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HOW TO ENJOY THE BIBLE 
 
HOW TO ENJOY THE BIBLE: 
 
 THE "WORD," AND "THE WORDS," 
 HOW TO STUDY THEM. 
 
 BY 
 
 E. W. BULLINGEE, D.D. 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 EYRE & SPOTTISWOODE (BIBLE WAREHOUSE), LTD. 
 33, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G. 
 1910 
 
PRINTERS 
 
If 10 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IT will add greatly to the interest of this work if 
 I briefly describe the circumstances to which, under 
 God, it owes its origin. ISTothing will so clearly show 
 its aim and object, or so well explain its one great 
 design as embodied in its title : Hoiv to Enjoy the 
 Bible. 
 
 In the autumn of 1905 I found myself in one of the 
 most important of the European Capitals. I had preached 
 in the morning in the Embassy Chapel, and at tlie close 
 of the service, my friend. His Britannic Majesty's Chap- 
 lain, expressed his deep regret at the absence of two 
 members of his congregation, whose disappointment, he 
 said, would be very great when they discovered they 
 were away on the very Sunday that I was there. 
 
 As it was a matter which I could not possibly alter 
 I was compelled, perforce, to dismiss it from my mind 
 with much regret, and returned to my hotel. 
 
 In the afternoon a visiting card was brought to my 
 room, announcing a gentleman holding a high Government 
 position. 
 
 In explaining the object of his visit he began by 
 saying that he had been brought up as a Roman Catholic ; 
 and that, a few years ago, there came into the office of 
 his department a copy of The Illustrated London News, 
 As he was learning English at the time, he was naturally 
 intci-ested in reading it. The number contnined an 
 account of the funeral of the late Charles Haddon 
 
 V 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Spurgeon, the illustrations of which attracted his atten- 
 tion. The letterpress made some reference to Mr. Spur- 
 geon's sermons and the world-wide fame which they had 
 obtained. This led him to procure some copies of the 
 sermons, and these, by God's grace and blessing, were 
 used for his conversion. 
 
 He was at the time thinking of marriage, and felt the 
 importance now of finding a Christian lady for his wife. 
 At the same time he began to attend my friend's English 
 Services, and before long he found an English lady, 
 
 residing at that time in , and in due course the 
 
 engagement ended in marriage. 
 
 The lady, how^ever, was, she told liim, an " Anglican " ; 
 and saw no necessity for her future husband to make any 
 formal recantation, but for private and public reasons 
 advised him to make no change in his religion. 
 
 But grace had changed him so completely, that it was 
 not a case, merely, of his holding the truth, but of the 
 truth holding him : consequently he could not rest until 
 he had renounced not only his former Roman Catholic 
 religion, but all religion that had anything to do with 
 the flesh; for he had found his all in Christ, and was 
 satisfied with the completeness which God had given 
 to him in HIM. 
 
 After their marriage they began to read together the 
 sermons which had proved, under God, so great a blessing 
 to himself ; and, before long, the same happy result took 
 l)lace in his wife's case, and they rejoiced together in the 
 Lord. 
 
 They soon however began to find that they had much 
 to learn. Reading the sermons and the Word of God 
 they felt that there were many subjects in the Bible which 
 they found little of in the sermons. True, they found the 
 same sound doctrines and useful teaching, and spiritual 
 food; but, they found also the absence of other truths 
 which they longed to know. 
 
 vi 
 
PREFACE 
 
 They spoke to my friend their minister, and told him 
 of their trouble. He lent them my book on The Church 
 Epistles. This book they began to study together, and 
 as the husband told me, "we went over it, three times, 
 word by word." This they did to their great edification. 
 " But," he said, "we soon discovered that you did not 
 " tell us everything, and there were many things which 
 " you assumed that we knew ; and these we naturally 
 " wished to learn more about. So, a few weeks ago, 
 " we resolved to take our holiday in London ; find you 
 " out ; and talk over with you the things which filled our 
 " hearts. 
 
 In due course we went to London ; ascertained your 
 " address on enquiry at the office of The Christian, and 
 " made our call. We found, to our disappointment, that 
 " you were here, in the very place from which we had 
 " set out to seek you. 
 
 " So we returned here at once, and arrived only last 
 " night, but were too tired to get from our suburb to the 
 " service this morning.'' 
 
 Not till that moment did I discover that these were 
 the same two persons to whom my friend the chaplain had 
 referred when he spoke of his regret at their absence 
 from the service that morning, and of the disappointment 
 which he was sure they would experience. 
 
 "I have lost no time in searching you out (he said), 
 " and am delighted to find you. You must come out to 
 " us and see us in our home to-morrow." 
 
 " To-morrow (I replied) I am going to P ." 
 
 " Oh, you cannot go," he said ; and in such a tone of 
 voice and manner as made me really feel I could not. 
 
 I said, "I am not travelling alone, but my friend is 
 standing near in conversation ; I will go and speak to 
 him on the subject." 
 
 vii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 We soon concluded that as our proposed journey was 
 only for pleasure, it was clearly my duty to remain for a 
 day, so we postponed our projected journey to another 
 season. I returned to my new friend, and said we would 
 gladly go out to him on the morrow. 
 
 At this he was very pleased ; and spoke, now, freely, of 
 the great desire of himself and his wife to know more of 
 God's Word. 
 
 "We want (he said) to study it together, and to be as 
 independent as possible of the teachings and traditions 
 " of men. In fact, 
 
 " We Want to Enjoy the Bible. 
 
 " We want to read it, and study it, and understand it 
 " and enjoy it for ourselves ! " 
 
 This, of course, sounded very sweetly in my ears ; and it 
 was arranged that he should come into the city, the next 
 morning early, and fetch us out to his home in the suburbs. 
 
 He arrived soon after 8 o'clock, and by 9 o'clock we 
 were sitting down together over the Word of God. There 
 we sat till noon ! In our preliminary conversation 
 reference had been made to some work the lady had 
 undertaken in the village. So we opened our Bibles at 
 Matt. X. 5, 6, where I read the following words : — 
 
 " Go not into the way of the Gentiles . . . but go 
 rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 
 
 I did not know until a year afterwards that my friend 
 naturally held the usual anti-Semite views of the governing 
 party, or this would probably have been the last Scripture 
 I should have quoted. But though, at the time, I little 
 thought of what I was doing, God was over-ruling all to 
 the accomplishment of ITis own purposes. 
 
 The lady, at once, very honestly exclaimed, "Oh, but 
 I do go to the Gentiles." 
 
 I replied, " But you see w^hat this Scripture says.'' 
 
 viii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 She paid, " Is there not another passage which tells us 
 to go into all the world ? " 
 
 " Yes " (I replied) ; and, finding that passage, I asked, 
 " What are we to do with the other ? " 
 
 She confessed her perplexity and asked me to answer 
 my own question. 
 
 I replied, " Both are the words of God, and both must 
 be absolutely true. We cannot cut one passage out of 
 the Bible and leave the other in. Both are equally true, 
 and we may not use one truth to upset another truth." 
 
 I proceeded to explain, alluding to the universally 
 acknowledged fact — that circumstances alter cases." 
 
 The circumstances connected with the former passage 
 showed that the Lord was sending forth the twelve to 
 proclaim the King, and the Kingdom at hand : while 
 those of the latter showed that the Proclamation had been 
 unheeded; the Kingdom rejected, and the King crucified. 
 And I asked "Were not the circumstances so difierent in 
 " character and time as to fully account for the fact that 
 " the former command was no longer appropriate to the 
 " changed conditions ? " 
 
 I pointed out that there was a precept which specially 
 set forth our responsibility to the Bible as being "the 
 Word of Truth " (2 Tim. ii. 15), and that was that it must 
 be rightly divided. This command to rightly divide, 
 being given us in connection with this special title "the 
 Word of truth," spoke to us, if we had ears to hear, and 
 told us that unless we rightly divided the Word of Truth 
 we should not only not get the truth ; but, as God's 
 workmen we should indeed have need to be "ashamed." 
 
 I showed that, if we would indeed enjoy the Bible it 
 was absolutely necessary that we should rightly divide 
 all that it contained, in connection with its subject- 
 matter, as well as in coiuicction with its times and dis- 
 pensati(ms. 
 
 In illustration of this important duty I pointed to such 
 
 ix 
 
PREFACE 
 
 passages as Luke ix. 2, 3, compared with chap. xxii. 36, 
 where the words "BUT KOW" gave the Lord's own 
 example; showing how He distinguished the ditFerence 
 between the two occasions. 
 
 I also referred to Rom. xi. and showed how, by 
 " rightly dividing " the subject-matter, the great difficulty 
 was avoided of supposing that those who were assured in 
 Rom. viii. 39 as to the impossibility of their separation 
 from the love of God, could ever be addressed in 
 chap. xi. 21, 22 in words of threatening and warning lest 
 they " be cut off." The key to the solution of the difficulty 
 was in chap. xi. 13, where the Apostle distinctly states 
 that he was addressing Gentiles," as such, and of course 
 as distinct from the Jews, and, the Church of God : 
 
 "I Speak to you Gentiles.'^ 
 
 I also illustrated the subject by a reference to 
 Heb. vi. 4 — 6; and x. 26 — 30. But, as these and other 
 passages are all dealt Avith at length in the following 
 pages I need not do more now than refer my readers to 
 them. 
 
 Our conversation continued (as I have said) till noon ; 
 and, as it proceeded, my friends could hardly contain 
 themselves for joy. As for myself I began to see in 
 what form I should respond to my friends' desire to 
 "enjoy the Bible." 
 
 On my journey home to England I thought much, and 
 long, and often, of my pleasant intercourse with my new 
 friends : and I was impressed by the thought that what 
 they needed, thousands needed ; and that the vast 
 majority of Bible readers who were filled with the same 
 deep desire to "enjoy the Bible" were beset by the same 
 difficulties in attaining that desire. 
 
 Shortly after my return to England my thoughts 
 began to take shape, and finally resolved themselves into 
 what now appears in the " Table of Contents," and which 
 
PREFACE 
 
 in the following September I had the great joy of going 
 over with my new friends. 
 
 I visited them again in their home this September 
 (1907), and had the pleasure of reading over with them 
 the proof of this "Preface," so that it might faithfully 
 record all that had so happily taken place. 
 
 This explanation of the origin of this work will show 
 that no better title could be chosen, or would so well 
 describe its object, and explain its end. My prayer is 
 that, the same Spirit who inspired the words in the 
 Scriptures of Truth, may also inspire them in the hearts 
 of my readers and may cause each to say (with David), 
 "I rejoice in Thy words as one that findeth great 
 spoils " (Ps. cxix. 162) : and to exclaim (with Jeremiah), 
 " Thy words were found and I did eat them, and Thy 
 Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart " 
 (Jer. XV. 16.) 
 
 It was this combination of the "WORD" and the 
 "WORDS," both here and in John xvii. 8, 17, that 
 suggested the sub-title : " The Word and the words ; 
 how to study them." 
 
 Part I. deals with the " Word " as a whole. Part II. 
 deals with the " words " ; and, under twelve Canons, gives 
 the important methods which must be observed and 
 followed if we would understand, and enjoy them. A 
 varying number of illustrations is given under each 
 division; these are by no means exhaustive; and are 
 intended only as a guide to further study. 
 
 This work should be gone carefully through, with 
 Bible in hand, in order to verify the statements put 
 forward, and to enter on the margins of the Bible notes 
 for future use. 
 
 This may be done individually ; but, better still, in 
 small classes meeting for the purpose, when each point 
 could be made clearer and more profitable by mutual 
 study and conversation. 
 
 zi 
 
PREFACE 
 
 With the hope that this course will be adopted by its 
 many readers in many countries and climes, this work is 
 at length sent forth. 
 
 My thanks are due to all those who, on hearing of its 
 projection, volunteered their financial help to ensure its 
 publication : and, above all, to the God of all grace," 
 and " the spirit of wisdom and understanding " for bring- 
 ing it to a happy issue. 
 
 Ethelbert W. Bullinger. 
 
 London, 
 September^ 1907. 
 
 xii 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word thai 
 proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live.^^- — Deut. 
 viii. 3. 
 
 IHUS is it asserted that the WORD and the WORDS 
 
 of Jehovah constitute the food of the New nature. 
 As in the natural sphere so in the spiritual, the desire 
 (or appetite) for the food which is the proper support 
 of each respectively, is the sign of natural and spiritual 
 health. 
 
 Attention to diet is becoming more and more recog- 
 nized as essential to nutrition and growth. 
 
 A low condition of bodily health is produced by in- 
 attention to the laws of nature as to suitable diet. As 
 this leads to the " drug habit," or to the immoderate use 
 of stimulants in the natural sphere, so it is in the spiritual 
 sphere. A low condition of spiritual health is produced 
 by improper feeding or the neglect of necessary food, 
 which is the Word of God ; and the end is a resort to all 
 the many modern fashions and novel methods and widely 
 advertised nostrums in the Religious world in the attempt 
 to remedy the inevitable results. 
 
 The Root of all the evils which abound in the spiritual 
 sphere at the present day lies in the fact that the Word 
 and the words of God are not fed upon, digested, and 
 assimilated, as they ought to be. 
 
 If we ask the question. Why is this the case? the 
 answer is, The Bible is not enjoyed because the Bible is 
 not understood. The methods and rules by whicli alone 
 sucli an understanding may be gained are not known or 
 followed ; hence the Bible is a neglected book. 
 
 xiii 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The question Philip addressed to the Eunuch (Acts 
 viii. 30, 31) is still greatly needed : 
 
 Understandest thou what thou readest? 
 
 And the Eunuch's answer is only too true to-day : 
 
 How can I, except some man should guide me ? 
 
 The following pages are written with the object of 
 furnishing this " guide." Certain canons or principles are 
 laid down, and each is illustrated by applying them to 
 certain passages by way of examples. These are intended 
 to be taken only as examples ; and the principles involved 
 are intended to be used for the elucidation of other 
 passages in the course of Bible study. 
 
 The Word of God is inexhaustible. It is, therefore, 
 neither useful, nor indeed practicable to extend these 
 examples beyond certain limits. 
 
 By the aid of these twelve simple canons or rules, 
 other passages and subjects may be taken up and pursued 
 both with pleasure and profit — subjects which ai^ even 
 yet matters of controversy and of conflict. 
 
 We have to remember that the Bible is not a book of 
 pure Science on the one hand, nor is it a book of Theology 
 on the other. Yet all its science is not only true, but 
 its statements are the foundation of all true science. 
 
 And, it is Theology itself ; for it contains all that 
 we can ever know about God. 
 
 The cloud that now rests over its intelligent study 
 arises from the fact that it is with us to-day as with 
 the Jews of old — " The Word of God has been made of 
 none effect by the traditions of men " (Matt. xv. I — 9). 
 
 Hence it is that on some of the most important ques- 
 tions, especially such as Biblical Psychology, we are, still, 
 in what the great Lord Bacon calls " a desert." He alludes 
 to those " deserts " in history, where discovery or research 
 conies to a stand-still, and we get schoolmen instead of 
 philosophers ; and clerics instead of discoverers. 
 
 xiv 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The Reformation came as an oasis after one of these 
 deserts. Men were sent from the stagnant pools of 
 tradition to the fountain-head of truth. But within two 
 or three generations the Church entered the desert again ; 
 Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms took the place of tlie 
 open Bible ; the inductive method of Bible study was 
 abandoned, and to day it is scarcely understood. 
 
 One party abides by " Catholic consent ^' or the " Voice 
 of the Church." Other parties in the same way abide 
 by the dicta of some who had stronger minds. Augus- 
 tine, Luther, Calvin, Darby, and Newton would be sur- 
 prised to-day to find that those who question what they 
 believed are treated as guilty of presumption, and of 
 a sin to be visited with excommunication ! 
 
 These good men little thought that the inferences 
 which they drew from the Bible would be raised to a 
 position of almost equality with the Bible itself. 
 
 The result of all this is too painfully evident. Contro- 
 versies, bitterness, strifes have been engendered. These 
 have taken the place of simple Bible study. If studied 
 at all it has been too much with the view of finding 
 support for one or other of the two sides of these 
 controversies, instead of with the object of discovering 
 what God has really revealed and written for our learning. 
 
 Failing to understand the Scriptures we cease to 
 feed on them; then as a natural consequence, and in 
 inverse proportion, we lean on and submit to "the doc- 
 trines of men,'^ and finally reach a theological desert. 
 
 Bishop Butler has pointed out the way back to the 
 land of plenty and of delight. He has shown that the 
 only way to study the Word of God is the way in which 
 physical science is studied. He says : ^ " As it is owned, 
 the whole scheme of Scripture is not yet understood, so 
 if it ever comes to be understood before the restitution 
 
 * Analogy, Part II., ch. 3. 
 
 XV 
 
 b 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 of all things, and without miraculous interpositions, it 
 must he in the same way as natural knowledge is come at, 
 by the continuance and progress of learning and liberty, 
 and by particular persons attending to, comparing, and pur- 
 suing intimations scattered up and down it, and which are 
 overlooked and disregarded by the generality of the world." 
 
 On this another writer ^ has remarked, " Thus, the way 
 of discovery still lies open to us in Divine things if we 
 have only the moral courage to go to the fountain-head 
 of truth, instead of filling our vessel out of this or that 
 doctor's compendium of truth . . . Were Bishop Butler's 
 method of inductive research into Scripture more common 
 than it is we should not have stood still so long, as if 
 spell-bound by the shadow of a few great names. ^ It is 
 not at all incredible,' Bishop Butler adds, 'that a book 
 which has been so long in the possession of mankind 
 should contain many truths as yet undiscovered.' Such a 
 saying is wortliy of Butler. It is only a philosopher who 
 can allow for time and prescription. The majority of 
 mankind think that they think ; they acquiesce, and 
 suppose that they argue ; they flatter themselves that 
 they are holding their own, when they have actually 
 grown up to manhood, with scarcely a conviction that 
 they can call their own. So it always was, and so it will 
 ever be. The Divine things of the Word are no exception, 
 but rather an instance. The more difficult the subject, 
 and the more serious the consequences of error, the more 
 averse the majority are to what is called 'unsettling men's 
 minds'; as if truth could be held on any other tenure 
 than the knight's fee of holding its own against all 
 comers. Protestantism has brought us no relief against 
 this torpid state of mind, for, as the error is as deep 
 as the nature of man, we cannot expect any deliverance 
 from it so long as the nature of man continues the same, 
 
 * Rev. J. B. Heard, M.A., Tripartite Nature of Man, p. 358. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 and his natural love of truth almost as depraved as his 
 natural love of holiness.'^ 
 
 But the way of discovery, as Bishop Butler has pointed 
 out, still lies open before us ; and it is our object in this 
 work to enter on that way, and study the Bible from 
 within and not merely from without. 
 
 We believe that only thus we shall be furnishing just 
 that help which Bible students need. 
 
 It may be the work of others to explore Geography, 
 History, Natural History, Chronology ; the antiquities of 
 Assyria, Palestine, Egypt, and Babylon ; all these are 
 legitimate subjects of systematic research, which cannot 
 but help us in understanding more of the Word of God. 
 
 But our object is to " Open the book" ; to let it speak; 
 to hear its voice ; to study it from within itself ; and 
 have regard to other objects and subjects, only from what 
 it teaches about them. 
 
 The method of the Higher " criticism is to discredit a 
 Book, or a passage on internal evidence. Our method is to 
 establish and accredit Holy Scripture on internal evidence 
 also, and thus to derive and provide, from its own pharma- 
 copoeia, an antidote to that subtle and malignant poison. 
 
 This method of study will reveal more convincing and 
 " infallible proof of inspiration than can be adduced from 
 all the reasonings and arguments of men. 
 
 Like Ezra of old, our desire is to 
 
 "Open the Book" 
 
 and let it speak for itself, with the full conviction that 
 if this can be done it can speak more loudly, and more 
 effectively for itself, than any man can speak on its behalf 
 May the Lord deign to use these pages, and make 
 them to be that " guide " to a better understanding and 
 a greater enjoyment of His own Word. 
 
 E. W. B. 
 
 London, 
 September, 1907. 
 
 xvii b 2 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART I 
 
 THE WORD OF GOD AS A WHOLE 
 
 Page 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 1 
 
 I. THE ONE GREAT OBJECT OF THE WORD . . 7 
 
 i. The LIVING Word, making known the Father . 7 
 
 ii. The WRITTEN Word, revealing the Son . . . 8 
 
 iii. The LIVING and the WRITTEN Word ... 9 
 
 II. THE ONE GREAT SUBJECT OF THE WORD . . 14 
 
 i. CHRIST in the Word as a whole. 
 
 The King and the Kingdom in Promise, in 
 Proclamation, Rejection, Abeyance, and Mani- 
 festation 14 
 
 ii. CHRIST in the SEPARATE BOOKS of the WORD . 19 
 
 III. THE ONE GREAT REQUIREMENT OF THE WORD 
 
 —"RIGHTLY DIVIDING" IT .... 26 
 
 i. As to its LITERARY FORM 29 
 
 1. The Two Testaments 29 
 
 2. The Separate Books 29 
 
 3. The Divisions of the Hebrew Text ... 32 
 
 (a) Into open and closed Sections ... 32 
 
 (6) Into Sedarim or Triennial Pericopes . 32 
 
 (c) Into Parashioth or Annual Pericopes . 33 
 
 4. The Divisions of the Greek Text . . 33 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 5. The Divisions of the VERSIONS, and the 
 English Bible 
 
 (a) Into Chapters 33 
 
 (6) Into Verses 34 
 
 (c) The Chapter-Breaks 34 
 
 {d) The Headings of Chapters and Pages . 37 
 
 (e) The Punctuation 37 
 
 (1) Changes in Edition of 1611 to be 
 
 preferred to later Editions . . 40 
 
 (2) Changes in later Editions which are 
 
 improvements on the 1611 . . 42 
 
 (3) Changes now proposed as most de- 
 
 sirable 43 
 
 (/) Parentheses 56 
 
 ii. As to its SUBJECT MATTER 65 
 
 1. The Jew, the Gentiles, and the Church 
 
 of God 65 
 
 2. The Gentiles 69 
 
 3. The Epistles to the Dispersion ... 73 
 
 (a) James 73 
 
 (6) Hebrews 76 
 
 iii. As to its TIMES and DISPENSATIONS . . 78 
 
 1. The word "DISPENSATION" .... 78 
 
 2. The Seven Dispensations 83 
 
 (a) The Edenic (Innocence) .... 84 
 (&) The Patriarchal (Theocratic) . . .87 
 
 (c) Israelite (Past) 93 
 
 (d) The Ecclesia (Grace) 94 
 
 (e) Israelite (Judgment) 96 
 
 (/) Millennial (Theocratic) .... 97 
 
 (g) Eternal (Glory) 98 
 
 3. Their SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS ... 98 
 
 (a) Man's condition in each .... 98 
 
 (6) The Crisis in each 99 
 
 4. The "Times of the Gentiles" ... 99 
 
 5. The Parenthesis of the Present Dispen- 
 
 sation 100 
 
 iv. As to its DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH and TEACH- 
 
 ING 105 
 
 1. One part of the PAST not necessarily to be 
 
 read into another part of the PAST . .106 
 
 {a) Matt. X. 5, 6 ; and xxviii. 19, 20 . . 106 
 
 (6) Luke ix. 3 ; and xxii. 35, 36 . . . 107 
 
 XX 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 2. The PAST not to be read into the PRESENT 108 
 
 (a) Law and Grace 108 
 
 (b) The Imprecatory Psalms . . .110 
 
 (c) The Sabbath Ill 
 
 {d) The Kingdom 113 
 
 (e) The Gospels 118 
 
 (/) The Sermon on the Mount . . . 121 . 
 ig) The Lord's Prayer 125 
 
 (h) The Priesthood 125 
 
 (i) Baptisms 128 
 
 {k) The prophecy of Amos. Amos ix. 11, 12. 
 
 Acts XV. 14—18 . . . .138 
 {I) The title "Son of Man" . . .140 
 
 3. The PRESENT not to be read into the PAST 141 
 
 (a) The Mystery 141 
 
 (6) "Sons of God" 144 
 
 (c) The "Church" 145 
 
 4. The FUTURE not to be read into the PRESENT 149 
 
 [a) The Great Tribulation . . . .149 
 
 (6) The 144,000 154 
 
 (c) Sundry Prophecies 155 
 
 Ps. ii * . . 156 
 
 Isa. ii 156 
 
 Isa. Ix 157 
 
 {d) The Day of the Lord .... 158 
 
 5. One part of the FUTURE not necessarily to 
 
 be read into another part of the FUTURE . 159 
 
 (a) The Advents 159 
 
 (&) The Resurrections 164 
 
 (c) The Judgments 166 
 
 2 Cor. V. 10 166 
 
 Matt. XXV. 31—36 .... 167 
 Rev. XX. 11—15 . . . .168 
 
 6. The Truth and Teaching of the CANONICAL 
 
 ORDER to be distinguished from the 
 CHRONOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL 
 
 ORDER 169 
 
 (a) The Tabernacle 169 
 
 (6) The Great Offerings . . . .170 
 
 (c) The Four Gospels 170 
 
 (c?) 1 Sam. xvi. — xviii. . . . .170 
 (e) The Book of Jeremiah . . . .172 
 (/) The Pauline Epistles . . . .174 
 
 xxi 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART II 
 
 THE WORDS 
 
 Page 
 
 Introductory 183 
 
 I. THE MEANING OF WORDS TO BE GATHERED 
 
 FROM THE SCOPE ; NOT THE SCOPE FROM 
 
 THE WORDS 186 
 
 i. 2 Pet. i. 20, "Private interpretation" . . . 186 
 
 ii. 1 Pet. iii. 20, "Spirits in prison" . . . .188 
 
 iii. Heb. ix. 16, 17, "Testament" or "Covenant" . 195 
 
 iv. Gen. xxiv. 63, "Meditate" 197 
 
 V. Rev. i. 10, "The Lord's day" 198 
 
 II. THE SCOPE OF A PASSAGE TO BE GATHERED 
 
 FROM ITS STRUCTURE 199 
 
 i. Introductory 199 
 
 ii. The PRINCIPLES governing the Structure of Scrip- 
 
 ture 203 
 
 iii. Examples of each principle 207 
 
 iv. The ADVANTAGES and importance of the Structures 211 
 V. Illustrations of these advantages . . .211 
 
 (1) 2 Pet. i. 16—21, "Private interpretation" . 212 
 
 (2) 1 Pet. iii. 18—22, "spirits in prison" . . 216 
 
 (3) Heb. ix. 15— 23, " Testament " and " Covenant " 220 
 
 (4) 2 Cor. v. 1—5, "absent from the body" . 223 
 
 III. THE BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 TO THEIR CORRECT INTERPRETATION . . 227 
 
 i. Where ENGLISH WORDS have gone OUT OP USE 
 
 altogether 229 
 
 All to brake. Away with, Come at, Do to- wit. 
 For to-do, Full well. Go to, Trow, Wist, Very . 229 
 
 ii. Where the usage of ENGLISH WORDS has become 
 
 CHANGED 229 
 
 Prevent, To take in. Adventure, Artillery, 
 Assay, By and By, Charity, Beeves, Bonnet, 
 Carriages, Clouted, To ear. Earnest, Fast, Liber- 
 tine, Lusty, Naughty, Nephew, Occupy, Penny, 
 Presently, Publican, Quick, etc., Simple, Simpli- 
 city, Sottish, Vagabond, Silly . . . 230-233 
 
 xxii 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 iii. Where the USAGE OP GREEK WORDS had become 
 
 changed 234 
 
 (1) By God : 
 
 apcTTj {arete), praise 234 
 
 5^09 {ethos), manners 234 
 
 ayyeXo? {angelos), angel .... 234 
 
 Xoprjyeo) {choreged), supply .... 234 
 
 iKKXyjcTLa {ecclesia), church .... 234 
 
 7rapdKXr)To<s {parakletos), comforter, advocate 234 
 
 (TKavSaXov {scandalon), offence . . • 234 
 
 (2) By man 235 
 
 ^(oo7ro6€(i) {zoopoieo), quicken .... 236 
 
 TrdpoLKo<s {paroikos), neighbour . . . 236 
 
 TrpoLKTwp {praktor), officer .... 236 
 
 TT-^pa {pera), scrip 236 
 
 Trpea/SvTepos {presbuteros), elder . . . 238 
 
 dvayLvcocTKO) {anagindsko), persuade . . 238 
 
 dTToa-TOfxaTL^o) {apostomatizo), question . . 238 
 
 ypd(f)Oi {grapho), wrote 238 
 
 direxo) {apecho), reward 238 
 
 /Sc^atcocrts {bebaiosis), confirmation . . 239 
 
 TO SoKLfXLov {to dokimion), trial . . . 239 
 
 SiKttios {dikaios), righteous .... 239 
 
 IXacTT^pLov {hilasterion), propitiation . . 239 
 
 €V€pyi]Tr]<s {euergetes), well-doer . . . 240 
 
 TrXrjOos {plethos), multitude .... 240 
 
 /xt/cpos {mikros), little 240 
 
 TrapaSetcros {paradeisos), paradise . . 240 
 
 KvpLaKos {kuriakos), Lord's .... 240 
 
 )(€Lp6rypa(f)ov {cheirographon)f handwriting . 241 
 
 a8oXo9 {adolos), sincere 241 
 
 (Ti^payt^co {sphragizo), seal . . . .241 
 
 xdpayixa {charagma), mark .... 241 
 
 avaTre/XTTCo {anapempo), send .... 241 
 
 Pid^ofxai {biazomai), suffer violence, press . 241 
 
 KardKpLfjia {katakrima), condemnation . . 242 
 
 VTTocTTao-ts {hupostasis), substance . . 243 
 iv. Where DIFFERENT but CONCURRENT USAGES OP 
 
 Greek words should be observed in the English . 243 
 
 1. Parousia . . . ' 244 
 
 2. Pneuma 246 
 
 3. Church 248 
 
 4. Elements and Rudiments ..... 249 
 
 5. Saints 250 
 
 xxiii 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Pag& 
 
 V. Where a uniform USAGE OF GREEK WORDS 
 
 should not be departed from in the English . . 252 
 
 1. Withhold 253 
 
 2. Temptation 254 
 
 3. Poor 255 
 
 4. Paradise 256 
 
 5. Sheol and Hades 256 
 
 6. Mystery 257 
 
 7. "At hand" 259 
 
 8. "Depart" 260 
 
 9. Leaven 261 
 
 THE CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL TO THE 
 
 INTERPRETATION OF WORDS .... 264 
 
 i. The Importance of the Context shown . . 264 
 
 ii. Illustrations of ERROR arising from a DISRE- 
 
 GARD of the Context 265 
 
 1. Isa. lii. 8, " They shall see eye to eye " . 265 
 
 2. Hab. ii. 2, "That he may run that readeth" 265 
 
 3. Ps. ii. 8, "Ask of Me" 266 
 
 4. Matt. xxii. 32, " The God of the living" . 267 
 
 5. Matt, xxiii. 3, " That observe and do " . 269 
 
 6. John vi. 37, " Him that cometh " . . 270 
 
 7. Acts xvi. 31, " Believe . . . and thou 
 
 shalt be saved " 271 
 
 8. Rom. viii. 28, " All things work together for 
 
 good" 272 
 
 9. 1 Cor. iii. 17, " Him shall God destroy " . 272 
 
 10. 2 Cor. V. 8, " Absent from the body " . . 273 
 
 11. Phil. i. 21, " To die is gain" . . .274 
 
 12. Phil. ii. 12, "Work out your own salvation " 275 
 
 13. Text-Mangling 276 
 
 14. Text-Garbling 278 
 
 iii. Illustrations of TRUTH AND TEACHING resulting 
 from a DUB REGARD to the Context . . . 279 
 
 (a) The NEARER CONTEXT .... 280 
 
 1. Gen. XXXV. 2 and xxxiv. 26—29, " Put 
 
 away the strange gods " . . .280 
 
 2. 2 Kings iv. 13 and iii. 16, 17, " Wouldst 
 
 thou be spoken for to the King " . . 281 
 
 3. Dan. v. 30 ; vi. 1 ; and Esther i. 1—3, 
 
 " The 120 and 127 Provinces " . . 281 
 
 4. Eph. iii. 15 and i. 21, " The whole family " 282 
 
 xxiv 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 (6) The Remoter Context . . . . 285 
 
 1. Gen. xix. and xiv., The cities and the 
 
 city 285 
 
 2. Gen. xxiv. 24; and xviii. 11, 12, Rebekah 
 
 the daughter of Bethuel . . .286 
 
 3. Gen. xxxvii. 25, 28, 36; and Judg. vi. — 
 
 viii.. The Ishmaelites and Midianites . 287 
 
 4. Exod. vi. 16 — 20; and Num. xxvi. 59, 
 
 Moses's parents 288 
 
 5. Num. xvi. 1 ; and Num. iii. 29 ; ii. 10, The 
 
 sons of Kohath 289 
 
 6. Num. xvi. 27 ; and Num. xxvi. 11, The 
 
 sons of Korah 289 
 
 7. Josh. iii. 15; iv. 19; and Exod. xi. 31; 
 
 Josh. ii. 6, Jordan overflowing in time 
 
 of harvest 289 
 
 8. 1 Sam. xiii. 19 ; and Judg. iii. 16, 31 ; 
 V. 8; xiv. 5, 6, No smith found in 
 Israel 290 
 
 9. 1 Sam. xvii. 4 ; and Josh. xi. 21, 22, Go- 
 liath of Gath 290 
 
 10. 1 Kings xvii. 9, 12 and Josh. xix. 28. 
 
 Deut. xxxiii. 24, A little oil in a cruse 291 
 
 11. 2 Chron. xvii. — xxiv.; and Josh. xxi. 13, 
 
 "Jehoshaphat strengthened himself 
 against Israel " 291 
 
 12. 2 Chron. xxii. 11, 12 ; and xxiv. 7, Joash, 
 
 Jehosheba, and nurse .... 292 
 
 13. 2 Chron. xxi. 10 ; and Josh. xxi. 13, The 
 
 revolt of Libnah 293 
 
 14. 2 Kings xviii. 13 — 16 ; and Isa. xxxix. 2. 
 
 2 Chron. xxxii. 22, 23, The depletion 
 
 of Hezekiah's treasury .... 293 
 
 15. Isa. Ixii. 2 — 5; and 2 Kings xxi. 1, The 
 
 land shall be called Hephzibah . . 294 
 
 16. Jer. xiii. 18; and 2 Kings xxiv. 12, 15, 
 
 " Say unto the Queen " . . . 295 
 
 17. Mark xiv. 51, 52; and John xii. 10, The 
 
 young man who fled from Gethsemane 295 
 
 18. John xxi. 15; and Matt. xxvi. 31, 33, 
 
 " Lovest thou Me more than these " . 296 
 
 19. Acts ii. 16; and Joel ii. 28—32, ''This is 
 
 that" 297 
 
 20. 1 Cor. xi. 10 ; and Gen. vi. 1, 3, Power 
 
 on her head 302 
 
 XXV 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 21. Gal. iii. 15—17 ; and Gen xv. Acts vii. 6, 
 
 The 400 and 430 years . . .302 
 
 22. Gal. iii. 20; and Gen. XV. 12, "God is one" 302 
 
 23. Heb. xii. 17; and Gen. xxvii. 34—38, 
 
 " No place of repentance " . . . 303 
 
 V. THE FIRST OCCURRENCE OF WORDS, EXPRES- 
 SIONS, AND UTTERANCES OFTEN ESSENTIAL 
 TO THEIR INTERPRETATION . 
 
 i. Words 
 
 1. "Prophet" (Gen. xx. 7). 
 
 2. "Hallelujah" (Ps. civ. 35) . 
 
 3. "Selah" (Ps. iii. 2, 3) . 
 
 4. "Jerusalem" (Judges i. 7, 8) . 
 
 5. The Spiritual significance of Numbers 
 
 6. The Divine Names and Titles . 
 
 304 
 
 304 
 304 
 306 
 307 
 310 
 310 
 312 
 
 ii. Expressions: 
 
 1. "The Son of Man" (Ps. viii.) . . .312 
 
 2. "The Man of God" (Deut. xxxiii. 1) . . 314 
 
 3. "The Day of the Lord" (Isa. ii. 11, 17) . 314 
 
 iii. Utterances: 
 
 1. The first utterance of the Old Serpent (Gen. iii. 1) 315 
 
 2. The first ministerial utterance of the Lord 
 
 (Matt. iv. 4) 316 
 
 3. The first utterance of the Lord as Son of Man 
 
 (Luke ii. 49) 317 
 
 4. The first Questions in the Old and New Testa- 
 
 ments (Gen. iii. 9. Matt. ii. 2) . . .318 
 
 5. The first interpretation of prophecy in the New- 
 
 Testament (Isa. vii. 14. Matt. i. 22, 23) . 319 
 
 VI. THE PLACE WHERE A PASSAGE OCCURS IS 
 
 OFTEN ESSENTIAL TO ITS FULL INTERPRE- 
 TATION 320 
 
 1. " All Scripture given by inspiration " (2 Tim. iii. 16) 320 
 
 2. " Come unto Me " (Matt. xi. 28) .... 323 
 3 "Anathema, Maranatha" (1 Cor. xvi. 22) . . 324 
 
 VII. NO ONE PASSAGE TO BE INTERPRETED IN A 
 
 SENSE REPUGNANT TO OTHERS THAT ARE 
 CLEAR 327 
 
 1. The rich man and Lazarus (Luke xvi. 19 — 31) . . 327 
 
 2. "Destroy not thy weak brother with thy meat" 
 
 (Rom. xiv. 15; and 1 Cor. viii. 11) . . . 328 
 
 xxvi 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 VIII. THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY IN THE 
 
 STUDY OF THE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE . 335 
 
 i. In THE REMOVAL OF ERRORS .... 337 
 
 1. Ammonite or Moabite (Deut. xxiii. 3; and 
 
 Matt. i. 5) 337 
 
 2. Zedekiah and Babylon (Jer. xxxii. 4 ; xxxiv. 3. 
 
 Ezek. xii. 13 ; and 2 Kings xxv. 6, 7) . . 337 
 
 3. Omer and Homer (Exod. xvi. 36 ; and Ezek. 
 
 xlv. 11) 338 
 
 4. The going of Balaam (Num. xxii. 22) . . 338 
 
 5. God's Command concerning Sacrifices (Jer. vii. 
 
 22, 23 ; and Lev. i. 3) 338 
 
 6. Hearing and not hearing the Voice (Acts ix. 7 ; 
 
 and xxii. 9) 339 
 
 7. Standing, and Falling to the earth (Acts ix. 7 ; 
 
 and xxvi. 14) 339 
 
 8. Spoken and written (Matt. ii. 23) . . . 340 
 
 9. " Jeremiah the prophet " (Matt, xxvii. 9) . 341 
 
 10. The sending of the Centurion (Luke vii. 3, 6. 
 
 Matt. viii. 5) 341 
 
 11. The inscriptions on the Cross .... 342 
 
 12. The offering of drink on the Cross . . . 344 
 
 13. The " others" crucified with Christ . . 345 
 
 14. The burying of Jacob and his sons (Acts vii. 
 
 15—17) 348 
 
 ii. In the REVELATION OP Truth .... 349 
 
 1. Words and Expressions : 
 
 " From above " (Luke i. 3) . . . .349 
 Another King" (Acts vii. 17) . . . 349 
 " The world that then was " (Gen. i. 1, 2) . 351 
 The mention of the "blood" in 1 John i. 
 
 7 ; and ii. 1 353 
 
 "Accepted" and "Acceptable" (Eph. i. 6; 
 
 and 2 Cor. v. 9) 354 
 
 "Man" and "Men" 354 
 
 Remembering and Forgetting . . .355 
 
 2. The Opposite of what is said . . .355 
 
 " Out of the Scriptures " (Acts xvii. 2) . 355 
 
 "Waiting for God's Son " (1 Thess. i. 9) . 356 
 " Except there come the Apostasy " (2 Thess. 
 
 ii. 3) 356 
 
 xxvii 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 3. Marks of Time 356 
 
 "The second day" (Josh. x. 31, 32) . . 356 
 
 " Then came Amalek " (Exod. xvii. 8) . 357 
 
 " Then will I sprinkle " (Ezek. xxxvi. 25) . 358 
 
 " Then shall the offering " (Mai. iii. 4) . 358 
 "Then they that feared the Lord" (Mai. 
 
 iii. 16) 359 
 
 • "Then we which are alive" (1 Thess. iv. 
 
 17) 359 
 
 "Then shall the kingdom of heaven" 
 
 (Matt. xxv. 1) 359 
 
 " Immediately " (Matt. xxiv. 29) . . 361 
 "Afterward" (Joel ii. 28) . . . .362 
 " At that time " (Matt. xi. 25) . . .363 
 
 4. Marks of Reasoning .... 363 
 
 "Therefore, I beseech you" (Eph. iv. 1) . 363 
 
 " Therefore I charge you " (2 Tim. iv. 1) . 363 
 
 5. Numeration 364 
 
 50,070 (1 Sam. vi. 19) ... . 365 
 
 42,000 (Judg. xii. 6) 365 
 
 The Census of Num. i. and xxxvi. . . 366 
 
 6. Names op Persons and Places . . 366 
 
 (a) Of Persons 367 
 
 1. The same Name borne by different 
 
 Persons 367 
 
 2. The same Person bearing different 
 
 Names 369 
 
 3. Changes in Nailies . . . 371 
 
 4. The Divine Names . . .371 
 (6) Of Places 371 
 
 1. The same Name given to different 
 
 Places 371 
 
 2. The same Place called by different 
 
 Names 373 
 
 7. Chronology 373 
 
 (a) The 120 years of Gen. vi. 3 . . . 374 
 (6) The 400 years of Gen. xv. 3 and Acts 
 
 vii. 6 376 
 
 (c) The 430 years of Exod. xii. 40 and 
 
 Gal. iii. 17 376 
 
 {d) The 450 years of Acts xiii. 20 . . 376 
 
 (e) The 490 years of Dan. ix. 27 . . 376 
 (/) The 480th year of 1 Kings vi. 1 . .377 
 
 xxviii 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 8. Synonymous Greek words . . . 377 
 
 9. Synonymous Hebrew words . . . 379 
 10. The Genitive Case 381 
 
 {a) The Genitive of Character . . . 382 
 
 (&) The Genitive of Origin . . . .383 
 
 (c) The Genitive of Possession . . . 385 
 
 {d) The Genitive of Apposition . . .385 
 
 (e) The Genitive of Eelation . . .386 
 
 (/) The Genitive of the Material . .387 
 
 {g) The Genitive of the Contents . .387 
 
 Qi) The Genitive of Partition . . . 388 
 
 {i) Two Genitives : one dependent on the 
 
 other 388 
 
 IX. FIGURES OF SPEECH 390 
 
 X. INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION . . 393 
 
 1. The account of Creation (Gen. i.) . . . . 394 
 
 2. The Rejection of Messiah (Isa. liii.) . . . .396 
 
 3. The mourning of Israel (Rev. i. 7) . . . . 397 
 
 4. The Potter's house (Jer. xviii.) 397 
 
 5. The Ten Virgins (Matt, xxv.) ..... 400 
 
 XI. THE LIMITS OF INSPIRATION 403 
 
 XII. THE PLACE OF VARIOUS READINGS . . .406 
 
 1. The Hebrew MSS. of the Old Testament . . . 407 
 
 2. The Greek MSS. of the New Testament . . .408 
 
 3. The Ancient Versions 410 
 
 4. The Printed Greek Text of the N.T 412 
 
 CONCLUSION 416 
 
 x.^ix 
 
HOW TO ENJOY THE BIBLE: 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE "WOED," AND THE "WOEDS": 
 HOW TO STUDY THEM. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 A REVELATION in writing must necessarily be given 
 in "words." The separate words, therefore, in 
 which it is given must have the same importance and 
 authority as the revelation as a whole. If we accept the 
 Bible as a revelation from God, and receive it as inspired 
 by God, we cannot separate the words of which that 
 inspired revelation is made up, or admit the assertion 
 "that the Bible contains the Word of God, but is not 
 the Word of God." The position conveyed by such an 
 expression is both illogical and impossible. 
 
 As we design this work for those who accept the 
 Scriptures as the Word of God, we do not propose to 
 offer any arguments in proof of its inspiration. 
 
 The Bible is its own best proof of its inspiration. It 
 claims to be "the Word of God; "and if it be not what 
 it claims to be, then it is not only not a "good book," 
 but is unworthy of our further attention. 
 
 We cannot understand the position of those who assert 
 and believe that many of its parts are myths and for- 
 geries, while at the same time they continue to write 
 commentaries upon it, and accept their emoluments and 
 dignities for preaching or lecturing about it. 
 
 If we were told and believed that a bank-note in our 
 possession is a forgery, we certainly should take no fur- 
 tJier interest in it, beyond mourning the loss which 
 we had sustained. Our action would thus be consistent 
 with our belief. 
 
HOW TO ENJOY THE BIBLE 
 
 We write, therefore, for those who, receiving the 
 claims of the Scriptures as being the Word of God, 
 desire to study it so as to understand it and enjoy it. 
 
 When this claim is admitted, and a course of study 
 is undertaken in this spirit, we shall be at once over- 
 whelmed with proofs as to its truth ; and on almost 
 every page find abundant confirmation of our faith. 
 
 The Bible simply claims to be the Word of God. It 
 does not attempt to establish its claim, or seek to prove 
 it. It merely assumes it and asserts it. It is for us to 
 believe it or to leave it. 
 
 Hence we do not now attempt to prove or establish 
 that claim ; but, believing it, our aim is to seek to under- 
 stand what God has thus written for our learning. 
 
 Nor do we attempt to explain the phenomena con- 
 nected with Inspiration. We have no theories to offer, 
 or suggestions to make, respecting it. 
 
 We have the Divine explanation in Acts iii. 18, where 
 we read : 
 
 "Those things which God before had showed by the 
 movitli of all his prophets ... he hath so ful- 
 iilled." 
 
 The particular "things" referred to here are "that 
 Christ should suffer;" but the assertion is comprehen- 
 sive and includes all other things "showed" by God. 
 
 Note, that it was God who, before, had showed them. 
 It Avas the same God who had fulfilled them. The 
 "mouth" was the mouth of "all His prophets," but they 
 were not the prophets' words. They Avere the words of 
 God. 
 
 Hence, concerning other words, it is written: 
 
 "This Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, 
 which the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of David, 
 spake before concerning Judas" (Acts i. 16). 
 
 It was David's "mouth," and David's pen, David's 
 vocal organs, and David's hand ; but they were not 
 David's words. They were the words "which the Holy 
 Ghost sijake before concerning Judas." David knew 
 nothing about Judas, David could not possibly have 
 spoken anything about Judas. David's "mouth" spake 
 
 2 
 
INTRODUCTORY 
 
 concerning Aliithophel ; but they Avere the words "which 
 the Holy Ghost spake concerning Judas," 
 
 David was "a prophet": and, being a prophet, he 
 "spake as he was moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet. 
 i. 21). Hence, in Psalm xvi., he spake concerning the 
 resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Acts ii. 30, 31). In the 
 same way he "spake before concerning Judas." 
 
 In like manner, in the Book of Exodus Moses wrote 
 about the Tabernacle, but he himself did not and could 
 not know what "the Holy Ghost signified" (Heb. ix. 8). 
 
 Here, then, we have all that God condescends to tell 
 us about the phenomena of inspiration. 
 
 This is the Divine explanation of it ; and this is all 
 that can be known about it. 
 
 It is not for us to explain this explanation, but to 
 receive it and believe it ; and there leave it. It is enough 
 for us that God speaks to us; and that He says "Thus 
 saith Jehovah." We do not question the fact ; we believe 
 it ; and only seek to understand it. 
 
 We desire to be in the position of those Thessalonian 
 saints who, in this, "were ensamples to all that believe," 
 and to whom it was written : "For this cause thank we 
 God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word 
 of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the 
 word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which 
 effectually worketh in you that believe " (1 Thess. ii. 13). 
 
 The Word of God is thus for those " that believe." The 
 " Word" as a whole ; and the ''words " of which it is made 
 up. They cannot be separated. 
 
 It is Jeremiah who says ( Jer. xv. 16) : 
 
 "THY WORDS were found,^ and I did eat them; 
 And THY WORD was unto me the joy and rejoicing 
 
 of my heart : 
 For I am called by Thy name, O Jehovah Elohim of 
 hosts." 
 
 Here again, it is those who are called by Jehovah's 
 name who feed upon His " words," and rejoice in His 
 "Word." 
 
 ^XVD {matzd'), to dUcover. Gen. ii. 20. Here referring to the historic fact 
 (2 Kin^H xxii. 8, 2 Chron. xxxiv, 14, Ij) of tlic finding the book of the Law 
 by lliliciali in the reiyu of Jusiali. 
 
 3 A 2 
 
HOW TO ENJOY THE BIBLE 
 
 The same distinction is made in the N e w Testament by 
 the Lord Jesus in John xvii. : 
 
 "I have given unto them the WORDS which thou 
 
 gavest me" (v. 8). 
 "I have given them thy WORD" (v. U). 
 
 Those who are referred to in the word "them" are 
 described seven times over, as having been ^' given" to 
 Christ by the Father.^ 
 
 These had "received" the words; these had "known 
 surely" ; these had "beUeved" {v. 8). 
 
 It is for such as these we now write, who receive, 
 beheve, read, and desire to feed upon the ^'words'' of 
 God; that the "word" of God may become "a joy, and 
 the rejoicing" of the heart (Jer. xv. 16, r.v.). 
 
 True, this joy within will be tempered by trouble with- 
 out. Jeremiah prefaces the statement, quoted above, with 
 the words immediately preceding it in verse 15 : 
 
 " For Thy sake I have suffered rebuke." ^ 
 And the Lord Jesus after saying (John xvii. 14) : 
 
 " I have given them Thy WORD " 
 immediately adds, 
 
 "And the world hath hated them." 
 
 Those who thus feed upon and rejoice in God's Word 
 will soon realize their isolated position ; but, in spite of 
 the "reproach" and "hatred" of the world, there will 
 ahvays be the "joy and rejoicing" of the heart. 
 
 It was so on another occasion when the neglected Word 
 of God was brought forth, 
 
 "AND EZRA OPENED THE BOOK," 
 
 the people were assured that "the joy of the Lord was 
 their strength " (Neh. viii. 5, 10, 12, 17). And we are told : 
 
 "So they read in the book in the law of God dis- 
 tinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to 
 understand the reading" (v. 8). 
 
 1 See verses 2, 6, 6, 9, 11, 12, 21, 
 
 ''nSTn (cherpdh), reproach; and so nearly always rendered. 
 
 4 
 
INTRODUCTORY 
 
 It must be the same witli us if that "Word" and 
 those "words" are to be the cause of our joy and 
 rejoicmg. And this is our object in writing now. 
 We do not write for casual readers, or for those 
 who read a daily portion of the Word merely as the 
 performance of a duty and as a matter of form, 
 but for those who "search the Scriptures," and who 
 seek, in them, for Him of whom the Scriptures testify 
 (John V. 39). 
 
 Such a one was the eunuch who went up to Jeru- 
 salem from Ethiopia in Acts viii. He sought the Saviour, 
 but he did not find Him in Jerusalem. He found "reli- 
 gion" there, and plenty of it; but he did not find that 
 Blessed One; for He had been rejected, "crucified, and 
 slain." So the eunuch was returning, and was still seeking 
 for the iyimngr Word in the Written Word; "and, sitting 
 in his chariot, read Isaiah the prophet." 
 
 Being directed by the Divine Angel-messenger, Philip 
 "ran thither to him and heard him reading the prophet 
 Isaiah, and said 
 
 UNDERSTANDEST THOU WHAT THOU RBADEST ? 
 
 And he said : 
 
 "How can I except some man should guide me? 
 "And he desired Philip that he would come up and 
 sit with him" (Acts viii. 27-31). 
 
 Philip's question (v. 30) implies (in the Greek) a doubt 
 on Philip's part as to whether the eunuch did really un- 
 derstand. And the eunuch's reply (v. 31) implies a nega- 
 tive answer. It begins with the word "for," which is not 
 translated either in the A.V. or R.V. If we supply the 
 elliijsis of the negative which is so clearly implied we 
 can then translate the word 7 dtp (gar), for; thus ; 
 
 "[No]: for how should I be able unless some one 
 should guide me." 
 
 Of course, the Holy Spirit Himself is THE guide and 
 teacher of His own Word. But sometimes, as in this case, 
 He sends a messenger, and uses human instrumejits and 
 agencies, 
 
 5 
 
HOW TO ENJOY THE BIBLE 
 
 The word to guide is oSyjyero (hodeged), to lead or guide 
 in the wag.^ It is this guidance which the ordinary 
 reader stands in need of to-day ; and never more than 
 to-day, when so many would-be guides are "blind leaders 
 of the blind." On all hands there are so many attractions 
 to draw readers out of "the way" altogether; and so 
 many "good" books and "helps" to lead them astray. 
 
 We cannot pretend to be a Philip, or to have his 
 special commission. But, without assuming to teach 
 others on such an important subject we may at least tell 
 them what lines of study we have ourselves found help- 
 ful ; and what principles we have found useful in our own 
 searchings of God's Word. 
 
 But these will be useless unless we are first prepared 
 to unlearn. 
 
 If any think they know all, or that they have ex- 
 hausted the Divine Word ; or that what they set out to 
 learn is only to be in addition to what they already 
 know, instead of sometimes in substitution for it, then 
 we shall be of little service to them : and they need not 
 follow us any further. 
 
 When we come to ask ourselves, and say, "Where did 
 I learn this ? " " How did I get this ? " " Who taught me 
 this ? " it is astonishing to find how much we have imbibed 
 from man, and from tradition ; and not directly and for 
 ourselves, from the Word of God. 
 
 All that we have learned from our youth up must be 
 tested and proved by the Word of God. Where we find 
 it is true we must learn it over again, from God. And 
 where it will not stand the test of His Word Ave must 
 be not only content, but thankful to give it up; and re- 
 ceive Divine revelation in the place of man's imagination. 
 
 With these introductory remarks we shall proceed to 
 divide what we may call our essential and fundamental 
 principles of Bible study into two parts: 
 
 Fii^st, those connected with THE "WORD" as a 
 whole ; and 
 
 Second: those connected with THE "WORDS" of 
 which the Word is composed. 
 
 1 From oScs [hodos), a way ; and -qyioixai (hegeomai), to lead. It occurs only in 
 Matt. XV. 14. Luke vi. 39. John xvi. 13 . Acts viii. 31. and Rev. vii. 17. It is 
 used both in its literal or proper senso (Exod. xiii. 17 ; xxxii. 34. Num. xxiv. 8 ; 
 Deut. i. 33) ; and in a Tropical sense (Ps. v. 8 ; xxiii. 3 ; xxv. 5, 9 ; Ixxvii. 20, etc.), 
 
 c 
 
PAET I. THE "WORD." 
 
 I. THE ONE GREAT OBJECT OF THE WORD. 
 
 The first great and essential principle which must be 
 ever present with us, when we study the Word of God, 
 as a whole, is not to treat it as something which we 
 have to interpret, but as being that wh ich God has given 
 in oi'der to intervret Himself and H.s tvill to us . 
 
 i. This applies to Christ ; as the Living Word. 
 
 When we speak of the "Word" we can never separate 
 the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ ; and the written 
 word, the Scriptures of Truth. 
 
 Each of these is called the " Word," because the Greek 
 word Logos is used of both. 
 
 Logos means the spoken or written word, because it 
 makes manifest, and reveals to us the invisible thoughts. 
 
 It is used of Christ, the Living Word, because He 
 reveals the invisible God. " No man hath seen God at 
 any time ; the only begotten Son, He being in the bosom 
 of the Father, This one [hath] declared [Him] " (John i. 18). 
 
 It is not that we have to explain Christ, but that His 
 mission is to explain God to us. He interprets the 
 Father. And we have to believe Him. 
 
 The word "declare" in John i. 18 is important in 
 this connection, and deeply interesting. It is from 
 <V (ek), Old of, or forth, and yjyeo^oLi Qicgeoynai), to lead. 
 Hence the whole compound verb means to lead forth, to 
 make knoivn, to guide, interpret, unfold, reveal, and 
 expound (Luke xxiv. 35).' It is from this verb that wo 
 have the cognate noun Exegesis which means Exposition. 
 Wycliffe renders it "He hath told out." The best meaning 
 is to make knoivn. 
 
 1 The word occurs only in Luke xxiv. 35. John i. 18. Acts x. 8 ; xv. 12, 14 ; 
 
I. THE WORD : ITS ONE GREAT OBJECT 
 
 This is why Christ is called "The Word of God," 
 because He makes known, reveals, and explains the 
 Father. 
 
 This is why the Scriptures are called "the Word of 
 God," because they make known the Father and the Son, 
 by the Holy Spirit, the author of the Word. 
 
 Christ is "the Way" to the Father (John xiv.). He 
 makes God known to us in all His attributes, will, and 
 words. "I have given them Thy Word." It is always 
 "THY Word" (John xvii. 8, 14, 17). 
 
 ii. In like manner the Written Word, the Scripture, 
 is given in order to interpret, and to testify of Christ ; 
 and this is why (as we shall see as our next essential prin- 
 ciple) Christ is the one great subject of the Word. 
 
 This is why the Holy Spirit is the interpreter of both. 
 His mission is to glorify Christ (John xvi. 14). He receives 
 and shows the "things of Christ" (John xiv. 26), But 
 He shows them in the Written Word (1 Cor. ii. 9—14). 
 And this is why it must be He and He alone w^ho 
 enables us to preach that Word. 
 
 Thus we have the Word in three manifestations: — 
 
 The Incarnate Word, 
 The Written Word, 
 The Preached Word. 
 
 There is no other. Christ reveals the Father. The 
 Scripture reveals Christ. The Spirit reveals both in the 
 written and in the preached Word (1 Cor. xii. 7, 8). 
 
 How wonderfully does this magnify the preached 
 Word ; and show the solemnity of the charge in 2 Tim. 
 iv. 2, "Preach the Word." 
 
 It shows how small and worthless are all the schemes, 
 tricks and contrivances of present-day evangelists and 
 mission preachers with their ever-new fashions and 
 modern methods, when we see what a high and dignified 
 place God has given to the Preached Word. 
 
 How careful should we be that nothing in our manner 
 or matter should low^er that dignity, or imply in the 
 slightest degree that the Written Word has lost any of 
 its power ; or needs any handmaids or helpmeets. 
 
 8 
 
i. THE LIVING AND THE WRITTEN WORD 
 
 "I HAVE GIVEN THEM THY WORD" 
 
 is the all-siiffieient assurance of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 speaking to the Father. He did not say I have given 
 them Aids to devotion. He did not say I have given 
 them a Hymn-book, or I have given them thy Word 
 AND something else. 
 
 He did not give anything instead of, or in addition 
 to, that Word. 
 
 And that being so, we are assured that the Word 
 which He gave is all-sufficient, in itself, to accomplish 
 all the purposes of God. 
 
 The Word that is preached makes known the Written 
 Word ; the Word that is written makes known Christ the 
 Living Word; and Christ makes known God our Father. 
 
 iii. Hence it is, that the same things are stated of 
 both the Living and the Written Word, as it is well put 
 by Joseph Hart :— 
 
 The Scriptures and the Word 
 Bear one tremendous name, 
 The Living and the Written Word 
 In all things are the same. 
 
 This may be seen by noting carefully, in our reading, 
 how precisely the same things are predicated of both 
 one and the other. 
 
 We give a few by way of example : — 
 
 SIMILAR PREDICATES OF "CHRIST" AND "THE SCRIPTURES." 
 
 " His name is called The Word of God " . . . Eev. xix, 13. 
 They " pressed upon Him to hear The Word of God " Luke v. 1. 
 
 The Prince of Peace Isa. ix. 6. 
 
 The Gospel of Peace Rom. x. 15. 
 
 Jesus said, . . . "No man cometh unto the Father, but 
 
 By Me " John xiv. 6. 
 
 " Make me to go in the Path of Tliy Commandments ". I*s. cxix. 35. 
 
 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way "... John xiv. 6. 
 "Teach me, 0 Lord, the Way of Thy Stdtutes'' . . Ps. cxix. 33. 
 
 "I am . . . THE Truth " John xiv. 6. 
 
 *' Thy Word is Truth " John xvii. 17. 
 
 Christ—'' Full of grace and Truth " . . . . John i. l i. 
 *' All Thy Commandments are Truth ". . . . Ps. cxix. 151. 
 
 9 
 
I. THE WORD : ITS ONE GREAT OBJECT 
 
 " These things saith He . . . that is True " 
 
 " The Judgments of the Lord are True "... 
 
 " Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal Life " 
 " Holding forth the Word of Life " . . 
 
 " A bone of Him shall not he broken " . 
 " The scripture cannot be broken " 
 
 " I am the Living Bread ... if any man eat of this 
 
 Bread he shall Live for ever " 
 "Man shall not Live by bread alone, but by every 
 
 Word of God'' 
 
 "With T^ee is the Fountain of Life" 
 
 " Thy Law ... is a Fountain of Life "... 
 
 Jesus said, " I am the Light of the World " 
 David said, " Thy Word is a Light unto my path " 
 
 " The Jjife was the Light " 
 
 " The Law is Light " 
 
 " Thou art my Lamp, 0 Lord " 
 
 " Thy W ord is a Lamp unto my feet " . 
 
 " I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of Fire " . 
 " Is not My Word like as a Fire ? saith the Lord" 
 
 "The Light of Israel shall be for a Fire " . 
 " I will make My Words in thy mouth Fire " 
 
 " To you which believe, He is Precious "... 
 " Exceeding great and Precious Promises " . 
 
 " Ify beloved is . . . chief est among ten thousand " . 
 "The Law of Thy mouth is better unto me than 
 thousands of gold and silver " 
 
 " His Mouth is most sweet " . 
 " How sweet are Thy Words unto my taste " 
 
 " His Name shall be called Wonderful " 
 " Thy Testimonies are Wonderful " 
 
 " Christ, the Power of God "... 
 " The Gospel is the Power of God " 
 
 Lord, " Thou art Good, and doest Good " 
 " Good is the Word of the Lord " . 
 
 " Ye have known Him that is From the Beginning " . 
 " Thy Word is true From the Beginning " . 
 
 " From Everlasting to Everlasting Thou art God " . 
 " The righteousness of Thy Testimonies is Everlasting " 
 
 10 
 
 Rev. iii. 7. 
 Ps. xix. 9. 
 
 1 John V. 20. 
 Phil. ii. 16. 
 
 John xix. 36. 
 John X. 35. 
 
 John vi. 51. 
 
 Luke iv. 4. 
 
 Ps. xxxvi. 9. 
 Prov. xiii. 14. 
 
 John viii. 12. 
 Ps. cxix. 105. 
 
 John i. 4. 
 Prov. vi. 23. 
 
 2 Sa. xxii. 29. 
 Ps. cxix. 105. 
 
 Zech. ii. 5. 
 Jer. xxiii. 29. 
 
 Isa. X. 17. 
 Jer. V. 14. 
 
 1 Peter ii. 7. 
 
 2 Peter i. 4. 
 
 Song V. 10. 
 
 Ps. cxix. 72. 
 
 Song V. 16. 
 Ps. cxix. 103. 
 
 Isa. ix. 6. 
 Ps. cxix. 129. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 24. 
 Rom. i. 16. 
 
 Ps. cxix. 68. 
 Isa. xxxix. 8. 
 
 1 John ii. 13. 
 Ps. cxix. 160. 
 
 Ps. xc. 2. 
 Ps. cxix. 144. 
 
iii. THE LIVING AND THE WRITTEN WORD 
 
 "Thy throne, 0 God, is For Ever and Eveii". . Heb. i. 8. 
 *• Thy Testimonies, . . . Thou hast founded tliem Eoe, 
 
 Ever " Ps. cxix. 152. 
 
 *' The Lord shall Endure for ever " . . . . Ps. ix. 7. 
 " The Word of tlie Lord Enduretii for ever " . .1 Peter i. 25. 
 
 " Christ Abidetti for ever " John xii. 34. 
 
 " The Word of God . . . Abideth for ever ". , .1 Peter i. 23. 
 
 " Worship Him that Livetii for ever " . . . , Kev. iv. 10. 
 " The Word of God Livetii for ever " . , . .1 Peter i. 23. 
 
 Christ's Kingdom " shall stand eor ever " . . Dan. ii. 44. 
 " The Word of our God shall stand por ever" . . Isa. xl. 8. 
 
 The Stone ..." on whomsoever it shall fall, it vill 
 
 grind him to powder Luke xx. 18. 
 
 " Is not my Word . . , saith the Lord, like a hammer 
 
 that breaketh the rock in pieces ? ". . . . Jer. xxiii. 29. 
 
 Christ, "A Stumbling Stone" Eom. ix. 33. 
 
 They " Stumble at the Word " 1 Peter ii. 8. 
 
 " Lo, I am with you Alway, even unto the end of the 
 
 world " Matt.xxviii.20. 
 
 " Thy commandments . . . are ever with me " . . Ps. cxix. 98. 
 
 " Christ ma}' dwell in your hearts by faith " . . Eph. iii. 17. 
 Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly " . . Col. iii. 16. 
 
 Christ said, "Abide in me, and I in you " . . . John xv. 4. 
 "If ... . my Words Abide in you " . . . . John xv. 7. 
 
 " Hereby we know that He Abideth in us " . .1 John iii. 24. 
 " The Word of God Abideth in you " . . . .1 John ii. 14. 
 
 Christ called, " Faithful and true " . . . . Kev. xix. 11. 
 "Thj Testimonies .... are very Faithful . . Ps. cxix. 138. 
 
 " Out of His mouth goeth a sharp Sword " . . . Rev. xix. 15. 
 " 'The Word of God .... is sharper than any two- 
 edged Sword " Heb. iv. 12.^ 
 
 " The Lord Trieth the Righteous " . . . . Ps. xi. 5. 
 
 " The Word of the Lord tried him " . . . . Ps. cv. 19. 
 
 Christ a " Tried Stone " Isa. xxviii. 16. 
 
 The Word of the Lord is Tried " . . . . Ps. xviii. 30. 
 
 SIMILAR EFFECTS ATTRIBUTED TO "CHRIST" AND 
 "THE SCRIPTURES." 
 
 We are "Born of God" 1 John v. 18. 
 
 " Born .... by the Word of God " . . . .1 I'eter i. 23. 
 
 1 Heb. iv. 12 probably refers to both the Livivg Word and the written 
 Word also. 
 
 u 
 
I. THE WORD: ITS ONE GREAT OBJECT 
 
 *' Begotten .... by ... . Jesus Christ " . 
 
 " Begotten .... through The Gospel "... 
 
 " The Son Quickeneth whom He will" 
 *' Thij Word hath Quickened me " 
 
 " You hath He Quickened who were dead," &c. . 
 " Thy Frecejpis . . . with them thou hast Quickened 
 me " 
 
 " He that eateth me, even he shall Live by me " . 
 " Desire the sincere milk of The Word, that ye may 
 GROW thereby " 
 
 " Christ hath made us Fiiee " 
 
 " The Truth shall make you Free " . 
 
 *' The Blood of Jesus Christ .... Cleanseth us from 
 all sin " 
 
 " Ye are Clean through the Word which I have 
 spoken " 
 
 Christ " is able also to save them to the uttermost that 
 come unto God by Him " 
 
 " Receive .... the engrafted Word, which is able to 
 SAVE your souls " 
 
 *' Sanctified in Christ Jesus " 
 
 " Sanctified by the Word of God and prayer " . 
 
 " Sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus 
 
 Christ once for all " 
 '* Sanctify them through Thy Truth. Thy Word is 
 
 truth " 
 
 " Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us Wisdom " . 
 "The Holy Scriptures . . . able to make thee Wise 
 unto salvation " 
 
 Christ " Healed them " 
 
 '* He sent His Word and Healed them "... 
 
 " Striving according to His Working which Worketh 
 in me mightily " 
 
 " The Word of God which effectually Worketh ulao in 
 you that believe " 
 
 "The Lord Jesus Christ . . . shall Judge the quick 
 
 and the dead " 
 
 " The Word that I have spoken . . shall Judge him " . 
 
 " I will go unto God, my exceeding Joy " . 
 " Thy Word was unto me the Joy and rejoicing of my 
 heart" . . 
 
 12 
 
 I Peter i. 3. 
 1 Cor. iv. 15. 
 
 John V. 21. 
 Ps. cxix. 50. 
 
 Eph. ii. 1. 
 
 Ps. cxix. 93. 
 John vi. 57. 
 
 1 Peter ii. 2. 
 
 Gal. V. 1. 
 John viii. 32. 
 
 1 John i. 7. 
 John XV. 3. 
 
 Heb. vii. 25. 
 
 James i. 21. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 2. 
 1 Tim. iv. 5. 
 
 Heb. X. 10. 
 
 John xvii. 17, 
 
 1 Cor. i. 30. 
 
 2 Tim. iii. 15. 
 
 Matt. iv. 24. 
 Ps. cvii. 20. 
 
 Col. i. 29. 
 lThess.ii.l3. 
 
 2 Tim. iv. 1. 
 John xii. 48. 
 
 Ps. xliii. 4. 
 Jer. XV. 16. 
 
iii. THE LIVING AND THE WRITTEN WORD 
 
 Tlivis we see that the Livhig Word and the Written 
 Word cannot be separated. And we can understand also 
 why they cannot be separated in the preaching of the 
 Word. 
 
 To preach the Written Word without preaching Christ 
 is not preaching at all. Neither is it done in the power 
 of the Spirit. 
 
 When Paul went to Thessalonica, he ("as his manner 
 was") "reasoned with them out of the SCRIPTURES" 
 (not as is done to-day, out of the newspapers, or out of 
 the preacher's own head or experience); but he did not 
 end there. We are immediately told that this preaching 
 consisted in "opening and setting forth that CHRIST 
 (the Living Word) must needs have suffered, and risen 
 again from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach 
 unto you, is Christ (the Messiah)" (Acts xvii. 1—3). 
 
 If the Living Word and the Written Word cannot be 
 separated, we learn that in sitting down to the study 
 of the Word and Words of God it is to hear His 
 voice, to choose that "better part"; to sit at Jesus's 
 feet, and hear HIS word (Luke x. 39). 
 
 And it is only a "part." The best is to come; when 
 we shall "behold His glory" (John xvii. 24), the glory of 
 our Ascended Lord ; as the glory of our Incarnate Lord 
 was beheld when on Earth (John i. 14). Then, in the 
 future, as in the past (as now by the Holy Spirit), the 
 wonderful "Word"— our Glorified Lord— will continue 
 the blessed work which He began as our Risen Lord, 
 "expounding in all the Scriptures the things concerning 
 Himself " ; and will declare and make known the Father 
 to the Saints, who shall then have been gathered together 
 unto Him (2 Thess. i. 10 ; ii. 1). 
 
 13 
 
U. THE ONE GREAT SUBJECT OF THE WORD. 
 
 i. Christ in the Word as a Whole. 
 
 The one great subject which runs through the whole 
 Word of God is Christ : the promised seed of the woman in 
 Gen. iii. 15. 
 
 This verse marks the depth of the ruin into which man 
 had descended in the Fall ; and it becomes the foundation 
 of the rest of the Bible. 
 
 All hope of restoration for man and for creation is 
 centred in Christ ; who in due time should be born into 
 the world, should suffer and die ; and, in resurrection, 
 should become the Head of a new creation, and should 
 finally crush the head of the Old Serpent, who had brought 
 in all the ruin. Christ, therefore, the King, and the King- 
 dom which He should eventually set up, become the one 
 great subject which occupies the whole of the Word of 
 God. 
 
 Hence, He is the key to the Divine revelation in the 
 Word ; and apart from Him it cannot be understood. 
 
 The contents of the Bible must therefore be seen and 
 arranged with reference to Him. The counsels and pur- 
 poses of God are all centred in Christ. 
 
 1. In the Old Testament we have the King and the 
 Kingdom in Promise and Prophecy, Illustration and 
 Type. 
 
 2. In the Four Gospels we have the King and the King- 
 dom presented and proclaimed by John the Baptiser, and 
 by Christ Himself. And we see the Kingdom rejected, 
 and the King crucified. 
 
 3. In the Acts of the Apostles we have the Transition 
 from the Kingdom to the Church. The Kingdom is once 
 again offered to Israel by Peter; again it is rejected, 
 Stephen is stoned, and Peter imprisoned (ch. xii.). 
 
 Then Paul, who had been already chosen and called 
 (ch. ix.), is commissioned for His Ministry (ch. xiii.), and 
 on the final rejection of his testimony concerning the 
 Kingdom, he pronounces for the third and last time the 
 
 U 
 
i. CHRIST IN THE WORD AS A WHOLE 
 
 sentence of judicial blindness in Isaiah vi.,^ and declares ^ 
 that "the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles" (Acts 
 xxviii. 25—28). 
 
 In his final communication to Hebrew believers it is 
 written that while in God's counsels all things had been 
 put under Christ's feet, "we see NOT YET all things 
 put under Him " (Heb. ii. 7 — 9). 
 
 The Kingdom thenceforth is in abeyance. 
 
 4. In the Epistles we have the King exalted, and (while 
 the Kingdom is in abeyance) made the Head over all 
 things to the Church, during this present Interval ; the 
 Dispensation of the grace of God. 
 
 5. In the Apocalypse we have the Revelation of the 
 King in judgment ; and we see the Kingdom set up, the 
 King enthroned in power and glory, the promise fulfilled, 
 and prophecy ended. 
 
 We may exhibit the above to the eye in the following 
 Structure : — - 
 
 The one Subject of the W^ord as a Whole. 
 
 A , The King and the Kingdom in Promise and Pro- 
 l phecy. {The Old Testament.) 
 
 B The King presented, proclaimed, and re- 
 jected. The Mysteries (or Secrets) of the 
 Kingdom revealed. Matt. xiii. 11, 34, 35. 
 {The Four Gospels.) 
 
 C Transitional {The Acts). The King- 
 dom again offered and rejected {The 
 earlier Paul hie Epistles). 
 
 B The King exalted and made Head over 
 all things to the Church, " which is His 
 body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in 
 jail" (Eph. i. 22, 23). The Great Mystery 
 1 revealed {The later Pauline Epistles). The 
 ' Kingdom in abeyance (Heb. ii. 8). 
 The King and the Kingdom unveiled. The King 
 enthroned, and the Kingdom set up with Divine 
 judgment, power, and glory (Rev. xix., xx). Pro- 
 mise and prophecy fulfilled {The Apocalypse). 
 
 1 The other two citations of Isa. vi. were by our Lord, in Matt. xiii. 11, 15, 
 and John xii. 40. 
 
 Sco Part II„ Canon II, 
 
 15 
 
II. THE WORD : ITS ONE GREAT SUBJECT 
 
 Here the correspondence is seen between these five 
 members. 
 
 In A and A we have the King and the Kingdom. 
 
 In B and B we have the King and the mysteries (or 
 secrets) of the Kingdom (Matt. xiii.). 
 
 In C, the central member, we have the present Interval, 
 while the King is absent, the Holy Spirit present, and 
 the Kingdom in abeyance, and the mystery of the Church 
 revealed (Eph. iii). 
 
 It may be illustrated also by the diagram on the op- 
 posite page. 
 
 From the Structure, and from this illustration, it will 
 be seen that the great subject of the whole Book is one. 
 From Gen. iii. 15 to Rev. xxii. "THE COMING ONE" fills 
 our vision. 
 
 This teaches us that the Coming of Christ is no newly- 
 invented subject of some modern faddists or fanatics, or 
 cranks ; but that Christ's coming has always been the 
 Hope of His people. 
 
 In ' ' the fulness of time " He came : but having been 
 rejected and slain He rose from the dead, and ascended 
 to Heaven. There He is "seated" and "henceforth ex- 
 pecting until His enemies shall be placed as a footstool 
 for His feet " (Heb. x. 13). 
 
 Hence, Christ, "the Coming One," is the one all-per 
 vading subject of the Word of God as a whole. 
 
 He is the pneuma or life-giving spirit of the written 
 Word, without which the latter is dead. "As the body 
 without the pneuma is dead" (Jas. ii. 26), so the written 
 Word without the pneuma is dead also. Christ is that 
 pneuma or spirit. This is the whole argument of 2 Cor. iii.^ 
 
 This is why the Lord Jesus could say of the Scriptures : 
 "They testify of ME" (John i. 45; v. 39. Luke xxiv. 
 44, 45). 
 
 Their one great design is to tell of the Coming One. 
 All else is subordinated to this. This is why we see the 
 ordinary events in a household combining with the 
 grandest visions of a prophet to testify of Him who fills 
 all Scripture. It may be said of the written Word, as it 
 is of the New Jerusalem, "The Lamb is the light thereof" 
 (Rev, xxi. 23). ^ 
 
 1 See The Giver and His Gifts, pp. 135 to 141. 
 
 16 
 
i. CHRIST IN THE WORD AS A WHOLE 
 
 17 
 
 B 
 
II. THE WORD: ITS ONE GREAT SUBJECT 
 
 Apart from Him, the natural eye of man sees only 
 outward historical details and circumstances ; some in 
 themselves appearing to him trifling, others offensive, and 
 pursued at a length which seems disproportionate to the 
 whole; while things which "angels desire to look into" 
 are passed over in a few words, or in silence. 
 
 But once let "the spiritual mind" see Christ testified 
 of " in Moses and all the prophets," then all assumes a new 
 aspect : trifles that seem hardly worth recording fill the 
 whole vision and light up the written Word and make 
 it to shine with the glory of the Divine presence. 
 
 Then we see why the Inspired writer dwells on a matter 
 which to the outward eye seems trivial compared with other 
 things which we may deem to be of world-wide importance. 
 
 Then we observe in an event, seemingly casual and 
 unimportant, something which tells forth the plans and 
 counsels of God, by which He is shaping everything to 
 His own ends. Nothing appears to us then either great 
 or small. All is seen to be Divine when the Coming One 
 is recognized as the one subject of the Word of God. 
 
 This is the master-key of the Scriptures of truth. 
 
 "These are they that testify of ME." Bearing this key 
 in our hand we can unlock the precious treasures of the 
 Word ; and understand words, and hints ; apparently 
 casual expressions, circumstances, and events, which in 
 themselves, and apart from Him, are meaningless. 
 
 It is the use of this master-key and this first great 
 foundation principle which is to be observed in the study 
 of the "Word" and "words" of God. It is when we, in 
 every part, have found "HIM of whom Moses in the law, 
 and the prophets, did Avrite" (John i. 45), that we can 
 understand those parts of Scripture which are "a stone 
 of stumbling and a rock of offence " to many ; that we can 
 explain much that is otherwise difficult ; see clearly much 
 that before was obscure ; answer objections that are 
 brought against the Word; and "put to silence the igno- 
 rance of foolish men." 
 
 The moment this master-key is used types will be seen 
 foreshadowing the Coming King, and showing forth His 
 sufferings and His Glory. Events and circumstances will 
 show forth His wondrous deeds and tell of the coming 
 glory of His kingdom. 
 
 18 
 
ii. CHRIST IN THE SEPARATE BOOKS 
 
 ii. Christ in the Separate Books of the Word. 
 
 In GENESIS we shall understand the record of Crea- 
 tion (ch. i.), for we shall see in it the counterpart of our 
 new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. v. 17). 
 
 In the light which shined out of darkness (Gen. i. 2, 3) 
 we shall see the light which has shone "in our hearts to 
 give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face (or 
 person) of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. iv. 6). No wonder that 
 those who know nothing of this spiritual light of the New 
 Creation knoAV nothing of the light that was created on 
 the first day as revealed in the record of the old creation. 
 The natural man sees only a myth and an old wives' fable 
 in the Creation record, and seems actually to prefer the 
 Babylonian corruption of primitive truth. These "other 
 Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the 
 understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of 
 God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the 
 blindness of their heart " (Eph. iv. 17, 18). Woe be to those 
 who follow these blind leaders, for "they shall both fall 
 into the ditch" they have prepared for themselves by 
 their fleshly knowledge and worldly wisdom. 
 
 In the Creator we shall see Christ (John i. 3. Col. i. 16). 
 
 In the first Adam we shall see the last Adam (1 Cor. 
 XV. 45. Rom. v. 14). In the first man we shall see "the 
 second man, the Lord, from heaven" (1 Cor. xv. 47). 
 
 In the "seed of the woman" (Gen. iii. 15) we shall see 
 the coming son of Abraham, the son of David, the Son of 
 man, the Son of God; while those who are in the black 
 darkness of Rome see either a helpless Infant, or a dead 
 man, and a living Avoman — the Virgin Mary; having 
 corrupted their Authorized Vulgate Version (in Gen. iii, 
 15),2 to make it the foundation of this blasphemy. 
 
 In Abraham's shield we shall see the Living Word, 
 coming, speaking, and revealing Himself to him (ch. 
 XV. i. John viii. 56). 
 
 1 Though the recent, discovery of Radium is beginning to open our eyes 
 and show how light can exist without tlie i-un. 
 
 '■^ Where the Hebrew masculine is nusrcprcsentcd as feminine, and is thus 
 made, as Dr. I'usey has said, the foundation of Mariolatry, and the basis of the 
 Immaculate Conception. 
 
 19 
 
II. THE WORD: ITS ONE GREAT SUBJECT 
 
 In Isaac we shall see Christ the true seed of Abraham 
 (Rom. ix. 7. Gal. iii. 16). In the Annunciation to the 
 Mother (Gen. xviii. 10. Luke i. 30 — 33), the miraculous con- 
 ception (Gen. xviii. 14. Luke i. 35) and the pre-natal 
 naming (Gen. xvii. 19. Matt. i. 21. Luke i. 31 ; ii. 21). In 
 the projected death of the one we see the foreshadowing 
 of the other, two thousand years before, and on the same 
 mountain, Moriah ; and this Mount, selected not by 
 chance, or for convenience (for it was three days' journey), 
 but appointed in the Divine counsels as the site of the 
 future altar of burnt offering (Gen. xxii. 2. 1 Chron. xxi. 
 28— xxii. 1. 2 Chron. iii. 1). In the ivood laid upon Isaac 
 (Gen. xxii. 6), and not carried by the servants or on the 
 ass, we shall see Him who was led forth bearing His 
 Cross (John xix. 17). 
 
 In Joseph, of whom the question was asked, "Shalt 
 thou indeed reign over us?" we see Him of whom His 
 brethren afterwards said, "We will not have this man to 
 reign over us "(Luke xix. 14). But we see the sufferings 
 of the one followed by the glory, as we shall surely see 
 the glory of the true Joseph following His sufferings in 
 the fulness of time (1 Pet. i. 11), of Avhich glory we shall 
 be the witnesses, and partakers (1 Pet. iv. 13 ; v. 1). 
 
 We must not pursue this great subject or principle in 
 its further details, though we have but touched the fringe 
 of it, even in the book of Genesis. As the Lord Jesus 
 began at Moses so have we only made a beginning, and 
 must leave our readers to follow where we have pointed 
 out the way. 
 
 It may be well, however, for us to indicate one or 
 two of the leading points of the other books of the Old 
 Testament. 
 
 EXODUS tells of the sufferings and the glory of Moses, 
 as Genesis does of Joseph, and in both we see a type of the 
 sufferings and glory of Christ. 
 
 Joseph's sufferings began with his rejection, his own 
 brethren asking, "Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or 
 shalt thou indeed have dominion over us ? " (Gen. xxxvii. 8). 
 Moses's sufferings began with his rejection and the ques- 
 tion of "two men of the Hebrews," — "Who made thee a 
 ruler and a judge over us?" (Exod. ii. 14). In all this 
 we see the rejection of Christ by a similar question, the 
 
 20 
 
ii. CHRIST IN THE SEPARATE BOOKS 
 
 thought of their hearts being put into their lips, in the 
 parable, where "his citizens hated Him and sent a message 
 after Him saying, ' We will not have this man to reign 
 over us ' " (Luke xix. 14). 
 
 But the issue in all three cases is the same. Of each 
 it is true, as it is said of Moses, "This Moses wliom they 
 refused, saying, ' Who made thee a ruler and a deliverer ? ' 
 The same did God send to be a ruler and a judge by the 
 hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush" 
 (Acts vii. 35). 
 
 Even so will God surely "send Jesus Christ . . . whom 
 the heavens must receive until the times of restitution 
 of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all 
 His holy prophets since the world began " (Acts iii. 20, 21). 
 
 Thus early, in Genesis and Exodus, we have the great 
 subject of the suiferings and the glory of Christ more than 
 foreshadowed (1 Pet. i. 11 ; iv. 13 ; v. 1. Luke xxiv. 26). 
 
 Exodus tells us also of Christ as the true Paschal Lamb 
 (1 Cor. V. 7, 8) ; as the true Priest (Exod. xxx. 10. Heb. v. 
 4, 5); and the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched 
 and not men (Heb. ix). 
 
 LEVITICUS gives us, in the offerings, a fourfold view 
 of the Death of Christ (the Sin and Trespass Offerings being 
 reckoned as one), as the Gospels give us a fourfold view of 
 His life. 
 
 NUMBERS foreshadows the Son of Man come to be 
 " lifted up " (ch. xxi. 9. John iii. 14, 15) ; the Rock (ch. xx. 11. 
 1 Cor. X. 4); the Manna that fed them (ch. xi. 7 — 9. Deut. 
 viii. 2, 3. John vi. 57, 58); and the future Star that should 
 arise " out of Jacob" (ch. xxiv. 17. Luke i. 78. 2 Pet. i. 19. 
 Rev. ii. 28 ; xxii. 16). 
 
 DEUTERONOMY reveals the coming Prophet "like 
 unto Moses " (ch. xviii. 15. Acts vii. 23—26) ; the Rock and 
 Refuge of His people (chs. xxxii. 4; xxxiii. 27). 
 
 JOSHUA tells of "the Captain of the Lord's host" 
 (ch. V. 13—15. Heb. ii. 10 ; xii. 2) who shall triumph over 
 all His foes ; while Rahab's scarlet cord (ch. ii. 12—20) tells 
 of His sufferings and precious blood which will shelter 
 and preserve His people in the coming day of His war. 
 
 JUDGES tells of the Covenant Angel whose name is 
 "Secret," i.e. " Wonderful" (ch. xiii. 18, margin; compare 
 Isa. ix. G, where the word is the same). 
 
 21 
 
II. THE WORD: ITS ONE GREAT SUBJECT 
 
 RUTH reveals the type of our Kinsman-Redeemer, the 
 true Boaz ; and the question of ch. ii. 10 is answered in 
 Prov. xi. 15. 
 
 SAMUEL reveals the "sufferings" and rejection of 
 David, who became a "Saviour "and a "Captain "of his 
 followers (1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2), foreshadowing David's Son 
 and David's Lord, "the Root and the Offspring of David" 
 (Rev. xxii. 16). 
 
 KINGS shows us the "glory which should follow," and 
 the "greater than Solomon" (Matt. xii. 42); the "greater 
 than the Temple" (Matt. xii. 6), where everything speaks 
 of His glory (Ps. xxix. 9 and margin). 
 
 CHRONICLES reveals Christ as "the King's Son," 
 rescued "from among the dead," hidden in the House of 
 God, to be manifested in due time, "as Jehovah hath 
 said " (2 Chron. xxii. 10— xxiii. 3). 
 
 EZRA speaks of "a nail in a sure place" (ch. ix. 8), 
 which according to Isa. xxii. 23 is used of Eliakim, who 
 typifies Christ. 
 
 NEHEMIAH tells of the "bread from Heaven" and 
 "water out of the Rock" (ch. ix. 15, 20), which are else- 
 where used as typical of Christ (John vi. 57, 58. 1 Cor. 
 X. 4). 
 
 ESTHER sees the seed preserved which should in the 
 fulness of time be born into the world. His name is there, 
 though concealed,^ but His will and power is manifested 
 in defeating all enemies in spite of the unalterable law 
 of the Medes and Persians. 
 
 JOB reveals Him as his "Daysman" or "Mediator" 
 (ch. ix. 33); and as his " Redeemer " coming again to the 
 earth (ch. xix. 25—27). 
 
 THE PSALMS are full of Christ. We see His humi- 
 liation and sufferings and death (Ps. xxii.), His Resurrec- 
 tion (Ps. xvi.), His anointing as Prophet with grace-filled 
 lips (Ps. xlv. Luke iv. 22); as Priest after the order of 
 Melchisedec (Ps. ex. Heb. v. 6 ; vi. 20 ; vii. 17, 21) ; as King 
 enthroned over all (Ps. ii.), and His kingdom established 
 in the earth (Ps. ciii.; cxlv., &c.). 
 
 PROVERBS reveals Christ as the "Wisdom of God" 
 (ch. viii. ICor. i. 24); the "Path" and "Light" of His 
 
 1 See The Name of Jehovah in the Booh of Esther, in Four Acrostics, by the 
 same author and publisher. 
 
 22 
 
ii. CHRIST IN THE SEPARATE BOOKS 
 
 People (ch. iv. 18); the *' Surety" who smarted for His 
 people while strangers (ch. xi. 15. Rom. v. 8 — 10. Eph. ii. 
 12. 1 Pet. ii. 11); the "strong tower" into which the 
 righteous run and are safe (ch. xviii. 10) ; the friend who 
 loveth at all times, and the brother born for adversity 
 (ch. xvii. 17). 
 
 ECCLESIASTES tells of the "one among a thousand" 
 in the midst of all that is vanity and vexation of spirit 
 (ch. vii. 28). 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS reveals Him as the true and 
 faithful Shepherd, Lover, and Bridegroom of the Bride, 
 who remained constant to Him in spite of all the royal 
 grandeur and coarser blandishments of Solomon. 
 
 ISAIAH is full of the sufferings and glories of Christ. 
 He is the "despised and rejected of men, a man of 
 sorrows, and acquainted with grief " (ch. liii. 5) ; wounded 
 for our transgressions, oppressed, afflicted, and brought 
 as a lamb to the slaughter ; cut off out of the land of 
 the living (ch. liii. 2 — 9). Yet the glory shall follow. "He 
 shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied " (ch. 
 liii. 11). He will be His people's " Light " (ch. Ix. 1, 2. Matt, 
 iv. 16); "The Mighty God" (ch. ix. 6. Matt, xxviii. 18); 
 Salvation's Well (ch. xii. 3); the King who shall "reign 
 in righteousness" (ch. xxxii. 1, 2); Jehovah's Branch, 
 beautiful and glorious (ch. iv. 2). 
 
 JEREMIAH tells of "the Righteous Branch," and "Je- 
 hovah our Righteousness" (ch. xxiii. 5, 6); of the "Righ- 
 teous Branch" and King who shall reign and prosper 
 (ch. xxxiii. 15). 
 
 EZEKIEL reveals Him as the true Shepherd (ch. xxxiv. 
 28), and as "the Prince" (ch. xxxvii. 25); the "Plant of 
 Renown" (ch. xxxiv. 29), and "Jehovah Sliammah" (ch. 
 xlviii. 35). 
 
 DANIEL reveals Him as the "Stone" become the Head 
 of the corner (ch. ii. 34. Ps. cxviii. 22. Isa. viii. 14. 
 xxviii. 16. Matt. xxi. 42, 44. Acts iv. 11. 1 Pet. ii. 4, 6). 
 Also as the Son of Man (ch. vii. 13, 16); and "Messiah 
 the Prince" (ch. ix. 24). 
 
 He is HOSEA'S true David (iii. 5), the Son out of Egypt 
 (xi. 1); 
 
 JOEL'S "God dAvelling in Zion" (ch. iii. 17); 
 AMOS'S Raiser of David's Tabernacle (ch. ix. 11 ; Acts 
 XV. 10, 17); 23 
 
II. THE WORD: ITS ONE GREAT SUBJECT 
 
 OBADIAH'S "Deliverer on Mount Zion" (v. 17); 
 
 JONAH'S "Salvation" (cli. ii. 9); the "Sign" of 
 Christ's resurrection (Matt. xii. 39—41); 
 
 MICAH'S "Breaker," "King" and "Lord" (ch. ii. 13; 
 v.2,5): 
 
 NAHUM'S "Stronghold in Trouble" (ch. i. 7); 
 HABAKKUK'S "Joy" and "Confidence" (ch. iii. 
 17, 18); 
 
 ZEPHANIAH'S "Mighty God in the midst of Zion" 
 (ch. iii. 17); 
 
 HAGGAI'S "Desire of all nations" (ch. ii. 7); 
 
 ZECHARIAH'S Smitten Shepherd ; The Man, Jehovah's 
 Fellow (ch. xiii. 7); Jehovah's "Servant— the Branch" 
 (ch. iii. 8) ; " the Man whose name is the Branch " (ch. vi. 12) ; 
 
 MALACHI'S "Messenger of the Covenant " (ch. iii. 1); 
 the Refiner of the Sons of Levi (ch. iii. 3); "The Sun of 
 Righteousness " (ch. iv. 2). 
 
 Thus, the "Word" of God has one great subject. 
 
 That one great all-pervading subject is Christ ; and all 
 else stands in relation to Him. He is " the beginning and 
 the ending" of Scripture, as of all beside. 
 
 Hence, the Word of God, at its ending, shows how 
 the beginning all works out ; and how, that to which 
 we are introduced in Genesis is completed in Reve- 
 lation. 
 
 Satan's first rebellion is implied between the first and 
 second verses of the first chapter of Genesis, and his 
 final rebellion is seen in Rev. xx. 7—9. His doom is 
 pronounced in Gen. iii. 15, and is accomplished in Rev. 
 XX. 10. 
 
 We have the primal Creation, "the world that then 
 was," in Gen. i. 1 (2 Pet. iii. 6). "The Heavens and the 
 • Earth which are now" in Gen. i. 2, etc. (2 Pet. iii. 7). And 
 "The New Heavens and the New Earth" in Rev. xxi. 1 
 (2 Pet. iii. 13). 
 
 We have "night" in Gen. i. 1; and see "no night 
 there" in Rev. xxii. 5. 
 
 We have the "sea" in Gen. 1. 10; and "no more sea" 
 in Rev. xxi. 1. 
 
 We have the "sun and moon" in Gen. i. 16, 17; and 
 "no need of the sun or the moon" in Rev. xxi. 23; 
 xxii. 5. 
 
 2A 
 
ii. CHRIST IN THE SEPARATE BOOKS 
 
 We have the entrance of sorrow and suffering and 
 death in Gen. iii. 16, 17; and "no more death, neither 
 sorrow nor crying*' in Rev. xxi. 4. 
 
 We have the "curse" pronounced in Gen. iii. 17; and 
 "no more curse" in Rev. xxii. 3. 
 
 We have banishment from Paradise and the Tree of 
 Life in Gen. iii. 22 — 21; and the welcome back and "right 
 to it" in Rev. xxii. 2. 
 
 This will be sufficient ^ to show the unity of the " Word" 
 as a whole ; and to stimulate Bible students to a further 
 study of it on the line of this great fundamental prin- 
 ciple. 
 
 1 More instances will be found in The Apocalypse ; or, the Day of the Lord, 
 by the same author and publisher, pp. 58, 59. 
 
 25 
 
III. THE ONE GREAT REQUIREMENT OP THE 
 WORD:— "RIGHTLY DIVIDING" IT. 
 
 The one great requirement of the Word is grounded 
 on the fact that it is "the Word of truth." And this 
 fact is so stated as to imply that, unless the Word is 
 thus rightly divided we shall not get "truth"; and that 
 we shall get its truth only in proportion to the measure 
 in which we divide it rightly. 
 
 The Requirement is thus stated in 2 Tim. ii. 15 : " Give 
 diligence to present thyself approved to God, a workman 
 having no cause to he ashamed rightly dividing the word 
 of truth." 
 
 The word in question here is op^oroixouvra {orthoto- 
 mounta).^ 
 
 As this word occurs in no Greek writer, or even else- 
 Avhere in the New Testament, we can get little or no 
 help from outside, and are confined to Biblical usage. 
 
 It is used twice in the Septuagint for the Hebrew 
 l^*** (ydshar), to be right, or straight. In Prov. iii. 6; 
 xi. 5, the Hebrew is Piel (or causative), to make right (as 
 in 2 Chron. xxxii. 80. Prov. xv. 21. Isa. xl. 3 ; xlv. 2, 13). 
 
 But it is the Greek word that we have to do with 
 here, in 2 Tim. ii. 15 ; and we cannot get away from the 
 fact that refLVto (temno) means to cut; or, from the fact 
 that we cannot cut without dividing. To divide belongs to 
 the very nature of the act of cutting. Even as applied to 
 directing one's uay, it implies that we divide off one way 
 from others — because we desire to follow the right way 
 and avoid the wrong. 
 
 The only Biblical guide we have to the usage of the 
 word is in Prov. iii. 6 : 
 
 "In all thy ways acknowledge him 
 And he shall direct thy paths." 
 
 In the margin the R.V. gives, make straight or 
 plain" as an alternative rendering for "direct." But oitr 
 ways can only be made straight or plain by God's causing 
 
 1 From 6p0ds {orthos), right, and Te/j.vw {tevmo), to cut. 
 
 26 
 
''RIGHTLY DIVIDING" THE WORD 
 
 us to proceed on our way aright — i.e., by avoiding all 
 the ways that are wrong, and going in the one way that 
 is right ; in other Avords, the right way is divided off from 
 all the wrong ways. 
 
 What else can the word mean in 2 Tim. ii. 15 ? 
 
 It matters little what others have thought or said. 
 We could fill a page with their names and their views, 
 but we should learn but little and only become confused. 
 The duties of Priests, Furriers, and Ploughmen have been 
 referred to as indicating the correct meaning. But we 
 need not leave the Biblical usage, which associates the 
 word with guidance in the right uay. 
 
 The scope of the verse plainly teaches that : 
 
 (1) Our one great study is to seek GOD'S approval, 
 
 and not man's. 
 
 (2) We are to show all diligence in pursuing this 
 
 study. 
 
 (3) As workmen, our aim is to have no cause to 
 
 be ashamed of our work. 
 
 (4) In order to gain God's approval and avert our 
 
 own shame Ave must rightly divide the Avord of 
 truth. 
 
 (5) To do this we must direct our studies in tlie 
 
 right rvay. 
 
 (6) This great requirement is associated with the 
 
 Word in its special character as being the 
 Word of truth; i.e., "the TRUE Word." 
 
 All this tells us that Ave shall not get the truth if Ave 
 do not thus rightly divide it ; and that we shall get the 
 truth only in proportion to our "rightly dividing" it. 
 
 Other titles of the Word have their oaa^i special re- 
 quirements. As "the engrafted Word" it must be re- 
 ceived ivith meekness (Jas. i. 21). As "the Faithful Word" 
 Ave must hold it fast (Tit. i. 9). As "the Word of life" Ave 
 must hold it forth (Phil. ii. 16). 
 
 But, because this is "the Word of truth," its paths 
 must be well noted, the sign-posts must be observed, the 
 directions and guides which are in the Word itself must 
 be folloAved. 
 
 We are to "give diligence "to this great Requirement 
 of the Word just because it is "the Word of truth." 
 
 27 
 
III. THE WORD: ITS ONE GREAT REQUIREMENT 
 
 It is true that there are many who altogether ignore 
 this precept ; and have no thought as to obeying this 
 command in tlieir study of the Word. 
 
 There are many who make light of our insistence on 
 obedience to this precept. 
 
 On what ground, we ask, are we to treat such 
 an important command as though it had never been 
 given ? 
 
 Why is not this command as binding on Bible students 
 as any other command in the Word of God ? 
 
 What motive can such have to blunt the point and 
 dull the edge of this " Sword of the Spirit " in this 
 matter ? 
 
 Strange to say, those who would be-little our efforts 
 in rendering due obedience to this command, are them- 
 selves obliged not only to accept its division into chapters, 
 and verses, and punctuated sentences ; but they go further, 
 and adopt the division of its subject-matter which is made 
 by the insertion of chapter-headings and running page- 
 headings according to man's own ideas. 
 
 The only question is, Do they divide it rightly, or 
 wrongly ? 
 
 For example, in the English Bibles which our readers 
 use, over Isaiah xxix. we notice the running page-heading 
 '^Judgment upon Jerusalem'' ; and on the opposite page, 
 over ch. xxx. we notice the page-heading ''God's mercies 
 to His church." 
 
 Again, over Isaiah lix. we note the chapter-heading 
 ^'The sins of the Jeivs" ; in the chapter-heading of ch. Ix. 
 we note " The glory of the church." And this in spite of 
 the declared fact that this book contains "the Vision 
 of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw conceiming 
 Judah and Jerusalem" (ch. i. 1).^ 
 
 Surely, this is dividing the Word. But the only ques- 
 tion for us to ask is, whether it is divided "rightly" 
 or wrongly. 
 
 In the consideration of this great and important re- 
 quirement there are four p^Hncipal spheres in which we 
 
 1 If these headings are not found in some of the current editions of our 
 English Bibles, it is only a proof that still greater liberties are taken in changes 
 of these headings. 
 
 28 
 
"RIGHTLY DIVIDING" ITS LITERARY FORM 
 
 are to give diligence so that we may follow the right 
 ways which are so clearly cut and marked out for our 
 studies. 
 
 We must rightly divide the Word of Truth; 
 
 i. As to its Literary Form. 
 
 ii. As to its Subject-matter. 
 
 iii. As to its Times and Dispensations. 
 
 iv. As to its Dispensational Truth and Teaching. 
 
 We will, consider these in their order. 
 
 i. Rightly Dividing the Word as to its Literary 
 
 Form. 
 
 The "Word" comes to us in our English Translation. 
 But it comes with much that is human in its Literary 
 Divisions ; and it is far from being rightly divided. 
 
 1. The Two Testaments. 
 
 "THE WORD OF GOD" as a whole comes to us in 
 two separate parts : one written, originally, in HebreAv ; 
 the other in Greek. Only in the Versions are these two 
 combined, and bound together in one Book. 
 
 These divisions, of course, are not human, though the 
 names are by which they are commonly known. 
 
 Up to the second century the term "Old Covenant" 
 was used by the Greeks to describe the Hebrew Bible. 
 This passed into the Latin Vulgate as " Vetus Testa- 
 mentum" from which our English term "Old Testament" 
 was taken. 
 
 By way of distinction, the Greek portion was naturally 
 spoken of as the "New Testament." But neither of 
 these names is Divine in its origin. 
 
 2. The Separate Books of the Bible. 
 
 When, however, we come to the Separate Books, 
 though their origin is Divine, the liuman element is at 
 once api^arent. 
 
 (a) The Books of the Old Testament. — The JJooks 
 as we have them to-day are not the same as in the 
 
 29 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 Hebrew Canon, either as to their number, names, or 
 order. ^ 
 
 The change first came about Avhen the first Translation 
 of the Hebrew Bible was made into Greek in the Version 
 known as the Septuagint. 
 
 It was made in the latter part of the third century B.C. 
 The exact date is not known, but the consensus of opinion 
 leans to about 286—285 B.C. 
 
 It is the oldest of all the translations of the HebrcAV 
 Text, and its Divisions and arrangement of the Books 
 have been followed in every translation since made. 
 
 Man has divided them into four classes : (1) The Law, 
 (2) The Historical Books, (3) The Poetical Books, and (4) The 
 Prophetical Books. 
 
 The Lord Jesus divides them into Three classes : (1) 
 The Law, (2) The Prophets, and (3) The Psalms. And who 
 will say that HE did not rightly divide them ! But His 
 Division was made according to the Hebrew Bible extant 
 in His day, and not according to man's Greek Translation 
 of it— which teas extant also at that time. 
 
 In the Hebrew Canon these three Divisions contain 
 twenty -four Books, in the following order:— 
 
 (i) "The Law" {Torah\ 
 
 1. Genesis 
 
 2. Exodus 
 
 3. Leviticus 
 
 4. Numbers 
 
 5. Deuteronomy 
 
 These five books form 
 the Pentateuch. 
 
 (ii)"The Prophets" (Nevtim). 
 
 6. Joshua \ 
 
 7. Judges The Former Prophets 
 
 8. Samuel / (Zech. vii.). 
 
 9. Kings J 
 
 10. Isaiah 
 
 11. Jeremiah 
 
 12. Ezekiel 
 
 13. The Minor Prophets 
 
 1 
 
 The Latter Prophets. 
 
 1 See a pamphlet on this subject, by the same author, entitled The Names 
 and Order of the Books of the Old Testament. 
 
 30 
 
i. i^S TO LITERARY FORM (SEPARATE BOOKS) 
 
 (iii) "The Psalms" {ICthuvlm) or the [other] writings. 
 
 14. Psalms 
 
 15. Proverbs 
 
 16. Job 
 
 17. Song of Songs 
 
 18. Ruth 
 
 19. Lamentations 
 
 20. Ecclesiastes 
 
 21. Esther 
 
 22. Daniel 
 
 23. Ezra-Nehemiah 
 
 24. Chronicles 
 
 ^The Five Megilloth 
 (or scrolls). 
 
 This is how the Books are rightly divided in the 
 Hebrew Bible. And it is sad to find so many good men 
 exercising their ingenuity in order to find some Divine 
 sijiritual teaching in the utterly human and different 
 order of the Books given in the Translations. One actu- 
 ally manufactures "five Pentateuch's," quite dislocating 
 the Books of the Bible ; and he arbitrarily re-arranges them 
 to suit his theory. Another divides them by re-arranging 
 them in what he conceives to be the chronological order, 
 which results, among other calamities, in the Psalms 
 being dispersed among the Historical Books. 
 
 The "Higher" Critics would have us make a Hexateuch 
 instead of a Pentateuch. 
 
 We fear it is hopeless ever to look for the books to be 
 rightly divided and arranged in the order of the Hebrew 
 Canon ; so we shall have to make the best of man's 
 having wrongly divided the Word of truth from the very 
 outset. 
 
 The number of Concordances and Commentaries and 
 general works where reference is made to the present 
 chapters and verses would be sufficient to make such a 
 change impossible, however desirable it might be on other 
 grounds. 
 
 Nevertheless, it is well for those Avho would study the 
 Word of truth to have this information, and to be in 
 possession of the facts of the case, even if the result 
 is only to prevent them from attaching any imf)ortance 
 to the present order of the books, and keep thorn from 
 
 31 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 elaborating some scheme of doctrine or theology based 
 on what is only human in its origin.' 
 
 (6) The Books of the Neiv Testament.— As to the Books 
 of the New Testament the problem presented is somewhat 
 different. We find them in the Manuscripts generally 
 in five groups : (1) the Gospels, (2) the Acts, (3) the 
 General Epistles, (4) Paul's Epistles, and (5) the Apocalypse. 
 
 The order of these groups varies in certain MSS. ; and 
 the order of the books also in the different groups varies. 
 There is, however, one exception which we have else- 
 where pointed out:=^ the Epistles of Paul which are 
 addressed to Churches are always in the same order as 
 we have them in our English Bible to-day. Out of the 
 hundreds of Greek MSS. not one has ever yet been seen 
 where the Canonical order of these Epistles is different 
 from that in which they have come down to us.^ 
 
 We can therefore build our teaching on a sure foun- 
 dation, though we cannot do so on the order of the 
 other New Testament books. 
 
 3. The Divisions of the Hehretv Text 
 
 The Hebrew Text is divided (in the MSS.) into five 
 different forms : — 
 
 (a) Into open and closed Sections, answering somewhat 
 to our paragraphs. These were to promote facility in 
 reading. 
 
 (b) Into Sedarim or the Triennial Pericopes;^ i.e., Por- 
 tions marked off : so that the Pentateuch is divided into 
 167 Pericopes or "Lessons," which are completed in a 
 course of three years' reading. There are 452 of these 
 Seders^ in the Hebrew Bible, indicated by in the 
 margin. 
 
 1 The Cambridge Companion (p. 7) suggests another classification, based on 
 the subject-matter (as is that of tlie Septuagint) : (1) Historical, (2) Prophetical, 
 (3) Poetical, (4) Didactic, (5) Sapiential, (6) Apocalyptic. It is not necessary to 
 indicate the Books under these heads, as the Divisions are so intensely human 
 as to be unworthy of our notice. 
 
 2 The Church Epistles, p. 13, by the same author and publisher, 3s. 6d5. 
 Also Part I., ch. iii., i 6, /. below. 
 
 3 The Twentieth Century New Testament has the impertinence to change 
 this into a chronological order! 
 
 4 Greek, from peri (around) and kopto (cut) ; a portion or extract. Pro- 
 nounced Pe-ric'-o-pe. 
 
 5 From "ITD (sadar), to arrange in order. 
 
 32 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (THE ORIGINALS) 
 
 (c) Beside these the Pentateuch was divided into 54 
 Par'shioth^ or Annual Pericopes, by which the Law was 
 read through once a year. 
 
