3. A third Prophecy, which Mr. W. endeavours rightly to place and regulate in the Old Teftament fo as to make it pertinently apply'd, is the famous Prophecy cited by St. MATTHEW, "Behold, a Virgin fhall be with "Child, &c."

as

He owns, (s) that the Words cited by St. MATTHEW, Behold, a Virgin fhall be "with Child, and fhall bring forth a Son, " and fhall call his Name IMMANUEL, they ftand in the Hebrew and Septuagint of ISAIAH, do include fuch an additional Claufe as feems no Way applicable to the MESSIAH; and fo occafions the Jews to triumph, as if the Prediction were meant not of a Virgin, but only of a young Woman in the Days of AHAZ. For fo runs the Context, as he says, in the Hebrew; and the prefent Septuagint, for the Main, agrees to it; (t) "and the Lord "added to fpeak unto АHAZ, faying, ask "thee a Sign of the Lord thy God. Ask it "either in the Deep, or in the Height above. "But AHAZ faid, I will not ask; neither will "I tempt the Lord. And he faid, Hear ye now O House of DAVID, is it a fmall Thing for you to weary Men? But will ye weary my God alfo? Therefore the "Lord himself fhall give you a Sign; behold,

a Virgin fhall conceive, and bear a Son, and "fhall call his Name IMMANUEL. Butter "and Honey fhall he eat; that he may

(s) Whifton's Efay, &c. p. 229, &c. Matt. 1. 23.

(t) Ifaiah 7. 10. 16.

"know to refufe the Evil, and chufe the Good. For before the Child fhall know to refufe the Evil, and chufe the Good, "the Land that thou abhorreft fhall be for"faken of both her Kings."

Upon which Paffage Mr. W. (u) thus argues. What has the Birth of the MESSIAS, the true IMMANUEL, of a Virgin to do with the Birth of another Child, before whofe coming to Years of Difcretion, RESIN King of Syria, and PEKAH King of Ifrael were to leave the Land of Judah in the Days of King АHAZ? And therefore to make this Quotation of St. MATTHEW pertinent, Mr. W. ftrikes out, by mere Force of Criticism and Conjecture, and without any Foundation from pretended various Readings, these Words, which he calls an additional Claufe, and which plainly limit the Prophecy to a fhort Time to come (w) Butter and Honey shall he eat; that he may know to refufe the Evil and chufe the Good. For before the Child fhall know to refufe the Evil and chufe the Good, the Land that thou abhorret fhall be forfaken of both her Kings. I fay, by the mere Force of Criticifm; for as to his Pretences, that, in the Copies (x) ufed by JUSTIN MARTYR and TERTULLIAN, the Text of ISAIAH is not wholly in the fame Order wherein it now is; and that the Apoftolical Conftitutions quote a Part of the Text of ISAIAH, not as it is in the prefent Copies;

(u) Whilton's Eay, &c. p. 230. (x) Whifton's Elay, &c. p. 232.

2) If. v. 15, 16.

I answer,

I anfwer, 1. That whatever Variations from the Septuagint there may be in JUSTIN's and TERTULLIAN'S Quotations of this Chapter of ISAIAH, the additional Claufe, which destroys the literal Application of the Prophecy to JESUS, appears in its Place, both in (y) JUSTIN and (2) TERTULLIAN; and fecondly, I anfwer, that the (a) Apoftolical Conftitutions cite only one Verfe of ISAIAH, viz. the 14th, without a Word about what precedes or follows.

Now purfuant to this firft Change he reads Virgin, according to the Septuagint, and not young Woman; tho' the original Hebrew Word (b) fignifies, as appears by its Use in other Places and by the prefent Context, as he allows, a young Woman, who might, or might not be a Virgin.

But what will Mr. W. get by these Changes, except except a poffible Application of Words, taken by themselves without their Context, to the Event of MARY's Conception of JESUS? Which will never convince a reasonable Man, that the original, obvious, and literal Senfe of ISAIAH, was to prophecy of the Conception of JESUS by the Virgin MARY.

Nothing will be obtain'd, even by reading (inftead of young Woman's being with Child) Virgin's being with Child; for that Expreffion afferts no miraculous or extraordinary Concep

(y) Juftini Opera. p. 262. 290. (z) Tertulliani Opera.' p. 191 (a) Conft, 1. 5. p. 321. (b) Erafmus in Matt. 1. 30. I 2

tion

tion, fince it does not neceffarily imply, that a Virgin fhall conceive without the Concurrence of a Man; or, if it does, points not obviously and primarily at the Virgin MARY. Nor will any Thing be obtain'd, by fuppofing the Claufe before-mention'd to be dislocated or taken from its proper Place and added to this Prophecy, befides the taking away one Demonftration out of several that appear in ISAIAH, that the Prophet had the Birth of a male Child of a Virgin or young Woman in the Time of АHAZ, and not the Birth of JESUS by the Virgin MARY, in his firft Thoughts. For the whole Context will ftill fpeak against him, and, even in his Opinion, not perfectly ferve his Purpose. For after he has corrected ISAIAH as abovemention'd, and after he has divided ISAIAH's Prophecy into feveral Prophefies, and made thofe Prophefies independent of one another, he confeffes, that (c) the prefent Order of the Parts of thofe Prophefies and their prefent Coherence and Context will ftill make them look diforder'd. Mr. W. must therefore, if he will go on to endeavour to make this Quotation pertinent, make farther Alterations ; for what he has done already does not, by his own Confeffion, place it to full Satisfaction.

(c) Whifton, p. 232.

V. That

V.

That the Jews have not corrupted the Old Teftament, in Respect to the Paffages cited from thence in the New.

M

R. W. endeavours to fhow, that (d the Jews have greatly corrupted the Old Teftament, and more especially as to the Quotations made from thence in the New Teftament,

To prove this last Point he (e) produces fome Paffages cited by the Apostles, which are not apply'd according to the obvious Meaning, which they fignify in the Places where they ftand in the Old Teftament; fome Paffages, which feem not exactly cited by the Apoftles; others (f) wanting in the Hebrew and many (g) Paffages, such as He shall be called a Nazarene, &c. which, he fays, are intirely wanting in all Copies of the Old Teftament. He alfo urges the following Paffage of JUSTIN MATYR to prove his Charge against the Jews.

;

"I would have you know, fays (b) JUSTIN "to TRYPHO, that your Rabbins have intirely taken away many Texts of Scripture "from that Verfion, which was made by "the Elders that were with PTOLEMY,

(d) Whifton, p. 17-112. 220 281. p. 87, 88, &c. (e) Ib. p. 87, &c. 103. 129. 229. 321. (f) p. 63. (g) p. 104-110. (b) p. 140.

129.

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"wherein