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port with the above-mentioned expressions, and accordingly in the Old Testament one is put for the other, as in 1 Sam. xxv. 28. Evil hath not been found in thee.—2 Chron. xix. 3. Good things are found in thee. Isa. li. 3. Joy and gladness shall be found therein. - Dan. v. 12. An excellent spirit was found in Daniel. In these and other texts the Hebrew word rendered found is equivalent to cas. In imitation of this Hebraism, to be found is used for sum or existo, to be, in the New Testament, as in Luke xvii. 18. There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. -Acts v. 39. Lest haply ye be found to fight against God. -1 Cor. iv. 2. That a man be found faithful. — Phil. ii. 8. Being found in fashion as a man. — Heb. xi. 5. Enoch was not found: which is the same with Enoch was not, as is evident from comparing this place with Gen. v. 24. to which it refers. The expression of St. Peter, 1 Ep. ii. 22. Neither was guile found in his mouth, is taken from Isa. liii. 9. Neither was there any deceit (or guile) in his mouth, Whence it appears, that in this, as well as the other texts above cited, to be found is equivalent to was.

2. Verbs expressive of a person's doing an action, are often used to signify his supposing the thing, or discovering and acknowledging the fact, or his declaring and foretelling the event, especially in the prophetic writings.

Thus, He that findeth his life shall lose it (Matt. x. 39.) means, He that expects to save his life by apostacy, shall lose it. — So, Let him become a fool (1 Cor, iii. 18), is equivalent to, Let him become sensible of his folly. Make the heart of this people fat. (Isa. vi. 9, 10), i. e. Prophesy that they shall be so. — What God hath cleansed (Acts x. 13.) i. e. What God hath declared clean. But of that day and hour no man knoweth (that is, maketh known), not even the angels who are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father (Matt. xxiv. 36.), that is, neither man, nor an angel, nor the Son, has permission to make known this secret.

3. Negative verbs are often put for a strong positive affirmation. Thus, No good thing will he withhold (Psal. lxxxiv. 11.), means He will give them all good things. — Being not weak in the faith. (Rom. iv. 19.), i. e. Being strong in the faith. — I will not leave you comfortless. (John xiv. 18), means, I will both protect and give you the most solid comfort.

4. The privileges of the first-born among the Jews being very great, that which is chief or most eminent in any kind, is called the first-born, Gen. xlix. 3.

So, in Job xviii. 13. the first born of death is the most fatal and cruel death. In Isa. xiv. 30. the first-born of the poor denotes those who are most poor and miserable. (See also Psal. lxxxix. 27. Jer. xxxi. 9. Rom. viii. 29. Col. í. 15. 18. Heb. xii. 23.)

5. The word son has various peculiar significations.

Thus, the sons or children of Belial, so often spoken of in the Old Testament, are wicked men, such as are good for nothing, or such as will not be governed.Children of light are such as are divinely enlightened. (Luke xvi. 8. John xii. 36. Ephes. v. 8. I Thes. v. 5.) Children of disobedience are disobedient persons. (Ephes. ii. 2.) Children of Hell (Matt. xxiii. 15.); —of wrath (Ephes. ii. 3.); and Son of perdition (John xvii. 12. 2 Thess. ii. 3.); are respectively such as are worthy thereof, or obnoxious thereto. A son of peace (Luke x. 6.) is one that is worthy of it. (See Matt. x. 13. - The children of a place are the inhabitants of it. (Ezra ii. 1. Psal. cxlix. 2. Jer. ii. 16.) So the word daughter is likewise used (2 Kings xix. 21. Psal. xlv. 12. exxxvii. 8. Lam. ii. 13. Zech. ii. 10.); the city being as a mother, and the inhabitants of it taken collectively, as her daughter. The children of the promise, are such as embrace and believe the promise of the Gospel. (Gal. iv. 28.) - Sons of men (Psal. iv. 2.) are no more than men. And Christ is as often called the son of man, as he is man. The sons of God (Gen. vi. 2.) are those who are of the church; and so sons of God by profession. (Matt. v. 45.) They are such as imitate him, or are governed by him. (1 John iii. 10.) On the same account are men called the children of the devil. So likewise (John viii. 44.) father is understood in a like sense; also those who are the inventors of any thing, or instruct others therein, are called their fathers. (Gen. iv. 20.)

