improbable that the author collected some scattered sentiments ascribed to Solomon, which he arranged with the other materials he had selected for his work. Sonntag is of opinion that this book is a collection of fragments or miscellaneous hints for a large work, planned out and begun, but not completed. Respecting the author of the book of Ecclesiasticus, we have no information but what we collect from the book itself; and from this it appears that it was written by a person of the name of Jesus the son of Sirach, who had travelled in pursuit of knowledge, and who, according to Bretschneider, lived about 180 B. c. This man being deeply conversant with the Old Testament, and having collected many things from the prophets, blended them, as well as the sentences ascribed to Solomon, with the result of his own observation, and thus endeavoured to produce an ethical treatise that might be useful to his countrymen. This book was written in Hebrew, or rather the Syro-Chaldaic dialect then in use in Judæa, and was translated by his grandson into Greek, about the year 130 B. c., for the use of the Alexandrian Jews, who were ignorant of the language of Judæa. The translator himself is supposed to have been a son of Sirach, as well as his grandfather the author.

the Hebrew canon, nor is the style like that of Solomon. | made (xlvii. 24, 25.) to the captivity: although it is not Further, it is evident that it could not have been written by him, not only from the numerous passages which are cited in it from the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, who did not live till long after that king's reign, but also from its contradictions of historical truth, particularly in ch. xv. 14. where the author represents his countrymen as being in subjection to enemies, whom he describes as being "most foolish, and more miserable than the very babes." Whereas we are expressly informed by the sacred historian, that Judah and Israel enjoyed the greatest possible prosperity and peace during the reign of Solomon. (1 Kings iv. 20, 21. 24, 25.) To which we may add, that this book contains several words borrowed from the Grecian games, that were not in use till long after his time; for instance, cтævnpopuv (iv. 2.), to wear a crown, such as was given to victors, (iv. 2.), to make a triumphant entry as the victors did, after they had received the crown,- (iv. 2. x. 12.), the stadium or place appointed for the race, (iv. 2.), the reward appropriated to the successful candidate,-and @p26svav (x. 12.), to confer the prize of victory. On these accounts, Jerome' informs us that several ancient writers of the first three centuries ascribed it to Philo the Jew, a native of Alexandria, who flourished in the first century; and this opinion is generally adopted by the moderns, from the Platonic notions discoverable in it, as well as from its style, which evidently shows that it was the production of an Hellenistic Jew of Alexandria. Drusius indeed attributes it to another Philo, more ancient than the person just mentioned, and who is cited by Josephus ; but this hypothesis is untenable, because the author of the book of Wisdom was confessedly a Jew, and the Philo of Drusius was a heathen. Bishop Lowth considers this book evidently to be the production of some Hellenistic Jew, by whom it was originally written in Greek.

The book of Wisdom consists of three parts; the first, which is written in the name of Solomon, contains a description or encomium of wisdom, by which comprehensive term the ancient Jews understood prudence and foresight, knowledge and understanding, and principally the duties of religion and morality. This division includes the first six chapters. The second part points out the source of true wisdom and the means of obtaining it, in the seventh and eighth chapters. In the third part, comprising the remainder of the book, the author personifies Solomon, in whose name he introduces a long and tedious prayer or address to the Deity, which treats on a variety of topics, differing from the subject of the two preceding parts; viz. reflections on the history and conduct of the Israelites during their journeyings in the wilderness, and their subsequent proneness to idolatry. Hence he takes occasion to inveigh against idolatry, the origin of which he investigates, and concludes with reflections on the history of the people of God. His allegorical interpretations of the Pentateuch, and the precept (xvi. 28.), to worship God before the rising of the sun, have induced some critics to think that the author was of the sect of the Essenes.

The style of this book, Bishop Lowth pronounces to be very unequal. "It is often pompous and turgid, as well as tedious and diffuse, and abounds in epithets, directly contrary to the practice of the Hebrews; it is, however, sometimes temperate, poetical, and sublime." The book of Wisdom has always been admired for the sublime ideas which it contains of the perfections of God, and for the excellent moral tendency of its precepts; on which account some of the ancients styled it Panaretos, or the treasury of virtue. Although the fathers of the church, and particularly Jerome, uniformly considered it as apocryphal, yet they recommended its perusal, in consideration of its excellence. The third council of Carthage, held in 397, pronounced it to be a canonical book, under the name of the fourth book of Solomon, and the council of Trent confirmed this decision. Three ancient translations of it are extant, in Syriac, Arabic, and Latin; the last was executed before the time of Jerome, who says that he did not correct it. It is full of barbarisms..

