translated the passage, is simply this," Since ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk ye in him" in other words, as the context plainly shows, "since ye have embraced the doctrine of Christ, continue to hold it fast, and permit not yourselves to be turned aside by sophistical or Judaizing teachers."

on account of the simplicity of the Hebrew language, which has few or no adjectives. A similar mode of expression obtains in the New Testament. Thus, in Eph. v. 8. we read, Ye were sometimes DARKNESS, TOS: in the parallel place, in iv. 18. the metonymy is thus expressed being DARKENED, SOXOTIOμXVO, in the understanding; or, as it is rendered in our authorized version, having the understanding darkened. Numerous examples, in 3. No emphases are to be sought merely in the plural number which the abstract is put for the concrete, will be found, infra, Book II. of words. Chap. II. Sect. II. § 4.

We must be cautious, also, that we do not deduce emphasis merely from the use of the plural number; supposing that, where the plural is put instead of the singular, it necessarily denotes emphases. Thus cupave and upavo simply mean heaven; yet Origen, following the trifling distinctions of some Jewish writers, has attempted to distinguish between

them, and has announced the existence of several heavens each above the other.

5. As every language abounds with idioms,2 or expressions peculiar to itself, which cannot be rendered verbatim into another language without violating its native purity, we should be careful not to look for emphases in such expressions.3 "In the sacred books, and especially in the Hebraisms of the New Testament, we must take care not to seek for and recognise emphasis,

4. No emphases are to be sought in words where the abstract merely in the idiom, which is so very dissimilar to ours. Many persons, is put for the concrete.

In the Old Testament the abstract is very frequently put for the concrete; that is, substantives are necessarily put in the place of adjectives,

though acquainted with Hebrew, have often made this mistake; but nothing is more fallacious.. In the oriental languages many things appear hyperbolical (if you translate them literally, that is, merely by the aid of common lexicons and etymology) which are not in reality hyperbolical."

CHAPTER II.

ON THE SUBSIDIARY MEANS FOR ASCERTAINING THE SENSE OF SCRIPTURE. WORDS being the arbitrary signs of things, the meaning of hem depends upon the usus loquendi, or the custom of expressing certain things by certain words. It is surprising that any attempts should have been made to find the sense of words in a dead language, by means different in their nature from those which we employ in order to find the sense of words in a living language. The meaning of a word must always be a simple matter of fact; and, of course, it is always to be established by appropriate and adequate testimony. The original languages of Scripture being to us dead languages, the usus loquendi in them is to be ascertained by the testimony of those who lived at the time when these languages were flourishing and in common use, and who well understood them. This testimony is either direct or indirect.

where it is undubitable its evidence is abundantly sufficient, This testimony may be drawn from three sources, viz. I. From the definitions of words; II. From examples. and the nature of the subject; and, III. From parallel passages.

I. With regard to DEFINITIONS, nothing more is necessary than to take good care that the definition be well understood; and to consider how much weight the character of the writer who defines may properly give to it.6

Professor Morus has collected various examples of definitions from profane writers, both Greek and Latin, which it is not necessary to adduce in this place: but the following definitions of certain words occurring in the New Testament are of importance for the right understanding of the sacred wrirtes.

DIRECT TESTIMONY is to be obtained, in the first place, from 1. In Heb. v. 14. St. Paul says that he writes To Texas, to those writers to whom the language, which is to be investi- the perfect; and he there, with almost logical precision, defines gated by us, was vernacular, either from the same authors the perfect to be those who by reason of use have their senses whom we interpret, or from their contemporaries; next from exercised to discern both good and evil; that is, those who by ancient versions made by persons to whom the language was long custom and conversation in the sacred writings have so not vernacular, but who lived while it was a spoken lan-exercised and improved their faculties, that they can discern beguage, and by individuals who were acquainted with it; tween good and bad, true and false doctrines. In the whole or thirdly from Scholiasts and Glossographers; fourthly, from that passage, therefore, we are to understand who are the perfect, those who, though foreigners, had learned the language in question.

Where direct testimony fails, recourse must be had to INDIRECT TESTIMONY; under which head we may include the Context, Subject-matter, Scope, Analogy of Languages, Analogy of Doctrine, Jewish Authors, the Greek Fathers, Historical Circumstances, and Commentators. Some of these various aids are peculiar to the Old Testament, and others to the New Testament to avoid unnecessary repetition, it is proposed to discuss them in the order pursued in the following Sections.

SECTION I.

DIRECT TESTIMONIES FOR ASCERTAINING THE USUS LOQUENDI. § 1. THE TESTIMONY OF CONTEMPORARY WRITERS.

