:-* 0^ Of P«'^o;^ .. Z. i- p ■H-7 Z>S47G .T3Z BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. ^ treatise ON THE INTERr»RET^TI01Sr OP THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. MILTON S. TERRY, S.T.D., r Professor of Old Testament Exegesis in Garrett Biblical Institute, K ■^^'P^— KEW YORK: PTIILLirS (t HUNT. CmClNNA TT: CRANSTO.y <£' ST OWE. 1885. Copyright, 1883, by PHILLIPS & HUNT, New York. PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. " I ^HE design of the Editors and Publishers of the -^ Biblical and Theological Library is to furnish ministers and laymen with a series of works, which, in connection with the Commentaries now issuing, will make a compendious apparatus for study. While the theology of the volumes will be in harmony with the doctrinal standards of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the aim will be to make the entire Library acceptable to all evanorelical Christians. The following writers co-operate in the authorship of the series : Dr. Harman, on the " Introduction to the Study of the Holy Scriptures ; " Dr. Terry, on "Biblical Hermeneutics ;" the Editors, on "Theological Encyclopaedia and Methodology ; " Drs. Bennett and Whitney, on " Biblical, and Christian Archaeology ; " Dr. Latimer, on "Systematic Theology;" Dr. Ridgaway, on "Evidences of Christianity ; " Dr. Little, on "Chris- tian Theism and Modern Speculative Thought ;" Dr. iv PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. Crooks, on the " History of Christian Doctrine ; '' and Bishop Hurst, on the " History of the Christian Church." In the case of every treatise the latest literature will be consulted, and its results incorporated. The works comprised in the series will be printed in full octavo size, and finished in the best style of typography and binding. A copious index will accompany each vol- ume. All the volumes are in process of preparation, and will be issued as rapidly as is consistent with thoroughness. PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. ■ »>» ■ The cordial welcome with which the first edition of this work has heen received is evidence that a treatise of its character and scope is needed in our theological literature. The plan of the volume was largely suggested by what appear to be the practical wants of most theological students. Specialists in exegetical learning* will push their way through all difficulties, and find delight in testing prin- ciples ; but the ordinary student, if led at all into long-continued and successful searching of the Scriptures, must become interested in the practical work of exposition. The bare enunciation of prin- ciples, with brief references to texts in which they are exemplified, is too dry and taxing to the mind to develop a taste for exegetical study; it has a tendency rather to repel. In arranging the plan 'of the present treatise, it was accordingly designed from the outset to make it to a noticeable extent a thesaurus of interpretation. The statement of principles is introduced gradually, and abundantly illustrated and verified by means of those difficult parts of Scrip- ture in the real meaning of which most readers of the Bible are supposed to be interested. It cannot be expected that all our interpretations will command unqualified approval, but our choice of the more difficult Scriptures for examples of exposition will en- hance the value of the work, and save it from the danger, too common in such treatises, of running into lifeless platitudes. With ample illustrations of this kind before him, the student comes by a natural process to grasp hermeneutical principles, and learns by practice and example rather than by abstract precept. In order to make the work a complete manual for exegetical study, we have in Part First, under the head of Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics, a comparative estimate of other sacred books, an outline of the character and structure of the biblical lau- 3 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. guages, and two brief chapters on Textual Criticism and Inspiration. These topics are so connected with biblical interpretation, and some of them, esi^ecially a knowledge of the sacred tongues, lie so essen- tially at its basis, that our plan called for some such treatment as we have given them. The latest movements in the Higher Criti- cism approach the study of the Scriptures with the assumption that our sacred books and also the religion of Israel are nothing more than the sacred books and religions of other nations (Kuenen, Re- ligion of Israel, Eng. trans., vol. i, p. 5). The chapter on the sacred books of the nations exhibits the fallacy of such assumptions, and furnishes information which, being stored in many costly volumes, it is difficult to acquire. It should be observed, further, that Part Third is not a history of Hermeneutics, but of Interpretation. It is designed to be supple- mentary in its character, and somewhat of the nature of a bibliogra- phy of exegetics. The different methods of interpretation which have obtained currency or note are presented under the head of Pi-inciples (Part Second, chap, ii), but we have attempted no genetic history of Hermeneutics. In fact, no extended genetic de- velopment of hermeneutical principles is traceable in history. AVe find excellent examples of exegesis in the early Church, and execra- ble specimens of mystical and allegorical exposition put forth in modern times. History shows no succession of schools of interpre- tation, except in recent controversies, and these appear in con- nection with the varying methods of rationalistic assault, narrated in our chapters on the exegesis of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. CONTENTS AND Ali^ALYTIOAL OUTLII^E. PART FIRST. INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 1. 2. 8. 4. 5. 6. 7. CHAPTER I. Prelim inary. Hermeneutics defined, 17. General and Special Hermeneutics, 17. Old and New Testament Hermeneutics should not be separated, 18. Hermeneutics distinguished from Intro- duction, Criticism, and Exegesis, 19. Hermeneutics both a Science and an Art, 20. Necessity of Hermeneutics, 20, 21. Rank and importance of Hermeneutics in Theological Science, 21, 22. CHAPTER n. The Bible and other Sacred Books. . Knowledge of other Religious Litera- tures a valuable Preparation for her- meneutical Study, 23. ;. Outline of the Christian Canon, 24. ;. Contents and general character of other Bibles:— d) The a vest a, 25-28. (2) AssTRFAN Sacred Eecoeds, 28-33. (3) The Veda, ;M-39. (4) TnE Buddhist Canon, 40-45. (5) CniNESE Sacred Books, 46-52. (6) The Egyptian Book or the Dead, 53-57. (7) The Koran, 57-61. (8) The Eddas, 62-05. . Each of these books must be studied and judged as a whole, 66. . Notable Superiority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, 67, 68. CHAPTER III. Languages of the Bible. 1. Acquaintance with the Original Lan- guages of Scripture the basis of all sound Interpretation, 69. 2. Origin and Growth of Languages: — (1) Various Theories of the Origin of Lan- guage, 69-71. (2) Origin probably supernatural, 71. (3) Confusion of Tongues at Babel, 71. (4) Formation of New Languages, 72. 3. Families of Languages : — (1) Indo-European family, 73. (2) Scythian, 73. (3) Semitic, 74, 75. CHAPTER IV. The Hebrew Language. 1. Origin of the name Hebrew. 76, 77. 2. Peculiarities of the Ilebivvv tongue* — (1) The Letters, 78. (2) The Vowel-system, 79, 80. (3) The Three-letter Root, 80. (4) Conjuarations of the Verb, 80-S2. (5) The two Tenses, 82-85. (6) Gender and Number of Nouns, 86. (7) Simplicity of Structure, 87. (8) Omission of Copula, 88. (!t) Order of Subject and Predicat'% 83. (10) Adjectives and Particles, 8d, 89. 3. Hebuew Poetry: — (1) Old Testament largely poetical, 90. (2) Parallelism tlie distinguishing feature, 91. (3) Form essential to Poetry, 92-94. (4) Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, 94. (5) Structure of Hebrew Parallelism, 05-98. 1. SynoDymnns Pnrallclisiii. 9G. 2. AntithVtic P.Trallplism. 97. 3. Syntlietic Pnrallelisin. 9", 9S. 4. IrrofTuIar Structure, 99. (6) Alphabetical Poems and Rhymes, 100. (7) Vividness of Hebrew expressions. 101. (8) Elliptical modes of expression, 102. (9) Old Testament Anthropomorphism, 103. 4. Remarkable uniformity of the Hebrew Language, 104. 5. Three Periods of Hebrew Literature, 104, 105. 6. Hebrew Language peculiarly adapted to embody God's ancient Word, 1 ( '5, 1 06. 7. Its analogy with the Holy Land, ioO. CONTENTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINE. ■ CHAPTER V. The Chaldee Language. 1. Eastern and Western Aramaic, 107. 2. Biblical Aramaic appropriately called Chaldee, 107. 3. Early traces of Chalda^an speech, 108. 4. The Chaldee passages of Daniel, 109. 5. The Chaldee pas.sages of Ezra, 109, 110. 6. Grammatical peculiarities of the Bibli- cal Chaldee, 111. 7. Foreign words, 112. 8. Historical and Apologetical value of the Chaldee portions of the Bible, 113. CHAPTER VI. The Greek Language. 1. Greek an Indo-European tongue, 114. 2. Language and Civilization affected by climate and natural scenery, 114. 3. Greeks called Hellenes, 115. 4. Tribes and Dialects, 115. 5. Ionic Greek, 116. 6. Attic culture and taste, 116. 7. Decay of Attic elegance, 116, 117. 8. The later Attic or Common Dialect, 117. 9. Alexandrian culture, 118. 10. The Hellenists, 118. 11. Christian thought affecting Greek speech, 119. 12. Controversy between Purists and He- braists, 119. 13. Sources of Information, 120. 14. Peculiarities of Hellenistic Greek : — (1) Foreign words, 121. (2) Peculiar orthography, 121. (3) Flexion of Nouns and Verbs, 121. (4) Heterogeneous Nouns, 123. (5) New and peculiar forms of words, 122. (0) Old dialects and new words, 122. (7) New significations of words, 123. (8) Hebraisms:— 1. In words, 125. 2. In foims of expression, 125. 3. In grammatical construction, 125. 15. Varieties of Style among New Testa- ment writers, 126. 16. Greek the most appropriate Language for the Christian Scriptures, 127. 17. The three Sacred Tongues compared, 128. CHAPTER VIL Textual Criticism. 1. Higher and Lower Criticism distin- guished, 129. 2. Interpretation often involves Textual Critici.'^m, 129. 3. Causes of Vaiious Readings, 130. 4. Sources and Jleans of Textual Criti- cism, ISO, 131. 5. Canons of Textual Criticism : — (1) KxTKi-.NAi, F.viDKNOK, FouT Ilules, 1.32, 133. (2) Intkrnai, KviDKNCK. Four lUilc'S, 133-13G. 6. These Canons are Principles rather than Rules, 136. CHAPTER Yin. The Divine Inspiration of the Bible. 1. Inspiration of Genius, 137. 2. Scripture Inspiration superior, 137. 3. Divine and Human in the Scrijitures, 138. A. EVIDKNCES OF THE HtJMAN ELEMENT : — (1) In Narration of historical facts, 138. (2) In Style and Diction, 139. (3) In Subject-matter, 130. (4) In varying Forms of statement, 139. B. EviDKNCKS OF THE DiviNE Eleme.nt; — (1) In declarations of Paul and Peter, 140. (2) In Old Testament claims, 141. (3) In Jesus' words, 141. 4. Three important considerations : — (1) The whole Bible God's Book for man, 142. (2) Inspiration and Revelation are to be dis- tinguished, 142. (3) Inspiration a Particular Divine Provi- dence, 143. 5. Divine Inspiration affects Language and Style, 144. 6. Four kinds of Inspiration, 145. 7. Facts and ideas expressible in a vari- ety of forms, 145. 8. Fallacy of trifling with minute details, 145," 146. 9. No conflict between the Divine and Human, 146. 10. Verbal Variations no valid Argument against Divine Inspiration, 147. 11. Various Readings no valid Argument against the verbal Inspiration of the original Autographs, 148. 12. Inaccurate grammar and obscuiity of style no valid Objection, 149 13. Error in Stephen's Address (Acts vii, 16), 149, 150. 14. Quotation from Tayler Lewis, 150. CHAPTER IX. Qualifications of an Interpreter. 1. Intellectual Qualifications: — (1) A sound, well-balanced Mind, 151. (2) Quick and clear Perception, 151. (3) Acuteness of Intellect (Beugcl and De Wette), 152. (4) Imagination needed, but must be con- trolled, 152. (5) Sober Judgment, 153. (()) Correctness and delicacy of Taste, 153. (7) Right use of Reason, 153. (8) Aptness to teach, 154. 2. Educational Qualifications: — Familiar acquaintance with Geography, His- tory, Chronology, Antiquities, Polit;<'s, Natural Science. Philosophy, Comparative Philology, and General Literature should be acquired, 154, 155. 3. S|)iritual (Qualifications: — (1) Partly a gift, partly ac(iuired, 150. (•J) Desire to know the Trutb, 1.50. (3) Tender alTection, 157. (4) Eiitliusiasm for the Word of God, 157. (5) Reverence for (iod, 157. (ti) Connnunion and Fellow.ship with the Holy Spirit, 157, 158. CONTENTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINE. PART SECOIVD. PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. CHAPTER I. Preliminary. 1. Hermeneutical Principles defir.ed, 161. 2. Importance of Sound Principles, 161. 3. True Method of determining Sound Prin- ciples, 162. 4. Ennobling Tendency of hermeneutical Study, 162. » CHAPTER II. Different Methods of Interpretation. 1. Allegorical Interpretation(Philo, Clem- ent), 163. 2. Mystical Interpretation (Origen, Mau- rus, Swedenborg), 164, 165. 3. Pietistic Interpretation (Quakers), 165, 166. 4. The Accommodation-Theory (Semler), 166. 5. Moral Interpretation (Kant), 16V. 6. Naturalistic Interpretation (Paulus), 168. 1. The Mythical Theory (Strauss), 168- 170. 8. Other Rationalistic Theories (Baur, Renan), 170, 171. 9. Apologetic and Dogmatic Methods, 171, 172. , 10. Grammatico-Historical Interpretation, 173. (1) The Bible to be interpreted like other books, 1~3. (2) Principles of Interpretation grounded in the Rational Nature of mau, 173, 174. (3) The Bible, however, a peculiar book, 174. * CHAPTER III. The Primary Meaning of Words. 1. Words the Elements of Language, 175. 2. Value and Pleasure of etymological ■ studies, 175, 176. (1) Illustrated by the word tKKT^rjala, 176, 177. (2) Illustrated by the word 123, 177, 178. 3. Value of Comparative Philology, 178. 4. Rare words and u-rta^ leynnevn, 179. 5. Determining sense of Compound words, ISO. CHAPTER IV. The Usus Loquendi. 1. How the meaning of words becomes changed, 181. 2. Importance of attending to Usus Lo- quendi, 181. 3. Means of ascertaining the Usus Lo' quendi : — (1) By the writer's own Deflnitions, 181. (2) By the iuiruediate (Jonte.xt, 182. (3) By the Nature of the Subject, laS. (4) By Antithesis or Contrast, 184. (5) By Hebraic Parallelisms, 185. (6) By relations of Subject, Predicate, Adjuncts, 180. (7) By comparison of Parallel Passages, 186. (8) By common and familiar Usage, 187. (9) By the help of Ancient Versions, 188, 189. (10) By Ancient (jlossaries and Scholia, 190. CHAPTER V. Synonymes. 1. Some words have many Meanings, lyi. 2. Many different words have like xMeau- ing, 191. 3. Seven Hebrew words for Putting to Death, 192-194. 4. Twelve Hebrew words for Sin, or Evil, 194-197. 5. Synonymes of the New Testament : — (1) KatvoQ and veo^, 198. (2) Bwf and ^of), 199. (3) 'AyrtTTuw and 0i/lew, 200. (4) OlSa and ytvijaKG), 201. (5) ^Apvia, npi);3aTa, and -irpojiuTia, 2nl. (6) Boff/cu and Triufian>u, 20 1, 202. • CHAPTER VI. The Grammatico-historical Sense. 1. Grammatico-historical Sense defined, ; 203. Quotation from Davidson, 203, '204 General Principles and Method? certaining the Grammatico-his Sense, 204, 205. Words and Sentences can have but one Meaning in one place, 205. Narratives of Miracles to be understood literally, 205. Jephthah's daughter a Burnt-offering, 206. Jesus' Resurrection a literal historical Fact, 207, 208. Grammatical Accuracy of the New Tes- tament, 208. Significance of the Greek Tenses, 208, 209. CHAPTER VII. * Context, Scope, and Plan. Context, Scope, and Plan defined, 210. The Scope of some Books formally an- nounced, 211. Plan and Scope of Genesis seen in its Contents and Structure, 211, 212. 204. Is oi' as-\ listo.'L'al ) CONTENTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINE. 4. Plan and Scope oi' the Book of Exodus, 212, 218. 5. Subject and Plan of the Epistle to the Romans, 213, 214. 6. The Context, near and remote : — (1) Illustrated by Isa. lii, 13-liii, 13, 214, 215. (2) lllustrateil by Matt, xi, 12, 21.V218. (3) Illustrated by Gal. v, 4, 218, 219. '7. The Connexion nuiy be Historical, Dog- matical, Logical, or Psychological, 219. S. Importance of studying Context, Scope, and Plan, 2ly. 9. Critical Tact and Ability needed, 220. CHAPTER VIII. Comparison of Parallel Passages. 1. Some Passages of Scripture without logical connexion, 221. 2. Value of Parallel Passages, 221. 3. The Bible a Self-interpreting Book, 222. 4. Parallels Verbal and Real, 223. 5. All Parallels must have real Correspon- dency, 223. 6. The word Hate in Luke xiv, 26, ex- plained by Parallel Passages, 224, 225. 7. Jesus' words to Peter in Matt, xvi, 18, explained by Parallel Texts, 225-229. 8. Large portions of Scripture parallel, 230. CHAPTER IX. The Historical Standpoint. Importance of knowing the Historical Standpoint of a writer, 231. Historical Knowledge essential, 231. Difficulty of transferring one's self into a remote age, 232. 4. Personal sanctity of ancient Worthies often unduly exalted, 232. 5. Historical Occasions of the Psalms, 233, 234. 6. Places as well as Times to be studied : — (1) Shown by Journevs and Epistles of Paul, 235, 236. (2) Historical and (?eoj]rraphioal Accuracy of Scripture proven by careful Research, 230, 237. 7. The Historical Standpoint of the Apoc- alyijse :— (1) External Evidence dependent solely on Ireiiajus, 237, 238. (2) .lohn's own Testimony (Rev. i, 9). 239. 0) Internal Evidence. Six Points. 240, 241. (4) (ircat delicacy of Discrimination neces- sary, 242. ?^.^ Questions of Historical Criticism in- volved, 242. CHAPTER X. Figurative Language. 1. Tropes many and various, 243. 2. Origin and Necessity of Figurative Lan- guage, 243, 244. 3. Figures of Sjieech suggestive of Divine Harmonies, 244, 240. 4. Principal Sources of Scriptural Ima- gery, 246, 247. 5. Specific rules for determining when Language is Figurative are imprac- ticable and unnecessary, 247. 6. Figures of Words and Figures of Thought, 248. 7. Metonymv : — (1) Of Cause and Effect, 248. (2) Of Subject and Adjunct, 249. (3) Of tbe 8ign and tiie Thing Signlfled, 250. 8. Synecdoche, 250. 9. Personification, 251. 10. Apostrophe, 252. 11. Interrogation, 252. 12. Hyperbole, 253. 13. Irony, 253. CHAPTER XI. Simile and Metaphor. 1. Simile defined and illustrated, 254. 2. Crowding of Similes together, 255. 3. Similes self-interpreting, 255. 4. Pleasure afforded by Similes, 256. 5. Assumed Comparisons or Illustrations, 257. G. Metaphor defined and illustrated, 258. 7. Sources of Scriptural Metaphors : — (1) Natural Scenery, 259. (2) Ancient Customs, 259. (3) Habits of Animals, 259, 260. (4) Ritual Ceremonies, 260. 8. Elaborated and Mixed Metaphors, 261. 9. Uncertain Metai)horical Allusions : — (1) Loosing of locks (Judges v, 2). 252, 203. (2) Boiling heart (Psa. xlv, 1), 263. (3) Buried in Baptism i,Kum. vi, 4 ; Col. li, 12), 263, 264. CHAPTER XIL Fables, Riddles, and Enigmas. 1. Of the more notable Tropes of Scrip- ture, 265. 2. Characteristics of the Fable, 265. (1) Jotham's Fable, 266. (2) Jehoasli's Fable, 266, 267. 3. Characteristics of the Riddle, 268. (1) Samson's Riddle, 268. , (2) Number of the Beast (Rev. xiii, 18), 269. (3) Obscure Proverbs, 269. (4) Lainech's Song, 270. 4. Enigma distiuguislied and defined, 270, 271. (!) Enigmatical element in Jesus' discourse with Nicodennis, 271. (2) In bis discourse witli the Samaritan wom- an, 272. (3) Enigma of tlie Sword in Luke xxii, 36, 27.!. (4) Enigmatical language addressed to Peter in John xxi, '8, 273. (5) Figure of the Two Eagles in Ezek. xvii, 274, 275. CHAPTER XIII. Interpretation of Parables. 1. Pre-eminence of Parabolic Teaching, 276. 2. The Parable defined, 276, 277. CONTENTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINE. 3. General Use of Parables, 277. 4. Special Reason and Purpose of Jesus' Parables, 278, 279. 5. Parables serve to test Character, 280. ■6. Superior beauty of Scripture Parables, 280. T. Three essential elements of a Parable, 281. S. Three principal Rules for the Inter- pretation of Parables, 281, 282. 9. Principles illustrated in the Parable of the Sower, 282. 10. Parable of the Tares, and its Interpre- tation, 283. (1) Things explained and things unnoticed in the model Expositions of Jesus, 384. (8) We may notice some things which Jesus did not emphasize, 884, 885. (3) Suggestive Words and Allusions deserve attention and comment, 885. (4) Not specific Rules, but sound and dis- criminating Judgment, must guide the Interpreter, 386. 11. Isaiah's Parable of the Vineyard, 287. 12. Parable of the Wicked Husbandman, 288. 18. Comparison of analogous Parables, 289. (1) Marriage of King's Son and Wicked Hus- bandman, 88'J, 890. (3) Marriage of King's Son and Great Sup- per, 890, 891. 14. Old Testament Parables, 292. 15. All the Parables of Jesus in the Syn- optic Gospels, 293. 16. Parable of the Labourers in the Vine- yard:— (1) Mistakes of Interpreters, 894. (3) Occasion and Scope, 394, 395. (3) Prominent Points in the Parable, 296. (4) The Parable primarily an Admonition to the Disciples, 396, 897. 17. Parable of the Unjust Steward : — (1) Occasion and Aim, 39". (3) Unauthorized Additions, 398. (3) Jesus' own Application, 898. (4) The Rich Man to be understood as Mam- mon, 300. (5) (Jeikie's Comment, 801. » CHAPTER XIV. Interpretation of Allegories. 1. Allegory to be distinguished from Par- able, 302. 2. Allegory a continued Metaphor, 202, 303. 3. Same hermeneutical Principles apply to Allegories as to Parables, 304. 4. Illustrated by Prov. v, 15-18: — (1) Main Purpose to be first sought, .304. (3) Particular Allusions to be studied in the light of Main Purpose, 305, 306. 5. Allegory of Old AgeinEccles. xii,3-7: — (1) Various Interpretations, 306. (3) The old age of a Sensualist, 307. (3) Uncertain Allusions, 307. (4) Blending of Meaning and Imagery, 308. (5) The Hermeneutical Principles to be kept in \iew, 309. 6. Allegory of False Prophets in Ezek. xiii, 10-15. 7. Allegory of 1 Cor. iii, 10-15:— (1) Are the materials Persons or Doctrines? 311. (8) Both views allowable, 311, 318. (3) The Passage paraphrased, 313. (4) A Warning rather than a Piophecy, 313, 314. 8. Allegory of 1 Cor. v, 6-8 :— (1) The Context, 315. (8) The Passage paraphrased, 315. (3) The more important Allusions to be care- fully studied, 316. 9. Allegory of the Christian Armour (Eph. vi), 316. 10. Allegory of the Door and the Good Shepherd, (John x): — (1) Occasion and Scope, 317. (2) Import of particular parts, 31S. (3) Jesus' Explanation enigmatical, 319, 330. 11. Paul's Allegory of the Covenants: — (1) It is Peculiar and Exceptional, 381. (8) The historical Facts are accepted as true, 331. (3) The Correspondent Clauses, 338. (4) Paul's example as Authority in Allego- rizing Scripture narratives, 388, 38:1 (5) Such methods to be avoided, or used most sparingly, 384. 12. Interpretation of Canticles: — (1) Allegorical Methods, .384, 335. (3) Objections to the Allegorical Method, 325. (■3) Canticles a Dramatic Parable, 386. (4) A literal basis under oriental Poetry, 327. (5) Details not to be pressed into mystic Sig- nificance, 387. CHAPTER XV. Proverbs and Gnomic Poetry. 1. Proverbs defined and described, 328, 329. 2. Their Use among most ancient Nations, 329. 3. Hermeneutical Principles to be ob- served : — (1) Discrimination of Form and Figure, 330. (8) Critical and Practical Sagacity, 331. (3) Attention to Context and Parallelism, 332. (4) Common Sense and sound Judgment, 333, 333. CHAPTER XVI. Interpretation of Types. 1. Types and Symbols Defined and Dis- tinguished :— (1) Crabb's Definition, 334. (2) Examples of Types and Symbols, .3:i4. (3) Analogy with certain Figures of Speech, 3.35. (4) Principal Distinction between Types and Symbols, 336. 2. Essential Characteristics of the Type : — (1) Notable Points of Resemblance between Type and thing typified, 337. (2) Must be Divinely Appointed, .337. (3) Must prefigure something Futin-e, 338. 3. Classes of Old Testament Types : — (1) Typical Persons, 3:38. (3) Typical Institutions, 339. (3i Tvpical Offlc(--<, 3:i<). (4) Typical Events, 339. (5) Typical Actions, 339 340. 8 CONTEXTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINE. 4. Hermeneutical principles to be ob- served : — (1) All real Points of Resemblance to be noted : — 1. The Brazen Serpent (Num. xxi, 4-9), 341. 2. Melchizedek and Christ (lleb. vii), 342. (2) Notable Differences and Contrasts to be observed :— 1. Moses and Christ (Ileb. iii, 1-6), 343. 2. Adam and Christ (Rom. v, 12--il), 343. 5. Old Testament Types fully apprehended only by the Gospel revelation, 344. 6. Limitation of Types : — (1) Bishop Marsh's" Statement, 345. (2) Too restrictive a Principle, 345. (3) A broader Principle allowable, 346. (4) Qualifying Observation, 34U. CHAPTER XVII. Interpretation of Symbols. 1. Difficulties of the Subject, .347. 2. Principles and Methods of procedure, 347. 3. Classification of Symbols, 347, 348. 4. Examples of Visional Symbols : — (1) The Almond Rod (Jer. i.'ll), 348. (a) The Seething Pot (Jer. i, 13), 349. (3) The Good and Bad Figs (Jer. xxiv), 349. (4) The Summer Fruit (Amos viii, 1), 349. (5) Resurrection of Dry Bones (Ezek.xxxvil), 350. (6) The Golden Candlestick, 350. (7) The Two Olive Trees (Zech. iv), 350, 351 . (8) The Great Image of Nebuchadnezzar's Dream (Dan. ii), 352. (9) The Four Beasts of Dan. vii, .353. (10) Riders, Horns, and Smiths of Zech.i, 353, 354. (11) The Flying Roll and Ephah (Zech. v), 351, 355. (12) The Four Chariots (Zech. vi), 355. 5. The above Examples, largely explained by the Sacred Writers, authorize three fundamental Principles : — (1) The Names of Symbols are to be under- stood literally," 356. (2) Symbols always denote something differ- ent from themselves, 356. (3) A Resemblance, more or less minute, is always traceable between Symbol and thing Symbolized, 356. 6. No minute set of Hermeneutical Rules practicable, 356. 7. Three general Principles all-import- ant : — (1) A stiict regard to the Historical Stand- point of the Writer or Prophet, 2.57. (2) Like regard to Scope and Cont(ixt, 257. (3) Like r(>gard to Analogy and Import of similar Symbols and Figures cUicvhere used, 2.57. 8. Fairbairn's Statement of general Prin- ciples : — (1) The Image must be contemplated in its broader Aspects, 3.57. (2) Uniform and consistent Manner of In- terpretation, 1357. 9. Same Principles for explaining Mate- rial Symbols, 357. 10. The Svmbolism of Blood, 358. U. The Symbolism of the Tabernacle: — (1) Names of the Tabernacle and their Sig- nificance, 359. (2) A Divine-human Relationship symbol- ized, 360, 361. (3) The Two Apartments, .361. A. The Most Holv Place and its Sym- bols:— 1. The Aik, 361,. 362. 2. Tlie Capporoth or Mercvseat. 3C2. 3. The Cherubim, 30-.'. A&i. B. The Holy Place and its Symuols: — 1. The Talile ofSliowbiead. 364. 2. Tlic Golden Candlestick. 364. 3. Tlie Altjir of Incense. 365. (4) Great Altar and Laver in the Court, 365. (5) Symbolico-typical Action of High Priest, 366, ;:!(i7. (6) Graduated Sanctity of the Holy Places, 367, 368. CHAPTER XVIII. Symbolico-Typical Actions. 1. Acts performed in Visions, 3(50. 2. Symbolico-typical Acts of Ezekiel iv and v : — (1) The Actions Outward and Real, 370, 371. (2) Five Objections considered, 371, 372. 3. Hosea's Symbolical Marriages : — (1) The Language implies a Real Event, 373, (2) Supposed Impossibility based on JUsap- prehension of Scope and Import, 374. (3) The names Gomer and Diblaim not Sym- bolical, 375. (4) Hengstenberg's Unwarrantable Asser- tions, 375. (5) The Facts as Stated not unsupposable, 376. (6) Scope of the Passage indicated, 377. (7) The Symbolical Names (Jezreel, Lo-ru- hamah, and Lo-ammi), 377. (8) The Prophet's second Marriage to be similarly explained, 378, 379. 4. Our Lord's Miracles Symbolical, 379. CHAPTER XIX. Symbolical Numbers, Names, and Colours. L Process of ascertaining the Symbolism of Numbers, 380. 2. Significance of Three, Four, Seven, Ten, and Twelve, 380, 383. 3. Symbolical does not always exclude literal sense of Numbers, 384. 4. Time, Times, and Half-a-Time, 384. 5. Forty-two Months, 384. 6. The Numbers Forty and Sc\ cnty, 385. 7. Prophetic Designations of Time, 383. 8. The Year-Day Theory :— (1) Has no support in Num. xiv and Ezek. iv, aS6, 387. (2) Not sustained by Prophetic Analogy, 387, 388. (3) Daniel's Seventy Weeks not parallel, 3S8. (4) Days nowhere properly mean Years, 388. (5) Disproved bv repeated failures in Inter- pretation, "389, :W0. 9. The Thousand Years of Rev. xx, 390. 10. Symbolical Names : — (1) 'Sodora and Egypt, 391. (2) Babylon and Jerusalem, 391. (3) Returning to Egypt, 392. (4) David and Elijah, 392. (.5) Ariel, 392. (6) Leviattian, 392. CONTENTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINE. 11. Symbolism of Colours: — (1) Rainbow and Tabernaclw Colours, 393. (2) Import of Colours inferred from their Associations :— 1. Blue and its Associations, 393. 2. Purple and Scarlet, 393, 394. 3. White as symbol of Purity, 394. 4. Black and Red, 394. 12. Symbolical Import of Metals and Jew- els, 395. CHAPTER XX. Dreams and Prophetic Ecstasy. 1. Methods of Divine Revelation, 396. 2. 'the Dreams of Scripture, 396, 397. 3. Dreams evince latent Powers of the Soul, 397. 4. Jacob's Dream at Bethel, 397, 398. 5. Repetition of Dreams and Visions, 398, 399. 6. Prophetic or Visional Ecstasy : — (1) David's Messianic Revelations, 399. (2) Ezelclel's visional Rapture, 400. (3) Other Examples of Ecstasy, 400, 401. (4) The Prophet impersonating God, 403. *!. New Testament Glossolaly, or Speaking with Tongues : — (1) The Facts as recorded, 402, 403. (2) The Pentecostal Glossolaly symbolical, 403. (3) A mysterious Exhibition of Soul-powers, 404. CHAPTER XXI. Prophecy and its Interpretation. 1. Magnitude and Scope of Scripture Prophecy, 405. 2. Prophecy not merely Prediction but Utterance of God's Truth, 406. 3. Only Prophecies of the Future require special Hermeneutics, 407. 4. History and Prediction should not be Confused, 407. 5. Organic Relations of Prophecy : — (1) Progressive Character of Messianic Proph- ecy, 408. (2) Repetition of Oracles against Heathen Powers, 409. (3) Daniel's Two Great Prophecies (chaps, ii and vii) compared, 409, 410. (4) The Little Horn of Dan. vii, 8, and viii, 9, the same Power under dilTerent As- pects, 410. (5) Other Prophetic Repetitions, 411. 6. Figurative and Symbolical Style of Prophecy : — (1) Imagery the most natural Form of ex- pressing Revelations obtained by Vis- ions and Dreams, 412. 1. Illustrated by Gen. iii. 15. 412. 2. Pairbairn on the Passajre, 413. (2) Poetic Form and Style of several Proph- ecies instanced, 413. 1. Isaiah xiii. 2-13 quoted. 414, 2. Refers to the Overthrow of Babylon. 414, 415. (3) Prominence of Symbols in the Apocalyptic Books, 415. (4) The Hermeneutical Principles to be ob- served, 415. 7. Analysis and Comparison of Similar Prophecies : — (1) Verbal Analogies, 416. (2) Double Form of Apocalyptic Visions, 416. (3) Analogies of Imagery, 417. (4) Like Imagery applied to Different Ob- jects, 417. (5) General Summary, 418. CHAPTER XXII. Daniel's Vision of the Four Empires. 1. Value of Daniel's Twofold Revelation in illustrating Hermeneutical Prin- ciples, 418. 2. Three different Interpretations, 41i>. 3. Arguments for the Roman Tiieory con- sidered, 420, 421. 4. Subjective Presumptions must be set aside, 421. 5. Daniel's Historical Stand[;oint, 422. 6. Prominence of the Modes, 422. 7. The Varied but parallel Descriptions, 422, 423. 8. The Prophet should be allowed to ex- plain himself, 423, 424. 9. The Prophet's Point of View in Dan. viii, 424. 10. Inner Harmonv of all the Visions, 424, 425. 11. Alexander's Kingdom and that of his Successors not two different World- Powers, 425, 426. 13. Conclusion: A Median World-Power to be recognised as succeeding the Babylonian, 426. 13. Each Book of Prophecy to be studied as a Whole, 426. CHAPTER XXTII. Old Testament Apocalyptics. 1. Biblical Apocalyptics defined, 427. 2. Same Hermeneutical Principles required as in other Prophecy, 428. 3. The Revelation of Joel : — (1) Joel the oldest formal Apocalypse, 428. (2) Analysis of Joel's Prophecy, 429-431. 4. Ezekiel's Visions : — (1) Peculiarities of Ezekiel, 432. (2) Analysis of Ezekiel's Prophecies, 432-437. 5. The Artistic Structure to be Studied, 437. CHAPTER XXIV. The Gospel Apocalypse. 1. Occasion of Jesus' Apocalyptic Dis- course (Matt, xxiv), 438. 2. Various Opinions, 438, 439. 3. Lange's Analysis, 439, 44(i. 4. The Question of the Disciples, 440. 5. Meaning of the End of the Age, 441. 6. Analysis of Matt, xxiv, xxv. 442, 343. 7. Time-Limitation of the Prophecy, 443. S. Import of Matt, xxiv, 14, 444. 9. Import of Luke xxi, 24, 445. 10 CONTENTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINI 10. Import of Matt, xxiv, 20-31 :— (1) Literal Sense as urged by many Exposi- tors, 445. (2) Analogous Prophecies compared, 440. (3; Language of Matt, xxiv, 30, taken from L>au. vli, 13, 446, 447. (4) The Facts of Matt, xxiv, 31, not neces- sarily visible to human ej'es, 447, 448. (5) Import of tit^ewf, immediately (verse ~'i)), 448. 11. The Judgment of the Nations (Matt. XXV, y 1-4(3):— (1) The Scripture Doctrine of Judgment, 449. (i) Not limited to one Last Day, 4o0. (3) A Divine Procedure which begins with Christ's Enthronement, and must con- tinue until he delivers up the Kingdom to the Father, 450. 12. The Parousia coincident witli the Ruiu of the Temple and the End of the Pre-Messiauic Age, 450, 451. IS. Thi.s Interpretation harmonizes all the New Testament Declarations of the Nearness of the Parousia, 452. 14. No valid Objections, 453. CHAPTER XXV. The Pauline Eschatology. 1. Import of 1 Thess. iv, 13-17:— (1) Literal Translation, 4.54. (2) Four Things clearly expressed, 454. (3) Iniport of we. tite Uruiu, wlio remain :— 1. A ic'Wis ot'Luneiiiann and Alford, 455. 2. View of Ellicott. 456. 3. The Two Opinions compHred, 45C. 4. Tiie words imply an Expectation of a Speedy Coming of the Lord, 450. 5. The Hxegctical Dilemma, 45T. G. The Apostle's doctrine based on most em- phatic Statements of Jesus, 457, 45S. 2. All here described may have occurred in Paul's generation, 458. 3. Not contradicted by 2 Thess. ii, 1-9, 459. 4. The Apostasy an event of that gen- eration, 4(10. 6. The Man of Sin described in language appropriated from Daniel's Proph- ecy of Antiochus Epiphanes, 460. f). The Prophecy fulfillecl in Nero: — (1) Nero a revelation of Antichrist, 460. (2) The Language not unsuitable to the Death of Nero, 460. (3) Equivalent to Language of Dan. vii, 11, 461. (4) Nero's Relations to Judaism and Chris- tianity, 403. 1. Import of 1 Cor. xv, 20-28, 462, 463. 8. Import of Phil, iii, 10, H, 464. 9. Import of Luke xx, 35, 464. 10. Import of John v, 24-29, 464, 465. CHAPTER XXVI. The Apocalypse of John. 1. Systems of Interpretation, 466. 2. Historical Standpoint of the Writer, 4 (;(•>, 407. 3. Plan of tlu' Apocalypse, 467. 4. Aitilicial Form of the Apocalypse, 408. I. The Great Theme is announced (chap, i, 7) in the language of Matt, xxiv, 30, 468. I. Part I. Revelation of the Lamb: — (1) In the Epistles to the Seven Churches, 469. (2) By the Opening of the Seven Seals, 46'.', 470. 1. The Martyr Scene (vi. 9, 10). 470. 2. The Sixth Sial (vi. l'J-17), 4Tl>. 3. Striking Analogies of Jesus' Words, 470, 471. (3) Byj,he Sounding of the Seven Trumpets, 471. 1. The Plague from the Abyss, 471. 472. 2. The Annies of the Enjihiates. 472. 3. The Miglity Aiigel arrayed with Clou.i and Lain bow, 473. 4. The Last Trumjiet, 474. '. Part II. Revelatio.n ok the Bride: — (1) Vision of the Woman and the Dragon, 475. (2) Vision of the Two Beasts, 470. (3) Vision of Moimt Zion, 477. (4) Vision of the Seven Last Plagues, 478. (5) Vision of the Mystic Babylon. 478. 1. Mystery of the Woman and the Beast. 479. 2. The Beast from the Abyss, 4S0, 481. 3. Fall of the Mystic Babylon, 4S2, 4nS. (6) Vision of Parousia, Millennium, and Ji;dg- ment, 483. 1. A Sevenfold \ i^ion, 48S. 2. The Millennium is the Gospel Period or Ai:e. 4S4. 3. The Chiliastic Interpretation, 4S4. 485. 4. Chiliastic Interpretation \vith<.ut .-utlieient warrant. 485. 5. The Last Judgment. 4S6. 6. S(iiiie of these Visions Iransei lul the Time- limits of the Book, 4s7. 7. The Millennium of Kev. .\x now in prog- ress, 4S7. 488. (7) Vision of (he New Jerusah-m. 48S. 1. Meaning of the >iew ,)eru.~aiuii. Three views, 489. 2. Comp.arlMin of Hag. ii, 6. 7. and Ihb. .\ii. L'6-28, 4s9. 490. 3. Allusion oflleb. xii. 22. 23. 49.i. 491. 4. New Jerusalem the lleavenl\ Out ine of what the Tabernacle .--vmbiilized. 4'.n. 5. It is the New Testament ( liureh and Kingdom of God, 492. 8. Summary of New Testanjcnt Ai)oca]yp- tics and Eschatology, 492, 493. CHAPTER XXVII. No Double Sense in Prophecy. 1. Theory of a Doul)le Sense unsettles all sound Interpretation, 493. 2. Typology and Double Sense of Lan- guage not to be confounded, 494. 3. The suggestive Fulness of the Prophetic Scriptures no Proof of a Double Sense, 495. 4. No misleading Designations of Time in Prophecy, 495, 496. 5. Misuse of Peter's language in 2 Pot. iii, 8, 496. 6. Bengel's fallacious treatment of Matt. xxiv, 39, 497, 498. 7. Practical Api)licati()ns of Prophecy may be many, 498. 8. MistaUeii Notions of the Bible itself the Cause of much False Exposition, 499. CONTENTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINE. 11 CHAPTER XXVIII. Scripture Quotations in the Scriptures. 1. Four Classes of Quotations: — (1) Old Test. Quotations in Old Test., 500. (2) New Test. Quotations from Old Test., 500. (3) New Test. Quotations in New Test., 501. (4) Quotations from Apocryphal Sources, 501. 2. Only the Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament call for special hermeneutical treatment, 502. 3. Sources of New Testament Quotation : — (1) Hebrew Text, M2. (2) Septuagint Version, 502. 4. No uniform Method of Quotation, 502, 503. 5. Inaccurate Quotations may become cur- rent, 503. 6. Formulas and Methods of Quotation, 504, 505. 7. The formula i'lia 77 /l??pwi9r/ : — (1) Peculiar to Matthew and John, 505. (2) Views of Bengel and Meyer, 50G. (3) The Telle force of Iva generally to be maintained, 506, 507. (4) Tlie Ecbatic sense negd not in all cases be denied, 507. (5) "Iva telic in formulas of Prophetic cita- tion, 508. (6) Supposed exception of Matt, ii, 15, .508, 509. 8. Purposes of Scripture Quotation : — (1) For showing its Fulfilment, 509. (2) For establishing a Doctrine, 510. (3) For confuting Opponents, 510. (4) For Authority, Rhetorical purposes, and Illustration, 510. CHAPTER XXIX. The False and the True Accommodation. 1. Rationalistic Theory to be repudiated, 511. 2. The True Idea of Accommodation, 512. 3. Illustrated by Jer. xxxi, 15, as quoted in Matt, ii,' 17, 18, 512, 513. CHAPTER XXX. Alleged Discrepancies of the Scriptures. 1. General Character of the Discrepan- cies, 514. 2. Causes of the Discrepancies : — (1) Errors of Copyists. 514. (2) Various Names to one person, 514. (3) Different ways of reckoning Time, 514. (4) Different Standpoint and Aim, 514. 3. Discrepancies in Genealogical Tables : — (1) Jacob's Family Record :— 1. The different Lists compared, 515-517. 2. The Historical Standpoint of each List, 517, 518. 3. Hebrew Style and TJsase. 518, 519. 4. Substitution of Names, 519. 5. Desire to have a definite and suggestive Number, 520. (2) The Two Genealogies of Jesus : — 1. Different Hypotheses, 521. 2. Views of Jerome and Africanus. .522. 3. No Hypothesis can claim absolute CVi-tain- tv. 523. 4. Hei-vcy's Theory. .523, 524. (3) Genealogies not Useles.-s Scripture, .524. 4. Numerical Discrepancies, 525. 5. Doctrinal and Ethical Discrepancies : — (1) Supposed Contlict between Law and Gos- pel, .520. (2) Civil Rights maintained by Jesus and Paul, 527. ■ (3) The Avenging of Blood, 528. i4) Difleience between Paul and James on Justification :— 1. Different Personal Experiences. 529, 530. 2. Ditl'ereut Modes of A|)i)iehendin^ uad Kx- pressins (ireat Trullis. 5.i0. 3. Ditt'eivur Aim of each writer, 531. 4. Individual Freedom of each writer, 531. 6. Value of Biblical Discrepancies : — (1) To stimulate Mental Effort, 532. (2) To illustrate Harmony of Bible and Na- ture, 352. (3) To prove the absence of Collusion, 352. (4) To show the Spirit above the Letter, 352. (5) To serve as a Test of Moral Charactei', 352. CHAPTER XXXI. Alleged Contradictions of Science. 1. Statement of Allegations and Issuesi 533. 2. Attempts at Reconciliation, 533. 3. Fundamenttil Considerations, 533, 534. 4. Three Principal Points of Contro- versy:— A. The Record of Miracles: — (1) Assumed Impossibility of Miracles, 534. (2) No common Ground between Atheist, Pantheist, and Christian, 535. (3) Deist cannot consistently deny the Possi- bility of Miracles, 535. (4) Three important Considerations :— 1. Miracles Parts of a Divine Order, 535, .530. 2. God's Ptevelation involves tlie Plan of a great Historical Movement of which Mir- acles form a Part, .53<!. .'")■. T. 3. Scripture Miracles wortliy of God. .537, 53S. B. Descriptions of Physical phe.no.m- ENA :— (1) Supposed Evidences of False Astronomy, 538. (2) standing Still of the Sun and Moon, 540. (3) Narrative of the Deluge :— 1. Objections to its Universality. 541, 542. 2. Universal terms often applied in Scripture to Limited Are.is, 543. 3. The No.achic Delujre local, but probably Universal as to tlie Human Race, 543. C. The Oririx of the World and op Man :— (1) The Mosaic Narrative of Creation, 544. (2) Geological Method of Interpretation, 544, 545. (.3) Cosmological Method of Interpretation, 545, 546. (4) Idealistic Method of Interpretation, 540- 548. (5) Grammatico-historical Interpretation :— 1. Meaning of Heavens, Land, and Ci;eati% 549. 2. Biblical Narrative not a universal Cosmog- ony. 549, 550. 3. It describes the Formation of the Land of Eden, .550. 4. This view not a Hypothesis, but requii-ed by a strict Interpretation of the Hebrew record, 551. 5. Doctrines and far-reachinj; Implications of tile Narrative. .551. .5.52. 6. No valid I'resuniptioii against a limited Creation more than against a limited Flood. 552. 12 CONTEXTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINE. CHAPTER XXXII. Harmony and Diversity of the Gospels. 1. The Life of Jesus a Turning Point in the History of the World, 553. 2. The Gospels the Chief Ground of Con- flict between Faith and Unbelief, 553, 554. 3. Attempts at constructing Gospel Har- monies, 554. 4. Use of such Harmonies, 555. 5. Three Points uf Consideration: — (1) The Origin of the Gospels: — 1. An ongin;il Oral Gospel, 556. 2. No absolute Certainty as to the Particular Origin of each Gospel. S57. 3. Probable Suppositions, 557, 65S. (2) Distinct Plan and Purpose of each Gospel:^ 1. Tradition of the Early Church, 55S. 2. Matthew's Gospel adapted to .tews. 559. 3. Mark's Gospel adapted to Roman taste, .0.59. 4. Luke's, the Pauline Gospel to the Gentiles, 560. 5. John's, the Spiritual Gospel of the Life of Faith, 560, 561. (3) CnARACTEMSTlCS OF TUB Sf.VERAL EvAN- OELISTS:^ 1. Noticeable Characteristics of Matthew's Gospel, 561, b&l 2. Oini>sions of the earlier Gospels may have had a Purpose. 502, 56^3. 3. Harmony of the Gosiiels enhanced by their Diversit}', 563, 56-1. 6. Unreasonableness of Magnifying tlie al- leged Discrepancies of the Gospels, 565. CHAPTER XXXIII. Progress of Doctrine and Analogy of Faith. 1. The Holy Scriptures a Growth, 5G6. 2. Genesis a Series of Evolutions and Revelations, 567, 5G8. 3. The Mosaic legislation a New Era of Revelation, 568. n) Doctrine of God, 568, 569. ('2) Suiierlor Ethical and Civil Code, 569. (3) Pentateuch fundanientiil to Old Testa;- luent Revelations, 570. 4. Divine Revelation continued after Moses, 570. 5. Theology of the Psalter, 570, 671. 6. The Solomonic Proverbial Philosophy, 571. 7. Old Testament Revelation reached its highest Spirituality in the Great Prophets, 57'2-575. 8. Proplietic link between the Old and Kew Testaments, 575. 9. Christ's teachings the Substance- but not the Finality of Christian Doc- trine, 575. 10. Revelations continued after Jesus' Ascension, 576. 11. The Epistles contain the elaborated Teachings of the Apostles, 576. 577. 12. The A])ocalypse a fitting Conclusion of the New Testauicut Canon, .")77, 578. 13. Attention to Progress of Doctrine a Help to Interpretation, 578. 14. The Analogy of Faith : — (1) Progress of Doctrine explains the true Analogy of Faith, 579. (2) Two Degrees of the Analogy of Faith :— 1. Positive, 5S0. 2. General, 5S0. (3) Limitation and Use of the Analogy of Faith as a Principle of Interpretation, 581. CHAPTER XXXIY. Doctrinal and Practical Use of Scripture. 1. Paul's Statement of the Uses of Scrip- ture ('2 Tim. iii, 16), 582. 2. Roman Doctrine of Authoritative In- terpretation, 582. 3. The Protestant Principle of Using one's own Reason, 58.'x 4. Statement and Defence of Scripture Doctrine must accord with correct Hermeneutics, 583. 5. Biblical and Historical Theologv dis- tiiiguished, 684. 6. Human Tendency to be wise above what is written, 585. 7. True and False Methods of ascertain- ing Scripture Doctrine: — (1) The Doctrine of God, 585, 5S6. 1. Citation from the Athanasian Creed, 3S5. 2. Doetrin.il Symbols nut iniscni)tural. .5S6. 3. Plural Form olthe word Eloliiiii, 5?7. 4. Language of Gen. .\ix. '24, 5bT. 5. The Angel of Jehovah, 5s8. (i. New Testament Doctrine of God, 5S8. 7. Mysterious Distinctions in the Divine Xa- tiu-e. 5S9. 8. We should .-ivoid dogmatic Assertion .and doubtful te.xts or readings, 590. (2) The Doctrine of Vicarious Atonement, 590, 591. (3) The Doctrine of Eternal Pum'shmont. tm. 1. Absence of Scriptural Hope liu- the Wick- ed. .592. 2. Import of M.att. sii, 32, and Mark iii, 29, 592. 3. Preaching to the Siiirits in Prison, 592. (4) Doctrine not con lined to one portion, class, or style of Scriptures, 59.3. (5) Eschatology taught chiefly in Figurative Language. 59 1. (6) Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead, 594. (7) Freedom from Prepossessions and Pre- sumptions, .595. (8) Texts not to be cited ad lUntnm. 8. Xew Testament Doctrine not dear without the help of the Old, and vire vcr.m, 5V1(), 5117. 9. Confusion of Hebrew and Aryan Modes of Thought, 597. 10. Practical and Homiletical Use of Scrip- ture : — (1) Must be based on true grammatical In- terpretation, ,508. (2) Personal Experiences. Promises, Admo- nitions, and Warnings have lessons for Mil time, 5;»S, 59(1. (.'?) I'i-:i(-tical .\|iplii-u;io!is of Scrij'turc if btdlt upmi erroneous Intel pi:'I"tion, are thei'cby made of no ellect, GOO. CONTENTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINE. 13 PART THIRD. HISTORY OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. CHAPTER I. Ancient Jewish Exegesis. 1. Value and Importance of History of Interpretation, 603. 2. Origin and Variety of Interpretations, (503. 3. Ezra and the Great Synagogue, 604, 605. 4. Tlie Halachah and Hagadah, 606-610. 5. Philo JudiEus and his Works, 611-613. 6. The Targums, 614. v. Tlie Talmud, 615-617. CHAPTER II. Later Rabbinical Exegesis. 1. The Sect of the Karaites (Saadia, Ben AH), 618, 619. ii. Schools of Tiberias, Sora and Pumba- ditha, 620. 3. Noted Rabbinical E.Kegetes : — Rashi, Aben Ezra, Maimonides, Kimchi, Cas- pi, Tanchum, Ralbag, Abrabanel, Levita, Mendelssohn, 620-638. 4. Modern Rationalistic Judaism, 628. 5. General Summary, 628. CHAPTER IIL The Earliest Christian Exegesis. 1. Indicated in the New Testament Scrip- tures, 629, 630. •2. Allegorizing Tendency of the Post-Apos- tolic Age, 630. 3. Apostolic Fathers : — (1) Clement of Rome, Barnabas, Ignatius, 631, 632. (2) Value of the Apostolic Fathers, 633, 633. 4. Justin Martyr, Theophilus, Melito, and Irenaeus, 633-636. CHAPTER IV. Later Patristic Exegesis. 1. School of Alexandria, 63Y. Clemeut, Origen, Dionysius, Pierius, Peter Martyr, Uesychius, 638-643. 2. School of Coesarea, 642. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Pamphilus, Eusebi- us, Cyril of Alexandria, 643, 644. 3. The School of Antioch, 644. Africanus, Dorotheus, Lucian, Eustathius, Diodorus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Chry- sostom, Isidore, Theodoret, 644-64!). 4. Schools of Edessa and Nisibis, 650. Ephraem Syrus, Barsumas, Ibas, 651. 5. Other eminent Fathers : — Athanasius, Epiphanius, Basil, Gregory, Ul- philas, Andreas, .\rethas, 651, 653. 6. Fathers of the Western Church : — Hippolytus, Tertulhan, Cyprian, Vlctorlnus, Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Pe- lagius, Tichouius, Vincent, Cassiodorus, Gregory the Great, 653-659. 7. General Character of Patristic Exege- sis, 660. CHAPTER V. Exegesis of the Middle Ages. 1. No great Exegetes during this Period, 661. 2. The Catenists : — Procoplus of Gaza, Bede, Alcuin, Maurus, Haymo, Strabo, Druthmar, tEcumeuius, Theophylatt, Lanfrauc, Willeram, Rupert, Lombard, Zigabenus, Joachim, Aquinas, Bonaventura, Hugo, Albert, 661-66r. 3. Writers of the Fourteenth and Fif- teenth Centuries : — Nicholas de Lyra, Wycliffe, Huss, Wessel, Gerson, Laurentius Valla, Reucblln, Eras- mus, Lefevre, Mirandula, Sanctes Fag- nlnus, 6137-672. 4- The First Polyglots, 672. CHAPTER VI. Exegesis of the Reformation. 