3. More recently the comparison of a considerable number of Hebrew words with the Indo-Germanic or Indo-European-now generally called the Aryan-family of languages, has added new light to the illustration of the Hebrew. By these languages are meant, the Sanskrit, the modern Persian, Greek, Latin, Gothic, German, English, and other languages kindred with these. Several objects in natural history found in eastern Asia are mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Indian names of which came to the Hebrews along with the things themselves, from the East Indies. Whoever has used the Thesaurus of Gesenius, or Fuerst's Hebrew Lexicon, can hardly fail to have observed that there is not even one of the sources named above, to which access is not occasionally had, and this to good purpose. In the acquisition of the Hebrew language, Roediger's edition of Gesenius's Hebrew Grammar, translated by the late Professor M. Stuart, will be found an invaluable aid.

As the New Testament has come down to us in Greek, the knowledge of this language is indispensible to the Christian interpreter. And as the Hebrew of the Old Testament can only be considered as a fragment of that sacred language; so too, the Greek language of the New Testament is but the fragment of a peculiar dialect in the wide field of Greek philology. True, says Dr. Robinson, in an able article, which we shall freely use, on the "Bible and its Literature," in the "Biblical Repository," vol. xvii. pp, 341-357, we have here the aid of all the branches of the classic Greek

language and literature, in their poetic youth, their Attic manliness and vigour, and their later decline. We have, too, all the results of ancient and modern research in regard to Greek philology; while the idiom and character of the language are far more accordant than the Hebrew with our own. The Greek too, in an altered form, is to this day a spoken language. Yet all this neither suffices for the illustration of the idiom of the New Testament, nor does it supersede, even here, the necessity of an acquaintance with the Hebrew tongue of the earlier Scriptures, or with the knowledge of the Oriental languages.

The language of the New Testament is the later Greek, as spoken by foreigners of the Hebrew stock, and applied by them to subjects on which it had never been employed by

native Greeks. After the disuse of the ancient Hebrew in Palestine, and the irruption of western conquerors, the Jews adopted the

Greek language from necessity; partly as a conquered people, and partly from the intercourse of life, of commerce, in colonies, in cities, founded like Alexandria and others, which were peopled with throngs of Jews. It was, therefore, the spoken language of ordin ary life, which they learned; not the classic style of books, which has elsewhere come down to us. But they spoke it as foreigners, whose native tongue was the later Aramaean; and it therefore could not fail to acquire upon their lips a strong Shemitic character and colouring. When to this we add, that they spoke in Greek on the things of the true God, and the relations of mankind to Jehovah and to a Saviour-subjects to which no native Greek had ever then applied his beautiful language, it will be obvious that an appeal merely to classic Greek and its philology, will not suffice for the interpreter of the New Testament. The Jewish Greek idiom must be studied almost as an independent dialect and its most important illustrations are derived from the idiom of the Old Testament, especially as exhibited in the version of the Seventy and the Apocrypha, and from the contemporary writings of Philo and Josephus. Prof. M. Stuart's, and Winer's Grammars of the New Testament Dialect, are the best books in this department of study.

A knowledge of the Oriental languages is just as necessary for the right understanding of the New Testament as it is for the correct interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures. The ancient versions in the Syriac and other languages must be consulted. And, as Palestine was under the Roman dominion when the New Testament was written, it will be expected that many Latinisms will occur in that book, so that the ancient Latin versions must not be neglected. It is not indeed, to be desired, nor would it of course be possible, for every student in Biblical Science to go over the whole ground here pointed out; but it is incumbent on every student to be sufficiently prepared to understand and profit by the labours of the many and great minds who have trod this course before him, and whose efforts have been directed to make plain the way to those who should come after them.

SECTION III.

Biblical Introduction-Criticism of the TerlVarious Readings-Hermeneutics-ExegesisRabbinic Interpretation.

Another branch of Biblical Science, which

mus be studied, is Biblical Introduction; and the object of it is, as the name imports, to introduce the student to the best methods and means for prosecuting the study of the Scriptures. It is usually divided into General and Particular.

General Introduction, comprises a description of all the various manuscripts and editions of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, and their comparative value. It enumerates the various ancient versions, their authors, their dates, the circumstances of their composition, and their importance to the Biblical student. It details the efforts which have been made to obtain a correct text both of the Old and New Testaments, the sources and character of the various readings, and the general principles on which such researches must be conducted. It touches also, in general terms, upon the character of the language and style; on the history, chronology, geography, and antiquities of the Jewish people. In all these branches it names and characterizes the best books to be consulted. It gives, too, the history of the sacred volume itself; the manner in which it has been reverenced and studied in different ages; and the various external forms and divisions in which it has appeared.