 (d) The division into verses. The verses in the 
 Hebrew Bible are of ancient origin, and were noted by a 
 stroke (-r) called Silluk under the last word of each verse. 
 
 These words were carefully counted for each book. 
 Hence the Scribes were so called not because of their 
 writing (from the Latin word Scribo), but they were called 
 Sopherim or Counters (from the Hebrew, Sopher, to count). 
 The Massorah gives the number of verses as 23,203.^ 
 
 4. The Divisions of the Greek Text. 
 
 In the Greek MSS. of the New Testament there is an 
 indication of sections in the margin, dividing the text 
 according to the sense. 
 
 There is also a division of the Gospels ascribed to 
 Tatian (Cent. Ii.) called Kephalaia, i.e. heads or sum- 
 maries : these are known also as Titloi or titles. Ammo- 
 Nius, in the third century, divided the Text according to 
 sections, known by his name: "The Ammonian Sections." 
 In the fifth century EuTHALius, a deacon of Alexandria, 
 divided Paul's Epistles, the Acts, and the General Epistles 
 into Kephalaia ; and Andreas (Archbishop of Caesarea 
 in Cappadocia) completed the work by dividing the Apo- 
 calypse into 24 Logoi or paragraphs, each being again 
 divided into three Kephalaia. 
 
 These dividings of the New Testament can be traced 
 back to individual men, and are all essentially human. 
 
 5. The Divisions of the Versions. 
 
 {a) The Chapters. — There are other more modern divi- 
 sions into CHAPTERS. These are quite foreign to the 
 Original Texts of the Old and New Testaments. For a 
 long time they were attributed to Hughes de St. Cher 
 (Hugo de Sancto Caro). He was Provincial to the 
 Dominicans in France, and afterwards a Cardinal in 
 
 1 From ens (parash), to divide. 
 
 2 See Ginsburg's Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, Trinitarian Bible Society, 
 7, Uury Street, Blooinnbury, London. 
 
 33 
 
 C 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 Spain: he died A.D. 1263. But it is now generally be- 
 lieved that they were made by Stephen Langton, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, who died in 1227. 
 
 (b) The Verses. — Hugo made use of Langton's chapters 
 and added subdivisions which he indicated by letters. 
 This was in 1248. Robert Stephens, finding these letters 
 inadequate, introduced numbers in their place in his 
 Greek Testament of 1551. This was the origin of our 
 verse-divisions, which were first introduced into the 
 English Version known as the Geneva Bible (1560), and 
 from that into our Authorized Version in 1611. These 
 verses do not correspond always with those of the Hebrew 
 Bible. 
 
 (c) The Chapter Breaks. — As to these chapter divisions, 
 they were not of Jewish origin ; and were never associated 
 with the Hebrew Bible until A.D. 1330, when Rabbi 
 Salomon ben Ismabl adopted the Christian chapters by 
 placing the numerals in the margin, to facilitate reference 
 for purposes of controversy.^ 
 
 In many cases they agree with the Massoretic divisions 
 of the Hebrew Bible, though there are glaring instances 
 of divergence.^ 
 
 It will thus be seen how very modern, and human, 
 and how devoid of all authority are the chapter and 
 verse divisions which obtain in the versions of the Bible 
 generally, and in our English Bible in particular. Though 
 
 1 This appears from a note appended to MS. No. 15, in the Cambridge Univer- 
 sity Library. See Dr. Ginsburg's Introduction, etc., p. 25. 
 
 2 Up to A.D. 1517 the Editors of the Printed Text of the Hebrew Bible closely 
 adhered to the MSS. and ignored the Christian or Gentile chapters. 
 
 The first to reverse this practice were the Editors of the Complutensian 
 Polyglot of Cardinal Ximenes (1514-1517) ; but still confining the indications to 
 the margin, in Roman Numerals. 
 
 Felix Pratensis was the first to substitute Hebrew Letters for the Roman 
 Numerals in his Edition printed by Bomberg, Venice, in a.d. 1517 ; though he 
 retained the Massoretic divisions. 
 
 Jacob beist Chayim adopted the same practice in his standard Edition 
 (A.D. 1524-5) ; and it was continued down to 1571, when 
 
 Arias Montanus actually went so far as to break up the Hebrew Text, and 
 insert the Hebrew Letters (or Numerals) into the body of the Text, in his Edition 
 printed at Antwerp in 1571. 
 
 From this, the "pernicious practice," as Dr. Ginsburg well calls it, has 
 continued in the Editions of the Hebrew Text since printed, though it is dis- 
 carded in his own Massoretico- Critical Edition, printed in Vienna in 1894, and 
 published by the Trinitarian Bible Society of 7, Bury Street, Bloomsbury, 
 London, 
 
 84 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (CHAPTER BREAKS) 
 
 they are most useful for purposes of reference, we must 
 be careful never to use them for interpretation, or for 
 doctrinal teaching. They seldom accord with the breaks 
 required by the Structure.^ Sometimes they break the 
 connection altogether ; at other times they materially 
 affect the sense. 
 
 As examples, where the chapter-breaks interfere with 
 the Connection and the Sense, we may notice Gen. i. and 
 ii., where the Introduction (ch. i. 1 — ii. 4) is broken up, and 
 the commencement of the first of the Eleven Divisions 
 (or, " Generations ") is hidden. This wrong break has led 
 to serious confusion. Instead of seeing in ch. i. 1 — ii. 3 
 a separate Summary of Creation in the form of an Intro- 
 duction, many think they see two distinct creations, 
 while others see a discrepancy between two accounts of 
 the same creation. 
 
 The break between 2 Kings vi. and vii. should come 
 after ch. vii. 2; that is to say, ch. vii. 1, 2, should be 
 ch. vi. 34, 35. 
 
 The break between Isa. viii. and ix. is, to say the least, 
 most unfortunate, dislocating, as it does, the whole sense 
 of the passage. 
 
 Isa. liii. should commence at ch. lii. 13. This agrees 
 with its Structure : 
 
 A I lii. 13—15. The foretold exaltation of Jehovah's 
 I Servant, the Messiah. 
 
 B I liii. 1—6. His rejection by others. 
 
 B I 7— 10-. His own sufferings. 
 A I -10—12. The foretold exaltation of Messiah. 
 
 Isa. lii. 1—12 should have been the concluding portion 
 of ch. li. 
 
 Jer. iii. 6 begins a new prophecy which goes down 
 to the end of ch. vi. 
 
 Matt. ix. 35—38 should belong to ch. x. 
 
 John iii. should commence with ch. ii. 23, thus con- 
 necting the remarks about "men" with the "man of 
 the Pharisees." 
 
 John viii. 1 should be the last verse of ch. vii., setting 
 in contrast the destination of the people and that of the 
 Lord. 
 
 I Seo Part II., Canon II. 
 
 35 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 In Acts iv. the last two verses should have been the 
 first two verses of eh. v. 
 
 We can quite see that Acts vii. is already a long chap- 
 ter ; still, the break between it and ch. vi. is unfortunate, 
 because the connection between "these things" in ch. vii. 1 
 is quite severed from the "things" referred to in ch. vi. 
 
 The same is the case in Acts viii. 1. Also in xxii. 1. 
 
 Romans iv. ought to have run on to v. 11, as is clear 
 from the argument, as shown by the Structure.^ 
 
 In the same way Rom. vi. ought to run on, and end 
 with ch. vii. 6, which concludes the subject. The com- 
 mencement of ch. vii. 7, "What shall we say then?" 
 would thus correspond with ch. vi. 1. 
 
 Rom. XV. 1 — 7 really belongs to ch. xiv.^ 
 
 1 Cor. xi. 1 should be the last verse of ch. x. 
 
 2 Cor. vi. should end with vii. 1 ; for ch. vii. 2 
 commences a new subject, and leaves the "promises" 
 of vii. 1 to be connected with the rehearsal of them in 
 ch. vi. 
 
 In the same way Phil. iii. ought to end with ch. iv. 1 
 to complete the sense. 
 
 Col. iii. should end with iv. 1. Thus "masters" 
 would follow, and stand in connection with, the exhorta- 
 tion to "servants"; and ch. iv. 2 would commence the 
 new subject. 
 
 In 1 Pet. ii. 1 the word "wherefore" points to the fact 
 that this verse is closely connected with ch. i. 
 
 2 Pet. ii. 1, in the same way, concludes ch. i., and the 
 "false prophets" are contrasted with the Divinely in- 
 spired prophets. 
 
 In 2 Tim. iv. 1 the force of the word "therefore" is 
 quite lost by being cut off from the conclusion of ch. iii. 
 
 Rev. iii., as a break, ought to be ignored, as it quite 
 dislocates the seven letters to the Assemblies. 
 
 Rev. xiii. 1 belongs to, and is the conclusion of, ch. xii. 
 The break is thus actually made in the R.V., and the 
 correct reading of the Greek MSS. followed shows the close 
 connection of the words "and he (i.e. Satan) stood upon 
 the sand of the sea," with ch. xii. 17, and also with 
 ch. xiii. as containing the result of Satan's thus standing. 
 
 ' See The Church Epistles, by the same author and publisher, p. 32, etc. 
 
 2 See Part IL, Canon VII, below. 
 
 36 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (CHAPTER BREAKS) 
 
 111 the same way the break between Rev. xxi. and 
 xxii. is unfortunate, as the real chapter-break should 
 correspond with the Structure and should come between 
 verses 5 and 6 of ch. xxii. 
 
 Other examples may easily be found, but these will 
 be sufficient to show the importance of "rightly 
 dividing the Word of Truth," even as to the Chapter 
 Divisions. 
 
 (d) The Chapter, and Running Page-Headings. — When 
 these chapter divisions are combined with (1) the chapter 
 headings, and (2) the running page-headings, they become 
 positively mischievous, partaking of the nature of inter- 
 pretation instead of translation. It is needless to say 
 that we may absolutely disregard them, as always aggra- 
 vating the chapter-break, and often misleading the 
 reader. 
 
 The running page-headings are a fruitful source of 
 mischief. Over Isa. xxix. (as we have said above) in an 
 ordinary Bible we read ''God's judgments upon Jerusa- 
 lem.'' On the opposite page we read over Isa. xxx. 
 ''God's mercies to his church.'' The same maybe seen in 
 the concluding chapters of Isaiah, both in the running 
 page-headings and in the chapter-headings. But there is 
 no break or change in the subject-matter. It consists of 
 all "the vision Avhich Isaiah saw concerning Judah and 
 Jerusalem" (ch. i. 1). Here is a "dividing" of the Word. 
 But, the question is, can it be called "rightly dividing" 
 when God's "mercies" are claimed for the Church, and 
 His "judgments" generously given over to the Jews? 
 Such "dividing" of the Word can hardly be said to be 
 "without partiality." 
 
 (e) Punctuation.— One other mode of dividing the Word 
 as to its Literary Form is by Punctuation ; which is a 
 still more important manner of dividing the Word, as 
 it seriously affects the Text by dividing its sentences, 
 and thus fixing its sense. 
 
 The importance of this will be seen when we note that 
 its effect is to fasten the interpretation of the translator 
 on to the Word of God by making his translation part 
 of that Word. It thus comes to the ordinary reader as 
 part and ijarcel of the Truth of God, whereas it is 
 
 37 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 absolutely arbitrary, and is wholly destitute of either 
 Divine or human authority J 
 
 The Greek Manuscripts have, practically, no system of 
 punctuation : the most ancient, none at all ; and the 
 later MSS. nothing more than an occasional single point 
 even with the middle, or in line with the top of the 
 letters. Where there is anything more than this it is 
 generally agreed that it is the work of a later hand. 
 
 So that in the Original Manuscripts we have no guide 
 whatever to any dividing of the Text, whether rightly or 
 wrongly. Indeed, in the most ancient MSS. there is not 
 only no division at all, but there is not even any break 
 between the words ! So that we can find no help from 
 the MSS. 
 
 When they came to be collated, edited, and printed, a 
 system of punctuation was introduced by the respective 
 Editors. Each one followed his own plan, and exercised 
 his own human judgment. No two editors have punc- 
 tuated the text in the same way; so that we have no 
 help from them. 
 
 When we come to the English Authorized Version we 
 are still left without guidance or help. 
 
 The Authorized Version of 1611 is destitute of any autho- 
 rity; for the Translators punctuated only according to 
 their best judgment. But even here, few readers are 
 aware of the many departures which have been made 
 from the original Edition of 1611 ; and how many changes 
 have been made in subsequent Editions.^ 
 
 Some of these differences arise doubtless from over- 
 sight, but other changes have been made undoubtedly 
 with deliberate intent. Who made them, or when they 
 were introduced, no one can tell. A few, however, can 
 be traced.^ 
 
 1 Sometimes a change of punctuation may be made through inadvertence or 
 through ignorance. We have heard of 1 Cor. ix. 2i being read aloud thus: 
 " They that run in a race, run. All but one receiveth the prize." The ignorance 
 that perpetrated this failed to see the bad grammar which resulted in the 
 last clause. 
 
 2 These changes affect not merely punctuation, but the marginal notes and 
 references, the uses of capital letters and italic type, orthography, grammatical 
 peculiarities, etc. 
 
 3 A full account of these may be seen in the Report of the Select Committee 
 of the House of Commons on the Queen's Printers' Patent, 1859, a Blue Book full 
 of interesting information ; also in Dr. Scrivener's Preface to The Cambridge 
 Paragraph Bible of 1873. 
 
 38 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PUNCTUATION) 
 
 The Edition of 1616 was the first edition of the 
 A.V. which shows any considerable revision. The first 
 Cambridge Editions of 1638 and 1639 appear to have 
 been a complete revision, though done without any 
 authority. 
 
 The Edition of 1660 added many marginal notes. That 
 of 1701 was the first to introduce the marginal dates, 
 tables of Scripture measures and weights, &c. 
 
 The Edition of 1762 contained serious attempts at im- 
 provements made by Dr. Paris. He was the first to sub- 
 stitute a full stop for the colon of 1611 in Zech. xi. 7, 
 after "staves." This edition considerably extended the 
 use of Italic type ; and incorporated Bishop Lloyd's 
 chronological notes. 
 
 Dr. Blayney's Edition of 1769 introduced many changes 
 and many glaring errors which, unfortunately, have been 
 followed without enquiry and without suspicion. These 
 imperfections led to a great controversy, and a Public 
 Enquiry, which included the policy of the Royal Patent 
 and the working of the University Presses. 
 
 A Revision of the American Bible Society (1847 — 1851) 
 prepared the way for our English Revised Version (1881— 
 1885). 
 
 The "Advertisement" to the Universities' Edition, 
 called "The Parallel Bible" (of the R.V. and A.V.), fully 
 endorses all we have said : — 
 
 " The left hand column contains the text of the Autho- 
 "rized Version as usually printed, with the marginal 
 "notes and references of the Edition of 1611, the spelling 
 "of these being conformed to modern usage. In the left 
 "hand margin are also placed, in square brackets, the 
 *'more important differences between the edition of 
 " 1611 and the text notv in itse, whether these differences 
 " are due to corrections of the edition of 1611 or to errors 
 "which have subsequently crept in." 
 
 In spite of all these facts many ill-informed readers of 
 the English Bible take the punctuation as "Gospel truth;" 
 and not only build their own theories, and bolster up 
 their traditions upon it, but treat as heretics, and cast out 
 almost as apostates any one who dares to question the 
 authority of this human interference with the Word of 
 
 39 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 truth, if it should run counter to their Traditions, which 
 are generally based on such human foundations. 
 
 In view of this indefensible attitude we shall have to 
 show its utter groundlessness. 
 
 It is beside our present object to enumerate all the 
 cases where the punctuation has been changed, though 
 all are of interest, and many are of importance. 
 
 These changes may be classed under three heads. 
 
 (1) Where the Edition of 1611 is to be preferred to 
 
 the later Editions. 
 
 (2) Where the changes in the later Editions are im- 
 
 provements ; and 
 
 (3) Where there are other proposed changes which 
 
 we suggest as being most desirable. 
 
 We shall proceed to give a few examples under each 
 of these three heads. 
 
 (1) Changes in punctuation where the Edition of 1611 
 is certainly to he preferred to the later Editions. 
 
 1 Kings xix. 5, "And as he (Elijah) lay and slept under 
 a juniper tree, behold then, an angel touched him." In 
 17G9 this was altered to "behold, then." This comma 
 after "behold" has continued to the present day. 
 
 Neh. ix. 4, "Then stood up upon the stairs of the 
 Levites, Joshua, &c." In the Edition of 1769 this Avas 
 changed to "Then stood up upon the stairs, of the 
 Levites, Joshua." 
 
 Ps. Ixxix. 11, "come before thee, according to the 
 greatness of thy power : Preserve thou, etc." : instead of 
 "come before thee; according to the greatness of thy 
 power preserve thou." This change was made in 1769. 
 
 Ps. Ixxxix. 46, "How long. Lord, wilt thou hide 
 thyself, for ever?" instead of "How long. Lord? wilt 
 thou hide thyself for ever?" The third comma of 1611 
 was removed in 1629,^ 1638, 1744, 1769, and in the current 
 editions. 
 
 In Prov. i. 27, the final colon of 1611—1630 after " cometh 
 upon you:" is preferable to the present full-stop, intro- 
 duced in 1629, and retained in the current editions. 
 
 Not 1630. In 1762 this comma was replaced by a semicolon, 
 
 40 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PUNCTUATION) 
 
 In Prov. xix. 2, the comma before "sinnetli" should 
 be restored, which was discarded in 1762. 
 
 In Prov. xxi, 28, the comma before "speaketh" should 
 be restored, which was removed in 1769. 
 
 Hos. vii. 11, "a silly dove, without heart" instead of 
 "silly dove without heart," since 1629; as though the last 
 two words related to the dove, instead of to Ephraim. 
 
 John ii. 15, "and the sheep and the oxen." In 1630,^ 
 1762, and current editions, a comma was introduced after 
 "sheep." 
 
 John xviii. 3, "a band of men, and officers." In 1769 
 the comma after "men "was dropped; hence, the Roman 
 cohort is not distinguished from the Jewish officers. 
 
 Acts xi. 26, "taught much people, and the disciples 
 were called." This was so from 1611 to 1630, both clauses 
 being dependent on the verb "it came to pass." Two 
 things came to pass, (1) that the people were taught, and 
 (2) that the disciples were first called Christians. But in 
 1638—1743 the comma was replaced by a semicolon, and in 
 1762 by a full stop: the latter being quite against the 
 Greek.2 
 
 2 Cor. xiii. 2, "as if I were present the second time." 
 This was so pointed from 1611 — 1762. But since 1769 a 
 comma is inserted after "present," connecting "the 
 second time" with the foretelling, instead of with the 
 being present. 
 
 Col. ii. 11. The comma was removed after "flesh," in 
 1762, thus making one statement instead of two. The 
 two clauses beginning with iv rjj (en te) — " by the putting 
 off," and "by the circumcision of Christ." That is to 
 say : "In whom [Christ] ye are circumcised with a circum- 
 cision not done by hand, by the stripping off of the^ 
 body {i.e., the flesh),^ by the circumcision of Christ." 
 Thus, this comma after "flesh" makes the last clause 
 explanatory of the one preceding it : and shows that in 
 Christ there is something more than the stripping off 
 the old nature which is sinner ruin; even the flesh 
 itself which is involved in creature ruin. 
 
 1 Not 1638 and 1743. 
 
 2 The II. V, goes back to the semicolon, but not to the comma of 1611. 
 
 3 All the textual critics with It.V. omit "of the sins." 
 * Genitive of apposition. 
 
 41 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 2 Tliess. i. 8, "in flaming fire, taking vengeance." By 
 removing this comma in 1769 the "fire" is wrongly- 
 connected with the "vengeance," instead of with the 
 being "revealed" in v. 7. 
 
 Heb. ii. 9. The comma was removed in 1769 after the 
 word "angels," compelling us to connect "for the suffer- 
 ing of death" with Christ's humiliation, instead of with 
 His crowning. If we rightly divide these words, the 
 suffering will be practically put in a parenthesis by the 
 two commas, thus: "We see Jesus who was made a little 
 lower than the angels, (for the suffering of death crowned 
 with glory and honour), that he by the grace of God, 
 should taste death for every ^ man." This comma is 
 wrongly replaced in the R.V. 
 
 Jude 7, "the cities about them, in like manner." The 
 comma after " them " was removed in 1638 and 1699 ; ^ while 
 in 1762 it was placed after "in like manner," thus in- 
 creasing the error. 
 
 (2) Changes in punctuation where the later editions of 
 the A.V. are improvements. 
 
 These hardly need enumeration, seeing that they 
 are not likely to be missed. We may, however, note a 
 few : — 
 
 Matt. xix. 4, 5. In 1611 the mark of interrogation was 
 placed at the end of verse 4, but for many years it has 
 been removed to the end of verse 5. 
 
 John xii. 20, "And there were certain Greeks among 
 them, that came up to worship at the Feast." This 
 needless comma after " them " was not removed till 
 1769. 
 
 Titus ii. 13, " The appearing of the great God, and our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ." This misleading comma, after 
 "God," lingered till 1769; thus hiding the fact that only 
 one Being is spoken of, viz., "God even our Saviour:" 
 i.e. our great Saviour-God, Jesus Christ. 
 
 Luke xxiii. 32, "And there were also two other male- 
 factors, led with him to be put to death." This of course 
 
 1 I.e., every, without distinction, not without exception. 
 
 2 Not 17 i3. 
 
 42 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PUNCTUATION) 
 
 practically classed the Lord Jesus as being one of three 
 malefactors. But since 1817 a comma has been placed 
 after the word "other," to avoid this implication.^ 
 
 Acts xxvii. 27, "as we were driven up and down in 
 Adria about midnight, the shipmen deemed that they 
 drew near to some country." Not until after 1638 was 
 the comma removed from after "midnight," and placed 
 after "Adria" — "driven up and down in Adria, about 
 midnight the shipmen deemed," &c. 
 
 (3) Changes of punctuation which are now proposed as 
 being most desirable. 
 
 These proposed changes we consider to be improve- 
 ments not only in the punctuation of the Edition of 
 1611 but of the subsequent editions. These suggestions 
 are made from a better understanding, closer study of, 
 and respect for the Context, as modifying or correcting 
 traditional interpretations. 
 
 That we are more than warranted in such an attempt 
 is shown by the Revisers in a note they affix to Rom. ix. 5. 
 In this passage, in all the editions, the full stop is 
 placed after the word "ever," thus: "Of whom as con- 
 cerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God 
 blessed for ever. Amen." 
 
 This text, being so weighty in witnessing to the God- 
 head of the Lord Jesus, was evidently distasteful to the 
 Socinian member of the Company of Revisers: and, 
 judging from the note placed in the margin, one can 
 imagine what line the discussion had taken. All other 
 marginal notes in the R.V. refer either to alternative 
 renderings which aifect the Translation, or to ancient 
 manuscript " Aiitliorities " which affect the Text. There 
 is no example, so far as we have seen, where interpretation 
 has been introduced ; or where there is any reference to 
 the interpretations of commentators. But here, there 
 is the following lengthy marginal note, which exhibits 
 the compromise reached by the Revisers and the Unita- 
 rian. They evidently declined to touch the Text ; and 
 
 1 This is far better than changing "other" to "others," as is done in tho 
 Anncrican Bible, 18G7. This antiquated plural is continued in the American 
 Edition of tho 11. V. of 1898. 
 
 43 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 consented to put this note in the margin. Its intention 
 will be at once seen : 
 
 "Some modern interpreters place a full stop 
 *' after flesh, and Translate, He who is over all be 
 " (is) blessed for ever : ^ or He ivho is over all is 
 " God blessed for ever. Others punctuate, flesh, 
 ^^ivho is over all, God be blessed for ever.'' 
 
 The object of this note is too painfully apparent ; but 
 it shows how important is the subject of punctuation. 
 Moreover, it justifies us in not only calling attention to 
 faulty punctuation, but in suggesting changes where 
 improvements may be made, which do not touch vital 
 truth, except to strengthen and enforce it. Whereas, sad 
 to say, some of the changes made by the Revisers are, 
 unfortunately, those which interfere either with the 
 Deity of Christ, the Inspiration of the Scriptures, or 
 the freeness of God's grace. 
 
 In 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, if we make the last clause a 
 question instead of a statement, we get the clue to 
 a better rendering of the verse. 
 
 As it stands in the A.V. and the R.V. it is difficult 
 to make any sense of the verse, at all. Not seeing the 
 Structure or the true punctuation, the Translators were 
 obliged to translate the Hebrew word ''^ (kl), for, in four 
 different ways : not that one way is necessary, for its 
 usage is somewhat elastic. It may often connect the 
 hypothesis or condition with the result, either as a 
 reason or conclusion. 
 
 If we ask what the word "so" (in verse 5) means in 
 the first line, we have the answer in verse 4, where we 
 have a description of God's King ; and David immediately 
 adds that it will be even so with himself as God's King 
 and with his house in virtue of God's covenant (in 
 2 Sam. vii.) with him and of the sure mercies of (or 
 mercies made sure to) David. 
 
 In verse 4 we have an alternation, the first and 
 third lines speaking of the shining forth of God's light 
 from heaven ; and in the second and fourtli lines, its 
 effect on the earth. 
 
 1 What is to be done with the "Amen," in this case, is not stated. 
 
 44 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PUNCTUATION) 
 
 2 Sam. xxiii. 4. 
 
 I And He shall be as the light of the morning, 
 
 B I When the sun ariseth, 
 I Even a morning without clouds ; 
 
 ^ When, from brightness and from rain,^ 
 the tender grass shooteth forth out of 
 the earth. 
 
 Then David goes on to say that, as that is a picture 
 of what it will be, when He that ruletli shall rule 
 righteously among men, ruling in the fear of God ; 
 even so will it be with his house and kingdom in virtue 
 of the Covenant of God. 
 
 In verse 5 the A.V. renders the word '^^ (kl) in these 
 four ways : — 
 
 "Although," "yet," "for" "although." 
 
 The R.V. renders them 
 
 "Verily," "yet," "for," "although." 
 
 The Structure of the verse shows that the four lines 
 are arranged as an Introversion, in which the first and 
 fourth lines concern Dai; id's house; while the second and 
 third lines are about God's covenant. 
 
 Now, if we punctuate the first and fourth lines as 
 questions we may have this rendering, which certainly 
 has the merit of consistency and clearness. 
 
 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. 
 
 O I "Verily, is not my house even so with God? 
 
 D For He hath made with me an everlasting 
 covenant, ordered in all things, and 
 sure : 
 
 D I Now, this Covenant is all my salvation and 
 I all my desire, 
 For, Shall He not make it (my house) to 
 prosper ? " ^ 
 
 1 So some Codices, with four early-printed editions, and the Sept., Syr., 
 and Vulg. Versions. See Ginsburg's Heb. Text and note. 
 
 2 Ilcb., to shout forth, as the tender grass, as in line B above. 
 
 45 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 We may take other examples where improvements 
 can be suggested: — 
 
 Isa. Ixiv. 5, " Behold thou wast wroth, and we sinned : 
 in them have we been a long time, and, Shall we be 
 saved?" In this case the R.V. thus revises the punctua- 
 tion of the A.V. to its great improvement. 
 
 Jer. iii. 1. The last clause is evidently another question, 
 repeating a similar question earlier in the verse: "And 
 yet shalt thou return unto me saith the Lord?" 
 
 Matt. xix. 28, "Ye that have followed me, in the 
 regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the 
 throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, 
 judging the twelve tribes of Israel." This was the punc- 
 tuation of 1611, which was continued till 1629. But in 
 1630 a comma was introduced after "regeneration," 
 which entirely alters the sense. It has, happily, since been 
 removed from our modern editions. This improvement 
 should be noted, and retained. 
 
 Luke xvi. 9, " And I ; say I unto you ' Make to your- 
 selves friends by means of the unrighteous mammon; 
 that, when ye fail,^ they may receive YOU into the 
 everlasting habitations ?' [No ! ^] He that is faithful in 
 that which is least is faithful also in much ; and he 
 that is unjust in the least, is unjust in much also. If 
 therefore YE have not been faithful," etc. 
 
 The context clearly shows that Christ is contrast- 
 ing, and not identifying, human and Divine modes of 
 judgment. This context {vv. 10—12), and the logical con- 
 clusion of the parable, have no meaning whatever unless 
 the commendation of the unjust steward's lord is set 
 in contrast with the condemnation of Christ. These 
 verses (10—12) are no mere independent irrelevant 
 statement, but are the logical conclusion to the whole 
 argument. 
 
 The reception into the "everlasting habitations" of 
 verse 9 is set in contrast with the unjust stew^ard's being 
 received "into their houses" (verse 4); the principles 
 
 1 " When it shall fail" according to Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, 
 Alford. 
 
 2 Beza's Latin and Grashop's English Version both put a full stop after "you." 
 Beza begins the next sentence "Certe" (surely); Grashop begins it "Where- 
 fore." We begin it " No I " 
 
 46 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PUNCTUATION) 
 
 which govern admission there, are the opposite of those 
 that obtain admission here. 
 
 Hence our Lord follows this up by adding the great 
 lesson in v. 10: "He that is faithful in that which is 
 least is faithful also in much! and he that is unjust in 
 the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have 
 not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will 
 commit to you the true riches? And if ye have not 
 been faithful in that which is another man's, who will 
 give you that which is our own."^ 
 
 Luke xvi. 22, 23. As at present translated and punc- 
 tuated, the words read: "The rich man also died, and 
 was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes." But if we 
 substitute Sheol or Hades for "hell," then we have (as 
 in Isa. xiv. 9 — 20) a representation of dead people talking ; 
 as we have of the trees talking in Jotham's parable, 
 (Judges ix. 8—15). If we further observe the Tenses and 
 Moods of the verbs, and repunctuate the passage, we 
 have the result, as follows : 
 
 "The rich man also died, and was buried also in Hades. 
 Having lifted up his eyes, being in torments, he seeth." ^ 
 There is no "and" before "seeth." It is not an addi- 
 tional statement, "and he seeth" ; but it is a second verb, 
 depending on the participle "having lifted up his eyes." 
 
 This change in translation is necessitated by the Greek ; 
 and the change in punctuation is not suggested as a modern 
 invention to support any particular interpretation : for it 
 is that adopted in the ancient Vulgate translation,^ which, 
 though not the original text, and of no authority as a 
 text, is yet evidence of a fact. It is punctuated in the 
 same way by Tatian, Diatessaron (a.d. 170) and Marcion 
 (A.D. 145); as well as in the ancient Jerusalem Syriac 
 Version. And the fact is that the first three words of 
 verse 23 form, instead, the last three words of verse 22; 
 a full stop being placed after the word Hades : while the 
 word "and" is treated by this as meaning "also." So 
 that the whole sentence would read thus : " But the rich 
 man also died, and was buried also in Hades.'' 
 
 1 See R.V. margin. 
 
 2 For the further interpretation of the parable as a whole, see The Rich 
 Man and Lazarus, by the same author and publisher. 
 
 3 " Sepultus est in Inferno," was buried in Uadcs. 
 
 47 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 "Buried also," implies what is only inferred as to 
 Lazarus, meaning that the one was buried as well as the 
 other. Whether the punctuation be allowed, or not, 
 it does not aifect the matter in the slightest degree. For 
 that is where he was buried in any case. It affects only 
 the place where he is said to lift up his eyes. 
 
 This is further shown by the fact that the three verbs 
 "died," "buried," and "he lift up," are not all in the same 
 Tense as they appear to be from the English. The first 
 two are in the past tense, while the third is the present 
 participle, eirapag (eparas), lifting up, thus commencing 
 the 23rd verse with a new thought. 
 
 Those who interpret this passage as though Hades 
 were a place of life instead of death, make it "repug- 
 nant" to every other place where the word occurs, and 
 to many other scriptures which are perfectly plain, e.g., 
 Ps. vi. 5; xxxi. 17; cxv. 17; cxlvi. 4. Eccles. ix. 6, 10. 
 (See Canon VII., Part II. below). 
 
 Luke xxiii. 43, "Verily, I say unto thee, to-day shalt 
 thou be with me in paradise." 
 
 This is the common punctuation, but, Is it correct? 
 We have already seen enough to show us that we are 
 dependent only and entirely on the context and on the 
 analogy of truth. 
 
 The word "verily" points us to the solemnity of the 
 occasion, and to the importance of what is about to be 
 said. The solemn circumstance under which the words 
 were uttered marked the wonderful faith of the dying 
 malefactor ; and the Lord referred to this by connecting 
 the word "to-day" with "I say." "Verily, I say unto 
 thee this day." This day, when all seems lost, and there 
 is no hope ; this day, when instead of reigning I am about 
 to die. This day, I say to thee, "Thou shalt be with 
 me in paradise." 
 
 "I say unto thee this day" was the common Hebrew 
 idiom for emphazising the occasion of making a solemn 
 statement (see Deut. iv. 26, 39, 40 ; v. 1 ; vi. 6 ; vii. 11 ; 
 viii. 1, 11, 19; ix. 8; x. 13 ; xi. 2, 8, 13, 26, 27, 28, 32; 
 xiii. 18 ; xv. 5 ; xix. 9 ; xxvi. 3, 16, 18 ; xxvii. 1, 4, 10 ; xxviii. 
 1, 13, 14, 15; xxix. 12; xxx. 2, 8, 11, 15, 16, 18, 19; xxxii. 46).^ 
 
 1 See Things to Come, Vol. VIII., pp. 44, 128 ; also The Rich Man and 
 Lazarus, pp. 27—29, by the same author and publisher. 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PUNCTUATION) 
 
 "Paradise" was the condition of tlie eartli before the 
 entrance of Satan and the pronouncing of tlie curse; so 
 it will be the condition of the earth again when Satan 
 shall be bound, and the Lord shall come and reign in His 
 kingdom. It is called in Hebrew " Eden" sixteen times, and 
 "The Garden" nineteen times. The Greek for these is Pa- 
 mcZisos (which we have Englished "Paradise"). It is never 
 used in any other sense than of a place of beauty and 
 delight on the earth. Never of any place above or under 
 the earth. "The Tree of Life" and "the river of the 
 water of life" are its two earthly characteristics. The 
 traditional idea of any other place is unknown and 
 foreign to Scripture ; and is the pure invention of fallen 
 man. It comes down to us from Babylon through Judaism 
 and Romanism. 
 
 We see it described in Gen. ii. ; lost in Gen. iii. ; its 
 restoration pronounced in Rev. ii. 7; and regained and 
 enjoyed in the New Earth (Rev. xxii. .1 — 5, 14, 17). 
 
 The Lord answered the request of the dying believer, 
 not by promising something for which he did not ask ; 
 but by granting him his heart's desire and giving him 
 the request of his lips. 
 
 We therefore suggest the following translation and 
 punctuation: "And he said to Jesus, Remember me, O 
 Lord, when thou shalt have come in thy kingdom. And 
 Jesus answered him. Verily I say to thee this day, with 
 me thou shalt be, in Paradise." 
 
 But there is more to be noted in the word "to-day" 
 than this. Mrs. A. S. LcAvis, of Cambridge, has lately 
 called attention to the reading of the ancient Palimpsest 
 Syriac Gospels at Mount Sinai, in which verse 39 reads, 
 "Art thou not the Saviour? Save thyself alive to-day, 
 and also us." 
 
 This was the taunt of the other malefactor who thus 
 seems to have used the word "to-day." The faith of the 
 other showed that he looked for something more than 
 'present deliverance: he believed in future glory in the 
 coming of the kingdom. 
 
 Hence, in the Lord's reply to him, He takes up this 
 word "to-day "to show that "to-day "was not to be the 
 day of deliverance for either himself or others, but the 
 day of death. But though He spoke on that day of death, 
 
 49 D 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 He gave the promise of future glory, in which the other 
 malefactor had so blessedly confessed his belief. 
 
 In this case there was a special reason for the Lord's use 
 of the word " to-day." It was to correct a mistake; and 
 it was, in spite of j^'^'^^sent circumstances, to give the 
 assurance of the coming futttre glory of the kingdom. 
 
 John vii. 37—39. As it stands in the A.V. and R.V. this 
 passage is punctuated as follow s :— 
 
 *'In»the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus 
 stood, and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come 
 unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the 
 Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of 
 living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which 
 they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy 
 Ghost (pneuma hagion) was not yet given, because that 
 Jesus was not yet glorified)." 
 
 We have to notice first that there is no article with 
 the second pneuma (or Spirit) in verse 39, which shows 
 that what is ''given" is the subject of the context, 
 (pneuma hagion) and not the Spirit Himself, the giver.^ 
 
 Then, we further notice, that the word "should" in 
 the same verse {v. 39) is not the sign of any tense, but is 
 a separate verb, 6,af aXoi/ (emellon), to he about to he. Lit., 
 ''were ahout to receive"; (the latter verb "receive" being 
 in the Infinitive Mood). As to the word "belly" it is put, 
 by the figure of speech called Synecdoche, for the ivhole 
 person,^ which is much stronger than using the mere per- 
 sonal pronoun "him." It is a very emphatic "him." 
 
 In this case the "his" is generally taken as referring 
 to the believer, for with our usual selfishness we take 
 every good thing as applying to ourselves. But we submit 
 that it is to be understood of Christ, who is the great 
 fountain from whom the rivers of pneuma and grace 
 and blessing flow ; and not of the believer, who is only 
 the receiver ; and from whom a few drops may go 
 
 1 Lacbmann, Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, and R.V. omit ayiov (hagion), 
 holy. Tregelles and Alford put it within brackets. 
 
 - See Rom. xvi. 18: "For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 but their own belly " (i.e. their own selves). Phil. iii. 19 : " Whose god is their 
 belly" (i.e. themselves, and what they can get). Tit. 1. 12: "Slow-bellies" 
 (i.e. slow persons, who by reason of large eating have grown stout, and therefore 
 move slowly). 
 
 50 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PUNCTUATION) 
 
 forth, but certainly not "rivers." With these preliminary 
 observations we would punctuate it as suggested by 
 Stier,^ as follows : — 
 
 "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me; and let 
 him drink, who believeth in Me ! Even as the Scripture 
 [concerning Me] hath said ' Rivers out of HIM shall flow, 
 of living water.'" 
 
 It is not the one who drinks of Him who becomes the 
 fountain ; he is the receiver and not the giver. The Foun- 
 tain is the one whom Scripture had already designated 
 as the source of pneuma, and the channel whereby the 
 rivers of spiritual grace and blessing should flow. It is 
 not the individual believer who is the subject of the Old 
 Testament prophecies ; he, at the best, could only send 
 forth one tiny stream of what he had himself first re- 
 ceived ; but it is Christ in whom are all our springs, who 
 alone can say, "I will give unto him that is athirst, of 
 the fountain of water of life, freely" (Rev. xxi. G). The 
 River proceeds "out of the throne of God and of the 
 Lamb " (Rev. xxii. 1). In Christ are the hidden reservoirs 
 of blessing, out of whose abundant flow believers receive 
 their graces and gifts. 
 
 Not until Christ had risen from the dead, and ascended 
 into glory, could these gifts be given. Hence, the expla- 
 nation which is added in verse 39. 
 
 The Scriptures are many which speak of Messiah as 
 the giver of these spiritual blessings. (Compare Isa. xii. 3 ; 
 Iv. 1. Ezek. xlvii. 1. Joel iii. 18. Zech. xiii. 1; xiv. 8.) 
 These "rivers" of blessing flow not from the believer, 
 but from the throne of God, from Zion, and from Him 
 who there will sit as king. 
 
 The pneuma, or water, of which Christ is the giver, 
 will be "in HIM" a well of springing water springing up, 
 and flowing out as a supply for others (John iv. 14). The 
 individual believer receives only enough for his own needs. 
 He has no reservoirs from which rivers can flow forth for 
 the sui)ply of others. 
 
 John xii. 27, " Now is my soul troubled ; and what 
 shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour, but for this 
 cause came I unto this hour." 
 
 1 Words of the Lord Jesus, in loco. 
 
 51 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 We would translate and punctuate this as follows: 
 *' NoAV am I ' troubled ; and why - should I say, ' Father, 
 save me from this hour?' But for this cause came I 
 unto this hour." 
 
 John xiv. 2, " In my Father's house are many man- 
 sions : if it were not so, I would have told you.^ I go to 
 prepare a place for you." 
 
 But why w^ould He have told them about it if it 
 were not so. The whole statement seems so inconse- 
 quent. But, if we punctuate it as a question, and take 
 out the full stop after "you," we get a beautiful confirma- 
 tion of what He had said and a further assurance of its 
 truth: "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it 
 were not so, Would I have told you I go to prepare a place 
 for you ? " 
 
 John xvii. 24. Is it clear as to which was "before the 
 foundation of the world"? Was it the gift, or the love? 
 Punctuated as in the A.V. it is the latter. But may it not 
 well be rendered ? "I will that they also whom Thou hast 
 given me may be with me where I am : that they may 
 behold my glory which thou hast given me, because thou 
 lovedst me, before the foundation of the world." The 
 sentence "because thou lovedst me" thus becomes the 
 basis of the whole petition ; and on (hoti) gets its usual 
 consequential meaning, because. 
 
 Acts XV. 17, 18, should be punctuated, and translated 
 as follows, according to all the critical Greek texts, with 
 which the R.V., J. N. Darby, Rotherham, and other 
 translators agree : 
 
 " That the residue of men may seek after the Lord. 
 And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, 
 Saith the Lord who maketh these things known* 
 from the beginning of the world." 
 
 From this punctuation we learn that the mystery is 
 not the subject here; for it was not "made known from 
 
 1 The Perfect Tense: "I have been and am." 
 
 2 So Tt (ti) is rendered 66 times in N.T. 
 
 3 So the current editions. The 1611 edition has a colon after "you." 
 
 4 Margin : " or, who doeth these things which were knoivn" The words 
 "unto God are all his works" are omitted by all the critical Greek texts. 
 
 52 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PUNCTUATION) 
 
 the beginning of the world"; but was the secr(3t "hid 
 in God," until specially revealed to the Apostle Paul.' 
 
 Acts xxiii. 8, "The Sadducees say that there is no 
 resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit." The comma after 
 "angel" in the editions from 1611 to 1630, having been 
 removed in editions from 1629 to 1743, was restored in 
 1762; and should be retained. 
 
 Rom. viii. 82, 33, "Who shall lay anything to the 
 charge of God's elect? Shall God that justifieth? Who 
 is he that condemneth? Shall Christ Jesus that died?" 
 
 Here again the R.V. thus amends the punctuation of 
 the A.V. and sets an example which we follow in 
 
 1 Cor. XV. 29. Our revised punctuation will enable the 
 translation to be made more literal and more in agree- 
 ment with the sense. A wrong punctuation often leads 
 to wrong translation and necessitates liberties which have 
 to be taken in order to make sense. 
 
 "Else what are they doing who are being baptized? 
 [It is] for dead [bodies, or corpses ^], if the dead rise not at 
 all. Why are they then being baptized for dead [bodies]?" 
 
 The argument is here continued and taken up from 
 verse 19, after the digression about resurrection, viz., that 
 if there be no resurrection baptism is worse than mean- 
 ingless. It was merely baptizing dying bodies instead of 
 believers who were going to live again in resurrection ; 
 it was only incurring trouble and sulTering and persecu- 
 tion and risk of this life for nothing, if there be no re- 
 surrection. This illustration, therefore, takes its place 
 with the other illustrations by which the argument is 
 enforced in the following verses: — the "jeopardy" of 
 verse 30 and the "fighting with beasts at Ephesus" of 
 verse 32, connecting these three illustrations of the 
 "misery" of verse 19. 
 
 There are other improvements which might be sug- 
 gested, of less importance perhaps, but still serving to 
 show the wide range which our subject covers. 
 
 Eph. iv. 12 has been punctuated in all the editions, 
 "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the 
 ministry, for the edifying of the body of Chris b." 
 
 1 See The Mystery, by the same author and publisher. 
 
 '■^ oi vsKpoL {hoi nelcroi) with the article, as here, denotes dead bodies; witli- 
 out the article it means dead people. See The Rich Man and Lazarua, 
 pp. 34, 35, by the same author and publisher. 
 
 53 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 This would be quite correct if the word "for" repre- 
 sented the same Greek word in each of the three clauses. 
 But the first is irpog (pros), for, marking the subjective pur- 
 pose originating the gifts ; the second and third are elg {eis\ 
 for, marking the objective end for which the gifts were 
 designed. 
 
 The commas after the words "saints "and "ministry" 
 hide this beautiful distinction, and make three objects 
 instead of one (which is twofold). The punctuation should 
 be as follows: "For the perfecting of the saints, with a 
 view to the work of the ministry, with a [further] view 
 to the building up of the body of Christ." 
 
 So that, instead of three separate propositions, we have 
 only one— "The perfecting of the saints." And this one 
 is with a twofold end, viz., the work of the ministry; and 
 this Avork has, for its ultimate end, the building up of 
 "God's building," which is the spiritual body of Christ. 
 (Compare ch. ii. 21, 22 with ch. iv. 2, 3.) 
 
 Hebrews x. 12 presents a peculiarly difficult example. 
 In the A.V. from 1611—1630 it read, "But this man after 
 he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat doAvn on 
 the right hand of God." But in 1638 the comma was 
 removed, and placed after the word "sins," and it read 
 "for ever sat down," thus going back to the punctuation 
 of the Bishops' Bible of 1568. This is the punctuation 
 in the Book of Common Prayer to this day,^ though 
 the Cambridge Bible of 1858 restored the punctuation of 
 1611 ("for ever, sat down"). 
 
 There is something to be said for the older punctua- 
 tion: "after he had offered one sacrifice of sins, for ever 
 sat down." This expression, translated "for ever," is not 
 the usual elg rov aimua (eis ton aidna), for the age, or for 
 ever, but it is €\g to ^irjveKeg (eis to dieneJces), for a continu- 
 ance, in distinction from interruptedly.^ It is connected 
 not with the offering of "sacrifice,'' but with "sat cZoim." 
 
 It asserts the fact that Christ's work as a Priest is 
 finished. He has not to stand up again to carry it on 
 
 J The Epistle for Good Friday is so punctuated in the original MS. attached 
 to the Act of Uniformity of 1662, and now preserved in the House of Lords. 
 
 2 The expression occurs only in Heb. vii. 3, "abideth a -priest continually" ; 
 ch. X. 1, " offered year by year continually " ; ch. x. \2,for ever sat down " (where 
 it should clearly be continually) ; and verse U, "hath perfected/or ever" (where 
 it should be continually). 
 
 54 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PUNCTUATION) 
 
 and continue it. Earthly priests "stood daily" and all 
 day long, for there were 7io seats in the Tabernacle or 
 Temple for the priests; but Christ has "sat down" not 
 to rise up again for the purpose of sacrifice, for, having 
 borne the sins of many, He will appear the second time 
 without any reference to sin, but for the complete sal- 
 vation of His people. Heb. x. 12 does not contradict 
 Heb. ix. 28. The scope of Heb. x. 12 is not the coming of 
 Christ, but the sacrifice of Christ ; and this leads us to 
 the conclusion that the older punctuation is right, which 
 was, as we have said : "But this man, having offered one 
 sacrifice for sins, sat down for a continuance on the right 
 hand of God" (i.e., "took His seat once for all" in contrast 
 with the standing of v. 11). 
 
 This agrees with the scope' of the passage, which is 
 the contrast between the ineffectual sacrifices of the Law 
 and the effectual Sacrifice of Christ; between the "daily 
 standing" of the priests with the continual session of 
 Christ. This may be seen from 
 
 The Structure ^ of Heh. ix. 25 — x. 18. 
 
 ix. 25. Yearly sacrifices ineffectual, because 
 ''offered often" (TroTiXaKi^^ pollakis). 
 
 ix. 26 — 28. Christ's sacrifice effectual, be- 
 cause offered " once for all " (aVar, 
 hapax). 
 
 X. 1—4. Yearly sacrifices ineffectual, because 
 offered " continually " (elg to 6ir^viK€g, eis to 
 dienekes), for a continuance. 
 
 W \ X. 5—10. Christ's sacrifice eff'ectual, be- 
 cause offered "once for all" (64)ct7ra§, 
 ephapax), v. 10. 
 X. 11. Daily sacrifices ineffectual, because the jiriest 
 "standeth daily" (KaS' y^fxepotu, kath hmneran), 
 "offering oftentimes" (7roXAa/c<c, pollakis). 
 
 X. 12—18. Christ's sacrifice eff'ectual, be- 
 cause liaving offered "one" ([mIolv, mian), 
 lie sat down "continually" (elg to OirjveKeg, 
 eis to dienekes), for a continuance. 
 
 Sec below, Part II., Canon T. 2 Scc below, Part II., Canon II. 
 
 55 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 Thus, in the members marked A we have what is in- 
 effectual because temporary, set in contrast with the 
 members marked B, in which Ave have what is effectual 
 because permanent. 
 
 In the A members we have the priests, their sacrifices, 
 and standing 
 
 "often' 
 "continually" 
 "daily " 
 
 In the B members we have Christ, His sacrifice, ami 
 
 session 
 
 " once " 
 
 "once for all" 
 " continually." 
 
 Indeed, the offering of sacrifices eis to dienekes (ch. x. 1 ) 
 is put in direct contrast with Christ's having sat down 
 eis to dienekes, in verse 12. 
 
 2 Pet. ii. 22. It makes all the difference whether we 
 put a comma after the word "and." If we omit it we 
 make one proverb ; if we insert it we get two proverbs. 
 "It is happened imto them according to the true pro- 
 verb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again ; and. 
 The sow that was washed to her wallowing in the 
 mire." The A.V. and R.V. and all the editions have no 
 comma after the word "and"; and thus make only one 
 proverb. 
 
 In any case, the contrast is between the washed sow at 
 the end of 2 Pet. ii. and the stray sheep at the end of 
 1 Pet. ii. Both "return"; but the sheep, however dirty 
 it has become, returns to its shepherd ; while the sow, 
 \iowever clean it is washed, returns to her mire. 
 
 (/) Parentheses. — The Edition of 1611 abounded in 
 parentheses. In the subsequent editions there has 
 been an increasing tendency to discard them ; and to 
 supply their place by commas ; or to ignore them alto- 
 gether. 
 
 But parentheses are a means of increasing the empha- 
 sis of ordinary punctuation ; and, on that account, they 
 require more careful consideration, rather than less ; as 
 
 56 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PARENTHESES) 
 
 the meaning can be either destroyed, changpd, made 
 more clear by their use. 
 
 We shall class all under one head, without regard to 
 the changes in the various editions ; though we will 
 note the changes where we can discover when they 
 were made. 
 
 Many are already so marked, so that there is no need 
 for us to notice them. (See Deut. i. 2. Matt. ix. 6. John 
 ii. 9 ; iv. 8. Acts i. 15. Rom. iii. 8 ; v. 13—17 ' : x. 6, 7. 
 Eph. ii. 5. Phil. iii. 18, 19. Col. ii. 21, 22.) 
 
 The true Parenthesis is an addition by way of ex- 
 planation, and is complete in itself. 
 
 When it is not by way of explanation, but is an in- 
 dependent additional statement, complete in itself, the 
 Greeks called it Paremhole or Insertion ; because it is 
 more in the nature of a digression. 
 
 When it was by way of feeling they called it Inter- 
 jection. (Ps. xhi. 2. Ezek. xvi. 23, 24.) 
 
 When it was by way of a wish or 'prayer, they called 
 it Ejaculation. (Hos. ix. 14.) 
 
 When it was by way of apology or excuse they called 
 it Hypotimesis, or under- estimating. (Rom. iii. 5. 2 Cor. 
 xi. 23.) 
 
 When it was by way of detraction they called it 
 Anceresis. 
 
 When it was by way of sudden exclamation they 
 called it Cataploce. (Ezek. xvi. 23, 24. Rom. ix. 3.) 
 
 All these parenthetical additions are complete in them- 
 selves. 
 
 But when the addition is throtvn in, as it were, casually, 
 and is not complete in itself, the Greeks called it Epi- 
 trechon, or Running along. ^ 
 
 In many instances the Structures of Scripture prac- 
 tically place the member in a parenthesis between 
 the two corresponding members ; and this, whether it 
 be a large comijlex member, or whether it be a single 
 sentence. 
 
 1 This Avas first so marked in the edition of 17G!), and is cont inued in all the 
 subsequent editions, tliouf^h both the English and American Kcvised Versions 
 reject it. 
 
 See Figures of Speech, p. 470, etc., by the same author and publisher. 
 
 57 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 For example : — 
 
 In Gen. xv. 13, the words "(and shall serve them ; and 
 they shall afflict them)" should be in a parenthesis, as is 
 clear from the Structure. 
 
 "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a 
 stranger in a land that is not their's ; 
 b I and shall serve them ; 
 b I and they shall afflict them ; 
 a I four hundred years." 
 
 Here, in the extremes, "a" and "a" we have the sojourn 
 and strangership as a whole, while in "b" and "6" we 
 have the servitude in Egypt. It is this servitude which 
 is thrown in parenthetically {^^ Epitrechon'' \ i.e., run- 
 ning along)', so that the sense reads on from "a" to 
 "a"; and the time is not affected by the addition of 
 what will happen to them in any part of that time. 
 
 Gen. xlvi. 26, "All the souls that came with Jacob into 
 Egypt (which came out of his loins) besides Jacob's sons' 
 wives, all the souls were threescore and six." This Ejpi- 
 trechon is thrown in to explain the difference between 
 this number (66) and the number 75 in Acts vii. 14, which 
 included "all his kindred," and was necessarily a larger 
 number than that of Jacob's direct descendants. 
 
 Exod. xii. 40, "Now the sojourning of the children of 
 Israel (who dwelt in Egypt) was four hundred and thirty 
 years." This is an Epitrechon or remark thrown in as an 
 additional fact to explain exactly who these people were. 
 It thus saves us from making the mistake of thinking 
 that they were in Egypt during all those 430 years. 
 
 Josh. vi. 1 is a true parenthesis or an independent 
 statement complete in itself, conveying an additional 
 fact ; but inserted in order to explain and introduce the 
 words of the Captain of Jehovah's host, which are con- 
 tinued in verse 2. 
 
 1 Kings vii. 19 is a parenthesis and helps us to connect 
 verses 18 and 20. 
 
 In 1 Kings viii. 39 and 42 we have two complete and 
 separate parentheses. 
 
 In 1 Kings xii. 32 the words "so did he in Bethel" 
 should be marked as a parenthesis, as they were down to 
 1769. It is the Figure Epitrechon. 
 
 58 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PARENTHESES) 
 
 1 Kings xxi. 25, 26, is a true Parembole^, as is 
 
 Job xxxi. 30, which was rightly marked as such from 
 1611 to 1744. The brackets were removed in 1762. 
 
 In Ps. Ixviii. 18 we have an Epitrechon — " yea, for 
 the rebellious also"— which marks and magnifies the free 
 grace of God, bestowed not merely on the unworthy, but 
 on those who were rebellious. 
 
 In Ps. cix., verses 6 to 19 are to be included in a 
 parenthesis as being the utterances of "the mouth of 
 the wicked," and the words spoken Avith a lying tongue ; 
 and "the words of hatred" {vv. 2, 3). 
 
 Then, verse 20 takes up verse 5 and says of all this 
 
 "This is the work^ of mine adversaries (from the 
 Lord) 
 
 And of them that speak evil against me (Heb. my 
 soul)." 
 
 In Isa. xxii., verses 21—24 are to be included within a 
 parenthesis ; carrying on the thought to Him of whom 
 Eliakim is only a type ; and returning to the type and 
 the history in verse 25. 
 
 The Structure of Isaiah shows that chapters xxxvi. — 
 xxxix. are a parenthetical parenthesis, being the history 
 of Hezekiah's siege and sickness ; corresponding with 
 chapters vii. — xii., which are also a parenthesis, being his- 
 toric events and prophecies connected with Ahaz." 
 
 Matt. ix. 20—22 is more an Episode than a Paremhole. 
 But it was marked as a parenthesis down to 1762. The 
 Edition of 1762 rejected it. 
 
 Luke i., verses 55 and 70 should each be placed in a 
 parenthesis. 
 
 Rom. viii. 20. The words "not willingly, but by reason 
 of him who hath subjected the same" are an Ei^itrecJion. 
 
 The Ellipsis must be supplied by the repetition of the 
 verb "waiteth," in verse 20 from verse 19. 
 
 1 The Hebrew is H^VQ {p'uUah), work, labour, ads, deeds. Not seeing the 
 parent henis of verses fi— 19, both the A.V. and R.V. arc driven to render it 
 "reward." The fact that it in rendered "reward" in no other place sliows tliat 
 our contention is correct. (See all the other occurrences of (he word:^l cv. 
 xix. 13. 2 Chron. XV. 7. Ps. xvii. 4; xxviii. 5. I'rov. x. K! ; xi. 1«. Isa. xl. lO; xlix.l; 
 Ixi. S: Ixii. 11 ; Ixv, 7. Jer. xxxi. If!. Ezek. xxix. *2)>.) 
 
 See The Vision of Isaiah, by the saiuc author and publisher, pp. IG, 21). 
 
 59 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 This is shown by 
 
 The Structure of Rom. viii. 19—21. 
 
 a I 19. Expectation. 
 
 b I 20-. The reason : Creation made subject. 
 a I -20. Expectation. 
 
 h I 21. Reason : Creation delivered. 
 
 This will be seen more clearly if it is set out in full, 
 as follows : — 
 
 Rom. viii. 19-21. 
 
 "19. For the earnest expectation] 
 of the creature waiteth for the ) Expectation, 
 manifestation of the sons of God. J 
 b 20-. For the creature was 
 made subject to vanity, not 
 willingly, but by reason of /Reason, 
 him who hath subjected the 
 same ; 
 
 a I -20. [waiteth, 1 say] in hope, } Expectation. 
 
 b 21. Because the creature it- 1 
 self shall be delivered from 
 the bondage of corruption ) Reason, 
 into the glorious liberty of 
 the children of God." 
 
 Rom. ix. 2, 3. The Ejpitrechon should be punctuated 
 as follows ; noting that r/'y^o^6v {euchomeu) is put, by 
 the Figure Hyperbaton, out of its place, in order to 
 attract and call our attention to the fact that it is 
 in the Imperfect Tense, which is generally well Englished 
 by our word "used," i.e., "used to wish" (Lit., "was 
 wishing ") : 
 
 "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my 
 heart (for I used to wish, even I myself,^ to be accursed 
 from Christ) for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the 
 flesh." This shows us that Paul's sorrow was on account 
 of his brethren ; and the Epitrechon is thrown in to 
 explain why he had this great heaviness and continual 
 sorrow. As much as to say, it was because he knew 
 
 1 The Pronoun, here, is very emphatic. 
 
 60 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PARENTHESES) 
 
 from his OAvn expei'ience their terrible position ; for when 
 he Avas in their condition he knew what he "used to 
 wish." 
 
 In 1 Cor. X. 3—5 there is a true parenthesis ; an 
 exphmation of what precedes, and it is complete in 
 itself. 
 
 "And all ate the same spiritual meat, and all drank 
 the same spiritual drink. (For they drank of that spiri- 
 tual rock following [it] ; but the rock was Christ). Never- 
 theless, with most of them God was not well-pleased." 
 
 Here, there is nothing about following "them," as in 
 the A.V. and R.V. and most translations (some putting it 
 in brackets). 
 
 Two miracles are referred to : (1) The giving of the 
 manna (related in Exod. xvi. 14); and (2) the gift of the 
 water in the FOLLOWING event, or chapter (Exod. 
 xvii. 5, 6). 
 
 This clearly the obvious meaning of the Greek, both 
 logically, grammat'ically, and historically. There is no 
 occasion to go back to the Ancient Jewish but childish 
 tradition ; nor to charge the Apostle with so doing, as 
 though he were not inspired.^ 
 
 In a succession of miracles, one is mentioned, and then 
 that which followed it. 
 
 The verb oLKo^oudew (aJwloutheo) is used of any kind of 
 following ; and of every mode of sequence. It is used of 
 logical sequence; Aristotle says "If there are two, it 
 follows (a/co/^ou^e?, aJwlouthei) that there must be one." 
 
 Longinus,^ speaking of the Figure Hyperhaton, says, "It 
 is a removal of words or thoughts out of their consecu- 
 tive (oLKoy^ouSloL) order." 
 
 Thus, it is the miracle and drinking of the water, 
 which followed the miracle and eating of the manna ; and 
 not the water following the people of Israel throughout 
 their journey. That would be no point in the Apostle's 
 argument which called for the parenthetical explanation 
 which he gives. His point was that both miracles taught 
 spiritual truths, which their fathers did not see, either 
 then., or in the days of John (John vi. 47—59). 
 
 1 As Alford does, but not EUicott. 
 
 « De Subl. 8. xxii., p. 55, Toup. See also Plato, Jiep. 332. II. 
 
 61 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 1 Cor. XV. 20 — 28 is a true Paremhole, almost amounting 
 to a digression. It must be carefully noted in order that 
 we may closely connect verses 19 and 29, further conse- 
 quences being stated if there be no resurrection. (See 
 above, page 53). 
 
 2 Cor. iii. 7 — 16 is a Paremhole or Digression, concerning 
 the Old and New Covenants, in which the subject is 
 broken off from verse 6 and continued in verse 17. This 
 subject was the fact that "as the body without the 
 p7ieuma (or spirit) is dead" (Jas. ii. 26), so the "letter" 
 (or old Covenant) is dead without Christ; for "the Lord 
 (Christ) is its pneuma.'' • 
 
 Eph. ii. 1 takes up the words in the middle of ch. i. 19, 
 which does away with the necessity of all the italics in 
 ch. ii. 1. If we observe this parenthesis concerning the 
 fact and results of Christ's resurrection (in ch. i. 19—23) 
 we connect ch. ii. 1 with i. 19-, and preserve the truth 
 and teaching of the whole passage, thus : — 
 
 i. 19-, "That ye may know . . . what is the exceeding 
 greatness of his power to us ward who believe (. . .)," ii. 1, 
 "even you who were dead in trespasses and sins." 
 
 Eph. iii. The whole of this chapter is parenthetical; 
 and is a true Paremhole, being complete in itself. This 
 should be carefully noted, so that we may connect the 
 "Therefore" of ch. iv. 1 with ch. ii. 22. 
 
 There is a smaller parenthesis within the third chapter, 
 viz. from verses 1 — 13, verse 14 taking up the subject (which 
 was broken off in v. 1) and repeating the words "For this 
 cause." 
 
 Eph. iv. 9, 10 are also two parenthetical verses. 
 
 Phil. i. 23 is a true parenthesis, which is an addition 
 by way of explaiiation to show why the Apostle did not 
 know which to choose, "living" or "dying." The reason 
 was that there was a third alternative, better than either, 
 viz., "the Return" of Christ (to 0Lva7^ii(rai) (to analusai), 
 when he would be with Christ. But, as to the other two 
 (which he returns to in verse 24), he concludes that it 
 would be better for him to remain in the flesh than to 
 die ; but not better than Christ's Return. 
 
 1 hec The Giver and Ills Gifts, pages 138—111. 
 
 62 
 
i. AS TO LITERARY FORM (PARENTHESES) 
 
 We must put verse 23 in a parenthesis, and render 
 it, "For I am being pressed out of (e/c, ek) the two, having 
 an earnest desire for tlie Return (see Luke xii. 36^) and 
 to be with Clirist, for it is far, far better [than either]," 
 and read on from verse 22 to 24. 
 
 Phil. ii. should commence with verse 27 of ch. i. ; ch. i. 
 27—29 being a parenthesis. 
 
 Phil. iii. 2 — 14 is also a parenthesis, the fifteenth verse 
 taking up the subject of the first verse. 
 
 Phil. iii. 8 — 10 is a Paremhole within the parenthesis, 
 and commences with the words "for whom I have suffered 
 the loss of all things," etc., down to the end of verse 10. 
 All this is a digression to show what he had gained in 
 Christ Jesus his Lord as compared with what he had lost 
 in giving up the Jcavs' Religion. Verse 11 would then 
 read on from the middle of verse 8, thus : 
 
 "8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for 
 the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : 
 
 ( ) 11 If by any means I might become partaker^ 
 
 of the out-resurrection from among the dead." 
 
 From what we have said under Division iv.. Section 6, 
 below, the Apostle may be referring to a fresh revela- 
 tion of truth, which he received while in prison in Rome, 
 concerning the prize of our "calling on high," and our 
 removal thither ; and this may be either explanatory of 
 1 Thess. iv. 13—18 or an additional and subsequent re- 
 velation pointing to a prior removal (as implied in the 
 word ex-anastasis). 
 
 In any case, it shows that Paul was not desiring to 
 obtain this, or any other advantage, by holiness of life, 
 but by believing God concerning this calling on high (not 
 " upward calling "). 
 
 Col. ii. 21 and part of 22 are already rightly printed 
 within a parenthesis, which should be carefully noted. 
 
 1 Tim. iii. parts of verses 14 and 15 should be read, "These 
 things write I unto thee (. . .) that thou maycst know," etc. 
 
 1 These are the only two occurrences of the verb ai'aAi'w (analuo), to return. 
 The noun aj/aAvcri? (analufiiH) occurs in 2 'J'im. iv. 6, and is rendered departure; 
 but the sense is the same, return, viz,, the return of Ihe bodj'^ to dust and of tho 
 spirit to God ; as in Gen. iii. 19. Kccles, xii. 7. See The llich Man and Lazarus, 
 pp. 30—33 ; The Church Epistles, p. 157, lo8. 
 
 See note on Phil. i. 21, Canon IV. iJiv. 2, below. 
 
 G3 
 
III. RIGIITLr DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 Hebrews i., ii., presents us with a beautiful example 
 of the manner in which the Structure of a passage puts 
 its various members into their respective parentheses, 
 showing the true connections and logical continuations. 
 
 a I i. 1, 2-. God speaking. 
 
 b I i.-2— 14. The Son: God. "better than angels." 
 a I ii. 1—4. God speaking. 
 
 h I ii. 5-18. The Son: Man. "lower than angels." 
 
 It will be seen from this that the member "b" (vv. 2—14) 
 is practically a digression, concerning the Son of whom 
 God had spoken in v. 1. 
 
 Similarly, the member "a" (ch. ii. 1—4) is a parenthesis 
 standing between ch. 1. 14 and ch. ii. 5. So that ch. ii. 1 
 (the word "therefore") reads on from the word "Son" 
 in ch. i. 2. And ch. ii. 5 (the word "for") reads on from 
 the word "salvation" in ch. i. 14.^ 
 
 The study of the Structure of God's Word is therefore 
 necessary, if we would discover its logical divisions, as 
 well as the perfection of its literary divisions. 
 
 Heb. ii. 9, "But we see Jesus who was made a little 
 lower than the angels (for the suffering of death crowned 
 with glory and honour) that he by the grace of God 
 should taste death for every ^ man." 
 
 This parenthesis teaches us that the Lord Jesus 
 was crowned with glory and honour for the suffering of 
 death. At His Transfiguration we see Him so crowned 
 (2 Pet. i. 17).^ 
 
 We have already included this passage under the former 
 division on Punctuation (see page 42, above). 
 
 1 Pet. i. 3 — 5. These verses are parenthetical, verse 6 
 being the continuation of verse 2. 
 
 In 2 Pet. i. 19 the Epitrechon should be thus carefully 
 marked: "Whereunto (i.e., to the prophetic Word) ye 
 do well that ye take heed (as unto a light that shineth 
 in a dark place, until the Day dawn and the Day-star 
 arise) in your hearts." 
 
 1 See Part II., Canon II., below. 
 
 2 Without distinction, not without exception : this epistle being written 
 to Hebrew believers. 
 
 3 See separate pamphlet on The Transfiguration, by the same author and 
 publisher. 
 
 64 
 
ii. AS TO ITS SUBJECT-MATTER 
 
 The words "in your hearts" must be connected with 
 the words "ye do well to talte heed," and not with tlie 
 dawning of the coming Day or with the rising of tlie 
 Morning Star. That rising Avill not be in our hearts, 
 but it will be Christ's glorious manifestation to Israel 
 and to the world (Luke i. 78. Rev. xxii. IC). 
 
 This world is a dark place, and the prophetic word 
 is the only light in it to which we do well to "take heed 
 in our hearts." 
 
 Tradition says that Prophecy is a dark place, and that 
 we do well to avoid it. But this only proves the truth 
 of the Scripture in which Jehovah declares, " My thoughts 
 are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, 
 saith the Lord " (Isa. Iv. 8). 
 
 These examples will be sufficient to show the import- 
 ance of this branch of "rightly dividing the Word of 
 truth," as to its Literary Form. 
 
 ii. Rightly Dividing the Word as to its 
 Subject-Matter. 
 
 It is the common belief that every part of the Bible 
 is to be interpreted directly as referring to the Church 
 of God ; or as pertaining to every person, at every stage 
 of the Avorld's history. 
 
 This neglect of the precept to rightly divide it is an 
 effectual bar to the right understanding of it, and to our 
 enjoyment in its study. 
 
 This non-understanding of the Word is the explanation 
 of its neglect, and this neglect is the reason why so many 
 who should be feeding on the spiritual food of the Word 
 are so ill-fed in themselves ; and so ill-furnished for every 
 good work (2 Tim. iii. 17). 
 
 While the Word of God is written FOR all persons, 
 and FOR all time, yet it is as true that not every jmrt 
 of it is addressed TO all persons or ABOUT all persons 
 IN all time. 
 
 1. The Jeivs, the Gentiles, and the Church of God. — 
 Every word is "written FOR our learning," and con- 
 tains what all ought to know : yet, its subject-matter is 
 written according to the principle involved in 1 Cor. x. 32, 
 
 65 E 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THP^ WORD 
 
 and is written concerning one or otlier of three distinct 
 classes of persons, separately or combined : — 
 
 *'Tlie Jews, 
 The Gentiles, ana 
 The Church of God." 
 
 According to the general belief, everything that goes 
 to make up the subject-matter of the Word, of God is 
 about only one of these three : and, whatever may be 
 said about the other two (the Jews and the Gentiles), 
 all is to be interpreted of only the one, viz., the Church 
 of God. 
 
 This comes of that inbred selfishness which pertains 
 to human nature : which, doing with this as with all 
 beside, is ever ready to appropriate that which belongs 
 to others. 
 
 But no greater impediment to a right understanding 
 of the Word could possibly be devised. 
 
 We are quite aware that, in saying this, we lay our- 
 selves open to the charge which has been made by some, 
 that we are "robbing them of their Bible." 
 
 But the charge is groundless ; and it arises from a 
 total misapprehension of what we mean, or from a per- 
 version of what we have said. 
 
 It is necessary, therefore, for us to repeat, and to 
 state categorically our belief that every word from 
 Genesis to Revelation is written FOR the Church of God. 
 There is not one word that we can do without : not one 
 word that we can dispense with, without loss. 
 
 We deprive no one of any portion of the Word of Truth. 
 
 We protest against robbery in this sphere, as in all 
 others. 
 
 It is not we who rob the Church of God ; but it is 
 they who rob the Jews and the Gentiles. We would 
 fain restore stolen property to the rightful OAvners ; 
 property w^hich has been stolen by the very i>ersons 
 who charge us with robbery ! 
 
 We may indeed retort in the words of Rom. ii. 21 : 
 "Thou that preachest a man should not steal. Dost thou 
 steal ? " 
 
 We are prepared to make this counter-charge, and to 
 sustain it. 
 
 66 
 
 ( . 
 
■ 
 
 ii. AS TO ITS SUBJECT-MATTER 
 
 The charge against us we disclaim ; while those who 
 make it are tliemselv^es guilty of the very offence for 
 which they condemn us. 
 
 We hold that what is written to and about the Jew, 
 belongs to and must be interpreted of the Jew. 
 
 We hold that what is written of and about the Gentile, 
 belongs to and must be interpreted of the Gentile. 
 
 We hold that what is written to and about the Church 
 of God, belongs to and must be interpreted of the Church 
 of God. 
 
 Is this robbery? or, Is it justice? 
 
 Is it stealing? or, Is it restitution? 
 
 Evidence of the misappropriation (to use a milder 
 term) is furnished by the Bible which lies open before 
 us, to which we have already referred in speaking of the 
 page-headings of Isa. xxix. and xxx, in our current 
 editions of the English Bibles, in which the former is 
 declared to be ^'Judgment upon Jerusalem''', and the 
 latter, God's mercies to his church.'" (See page 28.) 
 
 What is this but not only wrongly dividing the Word 
 of truth, but the introduction of error, by robbing Jeru- 
 salem of her promised "mercies" and appropriating these 
 stolen mercies to the Church? while the "judgments" 
 are left for Jerusalem, just as burglars take away what 
 is portable, and leave behind what they do not want or 
 cannot carry away. 
 
 We believe God when He says that the Visions sliOAvn 
 to Isaiah were "CONCERNING Judah and Jerusalem" 
 (Isa. i. l).dUr CLVA i3:l • /y;/. -dte^. 
 
 True, they were written FOR us ; and " for our learning " 
 (Rom. XV. 4) ; but they are not addressed TO us, or written 
 CONCERNING us, but " concerning Judah and Jerusalem." 
 
 It would be an act of dishonesty, therefore, for us thus 
 to appropriate, by interpreting of ourselves, that which 
 was spoken of Israel. 
 
 In like manner, if we take, as some do, the words of 
 the Ei)istle to the Ephesians as though they were written 
 to or concerning the Gentiles (or the unconverted world), 
 then we not only rob the Church of God of its most 
 precious heritage, but we teach the "universal Father- 
 hood of God" instead of His Fatherhood of only those 
 who are His children in Christ Jesus. 
 
 67 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 It will thus be seen that unless we rightly divide the 
 subject-matter of the Word of truth we shall not get 
 the truth, but shall get error instead. 
 
 Every part of the Bible is written "concerning" one 
 or other of these three divisions, or classes of persons. 
 
 Sometimes in the same passage or book there may be 
 that which is concerning all three. 
 
 Sometimes a whole book may be concerning only one 
 of these three, and the other two be altogether excluded. 
 We may all three learn much from what is written of 
 only the one ; for the inspired, God-breathed Word is 
 "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
 instruction," FOR all who shall read it (2 Tim. iii. 16). 
 That which happened to Israel happened unto THEM 
 for ensamples ; "and they are Avritten for OUR admoni- 
 tion " (1 Cor. X. 11). " Whatsoever was written aforetime 
 was written FOR our learning " (Rom. xv. 4). 
 
 But while this is so, and remains true ; what we mean 
 is that every Scripture is written CONCERNING one or 
 other of these three classes ; and is specially addressed 
 TO that particular class. This class has therefore the 
 prior claim to that Scripture. The interpretation of it 
 belongs to that class ; while the other two may apply 
 it to themselves, and are to learn from it. But, inasmuch 
 as it is only an application and not THE interpretation, 
 such application must be made only so far as it agrees 
 with the interpretation of those Scriptures which are 
 specially addressed to and relate to such class. Otherwise 
 we shall find ourselves using one truth to upset another 
 truth ; we shall be setting what is true of one class in 
 opposition to what is true of another class. ^ 
 
 All that we are concerned with now is the right dividing 
 of the subject-matter of the Bible, which is three-fold. 
 And the great requirement of the Word as to this is, that 
 we should, and must, whenever we study any portion of 
 the Word of God, ask the question, 
 
 CONCERNING WHOM IS THIS WRITTEN? 
 
 Whichever of the three it may be, we must be careful 
 to confine and limit the interpretation of that passage 
 to the class whom it concerns ; while we may make any 
 
 1 See farther on this subject in Part II., Canon X, 
 
ii. AS TO SUBJECT-MATTER: GENTILES 
 
 application of it to ourselves so long as it does not 
 conflict with what is written elsewhere concerning "the 
 church of Gocl." 
 
 We must not take that which concerns the Jew and 
 interpret it of the Church. We must not take that which 
 concerns the Church and interpret it of the world. We 
 must not take what is said concerning the Gentile and 
 interpret it of the Church. 
 
 If we do, we shall get darkness instead of light, con- 
 fusion instead of instruction, trouble instead of peace, and 
 error instead of truth. 
 
 To see this, we have only to notice the effect on such 
 a Scripture as Rom. xi. 
 
 2. The Gentiles. — What child of God who has "access 
 by faith into this GRACE wherein we stand" has not 
 rejoiced "in hope of the GLORY of God" (Rom. v. 2), 
 as he went on to learn, in chapter viii. 1, that there is 
 " no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus " ; 
 and that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor prin- 
 cipalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things 
 to come ; nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature 
 shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is 
 in Christ Jesus our Lord " (Rom. viii. 38, 39). 
 
 But when we turn over one leaf (or two, perhaps in 
 some Bibles), we read, in chapter xi. of the "Olive tree," 
 and of the solemn threats, and warnings to the branches 
 (that had been grafted into it in place of the natural 
 branches): "If God spared not the natural branches, take 
 heed lest he also spare not thee" (v. 21): and "behold, 
 therefore the goodness and severity of God : on them 
 which fell, severity ; but toward thee goodness, if thou 
 continue in his goodness ; otherwise thou also shalt be cut 
 off"(i;. 22). 
 
 Having read these words in the eleventh chapter of 
 Romans, the reader remembers what he had read in the 
 eighth chapter, and is perplexed. He imagines that they 
 are both written "concerning" him, and the result is he. 
 cannot understand either passage. God says in chap- 
 ter viii. that "nothing can separate" the child of God 
 from His love, and in chapter xi. God tells him that if lie 
 does not take heed he will be "cut off." 
 
 69 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 How is the reader to solve the difficvilty ? 
 
 Only by "rightly dividing" this chapter according to 
 the subject-matter ; then, and only then, will he not only 
 remove that Avhich is the cause of the trouble, but at the 
 same time he will produce new beauty, light, and instruc- 
 tion, out of the darkness and confusion. 
 
 He must ask what the subject-matter is about. Then 
 he will look at the context ^ to see if he can discover it. 
 He will go back to chapter viii., which he remembers was 
 all about the Church of God ; and, on looking at the next 
 chapter (ch. ix.) he finds that the subject-matter is no 
 longer about the Church, but about "the Jews"; the 
 Apostle's "brethren according to the flesh" (ch. ix. 3). 
 He finds it is the same with chapters x. and xi., and notices 
 that in chapter xi. 11, the "Gentiles" are introduced. 
 Indeed, in verse 13 the Apostle distinctly says, 
 
 "I SPEAK TO YOU GENTILES." 
 
 Thus he learns that those warnings and threats of 
 chapter xi. 21, 22, are "for his learning"; but that they 
 are neither addressed to him, nor are they written con- 
 cerning him as a member of " the Church of God." 
 
 On following up this clue he begins to notice the figure 
 of the Olive tree, and remembers that it is one of three 
 trees to which Israel is compared in the Old Testament, 
 the Fig tree being the symbol of Israel's national privi- 
 leges ; the Olive tree, of Israel's religious privileges ; and 
 the Vine, of Israel's spiritual privileges. 
 
 Here he learns that the natural branches are broken off 
 for a season, and the branches of the wild Olive (as the 
 Gentiles are called) are grafted in, also for a season. 
 
 Israel is shown to have lost their religious privileges, 
 wdiich have passed over to the Gentiles as such. Israel once 
 had their own land, their own metropolitan city, their own 
 government, their own religious privileges, which are 
 summed up in this context (ch. ix. 4, 5), and in chapter 
 iii. 1, 2, where the question is asked, "What advantage 
 then hath the Jew ? " and the answer is, " Much every way, 
 but chiefly that unto them were committed the Oracles of 
 God." 
 
 1 So that this passage would serve equally well for an illustration of Canon I., 
 Part II. 
 
 70 
 
ii. AS TO SUBJECT-MATTER: GENTILES 
 
 Up to the rejection (Acts xxviii. 25, 26) of Peter's offer 
 (Acts iii. 19, 20) no Gentile could get a blessing except in 
 connection with Israel. In Acts viii., ix., and x. we have 
 three typical examples grouped together, as though to em- 
 phasise the fact by giving one from each of the three great 
 branches of the human family : The Ethiopian (from Ham), 
 Saul (from Shem), and Cornelius (from Japhet). 
 
 In the present dispensation no Jew can come into bless- 
 ing except in Christ, in connection with Gentiles. 
 
 But in the New Dispensation of the Acts of the Apostles 
 the Israelite branches were already being " broken off," and 
 Gentile branches were already being grafted in. These latter 
 had no greater privileges as Gentiles as to standing than 
 Israelites (as Israelites). Hence the words of Rom. xi. 18-21 
 applied to all such; for though the doctrinal foundation 
 of the Mystery had been laid in Rom. i. — viii., the Mystery 
 itself was not revealed until it was committed to writing 
 in the Prison Epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, and Coios- 
 sians). The Epistle itself was not written until nearly the 
 end of the Acts, and only a short time before Ephesians. 
 
 Now we can see the cause of all the confusion. The 
 olive tree is almost universally taken as symbolizing the 
 Church. We know of no commentary where this is not 
 done. The Word of truth is not rightly divided as to its 
 subject-matter; and, though the Apostle says, "I speak to 
 you Gentiles," yet what he says is interpreted as addressed 
 to the Church of God. Hence, the immutable truth 
 concerning the standing of the Church of God in Christ 
 Jesus is overthrown by what is equally true concerning 
 the Gentile; and all this evil comes from not heeding 
 the Divine precept of 2 Tim. ii. 15. 
 
 True, it is all written for us, for the Church, "for our 
 learning." There may be a kind of general application for 
 us as to our use of any privileges which God may have 
 given us as individuals ; but, the true interpretation as it 
 concerns the Gentiles, as such, will alone give us the 
 truth" of this portion of the Word. 
 
 Oh, what confusion is brought into the Word, and what 
 trouble is brought into our minds by not rightly dividing 
 the subject-matter of this Scripture. 
 
 We have only to take vip almost any commentary on 
 this chapter, and we see at once the struggles that have to 
 
 71 
 
Til. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 be made to bring Rom. xi. into harmony with Rom. viii. 
 It cannot be done ; hence it is that the effort is so paint'nlly 
 obvions. 
 
 Look, for example, at one of the best commentaries on 
 Romans, by one of the best commentators (the present 
 Bishop of Dnrham, Dr. Handley Monle). He sees the 
 difficulty, and he grapples with it. He dare not ignore 
 the i^ruth of chapter viii., and yet he treats chapter xi. in 
 a way that practically upsets it. His words are : — 
 
 "Here . . . we have man thrown back on the thought 
 of his responsibility, of the contingency, in a certain sense, 
 of his safety on his fidelity, 'If you are true to mercy, 
 mercy will be true to you ; otherwise you too will be 
 broken off,' . . . Let him put no pillow of theory between 
 the sharpness of that warning and his soul. Penitent, 
 self -despairing, resting on Christ alone, let him ' abide by 
 the goodness of God.'" 
 
 These words would be true if slightly modified and 
 spoken of the Gentile, as such. But they are not true as 
 addressed to " man," as such ; still less as a warning to the 
 individual child of God, who can never be separated from 
 that goodness and love of God by all the powers of earth 
 and hell combined (Rom. viii. 38, 39). 
 
 We could hardly have a more suitable and powerful 
 example of the importance of attending to the one great 
 requirement of "the Word of Truth"; as to rightly 
 dividing its subject matter. 
 
 In the matter of letters, or epistles, it is very impor- 
 tant in our social life to carefully observe the address 
 written on the envelope. It makes for peace and har- 
 mony, and prevents awkward mistakes and misunder- 
 standings. 
 
 It is a mistake that is sometimes made, and it may be 
 that when we have opened a letter that is not addressed 
 to us we commence to read it ; and as we read on we 
 find things said that are exceedingly interesting and most 
 instructive ; but we come upon other things which we 
 cannot make out, and we find references to matters which 
 we do not understand, and to circumstances with which 
 we are unacquainted, because we are not the persons 
 directly written to. 
 
 72 
 
ii. AS TO SUBJECT-MATTER : JAMES 
 
 Then, if we are wise, we turn to the address, and there 
 we discover the mistake we have made, and the cause of 
 all our confusion. It is exactly so Avith 
 
 3. The Epistles to the Dispersion. — No Epistle has been 
 the source of such confusion, and none has received such 
 treatment as that written by James. 
 
 (a) The Epistle of James is addressed: — 
 
 To the Ttvelve Tribes 
 which are scattered abroad. 
 
 Doubtless they were believers, up to a certain point; 
 but exactly what they believed, or how far they believed 
 we are not told. 
 
 They evidently, as Jews, believed that Christ was the 
 Messiah, and had a certain amount of light : but the ques- 
 tion is. Did they, as sinners, believe in Christ as their 
 Saviour; or know that "Christ is the end of the law for 
 righteousness to every one that believeth"? It is clear 
 from the surface of the Epistle that they did not have the 
 standing of those who were "called to be saints": or of 
 members of the spiritual Body of Christ, as set forth in 
 the Epistles addressed to the churches of Ephesus, 
 Philippi, and Colosse. 
 
 They Avere "Christians" as distinguished from Jews 
 and Gentiles, but were they members of "the Church of 
 God?" Who are the "ye" in chapter iv? Who are the 
 "rich men" in chapter v. 1? The stand-point of the 
 epistle is wholly Jewish. They were monotheists as 
 aijpears from chapter ii. 19. Their place of worship was 
 the " Synagogue " (ch. ii. 2, margin). 
 
 In chapter v. 12 the prohibition of swearing is accord- 
 ing to the Jewish formula ; and, in verse 14 the anointing 
 with oil is in accordance with Jewish practice at that time. 
 
 Spiritual and vital Christianity is nowhere seen. Only 
 twice is "Christ" named at all (ch. i. 1; ch. ii. 1). The 
 word "Gospel" is not used, and the "Mystery" is lui- 
 known. The fundamental doctrines of the Gospel are 
 not even alluded to : such as Incarnation, Atonement, 
 Redemption, Resurrection, or Ascension. 
 
 73 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 The Morality of the Law is there (ii. 8, 13). The coming 
 of the Lord as the Judge is there (ch. v. 8, 9). Justification 
 by works is there (ch. ii. 20—26). ^^'M' ' ^"^J 
 
 All the errors combated refer to Judaism. Religion 
 {threskeia)\s there, but it is shown that the works of mercy 
 and charity are better than all the outward forms of 
 religious worship. Fatalism, formalism and hypocrisy, 
 arrogance and oppression, are specially dealt Avith; but 
 surely these are not the sins which distinguish and char- 
 acterize the Church of God. 
 
 All the phenomena are Palestinian or Eastern, as we 
 may gather from the references to the early and latter 
 rain (ch. v. 7); to the fig, oil, and wine (ch. iii. 12); to 
 drought (ch. v. 17, 18); to salt and bitter springs 
 (ch. iii. 11, 12) ; and to the hot wind (ch. i. 11). 
 
 The Epistle is full of references to the Sermon on the 
 Mount, which (as we shall see below) has reference to the 
 past Dispensation, iiot^to the present.^ We may compare 
 
 i. 4 
 
 
 V. 48. 
 
 i. 5, 17 : V. 15 
 
 >> 
 
 vii. 7. 11. 
 
 i. 9 ; ii. 5 
 
 J5 
 
 V. 3. 
 
 i. 22-25; ii. 10, 11 
 
 )» 
 
 V. 19. 
 
 i. 20 
 
 J> 
 
 V. 22. 
 
 i. 22 ; ii. 14 ; V. 7-9. 
 
 »» 
 
 vii. 21-26. 
 
 ii. 1-3 
 
 
 vi. 2, 5. 
 
 ii. 8 
 
 
 vii. 12. 
 
 ii. 10, 11 
 
 
 vii. 12. 
 
 ii. 13 
 
 » 
 
 vi. 14, 15 ; vii. 2 
 
 ii. 14 
 
 }> 
 
 vii. 21. 
 
 iii. 1 ; iv. 11 
 
 >> 
 
 vii. 1. 
 
 iii. 12 
 
 J» 
 
 vii. 16. 
 
 iii. 17, 18 
 
 ii 
 
 V. 9. 
 
 iv. 3. 
 
 ii 
 
 vii. 8. 
 
 iv. 4 
 
 i> 
 
 vi. 24. 
 
 iv. 8 
 
 ii 
 
 V. 8. 
 
 iv. 9 
 
 Ii 
 
 v. 4. 
 
 iv. 10 
 
 it 
 
 V. 3, 4. 
 
 iv. 11 
 
 ii 
 
 vii. 1. 
 
 iv. 13-16 
 
 ii 
 
 vi. 25. 
 
 V. 2 
 
 a 
 
 vi. 19. 
 
 V. 10 
 
 
 V. 12. 
 
 V. 12 
 
 
 V. 34. 
 
 1 See below, No. iv. of these sections. 
 
 74 
 
ii. AS TO SUBJECT-MATTER : JAMES 
 
 From other parts of the Lord's teaching in connection 
 with the Kingdom we may compare 
 
 ''SorT y .17-^0 James i. 14 with Matt. xv. 19. ^ 
 "|¥^:/? „ iv. 12 „ „ X. 28. ^"^^'^ 
 
 /2^\^^*//) " ^- ^ " Luke vi. 24 
 
 These phenomena in the subject-matter, when inter- 
 preted of the Church of God, and appropriated by those 
 who are "in Christ," and "complete in Him," led to such 
 confusion that, though the Epistle was in the primitive 
 Syriac version from the first (cent, ii.), and was quoted 
 as Canonical by the great Greek Fathers of cent, iv., yet 
 there were always great doubts about its canonicity, and 
 delays in receiving it. 
 
 These doubts were revived when translations of the 
 Bible began to be made at the Reformation. Erasmus, 
 Luther, and others questioned the canonicity of the 
 Epistle ; and it is well known that Luther went so far 
 as to call it "a veritable Epistle of straw." ^ 
 
 The same difficulties and doubts are felt to-day. But 
 they are all caused by interpreting of the Church of 
 God that which is written to quite a different class of 
 people belonging to "the Twelve Tribes." 
 
 The question is. Do we belong to "the Twelve Tribes"? 
 Do we worship in a Synagogue? Is it our custom, as a 
 People, to anoint with oil? Is not the "Assembly" of 
 James v. 14^ identical with the "Synagogue" of ch. ii. 2?^ 
 
 The answers to these questions will show that the 
 Epistle is not addressed to us, i.e., to those who are "in 
 Christ," and who are "the Church of God." 
 
 The moment we discern this, and rightly divide off, 
 the class of persons addressed, there will be an end of 
 all the laboured arguments to bring the Epistle of James 
 into harmony with the Epistle to the Romans ; and of 
 all attempts to reconcile its teaching with that of Ephe- 
 sians or Colossians. There will be nothing either to har- 
 monize or to reconcile. James will be seen to be true in 
 what he wrote to those whom he addressed, and Paul 
 will be seen to be true in what he wrote. Both will be 
 
 1 Eine rechte stroheme Epistel " (Ed. of Germ. N.T., 1522). 
 
 2 Which is translated "church" in A.V, and K.V. 
 
 8 Which is translated "Assembly" in A.V. and "Synagogue" in R.V. 
 
 75 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 seen to be true in what tliey said to tliose to whom they 
 were respectively inspired to w^rite, if w^e rightly divide 
 these portions of the Word of truth. 
 
 (b) The Ejnstle to the Hebrews. — We have another ex- 
 ample, very similar to this, in the Epistle addressed to 
 other Hebrew believers. 
 
 These w^ere evidently more advanced than those who 
 were addressed by James, and less, perhaps, than those 
 who were addressed by Peter. All these three belonged 
 to the same class ; the Diaspora,^ or Dispersion, of Israel. 
 
 The epistle of James was addressed to the Diaspora. 
 Two w^ere written by Peter (compare 1 Pet. i. 1 with 
 2 Pet. iii. 1) : and another was written to them by Paul. 
 This is distinctly so stated in 2 Pet. iii. 15, where Peter 
 says "our beloved brother Paul also according to the 
 wisdom given unto him hath written UNTO YOU:" 
 i.e., you believers among the Diaspora. 
 
 Paul was thus the writer of the Epistle to Hebrew 
 believers among the Dispersion ; for no other such 
 Epistle of Paul has ever been heard of. Who these 
 Hebrews were, or what they believed, or what their earlier 
 standing was, may be gathered from Acts xxi. 20, where 
 James says to Paul on the arrival of the latter at Je- 
 rusalem : " Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of 
 Jews there are which believe ; and they are all zealous of 
 the laiv.'' If they were "all zealous of the law," and 
 continued to offer sacrifices for sins (as it is clear they 
 did from v. 26), they could not have believed that Christ 
 was "the end of the law for righteousness to every one 
 that beheveth" (Rom. x. 4); and they could not have 
 known their standing in Christ. In Acts xxi. they are 
 not distinguished from those who beat Paul (v. 32), and 
 cried "Away with him" (v. 36): and their zeal for the 
 law was so great, that, they not only observed it them- 
 selves, but would persecute and destroy those who for- 
 sook it (Acts xxi. 21—24; compare 1 Thess. ii. 14—16). 
 
 1 The word Siaa-wopd (diaspora), a scattering or dispersion. In the Septiia- 
 gint it was used of Israelites dispersed among foreign nations (Deut. xxviii. 25; 
 XXX. 4. Isa. xlix. 6, Heb. " preserved." Ps, cxlvii. 2). In the N.T. Diaspora 
 becomes a proper title, the Dispersion. See John vii. 35 (dispersed), 1 Pet. i. 1 
 (scattered), Jas. i. 1 (scattered). 
 
 76 
 
ii. AS TO SUIUECT-MATTER: HEBREWS 
 
 It was to such Hebrews as these, who believed so 
 little, and worked so much, that Paul was afterward 
 inspired to write an Epistle. 
 
 It was written to those who had "a zeal for God, 
 but not according to knowledge. For they, being 
 ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to 
 establish their own righteousness, had not submitted 
 themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is 
 the end of the law, for righteousness, to every one that 
 believeth" (Rom. x. 2 — 4). 
 
 To make this known to them the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews was written. For Paul's name to have been 
 prefixed to it, as it was to all his other Epistles, would 
 have been (humanly speaking) fatal to its accej^tance or 
 usefulness, after the events recorded in Acts xxi. 17 — 40 : 
 events which ended his public ministry. 
 
 The Holy Spirit therefore suppressed Paul's name, 
 and put the name of "God" at the beginning of the 
 Epistle. Thus, "God," who had given the law, was the 
 God who showed how it had been fulfilled and ended in 
 Christ. 
 
 In spite of all this, Christians, to-day, take the Epistle 
 as addressed directly to themselves ; and, when they 
 come to passages like Heb. vi. 6, and read about "falling 
 away," or to ch. x. 26, and read how "there remaineth no 
 more sacrifice for sins" for those who "sin wilfully," 
 they are naturally greatly perplexed and perturbed : for 
 all this is in direct contradiction to what is written and 
 specially addressed to them concerning their own standing 
 in Christ, in Rom. viii. and the other Church Epistles. 
 
 All this confusion comes from not "rightly-dividing" 
 the class of persons to whom, and concerning whom, the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews is addressed. 
 
 It may be applied by any and all believers who are still 
 "zealous of the law"; and therefore it concerns such, 
 and only such, to-day, whether Romanists, Romanizers, 
 or Sacramentarians. 
 
 Of course it is written "for" us, yea, "for our learning." 
 
 In the Epistle to the Romans we learn the fact, that 
 "Christ IS the end of the law for every one that 
 believeth," but in Hebrews we learn how Christ 
 BECAME the end of the law, and the end of Priests 
 
 77 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 and Sacrifices. We learn the true meaning of the types 
 of Exodus and Leviticus ; which we could never other- 
 wise have known. 
 
 But to interpret the Epistle to the Hebrews now of, 
 or as addressed to, those who are *' complete in Christ," 
 "found in Him, not having their own righteousness, which 
 is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, 
 the righteousness which is of God by faith "(Phil. iii. 9), 
 is to produce only confusion and trouble. And, to take 
 what was perfectly true of such HebrcAV believers who 
 were still "zealous of the law," and to understand it of 
 those who have died to the law in Christ, is not only to 
 disobey the precept as to "rightly dividing" the Word 
 of truth, but it is to pervert that very Word and make 
 it teach error in the place of truth. 
 
 Many other examples might be given ; but several 
 others will come better under our fourth division of 
 
 this ONE GREAT REQUIREMENT. 
 
 In 2 Tim. ii. 15 God's children are compared to work- 
 men, whose chief Work lies in connection with His 
 "Word of truth." He who gave that Word has directed 
 them how to work, so as to excel as His workmen ; and that 
 they may not be ashamed of their work at His coming. 
 He has sent them a special message showing how they 
 are to work in order to secure this happy result. He 
 has sent them an inspired instruction so that they may 
 find the "truth" they seek; and at the same time have 
 the blessed assurance of showing themselves and their 
 work, alike, "approved unto God." 
 
 iii. Rightly Dividing the Word as to its Times 
 AND Dispensations. 
 
 "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; For 
 Jehovah hath spoken'' (Isa. i. 2). 
 
 1. The Word ''Dispensation.'" 
 
 God hath spoken, "at sundry times," as well as "in 
 divers manners" (Heb. i. 1). 
 
 And, if we are to understand what He has spoken, we 
 must learn to distinguish, not only the various peoples to 
 
 78 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 whom He has spoken, but the "sundry times" at which 
 He has spoken to them, and also the "divers manners." 
 
 It is true that the word TroAu^epro^ (polumeros) means 
 strictly, in many pai^t^^ oi" jyortions. But it is equally 
 true that these parts were spoken at different, or 
 "sundry times"; so that the rendering of the A.V. is 
 literal as to the fact, and to the sense— though not 
 literal to the Words. 
 
 The "time" when God spoke "to the fathers" is 
 manifestly set in contrast with the time in which He 
 hath "spoken unto us." The "time" in which "He spake 
 by the prophets" stands in contrast with the time in 
 which "He spake by His Son." And the "time past" 
 is obviously distinguished from "these last days " (Heb. 
 i. 1). 
 
 So that Times and Dispensations are inseparable from 
 the Divine Word ; not only the Times in which the Words 
 were spoken, but the Times of which they were spoken, 
 and to which they refer. 
 
 These different times are called Dispensations. 
 
 The Greek word rendered Dispensation is o^iKovofxia 
 (oiJwnomia), and refers to the act of administer 172 g. By 
 the Figure Metoitymy, the act of administering is trans- 
 ferred to the time during which that administering is 
 carried on. 
 
 The word itself is from oiKog (o.'/cos), house, and uefxco 
 (nejnd), to dispense, to weigh or deal out, as a steward or 
 housekeeper. Hence the Avord was used of the manage- 
 ment or administration of a household. 
 
 Our English word "Dispensation" comes from the 
 Latin : dis (apart), and pendere (to weigh) : a weighing 
 out. We still use the word in this particular sense in 
 connection with medicine which is dispensed, i.e., weighed 
 or measured out : the place where it is done being called 
 "a Dispensary." ^ 
 
 The Greek word Oikonomia is transliterated in our 
 English word E'conom?/ ; and we still preserve its original 
 meaning when we speak of Political, Domestic or Social 
 
 1 The Church of Rome uses it of the giving out of privileges called "indul- 
 gencies"; but as those are generally privileges to do wiLhout certain things, or 
 to do certain things without incurring the penalties or i)enanccs, the word cornea 
 to have the sense of "doing without" or "dispensing with." 
 
 79 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 Economy, etc. This was its meaning at the date of ouv 
 A.V. 1611, and it was used in the sense of admiyiistration. 
 But, like many other words it degenerated by its usage ; ^ 
 and, as such administration was carried out rather 
 with the view to saving than spending, so Economy 
 came to mean frugality or thrift. 
 
 But the meaning of the Greek in the New Testament 
 is not affected by these modern changes. 
 
 It is always Administration. 
 
 In Isa. xxii. 21 it is rendered "government," and in 
 verse 19 it is rendered " station" (R.V. "office"). 
 
 In the New Testament it is a question whether the 
 word is used in any other sense than that of administra- 
 tion. It is either the ACT of administering or of the 
 TIME during which such act of administration is carried 
 out. 
 
 Tlie word occurs in Luke xvi. 2, 3, 4, where it is 
 rendered "stewardship." 
 
 In four other places it is rendered "dispensation." 
 
 In 1 Cor. ix. 17, Paul says that "an administration 
 is committed unto me." 
 
 In Eph. i. 10 we learn that God's secret purpose ^ 
 which He hath purjDOsed in Himself is with a view to 
 (not "in") the Administration of the fulness of times 
 (R.V. the times, marg. seasons); when He will head up 
 (R.V. stmi up) " all things in Christ." 
 
 In Eph. iii. 2 we learn that the "administration of 
 the grace of God" was committed specially to Paul, that 
 he might be the means of first making known the 
 Mystery (or Secret). 
 
 This is further shown in verse 9, where the rendering 
 "fellowship" should be administration:— ''to bring to 
 light, or enlighten all [as to] what [is] the administra- 
 tion of the Mystery (or Secret)." 
 
 In Col. i. 25 we read "I am made a minister, according 
 to the administration of God which is given to me for 
 you, to fully preach the word of God." 
 
 In 1 Tim. i. 4, "neither give heed to fables and end- 
 less genealogies, which bring (R.V. minister) questionings, 
 
 1 See below, Part II, Canon III., under the Biblical usage of words. 
 
 2 This is the meaning of the words rendered, "mystery of His will. 
 
 80 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 rather than an administration^ of God which is in 
 faith." 
 
 These are all the places where the word Oikoiiomia 
 occurs, and, in each, the idea is the same. 
 
 Our use of the term, now, in these j)ages, agrees with 
 this usage ; i.e. either the act of administration ; or, by an 
 easy transition {Metonymy), the time or period during 
 which any special form of administration is carried on. 
 This transference, however, is not necessary ; for we may 
 still think of Dispensational truth as being the same 
 thing as Administrational Truth. 
 
 It is manifestly clear that God's principles of adminis- 
 tration must always have been perfectly adapted to 
 the "times and seasons" during which they have been 
 respectively carried out. 
 
 God's principles of administration with Adam, before 
 the Fall, must have been quite different from those with 
 his immediate posterity after the Fall. 
 
 His administration with Israel "under the Law" was 
 carried out on different principles from those which 
 obtain now, during this present administration of grace. 
 
 These again are obviously quite different from those 
 which will characterize God's coming administration in 
 Judgment. 
 
 And these, again, will be necessarily quite different 
 from those which will belong to the administration of 
 glory in "the fulness of times" when all things shall be 
 gathered together in one under the Headship of Christ 
 (Eph. i. 10). 
 
 The present administration of God is in Grace ; not in 
 Law, Judgment, or Glory. It belongs to the time which 
 is called "the Administration of the Mystery" (or 
 Secret): that Secret (as the word Mystery means in the 
 Greek) "which in other ages was not made known to 
 the sons of men," (Eph. iii. 5). It was "hid in God from 
 the beginning of the world" (Eph. iii. 9). It "was kept 
 secret since the world began" (Rom. xvi. 25). But Paul 
 was made the special administrator of all the truth 
 
 1 It is oikonomia in the Received Text (1550), though the Translators of 
 1611 UHisthave read it oi/fofio/ita (oikodomia), for they translated it "edifying." 
 It is oikodomia in Bcza's Text (1505) and Elzevirs (1G24). 
 
 81 
 
 F 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 connected with it. It was committed to him by God : and 
 the Word of God could not be ''fully 'preached" without 
 it (Col. i. 25, margin). The Word of truth can be preached 
 to-day, but it cannot be "fully preached" without the 
 truth connected with this Mystery. 
 
 Here then, at the outset, we have various administra- 
 tions suited to the various and corresponding Times and 
 Dispensations, during which they were carried out, and 
 in force. In "other ages" certain truths were hidden, 
 which are contrasted with the truths which are "now 
 revealed." 
 
 In the same way the Lord Jesus said, "I have yet 
 many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them 
 now" (John xvi. 12). 
 
 It is clear therefore that, while "God hath spoken," 
 everything which He has said belongs to its own proper 
 Time and Dispensation. These times in which, or con- 
 cerning which. He spoke, must therefore be carefully 
 distinguished. "The Word of truth" must be rightly 
 divided in this important matter, or, clearly, we shall 
 not get the truth. 
 
 If we read into one Time or Dispensation that which 
 belongs to another, we must necessarily have only con- 
 fusion ; and, confusion so great, that it will be absolutely 
 impossible for us to have any idea of the purpose or 
 meaning of what "God hath spoken." 
 
 We are specially enjoined by the Lord not to 
 separate what God hath joined together; and it is 
 equally true that we must not join together what He has 
 separated. 
 
 If we take what God said and did in one Dispensation, 
 and carry it forward to another in which His Adminis- 
 tration was on quite a different principle ; or, if we take 
 a truth subsequently revealed, and read it backward into 
 the Time when it was hidden from the sons of men, it is 
 impossible for us to understand what we read ; we shall 
 find ourselves taking what- is quite true of one Time, 
 and using it to contradict what is also true of another 
 Time. 
 
 God deals not only with the three distinct classes of 
 persons (the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God), 
 but He deals with them in distinct ages and epochs; 
 
 82 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 and on different principles of Administration. If there- 
 fore we mix them all up together, and indiscriminately 
 take what was said of one time and interpret it of 
 another, we only create insuperable difficulties, and make 
 it impossible for us to arrive at the truth of the revealed 
 Word. 
 
 When the Lord Jesus in Luke xxi. 24 speaks of "the 
 times of the Gentiles," He necessarily, by implication, 
 contrasts these "times "with other times which are, ob- 
 viously, "times of the Jews." He thus divides off, in a 
 very marked manner, two of these " times," and sets one 
 in contrast with the other. 
 
 Leaving these to be considered in their proper place 
 and order, we must note that the right division of the 
 subject-matter of "the Word of truth" will thus neces- 
 sarily lead us in the second place to a right division of 
 
 2. The Seven Times or Dispensations. 
 
 We shall find that there are at least seven distinct 
 Administrations each having its own beginning and end- 
 ing clearly revealed and marked off. 
 
 These seven are, in turn, characterized by the principles 
 of God's Administration, which mark all that He said and 
 did during each special and distinct period. 
 
 We have for instance, the Theocratic Administra- 
 tion suited to the time of Innocence before the Fall (Gen. 
 1. ii.). 
 
 We have the Patriarchal Administration suited to 
 mankind after the Fall, but before the Law was given 
 (Gen. iv. — Exod. xx.). 
 
 We have the Legal Administration suited only to 
 Israel under the Law. 
 
 We have the present Administration of Grace which 
 is for Jew and Gentile alike, i.e., for individuals out of 
 both, without the distinction previously made. 
 
 After this will come the Judicial Administration pre- 
 paratory to the restoration of all things which were 
 spoken before by the prophets. 
 
 Then will follow the Millennial Dispensation: end- 
 ing with the Administration of Glory in the Eternal 
 State. 
 
 88 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 These may be thus exhibited to the eye: 
 
 A I The Edenic State (Innocence) 
 
 B I Mankind as a whole (Patriarchal) 
 C I Israel (under Law) 
 
 D The Church of God. The Secret. 
 I The Dispensation of Grace. 
 C I Israel (Judicial) 
 B I Mankind as a whole (Millennial) 
 A I The Eternal State (Glory) 
 
 We thus see that these times and periods of different 
 Administrations have their correspondence : in which 
 The first corresponds with the seventh ; 
 The second with the sixth ; 
 The third with the fifth ; 
 
 The fourth, occupying the central position, stands out 
 alone by itself, and has no correspondence with any of 
 the others. 
 
 The first and seventh correspond, each being charac- 
 terized as Divine, in its origin and principles, God being 
 in direct communion and intercourse with man; the one 
 before the entrance of sin, and the other after the ending 
 of sin. 
 
 The second and sixth are each occupied with mankind 
 as a whole, the former being Patriarchal and the latter 
 Millennial. 
 
 The third and fifth are occupied with Israel ; in the 
 former being governed under Law, in the latter judged 
 "by the law." 
 
 The fourth, the Church of God, stands alone and by 
 itself, as occupying the great central position, showing the 
 "purpose of God" — round which all His counsels circle, 
 and with reference to which they all exist according to 
 His eternal purpose. 
 
