^
I THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, Princeton, N. J.
BS 413 .B51 V.2
Brown, John, 1784-1858,
Philological tracts
i
^
THE
BIBLICAL CABINET;
OR
HERMENEUTICAL, EXEGETICAL,
AND
PHILOLOGICAL LIBRARY.
VOL. XL
PHILOLOGICAL TRACTS, &c.
EDINBURGH : THOMAS CLAKK, 38, GEORGE STREET;
J. G. & F. HIVINGTON, LONDON; AND W. CURRY, JUN. & CO., DUBLIN.
MDCCCXXXIII.
V
PHILOLOGICAL TRACTS.
ON THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
IN THE AGE OF
CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES.
ON THE GREEK DICTION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
EDITED BY
JOHN BROWN, D. D.
VOL. L
EDINBURGH:
THOMAS CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. MDCCCXXXIir.
IMUNTED BY J. THOMSON, MlLNi: tiULAKE.
ADVERTISEMENT.
This Volume of The Biblical Cabinet con- tains Four Philological Tracts, by Professors Pfannkuche, Planck, Tholuck, and Beck- HAUS, — men highly and deservedly esteemed among their countrymen for their critical acu- men, as well as for the extent and accuracy of their learning — " On the Language of Palestine in the Age of Christ and his Apostles ;" — " On the Greek Diction of the New Testament ;" — " On the Importance of the Study of the Old Testament ;" — and " On the Tropical Lan- guage of the New Testament." — These Dis- sertations will be found of unequal merit — but the subjects of all of them are important and interesting — and they contain much that must be useful to all, and something that will be new to many of the critical Students of the Holy Scriptures in this country.
VUl ADVERTISEMENT.
To assign the reasons why these Tracts have been selected in preference to others on the same or similar subjects, of equal or superior merit, could serve no important purpose. — The Selector does not lay claim to the praise of having made the best possible choice, — he will be contented, if competent judges allow that he has made a good one. It is scarcely- requisite to add, that the Editor does not by any means consider himself as answerable for the accuracy of all the statements, or the sound- ness of all the principles contained in these Tracts, even where he has not thought it neces- sary to express his dissent. His responsibili- ty goes no farther than what is involved in a recommendation of them, as, on the whole, well fitted, if judiciously used, to cultivate the taste and the talent for principled and satisfactory interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.
JOHN BROWN.
PBiireETOii
THEOLOGlGJlL
on
ON THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE IN THE
AGE OF CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES, By De
Rossi and Dr. Heinh. Friedr. Pfannkuche.
translated
By THORL G. repp.
Page
§ 1. Hebrew, the Language of Palestine before the Babylonian Captivity 1
§ 2. Substitution of Babylonian-Aramaic for Hebrew rendered easy, 1, by the Affinity of these Tongues ; 2, by Aramaic Colonies 3
§ 3. The Jews that returned from the Captivity spoke only Aramaic ; Aramaic was also the Language of Business in Palestine during the Persian dominion 7
§ 4. Aramaic was maintained in Palestine during the dominion of Alexander . . . . .10
§ 5. And, under his Successors, the Greek-Egyptian Rulers. For, 1, The internal Government and the Religion of the Jews was preserved. 2, The Aramaic Language was preserved even by the Jews who had long been domiciled in Eg^'pt . . • .11
X CONTENTS.
Page
§ 6. The Aramaic preserved under the Syro-lMacedo- nian Kings — during this dynasty, Greek was only the Court language. These Rulers founded many cities where Aramaic was spoken ; proofs that these were not Greek Colonies — Palmyrean Inscriptions in Aramaic — Aramaic preserved under the Romans —those who adopted Foreign Customs and Fashions among the Jews held in abhorrence — Antiochus Epi- phanes unsuccessful in extirpating the Aramaic • 15
§ 7« Independence gained by the Maccabees favourable to the Aramaic — spoken by the Soldiers of Judas Maccabeus — Hebrew and Aramaic Coins, whether or how far genuine ? — Greek not spoken at the Courts of the Jewish Kings — Aramaic Writings of this period 24
§ 8. Aramaic preserved 500 years after the Captivity, and also after Pompey''s Conquest . . . .30
§ 9. Indirect Proofs — No Foreign Colonies — Inter- course with Babylonian Jews — Aramaic names in the New Testament — Aramaic Targums — Jesus spoke Aramaic — Aramaic Writings of this period — Pertinacity of Jews in preserving their Nationality 31
§ 10. Direct Proofs, 1, From the New Testament; 2, From Josephus ; 3, From the Talmudists . .51
§ 11. QuaHty of the Language of Palestine in the Age of Christ — Specimens from the New Testanient-r- from Josephus— the Jerusalem Dialect — -the Gali- lean Dialect — the Samaritan Dialect — the Phoenician Dialect — what name should be given to the Palesti- nian Language in the Age oi Christ . . .64
§ 12. What means the term Hellenists ? . . 78
CONTENTS. XI
DISSERTATION ON THE TRUE NATURE AND
GENIUS OF THE DICTION OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT, By Hexry Planck.
TRANSLATED
By ALEXANDER SIMPSON PATTERSON.
Page Although by Salmasius, Fischer, and Sturaius, the later Greek Speech has been more accurately ex- plained than it had previously been, yet even these writers were not in every respect successful in the performance of their task. But it can scarcely be told, how many and how great mistakes have been committed in regard to this matter by Interpreters of
the New Testament 91
The origin and genius of the later Greek Speech. Be- fore the times of Alexander the Great, every one, in writing, employed his Native Dialect — aft^r the Con- quest of Greece, authors almost universally followed <me Dialect, namely, the Attic, which, from being common to all, and composed of what belonged to the more Ancient Dialects, not without an infusion of the New Speech in ordinary use, was called the Com^ mon or Hellenic Dialect — fi xoivn, or IxXuvikk huXtxTog 1 1 1 But the Vulgar Speech that began at the same time to be generally used, in which, as in its principle. Sa- cred Hellenism consists, was produced by a confiisi&n
XU CONTENTS.
Page
of all the Dialects, in such a way, however, as that the language which had obtained in certain districts, formed the basis of the New Speech. And neither the Macedonian or Alexandrian, nor the Common Dialect {h KOivn), is a right appellation for this Com- mon Tongue 117
The sources of acquaintance with the constitution of this later mode of speech are of three kinds. The first comprehends the common authors (0/ xotvoi) — another consists of Grammarians or Atticists, Scho- liasts, and Lexicographers — the third consists of writ- ings composed in this very language . • 124
Traces of the Common Greek Speech are to be met with in the New Testament,
1 . In words which have passed from foreign tongues in- to the Greek Language 127
2. In the Orthography and Pronunciation of Words 128
3. In the flection of Nouns and Verbs . . '132
4. In variety of Gender 144
5. In the forms of Worfls 146
6. In those words which either belonged to the more Ancient Dialects, and became part of the Common Tongue, or were altogether new, and began to be used by the later Greeks 168
7. In those significations of words, which, not being found in the more Ancient Language, seem to have been either lately received into use, or not of very good standing . . . . . • .179
8. In the usus loquendi 184
CONTENTS. XIU
Page HINTS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, By
Augustus Tholuck . . . . . 191
translated
By R. B. PATTON.
REMARKS ON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE OF THE NEW TES. TAMENT, By M. J. H. Beckhaus, D. D.
TRANSLATED
By CHARLES H. TERROT, A.M.
LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBllIDGE.
1. Nature and Importance of the Subject . . 269
2. Error of using Dogmatic and Controverted Ex- amples . 272
3. On the Detection of Tropical Diction . . .274
4. Tropes detected by the Nature of the Subject . 282
5. Tropes detected by the genius of the Author, and by the Context 2S4.
6. Tropes detected by comparison of Parallel Passages 289
7. Tropes detected by History .... 290
8. Of doubtful Passages 291
XIV CONTENl-S,
Page
9. Of the Explanation of Tropes, by the statement of the Author 200
10. Of the Explanation of Tropes by parallel Passages, 303
11. Of the Resemblance l>etween the sign and the thing signified ........ 304
LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
IN
THE AGE OF CHRIST
AND
THE APOSTLES.
By DE ROSSI,
AND
DR. HEINB. FRIEDB. PFANNKUCHE.
of^--^'
^sises*^ \
.H.o-«^S^
LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
AGE OF CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES,
As long as the Jews of Palestine maintained their political independence as a nation, the language of the country — the Hebrew — if we may judge of it from its still extant relics, re- mained, if not altogether pure, at all events free from any remarkable changes in any of those characteristic points, whether material or formal, by which it is distinguished from other languages. Only a few foreign words slided in imperceptibly along with foreign pro- duce, arts and inventions ; and, when the lan- guage of the country did not happen to pos- sess a suitable expression, by a fate which is common to almost all languages in the world, they obtained currency and became yr^e of Pa- lestine. Even in the age of Hezekiah the
B
2 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
Hebrew dialect differed so much from the Ba- bylonian Aramaic — chiefly however, as it seems in pronunciation* that the latter sounded to the ears of the common people of Jerusalem as al- together a foreign language. " Speak, I pray thee," said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah to Rab-shakeh — " speak I pray thee, to thy ser- vants in the Syrian language ; (for we under- stand it,) and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall," 2 Kings xviii. 26. But after the in- vasion of Palestine by the Assyrian and Chal- daic rulers of Babylon, things were completely changed. The Jews of Palestine, along with their political independence, lost also the pecu- liar character of their language, which till then they had preserved. The Babylonian- Aramaic*^
" Michaelis Spicil. geogr. Hebr. exterae. T. II. p. 86. Jews unaccustomed to hear the Aramaic spoken did not understand it : in like mannei- the peasants of lower Saxony would hardly understand the Bavarian or Swabian dialect.
^ This dialect is still frequently called the Chaldaic, but Schlozer observes very properly : Chaldaic language is quite an erroneous expression for the Aramaic or Babylonian tongue. With the language of Babylon we are well ac- quainted, but the true Chaldaic, which probably was more intimately related to the Persic, [what Persic : Zend, or Pehlevi ?] Median, Armenian and Kurdic, nobody knows. See Repert. fiir Bibl. and Morgenlaudische Litteratur, Th. 8. Leipz. 1781, page 118.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 3
dialect expelled the Hebrew, and gradually be- came the predominant language of Palestine.
§ 2. The circumstances which necessarily- must have concurred to render possible, and actually to accomplish this revolution in the language of Palestine, were as follows : I. The Babylonian-Aramaic was intimately related to the Hebrew ; it stood in nearly the same degree of relationship to that language as the old Saxon dialect stood to the Prankish, or as modern low-Saxon to high-German. ^ Both were the daughters of the same Shemitic pa- rent tongue, which formed the chain of union between the nations and tribes inhabiting the vast tract of country, bounded by the river Halys in Cappadocia on the west and the Tigris on the east ; in fact the Shemitic tongue extended even beyond that river eastward ; again, from the source of the Tigris it extend- ed to Arabia. Thus Cappadocians, Pontians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Arameans, Hebrews, Phoenicians and Arabs, were one great na- tion. ^ Babylonian- Aramaic and Hebrew, had,
[^ A more intelligible parallel to the English reader is : as Scotch to English in the time of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.]
^ Posidoniusof Apameain Strabo, B. I. p. iii. Siebenkees Edit. Lips. 1796, 8v0. To reuv 'A^fAivicDV %ho;, ica) to ruv Ivotav, xat TMv ' A^dZuv ^okkhv ofAoCpvXtciv l^^alvn ard Tt Trf*'
4 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
like other Shemitic dialects, both the same stock of ancient roots; and the Grammar of both languages was in every respect essentially the same. In the following points they differ- ed. 1. Many words of the ancient parent tongue had been retained in one of these dia- lects, though in the other they had been lost, ex, gr. the verb VtyD existed in the Ara- maic, of which the Hebrew only retained the derivative noun '^tyi) 2. It sometimes
T T
happened that the same word had diiferent significations in each of these dialects, as the one retained the original signification, the other preserved only the derived, as in the words 12V^ i^iJD NZDD and many others. 3. The Baby- lonian dialect had borrowed a few terms from
}td>.iKrov, Kce.) rohs flloug xa) rous ruv (riofioiTuv ^ec^uKTri^as, x.ai fid.Ki(t<Ttt. xa.ffo -rXyjff/o^u^oi ilffi. A^kol }i h M.itroTeTa/u.ia Ik tuv rpiuv avuffTuffo, rovruv \6vuv' fx,oiXiffTOC ya^ h rovroti h of^oiorvis 'hia,(pa,ivira,i. E/ ^£ rt? Ta^ec. tu, xXlfAxra ymrebi tia.ipo^oi voii T^offSo/iiois Wi'prXiov, -^^os tovs f/.iiryifJi,S^irov;, x.a) rovroii T^og ftiffovs rohs ooovs, aXX' iTix^anT yt to xotvh^ia,) el 'Affffv^iat di xut 01 'A^fjtmot (Probably ' K^(ti/.a.:o^t^^^ reading actu- aUy is found in two Codices) •xa.^a.'^^^^^rus 'i^oviri xa) -r^og TovTovs, xa.) TT^os aXXriXovi. And sxrjw) likewise, L. ii. p. 225, makes mention of rm liakixrov (Sc. 2v^iaxfis) H-'^XV *"' ^ta/iivovfftis TVS etvTvs toIs rt IxTos tou 'El(p^oiT0U xa) tois tuTOf. Confr. the Extract from the still unprinted Commentary of Prof. Heeren, de Linguarum Asiaticarum in Persarum im- perio cognatione et varietate; in Gotting. Gel. Auzeig, 1793- p. 721, sqq.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 5
the invading North-Chaldeans, who, like the conquering Mogols and Mandshus in China, appropriated and adopted the civilized habits of their new subjects. These terms were quite foreign to the Shemitic idioms, and belonged to the Japhetic family of languages, which pre- vailed among the Armenians, (?) Medians, Per- sians, and probably among the Chaldeans, who were related to them. ^ Vestiges of this Chal- daic language are observable in the names of certain officers of state, as well as in certain expressions which have reference to the govern- ment. 4. The Babylonian pronunciation was easier and more full-toned than the Hebrew. It substituted for the frequent sibilating con- sonants of the Hebrew, which it was very dif- ficult to pronounce, others which were easier ; it rejected the long vowels which were not es- sential to the form of the words ; preferred the more sonorous a [i. e. Italian a\ to the long o; it admitted a termination vowel in the end of nouns, by way of facilitating the pronuncia- tion;^ it took the liberty of shortening and contracting several words in pronunciation, and was thus to indolent orientals a far more suitable language in common life and conver-
^ Schlozer in his Repertory, viii. p. 161. ^ It is commonly called the emphatic a.
6 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
sation, than the much harsher Hebrew. Thus it could not fail that a dialect so intimate- ly connected with the Hebrew, which recom- mended itself by an easy pronunciation* could not fail of soon becoming prevalent in Pales- tine, when the Palestine- Hebrews entered into closer connection with the Babylonian-Ara- means.
H. The numerous Aramaic colonies^ suc- ceeding in the kingdom of Israel in the room of those Israelites, whom Shalmanezer had transported into Assyria, retained their own language, and propagated it far and wide round about their settlements, even before the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah. That the Babylonish-Chaldaic magistrates, and com- manders who ruled over Palestine — that the armed force, consisting of Arameans and Chaldeans,^ which assisted them in maintain- ing order — that the vast number of foreign officers who surrounded them, and acted under
I? [Easy pronunciation ? Nations do generally not pay much attention to their own comfort in this particular : The Highlander still speaks Gaelic ; the Breton, Armoric ; the Bask, Biskayan ; and the Chinese, Chinese, although the Tar- tar emperors would willingly have presented them with their own language, which is preferable on many accounts, and, amongst other things, on account of its easier pronunciation.] ^ 2 Kings xvii. 24. ' 2 Kings xxiv. 2.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 7
their command — that, finally, the transacting- of all public business in the Babylonish- Ara- maic dialect must, in progress of time, have greatly circumscribed the use of the national Hebrew, is very manifest ; for such Palestinian Jews as accepted public situations, or other- wise entered into more intimate connection with the new rulers, lay under the necessity of accustoming themselves to their dialect, which, in all probability, even before, had be- come the court-language in Jerusalem.^
§ 3. During the dominion of the Persians in Palestine, the Aramean tongue being at that time almost universally spoken in the country, must have taken still deeper root. The vast hordes of Palestinian Jews who, dur- ing an exile of seventy years, had, in the fo- reign country become perfectly Aramaized ; and, with the permission of the Persian mo- narchs, returned again to their ancient abodes, must have completely and finally extirpated what little there remained of the Hebrew dia- lect, which in a few places had perhaps till then subsisted as a language of common con- versation ; and the manifold connections and intercourse after this period maintained by them with their numerous kindred, remaining
* 2 Kings xviii. 26.
8 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
in Persia, and speaking the Aramaic, must have been to them a motive to preserve the common dialect, through the medium of which that re- ciprocal intercourse could best be carried on, and to cultivate it and enrich it with the same zeal as their relatives and countrymen who remained in Persia. Moreover, the Aramean dialect con- tinued during the dominion of the Persians to be the language of public business^ which they and their officers, of whom the greatest num- ber were Arameans, in the western part of the kingdom, and, consequently, also in Palestine, employed in public edicts, proclamations, and records; and, in the earlier times, it underwent no farther change than this, that it now, as before, incorporated a few Persian terms of office and fashion, which were imported by the barbarous Chaldeans, such as DT 12T^' 72^D> &c. In later times it is possible that the wars between the Greeks and Persians, in which nations of the Shemitic family,"* and,
• Esra iv. 7, 8.
™ Flavius Josephus cont. Apion. i. 22. " But Choerilus, a more ancient poet, mentions our nation as making the Greek campaign along with Xerxes ; for, counting all the different nations, last in the series, he mentions ours saying :
T^ V o-XKrliv "hiiZcuvi yivoi B-avficcffTov id'ur^ai
Ykuffffotv fjuv ^oivitrffcm olto a-Tofji,a,Tuv uipiivris
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 9
probably, even Arameans, took a part, may have been the means of introducing several Greek words, which had become favourites with the returning warriors. At all events, the ap- pearance of Hellenisms in the most ancient Aramaic fragments in Daniel," which, in suc- ceeding ages is so frequent in Aramaic writ-^-'' ings, seems to be attributable to very early periods.
This then appears to have been the manner and method in which the Babylonian- Aramaic dialect, enriched by a number (not very great indeed,) of Chaldaisms, Persisms, and, perhaps, also by some Hellenisms, was, during the period of the Chaldaic dominion, introduced into Pales- tine, and generally propagated as a national lan- guage. That this was not done all at once —
After that followed a tribe wondrous of aspect,
Uttering, indeed, with their mouths a Phoenician lan- guage
But they resided in the mountains of Solymi in a wide marsh." Even if Josephus had made a mistake [the translator thinks it manifest that he has] and from amiable patriot- ism sought in Palestine the hills of Taurus which the Solymni inhabited, (Strabo i. p. 57, ed. Siebenkees) this passage stiD makes it clear that a nation speaking the Phoenician tongue were engaged in Xerxes' campaign against the Greeks.
" See Eichhorn's Einleitung ins Alte Testament, voL iii. p. 347.
10 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
that in the earlier periods the people preserved the Hebrew dialect along with the Aramaic — that, during several generations the Hebrew continued to be understood, being constantly read in the Synagogues, and, as long as the Aramaic national language was not too much disfigured by barbarisms, being rendered, per- haps, a little more intelligible by the Arama- izing pronunciation of the reader ; and, final- ly,— that the learned, whose business it was to interpret the sacred national writings, preserv- ed the HefbiPew as a learned tongue, and even for a conside^-able time made use of it in their written compositions — all these are proposi- tions founded on the history of the latter books of the Old Testament, and which cannot even be doubted, when we consider the intimate re- lationship between the two dialects.
§ 4. The Babylonian- Aramaic dialect, which, in the manner here stated, had been introduc- ed into Palestine during the dominion of the Chaldeans and Persians, must also of necessity, under Alexander the Great, who, after van- quishing Darius, made himself lord of Pales- tine, have maintained itself as the language of the country. The army with which he occu- pied Palestine, and appeared at the gates of Jerusalem, consisted, not of Greeks, but of
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 11
Phoenicians and Chaldeans,^ whose temporary sojourn in the country could not effect any re- volution in the language. He granted the Jews of Palestine, as well as those of Babylon, the free maintenance of their ancestral laws and customs, and allowed them to maintain their former magistracy. And, although he received into his army a great number of Jews, who spontaneously resolved to follow him,P even these, surely, had small opportunity to make themselves acquainted with the Greek language. For he allowed them faithfully to retain the usages and customs of their fathers, and, consequently, also their language, and pro- bably in the time following, they ever subsist- ed as an isolated corps, and in every way dis- tinct from the Greeks, and perhaps only asso- ciated with the Chaldeans, among whom also it is not unlikely there were many Jews. These, then, after their return to their own country, could not effect any great change in the na- .^tion's language, except, perhaps, by importing a few Greek words.
§ 5. Neither was the reign of the Greek- Egypt- ian rulers who, sometime after Alexander's death, maintained their dominion over Palestine,
° Joseph. Ant. Jud. xi. 8, 5.
P Joseph, in the place next above quoted.
12 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
or at Other times disputed it with the Syro-Ma- cedonian kings, at all unfavourable to the national language of Palestine ; at least, not in such a degree as we might expect, when we consider the speedy propagation of the Greek language under the Ptolemies in Egypt. At all events, the Greek- Egyptian reign could not, in Palestine, have effected a universal pro- pagation of the Greek language among the na- tives.
1st, The Palestinian Jews, subservient as they were to the Egyptians, experienced no great change in the administration of their go- vernment, but retained it in its ancient form. The priesthood, under the protection of the Egyptians, still retained the reins of govern- ment, natives had the administration of public offices, and there was thus no motive for intro- ducing the Greek language among the nation. The few persons who took the lead in pub- lic affairs, and had to transact business di- rectly with the Greek- Egyptian functionaries in Alexandria, and on that account required to learn the Greek language, still continued to be thorough Jews, and maintained their nationality, so that it is not to be presumed that they would wish to have the Greek lan- guage propagated among their nation.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 13
^dly. Certainly many Palestinian Jews re- sided in Egypt, even as early as the time of the first Ptolemies; who had been brought away as captives, partly by the Persians, ^ part- ly by Ptolemy Lagus after the surrender of Je- rusalem,"^ or in the time following, of their own accord settled there, under the mild rule of the Ptolemies. It cannot be doubted that these maintained correspondence and inter- course with their brethren of Palestine; but we may, with a high degree of probability, deny that either by this intercourse, or by the emigration of Egyptian Jews into Palestine, the dominion of the Aramaic language was materially circumscribed.
For the Egyptian Jews, neither in the com- mencement of their sojourn there, (as may well be conceived without any proof) nor in the age of Christ, seem to have forgot their own language, which they brought with them from Palestine, but to have maintained it along with the Greek, which was the predominant lan- guage in maritime and trading towns, and along with the Coptic, which chiefly prevailed in the interior of the country, and only first after the time of the Ptolemies, through inter-
^ Joseph. Antiq. xii. 2, 4. "^ Joseph. Antiq. xii. 1.
14 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
mixed Hellenisms, had lost its purity. It is in itself probable that the Jews, who, in great towns, occupied separate quarters, and retain- ed much of their oriental customs, did not so soon abandon their own language, and Joseph us"* expressly states of his Jewish contemporaries who dwelt in Egypt; Tnv AlyvTrrov Msar^yjv (we surely ought to read Msff^rjv^ xa/ Msgr^cciovg roug A/yvTrlovg ciitmrig oi ravrrjv olxovvrsg xaXovfJ^sv * whiclf he could not have said if the Jews who dwelt in Egypt in his time had only spoken the Greek language. Another proof we find in the Acts of the Apostles, xxi. 37, 38, where the Roman Chiliarch thus answers Paul, who had addressed him in Greek, 'EXXvjvKfTi y/vdjgKng.; Oux ci^a 6\j iJ b Ar/vTT/og, 6 T^h toutuv tuv r,fis§Mv avagrar(Jjgag %ai ht^ayaym iig ttiv s^yj^j^ov roug rsr^a- XKf^QXiQug ai^^^as rwv (Sr/,a§iuv ;"* From this it fol- lows that the Roman commander presupposed in an uncultivated Egyptian Jew, such as this rebel was, no acquaintance with the Greek lan- guage, but rather expected him to know the
* Antiq. i. G, 2.
*■ i. e. All such of us as dwell in Egypt call that country Mestri, (should be IMesri), and the Egyptians, Mestraeans.
" Canst thou speak Greek? Art not thou then that Egyp- tian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were mur- derers ?
TN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 15
language of Palestine.^ Of this proposition, then, in support of which more decisive proofs might be found, ^ it is a consequence that the intercourse subsisting between the common Egyptian and Palestinian Jews (for both must, in that mutual intercourse, have made use of the Babylonian Aramaic dialect,) can have had no other influence on the language of Pa- lestine than, that, perhaps, by this means some Hellenisms which had been received in their vulgar tongue, were by the Egyptian Jews in- troduced into Palestine.
§ 6. Under the Syro-Macedonian kings too, who, during a long period, contended about the possession of Palestine with the Egyptian rulers, several times entirely or partly wrest- ed it out of their hands, and ultimately, after many years war, became sovereign rulers of the country, the Palestinians felt themselves under no compulsion to exchange their own language for a foreign tongue. For, although
^ De Rossi (page 44) is of opinion that the Roman officer expressed his surprise at Paul, whom he took for an Egyp- tian Jew, not speaking Koptic. This appears to me ex- tremely improbable ; for how could a man, speaking Koptic, make himself understood by the common people of Pales- tine ?
y [It was not well done of Dr. Pfannkuche to keep for himself the more decisive 'prooh.li
16 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
the Greek language predominated at the courts of their princes, (they being themselves of Greek descent,) and thereby was much in vogue among the higher classes, yet the Ara- maic, which, after this period, chiefly through Hellenisms gradually introduced, seems to have lost its purity, continued throughout their domains, and consequently also in Palestine, to be the language of the country ; and the Greek was, just as the French is in our days in Europe, nothing more than a predominating language of fashion, subsisting along with the language of the country. Only the following reasons need to be considered : —
1. The first Syro -Macedonian king, at the very commencement of his reign, founded Se- leucia, Antioch, and fourteen other cities; these speedily, almost immediately, became great, flourishing, and populous towns. Are we to suppose that they thus increased by colonists from Greece ? Emigrations do not usually pro- ceed with such rapidity; emigrations so ex- tensive would have utterly unpeopled the largest Greek towns ; and would not such an event have been too remarkable to have been utterly unnoticed by every historian? And, moreover, would the kings of Macedonia, who ruled over Greece, have allowed emigrations
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 17
on SO large a scale to the states of their rivals, and frequently their foes, for such were the kings of Syria ? It is known from the history of the successors of Alexander, that among the armies of the chieftains who settled in the in- terior Asiatic provinces which were more re- mote from the sea coast, there always were a few native Greeks, and that their troops chiefly consisted of Asiatic barbarians,^ of whom some corps were taught the Macedo- nian exercise, and therefore by writers fre- quently are called Macedonians. They stood in nearly the same relation to the Greeks as the Sepoys in the service of the English East India Company stand to the native English. Under such circumstances, the rapidly increas- ing population of the sixteen, and some, of them very large, cities, founded by Seleucus, mentioned above, would have been impossible, unless the interior of Asia ^ had furnished the greatest number of the colonists. Syria, in its ancient extent, i. e. Mesopotamia, Babylonia, &c. had from time immemorial, and long before
* Diodor. Sicul. xix. 14. F. Foy-Vaillant Seleucidanim imperium s. historia regum Syriae ad fidem numismatum adiimbrata. Hagae Com. 1732, fol. p. 49, 50, and in many other places.
^ T. S. Bayeri historia Osrhoena et Edessena ex numis il- lustrata. Petropol. 1734, 4to, p. 9, sqq. C
J 8 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
the Greeks, contained a vast number of large cities, which partly in the wars had been de- stroyed, or greatly fallen into decay. What then is more natural to suppose, than that the inhabitants who fled from the devastated towns, again gathered together in those which had been newly founded, or enlarged, by Seleucus ; and that they left others, which were in a state of decay in order to settle there ? Thus then it happened that great colonies of native Arameans settled in these towns, and that at the very commencement, even Jews •* came to reside in Antioch and other cities, enjoying the same privileges as the other inhabitants. It is therefore manifest that the number of na- tive Greeks who chose their abode under the sceptre of the Seleucidae in the new cities of Mesopotamia, and other countries subject to their dominions, was much too inconsiderable to expatriate the Aramaic language in the cities, and still more, to effect such a change in the plains of the country, in the possession of which the natives still maintained them- selves. Likewise, from the double Aramaic and Greek names which these and other Syrian cities always retained, ^ a proof of some weight
'' Joseph! Antiq. Jud. xii. 3. 1.
*= Ammian. Marcellin. adv. 8. Seleucus founded cities strong in opulence and power, most of which, although
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 19
may be drawn; for how could the Aramaic names have subsisted, unless a great number of the inhabitants and neighbours had preserved them along with the still current Aramaic language ?
2. Among the Palm yrian inscriptions, ^ many of which are from as early an age as that of Alexander the Great, several have been found composed in the Aramaic language ; and the Tyrians had even medals coined in honour of a Syrian prince of Grecian descent, Antiochus the Fourth, surnamed Epiphanes, partly with Greek and Syro- Phoenician, and partly with Syro- Phoenician inscriptions alone ; some of which ^ have been preserved even to our time. This surely proves, clearly enough, that in the
called by Greek names, still retain the primeval Assyrian ones, which their ancient founders gave to them, Joseph. Ant. Jud. viii. 6. 1. He (Solomon) founded a city which he called Thadamora, and by that name it is still called by the Syrians, but the Greeks style it Palmyra. 2 Chron, viii. 4.
^ Les Ruines de Palmyre, Lond. 1753. Reflexions sur I'Alphabet et sur la langiie, dont on se servoit autrefois a Palmyre, par I'Abbe Barthelemy, in the Mem. de I'Acad. des Inscript. Tom. xxvi. p. 577> sq. Relandi Palestina, p. 526.
^ Engravings of them may be seen in the above quoted work of Foy-Vaillant, p. 106 and 109.
20 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
age of tlie Seleucidse, the Greek language had not obtained exclusive dominion in the coun- tries over which they ruled. The objection against this proposition, which might be drawn from many Greek coins of the Seleucidse, needs no confutation, as every one knows that it was no more the custom in ancient than in modern times to provide every coin with inscriptions in the language of the country. Probably the mas- ters of the coinage were Greeks,^ and found coins with regular Grecian uncial letters^ more beautiful than the oriental figures to which they were unaccustomed.
3. After the subjugation of the Syrian Mo- narchy by the Romans, who, as well as the Byzantine emperors, at a subsequent period, maintained for a considerable time, a dominion
^ [This hypothesis of Dr. Pfannkuche, is rendered highly prohable by historical analogy. In the lOth, llth, and 12th centuries, the masters of coinage in Denmark, SAveden, and Norway, were Englishmen, almost without exception ; and all these coin-masters were so patriotic, that they made the inscriptions of the coins generally in the Anglo-Saxon lan- guage, and certainly never in the language of the country in which the coin was to have currency. Latin, it seems, was sometimes forced upon them, but then they always ex- pressed even that learned tongue with Anglo-Saxon cha- racters.]
[K Less correctly, but more commonly, these are styled Ca- pital letters.]
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 21
over the countries belonging to it; and yet were often compelled to allow the formation of certain independent states, which arose in Mesopotamia and neighbouring provinces; and during a certain time entirely to surrender great tracts of country to the Parthians and other oriental nations — the Aramaic language still continued to be the vulgar tongue in these regions, as is rendered manifest by the neces- sity of preparing Syriac versions of the Bible, (of which the Peschito being one, certainly ex- isted already at the conclusion of the third cen- tury after Christ,) and Syriac Homilies, and commentaries on the Bible. Whenever cer- tain parts of these countries, for a time, made themselves independent of the Romans, as the kingdom of Edessa;^ and subsequently that of Palmyra, ^ the public records and other writ-
^ Bayer historia Osrhoena, praef. p. 5. The letter too, which Christ is said to have written to Abgar, was origi- nally written in Aramaic, and is from that language trans- lated into Greek. Now the forger of this letter would cer- tainly not have chosen that language for his composition, unless at Abgar's time it had been the prevailing language in Edessa. See the work just quoted, p. 104.
^ Even the letter of the queen Zenobia, by which she answered the letter of the emperor Aurelian, was written in Syriac. Nikomachus translated it into Greek. Vopis- cus in Aureiiano, C. 27.
22 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
ings were always composed in the Aramaic language. Even under the dominion of the Arabs, who wrested these countries out of the hands of the Byzantine emperors, and whose language being cognate to the Aramaic, might rather have been expected to obtain prepon- derance over it than the Greek, the Aramaic during a long time maintained its supremacy, which is proved by the great number of Syriac authors who lived in this period. These phe- nomena would be utterly inexplicable unless the Aramaic language had always continued to be the language of the country even from the time of the Seleucidse.
4. And even although the Asiatic nations who were subject to the dominion of the Se- leucidse were partial to Greek customs, and Greek names, no conclusion can be drawn from thence in favour of a universal propagation of the Greek language. Fashions in dress, gla- diatorial exercises, mimes, sacrificial usages, festivals, brilliant processions, and such other customs of the Greeks^ were copied, which could be easily done without making any use of the Greek language, and which at most could only occasion the reception of a few peculiar Greek terms in the vulgar tongue. There cer- j Foy-Vaillant in the book above quoted, p. 96. sqq.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 23
tainly were many even among the Jews ^ also, obstinately attached as they generally are to the usages, of their ancestors who took pleasure in this new-fangledness, and exchanged their Jew- ish personal names for Greek ones, finding the name of Jason, Menelaus, &c. more sonorous than Joshua and Manasseh ; but this Helleno- mania was observed only in a few unpatriotic Jews, who wished to obtain the favour of the SyrO- Macedonian sovereign by their flattery, and constitute themselves tyrants over their own nation under their protection. The very abhorrence which by far the greatest number of the nation in the most lively manner exhi- bited towards these persons, who only served their selfish views, and to the party which had been seduced by them, fully demonstrates that the ancient national customs, and the language of the country, still were cherished by the com- mon people.
5. That the national Aramaic was not ex- tinguished in Palestine by the tyranny by which Antiochus Epiphanes endeavoured to extirpate the Mosaic religion, in order, closely to unite and consolidate into one nation, along with his other subjects, the Jews, till then, isolated by their religious peculiarities, is manifest from
^ 2. Maccab. iv. 10.
24 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
tlie well known history of the cruelties which he caused to be perpetrated on the seven Pa- lestinian brothers. It is expressly stated, that these youths, so heroically meeting their fate, were, by their mother, in the language of THE COUNTRY,^ cxhorted to a firm endurance of the torments which the tyrant prepared for them ; that they answered their mother in this same language, and that the executioners, pro- bably not Jews, whom Antiochus had entrusted with the fulfilment of his cruel orders, likewise understood this language.
§ 7. The age succeeding the time of the Maccabees, whose unconquerable courage ob- tained for the Palestinian Jews national inde- pendence, after long and bloody contests main- tained about eighty years, with various changes of fortune, with the Syrian tyrants, must have been a period very favourable for the preser- vation of the national language ; for the pre- servation of the national existence, goes al- ways pari passu with that of the language. The frequent wars which the Jews had to wage for the maintenance of their indepen- dence against the Syrians, who had an evil eye to the rising of a new neighbouring power,
■ T? K^tx.'ili ^iaxixrat. Joseph, de IMaccabaeis, c. 16. T^ fXT^iu (puvip. 2 Maccab. vii. 8, 21, 24, 27-
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 25
and the mutual treaties, which both parties, tired of bloodshed, repeatedly entered into, could, as will appear from what is stated above, have no farther influence on the Aramaic lan- guage of Palestine, than that it kept open the channel through which so many Hellenisms al- ready had been introduced into that country. The same may be said of the leagues which sub- sequently the Palestinians made with the Ara- maic Arabs."" The domestic tyrants certainly, who usurped the dominion over Palestine, must have been acquainted with the Greek language, and thus, for example, Josephus " calls Aristo- bulus, (piXiXXTjv; but even these would naturally be anxious to prevent this outlandish tongue from becoming common amongst the great mass of their subjects, lest they might form a league with the neighbouring Greek-Asiatic princes ; the total separation of their nation forming the best security to them for the quiet possession of despotic power. That during this period the national language of Palestine sub- sisted in its ancient authority, is, besides the reasons already stated, farther supported by the following : —
1. In the army of Judas Maccabseus, the na-
"* Joseph. Antiq. Jud. xiv. 1. " Ant. Jud. xiii. 12, 3.
26 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
tional language of Palestine was the most com- mon ; for according to 2d Maccab. xiii. 37. he prayed before the beginning of a battle, at the head of his troops, in the language of the coun- tryj ("^ft '^^'''iiSf' 9^^fi). aiid made them sing war- like songs in that same language. From this circumstance, the universal prevalence of the Aramaic dialect among the people may be in- ferred with a high degree of security ; because, more than any where, in this army, in which there were probably many foreigners, we might have expected to hear of the Greek or some other foreign language, unless the Aramaic had maintained itself in its exclusive and decided sovereignty.
2. After the time of the Maccabees, coins with Hebrew and Aramaic inscriptions became current. Simon, a renowned descendant of that family, made use of the prerogative grant- ed to him by Antiochus, ° of coining money in his name, and putting it into circulation. Many coins derivable from his age, have been preserved, with the following inscriptions, hi^llD'^ i^''U;:i ]'))^i2\D (i.e. Simon Prince of Israel J bi^-^^' bp^ fSekel of Israel J rhMi:!h N m^ or bi^'lli/'' JTinnb f^^ the first year of Israel's liberti/ or emancipation. ) H^lp D/l!^')1'' Holy Jerusalem^ *> 1st Maccab. xv.'6.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 27
^c. The often disputed genuineness of these coins in general, (for that many of them are of a later date is undeniable) is put beyond a doubt by Souciet,P Prileszky,^ Ugolini,' Har- duin, ® great sceptic as he is with regard to all antiquities, and latterly by Bayer and Tych- sen, * in their controversy on this subject; and if an obstinate sceptic of historical matters re- fuses belief to these authorities, the coins, at all events, serve as a proof for the Aramaic language being the language of the country in Palestine at the time of the Maccabees ; and that the old Hebrew was then still known, as the makers of these coins would have run the riskofbeinginstantly detected asforgers, if they had made use of a language then utterly \m- known in Palestine, on coins pretended to be issued under the authority of an independent Jewish prince.
3. Even at the courts of the Jewish kings who lived towards the conclusion of this period, the Greek language cannot have been predo-
P Dissert. Critiq. p. 104. sq.
•> Annales Comp. Regum Syriac, p. 79.
"^ Thesaurus Antiquitat. torn, xxviii. c. 9.
* The last quoted work, p. 1065.
* Notices of these and other writings on the same subject, See in Eichorn's Allgemeine Bibliothek der bib. Lit. vol. vi. p. 634. sqq. and 886, sqq.
28 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
minant. It was their interest to be recognized as genuine Jews by the great mass of the people, and they dared not, therefore, manifest any predilection for the Greek language ; moreover, the religious sects of Pharisees and Sadducees, who, by turns, prevailed at court, administered the government, and stood in in- timate relation to the prince, must there have maintained the sway and authority of the na- tional language. This is supported by the cir- cumstance, that even the Jewish ruling princess, who is known under the Greek name of Alex- andra, according to Joseph us," properly bore the genuine Jewish name of Salome. The case is probably similar with several other Pa- lestinian names of Jewish rulers and magnates, which by Greek authors were translated into Greek, or exchanged for Greek names of si- milar sound, although, I will by no means deny that some of them really may have had names in both languages.
4. Writings for this period, which were destined for circulation in Palestine, were al- together written in the language of the coun- try. For the Apocrypha, originally written in Aramaic,* and afterwards translated into
" Ant. Jud, xiii. 12, 1.
' Confr. the Prologue to Ecclesiasticus, and St. Jerom's
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 29
Greek, such as the history of the Maccabees, of whose first book, the original title, according to Origen,'^ was ^ap(3rj^ 2a^/3ai/£ EX,^ the books of Tobit, Judith, Ecclesiasticus, &c. are in all probability productions of this period. I shall hereafter speak of the Targums on the law and the prophets, which, if they are not
Prefaces to the books of Tobit and Judith, in which he states that they are written "Sermone Chaldaeo."
^ Comment on Psalm i. and ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. vi. 25.
^ Confr. Eichorn's Enleitung in die Apokr. Schriften des A. T. Leips. 1795. p. 221. where several attempts at translating these words are mentioned, I will venture to add one more such attempt. I find here a superscription quite in the Oriental style, which in the orignal may have run thus : ^J^ O^,"!^^ Z021t^ and literally translated
signifies Shoot of the Cedars of God, (Confr. Buxtorffii Lex. Chald. It appears to me to be borrowed from a pas- sage in the book itself now lost, and probably from some song of triumph which once had been inserted in it, where, not unlikely, Judas INlaccabeus Avas pourtrayed by an image very common among orientals, (Isaiah xi. 1., 1st Maccab. i. 11. and particularly Ecclesiasticus 1. 8, 10, 12.) as an undaunt- ed hero. This Aramaic superscription, at aU events, proves that our Greek text of the History of the Maccabees does NOT, as commonly is supposed, flow from an Hebrew, but an Aramaic orginal, as Tobit, Judith, and other Apo- crj^hal books. It is true, that St. Jerome says, in the Pro- log. Galeat. " Maccabeorum primum librum hebraicum repe- ri," but here Hebrew, as so often in the New Testament, in Josephus, and other authors, means only the common language of Palestine.
30 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
even of an earlier date, certainly existed in this period, at least, almost quite in the same form, and most probably in the very same lan- guage in which they have been handed down to us.
§ 8. Thus, then the Aramaic dialect had, during a period of about 500 years, been pre- served in Palestine, among the Jews who re- turned from the Babylonian exile, having been by them adopted while they were in the fo- reign country, and having been naturalized almost two hundred years earlier in a great part of Palestine ; and in spite of all political tempests, which so often threatened the nation with total ruin, it remained unimpaired, when the Jewish state, mightily shaken by internal disturbances succumbed to the powerful Ro- mans, and saw Pompey (the year 62 before Christ) enter its capital in triumph. Now, much as this catastrophe might seem to pre- pare utter ruin to the national language of Palestine, the hitherto current Babylonian- Aramaic dialect still maintained itself during the first 150 years of the Roman dominion — and certainly in the age of Christ and his apostles, (which is the main object of this treatise,) — as a language generally spoken in the country ; or more strictly speaking, as a
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 31
universal national language, and was neither expatriated by the Greek language, which, at that time was understood and spoken by all Romans of the better class, or as Harduin ^ supposes, by the Latin. This proposition may partly by indirect, and partly by dii^ect proofs, be brought to such a high degree of certainty as must satisfy every unprejudiced enquirer.
§ 9. Among the indirect proofs which may be stated for the preservation of the national language of Palestine, in the above-mentioned period, the following seem chiefly to deserve attention : — =
1. A conquered nation suffers the depriva- tion of its national language, and the obtru- sion of another totally different from its own, only, when the conqueror overturns the pre- viously existing organization of the state, tran- sports the greater part of the inhabitants, and gives their former abodes to foreign colonists, who inundate the whole country, and must be far more numerous than the remaining original inhabitants. This is the only condition^ which makes the complete extinction of a national
' J. D. Michaelis Einleitung. in die Gottliehen Schfriten des Neuen Bundes, vol. i. Goett. 1788, p, 107, sqq.
^ [The translator does not recollect any instance in history where even that condition has proved effective. The poli- tical organization of the Ancient Britons has been over-
32 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
language possible, but that condition never ex- isted under the mild sway of the Romans in Palestine. The internal government, the ad- ministration of justice, &c. was not materially changed; the nation was allowed to retain its code of law, which was so inseparably combin- ed with its religion. Ethnarchs and titular kings administered the government along with the Sanhedrim ; and it is undoubted, that pub- lic offices were held by natives, and more rarely by foreigners, the latter, however, being ac- quainted with the language of the country. The Roman governors were content when the country paid the tribute which was imposed,
turned over and over again, and still they preserve their an- cient language in its different dialects; so do the Basks theirs : Italy, at all events, suffered the obtrusion of no foreign tongue, although its own was modified. The Mantshu Tartars, I apprehend, entirely overturned the political organization of China ; but the conquerors did not introduce their own language, although far preferable to that of the natives, and more apt to the adequate expres- sions of thought ; nay, they submitted to the enormous hardship of learning, as well as they could, a language, at once the most difficult and imperfect of all that are spoken by man. The political organization of Prussian Poland was completely overturned, and many efforts made to in- troduce German, and still the Poles preserve their language. In short, I much doubt whether any political measure, though ever so violent, can completely extirpate the na- tional language of any country.]
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 33
and respected the ruling nation's right of so- vereignty. Processes directly belonging to the Roman forum, which chiefly concerned the higher police of the country, and the pre- servation of public peace, were so rare, that the great mass of the people would not find it worth while, on account of its being used at the supreme tribunal, to learn a foreign lan- guage, to which the ear was unaccustomed, and which, in its form and spirit, was quite unori- ental ; and these few processes might, besides, be carried on through the instrumentality of Roman lawyers, or a few Jews who were ac- quainted with the Latin language. Nor is there any vestige found of any considerable Roman or Greek colonies settling in Palestine about this time. The number of Romans, who, on account of public business, sojourned in the country, was so insignificant, that they must have been quite lost among the natives. More- over, the Roman forces used in the Palestinian wars, for the subjugation of the inhabitants,iJ
^ In the army with which Pompey marched to Jerusalem^ there were many Syrians, Joseph. B. J, i, 6, 4. Pompey marched against Aristobulus, taking with him the Roman forces, and many allies from Syria, Confr. Ant. xiv. 3, 4. Ga- benius raised in Palestine, for the Romans, a corps of Jews, ten thousand infantry and fifteen hundred cavalry, Ant. xiv. 5; 3. The Roman army, the command of which An- D
34 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
or for garrisoning the fortresses,*^ consist- ed, by no means, of native Romans, but of Asiatic, and chiefly Aramaic warriors; and con- sequently, even if standing in much more inti- mate connection with the native inhabitants, than from their hatred to every thing Roman is at all probable, could not have any influence on the language of the country.
2. The intimate connection, until the de- struction of Jerusalem, subsisting between the Palestinian Jews and their brethren on the banks of the Euphrates, must have assisted the preservation of the Aramaic dialect among the former. Only a smaller portion of tliose Jews who had been transplanted to the countries of the Assyrian and Babylonian sovereigns, had returned to Palestine ; the greater number had remained in the abodes allotted to them by the conquerors. These Jews dwelling in the neigh- tony intrusted to Sosius, chiefly consisted of unexercised Syrians, Ant. xiv. 15, 10. In the army of Vespatian there were many Arabic archers and Syrian slingers, B. J. iii. 6, 18. Titus had at the siege of Jerusalem many auxiliaries from Syria, B. J. v. 1, 6. The same thing is stated in many other passages.