1. The Dawn of a New Era, 673. 2. The great Expositors of tliis Period : — Luther, Melanchthnn, Zwlugle, fficolampa- dius, Pellican, Minister, Calvin, Beza, Cas- tellio, Bullinger, Flacius, Piscator, Junius, Marlorat, Maldonatus, 673-680. 3. Translations of the Bible. 680, 681. 4. Antwerp and Nuremberg Polyglots, 681. 5. Tendencies of Lutheran and Reformed Parties, 681, 682. CHAPTER VII. Exegesis of the Seventeenth Century. 1. Progress of Biljlical Studies, 683. (1) Hebrew Philology promoted by Buxlorf, Schindler, VatabluSf De Dieii, Drusius, and Scaliger, 683. (2) King James' English Version, 683. (3) Paris and London Polyglots, 684. (4) Critici Sacri and Poole's Synopsis, 684, 035. 2. Distinguished English Exegetes : — Lightfoot, Pocock, Hammond, -Ainsworth, Gataker, Usher, Owen, Mede, 685-688. 3. French Biblical Schohirs, 688. Casaubon, Cappel, Simon, Bochart, 088, 689, 4. Biblical Scholars in Holland : — Arminjus, Grotius, Voetius, Cocceius, Leus- den, 6S9-693. 5. German Biblical Scholars : — Olearius, Glassius, Schmidt, Pfeifter, 693. 0. Progress of Free Thought, 694. 14 CONTENTS AND ANALYTICAL OUTLINE. CHAPTER Vlir. Exegesis of the Eighteenth Century. 1. Eighteenth Century a period of En- lightenment, 695. 2. Dutch, German, and French Biblical Scholars : — Vitringa, Witsius, Lampe, Veneiua, Le Clerc, Scti aliens, Uelaud, Sctioettgeii, Aleiischen, Surentiuslus, Leydecker, We-ssfimg, J. C. Wolf, Alberti, JKypke, Ualmel, lieausobre, Quesnel, ()95-ti97. 8. Progress in Textual Criticism : — Houbigant, Kennicott, De Rossi, Mill, Bent- ley, Bengel, Welstein, Griesliacli, GUd-iOO. 4. Textual Criticism opposed by ilie Voe- tian School, VUO. 5. English Exegetes : — Patrick, Whitby, W. Lowth, R. T,(jvvt!i, Henry, Doddridge, Uodd, Scott, Gill, Cbandler, Pearce, Mackniglat, Campbell, Newcouie, Blayney, Green, Wells, Wesley, roo-7t>3. 6. English Deistical Writers : — Blount, Toland, Shaftesbury, Collins. Wool- ston, Tindal, Morgan, Chubb, Boling- broke, Hume, 703, 704. V. English Anti-deistical Writers :— Chandler, Sherlock, Butler, Conybeare, Le- land, Waterland, Warburton, 705. 8. French Unbelief: — Condillac, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Vol- ney, 705. 9. Rise and Decline of Pietism : — Spener,Franeke, Michaelis, Mosheim, Koppe, Emesti, Keil, Herder, C.von Wolf, Lange, Berleburg Bible and Wertheim Bible, Baumgaiten, 705-709. 10. Growth of German Rationalism : — Sem'.er, Edelmann, Bahrdt, Nigolai, Wolfen- biittel Fragments, Teller's Lexicon, Schol- arly form of Rationalism, 710, 711. 11. Immanuel Kant and Philosophical Criticism, 712. CHAPTER IX. Exegesis of the Nineteenth Century. 1. Progress of Biblical Science, 7lo. 2. German Rationalistic School of Inter- preters : — Eichhorn, Paulus, Critics of the Pentateuch (Astruc, Vater, etc.), Heyue, Gable--, G. L. Bauer, Sirau.s.,, V.'eisse, Bruno Baur, V. C. Baur and the Tiibiugen School, French Critical School (Renan, etc.), 713-717. 3. German Mediation School of Interpre- ters : — Schleiermacher, Neander, De AVette, Liickc, Rosenmiiller, Maurer, Berthohlt, Lcn- gerke, Kuinoel, Gesenius, Ewaid, Hupielu, Hofifmann, 717-723. 4. German Evangelical School of Inter- preters : — Storr and Old Tiibingen School, Hengsten- berg, Havernick, Bleek, Umbreit, Ullmann, Tholuck, Stier, Olshausen, Baumgarten, Philippi, Winer, Meyer, Auberlen, Kurtz, Keil, Delitzsch, J. P. Lange, Godet, Lut- hardt, 7'2.3-72('. 5. English Exegetes : — Adam Clarke, Benson, Watson, Henderson, Bloomfleld, Kitto, Home, Davidson, .\!- foid, Wordsworth, Trench, Ellicott, J. B. Lightfoot, Eadie, Gloag, Murphy. Morison, Perowne, Jamieson, Cook, Stanley, Joviett, Convbeai'e. Howsou, Lewin, Elliott, Ka- liscli, Ginsburg, 728-733. 6. American Exegetes : — Stuart, Robinson, Alexander, Norton, Hodge, Turner, Bush, Barnes, Jacobus, Owen. Whedon, Cowles, Conant, Strong, (iardi- ner, Shedd, 733-735. , 7. New Testament Textual Ci'iticism : — Knapp, Schulz, Scholz, Lachnianu. Tischen- dorf, Tregelles, Westcottand Hort, 73.j, 73d, 8. The Revised English Version, 737. 9. Present Condition and Demands of Bib- lical Interpretation, 737, 738. 1. Bibliography of Hermeneutics 739 2. Index of Scripture Texts 153 3. General Index 770 PART FIRST. INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. It vjcre indeed meet for us -not at all to require the aid of the written Word, hut to exhibit a life so pure that the grace of the Spirit should he instead of hooTcs to our souls, and that as these are inscribed with ink, even so should our hearts he with the Spirit, ^ut, since we have utterly put away from us this grace, come, let us at any rate emhrace the second-hest course. For if it he a hlame to stand in need of written words, and not to have hrought down on ourselves the grace of the Spirit, consider how heavy the charge of not choosing to profit even after this assistance, hut rather treating what is written with neglect, as if it were cast forth without purpose, and at random, and so bringing down upon ourselves our punishment with increase. ^ut that no such effect may ensue, let us give strict heed unto the things that are written ; and let us learn how the Old Xjaw was given on the one hand, and how, on the other, the JTew Covenant. — Ciikysostou. INTEODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARY. Hekmeisteutics is the science of interpretation. The word is usu- ally applied to the explanation of written documents, and may tiierefore be more specifically defined as the science of nermeneutics interpreting an author's language.' This science as- defined, sumes that there are divers modes of thought and ambiguities of expression among men, and, accordingly, it aims to remove the ' supposable differences between a writer and his readers, so that the meaning of the one may be truly and accurately apjirehended by the others. It is common to distinguish between General and Special Her- meneutics. General Ilermeneutics is devoted to the ^, General and general principles which are applicable to the inter^^re- special Her- tation of all languages and writing. It may appropri- ™ ° " ately take cognizance of the logical operations of the human mind, and the philosophy of human speech. Special Hermeneutics is de- voted rather to the explanation of particular books and classes of writings. Thus, historical, poetical, philosophical, and prophetical writings differ from each other in numerous particulars, and each class requires for its projDer exposition the application of principles and methods adapted to its own peculiar character and style. Special Hermeneutics, according to Cellerier, is a science practical and almost empirical, and searches after rules and solutions ; while General Hermeneutics is methodical and philosojihical, and searches for principles and methods.^ ' The word hermeneutics is of Greek origin, from epfiTjvevu, to interpret, to ex- plain ; thence the adjective ?/ epfirji'EVTiuTi (sc. Texvr]\ that is, the hermeneuiieal art, and thence our word hermeneutics, the science or art of interpretation. Closely kin- dred is also the name '■E/jfir/r, Ilermcs, or Mercury, who, beai'ing a golden rod of magic power, figures in Grecian mythology as the messenger of the gods, the tutelary deity of speech, of writing, of arts and sciences, and of all skill and accomplishments. ^ Manuel d'Hermenoutiquc Biblique, p. 5. Geneva, 1852. 2 18 INTRODUCTION TO Biblical or Sacred Hermeneutics is the science of interpreting the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Biblical or Sa- "i , m . tit • i- ^ cred Heme- Inasmuch as these two lestaments difter m form, lan« neutics. guage, and historical conditions, many writers have deemed it preferable to treat the hermeneutics of each Testament separately. And as the New Testament is the later and fuller rev- elation, its interpretation has received the fuller and more frequent attention/ But it may be questioned whether such a separate treatment of the Old and New Testaments is the better course. It Old and New ^^ ^^ *^^® ^^'^^ importance to observe that, from a Christ- Test. Herme- ian point of view, the Old Testament cannot be fully iTfe separ- apprehended without the help of the New. The mys- ated. tery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known unto men, was revealed unto the apostles and prophets of the New Testament (Eph. iii, 5), and that revelation sheds a flood of light upon numerous portions of the Hebrew Scriptures. On the other hand, it is equally true that a scientific interpi-etation of the New Testament is imjjossible without a thorough knowledge of the older Scriptures. The very language of the New Testament, though belonging to another family of human tongues, is notably liebraic. The style, diction, and spirit of many parts of the Greek Testament cannot be properly appreciated without acquaintance with the style and spirit of the Hebrew prophets. The Old Testament also abounds in testimony of the Christ (Luke xxiv, 27, 44 ; John v, 39 ; Acts X, 43), the illustration and fulfillment of which can be seen only in the light of the Christian revelation. In short, the whole Bible is a divinely constructed unity, and there is danger that, in studying one part to the comparative neglect of the other, we may fall into one-sided and erroneous methods of exposition. The Holy Scrip- ' Among the more important modern works on the hermeneutics of the New Testa- ment are: Ernesti, Institutio Interpretis Novi Testament! (Lips., 1761), translated into English by M. Stuart (Andover, 1827), and Terrot (Edin., 1843); Klausen, Ilerme- neutik des neucn Testamontes (Lpz., 1841); Wilke, Die Hermeneutik des neuen Tcs- Jamentes systcmatisch dargestellt (Lpz., 1843) ; Doedes, Manual of Hermeneutics for the Writings of the New Testament, translated from the Dutch by Stegmann (Edin., 1867); Fairbairn, Hermeneutical Manual of the New Testament (Phila., 1859); Im- mer, Hermeneutics of the New Testament, translated from the German by A. H. New- •man (Andover, 1877). The principal treatises on Old Testament hermeneutics are: Meyer, Versuch einer Hermeneutik des alten Testaments (1790); Pareau, Institutio Interpretis Veteris Testamenti (1822), translated by Forbes for the Edinburgh Biblical Cabinet. The hermeneutics of both Testaments is treated by Seller, Biblical Her- meneutics, or the Art of Scripture Interpretation, translated from the German by Wright (Lond., 183.5); Davidson, Sacred Hermeneutics (Edin., 1843), Cellerier's Man- ual, mentioned above, recently translated into English by Elliott and Harsha (N. Y., 1881), and Lange, Grundrissderbiblischen Hermeneutik (Heidelb., 1878). BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 19 tures should be studied as a whole, for their several parts were giv- en in manifold portions and modes (noXvfiepibg Kai TroXvTpoTTCjg, Heb. i, 1), and, taken all together, they constitute a remarkably self -in- terpreting volume. Biblical Hermeneutics, having a specific field of its own, should be carefully distinguished from other branches of theo- Bisunguished logical science with which it is often and quite naturally yo'"c"r '^"'^" associated. It is to be distinguished from Biblical In- and Exegesis. troduction. Textual Criticism, and Exegesis. Biblical Introduction, or Isagogics, is devoted to the historico-critical examination of the different books of the Bible. It inquires after their age, author- ship, genuineness, and canonical authority, tracing at the same time their origin, preservation, and integrity, and exhibiting their con- tents, relative rank, and general character and value. The scien- tific treatment of these several subjects is often called the " Higher Criticism." Textual Criticism has for its special object Textual cnti- the ascertaining of the exact words of the original texts cism. of the saci'ed books. Its method of procedure is to collate and compare ancient manuscripts, ancient versions, and ancient scripture quotations, and, by careful and discriminating judgment, sift con- flicting testimony, weigh the evidences of all kinds, and thus en- deavour to determine the true reading of every doubtful text. This science is often called the "Lower Criticism." "Where such criticism ends, Hermeneutics j^roperly begins, and aims to establish the principles, methods, and rules which are needful to unfold the sense of what is written. Its object is to elucidate Avhatever may be obscure or ill-defined, so that every reader may be able, by an intelligent process, to obtain the exact ideas intended by the author. Exegesis is the application of these principles and laws, Exegesis and the actual bringing out into formal statement, and by Exposition, other terms, the meaning of the author's words. Exegesis is re- lated to hermeneutics as preaching is to homiletics, or, in general, as practice is to theory. Exposition is another word often used synonymously with exegesis, and has essentially the same significa- tion ; and yet, perhaps, in common usage, exposition denotes a more extended development and illustration of the sense, dealing more largely M'ith other scriptures by comparison and contrast. We observe, accordingly, that the writer on Biblical Introduction ex- amines the historical foundations and canonical authority of the books of Scripture. The textual critic detects interpolations, emends false readings, and aims to give us the very words which the sacred writers used. The exegete takes up these words, and by means of the principles of hermeneutics, defines their meaning, elucidates the 20 INTRODUCTION TO scope and plan of each writer, and brings forth the grammatico- historical sense of what each book contains. The expositor builds upon the labours both of critics and exegetes, and sets forth in fuller form, and by ample illustj*ation, the ideas, doctrines, and moral lessons of the Scripture.' But while w^e are careful to distinguish hermeneutics from these kindred branches of exegetical theology, we should not fail to note that a science of interpretation must essentially de2:)end on exegesis for the maintenance and illustration of its principles and rules. As the full grammar of a language establishes its principles by sufficient examples and by formal praxis, so a science of hermeneutics must needs verify and illustrate its jDrinciiDles by examjjles of their prac- tical application. Its province is not merely to define principles and methods, but also to exemj^lify and illusti*ate them. Herme- neutics, therefore, is both a science and an art. As a Hermeneutics , ' ^ / both a Science Science, it enunciates principles, investigates the laws an an . ^£ thought and language, and classifies its facts and results. As an art, it teaches what application these principles should have, and establishes their soundness by showing their prac- tical value in the elucidation of the more difficult scriptvxres. The hermeneutical art thus cultivates and establishes a valid exegetical procedure. The necessity of a science of interpretation is apparent from the Necessity of diversities of mind and culture among men. Personal Hermeneutics. intercourse between individuals of the same nation and language is often difficult and embarrassing by reason of their dif- ferent styles of thought and expression. Even the Apostle Peter found in Paul's epistles things which were difficult to understand (dvavorjra, 2 Pet. iii, 16). The man of broad and liberal culture lives and moves in a diffei'cnt world from the unlettered peasant, so much so that sometimes the ordinnry conversation of the one is scarcely intelligible to the other. Different schools of metaphysics and opposing systems of theology have often led their several ad- vocates into strange misunderstandings. Tlie speculative philoso- pher, Avho ponders long on abstract themes, and by deep study ' Docdes thus iliseriminatos between explaining and interpreting: " To explain, properly signifies the unfolding of what is contained in the words, and to' interpret, the making clear of what is not clear by casting light on that which is obscure. Very often one interprets l)y means of explaining, namely, when, by unfolding the sense of the words, liglit is reflected on what is said or written; but it cannot be said that one explains by interpreting. While explaining generally is interpreting, interpreting, properly speaking, is not explaining. But we do not usually observe this distinction in making use of these terms, and may without harm use them promiscuously." Manual of Hermeneutics, p. 4. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 21 constructs a doctrine or system clear to his own mind, may find it difficult to set forth his views to others so as to prevent all miscon- ception. His whole subject matter lies beyond the range of com- mon thought. The hearers or readers, in such a case, must, like the philosopher himself, dwell long upon the subject. They must have terms defined, and ideas illustrated, until, step by stej:), they come to imbibe the genius and spirit of the new philosophy. But especially great and manifold are the difficulties of understanding the writings of those who differ from us in language and national- ity. The learned themselves become divided in their essays to decipher and interpret the records of the past. Volumes and li- braries have been written to elucidate the obscurities of the Greek and Roman classics. The foremost scholars and linguists of the pres- ent generation are busied in the study and exposition of the sacred books of the Chinese, the Plindus, the Parsees, aifcd the Egyptians, and, after all their learned labours, they disagree in the translation and solution of many a passage. How much more might we ex- pect great differences of opinion in the interpretation of a book like the Bible, composed at sundry times and in many parts and modes, and ranging through many departments of literature! What obstacles might reasonably be expected in the interpretation of a record of divine revelation, in which heavenly thoughts, un- known to men before, were made to express themselves in the im- perfect formulas of human speech! The most contradictory rules of interpretation have been propounded, and expositions have been made to suit the peculiar tastes and prejudices of writers or to main- tain preconceived opinions, until all scientific method has been set at nought, and each interpreter became a law unto himself. Hence the necessity of well-defined and self-consistent principles of Script- ure interpretation. Only as exegetes come to adopt common prin- ciples and m,ethods of procedure, Avill the interpretation of the Bible attain the dignity and certainty of an cstal)lished science. The rank and importance of Biblical PIcrmeneutics among the various studies embraced in Theological Encyclopaedia ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^_ and Methodology is apparent from the fundamental re- portance of . . IlGrinciiGiitic3 lation which it sustains to them all. For the Scripture jn Theological revelation is itself essentially the centime and substance Science, of all theological science. It contains the clearest and fullest exhi- bition of the person and character of God, and of the spiritual needs and possibilities of man. A sound and trustworthy interpretation of the scripture records, therefore, is the root and basis of all revealed theology. Without it Systematic Theology, or Dogmatics, could not b*e legitimately constructed, and would, in fact, be essentially 22 INTRODUCTION TO impossible. For the doctrines of revelation can only be learned from a correct understanding of the oracles of God. Historical Theology, also, tracing as it does the thought and life of the Church, must needs take cognizance of the principles and methods of script- ure interpretation which have so largely controlled in the develop- ment of that thought and life. The creeds of Christendom assume to rest upon the teachings of the inspired Scriptures. Apologetics, polemics, ethics, and all that is embraced in Practical Theology, are ever making appeal to the authoritative records of the Christian faith. The great work of the Christian ministry is to preach the word ; and that most important labour cannot be effectually done without a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures and skill in the interpretation and application of the same. Personal piety and practical godliness are nourished by the study of this written word. The psalmist sings (Psa. cxix, 105, 111) : A lamp to my foot is thy word, And a light to my pathway. I Iiave taken possession of thy testimonies forever, For the joy of my heart are they.' The Apostle Paul admonished Timothy that the Holy Scriptures were able to make him wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (2 Tim. iii, 15). And Jesus himself, interceding for his own chosen followers, prayed, " Sanctify them in the truth ; thy word is truth" (John xvii, IV). Accordingly, the Lord's ambassador must not adulterate (2 Cor. ii, 17), but rightly divide, the word of the truth (2 Tim. ii, 15). For if ever the divinely appointed ministry of reconciliation accomplish the perfecting of the saints, and the building up of the body of Christ, so as to bring all to the attain- ment of the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God (Eph. iv, 12, 13), it must be done by a coi'rect interpreta- tion and efficient use of the word of God. The interpretation and application of that word miist rest upon a sound and self -evi- dencing science of hermeneutics. ' All scripture quotations in the present work have been made by translating direct- ly from the Hebrew, Ciialdee, iind Greek originals. To have followed the Authorized Version would have necessitated a large amount of circumlocution. In many instances the citation of a text is designed to illustrate a process as well as a principle of her- meneutics. It is often desirable to bring out, either incidentally or prominently, some noticeable emphasis, and this can be done best by giving the exact order of tlie words of the original. The observance of such order in translation may sometimes violate the usage and idiom of the best English, but, in many cases, it yields the best possible translation. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 23 CHAPTER II. THE BIBLE AND OTHER SACRED BOOKS. It is no inconsiderable preparation for the hermeneutical study of the Bible to be able to appreciate its rank and value as compared with other sacred books. During the last half century ^^^^^ religious the learned research and diligent labour of scholars have literatures aval- made accessible to us whole literatures of nations that tlon for^heTme- were comparatively unknown before. It is discovered ^euticai study. that the ancient Egyptians, the Persians, the Hindus, the Chinese, and other nations, have had their sacred writings, some of which claim an antiquity greater than the books of Moses. There are not wanting, in Christian lands, men disposed to argue that these sacred books of the nations possess a value as great as the scriptures of the Christian faith, and are entitled to the same veneration. Such claims are not to be ignored or treated with contempt. There have been, doubtless, savage islanders who imagined that the sun rose and set for their sole benefit, and who never dreamed that the sound- ing waters about their island home were at the same time washing beautiful corals and precious pearls on other shores. Among civil- ized peoples, also, there are those who have no appreciation of lands, nations, literatures, and religions which differ from their own. This, however, is a narrowness unworthy of the Christian scholar. The truly catholic Christian will not refuse to acknowledge the manifest excellences of races or religions that differ from his own. lie will be governed in his judgments by the precept of the apostle (Phil, iv, 8) : " Whatever things are true, whatever things are worthy of honour (oeixva), whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think upon (Xoyl^eods, exercise reason upon) these things." The study and comparison of other scriptures will serve, among other things, to show how i^re- eminently the Christian's Bible is adapted to the spiritual nature and religious culture of all mankind.* ' " This volume," says Professor Phelps, " has never yet numbered among its re- ligious believers a fourth part of the human race, yet it has swayed a greater amount of miud than any other volume the world has known. It has the singular faculty of attracting to itself the thinkers of the world, either as friends or as foes, always and everywhere." Men and Books, p. 239. New York, 1882. 24 INTRODUCTION TO LiTERATUKE OF THE CHRISTIAN" CaNON. The scri^otures of the Old and New Testaments are the gradual accretion of a literature that covers about sixteen centuries. The Outline of Bib- <^ifferent parts were contributed at different times, and licai Literature \,j many different hands. According to the order of the"°christiaD books in the Christian Canon, we have, first, the five Canon. Books of Moses, Avhich embody the Ten Commandments, with their various accessory statutes, moral, civil, and ceremonial, all set in a historical background of singular simplicity and gran- deur. Then follow twelve Historical Books, recording the history of the Israelitish nation from the death of Moses to the restoration from Babylonian exile, and covering a period of a thousand years. Next follow five Poetical Books — a drama, a psalter, two books of proverbial philosophy, and a song of love ; and after these are sev- enteen Prophetical Books, among which are some of the most mag- nificent monuments of all literature. In the New Testament we have, first, the four Gospels, which record the life and words of Jesus Christ ; then the Acts of the Apostles, a history of the origin of the Christian Church; then the thirteen Epistles of Paul, fol- lowed by the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the seven General Epis- tles; and, finally, the Apocalypse of John. Hei-e, at a rapid glance, we see an ancient library of history, law, theology, philosophy, poetry, prophecy, epistles, and biography. Most of these books still bear their author's names, some of whom we find to have been kings, some propliets, some shepherds, some fishermen. One was a taxgatherer, another a tentmaker, another a physician, but all were deeply versed in sacred things. There could have been no collusion among them, for they lived and wrote in different ages, centuries apart, and their places of residence were far separate, as Arabia, Palestine, Babylon, Persia, Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome," The antiquities and varying civilizations of these different nations and countries are imaged in these sacred books, and, where the name of an author is not known, it is not difficult to ascertain approximately, from his statements or allusions, the time and circumstances of his writing. The nation with whom these books originated, and the lands that nation occupied first and last, are so well known, and so accurately identified, as to give a living freshness and reality to ' Gelke sn vs : " Scripture proves throughout to he only so miiny notes in a divine har- mony wliicli culminates in the anfrel gonp; over Bethlehem. What less than Divine in- spiration could have evolved such unity of purpose and spirit in the long series of sacred writers, no one of whom could possil)ly ho conscious of the part he was being made to take in the development of God's ways to our race V" Hours with the IJible, vol. i, p. 5. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 35 these records; and the rich and varied contents of the several books are such as to make them of priceless value to all men and all ao-es. "I am of opinion," wrote Sir William Jones — a most competent judge on such a subject — "that this volume, independently of its divine origin, contains more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence, than can be collected from all other books, in whatever age or language they may have been written.'" Let us now compare and contrast these scriptures with the sacred books of other nations. The Avesta. No body of sacred literature except the Christian Canon can be of much greater interest to the student of history than the scrip- tures of the Parsees, which are commonly called the , ,. ., ' . . . *' Antiquity and Zend-Avesta, They contain the traditions and cere- general char- monies of the old Iranian faith, the religion of Zoro- ^^ ^^' aster, or (more propei'ly) Zarathustra. They have sadly suffered by time and the revolutions of empire, and come to us greatly mutilated and corrupted, but since they were first brought to the knowledge of the western world by the enthusiastic Frenchman, Anquetil-Duperron,^ whose adventures in the East read like a ro- mance from the Arabian Nights, the studies of European scholars have \n\t us in possession of their general scope and subject matter.' They consist of four distinct sections, the Yasna, the Vispered, the Vendidad, and a sort of separate hagiographa, commonly called Khordah-Avesta. The main principles of the Avesta religion are thus summed up by Darmesteter : " The world, such as it is now, is two- p^p^^j^^.^^ fold, beinff the work of two hostile beings, Ahura- tem oi the Mazda, the good principle, and Angra-Mainyu, the evil principle ; all that is good in the world comes from the former, all ' Written on a blank leaf of his Bible. ^ In his work entitled, Zend-Avesta, ouvrage de Zoroastre, contenant les Idees Theo- logiques, Physiques et Morales de ce Legislateur, S vols.. Par., 1771. ^ Especially deserving of mention are Eugene Burnouf, Cominentaire sur le Yacna, 3 vols., Par., 1S33 ; Westergaard, Zendavesta, Copenh., 1852-54; Spiegel, who has published the original text, with a full critical apparatus, and also a German transla- tion, with a commentary on both the text and translation, Lpz., 1853-1 808; Haug, Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion of the Parsees, Bombay, 1802 ; also Die Gathas des Zarathustra, Lpz., 1858; Windischmann, Zoroastrische Studien, Berl., 1803. An English version of the Avesta from Spiegel's German version, by A. H. Bleek, was published in London, in 1804, and a better one from the original text, by J. Darmesteter, (Part I, The Vendidad, Oxf., 1880), as Vol. IV, of The Sacred Books of the East, edited by Max Miiller. 26 INTRODUCTION TO that is bad in it comes from the latter. The history of the "world is the history of their conflict, how Angra-Mainyu invaded the world of Ahura-Mazda and marred it, and how he shall be expelled from it at last. Man is active in the conflict, his duty in it being laid before him in the law revealed by Ahura-Mazda to Zarathustra. When the appointed time is come, a son of the lawgiver, still un- born, named Saoshyant, will appear, Angra-Mainyu and Hell will be destroyed, men will rise from the dead, and everlasting happiness will reign over the world." ^ The oldest portion of the Avesta is called the Yasna, which, along with the Vispered, constitutes the Parsee Lit- urgy, and consists of praises of Ahura-Mazda, and all the lords of purity, and of invocations for them to be present at the ceremonial worship. Many of these prayers contain little more than the names and attributes of the several objects or patrons of the Zoroastrian worship, and the perusal of them soon becomes tedious. The following constitutes the whole of the twelfth chapter, and is one of the finest passages, and a favourite : I praise the well-thought, well-spoken, well-performed thoughts, words, and works. I lay hold on all good thoughts, words, and works. I aban- don all evil thoughts, words, and works. I bring to you, O Amesha- Sjjentas," praise and adoration, with thoughts, words, and works, with heavenly mind, the vital strength of my own body. The following, from the beginning of the thirteenth chapter, is another favourite : I drive away the dsevas (demons), I j^rofess myself a Zarathustrian, an expeller of daevas, a follower of i\.hura, a hymn-singer of the Ameslia- Spentas, a praiser of the Amesha-Spentas. To Ahura-Mazda, the Good, endued with good wisdom, I offer all good. To the Pure, Rich, Majestic; whatever are the best goods to him, to Avhom the cow, to whom purity belongs; from whom arises the light, the brightness which is inseparable from the lights. Spenta-Armaiti, the good, choose I; may she belong to me ! By my praise will I save the cattle from theft and robbery. The latter part of the Yasna contains the religious hymns known _ as the Gathas. They are believed to be the oldest por- The G a. thus tion of the Avesta, and are written in a more ancient dialect. But a considerable part of them is scarcely intelligible, all the learning and labour of scholars having thus far failed to clear up ' Darmesteter, Translation of the Avesta, Introduction, p. Ivi. " The Amesha-Spentas, six in number, were at first mere personifications of virtues and moral or liturgical powers ; but as Ahura-Mazda, their lord and father, ruled over the whole of the world, they took by and by each a part of the world under their care. Comp, Darmesteter, p. Ixxi. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 27 the difficulties of the ancient text. The general drift of thought, however, is apparent. Praises are continually addressed to the holy powers, especially to the Holy Spirit Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd), the Creator, the Rejoicer, the Pure, the Fair, the Heavenly, the Ruler over all, the Most Profitable, the Friend for both worlds. Many a noble sentiment is uttered in these ancient hymns, but, at the same time, a much larger amount of frivolous matter. The Vispered is but a liturgical addition to the Yasna, and of sim- ilar character. It contains twenty-seven chapters, of The vispered. which the following, from the eighth chapter, is a specimen: The right-spoken words praise we. The holy Sraosha praise we. The good purity praise we. Nairo-Sanlia praise we. The victorious i^eaces praise we. The undaunted, who do not come to shame, praise we. The Fravashis (souls) of the pure praise we. The bridge Chinvat' praise we. The dwelling of Ahura-Mazda praise we. The best place of the pure praise we, Tlie shining, wholly brilliant. The best-arriving at Paradise praise we. The Vendidad, consisting of twenty-two chapters, or fargards, is of a different character. It is a minute code of Zoro- astrian laws, most of which, how^ever, refer to matters ^" ^ ' of purification. The first fargard enumerates the countries which were created by Ahura-Mazda, and afterward corrupted by the evil principle, Angra-Mainyu, who is full of death and opposition to the good. The second introduces us to Yima, the fair, who refused to be the teacher, recorder, or bearer of the law, but became the protector and overseer of the world. Chapter third enumerates things which are most acceptable and most displeasing to the world ; and chapter fourth describes breaches of contracts and other sins, and prescribes the different degrees of punishment for each, declar- ing, among other things, that a man's nearest relatives may become involved in his 2)unishment, even to a thousandfold. Chapters fifth to twelfth treat uncleanness occasioned by contact with dead bod- ies, and the means of purification. Chapters thirteenth and four- teenth praise the dog, and heavy punishments are enjoined for those who injure the animal so important and valuable to a pastoral peo- ple. Fargards fifteenth and sixteenth give laws for the treatment of ' Over which the good are supposed to pass into Paradise. 28 INTRODUCTION TO women, and condemn seduction and attempts to procure abortion. Fargard seventeenth gives directions concerning paring the nails and cutting the hair. The remaining five chapters contain numer- ous conversations between Ahura-Mazda and Zoroaster, and appear to be fragmentary additions to the original Vendidad. The rest of the Parsee scriptures are comprehended under -what The Khordah- ^s commonly called the Khordah-Avesta, that is, the Avesta. small Avesta. This part contains the Yashts and Nya- yis, prayers and praises addressed to the various deities of the Zoroastrian faith ; also the Af erin and Afrigan, praises and thanks- givings ; the Sirozah, praises to the deities of the thirty days of the month; the Gahs, prayers to the different subdivisions of the day; and the Patets, or formulai'ies of confession. These praises and prayers of the small Avesta are intended for the use of the people, as those of the Yasna and Vispered are prin- cipally for the priests. Taken altogether, these Parsee scriptures are a prayer-book, or ritual, rather than a bible. But though they are associated with the venerable name of Zoroaster, and tradition has it that he composed two million verses, yet nothing in this vol- ume can with certainty be ascribed to him, and he himself is a dim and mythical personage. In all these writings there is a vagueness and uncertainty about subject matter, date, and authorship. Dar- mesteter says: "As the Parsees are the ruins of a j^eople, so are their sacred books the ruins of a religion. There has been no other great belief in the world that ever left such poor and meagre monu- ments of its past splendor." ' Assyrian- Sacred Records. The cuneiform inscriptions on the monuments of the Assyrian, Vast range of Babylonian, and Persian empires have been found to cmSrm in^ embody a vast literature, embracing history, law, sci- scriptioas. encc, poctry, and religion. To the interpretation of these monumental records a number of eminent orientalists,' chiefly English and French, have been, within the last half century, devot- ing unwearied study, and many of the most interesting inscriptions have been deciphered and translated into the languages of modern Europe. At the date of the earliest monumental records, two dif- ferent races appear to have settled upon the plains of the Euphrates and Tigris, one using a Semitic, the other a Scythian or Turanian . * Translation of the Zond.Avc?ta ; Introduction, p. xii. " Amonj^ the most distinguished Assyriologists are Rawlinson, Ilincks, Norris, George Smith, Talbot, Saycc, Botta, Dc Saulcy, Oppert, Lenorinant, Menant, and Schrader. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 29 language. They are designated by the names Sumir and Akkad, but what particular sections of the country each inhabited, or which particular language -each spoke, does not appear.' They were, probably, much intermixed, as many of their cities bear both Sem- itic and Scythian names. " The Accadians," says Sayce, " were the inventors of the cuneiform system of writing, and the earliest pop- ulation of Babylonia of whom we know. They spoke an aggluti- native language, allied to Finnic or Tartar, and had originally come from the mountainous country to the southwest of the Caspian. The name Accada signifies ' highlander,' and the name of Accad is met with in the tenth chapter of Genesis."' The successive Assyr- ian, Babylonian, and Persian conquerors adopted the Accadian sys- tem of writing, and it became variously modified by each. The inscriptions thus far deciphered are mostly fragmentary, and the study of them has not yet been carried far enough . Inscriptions dG* to furnish a full account of all the tribes and languages ciphered most- they represent. But enough has already been placed lyfi^affmentary. within the reach of English readers to show that those ancient peo- ples had an extensive sacred literature. Their prayers and hymns and laws were graven on monumental tablets, often on the high rocks, and they are worthy to be compared "with the sacred books of other lands and nations.' The royal inscriptions on these monuments are noticeable for their religious character. Thousrh full of most pompous self ,. . ^ . ° ^ ^ Religious tone assertion they abound with devout acknowledgments, of «ie myai in- showinsT that those ancient monarchs never hesitated to ^'''"'P^'^"^- confess their dependence on the jDOwers above. Witness the fol- lowing inscription of Khammurabi, who ruled in Babylonia some centuries before the time of Moses : Khammurabi the exalted king, the king of Babylon, the king renowned throughout the world; conqueror of the enemies of Marduk; the king be- loved l)y his heart am T. ' " The Turanian people," says George Smith, " who appear to have been the origi- nal inhabitants of the country, invented the cuneiform mode of writing ; all the earli- est inscriptions are in that language, but the proper names of most of the kings and principal persons are written in Semitic, in direct contrast to the body of the inscrip- tions. The Semites appear to have conquered the Turanians, although they had not yet imposed their language on the country." Records of the Past, vol. iii, p. 3. '^ Preface to his translation of a Tablet of Ancient Accadian Laws, Records of the Past, vol. iii, p. 21. * A very convenient and valuable collection of these inscriptions, translated into English by leading oriental scholars, is published by Bagster & Sons, of Loudon, un- der the title of Records of the Past (12 volumes, 18v5-1881). Every alternate volume of the series contains translations from the Egyptian monuments. 30 INTRODUCTION TO The favour of god and Bel the people of Sumir and Accad gave unto my government. Their celestial weapons unto my hand they gave. The canal Khammurabi, the joy of men, a stream of abundant waters, for the people of Sumir and Accad, I excavated. Its banks, all of tliem, I restored to newness; new supporting walls I heaped up; perennial waters for the people of Sumir and Accad I provided. The people of Sumir and Accad, all of them, in general assemblies I as- semljled. A review and inspection of them I ordained every year. In joy and abundance I watched over them, and in peaceful dwellings I caused them to dwell. By the divine favour I am Khammurabi the exalted king, the worshipper of the Supreme deity. Witli the prosperous power which Marduk gave me I built a lofty cita- del, on a high mound of earth, whose summits rose up like mountains, on tlie banks of Khammurabi river, the joy of men. To that citadel I gave the name of the mother who bore me and the father who begat me. In the holy name of Ri, the mother who bore me, and of the father who begat me, during long ages may it last I ' Similar devout acknowledgments are found in nearly all the royal annals. Sargon's great inscription on the palace of Khorsabad declares : The gods Assur, Nebo, and Merodach have conferred on me the royalty of the nations, and they have propagated the memory of my fortunate name to the ends of the earth. . . . The great gods have made me happy by tlie constancy of their affection, they have granted me the exercise of my sovereignty over all kings. ^ Other tablets contain a great variety of compositions. There are SDecimens of ^mythological stories, fables, proverbs, laws, contracts, psalms and deeds of sale, lists of omens and charms, legends of prajers. deities and spirits, and speculations in astrology. Not the least interesting among these records are the old Accadian and Assyrian hymns. Some of these remind us of the hymns of the Rig-Yeda. Some have the tone of penitential psalms. The fol- lowing is one of the best examples : 0 my Lord I my sins are many, my trespasses are great; And the wrath of the gods has plagued me with disease, And with sickness and sorrow. 1 fainted, but no one stretched forth his hand; I groaned, but no one drew nigh ; I cried aloud, but no one heard. ' Translation by H. F. Talbot, Records of the Past, vol. i, pp. 7, 8. "^ Records of the Past, vol. ix, p. 3. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 31 O Lord ! do not abandon thy servant. In the waters of the great stoi'm seize his hand. The sins which he has committed, turn thou to righteousness.* The following prayer for a king is interesting both as an ex- ample of Assyrian sacred poetry, and as evidence of a belief in immortality : Length of days, Long- lasting years, A strong sword, A long life, Extended years of glory, Pre-eminence among kings. Grant ye to the king, my lord, "Who has given such gifts to his gods I The bounds vast and wide Of his empire and of his rule May he enlarge and may he complete. Holding over all kings supremacy. And royalty and empire, May he attain to gray hairs and old age ; And after the life of these days, In the feasts of the silver mountain,'' The heavenly courts. The abode of blessedness, And in the light of the Happy Fields, May he dwell a life eternal, holy, lu the presence of the gods Who inhabit Assyria.^ The following Chaldean account of the Creation is a translation, by H. F. Talbot, of the first and fifth Creation Tablets, chaWean ac- vfhich are preserved, though in a mutilated condition, ^0^° g,^^ ^^^^' in the British Museum : From the First Tablet. When the upper region was not yet called heaven, And the lower region was not yet called earth, And the abyss of Hades had not yet opened its arms, Then the chaos of waters gave birth to all of them. And the waters were gathered into one place. No men yet dwelt together; no animals yet wandered about; ' Records of the Past, vol. ill, p. 136. ' The Assyrian Olympus. The epithet silver was doubtless suggested by some snowy inaccessible peak, the supposed dwelling-place of the gods. ^ Translated by Talbot, Records of the Past, vol. iii, pp. 133, 134. 32 ' INTRODUCTION TO None of the gods had yet been born, Their names were not spoken ; their attributes were not known. Then tlie eldest of the gods, Lakhmu and Lakhanm were born, And o-rew up. . . . ' Assur and Kissur were born next, And lived througli long periods. Auu. . . . ^ From the Fifth Tablet. He constructed dwellings for the great gods. He fixed up constellations, whose figures were like animals. He made the year. Into four quarters he divided it. Twelve months he established, with their constellations, three by three. And for days of the year he appointed festivals. He made dwellings for the planets; for their rising and setting. And that nothing should go amiss, and tliat the course of none should Ije retarded, He placed with them the dwellings of Bel and Hea. He opened great gates on every side; He made strong the portals, on the left hand and on the right. In the centre he placed luminaries. The moon he appointed to rule the night. And to wander tlirough the night, until the dawn of day. Every month without fail lie made holy assembly days. In the beginning of the month, at the rising of the uiglit, It shot forth its liorns to illuminate the heavens. On the seventli day he appointed a holy day, And to cease from all business lie commanded. Then arose the sun in the horizon of heaven in (glory).* The mention here made of the seventh day as a holy day is iin- portant to the biblical theologian. " It has been known for some time," says Talbot, "that the Babylonians observed the Sabbath with considerable strictness. On that day the king was not allowed to take a drive in his chariot ; various meats were forbidden to be eaten, and there were a number of other minute restrictions. But it was not known that they believed the Sabbath to have been or- dained at the Creation. I have found, however, since this transla- tion of the fifth tablet was completed, that Mr. Sayce has recently published a similar ouinion." ' Lacuna;. "■ Tlic rest of this tablet is lost. 'Records of the Past, vol. ix, pp. 117, US. Compare the translation and comments of George Smith, Chalda;an Account of Genesis. New York, 1870. New Edition, revised, 1880. BIBLICAL HERMETs^EUTICS. 33 The following Accadian poem is supposed to be an ancient tradi- tion of the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. Mr. . ... Accadian le- Sayce, whose translation is here given, observes that gend of sodom "it seems merely a fragment of a legend, in which '^^'^^^o^orrah. the names of the cities were probably given, r.nd an explanation afforded of the mysterious personage, who, like Lot, appears to have escaped destruction. It must not be forgotten that the cam- paign of Chedorlaomer and his allies was directed against Sodom and the other cities of the j^lain, so that the existence of the legend among the Accadians is not so surprising as might ajDpear at first sight." An overthrow from the midst of the deep there came. The fated punishment from the midst of heaven descended. A storm like a plummet the earth (overwhelmed). To the four winds the destroying flood like fire did burn. The inhabitants of the cities it had caused to be tormented ; their bodies it consumed. In city and country it spread death, and the flames as they rose overthrew. Freeman and slave were equal, and the high places it filled. In heaven and earth like a thunder-storm it had rained; a prey it made. A place of refuge the gods hastened to, and in a throng collected. Its mighty (onset) they fled from, and like a garment it concealed (mankind). They (feared), and death (overtook them). (Their) feet and hands (it embraced). * Their body it consumed. ... ' the city, its foundation, it defiled. ... Mn breath, his mouth he filled. As for this man, a loud voice was raised; the mighty lightning flash de- scended. During the day it flashed ; grievously (it fell).' « Similar to the above in general tone and character are the cune- iform accounts of the Deluge and the Tower of Babel. They are especially valuable in showing how the traditions of most ancient events were preserved among the scattered nations, and became modified in the course of ages. Notably inferior are these poetic legends to the calm and stately narratives of the book of Genesis, but they are, nevertheless, to be greatly prized. Were Assyriolo- gists to gather up, classify, and ai'range in proper order the relig- ious records of ancient Assyria and Babylonia, it would be seen that these hoary annals and hymns of departed nations furnish a sacred literature second in interest and value to none of the bibles of the Gentiles. •Lacunae. * Records of the Past, vol. xi, pp. 115-118. 