THE most important aid is afforded by those writers to whom the language to be investigated was vernacular; and 1 See Drs. Macknight and A. Clarke on Col. ii. 6.

On the Hebraisms, or Hebrew Idioms peculiar to the Sacred Writings, see pp. 196-198. of the present volume.

Bauer, Herm. Sacr. pp. 231-210. Ernesti Instit. Interp. Nov. Test. PP. 40-45. Mori Acroases in Ernesti, tom. i. pp. 321-336. Aug. Pfeiffer, Herm. Sacr. c. vi. § 16-23. (Op. tom. pp. 649-651.) Wetstein, Libelli ad Crisin et Interp. Nov. Test. pp. 120-139. Viser, Herm. Sacr. Nov. Test. pars iii. pp. 263-277. Bishop Marsh's Lectures, lect. xv. pp. 43-49. Prof. Gerard has collected numerous valuable observations on the topics discussed in this and the two preceding sections, in his Institutes of Biblical Criticisin, pp. 293-369. particularly in sect. iii. (pp. 300-314.) on the signification of words. J. B. Carpzovii Primæ Lineæ Herm. Sacræ, pp. 23.40-45. The subject of emphasis is copiously treated by Langius in his Hermeneuticæ Sacra, pp. 64-96.; by Rambach, in his Institutiones Hermeneu ticæ Sacræ, lib. ii. c. 8. pp. 317-362.; by Jahn, in his Enchiridion Herm. Generalis, pp. 127-135.; by Chladenius, in his Institutiones Exegeticæ, pp. 310-322.; and by J. E. Pfeiffer, in his Institutiones Herm. Sacr. pp. 531-569. Stuart's Elements of Interpretation, pp. 83-87. • Stuart's Elements of Interpretation, p. 87.

Bauer, Hermeneut. Sacra, pp. 77-79. Mori Acroases Hermeneuticæ, tom. i. pp. 75-77. Stuart's Elements of Interpretation, pp. 34, 35.

agreeably to St. Paul's definition.

apostle, what he means by the body of Christ; we may learn 2. If we are at a loss to understand, in the style of the same it from Eph. i. 23., where it is defined by the church: thus,... the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

3. Heb. xi. 1. contains a definition of faith; which is there said to be the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

II. EXAMPLES and the NATURE OF THE SUBJECT also show us the usus loquendi and force of words; but in order to judge correctly, and to make proper distinctions, a good understanding and considerable practice are highly necessary.

1. By Examples is meant, that the writer who uses a particular word, though he does not directly define it, yet gives in some one or more passages an example of what it means by exhibiting its qualities or showing the operation of it. Thus,

(1.) In order to explain the word dixiv, righteousness, which is of very frequent occurrence in the New Testament, we must examine what examples of righteousness are added in each passage.

the world, at first without an explanation: but afterwards we have an (2.) In Gal. iv. 3. St. Paul uses the term TOIXIN TOU XOσuov, elements of the religion and philosophy of the Jews and Gentiles which preceded the example of the meaning of it in Gal. iv. 9., where the expression is used of Christian dispensation, and includes the idea of incompleteness and imperfection.

2. The Nature of the subject, in innumerable instances, helps to define which meaning of a word the writer attaches to it, in any particular passage.

For instance, xps, in our version usually rendered grace, denotes pardon of sin, divine benevolence, divine aid, temporal blessings, &c. mined from the nature of the subject.1 Which of these senses it bears in any particular passage is to be deter

III. In order to ascertain the usus loquendi, and to investigate the meaning of a passage, recourse is in the next place • Stuart's Elements of Interpretation, p. 35. Morus, tom. i. p. 79. Mori Acroases, tom. i. pp. 81-84. Stuart's Elements, p. 35.

to be had to the COMPARISON OF SIMILAR OF PARALLEL PASSAGES;
and as much caution is requisite in the application of this
hermeneutic aid, it becomes necessary to institute a particu-
lar inquiry into its nature, and the most beneficial mode of
employing it in the interpretation of the Bible.
1.When, in any ordinary composition, a passage occurs
of doubtful meaning with respect to the sentiment or doctrine
it conveys, the obvious course of proceeding is, to examine
what the author himself has in other parts of his work deli-
vered upon the same subject; to weigh well the force of any
particular expressions he is accustomed to use; and to inquire
what there might be in the occasion or circumstances under
which he wrote, tending to throw further light upon the im-
mediate object he had in view. This is only to render com-
mon justice to the writer; it is necessary both for the disco-
very of his real meaning, and to secure him against any
wanton charge of error or inconsistency. Now, if this may
iustly be required in any ordinary work of uninspired com-
position, how much more indispensable must it be when we
sit in judgment upon the sacred volume; in which (if we
acknowledge its divine original) it is impossible even to
imagine a failure either in judgment or in integrity."