•^ Thus it 18 stated about the garrison of Cesarea under the reign of Nero. Joseph. B. J. ii. 13, 7- " The Romans haring the place filled with troops gathered from Syria."
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 35
bourhood of the Euphrates, in the proper home of the Aramaic language, whose number, at the time of Josephus,** amounted to many thou- sands, had not, like the Egyptian Jews at Leon- topolis, their proper temple, nor their own priests, but were obliged, for performing the sacrifices prescribed in the Mosaic law, par- ticularly on the high feasts, to go to Jerusalem.® The Sanhedrim too, being the supreme court for deciding all civil causes connected with reli- gion, constantly drew many towards this centre of genuine Judaism. Emigrations,^ from these regions towards Palestine, were not uncom- mon, and during this period we even meet with high priests^ from Babylon. Constant commu- nication subsisting between the Babylonian and Palestinian Jews, the Aramaic language must have maintained itself also among the latter, and whenever it began to be corrupted by
^ Ant. Jud. xi. 5, 2. At ^l Bsxa <pv?i.u) ^(^av ilffir 'Ev(ppa.Tov
^ Joseph. Ant. Jud. xvii. 2. 4. " This man was a pro- tector— to the Jews coming from Babylon to Jerusalem on account of the sacrifices." Philo, de Leg. ad Cai. Frankf. edit. p. 1023, D.
* Joseph. Ant. xvii. 2, 1. Ej. Vita. c. ii.
^ Joseph. Ant. xv. 2, 4. Herod — sending to Babylon for a priest — of the name of Ananilos, conferred on him the office of high priest.
36 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
Hellenisms, it must have been brouglit back to its purity by the continual influx of Babylo- nians.*^
3. The names of persons mentioned in the New Testament, and in the writings of Fla- vins Josephus, are chiefly Aramaic. We need only remember the many compound names with the Aramaic Bar, such as Bar Tolmai, (Bartholomew) Bar Jeshu, (Bar Jesus) Bar Timai, (Bartimaeus) Bar Abba, (Barabbas) and others, which clearly enough indicate their origin. Likewise the significant surnames given to certain persons, either on account of their character, or their bodily constitution, such as Boanerges, Kephas, Barnabas, Cha- gira, &c. are Aramaic, and would surely not have been given to them in any other than in the common language of the country. The same may be said of most of the significant geographical names, the most common of which are those composed with Beth, Caphat, and En {]y) and for which a reference may be made to the index of lielandi Palestina,
4. During this age, if not earlier, Aramaic
^ [The last proposition the translator does not think ad- missible. No fresh importation of those who speak a lan- guage in its purity, will in a whole country eradicate one already introduced, or even weed away barbarisms.]
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 37
Targums were universally used in the Pales- tinian Synagogues, and among the learned; and even many of the still extant Targums, such as those of Onkelos, and Jonathan, and many fragments incorporated in the latter para- phrases, must already at that time have existed in their present form and language ; although, indeed, none of the Targums now extant, dur- ing a period comprising so many centuries, have remained free from interpolations.
An explicit and detailed proof for this propo- sition, which it has now become customary, with much confidence, to deny, since Morin raised his doubts against it, would require a separate treatise, for which this is not the proper place. We shall, therefore, at present confine ourselves to some general remarks on the early existence of the Targums, and on the total or partial identity between several still existing Aramaic paraphrases, and Tar- gums that existed in the period here alluded to.
(a) Contradictory as the Jewish traditions ^ relative to the age and authors of the Tar-
* Wolfii, Bib. Rab. T. ii. p. 1143, sqq. Walton, Proleg. xii. § 9, and 10. A. Pfeifferi Exerc. ii. de Targumim, in his Opp. Philolog. Ultra j. 1704, 4to. p. 862. sqq.
38 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
gums may be, they still agree in this, that they were prepared a considerable time before the birth of Christ, for the benefit of Jews re- turned from the Babylonian exile. This tra- dition is in a high degree probable, for the ancient Hebrew was at that time as foreign to the ears of the Palestinians as the old German of the eleventh or twelfth century to us mo- dern Germans ; and it was, therefore, indis- pensably necessary that interpreting commen- taries, in the language of the country, should be prepared for the readers in the Synagogues, and for the unlearned Jews in general, which they might make use of in their prelections of the Old Testament.
(b) The language of the Targums of Jona- than and Onkelos, (of whom the latter, accord- ing to a highly probable Jewish tradition,^ is said to have critically revised Esra's older Targum, and to have separated from it the interpolations which had been inserted, near- ly in the same manner as Origen did with the Alexandrinian, and Jerome with the La- tin version,) is completely such as we are justified in expecting it to have been, in the age before Christ. It is, indeed, not quite
k Pfeiffer. 1. c. 864.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 39
pure, and somewhat more than the language of Daniel and Ezra, disfigured by Hellen- isms, Persisms, and other barbarisms, but by no means so much interlarded with outland- ish words as the Gemara, which was compos- ed a few centuries later, not to mention other more modern writings. The same may be said of many remains of ancient Targums incor- porated with pharaphrases collected in later times, and by the purity of their style, easi- ly discerned. Should not this quality of the language justify us in ascribing many of the still extant Targums, either entire or in part, to an age when the Aramaic language was not as yet so very much degenerated as it became after the destruction of Jerusalem ?
(c) The Alexandrian version seems not to have been made from the Hebrew original, but from very ancient Targums, which were the foundation of the latter Targums. The frequently striking concordance of the LXX. with the readings, interpolations, and alle- gorical interpretations of the still extant Tar- gums, (of which, however, it cannot be main- tained that they are interpolated from the Greek version,) and the statement of Philo, that the Old Testament is written in the Chal-
40 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
daic language,' where he, no doubt, meant the Chaldaic Babylonian paraphrases, then so much in circulation, render this conjec- ture indeed very probable ; neither can it be expected from the Jews, that they should have entrusted to the profane hands of the Egyptians the Hebrew original text of the Old Testament (which was held so peculiarly sa- cred,) in an exact copy, or in a translation made directly from the original. Besides, the ad- dition to Job which is found in the Alexan- drian version, and even spoken of by Origen, makes an express mention of an ancient Ara- maic Targum (B//3?.ou 2je/a%5j?) from which the Greek version, being so very different from the Hebrew text, must have flowed, as it agrees with the more modern still extant Targum in particular glosses and interpolations ; this I have observed by an accurate examination of both translations. A more exact and com- plete inquiry into this relationship of the LXX. to the Targums, of which we hitherto, as far as I know, have not even a specimen, will probably throw more light on this subject, and thereby restore to the criticism and interpre-
' Lib. II. de Vita Mosis, p. 057. edit. Frankf. confr. p. 6C8. C. and p. 659. D.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 41
tation of the Old Testament, which hitherto were so dependent on the LXX. their long lost independence. Indeed even Christ, when dying on the cross, he pronounced the words of Psalm xxii. 2. 'HX/, rfki, 'kaiMa affajSddvi (Matth. xxvii. 46.)"^ made use of the Aramaic Targum language, in which he probably often had read the Psalms ; they, on account of the frequent use which the Jews made of them, having been early translated into the language of the country. But whether these words are bor- rowed from a lost, or from the still extant Tar- gum, in which the only discrepancy from the
™ [Whence has Dr. Pfannkiiche got the reading aa-at^avt ? Griesbach retains the common reading 'SccSa.pf^^avt both in the verse of Matthew here quoted and also in Mark xv. 34; but it is quite true that ''^JH^IV ^'^ ^^^ ancient Hebrew word,
and the one used by the Psalmist — if then the Saviour had used that word, and not the word sabbacthani of the Evan- gelists, his recollection would have been that of the sacred text and not of the vulgar paraphrase, which is quite the re- verse of Dr. Pfannkuche's position. If the Doctor affects to correct Christ's Hebrew, he ought to have put the quota- tion in Hebrew characters, there was nothing to prevent him, as not a syllable is said in the record as to the charac- ters in which the quotation should be put. — No, — that is not what he means after all, but this is the blunder : he wanted Christ to speak Aramaic, (which he really did as to this word at all events), but forgetting himself and his argu- ment, has gratuitously put into his mouth a pure Hebrew word.]
42 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
Greek" words quoted, ( I mean, the >.a/a,a stand- ing instead of pjD ^IZOD) ^^V ^^ attributable to later transcribers, who easily counfounded synonymes we leave undecided, not having sufficient data to forma judgment. The Apos- tles too, following their Master's example, made use of the Targums current in Palestine. Al- ready Origen sought in the Jewish Apocrypha for such passages of the Old Testament quoted by them, as neither are quoted according to the LXX. nor the Hebrew text f and the Tar- gumical interpretation of the Old Testament,
" [The Translator must say this is very hurriedly and care- lessly written, — Greek words ! who ever thought of Greek words ? surely not the Erangelists. We only find these words, which all men of all ages knew to be foreign to the Greek, written with the Greek characters, but the character does not make the word Greek. But here is another grievous mistake with regard to the lama, a word which is pure Hebrew, as well as asabthani. Christ, according to the Gospels, certainly used the word lama, and not the ma- THOL MAH of the Targums : What then is the use of in- terfering with Christ's words on the cross, as recorded in the Gospel ? If Dr. Pfannkuche does not like sabbacthani, I have no objection to his substituting the true old Hebrew ASABTHANI ; but I must protest against his altering the lama, which is right and ancient, in order to make it square with his Targum.]
° Origines Proleg. in Cantic. Cant. Illud tamen palam est, multa vel ab Apostolis vel ab Evangelistis exempla esse pro- lata et N. T. inserta, quae in his Scripturis, quas canouicas
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 43
which they often followed, may most naturally, be derived from such sources.
(e) Flavius Josephus harmonizes also, with the still extant Targums, in his Jewish Ar- cheologia, which, according to his own aver- ment, is drawn from the sacred writings of his nation, to which the Targums also belonged ; he harmonizes with them with regard to par- ticular readings and passages, where he devi- ates from the Hebrew text and the LXX. The examples^ hitherto known, could no doubt be considerably increased in number, if any man were to confer accurately Josephus with the Targums ; and such an inquiry would pro- bably confirm my conjecture, that Josephus, chiefly and principally, had before him the Targums, next after them the LXX., but very rarely recurred to the Hebrew text. Whe- ther Philo, in whose writings many things oc- cur of a very targumical aspect, likewise made use of lost or still extant Targums, is a ques- tion probably not heretofore proposed, and which I leave to be resolved by those who are
habemus, nunquam legimus, in Apocryphis tamen inveni- untur, et evidenter ex ipsis ostenduntur esse assumta. Confr. also Hieronym. ad Ephes. v.
P J. D. Michaelis, Oriental. Bibliothek, vol. v. Frankt. 1773.*p. 227, 239,240,249.
44 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
equally intimate with the spirit and contents of the Targums.
(f) No man ought to be surprised at the si- lence of the most ancient Christian fathers, with regard to these Targums. In the first centuries of Christianity, the Jews would na- turally be very anxious to conceal them from the view of Christian scholars, who could have made a most excellent use of many a targumi- cal interpretation of the prophecies of the Old Testament, in support of their theory respect- ing the Messiah ; but the Targums certainly belonged to the Jewish Apocrypha, of which the fathers^ very frequently speak under that title. Farther, the expense of the Targums,"^ which were particularly provided for the Synagogues, and the ignorance of the fathers in the Ara- maic language, (in which the learned Jerome cannot have made very great progress any
1 J. A. Fabricii codex pseudepigraphus O. T. vol. i. See Ed. Hamb. 1772, 8vo. p. 1088.
' Elias Levita says in the preface to his Meturgemem, " that before the invention of typography, there hardly ex- isted one or two copies of the Targum on the Prophets, and the Hagiographa in a province (n^"*!^) or in a clime (Q>^p^)." But this assertion is surely exaggerated, since we observe among the codes of the Old Testament that were compared by Kennicott and De Rossi, and written before the end of the fifteenth century, a considerable num- ber with the Targums in the margin.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 45
more than in the Hebrew, because almost at every step in translating and interpreting the Old Testament he felt himself under the ne- cessity of consulting the Jews,) must, in no small degree, have prevented their becoming known among the Christians. Still we know from Jerome's Commentaries, that the Jews did not altogether deprive Christians of the bene- fit of targumical interpretations of difficult passages of the Old Testament ; for in that Fa- ther's Commentaries there certainly occur in- terpretations of the same kind as those in the printed Targums.®
5. It is an incontrovertible fact, that Jesus, whose circle and conversation lay more among the common people than the higher classes, — among that class of the people, which, even on account of their station, more readily received purer principles of morality — from which class he chose his most intimate disciples, dvd^dJTovg dy^afifjjdrovg Ttal '/diurag, Acts iv. 13.* in his pub- lic teaching, and on other occasions, made use of the Aramaic language. Some fragments of his speeches, preserved in the original lan-
• Confr. My own (Dr. Pfannkuche's) Exercitationes in Ecclesiastae, c. xi. 7 — c. xii. 7, Gottin. 1774, p. 16. sqq. Where I have given a plain example of this mode of inter- pretation.
* [Not 23 as in the original.]
46 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
guage " — the Aramaic colour every where ob- servable in the translations of his lectures, as we find them in the Evangelists — and Paul's rela- tion, that he, in an ecstasy, was by Jesus ad- dressed in the modern Hebrew or Palestinian
■ Matt, xxvii. 46, Mark xv. 34 ; v. 41 ; vii. 34. We can only conjecture why these passages of our Greek Gospels which otherwise always give Jesus' speeches and sayings in Greek, contain only a few words of the original text. In the two first quoted passages, as it seems, the original ex- pression was inserted, because thereby light is thro%vn up- on the circumstance immediately after mentioned, that Je- sus, according to the supposition of some by-standers, cried for help from Elias. In the two latter passages, where the preservation of the words of the original seems to be rather accidental than intentional, the translators may have been in the same predicament as the authors of the Alexandrian version, who, now and then, did retain, probably from mere inadvertence, a single Hebrew word ; for example. Judges xiii. 6, the word nazir, verse 8, the word adonaie, without any ostensible reason. Of these untranslated words no notice was taken by later critics, merely because they were found in the Gospels. [The translator is not much disposed to dis- pute the author's general position with regard to the lan- guage of Palestine at the time of Christ ; but he thinks it is but fair to observe, that the proof here drawn from Christ's speeches, is excessively weak. We have here indeed four quotations, but the sum total of Aramaic words, to which they refer, amounts to no more than three, i. e. hephata, and talitha cumi ; for the exclamation on the cross is dispos- ed of above, and shewn, if the author's reading is to be retained, to be as pure ancient Hebrew as the King of Israel himself ever penned. Dr. Pfannkuche has also fail-
TN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 47
Aramaic language,'^ place this assertion beyond a doubt. But how could Jesus, the teacher of the common people, have made use of the Aramaic, unless it had been the universally prevailing national language ?
6. The few writings which were composed
ed to observe the peculiarity of circumstances under which these few Aramaic words were uttered ; they were certainly not directly addressed to the common people, and whether they had understood them or not was of no moment. That these words are not retained untranslated by inadvertence, appears to the translator to be manifest ; here seems to be a design to make us acquainted with the very words — the very sounds uttered by the Saviour when performing a mi- racle ; and, after all. Dr. Pfannkuche here only presupposes and has not proved, that the Greek Gospels are only trans- lations, a position which, however, the Translator is not prepared to deny, but, on the contrary, is inclined to think susceptible of demonstration.]
'^ Acts ix. 5 ; xxii. 7 ; xxvi. 14. In the last quoted verse it is expressly stated, that the voice spoke to the Apostle in the Hebrew dialect 'E?ga''^/ ^^aXexran, — [by which the author no doubt means that we are to understand modern Hebrew or Aramaic ; the translator cannot, however, help observing that Paul, being a learned Jew, would have understood ancient Hebrew as well ; and if Jesus had spoken to him in the lan- guage of the country, there seemed Httle occasion for the narrator to specify that he had addressed him in that lan- guage. All his hearers would expect nothing else than that the language of the country had been used, unless the Apostle had told them something to the contrary, from which it seems to follow, that Paul, on this occasion, was addressed in ancient Hebi'ew.]
48 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
in the first centuries after Christ by native Palestinians for the use of their countrymen, or Jews dwelling near the Euphrates, were al- too-ether written in the Aramaic, and some- times also in the Hebrew language, which always was preserved among the Jews as a learned tongue. Authors rarely appeared among them, because the study of the law, and the tradition connected with it, was the centre of all learning, and it was not customary to write much on these subjects, from fear that such writings might fall into profane hands; but those few who wrote, whenever they in- tended their works for the use of Palestinian Jews, or such as lived in the interior of Asia, always made use of the language of the coun- try. Thus Matthew, a Palestinian Chris- tian Jew, in the language of the country, wrote for his countrymen the History of Jesus; and Flavins Josephus, ^ made use of this same language in the first edition of his History of the Jewish War — the only authors writing for Palestinians and other Aramaic Jews, of whom we know with certainty that they published their treatises in the first century; yet it is possible that many fragments of ancient com- mentaries on the law, which afterwards have, y De Bello Jud. Proem. 1.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 49
word for word, been incorporated in tlie Mish- na and Gemara, may belong to this same pe- riod. The Talmud of Jerusalem, which was destined for Palestine, the Pesikta, Mechilta, Siphra, Siphre, and other Aramaic and He- brew writings, whose age cannot be accurate- ly determined, which appeared in Palestine, prove, at least, so much, that the Greek lan- guage, even several centuries after the de- struction of Jerusalem, met not with much fa- vour among the Palestinians, and could, ac- cordingly, not expatriate the ancient language of the country, nor its learned language. This position is farther confirmed by the Apocrypha really or supposedly written in Palestine,^ by the very ancient gospels of the Nazarenes and Hebrews, by the more modern gospels of Bar- nabas, Bartholomew, and the Nativity of Mary ; by Christ's Letter to Abgar, by Mary's Letter to the women of Messina, by Abdias' History of the Apostles, &c. ; all of which works either really existed in the Aramaic or Hebrew tongue, or at least, according to the pretence of those who put them in circulation, were translated from one or other of these languages.
' J. A. Fabricii Codex Apocryphus N. T. vol. i. edit. 2. Hamb. 1719. 8vo. p. 7, 317, 340, 311, 367, 390, 844, and in other passages.
£
50 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
Moreover, the Jews of Palestine, in the fourth century, possessed translations in their own lan- guage, of several writings of the New Testa- ment ; for example, of the Gospel of St. John, and of the Acts of the Apostles,* and these trans- lations were undoubtedly prepared because they did not understand these works in the Greek language. All this sufficiently proves, in my opinion, that the Palestinian Jews, in the first centuries after Christ, still tenaciously preserved the old language of their country.
7. Finally, when we consider the unex- ampled constancy with which the Palestinian Jews, after their return from the Babylonian exile, adhered to their ancient manners and customs, although thereby subjecting them- selves to the contempt of other nations, as un- cultivated oddities, — the extraordinary perse- verance with which Palestinian Jews, far re- moved from their original country, which they eft many centuries ago, have retained their language, even unto our tiir^e, ^ — the complete
* Epiphanii Oper. edit. Petavii, Tom. ii. p. 127.
^ The Jews who dwell in the Mogiil Empire, and merely in outward appearance have adopted the religion of the heathens, are said to speak the Hebrew language fluently, even unto this day. [? ? ?] See Eichhorn's Allgemeine Bi- bliothek der bib. lit. vol. ii. p. 501. But my opinion if.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 51
difference of the Greek and Roman languages from the Aramaic, — the difficulty with which Palestinians could learn any western lan- guage in which every word was foreign to them, — and the long lasting dominion of the Aramaic in Palestine and the neighbouring countries, it having only been in very late times expelled by the cognate Arabic dialect, and hav- ving, indeed, in some parts of the country sub- sisted as a living language even to our time,*^ — we can hardly hesitate to admit that the posi- tion, that the Palestinian Jews, at the time of Christ and his Apostles, preserved the lan- guage of their country, even if it could not be proved by express historical testimony, pos- sesses a verisimilitude nearly approaching to historical evidence.
§ 10. The DIRECT proofs for our proposition, under which head we classify the express state- ments of authors well acquainted with the af- fairs of Palestine in the first hundred and fifty years of the Roman dominion, as well as cer-
that he who communicated tliis information, from ignorance of the Hebrew language, mistook the Babylonian Aramaic dialect, which these Jews probably speak, for pure Hebrew. [Aye, " MY OPINION is," — but there is room for a hun- dred thousand other opinions equally probable.]
*= J. D. IMichaelis Abhundlung von der Syrischen Sprache. Goett. 1/80. 8vo. p. 9. sqq.
52 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
tain other facts which necessarily suppose the universal propagation of the Aramaic tongue, among the Palestinian Jews of this age, can- not be very numerous. In the writings of the Greeks and Romans, we need not look for in- dications of a very familiar acquaintance with the history and language of the Palestinian Jews, since they did not even vouchsafe their attention to the language and national writings of the more civilized nations of antiquity, such as the Carthaginians, Phoenicians, &c. ; and Strabo, from whom we have quoted above*' the passages bearing upon our subject, is per- haps the only one who imparts this general in- formation of the Syrians, (to whom the Pa- lestinians also belonged,) that they and their neighbours spoke a cognate language, but he enters on no farther explanation as to the dif- ference between their dialects. The few na- tive authors might indeed have left for us more definite accounts relative to the history of their language ; but these occupied themselves with historical and religious subjects, the treatment of which offered no opportunity to a satisfactory elucidation of this point ; and it would not be by any means surprising if they did not contain even a syllable on the subject. In their writ- • Page 3.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 53
ings, however, as by mere chance, some unin- tentional, yet, on account of their age, valuable evidences have been preserved, which place be- yond a doubt the subsistence of the Aramaic language at the time of Christ and the Apos- tles. We shall here rehearse these, following the chronological order of the writings in which they have been preserved.
I. In the writings of the New Testa- ment, to which, from their antiquity, the first place must be assigned, we find two pas- sages relative to our subject: —
1. In Acts i. 19, mention is made of a Hieroso- lymitan tongue quite different from the Greek and Roman, which being the language of the capital, must have been prevalent in the sur- rounding neighbourhood. No name indeed is given to this language, but the word Hakel- dama (Aceldama) J^Ql7pn ascribed to it, as it belongs to the Babylonian Aramaic, shews clear- ly enough that here no other language is meant.
2. Paul addressed the people of Jerusalem, who were excited against him, by Jews of Asia Minor, in a speech in the modern He- brew,** that is to say, in the Aramaic dialect at that time current in Palestine, for its iden- tity with the modern Hebrew will appear from
'^ Tri 'ES^a't^i huXiKTM. Acts xxi. 40 ; xxii. 2.
54 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
what will be said hereafter. The attentive si- lence with which the people listened to Paul's speech in his own defence, his devotion to Ju- daism having become suspected, and the in- stantaneous favourable impression which his acquaintance with the Aramaic language made on the people, sufficiently prove that this lan- guage was predominant at Jerusalem, and that no man was considered an orthodox Jew who was unable to express himself with ease and fluency in that language.
II. Flavius Josephus, a Palestinian Jew, himself an eye-witness to the wars carried on in Palestine by the Romans, and to the de- struction of the capital of his country, as well as of the national sanctuary, whose testimony, ac- cordingly, is of more weight than that of Tal- mudical writings collected in modern times, completely agrees with the statement of the New Testament.
1 . According to his express averment,® no other
^ Ant. XX. 10. 2. Aiyu Ti ^oc^ffriffas — or/ [Ji,rihus oiv 'iri^Oi ^vvrt6yi B-ikri(rBc.i , ju,^Tt 'lov^atos, fitirt akko^vXos, <riiv T^ay/na- ri'iav ravrnv otiruf uK^iSaJs iU "EXX>jvaj i\i))tyxi7v. tyv ya,^ m/jtaXoyovfiK^ vret^ti ruv ofioiivuv vrkiTffTov ttlruv xara tvv tw<- ^upiov irai^i'iav ^icc(pi^tiv' xxi ruv 'EXXfiviKeov Vi y^afAfjcdruv tf- irov^atra fjt,iTa(r^t7v, t*)v y^afcfAanxiiv \fi<rii^iecv avaXaScuv, tv* 3» Tip) rhv <jr^o(pooa,v ux^itiiuv Tccr^tos iKOiXvai ffwrihta, Tla^' ilju,7v ycip ouK ixtlvovg Ktoyi^oyrx) rov; •proXXuv iSvuv haXixruf
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 55
Jew among his contemporaries was capable of composing such a work as his Jewish Archse- ologia in the Greek language. The chief reason of this he states to be ignorance of the Greek language. He himself had indeed — a circumstance which he mentions as extraordi- nary and unusual — learned this foreign tongue, and made himself acquainted with Greek li- terature ; but, following the prevailing custom of his own country, the acquirement of speak- ing it with ease and readiness was one he had little cared for. " For with us," he thus con- tinues, " those who have learned foreign tongues are not at all esteemed ; for it is con- sidered as a discipline common to the refuse of freemen and slaves. Those only are considered as men of learning who are well acquainted with the laws, and possess an ability in interpreting the sacred writings," (according to the original text of the Hebrew, with the assistance of the ver- bal tradition and the Targums extant in the language of the country ; (for this is clear from the whole context, and not according to the
iKfioc&ovras, S/a to xo)vov ttva't vof/.il^siv to iTiTri^svfici tovto ovk iXivdi^MV fiovov T'iii Tu^outrtv, oiXXoi xcct TMv oiKiTuv Tois S-iXovtriv. ftovois §J ffo(pla.y fA,a,^TV^ovffi ToTg TO, vofiCif/,x (Toc^uis i<yriffTa,f/,ivaiSf xai rhv Tuv h^uv y^a.[A[ji,d.Ttav 'hvva.fjtiv i^[ji.nnv(roc$ ^uvctftivois.
56 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
Alexandrian version,) of which a despiser of outlandish languages could make no use.)^
2. This same author wrote an history of the Jewish war in the language of his country,s for the use of his brethren in Babylon, in Per- sia, in Arabia, and on the other side of the Euphrates, who, accordingly, as well as the Palestinians, preserved the Babylonian Ara- maic language ; and the Greek version of this work which he prepared in Rome with the as- sistance of some Greeks, ^ he intended, as well as the Archseologia, (Praef. 2.) not for Jews, but for Greeks, and for that vast multitude of Romans who were acquainted with tlie Greek language.
3. He calls the Greek language expressly a foreign tongue,' and speaks of the Babylonian Aramaic in a manner which shews that he meant a living language.^
*"[This parenthesis is the author's paraphrasis on Joseph's word i^f^'/jviua-a.i.'l
s B. J. pr. § 1. Uoov^if^yivlyM rots xarcc rhv 'Paf/u,xluv hyi-
g'vvTu^KS civi'prtfi-y^ec T^on^ov afnyriffaa-^xi.
^ C. Ap. 1. 9. X^r](rci//,ivos riiri -r^os rhv 'EXXjjv/Ja (puvitv rv*- s^yoT;.
' Ant. pro 2. oxvof fzot xx) uiXXyins iyivtro rrtXiKoivTytv ut- rinyKUv v-rohffiv (here he speaks of his Jewisli History,) 1/5 aXXo^aTtiv fiftTv xtt) ^ivns ^taXixrou iruvrjuav.
J Ant. III. 7. 2. Muufffis /*s» owv 'Aoavsi^ (LDJUi*?) K'"r»i» s*a-
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 57
4. The Jewish deserters who came over to the Romans during the siege of Jerusalem, un- derstood neither Greek nor Latin, and could, therefore, make themselves understood in nei- ther idiom. Josephus, who was with the Roman besieging corps, was the only one'' who could understand them.
5. The armed national guard which defend- ed Jerusalem against Titus, consisted, if not entirely, at all events, for the most part, of Jews who spoke only Aramaic. The watchmen on the towers, who observed the movements of the enemy, raised a loud cry in the language of the country,* when they saw the catapults put in operation, and the vast stone masses which were thrown against the walls, flying to- wards them. The emperor Titus, at the con-
the very same word which the Targums, 2 b. Mos. xxviii. 8. and in other places, put for J0J3N) ^^'^^^ xaXsv^sv. olirus yec^ Tgtxrayo^iviTo.i tu^ ahroT;. This passage clearly shews, that at the time of Josephus, the Hebrew language was ex- tinct, and that in its stead the Babylonian Aramaic, com- monly called Chaldean, was predominant.
^ C. Ap. I. 9. Tx 'Tfct^a. Tuv ochrofAoXeov aTccyyikkofiSva /u,o- »tfj KVTOS (^KctToi TO trr^xTOTioov Tuv 'PufAdiodv^ ffvvinv,
' B. J. V. 6. 3. (TKOTo) — it) tZv Tv^yeov X,u6lZ,0fJt,lV0t T^Oi- fiinwov, oTareev ff^adiiyi to o^yavoVj xett h t'stpo, (p'lpotTO, tJJ Tctrpiat yXuairi^ ^oiSvtss eyios i^^iTai.
58 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
ference which he held with the Jewish leaders, Simon and John, in the presence of the Ro- man and Jewish army, had by him an inter- preter™ who explained to the Jews, in the Pales- tinian language, the emperor's invitation to sur- render, and Josephus repeatedly relates that he himself often had to make the Jews acquainted with the contents of the proclamations of the Ro- man general, in the Hebrew language" of the time, as he calls it.
6. Even the Jewish princes, who, long resid- ing in Rome, were in familiar intercourse with the Csesars, and no strangers to the Greek lan- guage and literature, such as Herod Agrippa, °
" B. J. VI. 6. 2. ^a^ccyyiiXas It roTf (fr^a.riurati Tiroi, Svf^ou ri xa.) jSsXft/v (tivitv iyx^ariTs, xcc) rov l^/arivix Ta^enrryKr/xfitvos — 9r^uros n^^aro Xiysiv.
" B. J. V. 9. 2. Tires — ^aXXeixis yiveutrxajv avuTiKun^av o-tt- XftJv <rav Xoyov, alrovs tou ffu^i(r6at ^xgixaXn ^x^x^ovrxi rnv irekiv tf^v -ra.^uXnfzfJt.iv'nv, xa) <rov 'lutryi^ov xaS'nt r^ frar^iM yXuffffip hecXiyiff^ai, rx^a iv^ovvxi ^^os efAO(pvXov ^oxuv uvrovs. B. J. vi. 2. 1. 0 'itk/ffn-roi, us av u (Jt-h ru 'Iwavvj) ftvveti, dXXa xai Toii -xroWoli, Iv iTnx'ocu irra$, rk rod Kaltra^eg liriyyuXtv 'ES^xIX^v and in other places.
° Ant. xviii. 7, 10. " Marsyas, a freed man of Agrippa's, hearing of Tiberius' decease, ran with haste to Agrippa, to tell him of it, and meeting with him as he was going to the bath, he beckoned him aside, and said in the language of the Hebrews, the lion is dead." Agrippa answered him in the same language, which to the Roman centurion, who was standing by, was unintelligible.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 59
did not, even in the foreign country, forget their own, but made use of it when conversing with their countrymen, or wishing to conceal the subject of their conversation from the Romans. Now, if even the great were so devoted to their national language, which they had learn- ed in their early youth, then this may be pre- sumed in a still higher degree to have been the case with the lower classes, who, from un- acquaintance with foreign countries, held every thing connected with their own peculiarly sa- cred.
III. The averments of the Talmudists and those of the Rabbins, whose statements are founded on the former, deserve, at least, to be mentioned, as subsidiary proofs of our pro- position, already satisfactorily established, by the testimonies alleged from the New Testa- ment and Flavins Josephus :
1. They unanimously agree that the Greek language was exceedingly detested in Pales- tine, probably because in wars with foreign nations it assisted treachery. When Aristo- bulus, who supported Hyrcanus against his brother, was shut up by Pompey in Jerusalem, and a Jew, speaking Greek, gave the advice to the Romans, that they should no longer al- low the besieged to provide themselves with
60 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
victims, in order thereby to compel them to surrender, the most violent execrations were fulminated against every one who should make his son learn Greek ;P and during the war against Titus, it was expressly prohibited to**
P Bava kama fol. 82. b. Cum principes familiae Asmonaeae inter se de dominatione contenderent, Hyrcanus erat extra, Aristobulus vero intra urbem. Solebant illi, qui intus erant obsessi, quotidie per murum numos in cistula demittere, atque agnos, quibus ad rem sacram faciendam opus erat, referre. Erat forte inter eos, qui extra urbem erant, senex quidam (Judaeus) sapientiae Graecorum peritus, qui (Grae- cis Pompeianisque Hyrcano opem ferentibus) insusurrat graeco sermone : quamdiu istis sacra sua peragere conceditis, non facient deditionem. Cum postero die Hierosolymitani nummos in corbe demitterent, obsidentes iis reddiderunt porcum. — Tum dixerunt : IMaledictus sit, qui porcos alit, maledictus, qui filium suum docet sapientiam graecara
(nw nDDH":! -112^^ dik "l'n^*•)
'J Sota. Mischnae C. IX, 14 p. 962. ed. Wagenseil. De- creverunt bello contra Titum exorto, ne quis filium linguam graecam (J1*»JV) doceret. That this prohibition was only temporary, and only made in order to prevent desertion over to the enemies, is shewn by its limitation to the young men, for the girls might, according to the Talmud of Jerusalem, (Tr. Sota Schabbat, fas est homini, filiam suam docere lin- guam graecam, i^am id gratiam ei conciliat, M''agenseil, 1. c p. 970. if this passage has reference to times of war,) learn Greek. Nay, even during times of war, it happened to this, as to most prohibitions of this kind, that it was not univer- sally followed ; for in Josephus' writings we are made ac- quainted with several Palestinian Jews who understood
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 61
make the young men of Jerusalem acquainted with the Greek language. That these prohibi- tions were not occasioned by any predilection for the Greek language among the Palestinian Jews, but merely had reference to the common peo- ple, (amongst whom a few sometimes being acquainted with the Greek language, suffered themselves to be seduced to serve the enemy in the quality of spies,) is manifest from Jose- phus, according to whose testimony above quot- ed, the higher classes possessed too much na- tional pride to make themselves acquainted with a foreign tongue. The knowledge of Greek was considered entirely superfluous and useless to interpreters of Scripture.*" The
Greek. Confr. also Lightfoot, hor. hebr. ad Act. Ap. vi. 1. The long lasting hatred which the Palestinian Jews, of these as well as following ages, shewed towards every thing Greek, was more a predominant national feeling easily ac- counted for from their situation, than a consequence of this express prohibition, which was not at all required for Jews, zealously devoted as they were to their ancestral customs and religion.
' Menachoth fol. 99. b. Dumae filius, qui ex R. Ismaelis sorore genitus erat, interrogavit avunculum : num mihi, qui universam legem addidici, fas est sapientiae graecae stu- dere ? Tunc ei inculcavit avunculus dictum (Jos. I. 8 :) ne discedito liber iste legis ex ore tuo, sed studio ejus incumbe interdiu ac noctu. Age igitur, reputa tecum, quaenam sit ilia hora, quae nee ad diem, nee ad noctem pertineat ; quam si inveneris, licebit tibi sapientiae graecae operam navare.
62 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
tradition that the family of Gamaliel" possessed the exclusive privilege of teaching Greek, is perhaps nothing farther than an individualiza- tion of the historical proposition, that in the age when this family, who were distinguished for their acquirements, flourished, the know- ledge of Greek in Palestine was exceedingly rare. ^^
2. The Aramaic Targums were prepared ^^ merely because the people understood no other language than the Aramaic* For this same reason the people were occasionally permit- ted to make use of Aramaic forms of prayer," (for those borrowed from the Old Testament, and often composed from a number of passages selected out of it, were always to be said by
* Bava kama fol. 82. 2. Permiserunt familiae Rabban Gamalielis sapientiam graecam, quoiiiain illi cognati eraiit sanguini regio.
* R. Asarias in ]\Ieor Enajim c. 9. Servatus est tnos, in- terpretandi legem vulgo lingua Aromaea (*^^■)^^) toto tem- pore templi secundi, mansitque ista lingua semper inter eos (Hebraeos) usque ad captivitatem H ierosolpnitanam.
" Berachoth fol. 3. I. Sunt, qui dicant precatiunculam istam, cujus initium ti^llp, ideo lingua Aramaea proferri, quod sit lingua nobilis et simunae laudis. And further on, In more fuit, orationem ti^'»"Tp red tare post concionera |||^ adfuit autem ibi \nilgus, qui linguam Ilebraeam non intel-^^ lexit, ideoque in lingua Targumistica earn iustituenint, ut intelligereturab omnibus; nam haec eorum lingua.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 63
the Jews in the original ancient Hebrew tongue,) and the learned having great reve- rence for the Hebrew language, and probably- taking great pains to bring it again into circu- lation among the people, as before the exile, were prohibited to depreciate the Aramaic tongue.* Nay, according to the Talmudists, it was raised to honour by the prophets who "lived at the time of the destruction of Jerusa- lem, prophesying^ in it, and by the voice of heaven^ having therein manifested itself.
3. In some passages of the Talmud, and of
^ Hieros. Sota f. 21. 3. Beresch. Rabba f. 83. 4. Ne vilescat lingiia syriaca (''DTID) "^ oculis tuis. Nam ecce honorem tribuit ei Deus in lege (Gen. 31, 47.) in prophetis (Jerem. 10, 11.) et in hagiographis (Dan. 2, 4.) As these passages are altogether Babylonian Aramaic ^D*T)D signi- fies the same as ''DIJi^-
y Hieros. Sota fol. 24. Samuel parvus in articulo mortis dixit : Simeon atque Ismael ad gladium, atque omnis re- liquus populus ad spolium et calamitates plurimae futurae sunt. Lingua Aramaea loquebatur, sed non intellexerunt verba ejus h. e. verum praedictionis sensum. In Lightfooti hor. hebr. ad Matth. 1, 23. this passage is inaccurately tran- slated : atque ideo. quod haec loqueretur lingua Syriaca, non intellexerunt, quid esset locutus.
^ Sota. Gemarae c. VII. 2. p. 689, ed. 'Wagens. Extat
aditio, Jochananem, summum pontificem audivisse vocem fe sacratissimo penetrali prodeuntera et ''Q1J<} ^VI^^^ dicen- tem : vicere juvenes, qui iverant ad proelium commit- tendum Antiochiae (^^2"^p Km.^^ I^Ti^-T N'^'PZD IHSiD
64 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
the writings of the Rabbins, the current lan- guage in Palestine is called Syriac ("Q-t^d) and distinguished from the Babylonian Aram- aic.^ The former is, according to more mo- dern Jewish commentators, somewhat more cor- rupt than the latter ; but since the Talmud in other places^ expressly declares Syriac and Aramaic to be the same language, I suppose ^^ that these interpreters'^ only speak of the latte^^B ages of the third and fourth centuries, when the Jews, of Babylon in particular, piqued themselves on the purity of their language ; artd that we would by no means be justified in sup- posing, during the age of Christ and hi^Apos- tles, such a difference between the Atamaic of Palestine and that of Babylon as would oblige us to assign different names to these dialects. § 11. The QUALITY of the language of Pa-
KO1l03X^) Another voice heard by Simon the just, in the Temple, is hkewise immediately after given in the Ba- bylonian Aramaic language.
^ Bava kama fol. 83. 1. Sota fol. 49. 2. R. Jose dixit: Lingua Syriaca (''DTJD) "^ ^^^^''^ Israelitica quare ? cum potius adhibenda aut lingua sancta aut lingua graeca. In Babylonia Araraaea 0D"^^^) quare ? cum potius adhiben- da vel lingua sancta vel lingua Persica.
»> Pesachin fol. Gl. i. "DIK NIH ''DlID ]Mb Con^^^ Note m. ^^
« Confr. Buxtorf. Lex. chald. s. v. '»D")')D P* 1554. Light- foot, hor. hebr. ad Act. vi. L
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 65
lestine in the age of Christ and the Apostles, which is a point of very great moment for the in- terpreters of the New Testament, can be deter- mined with accuracy and certainty. Its character remained unchanged, and the same as it hadbeen in preceding ages, L e. it still was in every es- sential, with regard to substance and form, the ^. selfsame Babylonian Aramaic (modern Chal- l^lean) language, which is known to us from the most ancient relics of this language in Daniel and Ezra. The stock of the language still 'Consisted of genuine Aramaic words, and its outward form had not undergone any material alterati/i^, any more than its previously sub- sisting syntax. The imported exotic, chiefly Greek words, continued in circulation, and under the dominion of the Romans, when strict purity of the language had long been abandon- ed, there were superadded many new and feven Latin words, of which at an earlier period no vestige is found. But the language of the coun- try was not, by this incorporation of foreign expressions, which is admitted by every na- tion that lives not quite isolated, by any means circumscribed or confined within narrower li- ^^fcs than it had hitherto been. For the fo- ^Rign expressions which it had received, for
66 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
the most part denoted objects with which the Palestinians had through means of foreigners become acquainted, and for which they wanted proper names ; and the reception of such words could accordingly, by no means occasion the expulsion and setting aside of any number of the hitherto prevailing native words. It was much more a real enrichment of the language of the^^ country, which continued its course accompanPjP ed by these outlandish vocables and undisturb- ed, maintained itself in possession of its ancient domain.
That such really was the character of the language of Palestine at the time of Ckrist and his Apostles, can be demonstrated : —
1. From the few relics of this language ^ which we find in the New Testament written with Greek letters. We will here parallel the principal of these, because they in a manner support our position by intuitive demonstra- tion, with the corresponding modern Chaldaic words : —
** Confr. A. Pfeifferi loca ebraica et exotica N. T. in f. 0pp. omn. philolog. p. 467, sq. Cheitomaei graeco-barhara N. T. in Rhenferdi Dissertat. de stylo N. T. syntagm. Leorj 702. 4, p. 325 sq. u a.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 67
Matth. iii. 7. (pa^igahg, ^^^n^. V. 22. pdxK, Npn.^ ■yUvva, D^ri^. vi. 2-1. /j^afifiuvagf >?J«|DD.
T T
xii. 24. iSssx^sCoiix, "^-iit '?:j;n.
xvi. 17. (3u^ /wva, hJJi\13.
^ xxiii. 7. ^aC£/, >2.").
xxvi. 2. 'rrdgva, i^HDB and ^^^D^.
xxvii. 33. yo\yo&d (x^aviov ro'TTog), l^nT)^/,^'^
' But whether there anciently existed another form J^p*1
or the Greek transcribers, who, as we know from the collections of various readings to the Alexandrian version and Josephus, in Hebrew and modern Chaldaic words, often made slips of the pen, here exchanged pvaa for /axa, cannot now be deter- mined.
^ The second 7 was, in common conversation, inaudible, and thus the pronunciation of the word rendered the more easy ; the Samaritan version likewise, 4th book, Mos. i. 2, omits it, and according to this pronunciation it is written in the Greek. It is well known that also in the Syriac many consonants, whose collision would render the pronunciation
dparsh and difficult, are entirely omitted. See J. D. Michae-
Mis Gramm. Syr. p. 59. sq.
^ In the parallel passage, Mark xv. 34, we read Ikut instead of ^Xi. It would therefore seem that in the copy of the
68 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
Mark iii. 17. (Soan^yky (vki /Sgovr^g), l!)'^^! ''^B.^ iv. 17.^ Agyswi/, ]^*^^.J V. 41. raXt&a Kovfii (rh xo^dffiov, gys/ga/),
vi. 27. ff'jrsxov'kaTU^, 'I'lZO^ipSlD. vii. 11. xo^Qav (du^ov), ]21^p.
X. 51. gaeCov/, ''))2'ly and '^Ji^").^
treatise which Mark had before him, there was written ''H /i^
instead of t^^^^ which occurred in other copies.
^ The drawling pronunciation of conversational language prefei'red ^J2l which is another form of the word, and
••T
often pronounced the a as an intermediate sound between a and 0, and thence (ioxvi for (ivt.
' [Dr. Pfannkuche is a great misquoter; several of his slips of this kind have been corrected already, without par- ticularly noticing where the misquotations occurred. Here verse 17 is quoted instead of 15. The translator has used Griesbach's text.]
• These as well as other Roman words, were in use in the modern Chaldaic at the time of the Evangelists, and are drawn from fragments on which the Gospels are founded. Also in the Syriac language they had been incorporated, and were therefore retained in the Peschito without any gloss.
^ The /I which rendered the pronunciation difficult, was slun'ed over in this word. Confr. the preceding note tow Matt, xxvii. 33. "^
' 'FecSSouvi, which occurs in John xx. 16, is only a differ- ent pronunciation. The more ancient pronunciation of the
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 69
Mark xiv. 36. 'ACCA (6 '^rarrip), i^BSt. Luke i. 13. (ftx^a, ^^'l^l£r. xix. 20. (foudd^iovy yDV- John i. 43. Kri(pag (nsrgog), NS'^B.
iv. 23. Mstfc/ag (Xg/trri^), KH^t^D. V, 2. iZ^a'/gri ^ri&scbd} j^"TDrT /T»2 xix. 13, ICga/VW yaCl^a^a (?a^t'(rr|wrog), l»^jnBi|. Acts i. 19. axsX bdficc (%wg/ov ai(Marog), 7\)J1
ix. 36. TaC/^a (do^ndc), J^n'^pD- xvi. 12. xoXwwa, K'^j'pp.
1 Cor. xvi. 22. Maodv ci&a, Kn^^ P^3-
» T -; '"T T
2 John 12. Xd^rrig, D''^'1i2-
2. In Josephus likewise several words are
Hebrew, as well as other oriental languages, could in gene- ral never be fixed, and must always remain somewhat flue- tuating, because till the fifth or sixth ceniury they had no signs for the vowels. [This is a very true remark, and hence the immense variety of dialects in the Arabic, a lan- guage which, possessing only three vowel signs, never em- ploys them except in the most solemn and sacred writings, such as the Koran ; but even in languages which have pro- per signs for the vowels, they change more frequently than the consonants : When the pronunciation of a language has become fixed, particularly in the vowels, it is an infallible sign of its having possessed literature and criticism during many ages.]
70 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
found borrowed from the language of the country of his age, either entirely belonging to the Babylonian Aramaic, or common to that language and the Hebrew. We will here in- sert some passages as illustrative examples, without pretending to give all that might be given, which is not requisite.
Ant. i. 3. 3. h i^m Ssyrsgw, /Mu^ffovavn (pit^n")0)
A. ii. 1. 1. 'Aaw/>oa (^^5^^^) 'EQ^xIoi rh s^u&Pov xa-
\0\J6t.