Particular or Special Introduction, on the other hand, takes up, first the main portions of the Scriptures, as the historical, poetical, prophetic or doctrinal books; and discusses the characteristics common to each division; and then proceeds to treat of each particular book. It inquires into the time when it was written, its author, its subject and object, its style and manner; and aims, in short, to afford all the information, which may enable the student to read and understand each book and chapter of the Bible, in the best and most perfect manner.

Continental scholars. In our own country we have little of importance pertaining to this branch of study, excepting translations of some of the above works; and the Prolegomena to the Polyglot, by Dr. Brian Walton; the several works by Dr. S. Davidson; and what are indispensable to the Biblical student, the "Plain Introduction" by Dr. Scrivener; and the last edition of the "Introduction" by the venerable Dr. Thomas Hartwell Horne.

The Criticism of the Biblical text demands our attention, as by it we are taught to judge of the accuracy and authenticity of the Bible as it has come down to us. This department is divided into the higher and the lower. The lower criticism has respect to the text of the Bible, its various readings, etc. The higher criticism examines the authenticity and the integrity of the several books. It is well known that the text of our printed Hebrew Bibles is substantially what it was when it was settled by the Masoretes, about A.D. 500. So also, the text of the common editions of the New Testament was first settled by Erasmus, afterwards improved by Stephens, and again by Beza, on the authority of the few but excellent Greek manuscripts to which they had access. But in more recent times the collation of numerous other Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, have brought together a mass of various readings, differing from those of the common Hebrew and Greek texts. It is the part of Biblical Criticism to compare and sift those readings, and to determine which of them, by weight of evidence and authority, is entitled to a place in the genuine text.

The time, however, has gone by, when this accumulated mass of various readings, in both the Testaments, was an object of dread or suspicion to the learned or unlearned. The optimism of the external form of the Bible has been laid aside; and it is now

scription or printing, by uninspired men, the Scriptures are not less liable to the occurrence of slight mistakes than other books. Such are, for the most part, all the various readings, both of the Hebrew and Greek Testaments; and it is a fact, long well established, that not one of these affects a single article of faith or practice, unless in the very slightest degree. The great critical Hebrew Bible of Kennicott, 2 vols. folio, 1776-1780; and the supplementary work of De Rossi in 5 vols. 1784-1808, contain a vast amount of various readings on the Old Testament the result of the collation

of twelve hundred and sixty-one manuscripts; and to these may be added the collations of Bruns and Pinner. The learned Rationalist, Eichhorn, himself acknowledges that the different readings of the Hebrew manuscripts collated by Kennicott, scarcely afforded enough interest to repay the labour bestowed upon them. So also, we have not only the older critical Greek Testaments of Mill, Wetstein, Griesbach, and Matthaei; but the later edition by Scholz, containing the results of the examination of twelve hundred and seventy-three manuscripts; while the recent editions of Lachmann, Tischendorf, Scrivener, Alford, and Tregelles, exhibit the results of the examination of several others. Notwithstanding the vast number of the various readings in the New Testament manuscripts, noticed by these laborious collators, it is remarkable that from the multitude of transcriptions there has not resulted a greater number. The comedies of Terence alone contain thirty thousand variations, and yet they are but six in number, and they have been copied a thousand times less frequently than the New Testament. When therefore, we consider the great antiquity of the books of the Old and New Testaments, the vast numbers of copies -incomparably more numerous than those of any ancient author-of versions and editions which have been made of them in the various languages, in languages which have not any analogy one with another, among nations differing so much in their customs and their religious opinions-when we consider these things, it is truly astonishing to find such a marked uniformity in the different copies. Biblical criticism requires us to make ourselves acquainted with the principles by which critical editors have regulated their inquiries and their decisions; and, as we have, in their collections, the same materials which they possessed, we can in some degree put the accuracy of their results to the test.