 Let us look at them in order : — 
 
 (a) The Edenic Dispensation. — It is clear that the period 
 beginning with Gen. i. 26 and going down to the end of 
 Gen. ii. is perfectly unique. There is nothing like it 
 until we come to the last, or seventh, Dispensation, which 
 is the Eternal state. In these two there is only the 
 
 84 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 innocence of man; and both are characterized by the 
 absence of sm and the presence of God. God came doAvn 
 and communed with Adam, revealmg Himself to him : 
 and the mark of the Eternal state is given in the words, 
 "The Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell 
 with them " (Rev. xxi. 3). 
 
 Adam was directly under the Divine administration 
 and tuition of God Himself. God was his Teacher, reveal- 
 ing Himself and His wonderful works to Adam. He 
 visited Adam at certain definite times, with audible sounds 
 by which His coming was known (Gen. iii. 8^). He came 
 for the definite purpose of teaching man. He brought 
 the animals to Adam to instruct him (Gen. ii. 19, 20) ; He 
 gave him a comi3anion (Gen. ii. 21, 22); and we know not 
 what else He did, and would have done, had not all this 
 Divine communion been suddenly snapped and suspended 
 by the Fall. Such direct communion of man with God 
 has, since that moment, been in abeyance, and will con- 
 tinue to be so until the curse shall have been removed, 
 and the Edenic state of Bliss find more than its counter- 
 part in the Eternal state of Glory. 
 
 In this first Administration Adam was dealt with as 
 innocent ; and man can never be dealt with in a corre- 
 sponding manner during all the succeeding Dispensations, 
 until the curse and all its effects shall have been done 
 away. 
 
 Man was then what is called " under probation." This 
 marks off that Administration sharply and absolutely; 
 for 7nan is not now under probation. To suppose that he 
 is so, is a popular fallacy which strikes at the root of the 
 doctrines of Grace. Man has been tried and tested, and 
 has been proved to be a ruin. Ever since that moment 
 man has been dealt with as lost, guilty, ruined, helpless, 
 unclean, and undone ; and all this because of what he is, 
 and not merely from what he has done. That is to say, 
 he is not only a ruined sinner, but a ruined creature. 
 
 Man failed, just as Satan and Angels before him had 
 failed under their trial. Man showed the same result, 
 
 1 The Heb. ^ip (chdl), rendered voice, racana any sound or noise in an exten- 
 fiive Hcnso ; e.g. crackling, Ecclcs. vii. 0 ; trumpet, Exod. xix. IG ; thunder, 
 Vjxod. XX. 18 ; noise, 1 Kings i. 45 ; sound, 2 Kings vi. 32 ; proclamation, 2 Chron. 
 xxiv. 9. 
 
 85 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 and proved that, apart from the Creator, no created 
 being could stand. By Christ, the Creator, all things 
 not only exist ; but in Him only can they consist (Col. 
 i. 16, 17). 
 
 The one test was THE WORD OF GOD. God had 
 
 spoken ; and the question was ; Will man believe God or 
 Satan ? 
 
 This was the one simple test. It was not what man 
 whittles down by his tradition to the "eating of an 
 apple;" but in Gen. iii. the first crucial words are, "Hath 
 God said ?"('?;. 1). 
 
 Satan is introduced to us as using these words, and as 
 substituting ttvo lies for what God had said: — 
 
 (1) "Ye shall be as God"; 
 
 (2) "Ye shall not surely die." 
 
 These tAvo lies are the foundation of Satan's old religion 
 and man's "New Theology," and are the hall-marks of the 
 coming Apostasy, under the Beast of Rev. xiii. 
 
 Our first parents believed Satan's lies, and their de- 
 scendants have followed in their steps. Part of them be- 
 lieve neither God nor the Old Serpent ; the bulk of them 
 believe only Satan. 
 
 The teaching of demons is to-day embraced by the 
 strictest of Evangelicals and Protestants, as well as by the 
 Heathen, by Romanists, and by Spiritists : and they all 
 unite in endorsing these two great lies of the Old Serpent. 
 They all believe and hold (1) That man has within him 
 the Divine ("Ye shall be as God"); (2) that "There is no 
 death " (" Ye shall not surely die "). 
 
 Man was under probation, and he failed in the proving. 
 
 Never again in any succeeding Dispensation has he 
 been, or can he be thus tried. 
 
 Popular theology still teaches that " man is under pro- 
 bation." It is false I Man has been tried, and declared 
 to be, in consequence, utterly ruined, and "at enmity 
 with God;" he is not "subject to the law of God, neither 
 indeed can be," and has "no good thing" in him. 
 
 Man needs no further probation to verify this solemn 
 fact. 
 
 But we must return to our special point, which is this : 
 All that was said and done by God in that first Adminis- 
 
 86 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 tration, the Edenic State, was peculiar to, and appro- 
 priate only to that state, and to no other. It can never 
 be characteristic of any other Dispensation. 
 
 God was man's teacher— God was His own Revealer. 
 He gave man his trial and his test, and after these had 
 done their work God pronounced His sentence on man, 
 and his doom on the Old Serpent. 
 
 (6) The Patriarchal Dispensation. — In the second Ad- 
 ministration, the one great principle on which mankind 
 was treated was as a whole, and as having completely 
 failed under the probation in which man had been placed. 
 Having lost the Divine teaching, the Dispensation is cha- 
 racterized as the Times of Ignorance" (Acts xvii. 30). 
 
 Mankind fails collectively, as man had failed individu- 
 ally ; and furnishes another example of the fact that, no 
 created being or beings can stand, apart from the up- 
 holding power of the Creator (Col. i. 16, 17). 
 
 All the words and actions of Jehovah were appropriate 
 to this second Administration. 
 
 The " times of ignorance" are contrasted in Acts xvii. 30 
 with later times, which are distinguished by the words, 
 "But now." 
 
 In those times God "overlooked" that which He could 
 not overlook after He had given the Law; those things 
 which, before the Law, were "sins," became afterward 
 " transgressions." 
 
 The principles which governed God's Administration 
 in those "times of ignorance," could not be appropriate 
 for the times when He revealed His Law by Moses, and 
 made known His will to the sons of men. 
 
 It is clear, therefore, that these Dispensations must 
 be rightly divided ; for even the future judgment of man- 
 kind is based on the distinction which we must make 
 between these two periods, viz., "without law" and 
 "under law." See Rom. ii. 12. 
 
 "As many as have sinned WITHOUT LAW 
 shall PERISH also without law; 
 And as many as have sinned IN THE LAW 
 shall be JUDGED by the law." 
 
 It is evident that these two principles belong to the 
 two different Dispensations (before and after the Law) 
 
 87 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 respectively. They teacli us that the same principles 
 must prevail when the final judgment of those who have 
 lived in both Dispensations shall come. 
 
 We may well believe also that the same principle will 
 be acted on in the future judgment of those who are 
 living in this present Dispensation ; for there are, to- 
 day, those who sin without having heard the Gospel, and 
 there are those who have heard it and have not obeyed 
 it (2 Thess. i. 8). 
 
 If we rightly divide these, and their judgments also, as 
 announced in Rom. ii. 10, 12, we shall have the key to a 
 problem which has perplexed many a child of God. 
 
 These then are the great principles which govern 
 God's dealings with mankind; those that were "with- 
 out law," and those who were "under law": those that 
 are without the Gospel, and those who are under the 
 Gospel. 
 
 It was not merely, or only, that one dispensation 
 was "without law" and another "under law," but 
 that there were those in each who knew the law and 
 those who did not ; those who obeyed and those who 
 obeyed not. 
 
 And God dealt with mankind on this principle of judg- 
 ment in all subsequent dispensations : for all were under 
 His administration as to government. 
 
 The second Dispensation, that which succeeded the 
 Fall, was governed by Patriarchal Law, as the following 
 one was governed by Mosaic Law. 
 
 Both laws were given by God. 
 
 It is often supposed that before the Mosaic Law man- 
 kind were left to themselves. 
 
 But such was not the case. Mankind as a whole was 
 in a sense "under law," but it was "unwritten law"; 
 while Israel was under written law, "written by the 
 finger of God " (Exod. xxxi. 18). 
 
 No sooner had our first parents been driven out from 
 their first abode and passed from God's administration 
 which corresponded w^ith and marked their state of inno- 
 cence, than the different character of His new administra- 
 tion was seen. 
 
 His first act was to point out THE WAY BACK to 
 Himself and. to peace with God. 
 
 88 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 Immediately after the Fall, and the loss of God's pre- 
 sence and teaching, the way back to His favour was opened 
 by Himself. 
 
 (1) It is evident that the ivay hack was declared to be 
 hy sacrifice, by substitution, and by blood. 
 
 Those who believed God obeyed the commands which 
 He must have given and made known. 
 
 It was "by faith" that Abel brought his substitute — 
 the Sacrificial Lamb — to suffer in his stead. But "Faith 
 cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" 
 (Rom. X. 17). Abel, therefore, with the rest of mankind, 
 must have heard and known God's command. Abel obeyed 
 it. It was "by faith": otherwise it would have been by 
 fancy. Hence, Abel "obtained witness that he was righ- 
 teous, God testifying of His gifts" (Heb. xi. 4). 
 
 God testified of Abel's offering by consuming it with 
 "fire from heaven." 
 
 For only by such fire God "accepted" sacrifice (Ps. xx. 3, 
 margin, and compare Lev. ix. 24. Judg. vi. 21. 1 Kings 
 xviii. 38. 1 Chron. xxi. 26. 2 Chron. vii. 1): not by any 
 fire emanating from or kindled on this earth. Only by 
 such formal acceptance with "fire from heaven," did God 
 "testify" of and have respect to. Abel's gifts. Only by 
 such acceptance did Abel "obtain witness that he was 
 righteous." Only by such witness did God show, and Cain 
 know, that He "had not respect" to the offering that 
 Cain brought unto the Lord. 
 
 The fire fell upon Abel's lamb, instead of upon Abel ; 
 upon the substitute, instead of upon the sinner. 
 
 But it fell not on Cain's offering — for God did not accept 
 it. It was the "fruit of the ground" (Gen. iv. 2, 8), the 
 fruit of that which God had only just declared, " Cursed 
 be the ground " (Gen. iii. 17). 
 
 Thus was the way back to God opened and made clear ; 
 and thus was man's disobedience manifested. 
 
 There was God's way, which Abel took ; and there was 
 man's way, which Cain invented. There have been but 
 those two ways back to God from that day to this. 
 
 One was God's, and the other was man's. 
 
 One was by faith, the other by works. 
 
 One was Christ, the other was Religion. 
 
 One was by God's grace, the other was by human merit. > 
 
 89 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 There never have been but these two ways. 
 
 This is God's way now, by faith through Grace— faith 
 in Christ— the Saviour whom God has provided, which is 
 summed up in the words, 
 
 "NOTHING in my hand I bring." 
 
 All other ways are one ; for however they may differ, 
 they are all alike in saying, 
 
 "SOMETHING " in my hand I bring. 
 
 They differ only in what that "something" is to be; 
 and those who differ from them, as Abel did, are ever in 
 great danger of getting killed, as Abel was. For nothing 
 is so cruel as "Religion." 
 
 Thus the first act in God's changed administration after 
 the Fall was to open the way back to Himself ; and it is 
 placed unmistakably on the forefront of revelation. 
 
 But there are many other marks as to the character 
 of God's administration. 
 
 If we will search for its principles we shall find various 
 words, expressions, and hints, casually dropped, which 
 give us some insight into the principles which charac- 
 terized that administration; for there is no attempt to 
 give a detailed description of them. We are left to note 
 and mark them for ourselves. 
 
 (2) It is evident that there was a Place of tvorship, a 
 place set apart where access to the Lord was to be had. 
 
 At the moment of the Fall, when man was driven out, 
 the Lord God "placed [as in a tabernacle], at the east 
 of the Garden of Eden, Cherubim " (Gen. iii. 24). The word 
 "placed" is (shdkan), to place, station or dwell in a 
 tabernacle. Hence it is used of God's dwelling-place among 
 His people.^ 
 
 Hither Abel and Cain brought their offerings (Gen. iv. 
 8, 4 ; compare Lev. i. 3). Thither Cain " went out from the 
 presence of the Lord" (v. 16). At its "door" lay the sin- 
 offering which Cain might have brought as well as Abel 
 (Gen. iv. 7). 
 
 1 Exod. XXV. 8 ; xxix. 45, 46. Josh, xviii. 1 ; xxii. 19. 1 Kings vi. 13 ; viii. 12. 
 2 Chron. vi. 1. Ps. Ixviii. 18. It is from this word that we have the word 
 shekinah, that glorious light which was the symbol of God's presence in that 
 tabernacle. 
 
 90 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 Thither Rebekah went to "inquire of the Lord" (Gen. 
 XXV. 22). 
 
 Hence, the statement that certain things were done 
 "before the Lord " expressed a great reality (Gen. xiii. 13; 
 xviii. 22 ; xix. 27 ; xxvii. 7. Compare Exod. xvi. 9, 83 ; xxiii. 
 17 ; xxxiii. 7, etc.). 
 
 (3) Certain persons evidently had official positions. 
 Shem was one who probably had charge of this tent or 
 tents (Gen. ix. 26, 27). 
 
 Melchisedek was "a priest of the Most High God" 
 (Gen. xiv. 18). Heads of families so acted (Gen. viii. 20; 
 xii. 8 ; XXXV. 7). 
 
 Tithes were already paid (Heb. vii. 9). 
 
 The first-born evidently had certain privileges, among 
 them the duty of offering sacrifices. Who else can "the 
 young men" be whom we find so acting in Exod. xxiv. 5, 
 before the consecration of Aaron and his sons under the 
 Law, as priests of the nation as such? 
 
 If there were priests, so were there preachers also 
 (2 Pet. ii. 5), and prophets (Gen. xx. 7. Jude 14, 15). 
 
 (4) Certain official garments appear to have been worn 
 by those who thus officiated. What was the "goodly 
 raiment of her eldest son Esau," which Rebekah stored 
 so carefully, but clothes or garments afterward used by 
 the priests under the Law ? (compare Lev. xxi. 10. Exod. 
 XXXV. 19. Lev. x. 6^). The word "goodly" is also used 
 (though not exclusively) of sacred things in connection 
 with the Temple (2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. Isa. Ixiv. 11. Lam. 
 i. 102). 
 
 If this be so, we can understand why Esau was "pro- 
 fane " when he despised his birthright (Heb. xii. 16). 
 
 Joseph's "coat of many colours," instead of being 
 (according to some) a peculiar coat of "gaudy patch- 
 work," or, according to others, an ordinary "long tunic" 
 in general wear, seems to have been a special gar- 
 ment by which Jacob designated him for one, at least, 
 of the three parts of the birthright which Reuben had 
 
 1 In all these passages the Hebrew word Dnj3 (begddim) is the same; but 
 not so in Deut. xxlx. 5, where Moses says of the ordinary clothes of the people, 
 "your clothes waxed not old." Here it is, riDhiv (salmdh). 
 
 2 Rendered "pleasant" in the latter passages. 
 
 91 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 forfeited.^ At any rate, the word rendered colours 
 (D''D3j passim) is always used of colours'^ and never 
 of pieces; and though Aaron's coat is not actually so 
 called, it was so in fact, as we see from Exod. xxxix. 1 
 and Exod. xxviii. 4, 39, where it is said to be embroi- 
 dered. The word rendered "coat" (njh^' ^'thoneth) is 
 also associated with the coats of the priests,^ or with 
 those of royalty (2 Sam. xiii. 18, 19). 
 
 (5) Again, certain forms and ceremonies are also inci- 
 dentally mentioned, which give us a still further insight 
 into the nature of the administration of that dispensation. 
 Thus we have anointing or consecration with oil (Gen. 
 xxviii. 18 ; xxxi. 13) ; building of altars (Gen. viii. 20 ; xii. 7 ; 
 XXXV. 1, 3, etc.); pouring out drink offerings (Gen. xxxv. 
 14) ; the making of a covenant by sacrifice (Gen. xv. 9—18) ; 
 the keeping of the Sabbath, before the actual proclama- 
 tion of the Law (Exod. xvi. 23; compare Exod. xv. 25, 
 and Deut. v. 12); the offering of "seven ewe lambs" (Gen. 
 xxi. 31); the distinction between "clean" and "unclean" 
 (Gen. vii. 2; viii. 20); the prohibition of blood as food (Gen. 
 ix. 4) ; the execution of the murderer (Gen. ix. 6 ; xlii. 22) ; 
 the prohibition of adultery (Gen. xii. 18 ; xxvi. 10 ; xxxix. 9 ; 
 xlix. 4) ; the binding nature of oaths (Gen. xxvi. 28) ; the 
 obligation of vows (Gen. xxviii. 20 — 22; xxxi. 13); the sin of 
 fornication (Gen. xxxi v. 7); marriage with the uncircumcised 
 (Gen. xxxiv. 14 ; compare Exod. xxxiv. 16) ; honouring of 
 parents (Gen. ix. 25, 26) ; purification, or ceremonial cleans- 
 ing for worship (Gen. xxxv. 2) ; the birthright of the 
 firstborn (Gen. xxv. 31 ; compare Exod. xxii. 29 and Deut. 
 xxi. 17); and the marrying of the brother's widow (Gen. 
 xxxviii. 8). 
 
 What are all these but so many hints and glimpses 
 which reveal the existence of an orderly adminis- 
 tration, which must have been Divinely promulgated, 
 and exactly suited for that dispensation? All was not 
 
 1 According to 1 Chron. v. 1, 2, Reuben forfeited his birthright (Gen. xxxv. 22. 
 Compare xlix. 3, 4). This birth-right consisted of three parts. Levi obteiined 
 the priestly office ; as Judah had the part connected with rule, indicated by 
 the possession of the tribal "staflf" or "sceptre," and as Joseph had the flrs^ 
 born's double portion, in Ephraim and Manasseh, according to Deut. xxxiii. 17. 
 
 2 Gen. xxxvii. 3, 23, 32. 2 Sam. xiii. 18, 19. 
 8 See Ezra ii. 69. Neh. vii. 70, 72. 
 
 92 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 confusion as the unobservant reader might suppose. Men 
 were not left to themselves during that Patriarchal Dis- 
 pensation. 
 
 But to bring the laws of that administration into 
 another dispensation, either for the purpose of limita- 
 tion or supplement, is to mix up together things which 
 are perfectly distinct, and to introduce confusion where 
 all is otherwise in perfect order. 
 
 (c) The Israelite Dispensation under Law.'' — In the third 
 Administration we have a totally different principle in- 
 volved. Allischaugedby the giving of the Law. Thi^ third 
 Dispensation stands out in contrast with the previous 
 one, which was "without Law"; as it does from this 
 present Dispensation, which is characterized by Grace. 
 
 The communications of God, and His dealings with 
 Israel, were appropriate to, and in harmony with, the 
 principles of His administration "under law." 
 
 If we read all that into this present Dispensation, and 
 interpret it of ourselves, we at once place ourselves under 
 a covenant of works, and practically deny our standing 
 in grace. 
 
 Unless we rightly divide the Word of truth in this 
 matter we shall be filled with confusion. 
 
 It was true, in that Dispensation of Works, to say: 
 "When the wicked man turneth away from his wicked- 
 ness and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall 
 save himself [Heb., his soul] alive" (Ezek. xviii. 27). But 
 to interpret that of ourselves, now, is contrary to fact: 
 and to do so is to flatly deny our true church-standing 
 which declares, that we are not saved by works, ^ but 
 by grace (Tit. iii. 5. Rom. xi. 6). 
 
 The Ceremonial Law was given to Israel ; not to Assyria 
 or Egypt, or any other nation. Any precepts, of course, 
 that may be of universal application will be wisely 
 applied. The commands as to the food to be used or 
 avoided were neither meaningless nor arbitrary, but 
 were given according to the infinite knowledge of God. 
 It will be our wisdom, therefore, if we are guided by them 
 
 1 If any think of Jas. ii. as contradicting this, let thorn turn to Jas. i. 1, 
 and they will see that the Epistle is addressed "To the Twelve Tribes," and 
 is therefore quite in harmony with that Epistle (see above, p. 73). 
 
 93 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 for our health's sake ; but in no sense as being " under 
 law." 
 
 The Ceremonial Law continued down to the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, and the burning of the Temple, when 
 it ceased absolutely, as it had already ceased relatively, 
 by the death and sacrifice of Christ, which fulfilled the 
 law (Col. ii. 14, etc.). 
 
 The four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles do not 
 belong to this present Gospel Dispensation of Grace, but 
 they rather close up the Dispensation of the Law (the 
 Acts being transitional). 
 
 Christ did not come "to found a church" as those assert 
 who do not heed the difference between the various Dis- 
 pensations. That is man's, and Rome's, constant asser- 
 tion. But God's revelation tells us that "Jesus Christ was 
 a MINISTER OF THE CIRCUMCISION, for the truth of 
 God, to confirm the promises made unto the Fathers, and 
 that the Gentiles (after Israel's salvation) might glorify 
 God for His mercy " (Rom. xv. 8, 9). 
 
 Christ's coming had reference to the Jew and Gentile, 
 not to the founding of a church. 
 
 The Jews rejected the Kingdom and crucified their king. 
 And the Gentiles (as such) have not yet glorified God for 
 His mercy. 
 
 A subsequent offer was afterward made by Peter, to 
 whom "the keys of the kingdom" were given (not of the 
 Church, but of the Kingdom). The Kingdom was again 
 proclaimed in the Acts, and the promise of Christ's re- 
 turn on their national repentance was repeated (Acts iii. 
 19—21, R.V.). 
 
 But the command to repent was unheeded by the 
 nation and its rulers ; and so, in the Acts of the Apostles, 
 we see the gradual transition taking place, until the final 
 pronouncement of God's rejection of the nation is for- 
 mally made by Paul in Acts xxviii. 24 — 28. 
 
 (d) The Ecclesia : the Dispensation of Grace.— In this the 
 fourth Dispensation neither Jews nor Gentiles are dealt 
 with as such: but, individuals, both " transgressors" of the 
 Jews and "sinners of the Gentiles," are called out, and 
 made into a new body, a third People, called "the Church 
 of God," in which now "there is neither Jew nor Gentile 
 
 94 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 , • . but all are one in Clirlst Jesus"; being baptized into 
 the Body of Christ, not with the old material element 
 of water, but with the new spiritual medium or element 
 of pneuma hagion (Gal. iii. 27, 28). 
 
 All this had been kept secret until it was revealed to 
 Paul and made known by the prophets and apostles in 
 "prophetic writings" (Rom. xvi. 25, 26). 
 
 Had it been made the subject of prophecy the Jew, 
 to-day, could reply against God and say that he was 
 obliged to fulfil prophecy. It was therefore "hid in 
 God " (Eph. iii. 9). God kept the secret to Himself. What 
 He would have done had the nation of Israel obeyed the 
 command to repent, in Acts iii. 19, 20, none can tell. 
 God is sovereign, and we may be perfectly sure that the 
 Scripture would have been fulfilled. Nothing was un- 
 foreknown, or unforeseen ; for the members of the Church 
 of God were "chosen in Christ BEFORE the foundation 
 of the world" (Eph. i. 4). All we can say is that "the 
 secret things belong unto God." Those that are revealed 
 alone concern us. 
 
 One of these secrets, the "Great" one (1 Tim. iii. 16. 
 Eph. V. 32), has been revealed ; and we now rejoice in its 
 revelation. 
 
 This Dispensation of "the Church of God," of "the 
 grace of God," and of the "Spirit of God" commenced 
 outwardly by the ministry of Paul, in the Dispensation 
 or administration committed formally to him ; and in- 
 wardly by the revelation of the mystery as further set 
 forth in its fulness in those epistles which he wrote 
 from his prison in Rome: Ephesians, Philippians, and 
 Colossians. 
 
 This Dispensation will end by the members of Christ's 
 body, the Church of the living God, being "received up 
 in glory" (1 Tim. iii. 16); "caught up to meet the Lord 
 in the air, so to be ever with the Lord" (1 Thess. iv. 17. 
 Phil. iii. 20, 21). This is called in 2 Thess. ii. 1, "our 
 gathering together unto Him " ; and this glorious rapture 
 will close this fourth Dispensation.^ The one object, 
 therefore, of this Dispensation is not, as is popularly 
 
 See The Pauline Epistles and The Good Deposit, by the same author 
 and publisher. 
 
 95 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 supposed, the conversion of the world ; still less its social 
 improvement : but the formation of the one spiritual 
 Body of Christ by calling out those who were chosen in 
 Him *' before the foundation of the world." 
 
 To that end, and that alone, is this good news made 
 known to-day in all the world. In no former Dispensa- 
 tion was such a Gospel ever preached ; and in no subse- 
 quent one will the good news of such free grace be pro- 
 claimed. 
 
 Before this Dispensation, and after it, all is connected 
 with man, and what he is, and what he is to do. But 
 in this Dispensation it is a question of what Christ is, 
 and of what He has done. 
 
 This Dispensation of grace will be followed by : 
 
 (e) The Dispensation of Judgment. — In the fifth Dis- 
 pensation, which is characterized by judgment, Israel 
 becomes once again the central object. 
 
 When the Church, the mystical body of Christ, has 
 been "received up in glory" the day of grace will be 
 over. And Israel will once more be dealt with, not again 
 under law, but under judgment. 
 
 The present Dispensation is (apart from God's purpose 
 in the election of grace) called "Man's Day" (1 Cor. iv. 3, 
 marg.), because it is during this present period that man 
 is judging. But, the next Dispensation is called "the 
 Lord's Day " ^ (Rev. i. 10), because that will be the time 
 when He will judge. Man's day of judging will be closed 
 and the Lord's day of judging will begin. 
 
 Hence "the day of the Lord" is the day of the Lord's 
 judging and ruling; and the first occurrence of the ex- 
 pression gives us its essential meaning ; and the object 
 and aim of that judgment.^ It will be the day when 
 
 "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, 
 And the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down : 
 And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." 
 (Isa. ii. 11, 12, 17). 
 
 Whatever may be the dealings of God with men, 
 
 1 See two separate pamphlets on The Lord's Day and Four Prophetic 
 Periods, by the same author and publisher. 
 
 ace below, under Canon I. 5 and Canon V. ii. 
 
 96 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 and whatever may be His .iudgments, this is the end and 
 aim and object of them all : 
 
 The abasement of Man 
 and 
 
 The exaltation of Jehovah. 
 
 The whole of that dispensation is called "the Day of 
 the Lord." It is the day which has to do with " times 
 and seasons"; wdth Israel and the Gentiles. But which 
 has nothing to do with "the Church of God." 
 
 This is clear from 1 Thess. v. 1 — 5. That day cannot 
 overtake the Church of God "as a thief," because the 
 Church has nothing to do w^itli "times and seasons." 
 That day has to do with those whom it will thus "over- 
 take." 
 
 All that is said and done in that coming dispensation 
 is appropriate to, and in harmony Avith, the great principle 
 which will characterize God's administration in that day. 
 
 It will then be right for Israel to rejoice over the judg- 
 ments inflicted on all their enemies. 
 
 Then, the "Imprecatory Psalms" will be in their appro- 
 priate place. 
 
 That dispensation of judgment will have its own 
 peculiar characteristics ; and language is therefore used 
 of it which could never have been used in any former 
 dispensation. 
 
 Israel will not again be under law; but it will be 
 under a "new covenant," when the stony or hard heart 
 of flesh will be taken away, and a new heart implanted 
 within them, and a new spirit imparted to them (Jer. 
 xxxi. 31—34. Ezek. xxxvi. 24—38), making Israel, then, 
 the only indefectible nation that the world has ever seen. 
 
 This belongs, with the Dispensation which follows 
 it, to "the times of the restitution of all things which 
 God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets 
 since the world began " (Acts iii. 21). 
 
 So that, here again, we have certain definite times 
 spoken of. 
 
 These "times of restitution" include the succeeding, or 
 
 (/) The Millennial or Theocratic Dispensation, — The 
 Sixth Dispensation, in which mankind will again be desalt 
 with as a whole. It will begin with the binding of Satan 
 
 97 G 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 (Rev. XX. 1, 2) and will end with the great white throne 
 and the lake of fire (Rev. xx. 15). A thousand years Avill 
 be the period of its duration. 
 
 The principle of God's dealings with men during these 
 Millennial days will be neither Law, nor Grace, nor Judg- 
 ment ; but Righteousness, Power, and Glory. It will be 
 the administration of Righteousness in all its purity. The 
 prayer for the coming kingdom will then, at length, find 
 its abundant answer ; the kingdom of God will have come 
 at last ; and His will will then be done on earth as it is 
 done in heaven. 
 
 That dispensation is characterized by the binding of 
 Satan. It is clear, therefore, that language jjeculiar to 
 that time would not be appropriate to any other preced- 
 ing dispensation, in which Satan is not bound. 
 
 It stands alone, unique ; and it issues in the last or 
 seventh Dispensation, which corresponds with the first 
 Edenic :-t ite, and may be called 
 
 {g) Tlie Eternal State. — Very little is said about this 
 last. In this respect it is like the first. It begins at 
 Rev. xxi. 1, with "the new Heavens and the new Earth," 
 and nothing is said about its end. 
 
 Beyond this, therefore, Ave cannot go. In these last 
 two chapters of Revelation we have all that can be known. 
 
 These, then, are the seven Times or Disi^ensations ; 
 each of wdiicli has its own defined beginning and ending ; 
 and its own special characteristics. It is necessary for 
 us to rightly divide them, and rightly to divide the Word 
 of truth which tells us of them. 
 
 3. The Special Characteristics of the Dispensations. 
 
 It may help us if we summarize these, by connecting 
 each Avith a definite characteristic word or thought. 
 
 (a) As to man's condition in each, it is, in the 
 
 1st. Innocence. 
 2nd. V^ithout Law. 
 3rd. Under Law. 
 4th. Under Grace. 
 5th. Under Judgment. 
 6th. Millennial. 
 7th. Glory. 
 
 98 
 
iii. AS TO TIMES AND DISPENSATIONS 
 
 (6) As to the Crisis, or Judgment, in which each ends : 
 
 1st. The Edenic state ended in the expulsion from 
 Eden. 
 
 2nd. The Period without Law ended with the Flood 
 
 and the Judgment on Babel. 
 3rd. The Period under Law ended in the Rejection 
 of Israel. 
 
 4th. The Dispensation of Grace will end in the 
 Rapture of the Church, and " the Day of the 
 Lord." 
 
 5th. The Dispensation of Judgment will end in the 
 
 Destruction of Anti-Christ. 
 6th. The Millennium will end in the Destruction of 
 
 Satan, and the Judgment of the Great White 
 
 Throne. 
 7th. Will have "no end." 
 
 It must be evident that, in all these seven Dispensa- 
 tions, we have a variety of different characteristics which 
 demand the utmost care and attention which we are able 
 to give them. 
 
 There are, however, two further matters on which to 
 speak; for beside these distinct landmarks by which 
 these dispensations are known, there are larger ''times" 
 which embrace or overlap more than one of these divi- 
 sions. 
 
 4. " The Times of the Gentiles.'' 
 
 We have "the times of the Gentiles," which not only 
 embrace this present Church Dispensation, but stand 
 specially in contrast with the Jews. They commence with 
 Jerusalem falling luider the power of Babylon ; they 
 continue during the whole period while Jerusalem is 
 "trodden down of the Gentiles" (Luke xxi. 24); and they 
 will end only when the Gentiles shall cease thus to tread 
 down Jerusalem, and its streets shall be again trodden 
 by its rightful owners, the People of Israel. Then those 
 "times of the Gentiles " will be changed for the times o,f 
 the Jetvs. 
 
 Those times therefore are not co-terminous with any 
 of the seven dispensations mentioned above, but ovcrlaj). 
 
 09 G 2 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD 
 
 They begin before tlie present Church period, and do not 
 close until after it has ended. 
 
 These same times are referred to in Rom. xi. 25 : 
 "Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness 
 of the Gentiles be come in." This is usually spoken of as 
 pertaining to the completion of the Church. But the 
 Church is not in question here at all. It is the relation 
 between the Jews and the Gentiles; and the Church is 
 not composed of Gentiles as distinct from Jews, or of 
 Jews as distinct from Gentiles. For it is made up both 
 of Jews and Gentiles, who, on becoming members of "the 
 Church of God," lose this distinction altogether, being 
 made members of a Body in which now there is neither 
 Jew nor Gentile. This is expressly stated in Gal. iii. 28. 
 Col. iii. 11. (Compare Rom. x. 12. 1 Cor. xii. 13. Gal. v. 6. 
 Eph. ii. 15.) This must therefore refer to the fulness or 
 filling up of the times of the Gentiles ; and the word 
 "Gentiles" must be understood as being put for the 
 "times" which they fill up. 
 
 Moreover, Israel will not be saved by the Rapture of 
 the Church, but by the coming of "the Deliverer out of 
 Zion, turning away ungodliness from Jacob." It is 
 Isaiah lix. 20 that is being quoted in Rom. xi. 26, and 
 not 1 Thess. iv. 16 ; and there is nothing about the " fulness " 
 or completion of the Church in Isaiah. 
 
 Before the Deliverer comes there must be that from 
 which Israel is to be delivered ; and that will be the great 
 Tribulation, "when the enemy shall come in like a flood." 
 (See Isa. lix. 19—21). 
 
 It is clear, therefore, that Rom. xi. 25 refers to the 
 same "times of the Gentiles" of which the Lord speaks 
 in Luke xxi. 24. 
 
 5. The Parenthesis of the Present Dispensation. 
 
 There is another matter connected with these Times and 
 Dispensations. This is revealed by our Lord's own action 
 in the synagogue at Nazareth. (Luke iv. 16—20.) He stood 
 up and read Isaiah Ixi. 1, 2. He read the first verse ; 
 but, after He had read the first sentence in the second 
 verse, "HE CLOSED THE BOOK, and he gave it again 
 to the minister, and sat down." (Luke iv. 20.) 
 
 100 
 
PARENTHESIS OF PRESENT DISPENSATION 
 
 Why did the Lord close the book at that point ? The 
 answer to this question is the revelation to us of the 
 great principle which we are now, and here, insisting upon. 
 The next sentence belonged, and still belongs, to a yet 
 future dispensation. "The acceptable year of the Lord" 
 had come. But "the day of vengeance of our God" had 
 not (and has not even yet) come. The Lord divided these 
 two Dispensations off by closing the book, and that is what 
 we must do if we are not to join together, and thus con- 
 fuse and confound, to our own great hindrance and loss, 
 that which God has separated and distinguished. But 
 alas ! most Christians insist on keeping that book open, 
 and refuse to learn the lesson here emphatically taught 
 and enforced by the Lord. 
 
 There is no mark in the Hebrew text to indicate such 
 a break, which involves an interval of nearly 2,000 years : 
 and yet the break is surely there. 
 
 As to "the acceptable year of the Lord," Christ could 
 and did say: "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your 
 ears" (Luke iv. 21). But He could not have said it if He 
 had read the next sentence, "and the day of vengeance 
 of our God." And yet the whole of this present Church 
 Dispensation, the present interval of the Dispensation of 
 Grace, comes between those two sentences^. Only a comma 
 divides them in our English Translation. yVt^^-T^-i-^ v?^v^j'^ 
 
 This is because the Mystery (or Secret) of the Church 
 was "hid in God," and had not yet been revealed to the 
 sons of men. How then could mention be made of it? 
 It was necessarily passed over. Hence the Lord "closed 
 the book" and "sat down.", 
 
 This was why the prophets who spoke and wrote "as 
 they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet. i. 21) 
 "enquired and searched diligently what, or WHAT 
 MANNER OP TIME (concerning Christ) the Spirit which 
 was in them could signify, when it testified beforehand 
 of the SUFFERINGS of Christ, and the GLORY which 
 should follow" (1 Pet. i. 10, 11). There was nothing to 
 tell them what length of "time" should elajjse between 
 "the sufferings and the glory"; whether the glory should 
 follow immediately on the sufferings ; or whether there 
 should be any interval of time at all betAveen them. 
 Hence, their enquiry, and their search. The prophets 
 
 101 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING : AS TO DISPENSATIONS 
 
 themselves revealed the sufferings ; they saw them, and, 
 just as it is when one views the outline of a nearer 
 range of mountains, they saw the outline of another 
 range beyond them as they testified of the "glory": but 
 what distance separated those two mountain ranges, 
 or what valleys and hills, and cities and lakes, lay 
 between them they could not see. In like manner the 
 events which lay between the "sufferings" and the glory 
 that should follow was not revealed either to them, or by 
 them. We know, now, that nearly 1,900 years have passed 
 since the first coming and the "sufferings" of Christ; but 
 the "glory" has not yet been revealed. Notwithstanding 
 this, many treat these times and dispensations as of no 
 account, and of no importance in their study of the Scrip- 
 tures. The majority of Bible Students do not "enquire" 
 at all; they neither search, nor "search diligently," as 
 to these times ; nay, they even reproach those who 
 would thus search. Those who, like ourselves, would thus 
 humbly search are derided; and this special time be- 
 tAveen the present and the coming Dispensation has been 
 nick-named by them "the Gap theory." But it is no 
 theory at all. The action of our adorable Lord in the 
 Synagogue at Nazareth when He "closed the book" was 
 no "theory." He showed that there was a gap, and that 
 gap was a fact and not a fiction. 
 
 We are content to follow His example and share His 
 rejection when at Nazareth. We would learn the lesson 
 that He there taught. We would "open the book," the 
 Bible, like Ezra, and search, and try and find out why 
 the Lord "closed the book" of Isaiah; and, like the pro- 
 phets of old, would search diligently as to "what manner 
 of time" is taught by the Holy Spirit of God in these 
 Scriptures of truth. 
 
 In the English Bible there is only a comma between 
 the "sufferings and the glory" in 1 Pet. i. 11. See also 
 1 Pet. iv. 13 ; v. 1 ; and Luke xxiv. 26, where we have the 
 same two "times" spoken of, with the "gap" of our 
 present Dispensation passed over, as silently as though 
 to the inspired speakers and writers this Dispensation of 
 the Church of God were non-existent. 
 
 This is why the closing words of the Four Gospels do 
 not lead us on into this present Dispensation, but leap 
 
 102 
 
PARENTHESIS OF PRESENT DISPENSATION 
 
 over it. Having been oc-cupied with the proclamation of 
 the Kingdom they "close the book," and when it is opened 
 again, it is opened at the Apocalypse, where we see the 
 Kingdom set np with Divine power and glory.' 
 
 The period dnring which the rejected kingdom is in 
 abeyance is not taken account of in the four Gospels, for 
 it had not yet been revealed. 
 
 It was one of "the secrets of the kingdom" spoken of 
 by our Lord in Matt. xiii. 11, and then made known by 
 Him. 
 
 The seven parables of the Kingdom in Matt. xiii. leap 
 over this present Dispensation, as if it had no existence. 
 They carry over the truths concerning the Kingdom, and 
 continue them as though the Kingdom had never been in 
 abeyance. To understand these seven parables aright we 
 must entirely exclude the Church of God, and the period 
 of its Dispensation, and read them without any reference 
 whatever to it. We can then easily see which part of 
 each parable belongs to the past Dispensation, and which 
 part belongs to the next. 
 
 Thei'e are many places in Scripture in which this 
 passing over of the present Dispensation is very plainly 
 evident ; and where, in our reading, Ave have, like our 
 Lord, to "close the book." If we fail to do this, and if 
 we refuse to notice these so-called "gaps," we cannot 
 possibly understand the Scriptures which we read. 
 
 We give a few by way of example, placing this mark 
 ( — ) to indicate the parenthesis of this present Dispensa- 
 tion, w^hich comes between the previous Dispensation of 
 Law, and the next Dispensation of Judgment '^ which is to 
 follow this Present Dispensation of Grace. 
 
 Ps. cxviii. 22, "The stone which the builders refused 
 ( — ) is become the head- stone of the corner." 
 
 Isa. ix. G, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son 
 is given : ( — ) and the government shall be upon his 
 shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonderful, 
 Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The 
 Prince of Peace." (Compare Luke i. 31, 32.) 
 
 1 See further on this point in Section II. of Chapter II. of Part I., 
 page 10. 
 
 ^ I.e., between C and C, page 81. 
 
 103 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING : AS TO DISPENSATIONS 
 
 Isa. liii. 10, 11, "It i^leased the Lord to bruise liim ; 
 lie hath put liim to grief ; when thou shalt make his soul 
 an offering for sin (— ) he shall see his seed, he shall 
 prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall 
 prosper in his hands. He shall see of the travail of his 
 soul and be satisfied." 
 
 Zech. ix. 9, 10, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; 
 shout, O daughter of Jerusalem ; behold, thy King cometh 
 unto thee : he is just and having salvation ; lowly, and 
 riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 
 ( — ) And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the 
 horse from Jerusalem, and the battle-bow shall be cut off : 
 and he shall speak peace unto the heathen : and his 
 dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river 
 even to the ends of the earth." 
 
 Luke i. 31, 32, "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy 
 womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name 
 Jesus. ( — ) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son 
 of the Highest : and the Lord God shall give unto him 
 the throne of his father David." ^ 
 
 All this shows us the far-reaching consequences of the 
 Lord's example in the Synagogue at Nazareth. Far- 
 reaching in the confusion which arises from not heeding 
 it ; and far-reaching also in the happy results of applying 
 the same principle that He applied to Isa. Ixi. 1, 2, in 
 all the other passages where the present Dispensation is 
 passed over, and indicated only by a comma. 
 
 This applies only to Scriptures where the two other 
 Dispensations are actually referred to. But there are 
 many where only one is in question; and more care is 
 then required to detect it, so as not to interpret of one 
 Dispensation that which refers to another. 
 
 God's dealings in each period correspond with its dis- 
 tinct character ; and if we would understand those dealings 
 we must be able, readily, to classify the truth appropriate 
 to each. 
 
 This classification forms a subject quite distinct from 
 the Dispensations themselves, and demands separate 
 treatment, which we propose to give in our next chapter. 
 
 1 Others may be seen in Amos ix. 10, 11. Dan. ix. 26, 27. Hab. ii. 13, 14. Zeph. 
 iii. 7, 8. Zech. viii. 2, 3. Luke xxi. 26. See Things to Come for Dec. 1904, Vol. X. 
 
 104 
 
DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH AND TEACHING 
 
 iv. Rightly Dividing the Word as to its Dispensa- 
 TioNAL Truth and Teaching. 
 
 This part of the great Requirement of the Word flows 
 from, and, at the same time, depends upon a thorough 
 understanding of the Times and Dispensations themselves. 
 
 When these are rightly divided then it will be easy 
 for us to keep the truth pertaining to each quite distinct. 
 
 There are whole departments of Truth which belong 
 exclusively to one or other of these Dispensations, and 
 not to the rest. 
 
 If we take a truth which belongs to one Dispensation 
 and interpret it of another it will lead not only to con- 
 fusion in the mind, to discordance in the Word, and 
 uncertainty as to the truth; but it will lead to disaster 
 in the life. For, if the Word be not understood, there 
 will be no enjoyment in the study of it ; consequently, 
 the reading of it will be neglected, and we shall cease to 
 feed upon it ; our spiritual strength will grow weak and 
 we shall be unfit for God's service, beside being a misery 
 to ourselves. 
 
 Not only, therefore, must we rightly divide the Word 
 of truth as to its Times and Dispensations, but as to its 
 Truth and Teaching also : we must learn to appropriate 
 each truth to the particular Dispensation to which it 
 belongs. 
 
 Unless we do this we shall not "grow in knowledge": 
 for we are to increase in knowledge as well as in "grace" 
 (2 Pet. iii. 18). 
 
 To do this we must empty ourselves of all Tradition. 
 We must question all that we have thus received; and 
 be prepared to unlearn what we have previously been 
 taught by man if it does not recognize this great re- 
 quirement of the Word of truth. 
 
 If we think we know, it will be impossible for us to 
 learn. If a vessel be full it is imxjossible for its contents 
 to be increased. We must make room for this blessed 
 increase by continually replacing what we have learnt 
 from man with what we learn from the Lord. And even 
 if what we have learned from man does agree with the 
 Word, then we must be prepared to learn it over again, 
 
 105 
 
in. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 direct from the Word, so that the Truth may hold us, 
 instead of our holding the Truth. 
 
 There are six distinct departments in which the 
 truth of the Word has to be rightly divided in order to 
 obtain its Teaching in connection with the Times and 
 Dispensations.' 
 
 In order to keep this Dispensational truth and teaching 
 rightly divided — 
 
 1. We must not take Truth belonging to one part of a 
 Past Dispensation and read it into another part 
 of the Past. 
 
 The whole of the four Gospels belongs to the Old Dis- 
 pensation ; to the special period of Time during which the 
 Kingdom was proclaimed and afterward rejected. 
 
 Truth pertaining to the proclamation period is not 
 truth for the rejection period. 
 
 (a) For example, in Matt. x. 5, 6, we find the command, 
 "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city 
 of the Samaritans enter ye not : but go rather to the 
 lost sheep of the house of Israel." 
 
 If the Word is not to be divided at all, rightly or 
 wrongly, as some who oppose our teaching assert, then 
 this command must be still binding on all the Lord's 
 servants. 
 
 If it belongs to all persons, for all time, and for all 
 times, then it is of universal interpretation. According 
 to this, there ought to be no Missionary Societies for 
 work among the Gentiles ; but every Missionary Society 
 should be only for the Jews. 
 
 But this is not quite the principle which pertains to 
 and governs modern missionary operations. 
 
 Then there must be something wrong somewhere. 
 Either this command remains in force and modern Mis- 
 sions set it at naught, and are carried on in defiance of it ; 
 
 1 ah this refers, of course, only to Interpretation, and not to Application. 
 This will form a chapter by itself when we come to consider the "Words" 
 (see Canon X., Part II., below). We may apply all that is written so long as 
 we do so in harmony with what is addressed especially TO us in this Dis- 
 pensation. All was and is " written for our learning : " all is FOR us. But not 
 all is addressed or applies TO us. We must not apply what was true of one 
 Dispensation to upset xvhat is true of another Dispensation. 
 
 106 
 
1. THE PAST: "GO NOT" AND "BUT NOW 
 
 or, there must be some explanation which shall exonerate 
 such contumacy. 
 
 If it be said, in defence, that there are later commands, 
 such as "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel 
 to every creature" (Mark xvi. 15); then this is to argue 
 (1) that the Word of God either flatly contradicts itself 
 as to the fundamental principle of the missionary work ; 
 or (2) that some division must be made between the two 
 commands. 
 
 But this latter is all that we are contending for. Only, 
 the division which we would make does not ignore either 
 command, but gives each its own due and proper place, 
 significance, and importance. It does not exalt one at 
 the expense of the other, but assigns to each its own 
 appropriate sphere. 
 
 The former command, "Go not," etc., was given in 
 connection with the proclamation of the King and the 
 kingdom : but, when both had been rejected, and the 
 King was about to be crucified, then this command was 
 no longer appropriate to the changed circumstances. 
 
 Another command could then be given, "Go ye," 
 instead of "Go not." 
 
 Both were equally true. The one was true as to its 
 special reference to the lost sheep of the house of Israel ; 
 the other is true as to its general reference to all. But 
 both commands were given in the past Dispensation. 
 
 (b) Luke ix. 3. In connection with the above command 
 there were other precepts given. "Provide neither gold, 
 nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your 
 journey, neither two coats, nor yet staves" (Marg. Gr. a 
 staff). Matt. X. 9, 10. 
 
 But when the kingdom had been rejected, and the 
 King was on the eve of being crucified, these commands 
 were formally abrogated by the Lord Himself, as being 
 no longer suitable to the changed circumstances. The 
 Lord repeats them, and asks whether they did not find 
 His promise true: "When I sent you without purse, and 
 scrip, and shoes, lacked ye anything? And they said, 
 Nothing." 
 
 "Then said he unto them, BUT NOW, he that hath 
 a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip : and he 
 
 107 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 that liatli no sword, let him sell his garment and buy 
 one" (Luke xxii. 36). 
 
 Those two words "But now" announce the fact that 
 even in that same Dispensation, with only a brief interval 
 of time between them, those two commands are to be 
 rightly divided. 
 
 The whole principle for which we contend is wrapped 
 up in those two words "But now." According to this 
 principle, that which belongs to one part of the past 
 Dispensation, must not necessarily be interpreted of 
 another part of that same Dispensation. How much 
 more then must the truth and teaching of the different 
 Dispensations themselves be carefully divided : when not 
 only different circumstances prevail, but where the whole 
 sphere has changed : not only where the people dealt 
 with are different, but where the principle on which they 
 were dealt with by God is changed. 
 
 And yet, in spite of these two examples from Matt. x. 
 and Luke ix., the whole Bible is jumbled together. Law, 
 Gospel, Grace, Judgment, Glory, Jew, Gentile, Church of 
 God, Times and Dispensations, all confused in one vast 
 tangle, till it is no wonder that thousands of readers, if 
 they do not give it all up in dismay, neglect it to their 
 own present loss of peace and joy and strength. 
 
 2. We must not take Truth belonging to a PAST Dis- 
 pensation and interpret it of the PRESENT. 
 
 If we do we at once put ourselves under the Law, to 
 which we died, in Christ, and from which Christ hath 
 therefore made us free ; the Law having no power over 
 a man that has died. 
 
 (a) Law and Grace. — To those who lived under the Law 
 it could rightly and truly be said : "It shall be our righte- 
 ousness, if we observe to do all these commandments be- 
 fore the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us " (Deut. 
 vi. 25). But to those who live in this present Dispensa- 
 tion of grace, it is as truly declared, "By the deeds of 
 the Law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight" 
 (Rom. iii. 20; see also Gal. ii. 16; iii. 11, &c.). But this is 
 the very opposite of Deut. vi. 25 ! What then are we 
 
 108 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT : LAW AND GRACE 
 
 to say, or to do ? Which of these two statements ig 
 true ? and which is false ? 
 
 The answer is, that neither is false. But both are true 
 if we rightly divide the Word of truth as to its Dispen- 
 sational truth and teaching. 
 
 Deut. vi. 25 was true, then, "concerning" Israel; and 
 is in harmony with the covenant of works under which 
 Israel had placed itself. But Rom. iii. 20 and Gal. ii. 16 
 are true now "concerning" all three, Jew, Gentile, and 
 Church of God. The statement in these two passages 
 concerning all "flesh" was made after Israel had broken 
 that covenant (Heb. x. 29); and after Christ had intro- 
 duced the unconditional "everlasting covenant " (Heb. xiii. 
 20) of grace, into which He entered for His people "before 
 the foundation of the world " (Eph. i. 3, 4). 
 
 These are two statements exactly opposite to each 
 other. Is it then the fact that the one is true and the 
 other false ? Nay, both are true ; absolutely true. And 
 this will be seen at once if we appropriate each to, and 
 interpret each of, the Dispensation to which it pro- 
 perly belongs. The former is not true now in this 
 Present Dispensation. It was true of those under the 
 Law. The latter is as true now of those who are under 
 Grace. 
 
 But we fear that multitudes as they hear the Old 
 Testament read in our churches fail so to divide them 
 rightly, but understand the interpretation of them as 
 belonging to themselves now. They thus put themselves 
 under law, and deny their standing which God has given 
 them in Christ ; hence it is that they fail to enjoy that 
 liberty wherewith Christ hath made His people free 
 (Gal. V. 1). 
 
 In the Old Dispensation God dealt with one nation 
 only ; but in the Present Dispensation He no longer deals 
 with any one nation, but with individuals out of all 
 nations. This is the key to the understanding of those 
 many passages where the words "all" and "every" and 
 "world" are used in the New Testament. "All" must 
 mean one of two things: either "all" without except ioiif 
 or "all" without distinction ; and it is in this latter sense 
 it is constantly used in contrast with the one nation of 
 Israel. 
 
 109 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 "I, if I be lifted up from the earth ^ Avill draw all men 
 unto me" (John xii. 32). If this means "all" without 
 exception, then it is not true, for all men have not been 
 drawn unto Him. But it is most blessedly true, if it 
 means "all" without distinction, as it surely does. 
 
 The expression He tasted death "for every man " (Heb. 
 ii. 9) must be understood in the same sense; i.e., not 
 limited as heretofore to Israel ; but extended tvithoiit dis- 
 tinction to all, whether Jews or Gentiles. With this agrees 
 1 John ii. 1, 2. 
 
 In the Old Dispensation God's light shone only in and 
 on Israel ; but now, having come into the world, it 
 lighteneth "every man" ivithout distinction of nation, 
 race, or creed (John i. 9 ; compare Titus ii. 11). 
 
 In the Old Dispensation God dealt according to man's 
 work : noAV He deals according to Christ's work. 
 
 In the Old Dispensation, Israel was to work for life: 
 now we work from life. 
 
 The Law gave works for man to do : Grace brings 
 words for man to believe. 
 
 Two words distinguish the Two dispensations. "Do" 
 distinguishes the former; "Done" the latter. Then, 
 salvation depended on what man was to do; now it 
 depends upon what Christ has done. 
 
 (b) The Imprecatory Psalms. — These have been a trouble 
 to most Christians : who among us has not been disquieted 
 by them ? Critics speak of them as " very unfit for the lips 
 of our Lord."- There must be Yery, very few who have not 
 felt the difficulty ; and though they have realized it they 
 have not seen the way out of it : neither will they, nor can 
 they do so, until they learn to rightly divide the Word 
 of truth, and interpret these Psalms of the Dispensation 
 to which they belong. They must be appropriated to 
 the Old Dispensation of the Law. There they are in 
 place ; as they will be in place again in the coming Dis- 
 pensation of Judgment. 
 
 "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the ven- 
 geance" (Ps. Iviii. 10, 11). So will the great voice of 
 much people in heaven say "Hallelujah . . . for true and 
 
 1 I.e., in crucifixion, as the next verse (33) distinctly states. 
 
 2 How God Inspired the Bible, Rev. J. Paterson Smyth. 
 
 110 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT : IMPRECATORY PSALMS 
 
 righteous are his judgments" (Rev. xix. 1, 2).^ This clearly 
 shows that these and all such "Cursing" Scriptures (as 
 they are called) are in perfect keeping with the Dispen- 
 sation to which they belong. 
 
 In all probability Ps. cix. admits of another explana- 
 tion by putting verses 6 — 19 within a iDarenthesis ; in which 
 case verse 20 may be rendered as explaining it : — 
 
 "This is the work of mine adversaries from the Lord, 
 And of those that speak evil against my soul (i.e. me)." 
 
 Verses 6 — 19 will then be the "evil" which David's enemies 
 spake against liim.^ These will be the words that came 
 from "the mouth of the wicked and deceitful" : and 
 the proceeds of the "lying tongue" (i'. 4). These will be 
 the "words of hatred" (v. 3), and the "evil for good" with 
 which David's enemies rewarded his love (v. 5). 
 
 But Psalm cxxxvii. 8, 9 does not admit of such an 
 explanation. The spirit is appropriate to the Disijen- 
 sations of LaAV and Judgment, but not to the present 
 Dispensation of Grace : — 
 
 "Remember, O Jehovah, the children of Edom in the 
 day of Jerusalem : 
 Who said, Rase it. Rase it even to the foundation 
 thereof. 
 
 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed : 
 Happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou 
 
 hast served us. 
 Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy 
 
 little ones against the stones." 
 
 There is a time of judgment coming for which all such 
 language will be appropriate (Isa. xxvi. 9. Rev. ii. 26, 
 27); but that language is not for this present Dispensa- 
 tion of grace. If we do so interpret it, then there is an 
 end of ever hoping to find the "truth": and all hope of 
 ever understanding the Word of God is destroyed. 
 
 (c) As to the Sahhath.— Obedience to 2 Tim. ii. 15 clears 
 away heaps of confusion, and delivers from the bondage 
 
 1 Thus the first "Hallelujah" (praise ye the Lord) in the Old Testament 
 (Ps. civ. 35) agrocH with the first in the New Testanierit in connection with venge- 
 ance and judgment. 
 
 - See above, under Section I. of this Chapter III. of Part I., p. 59. 
 
 Ill 
 
Jll, lUGHTL^ DiVIDliNG Dl^PExXSATlONAL TRUTH 
 
 of law, in which so many, through disobedience to that 
 great precept to "rightly divide the Word of truth," are 
 still bound: some of them "bound hand and foot." 
 
 The Ceremonial Laws of the Sabbath were given to 
 Israel, and not to the Gentile nations of the earth. Pagan 
 or otherwise. While the interpretation therefore belongs 
 to Israel, it would be wise for all nations to make an 
 application of the great principle laid down in the Law, 
 as to resting from servile labour on one day in seven. 
 But the law of the Sabbath is neither abrogated, changed, 
 nor transferred to any other day of the week. And if 
 any believe that the Law is to be obeyed now, they have 
 no liberty to alter that law, or to modify it in any way ; 
 but are bound to "keep holy the seventh day." They have 
 no choice in the matter, and dare not take the liberty 
 of altering the law of God. 
 
 But, on the other hand. Christians in this present 
 Dispensation are "not under law, but under grace." We 
 "died to the law," in Christ (Rom. vii. 4), and the law 
 has no power over one who has died. "We are delivered 
 from the law, having died to that wherein we were 
 held" {v. 6). We are "under [obedience to the] com- 
 mandments of Christ " (1 Cor. ix. 21). 
 
 To those in Galatia who desired "to be under the law" 
 (Gal. iv. 21) the Apostle wrote, "How turn ye again to the 
 beggarly elements {i.e., religious ordinances) whereunto ye 
 desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and 
 months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest 
 I have bestowed upon you labour in vain " (Gal. iv. 9—11). 
 
 This Scripture is specially addressed to, and is to be 
 interpreted of the Church of God, to-day; and all who 
 would thus have us return to and put ourselves under 
 law we have great need to be "afraid."^ 
 
 As towards others and himself, the Christian can 
 apply those laws as far as they are compatible with 
 his own Church Epistles. There he is told that, "one 
 man esteemeth one day above another: another [man] 
 esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully 
 persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, 
 regardeth it unto the Lord : and he that regardeth not 
 
 1 See The Church Epistles, pp. 109, 176, etc., by the same author and publisher. 
 
 112 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT: THE SABBATH 
 
 the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it" (Rom. xiv. 
 5, 6). 
 
 It is a matter of being' persuaded in one's own mind, 
 and not as being under law ; still less as being under the 
 judgment of our fellow believers in this matter. "Let 
 no man therefore judge you in meats or in drink ; or in 
 respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the 
 Sabbath" (Col. ii. 16). We do not "let them judge" us, 
 but they do so all the same. We shall be judged, yea, 
 and condemned by many for writing even as much as 
 this : and though we qviote the Word of God, we shall be 
 met by arguments of expediency, which are all based on 
 a total disregard to another command, equally binding, 
 belonging as it does to this present Dispensation; and 
 that is the command, as to "rightly dividing the Word 
 of truth" (2 Tim. ii. 15). 
 
 The Sabbath laws are either still binding on us, or 
 they are not still binding. If they are, then those who 
 keep "the seventh day" and not "the first," are right. 
 If they are not binding, then we are all "free from 
 the law," and we have our guidance in Rom. xiv. 5, 6. 
 Col. ii. 16 and Gal. iv. 1-11. 
 
 But, if we read into the present Dispensation that 
 which pertained only to the former, there can be nothing 
 but confusion in our own minds, and conflict and argu- 
 ments with our fellow-Christians. 
 
 And, beside this conflict with them, we shall be 
 seeking to put not only the Church of God, but all the 
 Gentiles also under the laws which were given by Moses 
 to Israel alone. 
 
 It will be seen that thus "rightly dividing the Word 
 of truth" as to Sabbath-keeping is the only effectual 
 answer to the large body called " Seventh Day " Christians ; 
 who, not seeing the blessed truth that we are free from 
 the law of Moses, and under the law of Christ, who is 
 the Lord of the Sabbath, are not only observing the 
 seventh-day Sabbath themselves, but are carrying on 
 an active propaganda to induce all Christians to join 
 their ranks. 
 
 (d) As to the Kingdom. — There are some Past Disi)en- 
 sational truths, like those which concern the Kingdom, 
 
 113 H 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 which leap over the Present, and belong both to the 
 Past and the Future. 
 
 They were truth in the Past Dispensation ; and they 
 will be truth in the Future : but, they are not truth in 
 or for this Present Dispensation. 
 
 This Present Dispensation, so far as regards the truth 
 pertaining to the other two, is not reckoned ; and this 
 present interval is passed over as though it did not exist. 
 
 The Past and the Coming Dispensations have to do 
 with the Kingdom. This Present Dispensation has to 
 do with the Church of God. 
 
 The former had to do with the Law% the next has 
 to do with Judgment : but, the Present Dispensation has 
 to do with Grace. 
 
 If therefore we read into the present that which has 
 to do both with the past and the future ; and, if we read 
 into the Dispensation of Grace that which has to do 
 with Law and Judgment we at once leave the high 
 ground of Grace on which God has set us ; we lose the 
 blessing of that standing which is ours in Christ ; and 
 we interpret of ourselves, language, which is appropriate 
 only to a Dispensation of Judgment or of Glory. This 
 means, not only loss of blessing to ourselves, but it means 
 the introduction of confusion into our minds, and con- 
 tradiction into the Word of God. 
 
 This is specially true if we take that which was 
 spoken of the Kingdom and understand it of the 
 Church of God. 
 
 Of course, if anyone holds that the Kingdom IS the 
 Church, it would be consistent so to take it. But those 
 who do so make no attempt to rightly divide the ^Vord 
 of truth : and they treat language as being useless for 
 the purposes of Revelation. 
 
 If, when God says one thing He always means 
 another, then the Bible becomes a book of Enigmas 
 instead of Enlightenment ; and the door is opened for 
 all those dilferences of interpretation which are not only 
 a puzzle to the children of God, but are a source of all 
 those divisions among Christians which are a delilement 
 of God's building (1 Cor. iii. 17); and of all those con- 
 troversies wliich are a scandal and a stumblingblbck 
 to those that are without. 
 
 114 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT : KINGDOM & CHURCH 
 
 It would be a sufficient answer to those who say that 
 the Kingdom is the Church, to reply, "You say so." 
 Or, to those who say the Church is the Kingdom to 
 answer, "So you say": for no such assertion is made in 
 the Word of truth. It is only an inference ; and it is 
 wrong, because it comes of wrongly dividing the Word 
 of truth. 
 
 But, as we write, not for confutation, but for instruc- 
 tion, we may mention the following facts for the guidance 
 of those who would, like the Eunuch of Ethiopia, under- 
 stand ^vhat they read. 
 
 The Kingdom, as we have said, belongs to the past 
 Dispensation. It was proclaimed by John the Baptist ; 
 and afterward as being then "at hand"; it was the first 
 subject of the Lord's own ministry (Matt. iv. 17); but, 
 having been rejected, it is now in abeyance until the time 
 comes to set it up in Divine power and glory. 
 
 It is clear, therefore, that truth which is appropriate 
 for that Kingdom, whether past or future, is not truth 
 appropriate for the present Dispensation of the Church. 
 Even the expressions used and the terminology employed 
 are not the same. What is said of the Kingdom is not 
 true when spoken of the Church.^ 
 
 The Kingdom is said to be "set up" (Dan. ii. 44. Acts 
 XV. 16). The Church is "built up" (Eph. ii. 20—22. 1 Cor. 
 iii. 9. Col. ii. 7). 
 
 We hear much about the "extension of the Kingdom" 
 and the "advancement of the Kingdom"; but these are 
 non-scriptural expressions when spoken of the Kingdom, 
 and un-scriptural when used of the Church. 
 
 We read of those who are "heirs of the Kingdom" 
 (Jas. ii. 5), but not of the Church; of "Children of the 
 Kingdom " (Matt. viii. 12) ; but not of the Church (except 
 in the Church of Rome). 
 
 We read of having "received the Kingdom" (Luke xix. 
 12, 15); and of "entering" it (Matt, xviii. 3); of "seeing" 
 it (John iii. 8); and of "inheriting" it (Matt. xxv. 34). 
 But never do we once find such expressions used in 
 Scripture of the Church of God ! In no sense can any 
 one ''inherit" or ''see,'' or "receive" the Church. 
 
 ^ See a pamphlet, The Kingdom and the Church, by the same author and 
 publisher. , 
 
 115 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 Among all the Figures used for the Chvirch the Kingdom 
 is never so used. We find it compared to a house'' 
 (1 Tim. iii. 15); "a Temple" (1 Cor. iii. 16, 17); "a Body" 
 (1 Cor. xii. 27, &c.), but never to the Kingdom. 
 
 The Kingdom, proclaimed in the past, and now in 
 abeyance, is yet to come; and all Christians pray *'Thy 
 kingdom come." But the Church is here, now ; and is 
 soon going away: for it is waiting to be "caught up to 
 meet the Lord in the air, so to be ever with the Lord" 
 (1 Thess. iv. 14 — 17). If the Church, therefore, is the King- 
 dom, the prayer ought to be " Thy kingdom go" ! 
 
 Again, the Church is an election, hence its name 
 Ecclesia, which means a calling out. But the Kingdom, 
 when it is set up, will be universal and all-embracing 
 (Ps. ciii. 19. Rev. xi. 15). 
 
 Christ is now the Head over all things to His Body, 
 the Church (Eph. i. 22 ; iv. 15. Col. i. 18) ; but He is never 
 called its King. How much error and confusion is created 
 from the use of non-scriptural expressions it is impossible 
 to tell. 
 
 We quite understand that, as the word &cL(rL\ela (basi- 
 leia), kingdo7n, means not the material country or the 
 subjects, but the sovereignty or administrative rule of the 
 King, so, the Church necessarily finds its sphere and place 
 within that rule. But, in this case it is always "the 
 kingdom {i.e. the sovereignty) of God" (Rom. xiv. 17. 
 1 Cor. iv. 20. Col. iv. 11); or "the kingdom (or sovereignty) 
 of the Son of His love "(Col. i. 13). Amid all the realms 
 of this all-embracing Sovereignty of God in heaven and 
 on earth, among angels and men, the Church has its 
 proper, distinctive, and unique place ; just as in the sove- 
 reignty of a house, there is the place for the Head, the 
 Wife, the Children, the Friends, the Visitors, the Guests, 
 the Officials, and the Servants. This is not to say that 
 any one of these IS the other. Each one has its own 
 peculiar position within this universal sovereignty; and 
 the Church of God its own unique position within it. It 
 is part of the "Body" of which Christ is the "Head"— 
 part therefore of the Head, "one NEW MAN" (Eph. ii. 15), 
 "a PERFECT MAN," even "the measure of the stature of 
 the fulness of the Christ" (Eph. iv. 13). If these scrip- 
 tural expressions had been heeded we should never hear 
 
 116 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT : KINGDOM & CHURCH 
 
 the Church spoken of as in our Hymns and Sermons as 
 "she" and "her"; as though the Church were "one new 
 woman," or "a perfect woman." 
 
 But, while this is so, as to the Church having its 
 own place in the vast and universal sovereignty of 
 God, it is never included in the more limited expression 
 "the kingdom of heaven" as it appears in the Gospel of 
 Matthew, and which belongs peculiarly to Israel. Nor is 
 it included in the wider, but yet limited. Kingdom of 
 Heaven to which the Lord's prayer refers ; for the sphere 
 of this is on the earth. 
 
 " The Kingdom (or Sovereignty) of HE A VEN" 
 Has the Messiah for its King. 
 
 It is from heaven, and under the heavens upon earth. 
 
 It is limited in its scope. 
 
 It is Political in its sphere. 
 
 It is Jewish and Exclusive in its character. 
 
 It is National in its aspect. 
 
 And is the special subject of Old Testament prophecy. 
 
 "The Kingdom (or Sovereignty) of GOD" 
 
 Has God for its ruler. 
 It is in Heaven, over the Earth. 
 It is Unlimited in its Scope. 
 It is Moral in its sphere. 
 
 It is Inclusive in its character (including even the 
 
 Church). 
 It is Universal in its aspect. 
 
 And in its wider aspect is the subject of New Testa- 
 ment revelation. 
 
 All this is true, and yet it is equally true that, if we 
 call the Church the Kingdom, we are not "rightly 
 dividing the Word of truth." 
 
 Thus, even though the Church, as such, comes within 
 and under the universal Divine Sovereignty, we may 
 not put one part of that Sovereignty for another part 
 without injuriously affecting the whole. 
 
 When the Lord said to Peter "I will give vmto thee 
 the keys of the kingdom of Heaven" (Matt. xvi. 19), He 
 did not mean the keys of the Church. This, at one stroke, 
 
 117 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 does away with the preposterous claim of the Church of 
 Rome. Keys are used for opening and for admission. 
 Peter used these keys when he again proclaimed the 
 kingdom to Israel (Acts ii. — vii.), and afterward to Gentiles 
 (Acts viii.— xii.).^ 
 
 (e) The Various Gospels. — From this confusion between 
 the Kingdom and the Church comes the confusion be- 
 tween the various Gospels of Avhich the Scripture speaks. 
 
 There is no dispute as to the meaning of the word. 
 The English word Gospel may mean either good news, or 
 God's Neivs. But the Greek word means only good news. 
 This does not carry us far. It tells us only the fact that 
 the news is good. There is a further question for us to 
 ask; viz., What is the news that is so good? 
 
 News is of different kinds. In our Newspapers we 
 find Political News, Financial News, Judicial News, Social 
 News, Sporting News, and indeed news of all kinds. 
 
 We have therefore to answer our own question as to 
 what this "News" from God is, and what it is that makes 
 it "good." 
 
 We read for example of— 
 
 The Gospel of the Kingdom, 
 The Gospel of God, 
 The Gospel of the grace of God, 
 The Gospel of the Glory, and 
 The Everlasting Gospel. 
 
 The question is. Do all these expressions mean the 
 same thing? Is the "good news" the same in each 
 case ? If God has thus put these five Gospels asunder, 
 are we at liberty to join them together? Has God thus 
 distinguished them, and, shall we say that there is no 
 distinction whatever? 
 
 It is very general not only for those who read, but 
 for those who teach, to say that there is only one kind of 
 Gospel, and those who say this do not hesitate to use 
 
 1 The other part of the Commission (v. 19) was likewise confined solely to 
 Peter. To no one else was this commission given, and Peter had neither the 
 power nor authority to transfer that commission to others, still less to give to 
 the others the power of transmitting either the one or the other. This is 
 the explanation also of those other passages as to "binding" and "loosing," 
 "retaining" and "remitting." 
 
 118 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT: VAPvIOUS GOSPELS 
 
 harsh language of us, and of those who seek rightly to 
 divide these Gospels and endeavour to apportion them 
 and their peculiar news to the Time or Dispensation to 
 which they respectively belong. 
 
 ''The Gospel of the Kingdom'' 7)iA'f" * 
 
 Was the good news that, the Kingdom, which had 
 been the subject of Old Testament promise and pro- 
 phecy, was at length "at hand." That was good news 
 indeed for all those who waited "for the consolation of 
 Israel" (Luke ii. 25); who "looked for redemption in 
 Jerusalem" (v. 38); and who "waited for the Kingdom 
 of God" (Mark xv. 43). Many believed this good news 
 concerning Christ the King, and "trusted that it had 
 been he who should have redeemed Israel" (Luke xxiv. 21). 
 
 But, after the Kingdom had been rejected, and the 
 King crucified, it was again proclaimed to Israel, and 
 the announcement made that the King was ready to 
 return (Acts ii. 38; iii. 19 — 21), on the one condition of 
 national repentance. But the making of this procla- 
 mation was still opposed by the People through their 
 rulers (Acts iv. 17, 18); and the preachers of this "Gospel 
 of the Kingdom" were "threatened" (v. 21). 
 
 When Peter's Ministry to the Circumcision ended in 
 his imprisonment (Acts xii.), and Paul was raised up and 
 sent fofth, it was with the added good news of Grace. 
 This was Avhat is again and again claimed by Paul as 
 "my Gospel." Then after all this: after the rejection 
 and Crucifixion of the King, after the Martyrdom of 
 Stephen, and after the Imprisonment of Peter, the Epistle 
 to the Romans (^vhich stands first of the subsequent 
 Canonical writings) opens with the words, "Paul, a ser- 
 vant of Jesus Christ, called to be (or, by Divine Calling) 
 an Apostle, separated unto 
 
 "GocZ's Gospel." 1W ^ ^^'»«> 
 
 This was gootl news of a different character. This 
 was news of grace i)roclaimed, not to Israel only, or to 
 any one nation, but to individual transgressors of the 
 Jews, and sinners of the Gentiles alike; to all ivUhout 
 
 119 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 distinction,^ It was grace proclaimed to Jews who deserved 
 wrath, and to Gentiles who deserved nothing. Hence it 
 is called 
 
 The Gospel of the Grace of God, OcX^^o-.^i/ 
 
 This was further good news, as set forth in Romans 
 and the other Church Epistles. It was the good news 
 that those who are in Christ are reckoned by God (and 
 hence are to be reckoned by us) as having died with 
 Christ and having risen with Him ; and that when this 
 Gospel shall have accomplished its object and gathered 
 out from Jews and Gentiles all the members of the one 
 Body, these shall be gathered together unto Christ the 
 Glorious Head in glory (2 Thess. ii. 1). 
 
 This good netvs is called The Glorious Gospel, or 
 better, 
 
 " The Gospel of the Glory 
 
 of the blessed God which was (Paul says) committed to 
 my trust" (1 Tim. i. 11). In 2 Cor. iv. 4 it is called "the 
 glorious Gospel of Christ," i.e., the good news of the 
 glory" which is to follow the "sufferings" of Christ; 
 and which is to be the outcome of those sufferings. This 
 good news is preached now. It is part of the good news 
 of the Grace of God ; for grace and glory are inseparably 
 bound together. There is no Gospel of the grace of 
 God, without the Gospel of the glory of God. Grace is the 
 flower. Glory will be the fruit. The Church is not always 
 to be in sorrow and trial ; and the good news concerning 
 the glory is "the knowledge of the glory of God in 
 the person of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. iv. 6). 
 
 But when the preaching of this double Gospel of Grace 
 and Glory shall nave closed, we read of another Gospel 
 which is to be proclaimed in the midst of the Dispensa- 
 tion of Judgment. It is called 
 
 " The Everlasting Gospel.'' 
 
 It is not proclaimed until the very crisis of the 
 apocalyptic judgments ; after the Judgments of the 
 Seven Seals, the Judgments of the Seven Trumpets, and 
 the revelation of the Beast in his superhuman stage 
 
 1 See above, p. 110. 
 120 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT : VARIOUS GOSPELS 
 
 (Rev. xiii.). Then, before the final jndgments of the seven 
 Vials, seven angels make seven proclamations (Rev. xiv. 
 6—20). The first is the proclamation of "the everlasting 
 Gospel"; of mercy in the midst of judgment. It is the 
 command to mankind simply to "Fear God" as the 
 Creator. Not a word as to the Redeemer, or as to grace 
 or glory, but a simple command to "Fear God." What 
 else will be contained in that Gospel of the coming Day 
 of Judgment we know not now. 
 
 It is called "everlasting" because the acknowledgment 
 of God as the Creator was before all other news ; and will 
 follow after all news of the kingdom, grace and glory 
 will have passed away. It announces God, only as 
 the Creator ; not as Lord, or as Jehovah (the Covenant 
 God), but as "God" (the Creator). It is not "Repent," 
 or "do this" or "do that," but only "Fear God and give 
 glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come ; and 
 worship Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, 
 and the fountains of waters." (Compare Exod. ix. 30. 
 Ps. xxxiii. 8.) 
 
 Is it not strange that this should ever have been 
 supposed to be the same as the Gospel of the Grace of 
 God ? Is it not strange that news of God's present grace 
 should ever be taken as being the same as the news of 
 God's mercy in the midst of judgment? 
 
 Nothing can account for such perversity but the fact 
 that it comes only from human selfishness, and the deter- 
 mination to take everything, past, present, and future, as 
 belonging to, or having to do with, the Church of God. 
 
 Rightly divide these different Gospels, according to 
 the Dispensations to Avhich they belong, and we have 
 only harmony, consistency, and truth. 
 
 (/) The Sermon on the Mount.— Few portions of God's 
 Word have suffered more from want of compliance with 
 the one great requirement of the Word of truth as given 
 in 2 Tim. ii. 15. 
 
 It occupies the greater part of the first of the four 
 periods of the Lord's ministry.^ 
 
 ^ For tho other three Subjects of His Ministry, see Christ's Prophetic 
 Teaching, by the same author and publishers. 
 
 121 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 The first period was occupied witli tlie Proclamation of 
 the King and the Kingdom. 
 
 It begins in Mattliew at ch. iv. 17, and goes on down 
 to the end of ch. vii., and thus occupies the whole of 
 chs. v., vi., and vii. 
 
 This shows us that wliat we call "the Sermon on the 
 Mount" (which, after all, is only Man's name for it) has 
 to do with the Kingdom. It shows that the laws of that 
 Kingdom which was the sole subject of that first period 
 of Christ's ministry were to be very different from the 
 laws given by God through Moses on Mount Sinai; and 
 very different also from the traditions which had made 
 so many of them of none effect. This teaching follows, 
 naturally, as being in harmony with the truth which 
 pertains to the Kingdom, and not with that which per- 
 tains to the Church of God. It is appropriate to a 
 Dispensation of Law and not to a Dispensation of Grace ; 
 to a Past or Future Dispensation, but not to the Present 
 Dispensation. 
 
 This is, of course, the case so far as interpretation is 
 concerned. But, when it comes to application, then, if 
 there be truths of eternal application we may, of course, 
 apply them ; and if there be truths in harmony with what 
 is addressed specially to the Church of God, and agreeing 
 with the truth addressed directly to it in the Church 
 Epistles, then we may apply it, so far, but no further. 
 
 "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shaJJ 
 in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled " 
 (Matt. V. 18). This is truth, of eternal application. 
 
 "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be 
 also" (Matt. vi. 21) is also truth of eternal application. 
 
 But the instruction as to " agreeing with our adversary" 
 (ch. V. 25); instructions as to "fasting" (ch. vi. 16—18), 
 the "danger of the Council" (ch. v. 22); the "Judge," the 
 "Officer," and the Altar (ch. v. 24, 25); the seeking the 
 kingdom (ch. vi. 33), the profession "I never knew you" 
 (eh. vii. 23), the doing, and works (ch. vii. 21, 21) ; all these 
 are like a foreign language when compared with the 
 language addressed to us in our Church Epistles. 
 
 Moreover those who hold that this discourse is to 
 be interpreted of the Church of God make no attempt 
 to obey its precepts. Instead of loving their enemies 
 
 122 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT : SERMON ON MOUNT 
 
 (ch. V. 44) they do not even love their brethren, if they 
 connnit the unpardonable sin of daring to differ from 
 them in opinion. 
 
 Instead of trying to agree with their adversary quickly 
 (ch. V. 25) they do not try to agree Avith their fellow- 
 believers, even slowly. 
 
 Instead of not judging others (ch. vii. 1) it is the one 
 thing that they are most addicted to, and well-practised 
 in. If any sue them and would take away their coat 
 (ch. V. 40), then, instead of letting him have their cloak 
 as well, they let him have the law. 
 
 They read (ch. v. 42), "Give to him that asketh thee, 
 and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou 
 away," but, all we say is, " Try it ; go and ^ ask,' and see 
 how they carry out this precept which they maintain is 
 Avritten and addressed to them.'' As for ourselves we feel 
 under no such obligation, either on the one hand to give 
 or to lend ivhenever we may be asked ; or, on the other 
 hand, to wait till %ve are asked. 
 
 And then, to what altar do they carry and lay their 
 gift, or offering (ch. v. 23, 24)? unless they count Flowers, 
 and Eggs, and Dolls, as " Sacrifices," and their Communion 
 Tables as Altars. 
 
 Who is to compel them to go one mile, and they go 
 two miles ? ^ (Matt. v. 41). 
 
 Finally we strongly advise our readers, if they smite 
 those who interpret this "Sermon" of the Church on one 
 cheek (ch. v. 39), not to wait and see whether they turn the 
 other, but to get out of the way as quickly as they can. 
 
 They will glibly pray "thy kingdom come" (ch. vi. 10), 
 but with the same breath, and the same persistent incon- 
 sistency shown throughout, they will pray for the 
 "advancement" and the "extension" of the same king- 
 dom which, according to this, has come and is already 
 here. 
 
 1 This was perfectly intelligible in that Past Dispensation, thouf^h it can 
 have no place in the Present. The verb ayyapeuoj (aggarcud) is a word brought 
 into the Greek language from Persia, and refers to the practice of coniniiin- 
 dccring or forcing others into the rojal service. The ayyapoi (aggaroi) are 
 mentioned as royal couriers, in the papyri. The verb had come into general 
 use, and was naturalized as early as the third century B.C., and was well 
 understood by the people, though quite technical. It is still found in modern 
 Creek in the sense of compelling. (See Deissmann, liible Studies, p. 86.) 
 
 123 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 They will not think of measuring the forgiveness they 
 ask God for, by the forgiveness which they extend to 
 those who have sinned against them. 
 
 As to asking why they behold the mote in their 
 brother's eye (eh. vii. 3), we would ask why they behold 
 so many which are not there at all. 
 
 All this confusion comes from interpreting what is 
 said of the Kingdom, and was spoken to those who were 
 proclaiming it, of a condition of things wholly different. 
 The kingdom, whose laws the King was there laying down, 
 was, after that, rejected. And the King having been 
 crucified, the kingdom is therefore now in abeyance. The 
 precepts pertaining to it are in abeyance also. His own 
 words "BUT NOW" in Luke xxii. 36^ are sufficient not 
 only to warrant us in so treating "the Sermon on the 
 Mount," but sufficient to compel us to do so. 
 
 If we do not heed the corrective instruction contained 
 in the words "But now," and thus carry out the principle 
 involved in them, then all must be confusion. 
 
 The world can plainly see the inconsistency produced 
 by it; and, in consequence, turns it against the Church, 
 and against Christians ; and uses that very inconsistency, 
 which is so manifest, as an argument against the truth 
 of Christianity itself. 
 
 Those Christians who say that these chapters are 
 addressed to them are charged by the world with direct 
 disobedience to their precepts. And Christ also is charged 
 with the inconsistency of giving commands which cannot 
 possibly be carried out. 
 
 But once we rightly divide the Dispensations, and the 
 truth pertaining to them, we see that "the Sermon on 
 the Mount" belonged to a past brief Dispensation, while 
 the kingdom was being proclaimed ; and will be appro- 
 priate again to a succeeding Dispensation when the king- 
 dom shall have come : but it neither belongs to, nor can be 
 interpreted of, nor even applied to the totally different 
 circumstances of this present Dispensation of Grace. 
 
 Those who are imbued with the precepts peculiar to the 
 Church of God, in the Epistles addressed to it, could never 
 for one moment make the grave mistake of putting them- 
 
 See pages 107, 108, above. 
 
 124 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT : LORD'S PRAYER 
 
 selves under these laws of the kingdom which are 
 infinitely more stringent and spiritual than the latvs of 
 Sinai ; nor could they thus mislead the world and give it 
 its strongest argument against the very truth of the 
 Gospel of the Grace of God. 
 
 {g) The Lord's Prayer, — This occurs in the "Sermon on 
 the Mount," and it manifestly forms an integral part 
 of it. 
 
 That it pertains wholly to the kingdom is clear. 
 It is a prayer for that kingdom to come, in order that 
 God's will may be done on earth, as it is done in heaven. 
 
 Its standard is Law, and not Grace. 
 
 Forgiveness is sought not on the ground of grace, but 
 of works ; and not on the ground of mercy, but of merit. 
 
 The future and approaching Tribulation is contem- 
 plated as imminent, if not present. 
 
 The Evil One, the Beast, is present in power. None 
 are able to buy or sell except that which has his mark 
 (Rev. xiii. 17). Daily bread must be miraculously ''given" 
 if those who use this prayer are to be kept alive. 
 
 No name of Christ is in it, nor is it offered in His 
 name or merits, as He Himself declared it should be 
 (John xvi. 23, 24). 
 
 It is a prayer suitable to the time, while the kingdom 
 was being proclaimed as "at hand." And when the Church 
 shall have been removed it will be seen how appro- 
 priate it will be when the kingdom shall be again pro- 
 claimed as "at hand"; and the "Gospel of the kingdom " 
 shall be again preached in the coming days of "the Great 
 Tribulation." ^ 
 
 {h) As to Priesthood. — All the false doctrine connected 
 with Priestly assumptions in the present day arises from 
 this same misplacement of truth, which takes that which 
 was true for the Past and Future Dispensations, and 
 mistakenly regards it as being true for the Present 
 Dispensation, which it is not. 
 
 Not only does priestcraft and all its attendant evils 
 spring from this misplacement, but the mischief can be 
 
 1 See a pamphlet on "The Lord's Prayer," by the same author and 
 publisher. 
 
 125 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATION AL TRUTH 
 
 met and remedied only by replacing the truth in the 
 Dispensation to which it belongs. 
 
 The difficulty is experienced ; and to get over it, truth 
 is taken from the coming Dispensation and put into the 
 present in order to meet the error which comes from first 
 taking truth from the Past and putting it into the Pre- 
 sent Dispensation. These are the shifts which have to be 
 resorted to in consequence of disobedience to 2 Tim. ii. 15. 
 
 It is urged that in this present Dispensation "all are 
 priests" ; but this is just as incorrect as to say that some, 
 or any, are priests. 
 
 On earth, God has never recognized a priesthood ex- 
 cept that which He ordained Himself and confined to the 
 nation of Israel (Exod. xix. 6), and to the tribe of Levi 
 (Exod. xxix. 9), To those who had put themselves under 
 the Law it was said, "If ye shall obey my voice and 
 keep my covenant then ye shall be a peculiar treasure 
 unto me above all people : for all the earth is mine, and 
 ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holj^ 
 nation" (Exod. xix. 5, 6). 
 
 That was a true promise and prophecy of and for Israel, 
 in the past Dispensation. But Israel failed to fulfil the 
 condition necessary for national priesthood as announced 
 in Exod. xix. 5. Israel did not keep the covenant. Hence 
 the conditional promise, "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom 
 of priests," was not performed. The tribe of Levi was 
 substituted for the nation, and the national performance 
 of that promise remains still in abeyance until such time 
 as Israel shall turn to the Lord. Hence, the prophecy was 
 repeated at a later period in the prophecy of Isa. Ixi. 1, 
 which the Lord read, only in part, in the Synagogue at 
 Nazareth, when He "closed the book," and stopped at 
 the point where the prophecy had been fulfilled (Luke 
 iv. 18—20). After "the day of vengeance" (which the Lord 
 omitted, because it was still future) shall have passed, 
 then it is declared of the nation as a whole : "Ye shall be 
 named the Priests of the Lord ; men shall call you the 
 ministers of our God" (Isa. Ixi. 6; Ixvi. 21). 
 
 John sees in proleptic vision, i.e., by anticipation, the 
 yet future fulfilment of this prophecy. In Rev. i. 6 he 
 announces it when he gives glory to God for what He will 
 then have done, even to "Him who hath made us {i.e., 
 
 126 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT : PRIESTHOOD 
 
 John and his brethren according to the flesh) kings and 
 priests nnto God and his Father." 
 
 In Rev. V. 9, 10, John hears the four Zda (or Living 
 Creatures), and the Twenty-four Elders sing a ncAV song 
 referring to that yet future day; "Thou hast redeemed 
 [a People] to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and 
 tongue, and people and nation ; and hast made them unto 
 our God a kingdom and priests ; and they shall reign on 
 the earth." 
 
 This is the true reading and rendering ' of Rev. v. 9, 10 ; 
 and with this the R.V. practically agrees. 
 
 Peter, wdio wrote specially to believers among the 
 Dispersed (the Diaspora) of Israel, could speak of them 
 as the spiritual house (of Israel) and call them "a holy 
 Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices." 
 
 But in no case could this be said of believing sinners 
 of the Gentiles either then, or now, or in the future. 
 
 Is it not strange that those who do this, do not see 
 that they are compelled to take only one of the two 
 classes mentioned? Only the "priests!" We never hear 
 of their claiming to be "kings," now, in this day of grace. 
 Wrongly dividing the word of truth, or not dividing it 
 at all, introduces "priests" into the Church of God, and 
 those who do that are driven into a further and neces- 
 sary inconsistency, and are, perforce, obliged to leave 
 out the "kings" altogether! 
 
 Surely this is sufficient to show us the error of Sacer- 
 dotalists and the error also of their opponents. Both are 
 wrong. The one is wrong in making a baseless claim, and 
 the other is wrong for attempting to refute it by a 
 baseless argument. Both the false claim and the false 
 argument ijroceed alike from the same cause. 
 
 The fact is there is no x)riesthood recognized by God 
 on the earth during this present Dispensation, while 
 Israel as a nation is excluded. 
 
 It is said even of the Lord Jesus Himself, that now, 
 *'IP HE WERE ON EARTH He would not be a priest" 
 (Ileb. viii. 4). 
 
 And the reason given is that, on earth, priestlioofl 
 belongs to the tribe of Levi only; and "our Lord sprang 
 
 1 Sco the author's work on the Apocalypse, p. 212. 
 
 127 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 out of Judah ; of which tribe Moses spake nothing con- 
 cerning priesthood " (Heb. vii. 12-14). 
 
 Christ is a Priest, but HIS priesthood belongs to 
 Heaven, and not to earth; and is "after the order of 
 Melchizedek," and "not after the order of Aaron." 
 
 To see the truth as to priesthood, Dispensationally, 
 puts an end to all controversy as to the claims of Sacer- 
 dotalists, as well as to all the weak replies of Protestants, 
 which only serve to strengthen those claims instead of 
 meeting them. 
 
 To see this Dispensational truth makes a priesthood in 
 the Church of God an impossibility. For Christ never 
 was a priest on earth; and He would not be a priest if 
 He were on earth to-day. 
 
 Once we rightly divide the Word of truth as to Priest- 
 hood, away goes all Prelacy and Priestcraft, which have 
 created "Christendom," and turned it into a Babylon; a 
 "hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean 
 and hateful bird" (Rev. xviii. 2). 
 
 True, Peter can write to Believers among "the Disper- 
 sion" (1 Pet. i. 1 ; compare John vii. 35) and apply Exod. xix. 6, 
 as the Lord applied Isa. Ixi. 1, in the Synagogue at Naza- 
 reth, and show how those believing Israelites to whom 
 he wrote fulfilled the past, and anticipated the future in a 
 "spiritual" manner (1 Pet. ii. 4—10). All this could be 
 applied to them, as it could not be even applied to us ; 
 though, even here, there was one thing that could not 
 be then applied to them. They were priests only in a 
 "spiritual" sense; but they were not "kings" in any 
 sense at all. So the reference to the past Dispensation 
 was rightly divided so far as it could be applied to the 
 new (though transitional) condition of things. 
 
 Here we have, then, another example of how, and how 
 far, we may apply a scripture to that of which it cannot 
 be interpreted. 
 
 (i) As to Baptism. — We have the same confusion in 
 Truth and Teaching, and all the controversies as to 
 doctrine and practice. 
 
 It is clear, from the Gospels, that it has to do with 
 the kingdom. The very first time it is mentioned is in 
 connection with the kingdom (Matt. iii. 1 — 6). 
 
 128 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT: BAPTISM 
 
 It was preached by John who was known as "the 
 Baptiser " ; and John was not a minister of the Gospel of 
 the Grace of God, but a prophet under the old covenant 
 appointed to "prepare the way of the Lord," who came 
 "to confirm the promises made unto the fathers" (Rom. 
 XV. 8). 
 
 His ministry was unique; aod his message was "Re- 
 pent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand " : and he 
 baptized those who believed his preaching and confessed 
 their sins. The reason why he baptized was in order that 
 Christ should "be made manifest to Israel" (John i. 31). 
 
 Moreover he testified of the One who should come after 
 him, and who should baptize also ; not with material 
 water, as John did, but with pneuma hag ion or spiritual 
 water, that is, with "power from on high." ^ 
 
 This the Lord Himself confirmed in Acts i. 4, 5. 
 
 But, as we have already abundantly shown and seen, 
 the kingdom was rejected, and the King crucified. 
 
 John, as we have said, baptized individuals who "be- 
 lieved on Him who should come after him " (see Acts xix. 4). 
 
 But, in Matt, xxviii. 19, 20, the Lord speaks of a future 
 baptism, not of individuals, but of all "nations," not in 
 the name of Him as the coming One, for He had already 
 come, and would be with them; but "in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Strange to say, this command was never obeyed on 
 any one of the several occasions recorded in the New 
 Testament, when baptism was "administered." Not once 
 do we find any of the apostles, nor any of the first preachers 
 of the Gospel making any exception to the use of this one 
 particular formula. This practice was invariable. 
 
 In Acts ii. 38 Peter commands those of the Dispersion 
 who believed: "Repent, and be baptized every one of 
 you in the name of Jesus Chi^lst.'" 
 
 In Acts viii. IG Peter and John "baptized in the name 
 of the Lord Jesus ^ 
 
 In Acts X. 48 Peter "commanded them to be baptized 
 in the name of the I^ord " (R.V. Jesus Christ). 
 
 In Acts xix. 5 (whether this refers to those who heard 
 John or those who iieard Paul 2; or whether it refers to 
 
 ^ Sec The, Giver and His Gifts, by the Hamc author and publisher, pp. 26— Zo. 
 2 See The Giver and IHs Gifts, pp. 101—107. 
 
 129 I 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 John's act or Paul's) it is certain tliat "they were baptized 
 in ihe name of the Lord Jesus.'' 
 
 In Rom. vi. 3 Paul speaks of "as many of us as were 
 baptized into Jesus Christ." 
 
 And in 1 Cor. i. 13, 15, "bai^tized in the name of 
 Paul," is clearly contrasted with baptism in the iiame of 
 C/irist. 
 
 There is not one exception to this ])ractice. 
 
 It is equally certain that Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 definitely 
 commands the DISCIPLING of "THE NATIONS" by 
 baptizing them in the Triune name of Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 The full command is as follows : 
 
 "Go ye therefore and make all nations disciples, bap- 
 tizing them into the name of the Father, and of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all 
 things whatsoever I have connnanded you : and behold, 
 I (even I) am with you all the days until the end of the 
 age." 
 
 This command speaks of "nations" (or Gentiles), and 
 thus excludes the Jews, for it is distinctly declared of 
 them that they should "not be reckoned among the na- 
 tions "(Num. xxiii. 9). Whereas, the Gospel of the Grace 
 of God is preached to day to Jew and Gentile alike. 
 
 The command speaks of "all nations," and it says, 
 "make all nations disciples" or "Disciple all nations" as 
 such ; whereas this present Dispensation is eclectic, and it 
 is individual Jews and Gentiles who are taken out of 
 all stations. 
 
 The word rendered "teach" in verse 19 is not the same 
 as "teaching" in verse 20. The former means to "make 
 disciples " ; while the latter means to instruct the indi- 
 viduals who are thus made disciples. But neither of 
 these terms is peculiar to the present Dispensation. 
 Ministerial work to-day is, according to the Church 
 Epistles, not to " disciple nations " or Gentiles, but to 
 preach and proclaim the Gospel of the Grace of God to 
 individuals, as lost sinners, that they may be taken 
 out not only from among the Jews, but from AMONG 
 the nations. It is to "preach the Word" ; and Ave are to 
 do this the more earnestly because, as the days get darker, 
 
 130 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT : BAPTISM 
 
 men Avill be less ready to "endure sound doctrine" (2 Tim. 
 iv. 1-4). 
 
 The command in Matt, xxviii. manifestly applies to 
 a very different condition of things from that which is 
 common to our experience. 
 
 The only ground for this command is that "all power 
 is given unto me in heaven and in earth." For, while, in 
 the Divine counsels, it can be said, "Thou hast put all 
 things under his feet," yet, it is immediately added (Heb. 
 ii. 8), " we see NOT YET all things put under him." The 
 references given in the margin of Matt, xxviii. 18 fully 
 bear this out. Not until the yet future opening scene in 
 the coming Dispensation of Judgment will the gift of 
 "all power" on the earth be formally made and received, 
 and the heavenly song burst forth, "Worthy is the Lamb 
 that was slain, to receive power," etc. (Rev. v. 12, etc.). 
 
 But this is the only reason given for obedience to this 
 command : " Go ye THEREFORE." 
 
 Moreover, certain definite days seem to be marked off ; 
 and this, at the end of the age, or of that Dispensation 
 of the kingdom, when the proclamation of "the gospel 
 of the kingdom " will again be made ^ and accompanied by 
 its companion ordinance of baptism. 
 
 That baptism will not be into the name of the One 
 who was to come (as in the Gospels) ; not into the name 
 of One who had come and been rejected (as in the Acts 
 of the Apostles); but into the Triune name of "the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." This will indeed 
 be a work which will require "all power" in order to 
 secure the submission of Jews and Mahommedans, as 
 nations, to receive this bax)tism as the sign and token 
 that they have acknowledged and submitted themselves 
 to Christ, the Messiah, as their Lord and King. 
 
 This national work is that referred to in Matt. xxiv. 
 13, 14, " He that shall endure unto the END shall be saved. 
 And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in 
 the whole world for a witness, and then shall come the 
 END"; i.e., the end of "the days" referred to in Matt, 
 xxviii. 20. 
 
 This is the "end" here referred to in Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 
 
 1 Matt. xxiv. 14 (see pp. 113—119, above). 
 
 i:ii 1 2 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH ^ 
 
 The whole of this Dispensation is leaped over, as is done in 
 Isa. Ixi. 2, and many other passages, as we have shown above. ^ 
 
 This command spoken of the Future, in a past Dispen- 
 sation, entirely disregards this present interval and con- 
 templates obedience to it as being carried out not in the 
 Present, but in the Future Dispensation. 
 
 We have exactly the same phenomenon in Matt. x. 
 There the Lord commissions the Twelve for their imme- 
 diate proclamation of the kingdom to Israel alone, as 
 distinct from the Gentiles (Matt. x. 1 — 15). The Lord then 
 passes on, and passes over this present Dispensation ; and 
 contemplates the yet future proclamation in which the 
 heralds will be sent forth as "sheep among wolves." This 
 Gospel of the kingdom is to be "for a testimony" to the 
 nations (here rendered Gentiles) as well as to Israel ; and we 
 have the same promise made to the preachers in Matt. x. 22 
 as in ch. xxiv. 13. The words are exactly the same in 
 both passages (in the Greek): "He that endureth to the 
 END the same shall be saved." The command is continued 
 in the next verse (ch. x. 23): " But when they persecute you 
 in this city flee ye into another: for verily I say unto 
 you. Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till 
 the Son of Man be come." 
 
 If this coming be the same as the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem (as is generally supposed) then it is perfectly certain 
 that the Twelve could not have gone on proclaiming the 
 kingdom as being "at hand" for nearly forty years after 
 it had been rejected, and the King crucified ! 
 
 Moreover, in the ministry of the Disciples as recorded 
 in the Gospels, we have not the slightest hint of their 
 going among "wolves," and of their being "persecuted," 
 and "fleeing" from city to city. On the contrary, their 
 ministry seems to have been most peaceful and peaceable ; 
 and they had no such report of trial and trouble to give 
 the Master when they returned from their mission. On 
 the contrary it was marked as having had great success 
 (Luke X. 17— 19).3 
 
 1 See pp. 100-104. 
 
 2 Greek, e\er) (elthe), shall have come. 
 
 3 It seems as though, after they had spoken of the Present, that the Lord, 
 in proleptic vision, passes over and sees beyond this Present Dispensation; 
 and, beholding Rev. xii. 9, repeats the promises suited to that time, as given 
 in Matt. x. 16—33 ; xxviii. 19, 20. Mark xvi. 15—18. 
 
 132 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT: BAPTISM 
 
 That mission must indeed have been very brief, for we 
 gather from the Gospel record that they were with the 
 Lord the greater part of His ministry. 
 
 And where did His promise to be "with" them "all 
 the daj^s " of tliat proclaiming and baptizing, find its ful- 
 filment, if He were immediately going away, and about 
 to send the Holy Spirit to be with them during His ab- 
 sence. When the promise is so strongly personal and 
 definite it seems very forced to interpret that presence 
 as being spiritual or delegated to the Holy Spirit. The 
 pronoun iyciii (ego), I, is very emphatic : " And, behold, I, 
 even I, am with you all the days, until the completion 
 of the age {sunteleia, or Dispensation)." (R.V. margin, 
 until the consummation of the age.) 
 
 It seems clear, therefore, that the proclamation referred 
 to in Matt, xxviii. 19, 20, is yet future ; and that it is closely 
 connected with the then imminent personal appearance 
 and promised presence of the Son of Man. 
 
 From all this it is abundantly manifest that, to take 
 a command which belongs to a Past and Future Dispen- 
 sation and to interpret it as being operative during the 
 whole of this Present Dispensation can lead only to diffi- 
 culty and contradiction. 
 
 Indeed, the bringing of John's baptism, which belonged 
 to the kingdom, into this present Church period has led 
 to confusion and disruption. It has proved a bomb Avhich 
 has rent the visible Church into fragments. 
 
 It has led to controversies and divisions, and strifes 
 and contentions, which are to-day carried on with un- 
 abated vigour, and with the same bitterness as of old. It 
 has led to the breaking up of the Church instead of its 
 building up. It is the ordinance which has divided the 
 Church instead of uniting it. 
 
 Is it not ijassing strange that, if the command in 
 Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 really belongs to this Dispensation, the 
 Apostles themselves, to whom the command was given, 
 never once so interpreted it ; and never once attempted 
 to obey it ? 
 
 The Lord had continued with tliem for forty days 
 "speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of 
 God" (Acts i. 3). One would have tliought (judging I'l-om 
 present-day interpretation) that lie spoke only oL' the 
 
 133 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATION AL TRUTH 
 
 things pertaining to the Church, which according to the 
 teaching of most Christians was set up, within ten days. 
 But no! not a word was spoken about the Church. It 
 was all about the kingdom. The Church of God was still 
 kept a "great secret." It was "hid in God" (Eph. iii. 9). 
 It was not yet "made known unto the sons of men" 
 (Eph. iii. 5). It had been "kept secret since the world 
 began" (Rom. xvi. 25). 
 
 The only question the Apostles asked was about the 
 kingdom, not about the Church. They did not ask 
 whether the kingdom was to be restored to Israel or not. 
 They asked only as to the time'' when it Avas to be re- 
 stored; whether it Avould be noiv, '*at this time," or at 
 some future time. They neither doubted nor questioned 
 the fact of its restoration. 
 
 It is certainly very strange that Peter, who heard 
 these words, should, ivithin a few days, have stood up and 
 said, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the 
 NAME OF Jesus Christ" (Acts ii. 38). 
 
 It is impossible for us to suppose that Peter, and those 
 who afterAvard baptized, should be either forgetful of, 
 or disobedient to, the Lord's command, within so few days 
 of its having been given. 
 
 Having had direct teaching from the Lord Himself on 
 these very subjects, surely we should see, in the imme- 
 diately subsequent acts of the Apostles, the nature of the 
 instructions they had received. 
 
 If we thus rightly divide this portion of the Word of 
 truth, we find that all is truth. There is no confusion. 
 No violence is done to the Word of God. The command 
 of Christ is left untouched. There it stands, through all 
 these centuries, in all its truth and poAver, waiting for 
 the moment when it will be obeyed (as it has never yet 
 been obeyed), and the promise fulfilled to the very letter. 
 
 The action of the disciples is left unimpaired. Their 
 obedience is not called in question. We are not called 
 upon to blame them, or to excuse them ; to condemn them, 
 or to defend them. They followed John the Baptiser hi 
 their proclamation of the kingdom, and they continued 
 to use the baptism Avitli which he had baptized. 
 
 As long as the Divine offer of the kingdom made by 
 Peter in Acts iii. 19—21 (R.V.) was open, baptism with 
 
 134 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT; BAPTISM 
 
 material Avater was carried on, side by side with the 
 baptism with spiritual water (pneuma hagion), which was 
 administered by the laying on of hands (compare Acts 
 xix. 6^); the one decreasing and the other increasing, on 
 the principle of John iii. 30. 
 
 This coming change had been four times foretold (Matt, 
 iii. 11. Mark i. 8. Luke iii. 16 and Acts i. 5), and we see it 
 taking place ; but the change is not complete until the offer 
 of the kingdom made in Acts iii. 19, 20 was finally and 
 formally closed and withdrawn in Acts xxviii. 25, 2Q. Until 
 then baptism with water was continued, though it was 
 decreasing. And it is mentioned only in those Pauline 
 Epistles written during that period (1 Cor. and Rom. vi.), 
 but never again afterward. In the Epistles written after 
 that solemn epoch it is never once referred to ; but only 
 the "one baptism" with pneuma hagion. In Ephesians, 
 Philippians, Colossians, and the Pastoral Epistles there 
 is no mention of any ordinances ; except to emphasize the 
 fact that they no longer exist, but are all done away in 
 that completeness which is ours "in Christ." 
 
 Ordinances that had to do with the flesh have no place 
 in the Mystery or Secret Avhich Avas revealed to Paul.^ 
 There, all is Spiritual. 
 
 The Phenomena as to the two Baptisms may be thus 
 presented : — 
 
 ONE BAPTISM 
 
 TWO BAPTISMS 
 
 one baptism 
 
 
 
 
 
 S P I 
 
 E R "^^^^.^^^ 
 
 R 1 T 
 
 
 
 
 THt GOSPELS 
 
 JOrtM & THE LOHO. 
 
 Acts of the apostles 
 
 & EARLIER Pauline Epistles 
 Transitional 
 
 The later Pauline eph 
 
 The Mystery. 
 
 When the Mystery Avas revealed to Paul, and by him 
 was "made knoAvn to the sons of men," the Hebrew "doc- 
 trine of baptisms" was left behind with many other 
 
 1 Verses i and 5 were what Paul said, and verse 6 is what Paul did. The 
 "they" in verse were the people who heard John, not they who heard Paul. 
 See The Giver and IHh Gifts, pp. lOi 107. 
 
 See The Pauline Episttcs, by the same author and publisher, also Thinr/s to 
 Come, Feb. 1907. The Ads of the Apostles, Historicallu and JHspensatiomdly 
 Considered; and Section No. (5, below, the concliuliriK portion of this Division. 
 Als(* a si.rios of |'iii)i;rs "(^n IJaptisni," in Thiii.(/s to (.'oine, Vol. XIII. 
 
 135 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 things, and the new doctrine of the "one baptism" with 
 pneuma hag ion, or with a spiritual (instead of a material) 
 medium, was brought in. 
 
 " Thus, while the Word of truth" is cleared of all confu- 
 sion the "traditions of men" are torn up by the roots. 
 
 The churches to-day profess to take the Acts of the 
 Apostles as their guide to church doctrine and practice 
 (instead of the Epistles that were specially addressed to 
 them as churches) ; yet they ignore its teaching as to 
 that very ordinance which they all agree in treating as 
 fundamental, though at the same time they differ so 
 widely as to its administration. 
 
 They then wrest a command of Christ, given with re- 
 ference to the totally different and Future Dispensation, 
 and strive to obey it in this present Dispensation in 
 which it has no place. 
 
 They thus land themselves in an insurmountable diffi- 
 culty ; and erect barriers which effectually divide up the 
 visible Church into hostile camps. 
 
 Failing to divide the Word of truth rightly, they get 
 error instead of truth ; and, believing they are obeying 
 the Word of God, they are really only following the 
 tradition of men. 
 
 For what is the state of the case historically? 
 
 From the Acts of the Apostles we know that they 
 baptized only in the one name. 
 
 We know also that for some time this practice must 
 have continued. 
 
 We hear nothing of baptism in the Triune name till 
 the time of Justin Martyr^ (a.d. 114 — 165), and at the 
 London Synod, called by Augustine in 605, any other 
 form of words was pronounced to be invalid. This was 
 confirmed by Pope Zacharius (741 — 752). 
 
 On the other hand, we have evidence of the baptism 
 in the one name in the days of Cyprian, for he condemns 
 those who held that it was sufficient to say "in the name 
 of Jesus Christ."^ But it was declared to be valid by 
 the Council of Frejus, a.d. 792, and also by Pope Nicholas I. 
 as late as (858— 867).^ 
 
 1 Apologia, Ixxix. 
 
 '•^ Ep. Ixxii (Migne), Ixxiii. (Oxford). 
 
 3 Responsa at Rulgaros, 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT: BAPTISM 
 
 So tlic'xt there was evidently confusion of practice as 
 well as of doctrine, down to a very late period. 
 
 Various explanations of this diversity are given, but 
 they are all based only on reasoning and probability. 
 
 We cannot believe that such a difference between the 
 command in Matt, xxviii. and the practice of the Apos- 
 tles in the Acts, can be accounted for on the ground 
 that there is no difference between the use of the 
 three names and the one. For in this case we may ask. 
 What are ivorrls for? They are useless for the purpose 
 of revelation, if in a simple and yet crucial case like 
 this they do not mean what they say. 
 
