The apostles have applied some parts of this Psalm to Christ, and they knew that the whole would be accomplished in him; yet in their discourses and writings, they avoided a particular mention of the destruction which should fall upon the persecuting princes, probably because they would not offend the Roman emperors, and give malicious men an opportunity of accusing the Christians as bad subjects, and as enemies to the government.

But we will not dissemble another interpretation which hath been given of this psalm.

"It was made, say they, by David, for the use of "the people, of his subjects, who were to rehearse it "in the house of God, at the tabernacle.

"It relates in its primary sense to David, and the meaning of the first verse is, The Lord Jehovah hath "said to my Lord, (king David) Sit thou, &c. It is "true that David was no priest, but the word Chohen "is ambiguous, and may mean either a priest, or an "intimate friend of the king, who hath free admis"sion to his presence, one of the great courtiers; according to which sense the fourth verse may be in

terpreted, Thou art of all the sons of men, my principal favourite, who hast free access to me.

"But then this psalm, like many other prophecies, "hath a double sense, and is applicable to the Messias, and is much more eminently accomplished in "him than it ever was in David."

This interpretation hath been proposed and adopted by Ruarus, and by some other Socinians. See Ruari Epist. T. ii. P. 116.

Now, if we should admit this double sense, yet it must be observed that Christ applied this Psalm to himself, that the apostles applied it to him, and that

their interpretation was fully justified by a long train of various events, and by the accomplishment of the whole prediction in Christ, which is an irrefragable proof that they understood it rightly.

But there is no admitting this double meaning without adopting a precarious hypothesis, contradicting the general opinion of the Jews in the time of Christ, rejecting the version of the LXX. which translates Chohen, itges, according to the usual sense of the word, and offering violence to some parts of the Psalm, which cannot be applied to David unless in a sense very low and flat, sensu valde diluto. David could not say of himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, nor did he sit at the right hand of God, exalted above men and angels, nor were all his enemies subdued under his feet, nor did they whom he conquered pay him a willing obedience, nor was he an everlasting priest, or an everlasting king, nor was his dominion extensive over the nations and the Gentiles..

Davidis revera fuisse Psalmum testatur Christus, et Petrus. Uterque ostendit, vi verborum, de Christo agi, non de alio; qua in re non aptantur ei verba, quæ et alii convenire queant, ut interdum fit in vaticinis; sed statuuntur non aliter posse intelligi.-Hoc unum non facile cuiquam concessero, hunc Psalmum non ad Jesum Christum solum et quidem directe referri oportere; quod nec dijfitebatur H. Grotius, qui ceteroquin insimulatur, quasi vix ullam prophetiam directe ad Christum solum pertinere fassus sit. Quod tamen immerito viro magno objicitur. Clericus. See his Comment on this Psalm.

The condition of the Jews under Constantine should now be considered, but I shall take the subject from an earlier date, and offer a few remarks on the state

of

WC

of that people from the destruction of Jerusalem to this day.

"Howsoever unentertaining the history may seem "to be which we have undertaken, yet it presents to "the public view an object worthy of observation, "and the greatest prodigy that can be imagined, "namely, the preservation of the Jewish people in the "midst of the miseries which they have undergone "since seventeen hundred years. Religions depend "on temporal prosperity; they triumph under the "protection of a conqueror; they languish and sink "with sinking monarchies. Paganism, which once "covered the face of the earth, is extinct. The

Christian church, glorious in its martyrs, yet was "considerably diminished by the persecutions to "which it was exposed, nor was it easy to repair the "breaches in it made by those acts of violence. But "here we behold a church hated and persecuted for "seventeen hundred ages, and yet sustaining itself "and widely extended, Kings have often employed "the severity of edicts and the hand of executioners "to ruin it. The seditious multitudes by murders "and massacres have committed outrages against it still more violent and tragical. Princes and peo"ple, Pagans, Mahometans, Christians, disagreeing in so many things, have united in the design of exterminating it, and have not been able to succeed. The Bush of Moses, surrounded with flames, ever burns, and is never consumed. The Jews have "been expelled, in different times, from every part of "the world, which hath only served to spread them in "all regions. From age to age they have been exposed "to misery and persecution. Yet still they subsist, in spite of the ignominy, and the hatred which hath pursued

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their interpretation was fully justified by a long train of various events, and by the accomplishment of the whole prediction in Christ, which is an irrefragable proof that they understood it rightly.

But there is no admitting this double meaning without adopting a precarious hypothesis, contradicting the general opinion of the Jews in the time of Christ, rejecting the version of the LXX. which translates Chohen, itpeus, according to the usual sense of the word, and offering violence to some parts of the Psalm, which cannot be applied to David unless in a sense very low and flat, sensu valde diluto. David could not say of himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, nor did he sit at the right hand of God, exalted above men and angels, nor were all his enemies subdued under his feet, nor did they whom he conquered pay him a willing obedience, nor was he an everlasting priest, or an everlasting king, nor was his dominion extensive over the nations and the Gentiles..

Davidis revera fuisse Psalmum testatur Christus, et Petrus. Uterque ostendit, vi verborum, de Christo agi, non de alio; qua in re non aptantur ei verba, quæ et ali convenire queant, ut interdum fit in vaticinis; sed statuuntur non aliter posse intelligi-Hoc unum non facile cuiquam concessero, hunc Psalmum non ad Jesum Christum solum et quidem directe referri oportere; quod nec diffitebatur H. Grotius, qui ceteroquin insimulatur, quasi vix ullam prophetiam directe ad Christum solum pertinere fassus sit. Quod tamen immerito viro magno objicitur. Clericus. See his Comment on this Psalm.

འ

The condition of the Jews under Constantine should now be considered, but I shall take the subject from an earlier date, and offer a few remarks on the state

of

WO

of that people from the destruction of Jerusalem to this day.

"Howsoever unentertaining the history may seem "to be which we have undertaken, yet it presents to "the public view an object worthy of observation, "and the greatest prodigy that can be imagined, namely, the preservation of the Jewish people in the "midst of the miseries which they have undergone since seventeen hundred years. Religions depend "on temporal prosperity; they triumph under the protection of a conqueror; they languish and sink "with sinking monarchies. Paganism, which once "covered the face of the earth, is extinct. The "Christian church, glorious in its martyrs, yet was considerably diminished by the persecutions to "which it was exposed, nor was it easy to repair the "breaches in it made by those acts of violence. But "here we behold a church hated and persecuted for "seventeen hundred ages, and yet sustaining itself "and widely extended. Kings have often employed "the severity of edicts and the hand of executioners "to ruin it. The seditious multitudes by murders "and massacres have committed outrages against it "still more violent and tragical. Princes and peo"ple, Pagans, Mahometans, Christians, disagreeing "in so many things, have united in the design of exterminating it, and have not been able to succeed. "The Bush of Moses, surrounded with flames, ever burns, and is never consumed. The Jews have "been expelled, in different times, from every part of "the world, which hath only served to spread them in "all regions. From age to age they have been exposed "to misery and persecution. Yet still they subsist, * in spite of the ignominy, and the hatred which hath pursued

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