A. iii. 7. 1. — 7o7g h^svfftj ovg %ava/a$ (J^I^^lJ^)
T^oaayo^fvouGi. The penultime word is manifest- ly transposed and disfigured by the copyers, and in fact, the MSS. vary here very much ; its real origin, no doubt, is xf^vd ^uQd (K^HD
A. iii. 7. 2. ;)^f^ov (]r)p and p/^p) to Xtvh rifisTg
xuXoufiiv. A. iii. 7. 2. Mu-jgrii f^sv *AQavri6 a\JT7]v hdXsffsv, rj- /MsTg ds 'jTuod BaCyXwv/wv fisfia&rixoTsg'E/Miav (]'^pn)
avrriv xaXoufMiv. A. iii. 7. 7. r/i ca'/p/agw (p"13;^) -Trag' rifiTv Xsyofiivrj ^ordvri, uhg 8i xhafMov "EXkring — crgocayo^sDoytr/. This genuine Babylonian Aramaic word is not to be found in BuxtorfTs Lex. Chald.; but with
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 71
the Syriac lexicographers we find the equivalent
Jjo;.2u» and with the Arabians ijJ^j^=>y*** A. iii. 8. 3. uv (]*»»!) /Asr^oi/ Icr/ sm^oj^m. A. iii. 10. 6. TY) 'Zsni^Mdrvi, flv 'eQ^ccToi 'Acag^dc
A. iii. 15. 3. 'Ao'tfa^wv (IBi^) mensura quaedam
aridorura.
A. iv. 4. 4. xo^Qoiv (]'yy\p) du^ov (Svjfiahsi.
A. iv. 4. 7. (Mnvhg xaXoy^svou 'A^i^a (i«^lb^) '^rag'
'EQ^aioig} A. iv. 8. 49. rw f^yivi, xaXov^tihu) 'Adcc^oj (■^^^^) ^9*
7}fMSiv. Conf. 2 Matt. xv. 36. 'Adoc§ Xsysrai
A. xii. 5. 4. 6 [j^iiVy og xcckiTrai y.ara ^/^ag Xacksv
A. xiv. 2. 1. 7} rwv'A^u^awv logrii, ^v tpdaxa (^^^p^)
B. J. v. 2. 1. Tgog r/w XW/A95 FaCa^CaouX;! (/l^li) /^i»iti^) Xsyofihrij ff7],a,aim ds rouro X6<pov 2aou>.6u.
B. J. v. 11. 5. Ts<p6ai'6g rig d-rb Tdp(fig croXswg Ta- X/Xa/ag, xXrjdsig diro rr^g rbyrig Xays/gag (i^"^''^!!)
c. Ap. ii. 2. r^ /o-b (TaCCarov (HS-ti^) xara r^v 'l6u- ^a/av SvaXgxrov dmntOMdig Iffriv. ^ [Here, again, Dr. P. has misquoted chap. iii. instead of iv.]
72 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
3. Turning from these fragments of the Pa- lestinian language occurring in the New Tes- tament and in Josephus, to the Aramaic Tar- gums of Onkelos and Jonathan, we here again find, in every page, the same or other similar Aramaic and exotic words. This phenomenon justifies the conclusion that the Palestinian language, of the age of Christ and the Apos- tles, is identical with the language of the Tar- gums, and that consequently it was distinguish- ed from the more ancient Aramaic language known to us from Daniel and Ezra, by nothing but a great number of exotic words, the intro- duction of which was, by the circumstances of the times, rendered necessary.
But as for the rest, that this Aramaic lan- guage was not by all Palestinian Jews spoken with equal correctness, or pronounced with equal accuracy, is self-evident. The language of the learned, and of the more polished part of the nation, which may be called the dialec- tits communis, was distinguished by grammati- cal accuracy, by more select and nobler ex- pressions, and by a pronunciation more^ con- form with the written language, and was the same throughout all Palestine, since all who made any pretension to liberal education must be instructed in Jerusalem, and there dispos-
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 73
sess themselves of the ruder provincial dialects spoken beyond the limits of Judea. On the other hand, the language of the common peo- ple was different in different parts of Palestine, and was, like every other language, divided into several dialects, whose principal diver- sities consisted in a varying pronunciation, and in some idiomatic expressions rejected by the cultivated language.
1. The dialect of Jerusalem and of the sur- rounding Judaea, according to the Talmudists,"* was pre-eminent among the other dialects of the country, by general correctness, and, in particular, by a more distinct pronunciation of the gutturals, which, in many provinces, were not duly distinguished one from anofher. The accuracy of this testimony cannot be doubted, since Jerusalem was the gathering place for the most learned and wealthy among the Jews, who laid greater stress on correctness and nice- ty in language, than the uncultivated Jews in the interior of the country ; and by their au- thority and connexions must necessarily pos- sess a considerable influence on the dialect of
■^ Babyl. Erubhin fol. 53. i. Dixit R. Abba : Si interro- get quis homines Judaeae, qui polita utuntur lingua, utrum Q>*13J^Q doceant pronunciandum D'<"13^Q (distincte scil. litteris K et ^ pronuntiatis) sciunt illud.
74 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
the capital and of the surrounding neighbour- hood."
2. The Galilean Dialect, which, from Matth. xxvii.° 73, seems to be demonstrable, and, from the Talmud,^ is placed beyond a doubt, was just the reverse of the dialect of Jerusalem. It was rough and unpolished, ad- mitted arbitrary contractions and mutilations
^ The Hierosolymitan version of the >7. T., from which Adler, in his book N. T. Versiones Syriacae, Hafn. (Copen- hagen,) 1789, 4to., has made extracts, bears this name merely from a conjecture, for which no reason of any mo- ment can be given ; and, accordingly, cannot be considered as a source from which a more intimate knowledge of the Jerusalem dialect could be drawn.
"[Another misquotation ; it should be xxvi.] P Erubhin f. 53, 2. Homines Gahlaeae, qui impolita utuntur lingua, quid de illis traditum est ? quod Galilaeus quidam diceret cuidam (Judaeo) ]J^0^ IQJ^ ]'t^^f2b IDi^- Respondebatur ipSi : Galilaeae stulte, intelligisne "l^r^ (asinum) ad equitandum aut "^QPT (vinum) ad bibendum, *1D^ (lanam) ad vestiendum, aut ^^'^J^ ad abscondendum ad mactationem. Ibid. IMulier quaedam Galilaea, cupiens dicere sociae J^q'^H 'T^^Dii^'T '^i^D (^eni et comedendum
dabo tibi lac) dicebat ad eam ; J^Q^ T^DID ''ilDl^^
(NDI^li^ est vox Galilaea i. q. hi/T)2n- socia.) Confr. Bux- torf. Lex. chald s. voce 7''7^, Lightfooti hor. hebr. in Act. Ap. Lips. 1G84, 4, p, 151, sq. Sclioettgen hor. hebr. ad IMatth. xxvi. 73, et Pfeifferi Exerc. X. de dialecto Galilaea in his 0pp. philol. p. 616, sqq.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 75
of the words, omitted many letters, and eon- founded the pronunciation of the gutturals ^^) n> n and ^7 which occur so frequently, where- by many misunderstandings were occasioned : this dialect also made use of many idiomatic expressions, which, in the purer and more po- lished language of Jerusalem, were avoided. How the Galileans pronounced the vowels which ought to be subjoined to each letter, and for which no Aramaic language in ancient times had any peculiar signs, is unknown.
3. The Samaritan Dialect was, with re- gard to indiscriminate pronunciation of the gutturals, upon a par with the Galilean dia- lect, from which it seems, in general, not to have been very different.
4. And finally, the Phcenician Aramaic Dialect was remarkable among the rest of those of Palestine, by the multitude of Hel- lenisms and Latinisms which it had admit- ted. But as we possess nothing in it that could make us acquainted with its peculiari- ties, but a few coins, and inscriptions on mo- numents, its other characteristics cannot be ac- curately determined.
Now, if the language of Palestine in the age of Christ, as we have hitherto shewn, in spite of its dialectical differences, which more
76 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
concerned tlie pronunciation than the sub- stance of the language, was essentially the same Aramaic language, which long had been esta- blished in that country, and during the lapse of ages had lost none of its characteristic quali- ties, we cannot long hesitate as to the name which ought to be given to this language. The New Testament and Joseph us 'i call it the He- brew tongue, for no other reason but that the Jews of that age, as well as those of more mo- dern ages, often assumed the old national ap- pellation of Hebrews ; and, accordingly, they transferred the name belonging to the extinct language of their ancestors to the Aramaic spoken by the greatest number of Jews, both within and beyond the limits of Palestine. At the same time, ancient as this appellation is, it
•J Jewish authors also call the Babylonian Aramaic ^"IJV
Confr. Lightfooti Hor. Hebr. ad John v. 2. Epiphanius follows the same practice, asserting many words to be He- brew, which are foreign to the ancieiit Hebrew idiom ; for example, t. ii. ed. Petavii, p. II7. ^^a^im (J>^''"13) xaXtTrai
(U Tjf ISgai'x^ hctkiKTeo^ fiouvof. p. 188. jcnyyii^iov fAir^o* icTiv vy^ov, KKi a.lro Ta,^ 'ES^aiois lK(puvov/Lttvov, In Other places, he, indeed, sometimes distinguishes between ancient Hebrew and St/riac, as t. i. 83 ; but wliat be calls Syriac, is in every case, even as to outward form, the language which otherwise is most commonly called Chaldaic,
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 77
has the essential fault of being much too inde- finite, and of easily misleading the unlearn- ed to confound the ancient Hebrew with the Aramaic, which succeeded in its place after the Babylonian exile. It is, therefore, on good grounds that, in modern times, a name less liable to such a misujiderstanding has been sought for the language prevailing in Pales- tine at the time of Christ, and that the appel- lation of Syro-Chaldaic"^ has been brought in- to fashion. But since the proper Chaldaic," as has already been observed, is utterly unknown to us; and the Syriac (Aramaic) language, as far as we know, was, till the time of Christ, not different from the Chaldaic (Babylonian) lan- guage; and, consequently, the appellation of Chaldaic appears to be identical with that of Syriac, it perhaps would be most appropriate,
"■ Jerome has probably first introduced this appellation, by- using the word Hebrew (Babylonian Aramaic) and Syro- Chaldaic, as synonymes. Thus, he says, for example, Lib. ii. comm. ad Matth. xii. 13, that he has translated the Gos- pel of the Hebrews, " de Hebrseo sermone ;" and Lib. iii. ad- vers. Pelag. c. i. Speaking of this same Gospel, he says it is " Chaldaico Syroque sermone, sed hebraeis litteris Scrip- turn." Fabricii Cod. Apoc. N. T. edit. 2; Hamb. 1719; Svo. vol. i. p. 367, sq.
^ The author means the ancient Chaldaic Transl.
78 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
if we were to assign to the Palestinian (ori- ginally Babylonian Aramaic) language, by way of distinguishing it from other dialects? the simple name of Palestinian Aramaic, or Palestinian Syriac, language ; for Aramaic and Syriac* are completely equivalent.
§ 12. The Hellenists, residing at Jerusa- lem, of whom mention is made in the Acts of the Apostles, are frequently appealed to as a proof, that the Jews who lived in Palestine at the time of the Apostles, were acquainted with the Greek tongue. According to the common opinion, these, i. e. the Hellenists, were utterly unacquainted with the language of the country, and, on that account, had in Palestine their pe- culiar synagogues, in which the Alexandrian version and the Targums were used, instead of the original Hebrew text. Willingly, as we admit, that several, and, in particular, wealthy Palestinian Jews, besides their own language, understood the Greek or Latin, (for this can be proved from Josephus and the Talmudists, ) we much hesitate whether we should give our
• Strabo 1. ed. Siebenkees, p. 112. 0< v(f) hf/'Uv 2v^o) xaXev- fAivot v'T auTuv Tuv. Iv^uv — K^ufjt.fji.ouoi KuXovvrcci. Joseph. An- tiq. i. 6, 4.'A^ajt*/tta/ov5 "A^a^tto; 'iffx^v, ovs"Ekkiivis lupous v^of-
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 79
consent to this common theory respecting the Hellenists dwelling in Palestine. For our doubts, we have the following reasons : —
1. The received theory is only founded on the name Hellenists, given to a part of the Jews at Jerusalem, Acts vi. 1 ; ix. 29 ; but from this appellation, it does by no means fol- low, that the distinguishing character of this party is to be sought for in the Greek lan- guage, which, it is supposed, was peculiar to them. For, 1st, How does it happen that the Jews in Asia Minor, in Greece, and in other countries where the Greek language predomi- nated, are never in the Acts called Hellen- ists ? that even Paul himself, although born in Tarsus, a Greek city, never calls himself an Hellenist, but always a Hebrew, or a Jew ? — how does this happen, if this name was pecu- liar to Jews speaking Greek ? 2dly, It was a Judaical fa^on de parler, to divide all nations in the world, with regard to religion, into Jews and Greeks (loubuk-og '/.at "EXX'/^tag.) The lat- ter name was given to those who were not Jews ; because at the time when this appella- tion was brought into fashion, the neighbour- ing nations, with whom the Jews were most acquainted, such as Syrians and Egyptians, were subject to Greek sovereigns, and, ac-
80 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
cordingly, called Greeks. In conformity with this manner of speaking, even those nations who spoke Aramaic, such as the Syrians and Syro- Phoenicians," although by no means speaking the Greek language, received the appellation of Greeks. Now, if we derive the word Hellen- ist from this signification, which was current among the Jews, Hellenistic Jews can mean nothing else but proselytes, or descendants of proselytes, who were always held in lower es- timation by those Jews that belonged to the twelve tribes, i, e, by the Hebrews, in the more limited acceptation of the term, and from their heathen descent were called Hellenists. Accord- ingly, the Aramaic proselytes and their descend- ants were quite as much Hellenists, as those of Greek or Roman descent, of which latter class there surely could never be a great num- ber in Palestine ; because proselytes, made by remote Jews who spoke Greek, cannot be supposed to have been driven by their conver-
" In JMark vii. 26, A ywri Iv^ca^olvtcffo, raJ yim, who, ac- cordingly, must have spoken the Aramaic, is called 'EXX>)v/y ; and Josephus, Bell. Jud. ii. 137, coll. xlv. 4. uses the words "EWvvii and Sy^oJ as equivalent terms. Even the Peschito sometimes limits the appellation "EXX>jw, for example. Acts xvi. 1, and xix. 20, merely to Aramians, and substitutes for it simply the word \^^\ (•
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 81
sion to leave tlie country, in order to settle in Palestine.
2. Even, if among the Hellenists here al- luded to, several Greek-speaking Jews had been found, it still remains extremely impro- bable that they should be so entirely unac- quainted with the language of Palestine, as is commonly supposed. The Jews who dwelt in the Greek cities of Asia Minor, in Egypt, in Greece Proper, and in other countries where the Greek tongue was spoken, everywhere formed separate and (if we may use the ex- pression,) close colonies, completely isolated by their religion, manners, and customs, and avoiding all intimate connexion and inter- course with the natives of the country. Co- lonies of this kind usually long retain their own language, even in foreign parts ; and for their trade and intercourse with the natives it is sufficient, when only a few of them under- stand the language of the country.* Must it
^ [A striking instance of the truth of this remark, is a co- lony of Dutch farmers and cowfeeders on the island Amak, (Danish Amager,) in the immediate neighbourhood of Co- penhagen, who, on account of the superiority of the Dutch in this kind of trade, were invited to settle there in the be- ginning of the sixteenth century. I said island of Amak ; for such it really is, although part of it lies within the wails of Copenhageu, and is separated from the rest of that city G
82 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
not, then, be held probable, that all Jews who lived among Greeks, long retained their Asia- tic, Aramaic language, ^ and cared no farther for the language of the countries in which they settled, than was required for making themselves intelligible to the inhabitants ? This, at all events, seems to have been the case in all the more populous colonies which
merely by a canal, over which are thrown several bridges. It lies in the very nature of the trade of these colonists, that they have an uninterrupted intercourse with the na- tives ; and great numbers of them, of both sexes, are daily seen in the market places ; and most of them, no doubt, pos- sess an imperfect knowledge of Danish, which they speak, •while carrying on their trade with the natives ; but it is well known, that among themselves Danish is never heard ; and they still retain that same Dutch which they spoke nearly two centuries and a half ago, when they left their country, as well as their very singular dress and peculiar customs.]
y Judaei fere omnes — oHm erant bilingues. Praeter ori- yinariam, quae ab antiquo hebraea erat, et qua sua sacra celebrabant, vernaculam locorum, in quibus nascebantur ediscebant. Salmasius de hellenistica comm. L. B. 1643, 8. Ep. dedic. p. 29. It is here manifest, that Saumaise makes no distinction between the ancient and the modern Hebrew ; for it cannot be maintained, as he has put it, that the Helirew language was the language spoken by those Jews who lived after the captivity. In none of the colonies founded after the exile, to which class probably belong all those founded by the Jews in Greek countries, could any other language prevail than the Aramaic.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 83
the Jews founded, for example, in Egypt ; * and even in the smaller, which had not long been separated from the mother country. Moreover, the frequent journeys to Jerusalem, which, conformably with the prescriptions of their religion, those Jews who dwelt in foreign parts had to perform,* and the intercourse which
* Philo, an Alexandrian Jew, did also understand Ara- maic ; for he explains quite coiTectly, words not existing in the Hebrew language, which are only Aramaic. Thus, for example, he explains the word 'Effffmos, {'^'Oi^) ^Y
•• T
ee^x'TivT^s- Philo de Vita contemplat. Init. The passage (Lib. in Flacc. p. 970, edit. Fraiikf.) where he relates, that the mob of Alexandria, by way of mockery, called the king Agrippa Ma'g/v (1"1Q), and then continues, ourus §£ (pairiv to*
Ki/^/av o))ofcaZ,i(T6a,i -TToc^a, lu^oi?, cannot be adduced as a proof of the contrary ; for Philo might very well know the general signification of I'^Q, without knowing, at the same time, that 7^Q was used as a title of honour for the king, to* Ku^'iov.
*Even the Egyptian Jews frequently made pilgrimages to Jerusalem, in order to perform their sacrifices and pray- ers. The well known author, Philo, v/as once sent thither, in order to perform a sacrifice in the temple, in behalf of his fellow Jews. Philo. tom. ii. App. p. 646, ed. Mangey. Even common Egyptian Jews must, in great masses, have gone to Jerusalem to the high feasts; for among the multi- tude of foreign Jews gathered together in the capital, on account of the passover, who, by Titus' besieging it, were compelled to remain in the city, there were not a tVw Alex- andrians, who distinguished themselves by their valiant re- sistance against the besiegers. Joseph. Bell. Jud. v. 6, 6. It seems, accordingly, that the Jewish temple of Egyj)t
84 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
they maintained with the Palestinians, (Acts xviii. 21,) must have had no small injfluence on the preservation of the Aramaic language among them. Even if their mother tongue somewhat degenerated in these foreign colo- nies, it would not have been difficult for them to understand the Palestinian Jews; and the Ara- maic lectures in the synagogues of Palestine, could not in that degree be unintelligible to them, that it should be necessary to build for them separate Greek synagogues. There is, then, no reason to believe that the synagogues of Libertines, i, e, of Jews first enslaved by the Romans, and afterwards restored to free- dom, or those of the Cyrenians, or those of the Alexandrians, &c., which are mentioned in Acts vi. 9, were distinguished from other syna- gogues in Jerusalem, by the use of the Greek language.
3. The assertion that there existed in Pales- tine Hellenistic synagogues, in which the LXX, instead of the Hebrew text, was pub- licly read, must be considered improbable even, because that those who maintain this opinion have not hitherto proved that which would seem to be so easily demonstrated, that it was customary in the synagogues of Jews
T)ever attained a liigh degree of renown, or, at all events, diti not iT'tain it during a loisg [leriod.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 85
residing among the Greeks, to read public- ly the Alexandrian version of the Old Tes- tament. Justin,^ to whom it is usual to ap- peal on this occasion, says nothing more than that the Jews in the libraries of the principal synagogues preserved copies of the LXX. From this, no conclusion can be drawn as to its public use in synagogues, for the Jews kept in these libraries" even translations of some of the historical books of the New Testament. Tertullian,*^ who also is cited as a witness, expresses himself so ambiguously, that his words can quite as readily be supposed to mean the Hebrew text. The Talmud no- where speaks of the Greek version of the Old Testament being used in synagogues ; the only passage® which is said to bear upon this subject, as has been already remarked by Lightfoot and Hody, only speaks of the loud rehearsal of the prayer formula, i^Dl^, which is borrowed from Deut. vi. 4-9 ; ix. ia-21 ; and Num. xv. 37-41, and was well known among the Jews, because it
'' Dialog, cum Tryph. p. 298 ; and in other places, which may be seen in H. Hoclii de biulior. text, origin. 1. xv. Cxon. 1704, p. 224, sqq.
*= Confr. page 50, note a.
"^ Apolog. c. 18.
^ R. Levi ivit Cae-aream, audiensque eos recitantes to ViyD hellenistice, voluit eos impedire. Talm. Hieros. Sota c. 7- Buxtorfii Lex. ch. p. 104.
86 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
was written on the Tephillin. (Buxtorf. Lex. Chald. S. V.) Now, if the strict rabbins were displeased when this prayer formula, although, according to an old tradition,^ it might be re- peated in any language, was rehearsed public- ly at Cesarea, a city inhabited by Jews, Syri- ans, and Greeks, they surely would have much less approved the public rehearsal of the syna- gogue texts of the Old Testament in the Greek language. Finally, from the panegyrics pro- nounced by Philo and Josephus on the Alex- andrian version ; and from the use which both of them have made of it in their writings, no farther conclusion can be drawn, than that they considered this version faithful, and worthy to be commended to persons not belonging to the Jewish community, for whom they wrote, al- though, indeed, they considered it in no other light than a private translation.
4. That the LXX, in the synagogues of Pa- lestine, ever had any public authority, is nothing more than a conjecture, founded on an arbitrary interpretation of the ambiguous word Hellen- ist, and is not supported by a single decisive historical fact, which cannot be otherwise satis- factorily explained; and can so much the less
'Lingua quacunque proferri possiint sectio de muliere adulterii suspecta, confessio deciuioruin, lectio audi (/l^^p ^Dt£7j) <^C' Sota. Mischnae c. vii. 6jG. ed. W'ageuseil.
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 87
be supported, that it is abundantly contradict- ed, partly by proofs which might be brought forward, to shew the universal propagation of the Targums among the Jews of Palestine, (See above page 37, sqq.) and partly by the express testimony of Epiphanius,^ who was well acquainted both with the Hebrew and the Aramaic languages.
« 0pp. ed. Petavli. T. I. p. 122. 'ES^cc'ixyiv 11 tiaXiKroi ax^i- SiSs £<V/v riffK'/if^'ivai (sc. Nazareni) cra^' avroTs ya.^ <tSj o vouof, KOti 01 ^^o(pyireii, xctt ra y^x.(pi7a, XiyofAiva — 'ES^aiKMs avxyiDu-
ANNOTATION.
The following Note, in all essential points agreeing with Dr. Pfaxnkuche's Theory, is extracted from Dr. Jo- HANN Fr. Rohr's Pal'dstina oder Historisch-Geogra- phische Beschreibung des JudischenLandes zur ZeitJesu. Sixth Edition. Zeitz, 1831, 8vo., and thus it will he observed, that Dr. Pfaxnkuche's Treatise unfolds a Theory which now may be considered as settled, and finally received among the learned.
"• The language of Palestine was, in ancient times, the common language of Western Asia, The Aramean, — the same as that which was spoken by the Canaanite natives, and which, subsequently, by the Hebrews, the progeny of Abraham^ who was a new settler of that country, was called
88 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE
the Hehrevj language, it being the peculiar language of that nation. Tlie adolescence of tliis langua<,'e, or the period of its development towards that degree of perfection which we find it to have attained in t^ie writiiiifs of the OJd Testa- ment, does surely not extend beyond the age of David and Solomon, and the age of the Prophet Schools established by Samuel — its golden age lasted from the time of David to the Babylonian Captivity, and, during this period pro- bably, a great part of the sacred writings of the Jews was composed. By the Babylonian Captivity, this old Hebrew- tongue was expatriated by the Aramaic^ which was current in Babylon, and v/hich, as its pronunciation was somewhat broad and vulgar, bore the same relationship to the Hebrew, as the Lower Saxon dialect to High German, [or Lowland Scottish to English :] this Babylonian Aramaic soon became the national language of the Jews, the ancient Hebrew for some time still remaining the language of literature, al- though, it must be admitted, that fragments, written in Aramaic, are found in the sacred volumes composed in the later part of this period.
" At the time of Jesus Christ, the ancient Hebrew was completely extinct, even in its character of language of li- terature; and all the Jews at that period residing in Pales- tine spoke and wrote the Aramaic. Jesus,- too, spoke this language ; and the names Kejjhas^ (John i. 42,) Boanerges, (Mark iii. 17,) Barnabas, (Acts iv. 36;) as also the expres- sions : Talitha kumi, (Mark v. 41,) Abba, (lb. xiv. 36,) Eliy Eli, &.C. (Matth. xxvii. 46,) are specimens of it.
" People of liberal education spoke this language as it was written, but the common peo])le, as generally is the case, spoke it in different dialects. The dialect of Jerusalem and Judca was most correct ; but that which prevailed in Sama- ria, and particularly that of Galilee, was much more rude than the former, full of contractions and mutilations ; let- ters were omitted in it, and one guttural exchanged for an- other, 80 that, for example, according to the careless and ir-
IN THE AGE OF CHRIST. 89
regular pronunciation of the Galilean dialect, the same words might denote an ass, wine, wool, and a lamb to be sacrificed. A Galilean was, therefore, easily recognised by his pronunciation, (Matth. xxvi. 73,) and was never admit- ted as a public reader of Scripture in any synagogue of Ju- dea. Jews residing abroad in Greek countries, particularly in Egypt, had completely adopted the Greek language as their own ; and even in Palestine itself, where abhorrence against everything foreign was affected, it seems that, partly through intercourse with Jews residing abroad who spoke Greek, partly through the neighbourhood to Syria and Egypt, where Greek was generally spoken, and partly through Greek residenters, of whom, especially in Galilee and Perea, vast numbers dwelt among the Jews, the Greek had become generally known and current. This appears from Acts ii. 7-11, where Jews, from Greek countries and provinces, witnessing the enthusiasm which had seized the Apostles and their friends, wondered that they expressed their religious thoughts and sentiments in Greek dialects, which they had been accustomed to hear abroad, and not merely, as was usual, in ancient Hebrew; likewise from Acts vi. 1-6, where a considerable number of the primitive members of the Christian community at Jerusalem is stated to have been Hellenistic, or Greek speaking ; and also from Acts xxii. 40, compared with xxii. 2, where the Jews ex- pected Paul, who had been accused by Greek Jews, to ad- dress them in Greek, but were delighted to hear him speak to them in the language of the country. Several other hints to the same effect need not here be mentioned. M^'hether Jesus himself understood and spoke Greek cannot he deter- mined for certain, although it is highly probable ; because in Galilee and Perea he was in freqij.ent intercourse with foreigners ; because, even in Jerusalem, an interview with him was sought by Greeks, John xii. 20, and these surely spoke no other language than Greek ; because, we must suppose that the conferences between Jesus and Pilate, men-
90 THE LANGUAGE OF PALESTINE, &C.
tioned in Jphn xviii. 33-37} and xix. 9-11, was certainly carried on neither in Aramaic nor I^atin, but in Greek ; and because Mar)', in her conversation with Jesus, John XX. 14, sqq., seems to have made use of the Greek language until she recognised him as arisen from the dead, when she instantly returns to the familiar Aramaic, to which, in daily intercourse with him she was accustomed, and addressed him with the word Rabboni. The Apostles, too, being Ga- lileans, must be supposed to have been more or less acquaint- ed with Greek, even during the three years of their familiar intercourse with Jesus, although it may have been only at a subsequent period, that they, in their vocation as messen- gers of the Gospel, rendered themselves more perfect masters of it, so as to be able to express in writing their thoughts in that language.
** The Latin language was spoken in Palestine only by Romans, and in the Roman garrisons, and, perhaps, un- derstood by a few Jews.
" The circumstance that Pilate fastened to the cross the cause for which Jesus suffered death, in the Hebrew, the Greek, and the Latin Language, (John xix. 20,) seems to express, with accuracy, the relation in which the prevail- ing languages of Palestine stood to one another. The first was the language of the country ; in the next degree to it the Greek prevailed ; and last, or in the most limited de- gree, the Latin, although it was the language of govern- ment. General philology, or the knowledge of foreign tongues, acquired with the view of gathering information from books written in them, was at no period common among the Jews, because, in their estimation, the treasures of all wisdom and knowledge were only to be sought in their sa- cred writings."
DISSERTATION
TRUE NATURE AND GENIUS
THE GREEK DICTION
NEW TESTAMENT.
By henry PLANCK,
PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY AT GOTTINGEN.
ON
THE GREEK DICTION
NEW TESTAMENT.
There are many who have written on the Greek of the New Testament, and the char- acter by which it is distinguished ; but the in- vestigations of all are not equally deserving of commendation. Theologians are aware, that downward from the time when Henry Ste- phen* maintained the diction of the sacred writers to be pure Greek, and possessed of Attic elegance — an argument ridiculous rather than sound — there were philologers who called in question the absolute purity of the composi- tion of the New Testament, and its accurate conformity to the principles of the Greek lan- guage. On both sides the point was long de-
' In his Dissertation on the Style of the N. T. prefixed to his edition of the New Testament, 1576.
92 THE GREEK DICTION
bated, and with various success.*' l>ut, in this controversy, little was done to explain the matter in debate; for all who made trial of
^ In this country, the purity of the Greek diction of the New Testament lias been maintained by Blackwall, in his " Sacred Classics defended and illustrated." In answer to this work, and that side of the question which it supports, same forcil)le criticism may be found in the first of Dr. C'amj)beirs Preliminary Dissertations, prefixed to his Trans- lation of the Gospels. See, also, Ernesti's Institutes, Chap. III. That eminent guide to the interpretation of holy Scripture, furnishes a considerable list of authors who have adopted the two opposite sides in the controversy re- specting the purity of the New Testament Greek, and that list is enlai-ged with a few additional names by his editor Ammon, wlio gives the preference to Solanus, Vorst, and Gataker, over the other writers mentioned by Ernesti as maintaining the Hebraistic character of the New Testament diction. Biblical Cabinet, vol. i. p. 99, 100. Having here re- ferred to Ernesti's work, we may, at the same time, remark, that his third chapter treats a good deal of the subject illus- trated by Planck in this Dissertation. Those, however, who may adopt the oj)inions of the latter author respecting a com- mon language, as illustrative of the New Testament diction, will, perhaps, consider it as a defect in Ernesti's rules, that he has not given the study of that language a sufficiently pro- minent place as a guide to the interpretation of the New Testament — althoiigli, indeed, while he lays particular stress on the knowledge of the Hebrew, as directing to the meaning of the sacred writers, where their diction is not pure Greek, he does not omit to recommend the study of later Greek writers, as Polybi\is and Diodonis Siculus, and also to ad- mit of the cautious use of Fathers and Glossarists — Trans- lator.
OV THE NEW TESTAMENT. 93
strength and fortune in the field, set about proving, either that the composition of the sa- cred writers was excellent Greek, or that it was altogether foreign and Hebraistic. Those who contended for the former view, thought they could not better support their cause than by adducing, in order to repel the charge of Hebraism, those passages in the profane writ- ers, especially the poets, which might some- how be reduced, in the signification of words, in composition, or in construction, to the same sort of Hebrew idiom. Those had an easier task who supported the opposite opinion, that the diction of the New Testament was alto- gether corrupted by a number of Hebraisms. But they, too, on their part, held it sufficient to point out what, in the sacred books, was fo- reign to the genius of Greek composition, and was to be referred to the usage of Eastern tongues. Thus the whole controversy being directed merely to the Hebrgean complexion by which we find the composition of the sacred writers characterized, what was of especial con- sequence for the right interpretation of holy Scripture was altogether overlooked ; namely, the nature and character of the later Greek style which originated in the times of Alex- ander the Great, of which style so many and
94 THE GREEK DICTION
such decided traces are, not without much la- bour, to be discovered in sacred Hellenism. There are only three men*' by whom the com- mon language of the Greeks, after the loss of their national liberty, has been accurately ex- plained, and whose labours can be commended. One is Salmasius, who, in a Commentary on the Hellenistic Tongue, and other works, has largely and elegantly discussed the subject. A second is Fischer, who, to this very day, is universally remembered by divines with gra- titude, for the assistance he has rendered in his Prolusions on the faults of Lexicons of the New Testament, towards the right interpreta- tion of the sacred books. The third, who very lately joined himself to the other two in this investigation, is the truly learned Sturzius, who, in a little book on the peculiar Dialect of Macedonia and Alexandria,*^ has very diligently and judiciously collected from ancient sources, remaining specimens of this mode of speech. Yet, notwithstanding, it appears to me — and I wish to say so without presumption — that the matter in hand has not been discussed by these
« A Dissertation on the Common Dialect of the Greeks, by George Will. Kirchmaier, (Viteb. 1709-4,) which is com- mended by Sturzius, I have not had an opportunity of seeing.
«>Leipsic, 1808. 8.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 95
three individuals with all that fulness and care to which it is entitled. For first, as to Sal- masius — although, setting out on a right track, he properly adverted to the fact that, when the Macedonians subdued the Grecian states, the separate dialects which had hitherto been used in Greece, coalesced, so as to form a mixed or common speech, which also passed into the foreign provinces subject to the Macedonian power f yet he did not explain the nature and
' It is unnecessary to suppose that Planck means to state, that, at any time before the destruction of Jerusalem, the Syro-Chaldaic, or whatever other eastern language was spoken by the Hebrews after the return from Babylon, was superseded in Judea itself^ by the common language intro- duced by the ^Macedonian conquest. That this common language did prevail to a certain extent even in Palestine, may be easily conceived by those who admit the general fact, that it passed into the foreign provinces of the new Grecian empire — but even without granting that this language was generally known in Judea, we may assent to the learned author's principle, that the Hellenism of the New Testament corresponded to that language, if we only admit that it was a language employed by those for whose use the books of the New Testament were written. And, whether we may think with Grotius, that Greek was used in the public wor- ship of the Jews dispersed among the heathen, or may pre- fer the opinion of Lightfoot, that it was not even in these circumstances the language of the synagogue^ it is probably needless to multiply evidence that the Greek tongue was known to Jews inhabiting Grecian cities. Indeed it ap-
96 THE GREEK DICTION
force of this common language, from wliich sacred Hellenism sprang, but rather adduced them to shew, in opposition to Heinsius's fol- lowers, w^ho had considered the language of the New Testament as a peculiar dialect, that what was common to all the dialects, and ga- thered from them all, could not properly be esteemed a peculiar dialect itself. Fischer
pears from Acts vL 1, that it was understood by some Jews inhal>iting Jerusalem itself, and from Acts xi. 20, that it was known to Hebrews living at Antioch — at least if we retain in the latter case, the common readirg 'Ekk'^via-rag, in preference to 'EXXjivaj, (the reading of the Alexandrine MS. adopted by Griesbach and Tittman), and suppose that the Kellenists of the New Testament, were Jews speaking Greek — -"EAX^y/o-T/ (phyyofuvoi. Nor, supposing the reading of the teMus receptus in Acts xi. 20, to be retained — is it necessary to resort, as Dr. Campbell has done {Prelim. Diss. I.), to a double sense of the word Jeivs, which, he thinks, was used to denote, sometimes Hebrews in general, and sometimes inhabitants of Judea, and the neighbouring dis- trict where the same language was spoken. For it may be doubted if the passage itself means to omit the Hellenists of whom it speaks from the class whom it denominates Jews. Nay, M hitby's impression seems to be, that it leads to the contrary conclusion. *' They," says he, "who were scattered upon the persecution which followed the death of Stephen, Acts viii. 1, spake the word only to the Jews, Acts xi. 19, and yet they spake fr^e; revs 'EXXtivhttccs, to the Hellenists, vtr. 20." Ccnnncnl, on New Testament, Acts vi. 1. — Translator.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 97
went farther in this investigation, and, follow- ing in the steps of Salmasius, endeavoured to prove by examples, that the speech of the Ma- cedonians and Alexandrians, which, after Alexander's time, began to be customarily used in the daily intercourse of life, was very different from that more ancient speech, the graces and virtues of which survive in the writings of the Attics. It does not appear to have been the purpose and design of this most learned man, very diligently to trace the in- stances of close resemblance to the rules of this later idiom, which occur in the style of the sacred writers — a work the fuller and more laborious execution of which, though very desirable, the plan of his undertaking did not authorize us to expect. But there is still another thing want- ing, which, in my opinion, is of no less import- ance— 'a historical detail of how it came to pass that all the dialects of Greece were confound- ed and mixed together ; which detail is essen- tial to the real nature and force of that later dialect being rightly understood. Of the very learned Sturzius's work I have elsewhere given my opinion, which I am not disposed, on the present occasion, to state over again at large. In this respect especially, I think the author has gone wrong — that he has sought to reduce
98 THE GREEK DICTION
to certain definite kinds of dialect this later customary mode of speech, and thus to consti- tute the Alexandrian style a peculiar dialect, which of itself it could not be, as all will per- ceive who accurately observe the nature and sources of that common language. There re- main many other things peculiar to this later dialect, which, I observe, have not yet been noticed by interpreters, but which are of special importance for the right perception of the difference between the vulgar speech, and pure or Attic Greek. To this class may be referred, in the first place, many words and forms of words, occurring in the New Testament, which the common mode of speech has either coined or greatly changed — words and forms of which there are no examples in the approved writers of Greece, but which are frequently to be met witli in those who flourished after the time of Alex- ander the Great. In individual cases of this kind, indeed, we cannot always accurately judge whether it was in later times, or at a more ancient period, that they began to be em- ployed. But if all the sources which can be used to aid us, be examined, criteria will not be altogether awanting, from which we shall be able to ascertain, by no improbable conjee-
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 99
ture, to what period these words and forms belong. Another thing equally belonging- to the common dialect, and likewise omitted, I perceive, by all who have written on the Hellenism of the New Testament, consists in the use of those tenses and moods of verbs from which the Attic writers have altogether abstained, in order to avoid a harshness of sound by which the ear might be offended, or to escape a certain ambiguity of meaning, which might seem in danger of producing con- fusion with the sense of other forms having a similar sound, or from other causes, which this is not the place more particularly to detail. Many words of this kind, not found in ap- proved authors, might be adduced from the New Testament, for example, s^^jtra, lyswrica^ axov(fu, aixa^rrjGM, hXrjGoiMOLt^ dujTiy &c. These, if we would rightly understand and judge of the genius and character of the common dialect, should by no means be neglected. We would have equal attention to be paid to the right explan- ation of syntax as used in the later dialect, where, if we only attend to tlie use of the par- ticles and to the position of the moods and tenses of the verb, Ave shall meet with many things altogether avoided by elegant writers. Nor let it be thought that the knowledge of
100 THE GREEK DICTION
these points is superfluous. For it belongs to the interpreter of the New Testament who would be considered thoroughly accomplish- ed, to know all the points in which the com- position of the sacred writers diflfers from the purely Attic ; and this he can by no means do without as correct an explanation as possible of the customary mode of speaking in later times. I pass over other particulars of the same kind, especially new meanings of words, which, however, frequently occur, and to the due elucidation of which it is desirable that greater attention should be paid.
But all these things would be of less ac- count, were it not for the almost incredible negligence of many interpreters, who, there- by, to this very day, in explaining the usiis lo- quendi of the New Testament, have remained in nearly utter ignorance of this point. Most are uninformed, both as to the cause and as to the na- ture of that Greek idiom, in which, with the ex- ception of traces of the Aramaic language, sacred Hellenism chiefly consists. Those marks and criteria are unknown, by which it differs from the Attic dialect, almost the only form of Greek that is taught in schools and grammatical books — and those sources are neither adequately known, nor rightly valued, on which that usm
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 101
loquendi especially depends, to which the whole gTammatical system of the New Testament ought to be referred; I might adduce many examples, did not time and the limits of my work forbid — let, therefore, a few, which are at hand, suffice. Doubt has very lately been expressed respecting the authenticity of Paul's First Epistle to Timothy,^ and for this, one, among other reasons, has been derived from a number of words employed in this epistle, which are found in none of the other works of Paul. How little the epistle in question dif- fers in this respect from the rest of his letters, I have abundantly shewn in another place, — but never, surely, would the author of the doubt have gone into this argument, if he had duly attended to the genius and extent of the later style of speech, which, it should be considered, is especially remarkable for its formation of new words, and forms of words. Still greater mistakes are made in the explanation of parti- cular words, by interpreters failing to perceive the true character of Sacred Hellenism. Thus, the same learned man who has questioned the genuineness of Paul's Epistle to Timothy, has
^ Schleiermacher Sendschreiben uher den Sogenannten er-. sien Brief an den Timotheus. Berlin, 1807.
102 THE GREEK DICTION
chosen to explain TaidsUiv, 1 Tim. i. 20, of in- struction rather than of chastisement.^ But not only was the word explained by the Fathers in this latter sense, but it was also so employed in the common dialect of later times, as ap- pears from Phavorinus, and all the works still extant which are written in that idiom. I say jiothing of the sentiment which the Apostle wished to express, and which seems to admit of no other interpretation than that given by the Fathers ; but who can doubt that, although the other interpretation were to yield a suit- able sense, yet the usage of later times ought still to be preferred to that which was followed by the approved writers of Greece ?^ In like
s L. c. p. 37, 59.
*^ The learned author appears rather unguarded in his criticism on the verb Tai'hivuv. That in certain passages of the New Testament, as in classical authors, it is to be ex- plained Avith a peculiar reference to instruction, there seems no reason to doubt. Take from Parkhurst (Greek Lexi- con, Trciihvttv) the following instances : Acts vii. 22 ; xxii. .3 ; 2 Tim. ii. 25 ; Tit. ii. 12. It is certain, however, that in other passages, the leading idea is chastisement, Luke xxiii. 16, 22 ; 2 Cor. vi. 9. Parkhurst also adopts an in- termediate sense — instruct by chastisement, by which he ex- plains the word in the text here referred to by our author, 1 Tim. i. 20 ; to which, perhaps, may be added, 1 Cor. xi. 32. But both of these instances will easily bear the first sense, instruct, the severity used for enforcing the instruc-
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 103
manner, the venerable Paulus has erred in his comment on Mark xv. 43. I shall put down his words below.' A greater mistake than is here committed, one would scarcely believe that any one could fall into. Who sees not that the grammarians sought to vindicate that more ancient signification of the word ihcyjiij^oiv
tion being expressed in the one case, by va-oihajKo, tm <raru.-ja, and in the other, by x^ivofAtvoi. To accommodate these cases to the idea of chastisement, it seems necessary to introduce a sort of intermediate translation, otherwise uncalled for. At any rate, if crat^iuco be frequently used in the New Testa- ment in the classical sense of instruct, there seems little room for any very dogmatic decision, that in 1 Tim. i. 2;>, the word has a peculiar reference to chastisement — Trans- lator.
' Comment. Part III. p. 863. Eu(rx^,/Jtuv nicht Wohlha- hend (dag. erklaren sich Suid. Phrynich. und das Et^Tiiol. ausdriicklich,) vielm. Wohlangesehen, honestus, ehrbar, Rom. xiv. 14. Alex. Prov. xi. 25, olx. lutr^nfji'uv der sich nicht wohl henimmt. I wonder how the very learned author could write in this way — for how well he understood the manner of the grammarians, we learn from another passage, which occurs in the same commentary, Part II. p. 825. Gerade dieses Urtheii (Eustath.) I'dsst uns Iwdrnv als Orthographie der Pal'dstinens. Griechen vmhlen, so wie immer das, was die lei Wetst. tausendmal in dieser Beziehung allegierten griech. Scholiasten als ein unelegantes Wort bezeichnen^ im alexandrin. und noch mehr im pal'dstinensisch Griechischen des N. Ts. Kegel bleibt.
104 THE GREEK DICTION
ill which it was used by Attic writers against the usage of the unlearned, who had begun to apply it to riches and possessions ? The words of Phrynichus leave no room for doubt — Ev^x'^fiojv rouro fj^sv 0/ aiJja&sTg s'jri rou 'jrAoufflov, 7iai sv d^^ioj/jjari wTog rarrovdiv' 0/ d' d^^am sTi rov xaXoD xa/ aufi/JjST^ov. (The unlearned, indeed, assign the name of sug-x/i/J^c^v to the man of wealth and dignity, but the ancients applied it to the moderate and honourable man.) It is self-evident, that nei- ther Suidas, nor the author of the Etymolog, M. meant to express any other opinion.^ But to what standard are you to bring the sacred writers, and by what law are you to try their composition ? Is it not among the unlearned, whom Phrynichus charges with having trans- ferred the word from its primitive meaning, so as to apply it to other things than those which
^ Suidas says, Evg-^^^v/^uv ovx 0 Tok>.d xsxtjj^evoj xat tXou- <r«jj, aXX' 0 xofffAios to.) Tuda/^ivos roig vofioig xai ffvvtffTu*
{Ev<rx^f^iuv not the man of wealth and treasures, but he
who is regular and submissive to the laws) ; and in the Ktymol. M. p. 398, 21, the word is thus explained : Ey«-;^>j- fAui, 0 xofffiios xec) -Tii^ofAivo; rols v'ofzon. Tct^a. rouro prriov, ov^ 0 TXovffioi xa.) •jro'k'ka. xtxmyAvos. {Rvffxnf^uv. He who is re- gular and obedient to the laws. The word is not to be used in that otlier sense — one possessed of wealth and opu- lence.)
OF THE NEW TSETAMENT. 105
it originally denoted, that tliey claim for them- selves a place ? According to their own prin- ciples, therefore, we are to judge of their com- position, not by the laws of Attic diction, but by the vulgar usage, and to seek in their writ- ings, not so much for what grammarians have approved, as for what they have disapproved. There is another thing which aggravates, in this case, the neglect of the common usage. Matthew, in the parallel passage, chap, xxvii. 57, employs the expression civdpoj'Trog -TrXovcftog drrb doi/j^adaiag — " a rich man of Arimathea ;" from which it is rightly inferred, that, in the Ara- maean model,* which the three first evangelists have, for the most part, expressed in Greek phraseology, there w^as a word to denote the idea of opulence, and, therefore, that Mark could in no other sense call Joseph s\j<^yjjfXMv. Add to these examples a third, which occurs in the same commentary.™ Ta ys^soia, Matth. xiv. 6, the author has been unwilling to explain by birth-day, because, according to the testimony of grammarians," the Attic writers used yzvUXid,
' [Planck here refers to a theory which has been very in- geniously supported, but which we are by no means to con- found, as he seems to do, with authenticated fact.]
"" Ccmmentar. Part II. p. 61.
° Phrynichus says, p. 18, Tinffiec olx. o^Sus rihrat W) rr,;
106 THE GREEK DICTIOX
in that sense. But there are almost innumer- able instances in authors of the later age, whom grammarians are accustomed to call 0/ ytomi, (common, or vulgar,) where ra yivsctci is used in the sense of birth-day.'' There is, there- fore, no sufficient reason for abandoning the usual interpretation of the word, which, be- sides the fitness of the sense, seems to have a claim to be retained proportioned to the fre- quency with which we meet with it in other writers of the later age. These are instances of mistake in interpretation. In criticism^ equal- ly considerable faults have been committed, which seem generally to take their rise from ignorance of the later orthography, and of some moods and tenses of the verb in the vul- gar idiom. Take Matth. xxv. 36, where the received text, which continues to be followed
ytnSkUu fif/,i^xs' yiviffta. ya^ *A^rivvi<riv io^rv' Xiytiv ouv "hsT, rec: ytviikiovs rifci^asf « y£v£^X/a. (^Tzvia-iciis not properly applied to the birth-day, for the word denoted a feast at Athens. We should use, therefore, for the former idea, at ytvJxtoi h/Jt-i^ai, or yin6kia.) Thom. Blag. p. 186. Etymol. M. p. 225, 30. Zonaras, p. 430. Ammonius de differentia vocab. h. \. Hesych. Suid.
