was Spoken by JEREMY the prophet, faying, "And they took the thirty pieces of filver, "the price of him, that was valu'd, whom "they of the children of Ifrael did value; « and gave them for the potter's field, as the "Lord appointed me." Now this quotation is not in JEREMY the prophet, but is (m) thought to be in ZACHARY; where, according to its literal and obvious fense, it bears not that meaning, which St. MATTHEW puts upon it; and where in Mr. W's opinion, (n) it hardly bears any good fenfe at all. What is it now Mr. W. does on this occafion? He believes, (o) that St. MATTHEW cited what was then in his copy, not out of ZaCHARY, but JEREMY: and he believes, that not only this prediction, but feveral others, now inferted in ZACHARY, really belong to JEREMY. Belief is a notable proof! But granting this prophefy, now to be found in ZACHARY, did, in St. MATTHEW's time, exift in JEREMY; why does he not plant this quotation in fome particular place of JEREMY? For till that be done, we cannot judge of the pertinency of it. To fuppofe it pertinent without giving it a place in JEREMY, REMY, is to beg the queftion about the perti nency of the apostles quotations in their literal fenfe. He fays, the quotation is (p) good fenfe, as it is cited in St. MATTHEW. But how does that fhow it to be apply'd according to the literal fenfe it bears in JEREMY? And yet this is all Mr. W. does towards placing this quotation, or restoring the true text of JEREMY, in this inftance. But to fet the matter of this quotation in its due light, and effectually to confute any chimerical scheme of placing this quotation in our prefent book of JEREMY, or in any other authentick book of JEREMY; it appears, that it cannot be plac'd in him, but by fuch a method as will place any quotations, or prophefies, in him. For the quotation was made from an Apocryphal Book, afcrib'd to JRREMY, as JEROM (9) affures us, who faw and read that Apocry phal Book. I add here, by the way, that the Syriac and Perfic verfions, and thofe other copies of St. MATTHEW, which have (r) not the name of the prophet, but barely mention the prophet, feem corrupted on purpose to make St. MATTHEW not guilty of citing JE KEMY (p) Whifon's Effay, p. 95. (9) Hieron. apud Grabe Spicil. Sec. 1. p. 135. (r) Kidder's Demonft. of the Meffias, Vol. 2. p. 196, 197. REMY falfely; the tranflators or transcribers, either not knowing whence St. MATTHEW had this citation, or thinking that St. MATTHEW fhould not have cited a book forg'd under JEREMY's name, as a book of the prophet JEREMY. 3. A third prophefy, which Mr. W. endea yours rightly to place and regulate in the Old Teftament, fo as to make it pertinently ap ply'd, is the famous propbefy cited by St. MAT "Behoda virgin fhall be with THEW, child, &c. He owns, (s) that the words cited by St. MATTHEW, Behold a virgin fhall be "with child, and fhall bring forth a fon, " and fhall call his name Immanuel," as they ftand in the Hebrew and Septuagint of ISAIAH, do include fuch an additional claufe as fecms 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 fays, in the Hebrew; and the prefent Septuagint for the main agrees to it: (t) "And the Lord added to speak unto AHAZ, faying, Ask thee a fign of "the Lord thy God. Ask it either in the deep, (s) Whifton's Effay, &c. p. 229, &c. Matt. 1. 23. (*) Ifaiah 7. 10-16. "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 houfe of DAVID, is it a fmall thing for you to weary men? But will ye weary my God alfo? Therefore the Lord him"felf fhall give you a fign: Behold, a vir"gin fhall conceive, and bear a fon, and "hall call his name IMMANUEL. Butter " and honey fhall he eat; that he may "know to refufe the evil, and chufe the good. For before the child shall know to "refuse the evil, and chufe the good, the "land that thou abhorrest fhall be forfaken "of both her kings." Upon which paffage Mr. W. (n) thus argues. What has the birth of the MESSIAH, the true IMMANUEL of a virgin, to do with the birth of another child, before whose coming to years of difcretion, RESIN king of Syria, and PEKAH king of Ifrael were to leave the land of Juda in the days of king AHAZ? 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 (n) Whifton's Effay, Sc. p. 230. which plainly limit the prophesy to a short time to come; (w) Butter and honey shall be eat; that he may know to refuse the evil and chufe the good. For before the child Shall know to refuse the evil and chufe the good, the land that thou abborreft shall be forfaken of both her kings. I fay, by the mere force of criticism; for as to his pretences, that, in the copies (x) used 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; 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 prophefy to Jesus, appears in its place, both in (y) JUSTIN and (2) TERTULLIAN: and secondly, I anfwer, that the (a) apoftolical conftitutions cite only one verfe of ISAIAH, viz. the 14th, without a word about what precedes or follows. K Now (w) Ifa. 7. v. 15, 16. (x) Whitton's Elay, &c. p. 232. |