Another preliminary object of attention is the branch now known as Biblical Hermeneutics, or the Theory and Rules of Interpretation, as applied to the Scriptures. The actual application of these rules is Interpretation istelf, now generally called Exegesis. It may at first be difficult, observes Dr. Robinson, for one not versed in Biblical Literature, to perceive the necessity and importance of this branch of study. The principles of Interpretation are as old as the creation; and are instinctively impressed upon our nature the

moment we begin to employ language as the representative of thought. We all interpret in stinctively and involuntarily, when any one addresses us; and the reader is even now in the full practice of every principle of interpretation, while he dwells upon these lines. Why then should it be necessary to draw out these principles into rules, and make a theory and science of what in itself is so practical and instinctive? We might reply, and with propriety, that it is interesting and important to bring out and exhibit in one general scientific view, the principles on which the human mind acts in this, as in so many other cases; that this indeed is one of the most important aspects of the science of mind; inasmuch as it respects all our intercourse with each other as intelligent beings. Still, the formation of rules to be applied to the interpretation of common discourse or of books on ordinary subjects, would certainly be in great part a matter of supererogation. Yet we find, that this science is of great importance in the legal profession; where the due interpretation of the words of a law often requires the nicest skill and a train of profound reasoning. So it is in the Bible. The Scriptures are the words of God, and reveal His holy law; they are in a language not our own, and which exists only in a fragmentary form. Hence the frequent necessity of applying all the various principles which can be brought to bear, for the elucidation of what might otherwise remain incomplete and obscure.

But in respect to the Bible, there is another aspect in which the science of Hermeneutica becomes of still more definite application and practical importance. This is presented by the question so often raised: Whether, after all, the language of the Bible is to be interpreted and understood on the same principles, and in the same manner, as that of other books? A priori there would seem to be no reason why the sacred volume should form an exception to the general rule. God speaks to men in the words of men; and means either to be understood, or not to be understood. If the former, then His language must be received and interpreted according to the innate fundamental principles of all human interpretation. If, on the contrary, He did not mean to be understood, then He has used the ordinary words of human language in a sense different from their ordinary and natural meaning; and has spoken one thing to the ear and eye, which all could

understand, and another thing in a more hidden sense, which none could understand. We speak not here, of course, of parables and allegories, which are common to all writings human or Divine; but more particularly of the poetical and prophetic parts of Scripture.

Here, in ancient times, Jewish interpreters were accustomed to suspend mountains of sense upon every word and letter of the Hebrew text; that is to say, the words were held to mean, not only what they would naturally express in their ordinary acceptation; but also everything else which the fancy of the interpreter might choose to attribute to them. This tendency passed over from the Jewish Rabbins to some of the Fathers in the early Christian church; and has been transmitted down in a greater or less degree even to the present day. This is the double or deeper sense, of which even now we hear so much; and which, as it seems to us, rests on an imperfect apprehension of the force and character of Divine truth. Besides, if we admit more than a single sense, except in obvious allegories and parables, how are we to decide upon this second meaning; which, by the very supposition, is hidden? By what rules or instinct are we to interpret plain and intelligible language, so as to bring out this deeper hidden sense? And being thus hidden, how are we to know, whether it is the true meaning? Why may not another just as well bring out a different hidden sense? And how, if there be one hidden meaning, can we determine that there is not a second and a third and a fourth, all equally hidden, and just as much concealed under the plain language, as that which we propose? If all this be so, what barrier can we set up, indeed, against the interpretations of a Cocceius, or the dreamy reveries of a Swedenborg? We know of none. In short, viewing the subject under every aspect, we must hold that any system of interpretation which departs from the plain and obvious meaning of the language of Scripture, rests upon a wrong foundation, and is fraught with danger to the mind earnestly seeking after Divine truth. It converts the word of God into a book of riddles; such as were not uncommon in ancient times; and, more than all, it saps the fundamental principles, which regulate our conduct as beings capable of a mutual interchange of thoughts by means of language. It makes God profess to speak to us in the language of man, and yet takes His words out from the applica

A knowledge of Biblical History is indispensible to the student in Biblical Science. The Old Testament is itself the chief history of the Hebrew nation: for the early narrative of Josephus is drawn mainly from the Bible, with the addition of various particulars derived from traditional and doubtful authority. The Pentateuch is indeed the foundation of all human history, as well as of the Jewish; and brings down the narrative of that people to the eve of their establishment in the Promised Land. Every subsequent part of the Bible, whether it be history, or poetry, or prophecy, gospel or epistle, refers back both to the Pentateuch and to Hebrew history in later times; and is absolutely unintelligible without an acquaintance with the facts there related. Thus far the Bible is its own best interpreter, the only storehouse where the facts are all laid up. And as Prof. Turner has well observed,-"The oldest Hebrew historian is some centuries more ancient than the earliest traces of writing among the Greeks; and the most modern writer of the Old Testament was contemporaneous or nearly so with Herodotus. Besides, the historical and poetic books of the Hebrews are ancient works of mind belonging to Asia, and therefore most valuable documents to assist in developing the primitive history of man, who was originally settled in that part of the world." There are frequent allusions to other nations in the Bible besides the Jews. Egypt and Ethiopia, Assyria and Persia, Babylon and Phenicia, play no unimportant part upon the pages of the Sacred Record; and an acquaintance with the facts of their history not only serves to illustrate the Holy Scriptures, but greatly to strengthen their authority. The recent edition of Herodotus, by the Rev. Prof. G. Rawlinson. 4 vols., will give the student important aid in the history of the ancient nations. This noble edition of the "father of history," is furnished with extensive notes by Sir H. Rawlinson, and Sir J. G. Wilkinson. And another work by the

