siastical, and Civil State, 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 familiarise 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. : 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. - those who apply themselves to ex 2. Literal and critical; plain 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 thought in the sacred writers, and the coherence of their expressions, are pointed out; Modern Versions, the authors of which fully, perspicuously, and faithfully render the words and ideas of the sacred writers into modern languages; — 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 Commentatorsis two fold: first, that we may acquire from them a method of interpreting the Scriptures correctly; and, 2. 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 ulti mately 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 antient 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 or perplexed in such commentaries, the original sources whence they were compiled must be referred to and diligently consulted, SECTION I. CHAPTER II. ON THE SPECIAL INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. On the Interpretation of the Figurative Language of 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 uncivilised 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 parti. cular 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 techincal distinctions, which been have 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. $1. General Observations on the Interpretation of Tropes and In order to understand fully the figurative language of the Scriptures, it is requisite, first, to ascertain and determine what is really figurative, lest we take that to be literal which is figurative, as the disciples of our Lord and the Jews frequently did, or lest we pervert the literal meaning of words by a figurative interpretation; and, secondly, when we have ascertained what is really figurative, to interpret it correctly, and deliver its true sense. For this purpose the following hints will be found useful, in addition to a consideration of historical circumstances, parallel passages, and the context. 1. The literal meaning of words must be retained, more in the historical books of Scripture, than in those which are poetical. We are not, therefore, to look for a figurative style in the historical books; and still less are historical narratives to be changed into allegories and parables, unless these are obviously apparent. Those expositors, therefore, violate this rule, who allegorise the history of the fall of man, and that of the prophet Jonah. 2. The literal meaning of words is to be given up, if it be either improper, or involve an impossibility, or where words, properly taken, contain any thing contrary to the doctrinal or moral precepts delivered in other parts of Scripture. Thus, (1.) The expressions in Jer. i. 18. are therefore necessarily to be understood figuratively. So, the literal sense of Isa. i. 25. is equally inapplicable; but in the following verse the prophet explains it in the proper words. (2.) In Psal. xviii. 2. God is termed, a rock, a fortress, a deliverer, a buckler, a horn of salvation, and a high tower: it is obvious that these predicates are metaphorically spoken of the Almighty. (3.) Matt. viii. 22. "Let the dead bury their dead,” cannot possibly be applied to those who are really and naturally dead; and consequently must be understood figuratively. "Leave those who are spiritually dead to perform the rites of burial for such as are naturally dead." (4.) The command of Jesus Christ, related in Matt. xviii. 8, 9. if interpreted literally, is directly at variance with the sixth commandment, (Exod. xx. 13,) and must consequently be understood figuratively. (5.) Whatever is repugnant to natural reason cannot be the true meaning of the Scriptures; for God is the original of natural truth, as well as of that which comes by particular revelation. No proposition, therefore, which is repugnant to the fundamental principles of reason, can be the sense of any part of the word of God; hence the words of Christ, This is my body, and This is my blood, — (Matt. xxvi. 26. 28.) are not to be understood in that sense, which makes for the doctrine of transubstantiation; because it is impossible that contradictions should be true; and we cannot be more certain that any thing is true, than we are that that doctrine is false. (6.) To change day into night (Job xvii. 12.) is a moral impossibility, contrary to common sense, and must be a figurative expression. In Isa. i. 5, 6. the Jewish nation are described as being sorely stricken or chastised, like a man mortally wounded, and destitute both of me |