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" of the books of the New Teftament had "writ nothing, but what was fuited to the "time, wherein they liv'd, and that CHRIST "and his apostles had conftantly follow'd "the method of their ancestors. After he " had long revolv'd this hypothefis in his "mind, at last he met with a Rabbin well "skill'd in the Talmud, the Cabala, and "the allegorical books of the Jews. That "Rabbin had once embrac'd the chriftian "religion, but was again relaps'd to Juda"ifm, on account of the idolatry of the pa

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pists, yet not perfectly disbelieving the in"tegrity of the New Teftament. Mr. Su

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RENHUSIUS ask'd him, what he thought "of the paffages of the Old Testament, quoted " in the New, whether they were rightly "quoted or not? and whether the Jews had cc any just reason to cavil at them? And at "the fame time he propos'd to him two or "three paffages, which had very much ex"ercis'd the most learned chriftian commencc tators. The Rabbin having admirably ex"plain'd those paffages, to the great furprize "of our author, and confirm'd his explica❝tions by feveral places of the (1) Talmud, "and by the writings of the Jewish commentators and allegorical writers; Mr. "SURENHUSIUs ask'd him, what would be "the best method to write a treatife, in or

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"der to vindicate the paffages of the Old "Teftament which have been quoted in the "New? The Rabbin anfwer'd, that he "thought the best way of fucceeding in "fuch an undertaking, would be to perufe a great part of the Talmud, and the alle"gorical and literal commentaries of the "most ancient Jewish writers; to obferve "their feveral ways of quoting and interpreting fcripture; and to collect as many "materials of that kind, as would be fuffi cient for that purpofe. Mr. S. took the hint immediately he read feveral parts of the Talmud; he perus'd the jewish "books above-mention'd, and obferv'd eve→ ry thing that might be fubfervient to his 6 defign. And having made a large col"lection of those materials, he put all his Thefes into order, and digefted them into four books: The firft whereof treats of "the forms of quoting, illuftrating, and "reconciling the fcriptures, in 59 The " fes: The fecond treats of the manner of quoting, in 20 Thefes: The third treats of "the manner of interpreting, in 25 Thefes : "And the fourth treats of the manner of ex"pounding and reconciling the genealogies,

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in 35 Thefes." Then he proceeds in as fifth book to explain and justify all the quotations made from the Old Teftament in the New, by his foregoing Thefes.

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As to the forms of quoting, which is the fubject of his first book, he says, "that in order to vindicate and reconcile any paf ર fage of the Old Teftament quoted in the "New, one muft in the first place obferve, "what form of quoting the apostles made "ufe of; becaufe from thence one may im"mediately know, why they alledge the "following words in a certain manner, ra"ther than in another, and why they de cc part more or lefs from the Hebrew text, "Thus a different fenfe is imply'd in each

of the following forms of quoting used by "the facred writers of the New Teftament: "it has been faid: it is written that it "might be fulfill'd which was spoken:

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the fcripture fays fee what is faid: "the fcripture forefeeing: is it not written: wherefore be fays: have you never read: what fays the fcripture; as be "Spoke, &c. Befides, he fays, it ought to be "confider'd, why in thofe quotations God "is introduc'd under the name of Lord or "God, or Holy Ghoft, and fometimes the σε writer himself, or the fcripture; and like"wife, why the perfons or things in que"ftion are introduc'd fpeaking. Laftly, "it ought to be obferv'd, when and why a is paffage of the Old Teftament is alledg'd in the New without any previous form of quoting; and why fome traditions, and history almost forgotten, are fometimes

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❝ occasionally brought in, as if they made "a part of fcripture? In the second book, which treats of the manner of quoting, he fhows, "that the books of the Old Tefta"mént have been difpos'd in a different or"der at different times, and have had diffe"rent names, which is the reason, why a writer or a book, is fometimes confound"ed with another in the New Teftament.' Befides, he produces feveral reasons, "why "the facred writers of the New Testament "might, and even were oblig'd to alledge "the paffages of the Old Teftament other"wife than they are exprefs'd in the original, "viz. because the ancient Hebrew doctors "affirm'd, that in the time of the MESSIAS fome obfcure and difficult paffages of fcripture fhould be clear'd, and the impropriety of words mended, the intricacy of the ftile remov'd, words difpos'd in a better order, and a myftical fenfe drawn "out of the literal, that the vail being taken away, truth might plainly appear to every body. The author infers from thence, "that the Jews cannot reasonably find fault "with the apoftles for putting a fpiritual "fense upon feveral paffages of the Old Te"ftament." In the next place he fhows, "that the jewifh doctors take a prodigious "liberty in quoting the fcripture, and gives us feveral instances of it. The laft is very remarkable, and made Mr. SURENHU

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SIUS very angry with the feeming abfurdity of the Rabbins. But, fays he, "when "I faw St. PAUL do fo too, my anger was appeas'd."

In the third book, which treats of the manner of interpreting the fcriptures, he fhows, how the authors of the Gemara, " and the ancient allegorical writers, and "others, interpreted the fcripture in fuch a 66 manner, as to change the mean literal "fenfe of the words into a noble and fpiritual "fenfe. To that end the jewish doctors "ufed ten ways of citing and explaining "the Old Teftament;" which for their cu riofity and importance, I fhall here recite at large after my author.

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1. The first is,' reading the words, not according to the points plac'd under them, but according to other points fubftituted in "their ftead; as we fee done by PETER, "Acts 3.3; by STEPHEN, Alts 7.435 "and by PAUL, I Cor. 15. 54; 2 Cor. 8. 15; and Heb. 3. 10; & 9. 21; & 12. 6.". 2. The fecond is, "changing the letters, "whether thofe letters be of the fame organ (as the jewish grammarians fpeak) or no ; "as we fee done by PAUL, Rom. 9. 33; 66 1 Cor. 11.9; Heb. 8.9; and 10. 5; and by STEPHEN, A&ts 7.43•

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3. The third is, "changing both letters and points; as we fee done by PAUL, A&ts 13.41; and 2 Cor. 8. 15."

4. The

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