"Alciphron iii. ep. 18 and 55. Dio i. 47, p. 385; and i. 58, p. 688. Xiphilin. p. 230, ra. ytviiria in Joseph. Antiq. XII. 4, 8, yivifftos fiui^a.. Phavorinus observes, ol 11 'A^tivxioi xa) yiviffia. xiytvfft, scil. instead of yinSXta. These words are to be understood of the later usage.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 107
in Griesbach's edition, has the reading ^yJsrs, contrary to the authority of the most eminent MSS.P which all write ^'X^ars. This formation of the second aorist after the model of the first, is not only common enough with the Alex*- andrian interpreters, ^ but is also distinctly attributed, by grammarians, to the later usage. For Heraclides states, that it was in use among the Cilicians who spoke Greek,"^ from whom, as has already been observed by a very learned man,® it seems to have passed, by com- mercial intercourse, to the Alexandrians. This single instance, even if there were no other, would be enough to suggest to critics, with what diligence it is necessary to inquire into the character and genius of the later speech ; and the way is now clear for collecting its peculiarities in respect both of the forms and of the construction of words, as indicated either by the testimony of grammarians, or by the constant practice of the later books. But there are other passages, in w^hich, for the same reasons, MS. readings are preferable to
p ABDFL. Mt. B.
9 1 Sam. X. 14, 'ii^cc/!/,iv ; 2 Sam. x. 14, 'ii^av and t^vyav; xvii. 20, iv^av ; xix. 42, i<pei'yaf^i* ; xxiii. 16, sXajSaty, &c. ' In Eustathius on Odyss, I. p. 1759, 10. * Sturzius de dial. Alex. p. 62.
108 THE GREEK DICTION
those of the printed text. In Acts xxii. 7. instead of the common reading i'ncov, the Alex- andrine, the Laudian, and other later MSS. have sVgtfa, which Griesbach has not yet ven- tured to receive into the text. But without doubt the latter is to be deemed the genuine reading — for transcribers have as often as possible changed the more unusual forms of this sort, and substituted such as are usual in good discourse ; so that even the more nume- rous class of MSS. are not to be listened to, if there have survived in a smaller number traces of a less usual reading. We have no doubt, therefore, but in Acts xi. 28, >.v^&v /xs^cc/.jjv should be read, whereas [jAyav is still retained in the text — for the former is at once the read- ing of the better MSS.* and the more unusual of the two, X///,6g, according to the representa- tion of grammarians," being used in the femi- nine gender, not by the Attics, but by the Dorians, from whose language many things were introduced into the common language of the Greeks. The same view is to be takers of another example, Luke xv. 14, where, in
» AD«» 27. 29. 40. Mt. d.
" Phrynich. p. 80. T>jv Xifth Au^iuiy vl ^j a^ftuxeis rov kiju-ov (pa.6t. (The Dorians use h Xiuos, but you ought to say 0 Xifitos, in the masculine.)
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 109
like manner, an adjective in the masculine gender is coupled with the noun "kifihg — lyhiro Xtf/.hg i(^xk^* — whereas, according to the autho- rity of Manuscript books,^ the reading should be /<i%u^a ; for if the former reading be retained, it cannot be shewn how the latter was intro- duced into the written books. Of the later orthography we have a remarkable example in 1 Cor. xiii. 2, where, instead of the common reading o-jdh, not only very ancient MSS. but also some of the Fathers^ have o-Jsv sifn — a mode of writing very rarely found among the Attics, but which Phrynichus* and Thomas Magister* represent as having begun to be generally used by the later Greeks. Take as another example, Matth. xvii. 24, where se- veral MSS. in large letter** write did^ay/ji^a, a
'^ ABDL. Veron. Corb. Vind.
? ACI. and others, Clem. Ephr. Bas. Macar. Damasc. Oec
' P. 76. OWs<s ha. rav 6, it xa) X^ufffprTo; xa) o't u/u,(p' alroVf €UTu Kiyovtri, ffv Ti uTor^i-rou Xiyuv. ol yap ao^aToi ^ta too S xiyoufftv oh^iU. (Although Chrysippus and his followers say olStlsi with ^, avoid doing so ; for the ancients said ehhls, using 5.)
* Page 661. In Thucyd. VI. 60. 66. many MSS. have ouhiis instead of the printed reading olh'n.
^ DEGHL. and others, Veron. German. 1. Forb. Corb. 2, &c.
110 THE GREEK DICTION
reading wliicli I am induced to regard as genuine by the authority of Thomas Magis- ter, who prescribes hoa-^^^ not ^(^yiA-> to be used in writing, *= from which it appears that the latter agreed with the common speech. Interpreters have remarked that in Jose- phus^ and Hesychius, the word ^Kax^h is found in a variety of reading. On the third instance in which the true reading depends on the or- thography, I perceive that Fischer^ has already given an opinion. It occurs Luke ii. 24, where hm no(SC(i\jg is commonly read, although, as that very learned author perceives, the MSS.^ read- ing vocavoc, ought to be substituted — for gram- marians represent the letter g as omitted in this word by the later writers.
From these illustrations, which were not far to seek, it will be easily seen, that a fuller and more careful inquiry into the vulgar speecli in use among the Greeks, is by no means foreign to our pursuits, but may rather prove of great service to those who are engaged in explaining and illustrating the usus loquendi of the New Testament. I have thought it suit-
' Page 250. Ajccx,uvi, ol \a,y[jt,r,. '' Page 622. C. 644. D.
• Proluss. devitiis N. T. p. 676. ^ BEGHS, and others.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Ill
able, therefore, to this place and occasion, to give an explanation of what seemed possible to be said on this whole subject. My purpose, then, is to treat of the character and genius of the later Greek, of which there are a great many traces to he found in Holy Scripture, This dis- cussion may be divided into two parts — the one devoted to an inquiry into the rise and original formation of this mode of speech, so as, if possible, to ascertain at what time and from what causes it sprang, and how it may be known — the other remarking and classifying what we find in the diction of the sacred writers belonging to this form of the Greek tongue. I shall aim at the greatest brevity ; for this is a subject of such a kind as to render it utterly impossible to discuss it, if treated according to its dignity, within the limits to which this dis- course is necessarily restricted, and, besides, I intend to explain the subject more largely in a separate work, entitled, Isagoge Philologica in Novum Testamentum (A Philological Intro- duction to the New Testament). In this place, therefore, I shall dwell chiefly on those parti- culars which neither Fischer nor Sturzius have taken notice of, and which are illustrated by those principles which, in my opinion, ought to be applied.
112 THE GREEK DICTION
I. Writers on the nature and character of Sacred Hellenism were called, I think, to lay it down as a first principle, that the books of the New Testament were composed, not in the elegant and elaborate speech which learned writers are found using, but rather in that which was ordinarily employed in the common intercourse of life. Nor do I make Paul an exception. For, though he seems to have com- municated some degree of ornament and ele- gance to his style, by reading good writers, especially poets, yet he never paid such atten- tion to the grammar of the Greek as that he may by any means be numbered among au- thors of approved style. As for the rest, it appears from the thing itself, that they knew no better way of speaking than the common one they used. From this vulgar idiom then, the writers I have referred to were called to set out in their inquiries, and this being ne- glected, they could not omit to fall into mistake. For without an accurate explanation of this subject, no advance can be made either in soundly interpreting words, or in rightly point- ing out the sources of the usage in question. To this topic then, we must first direct our at- tention, in attempting a fresh illustration of tlie New Testament diction.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 113
It is very difficult to ascertain the essential nature and principles of the vulgar Greek, as it was used in more ancient times. For it was not a single form, but differed according to the difference of nation ; nor do we possess sources of information sufficiently copious for obtaining an accurate knowledge of the subject. Except some observations of grammarians, in which they notice the customary mode of speech, and remains of the comic poets, who imitated popular discourse, we have only fragments, inscriptions, and decrees of magistrates, which, even if they had come down to us entire, would be insuffi- cient for the complete illustration of the mat- ter in question. Of those, accordingly, who in a later age have illustrated the language of the New Testament, we find none who have comprehensively explained the origin and cha- racter of the vulgar speech from the time when the sacred writers flourished — but, if there were any who discovered in the New Testament traces of the later usage, they con- sidered it sufficient, either to adduce passages of grammarians in which something is referred to the customary mode of speaking in later times, or only to notice those things of which they can quote from good writers no similar I
114 THE GREEK DICTION
examples. Let us then, in the first place, bring forward what can be stated on this whole subject.
It is agreed among all, that the ancient grammarians, who give rules for the Ionic, Doric, ^olic, and Attic dialects, are to be un- derstood as speaking, not of the common modes of speech in the respective nations, but of such as were used by writers sprung of those com- munities, and employing their native dialects in written works. These grammarians enu- merate four dialects, not because the Greek tongue had no other varieties, but because they found none employed by writers except those four ; and it is from authors that their illustrations of the character and diversity of these dialects are taken. Those, therefore, are in error, who think that from the rules for the Greek dialects given by grammarians, any thing can be drawn, to illustrate the vulgar speech and its varieties. That a much greater number of national dialects existed, sufficiently appears from the testimony of Hesychius and others, who have remarked many peculiarities in the particular States, in respect both of the forms and of the signification of words. From these it fully appears how much truth there is
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 115
in the remark of several distinguished men in our own times, that the four national names under which all the great communities of Greece are usually reduced, respect, not so much the varieties of language used by those several communities, as the diiFerent origin which the nations themselves were supposed to have had, their different principles of govern- ment, and the social bond which united them together, whether by the ties of relationship or by the laws of dominion. But these things I can only suggest, and must not follow them out. After the times of Alexander the Great, many changes were made both in the popular and in the literary dialects. To begin with those, in whatever division they were found, who adopted, in written discourse, their native dialects and idioms, and applied them to the service of authors, I take notice of the prose writers before the conquest of Greece. For every one knows that from the earliest times, the poets either utterly rejected the use of their native dialect, and adopted the language which, in the respective kinds of poetry, had been consecrated by great examples, or, if they adopted the speech of the nation to which they belonged, yet used it, not in its purity, but en- larged with forms from other languages. But
1 16 THE GREEK DICTION
when the whole of Greece was brought under the sway of a single conqueror, one dialect too began to be employed by almost all its writers. This was the Attic, which was then so distin- guished for its inherent elegance and the num- ber of eminent authors who had used it in their works, that it had long been esteemed the politest form of the Greek language. Not long after, accordingly, it became a customary style of writing among authors, and all thought that in no other dialect but the Attic could they win the praise of beautiful diction. But so far was this generality of use from adding to the brilliancy and elegance of the Attic tongue, that, on the other hand, it was greatly injured by the carelessness of authors. For all writers could not be expected to follow the best models with equal diligence and zeal, so as to avoid, in their compositions, all the idio- matic peculiarities both of the more ancient dialects, and of the new one which began to be adopted in the usual intercourse of life. The grammarians accordingly gave the name of common or Hellenic — h xotvri or s'k'kmixn — to this later speech employed by writers after the time of Alexander the Great, from its being universally used, and mixed also with some di- versities of phrase. But these things being
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 117
known to all, I pass tliem by. They oug-ht, however, to be brought into view, inasmuch as, when the question regards the accurate de- termination of the sources of the New Testa- ment usage, those writers whom the gramma- rians call 01 Komi, are of more importance and consideration than those who used the pure and unmixed Attic diction. Nor, as we shall elsewhere see, are the sources to be reckoned of no importance for accurately determining the nature and character of the common lan- guage in which, as in its principle. Sacred Hel- lenism consists.
After the times of Alexander there occurred another change in the national dialects, and one particularly deserving our attention, in- asmuch as on the speech in general use among the people, the investigation of Sacred Hellen- ism wholly depends. When the Macedonians had deprived Greece of her freedom, the dia- lects which had hitherto existed apart among the various nations could not fail to be corrupt- ed and mixed together. What formerly seem- ed probable to no one — that States very unlike to each other in manners, and also in the laws and institutions of their ancestors, should ever unite in the use of one language, was never- theless effected, when the form of the common-
118 THE GREEK DICTION
wealth was changed, by the dominion of a foreign people. Several Reasons for this con- fusion of dialect can be pointed out. First of all, there is the destruction of liberty, which, so long as it remained entire, by the variety subsisting in the privileges, laws, and political constitutions of the respective nations, prevent- ed them from uniting either in language or in government. But as it had formerly been usual for the language of the people holding the first rank to be adopted among the con- quered nations,^ so might this be expected to be universally the case, after the extension of the Macedonian sway. Alexander himself took care that his armies should be levied from all the nations over which he ruled, and his successors in Europe, by continual wars and the conquest of nobler States, greatly increased the confusion and union of the dialects. Such was the case in Europe, nor was it otherwise in the foreign regions to which the power of the Macedonians reached. When all had been
•: Thus Strabo says of the government of the Dorians in the Peloponnesus, VII. p. 388: irxi^ov V 'in x.a) vyv xava. •x'oXui ciXXoi etXXus liaXiyovTUt' loxovfft Vi Aa}^iZ,uv cl-ravrn lia, Tvv trvfiSuffuv iTiK^aTuotv. (Even to this very day, in the cities, some speak differently — but all appear to follow the Dorians, on account of the influence of their sway.)
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 119
gained by force of arms, the language of the victorious people soon prevailed — not, however, by any means pure, but such as re- sulted from a jumble of diiferent nations. Newly-founded colonies were added, both by Alexander himself, as Alexandria, and by his successors in the supreme government of Asia, as Seleucia, Ctesiphon, and Antioch. In these cities Greek colonists had gathered out of all the nations — hence it is scarcely to be sup- posed that from this time there existed any pure dialect in Asia or Africa.
It is easy to see, therefore, of what nature and character that common language may be supposed to have been, which, after the times of Alexander the Great, had spread over all the provinces of Greece. It had something from all the dialects, and this was variously mixed and compounded, according to the di- versity of foreign places and foreign affairs ; so that the language formerly used in the re- spective countries formed the basis of the new mode of speech, and might be considered as a dialect corrupted and deformed by many new additions. Thus in Attica, where the Attic tongue had formerly shared the fate of Greece in her downfall, the new language greatly abounded in Atticisms — in the Peloponnesus
120 THE GREEK DICTION
and other places which the Dorians had ruled, it very largely partook of the Doric. But everywhere it had this common property, that it was compounded of several dialects. Hence it appears, that after the times of Alexander the Great, no speech could really be u dialect, if that name be properly applied, and, there- fore, that the Alexandrian could not be such. The speech of Alexandria was in common use, and, undoubtedly, had several peculiarities, both in what it drew from the ancient dialects, and in new materials entering into its consti- tution. But a dialect is defined by learned men to be, a certain diversity or idiom of a common language, used in some particular place, and by some particularpeople, which can thereby be dis- tinguished from other great divisions of the same nation.^ Ancient grammarians give the same representation of a dialect.* If it be so, it is easy to see that the language of the Alexan- drian Jews, which, very lately, a learned man*^
^ Sturz. de Dial. Alex. p. 18.
' Schol. Aristoph. Nub* 317 : AiaXixroi iffn (puvvs ;^a^a.)c- T»j^ ihixoi, (A dialect is a way of speaking belonging to a nation.)
^ Stiirz. de Dial. Alex. p. 22. " Certum igitur est," &c. (It is certain, therefore, that those Jews were a people of Alexandria, in some respect peculiar, limited by certain
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 121
has chosen to call a dialect in this sense, can- not be so named, inasmuch as it altogether wants the national stamp — the ^agaxr^^g sdvr/tog. For it was used, not by Greeks, but by per- sons of Jewish extraction. But if the name dialect be applied — as it has been by many in our times — to express merely a variety of lan- guage, of whatever kind that variety may be, without reference to the yji^ayirr^^ sdvr/,6g, then there exist many later dialects of the Greek tongue; for, under the sway of the Macedo- nians, a new idiom sprang up almost every- where. But all the varieties of that later tongue, as I have already remarked, are uni- formly alike in this respect, that they mix to- gether in very different ways, and enrich, by new additions, what belonged to the respec- tive dialects of more ancient times. In the common speech there occur traces of all the dia- lects except the iEolic, which, it is probable, had ceased to be much used in conversation and the ordinary intercourse of life. That the Doric prevailed above the rest, will be matter of wonder to no one who remembers, that to it the Macedonian tongue was most allied.
boundaries, and distinguished from other nations ; nor can it be doubted, accordingly, that their language may rightly be called a dialect.)
122 THE GREEK DICTION
Of all the dialects, the Ionic is that of which fewest remains are met with, and that dialect seems to have previously, by degrees, fallen out of ordinary use, or to have coalesced with the language of the Attics. But these points, which cannot be explained without an extensive apparatus, I must not prosecute fur- ther.
To this later speech, the grammarians have given no name, nor is that to be looked for from those whose purpose, in their commenta- ries, was to discuss the language merely of writers and learned men. I observe, how- ever, that, in our own time, two names have been applied to it by persons of learning ; the one by Fischer, who has distinguished it by the appellation of the Macedonian and Alex- andrian dialect ; ^ the other, by the learned Sturzius, who prefers the name h tcoivyi, the common.^ The two names given by Fischer, that author seems to have considered appro- priate, partly from the confusion of the dia- lects of Greece, under the influence of the Macedonian power — which confusion produced a new way of speaking, and partly from the Alexandrian Jews having made especial use of
> Prolus. N. T. Nr. 30, 31. « Page 19, 29, 52.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 123
the new idiom in their writings, whence, we know, many things were derived by the apos- tles and evangelists. But in both of the names there is some degree of ambiguity. Before their invasion of Greece, the Macedonians used a peculiar language, which is said by grammarians to have greatly resembled the ancient Doric dialect, so that the old Macedo- nian speech ought to be distinguished from the new. The appellation of the Alexandrian dialect is too limited, and fails of expressing what ought to be expressed. By this name one might easily be led to suppose that the common speech proceeded from Alexandria, which was by no means the case. It is true, indeed, that the Alexandrian Jews adopted it in writing ; but we know that it was used not only by writers, but by the people, so that its name must not depend on the few authors by whom alone it was employed. The appella- tion given it by Sturzius seems deserving of utter disapprobation. We have already found that grammarians have used the expression, i] '/toivri dtaXszTog, the common dialect, in another sense, applying it, not to the vulgar speech, which, after the times of Alexander, began to be adopted in common life, but rather to the language employed by writers, who had almost
124 THE GREEK DICTION
all conformed to the Attic. I am not much concerned about the name ; I hold it enough to have given a clear exposition of the thing.
Hitherto I have spoken of the origin and character of the later speech in general — I now proceed to the sources from which a knowledge of it may be derived. These may be divided into three kinds, according to their respective use and importance, in enabling us rightly to ascertain the character and peculiarities of the common sjjeech. The first comprehends the common authors — o) xomi, that is, those who wrote after the age of Alexander, at the head of whom is Aristotle. From these, only a few things can be adduced for rightly illustrating the character and force of the later speech ; for the works of all of them are to be consider- ed as written in a dialect peculiarly Attic, not pure and uncorrupted, however, but mixed with many words and meanings hitherto new, adopted from the vulgar practice in speaking. These, indeed, are to be reckoned faults in the diction of the common authors, but not to be disregarded by one who would investigate and understand the common language. I forbear to adduce examples — they will elsewhere find a suitable place. This one thing let me add, that these authors are not all alike available for ii-
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 125
lustrating the later usage. For so little are they to be considered as all writing in the same manner, that, on the other hand, we find that some have very studiously conformed their diction to the most approved examples, while others, on the contrary, have almost entirely neglected the rules of pure Attic diction, and corrupted their style by the admission of many new phrases. That the latter may be said of Artemidorus, Appian, and others, and the for- mer of Arrian, Lucian, ^lian, &c., every one acquainted with the subject is aware. I know of only one among the later editors who has noticed, with suitable diligence, the traces of the later speech which occur in the author whom he edites. That, if I am not mistaken, is Immischius on Herodian. As to other au- thors, not one of them as yet has taken the pains to do so.
Another class of sources from which the common speech of the later period may be known, consists of those writers who have written learnedly on the subject. To this head belong, in the first place, the gramma- rians or Atticists, as Phrynichus, Moeris, He- rodian, Thomas Magister, and others, who, in their works, have set pure Attic names and forms of speech in opposition to those which
126 THE GREEK DICTION
were used by later writers with less of Attic elegance. Tlien come the Scholiasts, from whose commentaries much assistance may be derived for the examination of the later form of speech. Finally, there are the Lexicogra- phers— Hesychius, Suidas, Zonaras, Photius, and Phavorinus, who have explained many Attic words by others belonging to the new dialect. Wherein they differ, and with what caution their testimonies are to be examined, we cannot in this place particularly explain.
There remains a third class, consisting of the writings composed in this very style — a class of much greater importance than the two former. These writings are the Alexandrian version of the Old Testament, and other re- maining versions of the same kind ; the New Testament; the Apocrypha of the Old and New Testament; and the Apostolic Fathers. To these may be added what has been pre- served in inscriptions, coins, the decrees of magistrates, and fragments of comic authors of the later age.
II. We now come to the second division of the dissertation, in which we have to })oint out what traces of the common speech are to be met with in the New Testament. In the explana-
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 127
tion of this subject, we shall divide the ex- amples into certain kinds — in the first place, bringing forward what was introduced into the later speech from the more ancient dialects, and then taking notice of what appears to be of more recent origin. We do not mean to adduce all the examples that occur — let a few specimens suffice. We also pass over the syntax of the New Testament; for al- though the sacred writers have, in almost in- numerable ways, neglected the laws of Greek grammar in reference to syntax, yet these cases pertain to the style, not to the idiom which they use. It is a point, therefore, which we cannot discuss, our only object being to explain tlie body of the language.
The traces to which we refer of that common tongue on which the Sacred Hellenism of the New Testament is based, may almost all be reduced to the following kinds.
1. Words which have passed from foreign languages into the Greek. Cases of this kind occurred even before the rise of the Macedo- nian empire, especially among the Athenians, whom Xenophon represents as having a lan- guage constructed of materials from almost all the languages of the Grecian and the^barbar-
128 THE GREEK DICTION
ous States." What had formerly occurred might be expected more frequently to happen in later times, after the Greek tongue had been widely dijflfused among foreign nations. By the wars of the Macedonians, and the new kingdoms which they founded, it was carried into Asia and Egypt ; and thus it came to pass, that, among the new inhabitants, it was mixed with many foreign words. The period of the Roman empire succeeded, which, it is evident, had everywhere sufficient power to conform to the Latin the languages of the conquered. We observe that the common language in the age of the apostles, who themselves made use of it, had derived a great deal from the Aramean and Latin, and some things also from the Persic and Egyptian. Traces of all these occur in the New Testament. Examples, as being well enough known, I forbear to adduce.
2. Another class of cases belonging to the common tongue, consists in the orthography and pronunciation of words. In this the more an- cient dialects of Greece seem to have greatly diifered among themselves ; and the causes of
" De Republ. Atheniens, ii. 8. Comp. Pierson on Moeris, p. 349.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 129
the distinction are obvious to all. A great many points of difference, in this respect, were introduced into the later speech, which also produced new ones, not previously met with. Some vestiges are still preserved in the books of the New Testament, although this class has experienced many changes at the hand of trans- cribers and grammarians, as no one can fail to perceive, who has himself examined the MSS. For almost all follow the orthography of the country in which they were written; the Egypt- ians adopting one method, the Byzantine an- other, and those written in the west a third. For this class of illustrations, therefore, we have no hesitation in claiming only what is at once supported as the genuine reading by the consent of the best books, and proved by the testimonies of the ancient grammarians to have really existed in the common tongue.^ Other
° Of the Alexandrian orthography Sturzins has given a learned exposition, following the authority of the Alex, and Tunc. AISS., although the learned author himself does not deny that many things are found in these books which seem only mistakes of transcribers, and, therefore, would have that only which is observed to differ, with some degree of regularity, from the method of the other Greeks, and of an- tiquity, to be received as a distinct kind of Alexandrian or. thography. Yet I know not that this learned grammarian K
130 THE GREEK DICTION
cases, where there is less certainty, are to be altogether given up.
Let us now adduce some examples, as a spe- cimen of all. Numerous Atticisms are met with, owing both to the simple circumstance of the extent to which the Attic dialect was diffused, and to the critical studies of transcrib- ers. Of this sort are vaXog,^ Apoc. xxi. 18, and (ptdXv),'i Apoc. V. 8, in which words the loni- ans and Dorians had the letter g, making usXo; and (pisXri. Another instance is dsrog, Matth. xxiv. 28, for which the rest of the Greeks used
is right ; for these MSSc, which can scarcely be proved to he of earlier date than the sixth century, present an orthogra- phy and mode of writing, whichj in many cases, was un- doubtedly introduced by transcribers. As to the books of the New Testament, it is beyond question, that they should not be referred to the orthography of a single MS., since na one will doubt that the sacred writers did not follow one and the same way of writing, but that John wrote in one man- ner, Paul in another, Peter, James, and the rest, in a differ- ent way, according to the diversity of the places where they lived. Accordingly, I have thought it better that they should retain the orthography which, it can be rendered probable both by the agreement of the best MSS., and by the testimony of grammarians, belonged to the ccmmon lan- guage.
P Thorn. 31 a^'. p. 86'2, and there Hemsterhuis.
*> Moschopulus ^rsfi <r;^, p. 120. Aloeris, p. 3iJ9, and there Interpret,
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 131
ahrdc,} Many other instances where the vow- els are shortened, are to be met with ; but these I must not enumerate.
We have the Doric reading ^/a;^w, John vii. 30, for -r/Si^w^ — %a,a^a'j2/i/, Matth. xiii. 15, Acts xxviii. 27, for xara/xjs/i/* — xX//3ai/o?, Matth. vi. 30, for Ti^llSavog, which form the y-oml have often used." Without doubt, 'rravdox^T'ov, Luke x. 34, is Doric. Grammarians would have 'xavdoxiTov substituted ;^ which latter reading passed from the lonians to the Athenians.
Paul follows the Attic mode of writing in /SaVos, 1 Tim. iii. 13, for which the other Greeks used iSdc/jjog ;y also Luke, in dva(3oc^fM6g, Acts xxi. 35, instead of dm(3c/M/j.6g,^ To the same Ionic usage may be referred the word lo-z^auw, Eph. V. 14, for h-TTicpdo) ; which, so far as I know, is used only in the New Testa- ment. In other forms, at least, it was very
' Moeris, p. 18. Etymol. p 51, 49. Eustatli. on II. «. p. 21, f.
' Etymol. p. G71, 30.
* Gregor, de Dialect is, p. 165. This author elsewhere states, p. 290, that this was the method of the lonians also.
" Phrynich. p. 76. Thorn. Mag. p. 554. Athen. iii. p. 110, C.
^ Phrynich. p. 134. Thom. M. p. 676. Hemsterh. on Aristoph. Plut. p. 122.
y Phrynich. p. 142. ^ Thorn. Mag. p. 46.
132 THE GREEK DICTION
common to insert, after tlie vowel a, the letter y, as aurao, dauXog, 'o^'^X^^ ^^^ drdo, daXog, /ap^^s.*
There are many remains of the later ortho- graphy. I say nothing of the forms ylvo/Mai and yivdogjcoj, for ytyvo/jycci and yiyvdjgxu, of which Fischer and others have taken notice;^ or of vogffog, vogglov, for v£Qffff6g, vsog<fioVf which have also been noticed by Fischer, as well as by Stur- zius.*^ I add some other examples, not yet, so far as I know, observed in Holy Scripture. Of this kind are rh didmy/Mv, Matth. xvii. 24, according to the true reading, for rh dld^a^ov, in regard to which, we have already referred to the testimony of Thomas Magister — (raXcr/tf- •ryig, Apoc. xviii. 22, for (raXT/xr^c, which, the masters of the Attic speech have observed, was used only by later authors — ^ ov^sv, 1 Cor. xiii. 2, for oudsv, on which, see passages of gramma- rians already referred to. I omit other exam- ples, which would call for a more ample re- view. 3. To the third class belong those cases
■ Eustath. on Od. p. 1654, 27.
^ Prolusiones de Vitiis Lex. p. 674. Valcken on Eurip. Phoen. 1396.
^ De dial. Alex. p. 185.
♦* Phrynich. p. 80. Moeris, p. 354. Thorn. Mag. p. 789. Comp. Theophr. Charact. c. 25. Lucian, v. i. p. 720.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 133
where the common speech seems to have intro- duced a change in the flection of nouns and verbs. As to nouns, no vestiges of any of the more ancient dialects except the Attic are observed in the New Testament — a circum- stance which, in my opinion, is to be attribut- ed, not to the later speech being free, in this respect, from confusion of dialect, but rather to the critical studies of transcribers, who have preferred retaining the Attic usage in this point, as in innumerable others. To the At- tics belong, for instance, the genitive roZ 'AcroX- Xw, 1 Cor. i. 12, from the nominative 'A'jroXXojg ; the accusative r^jv Kw, Acts xxi. 1 ; rov 'AtoXXw, Acts xix. 1 ; rrtv vaui/, Acts xxvii. 41, from the nominative 55 vaug, for which the lonians used vyjvg, the Dorians fas.® The dative vw/, for vw, 1 Cor. i. 10; xiv. 15; Rom. vii. 25, follows the later usage, taking the form of the third declension — examples of which word occur only in the Fathers and the New Testament '/ also the accusative vyiri, Acts v. 11, 15, Tit. ii. 8, from vyisa ; for the Attics, when a vowel was sounded before the letters £«, contracted them,
* Comp. Matthiae Gram. Graec. p. 91. ^ Herodian on Herm. p. 303. Fischer Animadv. ad WeileVf ii. p. 181.
134 THE GREEK DICTION
not into >5, but into a — ^ vy/a, not '^7/'^. Of other instances, as, the accusative plural of nouns ending in sv; — roiig yoviTg, y^a/jb/MunTg, the dative plural dvff', for which the Attics used the dual ^uoTv, the contracted form of the genitive of the adjective ri/Mgug, (jiiikovg for ^'/^/^so$,) and other cases, Fischer, I observe, has already spoken.*' There are several observable particulars in the flection of verbs. A very great deal was contributed by the Attic dialect, and some things were drawn from the Doric ; but of the Ionic no traces appear. Many new additions also have been made. In the three verbs, (SouXo/Matf 6'ji/a/xa/, fxzXkca, the sacred writers, af- ter the manner of the Attics,' use a double augment, as r,j3ovXrj%v, 2 John 12; ridwrj^riffavf Matth. xvii. 16; 5^/xgXXs, Luke vii. 2 ; although in other places we find the common reading with the single augment, Matth. i. 19, s(3ouXr}^ri; xxii. 46, s&jmro ; Luke X. i. s^eXXg. The prin- ciples of this dialect are also followed in the second person of the present tense, /SouXo^a/, and of the future, o^|^o/xa/, which the Attics con- tracted, not into (3o-JXsi and o-vj^g/, but into jSovXvi
ff IMoeris, p. 375. Thorn. 1\T. p. 864. Eustath. on Od. i. p. 190, 11. Heiiidorf. on Plato's Charmid. p. C4. ^ Prolusion, p. CGfi, sqq. ' Thorn. Mag. p. 258. Fischer, Animadv. ii. p. 599. sqq.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 135
and o-^'f,'^ Tims, in Luke xxii. 42, we have 1/ (3o-jXsi ; in Matth. xxvii. 4, <^v o-^n. To the same dialect, if the text be sound, I would re- fer the form -n-agsjs/, Luke vii. 4. If this be deemed the second person, no confusion is in- troduced into the context, which will not be the case, if the author be regarded as passing from the third person to the first. But I am induced, by the authority of by far the best MSS., which give cragsgfj, according to the com- mon orthography, not to consider cragsjs/ the genuine reading.
To the language of the Dorians, gramma- rians' refer the form df swvra/ for d(psTvrai, which is met with only in the New Testament, Matth. ix. 5; 1 John ii. 12. Others would have it to be Attic,™ but seem to be misled by other si- milar forms, in which the Attics prolonged the perfect, inserting the letter w, as s/uda for s/^a, dyyjoy^a with a reduplication, for ^%a ; to which analogy I would not hesitate also to refer the present instance, if it could be proved, by sure
^ Schol. Aristoph. Pint. 40. Valcken, on Phoeniss. p 216. Bninck on Sophoc. (Ed. Col 336. Ajax. 195.
' Eustath. p. 1077, 8. Suid. on this word— Phavor., word a(pt7x,a,.
" Etymolog. M. p. 107, 1. Phavor., word a^swvra/.
136 THE GREEK DICTION
examples, that it was in use among the Attic authors. The Dorians rendered the impera- tive of the second aorist, after the fashion of the first, in ov instead of s." Thus, shSv, which is the true reading, is found in Acts xxviii. 26, for g/Vg, unless — which undoubtedly seems the juster way of doing — we choose to consider &'7ra as the imperative of the first aorist. The Dorians are also represented by Heraclides ° as using, in the present imperative of the verb g//a/, ^Vw for sWw, which form is once adopted by Plato.P It seems to be sprung from £g, ssru. In the New Testament, Paul has expressed himself in the same manner, 1 Cor. xvi.^^2. Compare Psalm civ. 31. The New Testament has also retained the second person of the present pas- sive ending in ffai, in xavxdmt, Rom. ii. 1 7, 23, for xavx^,'^ and 6dvvS,(fai, Luke xvi. 25, for odwa, which termination the Attics have retained only the perfect and pluperfect, and in verbs ending in /mi. This, it is clear, is to be re- garded not as a new form, but as one older than the Attic, and from which the latter was abbreviated. Hence the source of the present
" Koen. on Gregor. p. 157. Fischer, Animadv. ii. p. 382.
° In Eustath. p. 1411, 22.
P Republic, ii. p. 215. "^ Moeris, p. IC, word uk^oS.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 137
example may be assigned, not unjustly, per- haps, to the Doric dialect.
Besides these intermingled properties of the more ancient dialects, there are some new flec- tions of verbs, that began to be used in the common speech, of which there are frequent traces in the New Testament. Many of these have been noticed by grammarians, who have also, in some cases, mentioned the place where those new forms were supposed to have first existed. For it cannot be supposed that all of them were everywhere in use ; but, according to the variety of countries, various changes also took place. In the diction of the New Testament, according to the diversity of its authors, many things are to be met with which cannot be reduced merely to the usage of those inhabitants of Palestine who spoke Greek, but which are supposed to have proceeded from other sources into the composition of the apos- tles. All of these we cannot bring forward, but must content ourselves with the more im- portant.
And first, let us advert to the termination av, which, in the common speech, began to be used instead of acr/, in the third person plural of the perfect, as in 'iym^av, John xvii. 7, for
138 THE GREEK DICTION
?yvu}X,a<H ; g/'^^jxav, Apoc. xix. 8. for zior/zccffi. This form is muck more frequently used by the Alexandrian interpreters — for example, Deut. xi. 7, £U)oazav; Jerem. v. 29, rraosgrrr/.av. Whence this form arose, it iseasy toperceiv^e — that which belonged to the aorist was transferred to the preterite. The grammarians state that this metaplasm was in use at Chalcis' and at Alex- andria.*
Another change introduced by the common speech respects the termination of the third person plural both in the imperfect and in the 2d aorist, in which cases the syllable tfa was interposed. One example of this form the New Testament has preserved in i^oX/oDcav, Rom. iii. 13, for iU'h.Krjv, but it is much more frequently found in the Alexandrian Interpre- ters. Comp. Exod. XV. 27, Psalm xlyii. 4, rih^ioam ; Exod. xvi. 24, TtarfKl-xotSav ; xviii. 28, sx^ivogav, &c. Heraclides* assigns this to the Asiatic manner — rfj (pwfi 'Agiavfj, Phavorinus" calls it Doric. Others refer it to the style of the Chalcidians, whom Aristotle* represents
' Tretzes on Lycophron, 252.
• Sextus Empiric, adv. Grammat. § 213, p. 2G1, Fabr.
* In Eustath. p. 1759, 35. " Word i<pvy'oiray. « Polit. IV. 3.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 139
as Tsp/ rriv 'AtrlavJ The places quoted go to prove that it was in use at Alexandria. Hence we may gather, by no improbable conjecture, that this usage, so widely spread, may have been introduced by the Macedonians into the common speech. More- over, as Fischer^ has well observed, verbs ending in /x/ have exactly the same for- mation, and therefore this form should be traced to the most ancient language of the Greeks.
The Cilicians are said by Heraclides* to have formed the 2d aorist after the manner of the first. Nor was this mode of speaking un- usual with the Alexandrians, who frequently have it in the sacred books, as, for instance, sida/xsv, 1 Sam. X. 14; s/'^av and s^Lz/av, 2 Sam. X. 14 ; Bvi^v, xvii. 20 ; i^a/a/xsi/, xix. 42, &c. In several places of the New Testament, this form, I doubt not, should be substituted for the printed reading, on account not only of the authority of antiquity, but also of the agree- ment among what are by far the best MSS. — as, Matth. xxv. 26. ^Xdarz; Luke vii. 24, ig^X^arg, xi. 52, siffrjXdan ; Acts ii. 2, dvsiXan
y Tzetzes on Lycophr. 21 and 252. Aristophanes in Eustath. p. 17fil, 30. ' Prohisiones, p. 681. * In Eustath. p. 1759, 10.
140 THE GREEK DICTION .
vii. 10, s^siXaro ; 21, uvsiXaro; xii. 11, iJg/Xaro; xxii. 7, eVitfa, &C.
These points in the speech of the Alexan- drians have been already taken notice of by Sturzius ; I add certain others, of which, in some cases, we have only a single example. In the first place, let me notice the future s^x^u, which is found Acts ii. 17, and in the LXX, Ezek. xii. 14, Exod. xxx. 19, iv. 9, xxix. 12, from the verb hx^u- This form belongs pro- perly to verbs which prefix the letters X/xi/^ to the terminating vowel, but, by a metaplasm, has been transferred to those in which that cha- racteristic is awanting. From this it is evi- dent, as Buttman has learnedly observed,** how grammarians might be led to assign a place to the 2d future in the scheme of the regular verb.
The masters of Attic speech condemn the use of dvvr) as the second person of the present indicative, instead of bwaaau^ This form oc- curs Apoc. ii. 22, and in the Kom^ — also in the Alexandrian translators. Job xxxiii. 5, Esth. vi. 13, 24. The Attic writers used bwri only in the subjunctive.^
^ Gram. Grace, p. 175, 4th Edit.
«= Phrynich. p. 158. Thorn. Mag p. 252.
* Syiies, ep. 80. Diog. Laert. p. 158. E.
« Plato, Phaed. p. 132.
OP THE NEW TESTAMENT. 141
There remains the form of the augment in iivoi^Sf John ix. 17, 21, rivo't-x&riy Actsxii. 10, nvoiyny Apoc. xi. 19 ; xv. 5, instead of which the Attics said, avswga, aviui-x^sv, anu>yYiV, using a double augment/ In the Apocalypse a threefold augment is twice used in this verb ; iv. 1. ^u^a TjViifjy/MVTj, XX. 12, rtvit^ydri.
To these I shall subjoin another observation, which I see has been omitted by all who have treated grammatically the language of the New Testament. It relates to some tenses of several verbs, which, although without any thing anomalous in their formation, are never found adopted by writers of approved style. We are to seek the reason, it is probable, in this, that these words either had something harsh and ungrateful to the ear, or, from their resemblance in sound to other words, admitted a certain ambiguity of meaning, which the ancients were very studious to avoid. But no such precaution has been used in the case either of the common speech or of the later writers, in whose works grammarians have noticed many things from which the classics altogether abstained. In the sacred books too, we meet with not a few examples of this kind,
* Thorn. Mag. p. 71-
142 THE GREEK DICTION
where the New Testament diction greatly differs from the Attic. Let us bring forward some examples— they relate especially to futures and aorists.
It is certain that the Attics have applied the future sXsu6o,u.ai neither in the simple nor in a compound state, but, instead of it, have used, iJij^i.^ Only Homer and some later writers have it.** It is found in both states in the books of the New Testament — Matth. ix. 15, sXsudovrai ; xxv. 46, d'rrsXivgovrai ; ii. 6, s'^iXiudirai^ &c.
Grammarians give the same view of the fu- tures agw for ago/xa/,' Acts xxii. 5, I Thess. iv. 14; xa^/Vw, Matth. xxv. 31, instead of which the Attics, as in almost all verbs ending in /^w, have preferred the contracted form xadiu -^ gaX'Triffu for ffaXmy^u,^ from the old present gaX'^r/yyu, 1 Cor. XV. 52 ; ya^riCoiJ.at, for yai^nac^,^ Lukei. 14, Johnxvi.20, 22;_'T^a5^, for T-^ago/xa/,"
B Phrynich. p. 12. Moeris p. 16. Thom Mag. p. 88. 33(5. Suid. words i^iif^ti and acrs/.
^ Joseph, p. 964. B. Chion. ep. to Plato. Chrysost. Or. 33. p. 410. Max. Tyr. Diss. 24. p. 2.5.
' Thom. Mag. p 7* Moeris, p. 38. But Euripides ha* the former, Iphig. in T. 1124.
^ Moeris. p. 212. Thom. IMag. p. 483.
' Phrynich. p. 82. Thom. Mag. p. 789.
"" Moeris, p. 403. Thom. Mag. p. UIO. " Moeris, p. 293.
or THE NEW TESTAMENT. 143
Acts XV. 29, xvi. 28 ; cra-j(ro/x,a/ for crsTa-jtro/xa/,©
1 Cor. xiii. 8. Careful observation lias dis- covered other examples, not noticed by gram- marians ; as, a^coi/cw, Matth. xii. 14, 35; ysXdffu, Luke vi. 31 ; Icra/vscw, 1 Cor. xi. 23 ; (S'xovhaCM,
2 Pet. i. 15 ; a/xotpr^trw, Matth. xviii. 21 ; xXautfw, Luke vi. 55 ; yCks-^u, Matth. xix. 18 ; ^'^'^w, Johnvii. 38; xaXkw, Lukei. 13; xsg^/jtfw, 1 Cor. ix. 19 — instead of which several forms, Attic writers have used d?tou(ro/xa/, ysXaco/xa/, s'Traivsffofiai, (froubaffofj^ai, a/xagrj^ffo/xa/, xXcfj^ro/xa/, xXs-^'O/xa/, ^suco-
We have now to take notice of aorists, which have in like manner been used by the sacred writers in unusual forms. Gramma- rians object to ysvrihlg for ygi^o/xsvog,^ Heb. vi. 4; syswYi^a for Jysi/i/Tjca/xTjv,' Matth. i. 12 ; ^s-vj/a for id^s-^l/d/iTjv, James v. 5 ; lyavaxr'/jcra for riyavaxT?!' m/j,7}v,*^ Matth. XX. 24; '/i/Md^rrjga, for ^/'/xaorov," Rom. V. 14, 16 ; T^^'rayriv for 7j^-7rd()dr,v,'^ 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4. Of the same sort are siSXugrriffa for £/3Xa(rroy,y Matth. xiii. 26, James v. 18, used
" Moeris 1. C.
P Buttmann Gr. Graec. p. 299. Matthiae G. Graec. p. 2J5. 1 Thorn. Mag. p. 189. ' Ibid. p. 416. ' Ibid.
» Ibid. " Ibid. p. 420. ^ Ibid. p. 424. Moeris p. 182. y Matthiae Gr. Gr. p. 307-
144 THE GREEK DICTION
only by the later writers, and lyaiLfi^a for s/^j/^'a, Mark vi. 7, of which, except in the New Tes- tament, 1 have been able to find no example but 2 Maccab. xiv. 25.
There are many other things remaining, with which I must not proceed at present ; as, the imperative xa^ou for xa^Tjtro;^ the perfect twice <)ihcL(5i for 'laastf the optative hu)r\ for ^oiri-^ the participle ocroXXvojv for d'xoXkvg,^ &c.
4. Peculiarities of gender constitute the fourth class of cases, occurring in the New Testament, which are to be referred to the common tongue. The more ancient dialects used many nouns in different genders, whence a diversity in this respect was introduced into the later speech. Thus the sacred authors have employed both the masculine form 6 (sxorog, Heb. xii. 18, and the neuter rh axorog, Matth. iv. 16, vi. 23, viii. 12. The Attics used both; the other Greeks only the neuter.** The pro- miscuous use adopted in the common speech is to be traced, therefore, to the manner of the Attics. From the Doric comes h X///,og, hunger; instead of which, the rest of the Greeks were
' Thorn. Ma^r. p. 485, " lb. p. 474.
'' Phryiiich. p. 152. Moer. p. 117.
• iMoer. p. 12. Thorn. Mag. p. })8.
•• Schol. on Kurip. Hecnb. 1. Interpr. on Moeris, p. 354.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 145
accustomed to say 6 "kiiJ^k.^ In the New Tes- tament, the noun is twice read, joined to ad- jectives of the feminine gender, Luke xv. 14, Xiljjhg '(^x^^^i and Acts xi. '28, M'j^ov fMiydXrjv, which reading- has been already perceived by Valc- kenar*^ and Fischer,^ to be greatly preferable to the printed one, in which the noun is joined with adjectives of the masculine gender. The Attics used /3aroj, a bramble, in the masculine ;^ the writers of the New Testament agree with the rest of the Greeks, in making the word feminine, Mark xii. 26, Luke vi. 44, xx. 37, Acts vii. 35 : and the same usage is found in the Tioivoi^ Grammarians object to saying oi diff/Moi, the Attic writers having previously used the neuter ra osc/x-a^ That the former is an
* Phi-ynich. p. 80. Etymol. M. p. 566. Ael. Dionysius in Eustath. on Od. a. p. 1390, 56. It is used in the femi- nine gender by JMegarensis in Aristophanes, Acharnens, 743. So that Sextus Empiricus is not to be listened to, when, Adv. Grammat. p. 247, he says that the Athenians used ffTUf^vosj B^oXos, ^ukoij Xif/,osj in the feminine.
^Specimen Annotation. Crit. in locos quosdam Novi Tes- iamenti, p. 383, sq.
e Prolusion, p. 672.
^ Moeris, p. 99. Thom. Mag. p. 148. Schol. to Theocr. i. 132.
' Theophr. Hist. Plant, iii. 18. Dioscorid. iv. 37-
^ Moer. p. 127. Thom. Mag. p. 204. Pbavorin., word htrfid. Eustath. on Od. a, p. 1390, 56. L
146 THE GREEK DICTION
Ionic form, may, not unreasonably, perhaps, be inferred from Homer using the word in the masculine gender.' In the New Testament it is used in both forms ; according to the At- tic usage, in Luke viii. 29, Acts xvi. 26 ; and, according to the Ionic, in Philipp. i. 13. These uses of the gender are from the more ancient dialects ; but the common speech also introduced a new use of the gender, not met with before. A remarkable example is the noun 'iXzog, which, by all the Greek authors, is used in the mas- culine; but, in the New Testament, Luke i. 50, 78, 1 Pet. i. 3, Rom. ix. 23; in the Alex- andr. Translat, Gen. xix. 9, Numb. xi. 15 ; and in the ecclesiastical writers, is neuter.