34 INTRODUCTION TO The Veda. The word Veda means knowledge, and is the Sanskrit equivalent of the Greek olda, I hnoio. It is often used to denote the entire body of Hindu sacred literature, which, according to the Brahmans, contains pre-eminently the knowledge which is important and wor- , ^ thv to be known. But the Vedas proper exist chiefly General char- •' . . . acter of the in the form ot lyrical poetrj^ and consist of four dis- Vedas. tinct Collections known as the Rig- Veda, the Sama- Veda, the Yajur-Veda, and the Atharva-Veda. These hymns are called Mantras, as distinguished from the prose annotations and disquisitions (Brahmanas), which were subsequently added to them. They are written in a dialect much older than the classical San- skrit, and are allowed on all hands to be among the most ancient and important monuments of literature extant in any nation or language. The four collections differ much, however, in age and value. The Rig- Veda is the oldest and most important, and con- sists of one thousand and twenty-eight hymns. Nearly half the hymns are addressed to either Indra, the god of light, or Agni, the god of fire. According to Professor Whitney, it " is doubtless a historical collection, prompted by a desire to treasure up comj)lete, and preserve from further corruption, those ancient and insj^ired songs which the Indian nation had brought with them, as their most precious possession, from the earlier seats of the race." ' The Sama-Veda is a liturgical collection, consisting largely of hj'nins from the Ilig-Veda, but arranged for ritual purposes. The Yajur- Veda is of a similar character, and consists of various formulas in prose and verse arranged for use at sacrificial services. The Atharva-Veda is the work o-f a later period, and never attained in India a rank equal to that of the other Vedas. In fact, says JMax -,..,, , Milller, "for tracing the earliest growth of religious Max Muller s . . . * . '^ ^ views of the ideas ill India, the only important, the only real Veda, Rig-Veda. .g ^i^g Rig- Veda. The other so-called Vedas, which deserve the name of Veda no more than the Talmud deserves the name of Bible, contain chiefly extracts from the Rig-Veda, together with sacrificial formulas, charms, and incantations, many of them, no doubt, extremely curious, but never likely to interest any one except the Sanskrit scholar by profession," * The same distinguished scholar elsewhere obser\'es: "The Veda has a twofold interest ; it belongs to the history of the world and ' Oriental ami Linguistic Studios, p. 13. New York, 1873. ' Chips from a German Workshop, vol. i, p. 8. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 36 to the history of India, In the history of the world the Veda fills a gap which no literary work in any other language could fill. It carries us back to times of which we have no records anywhere, and gives us the very words of a generation of men of whom other- wise we could form but the vaguest estimate by means of conjec- tures and inferences. As long as man continues to take an interest in the history of his race, and as long as we collect in libraries and museums the relics of former ages, the first place in that long row of books which contains the records of the Aryan branch of man- kind will belong forever to the Rig- Veda." ' Confining our observations, therefore, to the Rig- Veda, we note that it is in substance a vast book of psalms. Its one ^1 3 J ^ ^ • 1 1 . / ; ^ . . The RlR-Veda thousand and twenty-eight lyrics {suktas), of various a vast book of length, are divided into ten books {mandalas, circles), p^^^I'^^- and together constitute a work about eight times larger than the one hundred and fifty Psalms of the Old Testament. The first book is composed of one hundred and ninety-one hymns, ^vliich are ascribed to some fifteen different authors {rlshis). The second book contains forty-three hymns, all of which are attributed to Gritsamada and his family. The next five books are also ascribed each to a single author or his family, and vary in the number of their hymns from sixty-two to one hundred and four. The eighth book has ninety-two hymns, attributed to a great nura- variety of vm- ber of different authors, a majority of whom are of the *^^^^- race of Kanva. The ninth book is also ascribed to various authors, and has one hundred and fourteen hymns, all of which are addressed to Soma as a god. "The name Soma," says Grassmann, "is derived from a root, su, which originally meant 'to beget,' 'to produce,' but in the Rig- Veda is a2:)plied altogether to the extracting and pressing of the plant used for the preparation of soma, and the soma itself therefore meant originally the juice obtained by this procedure,'"' The tenth book, like the first, contains one hundred and ninety-one hymns ; but they wear a different style, breathe a different spirit, and appear to belong to a much later period. " We find," says Grassmann, " in this, as in the first book, songs belong- ing to the springtime of vedic poesy, but also songs belonging to a time not very remote, as the time of the most recent period of vedic lyrics, such as presents itself to us in the Atharva-Veda." ^ 1 History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. Second Edition, p. 63. Lond., 18C0. "^ Grassmann's Rig-Veda. Metrical Version in German, with Critical and Explan- atory Annotations (2 vols. Lpz., 1876, 1877). Preface to Ninth Book, vol. iif p. 183. 3 Rig- Veda. Preface to Tenth Book, vol. ii, p. 288. 36 INTRODUCTION TO Our limits will allow its to present only a few specimens, but Specimens of these will suffice to show the general character and vedic Hymns, g^-yje of the best Rig-Veda hymns. The following is Max Miiller's translation of the fifty-third hymn of the first book, and is addressed to Indra : 1. Keep silence well! we oflfer praises to the great Indra in the house of the saciificer. Does he find treasure for those who are like sleepers? Mean praise is not valued among the munificent. 2. Thou art the giver of horses, Indra, thou art the giver of cows, the giver of corn, the strong lord of wealth; the old guide of man, disappoint- ing no desires, a friend to friends: — to him we address this song. 3. O powerful Indra, achiever of many works, most brilliant god — all this wealth around here is known to be thine alone : take from it, conqueror, bring it hither 1 do not stint the desire of the worshipper who longs for thee ! 4. On these days thou art gracious, and on these nights, keeping off the enemy from our cows and from our stud. Tearing the fiend night after night with the help of Indra, let us rejoice in food, freed from haters. 5. Let us rejoice, Indra, in treasure and food, in wealth of manifold de- light and splendor. Let us rejoice in the blessing of the gods, wliich gives us the strength of offspring, gives us cows first and horses. 6. These draughts inspired thee, O lord of the brave ! these were vigour, these libations, in battles, when for the sake of the poet, the sacrificer, thou struckest down irresistibly ten thousands of enemies. 7. From battle to battle thou advancest bravely, from town to town thou destroyest all this with might, when thou, Indra, with Nami as thy friend, struckest down from afar the deceiver Namuki. 8. Thou hast slain Karnaga and Parnaya with the brightest spear of Atithigva. Without a helper thou didst demolish the hundred cities of Vangrida, which were besieged by Rigisvan. 9. Thou hast felled down with the chariot- wheel these twenty kings of men, who had attacked the friendless Susravas, and gloriously the sixty thousand and ninety-nine forts. 10. Thou, Indra, hast succoured Susravas with thy succours, Turvayana with thy protections. Thou hast made Kutsa, Atithigva, and Ayu subject to tliis mighty youthful king. 11. "We who in future, protected by the gods, wish to be thy most blessed friends, we shall praise thee, blessed by thee with offspring, and enjoying henceforth a longer life.' The following is a translation, by W. D. Whitney, of the eight- eenth hymn of the tenth book. It furnishes a vivid portraiture of the proceedings of an ancient Hindu burial, and holds even at the present day an important place among the funeral ceremonies of the Hindus. The officiating priest thus speaks : ' Chips from a German Workshop, vol. i, pp. 30-33. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 37 1. Go forth, O Death, upon a distant pathway, one that's thine own, not that the jifods do travel; I speak to thee who eyes and ears possessest ; harm not our children, harm thou not our heroes. 2. Ye who death's foot have clogged' ere ye came hither, your life and vigour longer yet retaining, Sating yourselves with progeny and riches, clean be ye now, and purified, ye oflFerers ! 3. These have come here, not of the dead, but living; our worship of the gods hath been propitious; We've onward gone to dancing and to laughter, our life and vigour longer yet retaining.* 4. This fix I as protection for the living; ^ may none of them depart on that same errand ; Long may they live, a hundred numerous autumns, 'twixt death and them a mountain interposing. 5. As day succeeds to day in endless series, as seasons happily move on with seasons, As each that passes lacks not its successor, so do thou make their lives move on, Creator I 6. Ascend to life, old age your portion making, each after each, advancing in due order;* May Twashter, skilful fashioner, propitious, cause that you here enjoy a long existence. 7. These women here, not widows, blessed with husbands, may deck themselves with ointment and with perfume; Unstained by tears, adorned, untouched with sorrow, the wives may first ascend unto the altar. 8. Go up unto the world of life, O woman ! thou liest by one whose soul is fled ; come hither 1 To him who grasps thy hand,^ a second husband, thou art as wife to spouse become related. ' Allusion to the custom of attaching a clog to the foot of the corpse, as if thereby to secure the attendants at the burial from harm. 2 The friends of the deceased seem to have no idea of soon sharing his fate ; they desire to banish the thought of death. 2 The officiating priest drew a circle and set a stone between it and the grave, to symbolize the barrier which he would fain establish between the living and the dead. * Addressed to the attendants, who hereupon left their places about the bier, and went up into the circle marked off for the living. First the men went up, then the wives, and finally the widow. ' The person who led the widow away was usually a brother-in-law, or a foster child. 38 INTRODUCTION TO 9. The bow from out the dead man's hand now taking/ that ours may be the glory, honour, prowess — Mayest thou there, we liere, rich in retainers, vanquish our foes and them that plot against us. 10. Approach thou now the lap of earth, tliy mother, the wide-extending earth, the ever-kindly ; A maiden soft as wool to him who comes with gifts, she shall protect thee from destruction's bosom. 11. Open thyself, O earth, and press not heavily; 1^ easy of access and of approach to him ; As mother with her robe her child, so do thou cover him, O earth ! 13. May earth maintain herself thus opened v/ide for him; a thousand props shall give support about him; And may those mansions ever drip with fatness; may they be there for evermore his refuge. 13. Fortl) from about thee thus I build away the ground; as I lay down this clod may I receive no harm; This pillar may the Fathers here maintain for thee ; may Yama there provide for thee a dwelling. We add a single specimen more, a metrical version of the one handred and twenty-ninth hymn of the tenth book, which is espe- cially interesting as being full of profound speculation. "In judg- ing it," says Max Miiller, " we should bear in mind that it was not written by a gnostic or by a pantheistic philosopher, but by a poet who felt all these doubts and problems as his own, without any wish to convince or to startle, only uttering what had been weigh- ing on his mind, just as later poets would sing the doubts and sor- rows of their heart." Nor Aught nor Naught existed; yon bright sky Was not. nor heaven's broad woof outstretched above. What covered all? what sheltered? what concealed? Was it the water's fathomless abyss? Tiiere was not death — yet was there naught immortal, There was no confine betwixt day and night; * TJp to the moment of interment a bow was carried in the hand of the deceased. This was at last taken away to signify that his life-work was now done, and to others remained the plory of conquests. Tlie body was then tenderly committed to the earth. Compare Whitney's annotation.s on this hymn, and hi.s essay on the Vedic Doctrine of a Future Life in the Bibliotheca Sacra for April, 1859, and also in his Oriental and Linguistic Studies, pp. 46-63. New York, 1873. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 39 The only One breathed breathless by itself, Other than It there nothing since has been. Darkness there was, and all at first was veiled In gloom profound — an ocean without light — The germ that still lay covered in the husk Burst forth, one nature, from the fervent heat. Then first came love upon it, the new spring Of mind — yea, poets in their hearts discerned, Pondering, this bond between created things And uncreated. Comes this spark from earth Piercing and all-pervading, or from heaven? Then seeds were sown, and mighty powers arose — Nature below, and power and will above — Who knows the secret? who proclaimed it here, Wlience, whence this manifold creation sprang? The gods themselves came later into being — Who knows from whence this great cre;ition sprang? He from whom all this great creation came, Whether his will created or was mute, The Most High Seer that is in highest heaven. He knows it — or perchance even He knows not.' Every discerning reader must note the polytheistic teachings of the Veda. Mr. Hardwick calls attention to this in the following remarks: "If we lay aside expressions in the vedic hymns which have occasionally transferred the attributes of power ^^ ^^^^^ and omnipresence to some one elemental deity, as In- mainly poiy- dra, for example, and by so doing intimated that, even ^^^i^tic. in the depths of nature- worship, intuitions pointing to one great and all-embracing Spirit could not be extinguished, there are scarcely a dozen 'mantras' in the whole collection where the unity of God is stated with an adequate amount of firmness and consistency. The great mass of those productions either invoke the aid, or deprecate the wrath of multitudinous deities, who elsewhere are regarded as no more than finite emanations from the 'lord of the creatures;' and therefore in the sacred books themselves polytheism was the feature ever prominent, and, what is more remarkable, was never openly repudiated." * ' Chips from a German Workshop, vol. i, pp. '76, 77. * Christ and other Masters, p. 184. Compare Introduction to the several volumes of Wilson's Translation of the Rig- Veda, and Colebrook's Essay on the Vedas, first published in the Asiatic Researches, and later in his collected works. Lond., 1873. On the translation and interpretation of the Veda, see Muir, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Lond., 1866), and Whitney, in the North American Review (1868); also in his Oriental and Linguistic Studies, pp. 100-132. 40 INTRODUCTION TO The Buddhist CANOif. Buddhism in India was a revolt from Brahmanism. Its founder Life and influ- Avas Sakya-muni, sometimes called Gautama, being of ence of sakya- ^j^g family of the Sakyas, and the clan of the Gautamas, auni, or Bud- •' , . "^ . dha. and belonging by birth to the warrior class (Kshatriya). Stripping the story of his life of the numerous fables and supersti- tious legends of later times, it would appear that this distinguished child of the Sakyas grew up a beautiful and accomplished youth, but took no interest in the common amusements of the young, and gave himself much to solitude and meditation. The problems of life and death and human suffering absorbed his inmost being. He at length forsook parents and wife and home, and, after years of study, penances, and austere self-denial, attained the conviction that he must go forth among men as an Enlightener and Reformer. Max Miiller says : " After long meditations and ecstatic visions, he at last imagined that he had arrived at that true knowledge which discloses the cause and thereby destroys the fear of all the changes inherent in life. It was from the moment when he arrived at this knowledge that he claimed the name of Buddha, the Enlightened. At that moment we may truly say that the fate of millions of mill- ions of human beings trembled in the balance. Buddha hesitated for a time whether he should keep his knowledge to himself, or communicate it to the world. Compassion for the sufferings of man prevailed, and the young prince became the founder of a religion which, after more than 2000 years, is still professed by 455,000,000 of human beings." ' Sakya-muni's life, according to the best authorities, extended Buddha a Re- over the latter part of the sixth and the first half of the former. fifth century before Christ. He broke with Brahman- ism from the first, and pronounced himself against the Vedas, the system of caste, and sacrifices. How far Kapila's system of the Sankhya philosophy may have been a preparation for Buddhism is a question,'' but that Buddha became a mighty reformer, and that his system almost succeeded for a time in overthro\Wng Brahmanism in India, are matters of history. " The human mind in Asia," observes J. F. Clarke, "went through the same course of experience after- ward repeated in Europe. It protested, in the interest of humanity, against the oppression of a priestly caste. Brahmanism, like the Church of Rome, established a system of sacramental salvation in ' Essay on Buddhism, in Chips from a German Workshop, vol. i, p. 211. ^ Comp. Hard wick, Christ and other Masters, pp. 147-169 ; and Miillcr's Chips from a German Workshop, vol. i, pp. 222-226, BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 41 the hands of a sacred order. Buddhism, like Protestantism, re- volted, and established a doctrine of individual salvation based on personal character. Brahmanism, like the Church of Rome teaches an exclusive spiritualism, glorifying penances and martyrdom and considers the body the enemy of the soul. But Buddhism and Protestantism accept nature and its laws, and make a relioion of humanity as well as of devotion. To such broad statements numer- ous exceptions may doubtless be always found, but these are the large lines of distinction." ' The sacred . scriptures of Buddhism are commonly called the Tripitaka, which means the " three baskets," or three compilation of collections of religious documents. Buddha, like Jesus, t^e Tripitaka. left no written statement of his teachings ; but very soon after his death, accordmg to tradition, a great council was called (about B. C. 477), at whioh the sayings of the great master were written down with care, A hundi-ed years later another council assembled, to consider and correct certain deviations from the original faith. But it was probably not until a third council, convened by King Asoka about B. C. 242, that the Buddhist canon in its present form was completed.'' At that great council King Asoka, "the Indian Constantino," admonished the members of the assembly "that what had been said by Buddha, that alone was well said;" and at the same time he provided for the projDagation of Buddhism by mis- sionary enterprise. And it is worthy of note that, as Christianity originated among the Jews, but has had its chief triumphs among the Gentiles, so Buddhism ox'iginated among the Hindus, but has won most of its adherents among other tribes and nations. The Tripitaka, as we now possess it, consists of the Vinaya- Pitaka, devoted to ethics and discipline; the Sutra- ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ Pitaka, containing the Sutras, or discourses of Buddha; magnitude of and the Abhidharma-Pitaka, which treats of dogmatical "'*^ Tripitaka. philosophy and metaphysics.' The entire collection constitutes an immense body of literature, rivaling in magnitude all that was ever included under the title of Yeda. It is said to contain 29,368,000 letters, or more than seven times the number contained in our Eng- lish Bible. The Tibetan edition of the Tripitaka fills about three hundred and twenty-five folio volumes. The mere titles of the divisions, sub-divisions, and chapters of this Buddhist canon would cover several pages. The greater portion of this immense litera- J Ten Great Religions, pp. 142, 143. Boston, 1871. * See Oldenberg's Introduction to the Vinaya-Pitaka, and Miiller's Introduction to the Dhammapada, in vol. x, of Sacred Books of the East. ^ Comp. Chapter xviir of Spence Hardy, Eastern Monachism. Lond., 1850. 43 INTRODUCTION TO ture, in its most ancient texts, exists as yet only in manuscript. But as Buddhism spread and triumphed mightily in southern and eastern Asia, its sacred books have been translated into Pali, Bur- mese, Siamese, Tibetan, Chinese, and other Asiatic tongues. In fact, every important nation or tribe, which has adopted Buddhism, appears to have a more or less complete Buddhist literature of its own, and the names of the different books and treatises vary accord- in ^t to the lanwuaffes in which they are extant.' Amid the multi- plicity of texts and versions it is impossible now to point with con- fidence to any authoritative original ; but the form of the canon as it exists among the Southern Buddhists, and especially in the Pali texts, is esteemed most highly by scholars. The fundamental doctrines of Buddhism are few and simple, and, ^. . , ^ in substance, may be briefly stated as consisting of the Principal doe- ' j J ■ /-^ trines of Bud- Four Verities, the Eightfold Path, and the Five Com- dhism. mandments. The Four sublime Verities are, (1) All ex- istence, being subject to change and decay, is evil. (2) The source of all this evil and consequent sorrow is desire. (3) Desire and the evil which follows it may be made to cease, (i) There is a fixed and certain way by which to attain exemption from all evil. The Eightfold Path consists of (1) Right Belief, (2) Right Judgment, (3) Right Utterance, (4) Right Motives, (5) Right Occupation, (6) Right Obedience, (7) Right Memory, and (8) Right Meditation. The Five Commandments are, (1) Do not kill; (2) Do not steal; (3) Do not lie; (4) Do not become intoxicated; (5) Do not commit adultery. There are also five other well-known precepts, which have not, however, the grade of the commandments, namely, (1) Do not take solid food after noon; (2) Do not visit scenes of amuse- ment; (3) Do not use ornaments or perfumery in dress; (4) Do not use luxurious beds; (5) Do not accept gold or silver.'* Specimens of Bud- T'^© following passage from the first chapter of the dha-s discourses. Maha-Parinibbana-Sutta, one of the subdivisions of the Sutra-Pitaka, is a specimen of the discourses of Buddha : And tlie Blessed One arose, and went to the Service Hall ; and when he was seated, he addressed the bretliren, and said : "I will teach you, O mendicants, seven conditions of the welfare of a community. Listen well and attend, and I will speak." 1 Thus the Sanskrit name Tripitaka becomes Tipltaka and Pitakattaya in Pali, and Tun- pitaka in Singhalese. Buddhism itself becomes Foism in China, and Lamaism in Thibet. - For an extensive presentation of tlie doctrines and usages of Ruddliism, see Spence Uardy, Eastern Monachisni ; also liis Manual of Buddhism, New Edition, Lond., 1880. Edwin Arnold has beautifully expressed in poetical form the leading doctrines of Buddha, in the eiglith book of his Light of Asia. , BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 43 "Even so, Lord," said the Brethren, in assent, to the Blessed One; and he spake as follows : " So long, O mendicants, as the brethren meet together in full and fre- quent assemblies — so long as they meet together in concord, and rise in concord, and carry out in concord the duties of the order — so long as the brethren shall establish nothing that has not been already prescribed, and abrogate nothing that has been already established, and act in accordance with the rules of the order us now laid down — so long as the brethren hon- our and esteem and revere and support the elders of experience and long standing, the fathers and leaders of the order, and hold it a point of duty to hearken to their words — so long as the brethren fall not under the influ- ence of that craving which, springing up within them, would give lise to renewed existence— so long as the brethren delight in a life of solitude— so long as the brethren so train their minds that good and holy men shall come to them, and those who have come shall dw^ell at ease — so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper. "So long as these seven conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are -well instructed in these conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper." " Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I will speak." And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows: '' So long as the brethren shall not engage in, or be fond of, or be con- nected with business — so long as the brethren shall not be in the habit of, or be fond of, or be partakers in idle talk — so long as the brethren shall not be addicted to, or be fond of, or indulge in slothf ulness — so long as the brethren shall not frequent, or be fond of, or indulge in society— so long as the brethren shall neither have, nor fall under the influence of, sinful desires — so long as the brethren shall not become the friends, companions, or intimates of sinners — so long as the brethren shall not come to a stop on their way [to Nirvana] because they have attained to any lesser thing— so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper. '•So long as these conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are instructed in these conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper." " Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach you, 0 brethren. Listen w-ell, and attend, and I will speak." And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows: " So long as the brethren shall be full of faith, modest in heart, afraid of sin, full of learning, strong in energy, active in mind, and full of wis- dom, so long may the bretliren be expected not to decline, but to prosper, " So long as these conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are instructed in these conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper." " Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I will speak." And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows: " So long as the brethren shall exercise themselves in the sevenfold higher 44 INTRODUCTION TO ■wisdom, that is to say, in mental activity, search after truth, energy, joy, peace, earnest contemplation, and equanimity of mind, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper. " So long as these conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are instructed in these conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper." " Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I will speak." And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows : *'So lono- as the brethren shall exercise themselves in the sevenfold per- ception due to earnest thought, that is to say, the perception of iraperma- nency, of non-individuality, of corruption, of the danger of sin, of sanctifica- tion, of purity of heart, of Nirvana, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper. " So long as these conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are instructed in these conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper." " Six conditions of welfare will I teach you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I will speak." And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows: *' So long as the brethren shall persevere in kindness of action, speech, and thought among the saints, both in public and in private — so long as they shall divide without partiality, and share in common with the up- right and the holy, all such things as they receive in accordance with the just provisions of the order, down even to the mere contents of a begging bowl — so long as the brethren shall live among the saints in the practice, both in public and in private, of those virtues which (unbroken, intact, un- spotted, unblemished) are productive of freedom, and praised by the wise; which are untarnished by the desire of future life, or by the belief in the efficacy of outward acts; and which are conducive to high and holy thoughts — so long as the brethren shall live among the saints, cherishing, botli in public and in private, that noble and saving faith wliich leads to the complete destruction of the sorrow of him who acts according to it — so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper. "So long as these six conditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so long as they are instructed in these six conditions, so long may the brethren be expected not to decline, but to jirosper." And while the Blessed One stayed there at Ragagaha on the Vulture's Peak he held that comprehensive religious talk with tlie brethren on the nature of upright conduct, and of earnest contemplation, and of intelli- gence. "Great is the fruit, great the advantage of earnest contemplation when set round with upright conduct. Great is the fruit, great the advan- tage of intellect wlien set round with earnest contemplation. Tlie mind set round with intelligence is freed from the great evils, that is to say, from sensuality, from individuality, from delusion, and from ignorance."* ' Biuklhist Suttas, translated from Pali, by T. W. Rhys Davids, pp. 6-11, vol. xi, of Sacred Books of the Eiist. Oxford, 1881. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 45 The following is the twentieth chapter of the Dhammapada, an- other subdivision of the Sutra-Pitaka : The best of ways is the eightfold ; the best of truths the four words ; tho best of virtues passionlessness ; the best of men he who has eyes to see. This is the way. there is no other that leads to the purifying of intelli- gence. Go on this way I Everything else is the deceit of Mara (the tempter). If you go on this way, you will make an end of pain! The way was preached by me, when I had understood the removal of the thorns (in the flesh). You yourself must make an effort. The Tathagatas (Buddhas) are only preachers. The thoughtful who enter the way are freed from the bondage of Mara. "All created things perish," he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain ; this is the way to purity. "All created things are grief and pain," he who knows and sees this be- comes passive in pain ; this is the way that leads to purity. "All forms are unreal," he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way that leads to purity. He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise, who, though young and strong, is full of sloth, whose will and thought are weak, that lazy and idle man will never find the way to knowledge. Watching his speech, well restrained in mind, let a man never commit any wrong with his body! Let a man keep these three roads of action clear, and he will achieve the way which is taught by the wise. Through zeal knowledge is gotten, through lack of zeal knowledge is lost; let a man who knows this double path of gain and loss thus place himself that knowledge may grow. Cut down the whole forest (of lust), not a tree only! Danger comes out of the forest (of lust). When you have cut down both the forest (of lust) and its undergrowth, then, Bhikshus, you will be rid of the forest and free! So long as the love of man toward women, even the smallest, is not de- stroyed, so long is his mind in bondage, as the calf that drinks milk is to its mother. Cut out the love of self, like an autumn lotus, with thy hand ! Cherish the road of peace. Nirvana has been shown by Sugata (Buddha). "Here I shall dwell in the rain, here in winter and summer," thus the fool meditates, and does not think of his death. Death comes and carries off that man, praised for his children and flocks, his mind distracted, as a flood carries off' a sleeping village. Sons are no help, nor a father, nor relations; there is no help from kins- folk for one whom death has seized. A wise and good man who knows the meaning of this, should quickly clear the way that leads to Nirvana.* ' The Dhammapada, translated by F. Max Miiller, pp. 67-69, vol. x, of Sacred Books of the East. Oxford, 1881. Published also along with Rogers' translation of Buddha- ghosha's Parables (Lond., 1870), and Miiller'a Lectures on the Science of Religion. New York, 1872. 46 INTRODUCTION TO Chinese Sacred Books. Three diverse religious systems prevail in China — Buddhism, Three reii^ons Taoism, and Confucianism, each of which has a vast of cbina. multitude of adherents. The sacred books of the first named consist of translations of the Buddhist canon from various languages of India, principally, however, from the Sanskrit, and need no separate notice here.' The great book of Taoism is the Tao-teh-King, a production of the celebrated philosopher Laotsze, who was born about six hundred years before the Christian era. The sacred books of Confucianism are commonly known as the five King and the four Shu. The Tao-teh-King is scarcely entitled to the name of a sacred The Tao-teh- book. It is rather a philosophical treatise, by an acute King. speculative mind, and resembles some of the subtle por- tions of Plato's dialogues. It is about the length of the book of Ecclesiastes, to which it also bears some resemblance. But it is de- nied, on high authority, that there is any real connexion between Taoism as a religion now prevalent in China and this book of Laotsze.'' The Tao-teh-King has been divided into eighty-one short chapters, and is devoted to the inculcation and praise of Avhat the author calls his Tao. What all this word is designed to rep- resent is very difficult, if not impossible, to determine. In the In- troduction to his translation of the work, Chalmers says : " I have thought it better to leave the word Tao untranslated, both because The meaning it lias given the name to the sect (the Taoists), and be- of Tao. cause no English word is its exact equivalent. Three terms suggest themselves — the Waj^, Reason, and the Word ; but they are all liable to objection. Were we guided by etymology, 'the Way,' would come nearest to the original, and in one or two passages the idea of a loay seems to be in the term; but this is too materialistic to serve the purpose of a translation. ' Reason,' again, seems to be more like a quality or attribute of some conscious being than Tao is. I would translate it by 'the Word,' in the sense of the Logos, but this would be like settling the question which I wish to leave open, viz., what amount of resemblance there is between the Logos of the New Testament and this Tao, Avhich is its nearest representative in Chinese. In our version of the New Testament ' Tlie extent of this literatiire may be seen*in Beal's Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese. Lond., 1871. ' See Legge, Lectures on the Religions of China. Lecture 3d, on Taoism as a Re- ligion and a Philosophy. New York, 1881. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 47 in Chinese vre have in the first chapter of John, ' In the beginning was Tao,^ etc." * Others have sought by other terms to express the idea of Tao. It has been called the Supreme Reason, the Universal Soul, tlie Eternal Idea, the Nameless Void, Mother of being, and Laotsze's ac- Essence of things. The following is from Laotsze him- count of xao. self, and one of the best specimens of his book, being the whole of chapter twenty-fifth, as translated by Chalmers : There was something chaotic in nature which existed before heaven and eartli. It was still. It was void. It stood alone and was not changed. It pervaded everywhere and was not endangered. It may be regarded as the mother of the universe. I know not its name, but give it the title of Tao. If I am forced to make a name for it, I say it is Great; being great, I say that it passes away; passing away, I say that it is far ofi; being far off, I say that it returns. Now Tao is great; heaven is great; earth is great; a king is great. In the universe there are four greatnesses, and a king is one of them. Man talces his law from the earth; the earth takes its law from heaven ; heaven takes its law from Tao ; and Tao takes its law from what it is in itself. The moral teachings of the book may be seen in chapters sixty- third and sixty-seventh, which are thus translated by Legge : (It is the way of Tao) not to act from any personal motive; to conduct affairs witliout feeling the trouble of them; to taste wdthout being aware of tlie flavour: to account the great as small and the small as great; to recompense injury with kindness. (The follower of Tao) anticipates things that would 1)ecome difficult while they are easy, and does things that would become great while they are little. The difficult things in the world arise from what are easy, and the great things from what are small. Thus it is that the sage never does what is great, and therefore can accomplish the greatest thingSL He who assents lightly will be found to keej) but little faith. He who takes many things easily is sure to meet with many difficulties. Hence the sage sees difficulty in (what seem) easy things, and therefore never has any difficulties. All in the world say that my Tao is great, but that I seem to be inferior to others. Now it is just this greatness which makes me seem inferior to others. Those who are deemed equal to others have long been — small men. But there are three precious things which I prize and hold fast. The first is gentle compassion; the second is economy; the third is (humility), not presuming to take precedence in the world. With gentle compassion I can be brave. With economy I can be liberal. Not presuming to claim ' The Speculations on Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality, of " the Old Philosopher," Laotsze ; translated from the Chinese, with an Introduction by John Chalmers, A.M., pp. xi, xii. Lond., 1868. 43 INTRODUCTION TO precedence in the workl, I can make myself a vessel fit for the most distin- guished services. Now-a-days they give up gentle compassion, and culti- vate (mere physical) courage ; they give up economy, and (try to be) lavish (without it); they give up being last, and seek to be first: — of all wliich tlie end is deatli. Gentle compassion is sure to overcome in fight, and to be firm in maintaining its own. Heaven will save its possessor, protecting bim by his gentleness.* It has been disputed whether the Tao-teh-King acknowledges Leaves the per- the existence of a personal God. Professor Douglas of^GoTdoubt! tleclares that Laotsze knew nothing of such a being, fui. and that the whole tenor of his philosophy antagonizes such a belief. Legge, on the other hand, affirms that the Tao-teh- King does recognize the existence of God, but contains no direct religious teaching. Laotsze's Taoism, he observes, is the exhibition of a way or method of living which men should cultivate as the highest and purest development of their nature. It has served as a discipline of mind and life for multitudes, leading some to with- draw entirely from the busy world, and others to struggle earnestly to keep themselves from the follies and passions of reckless and ambitio;is men. The highest moral teaching of Laotsze is found in the chapter sixty-third, quoted above, in which he says that Tao prompts " to recompense injury with kindness." In this particular he surpassed Confucius, whose great glory it was to enunciate, in negative form, the golden rule, " What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others." Confucius confessed that he did not always keep his own rule, much less could he adopt the loftier precept of Laotsze, but said rather, "Recompense injury with jus- tice, and return good for good." * Far more extensive and important, however, taken as a whole, Confucius and are the sacred books of Confucianism, which is par ex- cifineseTcrip"- ^^^^^^^^ ^^^ religion of the Chinese Empire. But Con- ures. fucius was not the founder of the religion which has become attached to his name. He claimed merely to have studied deeply into antiquity, and to be a transmitter and teacher of the records and worship of the past. " It is an error," says Legge, " to suppose that he compiled the historical documents, poems, and other ancient books from various works existing in his time. Por- tions of the oldest works had already perished. His study of those that remained, and his exhortations to his disciples also to study them, contributed to their preservation. What he wrote or said about their meaning should be received by us with reverence ; but ' Lectures on the Relig-lons of China, ]ip. 222-224. ' Comp. Legge, Ibid., pp. 143 and passim. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 49 if all the works which he handled had come down to us entire, we should have been, so far as it is possible for foreigners to be, in the same position as he was for learning the ancient religion of his country. Our text-books would be the same as his. Unfortunate- ly most of the ancient books suffered loss and injury after Confu- cius had passed from the stage of life. We have reason, however to be thankful that we possess so many and so much of them. No other literature, comparable to them for antiquity, has come down to us in such a state of preservation." ' The five King are known respectively as the Shu, the Shih, the Yi, the Li Ki, and the Khun Khiu.^ The name King, Names of the which means a web of cloth, or the warp which keeps ^^'^ King. the threads in place, came into use in the time of the Han dynasty, about B. C. 200, and was applied by the scholars of this period to the most valuable ancient books, which were regarded as having a sort of canonical authority. The Shu King is a book of historical documents, somewhat re- sembling the various historical portions of the Old Testament, and is believed to be the oldest of all the '^^^ ^^" ^'''^^ Chinese books. Its contents relate to a period extending over sev- enteen centuries, from about B. C. 2357 to B. C. G27. It commences with an account of Yao, the most venerable of the ancient kings, of whom it is written : " He was reverential, intelligent, accomplished, and thoughtful, — naturally and without effort. He was sincerely coxarteous, and capable of all complaisance. The bright influence of these qualities was felt through the four quarters of the land, and reached to heaven above and earth beneath. He made the able and virtuous distinguished, and thence proceeded to the love of all in the nine classes of his kindred, who thus became harmoni- ous. He also regulated and polished the people of his domain, who all became brightly intelligent. Finally, he united and harmonized the myriad states; and so the black-haired people were transformed. Tl*e result was universal concord." The Shu King is about equal in extent to the two books of Chronicles, and is divided into five parts, which are designated re- spectively, the books of Thang, Yu. Hsia, Shang, and Kau. These are the names of so many different ancient dynasties which ruled in China, and the several books consist of the annals, speeches, counsels, and proclamations of the great kings and ministers of the ancients. ' Preface to his translation of the Shu King in vol. iii of the Sacred Books of the East, as edited by Max Miiller. "^ We here adopt the orthography followed by Legge in his translations for the Sa- cred Books of the East. 4 50 INTRODUCTION TO The following passage is one of the most favourable specimens, and illustrates the tone and character of Chinese morality, and their most popular conceptions of virtue. It is from the third book of Part II, which is entitled " The Counsels of Kao-yao." Kao- yao was the minister of crime iinder the reign of the great Emperor Shun (about 2300 B. C), and is celebrated as a model administrator of justice • Kao-yao said, "O! there are in all nine virtues to be discovered in con- duct, and when we say that a man possesses (any) virtue, that is as much as to say he does such and such things." Yu asked, "What (are the nine virtues)?" Kao-yao replied, "Affability combined with dignity ; mildness combined with firmness; bluntness combined with respectfulness; aptness for government combined with reverent caution ; docility combined with boldness; straightforwardness combined with gentleness; an easy negli- gence combined with discrimination; boldness combined with sincerity; and valour comlMned with righteousness. (Wlien these qualities are) dis- played, and that continuously, have we not the good (officer)? When there is a daily display of three (of these) virtues, their possessor could early and late regulate and brighten the clan (of which he was made chief). When there is a daily severe and reverent cultivation of six of them, their pos- sessor could brilliantly conduct the affairs of the state (with which he was invested). Wlien (such men) are all received and advanced, the possessors of those nine virtues will be employed in (the public) service. The men of a thousand and men of a hundred will be in their offices ; the various ministers will emulate one another; all the officers will accomplish their duties at the proper times, observant of the five seasons (as the several elements predominate in them), — and thus their various duties will be fully accomplished. Let not (the Son of Heaven) set to the holders of states the example of indolence or dissoluteness. Let him be wnry and fearful (re- membering that) in one day or two days there may occur ten thousand springs of things. Let him not have his various officers cumberers of their places. The work is Heaven's ; men must act for it ! " A passage in Part V, Book 4, thus enumerates the five sources of haj)piness, and the six extreme evils : • The first is long life; the second, riches; the third, soundness of body and serenity of mind ; the fourth, the love of virtue; and the fifth, fulfilling to the end the will of Heaven. Of the six extreme evils, the first is mis- fortune sliortening life; tlie second, sickness; tlie third, distress of mind; the fourth, poverty; the fifth, wickedness; the sixth, weakness. The Shih King is a book of poetry, and contains three hundred and five pieces, commonly called odes. It is the ]>salter TheShlhKlng. „. ^l. , ., , , • . r i n i w' +^ of the Chmese bible, and consists ot ballads relating to customs and events of Chinese antiquity, and songs and hymns to BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 51 be sung on great state occasions and in connexion with sacrificial services.' The following is a fair examj^le of the odes used in con- nexion with the worship of ancestors. A young king, feeling his responsibilities, would fain follow the example of his father, and prays to him for help : I take counsel, at tlie beginning of my rule, How I can follow the example of my shrined father. All ! far-reaching were his plans, And I am not yet able to carry them out. However, I endeavour to reach to them, My continuation of them will still be all-deflected. I am a little cliild. Unequal to the many difficulties of the state. Having taken bis place, I will look for him to go up and come down in the court. To ascend and descend in the house. Admirable ait thou, O great Father; Condescend to preserve and enlighten me." The Yi King is commonly called "the Book of Changes," from its supposed illustrations of the onward course of nature TIT • n ^ iTTT • The Yi King. and the changing customs of the world. It contams eight trigrams, ascribed to Fuhsi, the mythical founder of the Chinese nation, and hence some have believed it to be the oldest of all the Chinese scriptures. But according to Legge, " not a single character in the Yi is older than the twelfth century B. C. The text of it, not taking in the appendices of Confucius, consists of two portions — from king Wan, and from his son, the duke of Chan. The composition of Wan's portion is referred to the year B. C. 1143. As an authority for the ancient religion of China, therefore, the Yi is by no means equal to the Shu and the Shih. It is based on diagrams, or lineal figures, ascribed to Fuhsi, and made up of whole and divided lines ( and ). What their framer intended by these figures we do not know. No doubt there was a tradition about it, and I am willing to believe that it found a home in the existing Yi. . . . The character called Yi is the Bvmbol for the idea of chansje. The fashion of the world is con- tinually being altered. We have action and re-action, flux and reflux — now one condition, and immediately its opposite. The ' See The Shih King ; or the Book of Ancient Poetry, translated into English Verse, with Essays and Notes, by James Legge. Lend., IS'TG. 2 Decade III, Ode 2, p. 829, Sacred Books of the East, vol. iii. Oxford, 1879. ^ The Yi King is translated and annotated by Legge in vol. xvi of the Sacred Books of the East. Oxford, 1882. 