6. Name is frequently used as synonymous with persons.

Thus, to believe on the name of Christ (John i. 12.) means to believe on him. See similar examples in John iii. 18. xx. 31. Acts i. 15. Rev. iii. 4. In like manner soul is put for person, in Matt. xii. 18. In whom my soul is well pleased, that

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is, in whom I am well pleased. See other examples in Gen. xii. 13. xix. 20. Psal. cvi. 15. Job xvi. 4. Prov. xxv. 25. Rom. xiii. 1. Heb. x. 38.

7. As the Jews had but few adjectives in their language, they had recourse to substantives, in order to supply their place.

Hence we find kingdom and glory used to denote a glorious kingdom. (1 Thess, ii. 12.) Mouth and wisdom for wise discourse (Luke xxi. 15): the patience of hope for patient expectation (1 Thess. i. 3.); glory of his power for glorious power. (2 Thess. i. 9.) So circumcision and uncircumcision, mean circumcised and uncircumcised persons. Anathema (1 Cor. xvi. 22.) means an excommunicated member. The spirits of the prophets, (Ì Cor. xiv. 32.) means the spiritual gifts of the prophets. When one substantive governs another, in the genitive, one of them is sometimes used as an adjective. In the body of his flesh, means, in his fleshly body; (Col. i. 22.) Bond of perfectness, (Col. iii. 14.) means, a perfect bond. In Eph. vi. 12. spiritual wickedness, means, wicked spirits. Newness of life, (Rom. vii. 6.) is a new life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, (Gen. ii. 9. compared with iii. 22.) means the tree of the knowledge of good, or of a pleasure which to taste is an coil. When two substantives are joined together, by the copulative, and the one frequently governs the other, as in Dan. iii. 7. All the people, the nations, and the languages, mean, people of all nations and languages. In Acts xxiii. 6. the hope and resurrection of the dead, means, the hope of the resurrection of the dead. In Col. ii. 8. Philosophy and vain deceit, denotes a false and deceitful philosophy. Hath brought life and immortality to light, (2 Tim. i. 10.) means, to bring immortal life to light. But the expression, I am the way, the truth, and the life, (John xiv. 6.) means, I am the true and living way. It is of importance to observe, that, in the original, nouns in the genitive case, sometimes express the object, and sometimes the agent. In Matt. ix. 35. the gospel of the kingdom, means, good news concerning the kingdom. Doctrines of devils, (1 Tim. iv. 1.) evidently mean, doctrines concerning demons. The faith of Christ often denotes the faith which the Lord Jesus Christ enjoins. The righteousness of God sometimes means, his personal perfection, and sometimes that righteousness which he requires of his people. In Col. ii. 11. the circumcision of Christ, means, the circumcision enjoined by Christ. The Hebrews used the word living, to express the excellence of the thing to which it is applied. Thus, living water, or living fountain, signifies, running, or excellent water. Living stones, living way, living oracles, mean, excellent stones, an excellent way, and excellent oracles.

8. The Jews, having no superlatives in their language, employed the words of God or of the Lord, in order to denote the greatness or excellency of a thing.

Thus, in Gen. xiii. 10. a beautiful garden is called the garden of the Lord. In 1 Sam. xxvi. 12. a very deep sleep is called the sleep of the Lord. In 2 Chron. xiv. 14. and xvii. 10 the fear of the Lord denotes a very great fear. In Psal. xxxvi. 7. Heb. (6. of English Bibles), the mountains of God are exceeding high mountains; and in Psal. lxxx. 10. (Heb.) the tallest cedars are termed cedars of God. The voices of God (Exod. ix. 28. Heb. in our version properly rendered mighty thunderings) means superlatively, loud thunder. Compare also the sublime description of the effects of thunder, or the voice of God, in Psal. xxix. 3-8. The production of rain by the electric spark is alluded to, in a very beautiful manner, in Jer. x. 13. When he (God) uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens.1 The like mode of expression occurs in the New Testament. Thus, in Acts vii. 20. Moses is said to be aortos Tw Ocw, literally fair to God, or, as it is correctly rendered in our version, exceeding fair. And in 2 Cor. x. 4. the weapons of our warfare are termed duvara rw Ocw, literally mighty to God, that is, exceeding powerful, not mighty through God, as in our authorised translation.