 We could understand it better if the command had 
 been to baptize in the one name, and the practice had 
 been in the three names, for then the greater would have 
 included the less. But, How can the less include the 
 greater? How can the one include the three? and In 
 what respect would this differ from John's baptism ? 
 John baptized into the one name. Did this include the 
 three? If not. Why not? and Why should Peter's bap- 
 tism include the three, if John's did not? 
 
 The fact is, there is no real explanation of any kind. 
 The actual conflict is between tradition and revelation. 
 
 Our choice lies between these two. We may disobey 
 2 Tim. ii. 15 and follow tradition with all its consequent 
 confusion ; or, we may rightly divide the Word of truth, 
 and find clearness of vision and peace of mind. 
 
 No question of infant baptism, or of sprinkling, pour- 
 ing, or immersion, can arise Avhere all is spiritual and 
 Divine. 
 
 We must include the closing verses of Mark's Gospel 
 in considering the effect of rightly dividing the Word of 
 truth, as it touches the question of baptism. 
 
 Here, again, the difficulties are great indeed, if those 
 verses which refer to the kingdom and its proclamation 
 in the yet Future Dispensation, be taken and read into 
 the Present. 
 
 Some of those who do this, logically insist on the 
 point that we ought to see these miraculous signs and 
 gifts in the Church to-day ; but, as we do not see them, 
 it is concluded that there must be something wrong in 
 the Christian lives of believers; and. lience it is urgcnl 
 
 137 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 that, an increase of holiness mnst be acquired by some 
 means or other. 
 
 Some, who do not see these wonderful gifts and signs, 
 conclude that the passage refers only to the past, and is 
 now done with. 
 
 While others, seeing the difficulty created, treat the 
 whole passage as spurious, and regard it as a corruption 
 of the text which ought to be removed. 
 
 These are the difficulties which result from reading 
 the commands that refer to the Past and Future Dis- 
 pensations into the Present; Avhereas, if we rightly divide 
 them, all difficulties are at once removed. 
 
 (k) The prophecy of Amos.— Acts xv. 14—18, in which 
 the prophecy of Amos ix. 11, 12, is quoted, was written in 
 a Past Dispensation, and is to receive its fulfilment in 
 the Future. It must not, therefore, be read into the 
 present Dispensation. 
 
 When James quoted it in the Council at Jerusalem, the 
 Mystery had not yet been made known for the obedience 
 of faith, for (as we have seen) it was never the subject 
 of Old Testament prophecy. 
 
 The prophecy of Amos refers to what will take place 
 *'in that day" (ch. ix. 11). The "day" spoken of is the day 
 when (Jehovah says) "I will bring again the captivity of 
 my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities 
 and inhabit them " {v. 14). Then : 
 
 " In that day will I raise again the Tabernacle of 
 
 David that is fallen. 
 And close up the breaches thereof ; 
 And I will raise up his ruins, 
 And I will build it as in the days of old ; 
 That they may possess the remnant of Edom 
 And of all the heathen, which are called by my 
 
 name, 
 
 Saith the Lord, that doeth thus.' 
 
 This prophecy refers neither to the Church of God nor 
 to the temple of Jerusalem; but to "the Tabernacle of 
 David," which stood on Mount Zion before the Temple 
 Avas erected on Mount Moriah (2 Sam. vi. 17). 
 
 138 
 
2. PAST NOT INTO PRESENT : Amos ix. & Acts xv. 
 
 It speaks of the heathen, i.e., the Gentile nations, being 
 called "in that day" by the Name of the Lord. 
 
 When Peter declared in the Council how God made 
 choice of him, that the Gentiles by his mouth should hear 
 the word of the Gospel (committed unto him) and believe ; 
 and was followed by Paul and Barnabas declaring what 
 signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles 
 by them : then James said that the words of the prophets 
 agreed ivith this, for God had declared by Amos that He 
 would return and build again the Tabernacle of David, 
 and bring the Gentiles into blessing with Israel. 
 
 God had just shown this by using Peter to proclaim 
 the good news of the Kingdom, first to Israel (Acts vi., vii.) 
 and afterward to the Gentiles (Acts viii.— xii.). 
 
 The moment had come, therefore, for the call to Re- 
 pentance, which was the one condition of this national 
 blessing of Jews and Gentiles as such. 
 
 But we know that the proclamation was unheeded, 
 and Peter's call was not obeyed. All this w^as followed 
 shortly afterward (Acts xxviii. 25 — 28) by the solemn and 
 formal proclamation of Isa. vi. 9, and the fulfilment of 
 the threat of judicial blindness which has, from that day, 
 covered Israel's heart (2 Cor. iii. 15. Rom. xi. 25). 
 
 Gentile blessing in association Avith Israel is now in 
 abeyance : and Acts xv. does not refer to the Mystery, 
 or to the Church of God, but to the Gentile nations as such. 
 
 The Mystery had not yet been made knoAvn, but "these 
 things" had been "made known from the beginning." 
 The following is the correct rendering of what was the 
 Primitive Greek text ' of Acts xv. 17 and 18, according to 
 the R.V., Rotherham, J. N. Darby, and other trans- 
 lators :— 
 
 " That the residue of men may seek after the Lord, 
 And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, 
 Saith the Lord, who maketh these things known ^ 
 from the beginning of the Avorld." 
 
 Thus it is quite clear that this Scripture, written in 
 the Past, and referring to the Future, nuist not be read 
 
 1 According to Greek Texts of GricHbach, Scholtz. Tischcndorf, Trcgellea, 
 Alford, Wcstcott and Ilort, the Revisers' Greek 'J'ext. See above, p. 52. 
 Margin: "(Ji-, vlio dueth these things vvliich were knownJ" 
 
 139 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 into the Present Dispensation of the Mystery, Avhich 
 was "hid in God from the beginning of the world." 
 
 (L) ''Son of Man."— The title of the Lord Jesus Christ 
 as the "Son of Man" is a title that belongs to Him in 
 the Past and Future Dispensations as "the Second Man," 
 "the last Adam," having dominion in the earth; and not 
 to the Present Dispensation. 
 
 Its first occurrence^ in Ps. viii., and its first occurrence 
 in the New Testament (Matt. viii. 20), and its last (Rev. xiv. 
 14 — 16), all show this connection with the earth. 
 
 Out of the eighty-four occurrences of this title in the 
 New Testament, eighty of them are in the four Gospels 
 and not one in the Church Epistles. There is only one in 
 the Acts (ch. vii. 56), and after a quotation in Heb. ii. 6, 
 we do not meet with it again until we come to the two 
 places in Revelation (ch. i. 13, and xiv. 14), and these are 
 in connection with His coming to take up His great 
 power and exercise His dominion in the earth. 
 
 This of itself is sufficient to show us the significance 
 and teaching of this title ; and that, quite apart from the 
 principle we are now illustrating, we must not read past 
 and future Dispensational truths into the present. 
 
 We have no more to do with the Lord Jesus as "the 
 Son of Man," than the Gentile woman of Canaan had to do 
 with Him as the "Son of David." When she made her 
 plea and based it on that relationship, what could the 
 Lord say but " I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the 
 house of Israel"? (Matt. xv. 21—24).^ 
 
 The Church of God is brought into union with the 
 risen and exalted Christ as "The Son of God," and in 
 no sense are we associated with Him in His title "Son 
 of Man." 
 
 This at once shuts the Church out of the Gospels, and 
 out of the Tribulation of Matt. xxiv. (of which we have 
 more to say below), and out of all the passages in which 
 we have the title "the Son of Man." 
 
 If we were imbued with the words employed in the 
 Church Epistles, and had them ever in our minds, we 
 should instinctively reject any teaching which would 
 
 I See Canon V., below, Part II. 
 
 140 
 
2. PRESENT NOT INTO PAST: THE M\^STERY 
 
 bring us into union with Christ as the "Son of Man," 
 or into Tribulation and Judgment scenes where that title 
 is, and will be, so appropriate. 
 
 3. The PRESENT not to be read into the PAST. 
 
 As we may not read the Past into the Present, so we 
 may not read the Present into the Past. 
 A few examples will suffice. 
 
 (a) The Mystery, or Secret, concerning ''the Church of 
 God" — This was first "made known to the sons of men" 
 directly, by special revelation from God to the Apostle 
 Paul, and by the "Apostles and prophets " specially raised 
 up for that purpose. 
 
 Before that, it had been "kept secret since the world 
 began" (Rom. xvi. 25). 
 
 "In other ages it was not made known unto the sons 
 of men"(Eph. iii. 5). "From the beginning of the world 
 it had been hid in God" {v. 9). 
 
 It had been "hid from ages and from generations" 
 (Col. i. 26). 
 
 Surely these statements are perfectly plain, and admit 
 of no dispute. 
 
 It has been suggested that this secret refers to the 
 blessing of Gentiles, as such, with Israel ; but the simple 
 and conclusive answer to this is, that such blessing was 
 never a secret, but was made known at the same moment 
 as the blessing for Israel was made known. 
 
 In Gen. xii. 3, it was included in, and was an integral 
 part of, the very first promise ever made to Abraham : 
 "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." 
 
 This was repeated at various times. In Gen. xviii. 18, 
 Jehovah said of Abraham, "All the nations of the earth 
 shall be blessed in him." (See also Gen. xxii. 18; xxvi. 4, 
 etc. Deut. xxxii. 43. Ps. xviii. 49; Ixvii. 2. Isa. xi. 10; 
 xlix. 6. Luke ii. 32. Rom. xv. 8, etc.) 
 
 This was blessing for Gentiles as such, in contrast, 
 and yet in conjunction with Israel. But this is a very 
 different thing from what had been "kept secret." The 
 secret was not concerning Jews and Gentiles as such, 
 but concerning a people taken out from both, and 
 made "fellow-heirs" and members of "the same body" 
 
 141 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 (Epli. iii. 6), i.e., "the one body," the spiritual body of 
 Clirist, which is the one great subject of the Epistle to the 
 Ephesians, and in which there is neither Jew nor 
 Gentile (Rom. x. 12. 1 Cor. xii. 13. Gal. iii. 28. Col. iii. 11). 
 
 It seems almost unnecessary to say more, for if these 
 plain Scriptures are not convincing, nothing that we 
 may add of our oAvn is likely to make them so. Lan- 
 guage, for the purposes of revelation, is useless if what 
 is said to be "hidden" was made known; or what is 
 called a "secret" had never been kept in silence. 
 
 If, however, we accept the statements as to the Mystery 
 having been kei3t secret until revealed to and by Paul, 
 then we shall look in vain to find it in the Old Testament, 
 or in the Four Gospels, or anywhere before its revelation 
 through the Apostle Paul. 
 
 If we think we find it, then we shall at once introduce 
 confusion into the older Scriptures, because we shall 
 arbitrarily, and of our own will, dislocate the Scriptures 
 of truth, and read into the Old Testament Avhat God 
 says He carefully kept out of it. 
 
 The Church of God is specially instructed in the Epistles 
 addressed to it. 
 
 In these Epistles the Holy Spirit fulfils the Lord's 
 promise made in John xvi. 12—15. There, Christ said, "He 
 shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you." Twice 
 over the Lord repeats these words ^ (vv. 14 and 15). These 
 things, which related to Christ, included all that God has 
 made Christ to be unto us who are saved, and all that He 
 has made us to be in Christ. Of this truth the Lord says, 
 " I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear 
 them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of Truth shall 
 have come, he will guide you into all the truth" (John 
 xvi. 12, 13). 
 
 If, then, we take the truth which was afterwards re- 
 vealed, and which could not have been then borne or 
 understood, and put it into the Gospels, from which the 
 Lord designedly and purposely excluded it, we do despite 
 to His purpose ; Ave set at nought His wisdom ; we attempt 
 to do what He declares could not be clone. 
 
 1 In the Greek they are the same, though the A.V. unnecessarilj' rendei'a 
 thoni differently in the two verses. 
 
 142 
 
3. PRESENT NOT INTO PAST: THE MYSTERY 
 
 His hearers could not have understood His words had 
 He revealed them then, for the great foundation facts of 
 His death and resurrection on which they were based had 
 not then taken place. But people to-day think they can 
 understand the four Gospels if they read this subsequently- 
 revealed truth into them noiv. 
 
 It is just this which brings in all the confusion in our 
 reading of the Gospels ; and causes us to use one truth to 
 destroy another truth, and prevents us from understand- 
 ing either. 
 
 It is this that makes many exalt what they irreverently 
 call "the teaching of Jesus" in the Gospels, and set it 
 up in opposition to the teaching of Paul. 
 
 Whereas both spake by the Holy Ghost: both uttered 
 the words of God as given to them to speak. 
 
 The Lord Jesus said of Himself : — 
 
 "He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of 
 
 God" (John iii. 34). 
 "My teaching is not mine but his that sent me" 
 
 (John vii. 16). 
 "I have given unto them the words which thou 
 
 gavest me" (John xvii. 8).^ 
 
 But the Apostle Paul also spoke only the words given 
 him to speak, and he declares that they were "the words 
 . . which the Holy Ghost teaclieth" (1 Cor. ii. 13). 
 
 Paul was commissioned to speak and write the truth 
 which, in John xvi. 12, was designedly kept back. If, 
 therefore, we take what Paul wrote, and put it in where 
 the Lord left it out, what can be the resvilt but confusion 
 in our own minds, and a flouting of the expressed purijose 
 and design of the Holy Spirit, in what He withheld and 
 in what He revealed? 
 
 This is why, if the Church is put into the Great Tribu- 
 lation of Matt, xxiv.,- it must be to the destruction of 
 that "blessed hope," which should ever be with us as 
 our present comfort and strength. 
 
 This is why John vi. is interpreted of the Lord's Supper, 
 which was the subject of a subsequent revelation, and 
 could therefore have no jmssible teaching concerning it. 
 
 1 See below, page 183. 
 See under No. 5, below, " The Future not to be read into the Present." 
 
 143 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 This is why the Church of the PauUne Epistles has 
 been read into the Old Testament prophecies and put in 
 the place of the Bride. (See Ps. xlv. Isa. liv. 5—8 ; Ixii. 4. 
 Jer. iii. 14. Hos. ii. 16, 19, etc.) 
 
 This is why the Church of God is spoken of as "she," 
 while in the Epistles its members grow up " unto a perfect 
 MAN " ; and are part of Him who is the Bridegroom ; and 
 in Him are made "one new man," and not a "new 
 woman." 
 
 (h) The title "sons of God" is closely associated Avitli 
 the Church of God ; for, according to the Pauline usage 
 it is the peculiar title of those who are new creations in 
 Christ Jesus. This we see from all the Church Epistles, 
 especially Rom. viii. 
 
 We must not therefore read this usage into the Old 
 Testament, and interpret in the same sense the expression 
 " sons of God " w^hich we meet with there eight times : 
 viz., Gen. vi. 2, 4. Job i. 6; ii. 1; xxxviii. 7. Ps. xxix. 1; 
 Ixxxix. 6. Dan. iii. 25. 
 
 In all these passages the expression "sons of God" is 
 used of angels.^ 
 
 The ground on which the two distinct usages are 
 equally true of the two different classes of beings, respec- 
 tively, is this: that "a son of God" denotes a being 
 which exists as the direct creative act of God ; produced 
 by Him in contrast with being produced by man. 
 
 The angels are called "sons of God" because they are 
 a separate creation distinct from all others. The first 
 man, Adam, could be called a "son of God" in the same 
 sense (Luke iii. 38), because God created him. But Adam's 
 descendants were not the special creations of God ; for 
 Adam, "created ... in the likeness of God" (Gen. v. 1), 
 BEGAT a son "m his oivn likeness'' (v. 3). So that, being 
 the sons of the first Adam, we are " sons of men," and 
 we cannot be called sons of God by natural generation. 
 When, however, we are His workmanship, created in 
 "Christ Jesus" (Eph. ii. 10); "new creations" in Christ 
 
 1 See below, p. 188, etc. Also a pamphlet on The Sons of God, by the same 
 author and publisher. Job xxxviii. 7 was clearly before the creation of man. 
 And in Dan. iii. 25 there is no article, and it does not denote Christ, but an 
 angelic being. 
 
 144 
 
3. PRESENT NOT INTO PAST: THE "CHURCH" 
 
 (2 Cor. V. 17); then, in Him, we can be called "sons of 
 God." We are, then, His sons by the act of spiritual 
 regeneration ; for. He has created within us a New nature, 
 and given us a "sonship spirit," whereby we are able to 
 say "Abba," i.e., my Father. (Rom. viii. 15. Gal. iv. 6.) 
 
 This Pauline usage of the expression is, therefore, quite 
 distinct from the expression as we find it in the Old 
 Testament. Had this been discerned, and the Present 
 Dispensation not read into the Past, it would never have 
 entered into any one's head to have thought that the 
 expression "the sons of God" in Gen. vi. 2, 4, could have 
 been used of the sons of Seth ! ^ 
 
 (c) The word "Church" may be considered here; for 
 the changes in its meaning, though they might be classed 
 under usage {See Canon III., Part II., beloAv), depend rather 
 on the changes of Dispensation than on usage, as such ; 
 and on Chronology rather than on Grammar. 
 
 In the Pauline Epistles the word acquires a meaning 
 which it never had before. The meaning which is peculiar 
 to this present Dispensation must not, therefore, be read 
 into the Word when it is used in the Past Dispensation. 
 
 As to its Etymology Ecclesia means Assembly, or a 
 Congregation of called out ones. But there are various 
 classes of people who are called out from others.^ 
 
 Israel was an Ecclesia, or an assembly of People called 
 out from other Peoples and Nations. See Gen. xxviii. 3 
 (its first occurrence), where it is rendered multitude, and 
 is used of Israel as a whole, as called out and distinct from 
 all other nations. 
 
 It is used, in Gen. xlix. 6, of a smaller company of Israel- 
 ites, or assembly of people called out from Israel, viz., 
 of the Tribal Council of Simeon and Levi. 
 
 Later on, in the same Past Dispensation, we find it 
 used of another kind of assembly, viz., of those who 
 were called out of all Israel as worshippers assembling 
 themselves together, as such, before the Tabernacle and 
 
 1 For, as a matter of fact, we see good and bad men and women marrying 
 every day without any breed of monstrosities such as were the Ncphilvm, 
 Mephaim. etc. 
 
 2 The Greek word tKKXna-Ca. (ecclesia) is used 70 times in the Scptuasint for 
 pnS (cdhdl), from which wo iiavc our English word, with its meaning, 
 to call. Sec further, on pj). 218, 2i!). hcAow. 
 
 145 K 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 the Temple. This is the meaning of the word in Ps. xxii. 
 22, 25, in the Gospels, Acts vii. 38, etc. A further develop- 
 ment of the usage of the word was caused in the closing or 
 transition period of the Past Dispensation, which affected 
 the meaning of the word as used in the Gospels, and in the 
 Acts of the Apostles : at any rate, in the earlier portion 
 of the Acts, which is a transitional book.^ During that 
 period (covered by the Gospels and Acts) the called out 
 ones are the "Sheep-fold" of John x. The assembly was 
 composed of "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 
 "The Porter" (John the Baptist) opened it and admitted 
 the true Shepherd and the sheep whom He gathered; 
 Baptism (the pool by the sheep-gate) being the mode of 
 admission. Christ was the good Shepherd of these "lost 
 sheep of the house of Israel" thus called out. Hence He 
 was at once the "door " {v. 7), and the "shepherd" {v. 14). 
 
 Peter called out the "other sheep" which the Shepherd 
 had (Acts viii.— xii), and brought them in to the " one flock" 
 {v. 16). They were " not of this (Jewish) fold," but Gentiles 
 (as such), with Israelites in the place of their dispersion, 
 who confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. 
 
 These are the £'ccZcsm or "Church" of the Gospels and 
 Acts. 
 
 They had been led into this fold, but they were to be 
 led out (John x. 9), and this commission was given to 
 Paul. In Acts xix. 9, he began this work when he 
 "separated the disciples," and the "hardening" of Isa. vi. 
 was approaching its "completion." When that Prophecy 
 was fulfilled in Acts xxviii. the change of Dispensation 
 was completed. 
 
 Henceforward the word Ecclesia acquires a more re- 
 stricted meaning, and is used of "the Church of God" 
 eleven times in Paul's Epistles. 
 
 We must not, therefore, confuse the truth belonging 
 and peculiar to these Dispensations, which, is seen in the 
 various usages of the word Ecclesia. 
 
 There are thus no less than five distinct usages of the 
 word Ecclesia. 
 
 (1) It is first used of all Israel as called out from the 
 Nations. 
 
 1 See Things to Come, Nor. 1906. 
 
 14G 
 
3. PRESENT NOT INTO PAST : THE " CHURCH 
 
 (2) It is used of those of Israel who feared the Lord 
 and were called out as His worshippers (Acts vii. 38). 
 
 (3) It is used of this company of called-out ones in 
 the Gospels and earlier chapters of the Acts. 
 
 In Matt. xvi. 18 the reference was to a future called- 
 out people. " On this rock I WILL BUILD." 
 
 There could have been no reference here to the 
 Ecclesia in the wilderness" (Acts vii. 38); nor to the 
 Ecclesia of the Church of God in this Dispensation. Those 
 who heard these words of the Lord's promise could not 
 connect them with the Secret or Mystery which was 
 "hid in God," and had not yet been made known to the 
 sons of men. But they could connect them with Hos. 
 i. 10; and ii. 23. This is the promise which the Lord's 
 hearers would have known. Only with that promise in 
 Hosea could they have associated this promise of the 
 Lord in Matt. xvi. 18. 
 
 The revelation here made was an addition to the pro- 
 mise in Hosea. The Son of Man was about to be rejected. 
 The prophecies of Him as "the stone which the builders 
 refused" were about to be fulfilled. Nevertheless, the 
 time was approaching when He would become God's "sure 
 foundation" according to Isa. xxviii. 16: "Thus saith 
 Adonai Jehovah, Behold, I lay^ in Zion for a foundation, 
 a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure 
 foundation, "etc. That may be either " I have laid" (R.V.), 
 or "I will lay." Both are true. Christ had been laid 
 already then, in the counsels of God, and He would yet 
 be laid in their fulfilment by God. 
 
 The Lord here repeats that promise. And the whole 
 point was. Who was this Son of Man? Some said one 
 thing and some another, and the Lord asks: "But YE, 
 whom do ye say that I am ? And Simon Peter answered 
 and said, Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living 
 God. And Jesus, answering, said to him, Blessed art 
 thou, Simon son of Jona, for flesh and blood revealed it 
 not to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens. And 
 I say also to thee, that thou art [called] Petros (a stone), 
 and on this Pelra (a rock) I will build my Ecclesia^ and 
 [the] gates of Hades shall not prevail against it, and I 
 
 Hebrpw, "JD"; iyissad) may be either the Piel preterite or the Kal future. 
 
 147 K 2 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of the heavens " 
 (Matt. xvi. 15—19). 
 
 In the words which follow we learn that the builders 
 were about to reject God's foundation ; for in the very 
 next verse we read "FROM THAT TIME forth began 
 Jesus to show unto His disciples, how that He must go 
 unto Jerusalem, and SUFFER" (v. 21). 
 
 Thus, His sufferings are not mentioned until the an- 
 nouncement had been made, that, though the foundation- 
 stone was about to be rejected, it would yet be built upon. 
 This rejected "Son of Man" is indeed the Christ, God's 
 "Anointed," and He will become "the head of the corner." 
 
 On Him, the Messiah, His Ecclesia or Assembly, spoken 
 of in the Prophets, would yet be built. "I will build" 
 are His words. "I will call" are Jehovah's words in 
 Hosea: "I will call them my people, which were not my 
 people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And 
 it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said 
 unto them. Ye are not my people : there shall they be 
 called the children of the living God. Isaiah also crieth 
 CONCERNING ISRAEL, though the number of the 
 children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, A REMNANT 
 SHALL BE SAVED" (Rom. ix. 25-27). 
 
 This Remnant is the Ecclesia mentioned by the Lord 
 in Matt. xvi. 18. 
 
 The gates of hell will strive against it, as Rom. ix. 29 
 testifies, but the remnant shall be saved. This future 
 Ecclesia of Israel is to be built UPON Christ, the Messiah, 
 as the Foundation Stone. 
 
 The Church of God, as an Assembly, is also compared 
 to a building ; its members are built individually on a 
 doctrinal foundation, but the building itself is "a holy 
 temple IN the Lord; IN whom ye also are builded toge- 
 ther by [the] Spirit." 
 
 The Church of God is now a spiritual building IN 
 Christ : but the Ecclesia of Matt. xvi. 18 is the future, 
 corporate, saved "remnant" of Israel. 
 
 The present Church of God is composed of Jews AND 
 Gentiles, but the Ecclesia of Matt. xvi. 18 taken with 
 Hos. ii. 23. Isa. x. 22, 23. and Rom. ix. 27, is a "remnant" 
 OF " the children of Israel." 
 
 148 
 
3. PRESENT NOT INTO PAST: THE ''CHURCH" 
 
 (4) In Acts xix. 32, 41 it is used of the guild or "com- 
 pany" of the Ephesian craftsmen as distinct from tlie 
 rest of the population of Ephesus (compare verse 25). 
 
 (5) In Acts xix. 39 it is used of what we call a "Town's 
 meeting," i.e., a duly summoned gathering of the citizens 
 in meeting assembled. 
 
 In Jas. ii. 2 the word "assembly" is not the render- 
 ing of the Greek Ecclesia, but it is the word Synagogue. 
 "If there come into your Synagogue" (so margin). 
 
 From all this it will be seen how necessary it is to 
 confine the meaning of the word Ecclesia, or Church, to 
 the Dispensation in which it is used ; and to note whether 
 it is used, in the Past Dispensation, of all Israel ; or of 
 Godly Israelites ; or of the whole of God's people; or of a 
 portion of them in a certain District, City, or House. ^ 
 
 The special usage of this word Ecclesia, in this Present 
 Dispensation, by the Holy Spirit was not known until it 
 was revealed to Paul as the Secret (or Mystery) which 
 had been "hid in God" (Eph. iii. 9); "hid from ages and 
 from generations" (Col. i. 26); "kept secret since the 
 world began " (Rom. xvi. 25). 
 
 No, the "great mystery," or Secret, is concerning the 
 one spiritual unity of "Christ and His church," and the 
 end of it belongs to this present dispensation, and will 
 close it up when the members of that Body will be 
 
 "Received up in glory" (1 Tim. iii. 16). 
 
 4. The FUTURE not to be read into the PRESENT. 
 
 (a) The Great Tribulation, all believe to be still future ; 
 but yet, many Preachers and Teachers hold and teach 
 that the Church of God, altogether or in part, will pass 
 through it in whole or in part. 
 
 Some teach that all the Church will pass through all 
 the Tribulation ; others teach that onhj a part of the 
 Church will so pass through it all ; while there are yet 
 others who teach that all the Church will pass through 
 
 1 The word is never used of a building; nor is the Pauline sense used in 
 the Old Testament, nor in the Gospels, nor in the earlier transitional portion of 
 the Aets. Our English word "church" is said to bf) derived from a combina- 
 tion and corruption of two Greek words, /cupio? (kyrios). Lord, and ol/<os 
 {cilcoN), house. Hence Kyriakc, the Lord's house, preserved in Scotch kirlc. 
 
 149 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 a part of the Tribulation. These last hold what is known 
 as "the firstfruits view," which identifies the Church of 
 God with the 144,000 of Rev. xiv., and places the Rapture 
 of the Church in or after the middle of the Great 
 Tribulation, and after the revelation of the Beast in his 
 superhuman form, in ch. xiii. 
 
 But here, again, we see the confusion and contradiction 
 of reading what refers to Israel in the Future into the 
 Present Dispensation ; and interpreting it of the Church 
 of Goa, to the destruction of its present hope of being 
 alive and remaining at the Lord's coming forth into the 
 air to receive them, its members, to Himself, before the 
 Day of the Lord bursts suddenly like a thief upon a 
 world which cries "peace and safety." 
 
 Th^ Church of God is assured that that Day shall not 
 overtake it as a thief. (1 Thess. v. 1 — 4.) 
 
 The firstfruits in Rev. xiv. 'are the firstfruits of 
 those who are redeemed "from the earth" {v. 3); 
 redeemed "from among men." They stand "before the 
 throne " (i^v. 1, 3); and they "follow the Lamb whither- 
 soever He goeth " {v. 4). But all such language as this is 
 foreign to the Church of God. We who are members of 
 the spiritual Body of Christ are already "seated in the 
 heavenlies in Christ Jesus " (Eph. ii. 6) ; and we shall 
 not "stand before the throne," but be actually seated 
 with Him when He shall have received us up into glory. 
 
 The other view, of part of the Church of God passing 
 through the Tribulation is equally erroneous, and mis- 
 leading. The Body is "one." There is no amputation of 
 the spiritual body of Christ. There can be no deformity 
 such as would be caused by the absence of any of its 
 members. If the Head " cannot say to the feet I have no 
 need of you," while here on earth, how much less can it 
 be said in the day when "the number of the elect shall 
 be accomplished" and the whole body presented perfect, 
 complete, and "faultless" in glory. It is impossible for 
 any one who is imbued with the language of the Pauline 
 Epistles to imagine any connection between the Church of 
 God and the Great Tribulation. 
 
 To say that the Church of God will be divided, and 
 part of it go through the Tribulation, and part not ; and 
 that this division is based on the degree of holiness or 
 
 150 
 
4. THE FUTURE NOT INTO PRESENT : TRIBULATION 
 
 watchfulness, or liglit, or doctrinal views, is to destroy 
 the wliole foundation of Grace, and put human merit in 
 its place. Membership in the body of Christ is based on 
 life, not on light. It depends neither on wages nor works ; 
 but, on the "gift of God," not on the acquirement of 
 knowledge ; on the reception of God's grace, not on the 
 reception of man's tradition. 
 
 Still less is there anything to warrant the belief that 
 the Church of God must pass through the whole, or any 
 part, of the Tribulation. 
 
 If we fail to rightly divide the Word of truth as to 
 this we shall bring dishonour upon the free grace of God. 
 
 Indeed the Spirit of God seems to have taken special 
 care to preserve us from such mistakes. 
 
 The Tribulation is everywhere either distinctly stated 
 or specially indicated as being connected with Israel. 
 The words are spoken " concerning Israel and concerning 
 Judah" (Jer. xxx. 4). This fact, of itself, shows that it 
 has no connection with the Church of God. 
 
 In Jer. xxx. 7 it is called "the time of Jacob's trouble." 
 And why "Jacob?" Because that name carries us back 
 to that night of Jacob's trouble in Gen. xxxii. 24—30, when, 
 after many years of exile, he was about to return to his 
 own land, and had reached its borders. There he heard 
 of Esau's preparations to come and meet him at the head 
 of 400 armed men. When he heard this, "Jacob Avas 
 greatly afraid and distressed" {v. 7), and he cries to God 
 in his distress, and pleads the "mercies" of God, and 
 deliverance from the hand of Esau lest he come and smite. 
 It was the crisis of Jacob's life; when, had "the mother 
 with the children" been smitten, there would have been 
 an end of the future nation of Israel, whose name was, 
 for the first time, revealed on that eventful night. 
 
 Even so the coming Tribulation will be the time of 
 "Jacob's trouble," the crisis of the coming nation. It will 
 not arrive until Israel returns to the land. This is clear 
 from Jer. xxx. 3, Avhich proceeds to describe the "trem- 
 bling" and "fear," and adds "Alas I for thaii day is great, 
 so tliat none is like it : it is even the time of Jacob's 
 trouble ; but he shall be saved out of it " {v. 7). The 
 whole of this chapter should be carefully studied: and 
 with it, Dan. xii. 1 : "At that time {I.e., at the crisis of 
 
 151 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 Antichrist's power, see the end of eh. xi.) shall Michael 
 stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children 
 of thy (Daniel's) people : and there shall be a time of 
 trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even 
 to that same time : and at that time thy (Daniel's) people 
 shall be delivered." 
 
 It is positively certain that that time has not yet 
 arrived ; for, at the destruction of Jerusalem (which is 
 supposed by some to be the Tribulation), instead of 
 returning to their land the people were driven out of 
 it; instead of being "gathered," they were "scattered"; 
 instead of being "saved" and "delivered," they fled in 
 their terror. 
 
 There are many Scriptures which speak of this time of 
 trouble. Dan.vii. 8 ; viii. 9—12, 23—26 ; xi. 30—39. Rev.vi.— xix. 
 all refer to those days ; but it is in Matt. xxiv. that the 
 Lord Himself gives us its outline, and connects it with 
 the Apocalyptic scenes. 
 
 In verses 4 — 6 its beginnings in '^that generation'' are 
 described ; but this introduction is closed with the words 
 "THE END (reAo^, telos) IS NOT YET." This is empha- 
 tic, and is repeated in Mark xiii. 7, and Luke xxi. 9.^ This 
 is what is referred to in Matt. xxiv. 34, and Luke xxi. 32, 
 where the word is y^vvjrai (genetai), to begin to be, arise."' 
 That generation did actually see the beginning of those 
 things which the Lord mentions in Matt. xxiv. 4—6. 
 
 Then, in verse 7 (Mark xiii. 8. Luke xxi. 10, 11), the 
 Lord describes the opening scenes of the Great Tribulation 
 itself, which correspond exactly with the opening of the 
 seals in Rev. vi. 
 
 The 1st Seal {vv. 1, 2) will be a repetition of what 
 took place in that past generation, viz., the 
 coming of many false Messiahs. 
 
 The 2nd Seal: Wars {vv. 3, 4). "Nation shall rise 
 against nation and kingdom against kingdom" 
 
 "BUT THE END IS NOT YET" (Matt. XXiv. 4— 6). 
 
 1 The English "by and by" meant (in 1611) exactly what the Greek means 
 here, immediately (evSeajs, eutheos). (See below, Part II., Canon III., 2.) 
 
 2 This is not the word used in Luke xxi. 24 for "ftclfilled," which is quite 
 another word, viz., 7rA>)p6to (pleroo), to fulfd, or fill full. 
 
 152 
 
4. THE FUTURE NOT INTO PRESENT : TRIBULATION 
 
 Then : 
 
 The 3rd Seal : Famines (vv. 5, 6). 
 
 The 4th Seal : Pestilences (vv. 7, 8). 
 
 The 5th Seal : Martyrdoms (vv. 9 — 11). 
 
 The 6tli Seal : Signs in Heaven and EartJi (vv. 12 — 17). 
 
 Then it is added in Matt. xxiv. 7, 8, and Mark xiii. 8, 
 
 "THESE ARE THE BEGINNING OP SORROWS.'" 
 
 But in Luke xxi. 12 it does not go on to describe 
 these events, which belong to the Great Tribulation, but 
 it goes hack to what shall be 
 
 "BEFORE ALL THESE THINGS," 
 
 and describes the events up to the destruction of Jerusalem 
 in A.D. 70 in verses 12—24. Then the description (having 
 passed over the details of the Tribulation itself given in 
 Matt. xxiv. 9 — 28 and Mark xiii. 9—23) joins with them in 
 describing the end, and what shall be " immediately after 
 the tribulation of those days," culminating in the coming 
 of the Son of Man, which is the common subject of 
 Matt. xxiv. 29—31. Mark xiii. 24—27. Luke xxi. 25—28. 
 
 The very title of Christ as "Son of Man" in this 
 description of the Tribulation shows that the Church of 
 God is not here. That title, as we have seen (page 140), 
 has nothing to do with the Church or with this Dispen- 
 sation of grace. It has to do with the earth, and with 
 Christ's dominion in the earth. It contemplates the Jews 
 as in their own land, observing their own Sabbath laws 
 (Matt. xxiv. 20). It concerns those who are "in Judea" 
 (v. 16). All the expressions used point to a people under 
 the Mosaic law. This cannot therefore refer to the Church 
 of God, which is "not under the law" (Rom. vi. 14. 
 1 Cor. ix. 21). 
 
 True, the Church of God has tribulation NOW, in the 
 world, at least many of its members have, but not the 
 Church, as such. But this is a very different thing from 
 the Church, or any x)art of it, being IN "the tribulation, 
 the great one." 
 
 On the other hand, the Scriptures, other than the 
 epistles addressed to the Church of God, constantly refer 
 
 1 Greek, ciSiVoi {odinoi), birth-pangs, or throes. Compare Isa. Ixvi. O- ll wit h 
 Jer. XXX. 5 24. 
 
 153 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 to that coming time of tribulation (Matt. x. 16—23.' Rev. 
 i. 9 ; ii. 9, 10, 13 ; iii. 10 ; vii. 13-17). 
 
 Thus, the moment we recognize the great duty of 
 "rightly dividing" the different principles of administra- 
 tion, apportioning each to its own distinct time and 
 Dispensation, we see that the Church of God can have no 
 place in the Great Tribulation; and that, being "not under 
 the law," it must be excluded from all those Scriptures 
 which have the law for its governing principle, and 
 Judaea for the scene of its adminstration. 
 
 (6) In the same way, we must not interpret the 144,000 
 of Rev. vii. or xiv. of the Church of God. We see them 
 involved in the horrors of the Great Tribulation, and in 
 the Dispensation of Judgment; and specially sealed so 
 that they should be preserved through it ; whereas the 
 promise to those who belong to the Church of God is very 
 positive that that Day shall not overtake, or come upon 
 it (1 Thess. v. 4). 
 
 But beside this, the very enumeration of them excludes 
 all except those who belong to the tribes of the children 
 of Israel. Not only are these tribes mentioned thus, 
 collectively, in Rev. vii. 4, but, in verses 5 — 8, each tribe is 
 afterward mentioned separately by name. 
 
 The promise to Daniel was, that when that time of 
 trouble should come, "thy people shall be delivered." 
 Here we see how that deliverance will be secured. This 
 is the deliverance which is referred to in Joel ii. 28—32. 
 
 As the Lord had 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to 
 Baal, in the days of Ahab and Jezebel, so He will have 
 144,000 of those who will refuse to bow the knee to the 
 Beast, or receive his mark in the days of the Great 
 Tribulation. 
 
 In Rev. vii. we have two of the three peoples with 
 whom Scripture deals. In verses 1—8 we have tlie Jews ; 
 in verses 9 — 17 we have the Gentiles. It is clear therefore 
 that we must not put in the Church of God where He 
 has left it out. As for the Jews, we are told that "they 
 shall not be reckoned among the nations" (or Gentiles), 
 Num. xxiii. 9, and as to the Church of God, there is neither 
 
 1 See above, page 132. 
 
 154 
 
4. THE FUTURE NOT INTO PRESENT : THE 144,000 
 
 Jew nor Gentile (as such) in it (Gal. iii. 28; v. 6; vi. 15. 
 Col. iii. 11). 
 
 If we, therefore, join together what God has thus kept 
 distinct, we must get error instead of truth. 
 
 Besides, what do we gain by this disobedience to 
 2 Tim. ii. 15? Where does our advantage come in, by 
 thrusting the Church of God in everywhere, whether the 
 Scripture speaks of Israel or the Gentiles, or the Cherubim, 
 or the Twenty-four Elders, the Bride, Zion, and the New 
 Jerusalem, and everything else ? How much must be lost 
 to us of what God would teach us about these various 
 subjects of revelation. 
 
 Here, then, we have another example as to our not read- 
 ing what is still future into this present Dispensation. We 
 need not put the Church of God among those who are 
 numbered of the twelve Tribes of Israel, nor into the innu- 
 merable Gentile multitude. A time is coming when the 
 nations will "learn righteousness," not by the grace of God, 
 but by the judgments of God ; not by the preaching of the 
 Gospel, but by the proclamations of wrath. "O Lord . . . 
 when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of 
 the world will learn righteousness " (Isa. xxvi. 9). These 
 are the learners who will make up this "great multitude 
 which no man can number." Many may be of that num- 
 ber who will be left behind when the members of the 
 "One Body" shall have been received up in glory. Many 
 who have been members of churches, but not members of 
 the Church of God. Many who have been labouring at 
 trying to make a unity of the Body, instead of "endea- 
 vouring to keep the unity of the Spirit." They will then 
 learn from the judgments of God what they failed to 
 learn from the grace of God ; and they will pass through 
 and come out of the Great Tribulation and stand before 
 the throne of God. 
 
 Those who believe they will ijass through the Great 
 Tribulation must not be surprised if God deals with them 
 " according to their faith " ! 
 
 (c) Sundry Prophecies relating to the Future Dispensa- 
 tion are interpreted of the Present, to the loss of coherency 
 in the Word, and the gain of perplexity in the mind ; to 
 say nothing of the evils produced by perverting, and even 
 
 155 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 "wresting" certain Scriptures from their own specific 
 teaching. 
 
 " The heathen for thine inheritance." — How often, for 
 example, have we all heard Ps. ii. 8 quoted on the plat- 
 forms of missionary meetings : — 
 
 "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for 
 thine inheritance, 
 And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy 
 possession." 
 
 This promise to Christ, as Messiah, is quoted, as though 
 it was to be fulfilled by the preaching of the Gospel of the 
 grace of God in this present Dispensation ; whereas, the 
 very next verse, if quoted with it, would make such an 
 interpretation, or even application, impossible; for it * 
 would show us exactly how that promise is going to be 
 made good ; and that it will be by judgment, not by grace. 
 
 "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; 
 Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's 
 vessel." 
 
 When missionaries go forth equipped with a sceptre of 
 iron, instead of the gospel of peace, we may regard such 
 an application as being consistent. 
 
 This, really, comes under another head,^ which we pro- 
 pose to consider below, viz., the Importance of the Con- 
 text ; and the evils which are brought in by wresting any 
 passage from its context. The context of Ps. ii. 8, when 
 read with verse 9, shows decisively what the true inter- 
 pretation of verse 8 should be ; and the scope of the whole 
 Psalm would be seen to confirm it. 
 
 " The mountain of the Lord's house."" — Isa. ii. is an- 
 other example. We must all have heard verse 2 quoted 
 again and again of the Church of God : — 
 
 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, 
 That the mountain of the Lord's house shall be 
 
 established in the top of the mountains, 
 And shall be exalted above the hills ; 
 And all nations shall flow unto it," etc. 
 
 1 See under Canon IV. in Part II. 
 
 156 
 
4. THE FUTURE NOT TO BE READ INTO PRESENT 
 
 This is supposed to teach the future extension of the 
 Church of God, and its luiiversal blessing to the nations ; 
 and this, in spite of the many passages in the Epistles 
 which plainly tell us of the dark and terrible character 
 of the last days of the Church on earth : evil men waxing 
 worse and worse, scoffers walking after their own lusts, 
 the departure of many from the faith, turning away their 
 ears from the truth, and the turning them unto fables, 
 and all this culminating in "the apostasy" and the 
 revelation of Antichrist (1 Tim. iv. 2 Tim. iv. 2 Thess. ii. 
 2 Peter iii., etc.) 
 
 But beside all this, the immediate context of Isa. ii. 2 
 should have made such an interpretation (or even, 
 application) impossible; for the previous verse distinctly 
 states that it was "the word that Isaiah saw concerning 
 Judah and Jerusalem," and not concerning the Church 
 of God. 
 
 No application may be made of any Scripture that is 
 not in harmony with what is revealed elsewhere.^ Such 
 an application is forbidden by the subsequent teaching of 
 the Epistles as to the last days of this Dispensation; 
 while such an interpretation is forbidden by the context. 
 
 " Thy light is come." — Isa. Ix. 1, 3, 11, 12 is another 
 portion which is continually applied to the Church, and 
 used to set forth the ultimate triumph of the Gospel, in 
 order to the encouragement of missionary enterprise : 
 
 " Arise, shine for thy light is come. 
 And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee " (Isa. 
 Ix. 1). 
 
 Whose light ? And, Risen upon whom ? Not the Church 
 of God, but upon Jacob's seed, and his seed's seed (Isa. lix. 
 20) when "the Redeemer shall come to Zion." 
 
 So far from the Church being in this Scripture, verse 3 
 distinguishes Jew and Gentile ; and Gal. iii. 27, -28 dis- 
 tinguishes the Church from both : 
 
 "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, 
 And kings to the brightness of thy rising." 
 
 Here we see that the subject-matter is the Jew and 
 the Gentile ; while in the Church of God there is neithc^r 
 
 1 See Canon X., below, Part II. 
 
 157 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 the one nor the other. The prophet is speakmg of the 
 Future Dispensation, after the Church shall have been 
 "received up in Glory" ; he is speaking of that moment in 
 the Millennial Dispensation, when the Jew shall no longer 
 be the tail, but the head of the nations ; and when the 
 Gentiles shall bring their wealth and their glory to Israel. 
 This flowing of the nations for the aggrandizement of 
 Israel is spoken of in other prophecies, and in such terms 
 as to make even an application of them impossible ; to 
 say nothing of the interpretation. See Isa. Ixi. 3 — 6, and 
 Zech. xiv. 16 — 24, where it is distinctly stated that all this 
 shall be when "the Lord shall be king over all the earth" 
 [v. 9); when "Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited" {v. 11); 
 and all this, not until Messiah's feet shall have stood 
 "upon the Mount of Olives"; even that mount "which 
 is before Jerusalem on the East" (v. 4). 
 
 (d) "The Day of the Lord" is the Day when the Lord 
 shall rule the world in Judgment and Righteousness. 
 
 We shall see below, under the section which deals 
 with the importance of first occurrences of words and 
 expressions (Canon v.), that the one great outstanding 
 fact that will characterize that day will be that man will 
 be abased, and Jehovah exalted (Isa. ii. 11, 17). What- 
 ever may be the judgments, or the means employed, the 
 result will be that the clay of man's activities will come 
 to an end, and Jehovah will begin to work : and truly, 
 our hearts begin to say even now : 
 
 "It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: 
 For they have made void Thy law" (Ps. cxix. 126). 
 
 In this day, and in all previous Dispensations, judg- 
 ment and rule and power in the earth have been com- 
 mitted unto man. It is called "Man's Day" in 1 Cor. iv. 3, 
 where it is translated "man's judgment" (Margin, "Greek, 
 day "). Though the Greek word is " day " it is thus beauti- 
 fully translated ; for, this is the day when man is judging, 
 nationally and individually. Nationally he is a failure ; 
 for, the end of nearly six thousand years finds good 
 government to be the great want of the age, and the 
 great problem of the nations. Individually, man is a 
 worker of untold evils, and this in the Church as well 
 
 158 
 
5. FUTURE EVENTS : THE DIFFERENT ADVENTS 
 
 as in the world, or even more so. For, the judgment 
 of others instead of himself seems to be his one great 
 object, while the wreckage of broken hearts and ruined 
 lives testifies to the extent of the evils he has wrought. 
 
 Yes, this is "man's day." But, "the Lord's Day" is 
 coming,^ and John sees it laid out in vision before him, 
 when by the Spirit he was shown its course and its end 
 (Rev. i. 10).2 
 
 This is the day that concerns the world, and it will 
 suddenly overtake it, at the moment when "peace, peace" 
 shall be its cry, and "safety" its creed. 
 
 But we must not read that future Day into the present 
 hope of the Church of God, to the destruction of that 
 hope, and the loss of our peace, and the extinction of 
 our joy. For the promise to us is given in no uncertain 
 sound : " that day shall not overtake you as a thief." The 
 reason is, because we are "not in darkness" concerning 
 it ; we have the prophetic word which is a light in this 
 darkness (2 Pet. i. 19); and, for that very reason we are 
 called "the children of the light, and the children of the 
 day" (1 Thess. v. 1—5). 
 
 By rightly dividing the Word of truth we distinguish 
 between Man's day and the Lord's day ; and also between 
 the Lord's day and "the day of Christ" (Phil. i. 6; ii. 16), 
 when He who has begun the good work in us will perfect 
 it ; and we shall be with Christ ; and rejoice to find that 
 we "have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain." 
 
 5. One Part of the Future not necessarily to be read 
 into another part of the Future. 
 
 There are Advents, and Resurrections, and Judgments 
 which are all still future, and they must be rightly divided 
 the one from the other, respectively, if we would learn, 
 and know the truth respecting them. 
 
 (a) The Advents— There is the "Parousia," or Presence 
 of Christ, which is the subject of the earlier Pauline 
 Epistles, involving the Rapture of living saints and 
 the dead in Christ (1 Thess. iv.), and "our gathering 
 
 1 Four Prophetic Periods, by the sanic author and publisher. 
 See below, p. 11)8. Also a pamphlet on T/ic Lord's Day: Is it a Day of 
 the Week, or the Day oj" the Lord / by the same author and publisher. 
 
 150 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 together unto Him" (2 Thess. ii. 1) before His Advent in 
 judgment glory connected with "the Day of the Lord" 
 (Isa. ii. 11, 17. 1 Thess. v. 2). 
 
 These two are to be carefully and rightly divided. 
 
 The Parousia will be "our gathering unto" Christ, while 
 the Advent will be the gathering of Israel to their Messiah 
 and their Land (Gen. xlix. 10. Isa. xl. 11 ; xliii. 5 ; liv. 7. 
 Jer. xxix. 14 ; xxxi. 10 ; xxxii. 37. Ezek. xx. 34, 41 ; xxxiv. 
 12—14, &c.). 
 
 The Church of God has nothing to do with the Day 
 of the Lord. That day will overtake the world as a thief 
 in the night (1 Thess. v. 2). 
 
 But the Church of God is distinctly told that "that 
 day shall not overtake you as a thief " {v. 4). 
 
 The Church is assured that it Avill be at "rest . . . 
 WHEN the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven 
 with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance 
 on them that know not God " (2 Thess. i. 7, 8). These will 
 "be punished with everlasting destruction from the pre- 
 sence of the Lord and from the glory of His power 
 WHEN HE SHALL HAVE COME ' to be glorified in his 
 saints, and admired in all them that believe" (vv. 9, 10). 
 There are two marks of time "WHEN" in 2 Thess. i. 7 
 and 10 ; but they are not expressed in the same way in the 
 Greek.^ The first means "at" ; the second means " when." 
 
 Verse 7 relates to the Revelation of Christ to His 
 enemies ; verse 10 relates to the glorification of Christ 
 with His saints. 
 
 The Saints will be at rest AT His revelation (verse 7). 
 
 And WHEN He is revealed. He will have already come 
 and have been glorified with His saints (v. 10). 
 
 Scripture can hardly be clearer than this. 
 
 In order that there may be no mistake, the same fact 
 is put in two ways: first, the "rest" which we shall 
 have AT His Advent (His revelation in Judgment) ; and, 
 second, the fact that He shall have already given us this 
 rest, WHEN He is revealed. 
 
 1 Greek, exen (elthe), 2nd aorist Tense subjunctive Mood, as in Luke xvii. 10. 
 I Cor. XV. 24, where it is so translated. Compare Matt. xxi. 40. Mark viii. 38 ; 
 X. 23. John iv. 25 ; xvi. 13. Acts xxiii. 35. liom. xi. 27. 
 
 2 In Terse 7 it is eV 177 ^noKaKv^ljei. {en te apokalupsei), AT THE APOCALYPSE, 
 or revelation (as in the R.V.). In verse 10 it is orav e\er] {hotan elthe), WHEN 
 HE SHALL HAVE COME to be glorified. 
 
 160 
 
5. FUTURE EVENTS : THE DIFFERENT ADVENTS 
 
 It was this Advent which was the subject of Old 
 Testament prophecy. We read nothing of the Rapture 
 until it was revealed in 1 Thess. iv. 13— v. 11. This reve- 
 lation was made on purpose that we might not be 
 I "ignorant"; as all are, and must be, concerning these 
 ' things, unless they know what is here made known. 
 
 It was revealed for the special purpose, not only of 
 informing the Church of God as to what it was ignorant 
 of, but of comforting it. Twice over we have the exhor- 
 tation, "Wherefore comfort one another with these 
 words" (1 Thess. iv. 18); and, "Wherefore comfort your- 
 selves together, and edify (or build up) one another" 
 (1 Thess. V. 11). Both exhortations are introduced (in 
 English) with the word "wherefore,"^ showing the neces 
 sary connection between the cause and the effect ; and 
 linking them together. 
 
 If we read the Scriptures relating to the Rapture, and 
 interpret them of the Advent, what is intended for 
 our " comfort" will be used as an object of fear, and what 
 is given as "blessed hope" (Titus ii. 13) will be taken as 
 our dread. 
 
 With many this is the case. And all the mischief is 
 caused by not "rightly dividing" two truths both be- 
 longing to the same Dispensation. 
 
 At the present moment of writing, both are, of course, 
 future. Hence it is that so many mix them up together. 
 They both concern the Lord's Coming, hence it is they 
 are confused. 
 
 It is the same Christ who will gather His saints to 
 Himself at their Rapture ; and who will af terAvards gather 
 Israel to their Land. 
 
 His coming, from Gen. iii. 15, onward, has always been 
 the hope of Creation (Rom. viii. 19 23), and the hope of 
 Israel (Jer. xiv. 8), as it is now the hope of the Church of 
 God (Titus ii. 13). But, as with the Resurrections, each 
 is "in its own order." 
 
 In due time He came, but He was rejected and crucified. 
 Israel was "not gathered" at that coming (Isa. xlix. 5); 
 
 1 The former is wo-re (hoste), so that, marking the exhortation as the logical 
 rcHiilt of the revelation. 'J'hc latter is 5t6 (dio), on which account, wherefore, 
 marking tlie revelation aH being the ground of the exliortation. 
 
 101 L 
 
in. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 therefore that gathering is now in abeyance, until the 
 Lord's Advent, tlie Day of the Lord. 
 
 In that, which we «peak of (for the sake of convenience) 
 as the first coming," we have an ilhistration of what we 
 call the second coming." 
 
 There were prophecies even of that first coming which 
 had to be rightly divided in order to be understood, even 
 when read by those who lived in the Past Dispensation; 
 and which might have been understood had the words 
 of those prophecies been carefully noted. As these pro- 
 phecies serve to illustrate the order of events connected 
 with the second coming it may be well to look at them 
 more closely : 
 
 In Micali v. 2, and Zech. ix. 9, we have two passages 
 which both foretell and relate to that same first coming ; 
 and, fortunately, the English Version is as clear as the 
 Hebrew in both cases. 
 
 In Micah v. 2 the word is (ycitza), to come out. 
 
 In Zech. ix. 9 it is (^o'), to come in. 
 
 In Micah v. 2 the former is rendered "come forth," 
 and in Zech. ix. 9 the latter is rendered "come unto." 
 
 Both were then future. The one prophesied of Christ's 
 "coming forth" at Bethlehem, and the other prophesied 
 of Christ's "coming unto" Jerusalem. 
 
 Until the time came for their fulfilment, there was 
 nothing in those prophecies to tell the readers what 
 would be the interval between those two comings, or 
 Avhether there would be any at all. Tli3re was nothing 
 to tell them that they were separated, as we now know, 
 by more than thirty years. 
 
 Some readers indeed might interpret them of one and 
 the same event, and come to the conclusion that there 
 was "a discrepancy"; or that the text was corrupt, or 
 that there was something wrong with the translation. 
 
 These are the conclusions so readily come to by Higher 
 and Lower Critics, who first create the difficulty by not 
 rightly dividing the Word, and then endeavour to explain 
 it by cutting it to pieces with their pens, as Jehoiakim did 
 with his pen-knife. 
 
 Both these Scriptures speak of the same coming of 
 the Lord ; but they are separated by some thirty-three 
 years. He "came forth" from Bethlehem at His Incar- 
 
 162 
 
5. FUTURE EVENTS : THE DIFFERENT ADVENTS 
 
 nation (Matt. ii. 1). He "came unto'' Jerusalem six days 
 before His crucifixion (Matt. xxi. 1 — 10). 
 
 Had the Jews carefully read and received these words 
 of God as they were known and understood by many at 
 the time (Matt. ii. 4-6) they would not have stumbled at 
 His birth in humiliation. 
 
 All the events connected with those thirty-three years 
 we speak of as having taken place at His first coming. 
 
 In like manner, all the events that will take place 
 between Christ's "coming forth" into the air and His 
 "coming unto" Jerusalem in the Day of the Lord go to 
 make up what we speak of as His second coming. 
 
 But those events are all perfectly distinct, and are to 
 be rightly divided off the one from thj other, and are not 
 to be confused or confounded. 
 
 All the events which Avill occur between the coming 
 forth or the Descension of the Lord into the air, for our 
 "gathering together unto Him" there, and His coming 
 unto the earth, in power and great glory to execute 
 judgment, must be rightly divided in order to be rightly 
 understood. 
 
 We cannot, of course, speak positively as to the exact 
 duration of that interval between the "coming forth" 
 and the "coming unto." 
 
 Those who do not divide the Word at all make no 
 interval, but jumble all the Serij^tures up in confusion. 
 
 Others, who do make some attempt to divide it, make 
 the mistake, we believe, of limiting that interval to 
 "seven years," as being the "last week of Daniel." 
 
 True, there is such a period of "seven years" (Dan. ix. 
 27): but there is no need thus to limit that interval. 
 They may be the last seven of a larger number of years : 
 for many events have to take place and many things have 
 to be done during that interval. 
 
 Moreover, there is the o~uvTe7^€:oL (sunteleia), the con- 
 summation of the ages; and there is the r€7\.og (telos), the 
 crisis or end of the age.' 
 
 If the whole sunteleia should be forty years, and the 
 telos should Ije the last seven years, then we should 
 
 1 For the former see Matt. xiii. 33, 40, 40; xxiv. .*{; and for llic latter com- 
 pare Matt. xxiv. (j, 11. 
 
 loa L 2 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 have both periods of the thirty-three years and the 
 seven years. 
 
 (6) The Resurrections. — Several resurrections are spoken 
 of in the New Testament. 
 
 These have all to be rightly divided if we would learn 
 the truth of the Word. 
 
 Like the Coming of Christ, Resurrection was always 
 the hope of God's people.^ 
 
 And this Resurrection was twofold, and its hope con- 
 sisted of a first resurrection as distinct from a second." 
 These were distinguished as that of the "just" and "un- 
 just" (Acts xxiv. 15), "life" and "condemnation" (John 
 V. 29). 
 
 And they were distinguished also as to the times at 
 which they shall take place. 
 
 Both are connected with the Advent : the one being 
 immediately before the thousand years, and the other at 
 the end of the thousand years (Rev. xx. 4 — 6, 13). 
 
 These are referred to by our Lord : and the times and 
 their order are very definitely stated in 1 Cor. xv. 20 — 28. 
 
 Christ the firstfruits already raised. 
 
 Then there will be those who will be raised in their 
 own ranks, or order: "they that are Christ's" at "the 
 first resurrection" of Rev. xx. 5, 6. 
 
 Then there will come "the end" or last rank, at the 
 end of the thousand years (1 Cor. xv. 23, 24) ; when, 
 after the judgment of the great white throne, Christ will 
 deliver up the kingdom to the Father. 
 
 But in 1 Thess. iv. we have a special revelation as to 
 another resurrection at the time of the Rapture. We 
 must not confuse it with the "first" and "second" Resur- 
 rections of Rev. XX. These are both connected with the 
 Advent, the one, as we have seen, immediately before 
 the thousand years, and the other immediately after. 
 Both were the subject of Old Testament prophecy ; while 
 the Resurrection of 1 Thess. iv. 16 was a secret, then, for 
 
 1 Job xix. 26. Ps. xvi. 10 ; xlix. 15. Isa. xxvi. 19. Dan. xii. 2. Hos. xiii. 14. It 
 
 was announced at the Bush (Exod. iii. 6), where Christ says God spake " touch- 
 ing the resurrection of the dead" (Matt. xxii. 31, 32), "for God is not the God of 
 the dead but of the living." Therefore (the argument is), Abraham, Isaac, 
 and Jacob must rise again. This was their hope (Hob. xi. 8—16). 
 '•^ See Ps. xlix. 15. Dan. xii. 2. 
 
 164 
 
5. FUTURE EVENTS: THE RESURRECTIONS 
 
 the first time, made known in a special revelation "by 
 the word of the Lord." This formula always denotes a 
 special and specific prophetic announcement.^ Moreover, 
 it is not called a "Resurrection." The word is not a 
 Noun, but a Verb. "The dead in Christ shall rise first." 
 This word "first" has nothing to do with the "first 
 resurrection" of Rev. xx. 5, 6; but only with the fact 
 that it would be the former of the two there spoken of ; 
 their mention following closely one on the other. But 
 in 1 Thess. iv., two events are spoken of, not two resur- 
 rections: first "the dead in Christ shall rise": and second, 
 the living who remain shall be caught away in clouds 
 together, with them, unto the meeting of the Lord, into 
 the air; "and so {i.e., in this manner) we shall be ever 
 with the Lord." 
 
 Thus, the rising revealed in 1 Thess. iv., though it is 
 still future, at the moment of writing, will be the great 
 closing event of this present Dispensation, and will usher 
 in the succeeding Dispensation of Judgment. 
 
 There are some who believe that, in Phil. iii. 11 — 14, 
 we have a later revelation - referring either to an earlier 
 removal of the Saints; or to the hope of our "change" 
 without dying; as the special hope of the "prize of our 
 calling on high" {v. 14). This would then be either an 
 expansion of, or addition to, what is revealed in 1 Thess. 
 iv. concerning those who shall be alive and remain ; or a 
 fresh revelation of another and perhaps earlier "calling 
 on high." 
 
 Certainly we do not seem to have grasped or exhausted 
 all that that wonderful chapter (Phil, iii.) reveals. It 
 seems to be connected specially with the glorious revela- 
 tions made later in Ephesians and Colossians : and there- 
 fore with the Mystery of Christ and the Church in 
 Eph. V. 
 
 It may be asked whether 1 Thess. iv. and 1 Cor. xv. 
 completed all that God had then yet to reveal of the 
 riches of His glory : and whether the "prize of our calling 
 on high" may not refer to something special which God 
 
 1 See Gen, xv. 1. 1 Sam. ix. 27. 2 Sam. vil. 4, 1 Kings xii. 22. 1 Chron. xvii. 3. 
 2 Chron. xi. 2 ; xii. 7. Rev. i. 2, 9 ; vi. 9 ; xix. 13 ; xx. 4. 
 
 2 1 TheHsalonianH having been written a.d. 52 and Philippians nob till ten 
 or more years afterwards. 
 
 165 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 had held out for Paul's encouragement when in prison 
 in Rome. 
 
 The i^avafTTOi^ig (exanastasis) of Phil, iii, 11 certainly 
 seems to be something beyond the resurreciion revealed 
 in the former and earlier Scriptures. It means, ety- 
 mologically, out-resurrect I on, and followed as it is by 
 the pronoun 6/c {ek), out of, points to something quite 
 different and special. 
 
 The word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. 
 It is used by Polybius ^ in the sense of removal, and by 
 Strabo" in the sense of migration. In any case it Avas 
 something Paul hoped for and longed to arrive at.^ 
 
 It may point to our removal Avithout dying, or to a 
 more special, wondrous, and glorious change, correspond- 
 ing more with 1 Tim. iii. 16, "received up in glory," 
 referring only to those who shall be alive and remain. 
 
 Is not this, our removal, something for us to arrive 
 at? Is it not a great and glorious change to hope for? 
 
 In any case, if a special word of this kind is used later, 
 in Phil. iii. 11., are we right in jumping to the conclusion 
 that nothing different is meant, and there is no further 
 truth for us to receive or to rightly divide? 
 
 We have certainly several resurrections revealed : and 
 these resurrections being all future, and all in their own 
 proper order, it is impossible for us to avoid confusion 
 if we join them all together and make only one "general 
 resurrection" instead of "rightly dividing" them accord- 
 ing to the "order" which God has revealed. 
 
 (c) The Judgments. — The creeds of the churches know 
 of but one judgment, which they speak of as the "general, 
 judgment," as they know and speak only of one "general 
 resurrection." Yet, more than one is revealed in Scrip- 
 ture ; and they are all still future. But, each will be "in. 
 its own order," place, and time (Eccles. iii. 1, 17) : — 
 
 (1) 2 Cor. V. 10. — First, there is the appearance of the- 
 risen and changed saints before the Bema of Christ. 
 
 1 Polybius, ii. 21, 9. 2 strabo, 102. 
 
 3 The word is Karavriia (katantao), to arrive at (see all the occurrences: Acts 
 xvi. 1 ; xviii. 19, 24 ; xx. 15 ; xxi. 7 ; xxv. 13 ; xxvi. 7 ; xxvii. 12 ; xxviii. 13. 1 Cor, 
 X. 11 ; xir. 36. Eph. iv. 13 ; and Phil. iii. 11). T^.e^ word "attained" in verse. Igj 
 is Aa/xj3at/co (lambano), to receive. 
 
 166 
 
5. FUTURE EVENTS: THE JUDGMENTS 
 
 The thne of this is "the Day of Christ" in the air, 
 while it is the day of Antichrist on the earth. 
 
 The place is the Bema of Christ : that is the dais from 
 which rewards and prizes are given ; not the Bench from 
 which sentences or judgments are pronounced. 
 
 The reason why "we" appear is to "receive" rewards 
 for "deeds done," service rendered, and works wrought: 
 as well as the "crown of righteousness " which the righ- 
 teous Judge shall give in that day. We "appear" there 
 not to receive condemnation (Rom. viii. 1); but to "have 
 praise of God" (1 Cor. iv. 5): we shall "not come into 
 judgment" as to our standing or aught else (John v. 24); 
 for the feeblest, and weakest, and poorest of the children 
 of God will "appear" there as having been already judged 
 " in the person of their Substitute. 
 
 The j)ersons who will stand there will be there in all 
 the glory and perfection of their resurrection bodies. 
 We are, even here, and now, "in Christ;" and we shall 
 be none the less that when we are changed and made 
 like Christ Himself. True, "we shall all stand before 
 the Bema of Christ " (Rom. xiv. 9 — 13), but we shall stand 
 there as saved : with and in our resurrection bodies 
 made like Christ's own glorious body (Phil. iii. 20, 21). 
 
 (2) Matt. XXV. 31—46. — In this passage we have another 
 judgment spoken of. 
 
 The ''time'' for this will be "when the Son of Man 
 shall ... sit upon the throne of His glory and before 
 him shall be gathered all the Gentiles" [ra ta ethjie.) 
 
 The persons will be the nations. The word kd^iq (ethne) 
 is rendered nations 64 times, and Gentiles 93 times ; hea- 
 then, 5 times, and people, twice. The Jews therefore Avill 
 not be there, for they are "not reckoned among the 
 nations" (Num. xxiii. 9); and the Church of God will not 
 be there, because it bears no relation to Christ as "the 
 Son of Man," ' and because it shall not come into judgment 
 at all (John v. 24. Rom. viii. 1). 
 
 The place is "before the throne of his glory." TJiat 
 this throne will be on earth is clear from Isa. xxxiv. 1, 2. 
 Ezek. xxxix. 21. Joel iii. 1, 2, 11, 12. 
 
 1 See above, page 110. 
 
 167 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 The ground of the judgment is not even righteousness, 
 much less holiness. It is not the ground either of grace, 
 or of faith. And as to works, it is not even "good 
 works " generally, and as such, but only one specific work, 
 viz., as to how they have treated the "brethren" of the 
 Judge, i.e., the Jews. This can only refer to those 
 nations who are alive to stand before that Judge, and 
 which have thus treated or maltreated His "brethren." 
 For there is not a word about resurrection, and we dare 
 not put into the passage so important a matter when 
 the Holy Spirit has so scrupulously left it out. But 
 there are many who do this, and yet with a strange 
 perversity would leave it out of Rev. xx. 4 — 6, where 
 God has put it in with all the emphasis of reiteration. 
 
 The reivard is peculiar. It is entrance into " the 
 Kingdom prepared FROM the foundation of the world." 
 
 How the Church, which is "in Christ" BEFORE the 
 foundation of the Avorld (Eph. i. 4),^ can "enter the King- 
 dom," is a problem, which those who make it must solve 
 as best they can. 
 
 This kingdom is "under the whole heaven" (Ps. cxv. 
 16), upon the earth, and before the Millennium when He 
 shall appear with His holy angels "to execute judgment" 
 (Zech. xiv. 5. 2 Thess. ii. 8. Jude U).^ 
 
 But even this judgment is neither total, nor final, for 
 after the thousand years, Satan "must be loosed for a 
 little season," in order to show that man remains the 
 same in spite of all the evidences of the Glory of the 
 Millennial reign. 
 
 The nations of the Gentiles immediately range them- 
 selves under Satan's banner of revolt ; and are at once 
 destroyed without parley, by the special judgment of 
 "fire from heaven" (Rev. xx. 7 — 10). 
 
 (3) Rev. XX. 11 — 15. This is the great and final judg- 
 ment scene. 
 
 As to time, it is immediately after the thousand years. 
 This marks it off from all others. 
 
 1 When Christ or the Church is mentioned it is "before" the foundation 
 of the world (John xvii. 24. Eph. i, 4. 1 Pet. i. 20) ; but whenever the Kingdom is 
 in question it is "from" the foundation of the world (Matt- xiii.35; xxv. 34. 
 J.uke xi. 50. Heb. iv. 3 ; ix. 2G. Rev. xiii. ? ; xvii, 8), 
 
 2 See above, pages 110, 117. 
 
 168 
 
5. CANONICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TEACHING 
 
 As to place, it is before "the great white throne." 
 
 The persons who appear before it are to be raised from 
 the dead for this special purpose. They lived before the 
 thousand years, but they "lived not again until the 
 thousand years were finished" {v. 4). Those who died 
 during the thousand years must also be there, not one 
 will be there who has not died. It is "the resurrection 
 of judgment" (John v. 29) or condemnation. 
 
 Those who introduce the dead among the living nations 
 in Matt. xxv. do not hesitate to introduce the living among 
 the dead in Rev. xx. 
 
 We have thus seen that there are these several judg- 
 ments : and that while all are still future, we have to 
 rightly divide them as to their order, and nature, and 
 character. 
 
 6. The Truth and Teaching of the CANONICAL Order 
 is to be distinguished from the CHRONOLOGICAL 
 and Historical Order. 
 
 By Canonical order we mean the order in which the 
 teaching comes to us in the Canon of Scripture. That 
 order is more or less Divine, at any rate so far as the 
 Old Testament is concerned ; ^ and so far as the order of 
 the Pauline Epistles is concerned.^ 
 
 By Chronological and Historical order we mean the 
 order in which books were written and events happened. 
 
 These two may not always be the same in their teach- 
 ing. One may be Dispensational, and the other may be 
 Experimental. 
 
 All God's "works" are perfect, and so are all His 
 "ways." All can see His works, but He has Himself to 
 make known His own ways ; as it is written (Ps. ciii, 7), 
 
 "He made known His WAYS unto Moses, 
 His ACTS unto the children of Israel." 
 
 (a) The Tabernacle.— When He ordered the making of 
 the Tabernacle He began with the Ark of the Covenant 
 (Exod. xxv. 10) ; then the Mercy Seat {v. 17) ; then the Table 
 {v. 23) ; then the Candlestick (v. 31) ; then the Tabernacle 
 
 1 See The Names and Order of the Books of the Old Testament, by the 
 =anie author and publisher. 
 
 ^ See The Church Epistles, by the same author and publisher, pp. J) to 15. 
 
 169 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATION AL TliUTH 
 
 (cli. xxvi.); then the Altar of Burnt Offering, and the 
 Gate (eh. xxvii. 1, 9, 16). But that was the historical 
 order, as originating only from God's side. He begins 
 with and from Himself. But those for whom it was 
 given, and Avho approached to receive its benefits and 
 its blessings, experimentally, began at the other end, 
 with the Gate ; and then went on to the worship of God, 
 ending Avith the communion of the Mercy Seat. 
 
 (6) The Great Offerings. — It was the same with the 
 four Great Offerings (the Sin and Trespass Otter higs being 
 reckoned as one). God begins (Lev. i.) with the whole 
 Burnt Offering, setting forth the value of Christ's offering 
 in relation to Himself; descending by the Meal Offering 
 (Lev. ii.), the Peace Offering (Lev. iii.), the Sin and the 
 Trespass Offering (Lev. iv., v.), to the deepest needs of His 
 people. But His people began at the other end, and ap- 
 proached witli the sin offering first, as setting forth the 
 experimental sense of their need (Ps. xxxii. 1, 2). 
 
 (c) The Four Gospels.— 8o, also, as it required four 
 Great Offerings to set forth all the various aspects of 
 Christ's death, so it required four Gospel records to set 
 forth His earthly life; and it would be as reasonable to 
 attempt to make the four Offerings into one as to vainly 
 attempt to "harmonize" the four Gospels into one; as 
 though there were any want of "harmony" in them. 
 
 (d) 1 Samuel. — It is well known that objections have 
 been made against the text of the Book of Samuel because 
 all the events are not in chronological order. But where is it 
 said that they are ? And why should they necessarily be so ? 
 
 A human author arranges his matter as he pleases ; 
 and after bringing up his subject to a certain point, may go 
 back and bring up some other matter to the same point. 
 
 Or he may introduce a later event and record it Avhere 
 it is desirable to bring out a certain contrast by way of 
 emphasizing it, leaving it to the reader to discover his 
 reason for doing so, and thereby fixing the lesson more 
 surely on his mind. 
 
 A human author, we repeat, may do this ; but the Holy 
 Spirit of God may not do it, forsooth, without having 
 objections raised against Inspiration I 
 
 170 
 
G. CANONICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TEACHING 
 
 Notably is this the case Avith 1 Sam. xvi. 1 to xviii. 30. 
 
 Here tiie commentators do not hesitate to charge the 
 Text with being corrupted, interpolated or transposed ; 
 and charges of contradictions and discrepancies are levelled 
 against the genuineness and authority of Scripture.^ 
 
 Why not recognize the fact that we have four events the 
 Chronological and Historical order of which is as follows : 
 
 (1) 1 Sam. xvi. 1—13. The Call of David by God. 
 
 (2) xvii. 1— xviii. 4. The Call of David by Saul. 
 
 (3) xvi. 14 — 23. David enters Saul's house. 
 
 (4) xviii. 5 — 30. David leaving Saul's house. 
 
 This being the historical order, why may not the Holy 
 Spirit arrange them in such order that He may call atten- 
 tion to His secret movements which were shaping the 
 whole history? And why may He not alternate David 
 and Saul in order to emphasize the coming of the Spirit 
 on David, and the departing of the Spirit from Saul ? In 
 order to show this we have the four events in their spiri- 
 tual significance and teaching, according to the following : 
 
 Structure of Canonical Order: 1 Sam. xvi. — xviii. 
 
 A I xvi. 1—13. David's Call by God. The Spirit com- 
 I ing upon him. 
 
 B xvi. 14—23. Saul : The Spirit departing 
 from him. 
 
 A 1 xvii. 1— xviii. 4. David's Call by Saul. 
 
 B xviii. 5—30. Saul : The Spirit departing 
 from him. 
 
 Here, instead of the bare historical facts and exoteric 
 events, we are taken to the esoteric reason for them all. 
 That which explains them is the underlying counsel of 
 God, who had rejected Saul, and taken His Spirit from him. 
 
 Thus we have the double lesson ; and we retain the 
 latter Avithout losing the former. 
 
 If we compare the outward historical order with 
 the inner and spiritual teaching we see at once why 
 
 1 Dr. Adam Clarke questions " the authenticity" of the verses which concern 
 this subject, and quotes J'ilkington and Kennicott, who suppose it "to be an 
 interpolation of some rabbinical writer, added at a very early i)criod to the 
 Hebrew Text," and a proof of "the carelessness or infidelity of transcribers." 
 But, surely, to put these passa;?es down, thus, to knavery la to char^^o tho 
 writers also with the folly of children! 
 
 171 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATION AL TRUTH 
 
 ch. xvi. 14—23, where the Spirit departs from Saul, is 
 brought out of its chronological place, and placed in close 
 juxtaposition with xvi. 1 — 13, where the Spirit comes upon 
 David. 
 
 (e) " The Words of Jeremiah.'' — Few books have suffered 
 more from this treatment than the Prophet Jeremiah. 
 
 It is not disputed that the chapters as they are given 
 to us in Scripture are not necessarily given in their 
 Historical and Chronological order. 
 
 This is so obvious that there is no hint of it given in 
 the text. Even the natural man can easily arrange the 
 chapters according to their chronology. 
 
 But in this case again the experimental teaching depends 
 entirely on the canoyiical order of the chapters. And the 
 canonical order can be shown only by its structure : 
 
 The Prophecy of Jereyyiiah as a whole. 
 A I i. 1 — 3. Introduction. 
 
 B I i. 4 — 19. Jeremiah's commission given. 
 
 C I ii. — XX. Prophecies addressed to the 
 I Jews (Josiah). 
 
 D I xxi.— XXXV. History, etc. (Jelioia- 
 I kim) (Not in chronological order.) 
 E j xxxvi. Baruch. His mission 
 I to Jehoiakim. 
 xxxvii. — xlv. History, etc. (Zede- 
 kiah). {In chronological order.) 
 C I xlvi. — li. 64-. Prophecies addressed to 
 I the Gentiles. 
 B I li. -64. Jeremiah's commission ended. 
 A I lii. Appendix. 
 
 It will be seen from the above structure that it is the 
 history connected with Jehoiakim which is not given in 
 its chronological order. 
 
 The member D is specially set in contrast with the 
 member D, and Zedekiah's history, being in chrono- 
 logical order, emphasizes and calls our attention to the 
 fact, that it is Jehoiakim's history which is not in chrono- 
 logical order. 
 
 And why should it be? Who was Jehoiakim? Was 
 it not he who cut up the words of Jehovah with a pen- 
 knife? Why should not his history be cut up with the 
 
 172 
 
0. CANONICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TEACHING 
 
 pen? What does it matter how his history is treated? 
 Note the contrast between him and king Josiah. Josiah, 
 when the book of the law was found and the king heard 
 the words of the law, rent his clothes (2 Chron. xxxiv. 
 14, 19, 21, 30) and submitted himself to it. He reigned 
 with honour, and when he died he "was buried in one of 
 the sepulchres of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem 
 mourned for Josiah" (2 Chron. xxxv. 21). 
 
 On the other hand, Jehoiakim, who refused to hear 
 the word of the Lord, and cut it in pieces, was "buried 
 with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond 
 the gates of Jerusalem"; and his dead body was "cast 
 out in the day to the heat and in the night to the frost" 
 (according to the prophecies in Jer. xxii. 18, 19 ; xxxvi. 30). 
 
 And, if any doubt remains as to the reason why this 
 lesson of the prophecy of Jeremiah should not be lost, 
 and its experimental teaching hidden and marred, let the 
 structure of the Canonical portion connected with Jehoia- 
 kim be carefully studied ; and its perfection be duly noted. 
 
 It is as follows : 
 
 D {Jer. ). The Canonical History connected with 
 
 Jehoiakim. {Not chronological.) 
 
 D I F I xxi. Defeat and Captivity proclaimed. 
 
 ! G I xxii.— xxiii. 8. Promise of the BRANCH. 
 
 H xxiii. 9—40. Whirlwind. False Prophets. 
 Rejection. 
 
 J I xxiv. Figs. Discrimination. (Captives 
 I and Remnant.) 
 K I XXV. 1—11. Time : Seventy years. 
 L I XXV. 12—88. Nations (The Cup). 
 M I xxvi. Proclamation in the 
 I Court of Jehovah's House. 
 L j xxvii. Nations. (The Bonds and 
 I Yoke.) 
 K I xxviii. Time : Two years. 
 J I xxix. Figs. Discrimination. (Captives 
 ' and Remnant.) 
 H XXX., xxxi. Whirlwind. The Book. Re- 
 ' storation. 
 
 G I xxxii., xxxiii. Promise of the BRANCH. 
 F\ xxxiv., xxxv. Defeat and Captivity proclannod. 
 
 173 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATlOxXAL TRUTH 
 
 Is it not clear why this, the Canonical order, is so 
 perfectlj^ constructed? And is not the Experimental 
 teaching exhibited by it shown to be of far greater 
 importance than that of the mere Chronological and 
 Literary order? 
 
 (/) The Pauline Epistles. — In our work on the Church 
 Epistles we have set forth the experimental teaching of 
 their canonical order : and have shown that they are pre- 
 sented to us in the order in which we are to study bhem. 
 
 In them we have the fulfilment of the Lord's own pro- 
 mise, given in John xvi. 12—15 : "I have many things to 
 say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, 
 when He the Spirit of truth (lit., shall have) come, He 
 will guide you into all the truth. He shall not speak of 
 (or from) Himself ; but whatsoever He shall hear, that 
 shall He speak : and He will shew you things to come. 
 He shall glorify me : for He shall reaeive of mine, and 
 shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath 
 are mine : therefore said I, that He shall take of mine, 
 and shall shew it unto you." 
 
 That is to say, that had the Lord spoken them then 
 His disciples would not have bean able to bear them. 
 
 Whatever may be the force of the Avord "bear," the 
 contrast is between what they could not do "now," at 
 that time, and what they would be able to do at some 
 later time. 
 
 Time, therefore, does enter into the interpretation of 
 words. 
 
 There could be no doctrine until the facts had taken 
 place on which they were based. 
 
 There could be no Epistles until the Gospel history had 
 been accomplished. 
 
 There could be no doctrine of Redemption or Atone- 
 ment until His blood had been shed ; and He, as a corn 
 of wheat, had fallen into the ground and died (John 
 xii. 24). 
 
 "The things of Christ "Avere the doctrines concerning 
 Him which were after Avard "taken "and revealed by the 
 Holy Spirit in the Epistles specially addressed to churches 
 as such. If not, Where, and Hoav, and When, has this 
 Divine promise ever been fulfilled ? Where has He guided 
 
 174 
 
6. CANONICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TEACHING 
 
 us into "all the truth"? Where are we to look for this 
 truth except in these Epistles which were written Avhen 
 He, the Spirit of truth had come? 
 
 Those who neglect the teaching of the Epistles reject 
 these words of CJirist. They "cannot bear them," even 
 now. They put themselves back into a Dispensation 
 which has passed away, and refuse to bear the words 
 now that they have been spoken and written for our 
 learning. 
 
 Many, thank God, are heeding what has since been 
 revealed. Many are rejoicing in these "things of Christ" 
 Avhich the Spirit of truth has received, and has shown 
 what God has made Christ to be unto us, and what He has 
 made us to be "in Christ." Many are reading and study- 
 ing the Epistles which the Spirit of truth has addressed 
 to the churches by the Apostle Paul. 
 
 We have spoken of some of the Dispersion Epistles 
 under the heading of rightly dividing of the subject- 
 matter (pp. 72-78), according to which Paul's Epistles must 
 be divided olf from those other Epistles which are not 
 addressed directly to the Church of God. 
 
 We are specially concerned now, therefore, with 
 
 The Pauline Epistles. 
 
 Besides the group of Epistles addressed to the Disper- 
 sion (1 and 2 Peter, and James), there is another group of 
 General Epistles (1, 2, and 3 John and Jude); and yet 
 another group of Pauline Epistles. 
 
 These groups, whatever may be their order in the 
 ancient Greek manuscripts, always consist of the same 
 Epistles, and are thus preserved distinct and separate 
 from the others. 
 
 In some MSS. the Dispersion group follows the Acts ; 
 and is followed by the General group, concluding with 
 the Pauline group. 
 
 In the Pauline group the order of the Epistles varies 
 to this extent ; the Epistles addressed to churches (in 
 which we include Romans and Ephesians, though they 
 are not specifically so addresse;!) arc always found toge- 
 ther, and in the order in whicli we have them in our 
 Bibles to-day. No Greek MS. has ever yet been seen in 
 
 175 
 
III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 which this order varies. But in some MSS. the other 
 Pauline Epistles do vary; the Pastoral Epistles some- 
 times preceding and sometimes following the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews. We believe that the proper place of 
 Hebrews is last, both canonically and chronologically, 
 thus closing up Judaism effectually and cutting it off 
 completely. 
 
 Many have observed the importance of the epoch 
 marked by the Destruction of the Temple in a.d. 70, and 
 the wonderful effect it must have had on Judaism and 
 Christianity. This epoch is marked in the New Testament 
 by the Epistle to the Hebrews, written in a.d. 68. 
 
 In our work on The Church Epistles we have dealt 
 only with their Canonical order ; but their Chronological 
 order is not without its own direct teaching. 
 
 The Holy Spirit of God has specially preserved and 
 given them to us in their Canonical order, because that 
 is the order in which we have to learn their truths, which 
 are experimental, and are therefore more important for 
 our spiritual life. 
 
 That Canonical order is as follows : — 
 
 Romans. Doctrinal. Dogmatic Instruction (in 
 which Paul was alone in writing). 
 
 B Corinthians. Reproof for practical failure 
 as to Romans' teaching. (Paul, Sosthenes, 
 and Timothy). 
 
 Galatians. Correction for doctrinal 
 failure as to Romans' teaching. (Paul 
 and all the brethren). 
 Ephesians. Doctrinal. Dogmatic instruction. 
 (Paul alone in writing). 
 
 Philippians. Reproof for practical failure 
 as to Ephesians' teaching. (Paul and 
 Timothy). 
 
 CoLOSSiANS. Correction for doctrinal 
 failure as to Ephesians' teaching. 
 (Paul and Timothy). 
 Thessalonians. Praise and thanksgiving for a 
 model church, manifesting the fruits of Paul's 
 teaching in Acts xvii. 1-3, in holiness of life and 
 missionary zeal (Paul, Silvan us, and Timothy). 
 176 
 
6. CANONICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TEACHING 
 
 These are the exjperiinental lessons of the Canonical 
 order. ' 
 
 But the Chronological order is equally a fact, and it has 
 its own special teaching for us, which is Dispensational. 
 
 These Epistles are not given to us in this order, be- 
 cause the Dispensational teaching is not so important or 
 so essential to our salvation. 
 
 The experimental teaching, which is essential, is ensured 
 to us by the Canonical order in which we receive them ; 
 but the Disijensational teaching of their Chronological 
 order has to be sought out, by rightly dividing them 
 according to the times when they were respectively 
 written. 
 
 Both orders are divine ; and they have their distinct 
 and separate teaching. 
 
 This element of time, in interpretation, reminds us that 
 Paul never saw any of John's writings ! None of the 
 churches to whom he addressed his Epistles had ever 
 yet seen John's Gospel ! That Gospel, therefore, cannot 
 be necessary to the understanding of the Epistles, or to 
 the formation of churches. 
 
 Not until some twenty years after Paul's death was 
 John inspired to write. How real must have been his 
 inspiration to give us those verbal conversations of the 
 Lord with Nicodemus, the woman of Samaria and others 
 at which John himself was not present, even though he 
 was a disciple at the time. 
 
 All this shows us that we are not to read subsequent 
 revelations into previous writings. The "not yet" of 
 Heb. ii. 8. and the "cannot now" of John xvi. 12, must 
 be allowed to have their full weight in the interpretation 
 of the Scriptures of truth; and, especially in the Epistles 
 of Paul, if we are to "understand the Scriptures." 
 
 The churches whom he addressed could not fail to 
 rightly divide the words of truth which they received. 
 They could not mix up the four Gospels with the Prison- 
 Epistles. The TJiessalonians could not confuse their teach- 
 ing with what was written long after to the Ephesians, 
 or to the Hebrews ; and which they had never seen. 
 
 But we now have "All Scripture" and our responsi- 
 bility is therefore greater 
 
 i See The Church Ejjistles, by the same author and publislicr. 
 
 177 M 
 
III.— RIGHTLY DIVIDING DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH 
 
 If we do not rightly divide "all Scripture" according 
 to the times, when, and as it was written, it will be 
 impossible for us to be guided into "all truth." 
 
 Even where this dividing of the Word of truth 
 according to its subject-matter is carried out, there has 
 been failure to carry it out fully with reference to its 
 dispensational or chronological teaching. 
 
 And as so very few thus fully observe this all-important 
 precept, and fulfil this great requirement of the Divine 
 Word, it is all the more necessary that we should make 
 an attempt to do so, in some measure, here, and now.' 
 
 The Chronological order is as follows, according to the 
 generally received dates :— 
 
 1 Thess. A.D. 52 from Corinth. 
 
 2 Thess. 53 ,, ,, 
 
 1 Cor. ,, 57 from Ephesus (spring). 
 
 2 Cor. „ 57 ,, ,, (autumn). 
 Gal. „ 57 from Corinth (winter). 
 Romans 58 „ 
 
 Acts xxviii. 25, 26 (A.D. 62). 
 
 Ephesians a.d. 62 ] ] ^ ^ . 
 
 Oolossians „ 62 "^""^ T '""^f^'f " 
 Philippians ,, 62 autumn j 
 
 1 Timothy 67 from Corinth. 
 Titus „ 67 „ 
 
 2 Timothy ,, 68 from Prison in Rome. 
 
 It is obvious that we must not read into the Acts or 
 Paul's earlier Epistles that which was revealed to him 
 later, while in prison in Rome. 
 
 Up to Acts xxviii. Peter's offer of the kingdom (Acts iii. 
 19—21, R.V.) was still open. 
 
 Stephen (a.d. 33) sees the Lord Jesus still standing 
 (Acts vii. 55), for He had not yet "sat down" at the right 
 hand of God (Heb. x. 12, a.d. 68). 
 
 Isaiah vi. had been twice quoted by Christ as not yet 
 fulfilled, Matt. xiii. 15 (Mark iv. 12. Luke viii. 10) and 
 John xii. 40. 
 
 1 We must refer our readers here to two separate pamphlets on this sub- 
 ject, viz., The Pauline Epistles and The Good Deposit; or in Things to Come, 
 April and May, 1907, and subsequent numbers. 
 
 178 
 
G. CANONICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TEACHING 
 
 Not until Acts xxviii. 25, 26, was Paul commissioned to 
 pronounce this threatened judicial blindness, for the third, 
 and last time. 
 
 It is obvious that not until after Acts xxviii. could any 
 declaration of the Mystery have been made. Until then 
 nothing could be said which would be incompatible with 
 the possible acceptance of Peter's offer. 
 
 However, we must refer the reader to our separate 
 pamphlet on this subject ; and to pages 165, 166, above, 
 where we have spoken of the possibility of there being 
 some further revelation in Phil. iii. 
 
 Enough has been said on this whole subject of rightly 
 dividing the Dispensational truth and teaching to show 
 the importance of obeying the precept in these various 
 particulars. 
 
 179 
 
PART Il.-THE WORDS 
 
PART IL— THE WORDS 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 Having considered the study of the WORD as a whole, 
 we now come to the study of the WORDS of which it is 
 made up. 
 
 The Lord Jesus said, not only, "I have given them Thy 
 WORD" (John xvii. 14); but, "I have given unto them the 
 WORDS which Thou gavest me"(i;. 8). 
 
 In the former of these two solemn statements 'Kayog 
 (logos) is used; in the latter it is prjuoc (rhema). 
 
 There is this difference between the two : Xoyoc (logos), 
 generally speaking, is taken as meaning a tvord as made up 
 of letters ; and pyj^a (rhema), a saying as made up of 
 words. 
 
 It is worthy of note, that it is in this latter connection 
 our Lord speaks of all that He uttered as being given to 
 Him by the Father to speak : He spake nothing of, or 
 from. Himself. 
 
 Seven times did He declare this great and solemn fact : ^ 
 so that those who charge our Lord with ignorance of what 
 He said, or with knowingly accommodating Himself to 
 the traditional belief of the people, are charging this homo 
 upon God Himself; for the words of Christ were, He 
 says, "not mine, but the Father's which sent me." 
 
 The "Higher" critics, therefore, who say that David 
 did not write Psalm ex. really "make God a liar." 
 
 But this is not our point here, though it would be 
 unwise to pass it by. 
 
 ^ 1. "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me" (John vii. 16). 
 
 2. "As My Father hath taught Me I speak these things" (John viii. 28). 
 
 3. "Why do ye not believe Me? He that is of God heareth God's words" 
 
 (John viii. 47). 
 
 4. " The Father which sent me, He gave Me a commandment what I should 
 
 say and what I should speak" (John xii. 49). 
 '). "'J"he words that 7 speak unto you I si)f;ak not of Myself" (John xiv. 10). 
 G. "'I'he word wliicli ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's, which sent 
 
 Me" (John xiv. 21). And here— 
 7. "I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest Mo" (John 
 
 xvii. 8). 
 
 183 
 
HOW TO ENJOY THE BIBLE 
 
 The "Word" as a whole, Christ speaks of m His last 
 prayer to the Father as "THY WORDS"; and the matter, 
 and the words of which it is made up, are the words 
 given Him, by the Father, to speak. 
 
 Whether "sayings" or "words," a revelation, in writing, 
 is impossible apart from words ; hence the importance of 
 studying, not merely the Word as a whole, but the actual 
 words in which it is given to us. 
 
 When, of course, we speak of the ''ivords" it must 
 be borne in mind that we mean Hebrew and Greek words ; 
 for in these, the original languages, have the words been 
 given to us. 
 
 We cannot hold the Spirit of God responsible for the 
 way in which individual men have chosen to translate the 
 original words in their respective languages. 
 
 It was truly said by Archbishop Whately that "the 
 Bible consists of the Old Testament in Hebrew and the 
 New Testament in Greek; and a translation of them is 
 only an Interpretation according to the best judgment of 
 the translator." 
 
 Each, doubtless, has done the best he could, and has 
 brought to bear upon the work his highest powers. 
 
 But, unless he has been guided by principles such as 
 those which we have laid down in the first part of this 
 work, his best efforts will be of little avail for us ; for he will 
 have given us only his own judgment and his own views. 
 
 Those views are, very largely, traditional. He comes 
 to the Avork of Bible study with his views already more 
 or less fixed. These have been derived from what he has 
 first, and already, received from a man like himself. He 
 may perhaps be more widely read in what others before 
 him have said, but still he is more or less tied and bound 
 by traditional views. 
 
 It is surprising, when we really come to examine 
 ourselves closely in this matter, how much of what we 
 already believe has been "received by tradition from our 
 fathers." How little has actually been derived from our 
 own direct personal study of the Word of God itself. 
 We believe what we have received from man ; and we do 
 our best to get it confirmed by the Bible. When we are 
 unable to get the confirmation we are in search of, then 
 we find whnt we call a "difficulty." But the difficulty is 
 
 184 
 
THE WORDS: INTRODUCTORY 
 
 not in the Word of God itself ; it is in our own minds. 
 Tlie real difficulty is in giving up our own views because 
 we fail to make the Bible confoi'in to them. It does not, 
 at first, occur to our minds that we may have to abandon 
 some of our views if we would get rid of the difficulty. 
 
 Even where there is no difficulty, and our view is 
 indeed in accord with the Word of God, we shall find it 
 better to study the Word of truth afresh, and learn it 
 again direct from the Scrlptxires. 
 
 This is what we must do if we would really profit by 
 the Word so as to enjoy it. It is better for the truth to 
 hold us, than for us to hold the truth. The two things are 
 very different. 
 
 Hence the importance of our great subject, how to 
 study the "WORDS which the Holy Ghost teacheth." 
 (1 Cor. ii. 13.) 
 
 As to the original words we must consider them further 
 on. Though, in one sense, that consideration should 
 logically come first, yet, as we are writing for English 
 readers, we may Avell defer the Hebrew and Greek words 
 to our section on "The Usage of Greek Words" (Canon 
 III.), and "The Place of Various Readings" (Canon XII.), 
 in which we shall put our English readers in possession 
 of all that is essential for them to know. 
 
 Our concern now is with the words in the English 
 versions: and our object is to see how far they accord 
 with the words in the original, without a specific know- 
 ledge of that original. That is to say, how far an English 
 reader may, by observing certain principles, which we 
 propose to lay down, find out for himself the meaning of 
 the original, and discover the mind of God, who is revealing 
 Himself therein. 
 
 Our task is not easy, because often, while we are dis- 
 cussing one particular princii^le, the passage in question 
 may require the axjplication of several of these principles, 
 or Canons, in order to our full and proper understanding 
 of it. 
 
 We would therefore lay down our first great principle 
 that the meaning of words is to be gatlierod from the 
 scoi)e of a passage, and not the interpretation of a 
 passage from the words. 
 
 185 
 
CANON I. 
 
 THE MEANING OP WORDS IS TO BE GATHERED 
 FROM THE SCOPE OP THE PASSAGE ; AND 
 NOT THE SCOPE FROM THE WORDS. 
 
 1. ''Private Interpretation.'"— A passage which furnishes 
 a good illustration is 2 Pet. i. 20 : "No prophecy of the 
 Scripture is of any private interpretation." 
 
 These words, taken by themselves, would present no 
 difficulty to a Roman Catholic, because they appear to 
 agree with the tradition he has received. But they present 
 a grave difficulty to a Protestant who has been taught, 
 and who believes, that God's word is for all. 
 
 "Hear, O heavens, and 
 Give ear, O earth. 
 For Jehovah hath spoken." 
 
 This word from Isa. i. 2 sums vip the ground of our 
 belief ; and this is why this text was printed by the 
 Reformers on the title-page of the early editions of our 
 English Bibles. 
 
 The question which here presents itself is : How is 
 this apparent difficulty to be solved. 
 
 We are studying the "Words," and we desire to 
 know what these two words "private," and "inter]3re- 
 tation" mean. 
 
 Our first principle now comes in to help us : and it 
 affirms that the meaning of these words must be gathered 
 from the scope of the passage in which we find them. 
 The application of our first Canon to this particular pas- 
 sage is intended only as an illustration of the way in 
 which it may be used to elucidate other passages. 
 
 When we speak of the "Scope" we mean — ivhat it is 
 all about; the one subject wiiicli is being treated of, or 
 written about. This will always furnish a key to the 
 meaning of the words employed. 
 
 This is not quite the same as "The Importance of the 
 Context" w^hich forms the subject of our third Great 
 Principle or Canon, because the Context has to do with 
 
 186 
 
"PRIVATE INTERPRETATION" (2 Pet. i. 20) 
 
 the interpretation and sense of a jjassage as distinct from 
 the actual meaning of its separate words. 
 
 On examination of this particular passage (2 Pet. i. 20) 
 in which our words occur, we find that the verse forms 
 part of a larger context the Scope or subject of which is 
 not tvhat Scynpture means, but ivhence it came. 
 
 This is evident from the most cursory reading of the 
 whole passage. There is not one word about the meaning, 
 but a great deal about the origin of prophecy ; not a word 
 about its interpretation, but about its source. 
 
 That this is the scope is quite apparent from the mere 
 surface of the passage ; and it is borne out by the Structure, 
 which is the subject of the second great principle we wish 
 to lay down (see Canon II., below). 
 
 This is sufficient to put us on the right track to find 
 out the meaning of the words "private" and "interpre- 
 tation." And our business, therefore, is to see if they can 
 have a meaning more in harmony with the general scope 
 of the passage. 
 
 As to the word rendered "private" we find that it is 
 '/oio^ (idios) and that it occurs 114 times. ^ Out of these 
 114 times we find that it is nearly always rendered one's 
 own; "his own sheep," "his own servants," "his own 
 house," "his own country," etc.; but not once is it ren- 
 dered "private," except in this passage. This shows us 
 that the rendering "private" is sufficiently abnormal to 
 be suspected ; and that it would be more consistent to 
 render it one's own (or lit., of its oivn). 
 
 As to the word rendered "interpretation" we shall 
 find that it occurs nowhere else ; neither in the New 
 Testament, nor in the Septuagint. It is €7ri7^u(ni^ (epilusis). 
 We have no guide to its meaning as we had with the word 
 "private." As this noun occurs nowhere else we must go 
 to the verb eViXuco (epiluo), which is made up of the 
 preposition €7rl{epi\ upon, and {luo), to loosen. We find 
 Xenophon using it of letting dogs loose upon the ground 
 to chase a hare. Another Greek writer uses it of breaking 
 open a letter bearing upon a certain subject. So that its 
 usage is perfectly clear so far. In the New Testament 
 
 1 This ifl easily seen, at a glance, by consulting our Lexicon and Concord- 
 ance, published by Longmans & Co., 39, Paternoster Row (15s.). 
 
 187 
 
I. MEANING OP WORDS FROM SCOPE OF PASSAGE 
 
 this verb occurs only twice (Mark iv. 34 and Acts xix. 39). 
 From Mark iv. 34 it is evident that it will bear the 
 A.V. rendering expound,^ but it will also bear a larger 
 meaning. He spake publicly "with many such parables," 
 but "when they were alone," He broke ojpen the casket 
 which hid His real meaning ; He unfolded the treasures 
 that were therein ; He let them loose as it were and 
 displayed them before the eyes of His disciples. 
 
 In Acts xix. 39 the Town Clerk said "If ye enquire 
 anything concerning other matters, it shall be made 
 knoicn (or shoivn) in a lawful assembly." 
 
 Any of these meanings will do here in 2 Pet. i. 
 20, 21, and it will be seen how they harmonise with the 
 one matter which is the subject, or scope, of the whole 
 passage. 
 
 "Getting to know, this, first :— that not any prophecy 
 of Scripture springs - from its own unfolding, 
 
 [Why?] 
 
 For, not by the will of man was prophecy at any time 
 brought forth— 
 
 [How then did it come?] 
 But being borne along by holy spirit,^ men spake from 
 God." 
 
 Thus, the words are brought into harmony with the 
 scope, or subject of the whole passage ; and we see how 
 they refer to the origin and source of the prophetic 
 Word, and not to its meaning or interpretation. 
 
 2. " The Spirits in Prison.'" — 1 Pet. iii. 19 is another 
 passage which has been wholly misinterpreted and mis- 
 understood, because it has been taken, not only apart 
 from the Context, but apart from the larger question, 
 viz.^ the scope or subject of the whole chapter. 
 
 This verse does not stand alone. It is not an illumi- 
 nated text we hang on a wall ; but is made up of words 
 
 1 Just as private will bear the meaning of one's own : inasmuch as what 
 is one's own is private ; and what is private is ones own. 
 
 ''■ yiuofjLaL (ginomai), to begin, come into being, begin to be, become arise, 
 happen. 
 
 ^ T:vevfj.a ayiov (pncuma hagion). Divine power from on high. See The Giver 
 and His Gifts, by the same author and publisher, pp. 26—31. 
 
 188 
 
"SPIRITS IN PRISON" (1 Pet. iii. 19) 
 
 which God has placed in immediate connection with 
 other words, on which they depend for their right 
 understanding. 
 
 The question we have to ask ourselves, as to the whole 
 chapter, is this : What is it about ? What is the great 
 subject which is being treated of? 
 
 The smaller passage itself commences at verse 18 with 
 the wwd "FOR." "For Christ Himself also suffered, the 
 just for the unjust." Verse 19 is therefore part of a reason 
 which is being given to explain or illustrate something 
 which has been already said. It is not a new and in- 
 dependent subject which is being introduced. 
 
 We must ask therefore. What is this something 
 which has been said, and has to be thus illustrated, and 
 explained ? 
 
 It requires only care and common sense to see, what 
 the Translators themselves saw, when they put at the 
 head of the chapter ''exhorting all men to unity and 
 love, and to suffer persecution" This is right so far 
 as it goes, but it is not all. On reading the whole 
 passage we do indeed see that it is an exhortation to 
 suffer persecution, and especially if the suffering and 
 the persecution be for "well-doing." ''It is better, if the 
 will of God he so, that ye suffer for well doing than for 
 evil doing.'" This is the scope. This is what it is all about. 
 This is verse 17 ; and then, verse 18 goes on to give us 
 the reason why it is "better"; "For." What follows, 
 must be interpreted by the sense of this scope. It is to 
 show us Avhy it is BETTER to "suffer for well-doing." 
 
 Now, verse 19 about "the spirits in prison" is usually 
 taken by itself apart from the scope as referring to people 
 who have died, and as teaching that after death they 
 have "a second chance." 
 
 But our simple question is. In what way ivould this 
 he a reason for, or proof of the fact that it is "better 
 to suffer for well doing than for evil doing"? 
 
 If these Avere dead men, they must have been evil 
 doers, or there would be no reason for tlieir needing this 
 "second chance." It would, therefore, be an excuse for evil 
 doing, seeing that they have this hope to lean upon. 
 
 We can see at once, that this common interprf^tation 
 must be wrong, as it is inconsequent and illogical. Jt 
 
 189 
 
1. IMEANING OF WORDS FROM SCOPE OF PASSAGE 
 
 has no connection with or relation to what has gone 
 before; and takes no account of the word "For" which 
 introduces this statement. 
 
 We have, therefore, still to look for a reason, why "it 
 is better to sulfer for well doing, than for evil doing." 
 
 The reason given is that Christ suffered for well-doing. 
 All he did was "just." He "suffered for the unjust," 
 to bring us to God. That was "better." But "He was 
 put to death in the flesh." What then? Where does 
 the "better" come in? What happened after that? Ah! 
 He had a glorious resurrection. He was "made a quick- 
 ening spirit" (1 Cor. xv. 45). " He was put to death indeed 
 as to the flesh." He was " quickened" (or made alive again) 
 as to spirit.^ 
 
 What does made alive mean ? What can it mean but 
 resurrection? How can anyone who has died be made 
 alive again except by being raised from the dead?^ 
 
 It is the very expression used in 1 Cor. xv. 45. "It is 
 sown a natural (Greek, psychical or soulical) body ; it is 
 raised a spiritual body." And so also it standetli written, 
 the first man Adam " became, or, came to be, a living soul";^ 
 " the last Adam was made to be a quickening spirit." How ? 
 The verses that follow go on to explain that this was in 
 resurrection. 
 
 But here, in 1 Pet. iii. there is more than resurrection. 
 It was that which made it "better" for Christ to have 
 suffered for well-doing. He had a glorious triumph as 
 well. He went in His resurrection body (6V c6, en ho, by, or, 
 in which) Silid made proclamation^ of it to "the in-prison- 
 spirits." 
 
 What and who can these be ? To answer this question 
 we have to go a little further afield. But not far. The 
 
 1 All the Critical Greek Texts omit the article here. 
 
 2 As in Rev. xx. 5, where the rest of the dead lived again, only in resur- 
 rection after the thousand years. 
 
 3 The Greek has the Preposition eU (eis) in both clauses. Its use in this con- 
 nection is Hebrew idiom, and expresses the object in view. Man was made 
 for, or as, or with a view to his being a living soul. See Acts xiii. 22, "he 
 raised up unto them David to be their king," i.e., as their king. So Acts vii. 21, 
 "for her son"; Acts xiii. 47, ''to be a light," i.e., as, or for, a light; xix. 27, ''to 
 be despised"; Greek, to be " reckoned /ornaught." Compare Rom. ii. 26, for 
 circumcision ; ix. 8, for the seed. 
 
 4 The word is ktjouo-ctio {kerusso), to herald, i.e., to proclaim as a K-qpv^ (kerux), 
 a herald, not evayye\iCo> (euangclizb), to preach the Gospel. 
 
 190 
 
"SPIRITS IN PRISON" (1 Pet. iii. 19) 
 
 same Peter tells us over leaf, in 2 Pet. ii. 4, of the angels 
 that sinned in the days of Noah, and who are now 
 cast down to Tartarus and there "delivered into chains 
 of darkness to be reserved unto judgment." And 
 when we read further in Jude 6 (a remoter context) of 
 the same historical fact— the sinning and imprisonment 
 of these angels ; and when we remember that angels 
 are spirits, and are so called in Heb. i. 7 and 14, 
 then we are at no loss to understand that the triumph 
 of Christ was so great that, in His resurrection body. He 
 went and made proclamation of it ; and it reached to 
 the limits of creation ; even the angels now in prison for 
 their sin. 
 
 Any one can see that verses 20 and 21 are a paren- 
 thetical clause, and that the Relative "which" at the 
 beginning of verse 20 introduces a digression about these 
 angels, in order to tell us what their sin was (viz., "dis- 
 obedience"), and when their sin was^ (viz., "in the days 
 of Noah"). And having come round to "the resurrection 
 of Jesus Christ " (at the end of the digression), to the point 
 where we started in verse 18, we are led on now to the 
 end of the Triumph, beyond resurrection ; ever to ascen- 
 sion and exaltation and glory, "angels and authorities 
 and powers having been made subject unto Him" (v. 22). 
 
 Here was triumph indeed. Here we see the reason of 
 the "For" in verse 18. Yes! It is indeed "better to 
 suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing." It was "better" 
 for Christ, the just ; and, it will be better for us. We also 
 shall have a resurrection. If we are judged (according 
 to the will of men) and put to death in the flesh, it is 
 only that we might live again in resurrection (according 
 to the will of God) in our spiritual bodies, as Christ did. 
 This is the argument in 1 Pet. iv. 6. It is in view of this 
 blessed hope that the Gospel was preached to them that 
 are now dead. This is why it is preached to us ; to show 
 us why it is "better to suffer for well-doing." 
 