53 INTRODUCTION TO vicissitudes in the worlds of sense and society have their correspon- .dencies in the changes that take place in the lines of the diagrams. Again, certain relations and conditions of men and things lead to good, are fortunate; and certain others lead to evil, are unfortunate; and these results are indicated by the relative position of the lines* Those lines were systematically changed by manipulating with a fixed number of the stalks of a certain plant. In this way the Yi served the purpose of divination; and since such is the nature of the book, a reader must be prepared for much in it that is tantaliz- ing, fantastic, and perplexing.'" The two remaining classics are of less interest and imjiortance. The Li Ki and The Li Ki King is a record of rites, consisting of three theKhunKWu. collections, called "the Three Rituals," and is the most bulky of the Five King. It contains regulations for the administra- tion of the government, describes the various officers and their duties, and the rules of etiquette by which scholars and officers should order their conduct on social and state occasions. The Khun Khiu King is of the nature of a supplement to the historical annals of the Shu King. It was compiled by Confucius from the annals of his native state of Lu, and extends from the year B. C. 722 to B. C. 481. The Chinese classics known as "the Four Shu" have not the rank and autliority of the Five King. They are the works of dis- ciples of Confucius, and consist (1) of the Lun Yu, or Discourses of Confucius and conversations between him and his followers ; (2) the works of Mencius, next to Confucius the greatest sage and teacher of Confucianism; (3) the Ta Ilsio, or Great Learning, ascribed to Tszang-tsze, a disciple of Confucius ; and (4) the Kung Yung, or Doctrine of the Mean, a production of Tszesze, the grand- son of Confucius.'^ There is also the Hsiao King, or Classic of Filial Piety, ^vhich holds a high place in Chinese literature.' In the preface to his translation of the Sacred Books of China, Legge observes, "that the ancient books of China do not profess to have been inspired, or to contain what we should call a Revelation. Historians, poets, and others wrote them as they were moved in their own minds. An old poem may occasionally contain what it says was spoken by God, but we can only understand that language as calling attention emphatically to the statement to which it is 1 The Religions of China, pp. 37, 38. ' See The Chinese Classics, with a Translation, Critical and Exegetical Notes, Pro- legomena, and copious Indexes. Hong Kong, 1861-1865. ' The Hsiao King is translated and annotated by Legge in vol. iii of Sacred Books of the East. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 53 prefixed. "We also read of Heaven's raising up the great ancient sovereigns and teachers, and variously assisting them to accomplish their undertakings; but all this need not be more than what a relig- ious man of any country might affirm at the present day of direc- tion, help, and guidance given to himself and others from above." Whatever the true solution of the questions may be, the facts that distinguished Chinese scholars dispute as to whether the Con- fucian Sacred Books recognize the existence of a personal God, and that missionaries, in translating the Christian Scriptures into Chi- nese, scruple over a word that will properly represent the Christian idea of God, show the comparative vagueness and obscurity of the religion of the Chinese scriptures. The Egyptian Book of the Dead. A most mysterious and interesting work is the Sacred Book of the ancient Egyptians, commonly known as the Book of the Dead. Some Egyptologists prefer the title "Funeral Ritual," inasmuch as it contains many prescriptions and prayers to be used j^s different in funeral services, and the vignettes which appear on names. many copies represent funeral processions, and priests reading the formularies out of a book. But as the prayers are, for the most part, the language to be used by the departed in their progress through the under world, the title " Book of the Dead " has been generally adopted. The Egyptian title of the work is, Book of the Peri em km, three simple words, but by no means easy of explanation when taken to- gether without a context.^ Peri signifies " coming forth," hrii is " day," and em is the preposition signifying " from," susceptible, like the same preposition in other languages, of a variety of uses. The probable meaning of Peri em hru is " coming forth by day," and is to be understood mainly of the immortality and resurrection of the dead. The book exists in a great number of manuscripts recovered from Egy^^tian tombs, and the text is very corrupt; for as the writing was not intended for mortal eyes, but to be buried with the dead, copyists Avould not be likely to be very scrupulous in their work. But the book exists not only on papyrus rolls that were deposited in the tombs, but many of the chaj^ters are inscribed upon coftins, mummies, sepulchral wrappings, statues, and the walls of tombs. Some tombs may be said to contain entire recensions of ' The Religion of Ancient Egypt, by P. Le Page Renouf. Hibbert Lectures for 1879, p. 181. New York, 1880. Our account of the Book of the Dead is condensed mainly from Renouf's fifth Lecture. 54 INTRODUCTION TO the book. But no two copies contain exactly the same chapters, or Corrupt and follow the same arrangement. The pa2:)yrus of Turin, diUrm '^of *^the P^l^lished by Lepsius, contains one hundred and sixty- text, five chapters, and is the longest known. But a consider- able number of chapters found in other manuscripts are not included in it. None of the copies contain the entire collection of chapters, but the more ancient manuscripts have fewer chapters than the more recent. There is a great uniformity of style and of grammat- ical forms, as compared with other productions of Egyptian litera- ture, and nothing can exceed the simplicity and brevity of the sentences. A critical collation of a sufficient number of copies of each chapter will, in time, restore the text to as accurate a standard as could be attained in the most flourishing days of the old Egyp- tian monarchy. The book is mythological throughout/ and assumes the reader's Its obscurity fs-^^ilia-i'lty with its myths and legends. The difficulty In the subject of its exposition is not in literally translating the text, but in understanding the meaning concealed beneath familiar words. The English translation by Samuel Birch, pub- lished in the fifth volume of Bunsen's Egypt's Place in Universal History, is an exact rendering of the text of the Turin manuscript, and to an Englishman gives nearly as correct an impression of the original as the text itself would do to an Egyptian who had not been carefully taught the mysteries of his religion. The foundation of Egyptian mythology is the legend of Osiris.' The Osiris le- Having long ruled in Egypt, he was at last slain by the oT Egyptian ®^'^^ Typhon, enclosed in a mummy case, and cast into mr^hoiogy. the river Nile. Isis, his sister and spouse, sought long for his body, and at length found it at Byblus, on the Phoenician coast, where it had been tossed by the waves. She brought it back to Egypt, and buried it; and when Horus, their son, grew up, he slew the evil Typhon, and so avenged his father. Osiris, however, was not dead. He had, in fact, descended to the under world, and established his dominion there, and at the same time revived in the person of his son Horus, and renewed his dominion over the living, '"The Ritual," says Biroh, "is, according to Egyptian notions, essentially an in- spired work ; and the term Uermetie, so often applied by profane writers to these books, in reality means inspired. It is Thoth himself who speaks and reveals the will of the gods and the mysterious nature of divine things to man. . . . Portions of them are expressly stated to liave been written by the very finger of Thoth himself, and to have been the composition of a great God." Introduction to his translation of the Funeral Ritual, in Bunsen's Egypt's Place in Universal History, vol. v, p. 133. ' On this Egyptian legend comp. Bunsen, Egypt's Place in Universal History, vol. i^ pp. 423-439, and George Rawlinson, History of Ancient Egypt, vol. i, pp. 366-371. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 55 The usual <;xplanation of this legend makes it a mythical por- traiture of the annual dying and reviving of the powers ^^ of nature under the peculiar conditions of the valley of meaning of the the Nile. Osiris represents the fertilizing river ; Isis ™^'' ' the fruit-bearing land; Typhon the evil spirit of the parched des- erts and the salt sea, the demon of drought and barrenness. Horus is the sun, appearing in the vernal equinox, and heralding the rising of the Nile. Accordingly, when the Nile sinks before the scorch- ing winds of the Libyan desert, Osiris is slain by Typhon. Isis, th3 land, then sighs and yearns for her lost brother and spouse. But when the Nile again overflows, it is a resurrection of Osiris, and the vernal sun destroys the demon of drought and renews the face of nature. Other slightly varying explanations of the legend have been given, but whatever particular view we adopt, it will be easy to see how the drapery of these legends might, in course of time, come to be used of the death and resurrection of man. Hence we find that the names of mythical personages are constantly re- curring in the Book of the Dead. The beatification of the dead is the main subject of the book. The blessed dead are represented as enjoying an exis- ^ ^ tence similar to that which they had led on earth. They the dead the have the use of all their limbs, eat and drink, and satisfy ^^^^ eu^jec . all their physical wants as in their earthly life. But they are not confined to any one locality, or to any one form or mode of exis- tence. They have the range of the entire universe, in every shape and form which they desire. Twelve chapters of the Book of the Dead consist of formulas to be used in effecting certain transforma- tions. The forms assumed, according to these chapters, are the tui-tledove, the serpent Sata, the bird Bennu, the crocodile Sebek, the god Ptah, a golden hawk, the chief of the principal gods, a soul, a lotusflower, and a heron. The transformations to which these chapters refer, however, are far from exhausting the list of possible ones. No limit is imposed on the will of the departed, and in this respect the Egyptian doctrine of transmigration differs wide- ly from the Pythagorean. Throughout the Book of the Dead, the identification of the de- ceased with Osiris, or assimilation to him, is taken for identification granted, and all the deities of the family of Osiris are "^^^^ Osiris, supposed to perform for the deceased whatever the legend records as having been done for Osiris himself. Thus, in the eighteenth chapter, the deceased is brought before a series of divinities in succession, the gods of Heliopolis, Abydos, and other localities, and at each station the litany begins : 56 INTRODUCTION TO O Tehuti [or Thoth], who causest Osiris to triumph against his oppo- nents, cause tlie Osiris (such a one) to triumph against his opponents, even as thou hast made Osiris to triumph against his opj)onents. In the next chapter, which is another recension of the eighteenth, and is entitled the "Crown of Triumph," the deceased is declared triumphant forever, and all the gods in heaven and earth repeat this, and the chapter ends with the following : Horus lias repeated this dechiration four times, and all his enemies fall prostrate before him annihilated. Horus, the son of Isis, repeats it millions of times, and all his enemies fall annihilated. They are carried off to the place of execution in the East; their heads are cut off, their necks are brok- en; their thighs are severed, and delivered up to the great destroyer who dwells in Aati; they shall not come forth from the custody of Seb forever. But not to Osiris only is the deceased assimilated. In the forty- other assimi- second chapter every limb is assimilated to a different latious. deity; the hair to Nu, the face to Ra, the eyes to Hathor, the ears to Apuat, the nose to the god of Sechem, the lips to Anubis, the teeth to Selket, and so on, the catalogue ending with the words : " There is not a limb in him without a god, and Tehuti is a safeguard to all his members." Further on it is said : Not men, nor gods, nor the ghosts of tlie departed, nor the damned, past, present, or future, whoever they be, can do him hurt. He it is who Cometh forth in safety. "Whom men know not" is his name. The "Yes- terday which sees endless years" is his name, passing in triumph by the roads of heaven. The deceased is the Lord of eternity ; he is reckoned even as Chepera; he is the master of the kingly crown. The one hundred and forty-ninth chapter gives an account of the Dangers of the terrible nature of certain divinities and localities which deceased. the deceased must encounter — gigantic and venomous serpents, gods with names significant of death and destruction, waters and atmospheres of flames. But none of these prevail over the Osiris ; he passes through all things without hai'm, and lives in peace with the fearful gods who preside over these abodes. Some of these gods remind one of the demons in Dante's Infei-no. But though ministers of divine justice, their nature is not evil. The following are invocations, from the seventeenth chapter, to be used of one passing through these dangers : O Ra, in thine egg, radiant in thy disk shining forth from the horizon, swimming over the steel firmament, sailing over the pillars of Shu; thou who hast no second among the gods, who producest tlie winds by the flames of thy mouth, and who enlightenest the worlds with thy splendours, BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 57 save the departed from that god whose nature is a mystery, and whose eyebrows are as the arms of the l)alance on the night when Aauit was weighed, . . . O Scarabaeiis god in thy bark, whose substance is self-orig- inated, save the Osiris from those watchers to whom the Lord of spirits has entrusted the observation of his enemies, and from whose observations none can escape. Let me not fall under their swords, nor go to tiieir blocks of execution ; let me not remain in their abodes ; let me not rest upon their beds [of torment] ; let me not fall into their nets. Let naught befall me which the gods abhor. We have not space for further illustrations of this most interest- ing w^ork. It will be seen how this Funeral Ritual, or Book of the Dead, embodies the Egyptian doctrines of a future state, and the rewards and punishments of that after life.^ But it will also be observed how thoroughly its theology is blended with all that is superstitious and degrading in a polytbeistic mythology. The Koran. The Mohammedan Bible is a comparatively modern book, and easily accessible to English readers.'' It is about half the size of the Old Testament, and contains one hundred and four- General char- teen chapters, called Suras. It is doubtful whether ^.cter. Mohammed ever learned to read or wadte. He dictated his revela- tions to his disciples, and they wrote them on date leaves, bits of parchment, tablets of white stone, and shoulder-blades of sheep. These were written during the last twenty years of the prophet's life, and a year after his death the different fragments were col- lected by his followers, and arranged according to the length of the chapters, beginning with the longest and ending with the shortest. So the book, as regards its contents, presents a strange medley, having no real beginning, middle, or end. And yet it is probably a faithful transcript of Mohammed's mind and heart as exhibited during the latter portion of his life. In some passages he seems to have been inspired with a holy zeal, and eloquently proclaims the glory of Almighty God, the merciful and compassionate. Other ' See J. P. Thompson's Article on the Egyptian Doctrine of a Future State, in the Bibliotheca Sacra, January, 1868, in which a fair analysis of the teachings of the Book of the Dead is given. ' Sale's English version of the Koran has been published in many forms, and his Preliminary Discourse is invaluable for the study of Islam. The translation of Rev. I. M. Piodwell (Lend., 18G1) has the Suras arranged in chronological order. But the recent translation by E. H. Palmer (vols, vi and ix of Miiller's Sacred Books of the East) is undoubtedly the best English version. 58 INTRODUCTION TO passages have the form and spirit of a bulletin of -war.' In another he seems to make an apology for taking to himself an additional wife.* Another suggests a political manoeuvre. But, on the whole, the Koran is a most tedious book to read. It is full of repetitions, and seems incapable of happy translation into any other language. Its crowning glory is its glowing Arabic diction. "Regarding it," says Palmer, "from a perfectly impartial and unbiassed standpoint, we iind that it expresses the thoughts and ideas of a Bedawi Arab in Bedawi language and metaphor. The language is noble and forcible, but it is not elegant in the sense of literary refinement. To Mohammed's hearers it must have been startling from the manner in which it brought great truths home to them in the lan- guage of their everyday life.'" Mohammed was wont to urge that the marvellous excellence of his book was a standing proof of its divine and superhuman origin. " If men and genii," says he, "united themselves together to bring the like of this Koran, they could not bring the like, though they should back each other up ! " " The founder of Islam appears to have been from early life a Life and claims Contemplative soul. In the course of his travels as a of Mohammed, merchant he probably often met and talked with Jews and Christians. The Koran contains on almost every page some allusion to Jewish history or Christian doctrine; but Mohammed's acquaintance with both Judaism and Christianity appears to have been formed from oral sources, and was confused with many vague and silly traditions. It should be observed, too, that at that period an earnest seeker after truth, under circumstances like those which tended chiefly to fashion Mohammed's mind and character, might very easily have become bewildered by the various traditions of the Jews and the foolish controversies of the Christians. The Church was then distracted with controversy over the Trinity and the use of images in worship. To Mohammed, a religion which filled its churches with images of saints was no better than a gross idolatry. His knowledge of Jesus Avas gathered largely from the apocryphal gospels and through Jewish channels. Hence we may understand the reason of the perverted form in which so many Christian ideas are treated in the Koran. Mohammed claimed to be the last of six great apostles who had been sent upon divine missions into the world. Those six are * Sura iii, 135-145 ; viii, xl. Coinp. Muir, Life of Mahomet, vol. iii, p. 224. 'Sura xxxiii, 35^0; Ixvi. ' The Qur'an. Translated by E. H. Palmer. Introduction, p. Ixxvii. * Koran, Sura xvii, 90. BIBLICAL HERMEXEUTICS. 59 Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. Nothing specially new or original is to be found in the Moslem bible. It has been maintained that "Islam was little else than a republica- tion of Judaism, with such modifications as suited it to Arabian soil, plus the important addition of the prophetic mission of Moham- med." ^ The following passage from the fifth Sura well illustrates the- general style of the Koran: [20] God's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is between the two; he created what he will, for God is mighty over all! But the Jews and the Christians say, " We are the sons of God and his beloved." Say, "Why then does he punish you for your sins?" nay, ye are mortals of those whom he has created! He pardons whom he pleases, and punishes whom he pleases; for God's is the kingdom of tlie heavens and the earth, and what is between the two, and unto him the journey is. O people of the book ! our apostle has come to you, explaining to you the interval of apostles ; lest ye say, " There came not to us a herald of glad tidings nor a waruer." But there has come to you now a herald of glad tidings and a warner, and God is mighty over all! When Moses said to his people, "O my people! remember the favour of God toward you when he made among you prophets, and made for you kings, and brought you what never was brought to any body in the worlds. O my people! enter the holy laud which God has prescribed for you; and be ye not thrust back upon your hinder parts and retreat losers." [25] They said, "O Moses! verily, therein is a people, giants; and we will surely not enter therein until they go out from thence; but if they go out then we will enter in." Then said two men of those who fear, — God had been gracious to them both, — "Enter ye upon them by the door, and when ye have entered it, verily, ye shall be victorious; and upon God do ye rely if ye be believers." They said, "O Moses! we shall never enter it so long as they are therein; so, go thou and thy Lord and fight ye twain; verily, we will sit down here." Said he, "My Lord, verily, I can control only myself and my brother ; therefore part us from these sinful people." He said, "Then, verily, it is forbidden them; for forty years sluiU they wander about in the earth; so vex not thyself for the sinful people." [30] Recite to them the story of the two sons of Adam; truly wlien they oft'ered an offering and it was accepted from one of tliem, and was not accepted from the other, that one said, "I will surely kill thee;" he said, "God only accepts from those who fear. If thou dost stretch forth to me thine hand to kill me, I will not stretcli forth mine hand to kill thee; verily, I fear God the Lord of the worlds; verily, I wish that thou mayest draw upon thee my sin and thy sin, and be of the fellows of the fire, for tliiit is the reward of the unjust." But his soul allowed him to slay his brother, and he slew him, and in the morning he was of those who lose. And God sent a crow to scratch in the earth and show him how he might ' Mohammed and Mohammedanism. Lectures by E. Bosworth Smith, p. 143. New York, 1875. 60 INTRODUCTION TO hide his brother's shame, he said, "Alas, for me! Am I too helpless to become like this crow and hide my brother's shame?" and in the morning he was of those who did repent. [35] For this cause have we prescribed to the children of Israel that whoso kills a soul, unless it be for another soul or for violence in the land, it is as though he had killed men altogether; but whoso saves one, it is as though he saved men altogether.' The one hundred and twelfth Sura is held in special veneration among the Mohammedans, and is popularly accounted equal in value to a third part of the entire Koran. It is said to have been revealed in answer to one who wished to know the distinguishing attributes of Mohammed's God, The following is Palmer's version: In the name of the merciful and compassionate God Say, He is God alone! God the Eternal ! He begets not, and is not begotten ! Nor is there like unto him any one! The following passage, from the beginnmg of the second Sura, is to be understood as the words of the Angel Gabriel to Moham- med, and showing him the character and importance of the Koran: That is the book! there is no d()ul)t therein; a guide to the pious, who believe in the unseen, and are steadfast in prayer, and of what we have given tliem expend in alms; wlio believe in what is revealed to thee, and what was revealed before thee, and of the hereafter they are sure. These are in guidance from their Lord, and these are the prosperous. Verily, those who misljclieve, it is the same to them if ye warn them or if ye warn them not, tliey will not believe. God has set a seal upon their hearts and on their hearing; and on tlieir eyes is dimness, and for them is grievous woe. And there are those among men who say, "We believe in God and in the last day;" but they do not believe. They would deceive God and tliose who do believe ; but they deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. In their hearts is a sickness, and God has made them still more sick, and for them is grievous woe because they lied. And when it is said to them, "Do not evil in the earth," they say, "We do but what is right." Are not they the evil doers ? and yet they do not perceive. And when it is said to them, ''Believe as other men believe," tliey say, "Shall we believe as fools believe ? " Are not they themselves the fools? and yet they do not know. And when they meet those who believe, they say, ''AVe do believe;" but when tliey go aside with their devils, they say, "We are with you; we were but mocking! " God shall mock at them and let them go on in their rebellion, blindly wandering on.« -Palmer's translation, Part I., pp. 100-102. "Ibid., pp. 2, 3. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 61 The following, from the same Sura, is a specimen of the manner in which Mohammed garbles and presents incidents of Israelitish history : Dost thou not look at the crowd of the children of Israel after Moses' time, when they said to a prophet of theirs, " Raise up for us a king, and we will fight iu God's way? " He said, '' Will ye perhaps, if it be written down for you to fight, refuse to fight ? " They said, " And why should we not fight in God's way, now that we are dispossessed of our homes and sons?" But when it was written down for them to fight they turned back, save a few of them, and God knows who are evil doers. Then their prophet said to them, "Verily, God has raised up for you Taiut as a king;" they said, "How can the kingdom be his over us; we have more right to the kingdom than he, for he has not an amplitude of wealth?" He said, "Verily, God has chosen him over you, and has provided him ■with an extent of knowledge and of form. God gives the kingdom unto whom he will; God comprehends and knows." Then said to them their prophet, " The sign of his kingdom is that tliere shall come to you the ark with the shechinah iu it from your Lord, and the relics of what the family of Moses and the family of Aaron left ; the angels shall bear it." In that is surely a sign to you if ye believe. Whatever opinion we may form of the Koran, or of Islam, it must be conceded that the man, who, like Mohammed, in one generation organized a race of savage tribes into a united people, founded an empire which for more than a thousand years has covered a territory as extensive as that of Rome in her proudest days, and established a religion which to-day numbers over a hundred million adherents, must have been an extraordinary char- acter, and his life and works must be worthy of careful philosophic study. But it will also be conceded, by all competent to judge, that, as a volume of sacred literature, the Koran is very deficient in those elements of independence and originality which are notice- able in the sacred books of the other great religions of the world. The strict Mohammedans regard every syllable of the Koran as of a directly divine origin. "The divine revelation," observes Muir, " was the cornerstone of Islam. The recital of a passage formed an essential part of every celebration of public worship; and its private perusal and repetition was enforced as a duty and a privi- lege, fraught with the richest religious merit. This is the uni- versal voice of early tradition, and may be gathered from the revelation itself. The Koran was accordingly committed to memory more or less by every adherent of Islam, and the extent to which it could be recited was reckoned one of the chief dis- tinctions of nobility in the early Moslem empire. The custom of 63 INTRODUCTION TO Arabia favoured the task. Passionately fond of poetry, yet pos- sessed of but limited means and skill in committing to writing the effusions of their bards, the Arabs had long been habituated to imprint them on the living tablets of their hearts. The recol- lective faculty was thus cultivated to the highest pitch; and it was applied with all the ardour of an awakened Arab spirit to the Koran. Several of Mohammed's followers, according to early tra- dition, could, during his lifetime, repeat with scrupulous accuracy the entire revelation." ' TuE Eddas. Two ancient collections of Scandinavian poems and legends, known as the Elder and the Younger Edda, embody the acter of the mythology of the Teutonic tribes which settled in early ^' times in the sea-girt lands of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. From these tribes migrated also the ancient colonists of Iceland. To these old Norsemen the Eddas hold a position corre- sponding to that of the Vedas among the ancient Hindus, and the Avesta among the Persians. In the old Norse language the word Edda means ancestress, or great-grandmother. Probably the poems and traditions so named were long perpetuated orally by the venerable mothers, Avho repeated them to their children and children's children at the blazing fire- sides of those northern homes. The Elder Edda, often called the Poetic Edda, consists of thirty-nine poems, and would nearly equal in size the books of Psalms and Proverbs combined. The Younger or Prose Edda is a collection of the myths of the Scandinavian deities, and furnishes to some extent a commentary on the older Edda, from the songs of which it quotes frequently. These inter- esting works were quite unknown to the learned world until the latter part of the seventeenth century. But it appears that the poems of the older Edda were collected about the beginning of the twelfth century by Saemund Sigfusson, an Icelandic priest, who, after pursuing classical and theological studies in the universities of France and Germany, returned to Iceland and settled in a village at the foot of Mount Ilecla. Whether he collected these poems from oral tradition, or from runic manuscripts or inscriptions, is uncertain. A copy of this Edda on vellum, believed to date from the fourteenth century, was found in Iceland by Bishop Sveinsson in 1G43, and was subsequently published under the title of The Edda of Saemund the Learned.' The prose Edda is ascribed to the celebrated Ice- ' The Life of Mahomet, vol. i. Introduction, p. 5. London, 18C1. ' Edda Sucmundar hind Froda, Copenhagen. 3 vols. 1787-1828. The third volume contains the Lexicon Mythologicum of Finn Magnusson. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 63 landic historian, Snorri Sturlason (born 1178), who probably collect- ed its several parts from oral tradition and other sources. The first copy known to Europeans was found by Jonsson in 1628, and the first complete edition was published by Rask, at Stockholm, in 1818.' The fii'st, and perhaps oldest, poem of the Elder Edda is entitled the Voluspa, that is, the Sonsr of the Prophetess. It . ... 1 • r ^ . The Voluspa. narrates m poetic form the creation ot tne universe and of man, the origin of evil, and how death entered into the world. It speaks of a future destruction and renovation of the universe, and of the abodes of bliss and woe. The prophetess thus begins her song: 1. All noble souls, yield me devout cattention, Ye high and low of Heimdall's race," I will All-Father's works make known, The oldest sayings which I call to mind. 2. Of giants eight was I first born, They reared me up from ancient times; Nine worlds I know, nine limbs I know Of that strong trunk within the earth.' 3. In that far age when Ymir* lived, There was no sand, nor sea, nor saline wave; Earth there was not, nor lofty heaven, A yawning deep, but verdure none, 4. Until Bor's sons the spheres upheaved, And they the mighty Midgard^ formed. ' An English translation of the Poetic Edda was published by Benjamin Thorpe (Two parts, London, 1866), but is now out of print. Comp. Icelandic Poetry, or the Edda of Saemund translated into English verse by A. S. Cottle (Bristol, 1797). Many fragments of the lays are given in Anderson's Norse Mythology (Chicago, 1880). An English translation of the Prose Edda is given in Blackwell's edition of Mallet's Northern Antiquities (Bohn's Antiquarian Library). A new translation by R. B. Anderson has been published at Chicago (1880). A very complete and convenient German translation of both Eddas, with explanations by Karl Simrock, has passed through many editions (seventh improved edition, Stuttgart, 1878). * Heimdall, according to the old Norse mythology, was the father and founder of the different classes of men, nobles, churls, and thralls. ^ Referring to the great mundane ash-tree where the gods assemble every day in council. This tree strikes its roots through all worlds, and is thus described in the nineteenth verse of the Voluspa : An ash I know named Yggdrasil, A lofty tree wet with white mist, Tlience comes the dew which in the valleys falls ; Ever green it stands o'er the Urdar-fount. * Ymir was the progenitor of the giants, and out of his body the world was created. ® The Prose Edda explains that the earth is round without, and encircled by the ocean, the outward shores of which were assigned to the race of "iants. But around 04 INTRODUCTION TO The southern sun shone on the cliffs And green the ground became with plants. 5. The southern sun, the moon's companion, Held with right hand the steeds of heaven. The sun knew not where she' might set, The moon knew not what power he * had, The stars knew not where they might dwell. 6. Then went the Powers to judgment seats, The gods most holy lield a council, To night and new moon gave they names, They named the morning and the midday, And evening, to arrange the times." Another very interesting poem is the Grimnis-mal, or Lay of Grimner, in which we find a description of the twelve habitations of heavenly deities, by which some scholars understand the twelve signs of the zodiac. The sixth poem is called the Hava-mal, or Sublime Lay. It is an ethical poem, embodying a considerable col- lection of ancient Norse proverbs. The following passages, from Bishop Percy's prose translation, are specimens : 1. Consider and examine Avell all your doors before you venture to stir abroad ; for he is exposed to continual danger, whose enemies lie in am- bush concealed in his court. 3. To the guest, who enters your dwelling with frozen knees, give the warmth of your fire: he who hath travelled over the mountains hath need of food, and well-dried garments. 4. Offer water to him who sits down at your table ; for he hath occasion to cleanse his hands: and entertain him honourably and kindly, if you would win from him friendly words and a grateful return. 5. He wl'.o travelleth hath need of wisdom. One may do at home what- soever one will: but he wlio is isrnorant of good manners will onlv draw contempt upon himself, when he comes to sit down with men well instructed. 7. He who goes to a feast, where he is not expected, either speaks with a lowly voice, or is silent; he listens with his ears, and is attentive with his eyes; by this he acquires knowledge and wisdom. 8. Happy he, who draws upon himself the applause and benevolence of men! for whatever depends upon the will of others, is hazardous and un- certain. a portion of the inland Odin, Vile, and Ve, the sons of Bor, raised a bulwark against turbulent giants, and to the portion of the earth wliich it encircled they gave the name of Midgard. For this structure, it is said, they used the eyebrows of Ymir, of his flesh they formed the land, of his sweat and blood the seas, of his bones the mountains, of his hair the trees, of his brains the clouds, and of his skull the vault of lieaven. See Mallet, Northern Antiquities, pp. 98, 405. Anderson, Norse Mythology, p. 176. ' In the Norse language, sun is feminine and moon is masculine. * Translated from Simrock's German version of the Voluspa. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 65 10. A man can carry with him no better provision for his journey than the strength of understanding. In a foreign country this will be of more use to him than treasures; and will introduce liim to the table of strangers. 12-13. A man cannot carry a worse custom with him to a banquet than that of drinking too much ; the more the drunkard swallows, the less is his wisdom, till he loses his reason. Tlie bird of oblivion sings before those who inebriate themselves, and steals away their souls.' We add a single extract from the Prose Edda, the account of the formation of the first human pair : One day, as the sons of Bor were walking along the sea-beach they found two stems of wood, out of which they shaped a man and a woman. The first (Odin) infused into them life and spirit; the second (Vile) endowed them with reason and the power of motion; the third (Ve) gare^ them speech and features, hearing and vision. The man they called Ask, and the woman, Embla. From these two descend the whole human race, whose assigned dwelling was within Midgard. Then the sons of Bor built in the middle of the universe the city called Asgard, where dwell th&gods and their kindred, and from that abode work out so many wondrous things, both on the earth and in tlie heavens above it. There is in that city a place called Hlidskjalf, and when Odin is seated there on his lofty throne he sees over the whole world, discerns all the actions of men, jind comprehends whatever he contemplates. His wife is FiiLrga, the daughter of Fjorgyn, and tliey and their offspring form the race that we call the jEsir, a race that dwells in Asgard the old, and the regions around it, and that we know to be entirely divine. Wherefore Odin may justly be called All-Father, for he is verily the father of all, of gods as well as of men, and to his power all things owe their existence. Earth is his daughter and his wife, and with her he had his first-born son, Asa-Thor, who is endowed with strength and valour, and therefore quelleth he everything that hath life.* In all the voluminous literature of the Greeks and the Romans we find no single work or collection of writings analogous to the above-named sacred books.^ It would not be difficult to comj^ile from Greek and Roman poets and philosophers a body of sacred literature which would compare favourably with that of any of the Gentile nations. But such a compilation woiild have, as a volume, no recognized authority or national significance. The books we have described, like our own Bible, have had a historical develop- ment, and a distinct i>lace in the religious culture of great nations. ' See the whole poem as translated by Tliorpe in Anderson's Norse Mythology, pp. 130-15.5, and the mysterious Runic section on pp. 254-259. * Blackwell's translation, in Mallet, Xorthern Antiquities, pp. 405, 406. ' Whatever may have been the nature and contents of the old Sibylline Books, which were kept in the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus at Rome, they perished long ago, and their real character and use are now purely matters of conjecture. 5 66 INTRODUCTION TO The Koran, the Avesta, the Pitakas, and the Chinese classics em- body the precepts and laws which have been a rule of faith to mill- ions. The vedic hymns and the Egyptian ritual have directed the devotions of countless generations of earnest worshippers. They are, therefore, to be accounted sacred books, and are invaluable for the study of history and of comparative theology.' In forming a proper estimate of these bibles of the nations, we ^ , must take each one as a whole. In the brief citations These books must be studied we have given above, the reader can only learn the as a whole. general tone and spirit of the best portions of the sev- eral books. The larger part of all of them is filled with either un- trustworthy legends, or grotesque fancies and vague speculations. They abound in polytheistic superstitions, incomprehensible meta- physics, and mythological tales. But, doubtless, back of all this mass of accumulated song and superstition and legend, there Avas once a foundation of comparatively pure worship and belief. Even Mohammed, whose life and works stand out in the light of reliable history, appears to have been, at the beginning of his career, an earnest seeker after truth and a zealous reformer. But afterward the pride of power and numerous victories warped his moral integ- rity, and later portions of the Koran are apologies for his crimes. It is difficult to see what logical connexion the superstitions of modern Taoism have with the teachings of Laotzse. In fact, the original documents and ideas of most of the great religions of the East appear to have become lost in the midst of the accretions of later times. Especially is this true of Brahmanism and Buddhism. Who can now certainly declare what were the very words of Bud- dha? The Tripitaka is an uncertain guide. It is much as if the apocryphal gospels, the legends of anchorites and monks and mys- tics, and the dreams of the schoolmen, were all strung together, and intermingled with the words and works of Jesus. Roman Catholicism is itself a gross corruption and caricature of the religion of Jesus Christ; and were it the sole representative of the Gospel in the world to-day it would be a striking analogue of Buddhism. Could we go back to the true historical starting point of the great religions, we would, perhaps, find them all, in one form and another, ' The Holy Scriptures of the Sikhs, a politico-religious sect of India, constitute a volume full of interest, and equal in size to the Old Testament. It is commonly known as the Granth. But it is a late work, compiled about A. D. 1500, and has no national or historical value to entitle it to a ])lace among the bibles of the uittioiis. It has been translated into English, and published at the expense of the Biitish (iovern- ment for India. See The Adi Granth, or the Holy Scriptures of the Sikhs, translated from the original Gurmukhi, with Introductory Essays, by Dr. Ernest Tiirumpp. Lond., 18Y7. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 67 connected with some great patriarchal Jethro, or Melchizedek, whose name and genealogy are now alike lost to mankind. It will not do to take up the various bibles of the world, and, having selected choice extracts from them all, compare such selec- tions alone with similar extracts from the Christian and Jewish Scriptures. These latter, we doubt not, can furnish more exquisite passages than all the others combined. But such comparison of choice excerpts is no real test. Each bible must be taken as an organic whole, and viewed in its historical and national Notable snperi- relations. Then will it be seen, as one ci'owning glory ority of the oid and New Tes- of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, that tament scrip- they are the carefully preserved productions of some *"'''^^' sixteen centuries, self-verifying in their historical relations, and completed and divinely sanctioned by the Founder of Christian- ity and his apostles in the most critical and cultivated age of the Roman Empire. All attempts to resolve these sacred books into myths and legends have proved signal failures. The Hebrew people were notably a peculiar people, and their national history stands out in the clear light of trustworthy testimony. They were placed, geographically, in the very center of the great historic empires of Egypt, Asia, and Europe; and the accuracy of their sacred records is confirmed by the records of these empires. Most notable is the fact, moreover, that the languages in which the several parts of the sacred canon were written ceased to be living tongues about the time when those several parts obtained canonical authority; and thereby these sacred books were crystallized into imperishable form, and have become historical and linguistic mon- uments of their own genuineness. We are, furthermore, confident in the assertion that the Holy Scriptures are not only singularly free from the superstitions and follies that abound in the sacred books of other nations, but also that they contain in substance the inculcation of every excellence and virtue to be found in all the others. Thus in their entirety they are incomparably superior to all other sacred books.' But, taken in parts, the Bible will still maintain a marvellous superiority. Where, in all other literature, wdll be found a moral code comparable, for substance and historical presentation, with the Sinaitic decalogue? Whei-e else is there such a golden sum- ' " It cannot be too strongly stated," saj'S Max Muller, " that the chief, and in many cases the only, interest of the Sacred Books of the East is historical ; that much in them is extremely childish, tedious, if not repulsive ; and that no one but the historian •will be able to understand the important lessons which they teach." Sacred Books of the East, vol. i, p. xliii. 68 INTRODUCTION TO raary of all law and revelation as the first and second command- ments of the Saviour? The religions lessons of the Bible are set in a historical background of national life and personal experi- ence; and largely in biographical sketches true to all the phases of human character.' Let the diligent student go patiently and care- fully through all rival scriptures; let him memorize the noblest vedic hymns, and study the Tripitaka with all the enthusiasm of an Edwin Arnold; let him search the Confucian classics, and the Tau- teh-king of Laotsze, and the sacred books of Persia, Assyria, and Babylon; let him devoutly peruse Egyptian ritual, Moslem Koran, and Scandinavian Eddas; he yet will find in the Psalms of David a beauty and purity infinitely superior to any thing in the Vedas; in the gospels of Jesus a glory and splendour eclipsing the boasted "Light of Asia;" and in the laws of Moses and the Proverbs of Solomon lessons of moral and political wisdom far in advance of any thing that Laotsze and Confucius offer. By such study and comparisons it will be seen, as not before, how, as a body of laws, history, poetry, prophecy, and religious records, the Bible is most emphatically the Book of books, and, above all other books combined, "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Such study will dissipate the notion that Christianity is equivalent to general goodness, and that the Bible is an accident of human history; for it Avill bo seen that the Gospel system essentially excludes all other religions, and evinces a divine right to supersede them all. The written records of other faiths are of the earth and earthy; the Bible is a heavenly gift, in language and history wonderfully prepared, and accompanied by manifold evidences of being the revelation of God. To devotees of other religions the Christian may truly say, in the words of the Lord Jesus (John iv, 22): "Ye worship what ye know not, we wor- ship what we know, for the salvation is from the Jews." ' Tayler Lewis observes : " Every other assumed revelation has been addressed to but one pliase of humanity. They have been adapted to one age, to one people, or one peculiar style of human thought. Their books have never assumed a cosmical character, or been capable of any catholic expansion. They could never be ac- commodated to other ages, or acclimated to other parts of the world. They are indig- enous plants that can never grow out of the zone that gave them birth. Zoroaster never made a disciple beyond Persia, or its inunediate neighborhood ; Confucius is wholly Chinese, as Socrates is wholly Greek." The Divine Human in the Scripture, p. 133. New York, 1859. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 69 CHAPTER III. LANGUAGES OF THE BIBLE. A THOROUGH acquaintance with the genius and grammatical struc- ture of the original languages of the Bible is essen- Acquaintance tially the basis of all sound interpretation. A transla- J^'^j^ *^^^^ ^'"•s- tion, however faithful, is itself an interpretation, and of scripture the cannot be safely made a substitute for original and in- ggu^^ ''mter- dependent investigation. As an introduction, there- pretation. fore, to Biblical Hermeneutics, it is of the first importance that we have a knowledge of those ancient tongues in which the sacred oracles were written. It is important, also, that we make our- selves familiar with the general principles of linguistic science, the growth of families of languages, and the historical position, as well as the most marked characteristics, of the sacred tongues. Origin and Growth of Languages. The origin of human speech has been a fruitful theme of specu- lation and controversy. One's theory on the subject is origin of lan- likely to be governed by his theory of the origin of suage. man. If we adopt the theory of evolution, according to which man has been gradually developed, by some process of natural selection, from lower forms of animal life, we will very naturally conclude that language is a human invention, constructed by slow degrees to meet the necessities and conditions of life. If, on the other hand, we hold that man was first introduced on earth by a miraculous creation, and was made at the beginning a perfect specimen of his kind, we will very naturally conclude that the beginnings of human language were of supernatural origin. Several theories have been advanced to show that language may have had a human origin. According to one theory, various theo- maintained by several eminent philologists, such as ^^• K. W. L. Heyse, H. Steinthal, and Max Miiller, man was originally endowed with a creative faculty which spontaneously gave a name to each distinct conception as it first thrilled through his brain. There was originally such a sympathy between soul and body, and such a dependence of the one upon the other, that every object, • 70 INTRODUCTION TO which in any way affected the senses, produced a corresponding The Automatic echo in the soul, and found automatic expression Theory. through the vocal organs. As gold, tin, wood, and stone have each a different ring or sound when struck, so the different sensations and perceptions of man's soul rang out articu- late sounds whenever they were impressed by objects from without or intuitions from Avithiu. This may properly be called the auto- matic theory of the origin of speech. Others adopt a theory The onomato- which may be called onomatopoetic. It traces the poetic Theory, origin of words to an imitation of natural sounds. Animals, according to this theory, would receive names corre- sponding to their natural utterances. The noises caused by the winds and waters would suggest names for these objects of nature. The interjec- ^^d in this way a few simple words would come to tionai Theory, form the germs of the first language. Then, again, there is the interjectional theory, Avhich seeks for the radical ele- ments of language in the sudden ejaculations of excited passion or desire. Against all these theories strong arguments may be urged. In- Objections to terjections and onomatopoetic words are in every lan- these theories, guage comparatively few, and can in no proper sense be regarded as the radical elements of speech. " Language begins where interjections end." The two theories last named will ac- count for the origin of many words in all languages, but not for the origin of language itself. The automatic theory assumes too materialistic and mechanical a notion of lanffuatre-makinsf to com- mand general acceptance. It has been nicknamed the ding-dong theory, for it resolves the first men into bells, mechanically ringing forth vocal sounds, and, as Whitney has humorously added, like other bells they rang by the tongue. But Miiller, on the o^her hand, rejects both the other theories, and stigmatizes the onomato- poetic as the boto-ioow theory, and the interjectional as the pooh- pooh theory. Thus the most eminent philologists reject and spurn each other's theories. Whitney has argued that, since nineteen-twentieths of our speech is manifestly of human origin, it is but reasonable to suppose that the other twentieth originated in the same way.' But such an argument cannot be allowed, for it is precisely with this unknown twentieth that all the difficulty lies. Nor is it really so much the twentieth as the one thousandth part. We can readily trace the causes and methods by which languages have been multiplied and changed, but how the first man began to speak — not merely utter ' Language and the Study of Language, p. 400. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 71 articulate sounds, but frame sentences and communicate ideas — is quite another question. Necessity may have compelled him to make clothing, build houses, and fabricate implements of art ; but in all such cases he somewhere found the raw material at hand. He did not originate the clay and the trees and the stones. But the origin of human language seems, from the nature of the case, to involve the creation of the material as well as the putting it in form. If we believe that man was originally created upright, with all his natural faculties complete, a most obvious corollary origin probably is, that language was directly imparted to him by his supernatural. Creator. He learned his first mode of speech from God, or from angelic beings, whom God commissioned to instruct him. Perhaps the original creation involved with it a power in the first man to speak spontaneously. He named whatever he would name as in- tuitively as the bird builds its nest, and as naturally as the first bud put forth its inflorescence; but, unlike bird and bud, his original power for speaking was a conscious capability of the soul, and not, as the automatic theory assumes, a peculiarity of the vocal organs. Language is not an accident of human nature ; else might it utterly perish like other arts and inventions of man. It is an essential ele- ment of man's being, and one which ever distinguishes him from the brute. Nor is it ingenuous or honourable in linguists to ignore the statements of Scripture on this subject. The account of Adam naming the creatures brought to him (Gen. ii, 19) is manifestly one illustration of his first use of language. Perfect and vigorous from the start, his faculty of language, as a native law, sponta- neously gave names to the objects presented to his gaze. This exercise seems not to have taken place until after he had held in- tercourse with God (verses 16, 17), but the whole account of his creation and primitive state implies that his power of speech, and its first exercise, were among the mysterious facts of his supernat- ural origin. The confusion of tongues, narrated in the eleventh chapter of Genesis, may be an important factor in accounting for ^^^ confusion the great multitude and diversity of human languages, of tongues at The plain import of that narrative is, that, by a direct judgment-stroke of the Almighty, the consciousness of men became confused, and their speech discordant. And this confusion of speech is set forth as the occasion, not the result, of their being scattered abroad over all the earth. Whatever language had been used before that event, it probably went out of existence then or became greatly modified, and any attempt now to determine abso- 73 INTRODUCTION TO lutely the original language of mankind, would be as great a folly as the building of the tower of Babel.' But modern philological research has contributed greatly to our knowledge of the changes, growth, and classification of growth of new the languages of men. We, who read and speak the laiiKuages. English language of to-day, know that it is very differ- ent from the English language of three hundred years ago. We go back to the time of Chaucer, and find what seems almost another language. Go back to the Norman Conquest, and it requires as much study to understand the Anglo-Saxon of that period as to understand German or French. The reason of these changes is traceable to the introduction of new words, new customs, and new ideas by the Noi-man Conquest and the stern measures of William the Conqueror. A new civilization was introduced by him into England, and, since his day, constant changes have been going on by reason of commerce with other peoples and the manifold re- searches and pursuits of men. New inventions have, within one hundred years, introduced more than a thousand new words into our language. Then, also, local changes occur, and the common people of one section of a country acquire a different dialect from those of another section. In Great Britain different dialects distinguish the people of different localities, and yet they all speak English, and can read- ily understand one another. In the United States we have modes of speech peculiar to New England, others peculiar to the South, and others to the West. But think of a community or colony mi- grating to a distant region and becoming utterly shut off from their fathei'land. New scenes and pursuits in course of time obliterate much of the language of their former life. Their children know little or nothing of the old country. Each new generation adds new words and customs, until they come to use virtually a different language. Many old words will be retained, but thoy are pro- nounced differently, and are combined in new forms of expression, until we can scarcely trace their etymology. Under such circum- stances it would require but a few generations to bring into exis- tence a new language. The English language has more than eighty thousand words; but Shakspeare uses only fifteen thousand, and Milton less than ten thousand. How small a part of the language, then, would be necessary to a band of unlearned emigrants settling in a new country. The American Indians have a language for ' A prevalent opinion among Jews and Christians has been that the original lan- guage was Hebrew. This opinion is due mainly to a feeling of reverence for that sa- cred tongue. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 73 every tribe, and with no literature, or schools, or civil government, their languages are constantly changing, and in some places with marvellous rapidity. Thus we may see how the dispersion and separation of peojiles and tribes originate new languages. " If the tribes of men,"' says Whitney, " are of different parentage, their languages could not be expected to be more unlike than they are; while, on the other hand, if all mankind are of one blood, their tongues need not be more alike than we actually find them to be." * From our own nation and standpoint we take a hasty glance back over the history of some five thousand years, and Families of lan- notice some of the great families of languages as they euages. have been traced and classified by modern comparative philology. Our English is only one of a vast group of tongues which bear unmistakable marks of a common origin. We trace it back to the Anglo-Saxon of a thousand years ago. We find it akin to the German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Russian, and Polish, and each of these, like the English, has a history of changes pecul- iar to itself. All these form but one family of languages, and all their differences are to be explained by migration, diversity of in- terests, habits, customs, pursuits, natural scenery, climate, religion, and other like causes. Manifestly, all these nations were anciently one people. But this whole group, called the Germanic, is but one branch of a greater and more extended family. The Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese form another branch, and are easily traced back to the Latin, the classic language of indo-European the old Roman Empire. The Greek, again, is but an lamiiy. older sister of the Latin, and its superior literature, its wealth of forms and harmony, has placed it first among the so-called " learned tongues." Passing eastward we discover many traces of the same family likeness in the Armenian, the Persian, and the Zend, and also in the Pali, the Prakrit, and other tongues of India. All these are found closely related to the ancient Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas, an older sister, though seeming like a mother, of the rest. All these languages are traceable to a common origin, and form one great family, which is appropriately called the Indo- European. Another family, less marked in aflinity, is scattered over Northern and Central Europe and Asia, and contains the lan- guages of the Laplanders, the Finns, the Hungarians, and the Turks in Europe. Scholars differ as to the more ajipro- priate name for this family, calling it either Scythian, Turanian, or 'Language and the Study of Language, p. 394. 74 INTRODUCTION TO Altaic. Still different from these are the languages of China and Japan, and the numberless dialects of the uncivilized tribes of America, of Africa, and of the islands of the Pacific. Different from all the above, and forming a well-defined and The Semitic closely related family, is that known as the Semitic, so group. called from Noah's famous son, from whom the Chaldee, the Hebrew, and Arabian races are believed to have sprung.' Here belong the Hebrew, the Punic or Phoenician, the Syriac and Chaldee, the cuneiform of many of the Assyrian and Babylonian monuments, the Arabic and the Ethiopic. These languages, as a group, are remarkable for the comparatively large number of stem- words, or roots, common to them all. The nations which used them were confined in geographical territory mainly to Western Asia, spreading from the Euphrates and Tigris on the east to the Mediterranean and the borders of Egypt on the west. Phoenician enterprise and commerce carried the Punic language westward into some of the islands of the Mediterranean, and along the Carthaginian coast : and the Ethiopic si)i*ead into Egypt and Abyssmia. ihe Ethiopic, or (tccz, is an offshoot of the Arabic, and is closely akin to the Himyaritic and the Amharic, which latter is now the most widely spoken dialect of Abyssinia. The Arabic is still a livinfj lansruaffe Aftibic o o o spoken by millions of people in Western Asia, and contains vast libraries of poetry and philosophy, history and fable, science and religion. The Phoenician lanofuas-e has al- Punlc. . ° . . . * most entirely perished, a few inscriptions and frag- ments only remaining. The cuneiform inscriptions of the Assyrian and Babylonian monuments have, in recent years, been Assyrian. . . j ^ yielding to scholarly research, and are found to contain many important annals and proclamations of ancient kings, and also works of science and of art. The language of many of the monuments is found to be Semitic, and its further decipherment and study will doubtless shed much light upon the history and civilization of the ancient empires of Nineveh and Babylon. The Syriac and Chaldee are two dialects of what is properly called the Aramaic language. This language prevailed among the ' The name Semitic is not an exact designation, for, according to Genesis x, only two of Sliem's sons, Arpliaxad and Aram, begat nations wiiicli are known to have used this speech, while three of his sons, Elam, Asshur, and Lud, were the progenitors of na- tions whicii, peihaps, used other languages. On tlie other hand, two of the sons of Ham — Cush and Canaan — were fathers of Semitic-speaking peoples, llupfeld has proposed the name "Hither-Asiatic," and Kenan "Syro-Arabic," but these names have not commanded any general following, and the name Semitic has now become so fixed in usage that it will, probably, not be displaced by any other. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 75 peoples about Damascus, and thence eastward as far as Babylon, The Chaldee is represented in several chapters of the A.r3,rn2.ic Books of Ezra and Daniel, and also in the Jewish Tar- gums or paraphrases of the Old Testament. It prevailed in Baby- lon at the time of the Jewish exile, and was there appropriated by the Jewish people, with whom it was vernacular in Palestine in the time of our Lord. The Samaritan is an offshoot of this language, though mixed with many foreign elements. The Syriac dialect appears to have been a western outgrowth and development of the Chaldee, and it is sometimes called the western Aramaic, as dis- tinguished from the eastern Aramaic, or Chaldsean. At the begin- ning of the Christian era it prevailed through ail the region north and east of Palestine, known as Syria or Aram, and its existing literature is principally Christian. Its oldest monument of note is the Peshito version of the Scriptures, which is usually referred to the second century; but its most flourishing period extended from the fourth to the ninth century. It is still the sacred language of the scattered Christian communities of Syria, and by some of them is still spoken, though in a very corrupt form. Central and pre-eminent among all these Semitic tongues is the ancient Hebrew, which embodies the magnificent liter- H6br6W» ature of one of the oldest and most important nations of the earth. The great father of this nation was Abram, who migrated from the land of the Chaldseans, crossed the Euphrates, and entered Canaan with the assurance that the land should be given to him and his posterity. Hoav closely his dialect at that time resembled the language of the Canaanites we have no means of knowing, but that he and his family abandoned their own dia- lect, and adopted that of the Canaanites, is in the highest degree improbable. The Hebrews and the Canaanites appear to have used substantially the same dialect. During the centuries of the Hebrews' residence in Egypt, and the forty years in the peninsula of Sinai, the Hebrew language acquired a form and character which thereafter underwent no essential change until after the time of the Babylonian exile — a period of more than a thousand years.' Having thus glanced over the scattered nations and languages of men, we are enabled to mark the relative national and Geographical historical position of the Hebrew tongue. Central and historical ^ ° position of the among the great nations of the earth; placed in the Hebrew, midst of the great highway of intercourse between the world- powers of the East and the West, the Hebrew people may be 'Coinp. Gesenius, Gescbichte der heb. Spraclie und Schrift. Lpz., 1815. 76 INTRODUCTION TO shown to have had, in many ways, a providential mission to all nations. Having traced the spread and outgrowth of the principal families of languages, and noticed the principles and methods by which new languages and dialects are formed, we are prepared to investigate more intelligently the special character and genius of the so-called sacred tongues. ■ *•¥ ' CHAPTER IV. THE HEBREW LANGUAGE. The Hebrew language takes its name from the Hebrew nation, whose immortal literature it preserves. The word first appears in Genesis xiv, 13, where Abram is called "the Hebrew." In Gen. xxxix, 14, 17, Joseph, the great-grandson of Abraham, is so called, and he himself speaks (chap, xl, 15) of Canaan as "the land of the Hebrews.'" Thenceforth the name is frequently applied to the Derivation of (descendants of Jacob. Two different derivations of the the name He- name have been proposed, between which it is difficult '^^'^' to decide. One makes it an appellative noun from "I3y, beyond; applied to Abram because he came from beyond the Eu- phrates. Thus the name would follow the analogy of such words as Transylvania, Transalpine, Transatlantic. But such a designa- tion would scarcely be applied to one who came from beyond the river i-ather than to those who continued beyond, and there is no evidence that the Trans-Euphrateans were ever so designated. Nevertheless, this derivation is maintained by many distinguished scholars, and there is no insuperable objection to it. Another, and, philologically, more natural derivation, is that which makes the word a patronymic from I3y, £Jber, the great-grandson of Shera, and ancestor of Abraham. Thus in Gen. xiv, 13, where the name first occurs, Abram is called '''73^^, the Eberite, or Hebrew, in con- trast with Mamre, '"ibxH, the Amorite. This is in thorough anal- ogy with the regular form of Hebrew patronymics, and has in its ' " Tiiis name is never in Scripture applied to the Israelites except when the spealcer i? a foreigner (Gen. xxxix, 14, 17; xli, 12; Exod. i, 15; ii, 6; 1 Sam. iv, 6, 9, etc.), or when Israelites speak of themselves to one of another nation (Gen. xl, 16 ; Exod. i, 19; Jonah i, 9, etc.), or when thej' are contrasted with other peoples (Gen. xliii, 32; Exod. i, 3, 7, 15; Deut. xv, 12; 1 Sam. xiii, 3, 7)." See Kitto, Cyc. of Bib. Litera- ture, article Hebrew. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 77 favour the peculiar statement of Gen. x, 21, that Shem was the "father of all the sons of Eber." This manifestly gives to Eber a notable prominence among the descendants of Shem, and may, for divers reasons now unknown, have given to Abraham, and to his descendants through Jacob, the name of Eberites, or Hebrews. Accordingly, while either of these derivations is possible, that which makes it a patronymic from Eber seems to be least open to objection, and best supported by linguistic usage and analogy.' The Hebrew language, preserved in the books of the Old Testa- ment, may therefore be regarded as the national speech of the Eberites, of whom the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob became the most distinguished representatives. In the later times of the Hebrew monarchy it was called Judaic (D^l^n^, 2 Kings xviii, 26), because the kingdom of Judah had then become the great representative of the Hebrew race. When Abram, the Hebrew, (Gen. xiv, 13) entered the land of Canaan, he probably found his ancestral language already spoken there, for the Canaanites had migrated thither before him (Gen. xii, 6). It is notable that in all the intercourse of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob with the Canaanitish tribes, no allusion is ever made to any differences in their language, and the proper names among the Canaanites are traceable to He- brew roots. One hundred and seventy years after the migration of Abram, his grandson Jacob used a form of speech different from that of his uncle Laban the Syrian (Gen. xxxi, 47), and it is not improbable that Laban's dialect had undergone more changes than that of the sons of Abram.' 1 Is it not possible that Eber may have been the last great Semitic patriarch living at the time of the confusion of tongues (see Gen. x, 26), and that he and his family may have retained more nearly than any others the primitive language of mankind, and transmitted it through Peleg, Reu, Serug, and Nahor, to the generations of Terah (comp. Gen. xi, 17-27)? This supposition is not necessarily invalidated by the fact that Aramaeans, Cushites, and Canaanites used the same Semitic speech, for these tribes may, at an early date, have appropriated the language of the Eberites. 2 It is commonly asserted that Abram used the Chaldee language when he first en- tered Canaan, but there gradually lost its use, and adopted the speech of his heathen neighbours. This supposition, however, is without any solid foundation. The fact incidentally mentioned in Gen. xxxi, 47, is no valid evidence in the case. It merely shows that Laban and Jacob used different dialects, and leaves the question entirely open whether it were Jacob's or Laban's dialect which had most changed subsequent- ly to the migration from Ur of the Chaldees (Gen. xi, 31). Abram's separateness from other tribes favours the idea that his language and that of his children Isaac and Jacob would be less likely to undergo change than that of Laban, whose idolatrous use of Teraphim (Gen. xxxi, 19, 30) indicates in him a cleaving to heathenish prac- tices. The language of the Chaldees at the period of Terah's removal may have re- sembled the Hebrew much more closely than the later Aramaic. The question is not 78 INTRODUCTION TO When a person -with whom the English or any other Indo-Euro- pean language is vernacular, comes for the first time to investigate „ ,. .^. , Semitic modes of speech, he finds that he is entering Peculiarities of , ^ ' *=> the Hebrew into a new and strange world of thought. In some tongue. thinsfs he meets the exact reverse of all with which he has become familiar in his own language. The written page reads from right to left; the volume from the end toward the beginning; every letter is a consonant, and rej^resents some object of sense cor- responding to the meaning of its name. The Hebrew alphabet consists of twenty-two letters, and the written characters now in use, commonly called the square letters, are found in the oldest existing manu- scripts of the Bible. But these chai-acters are probably not older than the beginning of the Christian era, inasmuch as the Asmonean coins do not use them, but employ an alphabet closely resembling that of the Plur-nician coins and inscriptions.' The oldest monu- ments of Hebrew writing are some coins of the Maecabrean prince Simon (about B. C. 140), a number of gems containing names, and probably used for seals, and the famous inscription of Meslia, king of Moab (about B. C. 900), recently discovered among the ruins of the ancient Dibon on the east of the Jordan, The names of the letters are all significant, and their original form was, without doubt, designed to resemble the object denoted by the name. Thus the name of the first letter, aleph, X, means an ox, and it is believed that some resemblance of an ox's head may be discerned in the old Phoenician form of this letter ( -^). The third letter, gimel, J, means a camel, and in its ancient Phoenician \\ '\) and Ethiopic (*)) forms, somewhat resembles the head and neck of the camel. According to Gesenius, the earliest form (-^) represented the camel's hump. The name of the letter daleth, n, means a door, and the ancient form ^, or /\, (Greek A), resembles the door of a tent." whether the Canaanites adopted Abram's languaj^e after his migration, as Block as- sumes (Introii, vol. i, p. GG), but whether Abram and his father's house, the Eberites, may not have spoken, at the time of their westward migration, substantially the same language as that of the Canaanites. How long the Canaanites had boon in the land before Abram came is uncertain (comp. Gen. x, 18; xii, G), but perhaps not long enough to have undergone notable changes in their speech. ' Tlie square character is spoken of in the Talmud as the Assyrian writing, and i8 said to have been brought from the East by Ezra when he returned from the Baby- lonian exile; but this tradition, for the reasons given above, is not entitleci to credit. "^ See the whole alidiahct similarly oxhil)ited in Smith's Diet, of the Bible, under article Writing. See also the Ancient Semitic Alphabets as exhibited in Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, and the Ancient Alphabets as given at the end of Webster's Un- abridged Dictionary. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 79 These forms, moreoA^er, are probably abbreviations and modifica- tions of still more ancient ones, which, like the hieroglyphics of Egypt, were real pictures or outlines of visible things/ Among the letters, the four gutturals X, n, n, and V have a not- able prominence, being much more frequently used than other letters. Incapable of being doubled, they greatly Gutturals. affect the vowel system, and the first two (X and n) represent scarcely audible breathings in the throat, and are frequently alto- gether quiescent. The two letters wato ("i, commonly called vav) and yodh (■•) are also frequently quiescent, and may be called the two vowel letters of the ancient Hebrew. They seem, as a rule, to have been employed only when the sounds which they represent were long. With the exception of these two letters the ancient written Hebrew seems to have had no vowel signs. The same com- bination of letters might signify several different things, according to the pronunciation received. The indefiniteness of such a mode of writing compares very unfavourably with the ample supply of vowel letters in the Indo-European tongues, and nothing but a familiar acquaintance with the usage of the language as a living tongue could supply this defect.* The Masoretic system of vowel signs, or points, is a comparative- ly modern invention, prepared to meet a real necessity Masoretic vow- when the Hebrew had ceased to be a living language, ei system. "Of the date of this punctuation of the Old Testament text," ob- serves Gesenius, " we have no historical account ; but a comparison of historical facts wai'rants the conclusion that the present vowel system was not completed till the seventh century after Christ; and that it was done by Jewish scholars, well versed in the language, who, it is highly probable, copied the example of the Syriac, and perhaps also of the Arabic, gi'ammarians. This vowel system has, probably, for its basis the pronunciation of the Jews of Palestine; and its consistency, as well as the analogy of the kindred languages, furnishes strong proof of its correctness, at least as a whole. We may, however, assume that it exhibits not so much the pronun- ciation of common life as the formal style, which, in the seventh century after Christ, was sanctioned by tradition and custom in reading the Scriptures in the schools and synagogues. Its authors laboured with great care to represent by signs the minute grada- • Comp. Bottcher, Ausfiihrliches Lehrbuch der hebraischen Sprache, vol. i, pp. 65, 66. * " A Semitic root," says Bopp, " is unpronounceable, because, in giving it vowels, an advance is made to a special grammatical form, and it then no longer possesses the simple peculiarity of a root raised above all grammar." Comparative Grammar, vol. i, p. 108 ; Eng. Trans., p. 98. 80 INTRODUCTION TO tions of the vowel sounds, marking even half vowels and help- ing sounds, spontaneously adopted in all languages, yet seldom expressed in writing." ' The ancient Hebrew writing being, accordingly, expressed al- too-ether by consonants, the vowel sounds were quite subordinate to them, and formed no conspicuous element of the language. "Words and names are exhibited by consonants, to which alone sifniifications may be traced, but relations of thought, modifications of the sense of words, and grammatical inflection, were denoted by vowel sounds. One of the most marked features of the language is the tri- The three-let- literal root of all its verbs. This peculiarity is a fun- terroot. damental characteristic of all the Semitic tongues. No satisfactory reason for its existence, or account of its origin, has yet been produced, though a vast amount of study and research has been expended on the subject. Some have maintained that this triplicity of radical consonants is the result of a philological and historical development. Indications of this are found in mon- osyllabic nouns (like 2S, DwS', Ui, "in, T), and verbs which double one of their letters (22^, 33D, nnt^'), and also in those verbs in which one of the consonants is so weak and servile as to suggest that, origi- nally, it was no radical element of the word (pi or jn, 31t3, HID). Hence the doctrine of a primitive system of two-letter roots has been advanced and defended with great learning and ingenuity. But no satisfactory results have come from these efforts, and the theory of two-letter roots has not obtained a general following among philologists. Why may not these primitive roots of the language have been formed of three letters as well as two ? The uniformity and universality of the verbal root of three letters argue that this is an original and fundamental characteristic of Semitic speech. A most important and interesting feature of the language is the conjupations manner in which the different conjugations or voices of of the verb. ^j^g verb are formed. The third person singular of the perfect (or past) tense is the ground form from wliich all model changes take their departure." These ckanges consist in varying the vowels, doubling the middle letter of the root, and adding certain formative letters or syllables. In some rare forms there is a repetition or reduplication of one or two of the radical • Davies' Gesenius' Hebrew Graminar (Mitchell's Edition), pp. 32, 33. Andover, 1880. The simple participial form ^to'p, or the imperative ^bf?, may perhaps present equal claim to be the basal form of the Hebrew verb. Cornp. Weir, iu Kitto's Journal of Sacred Literature for Oct., 1849, pp. 309, 310. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 81 consonants. Since the time of the great Hebraist Danz (about A.D. 1 700) the verb ^Dp, hatal, has been used as a grammatical paradigm to illustrate the various conjugations of the Hebrew verb, and though grammarians have differed somewhat in the number and arrangement of the conjugations^ common usage adheres to the following general outline: Simple. Kal/ f'Pi?, Katal, he killed. Niphal, ^Dpj, mUal, he was killed. Intensive. Piel, PtSip, Kittel, he massacred. Pual, 7tDp, Kuttal, he was massacred. Causative. Hiphil, ^^npn, Hiktil, he caused to kill. Hophal, fjDpn, Hoktal, he was caused to kill. Reflexive. Hithpael, ?t|)pnn, Hithkattel, he killed himself. From the above it will be noticed that the simple, the intensive and the causative forms have each a corresponding passive. The reflexive, from its very nature, would not be expected to have a corresponding passive, and yet a few rare instances occur of a Hothpaal or Huthpaal form (nx^tsn, to be made unclean, Deut. xxiv, 4; nxnn, to be smeared over loithfat, Isa. xxxiv, 6). It should be noticed in the paradigm how the idea of activity seems to attach to the a sound, while the e, o, and ic sounds are used in forms which express passiveness. The doubling of roots expresses intensity, and the prefixing of letters denotes some form of reflexive action. 'The origin of the terms Kal, Niphal, Piel, etc., is thus stated by Nordheimer: "The first investigators of the language, wh.o were Jews, wrote in Hebrew, and ac- cordingly employed Hebrew expressions for the designation of grammatical phenom- ena. To denote the first or simple species they used the word pp, Kal, light, simple ; a term which modern grammarians have found it convenient to retain. And to rep- resent the remaining species they took the modifications of the verb ^ys, to do, to — T make, which itself supplies the name for this part of speech. Thus, instead of a term derived from the signification of that form of the verb which receives the prefi.x J, such as the word passive, they employed, as a sort of grammatical formula, the cor- responding modification of the verb ^;y2, which is ^p£)j, Niphal, and so on of the rest." — Critical Grammar of the Hebrew Language, vol. i, p. 97. 6 83 INTRODUCTION TO But it must not be understood that there are always exact corre- spondence and uniformity in the significations of these several Import of the forms. The Niplial is very generally the passive of conjugations. 'Kal, and the older Hel)re\v grammarians were wont to regard it as strictly so; but, like the Greek middle voice, it is used also to express reflexive and reciprocal action. So also the Piel con- jugation is used to express not only intensity of action, but repeti- tion and frequency, and sometimes it has a causative signification. There are also other forms, so rare and exceptional as not to be classed along with the conjugations of the usual paradigm, but which represent peculiar shades of meaning not otherwise ex- pressible. Such forms are the so-called Pilel (^^tpi?), Pealal (^P^i^pp), Tiphel (i'tj?!?^), and other forms peculiar to certain irregular verbs. In the Arabic language there are fifteen such different conjuga- tions of the verb, though in that language, as in the Hebrew, no one verb is used in all its possible forms. The tense-system of the HebrcAv verb is very unlike that of the Indo-European languages. Some scholars have gone so Tenses or tune- i o o o rorms of the far as to deny that the Hebrew language has any ver- He lew verb. -^^^ forms which can properly be designated tenses. Sir W. Martin observes that the forms of the Hebrew verb com- monly called preterite and future, or perfect and imperfect, " are not tenses in the proper sense; i. e., the notion of time as past, present, or future, is not inherent in the form. They note only actions or conditions, and the persons of whom such actions or conditions are predicated. They predicate a certain state of a cer- taiii subject, and no more. The time to which the action or condi- tion, expressed by the form, belongs in each case, is to be gathered from the context. The present time is understood if none other is suggested by the context. The difference between the two forms is not, then, any dift'erence in time, but a difference in the way of conceiving the action or condition. The forms then may be accu- rately described as moods indicating modes of thought rather than as tenses. These moods, taken in connexion with indications of time supplied by the context, and so having their generality lim- ited and restricted, become equivalent to our tenses. Viewed as moods, they differ from each other much in the same way as he- coming from being, as motion from rest, as progress from comple- tion.'''' ' Similarly Wright remarks concerning the tenses of the Arabic verb: "The temporal forms of the Arabic verb are but two in number, the one expressing a finished act, one that is done and 'Inquiries concerning the Structure of the Semitic Languages. Part i, p. 11 London, 1876. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 83 completed in relation to other acts (the perfect); the other an un- finislied act, one that is jiist commencing or in progress (the imper- fect)." He adds: "We have discarded the names Preterite and Future, by Avhich these forms are still often designated, especially in our Hebrew and Syriac grammars, because they do not accu- rately corresi^ond to the ideas inherent in them. A Semitic per- fect or imperfect has, in and of itself, no reference to the tem- jDoral relations of the speaker (thinker or writer), and of other actions which are broxaght into juxtaposition with it. It is pre- cisely these relations which determine in what sphere of time (past, present, or future) a Semitic perfect or imperfect lies, and by which of our tenses it is to be expressed." ' The Indo-European tongues have distinct verbal forms to express an action of the past as either continuing (imperfect, _ ,. , , ^ . Unlike Indo- as, Iioas toriting), or completed definitely (pluperfect, European tense I had written), or indefinitely (aorist, I torote). They ^°''"^^- also have forms for expressing action as continuing in the present (as I am loritmg), and as completed in the present (perfect, I have written), and other forms for exj^ressing future action in a like two- fold way {I xoill write, and I will have written). Eut the less sys- tematic and more emotional Semitic mind seems to have conceived the temporal relations of subject and predicate in a somewhat ideal way. In whatever position or point of view a si^eaker or writer took his stand, he seems to have viewed all things as having some subjective relation to that standpoint. Time with him was an ever-continuing series of moments (^''^j"), loinJcs of the eye). The past was ever running into the future, and. the future ever losing itself in the past. The future tense-form which he _ , , , i Ideal and rela- used may have actually referred to events of the re- tive past and mote iDast, but to hifn it was an ideal future, taking its " "'^*^' departure from some anterior event either expressed or under- stood." It is a characteristic of the Hebrew writers to throw them- selves into the midst of the scenes or events which they describe, 'Grammar of the Arabic Language, from the German of Caspari, vol. i, pp. 53. 54. Second Edition, London, ISH. Compare the similar views of Ewald, Ausfiihrliches Lehrbuch der heb. Sprache, §§ 135, 136, pp. 348-35S (Gottingen, 1870), and Driver, On the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, Oxford, 1874. Ewald's doctrine of the He- brew Tenses was contioverted by Prof. M. Stuart in the Biblical Repository for .Jan., 1838, pp. 146-173, and Driver's treatise is reviewed by A. Miiller in the Zeitschrift fiir kith. Theolcgie. 1877, i, p. 198. ^ Murphy suggests that the two tense-forms of the Hebrew verb be designated re- spectively as the anterior and posterior. See his article on the Hebrew Tenses, in Kitto's Journal of Sacred Literature for Jan., 1850 (pp. 194-202), and comp. Weir on the same subject in the same Journal for Oct., 1849. Weir observes (p. 317): 84 INTRODUCTION TO and this consideration largely accounts for the subjective and ideal way in -svhich the two tense-forms (POj? and ?b\^\) are employed. Thus, at the beginning of Genesis (i, 1), we have first the definite statement, " In the beginning God created (^"^3) the heavens and the land." This statement serves as a headinor to the narrative that follows. Having taken that beginning as a historical stand- point, the writer next describes the condition of things at that be- giiming, still using the past tense-form: "And the land was (nri'n) waste and empty, and darkness upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God brooding (DSniJp, feminine participle, kej^t broodhuj) upon the face of the waters." Such was the state of things in the midst of which the narrator took his ideal stand; and from that starting point he pi'oceeds to relate the succession of events. His next verb is in the future or imperfect tense-form: "And God will say. Let there be light;" or as we would more familiarly say, then says God (DTipX l^N'}), that is, God then, or next, proceeded to say, etc. The tense-thought here is that the divine fiat, " Let there be light," was consequent upon the period and condition of darkness which was upon the deep. A succession of thought and a prog- ress of time are thus indicated, a mode of conception peculiar to the Semitic mind, but not naturally transferable to our language. The past or perfect tense-form is also used when speaking of The past tense things to be Certainly realized in the future. In such form for fu- cascs the event of the future is conceived as somehow ceived of as completed; it has become a foregone conclusion and complete. settled purpose of the Divine mind. Thus, for exam- ple, in Gen. xvii, 20: "As for Ishmael, I have heard thee (l"'J^Prv', this hearing was actually past); behold, I have blessed him ("'rip'ia), and I have made him fruitful ('nnsn), and I have multiplied him (''ri*3"]n) exceedingly." All this was to be realized in the future, but it is here presented to the mirid as something already finished. It was fixed in the Divine purpose, and from an ideal standpoint in the future it was viewed as something past. Then it is immedi- ately added: " Twelve princes shall he beget (Tpi"', here the indefi- nite future is both assumed and expressed), and I have given him (vnnj) for a great nation." This last verb again assumes an ideal " The Hebrew writers, instead of keeping constantly in view the period at which they wrote, and employing^ a variety of tenses to describe the different shades of past, present, and fiUnre time, accomplished the same object by keeping their own times quite out of view, and regarding as their present the period not at which, but of which, they wrote." He accordingly takes the 7Dp form (commonly called past or perfect) to denote the present, not, however, excluding the idea of a past action or condition contiiuiitig on into the prc^^ent. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 85 past, a something seen in the mind as complete after Ishmael shall have begotten twelve princes. The past and future import of the two tense-forms, as standing- opposed to each other in the indication of time, is apparent in such passages as, " Before them there have been (riM) no T ° , ,„ Vtt/ The two tenses such locusts as they, and after them there shall not be have a past and (n:^:) such" (Exod. X, 14). "As I was On^^^) with *"t"^e import. Moses, I will be {^:;^ii) with thee" (Josh, i, 5). "Yea, I have spoken (W3"i), also I will bring to pass (n3N''3N); I have formed a purpose i'^'pl), also I will perform it " (Isa. xlvi, 11). But in view of the fact, set forth by the best grammarians, that the past tense is used for the perfect, the pluperfect, the present, and the future, and the future tense is used for the present and the past,* these different tense-forms of the Hebrew language are to be understood, not as corresponding to the more fully developed tense-system of Indo-European tongues, but as exhibiting a peculiarity of the Sem- itic mind, which was wont to view the temporal relation of events in the vivid ideal way explained above. Both the past and future forms of the verb are often best translated into English by the present tense. The past form often indicates a past action which is conceived of as continuing into the present, and having become habitual. " The ox knows (yT) his owner, and the ass the crib of his master " (Isa. i, 3). Observe also, in Psa. i, 1 : " Happy the man who walks not ('i]b[) NP, has ceased from walking) in the counsel of wicked ones, and in the way of sinners does not stand, and in the Beat of scorners does not sit." Here it is not difficult to apprehend, in the tense-form used, an ideal of the past, but it is scarcely prac- ticable, except by undesirable circumlocution, to transfer the con- ception into simple idiomatic English. The future form is often used to express the vivid Semitic conception of a past act-ion, or series of actions, as continuing, or as succeeding one another. Thus, in 1 Sam. xxvi, 17, 18, we may express the Hebrew futures by the English present: "And Saul knows the voice of David, and he says. Is this thy voice, my son David ? And says David, My voice, my lord, O king. And he says. Why is this — my lord pursuing after his servant ? " In the inflexion ^ of Hebrew nouns there is no neuter gender, ' See Gesenius, Heb. Gram., §§ 126, 127, and Nordheimer, Crit. Gram, of the He* brew Language, vol. ii, pp. 161-174. ' " A regular inflexion of the noun by cases does not exist in Hebrew. . . . The connexion of the noun with the feminine, with the dual and plural terminations, with suffixes, and with another noun foUpwing in the genitive, produces numberless changes in its form, which is all that is meant by the inflexion of nouns in Hebrew. Even 86 INTRODUCTION TO All objects of nature, inaiiiinate things, and abstract ideas are viewed The gender of ^^ instinct with life, and spoken of as either masculine nouns. or feminine. Mountains, rivers, seas, being objects of majesty and representing strength, are usually masculine. And they are often pictured before the fancy as consciously exulting and moving with exuberance of life. Thus the mountains watch with a jealous e)''e (nvi, Psa. Ixviii, 16), they rejoice together (Psa. xcviii, 8), and break forth into song (Isa. xliv, 23), and even leap and dance like rams (Psa. cxiv, 4, 6). The rushing torrents lift up their voice and clap their hands (Psa. xciii, 3; xcviii, 8), and the sea beholds, and flies (Psa. cxiv, 3). The words for city, land, lo- cality, and the like, are feminine, being thought of as mothers of those who dwell therein. The smaller and dependent towns were called daughters of the principal city (Num. xxi, 25; Josh, xvii, 11). The names of things without life are generally feminine, probably from being regarded as weak and helpless. Abstract ideas are also usually represented as feminine. We are not able to understand, in all instances, why this or that word came to be used in its par- ticular gender, but this whole habit of thought and language had its origin in an intense lively intuition of nature. The use of the plural number in Hebrew seems often to denote Use of the "ot SO much a plurality of individuals as fulness, vast- piurai. ness, majesty, or completeness of endowments. Thus the first word of the first Psalm, which we commonly render as an adjective — " Blessed is the man," etc. — is a noun in the plural num- ber (^|it^^?) ; literally, the blessednesses of the man. We bring out its real force when we take it as an exclamation: 0 the blessednesses of the man, etc.! The idea may be either the manifoldness and multi- plicity of blessedness, or the completeness and greatness of blessed- ness. The word for life is often plural, as in Gen. ii, V, " breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives " (D"".n) ; verse 9 has " tree of lives" and chap, vii, 22, "breath of the spirit of lives.'''' Here the meaning cannot be, as some have suggested, twofold life — animal and spiritual, for the plural is used alike of the life of tree, animal, and man. It seems rather to denote fulness and completeness of life. So the words for water (d;'0) and heaven (D'Pv'O ^^'^ always used in the plural, probably from the idea of vastness or majesty. This is also the best explanation of the plural form of the name of God (QVi^K) ; what the old grammarians called the plural of excel- lency, expressing the dignity and manifold power of the Creator of all things. for the comparative and superlative, the Hebrew has no appropriate forms, and these relations must be expressed by circumlocution." tSesenius, Ileb. Grammar, § '70, 2. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 87 The foregoing statement of the philological and grammatical peculiarities of the Hebrew lanauaoe may sei've to , , ^ . . . ... Hebrew a prmi- show that it is a most ancient and primitive type of itive type of in- human speech, and admirably adapted to express vivid ™^° speech. conceptions and strong emotion. Every letter, as well as every word, represents some visible or material object, and the studious observer may pass among its written monuments as through a pic- ture gallery, and feel that the images of life are all around him. Keeping in mind what has been said, we proceed to show the simplicity of structure, and the emotional expressiveness of this sacred language, and its consequent fitness to embody and preserve the ancient oracles of God. Opening almost anywhere in the narrative portions of the Old Testament, we find abundant evidence of the simplicity simplicity of of Hebrew syntax. The sentences are ordinarily short structure. and vividly expressive. The so-called compound sentences rarely involve any trouble or obscurity, being usually only two or more short sentences, whose relation to each other is most direct and simple. There are no involved constructions and long-drawn periods. The first chapter of Genesis may be taken as a specimen of prose narrative, the most simple and natural in its construction of any composition known to literature. Whatever may be the dilHcul- ties in its exj)osition, its grammatical structure is simple and in- telligible. The following verse from the beginning of the second chapter of 2 Samuel may be taken as a very fine example of lively narrative : Aud it came to pass after this, that David inquires of Jehovah, saj'ing, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah? Aud says Jehovah to him, Go up. Aud says David, Whither shall I go up? And he says, To Hebron. Or take the following, from 1 Kings xix, 19-21 : And he goes from there, and he finds Elisha, the son of Sliaphat, aud he ploughing, twelve yoke before liim, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passes over unto him, and throws his mantle unto him. And he leaves the oxen, and he runs after Elijah, and says, I will kiss, now, my father and my mother, and I will go after thee. And he says to him. Go, Return, for what have I done to thee ? Aud he returns from after him, and he takes the yoke of the oxen and he slaugliters liim, and with the instruments of the oxen he boiled them, the flesh ; and he gives to the people, and they eat, aud he arises, and he goes after Elijah, and he serves him. In these translations we have used the present tense where the Hebrew has the future, as best conveying the spirit of the narra- tive. The writer views the whole scene, and depicts the several 88 INTRODUCTION TO parts as they follow one after the other. Those several acts are relatively future from the jjoint of time he ideally occupies, and his successive sentences are short, rapid, and life-like in their arrange- ment. Hundreds of similar specimens might be adduced, taken almost at random from the Hebrew scriptures. In very many of the most simple sentences, the subject and pred- Omission of icate are placed together without any connective par- copuia. tide or copula. Thus, 1 Kings i, 1, " The king David (was) old ;" 1 Kings xviii, 21, " If Jehovah (be) the God ;" Prov. xx, 1, "A mocker (is) wine ; raging (is) strong drink." This omission in prose narrative may often be supplied to advantage in translation, being required by the idiom of another language to complete the sense, and maintain grammatical accuracy. But the omission gives strength and beauty to many passages, as, for instance, the following, Psa. Ixvi, 3: "How fearful thy doings!" The attempt of the Author- ized Version to supply here what was supposed to be necessary greatly weakens the sentiment : " How terrible art thou in thy works." So again in Psa. xc, 2, "From everlasting to everlasting thou, God!" Again, in verse 4, "A thousand years in thy eyes, as yesterday." It may, in fact, be said that the italic words supplied in the Authorized Version detract from the force and spirit of the original in more instances than they supply any essen- tial need. In the order of words in a sentence, subject or predicate may be Order of sub- P^^'^^^''^ ^Y&t, accoj-ding as it is designed to give emphasis ject aad predi- to the one or the other. Very frequently the sentence opens with a verb, and, according to Gesenius, every finite verb contains in all cases its subject already in itself under the form of a personal pronoun, Avhich is necessarily connected with the verbal form.' Thus, Gen. ii, 1, "And they were finished, the heavens, and the land, and all their host." When two or more verbs are construed with a single subject, the first is usually placed before the noun, and the others follow, as so many distinct state- ments. Thus, Gen. vii, 18, "And they prevailed, the waters, and they increased exceedingly upon the land ; and she went, the ark, upon the face of the waters." In the Hebrew language there is a comparative lack of adjec- tives. As a substitute, nouns expressive of qualitv, . . , 1 , ^ . . p / Adjectives, material, or character, are used as genitives after the nouns to be qualified. Thus, instead of golden crown, we have croion of gold ; instead of holy mountain, we have mountain of holiness. For eloquent man (Exod. iv, 10) the Hebrew is tnan of ' Hebrew Grammar, § 144, 2. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 89 words. Tlie knowing or intelligent man is called a man of knowl- edge (Prov. xxiv, 5). This Hebraic usage appears often in the New Testament Greek. In accordance with this usage the adjec- tives proper almost invariably follow the nouns which they qualify. Thus a toise man, the great river, would be expressed in Hebrew, a man wise, river the great. The primitive conception, lying at the basis of this usage, would seem to be that of an additional word designed to modify the one just uttered. More fully, then, the above examples would be: a man — a icise one; the river — the great one. But when the adjective is used as an emphatic predicate, it usually stands first in the sentence, as, " Good and just is Jehovah " (Psa. XXV, 8). There is no formal comparison of adjectives in Hebrew. The comparative degree is indicated by a use of the prepo- Methods of sition fro)n (p) prefixed to the word with which the comparison, comparison is made. Thus: "The serpent was crafty from every beast of the field" (Gen. iii, l); that is, more crafty; his cunning distinguished him from other beasts. The superlative is expressed by means of the article, or a suffix, or some 2:)eculiar form of ex- pression which indicates the highest degree. Thus, the youngest is tJie little one (jbipri. Gen. xlii, 1-3). The most abject slave is a servant of serva^nts (Gen. ix, 25) ; the holiest place is the holy of holies ; the most excellent song is Ci'''l^Ci^'n ~i''t?', the song ofsongs.^ The Hebrew particles, namely, adverbs, prepositions, conjunc- tions, and interjections, are amons: the most delicate Particles. and interesting parts of the language. In order to a keen and discriminating insight into the spirit and bearing of nu- merous passages, it is necessary to master the force and usage of these little words. Usually the grammars and lexicons supply all the essential information, but it is only by intimate familiarity with the language that we come to appreciate their delicate and vary- ing shades of meaning. ' Xordheimer (Heb. Grammar, vol. ii, p. 60) designates as " the absolute superla- tive" those striking Hebraic expressions in which a noun is construed with one of the divine names. Thus, we have wrestlhigx of God (Gen. xxx, 8), a mountain of God (Psa. Ixviii, 15), mountains of God {El, Psa. xxxvi, 6), cedars of God (Psa. Ixxx, 10), trees of Jehovah (civ, 16), and sleep of Jehovah (1 Sam. xxvi, 12). But these genitives are not to be understood as designating, adjectively, a degree of excellence or of intensity. Rachel would vividly portray her wrestlings with her sister Leah as wrestlings wliich she had carried on witli God himself. By the mountains of God (or of El) the psalmist means God's mountains, mountains which God brought forth (comp. P.sa. xc, 3). So, too, the cedars of God and the trees of Jehovah are trees which are regarded as the workmanship of God. The sleep of Jehovah (1 Sam. xxvi, 12) was a slumber which Jehovah caused to fall upon Saul and his attendants. 90 ES'TRODUCTION TO Hebrew Poetry. Much of the Old Testament is composed in a style and form of ^,. ^ . . language far above that of simple prose. The his- Old Testament o» rr ^ largely poeti- torical books abound in spirited addresses, odes, lyrics, ^^^" psalms, and fragments of song. The books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon, are highly poetical, and the prophetical books (D''J'nnK D''i<''3J, later 2^'>'op/tetiS of IlebreAv Canon) are mainly of the same order. Nearly one half of the Old Testament is written in this poetic style. But the poetry of the Hebrews has peculiarities as marked and distinct from that of other nations as the language itself is different from other families of languages. Its metre is not that of syllables, but of sentences and sentiments. Properly speaking, Hebrew jDoetry knows nothing Not metrical ^^ metrical feet and versification analogous to the poet- ic structure, ical forms of the Indo-European tongues. The learned and ingenious attempts of some scholars to construct a system of Hebrew metres are now generally regarded as failures. There are discernible an elevated style, a harmony and parallelism of sen- tences, a sonorous flow of graphic words, an artificial arrangement of clauses, repet^itions, transpositions, and rhetorical antitheses, which are the inmost life of poetry. But the form is nowhere that of syllabic metre.* Some scholars have supposed that, since the Hebrew became a dead language, the ancient pronunciation is so utterly lost that it is therefore impossible now to discover or re- store its ancient metres. But this, at best, is a doubtful hypoth- esis, and has all probabilities against it. There is every reason to believe that the Masoretie pronunciation now in use is in the main correct, and substantially the same as that of the ancient Hebrews. ' On the subject of Hebrew poetry, see Lowth, Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews, in Latin, with notes of Michaelis, Rosenmuller, and others (Oxford, 1828), and English Translation, edited by Stowc (Andovcr, 1820), and the rrelimiiiary Dissertation to his Isaiah; Bellermann, Versuch iibor die Metrik dor IleljriLer (Iknlin, ISIT,); Saalschutz, Form der hebraischen Poesie nebst einer Abhandlung iiber die Musik der Hebraer (Konigsb., 1825), and the same author's Form und Gcist der hebraischen Poesie (1853); Ewald, Die poctischen Biichor des altcn Bundes, vol. i. Translated by Nichol- son in Kitto's Journal of Sacred Literature for Jan. and April, 1848; Herder, Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, English Translation, in two vols., by James Marsh (Burlington, Vt., IS.'JS); L'inac Taylor, The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry (Phila., 1873); De Wettc, In- troduction to his Coiiinioiitar iiber die Psalnion, pp. 32-().3. Most of the more impor- tant works upon the Psalms, and the Biblical Cyclopaedias, contain valuable disserta- tions on Hebrew Poetry and Parallelism. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 91 The distinguishing feature of Hebrew poetry is now generallv acknowledged to be the parallelism of members. This 111 ..ij- r 11 ,..-, Parallelism the would be a very natural form lor such short and vivid distinguishing sentences as characterize Hebrew syntax. Let the soul *^^'^'^^6- be filled with deep emotion; let burning passions move the heart, and sparkle in the eye, and speak loudly in the voice, and the simple sentences of Hebrew prose would spontaneously take poetic form. In illustration of this we may instance the exciting controversy of Jacob and Laban in Gen, xxxi. The whole chapter is like a pas- sage from an ancient epic; but when we read the speeches of Laban and Jacob we seem to feel the wild throbbings of their human pas- sions. The sj)eeches are not cast in the artificial harmony of par- allelism which appears in the poetical books; but we shall best ob- serve their force by presenting them in the following form. After seven days' hot pursuit, Laban overtakes Jacob in Mount Gilead, and assails him thus: What hast tliou done ? I And thou hast stolen my heart, And hast carried off my daughters As captives of the sword. Why didst thou hide thyself to flee? And thou hast stolen me, And thou didst not inform me, And I would have sent thee away with joy, And with songs, with timbrel and with harp. And thou didst not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters! Now hast thou played the fool — to do! It is to the God of my liand To do with you an evil. But the God of your father Yesternight said to me, saying: Guard thyself from speaking with Jacob from good to evil. And now, going thou hast gone ; For longing thou hast longed for the house of thy father. Why hast thou stolen my gods ? Verses 26-30. After the goods have been searched, and no gods found, " Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban," and uttered his pent-up emo- tion in the following style: What my trespass. What my sin, Tliat thou hast been burning afber me? For thou hast been feeling all my vessels; What hast thou found of all the vessels of thy house? 92 INTRODUCTION TO Place here — Before my brethren and thy brethren, And let theu decide between us two. This twenty year I with thee ; Thy ewes and thy goats have not been bereft, And the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. The torn I brought not to thee ; I atoned for it. Of my hand didst thou demand it, Stolen by day, Or stolen l)y night. I have been — In the day heat devoured me, And cold in the night, And my sleep fled from my eyes. This to me twenty year in thy house. I served thee fourteen year for two of thy daughters, And six years for thy flock ; And thou hast changed my wages ten parts. Unless the God of my father, The God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, were for me,- That now empty tliou hadst sent me away. The affliction and tlie labour of my hands God has seen, And he was judging yesternight. Verses 36-42. Tliis may not be poetry, iu the strict sense ; but it is certainly not the language of common prose. The rapidity of movement, the emotion, tlie broken lines, and the abrupt transitions, serve to show how a language of such peculiar structure as tlie Hebrew might early and naturally develop a poetic form, whose distinguish- in"- feature would be a harmony of successive sentences, or some artilicial concord or contrast of different sentiments, rather than syllabic versification. Untrammeled by metric limitations, the He- brew poet enjoyed a peculiar freedom, and could utter the moving sentiments of passion in a great variety of forms. We cannot too strongly emphasize the fact that some structural Form essential ^01'"^ is essential to all poetry. The elements of poetry to poetry. are invention, inspiration, and expressive form. But all possible genius for invention, and all the inspiration of most fervent passion, would go for nothing without some suitable mould in which to set them forth. When the creations of genius and in- spiration have taken a monumental form in language, that form becomes an essential part of the wdiole. Hence (he impossibility of translating the poetry of Homer, or Virgil, or David, into Eng- BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 93 Hsh prose, or the prose of any other language, i^nd at the same time preserving the power and spirit of the original. Bayard Taylor's translation of Goethe's Faust is a masterpiece in this, that it is a remarkably successful attempt to „ ' •' ^ Bayard Taylor transfer from one language to another not merely the on form in thoughts, the sentiment, and the exact meaning of the ^°^^^^- author, but also the form and rhythm. Mr. Taylor argues very forcibly, and we think truly, that " the value of form in a poetical work is the first question to be considei'ed. Poetry," he observes, " is not simply a fashion of expression ; it is the form of expression absolutely required by a certain class of ideas. Poetry, indeed, may be distinguished from prose by the single circumstance that it is the utterance of whatever in man cannot be perfectly uttered in any other than a rhythmical form. It is useless to say that the naked meaning is independent of the form. On the contrary, the form contributes essentially to the fulness of the meaning. In poetry which endures through its own inherent vitality, there is no forced union of these two elements. They are as intimately blended, and with the same mysterious beauty, as the sexes in the ancient Her- maphroditus. To attempt to represent jioetry in prose is very much like attempting to translate music into speech."^ How impossible to translate perfectly into any other form the following passage from Milton : Now storming fury rose, And clamour such as heard in Heaven till now Was never; arms on armour clashing brayed Horrible discord, and the maddening wheels Of brazen cliariots raged ; dire was the noise Of conflict; overhead tlie dismal hiss Of fiery darts in flaming volleys flew, And flying vaulted either host with fire. So under fiery cope together rushed Both battles main, with ruinous assault And inextinguishable rage. All Heaven Resounded, and had earth been then, all earth Had to her centre shook. What wonder? whea Millions of fierce encountering angels fought On either side, the least of whom could wield These elements, and arm him with the force Of all their regions.^ The very form of this passage, as it stands before the reader's eye, contributes not a little to the emotions produced by it in the ' Preface to Translation of Goethe's Faust. « Paradise Lost, Book vi, lines 207-223. 94 INTRODUCTION TO soul of a man of taste. Change the order of the words, or attempt to state their naked meaning in prose, and the very ideas will seem to vanish. The grandeur and beauty of the passage are due as much to the rhythm, the emphatic collocation of Avords, the express- iveness of the form in which the Avhole is placed before us, as to the sublime conceptions they embody. But if so much is due to the form of poetic writing, much must be lost from any noble poem when transferred to another language shorn of these elements of power. The least we can do is to make prominent in our transla- tions the measured forms of the original. So far as it may be done without too great violence to the idioms of our own tongue, we should preserve the same order of words, emphatic forms of state- ment, and abrupt transitions. In these respects Hebrew poetry is Hebrew spirit pi'^^bably more capable of exact translation than that of and form may anv Other lanccuasfe. For there is no rhvme, no metric servedTnu-ans- Scale, to be translated. Two things it is essential to lation. preserve — the spirit and the form, and both of these are of such a nature as to make it possible to reproduce them to a great extent in almost any other language,' ' Xo man, perhaps, has shown a greater power to present in English the real^spirit of Hebrew poetry than Tayler Lewis. The following version of Job iv, 12-21, while not exactly following the Hebrew collocation of the words, and giving to some words a meaning scarcely sustained by Hebrew usage, does, nevertheless, bring out the spirit and force of the original in a most impressive way : To me, at times, there steals a warning word ; Mine ear its whisper seems to catch. In troubled thoughts from spectres of the night, Wlieu falls on men the vision-seeing trance,— And fear has come, and trembling dread, And made my every bone to thrill with awe, — 'Tis then before me stirs a breathing form ; O'er all my flesh it makes the hair rise up. It stands; no face distinct can I discern; An outline is before mine eyes ; Deep silence ! then a voice I hear: Is mortal man more just than God ? Is boasting man more pure than he who made him ? In his own servants, lo, he tnistetb not, Even on his angels doth he charge defect. Much more to them who dwell in homes of clay, With their foundation laid in dust. And crumbled like the moth From morn till night they're stricken down ; Without regard they perish utterly. Their cord of life, is it not torn away ? They die— still lacking wisdom. See the notes on this rhythmical version, in which Lewis defends the accuracy of his translation, in Lange's Commentary on Job, pp. 59, 60. See also Lewis' articles on The Emotional Element in Hebrew Translation, in the Methodist Quarterly Review, for Jan., 1802, Jan. and July, ISOU, and Jan., 1864. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 95 While the spirit and emotionality of Hebrew poetry are aue to a combination of various elements, the parallelism of „, , , , ' ^ structural form sentences is a most marked feature of its outward form, of Hebrew par- This it becomes us now to exhibit more fully, for a '^^'*^'i®"^- scientific interpretation of the poetical portions of the Old Testa- ment requires that the parallelism be not ignored. Joseph Addison Alexander, indeed, animadverts upon Bishop Lowth's "supposed discovery of rhythm or measure in the Hebrew prophets," and con- demns his theory as unsound and in bad taste.' But his strictures seem to proceed on the assumption that the theory of parallelism involves the idea of metrical versification analogous to the prosody of other languages. Aside from such an assumption they have no relevancy or force. For it is indisputable that the large portions of the Hebrew scriptures, commonly regarded as jDoetical, are as capable of arrangement in well-defined parallelisms as the variety of Greek metres are capable of being reduced to system and rules. The short and vivid sentences which we have seen to be peculiar to HebrcAv speech, would lead, by a very natural proc- The process of ess, to the formation of parallelisms in poetry. The f°"°i°s Pf f^i- '. _ -I . . lelisms natural desire to present a subject most impressively would in Hebrew. lead to repetition, and the tautology would show itself in slightly varying forms of one and the same thought. Thus the following, from Prov. i, 24-27: Because I have called, and ye refuse; I have stretched out my hand, and no one attending; And ye refuse all my counsel, And my correction ye have not desired ; Also I in your calamity will laugh ; I will mock at the coming of your terror; At the coming — as a roaring tempest — of your terror; And your calamity as a sweeping whirlwind shall come on; At the coming upon you of distress and anguish. Other thoughts would be more forcibly expressed by letting tnem in contrast with something of an opposite nature. Hence such parallelisms as the following: They have kneeled down and fallen; But we have arisen and straightened ourselves up. Psa. xx, 9. The memory of the righteous (is) for a blessing, But the name of tlie \vicked shall be rotten. The wise of heart will take commands, But a prating fool shall be thrown down. Prov. x, 7, 8. * See the Introduction to his Commentary on The Earlier Prophecies of Isaiah, pp. 48, 49. New York, 1846. 96 INTRODUCTION TO Such simple disticlis would readily develop into more complex ex- amples of j^arallelism, and ^ve find among the Hebrew poems a great variety of forms in which the sacred writers sought to set foith their burning thoughts. The more common and regular forms of Hebrew parallelism are classified by Lowth under three general heads, Avhich he denommates Synonymous, Antithetic, and Syn- thetic. These, again, may be subdivided, according as the lines form simple couplets or triplets, or have measured correspondence in sentiment and length, or are unequal, and broken by sudden bursts of passion, or by some impressive refrain. 1. Synonymous Pakallelism. Plere we place passages in which the different lines or members present the same thought in a slightly altered manner of expres- sion. To this class belong the couplets of Prov. i, 24-27 cited above, where it will be seen there is a constant repetition of thought under a variety of words. Three kinds of synonymous parallels may be specified: a) Identical, when the different members are comiDOsed of the same, or nearly the same, words: Thou wert snared in the sayings of thy mouth ; Thou wert taken in tlie sayings of tliy mouth. Prov. vi, 2. They lifted up, the floods, O Jehovah; They lifted up, the floods, their voice; They lift up, the floods, their dashing. Psa. xciii, 3. It shall devour the parts of his skin, It shall devour his parts, the first-born of death. Job xviii, 13. For in a night is spoiled Ar, Moab, cut off. For in a night is spoiled Kir, Moab, cut off. Isa. xv, 1 b) Similar, when the sentiment is substantially the same, but language and figures are different: For he on seas has founded it. And on floods will he establish it. Psa. xxiv, 2. Brays the wild ass over the tender grass ? Or lows the ox over his provender? Job vi, 5. c) Inverted, when there is an inversion or transposition of words or sentences so as to change the order of thought: The heavens are telling the glory of God, And the work of his hands declares the expanse. Psa. xix, 2. They did not keep the covenant of God, And in his law they refused to walk. Psa. Ixxviii, 10. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 97 For unto me is he lovingly joined, and I will deliver him; I will exalt liim, for he has known my name. Psa. xci, 14. Strengthen ye the weak hands, And the feeble knees confirm. Isa. xxxv, 3. 2. Antithetic PARAiiLELisM. Under this head come all passages in which there is a contrast or opposition of thought presented in the diflferent sentences. This kind of parallelism abounds in the Book of Proverbs especially, for it is peculiarly adapted to express maxims of proverbial wis- dom. There are two forms of antithetic parallelism: «) Simple, w4)en the contrast is presented in a single distich of simple sentences: Righteousness will exalt a nation. But the disgrace of peoples is sin. Prov. xiv, 84. The tongue of wise men makes knowledge good, But the mouth of fools pours out folly.. Prov.. xv, 3. For a moment in his anger: Lifetimes in liis favf)ur. In the evening abideth weeping; And at morning, a shout of joy. PSa. xxx, 5. (6.) b) Compound, when there are two or more sentences in each member of the antithesis: The ox has known his owner. And the ass the crib of his lord; Israel has not known, — My people have not shown themselves discerning. Isa. i, 3. If ye be willing, and have heard, The good of the land shall ye eat; But if ye refuse, and have rebelled, A sword shall eat — For the mouth of Jehovah has spoken. Isa. i, 19, 20. In a little moment I forsook thee, But in great mercies I will gatlier tliee. In the raging of wrath I hid my face a moment from thee ; But with everlasting kindness have I had mercy on thee. Isa. liv, 7, 8. 3. Synthetic Parallelism. Synthetic or Constructive Parallelism consists, according to Lowth's definition, "only in the similar form of construction, in which word does not answer to word, and sentence to sentence, as equivalent or opposite; but there is a correspondence and equality 98 INTRODUCTION TO between different propositions in respect to the shape and turn of the whole sentence and of the constructive parts; such as noun answering to noun, verb to verb, member to member, negative to negative, interrogative to interrogative." ' Two kinds of synthetic parallels may bo noticed: a) Correspondent, when there is a designed and formal corre- spondency between related sentences, as in the following example from Psa. xxvii, 1, where the first line corresponds with the third, and the second with the fourth : Jehovah, my light and my salvation, Of whom shall I be afraid? Jehovah, fortress of my life, Of whom shall I stand in terror? This same style of correspondence is noticeable in the following compound antithetic parallelism: They sliall he asliamed and blush together, Wlio are rejoicing in my harm; They sliall be clothed with shame and disgrace, Who magnify themselves over me. They shall shout and rejoice, Who delight in my righteousness, And they shall say continually — be magnified, Jehovah, Who delight in the peace of his servant. Psa. xxxv, 26, 27. h) Cumulative, Avhen there is a climax of sentiment running through the successive parallels, or when there is a constant varia- tion of words and thought by means of the simple accumulation of images or ideas : Happy the man wlio has not walked in the counsel of wicked ones, And in the way of sinners has not stood, And in the seat of scorners has not sat down; But in the law of Jehovah is liis deliglit; And in his law will he meditate day and night. Psa. i, 1, 2. Seek ye Jehovali while lie may he found, Call upon iiini while he is near by; Let the wicked forsake his way. And the man of iniquity his thoughts; And let him return to Jehovah, and he will have mercy on hira, And to our tiod, for he will be abundant to pardon. Isa. Iv, 6, 7. For the fig-tree shall not blossom, And no produce in the vines ; Deceived has the work of the olive, And llulds have not wrought food; ' Lowth's Isalali, rreliniiiiary Dissertation, p. 21. Lontlon, 1779. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 99 Cut off from the fold was the flock, And no cattle in the stalls ; But I — In Jehovah will I exult ; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Hah. iii, 17. But aside from these more regular forms of parallelisin, there are numerous peculiarities in Hebrew poetry which are not in-eguiar struc- to be classified under any rules or theories of prosody, sioned^poeucai The rapt flights of the ancient bards ignored such utterances. trammels, and, by abrupt turns of thought, broken and unequal lines, and sudden ejaculations of prayer or emotion, they produced a great variety of expressive forms of sentiment. Take, for illus- tration, the two following extracts from Jacob's dying psalm — the blessings of Judah and Joseph — and note the variety of expression, the sharp transitions, the profound emotion, and the boldness and abundance of metaphor: Judah, tliou! Thy brothers shall praise thee; Thy hand in the neck of tliy foes! They shall bow down to thee, the sons of tliy father. Whelp of a lion is Judah. From the i^rey, O my son, thou hast gone up! He bent low ; He lay down as a lion, And as a lioness ; Who will rouse him up? There shall not dejjart a sceptre from Judah, And a ruler from between his feet, Until he shall come — Shiloli — And to him shall be gathered peoples. Fastening to the vine his foal, And to tiie choice vine the son of his ass, He has washed in the wine his garment, And in the blood of grapes his clothes. Dark the eyes from wine, And white the teeth from milk. Gen. xlix, 8-13, Son (if a fruit tree is Joseph, Son of a fruit tree over a fountain; Daughters climbing over a wall. And they imbittered him, And they shot, And they hated him, — ■ The lords of the bow. Yet remained in strength his bow, And firm were tlie arms of his hands, From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob ; From the name of the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel; 100 INTRODUCTION TO From the God of thy father, and he will help thee; And the Almighty, and he will bless thee; Blessings of the heavens above, Blessings of the deep lying down l)elow, • Blessings of breasts and womb. The blessings of thy father have been mighty. Above the blessings of the enduring mountains, The desire of the everlasting hills. Let them be to the head of Joseph And to the crown of the devoted of his brothers. Gen. xlix, 23-36. In the later period of the language Ave find a number of artificial Alphabetical poems, in which the several lines or verses begin with poems. the letters of the Hebrew al}>iiabet in their regular order. Thus, in Psalms cxi and cxii, the lines or half verses are arranged alphabetically. In Psalms xxv, xxxiv, cxlv, Prov. xxxi, 10-31, and Lam. i and ii, each separate verse begins with a new letter in regular order. In Psa. xxxvii, Avith some slight exceptions, every alternate verse begins with a new letter. In Psa. cxix and Lam. iii, a series of verses, each beginning with the same letter, is grouped into strophes or stanzas, and the strophes follow one an- other in alphabetical order. Such artificiality evinces a later period in the life of the language, when the poetical spirit, becoming less creative and more mechanical, contrives a new feature of external form to arrest attention and assist the memory. We find also in the Old Testament several noticeable instances „ ^ ^ of rhyme. The following, in Samson's answer to Hebrew rhymes. , "^ p m- the men of Timnath (Judges xiv, 18), was probably designed 'G' • T • V T : If ye had not plowed -with my heifer, Ye had not found out my riddle. The following are perhaps only accidental : ^2'^t'l nmp D''\yi &&-\_n -a^JD iT-ip"- -lac'K H2D^ ay^ ^2br:> • ': - I : V T : t ; •• ; - Kings of Tarshish and of isles a gift shall return, Kings of Shel)a and Seba a present shall bring. Psa. Ixxii, 10. • T : ■ • T T -; - As Sodom had we been, To Gomonnh had we been like. Isa. i, 9. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 101 ^35VJ< 'rnay n^bv) In a nation profane will I send him, And upon a peojDle of my wrath will I command him. Isa. x, 6.' But aside from all artificial forms, the Hebrew language, in its words, idiomatic phrases, vivid concepts, and pictorial „. .^ ' ^ .,..', Vividness of power, has a remarkable smiplicity and beauty. To Hebrew words the emotional Hebrew every thing was full of life, and ^•^•^ P^'^'^ses. the manner of the most ordinary action attracted his attention. Sentences full of pathos, sublime exclamations, and profound sug- gestions often found expression in his common talk. How often the word behold {''ip_r\) occurs in simple narrative! How the very process and order of action are pictured in the following passages : " Jacob lifted up his feet, and went to the land of the sons of the east" (Gen. xxix, 1). "He lifted up his voice, and wept. . . . Laban heard the hearing about Jacob, the son of his brother, and he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house" (verses 11, 13). "Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold! Esau was coming" (Gen. xxxiii, l). How intensely vivid the picture of Sisera's death, wrought by the hand of Jael: Her liaiid to tlie tent-pin she sent forth, And her riglit hand to tlie hammer of the workmen; And she hammered Sisera. she crushed his head; And she smote through and transfixed his temples. Between her feet he sunk down; he fell; he lay; Between her feet he sunk down, he fell ; Wliere he sunk down, there lie fell slain. Judges v, 36, 27. There are, again, many passages where a notable ellipsis enhances the impression: "And now, lest he send forth his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever — and sent him forth Jehovah God from the garden of Eden " (Gen. iii, 22). " And now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — and if not, wipe me, I pray, from thy book which thou hast writ- ten." "Return, O Jehovah— how long!" (Psa. xc, 13.) The at- tempt of our translators to supply the ellipsis in Psa. xix, 3, 4, per- verts the real meaning: " There is no speech nor language ivhere their voice is not heard." The simple Hebrew is much more im- pressive: ' Comp. also Isa. i, 25, where three rhymes appear in one verse; and Isa. i, 2H ; xliv, 3; xlix, 10; liii, 6; Job vi, 9; Psa. xlv, 8; Trov. vi, 1. 103 INTRODUCTION TO No saying, and no words; — Not heard — their voice ; In all the land -svent forth their line, And in the end of the world their utterances. That is, the heavens have no audible language or voice such as mor- tal man is wont to speak; nevertheless, they have been stretched as a measuring line over all the surface of the earth, and, though voiceless, they have sermons for thoughtful souls in every part of the habitable world. Such elliptical modes of expression would be very natural in a ^ languao-e which has no vowels in its alphabet. A writ- Hebrew speech & » -i naturally eiiip- ten document, containing only consonants, and capable ^"^'^^" of a variety of meanings according as it was pro- nounced or understood, must necessarily leave much to the imagi- nation of the reader. The simple but emotional speaker will often convey his meaning as much by signs, gpstures, and peculiai* into- nations of voice, as by his words; and this very habit of leaving much for the common sense and imagination of the reader to sup- ply seems to have impressed itself upon the written language of the sensitive Hebrew. He took it for granted that his hearers and readers would understand much that he did not literally say. In this, however, he was at times mistaken. Like Moses, when he smote the Egyptian, " he supposed that his bretliren would understand that God by his hand would give deliverance to them; but they did not understand" (Acts vii, 25). So sacred Avriters of the Old Testament, as well as of the New, left on record things difficult to understand (SvavorjTa, 2 Peter iii, 16), and hence the variety of meanings attached to certain parts of Scripture. In direct addresses almost every object of nature, and even ab- Eniofionaiityof stract ideas, are appealed to as if instinct with living direct address, consciousness: "Spring u]i, O well; sing ye to her" (Num. xxi, 11). "Sing, O heavens; and rejoice, O land; break forth the mountains into song!" (Isa. xlix, 13). "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah ! as the days of old, the gen- erations of eternities" (Isa. li, 9). "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, put on the garments of thy beauty, O Jerusalem, city of holiness!" (Isa. Hi, 1). "Open, O Lebanon, thy doors, and fire shall eat into thy cedars! Howl, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, which mighty ones did spoil ! Howl, oaks of Bashan, for down has gone the inaccessible forest!" (Zech. xi, 1,2). "O sword, awake against my friend ; and against the man of my companion- ship ! " (Zech. xiii, 1). BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 103 We should also note the anthropomorphisms and anthropopa- thisms of the Old Testament. They are hut the vivid ^^^ Testament concepts which impressed the emotional Hebrew mind, antiiropomor- and are in perfect keeping with the spirit of the language, p^^™' What an affecting conception of the personal God in Gen. vi, 5, 6: "And Jehovah saw that great was the wickedness of men in the land, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart — only evil all the day. And it repented Jehovah that he made men in the land, and it pained him to his heart." Also in the following: " And there Avas the bow in the cloud, and I looked at it to remember the covenant eternal between God and every living soul in all flesh, which is iipon the land" (Gen. ix, 16). "Jehovah went down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men were building" (Gen. xi, 5). Moses' song (Exod. xv) extols Jehovah as " a man of war " (verse 3). He calls the strong east wind (xiv, 2 J), by which the Avaters of the Red Sea were heaped up, " the wind of thy nose " (verse 8), using thus the metaj)hor of an enraged animal breathing fury from his distended nostrils. In Hezekiah's prayer (2 Kings xix, 16) we have this form of petition: "Stretch out, O Jehovah, thy eai*, and hear; open, O Jehovah, thy eyes, and see." David says (1 Chron. xvii, 25): "For thou, O my God, didst uncover the ear of thy servant — to build for him a house; therefore found thy servant to pray to thy face." Observe the suggestive force of the words here used. David receives the revelation of God from the prophet Nathan as a confidential communication; as if a bosom friend had stolen up to him, removed the locks of hair that covered his ear, and whispered there a secret word of wondrous promise which, at that time, no one else might hear. Then it seemed to the enx-aptured king that because God had thus found him, and 2m- covei'ed Ms ear, therefore he had come to find how to pray to God's face.' We have already seen how many influences combine, in the his- tory of a language, to modify and change its forms and inti'o- duce new dialects, which may again be developed into new lan- ' " Why talk of anthropopathism," says Tayler Lewis, " as if there were some spe- cial absurdity covered by this sounding term, when any revelation conceivable must be anthropopathic? If made subjectively — as some claim it should be made, if made at all — that is, to all men directly, through thouglits and feelings inwardly excited in each human soul without any use of language, still it must be anthropopathic. There is no escape from it. Whatever comes in this way to man must take the measure of man. . . . The thoughts and feelings thus aroused would still be human, and par- take of the human finity and imperfection. In their highest state they will be but shadows of the infinite, figures of ineffable truths." — The Divine Human in the Scrip- tures, p. 43. 104 INTRODUCTION TO guages.' But a most remarkable fact of the Hebrew language is Remarkable that, for more than a thousand years, it suffered no ma- the "'^Hebrew Serial change. The Hebrew of the latest books of the language. Old Testament is essentially the same as that of the old- est documents. Traces of change and decay may, indeed, be dis- covered in the books of Ezekiel, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah; but they consist mainly of a few peculiar modes of expression, and the introduction of various words of a foreign cast. Contact with other nations would naturally introduce some new forms of speech. Especially did Aramaic words and forms work their way into the IlebrcAV books. But this infusion of new words wrousrht no essential changes in the structure of the language, and many forms which are commonly called Chaldaisms are found in the old- est books. The fact is, the Hebrew and Aramaic tongues abode side by side for ages. The monumental stone heap which Jacob and Laban set up in Mount Gilead, Jacob called Galeed; but Laban, the Syrian, called it Jegnr-sahadutha — an Aramaic name of the same meaning as Galeed (Gen. xxxi, 47). More frequent inter- course with Syrians and Chaldseans in later times would naturally leave its traces in corresponding fulness on the language of the Hebrews. Three periods may be distinguished in the Old Testament litera- Three periods ^^^^^' ^^^ ^^^^ appropriately be called, respectively, the of Hebrew lit- earlier, the t)dddle, and the later. The first extended from the time of Moses to that of Samuel, the second from David to Hezekiah, and the third from the latter years of the kingdom of Judah until a few generations after the return from the Babylonian exile.^ But granting all the evidences of decline and change that can be fairly established, it still remains indisput- able that the Hebrew language continued remarkably uniform, and in essentially the same stage of development, from the age of Moses ' Compare above, pp. 72, 73. ' Gcscnius declares for two periods, the first extendiiic; from the time of Moses to the Babylonian exile ; the second from the exile to the time of the Maccabees. These periods he calls the golden and the silver age. See his (Jeshichte der heliraischen Sprache und Schrift. Lpz., 1815. BiJttcher follows Gesenius in deciding for two periods— the period of rise and bloom (B.C. ] 500-000), and the jjcrlod of decline and fall (B.C. 60()-lc>5). Each of these periods he subdivided into three epochs. See his Ausfuhrliches Lehrbuch der hebraischen Sprache, Einleitung, pp. 21, 22. Renan dis- tinguishes three periods, the archaic, the classic, and the Chaldaic. See his Histoirc generale des Langues Semitiques, p. 116. Paris, 1863. Com[). Ewald, Ausfiihrliches Lehrbuch, p. 23, and Keil's, Bleek's and De Wette's Introductions to the Old Testa- ment. See also the articles on the Hebrew Language in Hertzog, Real-encyclopadie, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and the various biblical dictionaries. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 105 to tliat of Malaclii, It never changed so much as even to aj^proach what might be called another dialect. In spite of migrations, con- quest, invasions, revolutions, secession, and exile, the Hebrew lan- guage, in which the five books of the Torah were cast, retained its sacred mould. Chaldaisms are found in Genesis, and archaisms in Zechariah and Malachi. Happily, there is little room for dispute as to the approximate dates of most of the books of the Old Testament. A larsfe amount of controversy has turned upon the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, and it is a singular fact that, while some have strenuously con- tended that Job belongs to the Solomonic period, and Ecclesiastes to a post-exilian date, other critics, equally competent and acute, maintain the Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes, and attribute the book of Job to Moses. This fact shows how uncertain and mis- leading are the attemj^ts to ascertain the age of a Hebrew writer solely from his language. Many words and forms. Difference of which are often alleged as Aramaisms, may be attrib- diction no con- . ^ 1 ,, TT. . . trolling evi- uted, rather, to the style and diction oi an author, dence of date Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, Micah, and Nahum, though nearly °^ authorship, contemporary, vary greatly in their style, and each of them uses words and forms of expression not elsewhere found ; and yet they all wrote in the same general prophetic strain. How many more and how much greater differences, then, are reasonably to be ex- pected between them and writers of another period, whose subject- matter is widely different ! The same author may use a very differ- ent diction in two different works, treating on different themes, and written twenty years apart. If Moses wrote the book of Job ■ — especially if he wrote it during the forty years of his shepherd life in Arabia — we certainly would not expect such a highly wrought poem to resemble the historical book of Genesis, even though we assume that Genesis and Job were written by him about the same time. If Solomon composed the book of Ecclesiastes in his old age, there is no sufficient reason to assume that his style and lan- guage in that work must closely resemble the Proverbs and Canti- cles written nearly forty years previously. Such, then, are the principal features of that language in which the ancient oracles of God were embodied, and in jjgbrew a lan- which they are preserved to us unto this day. Its RuagopLcuiinr- , '' . n • n 1 ly adapted to letters are a picture gallery; its words, roots, and embody God's grammatical forms are intimately blended with pro- ancient word. foundest and divinest thoughts. It may well be called, emj'hat- ically, the sacred tongxie. It appears in full development in its earliest written monuments, as if it had been crystallized into 106 INTRODUCTION TO imperishable form by tlie marvels of the exodus and the fires of Sinai. The divine calling of Israel, and their national separateness from all other peoples, served largely to preserve it from any con- siderable change. It retained every essential element of its structure until the canon of the Old Testament was complete, and then it ceased to be a living language. But, though dead, it does not cease to speak. It seems, rather, to have arisen, and to flourish in another and immortal life. When it ceased to be a spoken lan- guage, behold, it was already petrilied in records more enduring than the granite tables on which the ten commandments were written by the finger of God. As the ancient cities, buried under the ashes of Vesuvius, now speak from the tomb of ages, and re- veal the life and customs of the old Roman world, so the pictorial and emotional language of the Hebrew Scriptures transports us into the very heart and spirit of that olden time when God talked familiarly with men. Like the holy land, in which this language lived more than a thousaiul years, it abounds in imaejery Hebrew Ian- . .,,.