5. I pass on to a fifth class of instances where the New Testament shews traces of the later speech. It consists of words, some of which were transferred from the more ancient dialects into the common tongue^ and others were newly coined, either according to an analogy previously afforded, or in other ways. Some cases of this kind have been taken notice of by grammarians, and a number of others shouhl be learned from our own observation. To set out from the beginning, the language of the
' Odyss. ^. 290.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 147
sacred writers is distinguished by many forms, both of nouns and of verbs, which have been drawn from ancient dialects. Fischer"^ and Sturzius" have shown, that the nouns dXsxTM^ for dXsKT^vuiV, (TzoTja for dxorog^ /Saff/X/Ccra for /3afl'- /X/g, were derived from the Doric into the com- mon speech. To these I add h oIzooo/mti, instead of which, masters of this language® observe, the Attics used o}-/,od6/xyifxa. The former occurs in the New Testament, Matth. xxiv. 1, Rom. xiv. 19 ; in the Alexandrian version, Ezek. xvii. 17, 1 Chron. xxvi. 27. In foreign au- thors it seldom occurs, and never except in the Tcomi.'P I am disposed to consider it Doric, from the authority of Suidas, who adduces the following very ancient form of imprecation among the Lacedemonians, otKodo/j^d (Ts "kdfSoi. The noun otzodic-Trorng^ was a new compound, and unknown to the Attics ; but we have the testimony of Pollux,' that this noun was used by Alexis, a poet of middle comedy, and a Thurian by country — h Ta^avrmig^ and by Theano, a female disciple of Pythagoras, in
"* Prolusion, p. 673. " De dial. Mac. et Alex. p. 151. sqq.
" Phrynich. p. 186. Thorn. Mag. p. 645.
P Philo de Monarch, v. ii. p. 223.
1 Phrynich. p. 162. Thorn. 3Iag. p. 645.
' Onomast. x. 21.
148 THE GREEK DICTION
an epistle to Timareta. Hence, not without an appearance of probability, we infer, that this word was used by the Dorians. It oc- curs, Matth. xiii. 27, xx. 1, &c. ; and also in Plutarch,^ Sextus Empiricus,*^ and others. To the language of the lonians may be traced the word Ji^^aw, Acts xxi. 24, 1 Cor. xi. 5, which Thomas Magister" considers foreign to the Attic diction, and for which he would sub- stitute ^v^iTv. It is frequently used in Herodo- tus,^ and in the yMvoi.y It is surely needless for me to suggest, that the lonians often changed into £w the termination of words ending: in aw. To this class belongs also ^^trcw, a form of the present, which the grammarians wish to have changed, after the manner of the Attics, into ^riyvu/Mi,^ The former occurs in the New Tes- tament, Mark ii. 2, ix. 18 ; in the Alexan- drian version, 1 Kings xi. 31 ; and in Homer,* whence it may be inferred that it belonged to the lansruasfe of the lonians.
These examples can be traced to the more ancient dialects. What follow seem the in-
• DeplacitPhilos. v. 18. p. OOfi. B. Prohl. Rom. 30. p. 271. D. ^Physic, i. 122. " Page G42. ^ II. Co, 121.
y Palaephat. p. 84, 180. Ed. Toll. Lucian, Ct/nicus, iii, p. 547. " Moer. p. 337. Thomas I\Iag. p. 7^8. ■ II. a-. 571.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 149
vention of later times. No one will wonder how, as time advanced, new forms of words began to be employed, for this happens in all languages, provided they are habitually em- ployed in the daily intercourse of life. But well may we wonder that, in the common speech, we see so many nouns and verbs follow an analogy which, in the different forms of the more ancient language, either is entirely want- ing, or occurred but seldom, even at the time when other forms, with the same signification, were in use. Respecting the causes of this formation little is known. We may suppose that there had previously existed in the speech which the people used, forms similar to those which we now find in books written in this vulgar idiom. Many things that must now be left unnoticed, might be better explained, in- deed, if we had any certain information re- specting the genius and character of the more ancient speech which was ordinarily used by the communities of Greece. For from that, un- doubtedly, the common language of later times drew more extensively than from the diction followed by authors, although it is only the latter that can be known from suitable monu- ments. Hence, in regard to the present class, we, for the most part, can only adduce the di-
150 THE GREEK DICTION
versities of the later tongue, and are unable to trace tliem up to their ultimate sources.
Let us begin with substantive nouns. Those are of lesser importance that affect only single examples, as /xsro^xgc/a, Matth. i. 11. (Comp. Jerem. xxix. 19, Ezek. xii. 11) instead of which we have, in Plato,** iJ.zroi%r\6ig — in iEs- chylus,*^ li^iroma. The verb /Mirom^nv occurs in Thucydides,** from which the noun is de- rived in the same way as 8o7ci>xa(jia^ from 6ox//xa- ^nv, which word seems, in like manner, to have had the more ancient form of ^ozi/xri. The gram- marians^ object to /j^a&v}T^ta, Acts ix. 36, and would have fJt^adrjT^ig used instead. The former is adduced from Diogenes,^ Petrus Siculus,^ and Palladius.* I am not quite sure whether this termination in r^icc was found in the more an- cient language. 'O^yriama for o^x''^^^'^) is also taken notice of by Moeris.^ I derive no as- sistance from examples of this formation in the ancients. It may have taken place after the manner of the Latin magistra, sinistra^ the letter i being inserted, which ought not to be
'' De Leyib. 1. viii. c. '^ Eumenid. 1016.
'' Book I. Ch. xii. ^ iEscliin. in Timarch.
*' Moeris, p. 263. Thorn. Mag. p. 593.
e B. IV. c. 2. viii. c. 42. ^ Uistor. Manich. p. 52.
' Histor. Lausiac. p. 146. " Page 279,
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 151
omitted, lest the words should be confounded with others of a different meaning, as o^x^ar^a^ 'xaXakr^cc. We have greater certainty, in re- gard to the noun xai/;^>j(r/g, .which is frequently used by Paul, Rom. iii. 27, xv. 17, &c., and once by James, iv. 16. With the exception of the Alexandrian Translators, Jerem. xii. 13, Ezek. xvi. 12, it scarcely occurs in any au- thor.^ There is also the authority of the Scho- liast on Pindar,'" who says the Attics did not use it, but preferred y^^x^' Every one ob- serves similar forms in the more ancient lan- guage ; for example, aug'/j" and au|?3(3'/5,° ^b\)\7\ p and ^oh'kmii^ &c., to the analogy of which the new form may easily be reduced.
But especial attention is due to a class of nouns very frequently observed in the sacred writers. They are such as end in /^a, many of which are awanting in the more ancient lan- guage, where we find used instead of them, in exactly the same sense, forms in »3, s/a, and <?/?. The following almost all occur in the New Testament : —
' I have found it in Etymol. M. p. 400, 38. -» Nem. ix. 17. " Plato Phaed. p. 1211. D. 1225. B. ° Xenoph. (Econ. 5, 1. p Xenoph, Helleii. vi. 4, 35.
'J Eurip. Andr. 703. Thucyd. vi. «9
152 THE GREEK DICTION
KaraXy/^a, Luke ii. 7, an inn, for which the Attics, according" to Moeris"" and Thomas Ma- gister,* used ■/.ccrayojy/ov. Nor is there any ex- ample of the former in the works of the Attics ; it occurs only in the xomi But Euripides* has used }iccrdXv(fig in quite the same sense; and also Plato in Protagoras^ Thucydides has the verb ytaraXUiv,'^
' Avra'jrohoiMa is used in the New Testament to express retribution^ compensation; both in a. good sense, as Luke xiv.12, and in a bad, as Rom. xi. 9. Except in the Alexandrian translation, 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, Ps. xxviii. 4, Ecclesiasticus xii. 2, this word is nowhere met with. None of the grammarians, lexicographers, or scholiasts, take notice of it. Thucydides^ has dvra'rrodogic in the samo sense — also Polybius.* The word is undoubtedly of the later age. But there are similar instances in the more ancient authors, of a word having two forms, both of the same
' Page 241.
• Page 501. Pollux, i. 73, reckons this among Attic words; but in many MSS. it is awanting, so that it may be consider- ed a gloss.
' Elecir. 393. " Page 220. D. * B. I. Ch. 13G.
y B. IV. Ch. 81.
* B. VI. 5, 3; XX. 7, 2; XXXII. 13, G.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 153
signification ; as, 'ivhtyij^ci and 'ivdsi^ig in Demos- thenes;* (p^ovrjfj^a and <p^m<^ig in Euripides;^ /a/xa in Thucydides,*= and 'loLdig in Sophocles f sV^/j/xa ® and £(r^/j(r/5, which, according to Thomas Magis- ter,^ was a poetical form ; (^/^r^j/xas and ^h'^ntiiif^ &c.
A'lrriiMcti a petition, a request, Luke xxiii. 24, Philipp. iv. 6. Comp. Judges viii. 24, Psalm cv. 16. Phavorinus, from Suidas, writes : — A/V^/xa* ^rirriiMcc zai ri iTidv/xia (A/Vtj ; ; quest, desire.) The word is cited only from an epistle of Pseudo Socrates, 14, and from mathemati- cal writers of the later age. Pollux, iv. 47, has classed a/.'^n; among Attic words.
"AvrXTj/jua in John iv. 11, denotes a bucket, a vessel for draicing icith. It is wanting in all the grammarians and lexicographers. I have found it only in Dioscorides B. iv. ch. 64, who has used it in a passive sense, for the thing drawn — .y-i ro avrXruMo. s avToov avrXi^&iv h'TrvMoiov sari (and the draught, when received by them, proves soporific.) Manetho, or whoever is the author of the 'AcrorsXsc/xar/xa, has used in-
^ » Page 423, 23. 505, 24. Reiske.
•» Suppl. 8G2, Tern. fr. 13. ^ B. II. 51.
^ Electr. 876. ^Eurip. Troad, 991. Soph. Electr. 266.
' Page 370. s Eurip. lil cch. 1 137.
^ Thucyd. i. 20 ; viii. 57.
154 THE GREEK DICTIOX
stead of it, o civrXog, V. 424, avrXotg iidca^ (pooeovreg (carrying water in pitchers) — which word, al- though it does not occur in this sense in the more ancient writers, was used, with another meaning, by the Attics. Euripid. Hecuba, 1040.
' Affdsv7i/j,a, imhecility, is used by Paul in Rom. XV. 1, and occurs nowhere else. The Attics used ats&smay for example, Eurip. Here, fur, 269.
"Hrr;j/>t,a, a disaster, a had state and condition. Thus, 1 Cor. vi. 7, and, in the Alexandrine Translators, Ezek. xxxi. 8. In Thucydides iii. 109, vii. 72, we have Jjc^a; in Xenophon's Cyrop, iii. 1, 11, ^Vm. A similar case we have already met with in the noun ohoUfirnMay length- ened out by the Attics from the ancient ohobof^ri, which occurs in the Doric language. In like manner, we have ahyjiri and avy^riiMa^ both of which are found in Pindar, Nem, xi. 38, Pyth, i. 127, ta'^X^J and %a\)yjiij.a. lb.
' A'rroTi^tficc is used by Paul, 2 Cor. ii. 9, to signify a condemnatory sentence, which, in other places, the Greeks are accustomed to express by xaTax^i/Ma. The word denotes, as it were, the response of ajudye, and therefore does not, in the primitive signification, differ from the noun acT6x^/<r/$, which we find employed by the
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 155
Attic authors, for example, Euripid. in Frag, 131, Isocrates, and Plato in Phileb. p. 76. A. With the exception of this passage of the Apostle, it occurs only in the sacred glosses of Suidas, Hesychius, and Zonara, and in the commentaries of the Fathers, respecting which consult S nicer.
YsufT/^a, a lie, Rom. iii. 7. Thomas Magister says, p. 927 : — -^ivhog Xsys, oh -vj/sDo/xa, it xa,i 6 aurog Iv rw ahru ct'raj. ( Say -^ivhog, not -^ivdiMa, al- though in this author that word once occurs.) He means Aristides, whose words are quoted from his Works, vii. p. 335. Interpreters, in noticing this passage, think that Thomas, with- out sufficient reason, has condemned a word used in the best writers. But the passages they adduce have, every one of them, been taken from authors of the later age, as Lucian, V. i. p. 94, Josephus, Ajitiq, p. 576, Philo, p. 409, Symmach on Job. xiii. 4, Psalm Ix. 3, Aquil. and Theodot. on Prov. xxiii. 3. The only remaining one is Pollux, who, in Onomast. vi. 38, has classed the term, without note, among Attic words.
Let these instances suffice. Many others might be adduced from the Alexandrian Trans- lation— but we wished merely to point out the traces of the common language in so far as they
156 THE GREEK DICTION
are met with in the New Testament. We now come to adjective nouns. In these too, individual instances occur, where the form has been slightly changed by the later usage, as, aTs/^agrog, untempted, also, that cannot he tempted^ James i. 13. This word occurs nowhere but in Suicer, who quotes it from an epistle of Ignatius to the Philippians, and in Zonara, who explains it by ahox'iixa^rog. But in the lat- ter case I should prefer reading, either, with the Dresden MS. a'm'ii^riroi, or, with the book of Kulenkampius, a'Kii^ccrog, since it is clear from the interpretation, that the author of the gloss had no reference to the Epistle of James. The more ancient Greeks, dropping the letter c, used airu^arog, as Demosthenes, p. 100, Pindar, 01. XI. 18, Nem. i. 33. or, lonically, a'jru^riTog, which occurs in Homer. II. 304. Of the same kind is the noun ^taffrrig, Matth. xii. 12, which, with this orthography, is found used by none but Philo, with the exception of the ecclesiastical writers, De Agricultural p. 314. B/ar/js occurs in Pindar, Nem. ix. 130. Those who are skilled in these matters know, that both forms, although not used by the Attic writers, are to be considered ancient. For they are derived, after the manner of verbal ad- jectives, from the aorists e-Trs/^atf^^jv, present,
or THE NEW TESTAMENT. 157
vsjod^co (Horn. Od. I. 281, though siru^as&riv I find nowhere else, with the exception of Hebr. xi. 37, but only svr2/fa^>jv), and sl3idff%v, from ISidlsSon (Xenoph. Hellen. vi. 1, 4, ^lat^svng). But, as is very frequently the case, they had ceased to be used by writers, and were retained only in the popular speech — to which, there- fore, it is proper to refer the traces of the com- mon idiom that are cited from the New Testa- ment. The Attics retained the two forms ymrog (Sophoc. (Ed. Tyr, 396), and yvojrog (lb. 361, Xenoph. Cyrop. vi. 3, 2.) ; also d^s/xirog (Euripid. loji. 1093), and d'^s/j^iffrog (Xenoph. Cyrop, I. 6, 6). We have other instances of a change on the primitive form of adjectives, in a/xagrwXos for dfMaorrjXog, and iyxmg, for eyxv/XMV,
New forms of adjectives were also frequent- ly made by composition — for example, axara- 'TTOLvSTog, continual, unceasing, which, except by Peter, Ep. ii. 2, 14, is not used by any but the xomt, Polyb. iv. 17, 4. Plut. Works, v. vi. p. 436. The Attics used instead of it aitavarog. Thus Thucydid. ii. 49 — d-Tavarog bi-^a. Of the same kind is the adjective dortyhvnrog^ which, with the exception of Peter, 1 Ep. ii. 2, is found in none but Lucian, Dial. Marin. 12, 1, )8^£po5...agr/5'£yi'7jro> (a new-bom child). Pollux, in Onomastic. ii. 8, prescribes saying, l^^s^og
158 THE GREEK DICTION
vsoysvsg, upriysveg, a^r/YOVov, a^rko'/Cov, all of which forms occur in the Attics. There are several other similar examples, which cannot be indi- vidually detailed.
There are also adjectives which are derived by grammarians from the Attics, though they more recently began to be adopted. Take, for example, some words in mg, terminating with an acute accent, and formed from nouns or particles involving the idea of time. The following are, almost all of them, met with in the New Testament : —
Ka^rifJ^s^ivoc, daily. Acts vi. 1, Moeris, p. 45, Thom. Mag. p. 44, Galen. 1 de different. Fehr. ii. 8. To ya^ Ttadrifiji^mv ovo/um rriv cc^xn^ ovd* zdrtv ili^iTv craga r/w ruv 'EXXrjvuv ysypa/jj/j^svov a{x<prifLi^t))h ^g rh 'Tt^yihCL 70 7iay kxacri^v ^/xs^av ojffavrug 6vo/j,d^ovgi. Instead of this word, Sophocles has -/.a&rjfjbs^iog, Electr. 1414. The former is used only by the xomif as Plutarch, V. vi. p. 533, Polyaenus, iv. 2, p. 316, Josephus, p. 72 and 409.
'O^^^mg, of the morning, Var. Bead, to Apocal. xxii. 16, instead of which form grammarians would have o^'^^iog to be used. Phrynich. p. 16. But Posidippus, Athen. xiii. p. 596, D. An- tipater Sidonius in Brunck's Anal. V. ii. p. 12, n. 26, and others, whom Sturzius has care-
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 159
fully noticed, De Dial. Alex. p. 186, have
n^w/Vos, of the morning^ according to the pre- ferable reading of Apocal. xxii. 16. This word, indeed, no grammarian distinctly con- demns ; but it is not met with except in au- thors of the later age, as Plutarch, V. viii. p. 899. Athen. I. The more ancient writers used instead of it, 's-^w/o^ and -r^wz/xo^, as Xenoph. de Vectigal I. 3, CEcon. 17, 4.
We learn, both from actual usage, and from the authority of grammarians, that all these cases belong to the later period. Yet in the more ancient speech there is not wanting an analogy according to which these and other such words have been formed. Galen and Thomas Magister sanction aiM<pYifMi^mg as Attic — riiMs^iog and also rifj^s^mg occurs in Xenophon, CEcon, 21, 3, Cyrop. I. 19; "^i^mg in Pindar, Fifth. III. 87 ; ^z<i7\ij.^img in Theocritus, Id. i. 15, X. 48.
There are other adjectives to which the de- grees of comparison have been recently ap- plied. Fischer* has already noticed the use of ra-^Qm for ^arrov. Take also noijg^ y\mvy which is
' Prohision. p. 672,
160 THE GREEK DICTION
not foreign to the Attic way of speaking, as may be seen from Xenoplion, Cyrop. viii. 3, 16. I add the superlative cirKSrog, which is not employed by the more ancient Greeks. Thomas Mag. p. 794, has these words — aiTBvrhg /msvtoi, oh cididrog, Herodian, p. 473, Piers, says — tftrsuToi/g o^vi'^ag^ ouc vuv (fmgrovg XsyovGi. It OCClirs Matth. xxii. 4, and Josephus, Antiquit. viii. 2. 4. Athen. xiv. p. 656. E. It is without doubt sprung, like other words of the same kind, from an obsolete adjective tf/ro's, of which there are no further traces.
I am now to speak of verhs^ and alterations in their form. Here, too, analogy is the so- vereign law according to which all have been constructed — a few only occur in which a sure analogy is wanting, in regard either to the formation or to the meaning of the word. This is not to be wondered at, if we remember that, before the Macedonian empire was establish- ed, to such a degree had the Greek language been refined, and enriched with variety of forms, that, for expressing almost any kind of idea, some one or other might have been found. From innumerable examples which present themselves in Scripture, we adduce only a iew. 'O^^^/^g/i/, Luke xxi. 28, is con- demned by grammarians, who direct o^^^iUiv to
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 161
be used instead of it. Moeris, p. 27*2. Thorn. Mag. p. 656. The former is employed by the Alexandrian Translators, Gen. xix. 2. xx. 8. &c. and by writers of the later age. There are not wanting similar double forms in the more ancient tongue, as, fJ^o^^u, //,o;^/^/^w ; o^fisu^ 6^/j,i^u, &c. But we are altogether without analogy for o^V^s'i' being used intransitively for d^^^svsiv, which, according to the force of the termination, expresses an intransitive sense, while verbs in /^w, with only a few exceptions, are almost always used transitively. — Phryni- chus forbids the use of y^yiyo^zTv instead of lyoYiyoouv, p. 46 ; and also Eustathius on Od. i/, 6, p. 1888, 26, who thus writes : — "Ofj^ri^og /mv TST^aduXXd^ug oJdsv, ly^Tiyooch' o'l hi vffrsPov, xal y^rtyooco T^i(rvXXd(3o}g, o'xs^ ou (piXsTrai ro7g '^/iroogiv, (Homer was acquainted with the form sy^riyo^oj, having four syllables ; but the later writers have also y^yiyo^u), with three syllables — a form which the rhetoricians dislike.) It occurs in many places of the New Testament — Matth.xxiv. 42, xxv. J3, &c. — also in the Alexandrian Translation — Jer. V. 6, xxxi. 28. 'E^sXs/v and ^sXsiv, how- ever, are to be found in the best writers, as Xenoph. Ci/rop. I. 4, 10, Hellen. III. 4, 5. In like manner ^str/xsTV is condemned by the masters
M
162 THE GREEK DICTION
of Attic diction, Moeris, p. 22. Thorn. Mag. p. 821, whose words have been adopted by Phavorinus. Hesychius's gloss — haij^zTv rag hidfj^ug rcov (fray^uuv, sc. ^£/i/, belongs to Luke viii. 29, in which text the word is used, and no- where else except in Etymol. M. p. 693, 38, and Aquila, on Job xl. 20. The word Oiff/Msvuv, with exactly the same sense, is common in Attic authors. Comp. Xenoph. de lie Equest .5, 4, Mcmor. i. 2, 50. Hier, 6, 14. Euripid. Bacch. 616. Agc/xs/i/ was a more ancient form, but it had grown obsolete, so that it is right to refer it to the common language,
' Ei^vTrvf^iiv and dviTu(iiv appear to be new com- pounds. The former is expressly condemned by all the grammarians, who would have d(pu'7rvt'(^siv or divTTvllsiv used instead. Phrynichus, p. 96, observes : — s'^vrviffdrimt ou yj^r] "kiyuv, akXu dpuirmdnvau Moeris, p. 61. Herodian, p. 448. Thorn. Mag. p. 134. With the exception of the Bible, where it occurs in John xi. 11, 1 Kings iii. 1.5, Job xiv. 12. 1 have found it only in Plutarch, /f'or/i.s, V. x. p. 75. The latter occurs in none of the more ancient writers, who are found to have used instead of it, s^srd^ny. Thus Herod, iii. 184. Xenoph. Cgrop. vi. 2, 11. Mcmnr. iii. 6, 10. (Econ. 8, 15. It is used by
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 163
Luke, Acts xxii. 24, 29, and by the Alexan- drian Translators, 2 Maccab. vii. 37, Hist. Susann. 14.
' A'/.riO'j), 'av/jCm, vr,(}'j), which are derived from the forms a/Jw, zj/iw, vsw, follow another rule, and are conformable in this respect to ^Xew, ct/.tjOoj, which latter is used by Herodotus, ii. 173. Of d'ATtOcrj Sturzius has already spoken, JJe Dial Alex. p. 145. On the remaining two the tes- timonies of grammarians remain to be adduced. 7'o begin with Mr,krj — Moeris says, p. 234, that it is a Hellenic^ and xi/gr^ an Attic form. Thomas Magister says the same, p. .538. He- sychius has, in his interpretation, rou xviTv. K\>r,kiv occurs nowhere but in authors of the later age — Aristotle, Lucian, and others. In the New Testament it is found once, 2 Tim. iv. 3.— Of the third word, vr^Qoi, Pollux, vii. 32. has thus spoken : — 6/ ' Arruoi ya^ rh vrjhiv viTv Asyryjija (What is denoted by vyjdnv the Attics express by hTv) — and rightly, for the length- ened form occurs only in later writers — in the New Testament, Matth. vi. 28, Luke xii. 27 — in the Alexandrian version, Exod. xxxv. 25 — and in the Antliolog. ii. 32. 17.
But the men of the later age seem to have liad a particular inclination to produce forms of verbs ending in ow, of which no small nui^-
164 THE GREEK DICTION
ber might be adduced from the New Testa- ment alone. The cause, perhaps, is to be sought in this, that the language of the Mace- donians was distinguished by numerous forms of this kind, after the analogy of which many new ones were formed. That the language of the Dorians at least abounded in these forms, may be ascertained without going beyond the works of Pindar, who uses many verbs in a double form, adopting both the termination ow, and some other; as, daiddXXu and daibaXou, <pccgfj,a7tsucij and ^a^/xaxow, p^aXxsuw and ^aXxooj, In the New Testament almost all the succeeding instances of this sort occur : —
'Avaxa/vow, 2 Cor. iv. 16. Coloss. iii. 10. With these exceptions, none but the eccle- siastical writers are found using this form. ' Amaam^siv occurs in Isocrates, Areopag, ch. 3. The mode of formation coincides with Attic usage. Let the forms of the Attics be com- pared, as, (Smrmy Sophocl. ^4/' 85' ail^ (fx,ori^Ut Euripid. CEn. Fragm. 5, 2. — Jsi^ow, Xenoph. AgesiL 8, 5, and ^^viZ^(^, Id. Cyrop. v. 4, 7. Hence, too, we have the noun avccxc//ivu(Sig, Rom. xii. 2, Tit. iii. 3, for which, in Suidas, we find avcLJLahiiSn;,
'A^u-ri/ow, which only once occurs in the New Testament — a.'xat, Xsyo/^gvoc. The text is Luke
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 165
viii. 23. With this exception, it occurs only in the Aldine Edition in Judges v. 27. That it is of the later age I have no doubt. In Attic writers d<pv'7rvi(^u is common — for example, Eu- ripid. RJies, 25 ; and this word is also ranked by grammarians among Attic expressions. Moeris, p. 61. Phrynich. p. 56. Thom. Mag. p. 134. In Xenophon Ttadwrvooj occurs once — Memor, ii. 1. 30.
AiTtaroM is twice read in the New Testament, Hebr. vii. 6, 9. The Alexandrian Interpreters have it in Nehem. x. 37. The word is never met with in the more ancient Greeks, who, we find, used, instead of it, dsKarsvuv, Xenoph. Anab, v. 3, 10. Hellen. vi. 3, 9. Harpocration cites it from the rhetoricians. As we have already mentioned, similar forms have fre- quently been used by Pindar.
' Amhixaroo) Fischer, in his Prolus. p. 696, has already referred to the Alexandrian dialect, as, besides the Alexandrian version — Gen. xxviii. 22, Deut. xiv. 22, &c. and the books of the New Testament — Matth. xxiii. 23, Luke xviii. 12, it is very frequently used by Philo. 'ATo^sxrsuw, so far as I am aware, is nowhere met with.
'EgoDosi/ow is read once in the New Testament, Mark ix. 12, and very frequently in the Alex-
16') THE GREEK DICTION
andrian version — Judges ix. 38, Ps. lili. 6, xv. 4, &c. To this belongs the gloss of Hesychius — s^ovdsvudag d'TrsdoTci/ji.agag, With these excep- tions, I have found it only in the Etymol. M, p. 350. 24. Plutarch, Works, V. vii. p. 228, has z^ouhvi^iiv.
K^ara/ow, from Ttoaraidg, Luke has this word, i. 80 ; and Paul, 1 Cor. xvi. 13, Ephes. iii. 16, It also occurs once in the Alexandrian version, 1 Sam. iv. 9. The Attics used x^aryvw in the same sense. Comp. Eurip. Hippol. 1282. Bacch, 659.
Thomas Magister, p. 789, directs to say Gdom, not GciiPO). In like manner Moeris, p. ,356 — ffaipzivy ' Arriytuc — 6a^ouv, ' EXkrivixojg. 2a/^w is used by Luke, xv. 8, and Matthew, xii, 44 ; Pamphilus in Geoponn, 13, 15, 4, and the Quinctilii, Ibid. 14, 6, 5, — which examples have been already quoted by the learned Sturzius. To these I add Lycophron, in Cassandr, 309. and Etymol M. p. 276, 29; 407, 27 ; 708, 56. 2a/g2/u is frequently used in Euripides — Hecuba, 363, Andr. 166, Ion. 115, 121, 795. Cijcl 29.
2^£i/ow is an instance found nowhere but in the New Testament, 1 Pet. v. 10 — with the exception of a gloss of Hesychius. The Attics used the word in an intransitive sense. Thus
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 167
Aristoph. Pint 912, Euripid. Hecuha, 295. The compound ackvooi occurs in Xenophon, Cyroped. i. 5, 3.
Let these examples suffice. The rest, as, hb\im[MQUy hoi^oc^f &c. will be illustrated in another place.
There still remain the adverbs, on which it may be permitted us to be brief. New forms appear both in simple and in compound ad- verbs. Of the form l^d-mm for sjacr/i/a/wg or s^aTivrig, Fischer has already spoken, in his Prolusion, p. 674. It is very rare in authors of the later age. I have found it only in Zonara, vii. 25, x. 37. It is met with in the New Testament, Mark ix. 8 — and in the Alex- andrian version, Josh. xi. 7, Numb. vi. 9. — Uavom is condemned by the grammarians. Moeris, p. 320. ^avo/xjjtf/a, 'Arr//twr caj/o/x/, 'EXXrivixu)g. Thom. Mag. p. 676. Hesychius, in his interpretation, has these words : — TadG-j^ojg- a^d'/jv, Tavor/ti. That gloss of Suidas, transcribed by Phavorinus, rravor/.!, oX'jj hr/tu)^ relates to the New Testament. The word occurs Acts xvi. 34 — and Alexandrian version, Exod. i. 1. 3 Maccab. iii. 27. It is cited, moreover, from Josephus, Antiq. iv. 4, 4 — Philo on Josepkus, p. 562, Aeschin. SocraL Dial. ii. 1 — and others, who are not to be esteemed masters of the true
168 THE GREEK DICTION
Attic diction. Herodotus has Tavo/x/o — Tiiucy- dides, 'Travoizrjela, ii. 16, iii. 57. — ' AXkayokv, our third example, occurs John x. 1. Comp. Esth. iv. 13. Thomas Magister, p. 37, writes : — akXodi, aXXo&BVf aXkoffs, do'/cifMoorsoa, ri dXXap^o^/, dXXa^okv, aXkayJ)(Si. Moeris seems to speak somewhat more guardedly, when he says:— aXkoQi^ ciXkoffs, ciXXoOsv, ' Arrr/Mg' aXXcep^o^/, aXka-)(okvy akXayou, xa/wrs^ov, 'Arr/xw^ %«/ 'EXX^jwxw^. That the word belongs to the later Atticism I have no doubt, since it is found employed only by authors of the later age, as ^lian, Var, Hist, vi. 2, viii. 7, Galen, de usu Partium, ix. Sim- plicius on Epictet. p. 255. Appian, Punic, p. 129. Plutarch, Fah. p. 178. Themistius, p. 15. C. Eustathius on II. K. p. 719.
Of the compounds of recent formation a re- markable instance is -ravrorg for kytaaron. What can be said about it has been already brought forward, I observe, by Sturzius, de Dial, Alex, p. 187, 59.
VI. To the sixth class belong words which have become parts of the common language^ after previously belonging to the more ancient dialects, or have begun to be used for the first time by the later Greeks. Both of these kinds coincide with the nature of our present subject. New words and new phrases spring up in
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 169
every language, if it be ordinarily used in conversation and common life. That Greek discourse was distinguished by many peculiar words and idioms, according to the variety of places where it was used, is known to every one who has even slightly examined the nature and mutual construction of the dialects. Con- fusion of tongues followed the confusion of nations, so that expressions which were former- ly reckoned peculiar to some particular dialect, were promiscuously adopted in the later speech. Proofs of this we find in the Alexandrian version of the New Testament, and other works in the common idiom, where Ionic, Doric, and Attic words are promiscuously used. We have, for example, £xr^w/a<«, 1 Cor. XV. 8, which is adopted only by Ionic writers, and those of the later age, and for which, ac- cording to Phrynichus, p. 88 and 128, the Attics used sga/x/3Xw/Aa. Passages of writers in whom it occurs have been diligently noted by Fischer in his Prolusion, p. 701, and Sturzius, p. 164. Phrynichus also says, that yoyyoliiv, John vii. 32, Matth. xx. 11, and yoyy-j^/Mog^ John vii. 12, are Ionic, quoting a passage from Phocy- lides Milesius, who has used the compound 'TTi^iyoyylZiiv — and that the Attics used, in- stead of these words, rov&^h^uv and rov^^vs/Mog.
170 THE GREEK DICTION
With this Thomas Magister, p. 856, Suidas, Hesychius, and Phavorinus agree ; and all these authors explain yoyyut^siv by rov&ovym. Pollux, in Onomast. v. 89, applies the former verb to pigeons, and this seems to have been the proper signification of the word. These words are found only in the ^(^omi — yoyy'jliiv in Lucian, Works, V. x. p. 94. Antonius de se ipso, 1. fin. ii. 21, Arrimann Epict. iii. 26; yo/yjtf/xo's also in Antonius, 1. c. ix. 37, Nicetas in Andronic. Comnen. i. 11. Add the Alexan- drian Translation, in Numb. xiv. 1, and Exod. xvi. 7. The author of the epistle of Jude, v. 16, calls false teachers yoyyvarai, a noun of which I find one other example, which occurs in Theodotion on Prov. xxvi. 21. The word axoo^ziZitv, John X. 12, xvi. 32, may also be re- ferred to the Ionic language, according to Phrynichus, p. 94: — aTcooT/^srai. 'EzccraTog fih ro\jro Xsysi 'Iu)VCa)v* o/ d* 'Arrijcol gxiddwurat (pafft ((fxo^m^srcci is used, indeed, by Hecataeus among the lonians, but the Attics say ffx&ddvvurai). The other grammarians, with the exception of the author of the Etymologicon, p. 719, 17, have not taken notice of the word. Valckenar says, that it became generally used after the times of Alexander the Great. It is no- where read in a simple form, except in the
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 171
Alexandrian Version, 2 Sam. xxii. 15, Ps. xvii. 16, &c. Several compounds occur, but only in authors of the later age. Thus, besides the New Testament, Matth. xxvi. 31, John xi. 52, and the Alexandrian Interpreters, Zeehar. xiii. 17, iElian, Var. Hist. xiii. 46, and Poly- bius, i. 47, 5, have diagzo^T/l^iiv, for which So- phocles, Oed. in Col. 620, 1341, uses diaffxsddv- vvfxi. ' A'xoffxo^'Trt^siv occurs in 1 Maccab. xi. 55 — exff'AOP'Tiff/j.og in Plutarch, V. vii. p. 507.
These are Ionic words ; nor are there want- ing others drawn from the Doric. We have already remarked, that grammarians have as- signed xo^dffiov and KoXkv^tcrrig to the Macedo- nian usage. To these may now be added, dy^iskaiog^ Rom. xi. 17, 24, which, the gram- marians say, is less elegantly used for xormg, Moeris, p. 237, has these words : — xormg, ' hrri- xwg, dy^/iXatog, *EXXy}vi7cug. Thomas Magister says, p. 151 : — xormg, ovx, dygiWaiog. Of the same opinion is ^lius Dionysius, in Eustathius on Odyss, "vj/, p. 818. Grammarians interpret other nouns by this, as if it were common, and known to all. Hesychius writes : — x,6rmg' dy^isXaiog. Suidas gives the same interpreta- tion. Pollux says, i. 241, 55 5s dy^/sXaia Ttormg xaXurat. The word is used by Theophrastus, Hist, Plant, ii. 3 and 4, and by several others,
172 THE GREEK DICTION
all of them, however, of the later age. It ap- pears to be Doric, as may be gathered from Theocritus, who has used this noun. Id. 25, 21. There is reason to think, that many other words occurring in the New Testament have been drawn from the more ancient dialects, although, from the silence of grammarians, they cannot be supported by their authority.
I now come to words altogether new, which began to be used in the later speech. These may be arranged in three classes. The first comprehends those which ancient Greek gram- marians clearly represent as peculiar to the common language ; to another may be referred those which, although not condemned by gram- marians as inconsistent with good writing, are yet nowhere used but in the xo/i/o/; the third is made up of such as are found used by those writers only, who, in their works, have adopt- ed the popular mode of speech, as the apostles, the Alexandrian Interpreters, the author of the Apocrypha, the more ancient Fathers, the authors of glosses, and others. It is easy to see that we should not decide in reference to all of these, as if they were not formed and introduced until after the times of Alexander the Great. By no means. Many of the words to which grammarians object may have been
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 173
introduced before ; good writers, indeed, ab- stained from them, but in common conversa- tion they were familiarly used. Of those, too, which occur but seldom in the works of the Attics, and are found to have been in use only among the xo/i/o/, many undoubtedly are to be esteemed old and proper words. For if they are not met with in older writers, the reason is, that we are not in possession of all the authors who composed discourses in ancient times. We are to judge in the same way of the third class, in which there may be several words which it had formerly be^n legitimate enough to use. Nevertheless, I think it would be very useful, if these three points were dis- tinguished, and accurately explained — what belongs to the older language of authors, what to that of the later age, and what to the idiom in common use. By this means, not only would the sources of the common usage, which we now see greatly or entirely neglected, or, at least, ill applied, more satisfactorily appear, but we should be able better to understand the constitution and character of the New Testament diction, in which it has not yet been carefully distinguished, how much should be assigned to Atticism, how much to the com- mon dialect, how much to the vulgar tongue.
174 THE GREEK DICTION
There can be no doubt it would greatly assist Greek study to have the principles of the Tcomi, as to the language they emplay, accurately explained — to ascertain how far, and in what particulars they have departed from the style of the Attics. But this can be done only by setting out from individual cases, in order to examine, in each particular author, what is At- tic, and what not, in the diction he employs. In conformity to the plan of our work, we take our stand on the books of the New Testament, and shall endeavour carefully to point out what may be referred respectively to one or other of the three heads I have suggested.
But I return to the topic from which I set out — the words which are found employed in later times, whether by learned writers, or by others, who used in their works the common mode of speech. No one will deny that many of these are of late formation. This is proved by the analogy of all languages that ever were familiarly used in conversation, which have all, in course of time, received an accession of new words. In the present case, we are not with- out certain criteria for ascertaining such words, guided by which, we may, with sufficient pro- bability, distinguish between the old and the new. Three such criteria can be laid down.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 175
The first refers to the thing to be expressed ; for if it appear that this was new, and un- known to the ancients, we may conclude, with an appearance of truth, that the word which expresses it is also of later origin. Thus, as to aX/vOrg/ogT/Vxocrog, 1 Pet. iv. 15, dv6§c»yrd^se-/iog, Coloss. iii. 22, dpyjff-jmyajyog, Luke viii. 41,
doyjrO,wr,g, Luke xix. 2, budi-/.d(pv/.ov, ActS XX vi. 7, s/ow/.o/.ar^s/a, 1 Cor. X. 14, i}ouj/.rj'/,dr^r,g^ ] Cor. X. 7, and similar examples, no one will doubt w4io remembers, that the things them- selves, which these words were intended to express, belonged, not to the Greeks, but only to the Jews. Another mark which indicates a thing to be of the later age, is found in those words which refer to a thing not by any means unknown, nor without a proper name in the more ancient language. Msp/<r/x&5 and 5/a/xgg/tf- fj^k are condemned by grammarians — the latter, by Pollux, viii. 136, o yko btaiJ^ioiaiMig birocpau/jjy — the former, by Thomas Magister, p. 49, dm- bd6a(sQat, oux dvaiJji^inadOau Kai dvubaff/Mog^ oh fiioic- (j^dg ; and, in my opinion, rightly. Mmai^og and 6iaiJ.z^i(!!Lfjg occurs only in the -Mm/i; the former, in Joseph. Antiq. vii. p. 249, Theophrastus, de cans. Plant i. 13, Hist. Plant, i. 2, Polyb. ix. 34, 7; the latter, in Plutarch, V. viii. 592, Diod. xi. 47. Older writers used o ba^/j/og and
176 THE GREEK DICTION
dmba(S[M6g, ' Ayadoffvvr}, a word used by Paul, Rom. XV. 14, Galat. v. 22, I find employed only by the Alexandrian interpreters of thfe Bible, and ecclesiastical writers. That %^»jtf- rorrig was used by the Attics, is stated by Thomas Magister, p. 921 : — xg^jtfroVrjg, outc dya- ^orrig, ovb' dya^ogvvTj. There are numberless other instances ; thus, d'7roxi<paXi^siv for xaparo- /a.g/V, x^d^^arog for o'^/z/.-oug, ffaeovv for (fcc/^iiv, s^icrw- ^g/i/ for d(pu':rvi^siv. Finally, a third criterion which proves a more recent origin, relates to those words, which, either in the formation, or in the sense, follow an analogy altogether new, and not occurring in the older speech. Of this kind is o^^i'^^'v for o^^gus/f, which we have already noticed. Another example is d-jva/Mojf Coloss. i. 1 1. Comp. Ecclesiasticus, x. 10, Dan. ix. 27. According to analogy, this word should come either from a noun of the second declen- sion, in 05, as bouXou from dovXog, or in ov, as -^t-s- ^6u from 'TTTs^ov^ or from a genitive of the third declension, as '^v^ou from 'ttv^, it'oodg. But there is no root of this kind from which we can de- rive huvaijjooi or the compound Ivdwa/Mou, which, like the simple verb, is found nowhere, except in the books of the New Testament and the Alexandrian version, Heb. xi. 34, Philipp. iv. 13, Ps, li, 7. Let me add d'TrXayx^i^^^dai, which
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 177
appears from its signification to be a word of recent origin. For the more ancient Greeks did not call pity ra ^TryAyyva^ a mode of speak- ing which passed from the Hebrew to the Jews who spoke Greek. The word occurs Matth. ix. 36, and in other places, Symmach. on Deut. xiii. 8. The Alexandrian Interpreters used the compound, h'Tn^-rrXayyQji^iG&ai^ in Prov. xvii. 5. To the same class belongs 'Trokhd'Tr'kayyyog, which occurs Jerem. v. 1, and, it seems, no- where else.
There were various waj'^s in which new words might be formed. Some were occasion- ed by the rise of things new, and previously unknown. Of these we have already given some examples, and innumerable instances are to be found in writers of the later age. Other words, though not used to denote new things, took their rise from analogy, under the influ- ence of which, men of later times constructed them. Words of this kind are everywhere to be met with. Thomas Magister states, that the more ancient authors never said xaraXaX/aj but that XaX/a and "r^ocXaX/a were approved words. KaraXaX/a is used by the Apostle, 2 Cor. xii. 20, and is met with nowhere else, except in the Alexandrian version, Wisd. i. 20, and the Fathers, as Clem. Alex. p. 566,
N
178 THE GREEK DICTION
Basil, V. ii. p. 247 and 497. The verb '/.ara- XciXiiv occurs in Aristophanes, Ran. 752. 'Aya- 6o6{jvri and /xs^/o/xcg, in which there is no viola- tion of analogy, have been already noticed. There are other words again, that seem formed after the manner of foreign languages. We have, for example, uv&'o'zarog^ Acts xiii. 7, av&u'rrariVM, Acts xviii. 12, dAS'yiTo^o<puvia, Mark xiii. 35, 'TT^ogu'TroXri'TrTsu, James ii. 9, TrsocwcroA'^'rrjjg, Acts X. 34, '^^o6U'jroXv}'^la^ Rom. ii. 11; in which every one will find traces of the Latin and He- brew. Finally, there are other words where one may observe a desire of speaking concise- ly, which object seems the sole reason for forming them. Thus, aiyjMaXuri^uv^ Rom. vii.
23, and the passive, ar/jj^akuTiZicQui, Luke xxi.
24, for which the grammarians would have the expressions ah/jj^akurov 'rrontv and yjvsg^ai to be adopted, Phrynich. p. 192, Thom. Mag. p. 23 — also dmffrarovvy Acts xvii. 6, Galat. v. 12, which, although not mentioned by gramma- rians, yet never occurs, except in versions of the Old Testament, Ps. Iviii. 11, Es. xxii. 3, and in Harpocration, who explains dva6x.ivdc- asQai by the word dvacraru&rtmi. The Attics, we find, used, instead of it, dvdararov to/s/I/, as Xenoph. Hellcn. vi. 5, 35, Sophocl. Antiy. 687, Track, 39. Isocrat. Fariegyr. c. 31. To
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 179
this class, not without sufficient reason, per- haps, we are to refer the verb /3s/3>jaow, which, with the exception of Matth. xii. 5, and Acts xxiv. 6, I find employed by none but the Alexandrian interpreters, Exod. xxxi. 14, Ezek. xliii. 7, &c. Whether the Greeks used, instead of it, iSslSn'kov cro/s/V, or some such ex- pression, 1 cannot with certain-ty say. These words can only be explained by attending to individual examples, on which we must not continue to dwell.
