With the knowledge of the subjects that have now been enumerated, the student should combine some acquaintance with—

(3) Rhetoric, so, at least, as to be able to interpret the various tropes and figures employed by the sacred writers; as metaphor, metonymy, synechdoche, irony, hyperbole, allegory, metalepsis, catachresis, litotes, antonomasia, &c. And if he can add to this a slight knowledge of

(4) General grammar and philosophy, he will find it of great advantage in his studies.

These appear to be the chief of those branches of knowledge, the possession of which is indispensable to ensure the right interpretation of Scripture. That they comprise much reading, and involve a long course of study, must not be denied. But their possession will amply repay the labour expended in their acquisition. Where the time and opportunities of the reader are of a very limited nature, he may be discouraged from the attempt to gather this information; but let him make the effort, and he will not lose

English by Upham. The last-mentioned work, however, is not easily to be procured in this country.

his reward. If he can merely procure some good book or treatise upon each of the topics enumerated, and give it one attentive reading throughout, so that he may be able to turn to it with readiness during his course of Scripture study, he will soon find that his progress is considerable, and his pleasure and satisfaction in the investigation of the Bible will be greatly augmented. A daily accession to his knowledge, however small, will soon produce a large sum, in amount; and being appropriated as it is obtained, will furnish abundant incentives to renewed diligence and study, by the delightful gratification which it yields.

CHAP. VI.

OF THE METHOD IN WHICH THE SCRIPTURES SHOULD

BE STUDIED.

"Searching the Scriptures, daily."---The Bereans.

If the readers of the Scriptures could but be prevailed upon to regard them, primarily, in their simplest and most obvious character; namely, as literary compositions, addressed to the common sense and ordinary understanding of mankind, and therefore to be interpreted by an application of those common-sense principles which are adopted in the study of all other works, of a similar description, no inconsiderable progress would be made towards the promotion of a juster and a more general acquaintance with pure scriptural divinity. But, I may not trust myself to dwell upon this subject here; it gives rise to so many reflections, and leads to so wide a compass of remark, that to expatiate upon it would be inconsistent with

the plan of the present work. Hoping, therefore, that each of my readers will make it the subject of mature and serious consideration, I pass, at once, to enumerate a few of the most obvious and indispensable rules to be adopted in a personal study of the Holy Scriptures.

The observations which have been made, in the preceding chapter, will have suggested to the intelligent reader, that the first and most obviously indispensable thing to be aimed at in the reading of the Scriptures, is

1. To ascertain the real or literal meaning of the language employed. I have already remarked, that words are the mere symbols or representatives of things or ideas, the connection between them being the mere result of a mutual understanding or agreement among the persons by whom they are employed. Hence, it is our business to ascertain, by all available methods, the sense which was attached to the language of Scripture by the writers, and the persons to whom they immediately addressed themselves. How, then, would a modern reader of any other ancient work proceed in order to discover the meaning of the language in which it was written? If it were written in a foreign language, the knowledge of which he possessed the means of

acquiring, to attain this would, certainly, be the first step in his proceeding. This being accomplished, through the ordinary medium of grammars and lexicons, and the reading and comparison of the best vernacular writers, the process of interpretation would be very simple and obvious. Assuming, of course, that the writer whose book was the object of inquiry intended to render himself intelligible to his contemporaries and readers generally, and that he had therefore employed words in the sense which they usually bore, the student would interpret them by the ordinary rules of philology and common sense, and would thus arrive at their meaning. And this course, adopted with reference to other books, is to be adopted in the study of the Scriptures. Those persons who have the means of studying the Hebrew and Greek languages, in which they were written, should not fail to make these the objects of their immediate attention; but where the knowledge of them does not fall within the means of the student, he must avail himself of the aid of the best and most faithful translations. Of our own authorised version I have already spoken, as well as of some others that we possess: to these the mere English reader wil apply himself, and