abraham ,  Isaac ,  and  Jacob ,  the 
 tribe  of  Judah ,  and  the  royal  house  of  Da¬ 
 vid,  which  were  pointed  out  in  former  pro¬ 
 phecies,  here  terminate  in  his  birth  at  Beth¬ 
 lehem ,  46  the  city  of  David  C  His  miraculous 
 conception  is  here  obscurely  intimated,  which 
 
 is 
 
U  6 
 
 is  more  fully  explained  by  the  contemporary 
 prophet  Isaiah ,  and  his  successors,  Jeremiah 
 and  Zechariali ;  his  eternal  generation  is  inci¬ 
 dentally  noticed ;  the  rejection  ot  the  Is¬ 
 raelites  and  Jem  for  a  season  is  foretold ; 
 and  their  final  restoration,  and  the  universal 
 peace  that  shall  prevail  throughout  the  earth, 
 at  his  second  coming  in  glory. 
 
 This  prophecy  is  also  “  the  most  fully  au- 
 **  thenticated C ’  Its  application  to  Christ, 
 and  to  Jesus  as  the  Chrtst,  is  proved  by 
 the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  primitive 
 Jewish  and  Christian  Churches  :  Its  applica¬ 
 tion  to  the  Messiah,  or  Christ,  was 
 formally  acknowledged  by  the  fullest  and 
 most  respectable  Jewish  Synod  that  ever 
 met,  convened  by  Herod  to  decide  the  ques¬ 
 tion,  64  Where  the  Christ  was  to  be  born 
 Matt.  ii.  1-6.  And  accordingly,  the  first 
 branch  of  it,  (which  only  was  noticed  by  the 
 Jewish  Synod)  forms  the  groundwork  of  the 
 introductions  of  Matthews  and  Luke's  Gos-* 
 pels,  explaining  the  human  nature  of  Jesus 
 as  the  Christ  ;  and  his  prophetic  descent 
 from  David ,  Abraham ,  and  Eve  ;  which  was 
 phiefly  insisted  upon  at  the  first  preaching  of 
 
 the 
 
347 
 
 the  Gospel,  according  as  the  Jewish  world 
 was  able  to  bear  it.  Afterwards,  at  a  more 
 advanced  period  of  Christianity,  the  second 
 branch  of  it,  intimating  his  divine  nature 
 and  eternal  generation ,  was  unfolded  in  the 
 sublime  Introduction  of  John’s  Gospel,  writ^* 
 ten  neai>the  close  of  the  first  century,  when 
 the  whole  world  was  better  prepared  to  re¬ 
 ceive  these  mysterious  doctrines :  while  the 
 third  branch  of -the  prophecy,  foretelling  the 
 rejection  of  the  Jews  for  a  season,  and  the 
 calling  of  the  Gentiles  ;  and  the  final  union 
 of  both  in  the  Church -.of  God  and  of 
 Christ,  contained  that  mysterious  dis¬ 
 pensation  of  the  Gospel,  which  is  the  lead¬ 
 ing  object  of  the  New  Testament  in  general, 
 especially  of  the  Epistles ,  to  unfold  and 
 explain, 
 
 The  whole  of  the  prophecy  may  thus  be 
 more  correctly  rendered : 
 
 10  “  And  art  thou  Bethlehem  Ephrata , 
 
 “  Little  to  be  esteemed  among  the 
 u  thousands  of  Judah  ? — • 
 
 “  From  thee  shall  issue  forth  [a 
 Leader] 
 
 Who 
 
348 
 
 44  Who  shall  rule  my  people  the  Israel 
 “.[of  God]. 
 
 2.  “  (But  his  issuings  forth  are  from  old, 
 “  From  days  of  eternity.) 
 
 3.  “  Therefore,  He  will  give  them  up  [for 
 
 “  a  season], 
 
 “  Until  the  time  that  5Y*e  which  shall 
 “  bear9  have  borne. 
 
 Then  shall  the  residue  of  thy  brethren 
 “  return, 
 
 “  Along  with  the  Sons  of  Israel . 
 
 44  And  He  shall  stand,  and  guide  them 
 “In  the  strength  of  the  Lord, 
 
 “In  the  majesty  of  the  name  of  the 
 Lord  his  God. 
 
 46  And  when  they  return,  He  shall  be 
 
 “  magnified 
 
 “  Unto  the  ends  of  the  earth : 
 
 “  And  He  shall  be  [their]  peace/' 
 
 RRMARKS. 
 
