good works. This observation further shows the true way of reconciling the supposed contradiction between the apostles Paul and James, concerning the doctrine of salvation by faith.

V. The consideration of the PLACE where a Book was written, as well as of the nature of the place, and the customs which obtained there, is likewise of great importance.

The first Psalm being written in Palestine, the comparison (in ver. 4,) of the ungodly to chaff driven away by the wind, will become more evident, when it is recollected that the threshing-floors in that country were not under cover, as those in our modern barns are, but that they were formed in the open air, without the walls of cities, and in lofty situations, in order that the wheat might be the more effectually separated from the chaff by the action of the wind. (See Hosea xiii. 3.) In like manner, the knowledge of the nature of the Arabian desert, through which the children of Israel journeyed, is necessary to the correct understanding of many passages in the books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which were written in that desert.

VI. A knowledge of the OCCASION on which a book was written, will greatly help to the understanding of the Scriptures, particularly the Psalms, many of which have no title. The occasion in this case, must be sought from internal circumstances.

Psalm xlii. was evidently written by David, when he was in circumstances of the deepest affliction: but, if we compare it with the history of the conspiracy of Absalom, aided by Ahithopel, who had deserted the councils of his sovereign, as related in 2 Sam. xv., and also with the character of the country whither David fled, we shall have a key to the meaning of that psalm, which will elucidate it with equal beauty and propriety.

VII. A knowledge of SACRED AND PROFANE HISTORY is of great importance to the interpretation of the Bible, not only as it enables us to trace the fulfilment of prophecy, but also because it enables us to explain many customs and institutions which the Jews borrowed from neighbouring heathen nations, notwithstanding they were forbidden to have any intercourse with them.

A judicious comparison of the notions that obtained among ancient, and comparatively uncultivated nations, with those entertained by the Hebrews or Jews, will, from their similitude, enable us to enter more fully into the meaning of the sacred writers. Thus many pleasing illustrations of patriarchal life and manners may be obtained by comparing the writings of Homer and Hesiod with the accounts given by Moses: such comparisons are to be found in the best of the larger philological commentaries.

In order, however, that we may correctly explain the manners, customs, or practices, referred to by the sacred writers at different times, it is necessary that we should investigate the laws, opinions, and principles of those nations among whom the Hebrews resided for a long time,

or with whom they held a close intercourse, and from whom it is probable they received some of them.

The Hebrews, from their long residence in Egypt, seem to have derived some expressions and modes of thinking from their oppressors. A single example will suffice to illustrate this remark. Under the Jewish theocracy, the judges are represented as holy persons, and as sitting in the place of Jehovah. The Egyptians regarded their sovereigns in this light. Hence it has been conjectured, that the Israelites, just on their exit from Egypt, called their rulers gods, not only in poetry, but also in the common language of their laws. See Exod. xxi. 6, where the word judges is,

in the original Hebrew, gods.

VIII. CHRONOLOGY, or the science of computing and adjusting periods of time, is of the greatest importance towards understanding the historical parts of the Bible, not only as it shows the order and connexion of the various events therein recorded, but likewise as it enables us to ascertain the accomplishment of many of the prophecies, and sometimes leads to the discovery and correction of mistakes in numbers and dates, which have crept into particular texts. The chronology in the margin of our larger English Bibles is called the Usserian Chronology, being founded on the Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti of the eminently learned Archbishop Usher.

IX. To all these are to be added a knowledge of BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES; which include Geography, Genealogy, Natural History, and Philosophy, Learning and Philosophical Sects, Manners, Customs, and Private Life, of the Jews and other Nations mentioned in the Bible, A concise sketch of the principal topics comprised under this head, is given in the THIRD PART of this manual.

X. Lastly, in order to enter fully into the meaning of the sacred writers, especially of the New Testament, it is necessary that the reader in a manner identify himself with them, and invest himself with their AFFECTIONS Or feelings; and also familiarize himself with the sentiments, &c. of those to whom the different books or epistles were addressed.

This canon is of considerable importance, as well in the investigation of words and phrases, as in the interpretation of the sacred volume, and particularly of the prayers and imprecations related or contained therein. If the assistance, which may be derived from a careful study of the affections and feelings of the inspired writers, be disregarded or neglected, it will be scarcely possible to avoid erroneous expositions of the Scriptures. Daily observation and experience prove, how much of its energy and perspicuity familiar discourse derives from the affections of the speakers: and also that the same words, when pronounced under the influence of different emotions convey very different meanings.

§ 5.-Ancient Versions.

Of the Ancient Versions of the Holy Scriptures, and their uses in sacred criticism, an account has already been given in pages 83-90. It may here be remarked, that, to those who are able to consult them, these versions afford a very valuable aid in the interpretation of the Bible for they were the works of men, who enjoyed several advantages above the moderns, for understanding the original languages and the phraseology of Scripture. A single instance will illustrate the propriety of this remark.