VII. "THE WISDOM OF JESUS THE SON OF SIRACH, or EcCLESIASTICUS," like the preceding, has sometimes been considered as the production of Solomon, whence the council of Carthage deemed it canonical, under the title of the fifth book of Solomon, and their decision was adopted by the Council of Trent. It is however, manifest, that it was not, and could not, be written by Solomon, because allusion is

The book of Ecclesiasticus "is a collection, without any definite order, of meditations and proverbs relating to religion, to morals, and to the conduct of human life; generally distinguished by much acuteness of thought, and propriety of diction; and not unfrequently marked by considerable beauty and elegance of expression; and occasionally rising to the sublimest heights of human eloquence." From the great similarity between this book and the proverbs of Solomon, in matter, sentiments, diction, complexion of the style, and construction of the periods, Bishop Lowth is of opinion, that the author adopted the same mode of versification which is found in the Proverbs; and that he has performed his translation with such a religious regard to the Hebrew idiom, that, were it literally and accurately to be retranslated, he has very little doubt that, for the most part, the original diction might be recovered."

This book has met with general and deserved esteem in the Western church, and was introduced into the public service by the venerable reformers and compilers of our national liturgy. It may be divided into three parts; the first of which (from ch. i. to xliii.) contains a commendation of wisdom, and precepts for the regulation of life, that are adapted to persons of all classes and conditions, and of every age and sex. In the second part, the author celebrates the patriarchs, prophets, and other distinguished men among the Jews. (xliv.-1.) And the third part, containing the fiftieth chapter, concludes with a prayer or hymn of the author, and an exhortation to the pursuit of wisdom.

The book of Ecclesiasticus was frequently cited by the fathers of the church under the titles of Zupra, the wisdom of Jesus, Пavapiros Zoqia, wisdom, the treasure of all the virtues, or Ages, the discourse. The Latins cite it under the appellation of Ecclesiasticus, that is, a book which was read in the churches, to distinguish it from the book of Ecclesiastes. Anciently it was put into the hands of catechumens, on account of the edifying nature of its instruction; next to the inspired writings, a collection of purer moral precepts does not exist. Besides the Greek copy of this book, and the Latin version, there are two versions of it, one in Syriac, and the other in Arabic; the Latin translation is supposed to have been executed in the first century of the Christian æra: it is full of Greek terms, but differs widely from the present Greek of Ecclesiasticus. "The authorized English version of this treatise appears to have been made from the Greek text, as exhibited in the Complutensian Polyglott, which has, not without reason, been suspected of having been made conformable in many places to the Vulgate. A new translation, made immediately from the Vatican or Alexandrian text, would exhibit this treatise to us in a purer form."8

-a text

VIII. The book of BARUCH is not extant in Hebrew, and only in Greek and Syriac; but in what language it was

4 De Jesu Siracidæ Ecclesiastico Commentarius. 4to. Riga, 1792. Bretschneider, Liber Jesu Siracida. Proleg. pp. 10-32.

Christian Remembrancer, May, 1827, p. 262. Addison has recorded his

opinion, that "the little apocryphal treatise, entitled the Wisdom of the Son of Sirach, would be regarded by our modern wits as one of the most shining tracts of morality that is extant, if it appeared under the name of a Confucius, or of any celebrated Grecian philosopher." Spectator, No. 68.

Bishop Lowth's Lectures, vol. ii. p. 177.

⚫ Christian Remembrancer, vol. ix. p. 263.

originally written, it is now impossible to ascertain. It is equally uncertain by whom this book was written, and whether it contains any matters historically true, or whether the whole is a fiction. Grotius is of opinion that it is an entire fiction, and that it was composed by some Hellenistic Jew under the name of Baruch. In the Vulgate version it is placed after the Lamentations of Jeremiah; but it was never considered as a canonical book by the Jews, though, in the earliest ages of Christianity, it was cited and read as a production entitled to credit. The principal subject of the book is an epistle, pretended to be sent by Jehoiakim and the cap tive Jews in Babylon, to their brethren in Judah and Jerusalem. The last chapter contains an epistle which falsely bears the name of Jeremiah; there are two versions of this book extant, one in Syriac, and one in Arabic; the Latin translation in the Vulgate is prior to the time of Jerome.