 The  first  branch  of  the  prophecy  is  thus 
 finely  and  freely  translated  by  Matthew , 
 seizing  the  spirit  of  the  original,  in  a  way 
 greatly  superior  to  the  Septuagint ,  and  all 
 the  other  ancient  versions  : 
 
 “  And 
 
/ 
 
 349 
 
 And  thou  Bethlehem,  territory  of  Judah , 
 
 Art  by  no  means  least  among  the  Captains  of  Judah  2 
 <(  For  from  thee  shall  issue  forth  A  Leader, 
 
 “  Who  shall  guide  my  people  the  Israel  [of  God].” 
 
 Here  the  Evangelist  has  expressed  the 
 place  Ephraiah ,  by  its  situation  in  the  land 
 allotted  to  the  tribe  of  Judah ,  more  intelli¬ 
 gibly  than  in  the  original  of  Micah ;  and  has 
 explained  64  the  thousands  ”  by  64  the  Cap - 
 44  tains  of  thousands.” 
 
 The  question  in  Micah .,  44  Art  thou  little 
 44  to  he  esteemed  ?’'  & c.  (as  it  ought  to  be 
 rendered)  is  to  be  understood  negatively ; 
 for  the  answer  implied  is,  44  Thou  art  not 
 and  accordingly,  the  Evangelist  has  removed 
 the  ambiguity  by  his  translation.  This  ab¬ 
 rupt  and  lively  mode  of  interrogation,'  is 
 frequent  in  the  Scriptures ;  especially  in  the 
 prophecies,  and  is  indeed  characteristic  of 
 animated  and  impassioned  conversation,  in 
 all  ages  and  countries  of  the  world,  espe¬ 
 cially  in  the  East.  Thus  in  Nathans  famous 
 prophecy,  as  recorded  in  the  parallel  pas¬ 
 sages,  2  Sam.  vii.  1-15;  and  1  Chron.  xvii. 
 1-14:  the  question  proposed  in  the  former, 
 44  Shalt  thou  build  Me  a  house  for  my  dwell - 
 
u  ing?”  is  expressed  absolutely  in  the  latter* 
 
 “  Thou  shall  not  build  Me  a  house  to  dwell 
 in U  See  similar  instances,  Job  xxx.  35; 
 
 Isa.  x.  9  ;  1  Kings  xxi.  7  **  How  grossly 
 reprehensible  then,  are  the  writers  of  the 
 Socinian  and  Unitarian  schools,  Priestley , 
 Wakefield ,  Evanson ,  &c.  who  tax  the  Evan- 
 
 rnistransl 
 
 affect  to  depreciate 
 
 ing  their  own  ignorance  and  incapacity,  as 
 
 fully  equal  to  their  presumption  and  malig¬ 
 
 nity  in  reviling  those  sacred  and  genuine 
 cc7ro{Jt,vv}gov£uguTct)  or  44  Memoirs  oj  Christ/ 
 
 contained  in  the  four  Gospels,  which  they 
 did  not,  and  indeed  could  not  under¬ 
 stand,  blinded  as  they  were  by  their  pre¬ 
 judices. 
 
 #  This  may  help  to  clear  up  a  considerable  difficulty  in 
 our  translation  of  Job,  i.  1 1  ;  ii.  5-9-  In  all  which  pas¬ 
 sages,  the  verb  Barak,  pa,  which  signifies  literally  “  to 
 “  bless,”  is  rendered  “  to  curse  ”  In  the  two  first  passages, 
 Satan’s  malicious  insinuations  against  Job  should  be  ren¬ 
 dered  interrogatively,  “  Will  he  bless  Theb  to  thy  facet* 
 intimating  the  reverse.  In  the  last.  Job's  wife  sarcas¬ 
 tically  and  ironically  advises  him,  <c  , Bless  God,  and  die!” 
 alluding  to  his  pious  resignation  before.  Job  i.  20-21. 
 