In the first promulgation of the Gospel to mankind, (Gen. iii. 15,) God said to the serpent that beguiled our first parents, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, and IT, (that is, the seed of the woman, as our authorized translation rightly expounds it,) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. But in the Anglo-Romish version, after the Latin vulgate, (which has IPSA conteret caput tuum,) it is rendered, SHE shall bruise his head, as if a woman should do it: which the Romanists interpreting of the Virgin Mary, ascribe to her this great victory and triumph over sin and Satan, and are taught to say, in their addresses to her, "Adoro et benedico sanctissimos pedes tuos, quibus antiqui serpentis caput calcâsti;" that is, "I adore and bless thy most holy feet, whereby thou hast bruised the head of the old serpent." That this rendering of the Romanists is erroneous is proved by the Septuagint Greek version, by the Chaldee paraphrase, and by the Syriac version, all of which refer the pronoun IT to the seed of the woman, and not to the woman herself. (Bp. Beveridge's Works, vol. ii. p. 193. vol. ix. pp. 233, 234. Agier, Prophéties concernant Jesus Christ et l'Eglise, pp. 243, 244.)

§ 6.--On Commentators.

I. Nature and Classes of Commentators.

Commentators are writers of Books of Annotations on Scripture: they have been divided into the following classes, viz:

1. Wholly spiritual, or figurative;-this class of expositors proceed on the principle, that the Scriptures are every where to be taken in the fullest sense of which they will admit:-a principle, of all others the most unsafe, and most calculated to mislead the student.

2. Literal and Critical;-those who apply themselves to explain the mere letter of the Bible.

3. Wholly practical;-those who confine themselves to moral and doctrinal observations: and,

4. Those who unite critical, philological, and practical observations.

Expository writings may also be classed into Scholiasts, or writers of short explanatory notes, who particularly aim at brevity;-Commentators, or authors of a series of

perpetual annotations, in which the train of their thoughts, and the coherence of their expressions, are pointed out ;— and Paraphrasts, who expound a sacred writer by rendering his whole discourse, as well as every expression, in equivalent terms.

II. Use of Commentators, and in what manner they are to be consulted.

The use of Commentators is two-fold: first, that we may acquire from them a method of interpreting the Scriptures correctly; and second, that we may understand obscure and difficult passages. The best commentators only should be consulted; and, in availing ourselves of their labours, the following hints will be found useful:

1. We should take care that the reading of commentators does not draw us away from studying the Scriptures for ourselves, from investigating their real meaning, and meditating on their important contents.

This would be to frustrate the very design for which commentaries are written, namely, to facilitate our labours, to direct us aright where we are in danger of falling into error, to remove doubts and difficulties which we are ourselves unable to solve, to reconcile apparently contradictory passages, and, in short, to elucidate whatever is obscure or unintelligible to us. No commentators, therefore, should be consulted until we have previously investigated the sacred writings for ourselves, making use of every grammatical and historical help, comparing the scope, context, parallel passages, the analogy of faith, &c.: and even then, commentaries should be resorted to, only for the purpose of explaining what was not sufficiently clear, or of removing our doubts. This method of studying the sacred volume will, unquestionably, prove a slow one; but the student will proceed with certainty; and, if he have patience and resolution enough to persevere in it, he will ultimately attain greater proficiency in the knowledge of the Scriptures, than those who, disregarding this method, shall have recourse wholly to assistances of other kinds.

2. We should not inconsiderately assent to the interpretation of any expositor or commentator, or yield a blind and servile obedience to his authority.

3. Where it does not appear that either ancient or modern interpreters had more knowledge than ourselves respecting particular passages; and where they offer only conjectures, in such cases their expositions ought to be subjected to a strict examination. If their reasons are then found to be valid, we should give our assent to them: but, on the contrary, if they prove to be false, improbable, and insufficient, they must be altogether rejected.

4. Lastly, as there are some commentaries, which are either wholly compiled from the previous labours of others, or which contain observations extracted from their writings, if any thing appear confused and perplexed in such commentaries, the original sources whence they were compiled must be referred to, and diligently consulted.

CHAPTER II.

ON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE OF SCRIPTURE.

FIGURATIVE language had its rise in the first ages of mankind: the scarcity of words occasioned them to be used for various purposes: and thus figurative terms, which constitute the beauty of language, arose from its poverty; and it is still the same in all uncivilized nations. Figures, in general, may be described to be that language, which is prompted either by the imagination or by the passions. They are commonly divided into, 1. Tropes, or Figures of Words, which consist in the advantageous alteration of a word, or sentence, from its original and proper signification, to another meaning; and, 2. Figures of Thought, which suppose the words to be used in their literal and proper meaning, and the figure to consist in the turn of the thought; as is the case in exclamations, apostrophes, and comparisons; where, though we vary the words that are used, or translate them from one language into another, we may, nevertheless, still preserve the same figure in the thought. This distinction, however, is of no great use, as nothing can be built upon it in practice: neither is it always very clear. It is of little importance, whether we give to some particular mode of expression the name of a trope, or of a figure, provided we remember that figurative language always imports some colouring of the imagination, or some emotion of passion expressed in our style.

Disregarding, therefore, the technical distinctions, which have been introduced by rhetorical writers, we shall first offer some hints by which to ascertain and correctly interpret the tropes and figures occurring in the sacred writings; and in the following sections we shall notice the principal of them, with a few illustrative examples.

SECTION I.-General Observations on the Interpretation of Tropes and Figures.

In order to understand fully the figurative language of the Scriptures, it is requisite, first, to ascertain and de