 If we ask, why these "in-prison spirits" should have 
 this proclamation made to them, we have only to follow 
 up the clue already given in the nearer and remoter 
 contexts. 
 
 * Not when this proclamation of Christ was. 
 
 191 
 
I. MEANING OF WORDS FROM SCOPE OF PASSAGE 
 
 They took part in the gigantic plot to corrupt and 
 destroy the whole human race. The nature of their sin 
 is clear from Jude 6. The time of it is also given in 
 2 Pet. ii. 4, 5, and here, in 1 Pet. iii. 20. The object of it we 
 have in Gen. vi. The great promise and prophecy had 
 gone forth in Gen. iii. 15, that "the seed of the woman" 
 should come into the world, and should finally crush the 
 head of the Old Serpent. 
 
 Satan's object therefore was to frustrate this counsel 
 of God. 
 
 Having as yet no clue as to the line by which "the seed 
 of the woman " should come into the world, his first effort 
 was to corrupt and destroy the whole human race. This 
 he carried out as described in Gen. vi. and Jude 6. "The 
 sons of God" were angels; "the angels who sinned." All 
 beings who are the direct creation of God are called his 
 "sons." Adam was "a son of God" (Gen. v. 1. Luke iii. 38). 
 We are not. By nature we are sons of Adam begotten 
 in his likeness (Gen. v. 3). The New nature in us makes 
 us "sons of God," because that is God's own new-creation 
 work (Eph. ii. 10. 2 Cor. v. 17. Rom. viii. 14—17). For the 
 same reason also, angels are called "sons of God," because 
 they are the direct creation of God. In the Old Testa- 
 ment the expression always has this meaning. Before 
 Adam was created "the morning stars sang together, 
 and all the sons of God shouted for joy "(Job xxxviii. 7). 
 An angel was sent to the lions' den to shut the lions' 
 mouths (Dan. vi. 22), as another was sent to the fiery 
 furnace to deliver Jehovah's servants ; this angel is called 
 "a son of God" (for there is no article). 
 
 They cannot (in Gen. vi.) be the seed of Setli, as is 
 generally taught, because they are contrasted with "the 
 daughters of MEN " ; which sIioavs they must be of a 
 different nature. 
 
 We know from Gen. vi. how nearly that great plot 
 succeeded; how the whole earth was corrupted^ (Gen. 
 vi. 11, 12). 
 
 All, except Noah's family, were tainted Avitli this un- 
 canny and unholy breed called Ncphilim.'' Noah w^as 
 
 1 nnC^* (shdchath), to ruin, lay in rjiins, to make good for nothing. Hence 
 nrif" (shackath), a sepulchre, corruption. 
 
 192 
 
''SPIRITS IN PRISON" (1 Pet. iii. 19) 
 
 famim, i.e., "without blemish," as the word for "perfect" 
 here is generally rendered elsewhere. All had to be de- 
 stroyed by the Flood; but the angels who sinned are 
 "reserved," in "chains" and "in prison" (1 Pet. iii. 19. 
 2 Pet. ii. 4. Jude 6), for their judgment at a yet future day. 
 
 The aim of Satan was to corrupt, and so secure the 
 destruction of the whole human race. And his plot would 
 have succeeded but for the direct interposition of Divine 
 judgment. 
 
 "The seed of the woman" ultimately came into the 
 world. The Word of God was fulfilled ; and now, though 
 His heel had been bruised, and He suffered and died, yet 
 God raised Him from the dead, the token that Satan's 
 head shall in due time be crushed. 
 
 This glorious triumph had to be heralded forth. Those 
 who had taken part in that awful plot had to learn that 
 the designs of Satan, their lord and master, had failed. 
 This was the reason why Christ, having risen from the 
 dead, went and proclaimed His glorious triumph. 
 
 This is why it is " better to suffer for well-doing than for 
 evil-doing. FOR Christ also suffered" [for well doing], 
 "the just for the unjust." And, it was "better" for Him ; 
 for He has triumphed gloriously: and it is "better" for 
 us also ; for we are thereby saved eternally. 
 
 Not merely saved through^ the judgment (as the di- 
 gression shows); not saved by means of material water; 
 but by the "suffering" of that perfect sacrifice, which 
 has made the comers thereunto "perfect as pertaining 
 to the conscience " (Heb. ix. 9; x. 1), and given them "the 
 answer of a good conscience toward God" (1 Pet. iii. 21).^ 
 
 Thus we see how the scope (or one great subject) of the 
 whole passage determines for us the sense in which we 
 are to understand the words which are employed in it ; 
 and we see also how this is the only sense which gives 
 cogency and consistency to the whole argument. 
 
 Moreover the scope of this passage is in harmony with 
 the scope of the whole Epistle.^ We see and are shown 
 
 1 This is the force of fiiao-w^w (diasozo). See its only occurrences: Matt, 
 xiv. 36. Luke vii. 3. Acts xxili. 24 ; xxvii. 43, 44 ; xxviii. 1,4; and here 1 Pet. 
 iii. 20. 
 
 See, on the whole subject, two pamphlets by the same author and pub- 
 lisher The Spirits in Prison; and, T/ic Sons of God. 
 
 3 See the Structure, below, under Canon II., pages 216—219. 
 
 193 
 
 N 
 
1. MEANING OF WORDS FROM SCOPE OF PASSAGE 
 
 tlirougliout how it is "better to suffer for well doing 
 tlian for evil doing," 
 
 In ell. i. 7 the trial of our faith is to be found unto 
 praise and honour and glory at the ai3pearing of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 In ch. i. 11 the subject of prophecy was that Christ's 
 sufferings were to ]je followed by glory. 
 
 In ch. i. 13 we are, in our trials, to "hope to the end 
 for the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revela- 
 tion of Jesus Christ." 
 
 In ch. i. 19 — 21, when Christ's sufferings were over, and 
 the "precious blood" was shed, God "raised Him from the 
 dead and gave Him glory." 
 
 In ch. ii. 20 they are asked, "What glory is it if when 
 ye be buffeted for your faults ye shall take it patiently ? 
 but if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it 
 patiently, this is acceptable with God." 
 
 In ch. ii. 21—24 Christ's example is given to prove this. 
 He suffered for well-doing, and when he died he committed 
 His spirit^ unto Him who judgeth righteously (ch. ii. 23; 
 comp. Luke xxiii. 46). And all this was done in order 
 that we, having died to sins, might live again ^ unto 
 righteousness, in newness of life here, and of resurrection 
 life which the righteous Judge shall give us in that day 
 (2 Tim. iv. 8). 
 
 In ch. iv. 6, though they might be judged indeed 
 according to the will of men, in the flesh; they might 
 live again in resurrection life according to the will of 
 God, in their spiritual bodies. 
 
 In ch. iv. 13 they are to rejoice that inasmuch as they 
 were partakers of Christ's sufferings, they Avould be glad 
 also with exceeding joy when Christ's glory should be 
 revealed. 
 
 In ch. iv. 19 if they suffered, and this suffering was 
 according to the will of God, they were to commit them- 
 selves (in well-doing) to God as to a faithful creator, who 
 was thus able to re-create them in resurrection. 
 
 1 "himself" is in italics both in A. V. and R.V. R.V. margin suggests "Ms 
 cause " ; but Luke xxiii. iH shows us what it was He committed to the Father 
 — as connected with the glorious resurrection— which was His reward in 
 consequence. 
 
 2 fao) {zad), to live, especially in resurrection life, real or typical. John v. 25; 
 xi. 25. Rev. i. 18 ; xx. i. 
 
 194 
 
TI^STAMENT AXD COVENANT (Heb. ix. 15—23) 
 
 In cli. V. 1 Peter himself was a witness of this great 
 truth, for he had been a witness of Clirist's sufferings, 
 and would be a partaker of His glory also when it shall 
 be revealed. 
 
 Finally, in eh. v. 10, they are reminded that though 
 they may ^'suffer awhile," yet, the God of all grace has 
 called them unto eternal glory. 
 
 There can be no question, therefore, as to Avhat is the 
 scope of the Epistle as a whole ; neither can there be any 
 doubt as to the scope of the particular passage (ch. iii. 
 18 — 22), where the resurrection, ascension, and glorifica- 
 tion of Christ after His sufferings, proved that it was 
 "better to suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing." A 
 triumph it was. And, a triumph so great, that He went 
 and proclaimed it to the in-prison spirits in Tartarus to 
 show them that all this triumph was in spite of the 
 Satanic plot referred to and recorded in Gen. vi. and in 
 which they had so great a share, so great a guilt, and so 
 great a condemnation. This is the triumph of Col. ii. 14, 15. 
 
 3. Testament and Covenant. — Heb. ix. 15—23^ affords 
 another example, showing how the scope of a passage will 
 furnish us with the meaning of the word OionSv^Kr) 
 (diatheke), covenant. 
 
 In the A.V. it is consistently, but, as we shall see, 
 wrongly rendered by our word "testament." The R.V. 
 is certainly inconsistent, for in verse 15 it twice renders 
 it "covenant," and in verses 16 and 17 it twice renders 
 it "testament"; while in verses 18 and 20 it twice again 
 has the word "covenant" (one of the two being put in 
 italics; as the word "testament" is similarly supplied in 
 italics). 
 
 All this confusion speaks loudly to us, and tells us 
 that there is something, here, that needs explanation. The 
 note also given by the Revisers tells us that they were 
 perfectly aware of their inconsistency: for against each 
 of the occurrences of the word in question they say in 
 the margin : 
 
 "The Greek word here used signifies both covenant 
 and testament." 
 
 1 See below, Canon II., pp. 220—223, our reason for giving thcye verses as 
 the context or scope. 
 
 195 N 2 
 
II. MEANING OF WORDS FROM SCOPE OF PASSAGE 
 
 This statemeDt may be true of Greek classical authors, 
 but this passage is in God's Word.^ Greek writers knew 
 nothing of God's covenants with Noah and Abraham, and 
 Israel and David. Here, it is entirely a question of what 
 is the subject or scope of the passage. What is it all 
 about ? This is the question we have to ask. And if we 
 look at the whole passage from verse 15 to verse 23, we 
 see at once that the one great subject is a contrast 
 between the NEW Covenant (v. 15), and the OLD Covenant 
 (vv. 19-22). 
 
 This should settle the question for us, once for all. We 
 have no right within the compass of a few verses to 
 change the subject of our own arbitrary will. It is a 
 serious matter so to do, and it leads to grave conse- 
 quences. Here, it quite changes the scope, and affects 
 the translation of the whole passage. 
 
 (1) In verse 17 eiri veKpo7g (epi nekrois) is rendered in the 
 A.V. "after men are dead," and in the R.V. "where there 
 hath been a death." But the Revisers' note against this, 
 in the margin, is "Gr. over the dead." This shows that, 
 having changed the subject they are forced to do violence 
 to the translation, and to abandon the plain meaning of 
 the Greek. The marginal note is a confession of this. 
 
 (2) In other ways both Versions are compelled to adapt 
 their translation of the words to suit the new subject 
 which they have introduced. 
 
 0 ^iaSe[JLevog (ho diathemenos) mesnis the appointed; and 
 here, the appointed sacrifice, by which all covenants must 
 be made. It is masculine in Gender in order to agree 
 not with the Greek word diKria (thusia), sacrifice, but 
 with the Hebrew thought (n3i (zavach), sacrifice, which 
 is masculine). 
 
 The word diathemenos is the participle of oiarl^tjixi 
 (diatithemi), to appoint (see Luke xxii. 29. Acts iii. 25. 
 
 1 SiaOrtK-n (diatheke) occurs 280 times in the Septuagint, and is used always 
 of a covenant. This must be its meaning throughout the N.T. The late 
 Dr. Hatch, in his Essays in Biblical Greek (Oxford Press, 1889), says, "The 
 attempt to give it in certain passages its classical meaning of 'testament' is 
 not only at variance with its use in Hellenistic Greek, but is probably also 
 the survival of a mistake: in ignorance of the philology of later and vulgar 
 Latin, it was formerly supposed that ' testamentum,' by which the word is 
 rendered in the early Latin versions as well as in the Vulgate, meant ' testa- 
 ment' or ' will ' ; whereas, in fact, it meant also, if not exclusively, ' covenant.' " 
 
 196 
 
ISAAC'S MEDITATION (Gen. xxiv. 63) 
 
 Heb. viii. 10 and Heb. x. 16 ; the only places where the 
 verb occurs); and it is specially used of making a 
 covenant (Heb. viii. 10 and x. 16). 
 
 We have said enough to enable us now to give the 
 words their true meaning and force according to the 
 scope; and we are not compelled to adapt them to a 
 different subject. 
 
 The scope of Heb. ix. 15 — 23 is the same as that of 
 Exod. xxiv. 5 — 8, which describes the old covenant-making. 
 
 "For where a covenant [is made, the] death of the 
 appointed [sacrifice] is necessary to be brought in : for, 
 a covenant [is] confirmed [only] over dead [victims or 
 sacrifices]; since it hath no force while the appointed 
 [sacrifice] is living." 
 
 The change of the scope in the A.V. and R.V. neces- 
 sitates the bringing in of the w^ord "men"— about which 
 there is not even a hint in the Greek. All is about 
 covenants and sacrifices. 
 
 This will be seen when we look at this passage again, 
 below, where we shall see its scope made more clear by 
 its structure. (See pp. 220—223.) 
 
 We see sufficient here to illustrate our first Canon : that 
 the scope of the passage must determine the meaning 
 of the several words employed in it. 
 
 4. Another example of a different character is found 
 in Gen. xxiv. 63 : "And Isaac went out to meditate in the 
 field at the eventide." 
 
 This is a case in which the context must give us the 
 meaning of the word pl^i^ (suach), which is rendered 
 "meditate," "or, to pray,'' in the margin. 
 
 That translators are perplexed is clear. The R.V. has 
 "meditate," the Syriac has "to take a walk." Gesenius 
 suggests to go to and fro in the field (to muster the flocks) I 
 We get the rendering "meditate" from the Vulgate's "acZ 
 meditandum.'' 
 
 But even granting that the word "meditate" would 
 serve, is there any thing to show us what sort of a medi- 
 tation it was likely to be ? 
 
 It is clear that chapter xxiv., long as it is, is only a 
 digression introduced in order to give us the mission of 
 Eliezer, to seek a wife for Isaac. 
 
 197 
 
MEANING OF WORDS FROM SCOPE OF PASSAGE 
 
 The last event, immediately before that mission was 
 the burial of Sarah, Isaac's mother (Gen. xxiii. 19). 
 
 The next thing we read of Isaac is his going forth 
 in the held to meditate. This is followed immediately by 
 his reception of Rebekah : "And Isaac brought her into 
 his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she be- 
 came his wife ; and he loved her : and Isaac was comforted 
 after his mother's death " (ch. xxiv. 67). 
 
 * Is there nothing in this context to show us what is 
 the meaning of the word rendered "meditate"? 
 
 Yes, it sends us again to the Lexicon and to the Con- 
 cordance. There we find that usage connects it with being 
 hotved down. Ps. xliv. 25 (26), "Our soul is hoiced doivn to 
 the dust." Lam. iii. 20, "my soul ... is humbled in me" 
 (marg. "Heb. hotved").^ 
 
 Why was Isaac "comforted after his mother's death"? 
 Comfort is for those who mourn. Isaac was therefore 
 still mourning the death of his mother ; and he went out 
 into the field to be alone, and to give vent to his grief. 
 
 He did not go out either to pray or to think out some 
 problem ; but to seek in solitude comfort and relief. 
 
 5. " The Lord's Day." Rev. i. 10. — Here, the whole scope 
 of the passage in which we find these words is concerning 
 judgment. The nine verses which precede lead up to it, 
 and the whole subsequent subject of the book has to do 
 with the coming of the Lord in judgment. 
 
 This can have no more to do with a day of the week 
 than with a day of the month ; but it does have to do 
 with "the Day of the Lord." 
 
 That this meaning of the expression is not only in 
 agreement with the scope of the book, but with all the 
 known facts of the case, can be tested and proved."^ 
 
 1 Compare also Ps. vi. 6, "I am bowed down with my groaning" ; 1 Sam. 
 i. 15, a sorrowful spirit; Prov. xxiii. 29, "Who hath melancholy" (not "bab- 
 bling"!); R.V. has "complaining." 
 
 2 See above, pp. 158, 159. Also a pamphlet on this subject entitled. The Lord's 
 Day: Is it a Day of the Week or the Day of the Lord? by the same author and 
 publisher (price iid.). 
 
 198 
 
CANON II. 
 
 THE SCOPE OF A PASSAGE MAY BEST BE 
 DISCOVERED BY ITS STRUCTURE. 
 
 i. Introductory : The History and Importance of 
 THE Subject. 
 
 Every Word of God is pure; and His words, like all 
 His works, are perfect. Perfect in order, perfect in truth, 
 perfect in the use of number, perfect in structure. 
 
 "The works of Jehovah are great: sought out of all 
 them that have pleasure therein" (Ps. cxi. 2). 
 
 Those who seek out His works find wondrous trea- 
 sures ; and see perfection, whether revealed by the tele- 
 scope or the microscope. Neither of these exhaust those 
 wonders. Both are only relative, and limited by human 
 powers of sight. 
 
 It is the same with that most wonderful of all His 
 works— His WORD. Use what powers of human intel- 
 lect we may, we find that we know only "in part" 
 (1 Cor. xiii. 9). Pursue any line of truth as far as our 
 human minds can go, and we come to a wall of adamant, 
 which we can neither mount over, pierce through, nor 
 pass round ; we return baffled, but solemnized by the fact 
 that we know "in part." 
 
 We shall not be surprised therefore to find literary 
 perfection as well as spiritual perfection. For there is 
 perfection of literary form, as well as perfection of 
 spiritual truth. 
 
 The correspondence between parallel lines must always 
 have been visible even on the surface to any one who 
 carefully observed the Scriptures even as literary com- 
 positions. 
 
 Josephus,^ Philo Juda)us, Origen, Eusebius, Jerome, 
 Isidore, among the Ancients, professed to have discovered 
 metres in the Hebrew original. They were followed by 
 
 ^ Rce the references to the writings of these men in Bishop Jebb's Sacred 
 Literature, p. 10. 
 
 199 
 
II. SCOPE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 others among modern scholars, some of whom agreed with 
 them, while others refuted them. 
 
 In spite of Bishop Lowth's Larger and Shorter Confu- 
 tations, which showed that all efforts to discover the 
 rhymes and metres which characterize common poetry 
 must be fruitless, some few writers have persevered in 
 such attempts even to the present day. 
 
 "Bishop Lowth was the first to put the whole subject 
 on a better and surer foundation ; reducing the chaos of 
 mediaeval writings to something like order. His works 
 were based on one or two who had preceded him, and 
 had laid the foundations on which he built with such 
 effect that he came to be universally recognised and 
 appealed to as the ultimate and classical authority in 
 these matters."^ 
 
 But, as we have said. Bishop Lowth built on the 
 foundations laid by others.^ 
 
 Abravanel, a learned Jew of the fifteenth century, and 
 Azariah de Rossi ^ in the sixteenth century, were the first 
 to demonstrate and illustrate the phenomena exhibited in 
 the ^parallel lines of Holy Scripture. 
 
 Azariah de Rossi published, in 1574-5, in Mantua, his 
 celebrated work which he called D^'^^ IIX^ (Meor Enaylm), 
 or, The Light of the Eyes. It was a remarkable work and 
 almost an encyclopedia of biblical literature in itself. 
 Several of its chapters have been translated and published 
 separately, in Latin and English. One chapter (ch. Ix.) 
 was sufficient to kindle Bishop Lowth's enthusiasm ; and 
 he translated it in his Preliminary Dissertation to his 
 last great work, his translation of Isaiah (London, 1835). 
 But, before this, Lowth had already used De Rossi's 
 wonderful work to such purpose that in 1753 he published 
 his Preelections on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews. 
 This caused quite a sensation in the biblical world, and 
 soon became of European fame. 
 
 Meanwhile Christian Schoettgen (born 1687) had pub- 
 lished in 1733-42 his Horce Hehraicce et Talmudicce (2 vols. 
 
 1 Bishop Jebb, Sacred Literature, p. 15. 
 
 2 Rabbi Bon Isaac ben Jehudah, a celebrated. Spanish-Jewish statesman, 
 philosopher, theologian, and commentator, born li37. His commentaries anti- 
 cipate much of what has been ad vanced as new by modern theologians (Kitto, 
 Enc. Bib. article by C. D. G.). 
 
 3 Azariah Min Ha-Adonim, as the Jews call him, was born in Mantua, 1513. 
 
 200 
 
i. INTRODUCTORY : HISTORY OF STRUCTURE 
 
 4to), at Dresden and Leipzig ; Bishop Lowth does not 
 appear to have known of this work, for it anticipates 
 him, and under the heading "Exergasia Sacra" it lays 
 doAvn the very doctrine which it remained for Lowth to 
 improve and elucidate. Schoettgen lays down ten canons, 
 and he illustrates each with three examples. 
 
 Bishop Jebb (born 1775 at Drogheda) published his 
 Sacred Literature in London, 1820: and, until Thomas 
 Boys began to write in 1824, Jebb's work had remained 
 the last word on the subject. It was a review of Lowth's 
 work and "an application of the principles so reviewed" 
 to the illustration of the New Testament. 
 
 But both these works of Bishops Lowth and Jebb were 
 almost entirely confined to the verbal correspondences in 
 parallel lines ; and never proceeded beyond short stanzas ; 
 and, even then, did not rise beyond what Lowth called 
 'parallelism'' and Jebb called ''Sacred Composition.'''' 
 
 It was reserved for Thomas Boys to raise the whole 
 subject on to a higher level altogether, and to lift it out 
 of the literary parallelism between words and lines; and 
 to develope it into the correspondence between the subject- 
 matter and truth of the Divine Word. 
 
 In 1824 Thomas Boys soon followed up Bishop Jebb by 
 publishing his Tactica Sacra, and in 1827 — 30 his Key to the 
 Book of Psalms ^ 
 
 While the successive works of Bishops Lowth and Jebb 
 were enthusiastically and generally received, yet the 
 works of Thomas Boys not only had to fight their way 
 through much opposition, but are now practically un- 
 known to Biblical students. Whether it is because they 
 afford such a wonderful evidence of the supernatural and 
 miraculous in the Bible, and such a proof of the Divine 
 Authorship of the Word of God, that they are therefore 
 the special object of attack by the enemies of that Word 
 (both Satanic and human) He alone knows. But so it is. 
 
 1 This was only a description of his principles of Correspondence, which he 
 applied to some sixteen Psalms. It was the privilege of Dr. Bullinger to edit 
 Thomas Boys's manuscript; and, from pencilled notes in Boys's Interleaved 
 Hebrew Bible (Boothroyd's Edition with Commentary), to complete and publish, 
 in 1890, the whole of the I'salnis with a Pi'cface, and Memoir by liis friend 
 the Rev. Sydney Thclwall (who had been a personal friend of Boys), then Vicar 
 of Westleigh, North Devon. An Introduction and Appendix were added bj'- 
 Dr. Bullinger as editor. This work was called A Key to the Book of Psalms 
 to preserve a continuity with Boys's own title. 
 
 201 
 
II. SCOPE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 Bishop Jebb, however, we are thankful to say, m the 
 Second Edition of his Sacred Literature (1831), does 
 recognize Boys's work in a note on page 74. He says, 
 "Since the ]publication of Sacred Literature, this pecu- 
 liarity of composition has been largely and happily illus- 
 trated, in his Tactica Sacra, by the Rev. Thomas Boys." 
 
 In 1851 Richard Baillie Roe made a great effort to 
 revive the subject by publishing An Analytical Arrange- 
 ment of the Holy Scriptures according to the principles 
 developed under the name of Parallelism in the ivritings 
 of Bishop Lowth, Bishop Jehh, and the Rev. Thomas Boys.' 
 
 This appears to have shared the same fate as all the 
 others. Roe's book gives us too much as well as too little. 
 It gives too much of dry analysis, and too little of the 
 end for which it is made. Moreover, it is not improved by 
 departing from Boys's simplicity ; and serves only to com- 
 plicate the subject by adding much that is arbitrary in 
 arrangement. It may be said of Roe's method, that what 
 is true is not new ; and what is new is no improvement. 
 
 The facts being as thus stated, it shows that the 
 subject has either not yet been grasped nor understood 
 by Bible students ; or, that it makes too much for the 
 Inspiration and Divine Origin and Authority of the Word 
 of God ; and that there are spiritual powers, working with 
 the human, whose one great object is to make the Word 
 of God of none effect (Eph. vi. 12 and 17). 
 
 And yet, we may say that, no more powerful weapon 
 has yet been placed in our hands outside that Word, 
 which is "the Spirit's sword." It affords a wondrous proof 
 of Inspiration ; it gives us a clearer and more comprehen- 
 sive view of the scope of the Scriptures, than the most 
 learned and elaborate commentaries can ever hope to do ; 
 and it is capable of even turning the scale in doubtful, 
 doctrinal, and critical questions. 
 
 By its means the student is led to views and truths, 
 and reflections which, without it, would never have 
 occurred to him. And it is not too much to say that 
 until the Correspondences of the Biblical Structure are 
 duly recognized we shall never get a correct translation 
 or a true interpretation of many passages which are to 
 this day dark and confused in both our Versions, the 
 R.V. as well as in the A.V. 
 
 202 
 
ii. PlUiNCirLES GOVERNING STRUCTURE 
 
 Preaching on another subject, Bishop Lowth truthfully 
 and feelingly observed that "It pleased God, in His 
 unsearchable wisdom, to suffer the progress of the Refor- 
 mation to be stopped mid-way ; and the effects of it to be 
 greatly weakened by many unhappy divisions among the 
 reformed." ^ 
 
 The same may be said of the Law of Correspondence 
 in the Structure of the Word of God, so wonderfully 
 discovered and developed ; and yet, needing to-day almost 
 to be rediscovered, and certainly to be developed in its 
 application to the whole Word of truth. 
 
 Parts of the world, remaining yet unexplored, are 
 eagerly sought out without stint of labour or money. 
 Would that the same zeal could be seen applied in the 
 interest of this great subject. 
 
 ii. The Principles Governing the Structure of 
 Scripture. 
 
 Having said thus much on the History and Importance 
 of the Structure of Scripture, it is necessary that we 
 should present an account and description of it in some 
 kind of order more or less complete. 
 
 We do not propose to wade through all the Divisions 
 and Subdivisions which have been suggested or laid down 
 in connection with Parallelism as it relates to Lines. 
 Our general object is to understand the Word of truth ; 
 and our special object is to consider how we may, by its 
 means, arrive at the scope or subject of a particular 
 passage. 
 
 The laws which govern this Parallelism of lines we 
 will re-state as briefly as may be consistent with clear- 
 ness. The main principles are as follows : — 
 
 Parallel Lines are:— 
 
 (1) Cognate ^ or Gradational, where the same thought 
 is expressed in different or progressive terms : — 
 
 Seek ye Jehovah, while He may be found; 
 
 Call ye upon Him, while He is near."— (Isa. Iv. C.) 
 
 1 Sermons and Remains of Robert Lowth, D.D., p. 78. 
 
 2 This is Bisliop Jebb's irnprovcincnt of Bisljop Lowth's word "synonymous, 
 as including diJJ'erent as well as practicjilly equivalent terms. 
 
 203 
 
II. SCOPE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 (2) Antithetic or Opposite, where the terms or sub- 
 jects are set in contrast : — 
 
 Faithful are the tvotmds of a friend; 
 But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy'' 
 
 — (Prov. xxvii. 6.) 
 
 (3) Synthetic, or Constructive, where the terms or 
 subjects correspond in a similar form of construction, 
 either as equivalent or opposite. (As in Ps. xix. 7—10. 
 Isa. xliv. 26 — 28.) It discriminates and differentiates be- 
 tween the thoughts, as well as the words; building up 
 truth by layers, as it were, placing one on the other. 
 
 "O the happiness of that man. 
 Who hath not tualked in the counsel of the 
 ungodly ; 
 
 And hath not stood in the way of sinners; 
 And hath not sat in the seat of the scornful.^' 
 
 -(Ps. 1. 1.) 
 
 (4) Introverted, where, whatever be the number of 
 lines, the first line is parallel with the last ; the second 
 with the penultimate (or next to the last); the third 
 with the antepenultimate (or next but one to the last); 
 and so throughout, until we come to the two correspond- 
 ing lines in the middle. 
 
 This was the discovery of Bishop Jebb ; and could not 
 be seen until a larger number of consecutive lines were 
 examined. 
 
 "Make the heart of this people fat, 
 And make their ears heavy, 
 And shut their eyes; 
 Lest they see with their eyes, 
 And hear with their ears 
 And understand with their heart ."—{Isa,. vi. 10.) 
 
 Here, the correspondence is manifest. 
 
 It was, however, as we have said, reserved for Thomas 
 Boys to lift the whole study out of the sphere of ivords 
 and lines; and see the Law of Correspondence between 
 subjects and subject-matter. Instead of occupying us with 
 lines he bade us look at what he designated members. 
 These members consisted of verses, and whole paragraphs, 
 
 204 
 
ii. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING STRUCTURE 
 
 And the larger paragraphs were soon seen to have their 
 own pecnliar strneture^ or expansions. 
 
 This brings us to the consideration of what we have 
 called the Structure of Scripture. 
 
 Most of our readers will be acquainted with the 
 practice of marking their Bibles by ruling lines connect- 
 ing the same word or words as they recur on the same or 
 the adjoining page. The words recur, because the subject 
 recurs ; and the Law of Correspondences not only explains 
 the practice of such Bible markings, but shows why it 
 can be done. 
 
 The principles and phenomena of the Laws of Corre- 
 spondence are exceedingly simple, however perplexing 
 they may appear to the eye at first sight. A little 
 attention will soon make all clear to the mind as well as 
 to the eye. 
 
 There are practically only two ways in which the 
 subject is repeated:— 
 
 1. By Alternation. 
 
 2. By Introversion. 
 
 1. Alternation. 
 This is where two (or more) subjects are repeated 
 alternately. 
 
 (a) We call it Simple Alternation where there are only 
 two subjects each of which is repeated in alternate lines. 
 Thus :— 
 
 A| — 
 
 B| 
 
 A\ • 
 
 B\ 
 
 Here, the letters are used quite arbitrarily, and merely 
 for the convenience of reference. Thus, the subject in 
 the passage marked with an Italic letter {A) is the same 
 as the subject in the passage marked with the corre- 
 sponding Roman letter (A) ; while the B subject is the 
 same as the B subject, the similar Roman and Italic 
 letters indicating their similar, opposite and contrasted, 
 or common subject. 
 
 1 The reader will find further elucidation on this subject in Figures of 
 Speech, by the same author and publisher, pp. 319—393. 
 
 205 
 
II. SCOPE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 (h) Where the two subjects are repeated more than 
 once we call it Repeated Alternation, and mdicate it 
 thus : — 
 
 AM 
 
 BM ' 
 
 AM ^ 
 
 B-^ I 
 
 A3 I 
 
 B^ I • 
 
 And so on : all the members marked A corresponding in 
 subject ; and the members marked B corresponding in 
 like manner. There is no limit to this repetition. 
 
 (c) Where there are more than two subjects alternating 
 then we call it Extended Alternation; and there will be 
 as many pairs, or sets of members, as there are subjects 
 (unless, of course, these are repeated, when it would be 
 a Repeated Extended Alternation): — 
 
 A| . 
 
 B| 
 
 C| 
 
 A\ 
 
 B\ 
 
 CI 
 
 2. Introversion. 
 
 This is where the subjects are repeated, not in alterna- 
 tion, but in introversion ; i.e. from opposite ends. In this 
 case there will be as many subjects as there are pairs of 
 introverted members. Suppose we have an example of 
 four subjects. This will give us eight members, in which 
 the 1st will correspond with the 8th ; the 2nd with the 7th ; 
 the 3rd with the 6th ; and the 4th with the 5th. Thus : — 
 
 A| 
 
 B I 
 
 C| 
 
 D| 
 
 206 
 
ii. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING STRUCTURE 
 
 Now, with these few simple facts and phenomena, it is 
 possible to have a very great variety. For they are 
 practically unlimited, and can be combined in so many 
 ways, and in such varying numbers, that there seems no 
 end to the variety. But, all conform to the above simple 
 laws, in which there is no exception. 
 
 iii. Examples of each Principle. 
 
 We will give an example of each kind : premising (1) that 
 1- indicates the first part of a verse, -1 the latter part, 
 and -1- a middle part ; (2) that all the larger members 
 have their own special Structures, in which the Corre- 
 spondences of each may be expanded and exhibited. 
 
 We give the examples from the Psalms because they 
 are not encumbered with the human chapter divisions. 
 
 Simple Alternation. 
 Psalm xix. 
 
 A I 1— 4-. The Heavens. 
 
 B I -4, 6. In them (Qn?) "The Sun." 
 A i 7—10. TJie Scriptures. ' 
 
 B I 11—14. In them (Dn?) " Thy Servant." 
 
 Repeated Alternation. 
 Psalm cxlv. 
 
 1, 2. Praise promised. From me, to Jehovah 
 Himself. 
 
 B^ I 3. Praise offered. 
 4—7. Praise promised. From others and me for 
 Jehovah's works. 
 
 B2 1 8, 9. Praise offered. 
 10—12. Praise promised. From others, and His 
 works, for Jehovah's kingdom. 
 
 B"' I 13—20. Praise offered. 
 1 21. Praise promised from me and others, to 
 I Jehovah Himself. 
 
 207 
 
II. SCOPE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 Introversion and Extended Alternation Combined, 
 Psalm cv. 
 
 All- 
 
 B 
 
 A I -45. 
 
 Exhortation to praise. 
 I 8—12. Basis of praise. Covenant in promise. ^ 
 13. Their journeyings. 
 b 1 14, 15. Their prosperings. 
 c I 16. Their affliction. 
 
 17—22. Mission of deliver- 
 ance (ri7^). Joseph. 
 
 a I 23. Their journeyings. 
 h I 24. Their prosperings. 
 c I 25. Their affliction. 
 
 d 26—41. Mission of deliver- 
 ance irh^). Moses and 
 Aaron. 
 
 Basis of praise. Covenant performed 
 
 42-45- 
 
 Exhortation to praise. 
 
 In order to discover the structure of a particular 
 passage it is necessary that we begin to read the portion 
 of Scripture very carefully, and note the subject. We 
 mark it A | — . 
 
 We read on until the subject changes, and we note and 
 indent it thus B | — . 
 
 So far there can be no difficulty. But when we come 
 to the next change we may find either a third subject, 
 in which case we must further indent it and mark it 
 C I — , or, we shall find the first subject again (as in 
 Ps. xix. above). If it be the latter, then we know that 
 we are going to find an alternation (and this, either 
 simple as in Ps. xix. above, or repeated as in Ps. cxlv. 
 above), and we must mark it ^ | — and put it beneath 
 the A I — . If it is a repetition of the second subject, 
 then we know that it is going to be an Introversion, and 
 must mark it | — and place it under the B | — . 
 
 Let us take, as a working example, "The Prophecy of 
 Zacharias," in Luke i. 68—79; this being a passage of 
 Scripture complete in itself, and not a human or arbi- 
 trary division. 
 
 208 
 
iii. EXAMPLES OF STRUCTURES 
 
 We read verse 68 with the object of finding and noting 
 its subjects Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he 
 hath visited and redeemed his people.'' Here, the subject 
 may be either "Visited" or "Redeemed." So we give 
 the place of honour to the former of these two words, 
 and write it down, thus : — 
 
 A I 68. Visitation. 
 
 We then read the next verse, "And hath raised up a 
 horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant 
 David.'' Here there can be no doubt that the subject is 
 Salvation. This we must mark "B," and set it down, 
 indented, thus : 
 
 B I 69. Salvation. 
 
 So far all is clear. But we know not, as yet, what 
 the subject of the third member is to be. If it is 
 Visitation we must set it down under "A" and mark it 
 with an italic "A." Then we read slowly on:— "J.s he 
 spake hy the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been 
 since the world began." It is manifest that we have, as 
 yet, no repetition of either of the subjects in "A" or 
 "B." If it had been that of "A," it would be a Simple or 
 Repeated Alternation. If it had been that of "B," we 
 should know that it was going to be an Introversion. 
 But, it is a fresh subject, which is clearly, "Prophets." 
 So we must mark it "C," and write it down, indenting 
 it still more, thus : 
 
 C I 70. Prophets. 
 
 Even now, there is nothing to tell us what the Struc- 
 ture is going to be. So far as we can see, it may be an 
 Extended Alternation by the repetition of "A," "B," and 
 "C"; or it may be an Introversion to be marked " C," 
 "-B,"and "A." So we must read on: — "That we should 
 be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that 
 hate us." Here, we still have no Repetition: but we find 
 a new subject, which is clearly "Enemies." So we must 
 mark it "D," and write down (still further indenting it) 
 thus : 
 
 D I 71. Enemies. 
 
 If tlie subject is a Repetition of any of the above 
 subjects, we know that wo are going to have an AUer- 
 
 209 O 
 
ir. SCOPE OF PASSAGE PROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 nation of some kind, or an Introversion. So we must 
 still read on : — " To jperform the mercy ^promised to our 
 fathers, and to rememher his holy covenant." Here, 
 there can be no doubt that we have again a new subject, 
 and that it must be Covenant. So we put it down, as 
 before, and still further indent it, thus: 
 
 E 1 72. The Covenant. 
 
 We can now be sure that we are going to have either 
 a very Extended Alternation or an Introversion. So we 
 must still read on, closely scanning every word, in order 
 to get the clue. We find it in the next verse {v. 73) : — " The 
 oath which he sware to our father Abraham.'' Here, at 
 length, we get one of our subjects repeated, as we were 
 bound to do before long. It is the subject of "E," where 
 the word "Covenant" is repeated in the synonymous 
 word "Oath," thus indicating the sureness and certainty 
 of the Covenant. We must mark this "£*," and write it 
 down under the "E," thus: 
 
 E I 73. The Oath. 
 
 All we have to do now is to read on, and we soon 
 discover that we have an Introversion, of great beauty, 
 which we may now easily complete and set out, as 
 follows : 
 
 Introversion. 
 
 The song of Zacharias (Luke i, 68 — 79). 
 
 A I 68. Visitation. 
 
 B 1 69. Salvation. 
 
 C I 70. Prophets. 
 
 D I 71. Enemies. 
 
 E I 72. The Covenant. 
 E I 73. The Oath. 
 D I 74, 75. Enemies. 
 C I 76. Prophet. 
 B I 77. Salvation. 
 A 1 78, 79. Visitation. 
 
 By practice and observation we shall soon surmount 
 the initial difficulties ; and in course of time the study and 
 formation of structures will become increasingly easy 
 and happy work. 
 
 210 
 
iv. ADVANTAGES OF STRUCTURE 
 
 iv. The Advantages and Importance of the 
 Structures Will be Seen 
 
 (a) In telling us what a particular passage of Scripture 
 is all about. In other tvords, what is the Scope or the 
 Subject of the passage we are studying. 
 
 (6) This will give us the key to the meaning which we 
 are to put upon the tvords which are employed (as we 
 saw under Canon I.). 
 
 (c) In a case of doubt, the subject which is clearly 
 stated in one of the members will inform us as to what 
 it must be in the corresponding member, where it may 
 not be so clearly stated. 
 
 (d) As the sense generally reads on from one member 
 to its corresponding member, it will practically place the 
 intervening member or members in a parenthesis. We 
 shall therefore have to read on from "A" to " JL" and 
 from "B" to "jB," etc., in order to get connected sense, 
 instead of apparent confusion. This may be seen from 
 any of the above examples, especially Ps. cv. But we 
 may append another beautiful example: 
 
 Hebrews i., ii. 
 
 A I i. 1 — 2-. God speaking. 
 
 B I i.-2— 14. The Son. God. Better than Angels. 
 A I ii. 1 — 4. God speaking. 
 
 B I ii. 5 — 18. The Son. Man. Lower than Angels. 
 
 Here, ch. ii. 1 ("^4") reads on from i. 2- ("A"), and 
 eh. ii. 5 ("5") reads on from ch. i. 14 ("B"). 
 
 (e) Corroborative evidence is sometimes thus obtained 
 for the support or otherwise of a various reading. 
 
 V. Illustrations of these Advantages. 
 
 But the chief importance of this branch of our subject 
 lies in the fact that the Structure gives us the Scope, 
 and the Scope will give us the key to the meaning of 
 the words. 
 
 It will be interesting if we now apply the principle in- 
 volved in this our Second Canon to our First Canon, and 
 to the same passages there considered. We shall tluis 
 see how the Structure of the passages which furnished 
 
 211 O 2 
 
11. SCOPE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 the several illustrations under Canon I. does indeed give 
 us their Scope: which, in turn, gives us the meanings of 
 the words in 2 Pet. i. 20, 21 and 1 Pet. iii. 18—20. 
 
 (a) " Private interpretation'' (2 Pet. i. 20, 21). As the 
 Epistles come to us as a wliole, without division into 
 chapters, we must not be guided by these human divisions 
 at all in looking for the Structure ; neither may we 
 arbitrarily take a few verses, and say: these form a 
 member by themselves. We must show that these verses 
 in question stand in their own special place and have their 
 own proper correspondences in the Epistle as a whole. 
 In looking, therefore, for the structure of 2 Pet. i. 20 we 
 must first find the Structure of the whole Epistle, and 
 see where this particular verse comes in ; so that we may 
 know of what subject it forms part ; and with what 
 other member it has its correspondence. 
 
 The 2nd Epistle of Peter as a whole. 
 
 (Combined Introversion and Extended Alternation.) 
 
 A 1 i. 1—4. Epistolary. Introduction. Grace and know- 
 I ledge to be increased. Christ, "God and Saviour." 
 
 B 1 i. 5 — 11. Exhortations and Reasons. 
 
 C a I i. 12—15. Peter. 
 
 b I i. 16—21. Apostles and prophets, 
 c I ii. The wicked, etc. 
 
 a I iii. 1. Peter. 
 
 b I iii. 2. Prophets and apostles, 
 c I iii. 3—13. The wicked, etc. 
 
 B I iii. 14 — 17. Exhortations and reasons. 
 A I iii. 18. Epistolary. Conclusion. Grace and knowledge 
 I to be increased. Christ, "Lord and Saviour." 
 
 We thus see that ch. i. 20 forms part of a larger 
 member (marked "b") which has for its subject "Apostles 
 and prophets." 
 
 This one member (b, i. 16 — 21) is capable of a wonderful 
 expansion, from which we see that it consists of two 
 distinct parts: Apostolic ivitness (vv. 16 — 18); and, the 
 Prophetic word (vv. 19—21). 
 
 212 
 
V. ILLUSTRATIONS OP STRUCTURE : 2 Pet. i. 20 
 
 These two, on careful examination, are seen to have a 
 similar construction : Alternately negative and positive. 
 
 2 Peter i. 16—21. 
 (Simple Alternation Combined tvith Introversion.) 
 The Apostolic Witness (vv. 16—18). 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 d 
 
 i. 16. What it was NOT. "Not cunningly de« 
 vised (or self-originated) Myths." 
 
 e i. -16. What it WAS. A vision of the 
 power and coming of Christ (Comp. Matt, 
 xvi. 28, and xvii. 1 — 5). 
 E i. 17, 18. Hoiv it CAME. Voice came 
 (<p6paj) from the excellent glory. Voice 
 came (c^^pco) fromheaven. "Heard" and 
 " made known." 
 
 The Prophetic Word (vv. 19 — 21). 
 
 i. 19. What it IS. A light to be well-heeded 
 till the Day of Christ's coming shall dawn ; 
 and He, the Day Star, shall arise. 
 
 i. 20. What it is NOT. Not of its own reveal- 
 ment. Not self-originating. 
 
 E 
 
 i.21. HowitCAME. Not brought {(^epm) 
 by the Will of Man; but brought (c^epco) 
 by pneuma hagion, or "power from on 
 high." "Heard," and "spoken." 
 
 From this we see the obvious contrast standing out very 
 clearly between the self -originated myths that came by 
 "the will of man"; and the Divine and heavenly Visions 
 and revelations sent and received, and seen and heard 
 from God in heaven. 
 
 This revelation is further seen to concern Christ's 
 Coming. In "e" it is the Vision of it, as fore-shown in 
 the Transfiguration: in "e" it is the grand reality of it, 
 of which the Transfiguration was only a ty[)ieal Vision. 
 The former was believed on the Apostolic Witness: the 
 latter was to be believed on the testimony of the Prophetic 
 Word. 
 
 218 
 
IT. SCOPE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 Further, the great subject, as to Hoiv the Apostolic Wit- 
 ness and the Prophetic Word came is strongly emphasized 
 by the repetition of the same verb <p6pa) (phero), to bring 
 or hear. We have it twice in each of the two corre- 
 sponding members (E and E), showing us how the 
 human Witness and the Divine Word Avere both hrotight 
 to us from heaven; and did not originate from any 
 man or men on earth, as did the cunningly-devised 
 myths. 
 
 It is this fact which stamps the Apostasy of the 
 present day. Those who profess to be in the Apostolic 
 succession turn aivay their ears from the prophetic 
 Word; and, while they declare that many of its records 
 are myths, are themselves "turned unto" the myths ^ of 
 man's devising. 
 
 We may add, in order to complete this passage, the 
 following Expansions, verbatim : — 
 
 The Expansion of D (2 Peter i. 19, 20). 
 
 The Prophetic Word. 
 
 (Introversion— Six. Members.) 
 
 And we have more sure, the prophetic word (written 
 prophecy) ; 
 g I to which ye do well to take heed, 
 
 h I as to a light shining in a dark place, 
 h I until the day daAvn, and the day star arise, 
 g I in your hearts ; 
 /] this knoAving first, that no prophecy of scripture 
 came of its own disclosure. 
 
 Here, we observe, that the subject of "f " and "/" 
 is the Prophecy. In "f " it is spoken of as a Avhole ; in 
 in part, a particular prophecy. In "g" and "gr" we 
 have Exhortation as to our duty with regard to it. In 
 "g"Ave are exhorted to take heed to it; and in "t/" how 
 we are to take heed— w^., in our hearts. Lastly, in "h" 
 and "/i" we liaA^e the Prophetic Word again. In "h" 
 its character (a light in a dark place); and in "h" its 
 
 1 So the Greek word rendered "Fables" in 2 T'im. iv. i. 
 
 214 
 
V. ILLUSTRATIONS OF STRUCTURE : 2 Pet. i. 20 
 
 duration and object (until the day dawn, etc.). Then in 
 verse 21 we have the reason given. 
 
 The Expansion of E (2 Peter i. 21). 
 
 The Reason. 
 
 {Introversion. ) 
 
 E i I For not by the will of man 
 
 k I was prophecy, at any time, borne in, 
 k I but by the Holy Spirit, borne along, 
 i I spake the holy men of God. 
 
 Here again we have in "i" and "^" man's relation to 
 the Prophetic Word ; in "i" negative, in "-i" positive. 
 While in "k" and "/c" we have its origin; in "k" nega- 
 tive, and in "7c" positive. 
 
 The above two Structures may be now explained by 
 the following Key: 
 
 The Key to D and E. 
 The Prophetic Word. (2 Peter i. 19, 20.) 
 {Introversion. ) 
 D f I The prophetic word as a whole. 
 
 g I Exhortation (general) to take heed to it. 
 h I Its character : a light in a dark place. 
 h I Its duration : until the Day dawn. 
 g [ Exhortation (particular) ; to take heed to it in 
 I our hearts. 
 I Prophecy in ijarticular. 
 
 E 
 
 The Reason. (2 Peter i. 21.) 
 {Introversion. ) 
 
 j Negati 
 \ Positive. 
 
 Man's part in it. 
 k I How it did not come 
 k I How it did come 
 
 Man's part in it. 
 
 Thus the scope, or great subject, of 2 Peter i. IG— 21 is 
 gathered from its structure; and it is seen to be, not 
 what Scripture means, but whence it came: and it is 
 concerned not with the interpretation of Scripture, but 
 Avith its origin, as already shown above (pp. 180—188). 
 
 215 
 
TI. SCOPE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 (6) " The spirits in prison" (1 Pet. iii. 18—22). To under- 
 stand this expression the Structure is necessary to give 
 us the scope of 1 Pet. iii. 
 
 Verse 19 does not stand by itself, but forms part of a 
 larger member; and that member has its own Scope, or 
 subject, which will give us the meaning of the expiessiou— 
 "The in-prison spirits." 
 
 This member is not to be arbitrarily delimited, but 
 must be found from 
 
 The Structure of 1 Peter as a whole. 
 {Combined Introversion and Extended Alternation.) 
 I i. 1, 2. Epistolary. 
 
 B i. 3—12. Introduction. Giving out the great sub- 
 ject. "The End." Glory, after suffering for a 
 season {o'Kiyov, oligon). 
 
 i. 13— ii. 10. General Exhortations in view 
 of " the End " (i. 13). Grace to be brought 
 at Revelation of Jesus Christ. 
 
 ii. 11— iv. 6. Particular Exhortations 
 as to "sufferings" to be followed by 
 "glory" (ii. 20; iii. 17-22). 
 
 C a iv. 7 — 19. General Exhortations in view 
 of ^'the End." Joy to be brought at 
 Revelation of Christ's glory. 
 
 V. 1 — 9. Particular Exhortations as 
 to "sufferings" to be followed by 
 "glory" (V. 1). 
 B \ V. 10, 11. Conclusion. Embodying the great 
 subject. "The End." Glory after suffering 
 I awhile (oXlyov, oligon). 
 
 A I V. 12—14. Epistolary. 
 
 From this structure it is perfectly clear that the Scope 
 and subject of the whole Epistle is only one. This Scope 
 is given in the words of ch. iii. 17. 
 
 " It is better to suffer for well doing 
 than for evil doing." 
 
 This truth is enforced and illustrated and emphasized 
 again and again throughout the Epistle. 
 
 216 
 
V. ILLUSTRATIONS OF STRUCTURE : 1 Pet. hi. 19 
 
 The verses which follow (iii. 17 — iv. 6)^ are added as 
 the reason, which is given in proof of this statement of 
 the Scope of this Epistle. The word "FOR" introduces 
 it, and thus tells us that we have arrived at the very 
 kernel of the whole Epistle. Not some passage which we 
 are to explain as best we can and as though we wished 
 it were not there : but which we are to embrace as all- 
 important, and as though it were indispensable, as it is, 
 to the subject of the Epistle. 
 
 But here again we must go back; for though we see 
 that these verses (iii. 17— iv. 6) occur in the member "b," 
 yet we see also that they form only a part of that 
 member. 
 
 It is necessary for us, therefore, to go back, and see 
 whether it is really an integral part, and whether the 
 break in the whole member (ii. 11— iv. 6) really does 
 occur at iii. 17. 
 
 Expansion of "b" (1 Peter ii. 11— iv. 6). 
 {Extended Alternation.) 
 D I il. 11. Exhortations (Personal). 
 
 E I ii. 12. Calumnies : and how to refute them. 
 F ii. 13— iii. 7. Submission to man for the 
 Lord's sake: "The will of God" (ii. 15). 
 Reason: "For" (ii. 21), and Example of 
 Christ in His sufferings. 
 
 D I iii. 8—15, Exhortations (General). 
 
 E I iii. 16. Calumnies : and how to refute them. 
 
 iii. 17— iv. 6. Submission to man for the 
 Lord's sake: "The will of God" (iii. 17). 
 Reason : "For" (iii. 18), and Example of 
 Christ in His glorification. 
 
 The Correspondence of these members, each to each, is 
 exceedingly exact and minute. From this we see that 
 the last member F does actually commence with iii. 17, 
 the "For" corresponding exactly with the "For" in ch. ii. 
 21: each "for" introducing the example of Christ. 
 
 1 We cannot break off at end of ch. ii^. for ch. iv. begins "Foraamucb 
 then," which shows that it follows in close continuation of ch. iii. 
 
 217 
 
II. SCOPE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 Now we are, at length, in a position to examine the 
 further delimitation of this member F (iii. 17 — iv. 6): 
 which is as follows : — 
 
 The Reasons for Submission to the Will of God 
 (1 Peter iii. 17— iv. 6). 
 
 {Simj)le Alternation Combined %vith Introversion.) 
 
 F G c iii. 17. Reason for our suffering here, in the flesh, 
 "if the will of God be so." 
 
 d I iii. 18-. Reason for Christ's suffering here as 
 I to His flesh, "put to death." 
 
 H iii. -18—22. Christ's glory which follow- 
 ed. (Resurrection, Triumph, Glory, and 
 Dominion). 
 
 G d iv. 1-. Reason for Christ's suffering here, in 
 the flesh. 
 
 -1 — 5. Our suffering here in the flesh, at the 
 "will of man," by "the will of God." 
 
 H iv. 6. Reason for our glory which shall 
 follow. Though judged in the flesh ac- 
 cording to the "will of man," we shall 
 live again in resurrection according to 
 the "will of God" (Compare v. 19). 
 
 Here we see the beautiful contrast between our suffering 
 and Christ's; our glory and Christ's. This leads us vip, 
 naturally, to Christ's example, which follows verses 18—22, 
 with which we are now concerned. 
 
 We see, from the above Structure, that these particular 
 verses are located in the member "H," the subject of 
 which is the Example of Christ in His glorification, 
 corresponding with His example in ch. ii. 21, which was 
 Christ in His suffering. 
 
 In H (ch. iii. 18—22) the two examples are combined 
 in order to connect the sufferings with the glory; and 
 to show that Christ's glorious triumph which followed 
 was the reason why it is better to suffer here, and now. 
 (Compare ch. iii. -18, with ch. iv. -6.) 
 
 This is the triumph referred to in Col. ii. 14, 15, where, 
 having "spoiled principalities and powers, he made a 
 show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." 
 
 218 
 
V. ILLUSTRATIONS OF STRUCTURE : 1 Pet. hi. 19 
 
 The Triumph of Christ (H, 1 Peter iii. 18—22). 
 
 {Introversion and Extended Altey^nation.) 
 
 H J e I iii. -18. The Resurrection of Christ. 
 
 f 19. Result. TTopeuBeig (poreutheis), having gone 
 (to Tartarus, 2 Pet. ii. 4) He made proclama- 
 tion of His Triumph to the in-prison spirits 
 or angels. 
 
 g I 20-. The insubjection of spirits in the days 
 I of Noah (Gen. vi. 2 Pet. ii. 4. Jude 6). 
 
 K -20. Noah saved then. Ark the type. 
 Material water the means. 
 
 K 1 21-. We saved now. Baptism the 
 I Antitype. Spiritual water the means. 
 
 e \ -21. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
 
 / 1 22-. Result. TTopeuSelg, having gone into hea- 
 I ven, is on the right hand of God. 
 
 g I -22. The subjection of angels, authorities, 
 I and powers. 
 
 Here we come to the direct proof that verses 18—22 
 have for their subject the ''glory" of Christ, which 
 followed on His ''sufferings," forming the reason why "it 
 is better to suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing." 
 
 We see also the importance of the Structure in giving 
 us the interpretation : for the "spirits" in verse 20 are 
 shown to be " angels " in verse 22 : the insubjection of 
 the former being set in contrast with the latter. 
 
 Thus we have another example of our second great 
 principle that the scope, or subject, of a passage is to be 
 sought for in its Structure. 
 
 We have also some evidence as to the Divine origin 
 of Scripture. For, these Structures are altogether beyond 
 the power of "unlearned and ignorant men" such as 
 Peter was (Acts iv. 18), and are the best possible proofs 
 we can have of Divine Inspiration. 
 
 (c) "Testament" and Covenant (Heb. ix. 15— 23). -This 
 will furnish us with an illustration of what we have 
 already said on this passage above (pages 195 — 197). 
 
 219 
 
II. SCOPE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 There we have shown how the meanhig of certain 
 words in this passage is determined by its Scope. Now 
 we have to show how the scope, and, therefore, the inter- 
 pretation of the passage is determined by its Strnctnre. 
 
 It is more profitable to show this in the case of passages 
 we have already dealt with above, than to seek for other 
 examples which wonld only divert onr thoughts instead 
 of concentrating them on the further elucidation of 
 passages already in our minds. 
 
 When we say that Heb. ix. 15—23 forms a distinct 
 member by itself, the burden of proof devolves upon 
 us ; for, we may not make this arbitrary statement : 
 we must show that it is so in fact, and that it has its 
 own separate place in 
 
 The Epistle to the Hebrews as a whole. 
 (Introversion and Simple Alternation.) 
 A I i., ii. Doctrinal Introduction. 
 
 B I iii. 1— iv. 13. The Mission of Christ. 
 
 C iv. 14 — 16. General Application. ('Ei^ovr^g ouv, 
 I "Having therefore") Boldness. 
 B I V. 1— X. 18. The Priesthood of Christ. 
 
 C X. 19— xii. 29. Particular Application. ('K^ovreg 
 I ouv, "Having therefore") Boldness. 
 A 1 xiii. Practical Conclusion. 
 
 We are now in a position to see where our particular 
 passage (ch. ix. 15 — 23) comes in. 
 
 It is in the member marked B (ch. v. 1 — x. 18) that we 
 find it. 
 
 We have to see, next, what particular part of that 
 member it occupies, before we can discover its Scope. 
 
 Having thus given the Structure of the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews as a whole, we are now in a position to see where 
 the particular passage which we are considering comes in. 
 
 We have before remarked that we cannot be guided 
 in this matter by the chapter-breaks, which are entirely 
 and only of human authority, which is no authority at all. 
 
 In the case of an Epistle, we are compelled therefore 
 to begin with the Epistle as a whole before we can dis- 
 cover the position of a particular passage or verse. 
 
 220 
 
V. ILLUSTRATIONS OF STRUCTURE : Heb. ix. 15—23 
 
 Tlie Structure of this member B, is based on the same 
 modeLon which the Epistle itself, as a whole, is framed; 
 and it is as follows : 
 
 The Priesthood of Christ. 
 (J5, Heb. V. 1-x. 18.) 
 {Introversion, combined tvith Simple Alternation.) 
 
 B a , V. 1 — 4. The Nature of Priesthood in General, iroig 
 yao (pas gar) " for every ..." 
 
 b V. 5—10. Christ called by God after the order 
 of Melchisedec. 
 
 V. 11 — vi. 20. Digression, concerning Melchi- 
 sedec as the Type. 
 
 vii. Christ called by God after the order of 
 Melchisedec. 
 
 c viii. 1, 2. Summation, concerning Christ as 
 the Antitype. 
 
 a I viii. 3 — x. 18. The Efficacy of Christ's Priesthood in 
 particular. Trdg yap (pas gar) ''for every ..." 
 
 Now we see that the verses we are seeking (Heb. ix. 
 15 — 23) form part of a larger member, viz., Heb. viii. 3 — 
 X. 18, and that, in the above expansion, it is the member 
 marked "a," which is the last member of the above Struc- 
 ture ; and further, we see that its subject is the Efficacy 
 and Superiority of Christ's Sacrifice as compared with 
 the Priesthood of Aaron under the Law. 
 
 All we have to do now is to get the Scope of this 
 member (a, ch. viii. 3— x. 18) by observing its own special 
 Structure. 
 
 We have said above that all these larger members have 
 their own peculiar construction; but we must not be 
 tempted nor turned aside from our main purpose ; we 
 must confine our attention, in each case, to the parti- 
 cular members involved in our search : and continue 
 this until we narrow the whole question down to the 
 passage we are examining, and are able to locate the 
 verses (ch. ix. 15—23) and thus discover their scope. 
 
 We are now in a i)osition to do this by expanding the 
 member " a," above, which we shall find to be as follows :— 
 
 221 
 
II. SCOPE OF PASSAGE PROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 The Efficacy and Superiority of Christ's Priesthood. 
 (a, Heb. viii. 3— x. 18). 
 
 (Extended Alternation.) 
 
 viii. 3—6. Christ's Priesthood. "A more excellent 
 ministry," " a better covenant " on " better promises." 
 
 e viii. 7 — 13. The Old and New Covenants com- 
 pared and contrasted. 
 
 ix. 1 — 5. The Earthly Sanctuary a copy of 
 the Heavenly Pattern. 
 
 g I ix. 6—10. The OfCerings. 
 
 ix. 11 — 14. Christ's Priesthood. "A greater and more 
 perfect Tabernacle." "His own blood." 
 
 e I ix. 15—23. The Old and. New Covenants com- 
 I pared and contrasted. 
 
 / 
 
 ix. 24. The Heavenly Sanctuary the pattern 
 of the Earthly Copy. 
 g I ix. 25~x. 18. The Offerings. 
 
 Here we see that our special member which we are 
 tracking out is found in that marked "e," ch. ix. 15—23. 
 Thus, at length, we learn that its subject is The Old and 
 New Covenants Compared and Contrasted. 
 
 This settles its Scope for us. All that remains for us 
 to do now is to confirm it by discovering its own Structure 
 and seeing whether this be really the case. 
 
 To see the full force of this it will be well to look also 
 at the member with which it stands in Correspondence, 
 viz., "e," ch. viii. 7 — 13, which is an Introversion. It also 
 follows the model of the Epistle as a whole. 
 
 The Old and New Covenants Compared and Contrasted, 
 (e, Heb. viii. 7—13.) 
 
 {Introversion and Simple Alternation.) 
 7, 8. The First Covenant Faulty. 
 
 9. The New Covenant (Negative). Not the same 
 in the making and material. 
 
 k I 10. The New Covenant (Positive). Spiritual. 
 11. The New Covenant (Negative). Not the same 
 in its result and effect. 
 
 7c I 12. The New Covenant (Positive). Spiritual. 
 h I 13. The First Covenant Evanescent. 
 
 222 
 
V. ILLUSTRATIONS OP STRUCTURE : Heb. ix. 15—23 
 
 Now we are in a position to look at the member with 
 which we are specially concerned, and again we notice 
 that the Structure follows the model of the Epistle as a 
 whole : — 
 
 The Old and New Covenants Compared and Contrasted. 
 (e, Heb. ix. 15-23.) 
 
 (Introversion and Simple Alternation.) 
 
 e 1 1 1 ix. 15. The Old Covenant related only to "the promise 
 I of the eternal inheritance." 
 
 m I 16. Death necessary for its making. 
 
 n I 17. Reason for this necessity, 
 m I 18. Blood necessary for its consecration.'-^ 
 n I 19—23-. Reason for this necessity. 
 Z I -23. The New Covenant related to "the heavenly 
 I things themselves." 
 
 It is impossible to miss the great subject of these verses. 
 It forbids us to ignore its importance, which is so essential 
 to the whole argument. 
 
 To arbitrarily change this subject is to entirely miss its 
 scope, and to be driven to force a meaning into the words 
 and expressions which are quite foreign to their Biblical 
 usage. 
 
 {d) Absent from the Body."" — 2 Cor. v. will furnish us 
 with another illustration of the importance of the Struc- 
 ture in determining the Scope. And we have seen, under 
 Canon I., the necessity of the Scope to give us the mean- 
 ing of the word, and to show us how indispensable it is 
 for a right understanding of the whole. 
 
 The Structure will show us how much we lose by the 
 break between the fourth and fifth chapters of the second 
 Epistle to the Corinthians. Chapter v. commences as 
 though it began an entirely fresh subject, whereas it be- 
 gins with the word " FOR," which shows that it is the con- 
 clusion of what had been begun towards the end of ch. iv. 
 That subject is Resurrection as our blessed hope in view 
 of the perishing of our outward man day by day. As a 
 comforting conclusion it is added, "FOR we know that if 
 
 1 So the Greek, which has the article. 
 
 2 Greek, eyK/uviCoj (enkainizo), to dedicate (see ch. x. 20). 
 
 223 
 
11. SCOrE OF PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we 
 have a building of God, an house not made with hands, 
 eternal, in the heavens." This is one of the "things 
 unseen," and which are "eternal"; at which, and for 
 which, we are to "look." 
 
 Where the real literary and logical breaks occur can 
 be discovered only from the Structure. 
 
 As a matter of fact, 2 Cor. v. forms part of a member 
 which runs from 2 Cor. iii. 1 — vi. 10; but we must not 
 make such an arbitrary statement without producing the 
 evidence, so that others may judge for themselves as to 
 its accuracy. 
 
 To prove this we must first give 
 
 The Structure of 2 Cor. as a whole. 
 
 A 1 i. 1, 2. Salutation. 
 
 B a I i. 3—11. Thanksgiving. 
 
 b I i. 12. Paul's Ministry. 
 
 C I i. 13— ii. 13. Epistolary. 
 a 1 ii. 14—17. Thanksgiving. 
 
 h I iii. 1— vi. 10. Paul's Ministry. 
 
 C I vi. 11— xiii. 10. Epistolary. 
 A I xiii. 11—14. Salutations. 
 
 Without going into the exquisite beauties of C and C,^ 
 we note that the small portion in which the expression 
 "Absent from the body" occurs is the member marked 
 h (ch. iii. 1— vi. 10). We must dissect and expand this 
 member, which will be seen to be as follows : 
 
 The Character of Paul's Ministry. 
 (&, 2 Cor. iii. 1— vi. 10.) 
 iii. 1—3. Commendation (Positive). 
 
 d 1 iii. 4, 5. Trust in God. God's Sufficiency. 
 
 e I iii. 6— 18. The Ministry of the New Covenant.^ 
 f I \y. 1— v. 11. Support under Afflictions. 
 V. 12, 13. Commendation (Negative). 
 
 ^ I V, 14—18-. Love of Christ. All of God. 
 
 Q I Y. -18— vi. 2. The Ministry of Reconciliation. 
 / I vi. 3—10. Approval under Afflictions. 
 
 1 Which may be seen in Figures of Speech, p. 388, and The Church Epistles, 
 p. 100. 
 
 '•i For the Structure of this member see The Giver and His Gifts, pp. 138—140. 
 
 224 
 
V. ILLUSTRATIONS OF STRUCTURE: 2 Cot?, v. G, 7 
 
 We are thus narrowing down the issue, which is now 
 seen to lie in the member marked "f " (eh. iv. 1— v. 11). 
 
 The subject of this member is Support under afflictions ; 
 and its Structure is a repeated alternation, as follows : 
 
 Support under Afflictions. 
 
 (2 Cor. iv. 1— V. 11.) 
 
 iv. 1— 0. Confidence (Neg.). " We faint not." 
 
 h^ iv. 7—15. Grounds. "Earthen vessels." The 
 working of death in them (iv. 12), with pledge 
 of Resurrection (iv. 14). 
 
 g- I iv. 16-. Confidence (Neg.). "We faint not." 
 
 iv. -16— V. 5. Grounds. " Earthly house." The 
 working of afflictions (iv. 17), and the working 
 of God, in Resurrection (v. 5). 
 
 g^ I V. 6—11. Confidence (Pos.). " We are confident." 
 
 We need not pursue these expansions further, though 
 we might well do so. 
 
 We can see very clearly now, that the wonderful 
 ground of support of Paul and Timothy in their afflictions 
 was the consideration of the "unseen" things, as out- 
 weighing the "things seen"; so that though the "earthen 
 vessels" of their bodies were dissolved there was the 
 "excellency of the power" of God which Avould be put 
 forth in Resurrection. 
 
 It is thus seen how the break between chapters iv. and 
 V. destroys the connection ; in fact, breaks in two the 
 one member, "h^" (ch. iv. -16 — v. 5), which has only one 
 subject, viz., Resurrection, as the ground of the confi- 
 dence, and the reason for not fainting in their labours of 
 ministry. 
 
 We might have included this under the head of rightly 
 dividing the Word of truth as to its literary form, as shown 
 by the division into chapters (pages 34, 35). We might 
 also have included it under the heading of the importance 
 of the Scope of a passage (Canon I.). We might have in- 
 cluded it under the heading of the importance of the 
 Context (see below, Canon III.). It belongs to all three; 
 but considering that the Structure is necessary to the 
 crowning proof, Ave have given this ilhistrntion here. 
 
 225 P 
 
II. SCOPE OP PASSAGE FROM ITS STRUCTURE 
 
 It is little less than a crime for anyone to pick out 
 certain words and frame them into a sentence, not only 
 disregarding the Scope and the context, but ignoring the 
 other words in the verse, and quote the words "absent 
 from the body present with the Lord " with the view of 
 dispensing with the hope of Resurrection (which is the 
 subject of the whole passage), as though it were un- 
 necessary; and as though "presence with the Lord" is 
 obtainable without it ! 
 
 Apart from the doctrine involved, and apart from the 
 teaching of Tradition (true or false), it is a literary fraud 
 thus to treat the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth. 
 
 We see therefore, for it must be clear to us, that the 
 Scope of a passage is the key to its words ; and that the 
 Structure of a passage is the key to its Scope. 
 
 This will shoAV us the importance of our second Canon. 
 
 How great must be our loss if we fail to use this key 
 to the wonderful words of God. 
 
 Like all His works they bear the minutest searching 
 out. 
 
 All the works of God are perfect. And the microscope 
 and telescope can both be used to examine them ; though 
 neither of them can ever exhaust the wonders of God's 
 works. In both directions an increase of the power of 
 the lens will reveal new beauties and fresh marvels. 
 
 The Word of God, being one of His works, must have 
 the same phenomena : and nothing exhibits these pheno- 
 mena like the Study of its Literary Structure. 
 
 To us, God's Word is the greatest and most important 
 of all His works. If we understand all His other works 
 (which no one does or can) and yet know not His Word, 
 our knowledge will not carry us beyond the grave. 
 
 But we must not lose sight of the great underlying 
 lesson, and the great outcome of the whole of this subject, 
 which is this : If the external form be so perfect, what 
 must the inward truth be : if the setting be so valuable, 
 how valuable must be the jewel : if the literary order be 
 Divine, how solemn must be the warnings, how important 
 the truth, how faithful tiie promises, how sure the words 
 of Avliich the Word is made up. 
 
 226 
 
CANON III. 
 
 THE BIBLICAL USAGE OP WORDS IS ESSENTIAL 
 TO THEIR CORRECT INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Next to the Scope of a passage in determining the mean- 
 ing of words must be placed the Biblical usage of words, 
 as distinct from the meanings put upon them by lexi cons, 
 dictionaries, and commentaries. 
 
 These are too often based on etymology mereh/", or 
 on the meaning put upon words by tradition; or on their 
 usage at some time other than the time at which they 
 were written or spoken. 
 
 The usage of words is prior in time, as well as in im- 
 portance, to all dictionaries. 
 
 Indeed, in all languages, the dictionary has to be com- 
 piled directly from such usage, and is, in fact, only a 
 record of it, so far as it can be gathered. 
 
 Hence the value of such a work is in direct proportion 
 to the number of examples which it gives of usage by 
 different writers recognized as standard authorities. 
 
 In the case of many words, changes of usage can be 
 traced through different periods of time. 
 
 Words in a living language are like coins which are in 
 constant use ; and, as coins not only differ in value between 
 different countries, but change their own values at different 
 periods in the same countries ; so it is with words ; there 
 is a constant change in value when measured by their 
 purchasing power. 
 
 The greatest possible care, therefore, is required in 
 dealing with "words," especially when they are the 
 "words which the Holy Ghost teacheth." 
 
 It is necessary that we should get not only the exact 
 equivalent in changing words from one language to 
 another, as we do in changing coins; but that we should 
 know the relative value of the same words (or coins) in 
 the same country at different periods of its history. 
 
 Over and above this, we read in Psalm xii. 6: 
 a I The tvords of Jehovah arc pure words, 
 
 b I As silver tried in a furnace : 
 a I [ Words] of the eartli, 
 
 b I Purified seven times. 
 
 227 p 2 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSExXTIAL 
 
 The Holy Spirit has used words pertaining to this 
 world. He has not spoken with "the tongues of angels" 
 (1 Cor. xiii. 1), but with "the tongues of men." In using 
 men's words, and words pertaining to this world, He has 
 used them in all perfection. 
 
 The Hebrew Old Testament we must regard as consist- 
 ing only of Divinely chosen and inspired words, as we have 
 no literature that goes behind it. 
 
 With the Greek of the New Testament the case is 
 dilferent, for there is the whole of Greek classical litera- 
 ture behind it. 
 
 It is intensely interesting to notice that while there are 
 97,921 words used by the classical Greek writers,^ the Holy 
 Spirit has chosen and used only 5,857 in the Greek New 
 Testament.^ 
 
 So that there are 92,064 Greek words which the Holy 
 Spirit has never used at all. 
 
 That is to say, out of all the Greek words used in 
 Greek Classical Literature the Holy Spirit has used only 
 one in sixteen, or six per cent. ! 
 
 Those He has used. He has, in many cases, used in a 
 higher sense. 
 
 Some He has used in a dijferent sense. 
 
 While others,^ again, He has coined Himself.'' 
 
 It is unnecessary for us to consider those words He has 
 never used at all. 
 
 There are five distinct divisions under which this sub- 
 ject of usage of words may be profitably considered : 
 
 i. Where English words have gone out of use alto- 
 
 gether. 
 
 ii. Where the usage of English words has been changed. 
 
 iii. Where the usage of Greek words had become 
 
 changed : 
 
 (a) By God ; 
 (&) By man. 
 
 1 This is the number of words treated in Liddle and Scott's Standard Greek 
 Lexicon, 8th Edition, 1901. (It consists of 1774 pages.) 
 
 2 This is the number of words treated in Thayer's (Grimm's Wilke's) Greek- 
 English Lexicon to the New Testament. 
 
 ^ See en-tovo-tos (epiousios), Matt. vi. 11 and Luke xi. 3, and separate pamphlet 
 on The Lord's Prayer, by the same author and publisher. Also a-KavSa\i^u) 
 (skandalizd), to cause to stumble (Matt. xi. 6), Figures of Speech, p. 73. 
 
 4 These should, of cour?e, be deducted from the 5,857 mentioned above. 
 
 228 
 
BIBLICAL USAGE OF ENGLISH WORDS 
 
 iv. Where different, but concurrent usages of Greek 
 
 words should be observed in the English. 
 V. Where a uniform usage of Greek words should not 
 be departed from in the English; English words 
 obsolete. 
 
 i. Where English Words have Gone Out of Use 
 
 Altogether. 
 
 In the English language certain words and expressions 
 which were common in the seventeenth century have gone 
 out of use altogether, and require explanation before they 
 can be correctly interpreted. 
 
 The following are examples of words and expressions 
 which have become obsolete : — 
 
 All to brake (Judges ix. 53) is the Anglo-Saxon tohrecan, 
 which meant to smash. "All to brake," therefore, was 
 used in the sense of to completely smash or break. 
 
 Away with (Isa. i. 13), meant to tolerate. 
 
 Come at, meant to come near (Num. vi. 6). 
 
 Do to wit (2 Cor. viii. 1), meant make to know, to 
 certify. 
 
 For to do, meant in order to do (Deut. iv. 1). 
 
 Full ivell (Mark vii. 9), meant with full knowledge. 
 
 Go to (Jas. iv. 13), meant come now. 
 
 Trow (Luke xvii. 9), meant to suppose or imagine. 
 
 Wist (Luke ii. 49. Mark xiv. 40), is the past tense of the 
 Ang.-Sax. wit, to know. Unwittingly (Josh. xx. 3), meant 
 unknoioingly . 
 
 Very (Gen. xxvii. 21. Prov. xvii. 9. John vii. 26 ; viii. 4), 
 meant true, real. 
 
 These are only examples. There are many other sucli 
 words for the Bible student to search out. 
 
 ii. Where the Use of English Words has become 
 
 Changed. 
 
 Another class of words, which have not themselves 
 become obsolete, but of which the usage has become en- 
 tirely changed during the centuries, requires careful dis- 
 crimination. 
 
 229 
 
III. lilBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 We are familiar with some of these changes, notably 
 in the word 
 
 Prevent, which originally meant to 'precede or go before, 
 but now means to Myider. The importance of this is seen 
 in such a passage as 1 Thess. iv. 15, "We shall not precede 
 those who are fallen asleep." So R.V. (See also Job iii. 12. 
 Ps. xvii. 13 (marg.); lix. 10; Ixxix. 8; Ixxxviii. 13; xcv. 2 
 (marg.); cxix. 148. Amos ix. 10). 
 
 It is a strange commentary on fallen human nature to 
 see words thus changing their usage ; for this change is 
 uniformly in one direction ; it is ahvays a change for the 
 rvorse. We never find a word acquiring a higher mean- 
 ing ! It is always down, down, like fallen and falling 
 man himself, who thus drags down with him the meanings 
 of the words he uses. 
 
 How, for example, did the change in the usage of this 
 word "prevent " come about ? And why ? It was because 
 whenever one man got before another, it was generally 
 for his own advantage, and to the hindrance, hurt, and 
 loss of the other; hence the word came to have this 
 new and lower meaning. 
 
 Other words may be studied with advantage, e.g., boor, 
 pagan, brat, imp, bombast, oversight, wretch, vagabond, 
 craft, inquisition, impose, meddle, impertinent, garble, 
 equivocation.^ 
 
 1 The same may be seen in the word apology, which was used of a defence^ 
 as in Jewel's Apology (i.e., Defence) of the Reformation. But, because 
 man's defences of himself are usually so poor, the word has come to mean a 
 mere excuse. 
 
 Our word censure was used simply of judgment, which might be favour- 
 able or otherwise ; but, inasmuch as such judgments have generally proved 
 to be unfavourable, the word is used, to-day, only of blame. 
 
 Our word story was originally short for history, but because so many 
 histories and stories are what they are, the word has come to mean that which 
 is not true. 
 
 Knave was originally a boy, especially a servant boy ; but his character 
 has served the purpose of changing the usage of the word to describe what 
 he so often proved himself to be. In Scotland a knave-bairn was a boy-child. 
 Wyckliffe rendered Exod. i. 13, "If it be a knave child, sle ye him." While 
 Paxil calls himself "a knave of Jesus Christ." 
 
 Ctmning meant merely knowing; but because knowing people generally 
 know too much, or use their knowledge to a bad purpose, it has come to have 
 its present usage. 
 
 Subtle meant finely-woven ; hence, fine, accurate, clever. 
 
 Villain meant a servant of a villa, or of a country or farm-house. The 
 hoixse has kept its good meaning, but the man has lost it. 
 
 230 
 
ii. USAGE OF ENGLISH WORDS CHANGED 
 
 But in this section we are dealing with English words 
 where the fall is not so great, but where the old meaning 
 has gone out. 
 
 To take in, was the act of hospitality (Matt. xxv. 35), 
 but it stands on the border line, and is used of what it 
 more often is than is not, viz., to deceive. 
 
 Adventure, meant to go (Acts xix. 31. Deut. xxviii. 56). 
 
 Artillery, meant any instruments made by art; hence, 
 weapons of any kind (1 Sam. xx. 40). 
 
 Assay, meant to attempt, to try (Job iv. 2). 
 
 By and hy, meant immediately. This change is very 
 important in the interpretation of Luke xxi. 9. 
 
 Charity, meant love; not from the Greek )(^oLpig (cJiaris), 
 but from the old French charitet, which meant dearness. 
 This dearness of affection has resolved itself into the 
 mercenary act of giving money, which has passed into 
 our word charity, which no longer, therefore, represents 
 the Greek word charis. 
 
 Beeves, was the plural of beef, the Norman-French for 
 an ox (Num. xxxi. 33). 
 
 Parasite meant, in Greek, a sacred granary; but it is a word which has 
 sunk low indeed, seeing that in Shakespeare's time he was able to write: 
 
 " ' Most smiling, smooth, detested parasites. 
 
 Courteous destroyers, affable wolves, meek bears. 
 You fools of fortune.' 
 
 Yet in Greece, where it originated, parasite was once a highly respectable 
 word. The original parasites were 'all honourable men; in repute alike for 
 their learning and integrity.' They held positions of trust in Church and State, 
 for which they had salaries and a table furnished them by the State. This 
 latter fact led to their name, and ultimately to the downfall of the word. For 
 long, however, the profession of parasite was an honourable one, and so great 
 was the public confidence in them that a sacred granary, the Parasitium, 
 containing corn for the service of the gods, was placed in their charge. Mural 
 inscriptions recording the services of the parasites were placed in the temples, 
 and some of them obtained the civic crown of gold. Presently, however, the 
 word began to be used for those who fed at the expense of others. The hungry 
 tribe sank yet lower in public estimation, and became the toadies and syco- 
 phants at great men's tables."— T/ie Globe (London, Eng.), April 23, 1907. 
 
 Inn, again, is another example of a word which has seen better days. It 
 is "now applied only to low places and the better sort of public-house in which 
 travellers are entertained; it formerly signified a great house, mansion, or 
 family palace." Yet, in London, it still retains some signs of its former grandeur 
 in Lincoln's Inn, formerly the residence of the Earls of Lincoln, and Gray's Tnn, 
 once the mansion of the noble family of Gray. Clement's Inn takes its name 
 from Clement, the Dane on whose burial i^laco a church was subsequently 
 built. Thavie's Inn was built by John Thavie in VM7. Clifford's Inn wasdntiomi 
 nated from Kobert de Clifford, 1309; and Furnival's lun, from Sir William 
 Furnival, 1388. 
 
 231 
 
111. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 Bonnet, was used of a man's head-dress (Exod. xxviii. 40), 
 but to-day it is used only of a woman's (except in Scotland). 
 
 Carriages (Acts xxi. 15), was used of what was carried. 
 To-day it is used of that which carries. 
 
 Clouted, meant patched (Josh. ix. 5). 
 
 To ear, meant to plow (1 Sam. viii. 12. Isa. xxx. 24). 
 And earing meant ploiving (Gen. xlv. 6. Exod. xxxiv. 21) ; 
 and eared meant plotved (Deut. xxi. 4). 
 
 Earnest, meant a pledge, but of the same kind (2 Cor. i. 
 22. Eph. i. 14). A pledge might be of a different kind, 
 and hence in that case it would not be an earnest. An 
 earnest is to show that one is, as we say, "in earnest," 
 or serious. 
 
 Fast, was used in the sense of near, or close by 
 (Ruth ii. 8). 
 
 Libertine, was used originally of a class of freedmen 
 among the Romans; but even in those days it came to 
 be used (as now) of the licentious use of this liberty 
 (Acts vi. 9). 
 
 Lusty, meant vigorous (John viii. 44. 2 Tim. iv. 3. 
 1 John ii. 16). Lust meant desire ; but to-day it is used of 
 one particular kind of desire. 
 
 Naughty, meant worth nought, tvorthless (Prov. vi. 12 ; 
 
 xvii. 4. Jer. xxiv. 2). Now it is used to gloss over any evil, 
 or evil of some special kind. 
 
 Nephew, was used of a grandson (Judg. xii. 14. Job 
 
 xviii. 19. Isa. xiv. 22. 1 Tim. v. 4). 
 
 Occupy, was used of carrying on any business or trade. 
 This usage is still preserved in the noun occupation 
 (Luke xix. 13). 
 
 Penny, was used of any piece of money (Matt. xx. 2). 
 Even silver money was called a permy. This usage is still 
 preserved in our expression "to turn a penny." The Avord 
 originally meant a little pledge or token, then any coin. 
 Then it was used of a day's wage (Matt. xx. 2). In Luke x. 
 35 of two days' wage. Now, usage confines it to one 
 particular coin, the twelfth part of a shilling. But that 
 is not the usage in the New Testament. 
 
 Presently, meant immediately (1 Sam. ii. 16. Prov. xii. 
 16. Matt. xxi. 19 ; xxvi. 53. Phil. ii. 23). 
 
 Publican, was the Latin publicanus, or tax-gatherer 
 (Matt. ix. 10, &c.). To-day it is used only of a vintner. 
 
 232 
 
ii. USAGE OF ENGLISH WORDS CHANGED 
 
 Quick, is the Anglo-Saxon cwic, alive, as opposite bo 
 being dead (Lev. xiii. 10, 24. Num. xvi. 30. Ps. Iv. 15 ; 
 cxxiv. 3. Isa. xi. 3. Acts x. 42. 2 Tim. iv. 1. Heb. iv. 12- 
 
 1 Pet. iv. 5). To-day we use it in the sense of lively, as 
 the opposite to slow. 
 
 Quicken, means to make alive (Ps. Ixxi. 20 ; Ixxx. 18 ; 
 cxix. 25, 37, 40, 88, 107, 149, 154, 156, 159; exliii. 11. 
 Rom. viii. 11). 
 
 Quickened, means made alive (Ps. cxix. 50, 93. 1 Cor. xv. 
 36. Eph. ii. 1, 5. 1 Pet. iii. 18). 
 
 Quickeneth, means maketh alive (John v. 21 ; vi. 63. 
 Rom. iv. 17. 2 Cor. iii. 6 (marg.). 1 Tim. vi. 13). 
 
 Quickening, means making alive (1 Cor. xv. 45). 
 
 Simple, meant one fold, without guile, open, artless. But 
 because such an one says and does what more worldly- 
 wise people would conceal, he is considered foolish. Hence 
 the changed usage of the word. (See Ps. xix. 7 ; cxvi. 6 ; 
 cxix. 130. Prov. i. 4, 22, 32 ; vii. 7 ; viii. 5 ; ix. 4, 13 ; xiv. 15, 
 18 ; xxi. 11 ; xxii. 3. Ezek. xlv. 20. Rom. xvi. 18, 19). 
 
 Simplicity, has a similarly changed usage (see 2 Sam. 
 XV. 11. Prov. i. 22. Rom. xii. 8. 2 Cor. i. 12 ; xi. 3). 
 
 Sottish, meant dull, heavy, stupid (Jer. iv. 22), but be- 
 cause people are made so by intoxicants, it is used of 
 dtdlness so caused. 
 
 Vagabond, meant a ivanderer (Gen. iv. 12, 14. Acts xix. 
 13). Our modern usage testifies to the character of most 
 wanderers. 
 
 Silly, is the Anglo-Saxon for inoffensive, harmless ; but 
 because persons who are such are regarded as an easy 
 prey for designing persons, the word has come to be used 
 of those who are easily duped. (See Job v. 2. Hos. vii. 11. 
 
 2 Tim. iii. 6). 
 
 It will be seen from these examples how important 
 it is that we should have due regard to these changes of 
 usage in our own English language. 
 
 As we have exactly the same phenomena in the Greek 
 (as in all living ^ languages) it will be necessary to consider 
 this under our next heading. 
 
 1 This is why Latin ia used in all scientific terminology, becanse, Ijcing a 
 dead language, the meaning of its words is fixed, and cannot now be changed 
 by flux of time, or by use. 
 
 233 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 iii. Where the Usage of Greek Words had become 
 
 Changed. 
 
 Greek being a living language, its words (like coins) 
 became changed in usage. ^ Some words were thus changed 
 by the Holy Spirit, and were purified as silver is purified 
 in a furnace ; and used in a higher, a better, nobler and 
 a different sense from that in which man had ever used 
 them.^ 
 
 We will consider first the 
 
 (1) Changes of usage made by God, the Holy Spirit — 
 
 ap^Ty] {arete). Man used this only of manhood or manly 
 proicess, but the Holy Spirit uses it in the far higher 
 sense of Divine glory and of what God could praise. 
 The only occurrences in the N. T. : Phil. iv. 8. 1 Pet. ii. 9. 
 2 Pet. i. 3, 5. 
 
 rj^og (ethos) ^YSiS used only of the haunt of an animal, 
 but it came to have the moral meaning of custom, or 
 character (1 Cor. xv. 38). 
 
 ayyeXoy (angelos) was the Greek word for any mes- 
 senger, also for a messenger of the gods. But the 
 Holy Spirit takes it up, and purifies it, by using it as a 
 messenger from God, and "the Angel of the Lord." 
 
 ^oprjyeco (choreged) meant simply to supply or furnish 
 a chorus. But the Spirit uses it of the Divine supply of 
 all his people's needs (1 Pet. iv. 11). 
 
 eKKXrjG-la (ecclesia) was used, by the Greeks, only of a 
 towns meeting of its citizens (Acts xix. 39). But the Spirit 
 uses it of the assemblies of God's elect. ^ 
 
 wa'^aKJ^-r^Tng (paraJcle'os) was used only of a legal assis- 
 tant or helper. But Christ uses it of the Holy Spirit or 
 "Comforter" Avithin us that we may 7iot sin (John xiv. 
 16, 26 ; XV. 26 ; xvi. 7). And the Spirit uses it of Christ as 
 the Advocate with the Father if we do sin (1 John ii. 1). 
 
 n'Ka'^bay^ov (scandalon) was used only of a snare to 
 catch animals ; but in the New Testament it is used in 
 
 1 Similar changes aro taking place to day: xpcv^s {chronos), which, in 
 Ancient Greek, meant time, is used in Modern Greek of a year ; and xatpos 
 ijkairos), which meant season, is now used of weather! 
 
 •■i See above, pp. 227 228. 
 
 234 
 
iii USAGE OF GREEK WORDS CHANGED 
 
 a moral and spiritual sense of that which causes anyone 
 to stumble or fall (Matt. xi. 6); a sense in which the 
 Greeks never used it.^ 
 But there are other 
 
 (2) Changes of usage, made by man. 
 
 The Greek language was in use some four centuries 
 before Christ, and had a wonderful literature. But, in 
 the course of time the laws which operate to affect and 
 change the usage of words wrought the same inevitable 
 changes in many Greek words. 
 
 For this reason classical Greek usages are no infallible 
 guide to the usage of Biblical Greek. 
 
 The vast moral and spiritual nature of the subject- 
 matter of the New Testament necessitated of itself many 
 changes, quite apart from those which were produced by 
 the changes of time. 
 
 The Septuagint Version (of the Hebrew Old Testament 
 into Greek) marks many of these changes. But within 
 the last few years the evidence from this source of infor- 
 mation has been vastly increased by the multitude of 
 papyri which have been discovered, and dug up, in Egypt. 
 These are daily increasing in number, and are being 
 bought up for deposit and study in the principal libraries 
 of Europe. Some students are engaged in their discovery, 
 others in their translation, while others (like ourselves) 
 are at work in applying them to the language of the 
 Greek New Testament. All these are rendering great 
 service to God's Word by making their discoveries 
 public.^ 
 
 These papyri are in Greek, and belong, for the most 
 part, to the first and second centuries before and after 
 Christ. They are therefore of the utmost importance in 
 enabling us to discover the exact sense and usage of Greek 
 words at that period. 
 
 These papyri consist of documents of all kinds ; exactly 
 what would be found centuries hence in a house, buried 
 suddenly to day in sand, or put away in tombs. There 
 
 1 The noun is always translated offence in A.V., except Rom. xi. 9. 1 Cor. 
 1. 23, and Rev. ii, li, whoro it is "stumbling-block"; Rom. xiv. 13, whcro it is 
 "occasion to fall." The Verb aKavtaXi^wfHcandalizd) is always rendered offend. 
 
 2 Notably Professor Deissmann, of Heidelberg; Professor Flinders Petrio, 
 of Oxford, and others. 
 
 235 
 
in. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 are business-letters, love-letters, contracts, estimates, 
 certificates, agreements, accounts, bills of sale, mortgages, 
 school-exercises, receipts, bribes, charms, litanies, tales, 
 magical literature, pawn tickets, and every sort of literary- 
 production. 
 
 All these are of inestimable value in enabling us to 
 arrive at a true knowledge of many Greek words of which 
 our translators, and, indeed, the Revisers, did not possess ; 
 having merely the help of lexicons, which gave the 
 usage of words only in classical Greek. 
 
 It is impossible for us, in a small work like this, to give 
 anything like even a general view of so vast a subject. 
 We can only indicate the existence and nature of such 
 a field of study, and give a few examples by way of illus- 
 tration of its usefulness in connection with this our third 
 Division, which concerns the changes of usage in Greek 
 words brought about by man, but used by the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 We must take them at random, and cannot even 
 attempt to observe alphabetical or other order. 
 
 The word ^(ooTroieco (zoopoied), was used in classical 
 Greek as meaning to produce live offspring ; but the usage 
 became in N. T. Greek to make alive again, either of spi- 
 ritual or of resurrection life (John v. 21 ; vi. 63. Rom. iv. 
 17 ; viii. II. 1 Cor. xv. 22, 36, 45. 2 Cor. iii. 6. Gal. iii. 21. 
 1 Tim. vi. 13. I Pet. iii. 18). 
 
 TTOLpoiKog (paroikos), which meant neighbour, had come 
 to mean sojourner (Acts vii. 6, 29. Eph. ii. 19 (foreigner). 
 1 Pet. ii. 11 (strangers)). 
 
 TrpaKTcop (praktor), which is literally a doer of any- 
 thing, came to mean the man who did the most objec- 
 tionable thing, viz., the tax-collector. But the papyri 
 show us that it came to have a still lower meaning. The 
 tax collector was the one who put them into prison ; 
 hence, it came to be used of the jailor ! The w^ord 
 occurs twice (Luke xii. 58), and should not be rendered 
 "officer," hwt jailor. 
 
 irripoi (pera), is rendered " scrip" in the A.V., and " wal- 
 let" in the R.V., but commentators are quite undecided 
 as to whether it means a "portmanteau" or a "bread- 
 bag " ; though the latter seems superfluous after the word 
 "bread." 
 
 230 
 
iii. USAGE OF GREEK WORDS CHANGED 
 
 The following are the passages : — 
 
 Matt. X. 10, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse 
 the lepers, cast out devils : freely ye have received, freely 
 give. Provide neither gold nor silver, nor brass in your 
 purses: nor scrip (R.V. 'wallet ') for your journey, neither 
 two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves." 
 
 Mark vi. 8, "And commanded them that they should 
 take nothing for their journey, save a staff only: no 
 scrip (R.V., 'wallet'), no bread, no money in their purse." 
 
 Luke ix. 3 (compare x. 4 and xxii. 35, 36), "Take nothing 
 for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, (R.V., 'wal- 
 let'), neither bread, neither money, neither have two 
 coats apiece." 
 
 But a special meaning is made known to us by an 
 ancient stone monument. A Greek inscription of the 
 Roman period^ has been discovered at Kefr-Hauar in 
 Syria, in which a "slave" of the "Syrian goddess" speaks 
 of the begging expeditions he has undertaken for the 
 "Lady." This heathen apostle — who speaks of himself 
 as "sent by the Lady" — tells with triumph how each of 
 his journeys brought in seventy bags. Here he uses this 
 word TryJ^a. It means, not bags filled with provisions 
 and taken on the journey, but a beggar's collecting bag. 
 This is evidently the meaning in the passages cited above : 
 and when we connect it with the context in St. Mat- 
 thew, we learn the Lord meant that they were not to 
 earn money, and they were also not to beg. The nature 
 of the Lord's commission is at once seen from what is 
 involved in this interpretation of the word Trrjpa (per a). 
 In the days of early Christianity the mendicant priest 
 of the ancestral goddess wanders through the Syrian 
 land ; from village to village the string of sumpter animals 
 lengthens, bearing his pious booty to the shrine, and the 
 Lady will not be unmindful of her slave. In the same 
 land, and in the same age, was One who had not where to 
 lay His head, and He sent out His apostles with the words : 
 
 "Freely ye received, freely give. Get you no gold, 
 nor silver, nor brass in your purses: no wallet 
 (or beggar's collecting bag) for your journey." 
 
 1 PubliKhed in the Bulletin de Correspondance Hellenique, 1897, p. 60. 
 Compare Vie Christliche Welt, 1903, p. 242, etc. 
 
 237 
 
III. BIBLICAL UkSAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 He who sent them had "all power" to provide for their 
 supply. 
 
 TTf^ea-fdurepog {presbuteros\ which meant one older in 
 years, is, in the papyri always used of official ^position, 
 civil as well as religious (just as we use our word "alder- 
 man"). This is its usage in the New Testament. 
 
 avcLyivma-Kd) (anagindsko), meant to persuade; then, to 
 know well, gather exact knowledge ; then, to read. But 
 later usage extended this reading to reading aloud with 
 comments, with a vieiv to persuade. This is its meaning 
 in the Ncav Testament. (See Matt. xxiv. 15. Mark xiii. 14. 
 Luke iv. 16. Col. iv. 16. 1 Thess. v. 27. Rev. i. 3, etc.) 
 
 aTTOfrroixaTl^co (apostomatizo), meant to dictate to a 
 pupil what he was to write or recite. But its later usage 
 was to examine by questioning on what had been taught. 
 This is its usage in Luke xi. 53 : "They began to urgently 
 press him and question him about many things " [as though 
 he were their pupil]. They were not seeking for infor- 
 mation, but for grounds of accusation. 
 
 ypa(^(o (grapho), to write, is always used in the papyri of 
 legal, official, and documentary writing. The perfect 
 yeypoLTTrai (gegraptai), it standeth tvritten, always im- 
 plies an appeal to authoritative, incontestable authority, 
 definite and regulative. 
 
 In this we see the position held by Holy Scripture over 
 oral tradition. In this, too, we may see a reference to the 
 certainty and nature of the revelation of the Mystery (or 
 secret) in the ypoiCf^fov 7rpo(f)r}riKcbv (graphon prophetikon), 
 prophetic ivritings, of Rom. xvi. 26 (compare Eph. ii. 20 ; 
 iv. 11, and 2 Pet. i. 20, etc.). We may also see in this 
 a reason for Paul's desire to have "the parchments" 
 which he asked Timothy to bring with him (2 Tim. iv. 13) : 
 for, Bible truth is based on documentary evidence, and 
 not on oral tradition. 
 
 oLTre^o) (apecho), to have from, to receive or he [dis- 
 tant] from. But the papyri show that it was the com- 
 mon form of giving a receipt in full. This is its usage in 
 Matt. vi. 2, 5, 16. Luke vi. 21, and Philem. 15, which shows 
 that when the scribes prayed they did it to be seen of 
 men ; men had seen them ; they had got their receipt, 
 therefore, in full ; and there was nothing more for them 
 to receive ; no real answer to their prayers to be expected. 
 
 238 
 
iii. USAGE OF GREEK WORDS CHANGED 
 
 The rendering "reward" (A.V. and R.V.) conveys no 
 sense. 
 
 fi€^ala)(Tig (behaiosis\ confirmation. In the %>aj[)yri it is 
 the guarantee of the seller to the buyer as to the validity 
 of the sale (Phil. i. 7. Heb. vi. 16, where it is rendered 
 " confirmation"). 
 
 TO ?iOKi[JLiov (to dokimion), the trial or trying. In the 
 papyri this is always used as an adjective, meaning 
 genuine, tested, and is found especially on pawn-tickets 
 and marriage-contracts in the sense of certified. This is 
 its usage in the N. T., which had come to denote the 
 result of trial, and had been changed from the act or 
 process of trial. Hence 1 Pet. i. 7 means "your tried or 
 genuine faith"; and Jas. i. 3, "your tried or tested faith 
 enables you to be patient." 
 
 hiKaiog (dikaios), just, or righteous, is used in the 
 papyri of that xvhich comes up to the required stan- 
 dard expected or looked for. It is used of a horse, of 
 cattle, of a cubit ; as it is used in the Septuagint (Prov. 
 xi. 1) of "a just weight." 
 
 This is its New Testament usage, showing that God's 
 righteousness, when it is bestowed, brings its recipient 
 up to the standard which God Himself requires and looks 
 for. The saved sinner is therefore by it "made meet 
 for the inheritance of the saints in light " (Coi. i. 12), and 
 hence can be declared " complete in Christ." 
 
 iT^aarrrif^iov (hilasterion) comes to us through the Septua- 
 gint ; where, in Exod. xxv. 17 (Heb. 16), " thou shalt make a 
 n'lb^ (kapporeth), cover, of pure gold." This word Tcap- 
 poreth (cover) is rendered I'kaa-Tripiov iyrlSeixa (hilasterion 
 epithema), propitiatory cover, because the cover, on which 
 the blood was sprinkled, was the means of propitiation. 
 
 The word in Heb. ix. 5 must retain this usage, and be 
 rendered "the cherubim of glory shadowing the proj)i- 
 tiatory [cover]." By the figure, Metonymy, the residt 
 (propitiation) is put for the means by Avhich it was ob- 
 tained (the cover of the ark on which the blood Avas 
 sprinkled). That was what the cherubim shadowed, not 
 the propitiation itself. 
 
 So that the word can be taken in this sense here ; as 
 it must be in the other passage where it occurs, Rom. iii. 25; 
 " Whom God hath set forth as His propitiatory gilt." 
 
 239 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 In the papyri and on inscriptions and monuments this 
 word is used in the sense of votive or propitiatory gift. 
 
 So here, Christ was God's propitiatory gift, the gift of 
 Divine love. Not man's gift to God; but God's gift to 
 man. 
 
 The rendering of hilasterion by " mercy-seat " is quite 
 wrong. The R.V. puts in the margin, "Gr. the propi- 
 tiatory" ; but, not seeing the Figure of Speech, nor knowing 
 of the usage of the word in the papyri, the Revisers did 
 not add the noun, "cover," after the adj. "propitiatory"; 
 and with the A.V. rendered "propitiatory" in Rom. iii. 25 
 as a noun, "propitiation." 
 
 The saints of God in Rome would hardly know the 
 technical "mercy-seat," but they would know the common 
 usage of the word at the time as being a propitiatory 
 
 €u€f^y€T7jg (euergetes), meant a well-doer, but our Lord 
 uses it in Luke xxii. 25 in the particular and almost tech- 
 nical sense which recent discoveries have revealed. The 
 word had been restricted from the extended sense of 
 well-doing to the limited and special sense of a well-doing 
 on behalf of the public, which deserved the public recog- 
 nition of one as being a Benefactor. 
 
 The discoveries of inscriptions and coins, added to the 
 literary evidence already available, establishes this special 
 usage of the word in our Lord's days. 
 
 irTsjri^og (plethos), is generally rendered multitude. In 
 the papyri it has a technical usage applying to associates 
 in a community or congregation. This appears to be the 
 usage in Luke i. 10; xix. 37. Acts ii. 6; iv. 32; vi. 2, 5; 
 XV. 12, 30; xix. 9; xxi. 22. 
 
 ^iKpog (mikros), small, little. In the papyri this word 
 is used in the sense of junior in contrast with fxeyag 
 (megas), great, which is used as senior. This is clearly the 
 sense in Mark xv. 40 ; and it is a question whether it is not 
 also in Matt. xi. 11 ; xviii. 6, 10, 14. Acts viii. 10 ; xxvi. 22. 
 
 KupiaKog (kuriakos), the Lord's, is used in the papyri 
 of what is imperial, and especially pertaining to the 
 Kvptog (kurios), the Lord, as Ruler.^ 
 
 1 In 1 John ii. 2 ; iv. 10 it is the nonn iw^xos (Mlasmos), propitiation. 
 
 2 See pamphlet on The Lord's Day, by the same author and publisher, 
 pp. 12-15. 
 
 240 
 
iii. USAGE OF GREEK WORDS CHANGED 
 
 )(^€if>oypa(pou (cheirographon), hand-writing. In the 
 papyri this is the technical term for a bond or certificate 
 of debt. Many have been found ; some of them are scored 
 through and thus cancelled. This is the sense in Col. ii. 14, 
 where only it is found. 
 
 a^oT^og (adolos), occurs only in 1 Pet. ii. 2 and is ren- 
 dered sincere. In the papyri the usage is in the sense of 
 unadulterated, referring to food. 
 
 (T^payl^w (sphragizo), to seal. In the papyri it is used 
 of delivering property into the possession of the receiver. 
 To seal a thing to a person was used of delivering and 
 securing that thing to him, sealing being the last thing 
 done prior to such delivery. Thus we read " Seal the 
 wheat and the barley," i.e., seal [the sacks containing] 
 the wheat and the barley [and deliver them]. 
 
 This is the usage in Rom. xv. 28. Eph. iv. 30. 
 
 ^oipoLy^fX (charagma), a mark. In the papyri this word 
 (1) is always used of a mark connected with the emperor ; 
 and (2) it always contains his name or effigy, and the year 
 of his reign. (3) It was necessary for buying and selling. 
 (4) It was technically known as charagma. 
 
 It is found on all sorts of documents, even on " a bill of 
 sale." In Acts xvii. 29 it is rendered " graven." Elsewhere 
 it is used only of the "mark" of the Beast (Rev. xiii. 
 16,17; xiv. 9, 11; xv. 2; xvi. 2 ; xix. 20; xx. 4). He will 
 be the Overlord in that day ! 
 
 ai>a7re[x7rfo (anapempo), to send up. This word is used 
 in the p)apyri of sending up to a superior authority. 
 This is the usage in Luke xxiii. 7, 11, 15, and Acts xxv. 21.^ 
 
 It is also used of sending up with pomp and dignity. 
 
 i^ioL^ofLOLi ibiazomai), to tise force or press with violence. 
 Comtnentators tell us that it occurs only twice in the 
 New Testament, and that it must, in the former of the 
 two passages, be taken as a Passive. The former passage 
 is Matt. xi. 12, "the kingdom of heaven suffereth vio- 
 lence." The latter is Luke xvi. 16, "every man presseth 
 into it." 
 
 But the meaning of the word, and the interpretation 
 of both passages is settled for us by an inscription found 
 
 ^ Here all the Critical Greek Texts prefer thia word to the simple Tre/xTrw 
 ipcvipo), to send by an escort. See below under Canon VIII., Sect. 1 (Matt, 
 viii. 5 and Luke vii. 1). 
 
 241 
 
 Q 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 in a temple near Sunium,^ built not earlier than the im- 
 perial period which commenced in B.C. 24. 
 
 It was founded by Xanthus the Lycian as a sanctuary. 
 
 In this inscription certain ceremonial purifications are 
 prescribed as a condition of entrance into the temple ; 
 and it goes on to say that no one may sacrifice in the 
 temple without permission from its founder. Then the 
 regulation continues : — 
 
 €av ^€ Tig j^iOL<rr)TOLi 
 
 But if any one forces [his ivay in] 
 
 his offering is not pleasing to the god." 
 
 This settles the usage of the word in the two pas- 
 sages : 
 
 Matt. xi. 12, "But from the days of John the Baptist 
 until now the kingdom of heaven forces itself [on the 
 people], and the pushful seize on it." 
 
 Luke xvi. 16, "Since that time (John's) the kingdom of 
 God is announced [as good news] and every one forces 
 [his way] into it." 
 
 Thus, both passages harmonize ; the usage in both is the 
 same ; and, both accord with the usage which obtained in 
 the New Testament period. 
 
 KaraKf^i^a (katakrima), is an important Avord, occur- 
 ring only three times in the Ncav Testament. 
 
 Rom. V. 16, "The judgment was by one offence unto 
 condem7iation.'' 
 
 Verse 18, "As by one offence [judgment came] unto all 
 men for condemnation.'' Rom. viii. 1, "There is therefore 
 now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." 
 
 In deeds of sale found among the papyri this word is 
 found in its legal usage. It is used of a burden on land, 
 such as debts, taxes of all kinds, arrears, and all payments 
 of every kind. All are mentioned, but the effect of the 
 legal document is to declare that the land sold is /r<?e 
 from all burdens of every kind. Note the bearing of this 
 in such passages as Rom. viii. 1. 
 
 1 Sunium is a promontory at the S.E. extremity of Attica, Greece, now 
 known as Cape Colonna. It contains to-day the rains of a temple measuring 
 i4 by 98 feet. Twelve columns are still standing. 
 
 242 
 
iii. CONCURRENT GREEK USAGES IMPORTANT 
 
 UTToa-racrig (hupostasis), rendered "substance" in Heb. 
 xi. 1, is used in the papyri in the sense of title-deeds. This 
 shows that believing what God has said and promised, 
 is our title-deed for which He has caused us to hope.^ 
 
 iv. Where Different but Concurrent Usages of 
 Words should be Observed in the English. 
 
 Quite apart from age or clime there are many Greek 
 words which the Holy Spirit Himself uses in different 
 connections, and with varying meanings. These can be 
 easily seen, observed, and classified ; and our English 
 renderings can and must be made to conform to them. 
 
 Unlike our last division (No. iii. above) this is work for 
 the English reader, who is at no disadvantage with the 
 Greek scholar, provided he uses our Lexicon and Concord- 
 ance to the English and Greek New Testament."^ It is de- 
 signed for English readers ; and, though the Greek words 
 are given, the truth can be gained without looking at 
 them ; for they are numbered, and the reference is to the 
 meaning given under that number. 
 
 The use of that book will enable the student to find 
 out, at a glance, under the English word, the Greek word 
 which is so translated. The index will tell him whether 
 the word is translated otherwise elsewhere ; and, if so, 
 under what renderings he can find them. At this stage 
 he will be able to use more readily the Englishman's Greek 
 Concordance^ and easily make out a list of all the occur- 
 rences of the word in question. 
 