IX. "THE SONG OF THE THREE CHILDREN" is placed in the Greek versions of Daniel (both the Septuagint and Theodotion's), and also in the Vulgate Latin version, between the twenty-third and twenty-fourth verses of the third chapter. It does not appear to have ever been extant in Hebrew, and although it has always been admired for the piety of its sentiments, it was never admitted to be canonical, until it was recognised by the council of Trent. The fifteenth verse contains a direct falsehood; for it asserts that there was no prophet at that time, when it is well known that Daniel and Ezekiel both exercised the prophetic ministry in Babylon. This apocryphal fragment is therefore most probably the production of some Hellenistic Jew. The hymn (verses 29. et seq.) resembles the hundred and forty-eighth Psalm. It was introduced into the public formularies of the Christian church very early, and was so approved of by the compilers of our liturgy, that, in the first Common Prayer Book of King Edward VI. it was retained and was used instead of the Te Deum during Lent, though it is now seldom read, except perhaps when the third chapter of the book of Daniel is the first lesson. It is on record, that this hymn was used so early as the third century in the Liturgies of the Christian church.

X. THE HISTORY OF SUSANNA has always been treated with some respect, but has never been considered as canonical, though the council of Trent admitted it into the number of sacred books. It is evidently the work of some Hellenistic Jew, and in the Vulgate version it forms the thirteenth chapter of the book of Daniel, being avowedly translated from Theodotion's Greek version, in which it is placed at the beginning of that book. The Septuagint version of Daniel (which was excluded for Theodotion's, in or soon after the second century) does not contain it, as appears by the Chigi MS., published at Rome in 1772. Lamy and some other modern critics, after Julius Africanus, consider it to be both spurious and fabulous.

18, 19. there is mention of a prayer by the king, which is said to be written "in the Book of the Kings of Israel," and also, "among the sayings of the seers." But it is evident that this composition, which abounds with deeply pious and penitent expressions, cannot be the prayer there alluded to for it never was extant in Hebrew, nor can it be traced to a higher source than the Vulgate Latin version. As it is mentioned by no writer more ancient than the pseudo-Clement, in the pretended apostolical constitutions, which were compiled in the fourth century, it is probable that this prayer was composed by some unknown person, who thought he could supply the loss of the original prayer.

XIII. The two books of MACCABEES are thus denominated, because they relate the patriotic and gallant exploits of Judas Maccabæus and his brethren: they are both admitted into the canon of Scripture by the church of Rome.

1. The FIRST BOOK contains the history of the Jews, from the beginning of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes to the death of Simon, a period of about thirty-four years. Its original language has been greatly controverted. Jerome expressly says that he had seen the original in Hebrew.3 But this is supposed to have been lost. The title which it then bore, was Sharbit Sar Bene El, which has been variously translated, The Scourge of the Rebels against the Lord, and The Sceptre of the Prince of the Sons of God: a title which is not unsuitable to the character of Judas, who was a valiant commander of the persecuted Israelites. The author of this book is not certainly known; some conjecture that it was written by John Hyrcanus, the son of Simon, who was prince and high-priest of the Jews for nearly thirty years, and who commenced his government at the time when this history ends; by others it is ascribed to one of the Maccabees, and many are of opinion that it was compiled by the Great Synagogue. It is, however, not improbable, that it was composed in the time of John Hyrcanus, when the wars of the Maccabees were terminated, either by Hyrcanus himself, or by some persons employed by him. From the SyroChaldaic (or Hebrew) it was translated into Greek, and thence into Latin. Our English version is made from the Greek. The first book of Maccabees is a most valuable historical monument, written with great accuracy and fidelity, on which more reliance may be placed than on the writings of Josephus, who has borrowed his materials from it, and has frequently mistaken its meaning. 6