"God has been pleased, in sundry portions and in divers manners, to speak unto us in his word; but in all the books of Scripture we may trace an admirable unity of design, an intimate connection of parts, and a complete harmony of doctrines. In some instances the same truths are conveyed nearly in the same modes of expression; in other instances the same sentiments are clothed with beautiful varieties of language. While we are interested in discovering some of the indications of mental diversity among the sacred writers, we clearly perceive that the whole volume of revelation is distinguished by a certain characteristic style and phraseology altogether its own, and which, for simplicity, dignity, energy, and fulness, must be allowed to have no parallel. Now, if there be in the various parts of Scripture such important coincidences of sentiment, of language, and of idiom, it is evident that we proceed on just and rational principles, in comparing together passages that have some degree of resemblance, and in applying those, the meaning of which is clear, to the illustration of such as are involved in some degree of obscurity.'

The foundation of the parallelisms occurring in the Sacred Writings is the perpetual harmony of Scripture itself; which, though composed by various writers, yet proceeding from one and the same infallible source, cannot but agree in words as well as in things. Parallelisms are either near or remote; in the former case the parallel passages are sought from the same writer, in the latter from different writers. They are further termed adequate, when they affect the whole subject proposed in the text; and inadequate, when they affect it only in part; but the most usual division of the analogy of Scripture, or parallelisms, is into verbal, or parallelisms of words, and real, or parallelisms of things.

2. A Verbal Parallelism or Analogy is that in which, on comparing two or more places together, the same words and phrases, the same mode of argument, the same method of construction, and the same rhetorical figures, are respectively to be found. Of this description are the following instances:

(1.) Parallel words and phrases.-Thus, when the prophet Jeremiah, speaking of the human heart, says, that it is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer. xvii. 9.), in order to understand the full import of the original word there rendered desperately, we must compare Jer. xv. 18. and Micah i. 9. where the same word occurs, and is rendered desperate or incurable. From which two passages it is obvious that the prophet's meaning was, that the deceitfulness and wickedness of the heart of man are so great that they cannot be healed or removed by any human art. Compare also Isa. xl. 11. and Ezek. xxxiv. 23. with John x. 11. 14, 15. Heb. xiii. 20. and 1 Pet. ii. 25. and v. 4.

(2.) Parallel modes of arguing. Thus the apostles, Paul, James, and Peter, respectively suppport their exhortations to patience by the example of Jesus Christ. Compare Heb. xii. 2, 3. James v. 10, 11. and 1 Pet. ii. 21. On the contrary, dissuasives from sin are more strongly set forth in the Old and New Testaments, by urging that sinful courses were the way of the heathen nations. Compare Lev. xviii. 24. Jer. x. 2. and Matt. vi. 32.

(3.) Of Parallel constructions and figures we have examples in Rom. viii. 3. 2 Cor. v. 21. and Heb. x. 6. in which passages respectively the Greek word up, there translated sin, means sacrifices or offerings for sin, agreeably to the The passages, which thus have some degree of resem- idiom of the Hebrew language, in which the same word ellip‐ blance, are termed PARALLEL PASSAGES; and the comparison tically signifies both sin and sin-offering, which the Septua of them is a most important help for interpreting such parts gint version invariably renders by aur in upwards of one of Scripture as may appear to us obscure or uncertain; for, hundred places. Dr. Whitby, on 2 Cor. v. 21., has pointed out on almost every subject, there will be found a multitude of a few instances; but Dr. A. Clarke (on the same text) has phrases, which, when diligently collated, will afford mutual enumerated all the passages, which are, in fact, so many adillustration and support to each other; the truth which is more ditional examples of verbal parallelisms. To this class some obscurely intimated in one place being expressed with greater biblical critics refer those passages in which the same senprecision in others. Thus, a part of the attributes or circum-tence is expressed not precisely in the same words, but in stances, relating to both persons and things, is stated in one similar words, more full as well as more perspicuous, and text or passage, and part in another; so that it is only by concerning the force and meaning of which there can be no searching out several passages, and connecting them together, doubt. Such are the parallelisms of the sacred poets; which, that we can obtain a just apprehension of them. More par- from the light they throw on the poetical books of the Scripticularly, the types of the Old Testament must be compared tures, demand a distinct consideration. with their antitypes in the New (as Num. xxi. 9. with John iii. 14.); predictions must be compared with the history of their accomplishment (as Isa. liii. the latter part of v. 12. with Mark xv. 27, 28. and Luke xxii. 37. and the former part of Isa. liii. 12. with Matt. xxvii. 57. Mark xv. 43. Luke xxiii. 50.), and the portion of Scripture, in which any point is specifically treated, ought to be chiefly attended to in the comparison, as Genesis ch. i. on the creation, Romans ch. iii.— v. on the doctrine of justification, &c. &c.3

