It is always to be judged of, from the character of the age and people-not from our own taste or opinion.

CHAPTER II.

ON DISCOVERING THE USUS LOQUENDI OF THE SACRED

WRITINGS.

I. The usus loquendi, is the manner of speaking or writing, which custom, or common usage has sanctioned. It is evident, therefore, that it must be very various, and different in different kinds of writers. We need not be surprized that there should be a mode of writing peculiar to the N. T., and that this mode, should not be the same in all the Sacred Writings. The sources of information are either external or internal, and are very similar to those mentioned in the preceding chapter.

The usus loquendi, is national or provincial, public or private, religious or profane, ancient or recent ; solemn, technical, or common; poetical or prosaic; philosophical, doctrinal, or historical; epistolary or popular.

The interpreter should always be careful, not to be guided by the suggestions of his own imagination, or inclination, but should attend to the usus loquendi.

are,

The internal means of discovering the usus loquendi,

1. The genius and character of the writers.

These are formed, through the influence of the age and nation to which they belong, by their education, method of life, &c. These points are to be ascertained from the history of the writers themselves, and of the times in which they lived, and from their writings.

2. The nature of the subject, and the mode of treating it.

Every subject has a method, in some measure its own; and authors are either original in their style and manner, or imitators of other writers. When this latter is the case, the style of their models should be investigated and understood by the interpreter.

3. The writings themselves, which the authors have left; for it not unfrequently happens, that writers define, explain, or illustrate their method of writing.

All the foregoing remarks may be applied to the New Testament.

The external means of discovering the usus loquendi, are, the knowledge of the history, both of opinions and facts, of the period to which the writer belongs, the comparison of authors of the same kind, character, and age; the use of competent early translators, and the observance of that usage which approaches most nearly to that of the writers in question.

Some observations on the usus loquendi, of the popular Greek writers.

1. They do not accurately follow grammatical rules, concerning the distinction of words, the use of the article, the middle voice, the moods and tenses of verbs, &c. Hence their language is not always to be interpreted in strict accordance with these rules.

Ammonius de adfinium vocabb. differentia Cum animadverss. L. C. Valckenaer L. B. 1789. II. 4. c. obss. Cph. Fr. Ammon. Erl. 1787. 8.

S. F. Dresigii Commentarius de verbis mediis N. T. cura J. F. Fischeri etc. Ed, altera, L. 1792.

Cph. Wollii Collectio quartior de verbis Græcorum mediis dissertationum

L. 1733.

Adr. Kluit Vindiciae articuli óò in N. T. Partis prioris T. I—III. posterioris T. I. II. Trag. 1786-1771-8.

The dispute is principally about the words ὁ κύριος, ὁ θεος and θεος.

In the moods and tenses of verbs, the Sacred Writers not unfrequently, follow the usage of the Hebrew ; hence

the aorist and the preterite, are sometimes put in place of the future.

2. They sometimes express simply and universally, what is to be understood with limitation. These remarks are also applicable to the writings of the New Testament. It has been questioned how far the analogy of faith, may be used as a rule of interpretation.

G. Fr. Schroeteri. d. de interpretatione, Scr. S. ad analogiam fidei. Vit. 1718. 4.

ges,

Rambach. Institutiones hermeneuticæ, II, 1.

II. In the use of certain figures, the writers of the N. T. as also other ancient writers, have a distinct style. Some of these figures affect only single words, sentences, or phrases; others, whole passaand entire discourses; to which last, must be referred, allegories and parables. As in the right explication of these, the usage of the Orientals and the Jewish Doctors is chiefly to be regarded; so we should be very careful not to give any other explanation than that which the nature of the subject and design of the author require.

Joach, Camerarii Notatio figurarum sermonis in libris Evang. Lips. 1552. 4. in apostolicis scriptis ib. 1572. 4. uterque lib. in Bezæ ed. N. T. C. L. Baueri Philologia Thucedideo-Paulina S. Notatio figurarum dictionis Paulinæ cum Thucydidea comparatæ, Hal. 1792. 8. inprimisque eiusd. Rhetor. Pauline, T. II. p. 511. ss.