2. The SECOND BOOK OF MACCABEES consists of several pieces compiled by an unknown author. It commences with two epistles sent from the Jews of Jerusalem to those of Alexandria and Egypt, exhorting them to observe the feast of the dedication of the new altar, erected by Judas Maccabæus on his purifying the temple. These epistles, which are confessedly spurious, are followed by the author's preface to his history, which is an abridgment of a larger work, XI. "The History of the Destruction of BEL AND THE compiled by one Jason, an Hellenistic Jew of Cyrene; who DRAGON" was always rejected by the Jewish church: it is wrote in Greek the history of Judas Maccabæus and his not extant either in the Hebrew or the Chaldee language. brethren, and an account of the wars against Antiochus Jerome gives it no better title than that of the fable of Bel Epiphanes, and his son Eupator, in five books. The entire and the Dragon; nor has it obtained more credit with pos- work of Jason has long since perished, and Dr. Prideaux is terity, except with the divines of the council of Trent, who of opinion that the author of this second book of Maccabees determined it to be a part of the canonical Scriptures. The was an Hellenistic Jew of Alexandria, because he makes a design of this fiction is to render idolatry ridiculous, and to distinction between the temple in Egypt and that at Jerusaexalt the true God; but the author has destroyed the illusion lem, calling the latter "the great temple." This book is by of his fiction by transporting to Babylon the worship of no means equal in accuracy to the first, which it contradicts animals, which was never practised in that country. This in some instances; it is not arranged in chronological order, book forms the fourteenth chapter of Daniel in the Latin and sometimes also it is at variance with the inspired writVulgate; in the Greek it was called the prophecy of Hab-ings. Compare 2 Macc. i. 18. with Ezra iii. 2, 3. and ii. bakuk, the son of Jesus, of the tribe of Levi; but this is evidently false, for that prophet lived before the time of Nebuchadnezzar, and the events pretended to have taken place in this fable are assigned to the time of Cyrus. There are two Greek texts of this fragment, that of the Septuagint, and that found in Theodotion's Greek version of Daniel. The former is the most ancient, and has been translated into Syriac. The Latin and Arabic versions, together with another Syriac translation, have been made from the texts of Theodotion.

XII. "THE PRAYER OF MANASSES, king of Judah, when he was holden captive in Babylon," though not unworthy of the occasion on which it is pretended to have been composed, was never recognised as canonical. It is rejected as spurious even by the church of Rome. In 2 Chron. xxxiii. 1 Wheatley on the Common Prayer, chap. iii. sect. 12. Shepherd on the Common Prayer, p. 231. London, 1796, 8vo.

Of this the reader may see a proof in the paranomasia, or play upon words, which has already been noticed in p. 282. of this volume.

5-8. with Jer. iii. 16. The second book of Maccabees, therefore, must be read with great caution. It contains the history of about fifteen years, from the execution of the commission of Heliodorus, who was sent by Seleucus to bring away the treasures of the temple, to the victory obtained by Judas Maccabæus over Nicanor, that is, from the year of the world 3828 to 3843. Two ancient translations of this book are extant, one in Syriac, the other in Latin; both are prior to the time of Jerome, and both miserably executed. The version in our Bibles was executed from the Greek.

Hieron. Prolog. Galeat, sive Præf. in Lib. Regum.

Dr. Kennicott, however, in his "Dissertatio Generalis," cites two manuscripts, one of which, No. 474., is preserved at Rome, "Libr. Maccab. Chaldaice," written early in the thirteenth century; a second, No. 613., existing at Hamburgh, "Libr. Maccab. Hebraice," written in the year 1448. Dr. Cotton's Five Books of Maccabees, p. xxi. Prideaux's Connection, vol. ii. pp. 185, 186. Michaelis, Introd. to New Test. vol. i. p. 71. Connection, vol. ii. pp. 186, 187.

:

of reason," ascribed to Josephus by Philostratus, Eusebius, and Jerome. Its author is not known: it is extant in the Vatican and Alexandrian manuscripts, and in various editions of the Septuagint, in which it is placed after the three books of Maccabees, but it is not extant in any Latin Bibles. It is designed to adorn and enlarge the history of old Eleazar, and of the seven brothers, who with their mother suffered martyrdom under Antiochus, as is related more succinctly in the sixth and seventh chapters of the second book of Maccabees.3 Dr. Cotton has the honour of giving the first correct English version of this book.