1 Bp. Vanmildert's Lectures, p. 190.

Verbal Parallelisms are of great importance for ascertain ing the meaning of words that rarely occur in the Bible, as well as of those which express peculiar doctrines or terms of religion, as faith, repentance, new creature, &c., likewise in explaining doubtful passages, and also the Hebraisms appearing in the New Testament.

3. A Real Parallelism or Analogy is, where the same thing or subject is treated of, either designedly or incidentally, in the same words, or in others which are more clear, copious, and full, and concerning whose force and meaning there can be no doubt. In comparing two passages, however, we must

2 Rev. H. F. Burder's Sermon on the Duty and Means of ascertaining the Sense of Scripture, pp. 17, 18. On the importance and benefit of consulting parallel passages, Bishop will not only attain all that practical knowledge which is necessary to his Horsley has several fine observations in his comment on Psal. xcvii. The salvation; but, by God's blessing, he will become learned in every thing whole passage is too long to extract, but the following sentences are so relating to his religion in such degree, that he will not be liable to be misled appropriate to the subject of this section, that the author deems any either by the refined arguments or by the false assertions of those who apology for their insertion unnecessary. "It should," says his lordship, endeavour to ingraft their own opinions upon the oracles of God. He may "be a rule with every one, who would read the Holy Scriptures with adran safely be ignorant of all philosophy, except what is to be learned from the tage and improvement, to compare every text which may seem either sacred books; which indeed contain the highest philosophy adapted to the important for the doctrine it may contain, or remarkable for the turn of lowest apprehension. He may safely remain ignorant of all history, except the expression, with the parallel passages in other parts of Holy Writ; so much of the history of the first ages of the Jewish and of the Christian that is, with the passages in which the subject-matter is the same, the church, as is to be gathered from the canonical books of the Old and New sense equivalent, or the turn of the expression similar. These parallel Testament. Let him study these in the manner I recommend, and let him passages are easily found by the marginal references in Bibles of the never cease to pray for the ILLUMINATION OF THAT SPIRIT by which these larger form.". "It is incredible to any one, who has not in some books were dictated; and the whole compass of abstruse philosophy, and degree made the experiment, what a proficiency may be made in that recondite history, shall furnish no argument with which the perverse will knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation, by studying the Scriptures of man shall be able to shake this LEARNED CHRISTIAN's faith. The Bible, in this manner, without any other commentary or exposition than what the thus studied, will indeed prove to be what we Protestants esteem it-a cer different parts of the sacred volume mutually furnish for each other. Itain and sufficient rule of faith and practice, a helmet of salvation, which will not scruple to assert that the most ILLITERATE CHRISTIAN, if he can but alone may quench the fiery darts of the wicked."-Sermons on the Resur read his English Bible, and will take the pains to read it in this manner, rection, &c. pp. 221–228.

ascertain whether the same thing is really expressed more fully as well as more clearly, and also without any ambiguity whatever, otherwise little or no assistance can be obtained for illustrating obscure places. Real parallelisms are twofold-historical, and didactic or doctrinal.

(1.) An Historical Parallelism of things is, where the same thing or event is related: it is of great and constant use in order to understand aright the Four Gospels, in which the same things are for the most part related more fully by one evangelist than by the others, according to the design with which the Gospels were respectively written.

Thus the account of our Saviour's stilling the tempest in the sea of

Gennesareth is more copiously related by Saint Mark (iv. 36-41.) and Saint Luke (viii. 22-25.) than it is by Saint Maithew. (viii. 24. 26.) By comparing from their separate histories. In like manner, the historical books of the Old Testament are mutually illustrated by comparing together the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. For instance, many passages in the book of Genesis are parallel to 1 Chron. i.-ix. ; many parts of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers are parallel to the book of Deuteronomy; the books of Samuel and Kings, to the two books of Chronicles; and, lastly, 2 Kings xviii. 13-37. and 2 Chron. xxxii. are parallel with Isa. xxxvi. Dr. Lightfoot and Mr. Townsend have compiled very valuable harmonies of the Old Testament, in which the historical and prophetical passages are interwoven in the order of time, of which an account is given in the BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX to the second Volume, PART I. CHAP. II. SECT. I.

the several narratives of the evangelists together, harmonies are constructed

(2.) A Didactic or Doctrinal Parallelism of things is, where the same thing is taught: this species of parallel is of the greatest importance for comprehending the doctrines inculcated in the Bible, which we should otherwise be liable to mistake or grossly pervert.

aside all outward teaching; but their meaning is, either that ye need not various parts of this epistle, or that ye need not that any one should teach the teaching of any of those antichrists and false teachers mentioned in you how to judge of those deceivers and their doctrines.