 It is here that his real study of this branch of our sub- 
 ject will begin. For now he must turn to every passage, 
 and note how tiie Holy Spirit uses the word ; and when he 
 has all the data before him he will soon discover whether 
 the usage is uniform ; or whether there is more than one 
 sense in which the word is em^jloyed. 
 
 This part of the study requires a spiritual understand- 
 ing (1 John V. 20. 1 Cor. ii. 14), common sense, and strength 
 
 1 Other words will be found in our Firjurefs of Speech (pp. 850— 85G) and in 
 Diessmann's IHhel.sf/tidicn (IMarburg, 1895) and Neue Bibclstudien (1877). Also 
 in Essays in liUdicdl Greek, by the late Professor Hatch, of Oxford. 
 
 2 Published by Lonj^nians & Co., 3!), Paternoster Row. Price 15.9. 
 8 Published by Bagster & Co. Price 21s. 
 
 243 Q 2 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 of mind to follow the leading of God's Word in spite of 
 all that has been imbibed and "received from the fathers 
 by tradition." 
 
 When difficulty is experienced in receiving the truth 
 of God, it is because we try at the same time to hold on 
 to tradition, and try to combine the two. But the 
 moment we let tradition go all will become easy. It is 
 not the simple truth that is difficult, but it is the en- 
 deavour to hold on to the traditional belief as well as 
 the simple truth. Let one of the two beliefs go, and 
 either will be easy; it is the effort to hold both that 
 creates the real difficulty. 
 
 Let us illustrate this by looking at the word 
 
 1. Par ousia."— Trap ou(riOL (parousia).— This word fur- 
 nishes us with an excellent and useful example, showing 
 the necessity of discriminating between its different 
 usages. 
 
 Many take it as a proper noun, and speak of " The 
 Parousia " as though it always refers to one separate and 
 distinct act, viz., the coming of the Lord as revealed in 
 1 Thess. iv. 
 
 The next step is that, when they find that this same 
 word is used of the coming of Christ in Matt, xxiv., 
 "immediately after the Tribulation of those days," there 
 is no alternative but to interpret 1 Thess iv. as being after 
 the Tribulation. 
 
 Thus, trouble and confusion is created ; and the loss of 
 the blessed hope and waiting for God's Son from heaven 
 is shrouded in darkness. 
 
 But all is made clear, the moment we discriminate 
 between the various usages of the word parousia. There 
 is no dispute about the meaning of the word. All are 
 agreed that its only meaning is presence; and when 
 translated coyning it always denotes the actual presence 
 of the person who thus comes. 
 
 From our Greek and English Lexicon and Concordance, 
 page 977, Ave find that Trotpoufna (parousia) occurs twenty- 
 four times ; and that it is rendered twice presence, and 
 twenty-two times coining. 
 
 Our object, now, is to find out how the Holy Spirit 
 uses it ; and whether the teaching of some is correct, who 
 
 244 
 
iv. CONCURRENT GREEK USAGES: "PAROUSIA' 
 
 tell us that it refers always to the coming of Christ for 
 his Saints before the Tribulation, and not the coming of 
 Christ tvith His saints, after the Tribulation. 
 
 No one can help us in making this discovery ; neither do 
 we need any help beyond collecting all the data, and 
 looking closely at every passage, and noting the different 
 usages. 
 
 Having got our complete lists of twenty-four Texts, we 
 read each (with its context, of course), and we find that : — 
 
 {a) Six times it is used of the presence of Individuals, 
 and that it is always their personal, bodily presence. 
 
 1 Cor. xvi. 17, Steplianus. 
 
 2 Cor. vii. 6, 7, Titus. 
 
 2 Cor. x. 10, and Phil. i. 26; ii. 12, Paul. 
 
 (6) Six times it is used of Christ's presence in the air, 
 when He comes forth thither to meet His raptured saints, 
 before the Great Tribulation (1 Thess. ii. 19 ; iii. 13 ; iv. 15 ; 
 V. 23. 2 Thess. ii. 1, and 1 John ii. 28). We note that all 
 but one of these six are in the Epistles to the Thessa- 
 lonians. 
 
 (c) Eleven times it is used of Christ's presence on earth, 
 when with His Church He comes unto the earth, in the 
 Day of the Lord, "Immediately after the Tribulation of 
 those days" (Matt. xxiv. 3, 27, 37, 39. 1 Cor. xv. 23. 
 2 Thess. ii. 8. Jas. v. 7, 8. 2 Pet. i. 16 ; iii. 4, 12). 
 
 (d) Once it is used of the presence of "that lawless one," 
 who shall be destroyed by the glorious advent of Christ 
 (2 Thess. ii. 9). 
 
 Here are all the usages ; and we see, at once, that it is 
 not correct to speak of " T/ie Parousia'' as though it 
 related only to Christ ; or to His coming as being one 
 single act ; or to one part only of that coming. 
 
 We note that there is one chapter (2 Thess. ii.) where 
 the word is used of three distinct acts of being present : — 
 
 There is the presence of Christ in the air before the 
 Tribulation (2 Thess. ii. 1) and our gathering together 
 unto Him there ; 
 
 There is the presence of the Lawless one on the earth 
 during the Tribulation (2 Thess. ii. 9); 
 
 245 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE OP WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 And there is the 'prescyice of the Lord on the earth, in 
 all His glory, by which the Lawless one will be destroyed. 
 This will be after the Tribulation (2 Thess. ii. 8). 
 
 If we are not careful to distinguish these various usages 
 of the word 'pay^ousia, we shall only create confusion in 
 the Word, and trouble in our own minds. We shall find 
 ourselves taking a passage which speaks of the Lord's 
 %)Tesence on earth after the Tribulation, and interpreting 
 it of His presence in the air before the Tribulation ; and, 
 if we thus take the Avord paroiisia as being used of the 
 latter, then we shall interpret 1 Thess. iv. by Matt, xxiv., 
 and not only take the Church through the Tribulation, 
 but we shall defer the realization of the Rapture of 
 1 Thess. iv. until after the Tribulation, and take all the 
 blessedness out of it. We shall give a flat contradiction 
 to 1 Thess. V. 4, which categorically assures us that 
 "the Day of the Lord shall not overtake us as a thief"; 
 and plunge ourselves into that very "darkness" which the 
 same word declares that we are "not in." 
 
 2. Pneuma, spirit. — The word 7rv€U[j.(X, {pneuma\ spirit^ 
 is a word of the greatest importance. 
 
 When we liav^e made out our complete list (as before 
 we made of Parousia) we find that there is practically 
 little or no difference as to its translation; for it is 
 rendered spirit every time, except John iii. 8, Avhere it 
 is rendered ivind; Rev. xiii. 15, where it is rendered 
 "life" (marg. breath); Matt, xxvii. 50 and John xix. 30, 
 where it is rendered ghost. 
 
 In this case, though there are different usages, they 
 are all confined to interpretation and not to translation. 
 
 We need not say more on this Avord here, for in our 
 work, Th3 Giver and His Gifts, or, the Holy Spirit and 
 His Work,^ we have given a complete list of all the 
 occurrences of the word pneuma; and have set out, in 
 an exhaustive manner, all the data. 
 
 Fourteen different usages are given, and classified lists 
 are appended, from which the reader can gather for 
 hi7nself all that can be learnt from those lists. 
 
 1 Published by Eyre & Spottiswoode (Bible Warehouse), Ltd., 
 33, Paternoster I. ow. Price 26". 6ci. 
 
 m 
 
iv. CONCURRENT GREEK USAGES: "PNEUMA 
 
 It is used of (1) God, (2) Christ, (3) the Holy Spirit, 
 (4) the Operations of the Spirit, (5) the New Nature, 
 (6) Psychologically, (7) of Character, (8) by Metonymy for 
 what is not of the body, (9) by Synecdoche for one's self, 
 (10) Adverbially, (11) of Angels, (12) of Demons, (13) of the 
 Resurrection Body, (14) in combination with the word 
 *'holy," without the article. 
 
 The usages of this word are so important that it 
 requires a separate volume for their full treatment. 
 
 One great fact may be noted here, viz., that the 
 expression Trveu^ot otyiov (pneuma hagion), holy sjnrit, 
 occurs fifty times (out of 388), and it always refers to the 
 gifts and operations of the Holy Spirit, and never to the 
 Holy Spirit, the Giver. 
 
 The evidence is simple and clear. In Luke xxiv. 49 the 
 Lord Jesus calls "the promise of my Father" (for which 
 the apostles were to tarry in Jerusalem), "power from on 
 high." 
 
 In Acts i. 5 He calls this same promise pneuma 
 hag ion.''' 
 
 Therefore pneuma hagion is "power from on high." 
 
 This proves that ^372ei^?)ia hagion is what is given, and 
 not the Giver. 
 
 If further proof is needed, then it is furnished by that 
 crucial passage, Acts ii. 4, "And they were all filled with 
 pneuma hagion, and began to speak with other tongues 
 as THE SPIRIT gave them utterance." 
 
 Here the Giver and His gifts are quite distinct. What 
 was given was "the gift of tongues." The Giver, who 
 "gave," was "The Spirit." 
 
 Nothing could be clearer than this. 
 
 Unfortunately the A.V. and R.V. have, in all these 
 fifty occurrences of pneuma hagion, arbitrarily inserted 
 the article, and used capital letters for "Holy Spirit," so 
 that the English reader is entirely misled, and is com- 
 jjelled to understand that it is the Person who is meant ; 
 while he is kept quite uninformed of the fact that it 
 means His gifts and operations. 
 
 The subject is so important, and the information so 
 difficult to be obtained, that it will be necessary for us 
 to give a list of the fifty passages. They will repay 
 abundantly any pains that may be taken in their careful 
 
 247 
 
111. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 study. Tlie reader should take his or her Bible, and mark 
 in the margin every one of these 
 
 Fifty occurrences of pneiima hagion: Matt. i. 18, 20; 
 iii. 11. Mark i. 8. Luke i. 15, 35, 41, 67 ; ii. 25 ; iii. 16 ; iv. 1 
 (first) ; xi. 13. John i. 33 (second) ; xx. 22. Acts i. 2, 5, 8 ; ii. 4 
 (first), 33, 38; iv. 8 (25 ^ 31; vi. 3,^ 5; vii. 55; viii. 15, 17 
 (18 1), 19 ; ix. 17 ; x. 38, 45 ; xi. 16, 24 ; xiii. 9, 52; xix. 2 (twice), 6. 
 Rom. V. 5; ix. 1 ; xiv. 17; xv. 19. 1 Cor. ii. 13'; vi. 19; xii. 3 
 (second). 2 Cor. vi. 6. 1 Tliess. i. 5, 6. 2 Tim. i. 14.^ Titus 
 iii. 5. Heb. ii. 4 ; vi. 4. 1 Pet. i. 12. 2 Pet. i. 20. Jude 21. 
 
 Some of the above passages are very important, and 
 will be found most instructive if studied in the following 
 order : Acts vi. 3. Luke xi. 13. John xx. 22. Acts viii. 15, 
 17, 19, 20. 
 
 3. Church. — We have already considered this word under 
 " Dispensational Truth and Teaching" (Part I., chap. III., 
 pp. 145 — 148). But there is something further to be 
 learnt from the usage of the word €KKXrjmo(, (ecclesia), of 
 which it is generally the translation. 
 
 This rendering is unfortunate, considering the fact that 
 our English word "church" has also, itself, several usages. 
 
 It is important therefore that we should carefully 
 adjust the two usages, and rightly adjust and appropriate 
 the one to the other. 
 
 The Greek word ecclesia means a convocation of persons 
 called out. Hence, an assembly of persons so called out. 
 
 It is used (1) of Israel as a People called out from the 
 rest of the nations (Gen. xxviii. 3) ; (2) of the Tribal Council 
 of Simeon and Levi, a smaller company, called out from 
 each Tribe (Gen. xlix. 6); (3) of an assembly of Israel- 
 ites called out for worship or any other purpose (Deut. 
 xviii. 16; xxxi. 30. Josh. viii. 35. Judg. xxi. 8. 1 Kings 
 viii. 65. 1 Chron. xxix. 1. Acts vii. 38) ; (4) any assembly 
 of worshippers as a congregation (Ps. xxii. 22, 25. Matt. xvi. 
 18; xviii. 17. 1 Cor. xiv. 19, 35. Gal. i. 13. Heb. ii. 12.); (5) of 
 separate assemblies in different localities (Acts. v. 11 ; 
 viii. 3. 1 Cor. iv. 17, etc.); (6) of the Guild or Company of 
 
 1 These verses are the subjects of Various Readings, and our larger book 
 should be consulted. 
 
 248 
 
iv. CONCURRENT GREEK USAGES: "ELEMENTS" 
 
 Epliesian Craftsmen (Acts xix. 32) as distinct from the 
 population of Ephesus ; (7) of a Town's meeting (Acts xix. 39). 
 
 Then there is the special Pauline usage, which was 
 quite different from any of the above. Other assem- 
 blies consisted of called out ones from Jews, or from 
 Gentiles (as in Acts xix.); but this new Body is called out 
 from both and yet consists of neither (Gal. iii. 28 ; vi. 15). 
 This calling out is the Secret (or Mystery) which was 
 hidden in God, and never revealed to men until the 
 administration of it was committed to the Apostle Paul.^ 
 
 The usage of the English word "church" is just as 
 varied. It is used (1) of any congregation, (2) of a 
 particular church (as Rome or England), (3) of the Ministry 
 of a church, (4) of the Building in which the congregation 
 assembles, (5) of Church as distinct from Chapel, (6) it is 
 used of the Church as distinct from the world, and (7) it 
 is used in the Pauline sense, of the Body of Christ. 
 
 This shows us the extreme care with which we should 
 note the usage of words. 
 
 4. ^'Elements" or ^''Rudiments.'" — The Greek word 
 (TToi-^einL (stoicheia) has at least two different usages, one 
 material, and the other moral. 
 
 It is used of what is material in 2 Pet. iii. 10, 12 ; of the 
 material elements of which creation, or this world, 
 is made up. 
 
 In the other five passages it is used of the moral and 
 religious ordinances which make up the outtuard acts of 
 religion, with all its rites and ceremonies. 
 
 Four times it is used in the Epistles which are 
 addressed to churches ; twice in Galatians and twice in 
 Colossians, these two being the Epistles which are written 
 to correct errors in doctrine. Galatians corrects errors in 
 connection with the doctrine as taught in the Epistle to 
 the Romans concerning justification, Colossians being 
 written to correct errors in doctrine as taught in the 
 Epistle to the Ephesians concerning the Mystery. 
 
 In these, the outward ordinances of Religion are 
 contrasted with the spiritual truths of Christianity (as 
 distinct from Religion). 
 
 1 See above, Part I., Chap. III., ? iv. (pp. 141-143). 
 
 249 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 The A.V. renderings show the confnsion of thonght in 
 the mind of the Translators. In Gal. iv. 3 and 9 they 
 render it "elements" in the text, and "rudiments" in the 
 margin. 
 
 In Col. ii. 8 and 20 they render it "rudiments" in the 
 text, and "elements" in the margin. 
 
 The R. V. agrees with the A.V. translation in Colossians ; 
 and in all four passages renders the word "rudiments" in 
 the text, and "elements" in the margin. 
 
 The usage of the word in the Church Epistles is seen 
 to be peculiar to them, and this fact must be borne in 
 mind in the interpretation of these four passages. 
 
 5. >S'a/n^s.— The word dyiog (hagios), holy, is when in the 
 plural ayifii (hagioi) always translated saints. 
 
 Of course it means the same, holy, i.e., or, lioly ones, 
 except that it is left to be inferred from the context who 
 the holy ones are who are so designated. 
 
 A brief examination of the usages of the plural, hagioi, 
 Avill show us that they are four in number. 
 
 Of course, ordinary readers, who are, as a fact, more 
 familiar with the NeAV Testament usage ; and, as a matter 
 of selfishness, more prone, as well as accustomed, to inter- 
 pret everything of the church! Avill have neither the 
 inclination to study its usage, nor the willingness to part 
 with the meaning which they have appropriated to them- 
 selves. 
 
 This is sufficient to show us the necessity of studying 
 the usage of this word "saints." 
 
 (1) It is used of Angels (Deut. xxxiii. 2). 
 
 "Jehovah came from Sinai, 
 And rose up from Seir unto them ; 
 He shiiied forth from mount Paran, 
 And He came with ten thousands of holy [ones]: 
 From His right hand went a fiery law for them." 
 
 Here, it is evident that the word "angels" should be 
 supplied after the Avord holy, thus "holy [angels]" for 
 these celestial beings are meant. This is proved by a 
 reference to Ps. Ixviii. 17 ; where, in a reference to the 
 same Divine descent at Sinai, the word "angels" is used 
 instead of "holy ones," as another name for them. 
 
 250 
 
iv. CONCURRENT GREEK USAGES: "SAINTS" 
 
 (2) It is used of Israel in the very next verse 
 (Deut. xxxiii. 3). 
 
 "Yea, He loved the people; 
 All His holy ones are in Thy hand." 
 
 ' Here the word is used of the People of Israel. For 
 the preceding words are — "This is the blessing wherewith 
 Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before 
 his death." 
 
 It is a blessing which is yet to receive its full con- 
 summation when the Lord shall have come again, and the 
 People of Israel shall know Him to be their Divine 
 Redeemer, their King, and their God. 
 
 (3) It is used also of individuals and other godly Is- 
 raelites, as in Pss. xvi. 3 ; xxxiv. 9 ; Ixxxix. 5, 7 ; cvi. 16. 
 Hos. xi. 12.1 
 
 (1) It is used in the Church Epistles 'specially of the 
 members of tlie one Spiritual Body, whose holiness is 
 that of Christ ; and whose saintship therefore, though 
 enjoyed on earth, is higher than that of any other created 
 beings, being merged in their higher title, "the sons of 
 God." 
 
 This is its usage in tlie commencement of the Epistles, 
 as in Rom. i. 7. 1 Cor. i. 2, etc. 
 
 With this key, Bible students will have no difficulty 
 in determining what the usage of the word is in any 
 particular passage ; for the Context alone is the all- 
 sufficient guide as to what it must be. 
 
 We need not go through all the passages where the 
 word "saints" occurs; this would be doing the work 
 which it should be our readers' pleasure and profit to 
 carry out. 
 
 One or two ])assages may be doubtful ; in which case 
 it may be well to come to no conclusion, but to wait for 
 further light. 
 
 A few other passages will receive a new interpretation 
 and lead to a change in our traditional views. 
 
 1 The English word "saints" represents quite a different Hebrew word in 
 1 Sam. ii. 9. 2 CJhron. vi. 41. Pss. xxx. 4; xxxi. 2\i; xxxvii, 28; 1. 5 ; Hi. !); 
 Ixxxv. 8; xcvii. 10; cxvi. 15; c xxxii. 9, IG ; cxiv. 10; cxlviii. 14. Here the Hebrew 
 word is V0\ . (chasid), pious, Godly. 
 
 251 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 With Matt. XXV. 31 before us we shall find that several 
 passages which we have been in the habit of referring to 
 the Church of God, really refer to angelic beings. 
 
 "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and 
 all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the 
 throne of his glory" (Matt. xxv. 31). 
 
 Here we have the word "angels" associated with the 
 word "holy" (pi.), which leaves us in no doubt. 
 
 In harmony with this passage we must take 1 Thess. iii. 13. 
 "To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable 
 in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy [angels]." 
 
 On the other hand, in 2 Thess. i. 10 the word "saints" 
 is used synonymously of "all them that believe," and in 
 contrast with "the mighty angels" of verse 7, because 
 
 "At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven" 
 {v. 7), those who have been troubled now will be at "rest." 
 
 This revelation in judgment {v. 10) will take place 
 " when He shall have come to be glorified amid His saints 
 on earth (Israel), and wondered at (in that day) amid all 
 raptured believers." 
 
 In Jude 14 the word "saints" clearly refers to angels; 
 " Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, 
 saying. Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of 
 his saints to execute judgment upon all." 
 
 In Rev. XV. 3 the word "saints" should be "ages'* 
 according to the R.V., or "nations" according to the 
 R.V. margin. The Structure {Introversion) requires 
 " nations." 
 
 V. Where a Uniform Usage of Greek Words should 
 NOT be Departed from in the English. 
 
 It is not always that Greek words have different usages. 
 The vast majority have one uniform usage ; and this must 
 not be departed from in the English, and cannot be ignored 
 without serious loss. 
 
 Even where it does not lead to a misunderstanding or 
 a wrong interpretation of a passage, it creates great and 
 unnecessary confusion. 
 
 252 
 
V. UNIFORM GREEK USAGES: "WITHHOLD 
 
 1. Withhold, Kctre^co (Imtecho). Who would imagine 
 that " let " and " withhold " of the A.V. ; and " restrain " of 
 the R.V. in 2 Thess. ii. 6, 7, are all the rendering of one 
 and the same Greek word? 
 
 The word Kare^co (katechd) occurs nineteen times, and 
 is rendered by thirteen different English words. 
 
 Who is to help us in coming to a true interpretation of 
 this word, and of the passages in which it occurs? 
 
 There is no help outside the Word of God. 
 
 It is rendered hold fast three times, and hold three 
 times, so that these are the most frequent renderings. 
 
 The only way of finding and testing the correct render- 
 ing is to look at every one of the passages and see if the 
 one rendering hold fast can be consistently used. It will 
 not follow that this word will be the very best according 
 to our English idiom ; and we need not make it the 
 uniform rendering. We may use other words more in 
 harmony with the genius of the English language so long 
 as we keep the uniform sense hold fast in our mind : — 
 
 Matt. xxi. 38, 'Het us seize on his inheritance" (let 
 
 us hold fast). 
 Luke iv. 42, "and stayed him, that he should not 
 
 depart" (held him fast). 
 Luke viii. 15, "having heard the word Zceep it " (hold 
 
 it fast). 
 
 Luke xiv. 9, "with shame to take the lowest place" 
 (to hold). 
 
 John V. 4, "of whatsoever disease he had'' (he was 
 held). 
 
 Acts xxvii. 40, " and made towards shore " (held their 
 
 course toward). 
 Rom. i. 18, ''who hold the truth in unrighteousness"^ 
 
 (hold fast). 
 
 Rom. vii. 6, "having died to that by which we were 
 
 held'' (so marg. and R.V.). 
 1 Cor. vii. 30, "as though they possessed not" (held 
 
 nothing fast). 
 
 1 This is done in cases where any may "hold the truth," and where the 
 truth does not hold them. In that case such may continue to act uiiri^li- 
 teously ; e.g., when the proprietor of a journal, who holds the truth, allows an 
 editor or writer to regularly teach what he knows to be error ; and this for 1 ho 
 sake of gain. That is holding the truth in unrighteousness; and, unfortunately 
 such a thing is not unknown even in religious journalism. 
 
 253 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 1 Cor. xi. 2, and /crep the ordinances " (hold them fast). 
 
 1 Cor. XV. 2, "if ye keep in memory what I preached" 
 
 (hold fast). 
 
 2 Cor. vi. 10, "and yet possessing all things."' 
 
 1 Thess. V. 21, "prove all things, Jiold fast that 
 which is good."^ 
 
 2 Thess. ii. 6, "ye know what tvithholdeth" (holds 
 
 [him] fast). 
 
 2 Thess. ii. 7, " only he who now lettetW (he who now 
 holdeth fast). ' 
 
 Philem. 13, "I would have retained'' (held fast). 
 
 Heb. iii. 6, "if we hold fast the confidence." 
 
 Heb. iii. 14, "if we hold the beginning of our confi- 
 dence" (hold fast). 
 
 Heb. X. 23, "let us hold fast the profession of our 
 faith." 
 
 Thus, we see, that hold fast is, and must be, the only 
 correct rendering in 2 Thess. ii. 6, 7. This gives us, there- 
 fore, the key to the true interpretation of that prophecy. 
 
 2. Ten-ptation. — TreipoL^co (peirazo), tempt; 7r€if)OL(r[M0i; 
 {peirasmos), temptation. — These words are of frequent 
 occurrence. The latter word occurs twenty-one times, 
 and in all but one is rendered temptation. 
 
 But the usage of peirasmos in the Bible is always in 
 the sense of trial: hence specially of trouble or trihida- 
 tion, because it is that which really tries a man better 
 than anything else. 
 
 Our English word "temptation" meant, originall;/, 
 mucli the same : to stretch out, handle, try the strength of. 
 
 This is stated to be the object of trial (Deut. viii. 2). 
 
 In the Old Testament the word is used of the troubles 
 themselves (Deut. vii. 19 ; xxix. 3. Compare Wisdom iii. 5 ; 
 xi. 10. Sirach ii. 1. Judith viii. 21—27). 
 
 1 The context shows that this rendering could not be improved, though 
 the idea is there. 
 
 - Here the correct rendering occurs in one of the very Epistles where we 
 have the wrong rendering, 2 Thess. ii. G, 7. 
 
 3 This is Satan, who holdeth fast to something. What it is may be sug- 
 gested in Rev. xii. 9— xiii. 1, viz., to his position in the heavenlies ; from 
 whence when he is cast out, he stands upon the sand of the sea, and "the 
 man of sin" is revealed in his appointed season. 
 
 25-1 
 
V. UNIFORM GREEK USAGES: ''TEMPT," "JPOOR" 
 
 This is also clearly its use in Luke viii. 13: "in time of 
 trial, or trouble (not temptation in the sense of entice- 
 ment, as we now use the word almost exclusively) fall 
 away." (So Matt. xiii. 21, and Mark iv. 17.) 
 
 In Acts XX. 19 Paul is evidently alluding to what he 
 calls, in 2 Cor. xi. 26, the "perils by mine own country- 
 men." 
 
 In Heb. ii. 18. 1 Pet. i. 6. Rev. iii. 10 the meaning is the 
 same. 
 
 From all this we see that in the Lord's Prayer the 
 word should be trial or tribulation, viz., the Great Tribu- 
 lation.^ 
 
 In Matt. iv. 1. Mark i. 13, and Luke iv. 2 the physical 
 sufferings of our Lord are meant (compare Heb. iv. 15). 
 
 3. Poor, irevrig {jjenes). — The words used for and rendered 
 "poor," 7r€v7]g (penes), ir^aug (prails), rrrmy^og (ptochos), 
 and T0L7r€ivr,g {tapeinos), all mean oppressed. 
 
 Our Western idea of being poor has come to mean 
 being %mthout money, because the condition of the poor 
 in modern times has lost the one great characteristic of 
 the poor in past centuries, and of present times still, in 
 the East. 
 
 But the Biblical usage of the word has not changed, 
 though customs have. 
 
 In the Greek civilization the word had much the same 
 meaning as that in which we use it to-day, because 
 oppression was not then associated with poverty. 
 
 But the Bible deals with and describes Eastern con- 
 ditions, and hence though in classical Greek TrevTig (penes) 
 meant poor as opposed to rich, Tzrm-^oc (ptochos) meant 
 destitute as opposed to affluent, and Trpaiig (praits) meant 
 easy -tempered as opposed to violent, yet in the Bible 
 these words are all used of the oppressed class of any 
 country: the peasantry or fellahin, who then, as mnv, 
 lived quiet lives and were the victims of constant 
 oppression, ill-treatment, and plunder at the hands of 
 their autocratic rulers. 
 
 This is the meaning of the words poor and meek. 
 
 1 See our separate pamphlet on The Lord's Prayer, pp. 12—15, by the same 
 author and publisher. 
 
 255 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE OF WORDS ESSENTIAL 
 
 See Ps. X. 9; xxxvii. 14, "He lieth in wait to catcli the 
 poor ; " or Ps. xxxv. 10 : 
 
 "All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto Thee, 
 Which deliverest the jpoor from him that is too strong 
 for him, 
 
 Yea, the poor and needy from him that spoileth him." 
 
 This is why God is represented so often as the deliverer 
 of the poor, or oppressed (Pss. xii. 5 ; xxxiv. 6 ; xxxvii. 10, 
 11 ; xl. 17 ; Ixxii. 4, 13 ; Ixxvi. 9 ; cxlvii. 6). 
 
 In the New Testament this usage is the same. 
 
 4. Paradise, Tra^j a S 6/0-0 ^.—Paradise is an Oriental word, 
 and was apparently first used by Xenophon to indicate 
 the parks of the Persian kings. It originally meant an 
 enclosed park, planted with trees, and stocked with game. 
 In such paradises eastern monarchs were wont to take 
 their pleasure in hunting. 
 
 But the Holy Spirit has exalted it, and used it in a 
 sense higher than that in which man had ever used it. 
 For "the Paradise of God" is the "garden" which God 
 planted in Eden for man's blissful abode. And when the 
 curse shall have been removed, the whole earth will be 
 a paradise where God shall again dwell with man. 
 
 The Bible knows no other Paradise. The Greek word 
 Tra^di^eifrog occurs in the Septuagint twenty-eight times. 
 In nine it represents the Hebrew word "Eden"; and in 
 nineteen places the Hebrew word (gan), garden. In 
 English it is rendered Eden, Garden, Forest, Orchard. 
 
 The Hebrew word Eden occurs sixteen times ; and 
 Garden, is used of Eden, thirteen times in Genesis ; and six 
 times in other passages of "the Garden of God" (see Gen. ii. 
 Neh. ii. 8. Eccles. ii. 5. Song iv. 13).' 
 
 It is man who has changed the usage of the word from 
 its only Biblical usage, and dragged it down and fastened 
 on it the meaning given to it in Babylonian, Jewish, and 
 Romish traditions. 
 
 5. Shedl" and Hades."— Here, again, the Biblical 
 usage of these words is uniform, and we must refer our 
 
 1 See further in The Rich Man and Lazarus, by the same author and 
 publisher, pp. 27, 28. 
 
 256 
 
V. UNIFORM GREEK USAGE: "SHEOL" & "HADES" 
 
 readers to our separate pamphlet on this subject, in 
 which will be found every passage in the Bible where 
 these words occur, with their renderings. 
 
 These renderings are so various that, they are not only 
 confusing to the mind, but misleading as regards the 
 truth. 
 
 The Hebrew Sheol, and the Greek Hades are rendered 
 thirty-one times the grave, thirty-one times hell, three 
 times pit; sixty-five times in all. Four times the grave 
 is put in the margin for hell, which increases the 
 rendering the grave to thirty-five times and reduces the 
 rendering hell to twenty-seven times. 
 
 On the face of the matter, this gives the preference 
 to the grave, not "A grave," for which there are other 
 words: but "THE grave," for which there is no other 
 word. Grave-dom, or the state of the dead as being in the 
 dom-inion of the grave, is the idea associated with the 
 word. Not the act of dying, but the state of the dead, the 
 present condition of death. 
 
 The Old Testament Biblical usage must settle the 
 meaning of the heathen (i.e., the Greek) usage of the word 
 Hades, because the Holy Spirit uses it of His own 
 Hebrew word Sheol in Acts ii. 27 by quoting Ps. xvi. 10. 
 
 From these last two passages it is clear that Sheol or 
 Hades is the place where "corruption" is seen (Acts xiii. 
 34—37); and from which Resurrection is the only exit 
 (Rev. XX. 4, 5). Those who are raised in the First Resur- 
 rection "live and reign with Christ a thousand years." 
 Of those who are not raised then it is written they 
 "LIVED NOT AGAIN until the thousand years were 
 finished." 
 
 This is conclusive as to the Holy Spirit's own usage of 
 these words. 
 
 6. '^Mystery," [X'jrrrri^iou (musterion). — This English word 
 is a transliteration of the Greek word [MiKTTrjpiov {mys- 
 terion), but its usage by us to-day in no sense corresponds 
 with the meaning of the Greek word. 
 
 The Greeks used it of a secret, pure and simple ; a 
 secret which can be perfectly well understood when made 
 known; whereas we use the word "mystery" of what 
 cannot be understood at all; and is past comprehension 
 
 257 R 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE ESSENTIAL 
 
 even when it is revealed. Thus our usage of the word 
 to-day is quite different from the BibUcal usage. 
 
 We must be careful, therefore, not to read our present 
 usage of the word into the past usage. Not so very long 
 ago the word was used in its true sense. This was in 
 legal language, when an apprentice was articled in order 
 to learn the "mysteries" or secrets of a certain trade or 
 business. This is the sense also in which we still use it 
 when we speak of the Greek "mysteries," i.e., the secrets 
 of that religion into which persons were initiated. This 
 is the usage of the word in the Greek Testament, and in 
 our transliteration of it. 
 
 No matter what the context may relate to, the usage 
 of the word is uniformly secret. 
 
 (a) It is used in connection with the duration of Israel's 
 blindness (Rom. xi. 25). That blindness itself was not a 
 secret : for it was clearly foretold in Isa. vi. 9, 10. But the 
 duration of that blindness was not revealed (Isa. vi. 11. 
 Rom. xi. 25). 
 
 (6) It is used in connection with the rejection of the 
 kingdom, the fact of its remaining in abeyance, and the 
 duration of that abeyance. The Lord revealed this secret 
 to the Apostles "in the house" (Matt. xiii. 11, 35), while 
 it was still hidden from the people " out of the house." 
 (Compare verses 1 and 36.) 
 
 In this revelation, the duration of this present interval 
 between "the sufferings and the glory" was also kept 
 secret (1 Pet. i. 10, 11). 
 
 Hence, the secrets which the Lord then revealed, con- 
 cerned the kingdom only ; and all that He said about it 
 must be read on, leaping over this (as yet, to them, secret, 
 and unknown) present interval : and taking up the king- 
 dom again, as though such interval had no existence. 
 
 (c) It is used in connection with the counsels and pur- 
 poses of the lawless one (2 Thess. ii. 7), which, though 
 secret, were already beginning to work themselves out. 
 
 (d) It is used in connection with the word Ecclesia. 
 There was nothing to show that that word was going to 
 be used in a sense altogether different from any in Avhich 
 it had before been used.^ 
 
 1 See above, pp. 141—149; 248, 249. Also our pamphlet on The Mystery, 
 price Qd. 
 
 258 
 
V. UNIFORM GREEK USAGE: "MYSTERY" 
 
 (e) It is used also, and specially of "^/le great secret" 
 (1 Tim. iii. 16. Rom. xvi. 25, 26. Epli. iii. 1—11. Col. i. 21—27). 
 
 This secret does not refer to the fact that Gentiles were 
 to be blessed with Israel. That was never a secret, but 
 was revealed to Abraham at the moment of his own call 
 (Gen. xii. 3 ; xxii. 18 ; xxvi. 4, etc. Compare Fss. Ixxii. 17 ; 
 Ixvii. 1, 2; xviii. 49. Deut. xxxii. 43. Isa. xi. 10; xlix. 6. 
 Luke ii. 32). 
 
 Thus though the connections are different, the meaning 
 and usage of the word are uniform ; and the translation 
 and usage of it in English should be uniform also. 
 
 7. '^At hand,'' ivlo-rrj^i (enistemi). — The word iviG-rrifLi 
 (enistemi) occurs seven times, and though its usage is 
 uniform, it is rendered in four different ways in English. 
 One of them is of great importance, and most misleading. 
 The word means to be present, and is so rendered in 
 Rom. viii. 38. 1 Cor. iii. 22 ; vii. 26. Gal. i. 4. Heb. ix. 9. 
 
 In 2 Tim. iii. 1 it is "perilous times shall come" : i.e., be 
 present. 
 
 But in 2 Thess. ii. 2 it is rendered "at hand," in con- 
 nection with "the Day of the Lord" as being "now 
 present" (R.V.). 
 
 The interpretation of the verse is thus shown to be 
 that the Day of the Lord could not then have been pre- 
 sent, inasmuch as the foretold Apostasy had not taken 
 place, and the Man of Sin had not yet been revealed. 
 
 This being the case they were not to be troubled or 
 disturbed in their mind. 
 
 On the other hand, however, if that had been the case, 
 and the Day of the Lord had set in, there was every 
 reason why they should have been troubled ; for, the 
 Apostle's word would in that case have failed ; the 
 revelation made in 1 Thess. iv. would not have been ful- 
 filled ; and the comfort would have been given in vain. 
 That day would have overtaken them as a thief, which 
 he had assured them should not be the case (1 Thess. 
 V. 4). And they had not "gathered together" unto Christ 
 in the air as He had i^romiscd them. 
 
 The rendering "at hand" makes the whole context of 
 none effect. 
 
 259 R 2 
 
 • 
 
III. BIBLICAL USAGE ESSENTIAL 
 
 The English expression "at hand" occurs in twenty 
 other places, but in not one of them is it the Greek 
 word enistemi as in 2 Thess. ii. 2. 
 
 8. ''Depart,'" auakuo}, analuo.— The word rendered 
 depart in Phil. i. 23 must be taken in the same sense 
 as that in which it is used in the only other passage 
 where it occurs; viz., Luke xii. 36: "when he shall 
 RETURN from the wedding." It does NOT mean to 
 depart, in the sense of setting off from the place where 
 one is, but to return to the place that one has left. The 
 verb does not occur in the Greek translation of the 
 Canonical books of the Old Testament, but it does occur 
 in the Apocryphal books ; which, though of no authority 
 for the establishment of doctrine, are invaluable as to the 
 use and meaning of words. In these books, this word 
 always means to return, and is generally so translated.^ 
 
 This settles for us the uniform usage of the word 
 rendered "depart" in Phil. i. 23, and shows that it must 
 have the same rendering as it has in Luke xii. 36. 
 
 It was the return of Christ and to be with Him for 
 which the Apostle longed ; and this longing pressed him 
 out of the other alternatives of living or dying. 
 
 It was not his personal gain of which he was thinking, 
 but the gain to the Gospel. The Scope of the whole pas- 
 sage is the Gospel. The argument is that. If his imprison- 
 ment had turned out for the "furtherance" and gain of 
 
 1 See Tob. ii. 9. "The same night I returned from the burial." 
 Judg. xiii. 1. " Now when the evening was come, his servants made haste 
 to depart" {i.e., to return to their tents). 
 
 1 Esd. iii. 3. "They ate, and drank, and being seitisG.e6. they went" {i.e., re- 
 turned) "home." 
 
 Wisd. ii. 1. "Neither was there any man known to have returned from the 
 grave." 
 
 Wisd. V. 12. " Like as when an arrow is shot at a mark, it parteth the air, 
 which immediately cometh together" (returneth) "again." 
 
 Wisd. xii. 14. "The spirit when it is gone forth returneth not." 
 
 Ecclus. iii. 15. "As the ice melteth away" {i.e., returneth to water) "in the 
 fair warm weather." 
 
 2 Mace. viii. 25. " They pursued them far ; but lacking time, they returned." 
 2 Mace. ix. 1. " Antiochus returned and came away with dishonour from 
 
 the country of Persia." 
 
 2 Mace. xii. 7. "He went backward, as if he would return to root them all 
 out of the country of Joppa." 
 
 2 Mace. XV. 28. "Now when the battle was done, returning again with joy 
 they knew," etc. 
 
 260 
 
V. UNIFORM GREEK USAGE: "DEPART 
 
 the preaching of the Gospel, what might not the gain 
 be by his death. 
 
 It ought to be added that there are no less than twenty- 
 two Greek words rendered "depart" some one hundred 
 and thirty times: but this one word avaXuco (analuo) 
 occurs only twice, and in one of these it is rendered 
 "depart" and in the other "return." If this is not con- 
 vincing evidence as to what should be the correct 
 rendering in Phil. i. 23, we know not what evidence is 
 required. 
 
 We have the noun ava'kua-ig {analysis) in 2 Tim. iv. 6, 
 but it has the same meaning, retxirning or dissolution ; 
 i.e., the body returning to dust as it was, and the spirit 
 returning to God who gave it. 
 
 9. ''Leaven." l^ufxrj (zume). — The usage of this word is 
 uniformly in a bad sense throughout Scripture. 
 
 (1) It must be put away at the Passover (Exod. 
 xii. 15). 
 
 (2) It must not come into contact with any sacrifice 
 (Exod. xxxiv. 25. Lev. ii. 11 ; x. 12). 
 
 (3) It is likened to the corrupt doctrines of the Pharisees 
 and of the Sadducees (Matt. xvi. 6) ; and of Herod (Mark 
 viii. 15). 
 
 (4) The Corinthian Church was commanded to purge 
 out corrupt persons (1 Cor. v. 7) because "a little leaven 
 leaveneth the whole lump " (v. 6) ; and 
 
 (5) It is used of "malice and wickedness" (1 Cor. v. 8). 
 
 In the face of this. How can anyone dare to use 
 "leaven" in a sense totally opposite, and interpret it of 
 that which is good in itself and in its workings and effects ? 
 
 The supposed exceptions are — 
 
 (1) Lev. xxiii. 17. From verses 9—14. The wave-sheaf 
 or first-fruits was to have no leaven. But in verse 17 
 the "Two wave loaves" offered fifty days after were 
 to have leaven with them. This distinction was made 
 because the " wave-sheaf " represented Christ the first- 
 fruits in resurrection, without sin (1 Cor. xv. 23) ; while the 
 two wave-loaves represented those who were endued with 
 His gifts (fifty days later. Acts 11. 1—4): but who had sin 
 
 261 
 
BIBLICAL USAGE ESSENTIAL TO INTERPRETATION 
 
 and corruption in tliem. Tliis is why leaven was used 
 in the two wave-loaves and not in the Avave-sheaf.^ 
 
 (2) Amos iv. 4, 5. But here the offering "a sacrifice of 
 thanksgiving with leaven" is what is described as the 
 multiplying of transgression. 
 
 (3) Matt. xiii. 33. The Parable of the Leaven hidden in 
 three measures of meal. It is one of seven parables which 
 all have to do with the "Kingdom," and therefore not 
 with the Church. This we have already seen under our 
 chapter on " Dispensational Truth and Teaching." 
 
 The Kingdom was proclaimed by John the Baptist, by 
 Christ, and by Peter. But since it was finally rejected, 
 it is in abeyance, and is not recognized as having any 
 place in Scripture. 
 
 "We see not yet all things put under Him" (Heb. ii. 8), 
 who is now "henceforth expecting till his enemies be 
 made his footstool" (Heb. x. 13). 
 
 Till that day, the Kingdom has no place on earth, and 
 it must not be read into those Scriptures which concern 
 the present position and portion of the "Church ot 
 God." 
 
 The Scriptures relating to the Kingdom must be con- 
 fined to the Kingdom period which is before and after 
 this present Church-Interval : they must be read on from 
 its rejection in the Acts of the Apostles to the coming 
 of the King ; leaping over this present Dispensation as 
 though it had no existence. 
 
 Only thus shall we understand the Seven Parables of 
 Matt. xiii. 
 
 The Kingdom was proclaimed by John the Baptist and 
 Christ : The seed was sown. But from that moment the 
 enemy (likened to the "fowls of the air") was on the 
 watch, not only to catch it away, but to sow and mingle 
 tares with the good seed. The tares appear, but nothing 
 more is said about them "till the harvest": nothing is 
 done till "the time of harvest." "The harvest is the end 
 of the age" : i.e., after the present Dispensation. 
 
 The mustard-tree, rooted in the earth, gives shelter 
 for the same "fowls of the air" (Rev. xviii. 2). 
 
 1 See a separate pamphlet on Leaven by the same author and publisher. 
 
 262 
 
V. UNIFORM GREEK USAGE: "LEAVEN" 
 
 The leaven follows immediately to illustrate the inward 
 corruption (as the mustard-tree shows the outward). 
 
 If the leaven be taken here in a good sense it would 
 reverse the whole course and point and scope of the 
 previous teaching ; and this parable would be the very 
 opposite of the others. 
 
 It cannot mean the preaching of the Gospel in this 
 present Dispensation; for the woman hides it, bat the 
 Gospel is proclaimed openly. 
 
 The usage of the word "leaven" here must be taken in 
 this sense ; and thus, uniform with all the other passages 
 where the word occurs. 
 
 mi 
 
CANON IV. 
 
 THE CONTEXT IS ALWAYS ESSENTIAL TO THE 
 INTERPRETATION OF WORDS. 
 
 i. The Importance of the Context shown. 
 
 We have already seen something of this in the con- 
 sideration of the Structure of the Word and the Words 
 of God. 
 
 The order of the words is as perfect as the truth re- 
 vealed by them, and contained in them. 
 
 This order is Divine : and it is nothing less than a 
 crime for any human hand to subvert that order, either 
 by ignoring it or changing it. 
 
 Beware of any teacher to whom the context is not 
 manifestly essential. Beware of any teaching that is not 
 based upon it. 
 
 Some passages of Scripture derive their chief import- 
 ance from some remarkable words employed ; others 
 derive their chief importance from some wonderful truth 
 revealed ; while others derive their chief importance from 
 the place where %ve find them. Every passage has its own 
 importance in this last respect. When we find a passage 
 in its own particular place, there is a Divine reason why 
 it is there, and also why it is not in any other place. 
 
 It is essential to our understanding of the "words" to 
 find out why they are where we find them. It is essential 
 to our enjoyment of the words that we should discover not 
 only what they mean, but why they are not in any other 
 passage. If we would find the words and the Word of God 
 to be a delight to us, instead of a iDcrplexing jumble, we 
 must have special regard to the Context. 
 
 If this be disregarded, then a word, a sentence, or a 
 verse, may be taken out from its context and interpreted 
 of something quite foreign to its original intent. 
 
 We have all heard the proverbial saying that "the 
 Bible may be made to prove anything." Exactly so ; but 
 this, very often, is only when, and because, a verse is 
 taken apart from its context : otherwise it could never 
 
 264 
 
i. IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT 
 
 be made to teach anything different from the context 
 in wliich God has set it. 
 
 Every sentence and every verse has something going 
 before it and something following after it. We call this 
 the context. This is regarded as being essential even in 
 the case of human writers. How often are complaints 
 made by public speakers and writers that only a part 
 of what they have said is quoted ; whereas, if the whole 
 had been given, or even the sentence that preceded or 
 followed, quite a diiferent complexion would have been 
 given to the point referred to. 
 
 If this be so important where man is concerned, how 
 essential it must be when we remember that, in the case 
 we are considering, it is God's context and not man's. 
 
 How great must be the presumption if we disregard or 
 disturb that context. 
 
 Yet this is constantly done in order to prop up some 
 tradition. 
 
 Let us illustrate this by giving a few examples of error 
 arising from a disregard of the context. 
 
 ii. Examples of Error arising from a Disregard 
 OF THE Context. 
 
 1. Isa. lii. 8, "They shall see eye to eye." 
 
 The context shows that this means the seeing of one 
 another personally "face to face," and not the agreement 
 with one another in opinion or judgment. 
 
 2. Hab. ii. 2, " That he may run that readeth it." 
 
 "Write the vision 
 And make it plain upon tables, 
 That he may run who readeth it." 
 
 The reason given in the next verse (v. 3) shows that the 
 verb y)*^ (rutz) is to be taken in its sense of hasten, or flee : 
 viz., that he who reads of the coming troubles may flee 
 from them. 
 
 It does not mean that he may be able to run while he 
 reads it ; but flee when he reads it. 
 
 265 
 
lY. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 3. Ps. ii. 8, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the 
 heathen for thme inheritance, and the utmost parts of 
 the earth for thy possession." 
 
 How often have we heard these words quoted on mis- 
 sionary platforms and in pulpits, as though, by missionary 
 efforts, the reign of Christ here spoken of as the one 
 subject of the psalm is to be brought about. 
 
 But this is not to be the way in which that glorious 
 reign is to be inaugurated. Many are the Scriptures which 
 state this unmistakably. Judgment, not grace, is to be 
 the means employed. "Worse and Avorse" is to be the 
 character of the coming days, until they are like "the 
 days of Noah," which will end up in the Great Tribulation. 
 Then, without any interval or break of any kind, "IMME- 
 DIATELY after the Tribulation of those days . . . then 
 shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven . . . 
 and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds 
 of heaven" (Matt. xxiv. 29, 30). 
 
 This exactly accords with Ps. ii. as is shown by the 
 words that immediately follow verse 8 : 
 
 " Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; 
 Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's 
 vessel " {v. 9). 
 
 But, these words of verse 9 are never quoted at mis- 
 sionary meetings, because it is all too plain that it is not 
 such means as these that missionary societies use, or pro- 
 fess to use. Their agents proclaim the good news of "the 
 grace of God." They are not sent out to break the "hea- 
 then." They are not commissioned to "dash them in 
 pieces like a potter's vessel." 
 
 And so the context of this ninth verse is jprudently left 
 out ! And the quotation always stops short at the end of 
 the eighth verse ! 
 
 This is very clever ; but is it right ? It is one way of 
 "dividing the Word of truth." But, Is it "RIGHTLY 
 dividing" it? 
 
 It is dividing it for a purpose ; and that purpose is 
 manifest. It is done in order to make the Scripture 
 appear to give a Divine support to the tradition of men, 
 that the work of the Church and the Gospel is to bring 
 about the Millennium ; and that, by their means the earth 
 
 266 
 
ii. ERRORS FROM ITS DISREGARD: Mati. xxii. 32 
 
 is to be "full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters 
 cover the sea " (Isa. xi. 9). 
 
 But here agam the context forbids such an application, 
 for verses 3 and 4 state that it is to be by righteous 
 judgment that He will " SMITE the earth with the rod of 
 his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he SLAY 
 the Avicked." 
 
 If the context, which is always essential, had been 
 duly noted and considered, it would have been impossible 
 for Ps. ii. 8 ever to have been distorted, and have an in- 
 terpretation given to it which is contrary to the whole 
 teaching of the Word of truth. 
 
 4. Another example of error arising from disregard 
 of tlie context is seen in Matt. xxii. 32: 
 
 " God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." 
 
 Quoted thus, apart from the context, as an independent 
 statement, the words are at once placed, by those who 
 hear them, in the context of their own traditional belief; 
 instead of in the context of God's Word, and in connec- 
 tion with the rest of the words of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Misqvioted as above by being taken thus, apart from 
 their context, they are used to teach that the dead are not 
 dead at all, but that they are alive. This is exactly what 
 the Old Serpent said in Gen. iii. 4 when he gave the lie 
 to what God had said (Gen. ii. 17). 
 
 But, as in the two cases already cited, not only are the 
 words thus perverted from their meaning, but the logical 
 sequence of the whole context is suddenly broken off, and 
 ends in a bathos. There is no conclusion to the Lord's 
 words. He set out to prove the truth of resurrection, 
 Avhich, among other things, His opponents, the Sadducees, 
 denied : 
 
 "Then came the Sadducees which say that there is 
 NO RESURRECTION " (v. 23). 
 
 They propound a hypothetical case of the woman with 
 the seven husbands, and ask therefore 
 
 "IN THE RESURRECTION whose wife shall she 
 be of the seven ? " (v. 28). 
 
 207 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 The Lord replies by saying : 
 
 "Ye do err, not^ knowing the Scriptures nor the 
 power of God. For IN THE RESURRECTION 
 they neither marry nor are given in marriage." 
 
 He goes on to refer to Scripture : 
 
 "But as TOUCHING THE RESURRECTION OP 
 THE DEAD, have ye not read that Avhich was 
 spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God 
 of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God 
 of Jacob? God is not the god of the dead, but 
 of the living." 
 
 Is it not clear that these words are used by the Lord 
 in order to prove the fact and truth of resurrection ? How 
 could this argument prove that the dead would rise again 
 if He meant that the dead are alive noiv ? 
 
 Surely the logical conclusion is that, If God is "the 
 God of the living," the dead Abraham, and the dead Isaac, 
 and the dead Jacob must live again, ^ in resurrection, in 
 order to have God's promise to them fulfilled. God had 
 promised to each of these three patriarchs, that not only 
 their seed, but that they themselves, should possess the 
 land, and therefore, to do this, they must "live again." 
 
 "TO THEE, and to thy seed" 
 
 was the promise made to Abraham (Gen. xiii. 15), to Isaac 
 (Gen. xxvi. 3), and to Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 13), 
 
 It is a matter of history that neither of them ever 
 possessed the land (Heb. xi. 13), and never had more than 
 a sepulchre there. That sepulchre they purchased and 
 there they were buried (Gen. xlix. 29—33) ; but it was not 
 the promised gift. 
 
 How then can God's promise to these three patriarchs 
 be fulfilled except by resurrection ? The argument of the 
 Lord proves, unmistakably, the necessity of resurrection 
 if God is to fulfil His promise to them, and to be faithful 
 to His word to Moses at the Bush. 
 
 1 Greek, ix-q (me), not, used subjectively ; i.e., not wishing to know the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 2 Compare Rev. xx. 5, *' the rest of the dead, lived not again until the thou- 
 sand years" were finished," which proves that they cannot be alive during the 
 thousand years, while they remain "dead." 
 
 268 
 
ii. ERRORS FROM ITS DISREGARD : Matt, xxiii. 8 
 
 Apart from the context the Lord's argument is shorn 
 of its conclusion and robbed of its point ; Avhile God's 
 promise is made to fall to the ground, and the hope of 
 resurrection lost. And all this because a sentence is 
 wrested from the context in which the Holy Spirit of 
 God has placed it. 
 
 These are good examples of how a short sentence 
 may be perverted by a violation of this canon. 
 
 It will be noticed how these examples point to the 
 fact that it is only traditional beliefs that seem to require 
 such a trep^tment of Scripture, and that this treatment 
 is practically confined to them. This explains why so 
 many of our examples are connected with these strong- 
 holds of tradition. Unable to find Scriptural support 
 for the traditions of men, resort must perforce be had to 
 a few isolated passages which are thus forced apart from 
 their Divine context for this special purpose. 
 
 5. " Observe and do." — Another example may be seen in 
 Matt, xxiii. 3, where the context clearly tells us whether 
 the translation should be "observe and do" as a command, 
 or "ye observe and do" as a stateme7it. 
 
 In the Greek the second person plural Indicative Mood 
 is exactly the same as the Imperative. There is nothing 
 therefore to guide us, as to which Mood should be read, 
 but the context. Now, the context of the immediate 
 passage, and the context of the whole Gospel, leads us to 
 expect that the Lord cannot possibly be thought of here 
 as enjoining obedience to the teaching of the Scribes and 
 Pharisees. On the contrary. He was always uttering the 
 most solemn warnings against them and their teachings. 
 We must, therefore, read them as being in the Indicative 
 Mood ; as stating a fact, and not as enjoining a precept. 
 This is still more clear if we observe that the word trans- 
 lated "sit" is not in the Present Tense, but in the Past: 
 ^^have taken their seat." 
 
 With these two notes we must translate the passage 
 as follows : 
 
 "The Scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in 
 Moses' seat : all things, therefore, whatsoever they bid 
 you, ye observe and do : but do not ye according to their 
 works." 
 
 209 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 The Avord "therefore" is very significant. It is he- 
 cause "they have taken their seat in Moses' seat" that 
 ye observe and do whatever tliey bid you. But, the in- 
 junction is JDo them not.'' And tlien in verses 4 — 33 the 
 most weighty reasons are given why they sliould 7iot do 
 them. How, then, can we go out of our way, gratuitously 
 to create a difficulty, by taking the Mood as being the 
 Imperative, and make the Lord command them to do the 
 very things He was about to condemn ? 
 
 The Chief Priests and Elders Avho had thus arrogated 
 to themselves the authority of Moses, shortly after this 
 used it to bid the people "that they should ask Barabbas 
 and destroy Jesus " (Matt, xxvii. 20—23). Are we to sup- 
 pose, for one moment, that in observing to do this bidding 
 the people were acting in conformity with the Lord's 
 words in ch. xxiii. 3 ? This consideration by itself is quite 
 sufficient to condemn the "reading" riveted on the Greek 
 by the Revisers' text ; quite apart from the Critical evi- 
 dence which can be adduced in favour of the Received 
 Text. 
 
 There is another and overwhelming reason for this 
 understanding of the Lord's words ; and that is the con- 
 cluding reason given why they are not to do the w^orks 
 which the Scribes and Pharisees commanded, "for they 
 say and do not." 
 
 Can the argument be : Do the works (which they com- 
 mand) because they do them not ? 
 
 Surely there is no sense in such an argument. But 
 rather it is : "Do not ye the works (tvhich they cominmid), 
 for they do not do them themselves " ; which clearly shows 
 how grievous their heavy burdens were. 
 
 This is the continuation of the Lord's argument ; and 
 it is the only logical conclusion from His words as re- 
 corded in the context. 
 
 C. John vi. 37, "Him that cometh unto me I will in no 
 wise cast out." This verse is indeed divided ; but wrongly, 
 not rightly, divided by quoting only a part of it as though 
 it were the whole. 
 
 How often do we hear the promise — " Him that cometh 
 unto me I will in no wise cast out." But how seldom do 
 
 270 
 
ii. ERRORS FROM ITS DISREGARD : Acts xvi. 31 
 
 we hear the first half, which is an integral part of the 
 sentence. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to 
 me : AND him that cometh unto me I will in no wise 
 cast out." 
 
 The reason for the mangling of this verse is the same 
 reason why, Avhen the Lord stated the same truth in 
 verse 65, "No man can come unto me, except it were given 
 him of my Father ; FROM THAT TIME many of his dis- 
 ciples went back, and walked no more with him." 
 
 Wherever this same truth is proclaimed to day, the 
 same result will follow ; and this, in spite of all the talk 
 about "the teaching of Jesus," which is only an excuse 
 for attempting to get rid of the teaching of the Holy 
 Ghost by Paul. 
 
 7. Acts xvi. 31, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
 thou slialt be saved." 
 
 This is an example of how a special and personal in- 
 junction is detached from its context, put forth, and used 
 as a general and universal command. 
 
 The quotation generally stops here, because the words 
 "thou and thy house" would show the special nature of 
 the command. The context shows that it was giA^en to 
 one who was under deep conviction of sin. The jailor 
 had seen himself in the presence of God. His one thought 
 was that the prisoners had fled. His one act was that " he 
 drew out his sword and would have killed himself : " for he 
 knew what his fate would be in the morning (Acts xii. 19). 
 
 But there was One who knew what he thought, and the 
 voice said, "We are all here." There was One who could 
 see in that darkness what he was going to do, and the 
 voice said, "Do thyself no harm." "THEN he called for 
 a light f and sprang in, and came trembling and fell doAvn," 
 and asked, " What must I do to be saved ? " 
 
 To all such in similar circumstances ; to all who thus 
 fall down and ask such a question, this is the riglit 
 answer. But it is no command at all to those who are 
 not under conviction of sin. Such have first to believo 
 God as to their lost and ruined condition. 
 
 There are other passages, however, which are not so 
 serious, where mistakes are made and errors are fallen 
 
 271 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 into through partial quotations, where a part of a verse 
 is used to upset the teaching of the other part, or of the 
 immediate context. 
 
 8. Rom. viii. 28, "All things work together for good." 
 
 These words are often taken by themselves, as though 
 they were an independent statement ; a statement more- 
 over which is contrary to fact. 
 
 Sometimes the words that follow are added, "to them 
 that love God." 
 
 But very seldom do we hear the next sentence: "to 
 them that are the called according to his purpose." 
 
 9. 1 Cor. iii. 17, " Him shall God destroy." 
 
 "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God 
 destroy ; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye 
 are." 
 
 It is well for us first to note the fact that the words 
 "defile" and "destroy" represent but one and the same 
 word in the Greek. In both clauses the word is (pSeipco 
 (phtheiro), to spoil or corrupt. That this is the meaning 
 may be seen from 1 Cor. xvv 33. 2 Cor. vii. 2 ; xi. 3, etc. 
 
 But, the pronoun rendered "him" is toutov (touton\ 
 this. To what noun does the pronoun "this" refer? The 
 context alone can help us. 
 
 It cannot be "this" man, or "him" as in A.V. ; because 
 verse 15 distinctly states that "he himself shall be saved." 
 
 It can be, therefore, only "this" thing that the man 
 builds on the one foundation as stated in verse 12. What- 
 ever man's building-work may be — good, bad, or indif- 
 ferent; "gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;" 
 grand, imposing, insignificant, or mean, whatever it may 
 be, it will be burnt up (vv. 13 — 15). 
 
 " Ye are God's building " (v. 9). 
 
 " Ye are the temple of God " (v. 16). 
 
 " Which temple ye are " (v. 17). 
 
 That temple is God's building (Eph. ii. 21). It is "one 
 body " (Eph. iv. 16). It is a spiritual unity (Eph. iv. 3, 4). 
 
 If any man builds any other "temple," or makes 
 any other "body," or creates any other "unity," it is 
 
 272 
 
ii. ERRORS FROM ITS DISREGARD : 2 Cor. v. 8 
 
 corporate; and it "defiles God's building"; and "this" it 
 is that God will destroy.^ 
 
 10. 2 Cor. V. 8. " Absent from the body." 
 
 In this case a few words are taken out of their context 
 and used as a motto or proverbial expression ; and are 
 quoted as conclusively settling a disputed question. We 
 have already considered this illustration under Canon II. 
 (pp. 223 — 226), where we showed the Scope of the Passage 
 from its Structure. We wish to show now, how these 
 words can be explained by simply heeding the context. 
 
 Again and again we hear : 
 
 " Absent from the body, 
 Present with the Lord " 
 
 quoted as though it asserted that the moment a believer 
 is "absent from the body" he is " present with the Lord." 
 
 But this is what it does not say. Many will be sur- 
 prised to hear that no such collocation of words occurs 
 in Scripture : and that 2 Cor. v. 8 reads 
 
 "We are willing rather to be absent from the body, 
 and to be present with the Lord," 
 
 which is quite a different thing ; because the whole con- 
 text from 2 Cor. iv. 14 down to this verse, is wholly 
 occupied with the subject of Resurrection, and a longing 
 and desire not to die, or to be unclothed {v. 4), but "to 
 be clothed upon" with our heavenly and glorious resur- 
 rection body. 
 
 While we are in this body we are "absent from the 
 Lord." That is why we so earnestly desire to be alive 
 and remain till His coming, that we may be clothed upon 
 with our house - which is from heaven. 
 
 1 See a separate pamphlet entitled God's Building, by the same author and 
 publisher. 
 
 2 The word here rendered "house" is otxrjryjpt i' (oiketerion), which is used 
 of the spirit-body which we shall have in resurrection. The word occurs only 
 here and in Jude 0, where it is rendered "habitation," and is used here of 
 whatever that word may mean when used of angels or angelic beings in Jude 0. 
 The word oTxro? (oilcofi) is used of omy present human body or house (2 Cor. v. 1). 
 It is also used of our resurrection body in the same verse, but there it is 
 specially distinguished as being "not made with hands." This shows that 
 the meaning of oiketerion in verse 2, is a spirit-body, because it is not made 
 with human hands, but "a building of God," "which is from lieaven." 
 
 273 
 
 S 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 We ourselves are very willing to be thus "absent from 
 the body " ; nay, we are desirous of it, because, when Ave 
 are, we shall then have our oiketerion in which we shall 
 be "at home with the Lord." 
 
 We have precisely the same teaching in the word "SO" 
 in 1 Thess. iv. 17. " SO shall Ave ever be Avitli the Lord." 
 The Greek is ourcog (houtos), thus, in this manner; viz. by 
 Resurrection, and Ascension; raised and "caught up to 
 meet the Lord in the air, SO shall we ever be Avitli the 
 Lord." 
 
 It will be noticed again that it is tradition which thus 
 requires such perverted misquotations. This is because 
 the errors of tradition are produced by ignoring the con- 
 text. We have another : 
 
 11. "To die is gain," (Phil. i. 21), constantly cited as 
 though it were a separate, independent, and dogmatic 
 categorical statement of Divine truth ; Avhereas it is 
 nothing of the kind. It is not even a complete sentence. 
 The verse says : 
 
 " For to me to live is Christ, 
 And to die is gain." 
 
 The very word "For" should be sufficient to shoAV that 
 the statement is not independent ; but that it depends 
 on what has been before said, and is added as a reason 
 for it. 
 
 What has been said before? What is the context all 
 about ? 
 
 A very cursory reader Avill at once see that it is all 
 about the "gain" of the Gospel. That is AAdiat the Apostle 
 Avas so deeply concerned about. He Avas in prison, and 
 yet he Avanted them to "understand that the things 
 Avhiph happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the 
 furtherance of the Gospel.'" And he goes on to shoAV that 
 the one effect of his bonds on many of the brethren had 
 been to make their confidence to increase, so that they 
 were "much more bold to speak the Word Avithout fear." 
 
 Paul rejoiced at this, notAvithstanding that some did 
 it of contention and others from love. 
 
 It made him bold also, and bold enough to say that 
 he did not care Avhat happened to himself ; he did not 
 mind Avhether he lived or died. Christ AA^ould be magnified 
 
 274 
 
ii. ERRORS FROM ITS DISREGARD : Phil. ii. 12 
 
 in his body (v. 20) in either case. "The fnrtherance of 
 the Gospel " was the one thing he cared about ; not his 
 own personal "gain." He never thought of that. It ruins 
 the whole scope of the chapter to introduce the thought, 
 yea, the slanderous thought, and charge him with such 
 selfishness, as though he were thinking only of his own 
 personal gain. It is a gross injustice to the Apostle, as 
 well as a perversion of his words, thus to bring against 
 him a charge of which he was not only innocent, but 
 which is foreign to the context. 
 
 It also mars and breaks up the logical sequence of the 
 Context, considered merely as literary matter. The argu- 
 ment is this ; If my bonds have resulted in the further- 
 ance of the Gospel, what might not my death produce? 
 Christ is preached through my bonds ; so He may be 
 magnified through my body, whether by my living or 
 dying, "For to me to live will be Christ; and to die [will 
 be His] gain." In either case He will be magnified. The 
 gain will be His. 
 
 But though his death might result in Christ's gain, it 
 might not be their gain ; for to abide in the flesh would 
 be more needful for those to whom he wrote. ^ 
 
 12. Phil. ii. 12. We have a similar example in the next 
 chapter: "Work out your own salvation with fear and 
 trembling." 
 
 These words are quoted as a general instruction apply- 
 ing to everyone universally. Whereas the preceding con- 
 text shows that they are part of an exhortation for these 
 Philippian saints to do this working in the Apostle's 
 absence as they had always done in his presence. 
 
 Moreover the context which follows gives the reason 
 why they should, and why they could, do this tvorJcing 
 out; "FOR it is God which worketh in you both to will 
 and to do of his good pleasure." 
 
 What that work is, is added in verse 14. " Do all things 
 without murmurings and disputings." That is how they 
 would work out that salvation which they had in Christ, 
 during the Apostle's absence. 
 
 We must not dismiss this negative branch of our sub- 
 ject without a reference to the two pernicious practices 
 
 1 See above, under Canon III., Section v. 8 ; the word " Depart. 
 
 275 s 2 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 which may be termed Text-mangling on the one hand, 
 and Text-garbling on the other. 
 
 13. Text-mangling is common on ilkiminated wall-texts, 
 motto-cards, birth-day books, and almanacs. 
 
 The practice is to take a few words (for the space is 
 often very limited) regardless of the context in which 
 they may be found. ; regardless also of their proper inter- 
 pretation. Hence, passages are often selected which may 
 give false peace to those who stand in need of conviction 
 of sin ; or they may disturb the peace of those who 
 need assurance ; or they may remove others from the 
 ground of grace to the ground of works. Sometimes 
 also this practice causes the words of God to be treated 
 as Shakespeare is often treated by advertisers, comic 
 artists, and others, who are thus able to show at once their 
 intimate knowledge of Shakespeare and their cleverness 
 in twisting his words to an end and for a purpose which 
 Shakespeare never dreamed of. This is done in order to 
 attract attention by showing the absurdity of making 
 Shakespeare recommend some "buttons," "pills," or 
 "soap" of which he never heard. 
 
 This practice may be innocent and amusing when it is 
 confined to a human author ; but, when it is brought into 
 use in dealing with the words of God, the practice cannot 
 be too strongly reprobated as being an insult to God, and 
 pernicious to man. 
 
 Just in this same way we might quote, or rather mis- 
 quote, the words of Truth ; 
 
 "There is no God" (Ps. xiv. 1). 
 
 "Hang all the law and the prophets" (Matt. xxii. 40). 
 " Woe unto you lawyers " (Luke xi. 52). 
 
 All these are true, if taken in connection with the 
 context in which they stand; but not otherwise. Apart 
 from their context these and others may form complete 
 sentences, but they may make either nonsense or false 
 sense. 
 
 We have actually seen the following short sentence as 
 a wall-text :— 
 
 "Thou shalt not drink wine" 
 as though this was a general command demanding uni- 
 versal obedience. 
 
 276 
 
li. ERRORS FROM ITS DISREGARD : TEXT-MANGLING 
 
 But it is taken from the Minor Prophets, where it 
 forms part of Divine threatening of judgment: 
 "Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied ; . . . 
 Thou slialt talce hold, but shalt not deliver . . . 
 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap ; 
 Thou shalt tread olives, but thou shalt not anoint 
 
 thee with oil ; 
 And sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine " (Mic. vi. 15; 
 compare Zeph. i. 13). 
 Not only are these words thus wrested from their proper 
 context and meaning ; but, by so doing, they are set in flat 
 contradiction to Amos ix. 14, where exactly the opposite 
 prophecy is given by way of blessing : 
 
 "They shall plant vineyards 
 And drink the wine thereof." 
 On the other hand, there are texts which are of such 
 universal and eternal application, and which so touch the 
 conscience, that they could not fail to be of untold bless- 
 ing to thousands, if they were chosen for this purpose. 
 
 How seldom, if ever, do we see such passages as these 
 plainly printed and prominently exposed : 
 
 The Lord seeth not as man seeth." 
 
 (1 Sam. xvi, 7.) 
 
 or 
 
 "Man looketh on the outward appear- 
 ance, but the Lord looketh on the 
 heart." (l Sam. xvi. 7.) 
 
 "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt 
 or offerings and sacrificQ3, as in obeying 
 
 the voice of the Lord ? " (i Sam. xv. 22.) 
 
 ' To obey is better than sacrifice, 
 or And to hearken, than the fat of rams." 
 
 (1 Sam. XV. 22.) 
 
 277 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 The governing principle in this matter should be that, 
 what is put out for general observation should be in per- 
 fect harmony with, not wrenched from, its context, and 
 universal and eternal in its application. 
 
 14. Text-garbling differs from Text-mangling in that 
 a passage is not only taken out of the context in which 
 God has set it, but it is placed in another context in 
 which He has not set it. This, to say the least, is an act 
 of the grossest impertinence. 
 
 There are some Avriters who are specially addicted to 
 this habit, and string a number of texts together as 
 though they occurred exactly in this order in God's Word. 
 True, the references may be given with each verse ; but 
 unwary readers may not notice or heed this ; hence they 
 will read on from one to the other as though they are 
 reading the words as God has given them. 
 
 There is one book, especially, in our mind, which does 
 this, and leads many to do this "daily," every day of 
 the year : but whether in each case it gives daily light is 
 another jnatter. 
 
 If it comes to merely stringing texts together, this can 
 easily be done ; we could say : 
 
 "Judas went and hanged himself" (Matt, xxvii. 5). 
 Go and do thou likewise " (Luke x. 37). 
 
 This shows the absurdity to which such a principle 
 can be reduced. 
 
 We do not deny, of course, that it is possible for a 
 well-taught and well-read spiritually-minded student of 
 the Word of truth to do this with effect. Great light 
 may be thrown often on a passage by putting it alongside 
 another, thus letting one Scripture be its own Divine 
 comment on another. That is quite a different thing 
 altogether from the ill-considered practice of dislocat- 
 ing a passage from its own context and putting it into 
 another. 
 
 What w^e are speaking of is the habit of garbling Scrip- 
 ture by bringing texts together, regardless as to whether 
 such displacement affects in any way the special inter- 
 pretation which they have in their own respective 
 contexts. 
 
 278 
 
iii. TRUTH FROM REGARD OF CONTEXT 
 
 It may be that, with due regard to this point, the 
 truth and teaching of each of two such passages may 
 be enhanced. But the practice is one which requires 
 much spiritual discernment, great care, long experience, 
 special knowledge of the context, extensive knowledge 
 of Scripture, and a recognition of the principle involved in 
 the important distinction between interpretation and 
 application, dealt with in Canon X. below. 
 
 iii. Examples of Truth and Teaching resulting 
 
 FROM A DUE REGARD TO THE CONTEXT. 
 
 We come now to another part of this subject, as to 
 the context being essential. 
 
 What we have said above is negative and destructive 
 rather than positive and constructive. We have shown 
 some of the mistakes arising from a disregard of the 
 context ; and have seen some of the evils resulting from 
 this dangerous practice. 
 
 We now have a happier branch of this subject, viz., 
 we have to show some of the advantages of giving heed 
 to the context; and the blessing, truth, and teaching re- 
 sulting from a careful observation of the context, not 
 only in the removal of difficulties, or in the explanation 
 of so-called "discrepancies," but in the manifestation of 
 the perfections of the Divine Word. 
 
 We shall divide this branch of our subject into two 
 parts— 
 
 (a) The Nearer Context, and 
 (6) The Remoter Context. 
 
 From one point of view, the Word of truth, coming as 
 it does, as a whole, from one and the same Divine Author, 
 is its own context. That is to say, a particular passage 
 is to be regarded not only in the relation it bears to its 
 own nearer or remoter context ; but, in the relation which 
 it bears to the Word of God as a whole. 
 
 It may not be intended to teach science, chronology, 
 or history, either Assyrian, Babylonian, Palestinian, or 
 Egyptian, as such; but, everything that it records will 
 be in perfect harmony with whatever is true of any or 
 all of these. Scientia means hmnvledge, and nothing in 
 
 279 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 Scripture will be found to contradict wliat we really 
 knotv, which is true science. Much that goes by the name 
 of "science" is only hypothesis ; and, in much more, sup- 
 position is so mixed up with knowledge that the result 
 is vitiated. 
 
 All must be brought to the bar of the Divine Word. 
 That Word as a whole is the context for its every part. 
 All that is outside the two covers of the Word of God 
 must be judged by what is within. We must not reverse 
 this process and judge what is within by anything that 
 may come to us from without. 
 
 With this understanding we will look at a few illustra- 
 tions, which show how certain passages may receive light ; 
 how certain difficulties may be removed, how new beauties 
 may be revealed by having regard to this, our fourth 
 canon or principle, that the context is always essential. 
 
 Let us take, first, passages which are illuminated by 
 
 (a) The Nearer Context. 
 
 By this we mean what we may find and read on the 
 same page, or opening ; or at the most on the pages or 
 in the chapters near to it. 
 
 [By the Remoter Context we mean that which is sepa- 
 rated from it by some chapters at least ; or even by other 
 books of Scripture.] 
 
 1. In Gen. xxxv. 2, we read Jacob's command, "Put 
 away the strange gods (Heb., tJie gods of the stranger) that 
 are among yovi, and be clean and change your garments." 
 
 This looks, at first sight, as though Jacob and his family 
 had become idolaters. It is true, we read of the ''tera- 
 phim " which Rachel had taken aAvay when she fled with 
 Jacob from her father's house (ch. xxxi. 19); but it does 
 not appear that they were for worship. More probably 
 they were of silver or gold, and were taken as valuables 
 in lieu of the balance of wages still OAving by Laban to 
 Jacob. 
 
 It is hardly credible that idolatry could have been 
 common in Jacob's household as the command in Gen. 
 xxxv. 2 would seem to imply. 
 
 We have not far to look before we find the explana- 
 tion. Only a few verses before (ch. xxxiv. 26—29) we read 
 
 280 
 
iii. TRUTH FROM NEARER CONTEXT : Dan. vi. 1 
 
 how the sons of Jacob had just captured the city of 
 Shechem and taken their cattle, and "all their wealth, 
 and all their little ones and their wives took they cap- 
 tive, and spoiled even all that was in the house." 
 
 Here then we have the explanation of these strangers 
 and their strange gods. Here also we see why Jacob gave 
 this command not only "unto his household," but "to all 
 that were with him." 
 
 2. In 2 Kings iv. 13 Elisha asks "a great woman" of 
 Shunem (who had befriended him): "Behold, thou hast 
 been careful for us with all this care ; what is to be done 
 for thee ? Wouldest thou be spoken for to the Jibing or to 
 the captain of the host?" 
 
 f This sounds strange, when, from the previous history, 
 we should hardly suppose that Elisha was on sufficiently 
 good terms with Jehoram king of Israel to have any 
 grounds for holding out such hopes to this woman. And 
 yet he could not be trifling with her after all her care 
 of him. 
 
 What then is the explanation ? We find it in the im- 
 mediate context. Chap. iii. 16, 17 tells how he had just 
 by a miraculous supply of water saved the armies of 
 Israel and enabled them to defeat their enemy. 
 
 Elisha might well therefore presume that he had some 
 ground on which he could appeal for a favour to the 
 king; or at any rate to "the captain of the host." 
 
 3. In Dan. v. 30 we read, "In that night was Belshazzar 
 the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median 
 took the kingdom." 
 
 In eh. vi. 1, we read, "It pleased Darius to set over the 
 kingdom an hundred and twenty princes which should 
 be over the whole kingdom." 
 
 In Esther i. 1 — 3, we read that Ahashuerus (a subse- 
 quent king of Persia) "reigned from India even unto 
 Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty pro- 
 vinces." 
 
 Here, if princes necessarily imply provinces, there 
 appears to be a discrepancy as to which no explanation is 
 vouchsafed by the historian : the fact being stated as well 
 known and needing nothing beyond its statement. 
 
 281 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 However, in Dan. viii. 4, the Nearer Context, we find 
 tliat Daniel had a vision in the reign of Belshazzar, show- 
 ing the nature and character of the impending change, 
 and the rise of the Medo-Persian kingdom. 
 
 It is pictured as "a ram pushing westward, and north- 
 ward, and southward ; so that no beasts might stand 
 before him" (Dan. viii. 1 — 4). 
 
 This can mean only that, in the early days of its exist- 
 ence, the Medo-Persian kingdom would extend its boun- 
 daries, and receive accessions of empire. 
 
 This is exactly what we find from Esther i. 1—3, where 
 the one hundred and tAventy provinces of Dan. vi. 1 had 
 increased to one hundred and twenty-seven in the sub- 
 sequent reign of Ahashuerus. 
 
 4. Eph. iii. 15, " The whole family in heaven and earth." 
 This is another illustration of quite a different character. 
 But first we must ask what is the sense in which we are 
 to take the word "family." It is an unfortunate render- 
 ing of the Greek iroLrpia (patria), and yet it is so difficult 
 to suggest a better, that the only alternative is to try 
 and understand it. Our English word " family " takes its 
 meaning from the lowest in the household ; from famulus, 
 the servant, and not from the father. The Latin familia 
 was the household of servants. But the idea of patria 
 is Hebrew, and is a group or class of families all claiming 
 a common descent from one irarrip (pater), or father. 
 The twelve tribes were divided into patria, and these 
 again into oIkoi (oiJcoi), houses. Joseph was of the house 
 and family of David. The word occurs only here, Luke 
 ii. 4, and Acts iii. 25. It denotes a clan all descended from 
 a common stock. 
 
 So much for the meaning of the word. Now for the 
 meaning of the verse : "Of whom the whole family (R.V. 
 every family) in heaven and earth is named." 
 
 This verse is always understood of "the Church of 
 God ; " and is taken to mean that one part of it is already 
 in heaven, and the other part is on earth. 
 
 But this is not an illuminated wall-text, or a text from 
 a birthday book, or from an almanac. It occurs in the 
 middle of an Epistle which has something to say about 
 the names, and about the naming of these families. 
 
 282 
 
iii. TRUTH FROM NEARER CONTEXT : Eph. iii. 15 
 
 God has many families, in heaven and on earth, both 
 in this world and in the world to come. But we, with 
 our usual selfishness, can see only one Family ; and that 
 must, of course, be the Church, for that is the Family 
 we belong to. Thus we bring everything round to our- 
 selves ; especially if there is blessing, mercy, or glory 
 attached to it. 
 
 In Eph. i. 21 we have the names of some of these 
 ''Families" : 
 
 "Principalities," ^ "Thrones," 
 " Powers," " Angels," 
 
 " Might," and 
 " Dominions." "Archangels." 
 
 These belong to "heaven above" and to "the world to 
 come." Two of them are again mentioned in Eph. iii. 10, 
 viz., the "Principalities and Powers," to whom God is 
 manifesting now His manifold wisdom by means of the 
 Church, using it as His object-lesson. The Church must, 
 therefore, be distinct from these families in heaven. 
 
 What these heavenly families may be we do not know. 
 Others are mentioned in Rom. viii. 38. Col. i. 16. 1 Pet. 
 iii. 22,^ but the Greek words employed reveal no more to 
 us than the English words. For words that pertain only 
 to "this world" cannot contain any information as to the 
 "world to come." 
 
 Other "names that are named" are referred to in 
 Eph. i. 21. 
 
 And yet in spite of all this when the R.V. correctly 
 renders TToto-a 7roLr^ioL{pa8apatria)every family (Eph. iii. 15) 
 an outcry is made because Eph. iii. 15 has been heretofore 
 wrongly limited and restricted to the Church ; and that 
 verse has been used as a proof that part of the Church 
 is in heaven and part of it is on earth. On this unwar- 
 ranted limitation the non-Scriptural (not to say un- 
 Scriptural) terms of " church militant " and " church 
 triumphant " are based. 
 
 But the text reads, " Of (or, by) whom every family in 
 the heavens and upon earth is named." 
 
 1 From Eph. vi. 12 we gather that there are similar classes of spirit-being 
 who are evil and fallen, opposing and conflicting with the good and unfallen 
 (See Col. ii. 15). 
 
 283 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 We know this only because we are here told of it. No 
 further explanation is given. We have the key to the 
 interpretation in the Nearer Context (Eph. i. 21). We 
 have "every family that is named" in chap. iii. 15, and 
 "every name that is named" in chap. i. 21. It seems very 
 inconsistent to translate "every name" in ch. i. 21, and 
 "the whole family" in ch. iii. 15. But out of this incon- 
 sistency flows the error ; and on this inconsistency is built 
 up the figment of part of the Church being in heaven 
 and part on earth. Those who believe in and teach an 
 "Intermediate state" must get over this difficulty as best 
 they can. For our own part we see no difficulty at all ; 
 but only a simple revelation as to unseen realities. 
 
 We have here in Eph. iii. 15 and i. 21 a universal 
 truth; but those who limit it to the Church of God not 
 only lose that great truth, but they get error in its stead. 
 
 Rightly divided, the families in heaven consist of 
 Principalities, Powers, Might, Dominions, Thrones, Angels 
 and Archangels, while the families on earth are Israel 
 and the Church of God. 
 
 All the promises of God to the Church are made con- 
 cerning heavenly things ; all the promises made to Israel, 
 the other earthly family, have to do with earth and 
 earthly things. 
 
 Presently the Church will take its place in the heavens, 
 and will be the chiefest of every family in heaven, while 
 Israel will be the Family on Earth. The object in the 
 Epistle to the Ephesians is to show how the risen Christ 
 has been given and made the Head over all things to (or 
 for) the Churcii. He is and will be the centre of all things 
 in heaven and on earth, both to the Church and to Israel. 
 
 Join together what God has put asunder ; fail to divide 
 rightly or to recognize the distinction betAveen these 
 families ; allow ourselves to be misled by tradition and 
 deceived by partisan teachers that there is only one 
 family (part of it in heaven and part on earth), and we 
 shall not only lose some of the most wonderful truths 
 of the Word of God, but we shall find ourselves in the 
 mists and clouds of darkness and error. 
 
 Rightly divide the Word of truth, giving due heed to 
 the Context, and there will be opened out to us whole 
 vistas of separate truths, which will all converge and 
 
 284 
 
iii. TRUTH FROM REMOTER CONTEXT: Gen. 
 
 unite iu magnifying the Word of God, and in glorifying 
 the Christ of God. 
 
 (6) The Remoter Context. 
 
 By this we mean that the Word of God, being one 
 whole, is its own Context, for every separate passage, 
 quite apart from all that is outside its own covers ; and 
 each passage has to be read in reference to the whole 
 book. 
 
 Each passage stands, not only in its own immediate 
 Context, but it stands also in the Context of the Bible 
 as a whole ; and is to be read, and explained, and under- 
 stood, and interpreted in the light of the rest of Scripture. 
 
 An inexplicable verse, or act, or fact may find its solu- 
 tion in some other part of Scripture. For all of it is 
 God-breathed. All has one Author. The Bible is not a 
 "Symposium" of many authors; for though there are 
 many writers there is only one Author, the Holy Spirit 
 of God. 
 
 He has used various mouths to speak and various pens 
 to write; He has "spoken at sundry times, and in divers 
 manners : " but it is the same God who has spoken. 
 
 When we realize this great fact, we shall perceive the 
 all-pervading presence of that one Author in all parts of 
 the Word, which was written as holy men of old spake 
 from God as they were moved by that same Spirit. 
 
 If any doubt the truth of this fact they will soon be 
 convinced as they consider the Illustrations which we 
 propose to give them. 
 
 1. Gen. xix. and xiv. The cities and the city. — Look, for 
 example, at Gen. xviii., where Abraham pleaded with 
 God for Sodom that the city might be spared in the day 
 of His judgment. 
 
 God had told him that He would destroy the cities 
 {v. 20) Sodom and Gomorrah. Gen. xix. speaks of "the 
 cities." But Abraham prayed only for "the city." No 
 reason is given. And, for aught that is said in these 
 two chapters, we might conclude that he was influenced 
 solely by feelings of humanity. But on referring back to 
 eh. xiv. 12, we learn that his nephew Lot and his family 
 dwelt in Sodom, and thus we see a special reason why 
 
 285 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 Abraham should thus feel so acutely, and mtercede so 
 earnestly for deliverance of that city. 
 
 We may further learn that God has more than one 
 way of answering prayer. 
 
 When we are in difficulty, danger, or trouble, we see 
 a way out of it, and we ask God, very "definitely," to 
 deliver us by that way. 
 
 All the time He has many ways of delivering us, each 
 better than the one tve can see. 
 
 No greater evil could happen to us than for God always 
 to answer our prayer and grant our definite request. 
 
 Here, in this history, Abraham could see only one way 
 of delivering his nephew Lot ; so he prays that God would 
 avert His judgment from Sodom and spare "the city." 
 
 God did not grant his request, but he delivered Lot 
 out of the midst of the overthrow; and thus answered 
 Abraham's prayer, though not in the way Abraham had 
 asked. 
 
 2. In Gen. xxiv. 24 Rebekah is said to be "the daughter 
 of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor." 
 
 From verse 15 we learn that Nahor was Abraham's 
 brother. But there is nothing in all this chapter to 
 explain to us how it was that a grand-daughter of 
 Abraham's brother could be old enough to marry Isaac, 
 Abraham's son ; in other words, how Rebekah of the 
 third generation could marry Isaac who was of the 
 second generation. 
 
 We have to go back to Gen. xviii. 11, 12, quite a remote 
 context, and there we read that Sarah, Abraham's wife, 
 was ^'old and well stricken in years,'' before Isaac was 
 born. 
 
 This quite accounts for what otherwise would be a 
 difficulty. Dr. Blunt refers to such an example as this 
 for quite a different purpose. In his work on Undesigned 
 Coincidences he uses these and similar examples as an 
 argument for the veracity of the Scriptures. 
 
 We refer to the same examples with quite a different 
 object, viz., to show how, in a difficulty which we meet 
 with in a particular passage, we find the solution in a 
 remote Context, and often in a mere passing parenthetical 
 statement. 
 
 286 
 
iii. TRUTH FROM REMOTER CONTEXT : Gen. xxxvii. 
 
 3. Gen. xxxvii. TJie IshnmelUes and Midianites. — In 
 Gen. xxxvii. 25 Joseph's brethren "lifted up tlieir eyes 
 and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmaelites came 
 from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm 
 and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt." 
 
 In verse 28 : " Then there passed by Midianites merchant- 
 men: and they [Joseph's brethren] drew and lifted up 
 Joseph out of the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites 
 for twenty pieces of silver." 
 
 In verse 36: "And the Midianites sold him into Egypt 
 unto Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh's." 
 
 In ch. xxxix. 1 : Potiphar "bought him of the hands of 
 the Ishmaelites which had brought him down thither." 
 
 Grave charges have been brought against the Text on 
 account of these and other so-called "discrepancies" by 
 the "Higher" Critics of the present day. But it will be 
 found that most of these objections are contained in the 
 writings of the French and English Atheists and Deists 
 of the eighteenth century, though the cursory reader 
 may be quite sure that no writer or editor would be so 
 ignorant, or would be so careless, as to make such blunders, 
 if blunders they are. 
 
 Moses and his readers knew the facts so well that there 
 could be no possibility of the record being misunderstood. 
 
 It is rather an evidence of veracity and accuracy that 
 the interchange of names should thus be made, without 
 any attempt to explain it. A later editor would be sure 
 to have noted the phenomenon presented in the Text, and 
 have made some elfort to correct or explain it. 
 
 It is in the remoter Context of Judges viii. 24 that we 
 learn from a parenthetical remark, connected with quite 
 another subject, that the Midianites, whom Gideon had 
 just defeated, "had golden earrings^ because they were 
 Ishmaelites." 
 
 Thus it must have been a well-known fact as shown 
 by this parenthetical remark that all Midianites were 
 Ishmaelites, but all Ishmaelites were not Midianites. 
 
 1 DTT {nezem), a ring, from Dp (ndzam), to bore. Hence, any ring as worn 
 in the ear or the nose. It appears to be a nose-ring in Gen. xxiv. 47. Isa. iii. 21. 
 I'rov. xi. 22. Ezek. xvi. 12 ; and an ear-ring in Gen. xxxv. 4 and Exod. xxxii. 2. 
 In certain pasHagcH it is doubtful where the ring was worn, the part of 
 the body not being named. See Judg. viii. 21, 25. Job xlii. 11. Prov. xxv. 12. 
 IIos. ii. 13. 
 
 287 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 But if we enquire further, and ask how this could be, 
 we have to go to another context altogether, even to two 
 Scriptures earlier than Gen. xxxvii. 
 
 We find our first clue in Gen. xvi. 11, 12, where we learn 
 that ISHMAEL was the son of Abram, by his wife Hagar : 
 while from Gen. xxv. 2 we learn that Midi an and Med an 
 were Abraham's sons by his wife Keturah. So that Ish- 
 mael and Midian were half-brothers, and doubtless shared 
 the same countries and the same life. Hence, in Gen. xxxvii. 
 there was no need to add any explanation of this fact, 
 because it would be a matter of common knowledge. 
 
 But we, approaching Gen. xxxvii. from its own stand- 
 point, are left to discover the fact; and we do so, from 
 the remoter Context of Judges viii. (where a parenthetical 
 remark solves the whole difficulty), and from Gen. xvi. 
 11, 12, and xxv. 2. 
 
 Thus, it is clear, from Gen. xxxvii., that while the 
 caravan at a distance was seen and known to be Ish- 
 maelite, a closer inspection showed that there were 
 Midianite merchantmen travelling with the company, and 
 were known by wearing the same nose- or ear-rings, which 
 we see from Judges viii. were the distinguishing badge 
 of all Ishmaelites. 
 
 We could hardly find an example which more clearly 
 shows the importance of the Canon we are considering, 
 and affords evidence of the exceeding value of carefully 
 studying and marking the Context, however remote it 
 may be, for the purposes of interpretation. 
 
 4. Exod. vi. 16 — 20. Moses's Parents. — Another Illustra- 
 tion is found in the case of the parents of Moses. 
 
 From Exod. vi. 16, 18, 20 we learn that his father Amram 
 was the grandson of Levi, and that he married Jochebed 
 the daughter of Levi. 
 
 This looks as though there must have been a great 
 disparity of age, belonging as they did to different 
 generations. 
 
 But it is not until we look in the book of Numbers that 
 we find there, in the remoter Context, the solution of the 
 difficulty. There we read, in Num. xxvi. 59, that "the 
 name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of 
 Levi, whom her mother hare to Levi in Egypt.'' 
 
 288 
 
iii. TRUTH FROM REMOTER CONTEXT: Num. xvi. 
 
 Thus, Jocliebed of the first generation would be about 
 the same age as Amram of the second. 
 
 Dr. Blunt cites this to show that, as the object of 
 Num. xxvi. 59 was not to explain this matter, we have 
 an undesigned coincidence which establishes the veracity 
 of the Scriptures. We cite it to show the importance of 
 always noting and heeding the context. 
 
 5. Num. xvi. 1. The Sons of Kohath and Reuben.— In 
 Num. xvi. 1 we read of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, 
 and Abiram, the sons of Kohath and Reuben. 
 
 Nothing is said as to why these should have joined 
 together in the conspiracy. But in the remoter context 
 of Num. iii. 29 we find that the touts of Kohath were 
 pitched on the South side of the Tabernacle; and from 
 Num. ii. 10 we find that the camp of Reuben was on the 
 same (South) side also. 
 
 These statements are not made to explain how it was 
 that Koliathites and Reubenites conspired together; but 
 so it was, and so the difficulty is explained. 
 
 6. Num. xvi. 27. The Sons of Korah. — Again, from this 
 chapter, Num. xvi., it reads as though all shared the same 
 judgment. 
 
 But, in the nearer context we find the " sons " of Dathan 
 and Abiram mentioned in verse 27. Korah himself and 
 his "men" who conspired with him and his goods are 
 mentioned also ; but no mention is made of Korah's sons. 
 
 Then, in the remoter context, ten chapters later, we 
 read in ch. xxvi. 11, "notwithstanding the sons of Korah 
 died not." 
 
 Doubtless, therefore, they obeyed the call of Moses and 
 Aaron (ch. xvi. 24) and "gat up" out of the Tabernacle 
 which these rebels had set up; and so were delivered. 
 
 These "sons of Korah," thus rescued as brands from 
 the burning, monuments of the grace of God, were in 
 later days conspicuous in the prominence given to them 
 and their descendants in the worship of the Temple, the 
 "true Tabernacle" under David and Hezekiah. 
 
 7. Josh. iii. 15. Jordan overfloiving in time of harvest. 
 —In Josh. iii. 14—17 we have the crossing of the Jordan 
 
 289 T 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 described, and the parenthetical remark that it was in 
 "the time of harvest" (v. 15). 
 
 In Josh. iv. 19 we read that it was also on "the tenth 
 day of the first month." This was the season of the Pass- 
 over, and of harley harvest, seven weeks before the Feast 
 of Weeks, when the wheat harvest was celebrated (Exod. 
 xxiii. 14. Lev. xxiii. 15). 
 
 But, according to Exod. ix. 31, this was also the time 
 of the flax harvest. 
 
 How wonderful, then, and how simple is the truth of 
 the narrative in Josh. ii. 6, where we are told that Rahab 
 hid Joshua's two spies beneath ^'the stalks of flax." 
 
 8. 1 Sam. xiii. 19. No smith found in Israel. — A brief 
 statement in 1 Sam. xiii. 19 explains many circumstances 
 when read in the light of remoter contexts. There we 
 read there was no smith found throughout all the land 
 of Israel,'' and the reason is given as the result of the 
 rigorous law of the Philistines, who oppressed Israel at 
 that time, and held them in subjection. 
 
 This explains how it was that Ehud "made him a 
 dagger which had two edges " ; and made it himself 
 (Judg. iii. 16). 
 
 Sham gar had to use an ox-goad in his attack on the 
 Philistines (Judg. iii. 31). 
 
 Samson "had nothing in his hand," no weapon, when 
 he slew the lion (Judg. xiv. 5, 6). 
 
 There was not "a shield or spear seen among forty 
 thousand in Israel " (Judg. v. 8). 
 
 In the days of Israel's liberty we read of men that 
 "drew the sword ; " but in the days of their oppression we 
 read of the sling and the stone (Judg. xx. 2, 15, 1 Sam. 
 xvii. 40) and other ignoble weapons. 
 
 Dr. Blunt cites all these as arguments for the veracity 
 of Scripture. 
 
 We use them for another purpose; to show the necessity 
 of having due regard to the remoter contexts of the Word 
 of God in order to understand parenthetical remarks which 
 are made, and left, without any explanation being given 
 in the immediate context. 
 
 9. 1 Sam. xvii. 4. ''Goliath of Gath.''—ln 1 Sam. xvii. 4 
 and 2 Sara. xxi. 18—22 "Gath" is spoken of and emphasized 
 
 290 
 
iii. TRUTH FROM REMOTER CONTEXT: 1 Kings xvii. 9 
 
 as the city of Goliath, and of his brother and sons. It 
 is mentioned incidentally, as needing no explanation. 
 
 But the explanation is found in the remoter context 
 of Josh. xi. 21, 22, where we read of the utter destruction 
 of the Anakim (or giants); and it is added that "there 
 was none of the Anakim left in the land of Israel: only 
 in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod there remained." 
 
 10. 1 Kings xvii. 9. "J. little oil m a cruse.'" — In 1 Kings 
 xvii. 9 Elijah is commanded to get him to Zarephath 
 tvhich belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there ; where a widow 
 woman was to sustain him. 
 
 He goes to Zarephath and meets the widow, who says : 
 "As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an 
 handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse." 
 
 This Zarephath (in the New Testament called Sarepta) 
 belonged to Zidon. 
 
 Now, from the remoter context (Josh. xix. 24—28), we 
 find that the district of Zidon fell to the lot of Asher ; 
 and if we turn to another context, still more remote 
 (Deut. xxxiii. 24), we learn that in the blessing of the 
 Tribes by Moses it is written: "And of Asher he said: 
 
 Let Asher be blessed Avith children. 
 Let him be acceptable to his brethren. 
 And let him dip his foot in oil." 
 
 If this last sentence means anything, it denotes an 
 abundance of olive trees and of oil, as the special char- 
 acteristic of Asher's blessing. 
 
 This is just what we find in 1 Kings xvii. 9, where after 
 three years and a half of drought there is still a little 
 oil left ; and that in the store of a widow who was prob- 
 ably only a small proprietor. 
 
 11. 2 Chron. xvii. 1. ^' Jehoshaphat strengthened him- 
 self against Israel." — The histories of Jehoshapliat king of 
 Judah, and of Jehoram his son, furnish us with several 
 illustrations. 
 
 There is first the nearer context, 2 Chron. xvii. 1, "And 
 Jeh<^)shaijhat strengthened himself against Israel." 
 
 IThis is meant to exhibit the enormity of his sin Avhen, 
 ii? vch. xyiii^ >1, he married his son Jehoram to Atlinliali, 
 
 291 T 2 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 the daughter of Jezebel ; who afterwards did for Judah 
 what Jezebel had done for Israel.^ 
 
 12. 2 Chron. xxii. 11, 12. Joash, Jehosheba and nurse 
 hidden six years m the Temple, — The history of Jehoram 
 goes on to tell us how he slew all his brethren (ch. xxi. 4) ; 
 liow the Arabians came and destroyed all his children, 
 and left him "never a son, save Jehoahaz (or Ahaziah) 
 the youngest of his sons " (ch. xxi. 17). 
 
 Then we are told that, when this Ahaziah died, his 
 mother Athaliah "arose and destroyed all the seed royal 
 of the house of Judah " (ch. xxii. 10). 
 
 We are told also how the infant Joash was rescued by 
 Jehosheba, the wife of Jehoiada, the High Priest (ch. xxii. 
 11, 12) ; and how she and the nurse and the child were hid 
 in the house of God for six years. 
 
 We marvel how such a thing could be ; for, for aught 
 that is said there, the worship of the Temple was still 
 going on, and the difficulty of hiding these three for so 
 long a time looks as though the thing were impossible. 
 
 If we had no regard to the remoter context we should 
 see here an insuperable difficulty ; but when we read the 
 whole context we find that, like most of our other diffi- 
 culties, they are made by ourselves ! 
 
 It is not until we reach chapter xxiv. that we learn 
 what had previously taken place. 
 
 Not until those six years had run their course, and 
 Athaliah was slain, and Joash sat upon the throne of 
 Judah, not until then does it come out (and even then, 
 not at all for the purpose of solving our difficulty or re- 
 moving our perplexity) that in the previous reign the 
 house of God had been broken up, and all the vessels 
 removed to the temple of Baal which had been estab- 
 lished in Judah (ch. xxiv. 7). 
 
 Not until Joash begins to reign are we told this, and 
 even then it is only to explain why Joash set himself to 
 repair it by preparing timber and stones and masons and 
 carpenters for the work (ch. xxiv. 12 — 14), and not to 
 explain why Jehosheba, Joash, and his nurse found the 
 house of the Lord such a safe hiding-place. These large 
 
 1 See a pamphlet on Jehosaphat : a Lesson for our Times, by the same 
 author and publisher. 
 
 292 
 
iii. TRUTH FROM REMOTER CONTEXT: 2 Ch. xxi. 16 
 
 preparations made by Joash for the repairs show the 
 extent of the breaches which had been made; and tell 
 us how that ruined and deserted Temple was the safest 
 place in the tchole kingdom. 
 
 13. 2 Chron. xxi. 10. The revolt of Lihnah. — Another 
 circumstance, mentioned quite parenthetically in 2 Chron. 
 xxi. 10, and without any apparent object, throws a flood 
 of light on the whole history when we compare it with 
 its remoter context in the book of Joshua. 
 
 The revolt of Edom from under the hand of Jehoram 
 king of Judah (2 Chron. xxi. 8 — 10) is not recorded as 
 fulfilling prophecy ; but it did, as we shall see if we look 
 at the still more remote context of Cen. xxvii. 40. 
 
 The parenthetical remark in 2 Chron. xxi. 10 merely 
 states the fact that at "the same time also did Libnah 
 rev^olt from under his (Jehoram's) hand; because he had 
 forsaken the Lord God of his fathers." 
 
 What is this remark thrown in here for? To tell us 
 to look and see where and what Libnah was. We have 
 to go back as far as Josh. xxi. 13, and there we find that 
 Libnah was one of the cities of the Priests. 
 
 This tells us that when Jehoram and Athaliah broke 
 up the Temple of God, and set up the house of Baal, 
 the priests held aloof, and must have conspired to restore 
 Joash to the throne as soon as the convenient time should 
 come. 
 
 This explains why Jehoiada the High Priest had the 
 chief part in the restoration of Joash and the execution 
 of Athaliah, and the slaying of Mattan her priest of Baal 
 (2 Chron. xxiii. 14—16). 
 
 This is why the priests took such a prominent part in 
 collecting the money to repair and restore the House of 
 the Lord (ch. xxiv. 4—11). 
 
 So that these references to the remoter context reveal 
 all these truths, explain these difficulties, and throw a 
 flood of light on the whole history. 
 
 14. 2 Kings xviii. 13, 14. The depletion of Ilczclciah's 
 Treasury.— \\\ the history of Hezekiah we read (2 Kings 
 xviii. 13—16) that his treasury had been depleted by the 
 demands of the king of Assyria; for he had not only 
 
 293 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 given him what was in his own house, but he was reduced 
 to the necessity of stripping the gold from the doors of the 
 Temple. 
 
 Yet in Isa. xxxix. 2 we find Hezekiah showing the 
 emissaries of Babylon all "the house of his precious 
 things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices," etc. 
 
 No attempt is made to explain how this could be after 
 so short an interval; and that interval covered by his 
 sickness, and the siege of Jerusalem. 
 
 But there is one short passage, 2 Chron. xxxii. 22, 23, 
 introduced there quite independently of all else : 
 
 "Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants 
 of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of 
 Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them 
 on every side. And many brought gifts unto the Lord to 
 Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so 
 that he was magnified in the sight of all the nations from 
 henceforth" 
 
 In addition to these presents there must have been 
 vast spoils after Sennacherib's army had been destroyed, 
 if we may judge from another remote context, in 2 Kings 
 vii. 15, where, when the Syrians fled, "all the way was 
 full of garments and vessels which the Syrians had cast 
 aAvay in their haste." 
 
 15. Isa. Ixii. 4, 5. Thy land shall be called Hephzibah. — 
 In Isa. Ixii. 2 we are told that in the day of Israel's future 
 and coming glory both People and Land will be called by 
 "a new name which the mouth of Jehovah shall name." 
 
 In verses 4, 5 we read of the giving of this new name : 
 
 "Thou shalt no more be termed 'Forsaken'; neither 
 shall thy land any more be termed ' Desolate ' : 
 • But thou shalt be called 'Hephzi-bah' (i.e., my delight 
 is in her) 
 
 And thy land ' Beidah' (i.e., married). 
 For Jehovah delighteth in thee. 
 
 And thy land shall be married. 
 For as a young man marrieth (i.e., possesscth) a 
 
 virgin, so shall thy sons marry (i.e., possess) thee : 
 And as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so 
 
 shall thy God rejoice over thee." 
 
 294 
 
iii. TRUTH FROM REMOTER CONTEXT : Mark xiv. 51, 52 
 
 Now, when we remember that Isaiah prophesied in the 
 days of Hezekiah, we may well conclude that this pro- 
 phecy synchronized with the marriage of Hezekiah with 
 his wife Hephzibah (2 Kings xxi. 1). 
 
 As to when this took place we have no record ; but 
 we do know that at the time he was stricken unto death 
 (in the fourteenth year of his reign) he had no son ; 
 nor was Manasseh born until three of those miraculously 
 added fifteen years had run their course. 
 
 The marriage of Hezekiah therefore occupies an im- 
 portant, not to say a solemn, place in his history; and 
 might well be thus used in connection with another solemn 
 crisis in the miraculous future history of Israel. 
 
 16. Jer. xiii. 18. ''Say . . . unto the Queen."— In Jer. 
 xiii. 18 we read " Say unto the king and unto the Queen, 
 Humble yourselves, sit down ; for your principalities shall 
 come down, even the crown of your glory." 
 
 There is nothing in the prophecy to enable us to iden- 
 tify either the king or the queen. But in the remoter 
 context of 2 Kings xxiv. we find that in the second of 
 three invasions of Nebuchadnezzar, "Jehoiachin the king 
 of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his 
 mother, and his servants, and his princes and his officers ; 
 and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of 
 his reign " (v. 12) ; and in verse 15 we read : 
 
 "And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the 
 king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and 
 the mighty of the land, those carried he into capti\ ity 
 from Jerusalem to Babylon." 
 
 Dr. Blunt suggests that as Jehoiachin was only eighteen 
 and had reigned only three months (v. 8), the queen 
 dowager held a jjosition of some influence, which is 
 sufficient to explain the reference of Jehovah to her by 
 Jeremiah. 
 
 17. Mark xiv. 51, 52. The young man who Jled from 
 Gethsemane. — In Mark xiv. 51, 52, we read of the yoiuig 
 man who followed Christ, and when they attempted to 
 take him prisoner "he left the linen cloth and fled from 
 them naked." 
 
 295 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 There is no indication here as to the identity of this 
 young man. 
 
 But from the remoter contexts we learn . 
 
 (1) That the Lord was sleeping out at Bethany, each 
 night during that last week (Luke xxi. 37 ; xxii. 39. Com- 
 pare Matt. xxvi. 6). He would be staying there with 
 Lazarus and Martha and Mary. 
 
 (2) On this night they would be watching for the Lord's 
 return. And seeing the lights in the garden below the 
 mount, what more natural than that Lazarus should go 
 down to see what the tumult was about. 
 
 (3) We know from John xii. 10 that "the chief priests 
 consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death." 
 We read of no one else whom they wished to take, or to 
 kill. All His disciples seem to have been quite safe. The 
 reason for the decision to put Lazarus to death is given 
 in John xii. 9 — 11. 
 
 (4) The linen cloth betokens considerable wealth. This 
 the family possessed, judging from Matt. xxvi. 7, the pur- 
 chase of the very precious ointment which excited the 
 cupidity of Judas. 
 
 This garment must have been put on hastily and 
 loosely, for it was left in the enemies' hands uncere- 
 moniously. 
 
 All these different contexts unite in helping us to 
 identify this young man with Lazarus whom the Lord 
 had raised from the dead. 
 
 18. John xxi. 15. Lovest thou me more than these 
 In John xxi. 15 there is nothing to show us whom or 
 what the Lord referred to by the pronoun "these": 
 "Lovest thou me more than these?" 
 
 But in the remoter context of Matt. xxvi. 31, 33 and Mark 
 xiv. 27, 29, we have the words of Peter, to which the Lord, 
 doubtless, referred: ''All ye shall be offended because of 
 me this night . . . Peter answered and said unto him. 
 Though all shall be offended because of thee, yet will I 
 never {i.e., in no wise) be offended." 
 
 From this it is clear that the pronoun "these" refers 
 to Peter's fellow disciples ; and the ellipsis must be sup- 
 
 296 
 
iii. TRUTH FROM REMOTER CONTEXT : Acts ii. 16 
 
 plied, not "Lovest thou me more than [thou lovest] these"; 
 but, Lovest thou me more than these [love me]. 
 