 In 
 
351 
 
 In  the  tefm'H ytepevog,  u  Leader  fl  Matthew 
 has  supplied  an  important  omission,  both  m 
 the  present  Hebrew  text  of  Micah ,  and  also 
 in  the  Septuagint  version,  of  the  TJJ  Nagid ; 
 which  is  a  usual  epithet  of  the  Messiah, 
 
 3  Chron.  v.  2  ;  Isa.  Iv.  4 ;  Dan.  ix.  25,  &c. 
 and  in  all  these  places  is  rendered  by  the 
 Septuagint,  'Hyvpevog.  The  next  term,  tjoi- 
 fccivsi,  finely  expresses  the  nature  of  the 
 Leader's  “ rule”  (generally expressed  by  the 
 Hebrew,  b^in,)  as  a  shepherd  his  flock  ;  so 
 intimated  by  Micah  himself  in  the  third 
 branch  of  the  prophecy,  (Tjm,  vtou  &oipsvei7 
 as  rendered  by  the  Septuagint,  in  the  place. 
 Whence  our  Lord  is  styled  sc  The  Shepherd 
 “  of  Israel  fl  Ps.  Ixxx.  1 ;  and  the  66  Chief 
 “  Shepherd fl  1  Pet.  v.  4.  And  he  assumed 
 the  title  of  “  the  good  Shepherd If  and  dele¬ 
 gated  the  power  of  “  guiding  or  pasturing 
 “  his  sheep’  to  his  Apostles. 
 
 The  second  branch  of  the  prophecy  seems 
 to  be  incidentally  introduced  to  guard  against 
 the  erroneous  notion,  that  the  human  birth 
 of  the  Messiah  at  Bethlehem  was  his  first 
 i»r  original  birth ;  and  accordingly  states  his 
 antecedent  or  eternal  generation .  And  such 
 
 was 
 
 1 
 
was  the  explanation  of  the  primitive  Jewish 
 Church,  preserved  in  th ePirJce  of  11.  Tfliezar  i 
 44  Egfessionesejus  sunt  ab  initio” — 44  Hoc  est* 
 44  Quum  mundus  rtondum  esset  conditus  :  * 
 evidently  explaining  this  passage  by  that  pa¬ 
 rallel  description  of  Wisdom  personified, 
 Prov.  viii.  22. 
 
 “  The  Lord  got  Me  the  beginning  of  his  way, 
 
 S{  Before  his  works  of  old: 
 
 “  From  eternity  was  I  ordained,  from  first, 
 
 “  Long  before  the  Earth f  Sec. - -See  Diss.  VIL 
 
 In  conformity  with  both  these  passages, 
 our  Lord  explicitly  states  his  own  pre-exist¬ 
 ence,  44  before  the  world  was ” — 44  before  the 
 44 foundation  of  the  world”  John  xvii.  5-14; 
 and  the  apostle  John  styles  him  44  the  begin - 
 44  / ling  of  God’s  creation  Rev*  iii.  14.  And 
 Paul ,  44  the  first-born  of  all  creation  Col. 
 i.  15. 
 
 In  the  third  branch  of  the  prophecy,  our 
 Lord’s  miraculous  conception  seems  to  be 
 obscurely  intimated  in  the  remarkable  ex¬ 
 pression  mb*  mbv  paritura  pariet ,  44  She 
 44  that  shall  bear,  have  borne  which  may 
 perhaps  best  be  explained  by  Isaiah's  illus¬ 
 trious 
 
353 
 
 irious  prophecy,  “  The  virgin  shall  con- 
 “  ceive  and  bear  a  son,”  &c.  vii.  14;  which 
 was  evidently  applied  to  the  Virgin  Mary , 
 by  the  archangel  Gabriel ;  44  Thou  shaft  con- 
 u  ceive  in  thy  womb ,  and  bear  a  Son,”  &c. 
 And  as  Micah  was  contemporary  with  Isaiah , 
 and  conversant  with  his  writings ;  (as  is  evi¬ 
 dent  from  that  remarkable  prophecy  of  Isaiah , 
 descriptive  of  the  final  conversion  of  the 
 Jewish  and  Heathen  world  to  Christ,  Isa. 
 ii.  2-5 ;  which  Micah  has  copied  and  im¬ 
 proved,  Mic.  iv,  1-4  ;)  there  can  scarcely 
 remain  a  reasonable  doubt  of  the  true  im¬ 
 port  of  this  mysterious  expression. 
 
 And  indeed  some  other  obscure  notices  of 
 the  miraculous  conception  of  the  Messiah, 
 seem  also  to  be  furnished  by  the  Old  Testa - 
 ment ;  which  the  high  importance  of  this 
 article  of  our  faith,  induces  me  to  state  more 
 fully  than  I  have  hitherto  any  where  seen. 
 
