Well, therefore, might our blessed Lord re-assert, as he does with incomparable dignity, and with aggravated force, the charge with which he commences this indignant recrimination: his first words are: διατι και ύμεις παραβαινετε την εντολήν του Θεου, δια την παραδοσιν υμων ; And why do ye TRANSGRESS the commandment of God, by your tradition ? His last words describe as consummated, a far more weighty crime than mere transgression : και εκυρώσατε την εντολήν του Θεου, δια την παραδοσιν ύμων. Thus have ye NULLIFIED the commandment of God, by your tradition. Respecting this passage, those who wish for additional information, may consult with advantage the following commentators: Erasmus, Lud. Cappel, Grotius, Poole, (Synops.) Dr. Campbell, Wetstein, Clarius, Zegerus, Masius, Camero, Wolfius, Koecher, Elsner, Lightfoot, and Dr. Doddridge. 249 SECTION XIII. SEVERAL stanzas are often so connected with each other, as to form a paragraph or Section: a few examples of this description shall be given: ποιήσατε ἑαυτοῖς φίλους εκ του μαμωνα της αδικιας· ἵνα όταν εκλίπητε, δέξωνται ύμας εις τας αιωνίους σκηνας : ὁ πιςος εν ελαχίσω, και εν πολλω πιςος εςι και ὁ εν ελαχίσω αδικος, και εν πολλω αδικος εςιν : ει ουν εν τω αδικω μαμωνα πιςοι ουκ εγένεσθε, το αληθινον τις ὑμιν πιςεύσει ; και ει εν τω αλλοτριω πιςοι ουκ εγένεσθε, το ύμετερον τις ύμιν δώσει ; ουδεις οικετης δυναται δυσι κυρίοις δουλευειν· η γαρ τον ένα μισησει, και τον έτερον αγαπησεν, ου δυνασθε θεω δουλευειν και μαμωνα. Make to yourselves friends with the unrighteous mammon; That, when ye fail, they may receive 'you into the everlasting tents: He who is faithful in the least, In much also is faithful; And he who in the least is unjust, In much also is unjust: If, therefore, in the unrighteous mammon, ye have not been faithful, Who will entrust you with the true? And if in the possessions of another, ye have not been faithful, Who will give you possessions of your own? No domestic can serve two masters: For either he will hate the one, and love the other; Or he will adhere to the one, and neglect the other; Ye cannot serve God and mammon. S. Luke, xvi. 9—13. σκηνη, I have rendered τας αιωνίους σκηνας, the everlasting tents: not omitting the article, because it is here significant, and even emphatic, see Dr. Campbell in loc.; and giving the literal English of ox, because the force and beauty of that word, in this place, have been overlooked by the commentators. "What a σxnvaι are," says Dr. H. Owen, ap. Bowyer's Conject., I do not understand. "There "seems to be a sort of contradiction in the expres“sion; for σs are only temporary conveniences, "Heb. xi. 9. 2 Sam. vii. 6. avio, are eternal." This catachresis, to my apprehension, has a fine effect the everlasting tents; not such perishable tents as you set up here; but tents that will endure for ever it is a word which forcibly calls up the recollection, that here we have no abiding habitation; and which may serve to impress the conviction, that, in heaven, God imparts his own eternity to things, which, in themselves, might naturally be accounted void of duration as the "cottage of a night." In the last quatrain of this extract, we have a fine example of epanodos; which I propose to illustrate in a future Section. ὁ Θεὸς ὑπερηφανοις αντιτάσσεται ταπεινοις δε δίδωσι χαριν ὑποταγητε ουν τω Θεω αντιζητε τω διαβόλω, και φεύξεται αφ ύμων : εγγισατε τω Θεω, και εγγιεί ύμιν : καθαρίσατε χειρας, ἁμαρτωλοι· και άγνισατε καρδιας, δίψυχοι : ταλαιπωρήσατε, και πενθήσατε, και κλαυσατε· ὁ γελως ύμων εις πενθος μεταςραφήτων και ἡ χαρα εις κατήφειαν : ταπεινώθητε ενωπιον του Κυρίου, God setteth himself in array against the proud; Range yourselves therefore in due order under God: Stand against the Devil; And he will flee from you: Draw near to God; And he will draw near to you: Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; And purify your hearts, ye double-minded : Be astonied, and wail, and weep; Let your laughter be turned into wailing; And your joy into dejection : Humble yourselves before the Lord, And he will exalt you. S. James, iv. 6-10. The orderly connexion, and the distinct moral gradations of this passage, are eminently beautiful and instructive. In the first triplet, God is described, as setting himself in battle-array against the proud, but holding out terms of peace, reconciliation, and favour, to the humble; whence, the apostle exhorts those whom he is addressing, humbly to enroll themselves under God, and firmly to keep their ranks. In the succeeding quatrain, the military metaphor is continued: stand against the Devil, as valiant soldiers; and he will flee from you: draw near to God, as to the captain of your salvation, and he will draw near to you, and protect you with his invulnerable shield. In the next couplet, the metaphor is dropt, and the moral meaning stands forth it is shewn, how those who had newly enrolled themselves, here termed sinners, or transgressors, are to resist the Devil; namely, by cleansing their hands, that is, abstaining from wicked actions and how the double-minded, that is, persons wavering between long-confirmed habits of evil, and incipient wishes to become good, are to draw near to God; namely, by purifying their hearts, that is, by getting an inward principle of goodness. But how is this to be attained? On the one hand, we cannot give it to ourselves: on the other hand, God will not grant it to lazy wishes, and half-formed resolutions. A preparatory process must take place; and this process, the prevenient grace of God is ever at hand, to facilitate and prosper: the process, namely, of sincere repent ance. In the next triplet, accordingly, the workings of repentance are graphically described. In the first line there is a fine gradation, exactly in the order of nature: be astonied, and wail, and weep. Let your first feeling be like that oppressive |