Besides the two books of Maccabees here noticed, there | same as the book "concerning the government, or empire are three others which bear their names, but very improperly neither of them has ever been reputed canonical. 3. The THIRD BOOK OF MACCABEES contains the history of the persecution of the Jews in Egypt by Ptolemy Philopater, and their sufferings under it. From its style, this book appears to have been written by some Alexandrian Jew: it abounds with the most absurd fables. With regard to its subject, it ought in strictness to be called the FIRST book of Maccabees, as the events it professes to relate occurred before the achievements of that heroic family; but as it is of less authority and repute than the other two, it is reckoned after them. It is extant in Syriac, though the translator seems to have been but imperfectly acquainted with the Greek language; and it is also found in some ancient manuscripts of the Greek Septuagint, particularly in the Alexandrian and Vatican manuscripts; but it was never inserted in the Latin Vulgate, nor in our English Bibles. Being reputed to be a canonical book by the Greek church, it is inserted in the various editions of the Septuagint: a translation of the third book of Maccabees is inserted in Becke's edition of the English Bible, printed in 1551; a second translation by Mr. Whiston was published in his "Authentic Documents," in two volumes, 8vo. 1719-27; and a third version, made by the Rev. Clement Crutwell, was added to his edition of the authorized English version, with the notes of Bishop Wilson. Dr. Cotton considers Mr. Whiston's version to be the more faithful of the three; but he has not held himself bound to retain it in his English edition of the five books of Maccabees, wherever an examination of the original suggested an alteration as advisable.2 4. The FOURTH book of MaccabEES is supposed to be the

5. The FIFTH BOOK OF MACCABEES is the work of an unknown author, who lived after the capture of Jerusalem by Titus; it is supposed to have been compiled from the acts of each successive high-priest. Although Calmet is of opinion that it was originally written in Hebrew, whence it was translated into Greek, yet it is not now extant in either of those languages. It is, however, extant both in Syriac and in Arabic. Dr. Cotton has given an English translation of it from the Latin version of the Arabic text, printed in Bishop Walton's Polyglott edition of the Bible. This book "is a kind of chronicle of Jewish affairs, commencing with the attempt on the treasury of Jerusalem by Heliodorus (with an interpolation of the history of the Septuagint version, composed by desire of Ptolemy), and reaching down to the birth of Christ; or, speaking accurately, to that particular point of time, at which Herod, almost glutted with the noblest blood of the Jews, turned his murderous hands upon the members of his own family; and completed the sad tragedy of the Asmonæan princes, by the slaughter of his own wife Mariamne, her mother, and his own two sons."4

"

PART VI.

ANALYSIS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

CHAPTER I.

and the sixth, the Apocalypse. But the more modern, and certainly more convenient arrangement, is that of the Historical, Doctrinal, and Prophetical Books.

ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT VARIOUS modes of arranging the books of the New Testament have obtained at different times; nor does the order in which they are to be found in manuscripts correspond with that in which they occur in the printed copies and modern The HISTORICAL BOOKS are such as contain principally translations. In the time of Ignatius (who flourished A. D. matters of fact, though points of faith and doctrine are also 107), the New Testament consisted of two codes or collec- interwoven. They consist of two parts; the first, comprising tions, called Gospels," and "Epistles," or " Gospels," and the four Gospels, relates the transactions of Jesus Christ. "Apostles;" the same division prevailed in the time of These, when formed into a volume, have sometimes been Tertullian, A. D. 200. (the Acts being included in the latter collectively termed Evrov, the Gospel, and Eva gap, division), who called the Gospels"our Digesta," in allu- the Scripture of the Gospels. The second part of these histosion, as it seems, to some collection of the Roman laws rical books relates the transactions of the Apostles, especially digested into order. This division also obtained in the time those of Peter and Paul, and comprises the books called the of Cyprian, who flourished soon after Tertullian. About a Acts of the Apostles. The DOCTRINAL BOOKS include the century afterwards, Athanasius, or the author of the Synopsis fourteen Epistles of Saint Paul, and also the seven Catholic of the Sacred Scriptures attributed to him, makes the New Epistles, so called because they were chiefly addressed to Testament to consist of eight volumes or parts, viz. the four the converted Jews, who were dispersed throughout the RoGospels; the fifth book is the Acts of the Apostles; the sixth man empire. The appellation of Catholic Epistles is of concontains the seven Catholic Epistles; the seventh, the four-siderable antiquity, being mentioned by Eusebius, Jerome, teen Epistles of St. Paul; and the eighth, the Revelation of and the pseudo-Athanasius. The Revelation of Saint John Saint John. In a later age, Leontius of Byzantium (or Con- forms the PROPHETICAL class of the books of the New Tesstantinople) distributed the books of the New Testament tament. into six books or parts, the first of which comprised the Gospels of Matthew and Mark; the second those of Luke and John; the third, the Acts of the Apostles; the fourth, the seven Catholic Epistles; the fifth, the Epistles of Saint Paul;