9. According to the Hebrew idiom, a sword has a mouth, or the edge of the sword is called a mouth: (Luke xxi. 24.)

They shall fall by the mouth (or, as our translators have correctly rendered it, the edge) of the sword (Heb. xi. 34.) — escaped the edge of the sword, is in the Greek the mouth of the sword. So, we read of a two mouthed sword (Heb. iv. 12.) for it is doropos in the Greek. That this is the Hebrew phraseology may be seen by comparing Judg. iii. 16. Psal. cxlix. 6. Prov. v. 4.

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10. The verb yvwoxw, to know, in the New Testament frequently denotes to approve.

1 Dr. A. Clarke on Exod. ix. 28.

Thus, in Matt. vii. 23. I never knew you, means, I never approved you. A similar construction occurs in 1 Cor. viii. 3. and in Rom. vii. 15. (Gr.) which in our version is rendered allow. Compare also Psal. i. 6.

11. Lastly, to hear denotes to understand, to attend to, and to regard what is said.

In illustration of this remark, compare Deut. xviij. 15. with Acts iii. 23. and see also Matt. xvii. 5. and xi. 15. xiii. 6. and Luke viii. 8.

It were no difficult task to adduce numerous similar examples of the Hebraisms occurring in the Scriptures, and particularly in the New Testament; but the preceding may suffice to show the benefit that may be derived from duly considering the import of a word in the several passages of holy writ in which it occurs.

In order to understand the full force and meaning of the Hebraisms of the New Testament, the following canons have been laid down by the celebrated critic John Augustus Ernesti, and his annotator Professor Morus.

1. Compare Hebrew words and forms of expressions with those which occur in good Greek formula, particularly in doctrinal passages.

As all languages have some modes of speech which are common to each other, it sometimes happens that the same word or expression is both Hebrew, and good Greek, and affords a proper meaning, whether we take it in a Hebrew or a Greek sense. But, in such cases, it is preferable to adopt that meaning which a Jew would give, because it is most probable that the sacred writer had this in view rather than the Greek meaning, especially if the latter were not of very frequent occurrence. Thus, the expression, ye shall die in your sins (John viii. 24.) if explained according to the Greek idiom, is equivalent to ye shall persevere in a course of sinful practice to the end of your lives: but, according to the Hebrew idiom, it not only denotes a physical or temporal death, but also eternal death, and is equivalent to ye shall be damned on account of your sins, in rejecting the Messiah. The latter interpretation, therefore, is preferable to be adopted, as agreeing best with the Hebrew mode of thinking, and also with the context.

This rule applies particularly to the doctrinal passages of the New Testament, which must in all cases be interpreted according to the genius of the Hebrew language. Thus, to fear God, in the language of a Jew, means to reverence or worship God generally. The knowledge of God, which is so frequently mentioned in the New Testament, if taken according to the Hebrew idiom, implies not only the mental knowledge of God, but also the worship and reverence of Him which flows from it, and consequently it is both a theoretical and a practical knowledge of God. The reason of this rule is obvious. In the first place, our Saviour and his apostles, the first teachers of Christianity, were Jews, who had been educated in the Jewish religion and language; and who (with the exception of Paul) being unacquainted with the niceties of the Greek language at the time they were called to the apos tolic office, could only express themselves in the style and manner peculiar to their country. Secondly, the religion taught in the New Testament agrees with that delivered in the Old Testament, of which it is a continuation; so that the ritual worship enjoined by the law of Moses is succeeded by a spiritual or internal worship; the legal dispensation is succeeded by the Gospel dispensation, in which what was imperfect and obscure is become perfect and clear. Now things that are continued are substantially the same, or of a similar nature. Thus the expression to come unto God occurs both in the Old and in the New Testament. In the former it simply means to go up to the temple; in the latter it is continued, so that what was imperfect becomes perfect, and it implies the mental or spiritual approach unto the Most High, i. e. the spiritual worshipping of God. In like manner, since the numerous partículars related in the Old Testament concerning the vic. tims, priests, and temple of God are transferred, in the New Testament, to the atoning death of Christ, to his offering of himself to death, and to the Christian church, the veil of figure being withdrawn, the force and beauty of these expressions cannot be perceived, nor their meaning fully ascertained, unless we interpret the doctrinal parts of the New Testament, by the aid of the Old Testament.