4. Besides verbal and real parallelisms, there is a third species partaking of the nature of both, and which is of equal importance for understanding the Scriptures: this has been termed a parallelism of members: it consists chiefly in a certain equality, resemblance, or parallelism, between the members of each period; so that in two lines, or members of the same period, things shall answer to things, and words to words, as if fitted to each other by a kind of rule or measure. The nature of this kind of parallelism, which is the grand characteristic of the poetical style of the Hebrews, being fully considered in a subsequent chapter, a few examples of its utility as a hermeneutical aid will only be necessary in this place.

In the poetical parts of the Old Testament, it sometimes happens that, in the alternate quatrain, the third line forms a continuous sense with the first, and the fourth with the second. Bishop Lowth has given a striking example of this variety of parallelism in his nineteenth prælection, from Deut. xxxii. 42. But as its distinguishing feature is not there suffi ciently noted, Bishop Jebb adopts the following translation

of Mr. Parkhurst:

I will make mine arrows drunk with blood;
And my sword shall devour flesh:
With the blood of the slain and the captive;
From the hairy head of the enemy.

We have examples of it in all those Psalms which occur twice in the book That is, reducing the stanza to a simple quatrain :—
of Psalins, as in Psal. xiv. compared with liii.; xl. 13-17. with lxx.; Ivii.
7-11 with cviii. 1-5.; lx. 5-12. with cviii. 6-13.; and cxv. 4-8. with
cxxxv. 15-19. Sometimes also a hymn of David, which occurs in the book
of Psalms, is to be found in some one of the historical books, as Psalın xcvi.
compared with 1 Chron. xvi. 23-33.; Psalm ev. 1-15. with 1 Chron. xvi.
8-22. and Psal. evi. 47, 48, with 1 Chron. xvi. 35, 36.

In like manner, in the New Testament, the same thing is taught nearly in the same words, as in the Epistle of Jude compared with 2 Pet. ch. ii. Frequently also the same doctrine is explained more fully in one place, which had been more concisely stated in another: such, for instance, are the superseding of the Mosaic dispensation by that of the Gospel, and all those passages which are parallel as to the thing or subject discussed though different in words; so that, by comparing them, the scope of the doctrine inculcated will readily be collected. On the other hand, where the same subject or doctrine is delivered with more brevity, all the various passages must be diligently collated, and the doctrine elicited from them. Of this description are the numerous predictions, &c. relative to the future happiness of mankind, connected with the removal of the Jewish economy,

and the conversion of the Gentiles to the Christian religion.

But the use of this parallelisin will more fully appear from one or two instances. Let us then compare Gal. vi. 15. with Gal. v. 6. 1 Cor. vii. 19. 2 Cor. v. 17. and Rom. ii. 28, 29. In the former passage we read, In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing non uncircumcision, but a new creature, or rather [there is] a new creation. In Gal. v. 6. the apostle had briefly delivered the same doctrine in the following terms: In

Carist Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by love.-1 Cor. vii. 19. Circumcision is nothing, nor uncircumcision, but the keeping of the commandments of God.-2 Cor. v. 17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, or more correctly, [there is] a new creation: old things have passed away; behold! all things are become new.-Rom.ii. 28, 29. He is not a Jew that is one outwardly, i. e. he is not a genuine member of the church of God who has only an out

ward profession: neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, a true member of the church of God, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. From these passages it is evident that what Saint Paul, in Gal. vi. 15. terms a new creature, or creation, he in Gal. v. 6. denominates faith that worketh by love; and in 1 Cor. vii. 19. keeping the commandments of God. From this collation of passages, then, we perceive, that what the apostle intends by a new creature or new creation, is the entire conversion of the heart from sin to God: and as creation is the proper work of an All-wise and Almighty Being, so this total change of heart, soul, and life, which takes place under the ministra tion of the Gospel, is effected by the power and grace of God, and is evidenced by that faith and obedience which are indispensably necessary to all Christians in order to salvation !