7. To the seventh class of instances in which we discern traces of the later Greek, belong those significations of words, which, not being found in the more ancient language, seem to have been either of recent usage, or of imperfect authority. It belongs to an interpre- ter to have a correct knowledge of the sources from which the usage is derived ; and this he cannot have, without the new powers of words, both in the works of the later writers, and in the vulgar speech, being accurately marked and distinguished. In this inquiry there is great difficulty to be encountered, not only in guarding against attributing a new significa- tion to a word used only with a change of sense, but also in discovering the probable link by which a new force was attached to words pre-
180 THE GREEK DICTION
viously in use. There is still a great deal to be done in this way, and a number of things connected with the subject still remain to be accurately judged of. New significations of words, it appears to me, may spring up in two ways, either from an enlarr/ement, or from a transference of ideas. The former is exempli- fied where we link an idea to others with which it has not hitherto been joined. Let us illustrate this by some examples everywhere to be met with. Thomas Magister, p. 684, states, that it is wrong to use 'ja^a'/.a},uv in the sense of asking and beseeching, pure and cor- rect writers having employed it chiefly in that of exJiorting; and with him agree Hermogenes, <ni^l fji^sdodov dilvcr, c. 3, p. 519, Laurent, Suidas, and Phavorinus. In this judgment they are right. The more ancient writers did not, as was done in later times, refer the kind of ex- hortation which this word expressed, to those things which we wish to be done by others for us and our benefit. Thereafter the notion of exhortation was carried out, so as to denote prayers, that is, true solicitation, which, con- ceived of in this sense, might naturally be call- ed Ta^axXTjtf/g. We have another example in the verb -ra/ogi/g/v, which is used in the sacred books, according to Thomas Magister, in the
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 181
sense of chastening. His words are, p. 729 : — Mgavrojg ovds 'jraidsusiv dvrl rov xoXdl^siv, dXXa tcc^oc fiovri rfj ^s/a '/§c('<pfj touto sv^iffKsrcct, (In like man- ner, 'Traidivsiv was not used instead of xoXa^s/v; but this is found only in Holy Scripture.) Comp. Heb. xii. 7, Luke xxiii. 16. How this signification might be assigned to the word, will be easily understood, if we remember that education is carried on by punishment. Fre- quently what has been lately joined in thought is also distinctly expressed in words. Thus, X^om <roiiTv, Acts xv. 33, xviii. 23 — in which phrase we find the word -^o/s/V applied in a way unusual in the more ancient tongue, which did not yet employ it with any reference to time, but, to express that idea, used instead of it, diccr^ijSiiv, These are examples of enlargement in sense ; others are occasioned by transference — the transference, I mean, by which a force de- rived from foreign languages is assigned to cer- tain words which want that force in the verna- cular tongue. There are innumerable ex- amples of this kind in the books of the New Testament. In these there are many Greek words which have taken new meanings from corresponding Hebrew ones, so that, should any Greek coincide with a Hebrew word in some signification, we may find transferred to
182 THE GREEK DICTION
the former other significations, in which the Hebrew or Aramean word is used. I forbear to bring forward examples, which, in the vari- ous parts of speech, are known even to tyros. Besides the authors of the New Testament, the Alexandrian interpreters have transferred new significations from the Hebrew usage to Greek words ; the reason of which, many, not without an appearance of truth, have supposed is to be found in the poverty of the Hebrew tongue,'^ from which characteristic quality it happened, that, when one word served to ex- press several ideas, the same abundance of meanings was transferred to a Greek word which happened to coincide with it in some one of its senses. But it will appear to every one who accurately weighs the matter, that this mode of explaining it is correct only in part. It is true, indeed, that the Hebrew lan- guage, in comparison of the Greek, consists of very few words ; but this very poverty evinces, that the ideas which the Hebrews attained and expressed in words were much more circum- scribed than those of the Greeks, and not, therefore, that in a very few words a number of ideas were, so to speak, concealed. At
■^ Leusden. De Hebraismis N. T. p. 32. Ed. Fischer.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 183
this no (3ne will be surprised who knows the history of that people, and their separation from intercourse with other nations. Nor does it appear, how, with this poverty of the verna- cular tongue, the sacred writers, neglecting the riches of the Greek, should choose rather to employ Greek words in a foreign meaning, than, instead of these, to use other words in their proper sense. We must seek for another reason, therefore, to account more probably for this transference of meaning; and such, I think, we may legitimately find in a certain carelessness on the part of the Apostles, and their very inconsidera!)le knowledge of the Greek. From this alone it happened, that they thought, as they erroneously did, that Greek words had the same force and power which they had learned to consider words of their own language as possessing.^ For never
' To the pious ear there may be somethiMg offensive in the language which the author here employs. Error, how- ever, on the point in question, leading the Apostles to a mis- application of words, is not to he considered inconsistent even with the verbal inspiration of their works; for it may be, at the same time, true, that they for whom those works were written, were in similar error on the sultject, so as not to he necessarily led to misinterpret the words so mis- applied. But, unless it can be shown, that that way of speaking which Planck calls an ignorant misapplication on
184 THE GREEK DICTION
being trained in grammatical studies, they by no means adhered to the true nature and cha- racter of Greek discourse. And such being the case, it is self-evident, that new significa- tions of this kind, taking their rise in a trans- ference of ideas, did not augment the lan- guage, but rather corrupted it, and could not originate except from authors who had a very imperfect knowledge and command of the gram- matical principles of languages.
8. It remains that we speak of the practice, the usus loquendi^ in so far as that of itself would introduce change. The usus loquendi is defined"^ — a certain practice of expressing a certain thing by a certain word — to which it may not be amiss to add, that this practice owes its introduction both to writers and their studies, and also to common life. Hence, in one use, it belongs to the former, in another, to the latter. From this rule, however, the later Greeks, both in their writings and in the
the part of the Apostles, was not practised nor understood by those to whom they addressed their writings, would it not be advisable to avoid deciding tluit the Apostles had an erroneous idea of the force of Greek words, since, after all, their usage may have been an accron modation to a phrase- ology extensively employed, or, at least, generally under- stood by those to whom they wrote ? — Translator. '" Morus in Ilermeneut. i. p. 34. Ed. Eichst.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 185
vulgar speech, liave departed as far as might be, and we find them using many words re- specting things to which the more ancient lan- guage was accustomed never to apply them. In regard to writers we have the evidence of an- cient monuments — in regard to popular speech, although testimonies are awanting, one may be allowed to have suspicion, for it is a thing essen- tially inconstant, and bound by no certain laws. In the New Testament, the practice of writers, both older and more recent, should be accu- rately distinguished from the vulgar mode of speech — for if this distinction be not attended to, the sources of the former cannot be inves- tigated. Fischer, Sturzius, and others, have collected many things relating to this point — there remain others which have not yet been adverted to. But it is the common fault of interpreters — I except only those two indivi- duals— that, in explaining the practice of the sacred writers, they very seldom consider whether those from whom they adduce the parallel passages are approved writers, or authors belonging to the later period, and by no means preserving the purity of Greek diction. Hence they often assign to a word a meaning which, according to the practice of the time, it cannot bear. We have already
186 THE GREEK DICTION
adduced examples — to these some others may- be added, in which the traces of the later usage have not yet been taken notice of. It is said by almost all the masters of Attic speech, that iJ^cL{j.ij.y\ was applied, not to a grandmother, but to a mother. Phrynichus, p. 52, ob- serves : — [JjdfijfjjriVf TTjv rou Tarpog yy [J^r\rohg ij^rfzoa oh Xsyovffiv 01 a.oyfcuoi, aXXa rjT&yjv fid/ji,firjV /xh oZv xcci ijjdiJj'uov rrtv /XTjrs^a. a/xa^sg ouv rriv /Jbdfi/Mriv scrl rrig rk&ng Xsyuv. (The ancients do not use iJ^d[M[Mrt, but rir^rii to denote the female parent of a father or mother, but apply the former and also /xa/x/x/ov to the mother herself. Tt is' an ignorant thing, therefore to use /xa/x/x?j for a grandmother.) Dionys. Ael. in Eustath. Moeris, p. 258, Thom. Mag. p. 846, Helladius in Phot. Bihl. p. 1579. SchoL on Aristoph. Acharnens. 39, Photius, p. 180. Hesychius and Suidas, who interpret the word by m^ti^ rujv ywvswv and Tov Tarohg 75 /J^rir^og fxrjrriP^ have an eye to the usage of the New Testament, and are not to be regarded as explaining the Attic way of speaking. The same may be said of Pollux, who, in Onomast. iii. 17, says, ^i ^? --rarohg ri fMVjrPog [MYirrio rrjdri' xoci rriv fj.d/Mfj.rjv ^s, xai fid/Mfji^otv^ s'xi raurrjg TaoaXriTrsov (A grandmother, by the father's or mother's side, is rrjdri ; and /xa/x/x^ and /xa/x/xa are to be taken in the same application) — words which, I think, are to be judged of in reference
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 187
rather to the author's own times than to more ancient ones. By Paul the word is applied to a grandmother, 2 Tim. i. 5 — a mode of speak- ing adopted only by the -Mivoi. Comp. Plut. V. i. p. 797 and 804. V. ii. p. 704, Philo, p. 601, Joseph, p. 351. Pollux rightly observes, v. 32, that the word £u;/ag/(rr£/i/ is applied only s-r* r<Z didovai '/cLgiVy oux stI rui s/dsmi — to giving grace, not to acknowledging it ; w^ith which the opinions of other grammarians respecting this word coincide — Phrynich. p. 8, sv^cc^KfnTv ovdsis TMV doxi/jbojv il'Xiv, uXka %ao/i/ s/dsvai (None of the approved writers said svy^aoiffreiv, but %a^/v uhzmi), Thom. Mag. p. 913. Many passages have been collected by Kypkius, Alberti, and others — but the authors they adduce are of the later age, and insufficient to set aside the un- favourable judgment of grammarians. De- mosthenes used this word in the former sense. Pro Corona^ p. 122 — the authors of the New Testament, in the latter, Matth. xv. 36. Luke xvii. 16, 2 Cor. i. 11. It is also said by gram- marians, that /3^£%2/i' has by none of the Attics been applied to rain — an idea which was ex- pressed by "^s/v. Phrynichus, p. 126, Thom. Mag. p. 171. ^^^yjh oudslg Tojv a^yaim sJ<7rsv sTi vsTov, dXXa us/ (None of the ancients said of rain, /3^£%s/, but ys/), Phavor. Phrynichus indeed ad- duces Teliclidas, a comedian, as having used
188 THE GREEK DICTION
/3^s%£/v in tins sense, but he seems to have been in doubt respecting the real author of the play from which the example is quoted. Indeed I have not found the word used with this mean- ing by any approved prose author. A passage of Anacreon," which Trillerus has made use of to invalidate the authority of Magister, completely coincides with the rule of the gram- marians; for in that passage, /3^£;j^o/xa/ and (S^a^iTgoi, are taken in a passive sense — a use of the verb to which they do not appear to have objected. There remains a passage of Pin- dar,° where the active form is, in one case, ap- plied to snow. But every one is aware that poets had one way of speaking, and prose writers another. I omit other particulars, which cannot be explained without an ex- tensive apparatus.
" Od. iii. V. 12.
KccTOi vvxTOi TiTXeiv/i//.a,t (I am exposed to the rain, and have lost my way in the moonless night) ; and shortly after, v. 26,
(My string will be injured by the rain). ° Olymp. vii. v. 63.
'ivSee. Tori H^i^i B^iuv (iaffiXsv; o fAiyag
(Once upon a time, the great king of gods showered golden siiows upon a city).
HINTS
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
OLD TESTAMENT.
By AUGUSTUS THOLUCK,
PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF HALLE.
HINTS
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
OLD TESTAMENT.
For the last twenty or thirty years, the senti- ment has prevailed almost universally,* both among theologians and private Christians, that th e study of the Old Testament, for theologians, as well as the devotional reading of the same, for the laity, is either entirely profitless, or, at least, promises hut little advantage. Adapting our re- marks more especially to the theologian, we shall attempt, in this Essay, clearly to show,
I. The importance of the study of the Old Testament, even on the supposition that it is nowise connected with the New.
II. The profound wisdom displayed in the providential leadings, and in the religious in- stitutions of the Hebrews ; and,
" [Tiiis refers to the state of things in Germany.]
192 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
III. The entire dependence of the New Testament upon the Old ; — and that Christ is the sum and substance of the Old Testament.
As this subject has enlisted the attention of thinking men in all ages, it may naturally be expected, that many valuable thoughts have already been broached by others. It is not our design, therefore, in this essay, to furnish much that is new, but merely to lay before the theologians of our day the substance of what has been already advanced.
I. How far^ then, do the hooks of the Old Testament deserve our serious study, even admit- ting the absence of all connexion with Christi- anity ?
If steadfastness and independence be celebrated as distinguished excellencies, in the character of an individual ; much more are they worthy of our admiration, when exhibited in the cha- racter of a whole nation. Josephus {Contr, Ap. ii. 31.) remarks : " Were it not a fact, that the Jewish nation is universally known, and their voluntary subjection to their laws, a matter of public notoriety, the Greeks — if our institutions were described to them, or if it were told them that, beyond the limits of the
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 193
then known world, such a people had been dis- covered, entertaining such exalted conceptions of the Deity, and abiding true to their laws for so many centuries, — the Greeks, I say, would be in utter amazement; for they know of no- thing but continual changed
But this constant variation and change^ some one will object, -produce life ; and it is this very life which elevates the Greeks so high on the scale of intellect, whilst the whole East has been torpid from time immemorial. But the grand object of human existence, is certainly not a mere activity of mind devoid of aim (which the Persian Dschelaleddin compares with the unceasing flow of a stream) : for, when the truth is once discovered, it is quite superfluous to search for it anew; and the Apostle of the Gentiles delineates, in the most striking manner, the character of all the heathen, of ancient and of modern times, when he describes them as " ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
The Hebrews possessed a religious service, which, as we shall see, satisfied the demands of an humble mind, not yet elevated to the higher degrees of spirituality. To this ser- vice they continued faithful. In conformity
394 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
with it, they fashioned their whole life ; and Josephus {Contr. Ap. ii. 20.) can say with jus- tice : "It affords no ground for objection against us, that we have discovered nothing new. It rather proves that ice needed nothing better'' " What can we conceive more lovely," con- tinues this spirited writer, " than a state whose whole administration resembles a com- mon religious festival ? iVliilst other nations have preserved, scarcely for the space of a few days, their festivals and their mysteries, we cele- brate, with inflexible purpose {o^iMroL'KiKSroi)^ our religious ordinances, from century to century.''
Now, if such a perseverance and persistency be not the result of a deficiency of internal vigour and energy, it must be regarded as something truly noble ; as in the case of Sparta, the conqueror of nations, whose praise is sounded far and wide, because she v/as enabled to adhere, for many centuries, to the brazen laws of Lycurgus.
But who would venture to attribute to the Israelites a deficiency of internal vigour, who, without union in the times of the Judges ; in a flourishing condition during the brilliant periods of a David and a Solomon ; torn with internal commotions, and harassed by wars from without, during the reigns of the kings ;
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 195
subjugated by their enemies in the Babylonian captivity ; and under the Maccabees, with heroic energy, asserting again their pristine importance ; — experienced all the vicissitudes which fall to the lot of nations. True, their want of energy and their extreme languor were but too apparent at the time of our Sa- viour. But a new order of things was then in- troduced. Fearful were the last agonies, when the ruins of Jerusalem entombed the antiquated and now unmeaning Sanctuary ; as, long be- fore, at Nineveh, the smouldering ruins of the royal palace had buried the effeminate Sardi- napalus, and, with him, the sunken glory of Assyria. It must, therefore, be highly in- structive, to investigate the source of this brazen perseverance (/V;^u^o7vw/xoo'uv7j,) which was noticed and admired in this people, at an early period, by the Grecian Hecataeus,^ a na- tive of Abdera.
If the inquiry be made, by what means the
^ Josephus, Contr. Ap. i. 22. The arguments against the authenticity of Hecataeus, in Eichhorn's Biblioihek, Vol. v. p. 431, are outweighed by those of Zorn, in his Eclogae Abderitae, Altona, 1730, p. 192. Who can tell, how much evil and false, this Hecataeus related concerning the Jews, together with the good? Read what Zorn has said of He- cataeus the Milesian, in reference to tl.is very thing, in the work above cited, p. 47.
196 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
Spartan state was raised to its lofty eleva- tion ; and if this inquiry must be answered by pointing to ambition and untameable pride, as the nurse of the Spartan constitution ; and to Lycurgus, endeavouring to cherish and to strengthen the native rudeness*' of the Doric tribe, and establishing the greatness of the citizens of Sparta, upon the brutal degradation of the legitimate inhabitants — the Lacedemo- nians f then the Hebrew nation also will ap- pear in a still more interesting light, the more of truth we discover in those words of Jose- phus :^ " To account for our steadfast faith in God and his commandments, it is necessary to recur to the fact, that our system of laws was far more useful than that of any other nation. For Moses regarded all the virtues as suhordinate parts of piety to God, and not piety as a mere subdivision of virtue. In his legislation, he re- cognises all our actions as having am<po^av rr^hi &e'ov a relation to God." And no impartial his- torian will deny, that precisely in this uniform
^ Plutarch jxistly reprehends tlieir stern and savage rigour, when Lycurgus, for example, extirpates all the vines, in «)rder to prevent the use of wine. See Plut. De audiend* poet. ed. Wittemb. vol. i. p. 52.
' Manso's Sparta^ I. i. p. 129.
** Contr. Ap. li. 16.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 197
recognition of the relation of all events to God, is to be found the source of the great power of the Israelites ; inasmuch as those periods when piety is languid or extinct, are the most defi- cient in firm and manly characters ; for these are produced only by resting firmly and re- posing confidently upon God.
Next to the steadfastness and independence of the Hebrews, their far-famed antiquity claims our respect. More than six hundred years before Lycurgus, Moses gave his laws. Six hundred years before Pindar, the king of the Hebrews composed his divine psalms. Three hundred years before the fabulous heroes, Or- pheus, Hercules, and Theseus, sailed to Col- chis, Moses founded a Theocracy fraught with the marks of divine wisdom. If we refuse to acknowledge the antiquity of the Pentateuch, still the historical facts are certain. But the antiquity of the Pentateuch is called in ques- tion, not by the student of history, but solely by theologians, who are offended at its extra- ordinary colouring.®
It fares with the remotest antiquity as with our infancy. Tota ilia aetas periit diluvio sicut
* For the authenticity of the Pentateuch, the late Jahn has argued profoundly, in Bengel's Archiv. ii. and iii. Tue- bingeu, 1817 and 1818.
198 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
infantiam mergere solet oblivio, says St. Augus- tine ; " All those years loere droivjied in the de- luge, as our infancy is wont to be merged in ohli- vion.^^ Of those ages we know, therefore, but little. What has been preserved, however, from those remote times, by tradition, is pre- sented by Moses in the first ten chapters of Genesis in a more intelligible form, than is found in all the maze of Grecian, Indian, Egyptian, and Chinese fable. ^ Admitting that what Moses relates of the ante-patriar- chal times, belongs to an age of darkness, when tradition exerted its transforming influ- ence : still, no one can deny the important truths contained in the chapter concerning the Creation and the Fall ; nor can any one mis- take the truly historical colouring which shows itself in the history of the patriarchs. To be- gin with the history of Abraham ; who would venture to assert that, after a thousand or six-
^ " It is easy to see why T could meddle only orally with the wonderfully learned, and, often enough, learnedly won- derful, things which make a talk among us, out of Egypt, India, the world of fable, &c., merely because we prefer an obscure perception of wisdom at a distance, to a near and practical apprehension of it where it really exists. Thus much, however, is certain, that things are not rendered (iosj)el, by even the most extensive and intricate reading." Schoel.-.!ier's Wellt/eschichle, Vol. i. Ft. 2, in the preface.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 199
teen hundred years, when every thing was now changed, some one took it into his head to invent the expedition of the five kings against Sodom, in the description of which every thing betrays the pen of a contempo- rary ?s Slime pits, and the dry crust of earth impregnated with slime, impede the flight of the inhabitants of Sodom.** Fugitives direct their flight across the mountains of Judea, in- to the plain where Abraham had pitched his tent, and inform him of what had transpired. Three hundred and eighteen " trained ser- vants, born in his house," accompany Abra- ham. With him also were three confederates.
s Let us listen to John v. Mueller : " On no book have I reflected so much ; no one has afforded me so much pleasure as IMoses. Nature is depicted in Moses with as much truth and fidelity as in Homer ; in a greater variety of forms also, and in a more familiar dress. No condition of life, no age, no sex, but may find examples and warning in these books. That Ezra wrote the books of Moses, is about as true as that you wrote them. There is quite another spirit in the an- cieat lawgiver. He wrote every thing for his times, for Ms people, and for his plan. I have in my mind a multitude of thoughts, with which I cannot to-day make you acquaint- ed ; this, however, is certain, that I might write a book for Moses and the Prophets against the Eabbis and the theolo- gians. For, these folks had eyes and saw not ; — especially were their sensibilities frozen, admitting they ever had any." I^etter to his Brother. Werke, vol. v. p. 78.
•> Gen. xiv. 10.
200 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
On their return, they are hospitably received by the priest and king of Salem. Presents are given and received. What an air of ge- nuine antiqueness pervades the whole ! How truly historical ! Would not all this, in the annals of every other people, be received as history ?
If the authenticity of Ossian is disputed,' be- cause ships are there spoken of, at a time when the Caledonians had nothing but curucae, con- structed of intertwisted oziers, covered with ox hides ;'^ because chimneys are there men- tioned as in use among a people that scarcely had huts ; because the hunted roe is spoken of, when Martial says,
Nuda Caledonio sic pectora praebuit urso ; —
why shall we not regard that " rust of antiqui- ty," that childlike simplicity of manners, so conspicuous in these Hebrew books, as a wit- ness for their authenticity, and the genuineness of the history of the patriarchs ? Abraham em- ploys a piece of cunning, not to tell a false- hood, but to conceal the truth ;' for Sarah was also his sister."* Rebecca deceived the aged
' Milhridates, vol. ii. ^ C»sar, Bell. Gall.
1 Gen. xii. 13. " Ch. xx. 12.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 201
Isaac. Jacob, by a crafty contrivance, enlarges his flock, much to the prejudice of Laban. In- stances, such as these, have been cited by the Tindals and the Celsuses of every age, against the authority of the Bible. But they are con- tinually pressed with this question in return : Does not all this hear testimony to the veracity of narrators ? Consider only how much an in- terpolator might have interwoven," and what
^ The most splendid testimony to the genuineness of. the Hebrew accounts, is furnished by that passage of Hecataeus the Milesian, cited by Diodorus Siculus, from whom it has been preserved to us by Photius in his Mv^iofiifiXto*, Cod. ccxliv. [We subjoin to this note the following words from Townley's Illustrations, ^c. vol. i. p. 292. " The Myrio- biblion, or Library, is a Review of the works of two hundred and eighty authors, theologians, commentators, philoso- phers, historians, orators, physicians, and grammarians. It was undertaken at the request of his brother Tarasias, and composed while he was a layman, and, as it seems, dur- ing an embassy at the court of Bagdat. It is one of the most precious remains of antiquity ; and is the model on which the critical journals have been formed, which, in modern times, have so much engaged the learned of differ- ent nations, and contributed to the advancement of litera- ture. An interesting account of this most learned and ac- complished scholar is given in Berrington's Literary His- tory of the Middle Ages, A pp. i. pp. 554-562. His Myrio- biblion, or Library, has been several times printed ; the best edition is that of And. Schottus, Rothom. fol. 1653 "] — Translator.
202 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
palliating circumstances he might have intro- duced. Schloetzer° remarks of the Jews, that ^'they stand prominent among the nations of the world, not merely in connexion with the Chris- tian history, as the people of God, but as a powerful nation, who, in the season of their greatness, numbered more than five millions of souls ; a cultivated nation, the depository of all the knowledge which remains to us from the re- motest antiquity, long before the oldest records of the comparatively recent Greeks," Josephus fContr. Ap. i. 2,) eloquently observes : " It is a matter of astonishment to me, that, in all that pertains to antiquity, mankind imagine they must confide in the Greeks alone, but not in us, and in others. For my part, I be- lieve that precisely the contrary course must be pursued, if we are disposed, not to follow vain imaginations, but to search for the truth from the original sources themselves ; for, among the Greeks, every thing is of recent date — a day or two old — the founding of states, for example, the invention of arts, the enactment of laws, and — the most recent of all — their histori- cal writings"
Let us now consider the spirit which breathes
» Weltgeschichte, 1792, p. 198.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 203
in this very ancient history. Everywhere we shall find the most lively apprehensions of the presence and character of the Deity.
Diodorus Siculus styles the historian " the minister of Providence^ " Let me not^ O thou divine Providence^^ says Lessing,P " because thy footsteps are invisible^ entertain a douht of thy existence^ Divine vengeance reigns, with un- controllable might, in the history of the world. Plato exclaims: 'O ©soj crai/ra yiM/Ar^si — The Deity metes out all things. In the history of the Hebrews, however, this all-pervading Deity appears, not as a dark and unintelligible Adrastea ; but, as Lavater expresses it, as an absolute God, — a free and almighty Sovereign, who reveals himself to his chosen ones, and who, with wisdom and irresistible power, cre- ates and destroys. It is remarked by Philo : " The Greeks lost sight of the Creator in the creature." Just so, also, the historians who are oLkoi h ru xo^imu) — without God in the icorld, forgat, and still continue to forget, that the God who metes out all things, is above and i?i the world. They affect to know the breath, which communicates life and motion to the otherwise dry and lifeless collection of bones,
P Ueber die Erziehung des Mertschengeschlechts, p. 84.
204 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
sinews, and flesh.'* If we are struck with the conduct of Herodotus/ who never forgets the hand of the Eternal, which regulates the move- ments of time, how much more important must it be, to discover the only God, the ''possessor of heaven and earth" — thus he was styled by the royal priest Melchizedec,' — energizing in the history of the Hebrews ? The goddess of Vengeance is seen flying through the histories of the Greeks ; but the Jewish and the Christ- ian religion were the first to exhibit the coun- selling, provident, and aff'ectionate God, in the affairs of the world. And what is all history worth, without a regard to the original source, from which the noisy streams of time proceed ? " God is a sphere^^ says the profound Proclus, ''whose centre is everywhere^ whose circumfer- ence is nowhere." Where is this more true than in history ?
Thanks, therefore, to the Hebrews for hav- ing immediately, and through Christianity, in- structed us in the genuine spirit of history.
•1 The remark of Herder, in his Brief e uberdas Stud. d. Theol. iii. p. 323, that " Ecclesiastical history, without the Spirit of God, is like a Polyphemus without his eye," is strikingly applicable to the history of the Israelites.
' See Herodotus, ed. Wesseling, p. 14, and Valkenaer's note, p. 2HJ.
• Gen. xiv. 19.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 205
It must be acknowledged, that the nations of the East, in general, endeavour, with a sacred zeal, to dissolve the world in God, and thus to destroy the liberty of the creature ;* while those of the West also strive, with a blind precipi- tancy, to evaporate God into the world. " But, sunt certi denique Jines^^ there is a middle way, which he will find who is taught of the Spirit of God.
As faith in the universal and wise govern- ment of the Highest, reigns in the history of the Israelites, so also confidence in his pater- nal care of each individual, pervades their didactic poetry, and inspires love and consola- tion. Into these mysteries, the eye of the pious heathen cast many a wistful look ; espe- cially the enlightened eye of the noble Plu- tarch, who relates of Arion, that he desired to be rescued from a watery grave, for this reason particularly, that he might for the future con- fide more firmly in the gods." And, indeed, in this as well as in other respects, we are con-
* It was a great oflfence to the pious Mahommedans, that the Arabian and Greek peripatetics admitted a (pvV;;. See the More Nevochim of Maimonides, ed. Buxtorf. Basil 1629, p. 159.
" " us Xdlici •rs^/ S-E^v 5e|av (Hfiatav.''^ See Plut. ^Sept. Sapient. Conviv. ed. Wyttenb. i. 2. p. 141.
206 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
strained to exclaim, with John v. Mueller :* " Will not the Chaeronaean rise up, at some future day, as a witness for the truth against a goodly number of theologians ?" The conflict of the pious soul with sore afflictions, which serve to kindle its faith, as the fire waxes in the storm, where can we learn it better than in the admirable book of the Psalms? And here, too, we never find a desperate grappling with dark powers, but trials which generate hope — a hope that " maketh not ashamed." But the internal excellencies of these books — which, although written during a period of thirteen centuries (including the Apocrypha,) breathe the same spirit of divine elevation — are much too numerous, to permit a particular enumera- tion on the present occasion. We shall call the attention to one only — the idea which the Israelites entertained of the holiness of God, and the consequent sense of guilt, and feeling of humility. While the gods were regarded as more nearly resembling men, men also thought themselves to be more like the gods. An insolent haughtiness blighted all the nobler blossoms of virtue. Socrates alone, in all an- tiquity, knew himself to be rich in tlie midst
* JVerke, vii. p. 9.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 207
of his poverty. Would that he could also have banished that sarcastic smile, which bears witness to his pride of his own humility. There is a deep self-ahasement which clings close to the side of real humility, with a simplicity at the same time which storms the very heavens. And if David had been a tenfold greater sin- ner than he was, his sins had all been obliter- ated by that simple-hearted humility and peni- tence which was, is, and will continue to be, a folly to all the heathen. Tarry only in the perusal of the single book of the Psalms, and an inexhaustible store of the profoundest moral sentiments will unfold itself to our view. " In my prosperity, I said, I shall not be moved,'* says the royal servant of God, " but thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.''^ Before I was afflicted I went astray ; but now have I kept thy word," is the song of another man of God." Such language of humility was not heard throughout the whole extent of proud Greece. We must, however, for want of room, leave this part of the subject, and endeavour to show,
y Read the excellent commentary of Luther, in Walch's edition of his Works, i. p. 1391. Ps. cix. 67.
208 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
II. TJie profound wisdom displayed in the providential leadings^ and in the religions institu- tions of the Hebrews,
Let us first of all speak of the providential leadings of the Israelites.
" History," says Leibnitz, " instructs us in the true philosophy." The observation of Clarke also is vrell founded : " In religion men are apt to be more easily wrought upon, and more strongly aifected, by good testimony than by the strictest arguments^^ Mankind, therefore, who are so much under the dominion of sense, cannot receive the truth by means of a system of abstract demonstrations, but only by means of facts ; as he alone can rightly be said to believe the doctrines and wonders of Christianity, who has himself experienced and witnessed their power. The language of Pro- vidence is the most familiar language of God, addressed to the heart of every individual. Doctrinal and ethical knowledge was commu- nicated, therefore, to the Israelites, by means of the leadings of Providence.
Why, however, some one perhaps will ask, did God select only one people, and reveal
■ Discourse concerning God, the Obligations of Nature, Ac. p. 199.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 209
himself to them? How comes it to pass that other nations advanced ahnost as far, wiihont any special divine guidance? Why vvas pre- cisely this people chosen ? The first question is met by the ingenious St. Martin with a counter-question : " How does it happen, seeing so many members stood in need of the marrow-bones, that the body has but onef'^ Lessing replies to the other questions, com- paring the human race to an individual mdii : " Will education appear useless, because the children of nature sometimes overtake, if not surpass, the children of education ?" And again : " Is it not of capital importance, that God should fashion to himself the most uncul- tivated and the most rebellious people, so that the struggle between the divine and the human might be developed in the most striking man-
*• In reference to this sentence^ we are constrained to adopt the words of Castellio, on 1 Pet. iv. 6, " Hunc locum non intelligo, ideoque ad verbum transtuli." The sentence in the original runs thus : " Warum, da so viele Glieder der Markroehren beduerften, hat der Leib nur Eine ?" If the passage means to intimate that there is but one marrow- bone in the human frame, it is anatomically incorrect. If it means that while so many individual members or limbs re- quired, and are furnished ivith marrow-bones, the body or trunk contains but cne, it seems to be an inapposite reply to the question which it is intended to meat. — Tran.dal(,r.
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ner ?" All this is undoubtedly true. But Lessing has overlooked the fact also, that no nation — the Persians the nearest ; the Greeks, not at all — could cope with the Hebrews, in what was then, and is now, the material thing, — in humble and genuine knowledge of God : for every thing else is mere tinsel. He has also overlooked another circumstance, that a people whose eye is not single, is entirely un- ^ fit to receive a revelation ; that, therefore, nei- ther the imaginative Indians, nor the vain and speculative Greeks, nor the haughty Romans, could have received a revelation without marring it. If we consult the records of the Hebrews, we shall discover that the expe- rimental knov/ledge of God, communicated through the medium of the senses and visible divine interpositions, was the main thing which prevented the entire apostacy of the corrupted race from that God who exclaims so emphati- cally :*' " For who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me since I ap- pointed the ancient people ? And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show unto them."
By the side of the special providential lead- ings of the Israelites, we may place the Laio
" Is. xliv. 7.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 211
and the Prophets, as divine means of grace. " Into this land of wonders," says John v. Mueller, ** " Moses conducted the Israelites. From the summit of the mountain, where, of old, adoration was offered, the Israelites re- ceived their laws. But the spirit of these laws was itself a wonder." This law, and the manner in which it was given, is become an offence to all unbelievers. But few of the heathen can extol the law as Strabo® does.*^ Among its defenders, however, a great diver- sity of opinion prevails. The learned Spencer endeavours to show, that something must of necessity be borrowed from paganism, for the use of the people of Israel, if the stiff-necked race were to be prevented from entire apostacy. Opposed to him stands Witsius, who seeks to prove, that every thing which the Israelites possess, is peculiarly and appropriately their own. Between the two is Warburton, who, from the circumstance that only terrestrial re- wards and punishments are insisted on, thinks to establish the divine origin of the Law. If,
^ Algern. Geschichte, i. p. 439. ^ Lib. xiv.
^ Origen, in his second book, cn^) oi.^x^^i expresses the be- lief " that a clear understanding of the reasons of the Is- raelitic economy, and of all the Levitical laws, belongs to the privileges of the future life."
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now, tliis one thing is undubitably certain, that the other nations have not been entirely ne- glected by God, — that they have derived many a divine stamen from the primeval revelation made to man ; and if we seek to ascertain the principle of the universal economy of God, it will then appear to us perfectly clear, why the Israelites had so much in common with other nations. For, it seems to be established in the universal economy of the divine decrees, that a ceremonial worship and a sacrificial service should everywhere precede the worship " in spirit and in truth." Whether the nations would not at once have received a system of spiritual doctrines; or, whether the Chinese and the Japanese are not already ripe for a purer faith, is beyond the power of any mortal to decide. We shall see and know, however, when the dial-plate is removed from the grand clock-work of the world.
We find, therefore, among all the pagan na- tions, imposing ceremonies; and among the Jews also, a splendid external worship ; but — and here is the striking difference — monothe- ism, and a symbolical, and typical meaning stamp upon the Israelitic worship a peculiar character. The religious laws of the Jews had plainly two grand objects in view ; — to inscribe
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 213
monotheism upon the very tablet of the heart and to awaken a lively sense of sin. Sin, Sin ! This is the word which is heard again anc. again in the Old Testament ; and had it not there, for centuries, rung in the ear, and fas- tened on the conscience, the joyful sound of Grace for Grace could not have been heard, at the time of Christ, as the watchword of the New Testament. What need of Grace have those heathen, who will hear nothing of Sin, while, alas ! they feel but too much its destruc- tive consequences? To this end was the whole system of sacrifices ; to this end, the priesthood, — that all flesh might know that it is grass. It was obviously essential that there- by the law should prepare the way for Chris- tianity. In every view, the sacrificial worship must be regarded as one of the most unaccount- able institutions of the ancient world. Strange, indeed, that uncorrupted nature, even without the aid of grace, should feel, in so lively a manner, its dependance upon God, and its deep pollution ! Indeed, we are constrained to adopt the words of the wise Messenger :^
s Claudius' IVerke iii. p. 65. [iMatthias Claudius, who, from the title-page of his miscellaneous writings {Saemtliche Werke des Wandsbeclcer Boten,) was commonly known by the name of the Wandsbeck Messenger^ was born in Hoi-
>
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" Do you ask if this sentiment descended from remote antiquity? Or how this reverential fear of the unseen God, having once become current among men, could be propagated to the succeeding generations ? The answer is easy. Water descends with ease, and finds its own way ; but, by tracing the stream upwards, we arrive at length at a point which is the highest, and there the water no longer des- cends, but gushes from the fountain. It is a more difficult question than many are wont to imagine, how the first sacrificer came by the idea of a sacrifice."^
The belief also in one only God, what a tone of genuine piety it produced ! This has not been hitherto sufficiently appreciated. The gods of the Greeks were exalted men, who, being unequal in might, were embroiled in mutual contentions. As he who knows no better protection and no surer defence, than
stein, in 1743, and died in 1815, and is numbered among the most original and ingenious writers of his day.] — Tr. ^ Grotius — wliat a man by the side of many of our day !
is of the same opinion. De Veritat. Rel. Chr. i. § 7-
" Sunt vero instituta quaedam ita hominil)us communia, ut non tarn naturae instinctui, aut evidenti rationis collectioni, quam peipetuae tradition! accepta ferri debeant : qualis olim fuit victimarum in sacris mactatis.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 215
the favour of a powerful party, never can attain to quietude and tranquillity; but, one while, full of anxiety, lest his party should be forced to succumb ; at another, disquieted with soli- citude, lest he should lose its favour, must cherish in his bosom an everlasting conflict and dread ; so also was it impossible that an unclouded spiritual life could dawn in the bosom of a serious-minded Greek. He could not say with the Psalmist : " Truly my soul waiteth upon God," An unceasing ebb and flow must have disquieted the fainting heart, when one deity was known to hurl defiance in the face of another : ,
Ilvfog afM(prj-/.7}g j36(jr^v^og, ai^-^^ §"
' Ayoiojv dvi/j^MV y^ova 6' I'/, ^y^/xsviwv AhraTg g/^a/g cri/sD/jt-a 7iPada/m, Kv/Mcc ds rrovrou r^a^iT ^^/^juj Svy^(A)(fiiiv Tojv T ovoavioov " Aar^ojv diodovg, zg rz -/.zXaivov ToLPraoov d^drjv ^i-^sis ds/j>ag- To-j/xov, avdyzrig snf^rjug d/vaig- Udvrug s/JjS y oh ^avar<^6ii}
Aeschylus, Prometheus, vs. 1045. ed. Glasg.
21G IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
" Let the sharp and jagged lightnino;- he hurled against me; let the air be convulsed by the thunder and the rage of fierce winds ; let the tempest upturn the earth from its lowest foun- dations, and confound, in its frightful whirl, the waves of the sea and the course of the stars ; let him plunge me, by the irresistible whirlwind, into gloomy Tartarus ; still, he can- not slay me." Such was far from being the case with the Hebrew. He knew that Ids God was the God of heaven and earth, who gave to all nations their habitations, to whom " every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear.^ The effects of this constant flowing forth of the heart toward the only living and the true God, are known to those who lead a spiritual life. What it means, to look away from man, and to look solely to God, was well understood by all the holy men of the Jewish and the Christian Church, by all the martyrs, and by Luther also, when he replied to the Prince Elector : " You cannot protect me by your might, but / can protect you by my prayers."
Such then were the effects of the faitli in the only true God. Still more beneficent was
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 217
the faith in the only living God, as the Holy One who reigns above the powers of Nature. The deities of the Greeks were dependant pro- fessedly upon Nature. Of course, there was nothing in their system by which the soul of man might range beyond the limits of time. Nay, terrestrial things were even consecrated in the eye of the Greek. It seemed therefore to him temerity, to lift himself above them and see them beneath his feet.
If we direct our attention to the political portion of the Law, we shall find that in this respect the institutions of Moses will cope with those of any other nation. The natural senti- ment of humanity and equity was laid at the foundation, and from this principle proceeded most of the commands. Witness the humanity and gentleness toward strangers, widows, or- phans, and even beasts. How tender is the prohibition (Exod. xxii. 21. xxiii. 9.): "Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him : for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." And again (Lev. xix. 34.) : " But the stranger that dwelleth with you, shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself." Witness also the numerous com- mands concerning widows and orphans, in sub-
218 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
stance as follows : Ye shall ivrong neither the widow nor tlie orphan : for they will cry unto me, and I will hear their cry, and my anger shall hum, so that you shall he slain with the sword, and your icives shall he made widows and your children orphans. Compare Exod. xxii. 15, Lev. xix. 32, Deut. xv. 7, Deut. xxiv. 10, Deut. xxiv. 14. 17., and in relation to beasts, Exod. xxiii. 11, Num. xxii. 24, Deut. xxii. 1. And before all other commands, those which enjoin as follows : Thou shalt love God supremely, and thy neighhour as thyself}
This Law and this religious service, were, it is true, a mere vail. They became, about the time of our Saviour, more and more spirit- less and nerveless. Then it was that the winged Psyche burst from its chrysalis state, and extended its wings toward heaven. Until this happened, holy men were sent continually, down to a very late period, who breathed forth the Spirit of the Almighty, and enlivened the age. We poor mortals are in a fallen state, and so long as we are not enlightened from above, have no scale by which to measure what is Divine, when presented to us. Hence the
' On this and other points discussed in this Essay, I would refer the reader to George Mueller's Philosophische Aufsaetze — a book full of profound thoughts.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 219
contempt of the natural man for the Holy- Scriptures. It is only after long wrestling and agonizing, that we come to participate in any illumination ; and as in divine matters every one knoiDS only as far as his own experience extends, so we become acquainted with what is divine in the Scriptures, just in the propor- tion in which it begins to increase in ourselves. This is particularly true in the reading of the Prophets. Their words must appear dry and barren to every heathen, and we cannot be surprised to find him resorting, with a hundred- fold more gratification, to Homer and Ana- ereon. But when we receive the Spirit of God as our teacher, a new sense is generated ; — then we understand the prophecies, the mi- raculous annunciations, and the unfathomable depth of the spiritual meaning. More, how- ever, of this belov/.
If we wish to obtain a correct view of the Prophets, we must transport ourselves entirely into antiquity. Origen {Contr. Cels. i. 36,) regards it as certain, that the heathen world had revelations of the future. That the Jews might not apostatize, it was necessary, says he, that they also should have their prophets ; and for these prophets they must have been in- debted to God himself. From whatever
220 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
source the pagan priests may have derived their knowledge of the future,"* the Jewish prophets had theirs undoubtedly from God. Anciently mankind lived in a more immediate
"" For this field, the magnetical and somnambuli.stical phenomena of our day, furnish entirely new results. It fares however with these inquiries, as with the philosophy of Kant. Stilling thought, that Providence had now laid open another door, by which mankind might enter heaven ; inasmuch as philosophy herself had exposed her own weak- ness. How very few, however, is it probable, have thus arrived at the truth ! By the phenomena of magnetism, again, it was thought, that m:n.kind must certainly be con- vinced of a God who reigns in and over Nature. In place of this, however, the advocates of pantheism undertake to prove, by means of magnetism, the identity of the soul and the body, and make Jesus nothing but a magnetiser. What shall we conclude from these things ? That the Gospel will be its own witness. Still, however, the theologian can always employ those phenomena for the advantage of his de- partment. Nature is in itself indifferent. But as soon as a moral being begiiis to stir up its powers with good or bad intention, the kindred good or bad spirits join themselves to him accordingly. Besides, the more imcorrupted, — the more consistent with nature a man is, in so much the closer relation does he stand to surrounding nature. This remark serves to explain why it is that, in more ancient ages, uni- versally, oj)erations upon nattire were frequent. It will also be plain from this remark, that duo si idem faciu nt non est idem. Moses could connnand nattire ; so could the Egyptian magicians also (if indeed they were not mere jngglers) ; to the former, therefore, every thing was pos- bibie; to the latter only w/wc/i was possible. The principle
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 221
connexion with the worki above, than they do at present. Hence the lively sentiment, that nothing could be done sine Numine. It is from this point of view that we must regard the prophets. They must in every thing- stand between God and man. Inasmuch as the con- ducting of the affairs of the Hebrews exerted a peculiarly important influence upon their religion — for the doctrinal system of the Is- raelites was inscribed in large characters up- on their providential leadings — prophecy also must, of necessity, have an immediate refer- ence to this. So long as the will of God was thus communicated to the souls of his holy ones, the people continued in an intimate con- nexion with their God. The new-fashioned notions of those, therefore, are altogether er- roneous, who can see in the prophets nothing but demagogues and poets. Isaiah can with
of self is always corrupt ; the principle of the subjection of self to God is always divine. Again, nothing can he more absurd and unhistorical than to refuse assent to all the ac- c(junts of oracular histories. How very definite and express are many narratives from those ancient times ? I would call the attention of the reader to some important narratives of this kind drawn from the Arabian ante-]\Iohammedan antiquities. See, concerning the prophetess Dharifat al Chair, De Sacy, in the Memaires de rAca(^» des Inscript., xlvii!. p. 492, 634, &c.
222 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
as little truth be styled the minister of war in the cabinet of Hezekiah, as Tiresias, the mini- ster of religion, at the court of Oedipus ; or the Bramin Bidpai, chancellor of the state of the wise Dabschelim of India. Still more strange does it sound, to hear some speak of court- prophets, as of court-comedians. With what propriety can those be denominated dema- gogues, who manifested their zeal toward the kingdom, because the worship of God was sinking or rising ; — who threatened wars only as the punishment of ungodliness, who pro- mised peace only as the reward of piety, who never sought their own interest, who foretold the future, and still continued herdsmen, (as in the case of Amos,) and who, on account of their severe chastisement of apostacy, must have been in continual dread of being slain with the sword, and of being sawn asunder ? Who would venture to class such men as these, of whom the world was not worthy, with Cleon the leatlier-maker ? And what kind of poetry do they think of, when they cite Jeremiah and Isaiah in the capacity oi poets ? The external form was nothing in their estimation. They could not, therefore, out of regard to the form, be styled poets. The spirit, however, and the towering flight of the thoughts, certainly can-
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 223
not be denominated merely poetry, provided we believe the Spirit of God to be actively operating upon the souls of the men, and see more in their books than the lofty aspirations of the human powers. If the Spirit of God announced what lay beyond the sphere of hu- man knowledge, then the words of the pro- phets were not merely external exhibitions of the movements of the soul within ; they were the words of God. If not, how could the pro- phets complain of false prophets, — fortellers of the future, whom God had not commissioned ? But even admitting they could have done this, under the influence of arrogance and self-de- lusion, how can we account for the existence of a fact such as we read of in Jer. xxviii. : " And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying. Thus saith the Lord, even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the pro- phet. Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord hath not sent thee ; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Be- hold, I will cast thee from oft* the face of the earth : this year thou shalt die ; because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So
224 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
the prophet Hananiah died the same year, in the seventh month." Is it possible that Moses could have meant by a prophet, a poet and a well-mean in i>; demagogue, when he threatens, Deut. xviii. 20 : "But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak .... even that prophet shall die." And again, in verse 21 : "If thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken ? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him."
'We now proceed to the third and most im- portant point, viz. to show,
III. The entire dependance of the New Tes- tament upon the Old; — and that Christ is the sum and substance of the Old Testam,eiit : for, " }4on sapit vetus scriptura, si non Christus in ea intelligatur" — The Old Testament is savour- less, if Christ be not tasted in it"
This intimate connexion between the ISsew
" Aug Tr. 9, in Joli.
or THE OLD TESTAMENT. 225
and the Old Testament, may be viewed in a four-fold light.
1. The principal features of the New Tes- tament ethics are found also in the Old Testa- ment, and seem to have originated there.
2. The system of doctrines of the New Testament, is the development and illustra- tion of the doctrine of faith, contained in the Old Testament.
3. The prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New.
4. Christ is the centre of all prophecy.
In regard to the ethics of the New Testa- ment, we may remark, that three things unite to constitute the harmony of the Christian life — humility, faith, and love. Of all these, the presentiment and elementary principle existed in the Jewish religion, and of the first two, in the Jewish religion alone. We have seen that humility was the scope of the sacrificial system. The priesthood and the law were ordained for the purpose of awakening a sense of sin. Hence we find such frequent and striking allusions to humility in the Old Testament. " The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
" Ps. xxxlv. 18.
J
» 0
226 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
He liath showed thee, O man, what is good ; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk hum- bly with thy God?P " For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."*^ " For all these things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."'
It seems, then, that lowliness of mind, and a meek, humble, and broken spirit, which the heathen regarded as a blemish," were regarded by the Hebrews as the proper temperament of the soul ; and while the heathen extolled the " elatio animi^^ and the " Si;/xo$ aya-Jhg^^ it is recognized as a prominent feature in the eco- nomy of the God of Israel, that " He resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble."
If, in reference to this important point, we examine the views of the pagan nations of the East, we shall find, it is true, among them,
Micah vi. 8. i Is. Iviii. 15.
' is. Ixvi. 2. ' Cic. de Oif. iii. 32.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 227
something of a more elevated character than among the Greeks. But, in their rage for speculation, they found themselves at length upon a giddy elevation. " Father, mother, property, passions, every wish, must be relin- quished, in order to arrive at that state of self- annihilation in which we can contemplate the Deity," says the Indian- Chinese book Su- cheulhcliangking.^ " When the true light of God enters, then is the sense of self-annihila- tion so great, that knowledge also ceases," is the doctrine of the ISiyaya sect." Thus it ap- pears that self-annihilation, for the sake of God, was a doctrine of the speculative East. This doctrine is unfruitful in the practical be- nefits of life. Still a deeper meaning lies in these doctrines, than in those of the Grecian voluptuousness.