Rev. Prof. G. Rawlinson, is indispensible to the Bible student: The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World; Chaldea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, and Persia, 4 vols., 1871. These valuable works exhibit the active spirit of the present age, in deciphering the sculptured monuments and writings of the ancient Assyrians and Egyptians; and not only furnish an amount of confirmation to the truthfulness of the old Greek historian, but at the same time they bring out from the same sources a mass of the strongest and most incontrovertible evidence, in behalf of the authenticity and claims of Holy Writ.

Not less in general importance to the interpreter, is the history of the Jewish people and the neighbouring nations, during the interval of time between the Old Testament and the New. This whole period had a paramount influence in forming the character of the later Jews, and shaping their opinions on theological and moral subjects; and all these require to be well understood, in order to comprehend many of the allusions and much of the teaching in the New Testament, and to judge of its force and adaptation to times, circumstances, and persons. As connected with foreign nations, the facts respecting the Jews have been collected and arranged by Prideaux, and in a more condensed and attractive form by Jahn, in one of the parts of his great work on Jewish Archæology. In like manner, an acquaintance with the general history of the time of Christ and of the Apostolic age, is absolutely essential for understanding the scope and foundation of their instruction and doctrines; and the history of the primitive church during the same age, serves to clear up much that must otherwise remain "hard to be understood," in the writings of the great Apostle of the Gentiles.

Intimately connected with the history of the Hebrews, is their Archæology; usually divided into the Ecclesiastical, Political, and Domestic Antiquities. In respect to the Bible, it is perhaps an acquaintance with these, which constitutes the main and most essential qualification of the interpreter. It is this kind of knowledge, which most of all, places him in the position of the Jews themselves; enables him to think as they thought, feel as they felt, judge at they judged, and understand as they understood. Indeed, allusion to these various topics is interwoven in the very texture of every page and almost every paragraph of the Bible. Godwyn, in the Dedication

of his "Moses and Aaron," has well observed, "That many have no better acquaintance with Christ and His Apostles, is because they are such strangers with Moses and Aaron; Were customes antiquated thorowly knowne, many difficulties in Scripture would appear elegancies, and the places which now through obscurity dishearten the reader, would then become sweet invitements to an unwearied assiduity in perusing the Sacred Oracles."

The Ecclesiastical Antiquities have relation to the whole constitution and ritual of the Hebrew church established under the Old Testsment. In the New Testament the ancient ceremonial law is indeed abrogated; but in order to know what is thus abrogated, we must first know what once existed, and be able to mark the distinction between that which, as the spirit, is of permanent obligation, and that which, as the letter, has been done away. We must learn too what came in place of these former institutions; and what was the constitution imposed upon the Christian church, its sanctions and its ordinances.

In the Political Antiquities of the Hebrews we are to look not only for a perpetual commentary and illustration of the sacred text; but also for the source of much that exists in modern legislation. The very peculiar character of a people governed by a theocracy-a nation of which God alone was King, needs to be well understood, in order to embrace the full meaning of much of the Old Testament. In the New Testament likewise, the situation of this same people, pining under the galling yoke of foreign dominion; and all the complicated particulars of its government and administration under a foreign master, must constantly be taken into account, in order rightly to apprehend the language of the sacred Writers.

The Domestic Antiquities of the Hebrews show us their progress in arts and sciences, their household and family arrangements, their manners and customs, their business and actions, their daily life and walk. These servo more than all else to bring us to a close personal acquaintance with that remarkable people; they enable us to be present with them in their houses, at their meals, in their affairs; in short, in every thing relating to the persons and employments of themselves and families. Without an acquaintance with all these particulars, the interpreter can never be thoroughly furnished for his work. Whatever may be his qualifications in other respects, he can never