■'.. ^. , gunge like ihe that IS apt to strike the imagination or aiiect the senses. Hebrews' land, j^ ^^^ -^^ some respects, a reflexion of Canaan itself. It has a strength and permanency like the mountains about Jeru- salem (Psa. cxxv, 2). It can whisper melodious tones for ode and psalm and elegy, soft and gentle as the voice of the turtle-dove (Cant, ii, 12), or the gliding Avaters of Shiloh (Isa. viii, 0). It can excite emotions of terror like the rushing floods of the an- cient Kishon, which swept whole armies away (Judges v, 21), or like the thunder and earthquake which opened the beds of the sea, and revealed the foundations of the world (2 Sam. xxii, 16). It has landscape paintings as beautiful as the wild flower of Sharon (Cant, ii, 1), charming as the splendour and excellency of Carmel, and awe-ins|)iring as the glory of Lebanon (Isa. xxxv, 2). Through it all there breathes a spirit of holiness as impressive and solemn as if proceeding fi'om the mysterious darkness in which Jehovah came down on Mount Sinai (Exod. xix, 18), or from the veiled Holy of Holies on the Mount Zion whicli lu' loved (Psa. Ixxviii, 68). Sure- ly this language was admirably adapted to enshrine the law and the testimony of God. It is like the wonderful bush which Moses saw at Iloreb; behold! it burns continually, but is not consumed. And when the devout student comes within the s])ell of its sjjirit and power, he may hear the sound of a voice, exclaiming: "Pull off thy sandals from thy feet, for the place whereon thou staudest is holy ground" (Exod. iii, 5). BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 107 CHAPTER V. THE CHALDEE LANGUAGE. A SMALL portion of the Old Testament is written in what is com- monly called the biblical Chaldee.' In Dan. ii, 4, Ezra iv, 7, 2 Kings xviii, 26, and Isa. xxxvi, 11, it is called Aramaic, nvp-jx, a word which is translated in the English Version, after the Septua- gint, Vulgate, and Luther, "the Syrian tongue." This language became early prevalent in all the region known as D'JX, Aram, the Syria of the Greeks and Romans, and in course of time branched out into two very similar dialects known as the East- - -v-,r * • rni t i -,. ~. Eastern and ern and Western Aramaic, ihese dialects differ chiefly western Ara- in vocalization, and each maintains an individuality of '"^^°' its own, but lexically and grammatically they are in all essential characteristics most intimately related to each other. The Western Aramaic is now commonly called Syriac; the Eastern, Chaldee. This latter name has not usually been satisfactory to the learned, some preferring the name Babylonian, others Babylonian-Semitic. But the name of Chaldee language, as applied to the Eastern Ara- maic, has acquired too great currency to be now set Chaideeaprop- aside. It is universally admitted that this lano-uaofe ^l "?™°, f^'' •' . ^ ^ tlie biblical Ar- was in common use among the Babylonians at the time amaic. of the Jewish exile, and the Babylonians are almost always called Chaldeans (Hebrew, D^'nb'l, Chasdim) in the Bible.' Mention is made in Dan. i, 4, of " the tongue of the Chaldeans," and there appears no sufiicient reason to believe that this was any other than the common language of Chaldea at the time.^ It was sufficiently different from the Jews' language (comp. 2 Kings xviii, 26) to ' The Chaldee portions are Jer. x, 11, Dan. ii, 4-vii, 28, and Ezra iv, 8-vi, 18, and vii, 12-26. ' Compare especially 2 Kings xxiv, 2 ; xxv, 4, 5, 10, 13, etc. ; Isa. xiii, 19 ; xliii, 14; xlvii, 1 ; Jer. xxi, 4, 9 ; xxxii, 4, 5, 24, etc. ; xxxvii, 5, 8, 9 ; 1, 1, 8, 10, 13, etc. ; Ezek. i, 3, 12, 13; Hab. i, 6. ' Most recent critics (see especially Stnart, Keil, and Zockler, in loco) hold that the D^'nb'3 \^th-, tongue of the Chasdim (Dan. i, 4) was the learned language of the priests and wise men, and the court language of the empire, as distinguished from the Aramaic, the language of the common people. They urge that in Dan. ii, 2, 4, 5, 10 ; iv, 7; V, V, 11, the Chasdim are a special and predominant class among the wise men of Babylon, and represent an ancient tribe or people of non-Semitic speecli. But it is also a fact that Daniel applies the word Chasdim to the inhabitants of Bal)y Ionia 108 INTRODUCTION TO make it an object to instruct the young men who were to be trained for the royal service in its written and spoken (pi^v'' "i.??? Dan. i, 4) forms. During the seventy years of their exile the Jewish people largely lost the use of their ancestral language, and appropriated this Chaldean dialect. When they returned to rebuild their huly city and temple, they required to have the language of their sacred books explained to them (Neh. viii, 8). They never again recovered the use of the Hebrew as a vernacular, but continued to use the Chaldean dialect until Jerusalem was taken by the Romans. When Abram migrated from Ur of the Chaldeans, the differ- ences between the Semitic tongues were doubtless fewer and less noticeable than in the days of Ezra or of Daniel.' After the time . , of David, when intercourse between the Israelites and Hebrew inter- ' course with Ar- the Syrians of Damascus became more frequent, Ara- amaic. maisms would naturally work their way into the Hebrew lanofuaere of Palestine. The Chaldee verse in Jer. x, 11 is be- lieved by many to be a gloss, interpolated in the time of the exile, or very soon afterward,^ but the language and style of Jeremiah show many evidences of Aramaic influence. At the time of his prophesying the Chaldeans were overrunning Palestine (Jer. xxxiv), and he survived the destruction of Jerusalem, and was carried down into Egypt (Jer. xxxix, xl). The language of Ezekiel's projihecies evinces the growing power of Araraean sjjeech over the Hebrew mind, and "the manifold anomalies and corruptions in his writings betray the decline and approaching ruin of the Hebrew language, and remind us that the prophet's home is in a foreign land."^ (Dan. V, 30 ; ix, 1), and in all the other books of the Old Testament this is its common meaninf^. It is further urged that the use of the word Aramaic (n^D"lN) hi Dan. ii, 4, implies that these learned Chasdim addressed the king in the common language of the empire, and not the learned tongue of the i)riesthood and the court. This, however, is by no means clear. Why may not "the tongue of the Chaldecs" be also called Aramaic V This was the conuuon name used by Ilclirew writers for the lan- guage of Chaldea, and it was every way natural for the author of Dan. ii, 4, to use the word fl'DIX, as Ezra does (in Ezra iv, 7), although he had already spoken of the same language (in i. 4) as the Chaldee tongue. If, as these critics say, the tongue of the Chasdim was the court language of Nebuchadnezzar and his dynasty, this tongue, by all means, should have been used before the king. No satisfactory reason is given for their using any other. See Bleek, Introduction to the Old Testament, vol. i, pp. 47, 48. English Translation by Venable-s, Lond., 1875. ' Compare page 77, above. * So Ho\ibigant, Venenia, Dathe, Blayney, Doederlein, llosenmiiller, Maurer, Ewald, Graf, Henderson, and Xaegelsbach. ' Keil, Introduction to Old Testament, vol. i, p. 356. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 109 Daniel, who received an early and thorough training in the tongue of the Chaldeans, is the first biblical writer who r 11 1 1 • T 1 • -1 . . T^^ Chaldee lonnally employs this dialect m sacred composition, passages of After having narrated in Hebrew the successful train- ^''°'®^- ing of himself and his three companions, he passes, in the second chapter, to an account of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and from verse 4, where the Chaldeans begin their address to the king: "O king, forever live! " the language changes to Aramaic. This being the very language in which all the conversation of the court was car- ried on, its use here gives to Daniel's narrative a life-like reality, and is a monumental evidence of the genuineness and authenticity of the record. Only a writer of Daniel's time and position, and bilinguous as he, would have written thus. Nebuchadnezzar's dream was a God-given vision of world-empire, and of its final overthrow by the power and kingdom of God; and the dream and its interpretation were written down in a language then common alike to the people of God and to the mightiest empire of the world. The succeeding narratives of the golden image and the de- liverance of Daniel's three companions from the burning furnace (chap, iii), Nebuchadnezzar's proclamation (chap, iv), Belshazzar's feast and sudden overthrow (chap, v), and Daniel's deliverance from the lion's den (chap, vi), were also recorded in the language of the empire, for they were written for the world to know. Finally, Daniel's great vision of world-empire and its overthrow (chap, vii), is also recorded in Chaldee, for it was only a repetition under other symbols and in fuller form of the prophecy embodied in Nebuchadnezzar's dream (chap. ii). This prophecy was for the whole world rather than for any special purpose of fhe Jewish peo- ple; but when, in the eighth chapter, the prophet passes to visions of more special import for his own people, he resumes the Hebrew. The other writer of biblical Chaldee is Ezra, the learned priest and scribe, who flourished about a century after Daniel. TheChaWeeof He went up from Babylon to Jerusalem, in company Ezra. with a large number of the exiles, during the reign of the Persian king Artaxerxes Longimanus (B. C. 457). Familiar from youth with the Chaldee dialect of Babylon, he also by diligent study made himself familiar with the sacred literature of his nation, that he might be able to instruct the peojDle of his age in the law of Jehovah (Ezra vii, I-IO). The great mass of these returning exiles had lost the use of their ancestral language,' and now spoke the ' It is not to be supposed, however, that all the exiles lost the use of Hebrew. Many of the better classes preserved it, and the use of it in the books of Ezra, Xel:e- miah, Haggai, Zeehariah, and Malachi implies that it was yet familiar to many. 110 INTRODUCTION TO common language of the Chaldeans among whom they had sojourned more than seventy years. In connexion with other Levites and with ISTehemiah, Ezra Avas wont to assemble the people, and read and explain to them the hook of the law of Moses (Neh. viii, 1-8). The ao-reement of ancient traditions in associating Ezra with the Great Svnao-oo-ue, and the formation of the Old Testament Canon, may authorize us to believe that, in connexion with Nehemiah and other leading Jews of his time, he did collect and arrange the books of the Jewish Canon in substantially the form in which we now possess them. He lived at a time when such a work could best be done, and he had facilities for it Avhich no later age possessed. Ezra was unquestionably one of the greatest men of Israel, and his mighty influence over the people is attested by the numerous traditions which still linger about his name. Such being the historical position and character of this writer, we can readily understand the bilingual character of the book which bears his name. When, at chapter iv, 8, he has occasion to insert the letter of the Samaritans to zVrtaxerxes (Smerdis), which is em- phatically said to have been written and translated into Aramaic, he naturally gives it in the language in which he found it written — a language perfectly familiar to himself and his people. For the same reason he continues his narrative in the Aramaic language as far as chap, vi, 18; for this part of his book is principally devoted to foreign and international affairs, and contains copies of letters to and from Artaxerxes and Darius.' So, also, the copy of Artaxerxes' letter and decree, in chap, vii, 12-26, is inserted without note or comment in this Aramaic language. Such a peculiar use of two languages, or dialects, was perfectly in keeping with the age and circumstances of Ezra, who was equally familiar with both tongues; but it could scarcely be explicable in a writer of any other age or nation. Ezra had no sufficient reason to translate these Aramaic documents, which he found ready for his use. Rather, we may say, he was divinely inspired and overruled to preserve them in just the form in which he found them. Tlieir subject-matter, like the Aramaic portions of Daniel, had special lessons for the Gentile world, and it was Avell for them to be published and made immor- tal in the language of that nation with whose name the exile of the Hebrews was to be forever associated. 1 It is prol)iihle that the whole Chaldoe section, from chap, iv, 8 to vi, 18, is an older document, written by a contemporary of Zerubhabel, fur in chap, v, 4, the writer uses the first person, as if he were a participant in the matters described. Ezra appropri- ated this document, containing; an authentic history of the troubles attending the re- building of the temple, just as he did the document of names and numljcrs in chap. ii. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. Ill Tliis Chaldean language, being, like the Hebrew, only a dia- lectical outgrowth of the original Semitic speech, is, in its genius, idioms, and general structure, substantially the same as Hebrew, Among its chief peculiarities are (1) the use of nouns • ^1 1 ^- r^ ^ mi • T . , •, Grammatical m the emphatic state, i his usage does away with the pecuiiai ities of article, so that where the Hebrew would have t]!p?3ri, ^^^ chaidee. hmnmelek, the king, the Chaidee has N3^p, tnalka. (2) The termi- nation of the masculine j^lural of nouns in p — where the Hebrew has D''— (3) The use of the relative H (shortened prefix 'n) in the various senses in which the Hebrew employs "IK'N, and also as a sign of the genitive case. (4) A pleonastic use of the suffix pro- nouns; as "unto Mm, unto Artaxerxes, the king (Ezra iv, 11); "the name of Mm, of God" (Dan. ii, 20). (5) There are three ordinary conjugations of the verb, the Peal, Pael, and Aphel, corresponding substantially with the Kal, Piel, and Hiphil in Hebrew,' and each of these has a passive or reflexive mode, formed by prefixing the syllable nx, thus : Simple. Intensive. Causative. Peal, ^pp Pael, ^Jts,? Aphel, bi:^i^^ Ithpeal, ^tpi^riX Ithpaal, b'apm Ittaphal, bl^\?m In Chaidee, as in Hebrew, there are also several rare and peculiar conjugations, and the biblical Chaidee makes use of the conjuga- tions Hiphil and Hophal, and in other instances uses n instead of ^?. We also find in Chaidee imperatives in the passive form, and a dis- tinct masculine and feminine termination (^ — and H—) for the third person plural of the past tense. The participle is also used for the finite verb, and is construed with nouns and pronouns far more frequently than in Hebrew. In its lexical forms the Chaidee is specially noticeable in its use of the letters T instead of T, n and £3 instead of lt\ and y instead of V. In the few Aramean chapters of our Bible we can scarcely expect to find a very full illustration of all the peculiarities of this lan- guage. In its general spirit and form we trace, however, a ten- dency to depart from the suggestive brevity of expression which we notice in the ancient Hebrew, and to leave less to the imagina- tion and understanding of the reader. There is less of animation and freshness of thought, and more of effort to set forth facts and ideas with fulness and precision. Nevertheless, we occasionally meet with passages of peculiar force and emotion. Notice the pe- culiar pleonastic structure and style of the following verse, which we translate literally from Dan. iii, 8 : " All because of this, in it, ' Comp. the Hebrew paradigm above, page 81. 113 INTRODUCTION TO tlie time, approached men, Chaldeans, and devoured the pieces of them, of tlie Jews." The expression, devoured tlieir pieces, is meta- phorical, denoting the rabid fury of the Chaldeans in accusing the Jews, as if, like ravenous beasts, they would tear them into bits, and devour them. In the twenty -fifth verse of the same chapter, mark the mingled excitement and awe of Nebuchadnezzar's words: "Ha! I see men, four, unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and hurt there is not in them, and the aspect of him, of the fourth, is like to a son of the gods ! " Some passages naturally fall into parallelisms, as the following, from Nebuchadnezzar's proclamation (Dan. iv, 10-14): I w!is looking, and behold, a tree in the midst of the land, And tlie height of it was great; Greatly increased became the tree, and mighty, And the height of it was reaching to the heavens, And the sight of it to the end of all the land. Its foliage was beautiful, and its fruit abundant, And there was food in it for all. Under it the beast of the field found shade. And in its branches dwelt the birds of heaven, And from it all flesh was fed. I was looking, in the visions of my head, upon my bed, And behold, a watcher, even a holy one, And from the heavens he descended; He called aloud, and thus he spoke: Cut down the tree, and lop oil its branches, Remove its foliage, and scatter its fruit, Let the beast run away from under it, And the birds from its branches. The current language of such a world-empire as that of Babylon would naturally appropriate many foreign words. It orepnwor s. gj^^^^i^^ therefore, occasion no surprise to find Median, Persian, and Greek words in Chaldee writings belonging to the era of Nebu(^hadnezzar,' This Chaldean dialect, adopted by the Jews durino: their exile, was retained by them after their return to their fatherland. The pi-ophecies of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were written in Hebrew, for they were to have a place among the sacred books," but the com- ' See Rawlinson on the Persian words in Ezra, and also the Excursus on Persian words in Daniel, in the Speaker's Commentarj', vol. iii, p. 421 and vol. vi, p. 2<f>. ' The lic'hrew did not altogether go out of use until long after tlie return from the Babylonian exile. It was used by such men as Haggai, Ezra, and other prophets, priests, and scribes of the law. Keil thinks the later prophets studied to imitate the style of the oldest Hebrew, and therefore used archaisms from the Pentateuch. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 113 mon language of the people was this Babylonian-Aramaic, Avhich maintained itself in Palestine during the periods of Persian, Greek, and Roman dominion. It is called Judaic (nnin^) in Neh. xiii, 24, and HchraistiCy or the Hebraic dialect, in the Apocrypha and in the New Testament.' The numerous Chaldee words used in the New Testament^ are also an evidence that it was the common language of Palestine in the time of our Lord.^ Its most considerable lit- erature is contained in the Targums, the oldest of which were prob- ably Avritten before the beginning of the Christian era.* It is not without historical significance that Ezra and Daniel wrote a portion of the Scriptures in this language of the Chal- dees. These chapters abide a monumental witness of Israel's con- tact with the mighty world-powers. Out of the land Historical and of the Chaldees Abram was called, and in him, it was apologetic vai- • T 1 11 r- •!• T • CI Till ue of the Chal- said that all tamihes and nations or the earth should dee parts of the be blessed. After fourteen centuries of religious cul- ^'^e. ture and revelation, his sons, by many thousands, were carried back into the same Chaldean land. Through Daniel in Babylon God made his wonders and power known to the mightiest nations of the world, and Israel's exile in Babylon, like Joseph's life in Egypt, served the double purpose of 2>i"eserving the chosen people from utter ruin by idolatry, into which they had been fast running in Canaan, and of showino- forth to the mightiest nation of the earth the wisdom and power of God. Daniel wrote in the tongue of the Chaldeans the fall of that mighty monarchy, which was symbolized by the golden head of the image (Dan. ii, 32, 38), and the great lion with eagle's wings (vii, 4). Ezra wrote in the same tongue the conflicts of the restored Israel with other heathen powers. Tliese chapters foreshadow a gradual transition to a new era, and led the way to the subsequent appropriation of the Greek language, in which the New Testament Scriptures appear. ^'Ej3palar[ and rrj 'E,5pai(5i 6La}.EKTu. See Prologue to Ecclesiasticus and John V, 2; xix, 13, 17, 20; Acts xxi, 40; xxii, 2; xxvi, 14. 'Such as Raca (Matt, v, 22), Golgotha (Matt, xxvii, 3"), TaUlha cumi (Mark v, 41), Corhan (Mark vii, 11), Ephphatha (Mark vii, 34), Rabboni (Mark x, 51), Abba (Mark xiv, 36), Gabbntha (John xix, 13), Aceldamn (Acts i, 19), Maran aiha (1 Cor. xvi, 22). ' See the Essay of Prof. H. F. Pfannkuche, On the prevalence of the AraniBcan Language in Palestine in the Age of Christ and the Apostles ; translated from the German by E. Robinson, in the Biblical Repository, for April, 1831. ■* For a convenient account of the character and age of the Targums, see Harm an, Introduction to the Study of the Holy Scriptures, pp. 52-55, and the Appendix to Hackctt's translation of Winer's Grammar of the Chaldee Language, Andover, 1845. See also the Biblical Cvclopiedias under the v.-ord Targums. . 8 114 INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER VI. THE GREEK LANGUAGE. The Greek language belongs to the so-called Indo-European lamily. An indo-Eiiro- which extends from the eastern boundary of India to pean tougue. ^]^q western shores of Europe. Midway between these two extremes, on that iEgean shore " where every sight is beauty, and every breatli a balm," the nation of the Greeks arose and flourished. In ideals of government, in models of taste, in oratory, mathematics, architecture, sculpture, history, and philosophy, they have furnished the masterpieces of the world. In these several de- partments, Solon, Homer, Demosthenes, Euclid, Phidias, Thucyd- ides, and Plato, are representative and immortal names. It has long been observed that natural scenery has much to do witli the development of national life, and may give character to the civilization of a people. We have already called attention to the fact that Hebrew civilization and literature resemble the varied Languarre and sceuory of the Holy Land. So may avc also trace a civilization af- relationship between the land of the Greeks, and that rai scenery and exquisite literature and versatile life and talent exhib- chmate. -^^^^ j,^ their remaining monuments of science and art. " If we inquire into the causes of this singular excellence," says W. S. Tyler, " God laid the foundations for it when he laid the foundations of the earth; when he based the Avhole country, not, like England and America, upon coal and iron, but upon Pentelic, Hymettian, and Parian marble ; when he not only built the moun- tains round about Athens of the finest materials for sculpture and architecture, but fashioned their towering fronts and gently sloping summits into the perfect model of a Grecian temple, and lifted from the midst of the plain the Acropolis and Mars' Hill — fit pedestals for temples and statues, fit abodes for gods and god-like men; when he reared to heaven Helicon, Parnassus, and the snow- capjicd Olympus, -where dwelt the muses and the gods, and poured down their sides the rivers in which the river-gods had their dwell- ing})lace, and from which the muses derived their origin; when he diversified the whole country Avith mountain and valley, with plain and ])romontory, with sea and land, with fountain, and river, and bay, and strait, aiul island, and isthmus, and peninsula, as no other country in the world, within the same compass, is diversified, and BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. Ho, thus gave to each district ahuost every variety of soil, climate, and natural scenery; when he drew the outline of the shores windino- and waving, as if for the very purpose of realizing the ideal line of beauty, and spread around them the clear, liquid, laughino- waters of the T:oXv(f)Xoio(3oio 6a/iaaoi]g,^ and poured over sea and land the pure transparent air and bright sunshine which distino-uish Gi'eece in the dry season scarcely less than the rainless Egypt, and cano- pied the whole with that Avonderfully deep and liquid sky, blue down to the very horizon, which is the never-ceasing admiration of foreigners who visit Athens."^ The Greeks were first so called by the Latins, A^ho probably obtained their earliest acquaintance with them from The Greeks one of their northern tribes called the Gra^ci (TpaiKOi). called Hellenes. Thence the name passed into most of the languages of Europe. But the more proper name of the nation was Hellenes {"EXXipeg), and the entire territory they occupied was called in general Hellas. The earliest settlements and history of the Hellenes are veiled in obscurity. The common tradition is, that they were descended from Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, who survived the flood. According to the genealogy of nations given in the tenth chapter of Genesis, we trace them back to Javan, the son of Japheth (Gen. x, 2). The name Javan (|V) is the Hebrew equiva- lent of Ion ( "Iw?^), the traditional ancestor of the lonians, Avith whom the Phoenicians and the Semitic peojDles would naturally identify the entire Hellenic race.* The ancient Hellenes early branched off into numerous tribes, known as the Dorians, iEolians, Achfeans, and lonians. Tribes and ciia- and, according to that linguistic law which we have '^cts. noticed above,* these scattered tribes soon became distinguished by differences of dialect. Not only may we now discover the princi- pal dialects, viz., the Doric, ^Eolic, Ionic, and Attic,^ and trace different periods in the dcAxdopment of these, such as old, middle, and new; but less noticeable differences may be also traced, as the more or less divergent speech of the Thessalonians, Boeotians, Laconians, and Sicilians. Passing by the confused legends of the ' " Many-fsounding sea," Homer, Iliad, i, 34. * Oration at Andover Theological Seminary on Atliens, or Esthetic Culture and the Art of Expression, imblished in Bibliotheca Sacra, Jan., 1863. '' See Smith, Dictionary of tlic Bihle, article Javan. ^ See page ^2. ^ See, on these several dialects, the second and improved edition of Kiihner, Aus- fiahrliche Grammatik der griechiseben Sprache, Einleitung, pp. t-SV. Hannover, 1869-70. 116 INTRODUCTION TO earliest migrations, and the history and peculiarities of the Doric and ^olic dialects, we may well believe that the lonians having crossed the xEgean Sea from Athens, settled on the western coast of Asia Minor, and took the le^d of all the Greek tribes in the develoi^ment of literature and art. The most ancient monuments of their literature are the poems of Homer and Hesiod. But it would scarcely be proper to assume that the lano-uage of these poems was the common language of the people. As poets, they would be likely to appropriate many archaic and unusual forms. Hence the Greek language, as exhibited in these most ancient works, is called the Epic. A later form of Ionic si)eech is seen in the few fragments of lyric poetry attributed to Archilochus, Callinus, and Mimnermus. To a still later period be- lono-s the well-known Ionic prose writer and historian, Herodotus. These writings represent, respectively, the old, the middle, and the new Ionic Greek. This dialect is believed to represent more near- ly than others the ancient Hellenic language. Its early and impor- tant literature would naturally give it a permanency, but, after their first remarkable activity, the lonians declined. Meanwhile Athens, the mother city of the lonians, began to rise in power and fame, and gradually acquired supremacy among the Grecian cities. The Attic capital became the centre of intellec- tual activity. Thither repaired Hellenic youths from all the tribes to study models of elegance and taste, and the Attic di- Atccu ure. ^\qq^^ became, by degrees, the language of the educated classes throughout the states of Greece. But in the Attic, as in the Ionic, we may note three periods, the old, the middle, and the new. The old Attic differed but little from the Ionic, for the lonians were originally inhabitants of Attica. In this dialect the distinouishcd Athenian lawgiver, Solon, wrote his laAvs and poems, several fragments of which are still extant. The middle Attic rep- resents the language in the golden period of its elegance and glory. Its classic monuments are the historical works of Thucydides and Xenophon, the orations of Isocrates and Lj^sias, the philosophical dialogues of Plato, and the dramatic poetry of ^schylus, Sopho- cles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. The new Attic is usually dated from Demosthenes and -^Eschincs, Avhose orations are regarded as models of eloquence. But after the Macedonian conquest (B.C. 338) the Attic dialect suffered a gradual decay. The lan- guage of the Macedonians, though genuine Greek, was probably Dt'oay of Attic "cver reduced to writing by the natives; but the ascend- eiegance. ency of these ruder northerners, and their subversion of the independence of Athens, had the necessary tendency to BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 117 corrupt the classic speech of Attica, A fusion of dialects ensued. Alexander the Great, trained by the philosopher Aristotle, who used the Attic, must have become early familiar with that dialect and its literature, and his mighty conquests sjDread this lan- guage over all Western Asia, and into Egypt. The breaking up and intermingling of rival states and communities, and the found- ing of Greek colonies in many parts of this vast territory, led to numerous departures from the classic forms of Attic speech. Nev- ertheless, the Attic dialect remained the basis and controlling fac- tor of this later Greek. This widespread lansruasre of The later Attic the Macedonian Empire, from its appropriation of or common dia- words and forms from various sources, and from its ^^'^^' general use, received the name of the common dialect {rj kolvt) SidXeKTog). The successors of Alexander maintained and spread its use into all the principal towns and cities. On the reduction of Corinth to a Roman province (B. C. 146) this Greek language and literature extended w^estward, and eveiy educated Roman became familiar with it. At the beginning of the Christian era, this com- mon dialect was written, read, and spoken from Spain on the west to the borders of India on the east, and from Sarmatia on the north to Ethiopia in the south. " If any one imagines," says Cicero, "that a less amount of glory is to be derived from Greek than from Latin verses, he greatly errs, for Greek writings are read in almost all regions, while the Latin are confined within their own limits, which are narrow enough." ' One of the fragm.ents of Epictetus declares that " in Rome the women hold Plato's Repub- lic in their hands."* "What do the Greek cities desire," asks Sen- eca, "in the midst of barbarian countries? What means the Mace- donian speech among Indians and Persians ? " ^ It is obvious, therefore, how the common language of the widespread Macedonian Empire would naturally gather something from almost every quar- ter. The later Greek had no longer a variety of dialects, in the older sense, but blended many of those ancient local peculiarities, and adopted not a few foreign idioms. Yet, in some places, old forms would maintain themselves more or less fully. Atticisms would prevail at Athens, and Doric forms in the districts where the old Doric had formerly prevailed. The principal literary centres of this later Attic or common dia- lect were Athens, Antioch, and Alexandria. The last- named city, founded by Alexander himself, whose keen ^ ''''^'■ycen res. foresight perceived that a city occupying this site must certainly ' Oratio pro A. Licinio Archia, sec. 23. ''Epiet., Frag. 53. ^L. AnniEus Seneca, Do cotisohitioue ad IleUiain iiiatrevn, vii. 118 INTRODUCTION TO command the commerce between the East and the West, became, under Ptolemy Soter, renowned for literature and science. This enterprising ruler founded the famous Alexandrian Library, and collected for it the accessible literature of all nations. Thitlier he Alexandrian invited philosophers and learned men from all lands, culture. and the new city became rapidly filled with the repre- sentatives of all schools of philosophy and the devotees of all relig- ions. Among all these the Greek was the common language of intercourse, and was sometimes called the Macedonian, but more commonly the Alexandrine, dialect. Meantime the Jews had become largely scattered throughout the Macedonian Empire, and, dwelling in numerous cities where tlie Greek was generally spoken, they adopted it as their com- Aiexandrian ^^^ language. But Alexandria especially contained Jews. large numbers of Jews.' The liberal policy of the first two Ptolemies (Soter and Philadelphus) invited them thither, and their commercial tastes and tact found there peculiar attractions. According to well-known tradition, the Septuagint version of the Old Testament was made by the direction of one of these kings. Internal evidence, however, shows that this version was made at different times and by different persons during the three centuries preceding the Christian era. As the Jewish exiles at Babylon lost by degrees the use of Hebrew, and adopted the tongue of the Chaldeans, so the Jews of the dispersion, living in Greek cities, adopted the Greek, and required to have their Scriptures translated into the same language. These Greek-speaking Jews were called Hellenists, and since the beginning of the Hellenists. , . , , ^ ^^ , seventeenth century it has been customary to call the later Greek dialect, as used by Jews, the Hellenistic Greek. On the common language of these Greek-speaking Israelites, or Hellen- ists, the use of the Se})tuagint version of the Old Testament would necessarily exert a moulding influence. The speech of all Hellen- ists, whether of Alexand^ia, or Tarsus, or Antioch, or Corinth, would acquire a certain peculiarity of style, a kind of ethnic tinge. The Greek translators of the Old Testament transferred many Hebrew idioms into their version, and found it necessary to employ Greek words to express ideas entirely new and foreign to the Greek mind. Hebraic forms of speech would thus become com- mon among the Hellenists, and differentiate them from other Greek- speaking peoples, ' According to Philo (Treatise against Flaccus, sections vi and viii) they numbered n million of men in all Egypt, and constituted about two filths of the entire popula- tion of Alexandria. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 119 When Christianity introduced a new life and religion into the world, its sacred books were all written by Jews or Jewish pros- elytes, who used the later Hebraic or Hellenistic Greek. These writers found it necessary again to use this lansfuage _, . ., •> o so Christian ide- for the setting forth of ideas and truths which had as influencinjr never before been clothed in any human language. ^^^^^ speech. New significations thus became attached to old words, and new forms of speech were coined to express the concepts of the Gospel. Accordingly, the New Testament language and diction have, neces- sarily, peculiarities of their own. There is, happily, no occasion now to repeat or continue the old controversy between the Purists and the Hebraists touching the character of the New Testament Greek. The Purists, controversy be- in claiming for it all the classic purity and elegance of !^'^6" J'Jf P"!"- o 1 J & ists and the He- the ancient Greek, seem to have been actuated by the braists. same principle as those who contended for the inspiration of the He- brew vowel-points. To them it seemed also a disparagement of the holy books to say that they wei'e written in a corrupted dialect, or one less pure and perfect than any Grecian models. On the other hand, some of the Hebraists went to the extreme of charging bar- barisms and manifold inaccuracies upon the language of the New Testament writers. Comparative philology, and more thorough linguistic research, have rendered the old controversies obsolete, and it is now seen, in the light of history and of the science of language, how and why the Hellenistic Greek of the New Testa- ment differs from the older classic tongue.' ' So early as the latter part of the sixteenth century, Beza (De dono Linguae, etc., on Acts X, 46) acknowledged the Hebraisms of the New Testament, but extolled them as being 'of such a nature that in no other idiom could expressions be so happily formed; nay, in some cases not even formed at all" in an adequate manner. He con- sidered them as "gems with which [the apostles] had adorned their writings." The famous Robert Stephens (Pref. to his N. Test., 1576) declared strongly against those, " qui in his scriptis [sacris] inculta omnia et horrida esse putant ; " and he laboured not only to show that the New Testament contains many of the elegancies of the true Grecian style, but that even its Hebraisms give inimitable strength and energy to its diction. Thus far, then, Hebraism was not denied but vindicated; and it was only against allowing an excess of it, and against alleged incorrectnesses and barbarisms, that Beza and Stephens contended. Sebastian Pfochen (Diatribe de Ling. Graec. N. Test, puritate, 1C29) first laboured in earnest to show that all the expressions employed in the New Testament are found in good classic Greek authors. In 1658, Erasmus Schmidt vindicated the same ground. But before this, J. Junge, rector at Hamburg, published (in 1637, 1689) his opinion in favour of the purity (not the classic elegance) of the New Testament diction; which opinion was vindicated by Jac. Grosse, pastor in the same city, in a series of five essays published in 1640 and several successive years. The last four of these were directed against the attacks of opponents, i. e., of advocates for the Hellenistic diction 120 INTRODUCTION TO The sources from which we are to learn the peculiarities of . . the later Greek are the writers of the Alexandrine Sources of in- , formation and and Roman periods of Greek literature, but more espe- ^^^^y- cially the grammarians, scholiasts, and lexicographers, who have expressly treated of the diiierences between Attic ele- gance and the corruj^tions of the later Greek. But the great monuments of the Hellenistic Greek are the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the apocryphal books, and the scriptures of the New Testament. The writings of Philo Judteus, Josephus, the Apostolical Fathers, and sundry writers of the later Roman period, have also a value in this connexion; but the New Testament itself must furnish the principal illustrations for the purpose of the bibli- cal interpreter. It is of the first importance for us to remember that the New Testament writers learned their Greek not from books, but from the language of common life. There is no suffi- cient reason for believing that any of the Evangelists or Apostles were extensively familiar with Greek literature; not even Paul, who, indeed, quotes from Greek writers (Acts xvii, 28; Titus i, 12), of the New Testament; viz., against Dan. Wulfer's Innocentia Hellenist, vindicata (IGIO), and an essay of the like nature by J. Musoeus of Jena (lC-11, 1612). Independently of this particular contest, D. Ileinsius (in 1C43) declared himself in favour of Hellenism; as also Thos. Gataker (164S), who avowedly wrote in oppositioa to Pfochen, with much learning, but rather an excessive leaning to Hebraism. Joh. Vorstius (1658, 16G.5) wrote a book on Hebrai.-nis, which is still common. On some excesses in this book Horace Vitringa made some brief but pithy remarks. Some- what earlier than these last wi'itings, J. H. Boeder (1041) published remarks, in which he took a kind of middle way between the two parties; as did J. Olcarius (1G68), and J. Leusden about the same time. It was about this time, also, that the majority of critical writers began to acknowledge a Hebrew element in the New Testament diction, which, however, they did not regard as constituting hnrhnrhm, but only as giving an oriental hue to the diction. M. Solanus, in an able essay directed against the tract of Pfochen, vindicated this position. J. H. Michaelis (1707), and A. Blackwall (Sacred Classics, 1727), did not venture to deny the Hebraisms of the New Testament, but aimed principally to show that the.se did not detract from the qualities of a good and elegant style ; so that, in this respect, the New Testament writers were not inferior to the classical ones. The work of the latter abounds with so many excellent remarks, that it is worthy of attention from every critical reader, oven of the jircsont time. In 1722, Siegm. Georgi, in his Vindiciae, etc., and in 17"):> in his Hiurocriticus Sacer, vindicated anew the old views of the Purists; but without changing the tide of opinion. The same design J. C. Schwartz had in view in his Conmi. crit. et philol. in Ling. Graec. (1G30); who was followed, in 1752, by E. Palairct (Observ. philol. crit. in N. Test.), the last, I believe, of all the Purists. Most of the earlier dissertations above named, with some others, were published together in a volume by J. Rhenford, entitled Dissert.itionuin jihilol. thool. <lc Stylo N. Test. Syntagma, 17<i2 ; and the later ones by T. H. Vau dcu Iloncrt, in his Syntagma Dissertatt. de Stylo N. Test. Graeco, 1703. Stuart, Grammar of the New Testament Dialect, pp. 8, 9. Andover, 1841. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 121 for such passages as he cites were of a kind that would naturally be current among the people. Planck, in his valuable Dissertation on the true nature and char- acter of the Greek Style of the New Testament/ classi- pecuiiaiities fies its chief peculiarities and characteristics under eio-ht ?'^? chrrLctcr- ^ . . _ * istics or Hel- heads, which, in the main, we follow, though drawing lenisiic Greek. our illustrations from many other sources. 1. Words adopted into the Greek language from foreign sources. Here belong the Aramaic words already noticed; such as Abba, Mphphatha, Gorban, Aceldama / names of Ro- man coins; as drjvdgtov, Latin denarius; KoSgdvrrig, 2i farthinr/, from the Latin quadrans ; TTgairojgiov, Latin j^'^''^^ to Hum (John xviii, 28); (peX6v7]g, written also (paiXovi-jg, (peX6)V7]q, and (jyaOMvrjg (2 Tim. iv, 13,) corrupt form of (fyatvoXrjg, from the Latin pcenula, a cloak. 2. Words peculiar in their orthography and pronunciation. The New Testament writers did not follow any common peculiar or- standard of orthography. Peter, John, Paul, and James thogmpiiy. had each his peculiar method of spelling certain words, and proba- bly transcribers of their manuscripts used still a different method, according to the custom of later times. In this respect the most ancient manuscripts exhibit variations. Alexandrian copies differ in orthography from those of Constantinople, and the writers or transcribers seem in many instances to have been governed by a preference for certain dialectic- forms; as derog, eagle (Matt, xxiv, 2S), an Attic form for alerdg; vaXog, glass (Rev. xxi, 18), instead of veXog; 'iletog, merciful (Ileb. viii, 12), instead of IXaog. Doric orthography is seen in rad^ij), to arrest (John vii, 30), instead of mei^'w ; KXiiSavog, oven (Luke xii, 28), instead of Kpifiavog; Ionic, in (^adiiog, grade or degree (1 Tim. iii, 13), for [3aciwg; trgrivfig, Jieadlong (Acts i, 18), for ngav7'jg. 3. Peculiarities in the flexion of nouns and verbs. The form 'AttoA/Lo) is used for the accusative (Acts xix, 1), and ^jg^jQ^ ^j the genitive (1 Cor. i, 12); the accusative vyii], sound, nouns and whole (John v, 11, 15; Titus ii, 8), instead of the more '^^^^^' usual form vyid/ d(pievTai, or dtpeojvTai, are forgiven (Matt. ix, 2, 5; Luke v, 20; 1 John ii, 12), is used instead of d(*)EivraL; icd-dov, sit thoic (Matt, xxii, 44; James ii, 3), instead of Kadtjao, and Kdi9^, thou sittest (Acts xxiii, 3), instead of Kd-^rjaai. We have also ' Commentatio de vera Natura atque Indole Orationis Graecae Novi Testament!, by Henry Planck, Prof, in the University of Gottinsen. This very important essay was first published in 1810, and was afterward republi.-^lied in Rosenmiiller's Comnienta- tiones Theologicae, 1825. It was translated into English by E. Robinson, and pub- lished in the American Biblieal Repository, Andover, Oct., 1831. 123 INTRODUCTIOx\ TO tlie termination av for aai, as eyvw/cav for eyvo)Kaoi, they have known (John xvii, V), and the insertion of the syllable oa in the third person plural of some words, as kdoXiovaav for kdoXiovv, tJiey deceived (Rom. iii, 13).' 4. The heterogeneous use of nouns. Thus OKorog, darkness is Heterogeneous "sed in the masculine and neuter genders; Xi^og, fam- nouiis. ijie, and (Bdrog, bramble, in masculine and feminine. We have the neuter plural in rd Seoixd, the bands (Luke viii, 29), and the masculine plural rovg deofxovg (Phil, i, 13), and tXeog, mercy, which is used as masculine by all classic Greek writers, is used as neuter in the Septuagint and in the New Testament. Compare Luke i, 50, 58; Rom. ix, 23; Jude 21, and (Septuagint) Gen. xix, 19; Num. xi, 15. 5. Peculiar forms of words, which passed down from ancient Neworpecuiiar dialects into the common language, or else were coined forms of words, anew according to some ^jrevious analogy. Of this class we have (1) among Nouns: dXeKrcop, a cock, a Doric or poetic form for dXeKTQvo)i', OKorla, darkness (Matt, x, 27; John A'i, 17), for OKOToq; olKodoiirj, building (1 Cor. iii, 9; xiv, 5; Eph. ii, 21), for olfcodonrjua; neromeaia, exile (Matt, i, 11), for iieroiKia, or ne~oiKT]aig', fiad^irpia, a female disciple (Acts ix, 36), for fj,a^rjrQig; KardXvfia, a lodginy place (Luke ii, 7), for KaTaycjyiov; al-rjua, a request (Phil, iv, 6), for aLT7]atg', and many other nouns ending in [.La, for Avhich the more classic language used the endings t], eia, and oig. (2) Among Verbs we find a tendency to jjrefer the ending oco, as dvaKacvoo), to reneio {2 Cov. iv, 10; Col. iii, 10), instead of dvuKatvi^u); KQaraioo), to become strong (Luke i, 80; ii, 40; Eph. iii, 16), instead of KQarvvu); oagou), to sioeep (Luke xv, 8), instead of oaipo)', SeKaroG) to tithe (Heb. vii, 6, 9), instead of 6eKarevG). Other Hellenistic forms are OQdQiCo), to do anything early in the morning (Luke xxi, 38), insteac of b^dQEvoi; dA?/t9a), to grind (Matt, xxiv, 41), instead of dAew; vridix), to spin (Matt, vi, 28), instead of vew. (3) Among Adjec- tives we have diTeiQaaroc, not temptable (James i, 13) for dTTeiQarog; dfiaQTcoXog, sinful (Luke v, 8, and often), for dfiaQrrjXog; dpdQivog, early (Luke xxiv, 22, and Text. Rec. of Rev. xxii, 16), for oQdpiog; and (4) among ApvKnns, li^aTriva, stiddenly (Mark ix, 8), for k^a-n- ivT]g; -navoinL, tcith all om-'s house (Acts xvi, 34), for navoLKia, or TravoiKrjaia. 6. AVords either peculiar to the ancient dialects, or altogether oifi dialects new. Of the former class are eKxpoifia, an abortion andnewwords. (j Qq^, xv, 8), an lonic word, for which the Attics used dju/3/la)jua, or ^|djLt/3Awjua; and yoyyvsw, to murmur (John vii, 32), ' See many other rare forms in Winer's Grammar, §§ 13, 14. BIBLICAL IIERMENEUTICS. 123 and yoyyvajid^, murmuring (John vii, 12; Acts vi, 1), Ionic words for which the Attics employed rov-&Qv^i.} and Tov6pvo[j,6g. New words were coined to express things which were unknown to the ancient Greeks, and peculiar to the Jews or the New Testament writers; as dvdpunrdpeoKog, a tnan-pleaser (Eph. vi, 6; Col. iii, 22), aXXorpioeniaKonog, an overseer of other people's matters (1 Peter iv, 15), a();^i(7i'vdyw-yo(;', ruler of the synagogue (Mark v, 35), sMwAo- XaTQtia, idol-ioorship (1 Cor, x, 14; Gal. v, 20), ScodeKacpvXov, the Ijevple of the twelve tribes (Acts xxvi, 7). Compare also the lexicons on dvvaiioo), and evSvvaixoo), to strengthen, and (ieftrjlooi^ to profane. 7. A notable feature of the New Testament dialect consists in the new siofnifications given to words. To trace such ,.„ . - New sipnlflca- clianges and modifications of meaning, and unfold the tions given to development of biblical ideas, is the most difficult and '^'^^'^^• delicate task of the New Testament lexicographer. He must do more than treat the varying forms of words; he must expound the history of thought, and thus become, in the fullest sense, an exegete,* An instance of a word acquiring a new signification may be seen in evayyeXcov, used in the ancient classic authors in the sense of reioard for good news given to the messenger; in Isocrates and Xenophon it is used of sacrifice for a good message y and still later it came to signify the good message itself Thence it acquired in the New Testament the special sense of the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. So, too, the word TrapanaXeo) was used in the an- cient Greek as meaning to call to, to call unto an assembly, or to invite to an entertainment. But in the New Testament we find it used for begging, conforting, and exhorting. The word eIqtjvt], peace, quiet, as contrasted with war and commotion, easily came to be used of peace of mind, tranquillity. Then, in the Septuagint and New Testament it took up and embodied the idea of icell-heing, v^elfare, as represented in the Hebrew Di^C*, and in connection with X^Qiq and eXeoq, grace and mercy, as in the salutation of the apos- tolical epistles, denotes the blessed state of soul-rest obtained by remission of sin through Jesus Christ. So peace with God, in Rom. v, 1, is the new and happy relationship between God and man obtained through faith in the atonement of Christ.