2. The Hebraisms of the New Testament are to be compared with the good Greek occurring in the Septuagint or Alexandrian version.

As the Hebraisms occurring in the Old Testament are uniformly rendered, in the Septuagint version, in good Greek, this translation may be considered as a commentary and exposition of those passages, and as conveying the sense of the Hebrew nation concerning their meaning. The Alexandrian translation, therefore, ought to be consulted in those passages of the New Testament in which the sacred writers have rendered the Hebraisms literally. Thus, in 1 Cor. xv. 54. death is said to be swallowed up in victory, which sentence is a quotation from Isaiah xxv. 8. As the Hebrew words NersaCH, with the prefixed, acquires the force of an adverb, and means for ever, without end, or incessantly, and as the Septuagint sometimes renders the word LaNeTsacH by us vixos in victory, but most commonly by us redos, for ever, Morus is of opinion that this last meaning proper ly belongs to 1 Cor. xv. 54, which should therefore be rendered death is swallowed up for ever. And so it is translated by Bishop Pearce.

3. In passages that are good Greek, which are common both to the Old and New Testament, the corresponding words in the Hebrew Old Testament are to be compared.

Several passages occur in the New Testament, that are goed Greek, and which are also to be found in the Alexandrian version. In these cases it is not sufficient to consult the Greek language only recourse should also be had to the Hebrew, because such words of the Septuagint and New Testament have acquired a different meaning from what is given to them by Greek witers, and are sometimes to be taken in a more lax, sometimes in a more strict sense. Thus, in Gen. v. 24. and Heb. xi. 5. it is said that Enoch pleased God evnpionkeval Tw Dew; which expression in itself is sufficiently clear, and is also good Greek; but if we compare the corresponding expression in the Hebrew, its true meaning is, that he walked with God. In rendering this clause by cnptankevaι Tw Otw, the Greek translator did not render the Hebrew verbatim, for in that case he would have said nepiemarnoe our Or; but he translated it correctly as to the sense. Enoch pleased God, because he lived habitually as in the sight of God, setting him always before his eyes in every thing he said, thought, and did. In Psal. ii. I. the Septuagint version runs thus, Ivari eppvatav corn, why did the nations rage? Now though this expression is good Greek, it does not fully render the original Hebrew, which means why do the nations furiously and tumultuously assemble together, or rebel? The Septuagint therefore is not sufficiently close. Once more, the expression our ovres, they are not, is good Greek, but admits of various meanings, indicating those who are not yet in existence, those who are already deceased, or, figuratively, persons of no authority. This expression occurs both in the Septuagint version of Jer. xxxi. 15. and also in Matt. ii. 18. If we compare the original Hebrew, we shall find that it is to be limited to those who are dead. Hence it will be evident that the collation of the original Hebrew will not only prevent us from taking words either in too lax or too strict a sense, but will also guard us against uncertainty as to their meaning, and lead us to that very sense which the sacred writer intended.

Besides the Hebraisms, which we have just considered, there are found in the New Testament various Rabbinical, Syriac, Persic, Latin, and other idioms and words, which are respectively denominated Rabbinisms, Syriasms, Persisms, Latinisms, &c. &c. on which it may not be improper to offer a few remarks.