1 Prideaux's Connection, vol. ii. p. 111. 8th edit. sub anno 216.
Calmet's Preface sur le IV. livre des Maccabees. Dissertationes, tom.

2 Cotton's Five Books of Maccabees, p. xx.

On the preceding classification we may remark, that the appellation of Historical Books is given to the Gospels and Acts, because their subject-matter is principally historical; and that the Gospels are placed first, on account of the importance of their contents, which relate the history of the life, discourses, doctrines, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, which form the primary articles of

ii. pp. 423-423.; where he has collected all the traditionary information the Christian faith.10 The Acts of the Apostles are placed

extant concerning this book.

4 Cotton's Five Books of Maccabees, p. xxxii. xxxiv. xxxi.

Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. c. 23. Hieronymi, Cat. Script. Eccles. (Opp. tom. i. pp. 169, 170. Francof. 1684.) Pseudo-Athanasii Synops. Sacr.

See the passages in Dr. Lardner's Works, 8vo. vol. ii. pp. 81, 82.; 4to. Script. in Athanasii Opp. p. 59. vol. i. pp. 3:2, 323.

Ibid. Svo. vol. ii. pp. 278-282.; 4to. vol. i. pp. 431-433.
Ibid. 8vo. vol. ii. pp. 179, 180.; 4to. vol. ii. pp. 28, 29.

10 Considerable discussion has taken place among the German critics, and some few critics in this country, respecting the sources of the four Gospels. Hypothesis has succeeded to hypothesis; and the last is as un

• De Sectis, art. 2. cited by Heidegger, Manuale Biblicum, p. 441 and satisfactory as the first. For an account of the principal theories on this Rumpæus, Com. Crit. ad Libros N T. p. 97.

subject, the reader is referred to Appendix I. to this volume.

III. PROPHETICAL, foretelling what shall be the future state and condition of the Church of Christ to the end of the world,

CHAPTER II.

ON THE HISTORICAL BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

SECTION I.

ON THE NAME AND NUMBER OF THE CANONICAL GOSPELS.

I. Observations on the general Appellation of GOSPEL, as applied to the Histories of Jesus Christ.-II. General Scope of the Gospels.-III. Their Number.-IV. Importance of the Gospels.

I. THE Word ErATTEAION, which we translate Gospel, among Greek profane writers, signifies any good tidings (from, good, and age, a message or tidings), and corresponds exactly with our English word Gospel, which is derived from the Saxon words goo, God or good, and rpel, word or tiding, and denotes God's word or good tidings. In the New Testament this term is confined to the glad tidings of the actual coming of the Messiah, and is even opposed to the prophecies concerning Christ. (Rom. i. 1, 2.) Thus, in Matt. xi. 5. our Lord says, "the poor have the Gospel preached to them," that is, the advent and doctrines of the Messiah or Christ are preached to the poor. Hence ecclesiastical writers gave the appellation of Gospels to the lives

1 Millii Prolegom, ad Nov. Test. §239.

Rumpai. Comm. Crit ad Nov. Test. pp. 98-120. Moldenhewer, Introd.

ad. Lib. Bibi. pp. 204-206. Heidegger, Manuale Biblicum, pp. 441-447. a Elements of Christian Theology, vol. i. p. 276.