 The  first  of  these  appears  to  be  contained 
 in  the  last  of  the  wise  Agio's  four  mysteries, 
 more  correctly  translated,  Prov.  xxx.  19* 
 
 “  These  three  things  are  too  wonderful  for  me, 
 
 “  But  the  fourth,  I  know  not : 
 
 A  a 
 
 “  The 
 
354 
 
 I 
 
 de  The  way  of  an  Eagle,  [flying]  in  the  air; 
 u  The  way  of  a  serpent  [gliding]  on  a  rock ; 
 
 » 
 
 “  The  way  of  a  ship  [sailing]  in  the  main  ; 
 
 “  The  way  of  a  male  child  [conceived}  in  a  virgin ? 
 
 In  all  these  cases,  44  the  waif  signifies 
 44  the  mode,  manner  of  operation,  or  process.’* 
 In  the  last,  which  is  mentioned  by  the  pro¬ 
 phet  as  56  unknown  ”  or  the  most  mysterious, 
 it  is  remarkable,  that  the  same  term  Tvzhv 
 almah  is  used  both  by  Agur  and  Isaiah , 
 which,  like  'arupdevog  in  Greek,  denotes  a 
 j pure  virgin ,  in  all  the  other  passages  of 
 Scripture  in  which  it  is  found  :  being  so  ap¬ 
 plied  to  Rebecca ,  Gen.  xxiv.  43  ;  to  Miriam , 
 Exod.  ii.  8  ;  to  virgins  in  a  religious  pro¬ 
 cession,  Ps.  Ixviii.  25 ;  and  to  maids  of  ho - 
 nour ,  as  distinguished  from  queens  and  con¬ 
 cubines ,  Can  tic.  vi.  8. — And  the  word  *03 
 geber ,  signifies  a  “  male  child  f  in  Jobiii.3; 
 and  is  there  rendered  a^crev  by  the  Septua- 
 gint.  And  it  is  remarkable,  that  in  the 
 mysterious  account  of  the  birth  and  perse¬ 
 cutions  of  our  Redeemer,  given  in  the 
 A^pocalypse,  he  is  represented  as  inog  cc^rjvf 
 44  a  male  child f  destined  46  to  rule  all  the 
 44  Gentiles  with  an  iron  sceptre (as  foretold 
 
 also 
 
 / 
 
355 
 
 also  by  David  in  the  second  Psalm ;)  but 
 who”  until  then,  “  zvas  caught  up  unto  God 
 ‘ 6  and  his  throne  ”  (as  foretold  also  in  the 
 cxth  Psalm,)  for  protection  against  the  great 
 dragon ,  who  stood  ready  to  devour  him  at 
 his  birth.  Rev.xii.  5. 
 
 The  last  case  seems  to  be  particularly  air 
 luded  to  by  Solomon ,  Eccl.  xi,  5, 
 
 iC  As  thou  knozoest  not  what  is  the  way  of  the  wind; 
 
 “  As  [ thou  knozoest  not  zohat  is  the  zoay  of]  the  hones 
 “  In  the  womb  of  the  pregnant  zooman  : 
 u  So}  thou  canst  not  know  the  zoork  of  God, 
 fe  Who  maketh  the  universe,” 
 
 Solomon  thus  representing  the  natural 
 generation  of  man  as  a  great  mystery  of 
 divine  workmanship;  and  our  Lord,  in 
 like  manner,  illustrates  the  mystery  of  spi¬ 
 ritual  regeneration  to  Nicodemus ,  John  iii.  8. 
 
 "  [As]  the  zoind  bloweth  where  it  listeth  ; 
 
 “  And  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof  but  knozoest  not 
 “  Whence  it  cometh  and.  whither  it  goeth  : 
 
 “  So  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit.” 
 
 rJfJie  miraculous  conception  seems  also  to 
 
 a  a  $  be 
 
356 
 
 be  foretold  by  Jeremiah ,  in  the  following  re? 
 markable  passage : 
 
 “  The  Lord  will  create  a  new  thing  in  the  Earth  : — 
 
 <c  A  Woman  shall  compass  a  male  child!” 
 
 Here  the  same  word,  “DJ  geber ,  is  used 
 as  in  Agues  fourth  mystery,  and  requires  to 
 be  rendered  likewise,  “  a  male  child  A  for 
 surely  there  could  be  nothing  new  or  uncom¬ 
 mon  in  the  pregnancy  of  a  married  woman. 
 Therefore  mp3  nekebah ,  in  Jeremiah ,  must 
 denote  an  unmarried  one,  agreeing  with 
 Hftby  almah,  ■  “  a  virgin  ”  in  Isaiah.  And 
 this  is  confirmed  by  the  context  in  both 
 places:  both  prophets  representing  it  as  a 
 sign  solemnly  proposed  by  the  Lord,  to 
 a  disobedient  and  gainsaying  people. 
 