Another Christian virtue which is found in its elementary state in the Jewish religion, is faith — a virtue utterly unknown to the pagan world. Faith, in the Christian sense, is " a firm belief and clear anticipation of a more ex- alted stage of existence, into which we enter through a preparation of heart, although its
* Mem. de VAcad. xxxviii. p. 320- " Ayeea Akberi. ed. Gladwin, p. 397.
28 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
nature cannot be fully comprehended by us. Inasmuch as we carry about with us, in the in- terior of our heart, the image and the seed of a more exalted existence, as strangers and pil- grims in the world in which we live, we can, from this very circumstance, be satisfied with- in ourselves, of the reality of the light which beams to us from that higher stage of exist- ence, and feel within ourselves the truth of the more exalted life which is destined for us. The Apostle John, therefore, declares, not merely emphatically or figuratively, but with a profound and direct meaning: 6 T/crsowv — 'iyit Z^(f)YiV aldjvwv. — /j,sTa(3s[3ri7isv sx rov '^avdrov s/g rriv ^uTjv. " He that believeth — has life everlast- ing— has passed from death unto life." The Saviour himself points out, most clearly, the profound meaning of this passage, when he says : ^b vdoj^, o hu)Ccc avru, yivrjdsrai ev ocvruj 'Kif\yr\ vdarog aXXo/xsvov z/g <^ooriv aJdjvtov. " But the water that I will give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."*
In this divinely profound sense of the word, the Hebrews were unacquainted with faith. But the cordial, unconditional resignation to God, which appears in the lives of the pious
"" Npander's Bernhard, p. 332.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. •229
Fathers of the Old Testament, was the most excellent preparation thereto- With what vi- gour did this spiritual life display itself, when Abraham, in obedience to the divine command, could resign his son — his only heir, the off- spring of many prayers, in ivhom loas the pro- mise of the Seed. In the visions of the night, the well known voice was heard. In the morn- ing he departs with two of his trusty servants. To no one, neither to the mother, nor to the son, nor to the servants, does he make known the conflict of faith. His lacerated heart be- trays itself only in the memorable words: "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offerino^." This is a faith — this is a sub- mission, which might well exalt the patriarch to be the " Father of the faithful."y
Thus does the idea of submission in faith run through all the books of the Old Covenant : nay, we might even tarry at the word Covenant^ and contemplate in it the magnitude of the idea oi faith. What a thought ! God covenants with man ! " A presumptuous idea, if our own invention, a lofty one, if revealed to us," says George Mueller. It could hardly be
y Compare what a profound thinker, Baumgarten-Crusius, in his Einleitwig in die Dogmatik^ p. 67, says on the subject of Faith.
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Otherwise, than that men should walk in the strength of faith, although this in itself is so difficult. " All the circumstances in which we are involved," says Philo,^ " persuade us to confide in our might, our health, our strength, and our wisdom : to look away, therefore, from all these things, and to depend solely upon God, fjjiyaXrtg xai oXv/j^mov oiavoiag sffri, is an indi- cation of a great and heavenly mind.^^
But how is it with regard to love, the re- maining Christian virtue ? Can we discover the elements of this virtue also in the Jewish religion? Undoubtedly we can. The Lord God thvis commands the IsraeliteSj (Deut. vi. 5 :) " And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." And what does he pro- mise— he who thus commands the love of his ])eople — in order to show himself worthy of their love ? " For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee," (Is. liv. 10.) And again : " But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
^ Quls rerum divinariim haeres, ed Pfeiffei-, iv. p. 43.
OF TPIE OLD T£5rrAMENT. 231
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee," (Is. xliv. 14, 15.)
This is indeed the language of love, and a language which might well stir up the hearts of the Israelites to fulfil, on their part, the command of love. And if, after so many af- fecting exhibitions of love, the lightnings of wrath are seen to play, still the heart was al- ready resolved, and the soul warmed. And this must have been the effect also of the bare consideration of the providential leadings with which the people were favoured, whom the Holy One had chosen for his peculiar posses- sion. These guidances induced a hearty con- fidence ; and no such confidence can exist with- out love.
Here we are met by the old objection : "The God of Israel was a jealous, cuifiry, ivratliful God." But the expression ^^•1J2 /J^ — a jealous God, denotes, not a wrathful, angry God, but a God who suffers not his rights to be invaded, and exercises a tender vigilance over the ob- ject of his affection. In this sense it becomes a precious epithet. Besides this, the reply of Origen may be adduced, in answer to the ob- jection : " The sinner is not merely to be treated with clemency ; his fears also must be
232 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
appealed to." Even now, after the message of love is come to us in the Gospel, we may still peruse those startling passages, and ac- knowledge, with humility, that they conduce to our edification and safety, in the midst of our constantly recurring infirmities. . Besides, this jealous God addressed his chosen ones in quite a different tone from that in which he speaks to the rebellious people.^ When the Lord passed by before Elijah, it is said, (1 Kings xix. 11, 12, 13:) "And a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks, before the Lord ; but the Lord was not in the wind : and after the wind an earthquake ; but the Lord was not in the earthquake : and after the earthquake a fire ; but the Lord was not in the fire : and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out, &c."
Such, then, is the love of God towards men, and such the love of men towards God. In regard to the love of men for their fellow-men, how can it be expressed in more direct terms
* It is well remarked by Procopius, (on Sam. i. 21 :) \9eiffr1- fiuivi(r6a,i "hu us 01 iviiTTrif/.ovii rov t^otI^ov >.a,ou ^rrov l(P^ovi^fl» Tuv trufji.arix.uv rov vof^eu v(e.^u,yyiXfjt.ot.-cnv. To which we may add, that all were required to saciirtce in the temple. Elias, however, sacrilices upon Carniel, and Samuel in i\iizpeh.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 233
than in the command : " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Here the idea of love is sufiBciently elevated. That some degene- rate minds, at a later period, lowered and con- tracted this precious command, cannot hurt the command itself.
Thus we see, even in Moses and the Pro- phets, the embryos of the celestial and harmo- nious Christian virtues ; and as soon as humi- lity and love burst forth into full and vigorous life, we find lowly and affectionate hearts, as that of an Anna, an Elizabeth, a Mary, a Simon, and a Joseph, ready to welcome them.
And if the moral elements of the Christian life can be found in the Jewish religion, the same may be said of the doctrines of Christ- ianity. A two-fold view, however, may be taken of this matter. All theologians are ready to acknowledge the intimate connexion be- tween the doctrines of the Old and those of the New Testament. Some of them, how- ever, aifect to show how, in the natural pro- gress of human things, the Gospel might grow out of the religion of the Hebrews ; while others, admitting an unremitting providential guidance of the children of Israel, endeavour to prove that the " Ancient of days" designed gradually to prepare all hearts and minds for the coming of the Saviour of the world. Adopting
234 I^rPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
a proce^ of inductive reasoning-, we may ar- rive at the truth by showing that the Hebrew nation is an inexplicable riddle to the mere historian ; that their sentiments are a wonder, their law a wonder, their leadings a wonder ; and then, from the circumstances and condi- tion of the world, and of the Hebrew nation at the time of Christ, as well as from the his- tory of our Lord, we may conclude, with the ut- most confidence, that Christianity never could, in the natural course of things, have grown out of the Jewish religion. Still this mode of rea- soning may not prove so convincing, as to en- ter into the doctrine of redemption, and to be- come acquainted with the power of the Holy Spirit, and then, on the authority of Christ, to look for more in the religion of the Jews than at first sight presents itself; and to admit no natural development without the special su- perintendence of God. He who pursues this course — who suffers himself to be born again of the Holy Ghost — is liberated from all doubts ; for it is not, properly speaking, the understanding that doubts, but the will.
Which now are the doctrines of the New Testament that are exhibited to us in the Old ? In our opinion, all are found in the Old Tes- tament, more or less clearly delineated. The proofs of this we cannot introduce here in de-
OF THE OLD TESTA3IENT. '235
tail, nor is it necessary. We confine ourselves to a remark on the history of the Old Testa- ment doctrines.
It cannot be denied that many doctrines made their appearance, for the first time, after the lapse of many ages ; for example, after the captivity.* Are these doctrines — the doctrines, to wit, of Immortality, of a Resurrection, of a Universal Judgment, of Demons, — all of fo- reign origin? And if so, are they, therefore, false and fabulous? Unfortunately the testi- mony out of those times is so deficient, that, without being able to adduce any thing satis- factory, we are driven to hypothesis. Resting on the authority of Christ, and listening to the words of Cicero and of Augustine : " Nulla falsa doctrina est quae non aliquid veri permisceat," we may admit that in every ancient religion, there were some divine elements. This is particularly true of the religion of the Parsees. He has not left himself without a witness in any nation.
Now we find, on the other hand, allusions to various doctrines, in the books of the Old
*The following speculation about "Post-Babylonian doc- trines" is most crude, and unsatisfactory — a sad proof that even the evangelical theologians of Germany, in which class Tholuck holds a high place, have not escaped entirely the neologian infection. — Ed.
236 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
Testament; for example, to the doctrine of Immortality, in the translation of Enoch and Elijah -^ to the resurrection, in Ps. xvii. 15 ; '^ and to the universal judgment in the innu- merable passages where the expression occurs Nl'li Di^ " the great and terrible day of the
Lord;" and finally, to the doctrine of Evil Spirits, in Gen. iii., where the serpent as cer- tainly denotes the " father of lies," as in the Zend-avesta, it denotes Ahriman; and in Matth. viii. 16, and x. 25, where Gesenius also adopts the meaning, evil spirit.^ Hence we are con- strained to believe (as De Wette, on Ps. civ. supposes, and as Drusius before had attempted to prove,) that the Hebrews also had a kind of secret doctrine, which was handed down tradi- tionally among the better informed and wiser sort, and faintly glimmers, now and then,
^ Compare I Kings xix. 4, where Elijah exclaims : " Now, O Lord, take away my life" — in which expression a peace- ful and happy removal is intended ; a violent one is denoted by another word ^^^•
T T
•= See De Vl''ette on this passage : *' If our view of the pas- sage be correct, we have found here, in this Psalm, the hope of immortality."
^ The Jews have also recognized an evil spirit — Asasel : see Eisenmeriger Entdeckles Judentlnim, i. p. 823, 825. The Christians of 8t. John, also, have an evil spirit of iliis name. Vid. Ouomasticou ad Libr. Adami. p. 31.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 237
through their common didactic writings. In support of this opinion, we might also adduce the universal admission among the Jews of a n9 ^^2p nnin — an oral law ; at least we may conclude, from this universal admission, that the opinion is not entirely without founda- tion. If this supposition, then, be well found- ed, the circumstances of declining Judaism and those of declining paganism, are very similar. Creutzer has shown that the heathen, as soon as Christianity threatened to subvert their en- tire system, brought to view whatever in their mysteries bore a resemblance to the Christian doctrines,® and here and there accommodated it, perhaps, to the Christian system. In the same manner, as it seems, the Jewish religion came, in the dispensations of Providence, into such close contact with the Persian doctrines, that the instructions which had long been be- queathed from one to another in cautious se- crecy, at length were published, were illus- trated and perfected by their close connexion with the Persian doctrines, and thus served to lay the foundation for the new order of things
" Compare what Mosheim says in his treatise " De turbata per Platonicos Ecclesia,'''' § xxv. and Hebenstreit : " De Jamblichi doctrina, Christianaereligiom, qiiam imilari studet, noxia.
238 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
which Christ introduced/ This appears to us to have been the true origin of these doctrines. Providence designed that they should be dis- seminated, just before the advent of Christ, in order that he who was merely to bring the new Spirit, and, by means of this, to destroy the veil of the law, and to illustrate these doctrines, need furnish no system of doctrines, but merely announce, by his precepts and his life, the one great doctrine : " God hath so loved the icorld" Those post-Babylonian doctrines were illus- trated, however, by the instructions of Jesus and the Apostles to such a degree, that they appear in an entirely new and spiritual light,* as the pure and disembodied spirit, escaped
^ How little ground we have to reject all the doctrines of the extra-Jewish world, is manifest from the fact that so much in the Mosaic ritual was of Egyptian origin, and was consecrated only by its reception into tlie Jewish religious service. It is universally the case, that wliere things divine have gained the ascendency of things profane, the previous form of the profane is not obliterated, but is rendered sacred — [That much, or, indeed, any thing in the Mosaic ritual was of Egyptian origin, is more easily said than proved. Vide Wiis'd Egyptiaca. The meaning of the last sentence of this note I can only conjecture.] — Ed.
6 Compare, for example, what Sueskind (Magazin, x. p. 92,) says on the notions which the Jews entertained con- cerning the ^lessiah, as about to awaken the sleeping dead, and to jud^;e tlie world ; and concerning his kingdom at the end of the world. This learned and faithful theologian ex-
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 239
from the lifeless body of the Rabbinical sys- tem.
Let us turn now to the third connecting link between the Old and the New Testament, viz. the prophecies. And here we may dis- tinguish between such as relate in general to the times of Christianity — the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth ; and such as treat merely of the person of the Saviour. If any portion of the Scriptures has suiFered from a loose treatment, it is the prophetical portion of the Old Testament. Without considering that the New Testament was composed by the disciples of our Lord, within the space of a few years, whilst the Old Testament was written, during the space of eleven centuries, by priests, kings, neatherds, and legislators — all, however, impelled by one and the same spirit; — without considering this, the exposi- tion of the Old Testament was conducted like that of the New, as if all its books had been the production of one and the same age. But we who stand, as it were, upon the summit of almost six thousand years, must survey, with an eye that takes in the whole extent of uni- versal history, the ages that are past, in order rightly to understand the plan of the " An-
poses the wide difference between the Rabbinical and the Christian exhibition of the doctrine.
240 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
cient of Days," even in the history of the Jewish people. He, however, " who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span," has also set bounds to the times of knowledge ; and if thousands on thousands of years must roll away, ere the bucket be filled, drop by drop, still we must believe that " with him a thou- sand years are as one day," and exclaim with the prophet : " Who hath taught him know- ledge and showed to him the way of under- standing ?"
Thus we find that the idea of a Kingdom of God, of a Day of Judgment, and of a Spiritual King of Israel, unfolded itself gradually among the people of God. It is not our design here to run into detail, but to present only the pro- minent ideas. There are implanted in the human soul certain semina eternitatis — seeds of eternity, as Jos. Scaliger styles them ; that is, certain enlivening conceptions, which a rational faith embraces and clings to in the ceaseless whirl of temporal affairs. Such sentiments were prevalent among the heathen of more ancient times, and are still prevalent among many of the heathen without the limits of Eu- rope. In Europe, however, many considered themselves too wise to retain and acknowledge such sentiments. Would that the words of
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 241
the late genuine philosopher*^ were taken to heart and their truth felt. " The conviction is indeed spreading abroad, how very slender is the foundation upon which rests that vaunt- ed quality, denominated of late years, strength of mind ; and that it demands a much greater strength of mind, to believe, without cavilling and without the mania for explanation, the mysteries of religion, than to reject, as in- sipid and weak, every thing which will not forthwith harmonize with the most common rules of reason and philosophy."
As examples of such " seeds of eternity," we may mention the notions of God, of Li- berty, and of Immortality, comprehended and held by the sound mind, through the instru- mentality of a faith which transcends all know- ledge,— which observes idi\hQV than demonstrates^ Siwdi justifies rather than construes.^ Upon the same foundation rests also the notion of a pri-
^ Solger's Philosophische Gespraeche — a book fraught with profound, valuable aud correct views. See pp. 191. 195. 216, 217. 240.
It promises to be an advantage to many young and in- experienced minds, that the spiritless abstraction of the phi- losophy of our day, is carried so far and with such consis- tent conclusiveness, as to render it manifest, that the end of all such speculation can only be a comfortless material or ideal Pantheism, which robs us of God, of Liberty, and of R
242 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
meval happy condition of man, of an intimate connexion between the spiritual and the ma- terial world, of a revelation from God, of a Sa- viour of the world, and of a blissful eternity. Among all the nations of the earth, the feeling of these truths displayed itself, and continues to display itself, in various ways. Among the Jews, however, this seed grew gradually till it became " a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." Two stars were seen by their wise men to twinkle in the dubious twilight — a period of terrestrial felicity, and a Redeemer. As the time ap- proached, however, when both should appear, these stars shed continually a brighter and more certain light.
True, the hope of a Redeemer. was cherished in other nations also, under a variety of forms. The Chinese, the Thibetans, the Indians, the
Immortality.* If, however, philosophy would leave its regions of speculation, and consider attentively, and with the caution which becomes it, the everlasting wants of man, which can never be denied, it would then be content to see Christianity entirely founded upon these wants. Then, with Koeppen {Philos. des Christ, i. p. 30.), it might prove even the doctrine of Original Sin, — the fundamental doc- trine of a living Faith.
• For an impersonal God is no God, an ideal I/bcrty, no Liberty, and an ideal Irr.mort.'ilitv, no Iiumortalifv.
OF THE OLD TESTATvIENT. ^43
Persians, and the Greeks, possess tlieir tradi- tions concerning the golden age and its return. Among the Indians, we find Chrishna, among the Persians Oschanderbami, among the Ice- landers the hero Thor, as the personage who is to effect the deliverance. But fable glimmers with a doubtful and changeable light. Among the Jews, on the contrary, the Messiah is the fix- ed and the bright centre of all hope. At every period, they believed him near at hand, as the Apostles did in regard to the Day of the Lord — the second appearance of the Messiah.'' I do not say, indeed, that in Gen. iv. 1. Eve supposed already that the Messiah was to come from her womb. Passing by other arguments which might be mentioned, the Fathers of the Church discover in this passage no prophecy. But Jacob, beyond a doubt, believed his ap- pearance near at hand. So also did David. It cannot, therefore, with any justice, be urged as an objection to the ninth chapter of Isaiah, that the prophet mentions, as a sign of a thing at hand, an event which was shrouded in the darkness of distant futurity ; for by the Israe- lites it was regarded as most certain, that the Redeemer would come, and w^iilst the prophet
J This rash statement is quite irreconcileable with 2 Thes. ii. i-3 — Ed.
244 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
recals to their recollection this most certain fact of redemption, and enlarges upon it, and confirms it, the promise which lay nearer at hand becomes more certain and established. Nay, the notion of a Messiah was so very pro- minent in all the imaginations and conceptions of the Hebrews, that in the eleventh chapter the prophet recurs to it again, inasmuch as this personage who was to come, was to satisfy every one, to procure peace upon earth, and to re-establish righteousness, holiness, go- vernment, religion and law. Beyond all con- troversy, in the promise of the Seed, in Gen. iii. which should bruise the head of the ser- pent, the Messiah is meant. This the Chris- tian asserts as confidently, as the Indian does that the serpent, whose head is bruised by Chrishna, is the evil spirit ;^ or as the pagan Icelander does that the dragon, whose head is bruised by Thor, is the devil.^ This precious promise descended, in early times, from gene- ration to generation, until He came, " who should come." According to the doctrine of Zoroaster, in the last days of the world the holy man Oschanderbami (Oschanderbegha), will come to contend with the evil spirit, for tlie sj)ace of twenty years. He will at length
^ Maurice's History of Hindostan, ii. p. 290. ' hddi,, Fa!>. ii. 25, 27-
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 245
obtain the victory, justice will return, kings will render him homage, and peace will dwell upon the earth.""
This glorious hope beams forth again for the first time in Gen. xlix. 10," in the words of the dying patriarch, inspired by the breath of the Eternal. Whether the Messiah is in- tended in Deut. xviii., admits of doubt. In
°* Hyde De Religione Perss. veterum, ch. 31. Comp. Zend-avesta, ii. p. 375.
° We particularly recommend to the reader to compare what Jahn has said, in his Einleitung ins Alte Testament. Vienna, 1802, p. 507- In the seventh or eight centui-y, ap- peared, for the first time, the reading tw^V)' ^^ ^^^^ ^s
the tenth century, the Egyptian Jew Saadias translated it — He v^hose it is. Gesenius, also, by the Shibh, understands the Messiah.
[As a compound, the word H^'^;^ is composed of ^^^
equivalent to ")ti^J^ and J^^^ the same as y^ to him. T he
expression " Until Shiloh come'''' would then denote : Until he comes ivhose it (the sceptre) is. It may gratify some of our readers to see the different translations of this word adopted by the ancient versions. From the Hexapla of Origen and the Polyglot of Walton, we extract the follow- ing, eS aTTOKijTon—for. whom it is reserved: Aquila and Sym- machus. to. a.Toxii/^.iva avTM — the things reserved for him : Septuagint. Qui mittendus est — who is to be sent : Vulgate. NTf^Ii^D — Messiah : Targum of Onkelos. Pacificus — the peaceful: Samaritan version. Is ciijus illud est — He whose it is : Syriac version.] — Tr.
246 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
the Psalms of Dtivid, the light of hope again shines with indubitable clearness. The se- cond, and the hundred and tenth Psalm, can be explained, by a sound exegesis, only of the Messiah.^
So far we recognize in the expected Mes- siah a Kiijj^ or rather, a royal Priest. His Kingdom, however, is not yet described. A picture of it is first presented in the Prophets. Almost all of them beheld, with a prophetic eye, Him who was to come ; but, as the sun breaks through the cloud and spreads around it a thousand different hues, so the light of this celestial hope, puts on its various colours according to the mind from which it is reflect- ed. Most of the Seers represent him as a royal priest. Isaiah, with a more definite per- ception, recognises him as God, styles him the " Everlasting Father,^* and designates even the place of his appearance, in the passage (Is. ix. 1.) unhappily mistranslated by Luther: "It shall not, however, (always) be dark where (now) is distress. Formerly he (Jehovah) af- flicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali ; but then he will honour the land by the Wiiy of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee,
" See Dutlie Kuiaoel. Messian. Weissatj.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 247
of the nations. The people that walk in dark- ness behold a great light."P
Another interval succeeds, and another pro- phet beholds this same Deliverer, and deli- neates even his sufferings (Is. lii). Malachi also, who closes the series of the divinely com- missioned prophets, beheld Him who was to come, as " the Messenger of the Covenant of the Lord," who should " suddenly come to his Temple."*! This " Messenger of the Co- venant," however, is the very same person- age that conducted the Israelites in all their journeyings, that is, the " Teacher come from God" for ever and ever/
Here closes the Old Testament. A silence succeeds for the space of nearly four hundred years. During this interval, every thing was ripening for the expected time when the foun- dations of the earth should be shaken, During this interval, was developed the doctrine of the Logos^ and of Wisdom ; and the Angel of the Covenant assumed the more glorious cha-
P From Gesenius' German Translation. — Tr.
«! Ch. ii. 1.
"^ The nirr* "rti^^D — Ayigelo/the Lord, is Jehovah in
(ren. xix. 24. : " The Lord rained .... fire/rom fhc Lord out of heaven." Compare Gen. xxii. 11. and fol- lowing.
248 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
racter of Wisdom and the Word of God, under which the Saviour of the world is introduced to us by the Evangelist John. The years which intervene from Malachi until the Bap- tist, constitute a period of vast importance and significancy. The semina aeteima which en- livened the religions of all the Asiatic nations, were brought toward western Asia. All that was valuable in these, and all that was adapted to instruct and enlighten the world, was con- centred in Judea, for the purpose of weaving into the texture of the Jewish doctrines, what- ever, from this source, might be useful for all ages. How could John have delineated, in such worthy language, the dignity of his Mas- ter, unless, by the dispensations of Piovidence, the idea of the Logxys had become universally familiar ?*
' If the wise providence of God is manffest in bringrn^j the West and the East into contact in Alexandria, why fs it not equally so in the communication of ideas which flowed into the West, from the very ancient and venerable tradi- tions of the East ? Compare the following admirable pas- sage from the Letters of John v. JNIueller, xiv. p. 299 : *' Tu me demanderas par quel tnoyen je me suis convaincu de Vm'iyine divine de ceiui, qui est venu annoncer au monde rimmortalite : je ne parlerui point dti sentiment interieur de ta veri/e, qui pottr man coeiir est nne preuve suffisante ; mais je te demanderois, si tu n'' auois jamais vu le soled, et si toti oa
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 249
Side by side with the doctrine of the Mes- siah, in the prophets, we find the anticipation of his kingdom. This subject deserves a full and particular consideration. We are con- strained, however, to restrict ourselves in its discussion to one view of it. Accordingly, we shall merely show the fluctuations of the ideas of the prophets on this subject, — sometimes
suivoit un beau jour tons les rayons^ qui en divergent, pour eclairer runivers, sHl les suivoit jusqu''d leur origine, sHl trouvoit le -point, duquel Us sortent tons, ne croirois tu pas que ce centre, est le soleil ? Or, cela ni' arrive : plus fetudie Vhistoire et mieux je vois que les plus grands evenements de Vantiquite alloient tons, par un merveilleux enchainement au but, que lemaltre de Vunivers s^etoit propose, de faire paroitre le Christ avec cette doctrine dans le terns le plus propre a lu} faire prendre racine." — *' You will ask, by what means I am convinced of the divine origin of Him who came to an- nounce Immortality to the world. I shall say nothing of the inwaird feeling of the truth, which for me is a sufficient testimony ; but I would ask. you whether, if you had ne- ver beheld the sun, and on a clear transparent day, your eye should follow all the rays which pour from it to illuminate the system, up to their source, until it reached the point whence all diverged, you would not conclude that this centre is the sun^ Now this is just my case : the more I study history, the more clearly I see how the most important events of antiquity were directed, by means of a wonderful concatenation, to the great end which the Lord of the uni- verse had in view, — to bring about the appearance of the Messiah with this doctrine, at the very time when it was most likely to take root."
250 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
rising to a glorious elevation, and sometimes remaining at a lower point. The humblest conception is that of a kingdom, in which Is- rael shall enjoy perfect tranquillity from with- out, shall be served by their enemies as by slaves, shall quietly devote themselves to God, and shall experience unexampled prosperity under a Governor of the race of David.' Con- nected with this view is the idea also of extra- ordinary righteousness and holiness, which every individual will exhibit. " But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord ; men shall call you the Ministers of our God. . . . For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth ; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations."" " In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of Da- vid, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness."* The Redeemer will come in behalf of the penitent and take away every sin. " And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, unto them that turn from trans- gression in Jacob, saith the Lord."'' " / have
Compare Luke i. 7-1. " is- Ixi. 0, 11. " Zech. xiii. 1. J is. hx. 2v)
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 251
blotted outj as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins : return unto me, for I have redeemed thee,^^^ Blended with this glo- rious picture of the holiness and righteousness of Israel, is the expectation of the salvation which is prepared for the heathen nations also. In this well defined hope, that the whole hea- then world will become acquainted with Is- rael's God, the divine character of the prophecy- displays itself with striking clearness. " Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price."* " Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged ; because the abun- dance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee."^ The prophecy mounts still higher in another place, * where Judaism is described as almost obliterated; for the prophet announces that the Lord loould take of the heathen for priests and for Levites, and that missionaries from among the Jeics should go forth into all lands to preach the Lord to the heathen. Well
Is. xliv. 22. ^ Is. Iv. I. ^ Is. Ix. 5.
is. Ixvi. \\), and following.
252 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
then might the prophet foretell that the earth should " be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea,** and " the Lord shall be king over all the earth : in that day- shall there be one Lord, and his name One."® It is beyond our present faculties to deter- mine a priori the divine dispensations. We must deduce, from facts and revelations^ our knowledge of the laws of God. It is not sur- prising, therefore, that the annunciation of the coming salvation was made in such a variety of ways, and in so general a manner. We remark, by the way, that whenever a divine revelation is blended with the affairs of time, it is more intimately connected with them, than the human understanding, reasoning a priori^ would have been led to expect.^ Hence
^ Is. xi. 9. * Zech. xiv. 9.
*^The ancients, both Christians and pagans, have con- stantly alluded to the deficiency of all human modes of re- presenting divine things, and of accommodating the ways of God to human comprehension. What golden words are those of Gregory Nanzianzen, {0pp. ed Prunaeus, i. p. 545, in the Thirty-Fourth Discourse :) '' uarft^ klvvctrov iiTi^- Sii*BH Tfif iocvTov ffKixv, Ko.) TM x/flcv ifTtiyofjiivM {(pSii,*u yd^ as/ roffodrot oirou xaTaXafiSdviTai), n roTs oaaroTs -rkrKntitrxi rJjp o-ypif ^/;^« rav l* (j^'ktm <puTOi xx) ai^o;, »j ruv tilccTuv t\iu rn*
Tu* (TUfiXTiKuv !ravT>? yivKriai fAira, tZv voovfiivuv,^^ — As ii is impossible to overtake one's own shadow, how yreal soever our
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 253
it happens, that the expectation of the king- dom of God unfolds itself in forms so diversi- fied among the Hebrews. This also may serve
haste, (for it always advances with as much rapidity as u>g employ in the pursuit ; ) or to fix the eye upon visible objects, without an intervening medium of light and air ; or to swim ivithout water ; so impossible is it also, for those who are yet in the body, dismissing corporeal things, to be altogether en- grossed with those which are spiritual. Origen also {0pp. ed. Wirceb. xii. p. 316, in the Eighth Discourse on liuke,) maintains, that our conceptions of divine things will be the more glorious, just in proportion to our spiritual ennoble- ment : " Unusquisque nostrum ad imaginem Christi for- mans animam suam, aut majorem ei, aut minorem ponit imaginem, vel obsoletam vel sordid am, aut claram atque lucentem et sple«dentem, ad effigiem imaginis principalis. Quando igitur graudem fecero imaginem imaginis, id est, ani' mam meam, et magnificavero cum opere, cogitatione, sermone, tunc imago Dei grandis efficitur." — This the correct idea of the nature of the prophetical vision. The same sentiment is expressed by Plutarch, in one of the most elegant and profound passages of his work, De Pythiae Oraculis, {0pp. Mot. ed. Wyttenb. ii. De P. Or. ch. xxi.) "As the body makes use of various members as instruments, so the soul makes use of the body and its members as instruments. The soul, however, is an instrument of God. Now it be- longs to the instrument to answer, as far as possible, the de- sign of the user. It cannot, however, do this fully : and the nature of the user is tarnished by the nature of the instru- ment. One and the same object, when seen in concave and convex mirrors, appears of a thousand different forms. The light of the sun is deteriorated in the moon — its colour and splendour are changed, and its warmth is gone. But it is
254 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
to explain, why the universal conversion to the Saviour Jesus Christ, appears only as a turn- ing to the God of Israel, and to the holy place at Jerusalem. But when the times were ac- complished, then the design and meaning of the Spirit of God was clearly unfolded.
How shall we account for the fact, that when- ever the judgment is spoken of — l^")i^ D^** — the
terrible day of the Lord, it is ordinarily accom- panied with the annunciation of the salvation which is to come through the Messiah ? The thought readily suggests itself, that the good never makes its appearance, without a lively conflict with the evil; and thus we might naturally explain this union and connexion. But the Lord himself unfolds to us its mean- ing. Even the Baptist, who saw the " Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world," saw also, at the same time, the /?iw in his hand, and the axe laid at the root of the trees. — The disciples expected forthwith " the day of ven- geance," " the woes of time." And what does
the same sun-light still. Tn the same manner as the moon reflects the light of the sun, does the soul reflect the ideas of God which have beamed upon it from above ; — they are darkened and clouded by the mortal body, and the unceas- ingly active soul, which is unable, without a motion t>f its own, to give itself away to him tlu.t moves it."
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 255
Jesus do? He interposes centuries between his appearance and those woes — he distin- guishes a twofold appearance of the Messiah, Instructed by these facts, we can readily see how ages crowded upon ages, in the perspec- tive, to the minds of the prophets who looked downward through futurity; and how the ap- pearance of the terrestrial kingdom was identi- fied in their minds, with that of the eternal kingdom of God. Now, however, the king- dom of heaven upon the earth, and that above, is one and the same; for, as soon as we become subjects of the dispensation of grace by Jesus Christ, we are citizens of the everlasting toX/- Tsia, We feel the influences which stream from above, and our home is in heaven. Hence the Saviour speaks of the kingdom of heaven at one time, as having already appeared, and at another, as yet to come. If we assume this point of view, the eir/ht significations of the word (/3a(r/X2/a,) which Schleusner gives,^ will flow together into one — into one, however, which is peculiar and everlasting.
Although all these glorious views might be still farther developed, we shall close with a
s Some valuable thoughts on this subject may be found in the short Essay, entitled Aphwismen ueber den Zusammenh. (ies A. T. and des N^. T. by Allioli. Regensb. 1818.
256 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
few words about the typical and symbolical meaning of the history and ritual of the Is- raelites. He who cannot approach this subject with an accurate acquaintance with the East, had better withhold his judgment. In the East every thing is symbolical. Greece, also, in its earliest days, breathed the Oriental spi- rit, and this symbolical character pervaded also the mysteries with their ceremonies. It is perfectly natural, then, that in the erection of the tabernacle and of the temple, every thing should have a secret meaning. The Oriental is fond of immediate and intuitive modes of in- struction. Coldly imaginative, and asserting only one kind of mental activity, viz. reflection, every species of discursive instruction is offen- sive to him. As nature, unfolding its produc- tions in the East without uniform regularity, constantly sprouts and grows, so it is with the Oriental in his mode of instruction. He pre- sents the full and entire flower, crowded with an endless variety of materials ; to this he adds another and another, without dismembering the rich calixy leaf by leaf. Accordingly, specula- tion with him becomes poetry ; history, fable ; and religion, symbolical. The notion is there- fore incorrect, both of those who suppose that none of the Jewish ceremonial laws have any
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 2o/
ulterior object in view, and of those who ac- knowledge a remote meaning only in the prin- cipal ceremonial regulations.*^
In the same manner we may find much that is symbolical among the Indians, the Chinese, the Persians, the Egyptians, and the Greeks. The Jewish system, however, is distinguished from every other by this particular, that in their symbols are unconscious but definite allusions to the future. Their symbols, therefore, not only point to the past, but prefigure the fu- ture. As the older theologians were very ex- travagant on this point,^ it becomes us to ob- tain such a settled and liberal view of the types of the Old Testament, as shall not be shaken by those who are to come after us. This may be effected by distinguishing accurately be-
^ Those of the former class among the Jews are opposed by Maimonides, in his More Nevochim, ch. xxvi. The lat- ter opinion is defended by Thomas Aquinas in his Ques- tiones.
* Witsius, De Oeconom. Foederum Dei cum Haminibus IV. 6, § 8, advances the following sentiment : " Licet mo- dus in rebus sit, tolerabilius eum peccare existimem, qui Christum si videre arbitratur, ubi fortasse sese non osten- dat, quam qui eum [non ?] videre, ubi se clare satis aifert." Granting a golden mean in all things, still I consider his error more tolerable, who thinks he sees Christ where, perhaps^ he is not to be found, than his, who fails to see him where hejs distinctly visible.
S
258 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
twecn the ideal and the actual, the known and the unknown. What I mean is this. We must inquire whether the fact in itself was to excite in the minds of the Hebrews the expectation, that at some future day a similar fact would unfold itself in the Messiah ; or whether they were to be familiarized merely with the ideas naturally suggested by means of facts, as in the case of the erection of the serpent in the wil- derness, and by means of ordinances, as in the case of the various oiferings for sin. The lat- ter seems to be the truth, for we nowhere find reason to believe, that Moses or his people had very definite and circumstantial concep- tions of the coming Messiah, In this case, we cannot regard the types as knowm to them to be such ; and their advantage will be confined to this circumstance, that certain notions, other- wise not easily introduced, were thus to be- come universal among the people, in order to awaken still further ideas,^ and to prepare the way for the Christian economy. In this sense, we may apply to the universality of the types, what Lehmus, in his Letter to Harms, p. 48, says, with great propriety, of tlie ]>rophecies :
' Without such preparatory ideas, the autlior </f tlie liii. eh. of Isaiah could not perhaps have tnkeu up this i<ro- phecy.
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 259
" The entire religious system of the Jews is, in the most appropriate sense, a prophecy ; and the individual passages of their sacred books are merely the strongest expressions of that spirit which enlivens the whole mass." To the same purport are the passages, Col. ii. 17, and Heb. x. 1, where the trx/a, or shadoiv, is the obscure and imperfect resemblance, which fails so far short of the glorious splendour of the reality, that it can excite but very faint ideas of it.' Let us hear what a recent and ardent, although not always perspicuous and luminous, commentator on the Gospel of John,™ says con- cerning the symbol of the serpent in the wil- derness: "The position which Jesus seems to assume in this allegory is this : He regards the Old Testament account as an indefinite symbol of the Atonement — as a ffv/j.l3oXov aurri^/ag. And, indeed, it evidently embraces the two most im- portant points in the notion of the atonement, in the first place, a life-giving faith — that spi- ritual confidence, which, in the Old Testament, stood yet in need of sensible things, whereas in the New Testament it is purely spiritual in
' See Rau, Ueher die Typologie, p. 71' The researches of this writer, however, in this department, are not sufficiently profound and fundamental.
"" Luecke, Comm. ueber d. Schrift, des Joh~ p. 598.
260 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
the regenerated family of the Lord ; and se- condly, the expiatory virtue of death in every thing which is sinful and corruptible ; from which proceeds, in the Old Testament, an earthly life, in the New Testament, a heaven- ly one ; in the former case, figuratively ; in the latter, in deed and in truth" In this sense, the raising of the brazen serpent was also a type or prefiguration of what was yet to come, so regulated by divine Providence, in order that, in later times, the faith in a spiritual de- liverance might confirm itself upon the cer- tainty of the temporal deliverance. In regard to the symbolical meaning of the providential leadings of the Israelites, we may call to mind the passage cited above from Solger's Ges- praeche, in which it is maintained that the col- lective history can be well understood, only when we can comprehend the divine ideas which it contains." We may also concede,
" The words of Solger, to which he refers, are contained in a short note, (unfortunately overlooked by the composi- tor,) on p. 390, line 8. Although of no great value in it- self, we insert it here, because it is referred to in this pas- sage ; and that the author may appear, in his citations from others, as well as in his own views, in his true light ; and that we may avoid, also, the imputation of a designed omis- sion. " Every thing in the world has an allegorical sense. How significant does the study of history become, when
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 261
tliat tlie ideas which are communicated through the history of the people of God, must be far more noble and important than those commu- nicated by means of other histories. Further than this we cannot go. Conscious of this, we should hold ourselves in readiness at all times to make the opjjlication.
Thus we see that the writings of the Old Testament are rendered venerable by their antiquity, their perfect keeping, their doc- trines, and their historical documents ; that the Jewish nation stands pre-eminent, on the score of antiquity, steadfastness, and wise legisla- tion ; and also that, in respect of morals, doc- trines, and history, the New Testament rests upon the Old. Let all those, therefore, who design to become labourers in the desolate and much neglected vineyard of the Lord of hea- ven, peruse and receive the books of the Old Testament, with that earnestness and sacred awe with which they deserve to be perused and embraced ; so that every copy of the Word of God, which the venerable Bible Societies are distributing, may meet with a Philip, ° ready
in every capital occurrence a grand idea is presented for our contemplation." Phiiosophische Gespraeche, p. 149 — Translator. ° Acts viii. 29, and following.
262 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
to expound what the Spirit has spoken in the obscure word of prophecy, and point to the bright and morning star that shineth in a dark place.
Those times are past when the Scriptures were trodden under foot. But let us take heed to ourselves, lest, in our modern agility, we leap clean over them. Let us approach this sacred volume, as one of exalted sacred- ness, and of immense importance to all ; — with a holy seriousness, therefore, that we may prove whether it contains the truth in relation to our own hearts. Whoever reads the Bible with any other aim than this, had better turn to other food. We may apply to him what Porphyry says in his treatise 'rs^i ccttoxtis £/a-v)/u- p/wv, I. §. 27 : That he gives his " exhortations 0L» roTg rhv ^^ay/z-ar/xov (3lov s<:raviXo/jjsmg' av&^fJj'rru) bi X^Xo'yi<J/JjZV(fi rig rs hrtv xai Tokv sXrjXvdsVf 'XoTrs (fjrsvdeiv hpiXu. : for," he adds, " we cannot tender the same advice to him who is constantly dozing, and, his whole life through, seeks for nothing but anodynes, and to him who continually strives to shake off sleep and to be vigilant."
Disregarding, therefore, for the present, every thing at which the understanding stum- bles, we ought to make proof of those portions alone which concern our own hearts and our
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 263
corruptions. If those be once recognised as true and certain,P then will be excited that hun- gering after a Saviour, and after strength from above, without which we never can be sanctified and purified. When we have once attained to this firm and deeply-rooted faith, then the words of the Saviour are " felt to be" of divine authority, every thing which the Bible con- tains receives a higher meaning, and a spirit of exposition will be generated, which the cri- tically philological commentaries of our day do not possess, — which conducted the Fathers of
P Let us keep continually before our eyes, Plato's image of the chariot of the human soul, to which is joined a white and a black steed, — the black steed, however, pressing on- wai-d more swiftly and ungovernably ; or the image of the Persian poet Ssaadi, in the Bustan, (Cod. MS. Bibl. Eercl. Lib. V.) who compares the human mind, with its passions, to a boy who stands high upon a steep declivity, holding by the halter a perverse young colt. For there is no nation that has not a lively feeling of the dark interior of the hu- man heart, which the Arabian denominates so appositely " the grain of pepper in the heart.''"'
It is the medicine and not the recipe that cures the dis- ease. General instructions and prescriptions will be of little avail to induce men to take up arms against self. A new and divine seed must come from without, and be impknttd in the soul ; a new weapon must be furnished, if self is to gain the victory over self The love of the world and of Isin is something reo/ ,' the love of God must be someiLir.g real also.
264 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
the church in the early centuries ; which con- ducted a Calvin, a Luther, and a Melancthon, into those depths of Scriptural knowledge which the Spirit of God alone explores. It is well said by Bacon, Lord Verulam — also one of those genial spirits that bowed themselves be- neath the Gospel : <^ Speculative philosophy resembles the lark, which mounts into the air with sprightly song and circling flight, but de- scends with nothing. Practical philosophy, on the other hand, resembles the hawk, which soars into the clouds only to return with spoiU* And where can " a man of longing"** find sa- tisfaction, in the midst of the straining and driving after fruitless speculation, which our age exhibits, if the heart be not full and the soul warmed ? Every one who has discovered what it is which alone can satisfy the cravings of the human heart, will exclaim with Epicu- rus : X"'i'^ "^V l^^^^i'^ (p'jffsi, on TO, dvayxaTa sToirigs suTo^/tfra, rot ds dvff'xo^iffTa ovk dvayjiaTa — " Thanks to nature for having rendered necessary things of easy attainment, while those of difficult at- tainment are not necessary." Moses also de-
1 The old servant of Christ, Amos Comenius, thanked his God tliat from his youth upward he had heen a " vir dcsi- deriorum.''*
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 265
clares •/ " For tliis commandment, which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far oiF: it is not in heaven that thou shouldst say. Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it ? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."
^ Deut. XXX. 1 1 , and following.
REMARKS
ON
THE INTERPRETATION
OF
THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
NEW TESTAMENT.
By M. J. H. BECKHAUS, D.D.
OF MARBURG."
* This Dissertation consists of two parts ; published suc- cessively by the learned author ; the former in 1819, the latter in 1822.
THE INTERPRETATION
THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
NEW TESTAMENT.
The necessity of a strict attention to the na- ture of tro^ncal language, for the right interpre- tation of Scripture, and especially of the New Testament, is evident from the nature of the books themselves. It is required by the dignity and importance of the subjects whereof they treat ; and might be inferred from the practice of the best interpreters of every age. For Jesus himself, and also his disciples, very fre- quently adopt the oriental custom of figurative language ; and no man can illustrate their dis- courses, or apply them profitably to the in- struction of others, who has not previously ac- quired the power of understanding correctly,
270 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
and explaining clearly the import of these tropes or figures. Besides, the dignity and importance of the matter propounded in these books ought to appear so great in the eyes of every sincere and pious Christian, as to demand the exertion of all his faculties for the dis- covery of those truths which lie concealed under the veil of figurative imagery. Hence the best interpreters have always paid great attention to the interpretation of tropes, though they have not always agreed in the explana- tion of particular passages. Every one who knows any thing of exegetical and dogmatical Theology, must be aware, what dissensions have existed in the Christian Church respect- ing the right interpretation of that most im- portant passage, John vi. 47 — 53 ; of the words used by our Saviour at the institution of the Eucharist; of 1 Cor. iii. 13, 15, commonly ad- vanced as a proof of purgatory;** and, finally, respecting the right definition and application of those terms which relate to the order of sal- vation, such as xX^tf/5, ^wr/C/^o's, avayevsaiif sTt'
^ For a full examination of this passage, see Martin Chemnitz, examen concilii Tredentini, p. 569, 670. ed. Gen. 1G41. fol. [See also Ernesti's Institutes, 15ilil. Cab. i. 150: and for the form of iCucliaristio Institution, id. 14C —
i4r.i
OF THE NEW TESTAiMENT. 2/ I
<iToo(pv} (Acts XV. 3), '^raXr/ysviffja (Tit. iii. 5), dvaxa,/m<fig (Rom. xii. 2), and others of the same class.*' Nor are we, in our own days, without examples of men, who, from a misapprehen- sion of certain passages in the Apocalypse, (such asxxi. 10, sq; xx. 4 — 6.) are looking for some celestial city to be built upon this earth, adorned with gold and the most precious stones, furnished with every thing that can delight the senses, in which they fondly hope that thrones and regal honours will be prepar- ed for them and their partizans.** It is there- fore of the highest importance that we should be enabled to judge of the tropical language of the New Testament, and to interpret it ac- cording to fixed rules of Sacred Hermeneutics. And the best theologians of all ages have en- deavoured to lay down rules for thus judging.
^ See J. A. Tittman's inquiry into the technical terms of the Gospel in his Opuscul Theol. (Lips. 1803. 8vo.) p. 278. sq. and 393. sq. Also his inquiry respecting the indwelHny of the Spirit, ib. 399. sq. and the observations of that learned person at p. 688. sq. of this collection. With the above we may also class several phrases relative to e^/itcct^ Christianity, such as ffravoovv t'/iv ffcc^xa and others. Consult Dutten- hoifer iiber Pietismus und orthodoxie (Halle. 17S7- P- li^'? 119. 140, 279, sq. 294, sq.)
" See Corrodi Kritische Geschichte d^s Chiliasmus, Criti- cal History of Millenarianism. Zurich, 1794.
272 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
and to produce apposite examples for the illus- tration of those rules.
It cannot, however, be denied, that the party spirit too prevalent among theologians, has had a very hurtful influence on this portion of sacred literature; especially when examples have been taken from passages relating to controverted doctrines : instances of which, to pass over earlier examples, we may find in J. A. Ernesti himself,® and in the copious answer to him by J. J. Hottinger,^ both of whom bring almost all their illustrations of the tropical language of the New Testament from passages relating either to the person of Christ, or to the institution of the Eucharist. Hence each being led aside by his party dogmas, exhausted his strength upon obscure passages of Scripture, either entirely omitting,
• Inst. Interpretis. Bibl. Cabinet, p. 143. sq. and p. 105. Amnion's Ed.