Dr. Lardner's Works, Svo. vol. vi. pp. 641-649.; 4to. vol. iii. pp. 454

From Roberts's Clavis Bibliorum, p. 692.

On the various meanings of the word Evayys, Schleusner's and Parkhurst's Greek Lexicon, or Leusden's Philologus Græcus (pp. 133135.), may be advantageously consulted.

Gospel (Acts xv. 7.)-The Word of Reconciliation (2 Cor. v. 19.), because it makes known the manner and terms by which God is reconciled to sinners;-The Gospel of Glory (or the glorious Gospel) of the blessed God (1 Tim. i. 11.), as being that dispensation which exhibits the glory of all the divine attributes in the salvation of mankind;-and The Gospel of the Grace of God (Acts xx. 24.), because it is a declaration of God's free favour towards all men.-The blessings and privileges promised in the New Testament (1 Cor. ix. 23.)-The public profession of Christian doctrine (Mark viii. 35. x. 29. 2 Tim. i. 8. Philem. ver. 13.);—and in Gal. i. 6. 8, 9. any new doctrines, whether true or false, are respectively called the Gospel.

II. The general design of the evangelists in writing the Gospels was, doubtless, to confirm the Christians of that (and every succeeding) age in their belief of the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, through whom alone they can obtain eternal life (John xx. 31.), and also to defend this momentous truth against the calumnies of the adversaries of the Christian faith. For, as the Jews, and those who supported the Jewish superstition, would calumniate, and endeavour to render suspected, the oral declarations of the apostles concerning the life, transactions, and resurrection of our Saviour, it would not a little tend to strengthen the faith and courage of the first Christians, if the most important events in the history of Jesus Christ were committed to writing in a narrative which should set forth his dignity and divine majesty. This task was executed by two apostles, Matthew and John, and two companions of the apostles, Mark and Luke, if indeed Luke was not one of those who attended the ministry of Jesus Christ. Of these evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke have chiefly related the actions and doctrines of Jesus in Galilee, probably on account of the false reports circulated by the Jews of Jerusalem: who, being unable to deny the memorable and notorious transactions performed there by Jesus Christ, seem to have directed all their efforts to invalidate the credibility of what he is said to have taught and done in Galilee. This is the more likely, as we know that they held the Galileans in the utmost contempt, as well as every thing which came from that country. (John vii. 52.). Such appears to have been the reason why these three evangelists have related the transactions of Jesus Christ in Galilee more at length; while, with the exception of his passion and resurrection, they have only touched briefly on the other circumstances of his life. On the contrary, John expatiates more largely on the actions and doctrines of our Saviour both at Jerusalem and in Judæa, and adds a variety of particulars omitted by the others.

pens of separate and independent writers, who, from the contradictions, whether real or apparent, which are visible in these accounts, have incontestably proved that they did not unite with a view of imposing a fabulous narrative on mankind. That Saint Matthew had never seen the Gospel of Saint Luke, nor Saint Luke the Gospel of Saint Matthew, is evident from a comparison of their writings. The Gospel of Saint Mark, which was written later, must likewise have been unknown to Saint Luke; and that Saint Mark had ever read the Gospel of Saint Luke, is at least improbable, because their Gospels so frequently differ." It is a generally received opinion, that Saint Mark made use of Saint Matthew's Gospel in the composition of his own: but this, it will be shown in a subsequent page, is an unfounded hypothesis. The Gospel of Saint John, being written after the other three, supplies what they had omitted. Thus have we four distinct and independent writers of one and the same history; and though triffing variations may seem to exist in their narratives, yet these admit of easy solutions; and in all matters of consequence, whether doctrinal or historical, there is such a manifest agreement between them as is to be found in no other writings whatever.