 These  interpretations  of  Ague's,  Isaialis9 
 and  Jeremiah9 s  great  mysteryg  or  sign  of  the 
 miraculous  conception ,  are  supported  also  by 
 respectable  Jewish  authority. 
 
 The  celebrated  Rabbi  Judah ,  surnamed 
 1J akhadosh,  “  the  holy,”  and  the  author  of 
 the  Mishna ,  allegorizes  the  four  mysteries 
 of  Ague  as  relating  to  the  Messiah,  in 
 
 his 
 
bis  tract  entitled  Gali  llazia,.  or  “  revealer 
 of  mysteries* In  which  he  thus  expounds 
 the  last  mystery. 
 
 46  Ilic  quoque  est  Deus,  am ans  filias  Je- 
 “  rusalem ,  at  generetur  Rex  Mess r as  ex 
 “  ana  earum .  Concipiet  autern  et  pariet , 
 “  remanebitque  virgo A  Jer.  xxxi.  22.  Here 
 R.  Judah  actually  cites  the  prophecy  of 
 Isaiah ,  vii.  14  ;  w  hile  he  refers  to  Jer.  xxxi, 
 22,  as  explanatory  of  both  Agur  and  Isaiah: 
 and  improving  upon  the  latter,  he  states  the 
 perpetual  virginity  of  the  mother  of  the 
 Messiah.  An  extravagant  notion  exploded 
 by  the  Evangelist,  Matt.  i.  25 :  in  which 
 passage,  “  her  first-born  sonfi  Jesus,  is 
 understood  by  the  primitive  Church  to  de¬ 
 note  her  only  child.  Ilis  supposed  “  bro~ 
 “  thers  and  sisters fi  denoting  his  cousin  ger~ 
 mans,  according  to  Jewish  phraseology,  ex¬ 
 tending  the  expression  to  nephews  and  nieces 
 also.  See  Gen.  xiv.  16;  xx.  12;  xxix.  12; 
 Gal.  i.  19  ;  Matt.  xiii.  55 ;  and  Mark  xv.  40. 
 
 *  The  whole  of  R.  Judah's  curious  and  ingenious  al¬ 
 legory  is  cited  by  Schultens  in  his  prolix  philological 
 Commentary  on  Proverbs.  Compare  also  Parlckurst's 
 Hebrew  Lexicon,  under  the  word  almah . 
 
 These 
 
358 
 
 These  observations  naturally  lead  us  to 
 notice  Professor  Blaney’s  strange  translation 
 of  Jer.  xxxi.  22  : 
 
 u 
 
 A  woman  shall  put  to  the  rout  a  strong  man : 
 
 6( 
 
 and  his  still  stranger  comment ; 
 
 “  I  cannot,  at  any  rate ,  concur  in  opinion 
 “  with  those  commentators  who  understand 
 “  these  words  [in  the  original]  to  relate  to 
 “  the  miraculous  conception  of  the  Virgin 
 Mary :  they  surely  cannot  by  any  con¬ 
 struction  be  brought  to  imply  such  a 
 “  thing,”  &c. 
 
 But  surely  the  original  verb,  HID  sabab ,  is 
 uniformly  used  in  the  sense  of  to  encompass 
 or  enclose ;  and  no  where  denotes  to  put  to 
 the  rout ,  or  repulse  an  opposing  adversary. 
 And  even  supposing  that  it  could  bear  this 
 interpretation,  surely  it  would  be  “  no  new 
 “thing:’  Was  not  Abimelech  “  a  strong 
 “  man"  and  a  great  warrior,  put  to  the  rout 
 by  the  woman  who  fractured  his  skull  by  the 
 blow  of  a  piece  of  a  millstone  at  the  siege 
 of  Thebez ;  so  that  he  called  on  his  armour^ 
 bearer  to  slay  him,  “  That  men  say  not  of 
 
 a 
 
 me 
 
359 
 
 u  me  a  Woman  slew  him  !” — Were  not  Sisera , 
 Sampson ,  and  Holof ernes,  all  of  them  “  strong 
 “  men”  circumvented  and  destroyed  by 
 women  ? — Indeed  the  words  of  the  prophet 
 cannot  by  any  reasonable  construction  be 
 brought  to  imply  any  thing  else  than  the 
 miraculous  conception ,  if  we  take  into  account 
 the  occasion  of  the  prophecy. 
 