 19. Acts ii. 16. " This is that:'— Acts ii. 16—21 is an 
 illustration which affects the remoter context as well as 
 the nearer, because it is a quotation from Joel ii. 28—32.^ 
 This fact makes all the difference. 
 
 "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" 
 (Acts ii. 16). There is nothing in these words to tell us 
 what is "this "and what is "that." The word "this" is 
 emphatic; and the word "but," with which the new argu- 
 ment begins, sets what follows in contrast, not in corre- 
 spondence. It does not begin with the word "For," but 
 with the word "But." This points to the fact that the 
 quotation is intended to show that their enemies' charge 
 (that they were drunk) would not stand. So far from 
 such signs and wonders proving they were drunk, Peter 
 asks, What about the prophecy of Joel ? He prophesied 
 of similar scenes " in the last days." 
 
 Peter does not say that these were the last days, but : — 
 "this is what Joel says" of those days. Will those scenes 
 (he argues) lie open to the same charge of drunkenness ? 
 Certainly not ! Then, how can these men be charged with 
 drunkenness now, especially "seeing it is but the third 
 hour of the day." 
 
 Peter is not expounding Joel. Nor is he saying that 
 that prophecy was then fulfilled. He does not say "then 
 was fulfilled"; or, "as it is written." He merely calls 
 attention to what Joel said of a similar scene, which is to 
 be fulfilled "in the last days." 
 
 That this is so is clear the moment we turn to the 
 prophet Joel, and read what Jehovah there speaks by 
 him. 
 
 To understand Joel's prophecy it is absolutely necessary 
 for us to see exactly what is the subject of it. What Dis- 
 pensation is he speaking about? Is it about the Christian 
 Dispensation, or is it the Dispensation of Judgment which 
 shall follow it? Is it all about the Jew? or about the 
 Gentile? or, is it about the Church of God? 
 
 1 Hebrew Text, iii. 1—5. 
 297 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 The Structure will give us the Scope. It is exceedingly 
 siiuple : — 
 
 The Prophecy of Joel, as a ivhole, 
 
 A I i. 1—3. The Call to hear. 
 
 B j i. 4 — 12. The evil which had come upon the Land 
 I and the People. 
 
 A I i. 18— ii. 17. The Call to Repentance. 
 
 B I ii. 18— iii. 21. The evil removed from the Land and 
 I the People 
 
 We see, from this, what the prophecy of Joel is all 
 about. It describes the fulfilment of the last clause of 
 "the Song of Moses" in Deut. xxxii.,' which finishes up 
 with the solemn but gracious assurance in v. 43 : 
 
 "Rejoice, O ye nations, with His People: 
 
 For He will avenge the blood of His servants, 
 And will render veiigeance to His adversaries, 
 And will be merciful unto His Land and to His 
 People.'' 
 
 So the member B (Joel ii. 18) begins — 
 
 "Then will Jehovah be jealous for His Land; 
 And pity His People'' 
 
 "THIS," therefore, is "THAT." This is the scope, 
 or the subject-matter, or context of Acts ii. 16. It con- 
 cerns Jehovah's "Land" and Jehovah's "People," and not 
 "the Church of God." Peter addresses these "people": 
 he says, "Ye men of Judea" {v. 14), "Ye men of Israel" 
 {v. 22). He calls "the house of Israel" {v. 36) to this very 
 repentance to which. Zoq\ calls in view of "the last days." 
 For national repentance is ever declared to be the condi- 
 tion of national blessing. 
 
 But the key to the correct understanding of Peter's 
 quotation lies in the word "afterward" of Joel ii. 28. 
 After what ? No one can tell us but Joel. We ourselves 
 cannot tell apart from his prophecy. 
 
 We see that ch. ii. 28 is part of the member we have 
 marked B (ch. ii. 18 — iii. 21), the subject of which is the 
 
 1 For the structure of "the Song of Moses" see our work on The Apo- 
 calypse, p. 470. Or Things to Come, Vol. X., p. 55. 
 
 298 
 
TRUTH PROM REMOTER CONTEXT : Acts ii. 16 
 
 evil (of B, ch. i. 4 — 12) removed from the Land and, (he 
 People. 
 
 The removal of this evil is elaborately set forth and 
 described. The member B is no mere conglomeration or 
 jumble of words and phrases. It has its own Structure 
 as f olloAVs : — 
 
 Expansion of B. (Joel ii. 18 — iii. 21.) 
 
 B a^ I ii. 18, 19. Blessings bestowed. (Temporal.) 
 
 I b^ I ii. 20. Evil removed. (Judgment prophesied.) 
 
 I a- 1 ii. 21 — 29. Blessing bestowed. (Temporal and 
 
 I I Spiritual.) 
 
 ! b- 1 ii. 30, 31. Evil removed. (Accompanying Judg- 
 
 ! I ment signs.) 
 
 a^ i ii. 32. Blessing bestowed. (Spiritual.) 
 
 b^ I iii. 1 — 16-. Evil removed. (Fulfilment.)^ 
 
 a^ iii. -16 — 18. Blessings bestowed. (Spiritual and 
 Temporal.) 
 
 b'' I iii. 19. Evil removed. (Judgment executed.) 
 I iii. 20, 21. Blessing bestowed. (Spiritual.) 
 
 These ''Blessings bestowed'' must be read on from one 
 to the other; and the "Evil removed" must, in like 
 manner, be connected; the members relating to the 
 ''Evil removed'' being treated as parenthetical to the 
 members which treat of "Blessing bestoived," and the 
 "Blessing bestoived" members being treated as parentho- 
 iical to the "Evil removed" members. 
 
 From the above Structure we see that ch. ii. 28 is 
 contained in the member marked "a'^," and is not a 
 separate member to be treated parenthetically; but it 
 
 I The expansion of "b^ (iii. 1— IG) is just as perfect and beautiful; 
 
 b3 
 
 d^ I iii. 1, 2- Assemblage. 
 I el I 2—6. Judgment. 
 I fM 7, 8. Tlircatcning. 
 
 c2 d'-^ I 9— 12 . AsHcinblage. 
 
 j c2 I -12. Jud.,nnent. 
 . ! f!i| 13. Execution. 
 
 ^3 I U . Assemblage. 
 1 I -14. Judgment. 
 
 I f3 . 15, 1(J. Threatening. 
 
 299 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 connects the Spiritual blessing tvith the temporal, and 
 shows that it follows on from it. 
 
 This Spiritual blessing is introduced by the words : 
 
 "And it shall come to pass AFTERWARD that 1 
 will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh {v. 28). 
 
 After what? 
 
 After the Temporal blessings of 
 The former and latter rain {v. 23). 
 The fulness of the threshing floors and of the wine 
 
 and oil-presses (v. 24). 
 The plenty ^ and satisfaction (v. 26). 
 The entire and perpetual removal of shame (vv. 20, 
 
 27). 
 
 I When Jehovah shall be "in the midst of Israel" 
 iv. 27). 
 
 It is "afterward"; after all these temporal blessings, 
 that these Spiritual blessings shall be bestowed. 
 
 This is "afterward"; tuhen the Spirit shall be poured 
 out "upon all flesh." 
 
 The most cursory reader must see and know that the 
 Spirit was NOT poured out upon all flesh in Acts ii., but 
 only on those then present : that none of these won- 
 drous and great signs had been shown : that deliverance 
 was not manifested in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem ; for 
 the Land and the People were still in the power of the 
 Romans. 
 
 This word " AFTERWARD " thus shows that the pro- 
 phecy of Joel in Acts ii. is not quoted in order to prove 
 that this Pentecostal scene was the fulfilment of it; but 
 in order to show that, as that future scene could not 
 be ascribed to drunkenness, so neither could this Pente- 
 costal scene be so ascribed. 
 
 At least, a child could see that Acts ii. is not the ful- 
 filment of Joel ii. ; but it is hopeless for those to see it 
 whose eyes are blinded by believing the tradition of 
 those who persist in saying that "the Church was formed 
 at Pentecost." 
 
 1 Heb., "Eat to eat and be satisfied." The infinitive of the verb following 
 its own finite, i.e., cat and eat is most expressive and emphatic 
 
 300 
 
TRUTH FROM REMOTER CONTEXT: Acts ii. 16 
 
 They not only say this with great assurance ; but they 
 lay it down as an article of faith ; and are ready to ex- 
 communicate any who do not believe it. 
 
 But this is only the Tradition of the Brethren; not 
 even the Tradition of the Fathers though it just as 
 surely makes void the Word of God. 
 
 There can be no mistake about Joel's word "after- 
 ward." The Holy Spirit by Peter interprets it as of "the 
 last days." The Hebrew is not the simple *^'r\^{'dcha7^), 
 after (Gen. v. 4),^ but it is this, compounded with |5 (ken), 
 10, or thus (Gen. i. 7), referring always to what follows. 
 It is Cacharey-ken), after that (Gen. vi. 4; vii. 14; 
 
 xxiii. 19; xli. 30. 1 Sam. ix. 13, etc., etc.). 
 
 It is thus perfectly certain that the word "this" in 
 Acts ii. 16 refers to what follows, and not to what precedes ' 
 to the yet future events prophesied by Joel, and not to 
 the events then taking place at Jerusalem. 
 
 The word "this" is an emphatic pronoun. But there 
 is no similarly emphatic pronoun for the word "that." It 
 is simply the article with the perfect passive participle : — 
 "This (that follows) is what has been said by the prophet 
 Joel." Not "this" (which has happened); for, in that 
 case, what could be the "this"? This apparent drunken- 
 ness? There was no "this," preceding. It would be these 
 events ; these phenomena ; these Pentecostal scenes. But 
 it is Singular, "this," agreeing with the Scripture about 
 to be quoted from Joel. 
 
 The word ''this'' could not, and cannot, refer to these 
 Pentecostal scenes ; for no gift of tongues was spoken of 
 by Joel. 
 
 It could not refer to the pouring-out foretold by Joel, 
 because here, this pouring-out was only on the Apostles ; 
 whereas Joel speaks of it being poured upon "all flesh." 
 There is not a word said in Acts ii. about any of their 
 "sons and daughters" prophesying; or of their "old 
 men" dreaming dreams; or of their "young men "seeing 
 visions; or of their "servants and handmaids" receiving 
 spiritual gifts. 
 
 In fact there is in Acts ii. no fulfilment at all of Joel's 
 prophecy, either implied or expressed. 
 
 1 In theHe and all similar references to the meaning of a word in the Original 
 we give the First Occurrence of it. Sec Canon V., Part II. 
 
 301 
 
IV. CONTEXT ALWAYS ESSENTIAL 
 
 There is nothing beyond the argument that the charge 
 of drunkenness could no more be brought against these 
 present Pentecostal scenes than against those yet future 
 scenes connected with the blessings to be bestowed upon 
 Israel, prophesied of by Joel, as what should take place 
 "afterward": i.e., after all those temporal blessings have 
 been bestoAved on Israel's Land and on Israel's People. 
 
 20. 1 Cor. xi. 10. ''Power on her head.'' — "For this 
 cause ought the woman to have power (see margin) on 
 her head because of the angels." 
 
 "Power" is put by Metonymy for the vail which Avas 
 the symbol of being under her husband's poAver. 
 
 For this we have to go to the very remote context of 
 Gen. vi. 1, 4, where we learn by comparing 2 Pet. ii. 4 and 
 Jude 6 the reason for this injunction. (See Canon I., 
 pp. 192, 193 above, and notes on "angel" and "spirit," 
 pp. 191, 219.) 
 
 21. Gal. iii. 15 — 17. The four hundred, and the four 
 hundred and thirty years. — The subject of these verses 
 is the "promise" or unconditional Covenant which God 
 made with Abraham. 
 
 This Avas four hundred and thirty years before the 
 giving of the Law (Exod. xii. 40). 
 
 When the four hundred years are mentioned they are 
 reckoned from Abraham's "seed," which Avas Isaac, who 
 was not born till thirty years later (Gen. xv. 13 and 
 Acts vii. 6). 
 
 22. Gal. iii. 20. ''God is one." — "Now a mediator is not 
 a mediator of one, but God is one." 
 
 Verse 19, compared with the remoter contexts of Acts 
 vii. 53. Deut. xxxiii. 2. Ps. Ixviii. 17. Heb. ii. 2, sIioaa^s that 
 the Law was given by a mediator. 
 
 Now where there is a mediator there must be tAvo 
 parties to a covenant. 
 
 But in Gen. xv. there was only one party ; and that Avas 
 God. When Abraham Avas about to take part in making the 
 Covenant according to the custom ( Jer. xxxiv. 18, 19), God 
 put him to sleep (Gen. xv. 12), and passed between the 
 pieces Himself, alone {v. 17). He was "one;" one party, 
 
 1 See above, under Parentheses, p. 58. 
 
 302 
 
TRUTH FROM REMOTER CONTEXT: Heb. xii. 17 
 
 alone in the "promise." That Covenant is not only prior 
 to the Law as to time, but was superior to it because it 
 was unconditional. 
 
 23. Heb. xii. 17. " No place of repentance.'' — " For ye 
 know how, afterward, when he would have inherited 
 the blessing, he was rejected : for he found no way to 
 change his [father's] mind (see margin) though he sought 
 it carefully with tears." 
 
 To Avhat does the pronoun "it" refer? What was "it" 
 that Esau sought so carefully ? 
 
 The context (and especially the remoter context of 
 Gen. xxvii. 34, 36, 38) clearly shoAVs that it was the " bless- 
 ing " which he sought. 
 
 303 
 
V. THE FIRST OCCURRENCE OF WORDS, EXPRES- 
 SIONS, AND UTTERANCES ARE GENERALLY 
 ESSENTIAL TO THEIR INTERPRETATION. 
 
 This is a law we have long since noticed, and have never 
 yet found it to fail. The first occurrence of a Word, or 
 an Expression, or an Utterance is the key to its subsequent 
 usage and meaning ; or at least a guide as to the essential 
 point connected with it. 
 
 We propose to consider this Law as illustrated in 
 these three classes : — 
 
 i. Words. 
 
 ii. Expressions. 
 
 iii. Utterances. 
 
 i. Words. 
 
 1. Prophet. — The first occurrence of the word Prophet 
 is in Gen. xx. 7, and is used by God to Abimelech king of 
 Gerar, of Abraham — 
 
 "Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is 
 a prophet and he shall pray for thee." 
 
 This first occurrence of the word shows that it is used 
 in a very different sense from that in which we use it 
 to-day. 
 
 Of course, even apart from this, our present usage is 
 of no account in determining the Biblical usage. 
 
 We use it of one whose sole mission is to foretell future 
 events. 
 
 But, here, it is used in connection with Abraham, who 
 foretold nothing; and of whose prophecies, as such, we 
 have neither mention, allusion, or record. 
 
 The only thing associated with the prophet, in Abra- 
 ham, here, is prayer! 
 
 This first occurrence, therefore, speaks to us if we have 
 ears to hear ; and, being so contrary to our current usage, 
 tells us to search further and see what it teaches us in 
 connection with its other occurrences. 
 
 We soon learn from Exod. vii. 1 that the same God 
 calls Aaron, Moses's "prophet." This takes us a step 
 
 30i 
 
i. AS TO WORDS: "PROPHET' 
 
 further ; and leads to another question : How could one 
 man be another man's "prophet"? The answer is found 
 in Exod. iv. 16, where God, referring to the same matter, 
 says of Aaron, to Moses, "He shall be thy spokesman." 
 
 Here, then, we learn that the essential interpretation 
 of the word " prophet" is spokesman. So that the prophet 
 was one who spoke FOR God, whether by way of Exhor- 
 tation, Instruction, Reproof, Warning, Correction, Repro- 
 bation, or Judgment. Foretelling was only a very small 
 part of his duties. 
 
 There was "no prophet greater than John the Baptist" 
 (Matt. xi. 9—11). He prophesied that Christ should baptize 
 with pneuma hagion, but where are his prophecies, as we 
 understand the word, to-day ? Not one is recorded. But he 
 was God's spokesman, prepared, equipped, and sent forth by 
 God to prepare the way of the Messiah (Luke i. 13—17, 76 — 79). 
 
 The prophet, therefore, was essentially God's spokes- 
 man ; and his sole mission was to speak only those words 
 which were given him to speak. 
 
 In this sense Moses was the great prophet typical of 
 the Lord Jesus. Seven times in the closing words of 
 Exodus we find the refrain associating Moses's words and 
 deeds with his obedience, "as the Lord commanded Moses" 
 (Exod. xl. 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 32). 
 
 Even so the Lord Jesus was "the prophet like unto 
 Moses." Why? Not because of His foretelling future 
 events, but because "He whom God sent speaketh the 
 words of God" (John iii. 34. Compare John iii. 32; vii. 
 16, 26, 28; xv. 15, etc.). 
 
 For the same reason "prophets" were bestowed upon 
 the Church at the beginning (Eph. iv. 11); ''for (tt^oc, 
 pros) the perfecting of the Saints tvith a vieiv to (eiy, eis) 
 the work of the ministry for (€lg, eis) the building up of 
 the body of Christ." (See above, pages 53, 54.) This was 
 the special object of the New Testament prophetic minis- 
 try (compare Eph. ii. 20. Rom. xvi. 26, "prophetic writings," 
 2 Pet. i. 19, " the prophetic ' word "). 
 
 The work of these prophets was specially connected 
 with the making known the "Mystery" or the great 
 secret, which had been "hid in God." (See above, p. 257.) 
 
 In both these passages the Greek has the adjective, not the noun. 
 
 305 U 
 
V. FIRST OCCURRENCES IMPORTANT 
 
 It is a great mistake to suppose that Eph. ii. 20 refers 
 to the Old Testament Prophets; and that the Church is 
 built upon them ! There is abundant evidence as to the 
 New Testament order of Prophets ; and that they were 
 charged with quite a different mission, though they were 
 God's spokesmen : Barnabas (Acts iv. 36), Stephen (Acts vi. 
 10, 15), Agabus (Acts xi. 28; xxi. 10), Silvanus, Silas, and 
 Judas (Acts XV. 32), Manaen and Lucius of Cyrene (Acts 
 xiii. 1), Timothy (1 Tim. vi. 11 ; 2 Tim. iii. 17), the daughters 
 of Philip (Acts xxi. 9), and others, unnamed (Acts viii. 17; 
 X. 44—46 ; xix. 6). 
 
 The Exhortations addressed to and connected with 
 the prophets are also special. " Despise not prophesyings " 
 shows that the word "spirit" in the preceding clause 
 refers to the spiritual gift of prophesying (1 Thess. v. 20); 
 and "Quench not the spirit" means, Do not stifle or 
 suppress such spiritual gifts in others. 
 
 Examples of this prophetic power in action and teach- 
 ing, etc., are seen in Acts v. 4 ; xiii. 2 ; xxi. 1—14. 1 Cor. xiv. 
 24, 25. 1 Tim. i. 18 ; iv. 1. 
 
 Thus, the first occurrence of the word "prophet" leads 
 us into all this line of teaching, and shows us that the 
 Preposition tt^o (pro), before, is not used with regard to 
 U7ne, but to manner; not to speaking beforehand, or 
 telling-before, but telling forth. 
 
 Moreover, we may note there was no place for the 
 ministry of prophets till the priests had failed in their 
 mission, Avhich was to teach the Word of God. When 
 the priests became absorbed in their ritual, then God 
 raised up prophets as His spokesmen. Hence a prophet 
 v/as known as a "Man of God" (see page 314 below). 
 
 2. " Hallelujah^ — This Hebrew Avord occurs twenty- 
 eight times, and is eleven times transliterated " Halle- 
 lujah," or, according to the Greek spelling in the New 
 Testament, "Alleluia"; and is nineteen times translated, 
 "Praise ye the Lord." 
 
 But our question now is to ask. Where is the first 
 occurrence of this word ? and by it to discover not merely 
 tlie meaning of the word, but its significance and inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 306 
 
i. AS TO WORDS: "HAL ELUJ VH" 
 
 It is found first at the end of Ps. civ. ; and, its position 
 there leaves us in no doubt as to its true interpretation. 
 It is associated with praise for deliverance from, and for 
 the destruction of, enemies — 
 
 "Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, 
 And let the wicked be no more. 
 Bless Jehovah, O my soul, 
 Hallelujah" (Ps. civ. 35). 
 
 Its first occurrence in the New Testament is in precisely 
 the same connection (Rev. xix. 1, 3) : — 
 
 "HALLELUJAH, 
 Salvation, and glory and honour, and power 
 Unto the Lord our God. 
 
 For true and righteous are His judgments : 
 For He hath judged the great whore which did cor- 
 rupt the earth with her fornication. 
 And hath avenged the blood of His servants at her 
 hand. 
 
 And again they said HALLELUJAH."^ 
 
 The word is thus associated with the thought of judg- 
 ment : not necessarily every time ; for praise must be 
 rendered for many things : but this is its first great theme. 
 
 This thought will not be repugnant to those who 
 "rightly divide the Word of truth," and understand 
 such "praise." Though it is out of harmony in this Dis- 
 pensation of grace, it is quite in keeping with the past 
 Dispensation of works and the coming Dispensation of 
 Judgment. (See pages 110, 111.) 
 
 3. Selah." — The first occurrence of this word furnishes 
 us with the key to its meaning. 
 
 All explanations of it which have been given, and have 
 been derived from sources outside the Word of God, are 
 worthless. They are only what men have thought; and 
 have never risen above musical notation. 
 
 No meaning has hitherto been suggested that is 
 worthy of the dignity of the Inspired Word; or that is 
 connected with the truth, teaching, or subject-matter 
 of the Scriptures. 
 
 ^ This is the Figure Epanadiplosis. See Figures of Speech, page 215. 
 
 307 U 2 
 
V. FIRST OCCURRENCES IMPORTANT 
 
 Some have said that it always marks the end of a 
 Strophe ; others that it marks the begimiing. Both are 
 wrong, being only a part of the truth ; and, as is so 
 often the case in other departments of Bible study, when 
 a part is put for the whole the result is error instead 
 of truth. 
 
 The word Selah may be derived from one of two roots : 
 either from (sdldh), to pause, and, though this may well 
 apply to the pausing of the heart and mind to dwell on the 
 words of God, yet man seems unable to rise above the 
 thought of the musical instruments pausing, while the 
 voices go on. On the other hand, some derive it from 
 (salal), to lift up; but they limit this to lifting up 
 the voices in song, and do not rise to the lifting up of 
 the heart. 
 
 The word Selah occurs seventy-four times in the Old 
 Testament : seventy-one times in the Book of Psalms and 
 three times in the Prophecy of Habakkuk. 
 
 Of these it occurs several times in the middle of a 
 verse ; which is a proof that it need neither commence nor 
 end a Paragraph or Strophe. 
 
 The key will be furnished by its first occurrence, in 
 Ps. iii., where it occurs three times — 
 
 (1) Between verses 2 and 3. 
 
 (2) Between verses 4 and 5. 
 
 (3) Between Psalms iii. and iv. 
 
 Here, it will be seen that the word is used as a con- 
 necting link, calling our attention to what has been said, 
 and bidding us to associate it with what immediately 
 follows. 
 
 This may be for various purposes : 
 
 (1) It may be by way of contrast. 
 
 (2) It may be by way of further explanation. 
 
 (3) It may be to mark a cause, or an effect; or, 
 
 (4) It may be at the end of a Psalm, in which case 
 it connects the two Psalms and tells us that 
 they relate to the same authorship, or have the 
 same subject-matter. 
 
 In this first occurrence (Ps. iii.) we have three of these 
 usages. 
 
 308 
 
i. AS TO WORDS: "SELAH" 
 
 The first Selah (between verses 2 and 3) contrasts what 
 the many said of David : 
 
 "There is no help for him in God," 
 with what David could say to the Lord : 
 
 "But Thou, O Jehovah, art a shield for me." 
 
 Here the "many" are thus put into contrast with the 
 one ; and, while the many knew the Divine being only as 
 "God" (the creator),^ David knew Him as "Jehovah," his 
 Covenant God, the God to Whom he stood in a covenant 
 relation. - 
 
 The second Selah (between verses 4 and 5) marks and 
 connects the cause and effect. It is a practical exhibition 
 of the truth afterwards revealed in Phil. iv. 6, 7. 
 
 "Let your requests be made known unto God, 
 And 
 
 God's peace . . . shall keep your heart and mind." 
 
 This is what David experienced, practically, in that 
 terrible night, in his flight from Jerusalem: 
 
 "I cried unto God with my voice. 
 And He heard me out of His holy hill. 
 
 Selah 
 
 I laid me down and slept ; I awaked : 
 For Jehovah sustained me." 
 
 The third Selah (between the two Psalms iii. and iv.) 
 connects not merely the two verses (Ps. iii. 8 and iv. 1), 
 but the two Psalms, as such. It tells us that Ps. iv. relates 
 to the same time, and to the same circumstances in David's 
 life : and gives us further details as to what the cry and 
 the prayer was that is referred to in Ps. iii. 
 
 Having thus got the key to the usage of the word Selah, 
 which is of far greater importance than its Etymology or 
 . Lexical meaning, we can apply it to all its other occur- 
 rences. 
 
 It is, in fact, another example of our third Canon 
 (page 227 above), where the Biblical usage of words is 
 
 1 The first occurrence of the word " God," in Gen. i. 1, shows that this is 
 the essence of its meaning. 
 
 2 This is shown by the first occurrence of Jehovah, in Gen. ii. i, at the 
 commencement of the section (or Toleddth), " the generations of the heavens and 
 the earth," when God (as Jehovah Elohim) comes into Covenant relation with 
 Adam, whom He had created. 
 
 309 
 
V. FIRST OCCURRENCES IMPORTANT 
 
 considered as being essential to their correct interpre- 
 tation.^ 
 
 4. '^Jerusalem." — The first occurrence of the Avord 
 "Jerusalem" is in Judg. i. 7, 8. And in one sentence the 
 whole subsequent history of centuries is condensed. 
 
 "The children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, 
 and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the 
 sword, and set the city on fire." 
 
 This is in strange contrast with its name :—The Vision 
 of Peace I But it is in accordance with its history. 
 
 It has been a history of sieges. Some twenty-seven 
 times has it been besieged, three times has the city, and 
 twice its temple, been destroyed by fire.^ 
 
 But it is yet to be the centre and symbol of peace. 
 Peace shall be the eternal character and blessedness of 
 Jerusalem, in spite of her past history, as foreshadowed 
 in the first occurrence of the name. (See Ps. cxxii. 6— S ; 
 exxv. 5 ; cxxviii. 6. Isa. xxxii. 17 ; liv. 12 ; Ix. 17 ; Ixvi. 12. 
 Hag. ii. 9.) 
 
 5. Numbers. — The Spiritual Significance of numbers is 
 seen in their first occurrence. 
 
 One is associated with Deity (Gen. i. 3, 4). "God is 
 light" (1 John i. 5). 
 
 Tvjo is associated with Separation and Division (Gen. i. 
 6 — 8), though afterwards it is associated with union in 
 testimony (Deut. xvii. 6. Rev. xi. 3). 
 
 Three is associated with resurrection in Gen. i. 9, when 
 the earth rises up out of and above the waters ; and 
 fruit arises out of the earth. 
 
 Four is associated with the earth when (Gen. i. 14—19) 
 the Sun and Moon were established as light-holders, to 
 "give light upon the Earth." 
 
 Five is associated with grace, in the gift of life, in the 
 creation of living creatures ; and in the production of 
 life out of the waters of the great deep. 
 
 Six is associated with the creation of Man (Gen. i. 
 26 — 31). Man was created on the sixth day ; and hence six 
 
 1 For further examination and study of all the Selahs the reader may consult 
 Part II. of the work on The Psalm- Titles, by the same author and publisher. 
 - See Number in Scripture, by the same author and publisher, pp. 236—240. 
 
 310 
 
i. AS TO WORDS : NUJMBERS 
 
 is man's "Hall-mark"; and, Avitli its multiples, is stamped 
 upon all that characterizes man as falling short of God ; 
 or in opposition to or defiance of God. 
 
 Goliath was 6 cubits high ; his spear's head weighed 
 600 shekels of iron; and he had 6 pieces of armour 
 enumerated. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar was similarly marked. His image was 
 60 cubits high, and 0 cubits wide, while 6 instruments of 
 music called for its universal worship. 
 
 The Beast is marked by the threefold combination 
 of 666 (Rov. xiii). 
 
 Seven is associated with Divine Blessing and Rest 
 (Gen. ii. 1 — 3), and is thus the mark of the Spirit of God 
 as "th3 author and giver of life," and blessing, and rest. 
 Hence it is that this number is so frequent in Scripture, 
 as being the "Hall mark" of the Spirit's authorship of 
 "the Word of life." 
 
 Eight is a new first and, like the Number Three, is 
 associated with newness, especially in resurrection, 
 which took place on "the first day of the week." It 
 first occurs in Gen. v. 4 in the number of the years of 
 Adam, the end of the first man. "The second man" 
 began his resurrection life on the eighth day. Hence 
 the association of the number with resurrection. 
 
 Nine occurs first in Lev. xxv. 22, and is used of the 
 end of full time. Inasmuch as the fulness of time issues 
 in judgment for good or evil, so 7iine becomes the symbol 
 or hall-mark of all that stands connected with judgment. 
 
 Ten is the great cardinal number, completing one order 
 and commencing a new one. Hence it is used of ordinal 
 perfection, and is so used in its first occurrence in Gen. 
 xxiv. 55. 
 
 Ticelve is associated with service, rule, and Govern- 
 ment. " Twelve years they .s-erred " (Gen. xiv. 4). Hence- 
 forth we find 12 and its multiples connected with 
 Government both in heaven and on earth. It is the 
 factor in the heavenly Signs, Constellations, and Measure- 
 ments. It is the factor in all earthly enumerations that 
 have to do with government.' 
 
 Thirteen first occurs in Gen. xiv. 4 also, "Twelve years 
 they served Chedorlaomer and the thirteenth year they 
 
 1 See Number in Scripture, p. 253. 
 
 311 
 
V. FIRST OCCURRENCES IMPORTANT 
 
 rebelled.'" So that ever after, in Scripture, the Num- 
 ber 13, and every multiple of it, is associated with 
 rebellion, apostacy, and disintegration.^ It is universally 
 a number of evil omen: but those who go back for the 
 origin of anything never go back far enough. They go 
 back, in their own imagination, to the Twelve Apostles 
 and our Lord as making 13; but the first occurrence of 
 the number takes us back to the Divine usage of the 
 Word, Gen. xiv. 4.^ 
 
 6. The Divine Names and Titles are determined in the 
 same way by their first occurrence. 
 
 God (Gen. i. 1). "In the beginning God created." 
 Hence whenever we meet with the name of God we may 
 always associate with it the thought of the Creator, and 
 its appropriate use by His creatures (see p. 309). 
 
 Lord or Jehovah (Gen. ii. 4) first occurs as the special 
 title used in the first of the Eleven Toleddth or "Genera- 
 tions." It is the Creator standing in Covenant relation, 
 and in communication with those whom He had created. 
 
 Most High, or Ely on, occurs first in Gen. xiv. 18, and 
 is associated with God as being "the possessor of Heaven 
 and Earth." This is the essence of the meaning wherever 
 we afterwards find it ; and this will give the Scope of the 
 passage in which we find it.^ 
 
 ii. EXPKESSIONS. 
 
 The same is true not only of separate Words, but of 
 a combination of words in such expressions as "Son of 
 Man," "Man of God," "Day of the Lord," etc. 
 
 1. ''The Son of Jfan."^ — This expression is first met 
 with in Psalm viii. And if we wish to know what its 
 distinctive significance is we must note its associations. 
 
 There we find, from the first and last verses, that it 
 is "the earth" which is in question, and that it is 
 "dominion" in the earth which is the scope of the 
 
 1 See Number in Scripture, pp. 205—233. 
 
 2 See further information as to this and other numbers in Number in 
 Scripture, by the same author and publisher. 
 
 3 See The Divine Names and Titles for a complete view of this subject, by 
 the same author and publisher. 
 
 4 See above, p. 110. 
 
 312 
 
ii. AS TO EXPRESSIONS: "SON OF MAN" 
 
 Psalm as a whole. It is universal dominion over all the 
 works of God's hands. 
 
 This then is the special thought to be borne in mind 
 whenever we subsequently meet with this title. 
 
 Not "a son of man," for every mortal being is that, 
 as a descendant of Adam. Ezekiel is constantly so called. 
 *'A son of man" is the converse of "a son of God." 
 
 There is just the same difference between "a son of 
 God" and "the Son of God" as there is between "a son of 
 Man" and "the Son of Man." 
 
 "The Son of Man" is the special title of the Lord 
 Jesus, in connection with His right and title to universal 
 dominion in the earth ; and as having had all things 
 placed as a footstool for His feet, when the time comes 
 for Him to exercise that right. 
 
 At the present moment, according to the Divine 
 Coiinsels "we see NOT YET all things put under Him" 
 (Heb. ii. 8); but we shall see them in due time, when "He 
 shall come whose right it is" to reign (Isa. xxxii. 1. 
 Ezek. xxi. 27). 
 
 It was as "the Son of Man" that He came unto His 
 own dominion. But His own people "received Him not" 
 (John i. 11), hence His title is associated with His 
 humiliation. 
 
 The first New Testament occurrence is full of signi- 
 ficance. It is in Matt. viii. 20; Avliere we are told that 
 "the Son of Man" had not where to lay His head on 
 that earth which was His by right. 
 
 This title, in perfect harmony with that first occur- 
 rence, is used eighty times in the four Gospels, not once 
 in the Church Epistles ; once in Acts vii. 56 ; once (and 
 then only as a quotation) in the Epistle to the Hebrews. 
 It does not reappear until the Apocalypse, twice (ch. i. 13 ; 
 xiv. 14). There, at the crisis, when the moment arrives 
 for executing judgment in the earth. He is seen and 
 described as "the Son of Man"; no longer in humiliation, 
 no longer wearing a crown of thorns, but "having on 
 His head a golden crown" (Rev. xiv. 14—16). 
 
 The fact that this title never once occurs in the 
 Epistles that are addressed to churches speaks loudly to 
 those who have ears to hear ; for it declares that we, as the 
 members of the Body of Christ, have no more connection 
 
 313 
 
V. FIRST OCCURRENCES IMPORTANT 
 
 with Him by the title of "the Son of Man," than had 
 the Syro-Phoenician woman with Him as "The Son of 
 David" (Matt. xv. 21—24). Hence, it follows, that the 
 Church of God must be rightly divided off, and excluded 
 from all portions of those Scriptures where the Lord 
 Jesus bears this title of "the Son of Man." The use of 
 that title is sufficient proof in itself that the Scope of 
 all such passages where it occurs is dominion in the 
 earth; and not glory in the heavens. 
 
 2. " The Man of God.'' — We find this expression used 
 twice of Timothy in the New Testament (1 Tim. vi. 11. 
 2 Tim. iii. 17). And if we ask for the exact essence and 
 force of the expression ; and what is the teaching con- 
 veyed in it, we have to ask for its first occurrence. 
 
 We find it in Deut. xxxiii. 1 : " This is the blessing 
 wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of 
 Israel before his death." 
 
 This blessing is a great prophecy : and Moses, in this 
 Book, is spoken of as being that Prophet, like unto whom 
 Christ was to be hereafter raised up (Deut. xvlii. 15). 
 
 This title "Man of God" came to be the popular 
 description or title of the prophet, and we meet with it, 
 as being so used, throughout the historical books of the 
 Old Testament. What this teaches us will be further 
 seen under our next Canon, as to the importance of the 
 place, in Scripture, where we meet Avith certain expres- 
 sions, in addition to the first place in which we find it.^ 
 
 3. " The Day of the Lord." — This we have already con- 
 sidered in part, under Part I. § iv. (p. 158). It only remains, 
 here, to show that what we have there said is based 
 upon what we learn from its first occurrence. 
 
 We meet with it first in Isa. ii. 11, 12. 
 
 "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, 
 And the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, 
 And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that Day. 
 For the Day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon 
 every one that is proud," etc. 
 
 1 See a i amphlet on The Man of God, by the same aiitbor and publisher. 
 
 314 
 
iii. AS TO FIRST UTTERANCES : SATAN'S 
 
 Here we have the essence of the ex]jression. What- 
 ever may be the marks and aceompaninieuts of that Day; 
 whatever may be its judgments and plagues and terrors, 
 they have all only one twofold object; 
 
 The abasement of Man and 
 The exaltation of God. 
 
 This is their object and this is the great and final 
 result. 
 
 Now, it is "Man's day" (1 Cor. iv. 3, margin). Man is 
 judging. But "the Lord's Day" is coming, when He will 
 be the judge. John is carried away by the Spirit and 
 shown the future judgment scenes in the visions which 
 are described in the Apocalypse : so that we can there 
 read about the unveiling and exaltation of Christ, and 
 the abasement of man in that day.^ 
 
 iii. Utterances. 
 
 1. The first Utterance of the Old Serpent, 
 
 In Gen. iii. 1 the Old Serpent is introduced to us 
 as already fallen, and his first words are intended to 
 impress us with the fact that, the special sphere of his 
 activities is not the criminal sphere ; not the sphere of 
 immorality; but it is the Religious sphere; it is the 
 sphere which has the Word of God for. the great object 
 of attack. 
 
 The first utterance of Satan, as the Old Serpent, was 
 to question the truth of the Word of God. "He said 
 unto the woman. 
 
 Yea, God hath said ye shall not eat of every tree 
 of the garden" 
 
 It is not certain whether this should be a question or 
 a statement. The woman's answer appears to regard it 
 as a statement, by meeting it with a denial and an 
 explanation. 
 
 And the woman said unto the Serpent 
 
 " We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the 
 garden" etc, 
 
 1 See the pamphlets The Lord's Day and Four Prophetic Periods, by the 
 Bamc author and publisher. 
 
 315 
 
V. FIRST OCCURRENCES IMPORTANT 
 
 But we are concerned now with the subject of Satan's 
 first utterance. 
 
 It is about the Word and truth of God. God had 
 spoken. Shall man believe what He has said? 
 
 This fact speaks to us if we have ears to hear. 
 
 It bids us look for Satan's sj^here of influence to-day, 
 not in the Police Courts, but in the Pulpits; not in the 
 Newspapers, but in Sermons ; not on the Stage, but in 
 our Universities ; not in our streets, but in the Professors' 
 Chairs at our Theological Colleges. 
 
 Time was when Infidels carried on a platform cam- 
 paign of lectures against the Word of God. In our day 
 this has practically ceased. There is no further need 
 for it ; the work is more effectually done in the Pulpit 
 by Theological Infidels, who have "turned away their ears 
 from the truth and are turned unto myths " (2 Tim. iv. 3, 4). 
 Treating the Word of God as " unhistorical " and its 
 records as "fables," they teach the myths of men instead 
 of obeying the command to "Preach the word." 
 
 This is what we learn from this first utterance of the 
 Old Serpent. 
 
 With this we ought to couple 
 
 2. The First Ministerial Utterance of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 We have it in Matt. iv. 1; immediately after His con- 
 secration for His office of Prophet. 
 
 The Old Serpent comes to the Second man, the last 
 Adam, not in a garden of delights, but in the wilderness. 
 He questions again the truth of God's words, the echo 
 of which, "This is my beloved son," had scarcely died 
 away: — "i/ thou be the Son of God.'' 
 
 What are the words of the Lord's reply. 
 
 "IT IS WRITTEN." 
 This is the Lord's first ministerial utterance. 
 Could language tell us more pointedly and plainly 
 that we are again on the same battle-field in which the 
 truth of God's Word is at stake? 
 
 "It is written." What was written? What can be 
 written but words ? How can it be possible to have tvrit- 
 ing apart from tvords? 
 
 And yet there are those that tell us that the Bible 
 contains the Word of God," but that it "is not the Word 
 
 310 
 
iii. AS TO FIRST UTTERANCES : CHRIST'S 
 
 of God." That its thoughts are inspired, but not its 
 words. But again we ask, How can thoughts be written 
 down without words? It is by words, and only by 
 words that thoughts can be made known. 
 
 When Milton dictated his poems to his amanuensis, 
 did he communicate his thoughts and leave his tvords to 
 the choice of another? Are not the actual words, and 
 even the spelling and rhythm of them, vital to the whole 
 matter? Are not the choice of the words and the scan- 
 ning of their syllables the very essence of what made the 
 result Milton's, and not that of his amanuensis? 
 
 "It is written." 
 
 This is an utterance which settles such questions for ever ; 
 and closes the mouth of Satan and all "his ministers" 
 (2 Cor. xi. 15). 
 
 At least, it closed the mouth of Satan ; though men's 
 moutlis will be open and vent their blasphemies until 
 they are closed in judgment. 
 
 Three times did the Lord Jesus use that first utterance, 
 "It is written," and three times did He utter no other 
 than the words written, until He dismissed the Old Ser- 
 pent with the rebuke : " Get thee hence, Satan." 
 
 Is it not as significant as it is remarkable, that when 
 the Lord delivered up His trust, having finished the Avork 
 which was given Him to do. He again, three times, re- 
 ferred to God's Word written, in John xvii. : 
 
 "Thy word is truth" {v. 17). 
 "I have given them Thy Word" {v. 14). 
 "I have given unto them the words which Thou 
 gavest me " {v. 8) ? 
 
 Does not this fact speak to us? Surely the fact that 
 the Lord's ministry began and ended with a three-fold 
 reference to the Word of God emphatically assures us 
 that— 
 
 the beginning and end op all ministry is 
 The Word of God. 
 
 3. The first utterance of the Lord as the Son of Man. 
 
 This also is important, as distinct from this first official 
 and ministerial utterance. 
 
 317 
 
V. FIRST OCCURRENCES IMPORTANT 
 
 He must have spoken from the time that all children 
 speak. But not one syllable has the Holy Spirit written 
 down until twelve years had passed by; and then, not 
 another until eighteen years later. 
 
 Only one utterance of the Lord Jesus through all those 
 thirty years of His earthly life as the Son of Man. 
 
 It was this : 
 
 "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's 
 business ? " (Luke 11. 49). 
 
 It was in the form of a question which Joseph and 
 Mary could neither understand — nor answer. 
 
 It was a rebuke; for Mary had spoken of "thy father 
 and I." The Lord speaks of "I" and "My Father." 
 
 No utterance could have more fully, completely or 
 beautifully summed up His whole mission— which had 
 been, centuries before, written "in the Volume of the 
 Book," concerning Him (Ps. xl. 7. Heb. x. 7). 
 
 "Lo I come to do Thy will, O my God." 
 
 And, when we compare with this His last recorded 
 utterance as the Son of Man, no language can describe 
 its fulness of meaning, its significance, and its import- 
 ance : 
 
 "It is finished." 
 
 What was finished? The Father's business tvhich He 
 came to he about! 
 
 4. The First Questions in the Old and New Testaments. 
 
 We have already seen (page 315) that the words of 
 the Old Serpent in Gen. iii. 1 are, probably, not to be 
 regarded as a question. 
 
 In that case the first question in the Old Testament 
 is put by Jehovah Elohim to the lost sinner (Gen. iii. 9) — 
 
 "Where art thou?" 
 
 This question reveals to Adam his lost and ruined con- 
 dition ; and makes way for the promise of the needed 
 Saviour which is given in verse 15. 
 
 Then the first question in the New Testament (Matt, 
 ii. 2) is put by those who are seeking tliat Saviour— 
 "Where is He?" 
 318 
 
iii. FIRST UTTERANCES : THE HOLY SPIRIT'S 
 
 In these two questions we have the object of the two 
 Testaments. The Old, which ministers law and condem- 
 nation, is intended to convict the sinner of his sin and 
 to show him his need ; the New, which ministers grace, 
 is intended to bring peace and blessing in the gift of the 
 Saviour whom God has provided, anointed, given, and 
 sent. 
 
 "Where is He?" Where is that Saviour who has been 
 promised? Where is the Saviour of whom I, as a lost 
 sinner, have discovered my need? 
 
 5. The Holy Spirit' s first Interpretation of Prophecy. 
 
 The first interpretation of a prophecy written in the 
 Old Testament and fulfilled in the New must furnish us 
 with a key to the interpretation and understanding of 
 all other prophecies. 
 
 It occurs in Matt. i. 22, 23, and the way in which the 
 Holy Spirit, who inspired it through Isaiah, records 
 His own fulfilment of it by Matthew must needs be full 
 of instruction. 
 
 We have gone into this very fully in our work on 
 Number in Scripture (pages 63 — 67), so that it is not ne- 
 cessary to repeat it here. We only recommend the study 
 of this first example of interpretation as being a guide 
 to the way in which we should approach the interpreta- 
 tion of other prophecies. 
 
 311) 
 
VI.— THE PLACE WHERE THE PASSAGE OCCURS 
 IS OFTEN ESSENTIAL TO ITS FULL INTER- 
 PRETATION. 
 
 Some passages of Scripture derive their chief import- 
 ance from the revelation of a great truth which is made 
 in them. 
 
 Some derive their chief importance from certain tvords 
 employed in that revelation. 
 
 But others derive their chief importance from the place 
 where we find them written. 
 
 it is well, therefore, for us always to notice and see 
 whether this last is the case with any passage which we 
 may be considering. 
 
 We must ask: Why is this passage or verse here? 
 Why is it in this Book, or in this Epistle ? Why is it not 
 in some other Book or Epistle? 
 
 This, it will be seen, is closely connected with our 
 Canon IV. as to the Context being always essential to 
 correct interpretation : for, the examination of the place 
 where a Scripture is written involves giving this atten- 
 tion to the Context. 
 
 Yet it is distinct; for it has a special object in view, 
 instead of a general object. 
 
 Let us give a few illustrations. 
 
 1. — 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17 : "All Scripture is given by inspira- 
 tion of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, 
 for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the 
 man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto 
 all good works." 
 
 This passage is remarkable for all three of the reasons 
 given above. 
 
 It is remarkable for its wondrous revelation of the 
 claim that the Scriptures are the gift of God; and that 
 they are "God-breathed." 
 
 It is remarkable also for certain words employed in this 
 revelation of truth : 
 
 Especially for the Avord Seorrveua-rog (theopneustos), 
 God-breathed, which is rendered by the five English words, 
 ' ' given-by-inspir ation -of -G od . " 
 
 820 
 
ALL SCRIPTURE GOD-BREATHED : 2 Tim. hi. 16, 17 
 
 It is remarkable also for the expression "the man of 
 God," which is the Hebrew idiom for the prophet, as 
 being God's "spokesman" (compare Exod. vii. 1 with 
 iv. 16),^ and needing, therefore, the God-breathed Scrip- 
 tures so that he may know what to say for Him for 
 whom he speaks as His spokesman. 
 
 It is remarkable also for the word apriog (artios\ ren- 
 dered pej^fect, but meaning fitted as perfectly as a joint 
 is fitted in its socket. 
 
 Also for the word i^oLpTi^(o (exartizo), to fit out, used 
 of fitting out a vessel for sea, which must take everything, 
 on every voyage, which experience has shown may by any 
 possibility be needed. 
 
 All this teaches us that only the man of God who thus 
 has the profitable God-breathed Word is thus fitted out, 
 prepared and equipped for every emergency as God's 
 prophet or spokesman. 
 
 But our particular question now is not confined to the 
 revelation of truth, however important, or even to the 
 ivords employed, however interesting, but to the place 
 where we find both. 
 
 Why is this passage given to us here in this third 
 chapter of Paul's second Epistle to Timothy? 
 
 Why not in one of the other four chapters? Why 
 not in the first Epistle to Timothy? or in some other 
 Epistle ? 
 
 The answer to these questions leads us to "search" 
 this Epistle, and track out that reason. 
 
 In doing this we note, in chapter i. 15, the falling away 
 of some who turned away from the Apostle Paul and his 
 teaching ; and we note also the Divine provision for such 
 a trial in his unfeigned faith in God (v. 12), who would 
 never turn away from him. 
 
 In chap. ii. 18 we read of those "who concerning THE 
 TRUTH have erred," and note the Divine provision of 
 comfort in the fact that "The foundation of God standeth 
 sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are 
 His" {v, 19). Those secured on that foundation will not 
 so "err." 
 
 ' See above, pp. 304, 305, 
 
 321 
 
VI. PLACE OF A SCRIPTURE ESSENTIAL 
 
 In chap. iii. 8 we read of those who "resist THE 
 TRUTH." What is the Divine provision for an emergency 
 like this ? We have it introduced in the fourteenth verse : 
 "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned 
 and hast been assured of " ; going on and leading up to 
 the verses we are considering as to the profitableness of 
 the God-breathed Word for God's spokesman, fitting him 
 out for this special conflict with those who oppose and 
 withstand the truth. 
 
 The fact of this passage occurring here, as the Divine 
 provision for this conflict, speaks to us, if we have ears 
 to hear ; and it says : 
 
 "When men 'resist the truth,' do not trust in your 
 own wisdom, but in the Scriptures of truth. If they will 
 not believe God, they will not believe you. If God's Word 
 will not conquer them, be sure yours will not. Remember 
 hoW the Lord Jesus engaged in His conflict by using this 
 Sword of the Spirit : ' It is written.' " 
 
 The reason why so many fail in silencing those who 
 "resist the truth" is because they depend on the logic 
 of their argument, or the neatness of their retorts, 
 or the smartness of their replies, or the cleverness of 
 their answers, instead of on the potver of the Word of 
 God. 
 
 The fact of this passage occurring here speaks to us 
 and says: "Open the book." Close your own mouth, and 
 quote and use the words of God, the Sword of the Spirit, 
 in meeting resistrnce to His truth. 
 
 In ch. iv. 4 we read of those who would "turn away 
 their ears from THE TRUTH, and be turned unto fables," 
 and we note that the Divine provision in such a condi- 
 tion of things is our one and only duty to "Preach the 
 word." Nothing more, nothing less, nothing different. 
 And this, all the more diligently and earnestly, for the 
 reason given, because "the time will come when they will 
 not endure sound doctrine," but "will turn away their ears 
 from the truth." At such a time we are not to seek for 
 something which men will endure, but to "Preach the 
 Word." 
 
 Thus, in this brief epistle, we have a complete direc- 
 tory for these last "perilous times" in which our lot 
 
 322 
 
"COME UNTO ME": Matt. xi. 28. 
 
 is cast; and a Divine provision for all our needs. We 
 have : 
 
 God's faithfulness toward us for our comfort (i. 12). 
 God's foundation beneath us for our security (ii. 19). 
 God's Word within us for our defence (iii. 16). 
 God's crown before us for our hope (iv. 8). 
 
 And thus we have: 
 
 Unfeigned faith for our Possession. 
 
 Divine security for our Position. 
 
 The God-breathed Word for our Protection, and 
 
 The crown of righteousness for our Prospect. 
 
 2. — Matt. xi. 28 : "Come unto me, all ye that are heavy- 
 laden, and I will give you rest." 
 
 How often are these words used, and interpreted, as 
 being addressed to sinners, to come and be saved. 
 
 But what is the interpretation of them, when looked at 
 in the light of the question as to where we find them? 
 
 If we go back in the chapter to verses 2, 3, we find 
 John the Baptist wondering whether Christ were indeed 
 He that should come. 
 
 In verses 16 — 18 the Lord upbraids the people respect- 
 ing both John and Himself, and for saying that John 
 was possessed by a demon, and that Himself was a 
 glutton and a drunkard. 
 
 In verses 20—24 he upbraided the cities of Chorazin, 
 Bethsaida, and Capernaum, and said "Woe unto thee," 
 "Woe unto thee." 
 
 Then, in verse 25, we read, "AT THAT TIME Jesus 
 answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven 
 and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the 
 wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 
 Even so. Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight." ^ 
 
 In other words, at the moment when (humanly speak- 
 ing, of course) His mission was ending in failure ; when 
 He and the kingdom were being alike rejected, and His 
 testimony not believed, "at that thue," and at such a 
 time, the Lord Jesus found His REST in the Father's 
 
 1 This passage might have been considered under Canon VIII. below— The 
 Importance of Accuracy in noting Marks of Time. 
 
 323 
 
VI. PLACE OF A SCRIPTURE ESSENTIAL 
 
 •will. Here was rest indeed, in not seeking or desiring to 
 accomplish anything that AVas not in the Father's will. 
 
 Then, tnrning to His "weary and heavy-laden" ser- 
 vants and disciples, He speaks, in order that they may 
 find their rest where He fonnd His, and says : 
 
 "Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy- 
 laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you 
 and learn of me : for I am meek and lowly in heart : and 
 ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy 
 and my burden is light." 
 
 He alludes not to their sins, but to their service : not 
 to their guilt, but to their labour ; not to their conscience, 
 but to their heart ; not to their repentance, but to their 
 learning of Him ; not to their finding forgiveness of their 
 sin, bvit to their finding rest in His yoke. 
 
 This fact, again, speaks to us if we have ears to hear, 
 and it says: "If you would find rest in your service, and 
 be without cars ; be free from the heavy burden of 
 responsibility as to the results of your testimony, and 
 enjoy peace, the peace of God, in the midst of what man 
 might call, and we might regard, as failure, then you will 
 find your rest where Christ found His, in submission to 
 the Father's will, and say: "Even so, Father, for so it 
 seemeth good in Thy sight." ^ 
 
 3. — 1 Cor. xvi. 22: "If any man love not the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema. Maran-atha." 
 
 '^Anathema'' means accursed. 
 
 ''Maran-atha" means the Lord cometh. 
 
 This verse, though it speaks of love, is not written in 
 John's Epistles. 
 
 Though it speaks of a curse, it is not written in the 
 Epistle to the Galatians. 
 
 Though it speaks of the Lord's Coming, we do not find 
 it in the Epistle to the Thessalonians. 
 
 No ! it occurs in this first Epistle to the Corinthians. 
 
 And, not at the beginning, or in the middle, but at the 
 end. And right at the end, immediately before "The 
 Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." In fact, the very last 
 verse of the Epistle proper. What lesson does its position 
 
 1 See further, on this passage, under Canon VIII., below, "The Importance 
 of Accuracy " : marks of time. 
 
 321 
 
ANATHEMA, MARAN-ATHA : 1 Cor. xvi. 22 
 
 here have for us ? Surely the place Avhere we find it gives 
 the verse a fulness of meaning, both by interpretation and 
 application, which it would not possess if it occurred in 
 any other part of Scripture. 
 
 It OAves its chief importance, and all the solemnity of 
 its lesson, entirely to the fact that we find it here, and 
 nowhere else. 
 
 It bids us, therefore, look at the Epistle as a whole ; 
 there we see, on the very surface, that the Epistle is full 
 of reproof for practical errors in life and walk : 
 
 (1) There is reproof for their divisions, envyings, strifes, 
 and contentions (1 Cor. i. — iii.), which are further particu- 
 larized as including debates, envyings, wrath, strifes, back- 
 bitings, swellings, tumults (2 Cor. xii. 20). 
 
 (2) There are errors of life, and sins of uncleanness 
 (1 Cor. v.), further particularized in 2 Cor. xii. 20, 21, as 
 including fornication and lasciviousness. 
 
 (3) There is brother going to law with brother before 
 the ungodly (1 Cor. vi.). 
 
 (4) There is the wounding of the weak brother's con- 
 science (1 Cor. viii.).^ 
 
 (5) There is the questioning of Paul's apostleship 
 (1 Cor. ix.). 
 
 (6) There are errors in ritual (1 Cor. xi.). 
 
 (7) There are errors in the use of gifts (1 Cor. xiv.). 
 
 (8) There are errors in doctrine (1 Cor. xv.). 
 
 But when it comes to the end of the Epistle, and all 
 is viewed in the light of Maran-atha — the Lord cometh, 
 not one of these things is mentioned. 
 
 It does not say, "If any man be not moral in his life," 
 "If any man be not correct in his ritual," or "orthodox 
 in his creed"; but, "if any man love not the Lord Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 This fact speaks to us and tells us that a man may be 
 perfectly moral and yet have no love for Christ. He may 
 be correct in ritual, and orthodox in creed, but he may 
 have a heart as hard as a stone, and as cold as ice toward 
 the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is not that these errors are made light of. God 
 forbid I but, that if a man have no error, and yet have 
 no love, he will be accursed when the Lord cometh. 
 
 1 See further on this point, page 328, below. 
 
 325 
 
VI. PLACE OF A SCRIPTURE ESSENTIAL 
 
 In the light of that day, love will be the true test; 
 loyalty will be the true token of acceptable service. 
 
 It was even so with the "Last words of David," when 
 at the end of his reign he summed up and numbered his 
 " mighty men " and set forth their service. In 2 Sam. xxiii. 
 all is enumerated, wonderful deeds are recorded, marks of 
 devotion are cited. 
 
 The boldness of one through whom "the Lord wrought 
 a great victory" {v. IQ), though "the men of Israel had 
 fled" {v. 9). 
 
 And of another who defended David's rights when 
 "the people fled from the Philistines" {vv. 11, 12). 
 
 But among the mighty men and servants of David 
 there were those who were noted for military prowess, 
 political wisdom, and diligent service, whose names are 
 not enumerated in this list. Yes, their names are men- 
 tioned, but they themselves are not numbered. 
 
 Joab's name is there, three times : as the brother of 
 Abishai {v, 18), as the brother of Asahel {v. 24); but he 
 himself is not numbered, though " Nehari . . . armour- 
 bearer to Joab " is {v. 37). 
 
 Ahithophel's name is there ; but he is not numbered : 
 though we find "Eliam the son of Ahithophel" {v, 34). 
 
 Abiathar the high priest, David's friend (1 Sam. xxii. 
 23), is neither named nor numbered ; though " Uriah the 
 Hittite" is. 
 
 What does all this say to us but exactly what we have 
 in 1 Cor. xvi. 22: "if any man love not." 
 
 It is not might, nor courage, nor w isdom that constitutes 
 true service ; but it is loyalty and love. 
 
 Ahithophel failed in his loyalty when Joab stood firm : 
 for Joab and Abiathar remained loyal during Absalom's 
 rebellion, but failed in the rising of Adonijah. 
 
 Thus was their service truly appraised, and their 
 hearts tested. The test Avas not the skilfulness of the 
 hand, or the wisdom of the head, but the loyalty of the 
 heart ( Jer. ix. 28, 24). 
 
 This is the great lesson which is impressed upon us by 
 the place where we find the words: "If any man love 
 not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be anathema, Maran- 
 atha." These are "the last words" of that first Ei3istle 
 to the Corinthians. 
 
 826 
 
VII. NO ONE PASSAGE TO BE INTERPRETED IN A 
 SENSE REPUGNANT TO OTHERS. 
 
 This Canon is laid down in the twentieth of "the 
 Thirty-nine Articles of Religion" of the Church of 
 England. 
 
 That article treats of " The Authority of the Church" 
 It says: "The Church hath power to decree Rites or 
 Ceremonies, and authority in Controversies of Faith : and 
 yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing 
 that is contrary to God's Word written, neither may it so 
 expound one place of Scripture that it be repugnant to 
 another ..." 
 
 With the claim here made as to "The Authority of 
 the Church" we are not now concerned; but we cannot 
 deny that, in the latter clause quoted, we have a very 
 important principle laid down : a principle which we shall 
 do well ever to bear in mind in our study of the "words 
 which the Holy Ghost teacheth." 
 
 This principle is true : because, as no one text is repug- 
 nant to another, it is clear that to explain one as being 
 so repugnant, is what cannot lawfully be done. 
 
 If one passage appears to be repugnant to others, then 
 there is something amiss either in the translation of it, 
 or in our understanding of it. 
 
 In either case it behoves us to examine it and see where 
 the fault lies. The one, apparently more difficult passage, 
 must be understood, explained, and interpreted by the 
 others which are quite plain and clear. 
 
 If this method be not possible, then the difficult passage 
 must be left unsolved for the present, with the prayer 
 that God will, in His own thne, bestow the needed grace 
 and light. But in no case must we allow that one difficult 
 passage to disturb all the others which are clear; nor 
 must we give heed for a moment to any false teaching 
 which Tradition may have founded upon its misunder- 
 standing or perversion of that one passage, whether 
 through ignorance or malice. 
 
 1. Wo may apply this Canon to the Scripture concern- 
 ing "the Rich man and Lazarus." 
 
 827 
 
VII. NO TWO SCRIPTURES REPUGNANT 
 
 Without entering at all into the question of the inter- 
 pretation of this Scripture, we would merely call attention 
 to many other passages of Scripture which are perfectly 
 clear and plain as to Man and Death, and to the condition 
 of man "after death." These do not at all agree with 
 what this Scripture seems to teach. ^ 
 
 What then is our duty as humble students of, and firm 
 believers in, the truth of all and of every part of God's 
 Word? 
 
 Are we to believe one and leave the others? 
 
 Are we to explain the one to our own satisfaction, and 
 then explain the others away? 
 
 This is clearly impossible, though it is what the majority 
 of Bible readers do ! 
 
 If we cannot reconcile them, then let us wait for further 
 light, and "with meekness, and all lowliness, with long- 
 suffering, forbearing one another in love," "let each esteem 
 other better than ourselves," and let us each suffer long 
 with other fellow-believers, who think they see a way of 
 interpreting all that is said on this subject in Scripture, 
 in harmony with Scripture, and with satisfaction to their 
 own consciences before God. 
 
 The same principle applies, of coui^se, to other subjects. 
 
 2. We have an example in 1 Cor. viii. 11 and Rom. 
 xiv. 15. 
 
 These two passages furnish us with a valuable example 
 as to how our Canon No. VII. should be used. 
 
 1 Cor. viii. 11. — " Through thy knowledge shall the weak 
 brother perish for whom Christ died ? " 
 
 Rom. xiv. 15.— "Destroy not him with thy meat, for 
 whom Christ died." 
 
 It will be at once observed that these two passages 
 appear to be repugnant to many other passages which 
 speak of the eternal preservation of the saints, and which 
 assure them that they can " never perish," and that nothing 
 can separate them from the love of God (Rom. viii. 38, 39). 
 
 The many passages which speak on this wise are 
 perfectly clear. The repugnance to them is contained in 
 these two passages (Rom. xiv. 15 and 1 Cor. viii. 11). 
 
 1 See pamphlets on this subject, by the same author and publisher, entitled 
 The Rich Man and Lazarus (price BcZ.), and Sheol and Hades (price id.). 
 
 m 
 
THE WEAK BROTHER OF 1 Cor. viii. Rom. xiv. 
 
 According to our present Canon we must not attemi^t 
 to make the many yield to these tAvo ; but, if we can, we 
 must find an explanation of them which shall put them 
 in harmony Avith the many. 
 
 If we cannot do this, then we must wait till further 
 light can be obtained ; or until such discoveries are made 
 which will enable us to harmonize the two Avith the 
 many. 
 
 Whil(3 we are thus waiting, we will say something which 
 may tend to remove their apparent repugnance. 
 
 (1) The number of various readings in the Greek, and 
 the many conflicting expositions of the commentators, 
 shoAV us that some difficulty has been experienced in the 
 Text, with which transcribers, as well as translators, have 
 had to cope. Their struggles are all too painfully evident. 
 There is scarcely a word in 1 Cor. viii. 11 which is not the 
 subject of a various reading in the Greek. 
 
 (2) We will first suggest what may prove a key; and 
 then see whether the Structure of the two passages, and 
 the Scope, will bear out and support it ; or whether, on 
 the other hand, they will condemn and overthrow it. 
 
 We suggest that the reading of the MS. known as "D" 
 should be taken as haAdng been the primitive reading. Not- 
 withstanding the fact that the numerical weight of the 
 MSS. is not in its favour, it is quite possible that the 
 MS. " D " may represent a reading more ancient than MSS. 
 which are themselves older. ^ 
 
 (3) There are two verbs which are much alike, and which, 
 in fact, differ only in having one "1" instead of two ("11"): 
 OLTrrj'Kuco (apolud), and aTroT^T^uo) (apolluo). 
 
 Apolud (with one "1") means to put away; as in 
 Matt. i. 19 ; v. 31, 32 ; xix. 3, 7, 8, 9. Mark x. 2, 4, 11, 12. 
 Luke xvi. 18 (twice). 
 
 Apolluo (with two "ll's") means to destroy. 
 
 The former verb is that which is written in the MS. 
 knoAvn as "D(2)."2 It is called the Codex Claromontanus, 
 and is now in the National Library at Paris (No. 107).^ 
 Tischendorf believes it to be of the sixth century, and 
 
 1 On the whole subject of Various Readings, see Canon XII. 
 See pp. 409, 410. 
 
 3 This MS. is to be distinguished from D(l) (sec p. 410). D (1) contains tho 
 Gospels and Acts ; while D (2) contains the Pauline Epistles and Hebrews. 
 
 329 
 
VII. NO TWO SCRIPTURES REPUGNANT 
 
 Dr. Tregelles says "it is one of the most valuable MSS. 
 extant ; none of the Texts published by Tischendorf is so 
 important, with the single exception of the Palimpsest 
 Codex Ephraemi." 
 
 It is noteworthy that we have the same confusion of 
 readings in Rom. xiv. 15 as well as in 1 Cor. viii. 11. This 
 difference of reading, therefore, must have been intro- 
 duced at a very early date. 
 
 The one reading is avj dtTroAuroti (me apolutai), do 
 not put aivay, separate not, do not put out. 
 
 The other reading is jCxYj aTroAAwrai (me apollutai), do 
 not destroy.^ 
 
 We will give the two passages separately, as the autho- 
 rities are not the same for each. 
 
 In 1 Cor. viii. 11 the reading "Do not put away" (or 
 "put out") is supported by "D" (see above), and was the 
 original reading of that MS. ; while the other reading is 
 the subject of four various readings, showing the per- 
 plexity of the transcribers. 
 
 The question is. How did all these Various Readings 
 arise ? There must surely have been some ancient original 
 authority which was copied by Codex D, and this may 
 have been a reading older than some of the MSS. which 
 were written earlier than "D." 
 
 We are quite aware that this is conjecture ; but it is 
 not without foundation. It is not as though we invented 
 the idea out of our own head. It is something more than 
 that ; and the difference between the two spellings, with 
 "l" or "LL," is so slight, that an error once made might 
 well come, by being copied and re-copied, to be the recog- 
 nized reading. But, if originally an error, the fact of its 
 multiplication has no bearing on the point, or weight in 
 the argument. 
 
 There seems, then, to be room for another line of proof. 
 
 (1) There is the whole analogy of New Testament teach- 
 ing as to the eternal preservation of God's Saints to which 
 these two passages seem to be repugnant. Indeed, it 
 seems as though a Pelagian copyist might well be tempted 
 to add another "1," when, by so doing, he could so easily 
 obtain a proof of his doctrine. 
 
 ^ But even this is the suhject of divei'gences in the MSS. which favour it. 
 
 330 
 
THE WEAK BROTHER OF 1 Cor. viii. Rom. xiv. 
 
 (2) Then there is the Scope of each of the two passages 
 to be considered according to our first Canon. If one 
 reading suits the Scope perfectly, and the other is quite 
 out of harmony with it, that would be a very weighty 
 piece of evidence, sufficient of itself to settle the matter. 
 
 To take 1 Cor. viii. 11 first, it is obvious that, the Epistle 
 is directed against the Divisions, Separations, Strifes, and 
 Contentions of 1 Cor. i. — iii. Then, further, we have the 
 truth of the one spiritual Body of Christ set forth, from 
 which there can be neither amputation nor separation 
 (1 Cor. xii.). 
 
 The whole of this eighth chapter is directed as a warn- 
 ing against doing anything that would be a stumbling- 
 block to a brother. 
 
 One point is dealt with concerning which enquiry had 
 been made by the Saints at Corinth; viz., the eating of 
 meat offered to idols, about which there were evidently 
 differences of opinion likely to lead to, and end in. 
 Division and Separation. 
 
 These are dealt with, in the manner shown by the 
 Structure : for we must apply our second Canon in order 
 to find the Scope. 
 
 Two points are treated of : — 
 
 (1) The knoivledge of different brethren (vv. 1 — 8). 
 
 (2) The liberty in the use of this knowledge (vv. 9—13). 
 
 1 Cor. viii.^ 
 
 Things enquired of Paid. 
 
 (1) The knowledge of different brethren (vv. 1—8). 
 
 A I 1-. "Touching things offered to idols." 
 B I -1, 2. The possession of knowledge. 
 C 1 3. God's knowledge of the believer. 
 D a I 4-. Idols are nothing. 
 
 b I -4. There is one God. 
 D\a\5. Idols are many. 
 
 I 6 I 6-. There is one God. 
 C I -6. The believer's knowledge of God. 
 B I 7-. The possession of knowledge. 
 A I -7, 8. Concerning "a thing offered to an idol." 
 
 1 For the place of this member in the Structure of the Epistle as a whole, 
 see The Church Epistles (p. fll), by the same author and publisher. 
 
 331 
 
VII. NO TWO SCRIPTURES REPUGNANT 
 
 (2) Liberty in the use of this knowledge (1 Cor. viii. 9—13). 
 
 E i 9. Care lest liberty to eat causes stumbling. 
 
 F c 10-. Influence of thy knoicledge'' on the weak 
 brother. 
 
 -10. Effect of example on the conscience of 
 a weak brother (singular). 
 F c 11. Result of ^^thy kitoivledge" in the putting 
 away of the weak brother. 
 
 d 12. Result of the example on the consciences 
 of the weak brethren (plural) who have 
 put the brother aAvay. 
 E I 13. Care lest liberty to eat causes stumbling. 
 
 Here, all seems quite clear. The abuse of knowledge 
 leads to a bad influence on a weak brother, who is "put 
 away " in consequence ; and it leads also to trouble of the 
 weak brethren, who have put him away. 
 
 The fact that Christ died for such an one should be 
 sufficient to make them use the care which is enjoined. 
 
 In Rom. xiv. 15 the reading Do not put atvay is sup- 
 ported by the MS. described above, known as (the 
 small numeral denoting the work of a corrector in 
 Cent. viii.). 
 
 Another Codex, known as L, the Codex Angelicus Ro- 
 manus, a MS. in the Anglican Library of the Augustinian 
 Monks in Rome. 
 
 A Lambeth MS. (No. 1,182), Cent, xii., known as "a." 
 
 A British Museum MS. (Add. MSS., No. 11,837) known 
 as "h," and dated 1157. 
 
 A Trinity Coll. Camb. MS. (B. x. 16) known as "k," and 
 written about 1316. 
 
 Another Codex, known as Codex Leicestrensis, of about 
 Cent, xii., known as "m." 
 
 To find the scope of the passage in which Rom. xiv. 15 
 occurs, we must, according to our Canon II., first find its 
 place in the Epistle as a whole. ^ If we do this we find 
 that the member of which it forms a part deals with 
 practical matters : 
 
 1 For the Structure of the Epistle as a whole and the place occupied by 
 this member see The Church Epistles (p. 23), by the same author. 
 
 332 
 
THE WEAK BROTHER OF 1 Cor. viii. Rom. xiv. 
 
 Rom. xii. 1 — xv. 7. 
 Practical duties, 
 A I xii. 1—8. Ecclesiastical. 
 B 1 xii. 9—21. Social. 
 
 C I xiii. 1-7. Civil. 
 B I xiii. 8—14. Social. 
 A I xiv. 1 — XV. 7. Ecclesiastical. 
 
 From this it will be seen that our verse (Rom. xiv. 15) 
 forms part of our Ecclesiastical obligations, A (xiv. 1 — 
 XV. 7) and may be thus expanded : 
 
 A (Rom. xiv. 1 — xv. 7), Ecclesiastical duties. 
 I xiv. 1. Reception of the weak. 
 E^ I xiv. 2—23. Our self-denial. 
 D- I XV. 1, 2. Our bearing with the weak. 
 
 W i XV. 3, 4. Christ's self-denial. 
 D'^ I XV. 5 — 7. Our mutual reception of one another. 
 
 The scope of this member is at once clearly seen. And 
 the place occupied by our passage is discerned. It is in 
 the member E^ and the subject of it is Our exercise of 
 self-denial. 
 
 "If on account of thy meat thy brother is grieved, 
 thou walkest no longer according to love. Do not grieve 
 him, do not separate (or put away) with thy meat him 
 for whom Christ died." 
 
 It will be seen that the word "Destroy not" is alto- 
 gether out of harmony with the whole scope of the 
 chai)ter. Moreover, we have in verse 20 the correlative 
 word to the one we suggest: viz., KaLTct'Kuco (kataluo), to 
 throio down. The difference betAveen apoluo and kataluo 
 is at once seen. A poluO is to throiv out ; kataluo is to throw 
 down.^ 
 
 "For meat do not throw dotvn or upset the work of 
 God" {v. 20). What work of God? "God's building" 
 
 1 See Matt. xxiv. 2. Mark xiii. 2. Luke xxi. C. ActB v. 38, 39, etc. 
 
VII. NO TWO SCRIPTURES REPUGNANT 
 
 (1 Cor. iii. 9). This is corrupted and defiled when we 
 build any tiling on to the one foundation. It is thf'oivn 
 down and injured to that extent, when we throw out, or 
 put away, any weak brother whom God has built upon 
 that foundation. 
 
 Thus we see that these two passages, which seem to 
 be repugnant to many passages which are perfectly clear, 
 are capable of an explanation which not only sets them 
 in harmony with all the others, but shows that the ex- 
 planation is in harmony with the full context and struc- 
 ture of both passages. 
 
 The word is not "Z)o not destroy'': but it is "Do not 
 put away,'' or ''Do not separate," 
 
 834 
 
VIII. THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY IN THE 
 STUDY OF THE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 This canon will be conceded by all as one of the first 
 magnitude. Accuracy is everywhere demanded, and in 
 every department of life, and in every branch of service. 
 
 How many calamities and disasters have occurred from 
 a want of accuracy. The want of accuracy in under- 
 standing a word of command led to the disastrous cavalry 
 charge at Balaclava. Want of accuracy or the misunder- 
 standing of a word in a correspondence has led to the 
 separation of close friends or the miscarriage of impor- 
 tant business. 
 
 Inaccuracy is no less disastrous in the reading and 
 study of the Word of God. 
 
 It is said of a poorly-informed preacher in southern 
 Illinois, that he took his text from Luke xiv. 4, and read 
 it out "And he took him, and held him, and let him go." 
 The preacher was trying to explain the difficulty thus 
 created, when a daring interrupter called out, My Bible 
 says, 'He healed him, and let him go.'" As may be 
 imagined, the proposed exegesis was brought to a sudden 
 close. 
 
 But there are many popular difficulties of which this 
 is a typical example ; and which might all be ended as 
 suddenly, if a similar remark were made. 
 
 How long shall we hear of the Fall as having been 
 brought about by the eating of an apple ? And how soon 
 would the fiction vanish if we would exclaim, ''My Bible 
 doesn't say apple." 
 
 How long shall we hear about Jonah's being swallowed 
 by the whale i when we could stop it by simply saying 
 ''My Bible doesn't say ivhale." Jonah i. 17 says, "The 
 Lord had prepared a great fish." ^ 
 
 1 The Lord Jesus used the word ktjtos {Icetos) in Matt. xii. 40. It is a pity- 
 that any ground was given to the cry of the Infidel and the Higher Critics 
 by translating it "whale" in the A.V. But it is unpardonable of the K.V. 
 to perpetuate it, when it puts in the margin "Gr. sca-monster," though the 
 words of Jonah i. 17, "a great flsh," were ready to their hand. Why not have 
 put "sea monster" or "great fish" in the Text? 
 
 335 
 
VIIT. IMPORTANCE OP ACCURACY 
 
 How long are we to hear about the siii of the children 
 of Israel by command of God, as horroiving without inten- 
 tion of returning the property of the Egyptians (Exod. 
 
 iii. 22; xi. 2; xii. 35, 36)? Our A.V. seems to say this, 
 and has thus provided material, for scoffers. The R.V. 
 rightly translates the Hebrew (shaal), to ask : and 
 out of one hundred and sixty-eight occurrences it is only 
 six times rendered in the A.V. borrow; while in all the 
 other one himdred and sixty-two passages it is rendered 
 ask, beg, require, or some similar word. (See Ps. ii. 8, 
 "Ask of me," etc.: this, surely, cannot mean "Borrow 
 of me " ?) 
 
 The same want of accuracy in reading the sacred text 
 has led to the mistakes of artists as well as of theolo- 
 gians. For angels are always represented as women in- 
 stead of men ; and in the piercing of the Lord the heart 
 is always represented as being on the right side instead 
 of on the left. 
 
 Similar are the mistakes of interpreters. 
 
 "Ye do ALWAY resist the Holy Ghost" (Acts vii. 51) 
 is quoted to prove that men can successfully withstand 
 the Spirit, instead of stumbling at His words. 
 
 While "Ye WILL NOT come unto me" (lit., "will not 
 to come " : John v. 40) is quoted to prove that men will 
 to come ; and this, in spite of Phil. ii. 13. 
 
 And in 1 Cor. xvi. 1, the injunction to lay by in store, 
 that there be "no collection," is used to support the 
 modern practice of having a collection at every service. 
 
 The Lord's Supper, in spite of its being so called, and 
 being instituted as part of a meal, is ordered by all 
 Romanizers to be taken in the morning, fasting. 
 
 "Blood and Fire," which is a description of the judg- 
 ment of the great Day of the Lord (Joel ii. 30), is adopted 
 as the symbol of salvation by His grace. 
 
 Instead of hearing what the Spirit saith to the churches 
 we are commanded by man to hear what the Church says 
 to us; and to heed "the voice of the Church." 
 
 The same want of accuracy leads those who set them- 
 selves up as "Higher" Critics to forget that it is the 
 Word of God which is to be their critic, or judge. (Heb. 
 
 iv. 12, "discerner." Or. critic or judge. Compare John 
 xii. 48, and see Number in Scripture, p. 70.) 
 
 336 
 
INACCURACY THE SOURCE OP ERRORS 
 
 These and many other examples are snfficient to em- 
 phasize the importance of accuracy in our reading of 
 Scripture if we woukl avoid falUng into mistakes and 
 blunders of any kind. 
 
 Examples and illustrations abound where this canon 
 may be applied. We cannot pretend to make the list 
 of those we give exhaustive ; we offer them only as 
 specimens.^ 
 
 We will divide them into two classes : where the prin- 
 ciple may be used 
 
 i. In the removal of difficulties. 
 
 ii. In the revelation of truths. 
 
 i. Illustration of Accuracy applied to the 
 Removal of Difficulties. 
 
 1. The Ammonite and Mocibite. — In Deat. xxiii. 3 it is 
 declared that "an Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter 
 into the congregation of the Lord." And it is urged 
 that, it was in contravention of this, when Ruth not 
 only entered into the congregation, but into the genealogy 
 of our Lord (Ruth iv. 13—22. Matt. i. 5). 
 
 But if we read Deut. xxiii. 3 accurately, we find that the 
 word is masculine ^^xio (modbl), Moahite, while in the 
 Book of Ruth it is feminine, and she is called HOXID 
 (moablyah). (Ruth i. 22; ii. 2, 6; iv. 5, 10.) 
 
 2. Zedekiah and Babylon. — In Jer. xxxii. 4 and xxxiv. 3 
 King Zedekiah was told that he should see the king of 
 Babylon, and "speak with him mouth to mouth, and his 
 eyes shall behold his eyes," and should go to Babylon. 
 
 In Ezek. xii. 13 it is as distinctly said that he should 
 not see Babylon, though he should die there. 
 
 If we read these two passages accurately, we shall see 
 how both are true as recorded in 2 Kings xxv. G, 7, where 
 we are told that Zedekiah was brought to the king of 
 Babylon at Riblah, and spoke with him ; that he was 
 tried and then condemned, had his eyes put out, and 
 bound with fetters of brass and was taken to Babylon 
 Thus, though he died there, he never "saw" it. 
 
 1 We do not repeat here any examples given in our pamphlet on this same 
 fcubject and under the title of this Canon. 
 
 337 Y 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 This apparent difficulty might have been given under 
 Canon IV. as being explained by a reference in the Re- 
 moter Context. 
 
 3. Omer and Homer. — In Exod. xvi. 36, we are told 
 that "an omer is the tenth part of an ephah." 
 
 In Ezek. xlv. II an ephah is said to be the tenth part 
 of apparently the same measure. 
 
 But if Ave read the two passages accurately we find the 
 former is spelt "omer," and the latter is spelt "homer." 
 And though the letter "h" is often treated with scant 
 respect in speaking, it is well to give it its place when 
 we find it in writing. The difference compels us to look 
 at the Hebrew, where we find that in Exod. xvi. the 
 word is ^"fy^ {'oyner), Avhile in Ezekiel xlv. the word is 1*^11 
 {chomer). 
 
 Thus we have two totally different words denoting 
 two different measures. 
 
 4. The Going of Balaam. — In Num. xxii. 22 we read that 
 "God's anger was kindled because he (Balaam) went" 
 with the princes of Moab. 
 
 It is supposed that this anger was out of place, because 
 God had said, "Rise up and go with them" {v. 20). But 
 it does not seem to be noticed that a condition tvas 
 attached to this permission, viz.: ''If the men come to 
 call thee.'' 
 
 No such coming and calling is mentioned; and it is 
 quite gratuitous for any one to assume that this condi- 
 tion was fulfilled, when such assumption creates the very 
 difficulty to which objection is made. 
 
 5. God's command concerning sacrifices. — In Jer. vii. 
 22, 23, we read: "I spake not unto your fathers, nor 
 commanded them in the day that I brought them out 
 of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sa- 
 crifices ; but this thing commanded I them, Obey my 
 voice, and I will be your God." 
 
 It was through reading this inaccurately that the late 
 Professor Mivart left the Church of Rome and gave up 
 his belief in the Bible. He supposed (as many have done 
 before and since) that God did command sacrifices. 
 
 338 
 
GOD'S COMMAND FOR SACRIFICES 
 
 If Leviticus be read accurately it will be seen that God 
 did not "COMMAND" the offering of sacrifices. The ver\^ 
 essence of all offerings was that the act should be volun- 
 tary, "of his own voluntary will." This being the case, 
 God did then lay down the conditions on which they 
 should be brought and offered. Hence the book of Levi- 
 ticus begins by saying, "IF any man of you bring an 
 offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring," etc. (Compare 
 Lev. i. 2, 8, 10, 14 ; ii. 4, 5, 7, 14 ; iii. 1, 6, 7, 12 ; iv. 32, etc.). 
 
 It was essential that all sacrifices should be of the 
 offerer's ''own voluntary will'' (Lev. i. 3). What Jeho- 
 vah commanded "in the day that He brought them out 
 of Egypt" was to "diligently hearken to the voice of the 
 Lord; "and "Do that which is right" in His sight; and 
 "Give ear to His commandments; keep all His statutes." 
 This was the command "in the day that He brought them 
 out of Egypt" (see Exod. xv. 26). 
 
 This inaccurate reading not only creates the difficulty ; 
 but misses the very scope of Jer. vii. 22, 23. 
 
 6. Hearing and not hearing the voice. — In Acts ix. 7 
 we read, "The men that were with him (Saul) stood 
 speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man." 
 
 In Acts xxii. 9 "they heard not the voice of him that 
 spake to me." 
 
 In this case it is the Greek that has to be read accu- 
 rately. The verb olkouw (aJwuo), to hear, is the same 
 in both passages, but it governs two cases of the noun 
 which follows it. 
 
 It takes the Genitive case of the sound which is heard ; 
 and it takes the Accusative case of the words or matter 
 which is heard. 
 
 In Acts ix. 7 "the voice" that was heard is in the Geni- 
 tive case {<p coy rig, phones). 
 
 In Acts xxii. 9 "the voice" that was not heard (i.e., 
 the matter) is in the Accusative case : so that while the 
 men with Saul heard the sound of the voice, they did not 
 hear the words that were spoken. (Compare Luke xi. 28.) 
 
 7. Standing and falling to the earth.— But there is 
 another difficulty in these passages besides the hearing 
 and not hearing. 
 
 m Y 2 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 There is the difficulty between Acts ix. 7, "the men that 
 journeyed with him stood speechless," and Acts xxvi. 14, 
 "and when we were all fallen to the earth." 
 
 This difficulty is removed the moment we read the 
 passage accurately and notice that the word iVra^a* 
 (histamai) has another meaning besides standing erect on 
 one's legs. It means to remain motionless in tvhatever 
 position one may he. 
 
 It is rendered abode in John viii. 44; continue in Acts 
 xxvi. 22 (R.V. stand); stanch in Luke viii. 44. Hence 
 it is used of standing fast (1 Cor. vii. 37. Col. iv. 12. 
 2 Tim. ii. 19). 
 
 More to the point is the Septuagint of 1 Sam. xxviii. 
 20, where it is said of Saul that he "made haste, and 
 fell motionless upon the earth." No one would think of 
 rendering this, he "fell standing."^ 
 
 So that the two passages taken together mean that 
 "the men that journeyed with him" fell to the ground 
 and remained speechless ; or were motionless as well as 
 speechless. 
 
 8. Spoken and tvritten. — In Matt. ii. 23 we read: "He 
 came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth ; that it might 
 be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall 
 be called a Nazarene." 
 
 This being inaccurately read, search is made in the 
 prophets for any such prophecy. 
 
 But none can be found. 
 
 The Hebrew word *^^^J {netzer\ a branch, is then 
 taken, and an attempt is made to identify it with 
 "Nazarene." But even if this could be established (which 
 it cannot be) it would not solve the difficulty which has 
 been created ; for the word netzer is used of Christ, only 
 in Isaiah; and it says prophets. 
 
 If we read the verse accurately we notice that it says 
 "spoken," and not tvritten. 
 
 Some prophecies were written and not spoken. Some 
 were spoken and not written; others were both spoken 
 and written. 
 
 1 Homer, in reference to one thus fallen, says: "he fell from his car . . . and 
 then, for a long time remained he motionless" ; (not standing on his legs after 
 he had fallen.'). Iliad, v. 585. 
 
 340 
 
PROPHECIES SPOKEN AND WRITTEN 
 
 There is all the difference, surely, between to pyj^^v 
 {to rhethen), that which tvas sjwken, and 6 yeypoLivrai (ho 
 gegraptai), that tvhich standeth written. 
 
 Even granting that by a figure of speech, what is 
 written is sometimes said to be spoken, there is no ne- 
 cessity arbitrarily to introduce the hypothesis when such 
 introduction actually creates the difficulty. 
 
 9. Jeremiah the Prophet. — The same application of 
 accuracy in reading the words of a Scripture solves the 
 precisely similar difficulty in Matt, xxvii. 9. The pro- 
 phecy as to the "thirty pieces of silver" was first 
 " spoken by Jeremiah the prophet," and afterwards 
 written down by Zechariah. 
 
 And yet, having arbitrarily substituted in their minds 
 the Avord "written" instead of "spoken," commentators 
 are at their Avits' end to explain the difficulty they have 
 themselves created. 
 
 One says "Matthew quoted it from memory" (Augus- 
 tine, followed by Alford); another speaks of it as a "slip 
 of the pen " on the part of Matthew. 
 
 Another thinks that Jeremiah is put for the whole 
 body of the prophets (Bishop Lightfoot). 
 
 Another thinks that the passage was originally in Je- 
 remiah, but the Jews cut it out (Eusebius and others). 
 
 Another thinks that it may have been in another 
 writing of Jeremiah Avhich is now lost (Origen and others). 
 
 Another, (Bishop Wordsworth) believes that the mis- 
 take was made on purpose, so that we should not trouble 
 ourselves as to who the writer was, but receive all pro- 
 phecy as coming direct from God. 
 
 We make no comment on these, but only mention 
 them to show the shifts to which expositors are driven 
 in order to get out of the pit which they have digged 
 themselves. 
 
 The solutions which are suggested are a greater ob- 
 stacle to faith than the original difficulty ; even if it 
 were real instead of being only apparent. 
 
 10. The sending of the Centurion (Luke vii. 3, G and 
 Matt. viii. 5).— In Matt. viii. 5 it reads as though the cen- 
 turion came himself to the Lord ; and in Luke vii. 8, 0, 
 
 341 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF xiCCURACY 
 
 it reads as though he sent others and remained behind 
 himself. 
 
 Tlie difficulty is removed the moment we read the 
 Greek accurately, and note that in Luke two different 
 words are used for sending. 
 
 In Luke vii. 3 it is the verb oLTroa-reXT^a) (aposteUd), 
 which means to send atvay from, the sender remaining 
 behind. This is when he sends "the elders of the Jews." 
 
 In verse 6 the centurion "sent friends," but here it 
 is the verb 7r€[M7rw (pempo), which means to send with, 
 the sender either accompanying or sending an escort.^ 
 
 From this latter word being used in verse 6 it is clear 
 that the centurion accompanied his "friends." This is 
 where the account in Matthew takes up the narrative, 
 when he says "there came to him a centurion." 
 
 We may note further that, in Matt. viii. 13, the Lord 
 said, "Go thy way." But from Luke vii. 10 it appears 
 that the Centurion did not go ; his great faith not making 
 it necessary for him to go and verify the Lord's word. 
 
 11. The Inscriptions on the Cross.— The variation be- 
 tween these in the four Gospels has given rise to charges 
 which detract from the claim of the Gospels to the 
 accuracy involved in inspiration ; ^ while the defences 
 and explanations have been little less injurious in their 
 effects. 
 
 The inscriptions are as follows : 
 
 1. Matt, xxvii. 37, "This is Jesus the King of the 
 
 Jews." 
 
 2. Mark xv. 26, "The King of the Jews." 
 
 3. Luke xxiii. 88, "This is the King of the Jews." 
 
 4. John xix. 19, "Jesus of Nazareth the King of 
 
 the Jews." 
 
 1 In John XX. 21 we have both words in one verse: "As my Father hath 
 se.itme (apostello), even so send I you {pempo}." While in other passages the 
 latter verb is used also of the sending of the Lord Jesus by the Father: yet, 
 here, in John xx. 21, for the purpose of emphasizing the fact that the Lord 
 remains with those whom He sends, the verb neyLirto {pempo) is used. 
 
 A very moderate statement of the difficulty presents it as follows: "The 
 Evangelists, while fully agreeing in the substance of their narratives, are by no 
 means careful about literal words— as for example, their record of the Inscrip- 
 tions on the Cross, where no two of them exactly agree."— Kev. J. Paterson 
 Smyth, in How God Inspired the Bible. 
 
 342 
 
THE INSCRIPTIONS ON T E CROSS 
 
 It is universally assumed that there was only one in- 
 scription : and, some Interpreters account for the differ- 
 ences by a further supposition that the full and complete 
 version was— 
 
 "this is JESUS OP NAZARETH, THE KING OP THE JEWS," 
 
 the four consisting of certain words which formed a 
 part of that whole. 1^ 
 
 It has been suggested by one • that these four, respec- 
 tively, are in harmony with the special object and scope 
 of the Gospel in which it is found. This is ingenious 
 and would be worthy of Divine revelation if it could be 
 substantiated. 
 
 Others suggest that as the inscription was originally 
 in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, they are the translations 
 of these respectively. 
 
 But this involves another assumption, viz., that these 
 three were not only not the same, but were so different 
 as to allow of such various renderings. It also accounts 
 for only three out of the four ; and does not explain how 
 the Greek form could be a translation of the Greek I 
 
 In all these cases of difficulty it is Avell to "open the 
 book" and see exactly what is said, and whether there 
 is any ground for the original assufnption that there was 
 only one inscri^jtion, which is the foundation of the 
 difficulty and the cause of its explanations. 
 
 Let us begin with Mark xv. 26: 
 
 (1) "The King of the Jews." Here we have not a word 
 about a "title" (t/taoc, titlos, John xix. 19) being on 
 the Cross at all, or which any one had seen. It is a 
 question of "his accusation." It is the bill of his indict- 
 7nent, or the ground or cause of his condemnation, which 
 was His claim to be "the King of the JeAvs." 
 
 (2) J ohn xix. 19. This was written by Pilate, and put 
 upon the cross before it left Pilate's presence. For no 
 one suggests that Pilate went to the scene of the execu- 
 tion and wrote anything there. It was written in Hebrew, 
 Greek, and Latin. The Latin put last as Pilate's language. 
 
 This title was read after the ci-oss ivas set up; and be- 
 came a source of argument between the chief priests 
 
 1 The late Rev. James Kelly. 
 
 343 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 and Pilate (John xix. 21, 22), before the ^parting of the gar- 
 ments (vv. 23, 24). 
 
 What the final result of this argument was, does not 
 appear from John's Gospel; but it appears from 
 
 (3) Matt, xxvii. 37, that it must have resulted in that 
 one being taken doAvn, and another " set up over his head" 
 after they had "parted his garments among them" and 
 after they had set down to watch him there (vv. 35, 36). 
 
 (4) Luke xxiii. 38. This appears to have been a dif- 
 ferent one again. For we are not told all that took 
 place. It is evident from John that the feelings of those 
 concerned were deeply stirred. 
 
 The inscription mentioned by Luke was evidently 
 much later, and was seen close upon the sixth hour 
 (v. 44), when the darkness fell. It was put upon or "over 
 him" (v. 38, 67r' uutiS, ep'auto), and in this order: "Greek, 
 Latin and Hebrew," and after the revilings of the people. 
 (Compare vv. 35—37 with v. 38.) Matthew's (No. 2) was 
 before the revilings. (Compare Matt, xxvii. 37 with v. 39). 
 
 If we accurately notice what is written we conclude : 
 
 (a) That Mark's was only his indictment. 
 
 (6) That John's was the first, written by Pilate and 
 put on the Cross before it left his presence. 
 
 (c) That Matthew's was substituted for it and placed 
 "over his head" after the dividing of the gar- 
 ments and after the soldiers had set down to 
 watch; but before the revilings. 
 
 {d) That Luke's was the last, put upon or "over 
 him " after the revilings, and seen near the sixth 
 hour. 
 
 12. The offering of drink at the Cross.— A great diffi- 
 culty has been created by a want of accuracy in dis- 
 criminating the three different occasions on which drink 
 was offered to the Lord when on the Cross : the assump- 
 tion being that it was offered only once. 
 
 The words of God have to be rightly divided in more 
 senses than one. 
 
 There are great differences between the three accounts. 
 If these are identified and treated as being different ver- 
 sions of one event, instead of complementary accounts, 
 
 344 
 
THE OFFERING OF DRINK AT THE CROSS 
 
 each supplementing the other, then we shall have what 
 is so glibly called a "discrepancy." 
 
 Now read the words accurately and note — 
 
 CI) The three occasions: 
 
 (a) Mark xv. 22, 23, "When they were come imto 
 
 the place called Golgotha." 
 (6) Matt, xxvii. 34, "When they were come unto 
 
 Golgotha." 
 
 (c) Matt, xxvii. 48. Mark xv. 36. John xix. 29. Six 
 hours after the former two, in response to the 
 Lord's cry, "I thirst." 
 
 (2) The three kinds of drink offered — 
 
 (a) 'Wine mingled with myrrh." 
 (6) "Vinegar with gall." 
 (c) "Vinegar." 
 
 (3) The three receptions: 
 
 (a) The first was refused without even tasting it. 
 (6) The second was first tasted and then was re- 
 fused. 
 
 (c) The third was "received" after He had called 
 for it. 
 
 Thus so far from there being any discrepancy, the 
 absolute accuracy of the Divine word is brought clearly 
 out. 
 
 13. The ^'others'' crucified with Christ. — Through not 
 reading accurately what is Avritten in the several accounts 
 of the Crucifixion, and being misled by tradition and 
 the mistakes of mediaeval artists, ground has been given 
 for objections to be made as to the truth of the Scrip- 
 tures ; and difficulties have been gratuitously created. 
 
 The pictures and tradition give us "two" men who 
 were crucified with Christ. In Matt, xxvii. 44, and Mark 
 XV. 32, it is stated that they both reviled Christ: "the 
 thieves also which were crucified with him, cast the same 
 in his teeth." But in Luke xxiii. 39 it is as distinctly 
 stated that it was only "one" of them: and that they 
 were not "thieves," but "malefactors." 
 
 Moreover, in Luke, the two were led forth, with Christ, 
 from Pilate's presence ; whereas, in Matthew and Mark, 
 
 345 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 they Avere not brought to the place of crucifixion until 
 after the dividing of Christ's garments. 
 
 These are adduced as obvious errors : and it is alleged 
 that both accounts cannot be correct. 
 
 The visual defence of the accuracy of these Scriptures 
 is to assume that both the men reviled Christ at first; 
 but that afterward one of them repented. 
 
 But this is a pure assumption, and is not only not so 
 stated, but is q uite contrary to what is so clearly written : 
 "One of the malefactors Avhicli were hanged railed on 
 him, saying, If thou be the Messiah, save thyself and us. 
 But the other answering rebuked him saying . . . This 
 man hath done nothing amiss" (Luke xxiii. 40, 41). 
 
 But even if this were not so, and there were nothing 
 against the assumption, there are still other difficulties 
 which require explanation. 
 
 In Matthew and Mark they are called 060 Avjo-Tat (duo 
 lestai), tivo rohhers. 
 
 In Luke xxiii. 32, they are called Zuo KOLKOupyoi {duo 
 kakourgoi), tivo malefactors. 
 
 This also is supposed to be an inaccuracy. And so it 
 is, if we accept the assumption of Tradition and Painting. 
 
 But if we read the accounts, as Avritten in the Word 
 of God, more accurately, we shall have to revise all our 
 views which we have received from the "Traditions of 
 Men." 
 
 (1) We start from the alleged discrepancy, and accept 
 the two statements that there were four men cru- 
 cified with the Lord Jesus— Two Malefactors and Two 
 Robbers. 
 
 (2) These words are different ; for while a Robber is a 
 Malefactor (or evil- worker), yet an evil- worker is not 
 necessarily a Robber.' 
 
 (3) It is also the fact that the two Malefactors "were 
 led with him to be put to death and when they were 
 come (Greek, came) to the place which is called Calvary, 
 there they crucified hi7)i and the malefactors, one on the 
 right hand and one on the left " (Luke xxiii. 32, 33). 
 
 1 There is a difference between /cafcoOpyos (kakourgos), an evil-worker, and 
 Ka/coTToios (kakopoios), an evil-doer. The former is general, while the latter is 
 w orse, in that it is specific. Paul was treated as the former (2 Tim. ii. 9), Christ 
 Wiis charged with being the latter (John xviii. 30). 
 
 346 
 
THE "OTHERS" CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST 
 
 (4) The two Robbers were not brought till much later. 
 Not until the garments had been divided and after they 
 had sat down to watch Hhn there. "Then," i.e., at that 
 particular moment, ivhile they xoere thus watching; "THEN 
 were two robbers crucified with Him, one on the right 
 hand, and one on the left " (Matt, xxvii. 38. Mark xv. 27). 
 
 (5) The two Malefactors would therefore be on the 
 inside next to the Lord; and the two Robbers would be 
 on the outside. Being nearer to Him, the two malefactors 
 could more easily speak with one another, and to the Lord. 
 
 (6) John adds his testimony in ch. xix. 18, without any 
 note of time : only of place " where " (not of time, "then"). 
 He speaks generally of the fact: "where they crucified 
 him, and with him, others, two on this side and on 
 that side, and Jesus in the midst." The Greek is 
 clear: ^uo ii/reu^ev koI evreudev (duo enteuthen kai 
 enteuthen). In Rev. xxii. 2 we have ''enteuthen kai 
 enteuthen" translated "on either side." So it should be 
 here in John's other writing (Gospel, xix. 18), "and with 
 him others, two on either side." This is exactly in 
 accord with the other three Gospels, and combines their 
 statements. 
 
 (7) But John bears further testimony. He says (ch. xix. 
 32, 33), "then came the soldiers and brake the legs of the 
 first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But 
 when they came (Greek, 'having come') to Jesus, and 
 saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs." 
 This shows that the soldiers in approaching Christ passed 
 two of the four men before coming to Him. 
 
 (8) Note the two different words translated "other," 
 in John xix. 32 : "the first and of the other." The word is 
 a AXo^ (alios), which is the other (the second) of two when 
 there are more.^ 
 
 In Luke xxiii. 32 the word is erepog (heteros), "and 
 others also, two, were led with him."- Heteros is used 
 of and denotes not one of the two malefactors, but 
 both of them, they being one party of two, and the Lord 
 being the other, and different. 
 
 1 See Matt. x. 23; xxv. 16, 17, 20; xxvii. 61; xxviii. 1. John xviii. 15, 16; 
 XX. 2, 4, 8 (the 2nd of eleven), and Rev. xvii. 10 (the 2nd of seven). 
 
 '■^ Matt. vi. 21 ; \ iii. 21 ; xi. ii. Luke v. 7; vi. G; vii. 41 ; ix. 50; xiv. ol ; xvi. 
 13, 18; xvii. :U— 30; xviii. 10; and xxiii. 10. 
 
 347 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 It is the same word (heteros) in verse 40, because here 
 it is other of the two malefactors ; viz., the one who did 
 not "rail on him." 
 
 We thus reach the conclusion that there were four 
 others crucified with the Lord Jesus. This fact not only 
 removes all difficulties, but perfectly harmonizes all the 
 four Scriptures, and establishes the Divine accuracy of 
 every word and every expression. 
 
 Of course it does not agree with Tradition ; and we are 
 quite aware that we shall have to reckon with all Tradi- 
 tionalists for thus upsetting their idol. 
 
 14. The burying of Jacob and his sons. — The difficulty 
 in Acts vii. 15, 16 arises from confusing two distinct pur- 
 chases ; one by Abraham in Gen. xxiii. 19, and another 
 by Jacob in Gen. xxxiii. 18, 19 ; and Josh. xxiv. 32. 
 
 Abraham's purchase was of Ephron the Hittite in 
 Hebron ; a field, with a cave (Machpelah) at the end of 
 it, for 400 shekels of silver. 
 
 Jacob's purchase was "a parcel of a field" in She- 
 chem, of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for 
 100 lambs. 
 
 There can be no confusion between these two. 
 
 As to the historical record, the burials in Abraham's 
 sepulchre were Sarah (Gen. xxiii. 19), Abraham (Gen. xxv. 
 9), Isaac (Gen. xxxv. 29), Rebekah and Leah (Gen. xlix. 31), 
 and Jacob (Gen. 1. 12, 13). 
 
 The burials in Jacob's field were Joseph (Josh. xxiv. 32), 
 and, according to Acts vii. 16, the other sons of Jacob 
 who were carried over into Sychem. 
 
 Acts vii. 15, 16 agrees with this history if we note two 
 simple Various Readings of the Greek supported by most 
 of the Textual Editors (see Canon XII.); and if we re- 
 member that the circumstances were so well knoAvn to 
 Stephen's hearers that they perfectly understood what 
 he said. Though they were Avaiting to catch something 
 out of his lips, yet they saw nothing to stumble at. 
 
 The two readings are to (ho), in that tuhich, instead of 
 0 {ho), that (before Abraham); and qv {en), in, instead of 
 Tou {tou), of \the\ in the phrase "[the father] of Sychem." 
 In which case we read "in Sychem," and do not read the 
 italics the father'' or the word "of" before Sychem. 
 
 348 
 
ii. THE REVELATION OF TRUTH 
 
 With these changes the verses will read as follows. 
 
 "So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and 
 onr fathers, and they [our fathers] were carried over 
 into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre : he [Jacob] in 
 that which Abraham bought for a sum of money, 
 [and they in that which was bought] from the sons 
 of Hamor, in Sychem." 
 
 Thus, Jacob was buried in the sepulchre which Abra- 
 ham bought ; and his sons were afterwards buried in 
 that which Jacob bought. The historic record is perfectly 
 simple and clear ; and no difficulty whatever exists, except 
 in the minds of those who create it. 
 
 ii. Illustrations of Accuracy Applied to the 
 Revelation of Truth. 
 
 1. Wo7'ds and Expressions. 
 
 " Fro})i above." — In Luke i. 3 we read, "It seemed good 
 to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things 
 from the very first to write unto you in order." 
 
 There is no "very" in the Greek. The R.V. says simply 
 "from the first." 
 
 But, when we read this accurately, we note that the 
 word is ai/a)^€u {andthen)\ and, when we look at all the 
 other passages where it occurs we see that it means here 
 from above. That is where Luke got his information 
 from. That is why his understanding was so "perfect." 
 
 If the following passages be read carefully this will be 
 seen to be the meaning: Matt, xxvii. 51. Mark xv. 38. 
 John iii. 3, 7, 31 ; xix. 11, 23. Jas. i. 17 ; iii. 15, 17. 
 
 With two exceptions (Acts xxvi. 5, and Gal. iv. 9) the 
 word always means from above. There is no occasion to 
 introduce the idea of time where it is not needed. If 
 the ordinary meaning makes sense, and makes for the 
 Inspiration of God's Word, why arbitrarily take a mean- 
 ing which destroys the sense ? If holy men of old spake 
 from God, who is "above" (2 Pet. i. 21), why give dvco^€v 
 a meaning here which makes them speak from themselves ? 
 
 " Another King'' (Acts vii. 17, IS).— Here we read the 
 words of Stephen: "The people grew and multiplied in 
 Egypt till another king arose which know not Joso])li." 
 
 349 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 If we read this accurately we notice that the word for 
 another is erepog (heteros), another, of a different kind ; 
 and not aT^Xog (alios), which means another of the same 
 kind J 
 
 The word points, therefore, to the fact that it was not 
 another king of the same dynasty, but a different dynasty 
 altogether. 
 
 With this agrees Exod. i. 8, not, of course, in the use 
 of the word heteros, which is Greek, but in the Hebrew 
 "arose," which is D5]p (hum), and means to stand up 
 and occupy the place of another (see Dan. ii. 81, 39, 44; 
 iii. 24). Moreover the word "new" is (chdddsh) (for 
 
 the meaning of which see Deut. xxxii. 17, and compare 
 Judg. V. 8). 
 
 Josephus says, "the crown being come into another 
 family" (Ant. ii. 9). 
 
 The discoveries now made in Egypt prove that this 
 was the case. The mummy of this very Pharaoh is 
 to be seen to-day in the Museum at Bulak, and it is 
 clear that this Rameses was the Pharaoh of the Oppres- 
 sion.^ 
 
 He was an Assyrian, and every feature of his face 
 shows that this was the case, being so different from the 
 pictures of the Pharaoh who preceded him. 
 
 Now we can understand Isa. lii. 4, which has so puzzled 
 the commentators, who were unable to understand why 
 the two oppressions, in Egypt and Assyria, should be 
 mentioned together in the same sentence, as though they 
 were almost contemporary. 
 
 The discoveries in Egypt, and the Accuracy of the 
 Divine Words, show that this latter was indeed the case. 
 For in Isa. lii. 4 we read : 
 
 "Thus saith Adonai Jehovah, 
 My People went down aforetime into Egypt to 
 
 sojourn there ; 
 And the Assyrian oppressed them without cause." 
 
 1 The force of these may be seen in Matt. ii. 12: "another way" {alios). 
 Matt. iv. 21 : "other two brethren" {alios). Gal. i. 6, 7 : "a different {heteros) 
 gospel, which is not another" (alios). Matt. vi. 24: "hate one and love the 
 other" {heteros). Matt. xi. 3: "do we look for another" {heteros). Heb. vii. 11; 
 "another priest" {heteros). 
 
 While Menephta, his son, was the Pharaoh of thp Exodus. 
 
 350 
 
"ANOTHER KING". Acts vii. 17, 18 
 
 These words are now seen to be exquisitely accurate ; 
 for tliat Avas exactly what took place : Israel did go down 
 into Egypt to sojourn there, but a new king arose, of a 
 different dynasty, and he, an Assyrian, oppressed them 
 without cause. 
 
 There is no occasion to assume that Isaiah coupled 
 together two events separated by centuries, when such 
 assumption creates the very difficvilty complained of. 
 
 The world that then ivas'' (Gen. i. 2). — The accurate 
 reading in the English of the A.V. Gen. i. 2 will be 
 sufficient to show there is something in the verse which 
 needs explanation ; and when we have explained it we 
 shall find that it points to a wonderful exposition of the 
 Creation, and provides a complete answer to all the 
 cavils of Geologists. 
 
 This discovery would be impossible if the Revised Ver- 
 sion were used, as the Revisers deliberately discarded the 
 use of italics in certain cases, one of which was in the 
 case of the verb " to he" which does not exist in Hebrew. 
 
 In Gen. i. 2 (A.V.) we read : "And the earth was with- 
 out form and void ; and darkness ivas upon the face of 
 the deep." 
 