^ ' Xo morlern writer has done a greater service in this department than Dr. Hermann Cremer, whose Biblico-Theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek is a rare monu- ment of learning and critical research, and indispensable to the herraeneutics of the Christian Scriptures. For extensive illustration of New Testament words in their depth and fulness of meaning, see this Lexicon on the words /SaTTTi'^w, ovofxa, ovpavoc, 'jrityric, uyioc, fie-avoii,), Koa/ioc, raTzeivoc, uyaTTuu), and uyuTTT;. ^ A like development or modification of meaning may be traced in the words anoKpi- vo, avaTTiTTTcj, avaKEHiai, evxapiareu, nrufia, etc. 124 INTRODUCTION TO "It would have been impossible," observes Bleek,' "to give ex- pression to all the religious conceptions and Christian ideas of the New Testament, had the writers strictly confined themselves to the words and phrases in use among the Greeks, and with the significa- tions usually attached to them. These Christian ideas were quite unknown to the Greeks, and they had never formed phrases suitable to give expression to them. On the other hand, most of these ideas and conceptions already existed in germ in the Old Testa- ment, and Avere more or less familiar to the Jews by means of ap- propriate designations. Hence they would be best expressed for Greek-speaking Jews in the words by which they had been ren- dered in the Septuagint. These expressions would naturally be chosen and spread by those teachers who were of Jewish extraction and education, and would, of course, be adopted generally to denote Christian ideas. Many of these expressions had been ordinary Greek words, Avhose meanings had been made fuller and higher when applied among the Jews to religious subjects, and which retained tliese meanings when adopted by the Christian Church, or were again modified and further elevated, just as the ideas and conceptions of the Old Testament revelation were modified and elevated by Christianity. Hence it frequently came to pass, that when a Greek word in its ordinary signification corresponded with a Hebrew or Aramean word, the derived and developed meanings attaching to the latter would be transferred to the former, and the Greek word would be used in the higher sense of the Hebrew or Aramean woi'd, al- though this meaning had before been unknown to Greek usage."' 8. it remains for us to notice more especially the Hebraisms of the New Testament lauffuaofe, that transfer of Hebrew Hcbrciisms ^ ~ idioms and forms of expression into Greek, which Attic purity and taste would at once pronounce corruptions or barbarisms. Winer has shown that most of the older writers on this subject have included in their list of Hebraisms many expressions which arc not unknown to the Greek prose writers, or are the common property of many languages. He distinguishes two kinds of Hebraisms in the New Testament, the perfect and the imperfect. Perfect Hebraisms include those words, phrases, and constructions which are strictly l^eculiar to the Hebrew or Aramean, and were transferred directly thence into the Hellenistic idiom. Imperfect Hebraisms are all those words, phrases, and constructions, which, though found in ' Introduction to the New Testament. Eng. translation, by Urwick ; pp. 72, 73. ' See abundant illustration of this in such words as XpKrrof, Christ ; rrvevfia, spir- it; X6yn(;^ word; auTripia, salvation ; airu'Xeia, destruction ; KKrjTog, called; iKK?^Tia(a, church ; diKaioavftj, riffhtcoitsness. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 125 Greek prose writers, have been in all probability introduced direct- ly from the Hebrew.' (a) Not only were Hebrew or Aramaic words literally adopted into the New Testament Greek (like 'Aj3/3a, Ar. NUN', Father, Mark xiv, 86, Rom. viii, 15 ; i^oavvd, Heb. ^°'^*^" NrnrL*'in, Hoscmna, save noic, John xii, 13 ; lardv, Heb. \l^V, /Satan, 2 Cor. xii, 7 ; aUspa, Heb. 13'^, strouff drink, Luke i, 15), but Greek words were made to represent distinctively Hebrew conceptions; as p7][J.a, word, in the broad and indefinite sense of the Heb. "in'l. • T T* thi>i(/, matter, aj^air. So in Luke ii, 15: ro pqfxa tovto to yeyovog, this thing that has come to pass. The Greek word c-rrXdyxva, botcels, takes, in the New Testament, the sense of tender affection, sympathy; from the common usage of the Heb. D''pn"i. Hence the verbal form GrXay'xyiil,o[iai, to have compassion. (b) Then there are numerous forms of expression which are traceable directly to the Hebrew; as ^rjrelv Tr]v ipvxrjv, p-orms of ex- Heb. ti'^r^^ ^1?^, to seek the life of any one (Matt, ii, 20 ; pression. Rom. xi, 3) ; Xaii(idveLv ttqooojttov, Heb. Q"'JS NC'J, to accept the person, that is, to lift his face, or show partiality (Luke xx, 21; Gal. ii, 6) ; rideadai kv rr} KapSia, Heb. 3p3 DIK', to p>lcice or lay tqy in the heart (Luke i, 66; xxi, 14; Acts v^ 4); arofia fxaxciiQag, Heb. 3"!n"*5, mouth of the sword (Luke xxi, 24; Heb. xi, 34); Kal eyevero very frequently for "n^l, a7id it came to pass. (c) The New Testament Greek has also appi'opriated sundry gram- matical constructions peculiar to the Hebrew. (1) Many Grammatical verbs are followed by prepositions governing the ac- constructions. cusative or dative, where, in classic Greek, the verbs alone govern Avithout a preposition. Compare the New Testament use of the words TTpoGKvvecx), to worship; cfyevycj), to flee; bjinXoyeu), to confess. (2) The particle el is used in expressing a negative oath after the form of the Hebrew DX, if "I swore in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest" (Heb. iii, 11). That is, they shall not enter. Compare Mark viii, 12. (3) The verb Trpoorldrjju is used, like the He])rew flD^, with another verb, to denote additional action: "He added to send another servant'^ (Luke xx, 11). "He added (i. e., proceeded) to take Peter also" (Acts xii, 3). (4) An imitation of the Hebrew infinitive absolute is apparent in Luke xxii, 15: emi^f/im em-&viirjaa, "with desire I desired to eat this passoA^er." That is, I longingly, or earnestly, desired. John iii, 29 : %apa ;t^tp£^ " with joy he rejoices;" he greatly rejoices. Acts iv, 17: d~F.tX'^ dirnXiiGO)- IJ-sda, " with threatening let us threaten them." (5) In Rev. vii, 2 we note the pleonastic use of the pronoun in imitation of a "VAell- ' See Winer, Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament, § 3. 126 INTRODUCTION TO known use of the Ileb. "iti'X : olg edodi] avrolg, '■'■to whom it "was given to them. Compare also the adverbial relative in Rev. xii, 14: o-r:ov TgE(f)eTat eKel, '■'■ xohere she is nourished <Aere,"^Heb. D'cJ* • • • "i*J'X. (6) The Hebrew use of nouns in the genitive as substitutes for the kindred adjective is very common : as, Xbyoi rrjg ;^;dpfT05', tcords of grace, for gracious loords (Luke iv, 22); OKsvog eKXoyrjg, vessel of choice, for chosen vessel (Acts ix, 15); "the power of his might," for his mighty power (Eph. i, 19); steicard of unrighteousness and Mammon of unrighteousness (Luke xvi, 8, 9), for unrighteous stew- ard and unrighteous Mammon; and judge of unrighteousness (Luke xviii, 6), for unrighteous judge. Sometimes these genitive forms yield a profound significance, as in Eph. i, 18: "The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints," where it would take much from the force of the expression to say, " His rich and glorious in- heritance," or " His gloriously rich inheritance." The New Testament Greek has also some peculiarities of syntax, of which, however, it is unnecessary here to treat. The Hellenistic writers naturally preferred short sentences, after the manner of the Hebrew. But every student will observe the differences of style „ . ,. , , , amonof the New Testament writers. The Pauline epis- Vanoties of style » '■ in New Testa- tlos exhibit a more involved and polemic style tlian ment writers. ^^^^^ ^^j^^^. poi-tio^^ ^f the Christian Scriptures. But these differ noticeably among themselves. The Thessalonian epis- tles have a natural and easy flow, but the prophetic portions, espe- cially 2 Thcss. ii, have peculiarities of their own. In the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians we notice the marked argumentative stvle as contrasted with the more familiar tone and didactic straight- forwardness of the pastoral epistles. The Corinthian epistles have an air of freedom and authority which is not so apparent in Ephe- sians, Philippians, and Colossians, the epistles of Paul's imprison- ment, llie Epistle to the Hebrews is written in a purer Greek, and has a beauty and flow of style quite in advance of the epistles acknowledged to be Pauline. The Epistle of James is noted for the exceptional purity and elegance of its language, and Luke, "the beloved physician," who was probably not a Jew by birth (Col. iv, 11, comp. verse 14), writes a more classic Greek than any other of the evangelists. The Gospel and Epistles of John have numerous peculiarities of diction ; simple and childlike forms of expressing most eleva4^ed and profound spiritual conceptions ; but the Apocalypse is the most Hebraistic in thought and language of all the New Testament books.' ' On the linguistic peculiarities of the different Now Testament writers, comp. Im- mer, Hermeneutics of the New Testament, pp. 132-144. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 127 It will not be difficult for any one to perceive that Hellenistic writers, familiar with the prophetic language of the Old Testament, would be likely to transfer its bold and vivid imagery into their Greek, especially when they themselves were writing prophecy. When Isaiah portrays the coming doom of Babylon, he sees all nature in convulsion. "Behold, the day of Jehovah comee, cruel, and Avrath, and burning of anger. . . . For the stars of the heavens and their constellations shall not shed forth their lisrht: dark has the sun become in his going forth, and the moon will not cause her light to shine" (Isa. xiii, 9, 10). Compare also chap, xxiv, 19-23; xxxiv, 1-10; Nahum i, 3-6. The celebrated passage in Rom. viii, 19-23 is truly Hebraic in the vividness of its metaphorical con- ceptions. The whole creation is represented as groaning, hoping, willing, and looking eagerly for the revelation {dnoKdXvtpiv) of the sons of God. We need not wonder, therefore, that in such pro- phetic passages as the twenty-fourth of Matthew, and the Apoca- lypse of John, we have the spirit and imagery of the Old Testament predictions reproduced, and the language of the Greeks employed in forms and symbols such as it had never previously used. The Hebrew spirit of prophecy was thus inbreathed into Grecian speech. If there may be seen any divine purpose, or any special signifi- cance, in the use of the Hebrew and Chaldee tongues to Greek the most embody the Old Testament revelation, there Avas also a suitable lan- reason for clothing the Christian revelation in the Ian- ctnTstianScrip- guage of the Greeks. The Law and the Prophets were ^'^^'■*^^- designed especially for the sons of Abraham, a chosen and peculiar peoj^le ; but the New Testament revelation w^as for the world. The miracle of tongues on the day of Pentecost was prophetic, indicat- ing that the new word, then first speaking publicly to the world, would make itself heard in all the living languages of men. Par- thians and Medes and Elamites, and those that inhabi^red Meso- potamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phr3^gia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the jjarts of Libya about Cyrene, and stran- gers of Rome, both Jews and j^roselytes, Cretes and Arabians (Acts ii, 9-11) heard with amazement that first preaching of the Gospel, for they heard them speaking " every one in his own dia- lect" (elg eKaarog ry ISla ScaXeicTG), ver. 6.) These Avere all devout Hellenists, then sojourning in Jerusalem (ver. 5) ; and in all the provinces of the empire from which they came Greek was the com- mon dialect. Besides their own vernacular, these Hellenists under- stood and spoke the language of the Greeks. What more fitting, then, than that the new Gospel should embody its written records in this most nearly perfect and universal language of that age? 133 INTRODUCTION TO "The Jews require signs" (a7)[xela), observes the most erudite writer of the New Testament, "but the Greeks seek for wisdom" {no(f)iav, 1 Cor. i, 22). As if to meet these proclivities, the Okl Testament has been set forth in a hieroglyphic language of the early world, in which every letter is a sign or picture of something visible; while the New Testament is Avritten in the historic lan- guage of rcsthetic culture and philosophy. The tongue of the versatile Hellenes was peculiarly suited to express and preserve for all nations the Gospel of the power and wisdom of God (1 Cor, i, 24), which was destined to overthrow Judaism, and confoiind the boasted wisdom of the world. We may well believe, then, that the use of Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek, as the original languages of the Scriptures, was no mere accident of history, but a particular providence, grounded in highest wisdom. The fact that they have all ceased to be living languages since the inspired records they embody came to be recognized as a sacred trust, is truly significant. The means of ascertainins: and illustrating the sense of these records are ample; and the divine oracles thus abide, sanctified and set apart in well-known foi'ms of speech which can never again be disturbed by linguistic changes or the revolutions of empire. The Hebrew, like the temple at Jerusalem, will be studied as a wonder of the world. The temj^le's great and costly stones, its unique architec- ture, and divine plan and purpose — in all essentials a copy of the pattern shown to Moses in the mount of God (Exod. xxv, 40) — held notable analogy with the unique and expressive forms of He- brew speech, in which words stand forth as sacred symbols, aiid grammatical constructions are made to suggest profoundest concep- tions of the holiness of God and the redemption of mankind. T]ie Chaldoe chapters of Daniel and Ezra are like the monumental slabs from the ruined palaces of Babylonian and Persian kings — imperishable witnesses that God once spoke to those mighty na- tions, and, when they were in highest power and jDomp, and Israel in exile and humiliation, foretold their utter ruin, and the certain triumph of truth and righteousness in the kingdom of the God of heaven. The Greek lantruao;©, like the famous Parthenon at Athens, breathes a marvellous expressiveness, and abounds in mod- els of beauty. But in its Hellenistic style and New Testament form we admire the divine wisdom, the deep philosophy, and the practical judgment, which a])propriated the common dialect of a Avorld-wide civilization, and consecrated its potent formulas of thought to preserve and perpetuate the Gospel. BIBLICAL IIERMEXEUTIC& 129 CHAPTER VII. TEXTUAL CRITICISM. Biblical Criticism is a term which has often been applied to the critical treatment of nearly all topics that come xmder the head of Bihlical Introduction, such as questions of lower criti- the date and authorship of the sacred books, and also ^^^' of interpretation itself. This use of the term is more definitely known as the Higher Criticism. The other and more proper sense is that which restricts it to the critical labours which aim to restore the original texts of the Bible. This usage of the word is often called the Lower Criticism, It treats the forms and order in which the books of the Bible have been arranged, the history, condition, and relative value of the ancient manuscript copies, and the differ- ent printed editions of the original texts. It collates and compares ancient manuscripts, versions, and quotations, and lays down rules and principles by which to detect corruptions and determine the genuine reading. It frequently occurs that the interpretation of a passage of Scrip- ture is so far involved in a question of textual criticism The interpreter that the critical treatment of the text is essential to the ^T^l^i^^!°^^, a c o m p e t e n t exposition. Especially is this true in the case of texts textual criiic. so doubtful that the ablest critics differ in judgment as to the gen- uine reading. An exegete who proceeds with the explanation of such a doubtful passage, utterly ignoring or indifferent to the un- certainty of the text itself, exhibits himself as an untrustworthy guide. The competent intei'preter of Scripture is supposed to be _ thoroughly versed in the history and principles of textual criti- cism, and it is proper that in this Introduction to Biblical Her- meneutics we dcA'ote a brief chapter to this subject. Our space and the purpose of this volume will allow us only to present the leading j^rinciples and canons.' ' On the subject of Textual Criticism see Davidson, Biblical Criticism (2 vols., Edin- burgh, 1852), and Revision of the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament (London, 1855) ; Strack, Prolegomena Critica in Vet. Testamentum Ilebraicum (Lps., 1873); F. II. Scrivener, Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament (Second Ed., Cambridge, 18*74); Home, Introduction to the Holy Scriptures, vol. ii, pp. 1-112 (Ayre & Tregelles' Ed., 4 vols., Lond., 18fi2); Tregelles, Account of the Printed Text of the 9 130 INTRODUCTION TO In all ancient writings whicli have oome down to us in a great Causes of vari- number and variety of manuscri]^ts, we find a multi- ous readings, t^jg Qf various readings. These have arisen ^liainlj through the carelessness of transcribers: but, in some instances, perhaps, through design. Copyists accidentally confounded similar words, and sometimes transposed, repeated, or omitted letters and words. Some of the ancient manuscripts contained marginal notes, and in copying from these the glosses were incorporated in the text. Sometimes the text was purposely amended by a scribe, who thought he could improve it. A difficult or obscure word was exchanged for an easy one. A rough passage was made smooth, and sometimes a difficult clause or sentence was entirely omitted. Sometimes dogmatic and party purposes led to the wilful corrup- tion of the text. Thus originated the famous interpolation of the three witnesses in 1 John v, 7. Sometimes the manuscripts used in translation were themselves imperfect, and so errors would be likely to multiply in proportion to the number of manuscripts. The sources from which the genuine readings are to be deter- mined are mainly ancient manuscripts, ancient ver- SourcGStitid, . meansof Text- sions, and scriptural quotations found in the works of uai Criticism, ancient writers. Parallel passages and critical conjec- ture may also be resorted to where other helps are doubtful. The received text of the Old Testament is commonly called the Maso- retic, from the sj^stem of vowel points and the critical notes ap- pended to it by the so-called Masoretes, or Jewish critics. After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the consequent dispersion of the Jews, many learned rabbins continued the culti- vation of their national literature. A celebrated school >vas founded by them at Tiberias, on the coast of the Sea of Galilee, and con- tinued until tlie sixth centurv. The learned critics of this schooi. compiled a collection of the critical and grammatical observations of the great teachei's, and called it the Masorah. A most important part of their work was the preparation of the Keris C""!;?, to he read, as distinguished from the H'^n?, that xohv-h is vmtten; i. e., the writ- ten text), or marginal readings, vrhich these critics probably gath- ered fi-om manuscripts or tradition, and preferred to the reading of the received text of their day. So scrupulously careful were the Masoretes of every word and letter of the sacred text, that they at- tempted no changes in it, but wrote in the margin that which in tlieir judgment should be read. All the ancient copies used by these Greek New Testament (Lond., 1854). See also the introductions to the critical edi- tions of the Greelc Testament by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alfoid, and West- cott and Hort. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 131 critics seem to have perished, and the later manuscripts, hundreds of which have been collated by Kennicott and De Rossi, have little value for the emendation of the Old Testament text. Hence little has been attempted in this line within the last hundred years. The ancient versions and critical conjecture are the princijial means of revising the Hebrew text, and such means are always to be used with the greatest caution.' For the criticism of the New Testament text we have more abun- dant materials. There are, first, the uncial manuscripts, written in Greek capitals, and without any separation of words. This was the most ancient form of writing, and prevailed until the tenth century. Next we have the cursive manuscripts, existing in the form of writing which came into use in the latter part of the ninth century, and soon afterward became the common style. The three most ancient and valuable uncials are the so-called Sinaitic, the Alexandrian, and the Vatican, usually designated, respectively, m, A, and B. Several of the cursive manuscripts are of great value, having evidently been copied from very ancient exemplars. Next to these ancient manuscripts are the early versions of the New Testa- ment, especially the Latin and the Syriac, the oldest of which be- long, probably, to the second century. The quotations from the New Testament, found in the Avritings of the early Church Fathers, are also often of great value in determining the original text. These different sources of evidence have to be classified, their rela- tive value critically estimated, and reliable rules and principles agreed upon for their use. In order to appreciate properly that vast amount of labour which has in recent years restored to us an approximately pure and trustworthy text of the Greek Testament, one needs to make himself familiar with the lives and works of the great critics Mill, Bentley, Bengel, Wetstein, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Tregelles. The principal Canons of Textual Criticism now generally accepted are divisible into two classes, external and internal, and may be stated as follows : External. The canons of external evidence are concerned with the char- acter, age, and value of manuscripts, and the principles and rules by which we are to compare and estimate the relative weight of earlier and later copies, and of versions and quotations, ^ A critical edition of the Masoretic text of the several books of the Old Testament is now in course of publication at Leipsic, under the editorial care of S. Baer and Fr. De- litzsch. It furnishes much valuable material for the critical study of the Hebrew text. 132 INTRODUCTION TO 1. A reading Avhich is supported by the combined testimony of the most ancient manuscripts, the earliest versions, and patristic quotations, is generally, without doubt, the genuine reading of the original autograph. This rule is so self-evident that it needs no comment ; and it is an interesting and important fact that so great a part of the New Testament rests upon evidence so decisive. Though the whole number of various readings is more than a hundred thousand, by far the greater part of them consist merely of differences of spelling, and other slight variations chiefly due to the peculiar habits of the different scribes. The doubtful readings which essentially affect the sense are comparatively few, and those which involve questions of important doctrine are less than a score.' 2. The authority and value of manuscript readings consist not in the number of manuscripts in which a given reading is found, but in the age, character, and country of the manuscripts. Though, in some instances, Ave may suppose a cursive manuscript has been copied directly from an uncial more ancient than any that now exist, yet, as a rule, the uncials are older and more authorita- tive than the cursives. They are, therefore, more likely to repre- sent the oldest readings. Respecting the age and value of ancient manuscripts, we owe great deference to the judgment of experi- enced critics. The opinion of men who, like Tischendorf and Tregelles, have devoted a lifetime to conscientious studv and col- lation of manuscripts, deservedly carries great weight. The eye must be practiced to note the ancient forms of letters, and the vai-ious methods of writing, abbreviation, and correction. 3. AVhcn the external evidence is conflicting and of nearly equal weight, special importance should be attached to the corres])on- dency between widely separated witnesses. The concurrence of two ancient maiuiscripts, one belonging to the East and the other to the West, would have more weight than the agreement of many manuscripts which contain evidence of ' The proportion of words virtually aocopted on all hands a? raised above doiihf is very great — not less, on a rough eomputation, than seven eighths of the whole. The remaining eighth, therefore, formed in great part by changes of order and other com- parative trivialities, constitutes the whole area of eritieism. . . . We find that, set- ting aside dilTiTcnoes of orthography, the words in our opinion still subject to doubt only make up aliout one sixtieth of the whole New Testament. In this second esti- mate the proportion of comparatively trivial variations is beyond measure larger than the former; so that the amount of what can in any sense be called substantial varia- tion is but a small fraction of the whole residuary vai'iation, and can hardly form more than a thousandth part of the entire te.xt. Westeott and Hort, The New Testament in the original Greek. Introduction, p. 2. New York, 1882. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 133 having been copied directly from one another. The concm-rence of tlie Peshito, the Vulgate, and the Ethiopia versions is of great weight in determining a doubtful reading. A quotation appear- ing in the same form in the writings of Origen, Jerome, and Iren- aeus w^ould. thereby acquire an authority tantamount to that of so many of the most ancient and valuable manuscripts. 4, Great discrimination is necessary in the use of the different classes of external evidence. The reading found in one of the most ancient manuscripts is usually to be preferred to that of any one of the ancient versions. But there may be considerations of time or place which would ren- der the reading of a version more weighty than that of a single manuscript. The authority of versions, also, would be greater In the case of omissions or additions than in the matter of verbal niceties. Patristic testimony, as observed above, depends for much of its value on the place and circumstances of the A\riter, The manner and jnirpose of a quotation may also affect its worth as a witness to an ancient reading:. Internal. It may often haj^pen that the external evidence is so conflicting, and yet so evenly balanced, that it is impossible from that source alone to form any judgment. In such cases we resort to internal or subjective considerations, which, in many instances, afford the means of forming a reasonable and reliable conclusion. But this kind of evidence and critical conjecture are generally to be used with the greatest caution, and only when the critic is obliged to resort to such means from want of better evidence, 1. That reading which accords with a writer's peculiar style, with the context and the nature of the subject, and which makes a good sense, is to be preferred to one which lacks these internal supports. This, as a general rule, must commend itself to every one's judg- ment. But particular applications of it may vary. There can be no reasonable doubt that the true reading in John xiii, 24, is rig kariv, who is it? The reading riq av eit], who mhjht it bef though sustained by several ancient authorities, is especially to be rejected because John never uses the optative mood. The placing of k^eX- ■BovTsg after avrov in the textus receptus of Matt, xii, 1 4, is most probably an error of some ancient copyist, and the reading e^eX- ■dovreg de ol ^aptaaioi QVfi(iovXiov eXaftov nar' avrov (supported by N, B, C, and D, and adopted by Lachmann, Tisehendorf, Westcott and Ilort), is to be preferred because in similar constructions 134 INTRODUCTION TO Matthew uniformly places the participle before its noun. Com- pare i, 24; ii, 3; iv, 12; viii, 10, 14, 18; ix, 4, 8, 9, 11, 19; xii, 25. 2. The shorter reading is to be preferred to the longei*. Transcribers were much more prone to add than to omit, and in the obscurer passages their tendency was to incorporate marginal glosses into the text, or even to venture upon an explanation of their own. The words jj^tj Kara odpKa TrepiTTarovotv, dXXd Kara rrvevna, who icalk not according to flesh, but according to Spirit, in the textiis receptus of Rom. viii, 1, are wanting in most of the ancient authori- ties, and are doubtless an ancient gloss introduced from verse 4 of the same chapter, where they appear in their true connection. So, too, the words, " Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city," found in the Alexandrian Codex at Mark vi, 11, was probably added by some ancient scribe from memory of Matt, x, 15, where the reading is " land of Sodom and Gomorrah." According to this rule, when the evidences in favour of the insertion or omission of a word, clause, or sentence are about equally divided, it is safer to omit than to insert. 3. The more difficult and obscure reading is to be preferred to the plainer and easier one. This rule of course applies especially to those passages where there is reason to believe the transcriber was tempted to soften or simplify the language, or explain an apparent difficulty. The word sXeTjfioavvi], alms, was anciently substituted for the harsher Hebra- istic word 6iKaioavvi], righteousness, in Matt. \\, 1. The insertion of the word eIkt], irif/iout cause, in Matt, v, 22, seems, in view of the strong external evidence against it, to have been introduced to soften the sentiment. Alford puts it in brackets, and says: "I have not ventured Avholly to exclude it, the authorities being so divided, and internal evidence being equally indecisive. Griesbach and Meyer hold it to liave been expunged from motives of moral rigourism; De Wetto, to have been inserted to soften the apparent rigour of the precept. The latter seems to me the more probable." Lachmann, Tischendorf, Westcott and ITort omit the word, and Tregelles marks it as extremely doubtful. Under this head we would also place the well-known rule of Griesbach: "That reading is to be preferred which presents a sen- timent apparently false, but which upon more careful examination is found to be true." ' A notable example is seen in 1 Cor. xi, 29, 'Prreferatur aliis lectis, cui sensus subest apparentor quidem falsus, qui vero re penitius exaiiiiiiata vcrus esse dcprchcnditur. Griesbach, Novum Tostairieiitum(Jraece (2 vols., London, 1809), vol. i, Prolegonieua, p. Ixvi. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 135 where the majority of ancient authorities have inserted the word dva^iwg, unworthily, which appears in verse 27 in all copies. Fonr of the most important uncial manuscripts, however (A, B, CJ N^), and several cursives and versions omit the word. Its insertion from verse 27 appears to have arisen from misapprehending the exact force of Hi] in the clause ju^ 6iaKpiv(ov to acbjia, which is here equiva- lent to lohen not, or if not, and therefore different from the strong- er and more simple negative ov. The apparently unqualified state- ment: "lie that eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment unto himself," seemed to convey a false statement, and to remove the difficulty dva^LO)g was inserted. The whole passage becomes clear by a correct rendering of the qualifying clause, if 7iot discerning the hodi/. More difficult is it to decide between the two readings Trpwrof and voregog, in Matt, xxi, 31 ; Ttpwrof is sustained by the greatest number of ancient authorities, and is suited to the context. But voregog is found in two of the most important manuscripts (B and D), and is the more difficult reading. It is easier to see how TrpwTOf may have become substituted for varegog than the re- verse. Hence Lachmann, Tregelles, Westcott and Hort adopt the reading voregog; but Tischendorf and Alford read vrpwrof. From this last example it will be seen what great caution is necessary in the application of this rule, and also how a final decision may not be possible in the case.' Under this canon it may also be added that, in parallel passages, verbal differences are generally considered preferable to exact ver- bal conformity, inasmuch as transcribers are apt to harmonize such difTerences where they attract attention. 4. That reading is to be preferred from which all the others may be seen to have been naturally or readily derived. " That is to say," says Gardiner, " when there are different read- ings which have each of them important evidence in its favour, the one from which the others could have been easily derived is more likely to be true than one from which they could not have been." '^ Under this rule it is claimed that og is the genuine reading in the ' "When no certainty is attainable," says Tregelles, "it will be well for the case to be left as doubtful. ... A critical text of the Greek New Testament, with no indica- tions of doubt, or of the inequality of the evidence, is never satisfactory to a scholar. It gives no impression of the ability of the editor to discriminate accurately as to the value of evidence ; and it seems to place on a level, as to authority, readings which are unquestionably certain, and those which have been accepted as perhaps the beat attested." — Home, Introduction (Ed. Ayre and Tregelles), vol. iv, p. 344. " The Principles of Textual Criticism, with a List of all the Known Greek Uncials, in Bibliotheca Sacra for April, 1875. Also published as an Appendix to the Greek Hanpony of the Four Gospels by the same author. 136 miRODUCTION TO much-disputed text of 1 Tim. iii, 16. For a long time the Alexan- drian and Epliraem Syrus manuscripts (A and C) were said to giA'e the reading deog (written in uncials 90), but recent and thor- ough examination by the most competent ci'itics has discovered that the transverse line in the 9, and the sign of contraction, are the work of a later hand. The Codex Sinaiticus has been tampered with in this place by several later hands; the latest of all, accord- ing to Tischendorf, altei'ed the manuscript about the twelfth cen- tury, but so carefully as not to deface the more ancient reading. The Clermont manuscript (D), as is now conceded, originally read S, but a later hand changed the readmg to 90. This change was done by erasing enough of the O to leave O, and then, as this letter stood at the beginning of the line, O was easily placed before it. The reading o may have arisen in the attempt of an ancient scribe to correct what seemed to be a grammatical inaccuracy, and write the relative o to conform with the gender of \ivgt7)()lov. Or, a Lat- in scribe may have so corrected the reading as to make it conform to quod^ which appears as the reading of the old Latin version. If we suppose the original reading to have been 00, it is difHcult to explain how the readings 00 and O should appear in the most an- cient manuscripts; but, as shown above, it is not difficult to show how the word 00 may have been changed into 00 or O.^ lie Avho carefully studies and applies the above rules of textual These canons Criticism will observe that they are principles rather rrtiieTThan *^^^'^ rules. They must not be applied mechanically, as rules. if mere majorities of witnesses decided any thing. A great number and variety of considerations must enter into the formation of a sound critical judgment, and every element of evi- dence must be carefully weighed. "The point aimed at," says Tregelles, " is a moral certainty, or a moral ])robability. To arrive at this we must use the evidence that is attainable; the truest prin- ciples must be borne in mind which teach the proper estimation of such evidence; and also the judgment must be exercised, so as to be accustomed to draw the moral conclusions applicable to the sub- ject. It is thus that some critics possess that critical tact by whicli they have been distinguished; they form a sound conclusion without apparently going through any elaborate process of reason- ing. And this leads others to imagine that criticism is a kind of intuitive faculty, although the conclusions have really resulted from quickness in perceiving what the evidence is, and a well-exer- cised judgment in applying known principles to the evidence so ' See an extensive and careful examination of the various readings of 1 Tim. iii, 10, in the Bil)liothcca Sacra for January, 1865, pp. 1-50. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 137 apprehended." And the same consummate critic adds, in another place: "He who rightly studies the principles and facts of the textual criticism of the New Testament, will find that he has ac- quired information not on one subject merely, hut also on almost all of those that relate to the transmission of Scripture from the days of the apostles; he will have obtained that kind of instructum which will impart both a breadth and a definiteness to all his bibli- cal studies; he will be led into a kind of unconscious connection with the writers of Scripture and their works." ' CHAPTER YIII. THE DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. Our appreciation of the Holy Scriptures will necessarily be influ- enced by our views of their claims as divinely inspired. Critical and ex^getical study will be more or less serious and painstaking as the student feels a deep conviction that he is handling the very word of God. There is an inspiration in all great works of genius. Those mas- terpie(!es of oratory, which, burning from the impas- inspiration ot sioned souls of Demosthenes and Cicero, aroused Atlie- g*'""''^- nian and Roman audiences, are to this day full of moving power. The poems of Homer and the oracles of Socrates reveal the inspi- ration of genius. Passages in Shakspeare, Milton, and Byron ex- hibit a power of expression and a perfection of form Avhich m ill ever charm the minds of men. AVho will deny Toplady's " Rock of Ages " and Charles Wesley's " Wrestling Jacob " a notable de- gree of divine inspiration ? But the great body of believers in the Holy Scriptures have ever felt that the inspiration of the Bible is something far higher and more divine than the rapture of human genius. The inspiration of genius is from within, that of the Holy Spirit from without. The one is becrotten of the human soul, „ . ® Scripture m- the other is by revelation from the supernatural and spiration high- divine. The biblical writers themselves assume to write ^^' by a supernatural authority; they speak as men who have seen the visions of the Almighty, have heard the voice of the rcA^ealer of secrets, and are moved by the power of the Holy Spirit. It may ' S. P. Tregelles, Introduction to the Textual Criticism and Study of the New Testa- ment, in Home's Introduction (ed. Ayre and Tregelles), vol. iv, pp. 343, 401. Xi8 INTRODUCTION TO be safely asserted that, in some sense, the sacred writers were used mechanically; they were often employed as the media of words and symbols which they could not comprehend. They were in- spired dynamically, for they were actuated by a supernatural force and wisdom which supervised their work, and directed them so as to secure the very purpose of the Almighty. In their inspiration there was a verbal element, for God is represented as speaking by *•' the mouth of all his prophets." " Behold," he says to .Jeremiah (i, 9), " I have put my words in thy mouth," Paul clahiis to set forth the saving truth of God " not in words taught by human wis- dom, but in those taught by the Spirit " (1 Cor. ii, 13). Every d*- vout Christian will acknowledge that this inspiration was plenary, inasmuch as it has furnished in all-sufficient fulness a revelation of the mind and will of God. But when we attempt to say where the divine element in Scripture ends, or where the human begins, we involve ourselves in mysteries which no man is able to solve. According tq the evangelical faith, maintained by the Christian ^. . ,. Church in all ages, there exist in the sacred records Divme and nu- . . man in the two elements, a divine and a human. In this respect cnp ures. there is a noteworthy analogy, between the personal, in- carnate word, and the written Avord. As, in studying tlie person and character of Christ, we most naturally begin with the human side, observing that which is tangible to sense, so it will be well for us to examine, first, the human lineaments of the written word of God. It is evident that a considerable portion of the Bible is a narra- Human eie- tive of facts which any ordinary mind might have gath- ment seen m gj.g^| ^^^^ p^^^ jj^ Written form. Such, for example, is the narration of , ^ , ' _ ^ ' facts. the history of the rise, power, glory, decline, and fall of the kingdom of Israel, as contained in the Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Many parts of these books appear to have been compiled directly from pre-existing documents.' The Book of Ne- hemiah is an autobiography, and "that of Esther a lively sketch of court-life in the Persian Empire. In the preface to his gospel, Luke professes to set forth an orderly arrangement of facts fully believed among the earliest Christians, reported by eye-witnesses, and accurately traced by himself from the very first. The Acts of the Apostles, by the same author, is a simple narrative of the be- ginnings of the Christian Church. In these books especially, but in others also, there appears no necessity or occasion for claiming an extraordinary assistance for the writers. INIany a writer, for whom no such claim was ever made, has traced and recorded facts ' Compare 1 Kings xi, 41; xiv, 29; xv, 31; 1 Chron. xxix, 29; 2 Cbron. xxxii, 82, etc. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 1G9 in human history with a painstaking care and accuracy as great as the biblical narratives evince. The human element is also noticeable in the style and diction of the sacred writers. No one can fail to observe how „ • If T •1-nri Seen also in Widely Isaiah diiiers m style from Jeremiah, Matthew style and dic- from John, and Paul from James. The distinct indi- ^'"°" viduality of each author is conspicuous, and there is no reason to suppose that any of these writers were hindered in the freest exer- cise of their natural faculties, or in the normal use of their peculiar modes of thought and expression. We should explain the marked difference of style in the prayers of Daniel (chap, ix, 4-19) and Habakkuk (chap, iii), the song of Moses (Exod. xv, 1-19), and the 3IagniJicat of Mary (Luke i, 46-55), as we explain the differencas between Milton's " Hymn of the Nativity " and Pope's " Messiah," or between an exquisite passage of Addison and an oration of Daniel Webster. Other human lineaments are observable in the subject-matter, where expression is given to the writer's personal affec- seeninsubject- tion for individuals, or to his sense of want and weak- matter, ness. The whole catalogue of personal greetings in the sixteenth chapiter of Romans is an illustration of this; also the tender famil- iarity of Panl with his Thessalonian converts, and the personal reminiscences of his first acquaintance (ii, 1), his departure (ii, 17, 18), and his being ''left in Athens alone" (iii, 1). The human ele- ment is conspicuous in his defence of his apostleship in the first two chapters of Galatians, in his remembrance of the Philippians' kind- ness (Phil, iv, 15-18), in his messages to the Ephesians by Tychi- eus (Eph. vi, 21), and his desire for the books, parchments, and cloak left at Troas (2 Tim. iv, 13). He exhibits, also, some doubt and hesitation as to whether, at Corinth, he baptized any others besides Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas (1 Cor. i, 14, 16), and in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians he writes: "In lack of wisdom I speak" (2 Cor. xi, 21); "as one beside himself I say it " (ver. 23) ; " I am become a fool; ye compelled me " (xii, ] 1). To the above instances we may also add the varying forms of statement under which the same things is reported to us _ by different writers. Observe the numerous verbal forms of siate- differences in the parable of the soAver as reported by "^^" ' Matthew (xiii, 4-9), Mark (iv, 3-9), and Luke (viii, 5-8); or in the parable of the mustard seed (Matt, xiii, 31, 32; Mark iv, 30-32 ; Luke xiii, IS, 19), and in numerous other sayings of our Lord. Coni2)are, especially, the diff'erent forms of the Lord's Prayer (Matt, vi, 9-13; Luke xi, 2-4), and of the language used in instituting the Lord's Sup- 140 INTRODUCTION TO per (Matt, xxvi, 26-29; Mark xiv, 22-24; Luke xxii, 19, 20; 1 Cor. xi, 23-25). The only rational and truly satisfactory way of explaining:; such verl)al discrepancies is to hold (what seems so apparent and natural) that the writers freely reported, each in his own indepen- dent way, the substance of what the Lord had said. The Lord had probably spoken in Aramaic, but his words are reported in Greek. So, perhaps, no one of the evangelists has given us the exact form of the title on the cross; but each one records its substance and purport in a different form of words (Matt, xxvii, 37; Mark xv, 26; Luke xxiii, 38; John xix, 19). In all these varying reports tliere is no error, no real discrepancy; but simply that variety of human expression which is common to all the languages of men. But, along with the human element in the Scriptures, there are Evidences of ^^^'^ ^^6 claim and the evidence of a divine inspiration, divine element. Paul says: "All Scripture is God-breathed" {-^eo-- vevorog, 2 Tim. iii, 16), and Peter writes: "For not by the will of man was prophecy ever brought, but, borne along by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from God" (2 Peter i, 21). Here is a most im- portant assertion. He declares in the verse preceding that "no prophecy of Scripture comes of its own interpretation," or springs out of the human understanding.' The Scripture jirophocies are no products of human invention or ingenuity, for the men who Peter's deciar- wrote them " spoke from God," as they were impelled ^'■^"'^* or carried along {(pegofxevoi) by the divine power. In his "first epistle the same apostle tells how the prophets diligently sought and searched (e^ei^^Trjaav teal e^7]Qavvrj<7av) concerning salva- tion, "searching into what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ in them was signifying Avhen he testified beforehand the sufferings pertaining to Christ and the glories after them; to whom it was revealed that not to themselves, but to you they were minis- tering that whicii is now announced to you through those who preached you the gospel by tlie Holy Spirit sent from heaven" (1 Peter i, 11, 12). We should observe the following four things here atHrmed: (1) the prophets were actuated by the Spirit of Christ; (2) they did not fully comprehend the time-limits of their own oracles; (3) they were given to understand that their words would minister help to after times; (4) the first preachers of the 'The reference is, as Lumby observes, "to prophecy as it was uttered by those who first gave it forth. It did not arise from the private interpretation of the proph- ets. The words of the prophets of old were no mere human exposition, no endeav- our on man's part to point to a solution of the difficulties which beset men's minds in (Ids life. The prophets were moved by a Spirit beyond themselves, and spake things deeper than they themselves understood." — tJpeaker's Commentary in loco. BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. 141 gospel were also actuated by the same Holy Spirit, and their mes- sages had heavenly origin and authority. The Old Testament abounds in assertions of the divine origin of its lessons and revelations. A large proportion of the o](j Testament Pentateuch is professedly Jehovah's revelation of him- claims, self to the patriarchs, or his express word of commandment to Moses and to Israel. The Decalogue is said to have been uttered by God's own voice out of the midst of his theophany of fire and cloud on Horeb (Exod. xix, 9; xx, I, 19; Deut. v, 4, 22), and after- ward written by " the finger of God," and delivered to Moses on tablets of stone (Exod. xxxi, 18). The prophets continually an- nounce their messages as the word of Jehovah, and make frequent use of the formulas, "