 In  the  sequel  of  Micali  s  prophecy,  “  tlic 
 “  residue  of  thy  brethren  denotes  the  Jews 
 in  particular,  to  whom,  as  inhabiting  Beth¬ 
 lehem ,  in  the  land  of  Judea ,  it  was  originally 
 addressed,  who  are  here  foretold  to  return 
 to  their  native  land  at  the  end  of  the  dis¬ 
 persion,  along  with  the  sons  of  Israel,  or 
 remnant  of  the  ten  tribes ;  and  to  be  con¬ 
 verted  together, “to  serve  the  Lord  their 
 •“  God, and  the  Beloved  tiieir  Kin g:” 
 Jer.  xxx.  9*  64  When  the  Lord  shall  as- 
 
 i£  semble  the  outcasts  of  Israel,  and  gather 
 t€  the  dispersed  of  Judah  together,  from  the 
 u  four  corners  of  the  earth,”  Isa.  xi.  12;  Matt, 
 xxiv.  31.  When  “  Ephraim  shall  not  envy 
 
 Judah,  and  Judah  shall  not  vex  Ephraim,” 
 Isa.  xi.  13.  And  so  “  all  Israel  shall  be 
 3 
 
 “  saved 
 
360 
 
 44  saved — when  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles 
 44  [conversion]  shall  come  in,”  Bom.xi.  25, 
 26.  But  as  the  Apostle  remarks,  44  All 
 46  are  not  Israel  that  are  called  Israel ;  but 
 44  only  the  Israel  of  God/’  or  the  believing 
 part  of  the  nation. 
 
 I  have  rendered  the  particle  by  in  the 
 sense  of 44  with”  44  along  with”  or  44  together 
 44  with”  as  used  by  Micah  elsewhere,  vii.  1 3 ; 
 where  it  is  accordingly  rendered  <rw9  in  the 
 Vatican  copy  of  the  Septuagint ;  and  as  it  is 
 evidently  understood,  Gen.  xxxii.  12  ;  and 
 in  several  other  passages.  See  Noldius. 
 
 Instead  of  the  present  reading  of  the 
 Hebrew  Bible  12^1,  et  sedebunt,  rendered 
 in  our  translation,  44  And  they  shall  abide  ” 
 
 I  have  followed  the  various  reading, 
 et  revertentur,  furnished  by  the  Syriac , 
 Chaldee ,  and  Vulgate ,  and  supported  by  four 
 MSS.  of  Kennicott  and  He  Rossi’ s  collations; 
 and  adopted  by  Solomon  Jar  chi,  the  Bishops' 
 Bible,  Cast  alio,  Capel ,  Michaelis,  Newcome , 
 See .  as  more  conformable  to  the  context. 
 
 At  the  close  of  the  prophecy,  the 
 Leader  is  styled  44  the  peace,”  or  their  v 
 
 PEACE ; 
 
36 1 
 
 Feace  ;  intimating  that  profound  and  uni¬ 
 versal  peace  destined  to  prevail  in  and 
 throughout  the  earth,  at  the  next  Advent, 
 or  appearance  of  Christ,  64  the 
 44  prince  of  peace — of  whose  peace  there 
 44  shall  be  no  end  ”  Isa.  ix.  6-7 ; — 44  When  he 
 44  shall  be  seen  by  all  who  expect  Him  unto 
 44  salvation  ”  Heb.  ix.  26 ;  Matt,  xxiii.  59. 
 
 And  this  illustrious  prophecy  of  Micah , 
 so  early  and  unequivocally  appropriated  to 
 Christ  by  the  primitive  Jewish,  and  adopted 
 by  the  Christian  Church,  and  so  minutely 
 fulfilled  in  its  two  first  branches ;  will,  I  am 
 fully  persuaded,  by  the  approaching  accom¬ 
 plishment  of  its  last  branch,  contribute  more 
 effectually,  perhaps,  than  any  other  prophecy 
 of  the  Old  Testament,  to  work  the  con¬ 
 version  of  learned  Jews:  When  that  “partial 
 44  blindness  which  hath  befallen  Israel ,”  for 
 so  long  a  period  of  desolation,  ever  since 
 their  rejection  of  Jesus  as  the  Christ, 
 shall  at  length  be  removed  by  the  sign  of 
 the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
 heaven  ;  and  the  vail  shall  be  taken  away 
 'which  still  clouds  their  understandi  ngs  re- 
 
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