"Lord, still Thou givest gifts to me;

Thy mercy, like the dew,

From day to day my glad eyes see,
Forever fresh and new.

"What shall I on Thine altar lay
From out my want and woe?
What offerings on this happy day
Within Thy temple stow?

"I, the poor beggar at Thy door,
To Thee what can I bring?
The want of all things is my store;
Shall I Thy praises sing?

"A poor and blemished sacrifice,
That Israel would not own,
How can I bring before Thine eyes,
Or cast beneath Thy throne?

"Look Thou upon Thy spotless Lamb,
Who came my sins to bear;
The feeblest of his fold I am,
Yet Thou wilt find me there.

"The smoking flax, the broken reed,
Thy mercy will not scorn;

A worthless gift, that yet can plead,
'My Lord to-day was born!'"

Qualify, if need be, a word or two in these verses; but do they not, on the whole, express a great truth, to which our The sug Church might with profit devote more attention?

gestion is offered for what it is worth.

E. C. Sweetser, D.D.

ARTICLE XVIII.

Does the Greek Article Define?

It does not become the present writer to compete, in matters of scholarship, with those who are specialists in such matters.

"I walk with bare, hushed feet the ground

They tread with boldness shod."

But Little Barefoot may walk, though he have to take care not needful for Wellington or Blucher.

99

here “indi

A current question seems to be, "Does the Greek Article define?" I take the hand of one shod with classical learning, and he shows me: "The Article is originally a demonstrative pronoun. . The real Article generally corresponds to the English definite Article. It serves to set forth an object, either as a single one (the individualizing Article), or as a class (the generic Article)." The "individualizing Article" was evident to me: the "generic Article," he informs me, "indicates a whole class of homogeneous objects." - Dr. Geo. Curtius. As a specimen of the generic Article in English, we may refer to: "The horse is a quadruped ; "the monkey is quadrumanous.” The use of the Article cates whole classes of homogeneous objects." By such expressions we mean to say that all individuals of the genus or class are severally quadrupeds, or quadrumanous, as the case may be. Referring to mankind, we omit the generic Article, in English. We say, "Man is a biped," meaning that all men are bipeds; or, "Man is mortal," meaning that all men are mortal. In Greek, however, the Article is here employed generically, as in other like cases: "the man is a biped;" "the man is mortal." Thus the Greek is more consistent than the English. The generic Article is used in Greek, as in English, with nouns of the singular number.

I take the hand of another, a special student of New Testament Greek: "The Article, when employed, is usually prefixed to nouns, adjectives, or participles, for the purpose of

NEW SERIES. VOL. XXIV.

19

specification or emphasis." He tells me that the specification may be on account of individuality, "when one individual is distinguished from others of the same species, or when one species or genus is distinguished from other species or genera." -Moses Stuart.

It will be seen that the Article is used, in Greek idiom, in circumstances to which it would not be applied in English. And another application of it, not made in English, is in the case of proper names. For instance, for "God," the Greek Testament has "the God;" and in the genealogy of Luke iii., every proper name after the 22d verse, except one, is preceded by the Article. In Matthew ii. 1, the name of Jesus has the Article, as well as that of Judea. This usage is not uniform, as, under circumstances set forth by the grammarians, the Article is omitted. Sometimes it is omitted when in English it ought to be considered: as, for instance, in John i. 1,"The Word was God." In the Greek it runs, "God. was the Word;" but if the first word were the subject, it would regularly have the Article. Being the predicate, we read it "The Word was God," not a god. The notable passage in John iv. 24 reads in the Greek, Spirit the God," the copula being omitted, according to usage. The first word is the predicate, the last the subject. The usual rendering is, "God is a Spirit; " some interpreters would read it abstractly, "God is spirit; why does not this come under the ordinary rule, and why should it not be read, "God is the Spirit?"

I take another specialist by the hand: "When ho,1 hẽ, to is employed as strictly an Article before a noun, it marks the object as one definitely conceived, whether in consequence of its nature, or the context, or some circle of ideas assumed as known." — Dr. Geo. B. Winer. This definite conception may not be expressible in English, so that the Article in that case is not capable of translation. But it is presumable that in every case the object is "definitely conceived" by the writer, the presumption to be removed only by the necessity of the

1 For the convenience of the reader, I represent Greek words, where I am obliged to use them, by Italics.

context. And recognizing that the best mode of interpreting written language is by its actual use, I purpose to examine all the passages of the New Testament in which appear the phrase hoi anthropoi, "the men," to ascertain whether the presumption of definiteness is removed in any case by the actual use of the phrase, or whether the Article is generic. If generic in the plural, as well as sometimes in the singular, "the men," would necessarily include all the individuals of the class "men." I suggest, however, that the name of the class is not men," but "man." It is the "genus homo," not "homines,"" anthropos," not "anthropoi."

In 1870, the learned Canon Lightfoot, by invitation, read a paper "before a clerical meeting," "immediately before the Company appointed for the Revision of the English New Testament held its first sitting." This he expanded into a volume, which was issued under the title of "A Fresh Revision of the English New Testament." One of the arguments presented in favor of such a revision was based upon the "Faults of Grammar" in the Common Version. Among these he cites "the treatment of the definite article," referring to its suppression, and the amount of injury inflicted by such "grammatical inaccuracies." He does not make special reference to hoi anthropoi, but the principles he sets forth apply to it, as well as to other instances of the use of the Article. The phrase occurs 93 times in the New Testament, and the article is supplied in the Common Version but 10 times. Besides, we have 6 instances where the force of the article is swallowed up in "these and those." But 77 times the Common Version, and in this it is followed by the Revised Version, utterly ignores the Article, thus justifying the remark of Dr. Lightfoot, that the theory of the definite article was wholly unknown to our translators.

Professor Thayer, however, intimates that the Article prefixed to the Plural often" defines the class alone, and thus indicates that the whole class is represented by the individuals mentioned, however many and whosoever they may be, as in the Pharisees, the Scribes, the tax-collectors." And in this

connection cites hoi anthrōpoi, rendering it " people, the multitude." But here his translation is not up to the measure of his doctrine. Does he mean that the phrase ever, not to say often, stands for "the whole class" whom we call "men"? for all mankind? - all people?

Let us proceed to our examination :

1. Matthew v. 13: "If the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of the men." Men universally? or men generally?-all men? "The men"= definitely those who walk along the highway.

2. Matthew v. 16: "Let your light so shine before the men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." What men? Not men universally, not men generally, but definitely "the men" among whom your life is spent.

3. Matthew v. 19: "Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach the men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven." "The men" his followers or disciples.

=

4. Matthew vi. 1: "Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before the men, to be seen by them." As in No. 2. Or, "the men " the bystanders, the on-lookers, the neigh

bors.

=

5. Matthew vi. 2: "When thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from the men." As in No. 4.

6. Matthew vi. 5: "The hypocrites love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by the men." As in No. 4.

7. Matthew vi. 14: "If ye forgive the men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you." "The men = def

initely those who trespass against you.

8. Matthew vi. 15: "If ye forgive not the men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." in No. 7.

As