There has been some dispute as to the use of irony.

J. C. S. Ironia a Jesu et discipulis eius abjudicata, Misc. Lips. nov. 1, p. 31. ss.

J. Fr. Stiebriz d. de ironia sacra. Hal. 1759. 4.

Gotth. Beni, Matthesii Comm. de symbolico docendi genere in sacris ser. obvio. Schneeb. 1787, 4.

On Allegories,

Scriptt. plures de ca laudat Blankenburg. ad Sulzeri Theor. Art. 1, p. 57. ss. 71. ss.

S. F. N. Mori Pr. Ostenditur quibus causis allegoriarum intérpretatio nitatur. L. 1781. et in Diss. Theol. atque phil. I, p. 390.

1. The object of the allegory, is to be sought in the occasion which gave rise to it (Joh. IV. 10. ss.) in the context, or in the explanation which is sometimes added. (Joh. VIII, 38. Eph. VI, 14. ss.)

2. It is to be observed, what is the primary object in every allegory, and how this object may be literally expressed.

3. The nature of the subject should be atttended to, that the propriety of the allegory may be perceived.

4. We must examine the history, (Luke, XII, 49,) and the manners and customs of the East. There are many allegories which are characteristically oriental.

5. In the same allegory, one part is not to be understood literally, and another figuratively.

6. In no case, is every circumstance in the allegory to be considered, significative of a moral sense, but, the main idea, or principal design, is, in general, only to be regarded.

Conr. Ikenii d. de locutionibus allegoricis et emblematicis sæpe in generaliori complexu sumendis, neque ad singulas partes aut verba semper extendendis, in Diss. ejus. phil. theol. p. 593. ss.

On the nature, kinds, and use of Parables, see,

G. C. Storr Comm. ne parabolis Christi, 1779, et opuscc. acadd. ad ininterpr. SS. I, p. 89. ss.

J. J. Hess über die Parablen mit Rücksicht auf Lehre vom Reiche Gottes, in his work, über die Lehren, Thaten und Schicksale des Herrn, ein Anhang zur Lebensgesch. p. 175. ss.

Ueber die Lokalität der Parablen Jesu, in d. Beytr. z. Bef. d. vern. Denk. in der Rel. XI, p. 138.

G. L. Bauer Sammlung und Erklärung der parabol. Erzählungen unsers Herrn, L. 1782, 8.

Lectures on the Parables of our Saviour, with a preliminary discourse on Parables, by Andrew Gray.

In parables, the primary parts, are to be carefully distinguished from those, which are merely accessory; lite

ral and tropical explanations are not to be mixed; the interpretation is to be sought from the design, from the occasion, from the circumstances of time and place, from the character of the hearers, and from the explanations often added.

III. In proverbs and aphorisms, there is of ten something peculiar in the use of words. The Oriental style, with regard to both classes, is to be carefully regarded; and attention paid to the circumstances under which they were uttered, and the design they were intended to answer, that neither greater nor less force be attributed to them, than the nature of the case requires.

1. As it regards proverbs, it may be remarked that the Orientals,

a. Drew their images from the heavens, or from nature generally, as it is exhibited to them, and it is from these, their proverbial expressions are derived.

b. They are peculiarly fond of the hyperbolical and enigmatical style.

c. When their proverbs rest upon a comparision, the comparision is not fully stated.

Mart. del Rio Adagialia Sacra vet. et Novi Test. Lugd. 1614, 4. Andr. Schotti Adagialia Sacra N. Test. græcolatina-Antw. 1629. 4. J. Vorsti Diatribe de Adagiis N. T. repetita in Fischert edit. Philologie S. Vorstii, p. 745. et Leusdeni lib. de Dialect. N. T. ed. 2. p. 169.

In the explanation of these proverbs, reference is constantly to be had, to the nature and design of the passage. 2. The characteristic features of the Aphoristic style,

are,

a. Brevity and ambiguity of expression; at times assuming the form of the enigma.

b. A manner ingenious and pointed.