1. Rabbinisms. We have already seen that during, and subsequent to, the Babylonian captivity, the Jewish language sustained very considerable changes.1 New words, new sentences, and new expressions were introduced, especially terms of science, which Moses or Isaiah would have as little understood, as Cicero or Cæsar would a system of philosophy or theology composed in the language of the schools. This New Hebrew language is called Talmudical, or Rabbinical, from the writings in which it is used; and, although these writings are of a much later date than the New Testament, yet, from the coincidence of expressions, it is not improbable that, even in the time of Christ, this was the learned language of the

1 See p. 3. supra.

Rabbins. Lightfoot, Schoetgenius, Meuschen, and others, have excellently illustrated the Rabbinisms occurring in the New Testa

ment.

2. Syriasms.-3. Chaldaisms. The vernacular language of the Jews, in the time of Jesus Christ, was the Aramæan; which branched into two dialects, differing in pronunciation rather than in words, and respectively denominated the Chaldee or East Aramaan, and the Syriac or West Aramaan. The East Aramaan was spoken at Jerusalem and in Judæa; and was used by Christ in his familiar discourses and conversations with the Jews; the West Aramaan was spoken in Galilee of the Gentiles.' It was therefore natural that numerous Chaldee and Syriac words, phrases, and terms of expression, should be intermixed with the Greek of the New Testament, and even such as are not to be found in the Septuagint: and the existence of these Chaldaisms and Syriasms, affords a strong intrinsic proof of the genuineness and authenticity of the New Testament. Were this, indeed, "free from these idioms, we might naturally conclude that it was not written either by men of Galilee or Judæa, and therefore was spurious; for, as certainly as the speech of Peter betrayed him to be a Galilæan, when Christ stood before the Jewish tribunal, so certainly must the written language of a man, born, educated, and grown old in Galilee, discover marks of his native idiom, unless we assume the absurd hypothesis, that God hath interposed a miracle, which would have deprived the New Testament of one of its strongest proofs of authenticity."3

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The following are the principal Aramæan or Chaldee and Syriae words occurring in the New Testament:- Aßßa (Abba), Father, (Rom. viii. 15.) — Axeλdaμa (Aceldama), the field of blood, (Acts i. 19.)- Aguayεdowv (Armageddon), the mountain of Megiddo, or of the Gospel, (Rev. xvi. 16.) Broda (Bethesda), the house of mercy, (John v. 2.)-Knoas (Cephas), a rock or stone, (John i. 43.) Koga (Corban), a gift or offering dedicated to God, (Mark vii. 11.) -Exas, Eλwi, λqua saßaxdanı (Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani), my God, my God! why has thou forsaken me? (Matt. xxvii. 46. Mark xv 34.) — Eppata (Ephphatha), he thou opened, (Mark vii. 34.) Maya (Mammon), riches, (Matt. vi. 24.)-Magav Aba (Maran Atha), the Lord cometh, (1 Cor. xvi. 22.)-Paxa (Raca), thou

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1 Michaelis, vol. i. p. 129, who has given some illustrative examples. Mori Acroases super Hermeneutica Novi Testamenti, vol. i. p. 238. See also Olearius de Stylo Novi Testamenti, membr. iii. aphorism vii. pp. 23, 24.

2 Vide infra Chap. VII. § II. of this Volume, for an account of their valuable

Jabours.

3 Michaelis, vol. i. p. 135. Morus, vol. i. p. 237. Bishop Marsh, in his notes to Michaelis, states, that a new branch of the Aramæan language has been discovered by Professor Adler, which differs in some respects from the East and West Aramaan dialects. For an account of it, he refers to the third part of M. Adler's Novi Testamenti Versiones Syriaca, Simpler, Philoxeniana, et Hierosolymitana, denuo examinate, &c. 4to. Hafniæ, 1789, of which work we have not been able to obtain a sight. Pfeiffer has an amusing disquisition on the Galilæan dialect of Peter, which in substance corresponds with the above cited remark of Michaelis, though Pfeiffer does not seem to have known the exact names of the dialects then in use among the Jews. Op. tom. i. pp. 616--622.

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