Again: in 2 Cor. i. 21. God is said to have anointed us: the parallel passage, where this expression is so explained as to give an idea of the thing intended, is 1 John ii. 20., where true Christians are said to have an unction from the Holy One, and to know all things; and in v. 27. the same that we should know all things, the anointing will be whatever brings know ledge to us, and therefore teaching. From this comparison of passages, therefore, we learn that by unction and anointing is intended the Holy Spirit, whose office is to teach all things, and to guide us into all truth (John xiv. 26. and xvi. 13.); and whose gifts and graces are diffused throughout the church of Christ, and imparted to every living member of it. For his assistances are equally necessary to all, to the learned as well as the unlearned, to teachers as well as to hearers: he it is that enlightens our minds, purifies our hearts, and inclines our wills, not only beginning but carrying on and perfecting a new and spiritual life in our souls. The expression in v. 20. and ye know all things, is not to be understood in the largest sense, but must be limited to those things which are necessary to salvation. These every true Christian not only knows speculatively-that is, he not only has a notion of them in his mind-but he has also a practical and experimental knowledge and taste of them, which is productive of holy obedience. This inestimable gift was purchased by the sufferings and death of Christ, who is here styled the Holy One. The words in v. 27. and ye need not that any man should teach you, cannot be intended to set

anointin is said to teach all things. Now, if the effect of this unction be

1 Mori Acroases Hermeneuticæ, tom. i. p. 95. See also Macknight and Scott on the texts above cited.

Again,

I will make mine arrows drunk with blood:
With the blood of the slain and the captive:
And my sword shall devour flesh;
From the hairy head of the enemy.

From without the sword shall destroy;
And in the inmost apartments terror;
Both the young man and the virgin:

The suckling, with the man of gray hairs.
Deut. xxxii. 25.

"The youths and virgins," says Bishop Jebb, "let out of doors by the vigour and buoyancy natural at their time of life, fall victims to the sword in the streets of the city: while infancy and old age, confined by helplessness and decrepitude to the inner chambers of the house, perish there by fear before the sword

can reach them."

Mr. Green, in his "Poetical Parts of the Old Testament translated," observes that there is a similar hyperbaton in Isa. xxxiv. 6. And Dr. Hales reduces to a similar form that remarkable prophecy, Gen. xlix. 10. :

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah;
Nor a scribe of his offspring;

Until Shiloh shall come;

And [until] to him a congregation of peoples. "That is, according to Dr. Hales, the sceptre, or civil government, shall not depart, till the coming or birth of Shiloh; and the scribe, or expounder of the law, intimating ecclesiastical regimen, shall not depart, or cease, until there shall be formed a congregation of people, a church of Christian worshippers from various nations; the former branch of this prophecy was fulfilled, when Augustus made his enrolment preparatory to the census throughout Judæa and Galilee; thereby degrading Judæa to a Roman province: the latter branch was fulfilled at the sacking of Jerusalem by Titus; when the temple was destroyed, and the Jewish ritual abolished."3

By the application of this parallelism of members, Bishop Jebb has thrown considerable light upon a difficult passage in the eighty-fourth psalm, which he considers as an intro verted parallelism :—

Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee:
The passengers, in whose hearts are thy ways,
In the valley of Baca make it a spring,
The rain also filleth the pools;
They go from strength to strength;
He shall appear before God in Zion.

Psal. lxxxiv. 5-7.

"The first and sixth lines are here considered, at once, as constructively parallel, and as affording a continuous sense: the intermediate four lines may be accounted parenthetical; the second, constructively parallel with the fifth; and the third with the fourth. The first line seems to contain the character of a confirmed proficient in religion,—his strength is in God; the

2 See Book II. Chap. II. infra.
Jebb's Sacred Literature, pp. 30, 31.

various topics, and in different styles, those books and parts of books are, in the first instance, to be compared, which were composed by the same author, in the same language, and on a paralle: subject.