"Though we have only four original writers of the life of Jesus, the evidence of the history does not rest on the testimony of four men. Christianity had been propagated in a great part of the world before any of them had written, on the testimony of thousands and tens of thousands, who had been witnesses of the great facts which they have recorded; so that the writing of these particular books is not to be con sidered as the cause, but rather the effect, of the belief of Christianity; nor could those books have been written and received as they were, viz. as authentic histories, of the subject of which all persons of that age were judges, if the facts they have recorded had not been well known to be true."s

III. The Gospels which have been transmitted to us are I. IN some Greek and Latin manuscripts, and the earlier four in number; and we learn from undoubted authority that printed editions, as well as in the Coptic version and many four, and four only, were ever received by the Christian Greek and Latin fathers, the TITLE of this book is, Euggexion church as the genuine and inspired writings of the evange-xara Mardar, "Gospel according to Matthew." In many lists. Many of the ancient fathers have attempted to assign other MSS., however, but of later date, it is To xara MarJay the reason why we have precisely this number of Gospels, av Eve, which may be rendered either, "The Holy and have fancied that they discovered a mysterious ana- Gospel according to Matthew," or (which is adopted in our logy between the four Gospels and the four winds, the authorized version), "The Gospel according to Saint Matfour regions or corners of the earth, the four rivers of Para- thew." But in many of the most ancient Greek manudise, and the four corners and four rings of the ark of the scripts, and in several editions it is To xara Mardasy Evazze covenant! But the most celebrated analogy is that of the four, which in the ancient Latin versions is rendered Evananimals described by Ezekiel (i. 5-10.), which was first gelium secundum Matthæum,-the Gospel according to observed by Irenæus,3 and after him by Jerome, and which Matthew: Ara Manav being equivalent to To Murdaku, as gave rise to the well-known paintings of the four evangelists. the preposition ara is used by Greek writers in the same The following table exhibits the most probable dates, as well manner as the of the Hebrews in many of the titles of the as the names of the places, where the historical books of the psalms,-to indicate the author. The "Gospel according to New Testament were written. Matthew," therefore, means the history of or by Matthew, concerning the life, acts, and doctrines of Jesus Christ:9 and as the evangelist's design is, to show that every thing done or taught by Him was characteristic of the Messiah, Hug remarks, that his book deserved to be called Evagy,—the consolatory annunciation of the Messiah; an appellation, biographies of Jesus, though though their peculiar aim was which (he thinks) was subsequently attached to all the other entirely different from that of Matthew.10 In the Arabic ver

GOSPELS.

Matthew (Hebrew))
(Greek)

Mark.

Luke (Gospel)

John

PLACES.
Judæa

-(Acts of the Apostles)}

A. D.
37 or 38.
61.
Rome between 60 and 63.
· Greece ·
63 or 64.
- Ephesus
97 or 98.

IV. "It is a considerable advantage that a history of such importance as that of Jesus Christ has been recorded by the

Dr. Clarke's Preface to the Gospel of Matthew, p. ii. 4.

Irenæus adv. Hæres. lib. iii. c. 11. expressly states that in the second century the four Gospels were received by the church. See additional testimonies to the number of the Gospels in the Index to Dr. Lardner's Works, voce Gospels.

Irenæus adv. Hæres. lib. iii. c. 11. The first living creature, says this father, which is like a lion, signifies Christ's efficacy, principality, and regality; viz. John;-the second, like a calf, denotes his sacerdotal order, iz Luke; the third, having as it were a man's face, describes his coming in the flesh as man, viz. Matthew;-and the fourth, like a flying eagle, anifests the grace of the Spirit flying into the church, viz. Mark !! Jerome, Protem. in Matth. The reader, who is desirous of reading core of these fanciful analogies, will find them collected by Suicer, in his Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus, tom. i. pp. 1222, 1223.

Michaelis, vol. iii. p. 4.

* See Section III. § VIII. infra.

1 See Vol. I. Part II. Book II. Chap. VII. on the Contradictions which are alleged to exist in the Scriptures.

Dr. Priestley's Notes on the Bible, vol. iii. p. 7.

A similar mode of expression occurs in the second apocryphal Book of Maccabees (ii. 13.), where we read ** TOT; UTOμVYμATIOMIS TOIS KATA TON NEEMIAN, in our version rendered "the commentaries of NEEMIAS."

10 Pritii Introd. ad Nov. Test. p. 169. Keinoel, Prolegomena ad Matthæum, $ 2. Hug's Introd. to the New Testament, by Dr Wait, vol. ii. p. 9. Griesbach's edit. of the New Testament, vol. i. on Matt. i. 1. Moldenhawer, Introd. ad Libros Biblicos, p. 215.