Opuscula Hermeneuticaand Critica(Lips. 1817.) p. 217 — 244. On the other portion of our inquiry, however, namely, the interpretation of tropical language, this acute writer has illustrated the subject by many excellent observations. [The reader will observe that the two divisions of the subject, Bxe Dijudicatio and Interpretatio. We have, under thejirst^ to determine whether an expression be used tropically or literally ; and if we judge it to be tropical, we have thcTi, under the second j to interpret its proper sense.]
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 273
or only briefly touching upon those which are clear and perspicuous. A safer path has been followed by those, who have referred this in- quiry respecting tropical language to fixed rules, and have illustrated the subject by ex- amples whose interpretation was plain, easy, and remote from all dogmatic controversy. Such is the course pursued by Morus,^ Keil, ^ and Griesbach :^ among later writers, Lueck ^ has omitted this question entirely, and Key- ser' has touched upon it very briefly. Fol- lowing this path, then, I propose to ofter a few observations which may tend to the illustra- tion of the tropical language of the Kew Tes- tament.
s Super Heimeneutica N. T. Acroases Academicae. Ed. J. A. Eichstadt. vol. i. (Lips. 1797) 260, sq-
^ Lehrbuch der Hermeneutic des N. T. Manual of the Hermeneutics of the New Testament, (Lips. 1810.) p. 50 —53.
* Vorlesungen uber die Hermeneutic des N. T. heraus- gegeben von Stei7ier. Praelections on the Hermeneutics of the New Testament, edited by Steiner. (Nuremberg, 1815.) p. 114, sq.
^ Grundriss der Neutestamentlich Hermeneutic und Hirer Geschichte. Elements of the Hermeneutics of the New Testament with its history. (Gottingen 18170
' Grundriss eines Systems der Neutestamentlichen Herme- neutik. Elements of a System of New Testament Hermeneu- tics, (Erlangeu, iolj.) p. 120. T
274 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
The whole of this inquiry resolves itself in- to two heads ; the first relates to the detection^ the second to the interpretation of tropes.
In the first place, then, we have to inquire by what methods we may detect tropes, or de- termine whether any expression whose sense we are examining", is to be understood figura- tively or literally : and this inquiry is not without difficulties of considerable magnitude. For it is evident from the New Testament history itself, that not only the occasional hear- ers of our Saviour's discourses ; as, for instance, the Jews (John ii. 19, 22, and vi. 30—35. 52 and 60), and Nicodemus, who was a teacher in Israel, (iii. 3 — 5), and finally, the Samaritan woman, (iv. 11 — 25), were often mistaken as to the sense of his figurative expressions ; but that even his immediate followers, who pos- sessed the best opportunities for becoming ac- quainted with the peculiarities of his style, were themselves often in error (Matt. xvi. 6 — 12). We find also that the question whether certain expressions of our Saviour and the Apostles, are to be understood figuratively or literally, has been most furiously agitated be- tween theologians of different parties. Nor are the rules which have been given by some for the determination of this most important
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 275
inquiry? sufficient for the purpose. Some, for instance, have laid it down as a canon, " a seusu verborum proprio non facile esse receden- dum," that we must not readily or lightly de- part from the literal sense. But this noii facile is far too vague and indefinite an expression, and affords no mark whereby to distinguish those passages in which we may, from those in which we may not, desert the literal sense.™ Nor do we derive much help from the explana- tion, that "the literal sense is not to be departed from unless there exist a great aud manifest necessity :"" for the question still remains, what is the nature and measure of that neces-
"" J. E. Faber, Disp. .Hermeneutica de canone, quo a sensu verborum proprio non esse facile recedendum praeci- pitur. Coburg, 1765.
" Luther anticipated this opinion, when he asserted that *' no trope is to be admitted in Scripture, unless the context manifestly requires it, or the literal sense be manifestly ab- surd, and repugnant to some article of faith." 0pp. T. iii. Latin. Jena. f. 195. He has been followed by Matt. Flacius in his Clavis, S. S. P. II. (Lips. 1695.) p. 288. rule 4 : by J. C. Danhauer, in his idea boni interpretis (Strasburg, 1652.) p. 85 and 97, sqq. and in his Hermeneutica Sacra, (Stras. 1654.) p. 259, sqq. 396, sqq: by Tamovius in his Exercitationes Biblica, p. 625; by Rambach, in his Instit. Hermeneuticae, p. 58, 59, and others. [The reader may find the subject of these deficient canons treated in almost the same words by Ernesti, Bibl. Cab. i. p. 136, sq.]
276 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
sity, and upon what grounds does it depend. Those who undertake to settle the question upon, what they call, dogmatic grounds, pre- sume that which ought previously to be proved by sufficient arguments; namely, that Jesus himself, and the first teachers of Christianity, in delivering articles of faith, always intended to use, and alv/ays ought to have used, lan- guage in its proper sense, to the utter exclu- sion of all figures." Had they demonstrated this assertion more fully, and resolved it into its parts, they must themselves have perceived that, upon this principle, it is impossible to avoid the grossest errors. It will be our safest course to propose such general rules as have no connexion with dogmatic questions, and which will point out with sufficient clearness the right method of distinguishing scriptural
" Rambach maintains that in all texts which professedly propound an article of belief, the proper signification, as far as relates to the substance of the subject, ouglii to be retained ; adding, " for it is reasonable to suppose, that in matters of such importance, involving the eternal s.iivation of mankind, the author would study to employ words easy to be understood, and free from all obscurity, lest the in- cautious reader should be led into destructive errors." He immediately adduces as an example. Matt. xxvi. 28 ; from which the tendency of the foregoing remarks is rendered abundantly apparent.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 277
tropes, to all those who undertake the inter- pretation of the sacred books, with minds free from the bias of preconceived opinions.
We must, in the first place, briefly consider the nature, the species, the origin, and the more ordinary use of tropes : it is unnecessary to examine these points at any great length, after the labours of Ernesti,^ Morus,*^ and Hottinger. The signification of words then, may be divided into proper and improper or tropical. We call that the proper signification, for the expression of which the word was first invented. The tropical is that to the expres- sion of which some word previously invented is applied by inversion from its proper use ; the Greek word T^oVo;, signifying inversion or conversion. Whenever, therefore, we have to inquire respecting the proper or improper signification of any word or phrase, the ques- tion comes to this, whether the word or phrase is to be understood as meaning simply what it says, or whether it is to be transferred to something else ; as, for example, whether the vbuio ^wi;, mentioned by our Saviour, (John v.
P Institutes. Bibl. Cabinet, i. 40 — 48.
^ Acroases Acad. 2fj0— 274.
' Opusc. Ilermeneutica et Crit. 206 — 210.
278 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
10 — 15,) is to be understood, as the Samaritan woman understood, or pretended to understand it, of natural water drawn from the well ; or whether, by this image, is figured some spiri- tual grace which strengthens and refreshes the soul in a manner analogous to the effect pro- duced by water upon the body. That one and the same word or phrase is used at one time with a proper, and at another time with an improper signification, by the divine author of Christianity himself, and by his disciples, is undoubtedly true, and may be proved by nu- merous texts of Scripture. Thus, when Jesus, in John xi. 9, asserts, sdv r/g irz^iirarfi h rfj n/Jj^of^ ov 'Tr^off'/CO'Xrsiy on rh (pug rov xog/jjov rovrou jSXgTg/ : who can doubt that rh <pug rou xoff/Mov rovToVi the light of this worlds is to be understood in its proper sense, as signifying the sun, the source of light to the visible world. On the other hand, in other discourses of our Saviour, as when he says, (John viii. 12,) lyui si/mi rh (pug rov xofffLovj with which compare xii. 46: or when (xii. 36.) he requires them to believe in the light, to; rb (pug 2%g«, 'TTK^nuire s/g ro pug, iva. vioi purog ygi'/jff^g, it is equally clear that the word <pug must be taken in an improper or tropical acceptiition. In like manner, to take an example from the writings of the Apostles, in 1 Pet. ii. 24. it is
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 279
clear from the context that rb a^iMo. rov x^iarov, the body of Christ, by which he expiated our sins upon the cross, is to be taken in its proper sense ; whereas the same phrase, as used by 8t. Paul, Eph. i. 23. appears from the subjoined explanation to signify the Church, of which Christ was the appointed head. In 1 Cor. x. 16, (compare v. 17,) it may be doubted, and has been doubted among the learned, whether this expression is to be taken in a proper or a tropical sense." Finally, passages may be found in the New Testament, where the same word is manifestly used, both properly and tro- pically, in the same context. There is a re- markable example of this in 1 Thess. v. 1 — 8, where the word vu^ v. 2. ^s '/,Xs'?rT7}s sv wxrl, is to be taken in a proper sense ; and in like man- ner r}/ji^s^a means properly the appointed diiy or time of the Lord's coming. At v. 6. on the other hand, we must interpret tropically, as
* The majority interpret it of the real body of Christ. Others, asZuinglius (See Plank's Geschichteder Entstehung, etc. des Protest. LehrbegrifFs, ii. p. 263, 2G4. History of the origin of the Protestant Creed) ; Rosenmiiller in his Scholia on the text, comparing v. 17, and xii. 27 ; and Stolz, in his Erl'duterungen Zum N. T. ad loc. of the Christian Church, Those who prefer the former inter- pretation, appeal, as I think rightly, to the to cufji,a. r. ^. to which TO tTu,{A,u. T. X,' is opposed.
280 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
appears from the context: " but ye are par- takers of the light and the day," viol (porhg xai wot T,(j.hag, that is, being led to a true and living knowledge of Christianity, (compare v. 8.) we have no connexion with the night or with darkness, that is, with ignorance of divine things. Interpreters are divided respecting the sense of the 7th verse, some holding that the words, o) yo/.^ 'Aa^iidovng^ wxTog 7ca%vdov<fr xa) o) iMi^vGxoiMcvoi, vvxrhg /xi^-jovm^ are to be under- stood in their proper sense, of nocturnal revelry and excess. Others again, as Rosenmiiller and Koppe, referring to the allegorical senti- ment which precedes, interpret nearly in the following manner : " it is not to be wondered at, if unbelievers are negligent in the perfor- mance of duty, and indulge their vicious pro- pensities ; for they know not the will of God, as to what they should do or leave undone." Perhaps, however, Erasmus has more properly united these two views in his paraphrase of the passage ; " for as those who sleep in na- tural sleep, do so in the night, and those who drink to excess, drink in the night; so those who are lulled asleep by vice, and those who are intoxicated with the lusts and pleasures of the world, are in mental darkness. But we, on whom the light of the Gospel has shone.
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ought to be sober and vigilant, &c."' Upon the whole, it appears that both the tropical and proper signification of the words were in the mind of the author ; so that he united them both in a close and almost inseparable con- nexion of ideas.
Having premised these general observations, we may now proceed to the principles of de- tecting tropical expressions. And, in order nol to overwhelm the reader with a multitude of rules," we may reduce the whole matter to the following precepts : 1st, to consider the nature of the expression itself ; 2d, the scope and con- text of the passage ; .3d, the parallel passages ; and 4th, not to neglect the light which history sometimes throws upon difficulties of this kind.
* Erasmi Paraphrasis in N. T. ex recentione J. Clerici, curavit J. S. F. Augnstin, vol. iii. (Berlin 1780.) p. 669. [The difference between the two interpretations is ex- tremely minute. All agree that a moral truth is intended to be ronveyed ; and the question is, whether that moral tnith is conveyed mediately or immediately by the words of the text. We have an exactly parallel case, " If the blind lead the blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch ?" In such expressions there is a complete proper sense, veiling another moral sense, and consequently they are to be con- sidered not as tropes, but as brief allegories. See Morns Opusc. i. 370. and Ernesti Inst. Bibl. Cab. i. 154. note.]
" Matth. Flacins is too profuse in accumulating such pre- cepts, se3 his Llavis, S. S. p. 286—290.
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And, first, we must consider the nature of the subject, in order to determine whether that which is enunciated respecting it, is to be taken in a proper, or in a figurative sense. This rule is given by Augustine,* although he restricts its application to passages contain- ing some precept, using, as an illustration, John vi. 53, which, however, as it relates to a point of dogmatic controversy, we shall pur- posely pass over. CEcolampadius lays down the same rules in the Eucharistic controversy, adding some other canons.^ Among the mo-
^ De Doctr. Christ. L. iii. c. 10. " If the text be preceptive^ either forbidding a crime, or enjoining a virtue, it is not figurative. But if it seems to enjoin a crime, or to forbid a virtue, it is figurative. The text, " unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of JMan, and drink his blood, ye have no life ia you," seems to enjoin a crime ; therelore it is figurative^ teaching us that we ought to communicate upon the passion of our Saviour Christ, and treasure up in our memory, with delight and advantage, the thought, that his body was cru- cified and wounded for us."
y " We have a certain canon, when tropes are to be ad- mitted, and when rejected. The Scriptures are not to be so interpreted as that absurdities should follow from them, since the word of God is tried like gold ; next, we must ob- serve the context of the whole discourse ; and, finally, we must compare Scripture with Scripture, so as to admit of no discrepancy between its several parts." J. CEcolampadius de genuina verborum Domini : hoc est corpus menm : juxta vetustissimos auctores, expositione. Liber. (Basiliue, 1525,) c. vii.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 283
derns, Ernesti has given this rule, and is fol- lowed by Morus, who applies it chiefly to dog^ matic examples.* Wherefore, we shall pursue a different method in illustrating this rule, as- serting, that we must compare the subject and the predicate, in order to see whether it be possible that the words and phrases used by the author can, in their proper sense, be pre- dicated of the subject taken in its proper sense. If the subject and predicate be completely he- terogeneous, it is evident that the words of the author must be interpreted figuratively. Of this case we have clear examples in the fol- lowing phrases, avai^wca^svo/ rag offtpvccg rrii btor- vo/ag VfMUVj 1 Pet. i. 13 ; Xoyixov uhoXov ydXa, ii. 2 ; ^w^ag dixaiog-jvTjgy Eph. vi.- 18 ; compare Wis- dom vii. 14, 1 Thess. v. 8 ; xs^aj aurri^iagy Luke i. 69 ; X/^o/ ^uvrsgj 1 Pet. ii. 4 ; ^-a O'ttXcx, rou tpuTog, Rom. xiii. 12; to which are opposed, in the same passage, ra 'ioya rou ffzorovg. Under this head may be classed every grammatical con- junction of things which appear to be natural^
^ In his Acroases Academicae, Ed. Eichstaedt, p. 276, sq. [It is easy to see that Dr. Beckhaus has exercised a sound judgment in avoiding ilhistration by controverted passages. When the rule, or canon, is firmly estaWished by undisputed texts, then we may proceed to apply it to the interpretation of those whose sense is disputed ; but not till theuc]
f>84 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
ly incongruous, as, for example, the phrase dvdodo'Troug Ut} ^ojyoojv, Luke V. 10. This obser-. vation throws light upon many passages of the New Testament, the true sense of which will appear plain and easy by the application of the rule ; as when Paul addresses Ananias the High Priest, in these words, " God will smite thee, thou whited wall;" when he says to the Corinthians, " Be ye washed ... in the Spirit of our God," 1 Cor. vi. 11;* when he prays for the Ephesians, " That the eyes of their heart may be enlightened;" and, finally, when the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, calls God '^^^ xaravaX/Vxov, consuming fire ; it is manifest, that in these, and in all such cases, we must admit the existence of tropes.
In the second place, an interpreter who de- sires to distinguish accurately, between proper and tropical language, must carefully attend to the nature and context of the work which he is interpreting. If the whole book bear a poeti- cal character, and be replete with tropes and images, as the Apocalypse, for example, no one would deny the probability of a tropical sense in particular passages. If, on the other hand, in a prose composition, we meet with a
* See {j 1 iesbach's Prograrama on the text. Jena, 1703.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 285
passage intimately connected with the whole scope and argument of the book ; and a ques- tion arise whether it is to be interpreted pro- perly or tropically, there can be little doubt that the former supposition is to be preferred. For this reason, the remarkable passage, 2 Pet. iii. 3-13, must be interpreted as describing the conflagration of the visible universe, in oppo- sition to those who imagine a figurative refer- ence to certain political or moral revolutions. ** It is also clear, that the same principle applies to the shorter sections of any book. Ihus, since the passages, John iv. 35-38, vi. 34, seq. Rom. vi. 3-11, Eph. vi. 11, seq., all abound with figures and images, we must of necessity incline to a tropical interpretation of tJie par- ticular phrases contained in them. Nor is the form of the expression to be neglected. For those texts, which, according to Oriental cus- tom, embrace a short moral truth in a con- densed and figurative form, are to be inter- preted tropically; as, for example, Matth. vii.
* As Hammond, Wetstein, and others. See Vitriiiga's Obs. Sac. 1. iv. c. x^i. J. G. Kraft, Obs. Sac. Fascic vi. p. 107, sqq., and Pott on the text — Ueber eine bevcrstehende Veriinderung der Erde, nach, 2 Pet. i. 11, in Henke N. Magaz. Bd. iii. p. 315-3Gi, On the future transformation of the Eart'i, &c.
286 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
6, Luke vi. 41-43 ; compare verse 39, (sJm 8s 'Trapa^oXtiv avroTg) and Others of the same class. But, above all, we must consult the context, and observe whether in what goes before, or in that which follows, we can detect any thing which may lead us to suspect the presence of tropes. And these marks are various, as we are taught by many passages of Scripture. When the author himself uses words which clearly shew that a comparison is intended, the case is clear, as Luke xii. 35, "Egrumv v/iuv a) offtp-js; Ti^is^ufffj/svai, xal o/ "kxjyn/oi xail[Mivoi* (z, c. be always ready,) ?ta^ u/^sTj oiMotoi av&ouiTotg 'rooffds'^o- fMSvoig rh xv^iov suvruv. %. r. X, 2 Pet. i. 19, xa; t'^o- fj,sv jSsjSixiorsPov rov rr^o(pi^rr/,ov Xoyov, (Z xaXug -romTc '^^oasy^ovngj wg Xv^vto <pamvTi sv ahyjMriPui rorru} ; from which expressed comparison it is clear, that the succeeding phrases, swg ou jj/xs^a d/av/dariy xai tpojgpo^og dvccTiiXj^ h roug xa^biaig v/u^uVy must be un- derstood in a tropical sense, and transferred to a more intimate and perfect knowledge of the doctrines of revelation. Nearly allied to this class of texts are those in which the proper and improper forms are so united, as that the one shall involve the interpretation of the other. Of such we shall produce a few ex- amples. When Jesus, Matth. xi. 29, admo- nishing his readers " to take his r/oke upon
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 287
them," adds, "and learn of me;" he clearly shews that the word yoke is to be taken figura- tively, and that it means nothing more tlian the precepts which he taught ; compare Sirach li. 26. The Apostle Paul, Rom. vi. 21, after inquiring of those who had once been devoted to the practice of vice, " What fruit had ye then ?" by immediately adding, " for the end, r'zkac^ of these things is death," shews \\vdX fruit must here be taken tropically, as meaning re- sult or payment. The same inspired author, in Philipp. iii. 2, says, /SXsrsrs rox)^ xvmg, beware of dogs ; and the tropical application of the word dogs^ to false and impudent teachers, is proved by what follows, /SXsrsrg roug xaxoug s^yd- rag, beware of evil workmen; compare Rev. xxii. 15. In like manner, in James iv. 4, the words fJ^oi^o^ xai fjuoi^aTudsg, are to be understood, not properly, as referring to actual adultery, but figuratively, to an undue attachment to worldly things ; as appears, not only from the context generally, but also from what immedi- ately follows, " Know ye not that the friend- ship of the world is enmity with God.*'
•^ Compare Grotius and Hottinger on the passage. [With respect to the preceding text, Philipp. iii. 2, I have follow- ed Beckhaus in rendering l^ydras^ loorkmen, operarios ; not tvwkers. as our version has it. The text referred to in Rev.
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Light is also frequently thrown upon the proper or improper signification of a word, by comparing it with some contrasted word : thus, Rom. vi. 23, if we compare the phrase, ra. y6i.^ o^}/wl//a rJj; afjja^riag ^uvarog, which many theolo- gians understand in a proper sense, as referring to natural death, with the opposed phrase, to ds y^d^iSfj^cc rou %ov ^cori aidjviog ; we shall perceive that the tropical sense is to be preferred ; and that the word ^avarog is to be interpreted by misery of every kind.
We shall shew, in the last place, by a few examples, the importance of the subsequent context, in determining the proper or improper use of a word. Commentators are divided as to the meaning of ^ ^w^ aurou, Luke xii. 15, whether it ought to be understood tropically of happiness^ or properly, of the natural life of man. 1 agree with Paulus, Bolten, and others, that the former rendering is to be preferred ; for this reason principally, that the parable of the rich man snatched away by death, which im-
leaveB the matter doubtful, as immorality and heresy a:e both denounced in it ; and in Luke xiii. 27, we meet with i^yarai <r«,- uliKiaf, workers of injustice. But the usage of St. Paul himself appears to be uniform in favour of work- nten, tiiat is, labourers, or teachers in the Church. Com- pare 2 Cor. xi. 13, and 2 Tim. ii. 15.]
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 289
mediately follows, (verse 16, 21,) is in favour of this opinion.'^ For a like reason, John ix. 4, I would interpret the expressions, swg ^/^g^ hrh' g^%gra/ vv^, of the duration of man's natural life, and the death which terminates it, because our blessed Saviour immediately adds, orccv h T(p xogfiifj ^, <pMg g/'//-/ Tov xSgfjijou, as long" as I live amonty men, I am a light to them, i. e. I pro- mote their happiness.®
Having thus disposed of the context, we must, in the next place, examine the use which may be derived from parallel passages, in which the same subject is treated in other words, or phrases, either proper or tropical. KeiF has
* [Bretsclineider renders ^«w in this passage, vitae sus- tentatio. The New Testament, however, does not furnish him with one example of such a use. The context leads us further than our author has gone. The moral of the par- able shews, that worldly riches have no power to produce happiness in the future state of rewards and punishments : we are led, therefore, to consider this as one of a numerous class of texts in which Zurt alone is used for Z,uh aluvios, and signiifies an eternal life of happiness in heaven. ]
^ [The context also leads to this rendering of the word (pug. For though (peHg is often used in the New Testament, and especially by John, as an image for a teacher, yet here it must be taken according to the Hebrew use of '^'|^ for happiness, or the author of happiness ; because it appears that Jesus was at this time occupied, not so much in teach. ing, as in relieving from suffering by miraculous cures. Hee Kuinoel ad loc] ^ Lehrbuch der Hermeneutic des N. T. § 43, note. U
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produced examples of this, which I hold it un- necessary to repeat, as his book is in every- body's hand. This, however, I may add, that the greatest attention is always to be paid to any explanation afforded by the author himself. A striking- example of this is found in John xi. 14, when Jesus openly says, Lazarus is dead ; from whence it appears, that the words he had before used at verse 1 1 , Aa^a^og 6 (piXog rifMuv xe- xoi/jbrjrai, were not to be taken in their proper sense, but to be interpreted tropically of death. Of the same nature is the passage, Matth. xvi. 6, o^ars zal 'TT^offs^srs aTo rrig t^v,(J^vig ruiv Oa^/tfa/wv xaJ 2addouxaiuv ; the true sense of which words the disciples did not apprehend, supposing that their Master spoke of leaven in its proper sense. But Jesus, by reminding them at verse 7, of his having provided food for so many thou- sands, shewed clearly, as they themselves af- terwards understood, that ^y/J^ri was to be un- derstood, not of natural leaven, but tropically, of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. We must also apply what is said in express terms by each Apostle, by Matthew, at ver. 12, by John, at ver. 13, from which the tropical sense of the words is completely proved.
Finally, we must not neglect the light which history sometimes throws upon difficult pas- sages. Morus and Keil have insisted upon
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 291
this, and have attempted to establish and illus- trate it, by examples from Matth. x. 34, com- pared with Luke ix. 61, Acts iii. 21, J Cor. .XV. 32, 2 Cor. viii. 9. But since this rule is rarely useful in determining the tropical lan- guage of the New Testament, and since that very difficult text, 1 Cor. xv. 32, is still of doubtful interpretation, (although most com- mentators follow Theophylact, who refers it to the contest with the Jews and Demetrius, Acts xix. 23 ; ^ ) we shall, for the present, omit any fuller examination of the nature and use of this canon.
I trust that, by an accurate attention to the rules which have been thus laid down, the tro- pical language of Scripture may generally be examined and determined with success. There will, however, remain some words and phrases, of whose proper or tropical signification there may still be a doubt. In Luke xvii. 34, rahrp ■rji vujcri hovrai duo e<ffi x,7Jv7}g /mag, the question oc- curs, what is meant by ravry} rfj wxri It is ex- plained in a proper sense by some recent inter- preters, as J. A. Bolten and Paulus, (ravrfj, that is, rfi avrp, on the same night ;J whereas Grotius, Pape, and Kuinoel, explain it tropi-
8 J. G. Rosenmliller, Historia Interpretationis. Lib. Sac. in Ecclesia Christ, vol. iv. p. SOfi, and Krause ad loc.
292 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
cally, of some season of severe calamity. The question cannot be decided by reference to the parallel passage, Matth. xxiv. 40, 41 ; nor does history throw any light upon the subject. Yet the former interpretation appears preferable, on account of the preceding clause in Luke v. 31, where the words sv sxsivyi rfj nfLi^a must ne- cessarily be taken in a proper sense. The question respecting 's-ago/x/a, 1 Pet. i. 17, Ta^oixot and 'Tra^s'TTidrifLoi, ii. 11, is still more doubtful and difficult ; it being very difficult to say, whether by these terms is signified the condition, at the time the Epistle was written, of those whose residence was beyond the bounds of their own land ; or the general state of Christians who are strangers upon earth, but will hereafter be citizens in heaven. The former interpretation (compare i. 1,) is maintained by Semler, Mo- rus, and Pott, who appeal to ver. 12.^ The latter by Calvin, Bengel, (who refers to Ps. xxxix. 13, Heb. xi. 13,) Hensler, and Hottin- ger. This question I shall not venture to de- cide, as either interpretation is consistent with the usage, and not opposed to the context of the passage.
^ Crellius also deserves to be consulted, wlio maintains this opinion by many arguments in his Ethica Christiana, p. 149. Quarto ed.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 293
We may now proceed to the second branch of our inquiry, that, namely, which relates to the interpretation of tropes. And this may conveniently be divided into three heads. For, first, we ought to explain whence any image has been derived ; next, what the author in- tended by it ; and, lastly, what degree of simi- litude there exists between the sign and the thing signified by it.^
The determination of the first question, as to whence the image was derived, is generally plain and easy. For .Tesus and the Apostles usually borrow their figures from obvious and familiar objects, as water, a vine, a sower, bread, the sun, and others of the same sort ; or from objects with wdiich their hearers or readers could not be unacquainted, such as the stadium, the race, the discipline, and the rewards of the Athletes, 1 Cor. ix. 24-27 ; the arms and dress of soldiers, Eph. vi. 10, seq. An interpreter of the New Testament has, in general, little difficulty in determining whence the images have been derived.'' Nor ought we to value
' Compare Mori Acroases Academicae, Ed. Eichstaedt, vol.i.p. 300, 306-309, where he illustrates the matter by plain and apt examples : also J. H. Hottinger's Opusc. Philol. Crit. atque Hei-men. Lips. 1817, p- 245-257.
^ [It appears to the Translator, that Dr. Beckhaus would have expressed the subject of this inquiry more precisely, li
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the superfluous diligence of some ancient in- terpreters, who would rather refer to images drawn from the very recesses of antiquity, than be satisfied with such as lie upon the surface. It must be confessed, however, that there are passages in the New Testament where it is difficult to discover what the image is which the author intended to employ. Of this we have a striking example in Luke i. 69, where the Saviour is called Tcs^ag rr,g aurriPiag, the horn of salvation {n^^W*^ pp Ps. xviii. 3, 2 Sam. xxii. 3.) That by this designation the Savi- our is intended, and that the reference is to the mighty powers with which he was endued, can admit of no doubt. But the question still re- mains, whether the Prophet, speaking by the dictates of the Holy Spirit, had in view the horns, or projecting corners of the altar, as Fischer thinks ;' or the helmet, as the cause of safety to its wearer, which opinion, first started by C. Brunings, has since been illustrated and supported by J. A. Noesselt,™ a man of im-
he had said that it was the investigation of the proper sig- nification of the terms used.]
' Prolus. de vitiis Lex. N. T. p. 214, seq., and Animad- vers. ad Leusdenum de Hebraismis N. T. p. 40.
"" C. Bruning's diss, de Cornu Salutis, 1743, and in Corop. Antiqq. Graec. c. viii. p. 110. Noesselt Opusc. ad latcr- dretat. Sac. Scripturarum. Fasc. i. p. 33, sqq.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 295
mortal reputation ; or, finally, whether this image be borrowed from horned animals, who exert their strength principally by the action of their horns. This last opinion, in which many commentators, both ancient and modern, have concurred, has lately been defended by A. L. Van der Boon Mesch;" and though I would not venture to decide authoritatively upon a question agitated between the most learned men, yet I incline to this opinion, as being the most easy, and as harmonizing per- fectly with the Hebrew usage. (See Psalms Ixxxix. 18, cxlviii. 14, Sirac. xlvii. 5-7, and particularly 1 Sam. ii. 10, where it is applied to a king.) Of a similar nature is the ques- tion which has been agitated respecting an- other figure used in the same prophecy, at v. 78, where it is said, with an evident reference to Messiah, STzg-ycyj-^ocro rifj^ag, avaroXvi ig u-^ovg ; which image, several of the learned have sup- posed to be borrowed from a shoot sprouting from the root of a tree, (compare Zach. vi. 12, in Sept. avaroXr] ovo[Ma aurov ; on the other hand, the adjuncts £§ u-vj^oy?, (Ps. Ixxiii. 9,) and s-r/^a- mif (Acts xxvii. 20,) shew, and the whole con-
" Commentatio de Hymno Zachariae Luc. i. 69-79. hudg. Bat. 1818, p. 11, 12.
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text of the passage clearly proves, that the re- ference is to the rising of the sun."
The Second head of our inquiry presents much greater difficulties: its object is to in- quire how wc may discover the meaning of tropes, that is to say, the sense in which the author intended them to be understood. There can, however, be no doubt in those cases, where the intention is laid open by an explaimtion af- forded hy the speaker or writer : of such cases, besides the cases elsewhere produced,P Matth. xi. 29, Philipp. iii. 2, James iv. 4, John ix. 4, we shall here produce a few examples. When Jesus, Matth. xxiii. 27, compares the Phari- sees to whited sepulchres, making a fair shew without, but internally full of bones and filth, he himself immediately adds an explanation of the figure, "'^t(>} xal v/M7g T^ctikv (mIv (paivia&z X. r. ?u meaning, that they put on an external mark of probity and virtue, while their mind was full of improbity and injustice.^ In like manner, the Apostle Paul, in his valedictory address to the rulers of the Church at Ephesus, shews.
° See the same work of V. D. Boon Mesch, p. 23, 24.
P Prolus, i. p. 20, 21, 22.
1 Of the same class are, Mark ii. 17, compared with Luke V. 21, (JMori Acroases Acad. p. 307,) Luke vi. 43, 44, com- pared with 45, Luke xxi. 3-, compared with 34.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 297
in the proper and tropical terms, which he al- ternately uses, that by t\\Q flock which he com- mands them to watch over, he means the Church of Christ, the associated body of Chris- tians; and, therefore, it follows, that the verb Toifiaiviiv must be interpreted to 7^ule, to direct^ to provide for their spiritual safety : and the Xvxoi ^ccoeig /j,ri (pudo/Msvoi rov 'zoi/j.vtov, mean, by the express interpretation of the Apostle himself, V. 30, false teachers, who should introduce false doctrines into the Church. Finally, to produce, also, one instance of allegory,' the same Apostle, Eph. vi. 13-17, in exhorting his readers to constancy and fortitude, so explains " the whole armour of God," as that each por- tion of it corresponds to some habit of a truly Christian mind, or some external support a- gainst those dangers which threaten destruc-
' [By allegory, the Hermeneutical authors of Germany, in general, appear to mean nothing more than a connected series of tropes. Morus, however, seems to have under- stood it more, as we do, when he defines it to be — a method of expressing an entire sentiment, in such a way, as that, in- stead of the thing meant, something resembling it is expressed. There is nothing of this entireness in Eph. vi. 13-17; for though the word shield is to be interpreted tropically, the conjoined term, faith, is to be interpreted in its proper sense.' See Bib. Cab. i. p. 154, note s.]
298 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
tion to the faith and holiness of the Christian. Compare 1 Thess. v. 8/
In cases, however, where no such explicit interpretation of tropical language is aiforded by the author himself, we may sometimes de- termine the meaning by the help of the con- trasted expressions. Thus Matt. vii. 9, our Sa- viour does not expressly say what he means by a stone instead of bread, and a serpent instead of ajish. But at v. 11. he explains bread and Jish as meaning generally do/Lura a/a^a, useful salutary gifts ; hence we may conclude from the opposition, that by the stone and serpent are meant objects either useless or pernicious.
Where there is no explanation, either direct or indirect, we must then have recourse to the context. Sometimes the narrator introduces an observation to explain the language of a discourse, which he narrates ; of which we have an example in John vii. 38, 39, where the evangelist himself explains the rivers of water, which should flow from the body of the be- liever, to mean the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which were to be conspicuous in those who had attained a fuller and more intimate knowledge of Christian doctrine.*
• Mori Acroases, vol. i. p. 307, 308.
*See J. A. Noesselt's dissertation on this text, in his Opuscula ad interpretat, S. S. Fasc. i. p. 56, seq.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 299
Sometimes the sense of a tropical expression may be inferred from the antecedents or conse- quents. Of explanation by the antecedents, we may produce the following examples. Every reader of our Lord's discourse, Matt. vii. 3, 4, must have inquired the meaning of rh xd^^og, the mote in thy brother's eye, and of rriv hoMVy the beam in thine own eye : and of these images no express interpretation is afforded. But if we refer to v. 1, 2, and consider, that the object of the divine teacher, was evidently to warn men against forming rash or unchari- table judgments of others, it must immediately appear that, rh oid^(pog is used for the minor faults of others, and rnv doxov, for greater faults in our- selves. In like manner, if we consider atten- tively the tropical language of our Saviour, Luke ix. 62. oubn'g sm^Xuv TYiV %£/ga auroD x. r. >.. we must see that it is an answer to the request made at v. 61. s'Trir^i-^ov %, r. X. " permit me first to bid farewell, [i. e, to give orders) to my household." It appears then, that by the man who, having put his hand to the plough, looks back, is meant one who, while he ought to be supremely engaged about some one important engagement, allows his attention to be distract- ed by minor and irrelevant concerns."
* [This text is ill rendered in our version, which seems to
800 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
We shcill next produce an instance, in which the sense of a tropical expression is illustrated by the consequents. When Jesus, (Matt. ix. 38,) exhorts his disciples to pray, that God would send labourers into his harvest, ^a^/o/xov, he immediately shews, by selecting twelve Apostles from among them, and commissioning them to preach the Gospel of the kingdom, X. 1-7, that by the harvest he means the pro- pagation of this doctrine ; and by the labourers, those who were ready to devote their life and strength to this most salutary work.*
We occasionally meet with passages in the New Tescament, where the context throws no
imply thdt the person who wished to follow Christ, desired only to bid a friendly farewell to his relatives, a request which it must have appeared harsh to refuse. Beckhaus' rendering " ut mandata injungam," does not appear to be supported hy any authorities. The best rendering is to dis* miss with a farewell^ or to dismiss simply, Mark vi. 46. com> pared with the parallel text. Matt. xiv. 23. He wished to arrange his temporal affairs, and might in doing so have incurred a strong temptation to give up hia inteation of following Jesus.]
" [Dr. Beckhaus might here, with advantage, have applied his preceding rule. The antecedents shew, that it is not the propagation of the Gospel which is figured by B-i^i<rft,'os, in which figure, indeed, there would be no force nor resem- blance ; but tlic multitude of those who listened attentively to Jesus, and thereby gave a reasonable ground to hope that they were ripe for conversion. ]
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 301
light upon the signification of the figure em- ployed; and, in such cases, the interpretation is certainly more difficult and perplexed. In the remarkable discourse of John Baptist^ Matth. iii. 12, when he says, respecting Messias who was about to appear, ol rh 'ttt-jov h rf, yziil cc'jTov x, r. X. there can be no doubt, but that by rov gTrov are to be understood good and obedient men ; by rb a^v^ov the wicked and dis- obedient. Nor, is it difficult to see, that by the burning ^y^/ ac^'icru) is meant the severe punishment to be inflicted by Messias upon this latter class.^ But if we proceed to inquire what is meant by aXwi/a, the threshing-floor which he was to cleanse ; or rriv d-ro^^jx^jv, the barn into which the wheat was to be collected, the answer is not so easy. That by the threshing-floor is figured the Jewish nation^^ ap- pears probable from the not dissimilar texts, Isaiah xxi. 10 ; xxv. 10. By rriv ocTro^mv I would understand the whole body of believers in Christ, with a reference at the same time to the perfect happiness to be expected by them sv 77] ^ccsiKgia. ruv cv^avuv,^ We must treat much
^ Scfiott, Opuscula Exeg. Crit. Dogma, ii. 199. ' So Jahn has explained the passage in Beugel's Archiv. fiir die Theologie, &c. vol. ii. § 83.
^ J. Melchioris's Op. omnia, T. i. p. 27C.
802 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
in the same way the text, Heb. vi. 7, 8. where the Apostle asserts, that the divine blessing rests upon that land which receives the falling rain, and brings forth useful herbage ; while, on the contrary, that which brings forth only thorns and brambles, is described as useless, and as being in imminent danger of divine malediction and burning. It is clear, that by this elegant image is signified the different conditions of those, who, having received in common the offer of salvation, differ in the use or abuse of this inestimable benefit : and so far we may infer, both from the nature of the figure itself, and from the subject of the fol- lowing verses 9, lO.*^ But if we proceed to inquire more minutely what is meant by the rain^ the seasonable fruits, the thorns and brambles, and the burning of the unfruitful ground, though the meaning of each of these expressions may perhaps be satisfactorily dis- covered, yet we ought to be very careful not to refine too far in the explanation of figures of thi>s sort. The timely fruits, signify the virtu- ous actions of a good and pious man f the
*> See Dindorf ad J. A. Eruesti Lectiones Academ-in Ep. ad Hebrajos, p. 477-
'^ Selecta e Scholiis L. C. Valckeiiaerii ia Lib. quosdam, N. T. T. iu (Amst. 1017,) p- 502.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 303
thorns and brambles signify useless, hurtful, or vicious actions : and the sense of the whole passage amounts to this, that a Christian who uses his religious convictions aright, makes rapid progress in holiness; but that he who neglects the practical application of his princi- ples, goes on from bad to worse, and will at last be most certainly destroyed.^
Finally, in the interpretation of tropes, we must not neglect the use of parallel passages. For there are passages which are to be con- sidered as really parallel, and which throw much light upon the sense of tropical expres- sions. Thus in our Lord's discourse, Matt vi. 22, 23, it may be inquired what is figured by h<p^ctk[i,6v, and 6 Xv^vog rou cw/xarog ; of which terms no express interpretation is given in the context- But the parallel passage, Luke ix. 34, 35, by adding in the way of explanation, rb (pojg TO h ffoi, the light that is in thee, shews clearly that by these terms we are to under- stand human reason, and specifically that innate sense of right and truth which is implanted by God in our hearts.®
* Ernesti in Ep. ad Hebraeos, p. 486.
* Thus, in Mark x. 38, 39, the cup, torfi^iot which was to be drunk ; and the immersion, ^a.'mrrfjt.a.^ which was to be received by the Apostles John and James, signify the perse-
804 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
There is also another class of texts, which, though they cannot be considered as strictly parallel, may still be advantageously used in discovering the sense of tropes. Thus the de- nunciation of St. Paul to the High Priest, Acts xxiii. 3, T-j'Tmiv as /j^sXXh 6 0g^g, roT^s xsnovicifisve, God will smite, that is, punish thee, thou whited wall, may have some light thrown upon it by the text above quoted, Matth. xxiii. 37, where our Saviour compares the Pharisees, generally, to whited sepulchres. Hence it appears, that the notion intended in both the passages, is that of the worst hypocrisy.' In the same way, Noesselt has shown how the several images, in the beautiful parable, John xv. 1, may be ex- plained by reference to similar passages in the New Testament ; to which elucidation it may be sufficient to refer the reader.*
We now come to the third i^oini of inquiry, namely, the similitude existing between the sign and the thing signified. The importance of accuracy in this most important matter, was
cutiqias which they were to undergo, as appears clearly from a comparison of the parallel texts, Matt. xxvi. 39; John xviii. 1 i ; Luke xii. 50.
' Selecta e Scholiis, L. C. Valckenaerii in lib. quosdam, N. T. i. p. 559. Riehm de fontihus Act. Apostol. p. 88.
« Opuscula ad Interpretationum S. S. Fasc ii. p. 31. seq.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 305
long ago perceived by Isidore of Pelasium, a writer of the fifth century, who, in his Epist. iv. 137, on Matth. x. 16, observes, that ex- amples are not to be taken entirely, for if they were, they would cease to be examples, and become the things themselves.** I would not deny that the other points of similitude may be added, provided they harmonize with the scope and context of the passage ; but, in select- ing these, we should act sparingly, and with caution. The principal point and object of comparison may be determined, firsts from the interpretation given by the writer or speaker himself. When Jesus, (John vi. 35,) says " I am the bread of life ;" adding, by way of ex- planation, " he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst;" he plainly indicates, that he would
^ rai Ta^a^iiyfixra ov^ oi'ta.vra XafilieiviTai) (i. e. as we should say, must not be extended beyond the tertium com- parationis,J Wu oux uv uri <Tx^a!^iiyfJt,>x.'roi^ uXXa. rxvror'/i;. See J. G. RosenrauUer's Historia Interpretationis, Lib. Sac. in Eccl. Christ. P. iv. p. 191. [By the tertium comparationis, for which the Translator is unable to give any correspond- ing English expression, is meant that point which is com- mon to the sign and the thing signified. Thus, if Christians are figured by the term lambs, the tertium comparationis is innocence, patience, gentleness. See the same rule express. ed in diiFerent terms, and illustrated, Bibl. Cab. i. p. 153.] X
306 ON THE TROPICAL LANGUAGE
make provision for all the spiritual necessities of men ; so that whosoever should be united to him by faith and obedience, would enjoy true happiness, together with all necessary safe- guards to his salvation, and would neither want nor desire anything else.* The point of com- parison lies, therefore, in the quality of bread to nourish men, preserve life, and support the sinking strength. Again, when the Apostle Paul, 1 Thess. v. 2, says that the second com- ing of the Lord will be " like a thief in the night;" the words which follow, "when they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden de- struction Cometh upon them," shew, that it will come unexpectedly upon men who are not thinking of it, just as a thief glides by night into the house of those who sleep securely, and anticipate no evil. Compare the passages which strongly confirm this interpretation, Matth. xxiv. 43, Luke xii. 39.
Secondhj, the point of comparison may be deduced from the context of the discourse. Thus, for example, when St. Peter, in his 1 Epis. iv. 12, speaks of the 'rv^dogsi, to be sent, T^fjg Tsi^ag/Mv, and explains these figurative ex- ])ressions, both generally, by adding, v. 13,
* Schott, Opusc. i. p. 159.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 307
that they had come into a participation of Christ's suiFerings; and specifically, by add- ing, ver. 14, that they would be reproached for their profession of Christianity ; it is clear, from the adjuncts, that the point of compari- son lies in tlie painful feelings which are com- mon to those whose bodies are affected by ex- treme heat, and those whose minds are affected by reproach and contempt.
Lastly^ the point of comparison may be de- termined by the collating of parallel passages. Thus, when Jesus, in his address to the women who followed him, Luke xxiii. 31, after de- nouncing a miserable fate to the city of Jeru- salem and its inhabitants, adds, " for if these things be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry ;" it is clear, from Ezek. xx 47, and xxi. 3, comparing, also, for the sense, 1 Pet. iv. 17, that by the green tree is meant an innocent person, the cause of safety to others ; and by the dry, a wicked person, the cause of injury to others. And if we examine more carefully the passages of Ezekiel, we shall easily find what is the point of compari- son between men and trees ; and we shall find that it lies in their good or bad qualities, as being the cause why we think a dry and bar- ren tree ought to be cut down, and why a
308 ON THE T ROPJCAL LANGUAGE
worthless and hurtful man is deserving of de- struction.
By the assistance of these rules, we may ge- nerally determine whence a tropical expression is derived, what is the proper object signified by it, and what is the nature and degree of resemblance between the sign and the thing signified. A few passages, however, are to be found in the New Testament, which admit of various interpretations; as, for example, the much disputed passage, Mark ix. 49, 50. ^^ Nor, does the cause of comparison always lie upon the surface ; on the contrary, it sometimes requires very careful examination. As an in- stance, we may take James i. 1 8, where we read that, " God of his own will begat us by the word of truth, £/» ^o ilvai rifiag acra^p^^v Tim ruv aurov xrigfjbdruv. Almost all the interpreters agree that the reference is to i^\e. first-fruits, which were solemnly offered to God in sacri- fice.^ But they differ as to whether the simile
^ Schott, Opuscula, ii. 3. seq. [The passage, as printed iu Dr. Beckhaus's tract, is, Mark ix. 40, 50. But as the ligures of the right hand, and the right eye, are of very easy interpretation, the translator conceives that 40 is a mis- print for 40, and that the author intends to limit his ex- ample to the two last verses of the chapter ; where the dif- ticulty lies in the proper explanation of the word salt.
'J. V. Voorst aniraadversiones de usu verborum cum praepositionibus compositorum in N. T. Spec. i. 74.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 309
Tr,g airaoyj^c, is to be referred to the superiority of those, who had been reformed by the recep- tion of Christianity, so as to make the sense, " that we mi^ht be rendered the most excel- lent among his creatures :" or whether the comparison is derived from this, that the first fruits were a pledge and earnest of the future harvest; limiting the reference to the time of the conversion of those to whom the epistle was written, so as to make the sense, " that we might be the first in order of time, among those whom God hath begotten by the preaching of the GospeL" The latter interpretation is to be preferred ; for St. James appears to refer to the Jewish Christians, who had come to the knowledge and profession of Christianity be- fore the Gentiles.*" Compare Rom. xvi. 5 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 15.°
*" Noesselt, Opuscula, i. 130. Compare, ii. 319.
" Of a very similar nature is the passage, Kom. viii. 23. 8ee Keil's Opuscula Academica, ed. Goldhorn, Sec. i. p. 195 — 200, seq. To those authors whom Keil has cited, we may- add that excellent interpreter of the Pauline Epistles Launay: (Paraphrase et exposition sur les Epitres de IS. Paul par P. de Launay, P. i. a Chareuton, 1660. p. 153.) who renders the text, L'Esprit qui est les premices et le commencement de notre beatitude et gloire future."
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