sixth line, to describe his final beatification, he shall appear | yet, as they were SECONDARILY written by different authors, on before God in Zion. The intermediate quatrain may be regarded as descriptive of the intermediate course pursued by those who desire to be good and happy: they are passengers, but they know their destination, and they long for it; at a distance from the temple (the mystical "sapientum templa serena"), they are [i] Thus, by comparing·Psal. xxxviii. 10. with 1 Sam. xiv. 26, 27. (in which anxious to arrive there; the very highways to Jerusalem are in Jonathan having taken some honey for his refreshment is said to have had their heart. And what is the consequence? Affection smooths his eyes enlightened), we shall readily apprehend the force of the psalmist's complaint, that the light of his eyes was gone from him: for the eyes of a all difficulties; the parched and sandy desert becomes a rich well-person in good health are so strong, as to sparkle with the rays of light that watered valley; and they cheerfully advance from strength to fall upon thein; whereas, when the constitution is worn by long sickness, strength; from one degree of virtuous proficiency to another." or broken by grief, the eyes lose their vigour and brilliancy, and in cases of incipient blindness, the light gradually fails the eyes. In like manner, it One or two examples more will show the great importance we compare 1 Thess. v. 23. with Jude, verse 19. we shall find that the spirit, of applying the poetical parallelism to the study of the New mentioned in the former passage, does not denote any third constituent part of man, distinct from the soul and body, but that it means the spiritual Testament:strength bestowed, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, in our renovation and sanctification; for the apostle Jude, speaking of false teachers, describes them as sensual, NOT HAVING THE SPIRIT, that is as persons abandoned to follow their own evil ways, unrenewed and unsanctified by the Holy Spirit.

εσκοτισμένοι τη διάνοια οντες"

απηλλοτριωμένοι της ζωής του Θεού:
δια την αγνοιαν την ούσαν εν αυτοίς"
δια την πώρωσιν της καρδίας αυτών.
Being darkened in the understanding;
Being alienated from the life of God
Through the ignorance which is in them;
Through the blindness of their hearts.
Eph. iv. 18.

That is, adjusting their parallelism :

Again,

Being darkened in the understanding,
Through the ignorance which is in them;
Being alienated from the life of God,
Through the blindness of their hearts.

και εζήτουν αυτόν κρατήσαι

και εφοβήθησαν τον όχλον;

εγνωσαν γαρ, ότι προς αυτούς την παραβολην επι
και αφέντες αυτόν, απήλθον.

And they sought to seize him;

And they feared the people;

For they knew, that against them he spake the parable;
And having left him, they departed.
Mark xii. 12.

That is, adjusting the parallelism, and giving the particle xa,
the three different senses which Dr. Henry Owen has ob-
served that it bears in this passage:-

And they sought to seize him;

For they knew, that against them he spake the parable;
But they feared the people;

Therefore, having left him, they departed.

5. As it requires particular attention and much practice in order to distinguish the different species of parallelisms, especially the sententious or poetical parallelism,—the following hints are offered to the biblical student in the hope of enabling him to avail himself of them, and advantageously to apply them to the interpretation of the Scriptures:(1.) Ascertain the primary meaning of the passage under

consideration.

In 1 Cor. iv. 5. we read, Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts. Now here is a parallelism of members, but the fundamental meaning is, that God judges the counsels of men; he therefore judges without respect of persons, and with unerring impartiality. The apostle's design was to show that it is impossible for men to perceive and judge the counsels of one another. Thus again, words are also construed with words, and things with things, in order that an enumeration may be made of the species, kinds, or parts of the whole; as in the divine ode of the Virgin Mary contained in Luke i. 46-55., in which the specific displays of divine power are enumerated. God hath put down the proud, but eralteth them of low degree, &c. The diligent reader will observe, that this place describes the power of God, in whose hands is the distribution of prosperity and adversity; and that all these parts or species are, in an exposition, to be joined together with the proposition exhibiting the genus or kind, viz. that prosperity and adversity are in the hand of the Alinighty. (2.) Although the Sacred Scriptures, PRIMARILY coming from God, are perfectly consistent, and harmonize throughout;

1 Sacred Literature, p. 55. In p. 56. Bishop Jebb has given a passage from Euthymius's Commentary on Psal. Lxxxiv. 7. which is so truly beautiful, that we cannot help inserting it. Εκ δυναμεως εις δύναμιν εξ αρετης | εις αρετην οἷον, εκ ταπεινοφροσυνης εις πενθος, εκ δε πενθους εις κατανύξιν και ούτως εκ ταύτης εις εκείνην προκοπτοντες, αναβήσονται προς την ακρώρεια σιν· δυναμιν δε την αρετην εκάλεσεν, ὡς ισχυροποιούσαν τον μέτιοντα αυτήν "From strength to strength; from virtue to virtue: for example, from low. liness of mind to mourning; from mourning to contrition; and thus advanc. ing from one attainment to another, they shall ascend the summit of the mountain. The psalmist calls virtue strength, because it makes him strong who attains it."" Perhaps," the learned prelate remarks, "each grada tion of goodness may be accounted, as it were, a fortress or stronghold upon the way: a secure stage in the pilgrimage of virtue." a Jebb's Sacred Literature, p. 198. This elegant critic has thrown more light than all the commentators extant on that very obscure passage, Matt. xv. 3-6. by exhibiting it in the form of an introverted parallelism (see pp. 244-248.); and also on that very difficult portion of the New Testamentthe song of Zacharias (Luke i. 67-79.), by dividing it according to the poetical parallelism. See Sacred Literature, pp. 403-417.

[i] But the propriety of this canon will particularly appear, if we com pare the parallel passages of the same author, in preference to every other sacred writer. For instance, in Rom. iii. 24. Saint Paul, when treating of our justification in the sight of God, says, that we are justified freely by his grace; now that this is to be understood of the free favour of God towards us, and not of any quality wrought in us, is evident from Eph. ii. 4, 5. 2 Tum. i. 9. and Tit. iii. 5. 7. in which passages our salvation by Jesus Christ is expressly ascribed to the great love wherewith God loved us—to his own purpose and grace-and to his mercy and grace.

(3.) Besides the kindred dialects, much assistance will be derived, in studying the parallelisms of Scripture, from a diligent comparison of the Greek Septuagint version with the New Testament; as the latter was very frequently cited by Jesus Christ and his apostles, and was constantly used in the synagogues during the apostolic age, as well as by the Gentile converts to Judaism.

Thus the force of our Saviour's expression in Luke xii. 42. (giving a portion of meat ITCμSTPION in due season) will best appear if we compare it with the Septuagint version of Gen. xlvii. 1, 2, where we are told that Joseph (when Pharaoh had constituted him intendant-general of Egypt) certain portion of corn for each person; CUTE Toy, the very exsupplied his father and his brothers, and all his father's household, with a pression used by St. Luke. It was usual for the stewards of great families, in ancient times, to measure out to each slave his allotted portion of corn every month. Again, in Luke xv. 13. the younger son is said to have taken his journey into a far country, axideμnoivas Xxpay μxpay; an expression, Grotius remarks, which is singularly appropriate for in the Septua gint version of Psal. lxxiii. 27. those who have wilfully cast off the fear of God are said xxрuvei aжо тOυ Əsou juurous, to withdraw themselves afar from God.

(4.) Whenever the mind is struck with any resemblance, in the first place consider whether it is a true resemblance, and whether the passages are sufficiently similar; that is, not only whether the same word, but also the same thing, answers together, in order to form a safe judgment concerning it.

It often happens that one word has several distinct meanings, one of which obtains in one place, and one in another place. When, therefore, words of such various meanings present themselves, all those passages where they occur are not to be immediately considered as parallel, unless they have a similar power. Thus, if any one were to compare Jonah iv. 16, (where mention is made of the gourd which came up in a night, and perished in a night, and which in the original Hebrew is termed the son of a night) with 1 Thess. v. 5., where Christians are called, not children of the night, but children of the day, it would be a spurious parallel.

(5.) Where two parallel passages present themselves, the clearer and more copious place must be selected to illustrate one that is more briefly and obscurely expressed.

The force and meaning of a word can never be ascertained from a single passage; but if there be a second passage on the same subject, we have a criterion by which to ascertain the writer's meaning. Or, if we consider the subject discussed by him, we shall find that he has in one part touched very slightly on topics which are elsewhere more fully explained, and in which he has omitted nothing that could more copiously illustrate the former place. In availing ourselves, therefore, of a parallel passage to elucidate any part of the inspired writings, it is evident that the clearer places, and those which treat more fully on a subject, are to be considered as fun

damental passages, by which others are to be illustrated. Thus, in Hosea xii. 4. there is an allusion to the patriarch Jacob's wrestling with an angel of God; now this place would be extremely obscure, if the whole history of that transaction were not more amply related in Gen. xxxii. 24–31.

(6.) Other things being equal, a nearer parallel is preferable to one that is more remote.

If a writer elsewhere repeat the same forms of speech, and also discuss in another part a subject which he has but slightly touched in one place, it is better to explain that place from the same writer, than from parallel passages collected from others. But where a writer supplies nothing by which to illustrate himself, recourse must in that case be had to such as were contemporary with him, or nearly so, and from their compositions similar passages are to be collected. Thus Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, and Amos, having been nearly contemporary with each other, and having uttered predictions relative to nearly the same events, mutually elucidate each other, as the prophecy of Ezekiel illustrates that of Jeremiah, and vice versa. This rule will apply generally, unless the more remote writer define obscure places better, or continue and adorn the subject discussed.

(7.) No assistance is to be derived from similar passages, the sense of which is uncertain.

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