 Here, it will be seen that, the first "was" is in Roman 
 type, while the second is in Italic type. This accuracy tells 
 us that the latter verb, '"'ivas" represents the verb to he ; 
 and that the former "was" must represent a different 
 verb, and not the verb "to be." This is the case ; and the 
 verb is n**?! (hdyah), to hecome, come to pass. 
 
 That this is its meaning is clear from the very next 
 verse {v. 3): "Let there be light, and there was light." 
 Here the verb for "be" and "was" is hay ah, and means 
 hecome, while, in verse 4, the verb '"icas" is the verb to 
 he, and is in italics. 
 
 The same use of "was" (Roman type) and "iras" 
 (Italic type) may be seen in verses 9 and 10; and in 
 verses 11 and 12. 
 
 If we enquire further about the verb hayah we find it 
 in Gen. ii. 7, "and man hecame a living soul; ch. iv. 14, 
 "it shall come to pass''; ch. ix. 15, "the Avaters shall no 
 more hecome a flood"; ch. xix. 26, Lot's wife hecame a. 
 l)illar of salt." 
 
 351 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 From all this we assuredly learn that Gen. i. 2 should 
 read, "and the earth BECAME without form." 
 
 Having made this discovery we now pursue it further ; 
 and we "search the Scriptures " to find out whether God 
 has said anything else about the way in which He created 
 the earth. And we find it in Isa. xlv. 18. Here the sen- 
 tences are heaped together, in order to impress us with 
 the fact that. He who created the earth, ought to know, 
 and be able to tell us, how He made it. Note the words : 
 
 "Thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens; 
 Elohim himself that formed the earth, and made it ; 
 He hath established it. 
 He created it not tohil." 
 
 But this word !)nh {tohu) is the very word which is 
 translated "without form" in Gen. i. 2. So that, whatever 
 toJiu means, it is evident that God did not create the earth 
 tohu. Therefore it must hai^e become so, at some time, in 
 some way, and from some cause which we are not told. 
 
 It is clear from this that in Gen. i. 1 we have the record 
 concerning what is called in 2 Pet. iii. 6 "the world that 
 then was." This earth, we are there told also, "being 
 overflowed with water perished." This is exactly what 
 is stated in Gen. i. 1, 2. 
 
 So that at the end of the first verse Ave must put a 
 very large full stop ; or draw a line ; or leave a blank 
 space, so as to separate verse l,from what follows in verse 2, 
 which relates to "the heavens and earth which are now" 
 (2 Pet. iii. 7), and which will continue, until the time comes 
 for "the new heavens and the new earth" of 2 Pet. iii. 13, 
 and of many other Scriptures. 
 
 When Geologists have settled how many years they 
 require between the first and second verses of Gen. i. 
 there is ample room for all they want, and a large margin 
 beside. 
 
 Meanwhile, we may well conclude that all the fossils 
 and remains which are found belonged to "the world that 
 then was," and thus, at one stroke, remove all friction 
 between Geology and Scripture. 
 
 Again, we ask, why assume that all the Geological 
 phenomena pertain to the earth "which is now," when it 
 is this very assumption which creates the difficulty? 
 
 352 
 
THE "BLOOD" IN 1 John i. 7 and ii. 1. 
 
 and compels us to ignore all the phenomena of God's Word 
 mentioned above ? 
 
 His Word is misinterpreted, and His works are mis- 
 understood, and the difficulty thus created is charged 
 against the Scriptures of Truth I 
 
 ''The mention of the blood'' in 1 John i. 7 and ii. 1. — 
 Much may be learnt from accuracy in noting that "the 
 blood of Jesus Christ" is mentioned in 1 John i. 7 in 
 connection with "walking in the light;" but it is not 
 mentioned in 1 John ii. 1 in connection with the com- 
 mission of sin. 
 
 This fact speaks to us, if we have ears to hear, and 
 tells us that, when we "walk in the light," i.e., when we 
 have access into His presence, as the High Priest had 
 (though only on one day in the year), it is entirely in virtue 
 of that precious blood of Christ which gives us a title 
 to that access, and preserves us in that presence. The 
 High Priest could not enter into the Holy of Holies and 
 see that glorious light of the Shekinah which symbolized 
 the presence of God, without blood ; neither can we enter 
 into and enjoy "fellowship" with God, who is light 
 (vv. 5 — 7), apart from the merits of that precious blood 
 of Christ. Then it is that we need those merits ; then 
 it is that we are reminded of them ; then it is that the 
 blood is mentioned. 
 
 But, in 1 John ii. 1, when it is a question of sin, there 
 is no need to mention it at all; for it was once offered, 
 once for all, and its virtues and merits in the putting 
 away of sin are eternal in their results. It is "eternal 
 redemi)tion," "eternal salvation." 
 
 Hence, "if any man sin we have an Advocate with the 
 Father." It does not say "a high priest with God"; for 
 that title was in connection with the priestly act of 
 access and ai)proach through blood, but "an advocate 
 with the Father." This is to remind us that relationship 
 has not been broken. He who is spoken of as "God" in 
 connection with the access of his sinful creatures, is 
 spoken of as "Father" in connection with His sinful 
 "children." 
 
 Thus, accuracy in reading shows us that these Scrip- 
 tures are Divine ; for where the Holy Spirit mentions 
 
 353 Z 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 the blood, man (if he had written it) would surely have 
 left it out ; while, where the Holy Spirit does not men- 
 tion it, man would certainly have put it in. Indeed he 
 does so, constantly, in his prayers, and in his writings. 
 
 ''Accepted'' and ''Acceptable'' (Eph. i. 6 and 2 Cor. 
 V. 9). — We must accurately note the distinction between 
 these two words. In the A.V. we have the one word 
 "accepted" in both passages; but in the Greek they are 
 different. 
 
 The former (Eph. i. 6) is ^apiioco (charitod), to make 
 one an object of favour. This refers to the standing which 
 God has given us, in Christ, in the heavenlies. 
 
 The latter (2 Cor. v. 9) is €ua^€(jTog (euarestos), well- 
 pleasing. This refers to our state, and our daily walk 
 and life on earth. 
 
 The former relates to the person, the latter to his 
 actions. 
 
 It is one thing for us to be accepted in Christ, for 
 His merits' sake; and it is another thing for our walk 
 to be ell-pleasing to God. 
 
 The former is the gift of God's grace ; the latter is the 
 fruit of that grace. 
 
 It is most important that we should be accurate in 
 noting this distinction, so that we may be preserved 
 from legality on the one hand, and from laxity on the 
 other. 
 
 All the children of God have the same standing; the 
 strongest as well as the feeblest, the oldest as well as 
 the youngest. 
 
 We do not labour to be accepted, but having been 
 "accepted in the Beloved" we make it our aim (R.V.) 
 for our walk to be acceptable. 
 
 "Man" and "men." — It is important that we should 
 be accurate in noticing such a difference between the 
 singular and the plural; for example, in this case, be- 
 tween "man" and "men," especially in the Divine use 
 of these words. 
 
 "Man," God has written down as lost, ruined, guilty, 
 helpless, and hopeless; though the world deities "man"; 
 and exalts him as having within him a part of the Divine. 
 
 354 
 
5. "MAN" AND "MEN 
 
 "Men," God graciously saves; and deals with indi- 
 vidual men in mercy, pity, and blessing; though the 
 world thinks little and makes less of individual sinners. 
 They may go to the wall for all that the world cares, 
 when it comes to showing kindness, or giving help. 
 
 In this is manifested the difference between God's 
 thoughts and the world's thoughts (Isa. Iv. 8). 
 
 God declares that "there is no good thing" in man 
 (Rom. vii. 18). The world with one voice, in Pulpit, 
 Platform, and Press, declares that there is some good 
 thing in man. 
 
 The issue is clear, sharp, and decisive ; and the only 
 question is, Do we believe what God says? or Do we 
 believe what man says? 
 
 Remembering and Forgetting. — The same difference is 
 manifested in the treatment of man by God, and by 
 the world. 
 
 As to our frailties and infirmities the world makes no 
 allowance for them. It does not remember our weak- 
 nesses; but holds us responsible for our mistakes how- 
 ever excusable. But God "knoweth our frame; He 
 remembereth that we are but dust" (Ps. ciii. 14). 
 
 As to our sins, the world remembers them. After long 
 years they are brought up against us ; and the time and 
 the circumstances are remembered, enumerated, and de- 
 scribed in all their detail. But God has written of His 
 forgiven people: "Their sins and their iniquities will I 
 remember no more" (Heb. viii. 12; x. 17. Jer. xxxi. 34). 
 
 Thus what God remembers, man forgets; and what 
 God forgets, man remembers. 
 
 2. The negative of what is said. 
 
 It is sometimes useful, if not important, to note this ; 
 and to put what is said into opposite language. 
 
 ^'Out of the Scriptures" (Acts xvii. 2).— For example, 
 in Acts xvii. 2, where Paul for "three Sabbath days 
 reasoned with them out of the Scriptures," it may be 
 well to note that it does not say, "out of the news- 
 papers" or "out of his own head." 
 
 355 Z 2 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 " Waiting for God's Son from heaven'' (1 Thess. i. 10).— 
 When we read that the Thessalonian samts were "wait- 
 ing for God's son from heaven," it is well to note what 
 they were not waiting for. 
 
 It does not say that they waited for the "Spirit of 
 God," bnt for the Son of God. 
 
 It does not say that they waited for "death," for that 
 comes without waiting for it. 
 
 It does not say that they were waiting for Titus with 
 his armies to come from Rome, but for God's Son to 
 come from heaven. 
 
 It does not say that they waited for the fulfilment 
 of prophecy, for Nebuchadnezzar's Image, or Daniel's 
 Beasts, but for "God's Son from heaven, whom He raised 
 from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the 
 wrath to come." 
 
 2 Thess. ii. 3, "Except there come the Apostasy first." 
 — V/hen it says "that day (the day of the Lord) shall not 
 come except there come the Apostasy first and that man 
 of sin be revealed, the son of perdition," we are to note 
 that it does not say, "till the world's conversion comes," 
 but till the Apostasy comes. 
 
 It does not say, "the world is not yet good enough," 
 but the world is not yet bad enough. 
 
 3. Marks of Time. 
 
 These are of the utmost importance, often pointing 
 the way to the correct interpretation; giving us the 
 clue to the explanation of some difiiculty ; or, bringing out 
 some hidden truth or beauty concealed in that particular 
 Scripture. 
 
 The second day'' (Josh. x. 31, 32). — Here we read: 
 "And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with 
 him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought 
 against it. And the Lord delivered Lachish into the 
 hand of Israel, which took it on the second day and smote 
 it with the edge of the sword." 
 
 Thus Lachish seems to be an exception to all the other 
 cities taken by Joshua at that time. Of Lachish alone 
 is it said that "he took it on the second day." 
 
 356 
 
3. MARKS OF TLME : "THE SECOND DAY 
 
 This point of accuracy invites our attention: and 
 when we give it by looking more closely into Lachish, 
 we find that — 
 
 In 2 Chron. xxxii. 9 "Sennacherib himself laid siege 
 against Lachish, and all his power with him ; " while 
 he sent Rabshakeh to Jerusalem with a summons to 
 Hezekiah. 
 
 Yet when Rabshakeh returned he "found the king of 
 Assyria warring against Libnah ; for he heard that he 
 tvas departed from Lachish'' (2 Kings xix. 8). He evi- 
 dently found Lachish a difficult place to take, as Joshua 
 had done. 
 
 We note the further confirmation of this in a reference 
 by Jeremiah to a subsequent assault by another king of 
 Babylon. He says : 
 
 "When the king of Babylon's army fought against all 
 the cities of Judah that tvere left, against Lachish, and 
 against Azekah ; for these defenced cities remained of 
 the cities of Judah" (Jer. xxxiv. 7). 
 
 So that when we read in Josh. x. 31, 32, about Joshua 
 taking Lachish on ''the second day" of the siege, we get 
 a note of time which is not a mere casual remark, but 
 is full of meaning when compared with other references 
 to the same city. 
 
 Then came Amalek" (Exod. xvii. 8). — Here we read 
 that immediately after the miraculous supply of water 
 recorded in verses 1 — 7, "THEN came Amalek and fought 
 with Israel in Rephidim." 
 
 No reason is given for this assault on the part of 
 Amalek beyond what may be inferred from the word 
 "Then." 
 
 When we consider what is recorded in remoter con- 
 texts we gather that in a land of that character, a well 
 of springing water would be a bone of contention, and a 
 possession to be coveted and, if possible, taken by force. 
 
 In Gen. xxi. 25 we read of Abraham reproving Abi- 
 melech "because of a well of water which Abimelech's 
 servants had violently taken away.'' 
 
 In Gen. xxvi. 19, 20, we read how Isaac's servants 
 found "a well of springing water, and the herdmen of 
 Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen saying the water 
 
 357 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 is ours . . . And they digged another, and strove for 
 that also." 
 
 In Exod. ii. 17 we read how the shepherds drove a- 
 way the daughters of Reuel who came to draw water ; 
 and how Moses helped them. 
 
 In Num. XX. 19 we read hoAV Israel offered in vain to 
 pay for the water as they passed through Edom; also 
 afterwards how the same offer was made to Sihon the 
 king of the Amorites. 
 
 In Judg. V. 11 Deborah sang of the wells as scenes 
 of conflict. 
 
 No wonder then that such a miraculous supply of 
 water as at Repliidim should at once become a reason 
 why Amalek should thus make this assault against Israel 
 "then." 
 
 Then will I sprinkle" (Ezek. xxxvi. 25). — 
 
 "THEN will I sprinkle clean water upon you and 
 
 ye shall be clean ; 
 From all your filthiness, and from all your idols will 
 
 I cleanse you, 
 A new heart also will I give you, 
 And a new spirit will I put within you." 
 
 When ? When Jehovah shall have taken the house of 
 Israel from among the heathen whither He has scattered 
 them, and gathered them out of all countries and brought 
 them "INTO THEIR OWN LAND" {vv. 16—24). 
 
 If we observe this mark of time, it will effectually 
 prevent our misinterpretation of this passage, and save 
 us from taking what is spoken of Israel in a future day 
 and applying it to the Church of God in the present 
 day. 
 
 ''Then shall the offering" (Mai. iii. 4).— "THEN shall 
 the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto 
 Jehovah as in the days of old, and as in former years." 
 
 When ? When Jehovah shall have sent His Messenger, 
 who will sit as a refiner and "purify the sons of Levi 
 that they may offer unto Jehovah an offering in righte- 
 ousness" (vv. 1 — 3). 
 
 358 
 
3. MARKS OF TIME: "THEN" 
 
 "THEN they tliat feared Jehovah spake often one 
 to another," etc. (Mai. iii. 16). 
 
 When? In a time of apostasy, and neglect of the 
 service and worship of Jehovah. In days of darkness 
 and "perilous times." When the godly are minished; 
 and it is difficult to find the assembly of true wor- 
 shippers. "THEN" will be the time for believers to 
 meet together, and speak often to one another and 
 "think upon His name" (vv. 7—18). 
 
 May we not apply this Scripture to the condition of 
 things in the present day, without robbing Israel of the 
 interpretation of it in a future day? 
 
 1 Thess. iv. 17. — "THEN we which are alive and re* 
 main shall be caught up with them in the clouds, to 
 meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with 
 the Lord" (1 Thess. iv. 17). 
 
 When? When the Lord Himself shall descend from 
 heaven ; and when the dead in Christ shall have first risen. 
 
 ''Then" (Matt. xxv. 1).— "THEN shall the kingdom of 
 heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their 
 lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom." 
 
 The word "then" points to the fact that this prophetic 
 parable will have its fulfilment, not now, but at that 
 parti cellar moment in the sequence of events then being 
 revealed by the Lord. 
 
 It forms part of the Lord's instruction and teaching 
 as to His coming ; and finds its place in His last great 
 prophetic discourse contained in Matt. xxiv. and xxv. 
 
 No one part may be taken out from its context, and 
 interpreted apart from it, as conveying a lesson different 
 from that which it was first intended to teach. 
 
 In the first place, the whole discourse is wrongly divided 
 from the literary point of view. The Structure and the 
 Scope combine to show that ch. xxv. should begin at 
 eh. xxiv. 29. It consists of two portions of unequal length, 
 answering to the two questions of ch. xxiv. 3. These por- 
 tions are differently constructed in order to mark their 
 different subjects and scope. 
 
 The first part is an Extended Alternation. The second 
 part is a Complex Introversion, 
 
 359 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 The questions were two in number. 
 
 (1) When (TTore, pote)? and 
 
 (2) What (r/, ti) ? 
 
 (1) ''When shall these things (spoken of) be? " 
 
 (2) ''What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of 
 the sunteleia of the age (or Dispensation)?" 
 
 Answer to the First Question, "When?" 
 
 (Matt. xxiv. 4—28). 
 
 A I 4—6. Events heard of, leading up to the end (telos), 
 \ which is "not yet." Direction to "see that ye be not 
 ! troubled." 
 
 B I 7, 8. The birth-pangs of the Great Tribulation. 
 
 C I 9, 14. Events leading up to the end (telos). 
 
 A ; 15 — 20. Events seen, sign of the end (telos). Direction 
 [to "understand it," and "flee." 
 
 B I 21, 22. The Great Tribulation itself. 
 
 C I 23—28. Events ending it. 
 
 Thus far we have the Great Tribulation : and the 
 events leading up to, characterizing, and ending it. 
 
 Now, in the second part, we have the events follow- 
 ing it. 
 
 Answer to the Second Question, "What?" 
 
 (Matt. xxiv. 29— XXV. 46). 
 
 D a I 29, 30. The Coming of the Son of Man. 
 
 31. The gathering of the elect Remnant of 
 Israel from judgment. 
 
 E c I 32—41. Parables (General). Fig-tree and 
 I Noah. 
 
 d I 42—44. Warning. "Watch." 
 e I 45 — 51. Servants (General). 
 
 E\c\ XXV. 1—12. Parable (Special). Ten Virgins, 
 j d I 13. Warning. "Watch." 
 I e I 14—30. Servants (Special). 
 
 D i a I 31. The Coming of the Son of Man. 
 
 6 I 32—46. The gathering of the nations for judg- 
 ' I ment. 
 
 360 
 
3. MARKS OF TIME : " IMMEDIATELY 
 
 From all this, which is pointed out by the word 
 *'THEN" in Matt. xxv. 1, it will be seen how impossible 
 it is for us to read the Church of God into the parable of 
 the Ten Virgins without introducing confusion of thought, 
 loss of instruction, and dislocation of our Lord's teaching. 
 
 ^'Immediately'' (Matt. xxiv. 29).— The word "Imme- 
 diately " in Matt. xxiv. 29 tells us that there is no interval 
 between the end of the Great Tribulation and the appear- 
 ing of the Son of Man in His glory, for judgment. 
 
 No room for a Millennium therefore, before that glorious 
 Advent. 
 
 No ijlace for a thousand years of universal peace and 
 blessing without Christ. 
 
 This word "immediately" writes folly on all man's 
 vaunted remedies for the world's sorrows. 
 
 It convicts of grossest ignorance all the Church's self- 
 claimed mission to "convert the world" before that 
 Advent. 
 
 If the Church is to convert the world, where is the 
 place or possibility of the Great Tribulation? 
 
 And, if the Coming of Christ folloivs that Tribulation 
 "immediately," where is there room for the conversion 
 of the world, or for any Millennium before His coming? 
 
 The whole argument which is so universally made on 
 behalf of Foreign Missions is radically false. It must be, 
 and can be based on truly Scriptural grounds, without 
 thus mangling and marring the Scriptures of truth. Not 
 only does this want of accuracy in interpreting the Word 
 of God bring it into contempt and make it of none effect ; 
 but it deceives the world, and enables the scoffer to ask, 
 "Where are the signs that your mission is being accom- 
 plished?" 
 
 The Church answers back, that though there are no 
 signs yet ; though heathen births far exceed the converts' 
 deaths, yet they are "waiting for an outpouring of the 
 •Spirit." Thus they deceive themselves with a false hope, 
 and substitute it for the true ho^je which God has given, 
 which is, "to wait for God's Son (not God's Sjjirit) from 
 heaven." 
 
 If the Church urges, as it does, that Daniel's prophecies 
 wore fulfilled under Antiochus Epiphanes, and that it was 
 
 361 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 he who set up "the abomiuation of desolation, spoken 
 of by Daniel the prophet," it is a sufficient answer to 
 point out that the Lord speaks of it, in His day, as being 
 still future, and gives solemn warning to those who shall 
 see it, to heed it and "understand" it; and adds specific 
 directions as to what they are to do. 
 
 Afterivard" (Joel ii. 28).— "And it shall come to pass 
 AFTERWARD, that I will pour out my spirit upon all 
 flesh," etc. ' 
 After what? 
 
 After God has brought Israel back into their own land) 
 and made it fruitful, and blessed it and them with all 
 blessings. If we read the previous part of the chapter we 
 can see plainly enough tvhen the pouring out of spiritual 
 gifts shall take place. The verse immediately before 
 reads : 
 
 "And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, 
 And that I am Jehovah your God, and none else : 
 And my people shall never be ashamed. 
 And it shall come to pass afterward," etc. i 
 
 This shows that Peter could not have been referring to 
 Joel to show that that prophecy was then being fulfilled, 
 for none of those things had taken place; and none of 
 those conditions had been enjoyed. 
 
 Peter is merely rebutting the charge of drunkenness, 
 and showing that it could not be true, inasmuch as similar 
 scenes were spoken of by Joel the prophet. When he 
 says, "This is that which was spoken of by the prophet 
 Joel" he can mean only this (Sing.) prophecy which he 
 proceeds to quote; not those (pi.) events which were 
 taking place. 
 
 And yet his utterance is so worded that had the 
 people and their rulers repented, as he exhorted them 
 (Acts ii. 38; iii. 19—26, R.V.), and as it was required by 
 the one great condition of the fulfilment of the promise 
 of Joel ii. 12 — 17, ithen the prophecy of Joel ii. 28 (which 
 Peter quoted) would have been fulfilled : for that will be 
 the time when the Lord will "be jealous for His LAND 
 and pity His PEOPLE," as long before foretold in "the 
 Song of Moses " (Deut. xxxii. 43). 
 
 1 On the whole context of this passage, see above, pages 297—302. 
 
 362 
 
4. MARKS OF REASONING: "THEREFORE" 
 
 At that time" (Matt. xi. 25). — This mark of time we 
 have ah^eady referred to under Canon VI. (page 323). 
 
 4. Marhs of Reasoning. 
 
 ''Therefore'' (Eph. iv. 1).— "I THEREFORE the prisoner 
 of the Lord beseech you that ye walk worthy of the calling 
 wherewith ye are called." 
 
 Why? Ch. iii. being a parenthesis between ch. ii. and 
 cli. iv. (see page 62), we see that the word "therefore" 
 stands connected with ch. ii. 22. 
 
 It is the one building "fitly framed together"; the 
 "holy temple" (ch. ii. 21, 22): It is the one body which is 
 likewise "fitly framed together" (ch. iii. 16). 
 
 "THEREFORE," endeavour to keep this unity of the 
 spirit (this spiritual unity) which God HAS MADE in 
 Christ. 
 
 Seek not to make a corporate or bodily unity ; but give 
 diligence to KEEP to the spiritual unity which God has 
 made. 
 
 To do this will require "all lowliness and meekness, 
 with longsuff ering, forbearing one another in love " {v. 2). 
 
 " Therefore . . , I charge thee" (2 Tim. iv. 1).— Here, and 
 in all similar cases where we have such words as "There- 
 fore," "Wherefore," marking logical conclusions of argu- 
 ments or statements, it is always important for us, 
 in our reading, to be most accurate, and to notice the 
 matter thus introduced and emphasized by the word 
 "therefore." This is the more important, because such 
 words, more often than not, come at the beginning of a 
 chapter, where the break is apt to sever the connection 
 between the argviment and the conclusion, between the 
 cause and the effect, or between a statement and its 
 result. 
 
 A good example is furnished in 2 Tim. iv. 1. The 
 chapter begins: 
 
 "I charge thee THEREFORE, before God and the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the 
 dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom— Preach 
 the Word" (R.V.). 
 
 Why is this charge given? and why is it given here? 
 
 363 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OP ACCURACY 
 
 The ansAver to these questions is furnished by the 
 word "therefore." Ch. iii. had ended with a statement 
 as to the wonderful profitableness of the God-breathed 
 Word, fitting out God's spokesman for every emergency 
 (see above, under Canon V., pp. 304, 305, and VI., p. 321). 
 The solemn conclusion is : — 
 
 Seeing that the Divine Word is God-breathed ;— seeing 
 that it is so profitable, — seeing that it is so necessary to 
 fit out him who thus possesses it, 
 
 THEREFORE 
 
 "Preach the Word." Note the comparison thus suggested 
 between ch. iii. 16, and ch. iv. 2. 
 
 Seeing it is profitable for "doctrine," therefore "preach 
 it in season and out of season." 
 
 Seeing it is profitable for "reproof," therefore "re- 
 prove." 
 
 Seeing it is profitable for "correction," therefore 
 "rebuke." 
 
 Seeing it is profitable for "instruction in righteous- 
 ness," therefore "exhort with all longsuffering and doc- 
 trine." 
 
 All this, and more, is wrapped up in this word "there- 
 fore." 
 
 Similar examples may be noted, and instruction gained 
 by accurately observing the occurrences of such words. 
 
 5. Numeration 
 
 It is a great question whether we have the correct 
 method of translating numbers. Each nation has its own 
 method of reckoning, and its own idioms of numeration. 
 
 We have only to go to the French and to one illustra- 
 tion to see this. Take as an example our simple ninety- 
 seven (97). How is this to be translated into French? 
 Idiomatically, of course, and not literally. The French 
 would be quatre-vingt-dix-sept, or four-twenty-ten-seven : 
 i.e., 
 
 four twenties . . . = 80 
 
 ten =10 
 
 seven = 7 
 
 97 
 
 364 
 
5. NUMERATION 
 
 Now, may it not be well to ask whether the Hebrew 
 mode of reckoning was the same as the English; or, 
 indeed, whether it was the same in Old Testament days 
 as it is to-day? 
 
 In any case, is it not wiser to ask this question instead 
 of first assuming an answer which may be incorrect, then 
 charging the error on the inspired writers, and then 
 explaining it by talking of "exaggeration," or of "round 
 numbers " ? 
 
 That is an easy, not to say the usual, way out of diffi- 
 culties which we ourselves perhaps have created. 
 
 1 Sam. VI. 19. — Infidels and Critics have brought charges 
 of error, for example, against 1 Sam. vi. 19 : 
 
 "And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because 
 they had looked into the Ark of Jehovah, even he smote 
 of the people fifty thousand and three-score and ten men " 
 (i.e., 50,070 men). 
 
 This is what the A.V. says. 
 
 But, Is this what the Word of God says? 
 
 The Hebrew of the latter clause reads : "Jehovah smote 
 seventy men, [two] fifties and one thousand." 
 
 The word "fifties" is in the Dual number, which means 
 two fifties. 
 
 So that we have, according to this— 
 
 seventy men ... 70 
 two fifties .... 100 
 one thousand . . . 1,000 
 
 or 1,170 men. 
 
 There is a slight difference it will be observed. And, 
 as Beth-shemesh was quite a small place, this smaller 
 number would appear to be more correct. 
 
 Judg. xii. 6. — Another example might be fovmd in 
 Judg. xii. 6, where we read of the tribe of Ephraim : 
 " And there fell at that time forty, and two thousand." 
 This would be . . . 40 
 and ..... 2,000 
 
 or, as we should say . . 2,040 
 
 365 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 This would be more in harmony with Num. xxvi. 37, 
 which gives the total of the second census of Ephraim as 
 82,500, while the first was not more than 40,500 (Num. i. 33). 
 Not only is the above 7nore in harmony, for the other 
 reckoning is out of all harinony ; as those slain of the 
 tribe would be more than the number of the whole tribe, 
 within about three hundred years. 
 
 The Census of Num. i. and xxvi. — This leads to another 
 suggestion which is made by Professor W. M. Flinders 
 Petrie in his Researches in Sinai.^ His suggestion is that 
 in the two Census Lists of Num. i. and xxvi. the word 
 Eleph, thousand, should be taken in the sense of family 
 or tent. He would then reckon, Reuben (Num. i. 21) as 
 "46 eleph 500 people": i.e., eleven to a tent. 
 
 But the objection to this is (1) that it is not "people," 
 but the "men over twenty years of age"; (2) that the 
 first list works out at 598 eleph 5,550 men over twenty 
 years old (not people), whereas it is several times given 
 as 603 eleph 3,550 men ; which shows that the 598 and 5,550 
 must be reckoned as thousands, in order to arrive at the 
 totals as given in Exod. xxxviii. 26. Num. i. 46; ii. 32, 
 viz., 598,000 + 3,550 = 603,550 (compare Exod. xii. 37. Num. 
 xi. 21). 
 
 We must therefore conclude that Moses knew more 
 about what he was writing than explorers and critics 
 can imagine. 
 
 Our suggestion as given above does not lie under these 
 serious objections, but relates merely to the principle 
 underlying the method of numeration, and the idioms 
 used in stating it. 
 
 6. Names of Persons and Places, 
 
 Accuracy is also required in the study of the names 
 of persons and places. Apart from Scripture evidence 
 we know that, in all countries, many places and persons 
 have the same name; while on the other hand some are 
 known by, and have, several names. 
 
 We should expect, therefore, to find these phenomena 
 in the Bible. 
 
 1 London : John Murray, 1906 ; pp. 194—223. 
 
 366 
 
6. NAMES OF PERSONS 
 
 So far from being a discrepancy which amounts to 
 an objection, it is only a difficulty calling for greater 
 accuracy and care in our study of the Word. 
 
 Moreover, it is an argument for the veracity of God's 
 Word, in that, what are difficulties to us, are left unex- 
 plained because the truth as to the facts was perfectly 
 well known. 
 
 (a) As to Persons. 
 
 1. The same name was home by different persons then, 
 as now. 
 
 This is particularly noticeable in the case of James. 
 Jambs.— We have to distinguish: 
 
 (1) James the son of Zebedee, and brother of John 
 
 (Matt. iv. 21 ; xvii. 1, etc.). 
 
 (2) James the son of Alphseus, one of the Twelve 
 
 (Mark iii. 18. Matt. x. 3, etc.). 
 
 (3) James the Lord's brother (Gal. i. 19. Matt. xiii. 
 
 55. Mark vi. 3). 
 John.— We have to distinguish— 
 
 (1) John the Baptist (Matt. iii. 4). 
 
 (2) John the Apostle (Mark i. 20). 
 
 (3) John Mark (Acts xii. 12, 25 ; xiii. 5, 13 ; xv. 37). 
 
 (4) John of Acts iv. 6. 
 
 Simon was a name borne by at least ten persons in the 
 New Testament. There were— 
 
 (1) Simon (Luke ii. 25). 
 
 (2) Simon Peter the Apostle. 
 
 (3) Simon Zblotes, one of the Twelve (Luke vi. 15. 
 
 Acts i. 13). This is the same as Simon the 
 Cananite (Matt. x. 4. Mark iii. 18), being the 
 Aramaic for Zelotes, both meaning Zeal or 
 Zealot; the name of a Jewish sect. 
 
 (4) Simon son of Joseph and Mary (Matt. xiii. 55. 
 
 Mark vi. 3). 
 
 (5) Simon the father of Judas Iscariot (John vi. 71 ; 
 
 xii. 4; xiii. 2, 26). 
 
 (6) Simon the Pharisee (Luke vii. 40, 43, 44). 
 
 (7) Simon the Leper (Matt. xxvi. 0. Mark xiv. 3). 
 
 (8) Simon the CYRENiAN(Matt. xxvii. 32. Mark xv. 21). 
 
 (9) Simon the Tanner (Acts ix. 43; x. 0, 32). 
 
 (10) Simon Magus (Acts viii. 9, 13). 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OP ACCURACY 
 
 Herod was a name borne by seven different persons : 
 
 (1) Herod the Great of whom we read in Matt. ii. 
 
 and Luke i. He died in the year of the true 
 Nativity (B.C. 4). During his last ilhiess he 
 ordered the slaughter of the children at Beth- 
 lehem (Matt. ii. 16—18). 
 
 (2) Herod Antipas, son of Herod I., Tetrarch of 
 
 Galilee (Luke iii. 1), the central portion of king- 
 dom of Herod I. He was the half-brother of 
 Herod Philip I. and abducted his wife Herodias 
 and married her (Matt. xiv. 3. Luke iii. 19. 
 Mark. vi. 17). He heard John gladly, but 
 afterwards beheaded him (Mark vi. 20). This 
 was the Herod to whom the Lord was sent for 
 trial (Luke xxiii. 8 — 12). 
 
 (3) Herod Archelaus, son of Herod I. Ethnarcli of 
 
 portion of kingdom of Herod I., on account of 
 whom Joseph turned aside into Galilee (Matt. 
 
 ii. 22). 
 
 (4) Herod Philip L, son of Herod I., without terri- 
 
 tory. Husband of Herodias, who was abducted 
 and married by Herod Antipas (Matt. xiv. 3. 
 Mark vi. 17. Luke iii. 19). 
 
 (5) Herod Philip II., son of Herod I., Tetrarch of the 
 
 N.E. portion of kingdom of Herod I. (Luke 
 
 iii. 1). Built Csesarea Philippi (Matt. xvi. 13. 
 Mark viii. 27). 
 
 (G) Herod Agrippa L, grandson of Herod I., suc- 
 ceeded Philip II. Put James to death, and 
 Peter in prison (Acts xii.). 
 
 (7) Herod Agrippa II., son of Agrippa I., whom he 
 succeeded in part. The Herod before whom 
 Paul stood (Acts xxv. 13). 
 
 The same name in some cases arises from the fact that 
 it is a title associated with royalty; just as the words 
 "Czar," "Kaiser," etc. 
 
 Abimelech was the common name for the kings of 
 
 the Philistines. 
 Agag, for the kings of the Amalekites. 
 CiBSAR, for the emperors of Rome. 
 
 368 
 
SAME PERSON, DIFFERENT NAMES 
 
 Pharaoh, for the kings of the Egyptians, such as 
 Pharaoh Hophra (Jer. xUv. 30); Pharaoh Neclio 
 (2 Kings xxiii. 29, 33, 34, 35. Jer. xlvi. 2). 
 
 We may learn a solemn lesson from the history of the 
 calamitous and fatal matrimonial alliance of Jehoram the 
 son of Jehoshaphat with Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab 
 and Jezebel.^ 
 
 We find, after this, the same names being given to 
 members of both families, showing how close this alliance 
 became, and how the evil leaven worked and permeated 
 the whole mass. 
 
 Not only Avas the house of Jehovah broken up and the 
 vessels thereof taken to the house of Baal, but the two 
 families became alike in their life and their religion. 
 
 Care has to be taken by the Bible student in the midst 
 of the confusion created for him by this unholy alliance : 
 and the difficulties caused by it have to be noted and 
 unravelled. 
 
 2. The same person has different names,- or more than one : 
 Abiel (1 Sam. ix. 1) is Ner of 1 Chron. ix. 39. 
 ISHUi (1 Sam. xiv. 49) is Abinadab of ch. xxxi. 2. 
 Abimelech of Ps. xxxiv. (Title) is Achish of 1 Sam. 
 
 xxi. 11. (See above.) 
 Levi (Luke v. 27) is the same as Matthew. 
 Thomas and Didymus are the Hebrew and Greek 
 
 words respectively for twins. 
 SiLVANUS (2 Cor. i. 19. 1 Thess. i. 1. 1 Pet. v. 12) is 
 
 the same as Silas (Acts xv. 22, 27, 34, 40; xvi. 
 
 19, 25). 
 
 Timotheus (Acts xvi. 1, etc.) is Timothy. 
 
 Cephas (John i. 42. 1 Cor. i. 12 ; iii. 22 ; ix. 5 ; xv. 5. 
 Gal. ii. 9) is the Aramaic for the Greek Peter. 
 His Hebrew name was Simeon or Simon. Hence 
 he was sometimes called Simon Peter. But 
 there were several who are known by the name 
 of Simon. (See above, page 307). 
 
 1 See the separate pamphlet on Jehoshaphat : a Lesson for our Times, by the 
 same author and publisher. 
 
 - Soiiiotiiues this is onlj' apparent, as in the case of Jesus, which is the 
 Greek form of Joshua (Acts vii. 45. Hcb. iv. 8). Christ is the Greek for 
 the Hebrew Messiah. Rempiian (Acts vii. 43) is the Greek for Chiun 
 (Amos V, 2fj). So in the same way Alleluia (Rev. xix. 1, 3, 4, G) is the Greek 
 form of tlio HelM'cw Hallelujah. 
 
 309 
 
 A A 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 Esau's wives.— Perhaps one of the most intricate of 
 these problems is that of Esau's wives. As infidels and 
 "higher" critics (which too often mean very much the 
 same thing) have sometimes referred to this as showing 
 the human element in an untrustAvorthy record, it may 
 be well to say a few words about it. 
 
 In Gen. xxxvi. 1 — 3 we have "the generations of Esau." 
 This, therefore, is the correct and standard genealogy 
 which must be our foundation. 
 
 Here Esau's wives are stated to be three in number; 
 and their names are thus definitely stated: 
 
 (1) Adah. 
 
 (2) Aholibamah. 
 
 (3) Bashemath. 
 
 (1) As to the first, Adah, she was the daughter of Elon 
 the Hittite. In Gen. xxvi. 34 she has a second name, 
 Bashemath, which happened to be the same as that of 
 the first name of the third wife, and therefore is dropped 
 here. 
 
 (2) As to the second, Aholibamah, she was the daughter 
 of Anah the Hivite ' (Gen. xxxvi. 3, 14, 25). In Gen. xxvi. 34 
 she is called Judith, and her father is called Beeri the 
 Hittite.^ Doubtless Anah got this name later on, from 
 a fact that is mentioned in ch. xxxvi. 24 concerning Anah. 
 "This is that Anah who found - the hot springs* in the 
 wilderness as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father." 
 
 This was the origin of his other name Beeri or the 
 spring-man, or the man that discovered the hot springs. 
 
 (3) As to the third, Bashemath, she was the daughter 
 of Ishmael and had a second name Mahalath (ch. 
 xxviii. 9). 
 
 1 In Gen. xxvi. 34 he is called "Hittite." Hittite is the general name, which 
 includes the Hivite, which is particular. Ch. xxvi. 34 is history, but ch. xxxvi. 2 
 is genealogy, and is therefore more precise (see Josh. i. 4. 1 Kings x. 29. 2 Kings 
 vii. 6). In Gen. xxviii. 8 these Hittite wives are called "daughters of Canaan," 
 i.e., the general name. 
 
 2 The Hebrew is SVD {mdtza), to happen on, meet ifith,find, discover (not 
 to invent or find out). 
 
 3 Hebrew, □"•DTI (hayyenvim), hot springs. (The Vulgate has aquce. calidce. 
 Probably the Calirrhoe in the Wady Zerka Maein, or Wady el Asha, S.E. of 
 the Dead Sea.) Hence Anah was called Beeri, which would mean the spring, 
 man. It certainly cannot mean mules, as the word for mules is DHIS 
 (pej'ddim). (See 2 Sam. xiii. 29 ; xviii. 9. 1 Kings x. 25. 2 Kings v. 17. Ps.xxxii.9). 
 
 370 
 
NAMES OP PERSONS: ESAU'S WIVES 
 
 There is no difficulty, therefore, it' we accurately note 
 these different names ; and remember that a forger Avould 
 be perfectly sure to have made all clear, and have left 
 no such matters in doubt ; also that women, as a rule, 
 received a second or additional name on their marriage. 
 
 3. Changes in Ncmies. — In some cases different names 
 came from a definite change, as Abraham for Abram 
 (Gen. xvii. 5). Boanerges for John and James, Peter 
 for Simon (Mark iii. 16, 17). Paul for Saul (Acts xiii. 9). 
 Daniel and his three companions (Dan. i. 7). Joseph 
 (Gen. xli. 45). 
 
 4. The Divine Names and Titles.— These also need 
 careful discrimination if we would explain difficulties, 
 and see new beauties in the words of God. 
 
 There is no need to say anything on the subject here, 
 as the whole svibject is referred to above (p. 312); and is 
 fully dealt with in our separate pamphlet on this subject. 
 
 (6) Of places. 
 
 (1) The same name was given to different places. 
 Caesarea 
 
 (1) Was given to Dan, before called Laish (see 
 below), and 
 
 (2) Was called C^sarea Philippi ^ (Matt. xvi. 
 13. Mark viii. 27) to distinguish it from Caesarea 
 of Palestine, which was on the coast (Acts xviii. 
 22 ; X. 1, 24 ; xii. 19 ; xxi. 8 ; xxv. 6, 13). 
 
 Antioch was the name of 
 
 (1) A city in Syria (Acts xi. 20—26) ; and 
 
 (2) A city of Pisidia (Acts xiii. 14). 
 
 Dan was the Jiame of a city or country in the north 
 of Palestine (Gen. xiv. 14. Dent, xxxiv. 1), long 
 before the tribe of Dan changed the name of 
 quite another place (before called Laish) to the 
 name of their ancestor, Dan (Judges xviii. 29). 
 
 Because heaut ifled by Philip the Tetrarch, now known a.s Banias, 
 
 371 A a 2 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 Bethsaida : 
 
 (1) The city of Andrew and Peter on the N.E. 
 shore of Galilee (John i. 44), called iro^^ig (polis), 
 a city. 
 
 (2) On the W. shore (called KcofxT) (kome), a 
 village, Mark viii. 22, 23). 
 
 (3) Of Gaulonitis, Luke ix. 10 (afterwards called 
 Julias). 
 
 Bberoth : 
 
 (1) In Benjamin, Josh. ix. 1—18. 2 Sam. iv. 2. 
 
 (2) Of the children of Jaakan, Deut. x. 6 (Num. 
 xxxiii. 31, 32, called Bene-jaakan). 
 
 Ramah : 
 
 (1) A city of Benjamin (Judg. iv. 5 ; xix. 13. 
 1 Sam. xxii. 6. Jer. xxxi. 15. Matt. ii. 18). 
 
 (2) In Asher (Josh. xix. 29). 
 
 (3) In Naphtali (Josh. xix. 36). 
 
 (4) In Gilead (2 Kings viii. 29. 2 Chron. xxii. 6). 
 
 (5) The birth-place of Samuel (1 Sam. i. 19; 
 ii. 11, etc.). 
 
 Sometimes these names were so indeterminate that it 
 was necessary to couple with them some explanatory 
 word 
 
 KiRJATH. From Kir, a tvall or icalled. Hence we 
 have : 
 
 (1) Kirjatli Arba (Gen. xxiii. 2; xxxv. 27. Josh, 
 xiv. 15 ; XV. 13, 54 ; xx. 7 ; xxi. 11. Neh. xi. 25). 
 
 (2) Kirjath Baal (Josh. xv. 60; xviii. 14). 
 
 (3) Kirjath Huzoth (Num. xxii. 39). 
 
 (4) Kirjath Jearim (Ezra ii. 25. Josh. ix. 17). 
 
 (5) Kirjath Seplier (Josh. xv. 15, 16. Judg. i. 
 11, 12). 
 
 (6) Kirjath Sannah (Josh. xv. 49). 
 
 Aram (meaning high, but translated "Syria"). From 
 this we have : 
 
 (1) Aram of Damascus (2 Sam. viii. 5, 6). 
 
 (2) Aram-beth-Rehob (2 Sam. x. 6). 
 
 (3) Aram-Zobah (2 Sam. x. 6). 
 
 (4) Aram-Naharaim (i.e., Aram of the two 
 rivers, translated " Mesopotamia"), (Gen. xxiv. 10. 
 Compare ch. xxvii. 43). 
 
 372 
 
SAME PLACES, DIFFERENT NAMES 
 
 So that if we note accurately the use of these various 
 names we shall not, like many, jump to the conclusion 
 that there must be a "discrepancy." 
 
 The same phenomena are seen in all countries.^ 
 
 (2) The same place has different names, 
 Jegar-Sahadutha was the Aramaic name, but the 
 
 Hebrew name was Galeed (both having the 
 
 same meaning) (Gen. xxxi. 47). 
 Luz was afterwards called Bethel (Gen. xxviii. 19). 
 Hermon was known as Sirion by the Sidonians, 
 
 and as Shenir by the Amorites (Deut. iii. 9), 
 
 also by the name of SiON (ch. iv. 48). 
 Egypt was known as Ham (Pss. Ixxviii. 51 ; cv. 23), 
 
 and as Rahab (Pss. Ixxxvii. 4 ; Ixxxix. 10. Isa. 
 
 li. 9). 
 
 Jerusalem is called Ariel (The lion of God, Isa. 
 
 xxix. 1), as it had been called Jebus by the 
 
 Jebusites (Judg. xix. 10). 
 Babylon is called Sheshak (Jer. xxv. 26). 
 C^SAREA in Galilee was called Laish at first, and 
 
 was afterwards known as Dan (Judg. xviii. 29. 
 
 1 Kings xii. 29). This has to be distinguished 
 
 from another C^sarea, which was on the coast 
 
 (Acts xviii. 22, see above). 
 The Lake of Gennesareth w^as known also as the 
 
 Sea op Tiberias, and as the Sea op Galilee 
 
 (John vi. 1, 23). Also as Chinnereth. 
 Charran of Acts vii. 2 is the Haran of Gen. xi. 
 Aram is the same as Mesopotamia and Syria (Num. 
 
 xxiii. 7). 
 MiZRAiM is Egypt. 
 
 Laish was afterwards called Dan (Judg. xviii. 29). 
 Sinai is known also as Horeb. 
 
 7. Chronology. 
 Accurate reading of the words, as written, will soon 
 make it apparent that there is no Chronology as such in 
 the Scriptures. Years are numbered not as dates, but 
 as to duration. And when dates are used they are 
 
 1 Note the eight "Suttons," and combined with other words, 2f) more; the 
 ten "Miltons"; the eleven "Nowports"; the eleven ''Newton.s" and 30 com- 
 binations with other distingui.sliing names. 
 
 373 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 reckoned as having happened in a certain year from some 
 event, or from the commencement of a reign, or a cap- 
 tivity, etc. : otherAvise, the years are reckoned only as being 
 So many, during a certain period. This is the case with 
 
 The 120 years of Gen. vi. 3.— These are usually taken 
 as referring to one hundred and twenty years of proba- 
 tion before the Flood. But, is this the case? The A.V. 
 reads: "Jehovah said, My spirit shall not ahvays strive 
 with man, for that he also is flesh ; yet his days shall 
 be a hundred and tAventy years." 
 
 There are several traditional interpretations of this 
 verse, all equally unsatisfactory. 
 
 There is the fanciful Rabbinical one which makes it 
 refer to Moses's age. 
 
 The popular idea is that it refers to the period of pro- 
 bation between that time and the Flood : another ex- 
 planation refers it to the altered duration of human life. 
 
 But, if we note accurately the words employed an- 
 other interpretation will be suggested. 
 
 (1) The word rendered "man" is DTi< ('acZam), Adam. 
 It occurs thirty-seven times in these early chapters of 
 Genesis (from Gen. i. — vi. 3), and is rendered Adam nine- 
 teen times and man eighteen times. It occurs without 
 the article twelve times. ^ 
 
 (2) It occurs with the article D"lKn (hadddm), twenty- 
 one times.^ 
 
 (3) It occurs not only with the article, but with this 
 and the very strong demonstrative (eth) four times.^ 
 Eth means self, this same, this very, and is quite emphatic* 
 
 (4) Nos. 2 and 3 always mean the man, Adam. 
 
 1 Gen. i. 26 ; ii. 5, 20 (2nd) ; iii. 17, 21 ; iv. 25 ; v. 1 (twice), 2, 3, 4, 5. 
 
 2 Gen. ii. 7 (2nd), 16, 18, 19 (twice), 20 (1st), 21, 22 (twice), 23, 25; ch. iii. 8, 9, 12, 
 20, 22, 24 ; iv. 1 ; vi. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 3 Gen. i. 27 ; ii. 7 (1st), 8, 15. 
 
 4 In order tliat the reader may judge for himself, we give all the above 
 passages in their order, indicating which of the three forms of the word is 
 used in each : — 
 
 1. Gen. i. 26. 
 
 2. 
 
 Gen. ii. 20 (Ist). 
 
 1. 
 
 Gen. iii. 21. 
 
 3. „ i. 27. 
 
 1. 
 
 „ ii. 20 (2nd). 
 
 2. 
 
 „ iii. 22, 24. 
 
 1. „ ii. 5. 
 
 2. 
 
 „ ii. 21, 22 (twice). 
 
 2. 
 
 „ iv. 1. 
 
 3. „ ii. 7 (1st). 
 
 
 [23, 25. 
 
 1. 
 
 „ iv. 25. 
 
 2. „ ii. 7 (2nd). 
 
 2. 
 
 „ iii. 8, 9, 12. 
 
 1. 
 
 „ V. 1 (twice), 2, 
 
 3. „ ii. 8, 15. 
 
 1. 
 
 „ iii. 17. 
 
 
 [3, 4, 5. 
 
 2. „ ii. 16, 18, 19 
 
 2. 
 
 ,, iii. 20. 
 
 2. 
 
 „ vi. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 [(twice). ' 
 
 374 
 
7. CIIRONOT.OGY 
 
 Where it occurs without the article it is rendered 
 "Adam," except in Gen. i. 26 and ii. 5, where it is ren- 
 dered "man." 
 
 Where it is used without the article and with the 
 pronoun and verb in the plural number, as in ch. i. 26, it 
 denotes man or mankind as such ("Let us make inaii 
 (sing.) . . . and let them have dominion," etc.). 
 
 In Gen. vi. 1 we have Adam in the singular with the 
 article, and it means, "Adam began to multiply, and 
 daughters were born to them." Here the plural pronoun 
 shows that Eve is associated with Adam as in ch. v. 2. 
 
 In Gen. vi. 3 it must mean the man Adam, because it 
 has the article and is followed by the pronovm and the 
 verb in the Singular Number: "because that he also is 
 flesh." The Hebrew is {^^IH D5''^*5 {beshaggdm hu \ because 
 that also he. This has no sense whatever if it does not 
 refer to the man Adafn. To whom does the word "also" 
 refer if it refers not to him ? If men as such were meant, it 
 would say, "for that they also are flesh": but it says, 
 "for that he also is." That is to say, Adam had become 
 like the others. He was flesh as they were. All flesh had 
 corrupted his way on the earth. Noah and his family 
 alone had preserved their breed "perfect" (v. 8): Hebrew, 
 D'*/!Dri (tdmim), ivithout blemish.^ 
 
 The word "generations" occurs twice inverses. The 
 first time it means Noah's family history (Toleddth); but 
 the second is a different word (Dor), and means his 
 contemporaries. 
 
 This is the third reference to the man Adam's end. In 
 Gen. ii. 17 it was prophetically announced. In ch. iii. 22—21 
 he Avas driven out from the tree of life that he might not 
 eat and live for ever ; and now, here, the actual year of 
 his death was fixed. He should live 120 years more, but 
 not for ever. 
 
 In Gen. vi. 3 we have a chronological indication of the 
 date of this announcement. Adam lived, altogether, 
 930 years. If we deduct from this, these 120 years, we get 
 A.M. 810 as the date. But the corruption spoken of in 
 this chapter must have commenced much earlier. - 
 
 1 And is generally so rcnrlercfl. See Exofl. xii. 5; xxix. 1. Leviticus and 
 Numbers throughout. 
 
 2 See Thiiif/s to Come, Vol. VIII., pp. 11, 58, 97; xi. 110, 111. m. 
 
 375 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 The word rendered "strive" is pi (dun). It occurs 
 only here. The Ancient Versions (the Sept., Syriac, 
 Arabic, and Latin) give it the sense of remaining or 
 dtvelling. They are right ; and what Gen. vi. 3 actually 
 says is, "My spirit (or, breath of life) shall not always 
 remain in Adam, for that he also is flesh." (Compare 
 Isa. Ivii. 16). 
 
 "Spirit," here, must mean "breath," or life, as in 
 verse 17; vii. 15, 22.' 
 
 Both A.V. and R.V. use a small " s " and not a capital 
 letter. 
 
 The 400 years of Gen. xv. 13 and Acts vii. 6 (see above 
 under Canon V. b., pages 58 and 302). 
 
 The 430 years of Exod. xii. 40 and Gal. Hi. 17 (see above 
 
 under Canon V., pages 58 and 302), and 
 The 450 years of Acts xiii, 20, and 
 The 490 years of Dan. ix. 24. 
 
 These are part of a larger period: the second of the 
 four periods of 490 years, which was the duration of the 
 four hundred and seventy hebdomads, or seventy sevens 
 of years, during which Jehovah stood in special covenant 
 relation with Israel. As these were covenant relations, 
 the years when those relations were interrupted were 
 not reckoned in the number of the years of such 
 periods. 
 
 Just as, in this present interval, while Israel is Lo ammi, 
 ("not my people," Hos. i. 9, 10. Isa. liv. 7, 8), the years 
 are not reckoned, but are deducted from the 490 years. 
 
 The first of these periods is reckoned from the birth 
 of Abraham (Gen. xi. 26) to the Exodus. But to get these 
 490 years we must deduct fifteen years. And these were i 
 exactly the number of years that Ishmael Avas in Abra- 
 ham's house. 
 
 The second period of 490 years is reckoned from the 
 Exodus (Exod. xii. 40, 41) to the Foundation of Solo- 
 mon's Temple (1 Kings vi. 1). But to get this 490 years 
 
 ^ n-1"l (ruach) is rendered breath in Gen. vi. 16; vii. 15, 22. 2 Sam. x xii. 16. 
 Jobiv. 9; ix. 18; xii. 10; xv. 30; xvii. 1 ; xix. 17; s: cvii. 3, marg. Ps. xviii. 15; 
 xxxiii. 6 ; civ. 29 ; cxxxv. 17 ; cxlvi. 4. Eccles. iii. 19. Isa. xi. 4 ; xxx. 28 ; xxxiii. 11. 
 Jer. X. 14 ; li. 17. Lam. iv. 20. Ezek. xxxvii. 5, 6, 8. 0, 10. Hab. ii. Id. 
 
 376 
 
8. SYNONYMOUS GREEK WORDS. 
 
 we must deduct the ninety-three years of the captivities 
 of Judges,^ and add three years for the building.^ 
 
 The ^80th year of 1 Kings vi. 1 is an Ordinal number, 
 and not a Cardhial number. It is the four hundred and 
 eightiETH year after the Exodus, omitting the ninety- 
 three years referred to above. 
 
 The third period of 490 years is reckoned from the 
 Dedication of Solomon's Temple (1 Kings vi. 1) to "the 
 going forth of the Decree to restore and rebuild Jeru- 
 salem" (Dan. ix. 24—27, Neh. ii. 1). But to get these 
 490 years we must deduct the seventy years of the 
 Captivity in Babylon. 
 
 The fourth period of 490 years dates from the going 
 forth of the Decree (Neh. ii. 1—8), B.C. 454, to the consum- 
 mation ; deducting the years of this present interval, 
 dating from "cutting olf of the Messiah " (Dan. ix. 26) to 
 the fulness of the times of the Gentiles (Luke xxi. 24, 
 Isa. lix. 19, 20).2 
 
 That there are such parentheses in God's reckonings ; 
 and the particular parenthesis of this present Dispensa- 
 tion see above under "Rightly Dividing the Word of 
 Truth as to its Times and Dispensations." See Part I., 
 above, pages 100—104. 
 
 8. Synonymous Greek Words. 
 The importance of accuracy in discriminating many 
 synonymous Greek words cannot be overrated. This can 
 be done by English readers who know little or nothing 
 of Greek by the use of our Lexicon and Concordance. By 
 means of this the meaning of any Greek word can be seen 
 at a glance, and the different shades of meaning between 
 various words which are similarly translated. Among 
 the most important are the words rendered "world," 
 "wash," "if," "search," "hell," "judgment," "no," and 
 "not." 
 
 There are 32 different Greek words rendered "come," 
 10 "destroy," 18 "receive," 5 "rest" (noun), 8 "say," 
 13 "see," 12 "deliver," 13 "in," 20 "show," 13 "then," 12 
 "think," 17 "when," 22 "for," 11 "suffer," 22 "take," 
 17 "therefore," 14 "call," 12 "behold," 6 "know," 9 "leave," 
 
 1 See Things to Come, Vol. II., p. 184, and Vol. IV., p. 104. 
 
 2 See Thinus to Come, Vol. VII., p. 57. 
 
 377 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OP ACCURACY 
 
 10 "ordain," 14 "make," 7 "master," 7 "mind," 16 "give," 
 21 "go," 15 "keep," 5 "pray," 6 "preach," 4 "redeem," 
 8 "wash," 12 "perceive," 4 "perfect," 6 "perish," etc. 
 
 It will thus be seen that Cruden's Concordance, while 
 indispensable for the purpose of finding a particular 
 passage, is misleading for finding the sense of it, if we 
 suppose that in each passage we have the same Greek 
 word. 
 
 Sometimes the same English word occurs only in two 
 passages, but in each case it may be a different word in 
 the Greek; e.g., "found," "be spent," "spill," "tidings," 
 "victuals," "company with," "censer," "certain" (adj.), 
 "deceitful," "settle," " unmoveable," "unreasonable," 
 "bring word," "eye-witness," "joyfully," "justification," 
 "unblameable," "miAvise," "be Avearied," "young," "as- 
 sent," "last," "lend," "liberality," "malefactor," "melt," 
 "spy," "stay," "make straight," "support," "unawares," 
 "mist," "pollution," "powerful," "purification," "quar- 
 rel," "be quiet," "quietness," "race," "reason," "religious," 
 "rust." 
 
 Sometimes an English word will occur three times, and 
 each time represent a different Greek word : e.g., "imagi- 
 nation," "merchandise," "press," "reasoning," "roar," 
 "sorcerer," "stand with," "subvert," "swift," "break 
 up," "trial," " uncircumcised," "unruly," "vehemently," 
 "vile," "confer," "brightness," "bring again," "assay." 
 
 "Tempest" occurs four times, each time representhig 
 a different Greek word. So also does "throng." 
 
 "Purpose" occurs seven times, and six out of the seven 
 represent different Greek words. 
 
 "Stir up" occurs nine times as a rendering of eight 
 different Greek words. 
 
 "Strengthen" occurs nine times, and represents seven 
 different Greek words. 
 
 These examples (taken promiscuously) will be sufficient 
 to show the importance of accuracy when we sit down 
 to interpret the "words which the Holy Ghost teacheth." 
 
 We can, commend, therefore, the use of our own 
 Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and 
 Greek Netv Testaments, because all the occurrences of the 
 English word on which light is sought are given in one 
 list, in which the Greek words are referred to by numbers; 
 
 378 
 
9. SYNONYMOUS HEBREW WORDS 
 
 and the correct meaning is seen at a glance. Young's 
 Co7icordance gives as many separate lists of passages as 
 there are Greek words, and each list has to be examined 
 in turn : e.g., if there are twelve Greek words the reader 
 has to wade through twelve separate lists of words. 
 Moreover, the Lexicographical part is very meagre, gener- 
 ally giving only one meaning ; and what is more, it is not 
 critical : that is to say, it gives the word which stands 
 in the Textus Receptus, but does not indicate any of the 
 Various Readings whi^h are found in the MSS. or in the 
 Greek Texts of the various printed editions. 
 
 Our own work gives, in addition to all this, an In- 
 dex of Greek Words showing all the various renderings 
 of each, and the number of times such rendering is 
 given. 
 
 9. Synonymous Hehreiv Words. 
 
 We have a similar jjlienomenon in the case of the 
 rendering of Hebrew words. 
 
 No less than 66 different Hebrew words are translated 
 "bring," 45 "lay," 49 "make," 24 "think," 74 "take," 23 
 "run," 24 "keep," 21 "join," 26 "hold," 26 "high," 29 "grief," 
 23 "grow," 26 "turn," 30 "trouble," 35 "give," 68 "go," 
 23 "burn," 47 "come," 26 "cover," 25 "deliver," 55 "de- 
 stroy," 12 "eat," 27 "end," 30 "fail," 24 "fall." 
 
 Our English word " know" is used to represent 5 Hebrew 
 words, "judge" 10, "iniquity" 7, "increase" 17, "hear "4, 
 "haste" 14, "habitation" 11, "prophet" 5, "wicked" 13, 
 "Avorld" 5, "worm" 4, "work" 21, "word" 5, "good" 13, 
 "grave" 8, "guide" 9, "hand" 13, "hard" 14, "heart" 7, 
 " congregation " 4. 
 
 The importance of this branch of our subject will be 
 seen in connection with such words as " man," which 
 represents thirteen different Hebrew words, four of which 
 it is very important for us to distinguish, e.g. : 
 
 Cddmn), man as a created being, and as de- 
 sceiided from the first man. 
 tJ^^X C^'^'^^)? <^ notable man of quality or degree, 
 tJ^i^X Cendsfi), a frail, mortal ma.n. 
 ig^'Ver), a strong or mighty man, 
 379 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 Sometimes an English rendering is nsed only twice, 
 and each time it is a different Hebrew word : 
 
 "Haven." Gen. xlix. 13 (coast). Ps. cvii. 30 (desti- 
 nation). 
 
 "Apiece." 1 Kings vii. 15 (one). Num. vii. 86 (a 
 
 spoon, lit. each spoon). 1 Kings vii. 15 (pillar, 
 
 lit. each pillar). 
 "Behead." 2 Sam. iv. 7 (to take off). Dent. xxi. 6 
 
 (break the neck). 
 "Bunch." Exod. xii. 22 (a bundle). Isa. xxx. 6 
 
 (canieVs bunch). 
 "Cliff." Job xxx. (5 (anything inspiring terror). 
 
 2 Cliron. xx. 16 (a7i ascent). 
 " Convey." 1 Kings v. 9 (to place). Neh. ii. 7 (to pass). 
 "Decrease." Gen. viii. 5 (to grow less). Ps. cvii. 38 (to 
 
 be feiv). 
 
 "Enjoin." Est. ix. 31 (ordain, decree). Job xxxvi. 
 
 23 (give charge over). 
 "Even." Job xxxi. 6 (righteousness, lit. a righteous 
 
 balance). Ps. xxvi. 12 (plain, smooth). 
 
 Sometimes one English word occurs only three times, 
 and each time represents a different Hebrew word : 
 
 "Appease." Gen. xxxii. 20 (cover or propitiate). 
 
 Est. ii. 1 (subside). Prov. xv. 18 (to still). 
 "Deprive." Gen. xxvii. 45 (to be bereaved). Job 
 
 xxxix. 17 (to cause to forget). Isa. xxxviii. 10 
 
 (made to miss, i.e., to ivant). 
 
 The Hebrew words for "Tabernacle" must be carefully 
 distinguished ; e.g. : 
 
 Cohel), tent, has regard to the place where 
 the people or congregation assembled. 
 
 i'yi^'i-^hcdn), tabernacle, has regard to the place 
 where God dwelt. 
 
 The Hebrew words rendered "sin" are also to be 
 distinguished : 
 
 D^K Cdshdm), is sin moral or ceremonial committed 
 
 T T 
 
 through mistake or ignorance. Usually trans- 
 lated trespass. 
 
 380 
 
9. SYNONYMOUS HEBREW WORDS 
 
 {chdtdh), sin, as a missing of the mark ; a 
 falling short of what ought to be done. 
 (^avon), sin, as to its nature and consequences, 
 iniquity. 
 
 V^B ipesha'), Sin, as revolting from constituted 
 authority. 
 
 n^t^ (shdgah), error through inadvertence. 
 
 These examples are taken out at random, merely to 
 serve as illustrations of this branch of our subject. 
 
 As to helps for these Old Testament Words, there is 
 Strong's Concordance, or Young's. The drawbacks to the 
 latter are stated above (see p. 379). 
 
 Far and away the best is The Bible Student's Guide, 
 by the late Rev. W. Wilson, D.D., Canon of Winchester, 
 the second edition of which Avas published by Macmillan 
 & Co. in 1870. It is, unfortunately, out of print, and can 
 noAV occasionally be obtained second-hand.' It is on 
 exactly the same lines as our Lexicon mid Concordance 
 of the Greek New Testament, 
 
 10. The Genitive Case. 
 
 The importance of accuracy is nowhere so clearly 
 shown as in the interpretation of the word "of." 
 
 It is usually the sign of the Genitive case, though it 
 is used also to represent fourteen different Greek words. 
 What these words are and where the renderings are can 
 be seen at a glance (so far as the New Testament is con- 
 cerned) under the word "OF" in our Critical Lexicon and 
 Concordance (pp. 543—546). 
 
 In all other cases it is the rendering of the Genitive 
 Case of a noun : and is used by the Holy Spirit in quite 
 a variety of different senses. We propose to present 
 them in nine different classes. 
 
 We have gone fully into them in our work on Figures 
 of Speech used in the Bible, and Appendix B of that 
 work ought to be studied in this connection. We give a 
 brief resume here. 
 
 1 We constantly buy up secondliand copies and supply them for ton shillings. 
 If means were forthcoming, we would gladly enter into negotiations with 
 the owner of the copyright for the production of a new edition; or, if health, 
 strength, means, and leisure permitted, we would willingly undertake to 
 prepare one ourselves. 
 
 381 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 Every Bible student who desires to enjoy the study of 
 the "words" of God must stop Avhenever he comes to the 
 word "of," and first look at our Critical Lexicon and see 
 whether it represents a separate Greek word. 
 
 If he finds it does not, then it must be the Genitive 
 Case of some noun ; and in that case it belongs to one 
 of the following nine classes. 
 
 No one can help him in determining to which of the 
 nine it belongs. Opinions may, and do, differ. The Con- 
 text and a spiritual instinct will be the best guides. 
 
 Sometimes it may be doubtful as to which of two 
 classes it belongs ; and it may often be that it belongs to 
 both, and that each may yield a truly Scriptural sense. 
 
 (a) The Genitive of Character. — This is when it is an 
 emphatic adjective. The ordinary way of qualifying a 
 Noun is by using an Adjective ; but when special emphasis 
 is desired to be placed, on the Adjective, the author goes 
 out of his way to use a Noun instead, which is a Figure of 
 Speech called Enallage, or exchange. Thus, if we say, 
 "a bright day," the emphasis is on "day," and we mean 
 ^ *'a bright day." If we say "a day of brightness," we 
 exchange the Adjective "bright" for the Noun "bright- 
 ness," and thus put the emphasis on "brightness," and 
 we mean "a bright day." 
 
 In the former case we think only of the day as being 
 bright. In the latter case we think of the brightness 
 which characterizes the day. 
 
 So, if the Scripture used the Adjective "mighty" in 
 connection with "angels," the emphasis would be on the 
 Noun "angels": "mighty ANGELS," but if attention is 
 called to their power it would say "angels of might," i.e., 
 "MIGHTY angels" (2 Thess. i. 7 ; see margin). 
 
 The following examples will illustrate this : 
 
 "Zion, the mount of my holiness," i.e., my HOLY 
 mount (Ps. ii. 6). 
 
 "A man of understanding" is a WISE man (Ezra 
 viii. 18). 
 
 "Be to me for a rock of strength": i.e., a STRONG 
 rock (Ps. xxxi. 2). 
 
 "Men of scorning": i.e., SCORNFUL men (Prov. 
 xxix. 8). 
 
 382 
 
10. THE GENITIVE CASE : CHARACTER, ORIGIN 
 
 "A wild bull of a net:" i.e., ii NETTED wild bull 
 (Isa. li. 20). 
 
 "My portion of desire:" i.e., my DESIRED portion 
 'Jer. xii. 10). 
 
 "The burial of an ass:" i.e., an ASS'S burial (Jer. 
 xxii. 19). 
 
 "A sleep of perpetuity:" i.e., a PERPETUAL sleep 
 (Jer. li. 39). 
 
 "The bread of the children:" i.e., the CHILDREN'S 
 bread (Matt. xv. 26). 
 
 " The throne of his glory : " i.e., his GLORIOUS throne 
 (Matt. xix. 28). 
 
 "The steward of injustice :" i.e., the UNJUST steward 
 (Luke xvi. 8 ; so xviii. 6, UNJUST judge). 
 
 "The body of this death:" i.e., this MORTAL body 
 (Rom. vii. 24). 
 
 "Mind of the spirit" and "mind of the flesh"; ren- 
 dered SPIRITUALLY minded, and CARNALLY minded 
 (Rom. viii. 6.) 
 
 "Fathers of our flesh:" i.e., HUMAN fathers (Heb. 
 xii. 9). 
 
 "A hearer of f orgetf ulness : " is a FORGETFUL hearer 
 (Jas. i. 25). 
 
 "The word of life : " i.e., the LIVING word (1 John i. 1). 
 
 "The Avord of truth": i.e., the TRUE Word (2 Tim. 
 ii. 15). This is in contrast with the other passages where 
 we have the Adjective, and the emphasis is on "the true 
 SAYINGS" (Rev. xix. 9; xxii. 6), or "the true WORDS" 
 [Acts xxvi. 25). In the one case (2 Tim. ii. 15) the em- 
 phasis is on the character of Avhat is said ; in the others 
 it is on the matter. 
 
 (b) The genitive of Origin. 
 
 This marks the efficient cause ; the source from a\ hich 
 anything has its origin. 
 
 "Words of God" is not character (Divine words), but 
 words which come FROM God (Num. xxiv. 4, 10). 
 
 "The provoking of his sons and his daughters" means 
 the provocation produced BY the conduct of His ])e()[)le 
 (Deut. xxxii. 19). 
 
 "The overthrow of strangers:" i.e., overthrown WY 
 strangers (Isa. i. 7 ; see margin). 
 
 383 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OP ACCURACY 
 
 "The Prince of peace:" i.e., the Prince who BRINGS 
 peace (Isa. ix. 6). 
 
 "Smitten of God" means smitten BY God (Isa. hii. 4). 
 
 "The chastisement of our peace "means the chastise- 
 ment which PROCURED and GIVES us peace (Isa. liii. 5). 
 
 "Taught of the Lord" means taught BY tlie Lord 
 (Isa. hv. 13). 
 
 "Visions of God " means visions FROM God, given by 
 God (Ezek. i. 1). 
 
 "Kingdom of heaven," "kingdom of God," means the 
 kingdom which comes FROM heaven, as being "not of" 
 (c'/c, ek), out of, or /rom this world (John xviii. 36). 
 
 "The obedience of faith" means which SPRINGS 
 FROM faith (Rom. i. 5). 
 
 "The righteousness of faith" means which COMES 
 FROM or THROUGH faith (Rom. iv. 11, 13). 
 
 "Justification of life "means which PRODUCES or 
 GIVES life (Rom. v. 18). 
 
 "Comfort of the Scriptures" means which COMES 
 FROM the Scriptures; or which the Scripture GIVES or 
 ministers (Rom. xv. 4). 
 
 " Dangers of waters " means which were occasioned 
 BY waters (2 Cor. xi. 26; R.V., rivers). 
 
 "The God of peace," i.e., the God who has MADE 
 peace, and who GIVES peace (Phil. iv. 9).' 
 
 "The Avord of his power." This does not mean His 
 powerful Avord, but that His Avord is the instrument BY 
 Avhich His power works (Heb. i. 3) ; or it may be "His 
 POWERFUL word" (character). 
 
 "The bond of peace" means the bond which PRO- 
 DUCES peace. The acknowledgement of the spiritual 
 unity of the one body, which God has already made in 
 Christ, and which we are to endeaA^our to keep, is a bond 
 which is productive only of peace. Whereas the attempt 
 to make a corporate unity in sects and denominations 
 is the fruitful source of strifes and divisions (Eph. iv. 3. 
 Compare 1 Cor. i. 10—13; iii. 1—4; xi. 18). 
 
 "The mystery of godliness" is the Great Mystery (or 
 Secret), the knoAvledge of which produces true godliness 
 of life, to which Timothy is exhorted (1 Tim. iii. 15, 16). 
 
 1 This differs from "the peace of God" in verse 7, which is the Genitive 
 of "possession" (see p. 385, under Genitive of Possession, Phil. iv. 7). 
 
 381 
 
10. THE GENITIVE CASE : POSSESSION 
 
 (c) The Genitive of Possession. 
 
 This is perhaps the most common, and is generally un- 
 mistakable. But there are some cases where it may not 
 be so clear. 
 
 "The business of my Father" means my FATHER'S 
 business, which was the Father's will (Luke ii. 49). Here, 
 the emphatic Pronoun "my" stands in marked contrast 
 with the "thy" of verse 48. (See pp. 318 and 404). 
 
 "The shield of faith" means Faith's shield, Avhich is 
 Christ (Eph. vi. 16. Compare Gen. xv. 1. Ps. Ixxxiv. 11). 
 
 "The sword of the Spirit" means the Spirit's sword, 
 which is the Word of God (Eph. vi. 17). 
 
 "The peace of God" means God's peace; the peace 
 which reigns with Him, and in His presence, the peace 
 which belongs to Him. Of this peace we shall know 
 something if we make our requests known unto Him 
 (Phil. iv. 6, 7). Compare this with "the God of peace," 
 above (Phil. iv. 9). See p. 384. 
 
 " The patience of Christ " (Greek) means Christ's patient 
 waiting (2 Thess. iii. 5 and margin). Compare R.V. 
 
 (d) The Genitive of Apposition. 
 
 In this case the "of" means "that is to say,'* or 
 "which is." 
 
 "The heights of the clouds: i.e., "the heights, that is 
 to say, the clouds (Isa. xiv. 14). 
 
 "The temple of His body" means the temple, that is to 
 say, His body (John ii. 21). 
 
 "A sign of circumcision " means a sign, that is to say, 
 circumcision (Rom. iv. 11). So "the first fruits of the 
 Spirit" (Rom. viii. 23) means, "the first fruits, that is to 
 say, the Spirit." So also: 
 
 "The house of our tabernacle" (2 Cor. v. 1). 
 
 "The earnest of the Spirit" (2 Cor. v. 5). 
 
 "The lower parts of the earth" means the lower parts, 
 that is to say, the earth (Eph. iv. 9) in contrast with 
 heaven. 
 
 "The breastplate of righteousness" (Eph. vi. 14) means 
 "the breastplate," that is to say, "righteousness." 
 
 "The cities of Sodom," etc., which means "the cities, 
 that is to say, Sodom and Gomorrha" (2 Pet. ii. 6). 
 
 385 u n 
 
VIII. IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY 
 
 (e) The Genitive of Relation. 
 
 This is perhaps the most interesting of all ; and requires 
 a greater variety in the manner of expressing the par- 
 ticular relation. This must be gathered from the con- 
 text. It may be objective, or subjective, or both. For 
 example : 
 
 "The love of Christ" (2 Cor. v. 14). Is this the love 
 which Christ bears to us? or is it our love which we bear 
 to Christ? No one can decide apart from the context. 
 Verse 14 seems to show that it means the love which 
 Christ bore to us in thus dying for us; or, if we judge 
 from verse 13, it seems to be the constraining power of 
 love for Christ which made the Apostle to appear to be 
 beside himself for their sakes. 
 
 The following are a few examples: — 
 
 "The tree of life "is the tree which PRESERVED life 
 (Gen. ii. 9). 
 
 "The way of the tree of life" is the way LEADING 
 TO the tree of life (Gen. iii. 24). 
 
 "The God of my righteousness" is the God who DE- 
 FENDS my righteous cause (Ps. iv. 1). It may be the 
 God who procures and gives us His righteousness. This 
 is true, of course, but the context seems to require rela- 
 tion rather than origin. 
 
 "Sheep of slaughter" (Greek) means sheep DESTINED 
 FOR slaughter (Ps. xliv. 22. Rom. viii. 36). 
 
 "The fear of the Lord," i.e., the fear or reverence 
 shown TOWARD God (Prov. i. 7. Compare Ps. v. 7). 
 
 " Little of the earth : " little IN the earth (Prov. xxx. 24). 
 
 "The spoil of the poor" : i.e., TAKEN FROM the poor 
 (Isa. iii. 14). 
 
 "The sure mercies of David," i.e., PERTAINING TO 
 David (Isa. Iv. 3. Compare Acts xiii. 34). 
 
 "The gospel of the kingdom" means the good news 
 RELATING to the kingdom (Matt. iv. 23 ; xxiv. 14). 
 
 "Fowls of the air" means fowls which FLY in the air 
 (Matt. vi. m). 
 
 "Lilies of the field" means lilies which GROW IN 
 the field (Matt. vi. 28). 
 
 886 
 
10. THE GENITIVE CASE : RELATION 
 
 "Have faith of God" means have faith WITH RE- 
 SPECT TO God (Mark xi. 22). 
 
 "By faith of Jesus Christ," i.e., faith which HAS 
 RESPECT TO Jesus Christ (Rom. iii. 22). 
 
 "They have a zeal of God" means a zeal FOR God 
 (Rom. X. 2). 
 
 "Obedience of Christ" means obedience RENDERED 
 TO Christ (2 Cor. x. 5). 
 
 "Every joint of supply" (Greek) means every joint 
 which MINISTERS supply (Eph. iv. 16). 
 
 " The afflictions of Christ" means the afflictions UNDER- 
 GONE FOR Christ (Col. i. 24). 
 
 "Reproach of Christ" means reproach SUFFERED 
 FOR Christ (Heb. xi. 26). 
 
 " Conscience of God " (Greek) means conscience TO- 
 WARD God (1 Pet. ii. 19). 
 
 " The word of my patience : " My word which ENJOINS 
 patience, or patient waiting (Rev. iii. 10). 
 
 " The testimony of Jesus" means testimony CONCERN- 
 ING Jesus ; or perhaps the testimony which He gave (Gen. 
 of Origin). (Rev. xix. 10.) 
 
 (/) The Genitive of the Material. 
 
 When the genitive denotes the material of which any- 
 thing is made, the words " made of" have to be substituted 
 for it, e.g. :— 
 
 " Coats of skins," i.e., made out of skins (Gen. iii. 21). 
 
 "An ark of gopher wood" (Gen. vi. 14). 
 
 " A cake of barley-bread " (Judg. vii. 13). 
 
 "A house of cedar" (2 Sam. vii. 2). 
 
 "A rod of iron " (Ps. ii. 9). 
 
 " This head of gold" (Dan. ii. 38). 
 
 (j7) The Genitive of the Contents 
 
 Denotes that with which anything is filled. 
 
 "A bottle of wine" means a bottle or skin FILLED 
 WITH wine (1 Sam. xvi. 20). 
 
 "A cup of cold water:" a cup CONTAINING cold 
 water (Matt. x. 42). 
 
 " Waterpots of water " (Greek), i.e., water-pots FULL 
 OF water (John ii. 7). 
 
 387 B B 2 
 
VIII. IjMportance of accuracy 
 
 This is tho Genitive which always follows the verb 
 to fill : while the vessel filled takes the Accusative case, 
 and the one by whom it is filled is put in the Dative case. 
 
 "They were all filled OF pneuma hagion {i.e., with the 
 gift of speaking with tongues), and began to speak with 
 tongues as the Spirit [the Giver] gave them utterance" 
 (Acts ii. 4). 
 
 In Rom. XV. 13 we have all three Cases in one verse. 
 "Now the God of hope {i.e., 'who GIVES' hope.' Gen. 
 of Origin) fill you (Acc. Case) of all joy (i.e., ' WITH all 
 joy.' Gen. Case) and peace, in {i.e., 'BY or THROUGH') 
 believing." (Dative Case). 
 
 So we have "Filled of wrath," i.e., WITH wrath 
 (Luke iv. 28). 
 
 "Filled of fear" (Luke v. 26). 
 
 "Filled of madness" (Luke vi. 11). 
 
 "Filled of Avonder" (Acts iii. 10). 
 
 "Filled of joy" (Acts xiii. 52). 
 But not "filled of the spirit" in Eph. v. 18. For here 
 it is the Dative Case and means " be filled BY wine . . . 
 but be "filled BY the Spirit" with His own precious gifts, 
 which the context shows to be the gift of speaking.^ 
 
 {h) The Genitive of Partition. 
 
 Separation, or Ablation, where it denotes to be in or 
 among, or have part in ; e.g. : 
 
 " To obtain of that world" a PART, SHARE, or PLACE 
 IN that world (Luke xx. 35). 
 
 "The least of the Apostles:" i.e., the least AMONG 
 the apostles (1 Cor. xv. 9). 
 
 " Sojourners of the dispersion," i.e., sojourners being 
 SOME OF the Dispersion (Greek, the Diaspora, or belong- 
 ing to tho "Scattered Nation"). 
 
 {i) Two Genitives depending on one another. 
 
 These have both to be distinguished, and are often 
 quite different, the one from the other. 
 
 "This is of (Partition) the anointing of Aaron (Posses- 
 sion, Aaron's anointing), and of the anointing {Partition) 
 of his sons " {Possession) (Lev. vii. 35). 
 
 1 See further under this head ; Things to Come, Vol. X., pp. 88, etc. ; or, The 
 
 Giver and His Gifts, by the same author and publisher. 
 
 388 
 
10. GENITIVE CASE : TWO DEPENDENT GENITIVES 
 
 "The Sea of Gsililee (Relation) of Tiberias" (Appositiooi), 
 and means "the sea PERTAINING TO Galilee, THAT 
 IS TO SAY, Tiberias" (John vi. 1). 
 
 "We are witnesses of him (Possession, His witnesses) 
 of these things" (Relation with respect to these things. 
 Acts V. 32). 
 
 "The gospel of the grace (Relation) of God " (0?ngrm or 
 Possession, Acts xx. 24. 1 Thess. ii. 9). 
 
 "The earthly house of us (Possession, our) of the 
 tabernacle" (Apposition, that is to say, our tabernacle, 
 2 Cor. V. 1). 
 
 The above passages are given only as examples of each 
 class of Genitive : and they are sufficient to show how 
 the door is open to a vast field of profitable study, if 
 we see the importance of accuracy in our study of God's 
 word. 
 
 It is wonderful to think how there can be so much 
 to think of, and think out, in connection with this 
 smallest of words, "of." 
 
 8S9 
 
IX. FIGURES OF SPEECH. 
 
 Here again we must refer our readers to our larger 
 work on this great subject.^ 
 
 When we say that most of the errors which cause our 
 unhappy divisions to-day, arise from either taking literally 
 that which is Figurative, or from taking Figuratively 
 that which is literal, the importance of this branch of 
 study cannot be overrated. 
 
 And yet it is practically neglected. 
 
 Only a few writers, who may all be counted on one 
 hand, have ever bestowed any attention to the subject. 
 And yet it lies at the very root of all translation ; and 
 it is the key to true interpretation. 
 
 John Vilant Macbeth, Professor of Rhetoric, etc., in 
 the University of West Virginia, has said:^ "There is no 
 even tolerably good treatise on Figures existing at pre- 
 sent in our language. Is there in any other tongue? 
 There is no consecutive discussion of them of more than 
 a few pages ; the examples brought forward by all others 
 being trivial in the extreme, and threadbare ; while the 
 main conception of what constitutes the chief class of 
 Figures is altogether narrow, erroneous, and unphilo- 
 sophical. Writers generally, even the ablest, are wholly 
 in the dark as to the precise distinction between a Trope 
 and a Metonymy; and very few even of literary men 
 have so much as heard of Hypocatastasis." 
 
 This witness is true. Journalism to-day has no idea 
 of the subject. It never rises beyond a Metaphor: and 
 it talks glibly of "Mixed Metaphors" as though there 
 was no other Figure of Speech, and as though all Figures 
 were "Metaphors." 
 
 The late Dean Alford often sneered at the Figure 
 Uendiadys ; and hardly a commentator gives any heed 
 to Figures of Speech except John Albert Bengel. And 
 since his Commentary was published (1687 — 1752) no com- 
 mentator has taken up the subject or applied it to the 
 elucidation of Scripture, as Bengel did. 
 
 1 Figures of Speech used in the Bible, by the same author and publisher. 
 Consisting of 1,104 pages (large 8vo), five Appendices, and seven Indexes. 
 
 2 The Might and JS^irth of Literature, 
 
 390 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH 
 
 No one invented Figures of Speech. Everyone uses 
 tliem, unknowingly. They arise of necessity in the use 
 of language. 
 
 A Figure relates to form. When we speak of a person 
 being "a Figure" we mean that he or she is dressed out 
 of the usual or common fashion, as to colour or cut or 
 material. 
 
 So, a Figure is a word used out of its ordinary sense ; 
 or put out of its usual order in a sentence ; or it is a 
 sentence thrown into a peculiar form, or expressing a 
 thing in an unusual manner. 
 
 A Figure is a departure from the natural and fixed 
 laws of grammar ; a legitimate departure from law : not 
 arising from ignorance or accident, but from design. 
 
 This departure is made with the set purpose of calling 
 attention to what is said, in order to emphasize it. 
 
 Hence, the Figures, when used in connection with the 
 "words which the Holy Ghost teacheth," give us the Holy 
 Spirit's own marking, so to speak, of our Bible. We hear 
 of a "marked Testament," but the marking is made by 
 human beings according to the marker's own idea of what 
 is important. How much more wonderful and important 
 it must be to have the Holy Spirit's own marking ; 
 calling our attention to what He desires us to notice for 
 our learning, as being emphatic, and conveying His own 
 special teaching. 
 
 A Figure may not be true to fact, but it is true to 
 feeling, and truer to truth. 
 
 We may say "the ground needs rain": that is a plain, 
 cold statement of fact. But if we say "the ground is 
 thirsty," we at once use a Figure, not so true to fact, 
 but truer to reality, and to feeling; full of warmth and 
 life. 
 
 Hence we say "the crops suffer," "a hard heart," "an 
 iron will." Or when we say "the kettle boils" we do not 
 mean the kettle, literally, but the water ; nor do we state a 
 fact. What we mean is that the water in the kettle boils. 
 
 So when we say "the glass is rising" we mean the 
 mercury, not the glass, or barometer. 
 
 When we say " light the fire " we do not mean this 
 literally, for fire is already alight ; but what we mean is, 
 put it to what we call the firing. 
 
 391 
 
IX. FIGURES OP SPEECH 
 
 All these are Figures, and they all have names. These 
 names were mostly given by the Greeks, centuries before 
 Christ; and their number runs into hundreds, many of 
 them having several varieties. 
 
 In our own work of over 1,000 pages we have classified 
 217 Figures ; and have given some 8,000 passages of Scrip- 
 ture illustrated by them. When we state that these are 
 only given by way of example, it will be seen that another 
 vast field of study lies open before the Bible student. 
 
 It will also be seen that it is impossible here to do 
 more than thus call attention to it ; otherwise we should 
 like to give a few examples of Ellipsis, Metonymy, Meta- 
 lepsis, Asyndeton, Polysyndeton, Hypocatastasis, and 
 Metaphor, which last is a special Figure by itself and not 
 a general name for any Figure, as modern writers seem 
 to think. 
 
 We said that errors are built up on ignorance of 
 Figures. 
 
 These errors are therefore to be refuted not by argu- 
 ment merely, but by Scientific, Literary, and Grammatical 
 facts. Thus : 
 
 *'This is my body" can be proved to be Metaphor, 
 meaning "this represents my body" (Matt. xxvi. 26). 
 
 "We have an altar" can be proved to be Metonymy, 
 meaning "we have a sacrifice" (Heb. xiii. 10). 
 
 "The caperberry shall fail" (Eccles. xii. 5, R.V.) can be 
 proved to be Metalepsis, meaning, as beautifully rendered 
 by the A.V., "desire shall fail." 
 
 And so with many passages which have created con- 
 fusion to readers, difficulties to commentators, and divi- 
 sions among brethren. 
 
 We earnestly commend, therefore, close attention to 
 "Figures of Speech," without which no study of the 
 Bible can be complete. 
 
 392 
 
X. INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION. 
 
 It is of the utmost importance that we should clearly 
 and constantly discriminate between these two. 
 
 The Interpretation of a passage is one thing, but the 
 Application of that passage is quite a different thing. 
 
 The Interpretation of a passage belongs to the occasion 
 when, and the persons to whom, or of whom, the words 
 were originally intended. When that has been settled, 
 then it is open to us to make an application of those 
 words to ourselves or others, so far as we can do so 
 without coming into conflict with any other passages. 
 
 We have already seen^ something of this, and of its 
 importance in connection with Dispensational Truth and 
 Teaching ; but the principle extends far beyond this, and 
 affects all kinds of Truth. 
 
 It is this that makes the precept to rightly divide the 
 Word of truth so weighty and so indispensable. 
 
 It may even be, when the application is made in full 
 accord with Scripture teaching given elsewhere, that it 
 is not only true, but may have a far deeper and more 
 real meaning than the interpretation itself; and may 
 convey truths and lessons far beyond it. 
 
 This is very different from the common practice called 
 spiritualizing. Hhis too often ignores or denies all that 
 may be learnt from the interpretation of a passage, and 
 robs those to whom it belongs of a precious treasure ; 
 while it appropriates to itself or other parties the pro- 
 perty which has thus been stolen. 
 
 Such a practice cannot be too strongly deprecated ; 
 not only because of the injury done to the Word itself, 
 and the mistakes involved, but because it is so wholly 
 unnecessary. 
 
 All the sweetness, all the blessing, all the truth can 
 be obtained by a wise application, without in the slightest 
 degree impairing the true interpretation. This may be 
 left and preserved in all its integrity, and yet something 
 really spiritual maybe appropriated by application; all, 
 in fact, that can be desired, without doing any violence 
 
 1 Part I., Sect. IV., pp. 155—157, abovo ; and in several other parts of this worlc. 
 
 393 
 
X. INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION 
 
 to the Divine Word, as is done when its interpretation 
 is not only ignored, but often Avhen the appUcation is 
 actually substituted for the interpretation. 
 
 This Canon is very far-reaching as governing our study 
 of the Word and the words of God. Its importance can- 
 not be over-estimated, if we would not only understand 
 but really enjoy our Bible studies. 
 
 It will come into operation on nearly every page of 
 Scripture ; and on this account it is impossible to give 
 more than examples. 
 
 We content ourselves with a few as a guide to the 
 way in which other passages may be treated. 
 
 Take, for instance: 
 
 1. The Account of Creation (Gen. i.). — Instead of trou- 
 bling our heads with Babylonian "creation-tablets," which 
 were the incoherent babblings of people who had for- 
 gotten and corruioted, or knew little of, primitive truth, 
 we turn to the inspired record and endorse the Divine 
 assertion, "The beginning of Thy word is true" (Ps. cxix. 
 160, marg.). 
 
 We have already dealt with this interpretation of 
 Gen. i.,^ and shown how the first chapter of Genesis, when 
 compared with other Scriptures, is far in advance of the 
 inferences drawn from the ever-shifting and changing 
 hypotheses of Geologists, which are foisted upon us under 
 the name of "science falsely so-called" (1 Tim. vi. 20). 
 
 "Jn the beginning God created the heavens and the 
 earth." — This is " the world that then was" of 2 Pet. iii. 6. 
 
 And the earth became tohu and bohu. — The verb 
 "was" means, and is translated, "became" in Gen. ii. 7; 
 iv. 14 ; ix. 15 ; xix. 26, etc. 
 
 It became i]nh (tohu). Whatever may be the meaning 
 of the word rendered "without form," it is distinctly 
 stated in Isa. xliv. 18 that God " created it not tohu." It 
 must therefore have "become" so, as stated in Gen. i. 2. 
 
 The combination of the two words tohu and bohu 
 occurs in Isa. xlv. 19; xxxiv. 11, and Jer. iv. 23, where 
 it may be seen that it denotes mm, emptiness, waste, 
 desolation. 
 
 1 See above, under Canon VIII., p. 351. 
 
 394 
 
1. THE ACCOUNT OF CREATION 
 
 This was the end of "the world that then was" 
 (2 Pet. iii. 5, 6). 
 
 The chapter next goes on to describe the creation of 
 the heavens and the earth which are now" (2 Pet. iii. 7) ; 
 and in 2 Pet. iii. 13 we are informed that these will be 
 followed hereafter by "a new heavens and new earth." 
 
 If we interpret the chapter on these lines, and do 
 not make Moses or the Holy Spirit responsible for the 
 mistakes of translators and commentators, we have a surer 
 foundation for any application we make. 
 
 In doing this we destroy the miserable imagination of 
 a criticism which regards it as eitlier an "allegory" or 
 as a "myth." 
 
 The interpretation tells us that at some time in the 
 eternal ages past, "God created the heavens and the 
 earth." 
 
 And then, that at some time, in some manner, and for 
 some reason (which are not revealed) it became a ruin, 
 empty, waste, desolate, and overwhelmed with water. 
 
 This is the interpretation. 
 
 Now, the application of this to the creation and the 
 new creation of man rests on this sure foundation; and 
 reveals truth and teaching of infinite importance. 
 
 (1) The earth was created perfect. This is implied in 
 the word rendered "create," and is embodied in the word 
 "cosmos."^ So was man. "God made man upright" 
 (Eccles. vii. 29). 
 
 (2) But the earth became a ruin, and so did man. We 
 are not told ivhy or when man thus fell : but in this case 
 we are told hoio in Gen. iii. Man's natural condition is 
 described as "dead" (Eph. ii. 1), "darkened" (Eph. iv. 18), 
 and destitute of any good thing (Rom. vii. 18). 
 
 (3) While the old creation was in this ruined condition, 
 the first act and movement was on the part of God : 
 "the Spirit of God moved" (Gen. i. 2). Thus it is in the 
 case of man. He must be "born of the Spirit" (John 
 iii. 5, 6). 
 
 (4) The next act was also of God, "And God said" 
 (Gen. i. 3). God spake : The Word of God came. So with 
 
 1 It is rendered ornament in Exod. xxxiii. i, 5, 6. Isa. xlix, 18 ; iii. 18. Jer. iv. 30, 
 Ezck. vii. 20. And adorning in 1 Pet. iii. 3. 
 
 395 
 
X. INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION 
 
 man. He must be "begotten by the Word of God" as 
 well as by the Spirit (1 Pet. 1. 23—25). 
 
 (5) The next creative act was the creation of light.* 
 And this is true in the experience of the saved sinner: 
 "The entrance of thy words giveth light "(Ps. cxix. 130). 
 This is precisely the application made in 2 Cor. iv. 6: 
 "Gou who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, 
 hath shined in our hearts, to give us the light of the 
 know^ledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 (6) In the Old Creation the light shines on the ruin ; 
 and so it is in the New Creation. Here it is that we first 
 come in. Here is where we begin. Here is where we 
 first experience and come to a knowledge of all that has 
 already been going on. A vast deal of work has been 
 wrought by God before we are cognizant of anything 
 except the misery through which we have passed. But 
 when we learn the true spiritual apjjlication of the 
 interpretation, then, in spite of all the evil which the 
 light has revealed, we look up, and thank God for the light, 
 and we say, as God said when He saw the light, that " it 
 was good," 
 
 We must not pursue the application which may be 
 made throughout the whole chapter,^ but we commend 
 the above as an example of our Canon X. 
 
 Another example may be seen in 
 
 2. The Rejection of Messiah (Isa. liii.). — The interpreta- 
 tion belongs to those who were specially addressed by the 
 prophet Isaiah, who spake of and to "Judah and Jeru- 
 salem " ; and that chapter must take its place in the 
 context in which God Himself has set it. 
 
 1 Whatever that was. Scientists once thought they knew; but recent 
 discoveries of the X-rays and N-rays and Radium, etc., are so wonderful and 
 far-reaching that no scientist would now venture to frame a definition. One 
 thing we know, that whether they call it "luminiferous ether" or anything 
 else, it is not the same as the word rendered "lights" in Gen. i. 14, 16. The 
 sun and moon were called "liSD (maor), light-holders, or candlesticks. Thus, 
 
 we are taught in Gen. i. that which science is only just getting to know: 
 viz., that what God called "light" exists independently of the sun. 
 
 This is done in the pamphlet entitled The New Creation and the Old, by 
 the same author and publisher price \d.). 
 
 396 
 
2. THE REJECTION OF MESSIAH (IsA. liii.) 
 
 Leaving its interpretation there we lose none of its 
 precious truths for ourselves when we apply it as we 
 may, and do, in accordance with our own Church Epistles. 
 Its great and solemn lesson is even stronger and deeper 
 in its application than in its interpretation. 
 
 It must be admitted by all that Israel will be able to 
 use those words in a sense which we can never do. 
 
 The Lord Jesus did grow up in their midst (v. 2) as He 
 has not in ours. 
 
 When He did so, there was a literal sense in which 
 His People to whom He came did not see any form or 
 comeliness in Him, or any beauty that they should desire 
 Him (^'. 2), which was not equally true of us, as Gentiles, 
 though it can be truly applied to us. 
 
 There was a sense in which they "hid their faces 
 from Him and esteemed Him not" (v. 3), which is not 
 so literally true of us ; though our application of the 
 words finds a real counterpart. 
 
 We were not God's "sheep" and "people" as Israel 
 was, and it could not be said of us as of them, "All we 
 like sheep have gone astray" (v. 6). We Avere far more 
 than " lost sheep" (Matt. x. 6) : we are " dead in trespasses 
 and sins," but of Israel it was specially said that they 
 were "the sheep of His pasture" (Ps. xcv. 7 ; c. 3, etc.). 
 
 It was for Isaiah's people that Messiah was specially 
 stricken {v. 8) ; but, as afterwards revealed, we may apply 
 the words in a very true sense of ourselves. 
 
 3. The mourning of Israel (Rev. i. 7). — In like manner 
 there is a very special sense in which the interpretation 
 of the words in Rev. i. 7 will be true of Israel — "they 
 which pierced him . . . shall mourn over him." There 
 can be only a somewhat strained application to ourselves ; 
 certainly not an interpretation of us. 
 
 4. The Potters house (Jer. xviii.).— This chapter affords 
 an instructive example of this Canon. The propliet is told 
 to go down to the Potter's house and note what he sees. 
 
 He sees the Potter make a vessel on the wheels, and 
 the vessel was marred in his hands. 
 
 Then he made it again another vessel as it pleased the 
 Potter to make it {vv. 1—4). 
 
 397 
 
X. INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION 
 
 In the verses that follow, the interpretation is given 
 by God Himself ; and He interprets it of Israel. 
 
 But there are several applications which we may make, 
 all equally true ; and to us, more vitally important than 
 the interpretation itself. 
 
 When Jehovah sent Jeremiah to the Potter's house, it 
 was to teach him a great eternal principle, that He would 
 never mend that ivhich man had marred, but would make 
 an end of it and put a new thing altogether in its place. 
 
 Jehovah's own interpretation of what Jeremiah saw, 
 was that Israel, like that clay, had become marred. He, 
 the great Potter, would not mend the nation ; but would 
 make a new nation, a new Israel in whom He could put a 
 new spirit, and write His law in their hearts (Jer. xviii., 
 xxxi. 31 — 37). This new nation is the interpretation of the 
 Lord Jesus also, in Matt. xxi. 43, when He said to and of 
 the nation, in His day, "Therefore say I unto you. The 
 Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a 
 nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." 
 
 That nation will not be the vessel that was marred. 
 It will be the same clay, but re-made " another vessel as 
 seemed good to the potter to make it." 
 
 This is God's own interpretation, and we may not 
 ignore it ; or rob Israel of the blessed hope which is 
 revealed in it, and is yet in store for that nation. 
 
 But, leaving Israel in full and sure possession of this 
 promise we are at liberty to make as many applications 
 of the lesson in the Potter's house as may be consistent 
 with the other teaching of the Word of God. 
 
 (1) We may apply it to "the heavens and earth which 
 are now." This earth came under the curse, and is 
 marred: marred, so that "the whole creation groaneth 
 and travaileth in pain together until now" (Rom. viii. 22). 
 God will not mend this earth ; but will make "a new heaven 
 and a new earth" (2 Pet. iii. 13): as may "seem good to 
 the Potter to make it " ; and of which this present earth 
 will have a foretaste in millennial blessings (Rev. xxi., 
 xxii.). Those who are labouring to mend this marred 
 creation have not yet learned the lesson of this application 
 of the Potter's house. 
 
 (2) We may apply it to man. Man was marred, and at 
 the Fall became alienated from the life of God (Rom. v. 
 
 398 
 
4. THE POTTER'S HOUSE (Jer. xviii.) 
 
 12—21. Eph. ii. 1—3; iv. 17—19, etc.). God will not mend 
 or reform the natural man; but He makes "a new man" 
 *'a new creation, in Christ " (2 Cor. v. 17. Eph. ii. 10), and 
 bestows a new nature, and gives a new spirit ; "as it 
 pleases the Potter to make it."^ 
 
 (3) We may apply it to the Covenant which God made 
 with Israel, "which my covenant they brake," He says. 
 That Covenant is marred. But God will not mend it. 
 He will "make a new Covenant." That is His own 
 application, and we find it in Hebrews viii. 7 — 13; x. 16. 
 (Compare Jer. xxxi. 33, 34.) 
 
 (4) We may apply it to the Sacrifices as ordained by 
 God. But these were marred in the making. They, like the 
 Covenant itself, "were not faviltless;" "for it is not possible 
 that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away 
 sins." They were marred, and will not be mended. A 
 new and living way has been made and opened by the 
 sacrifice of Jesus Christ — once for all. " Lo, I come to do 
 Thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that He may 
 establish the second." The second is the new vessel "as 
 it pleased the Potter to make it " (Heb. x. 1—23). 
 
 (5) We may apply it to the institution of Kings, and 
 the setting up of the throne of David. The Kings failed 
 (as the Priests also failed). The throne was marred. But, 
 it is not in God's counsels to mend it. The confusion 
 must go on, while all the nations of the earth are seeking, 
 striving, and struggling to attain a better government 
 by human remedies, reforms, or revolutions. This will go 
 on— For in His own application of this. He has said . 
 "I will overturn, overturn, overturn" until He comes 
 whose right it is to reign (Ezek. xxi. 27. Isa. xxxii. 1). 
 And, while kings fail and set themselves against Jehovah 
 and His anointed, and thrones totter and fall, and 
 dynasties change and pass away, yet, looking forward to 
 that coming day when He will of this clay make another 
 vessel, as it seemeth good for Him to make it, His 
 counsel is declared even now, in the midst of the ruin: 
 "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion" 
 (Ps. ii. 6). 
 
 (6) We may apply this great eternal principle of the 
 Potter's house to our mortal bodies. Made in the image 
 
 1 Sec The Two Natures, by the sairie author and publisher (price Is.). 
 
 39U 
 
X. INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION 
 
 of Elohim, capable of living for ever through the virtues 
 of the "tree of life," these human bodies became mortal ; 
 marred through the Fall, and made subject to death 
 through sin. Man may use his means, improve his arts ; 
 and may mend by his medicines ; he may delay, but he 
 cannot stay the appointment of God for man: "It is 
 appointed unto men once to die " (Heb. ix. 27. Gen. iii. 19. 
 Eccles. iii. 20). 
 
 God will not mend these marred bodies of our humilia- 
 tion, but He has prepared for His people "another" body. 
 A "house not made with hands," a "house from heaven," 
 re-made, in resurrection, like Christ's own body of glory 
 (2 Cor. iv. 14— V. 2). 
 
 Now, while in "our earthly house of this tabernacle" 
 we are "absent from the Lord." Therefore it is that we 
 are earnestly longing for that resurrection day when we 
 shall be "clothed upon with our house' which is from 
 heaven," when we shall be absent, out of, or away from 
 these vile bodies, and present with the Lord, in bodies 
 made like the glorious body of Christ (Phil. iii. 20, 21). 
 Then, and only then, will "mortality be swallowed up of 
 life" (2 Cor. v. 4). 
 
 If any ask, "How are the dead raised up? And with 
 what body do they come?" Then the answer is that 
 which comes to us as the echo from the lesson in the 
 Potter's house: "God giveth it a body AS IT HATH 
 PLEASED HIM " (1 Cor. xv. 35, 38). Then, and then 
 only, " shall be brought to pass the saying," " Death is 
 swallowed up in victory " (1 Cor. xv. 54). 
 
 We could not give a better illustration of this impor- 
 tant Canon than that of the Potter's house, which shows 
 us how, after we have settled and distinguished the 
 interpretation of a passage, we may make one or more 
 applications of it, so long as they are in harmony with 
 the general teaching of the whole Word of truth. 
 
 One more example, and that from the New Testament, 
 must suffice. 
 
 5. The parable of the Ten Virgiyis (Matt, xxv.)— In no 
 Scripture is this great principle less observed than in 
 
 1 2 Cor. V. 2. Greek, ot/crjr^piov (oiketerion), a spiritual body, similar to that 
 of the angels. See Jude 6. 
 
 400 
 
5. THE TEN VIRGINS (Matt, xxv.) 
 
 fche general treatment of this parable. For not only is 
 the interpretation evaded and avoided, but it is ignored 
 altogether ; and the application is put in its place : indeed, 
 it is actually substituted for it, and itself made the inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 The application thus made is self -contradictory ; for 
 while the "kingdom of heaven" is supposed to be the 
 Church, the Bride also is held to be the Church, "the 
 Virgins her companions" are also taken as representing 
 the Church; and we are constantly and universally ex- 
 horted to be "wise" and have our lamps trimmed and 
 " oil in our vessels " ; the oil being the Holy Spirit, which 
 we refuse to give to the unwise, but bid them go and 
 buy for themselves ! 
 
 This farrago of Arminian theology is supposed to be 
 what the Lord was then teaching to His disciples, and 
 which we are to suppose them to have understood. 
 
 But there is a true interpretation; and there is also 
 a true application. The latter cannot be made until the 
 former is obtained; for the interpretation is the foun- 
 dation on which the application is built. There can be 
 no building till the foundation is laid. 
 
 The interpretation is clearly indicated by the first 
 word with which it commences: "THEN."^ 
 
 That is to say, at this stage of the Lord's last great 
 prophetic address, and at this point in the succession of 
 events which Fe was unfolding: "THEN shall the king- 
 dom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins," etc. 
 
 When the interpretation of this prophecy shall be 
 fulfilled those who are waiting for the Bridegroom will 
 go forth to meet Him. 
 
 "It shall be said in that day, 
 Lo, this is our God; we have wa t3l for him, 
 And he will save us : 
 
 This is Jehovah, we have, waited for him, 
 We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." 
 
 (Isa. xxv. 9.) 
 
 Having thus settled the interpretation; it is noAV 
 open to us to make such application as we may be able ; 
 
 ^ As we have seen above, p. 359. 
 401 
 
 0 o 
 
X. INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION 
 
 and one lies on the surface : viz., the general exhortation 
 to w atclif nines' s ; which is none the less solemn and none 
 the less powerful, weighty, and effective because the true 
 interpretation has been made. For if they have need to 
 watch who have and are to have " Signs" given to them, 
 how much more watchful should we be who have no such 
 signs, but are " waiting for God's Son from heaven," who 
 may come at any moment to meet His risen and changed 
 ones in the air and receive them up into glory. 
 
 402 
 
XI. THE LIMITS OF INSPIRATION. 
 
 Though there is not much to be said on this subject, 
 yet the importance of this Canon is very great. 
 
 Not only is the Spirit of God often held responsible 
 for the mistakes and errors of translators and commen- 
 tators, but other things are put down to Him when 
 they are really the statements of others, for which the 
 speakers alone are responsible. 
 
 The Scriptures contain records of conversations, and 
 statements made by Satan, by demons, by the human 
 enemies of God, and by His mistaken and erring servants. 
 We have an inspired record of all that was said and 
 done; but it does not follow that all that was said and 
 done was inspired! 
 
 To Job and his friends, God categorically said, "Ye 
 have not spoken of me the thing that is right " (Job xlii. 
 7, 8. Compare ch. xxxiii. 12). "Job hath spoken without 
 knowledge, and his words without wisdom " (ch. xxxiv. 35), 
 and he "multiplieth words without knowledge" (ch. xxxv. 
 16). " Who is this (God asked Job) that darkeneth coun- 
 sel by words without knowledge" (ch. xxxviii. 2). Are 
 w^e then to quote svich words as inspired? Surely not, 
 unless we are distinctly told that God "put them into 
 the mouths" of the speakers as He did into Balaam's 
 mouth (Num. xxiii. 5, 16). 
 
 Surely we have to be careful in all our quotations of 
 God's Word, to see that they are the words of God, and 
 that we are not making Him responsible for the words 
 of fallen, erring, and ignorant human beings. 
 
 It is a question whether the song of Deborah (Judg. v.) 
 was inspired : though we have an inspired record of the 
 words of her song. We do not say it is not ; but, if 
 any do think so, they need not be at too great pains to 
 reconcile her statements or her ethics with the attributes 
 of Jehovah: though, as we have shown (Part I, iv. 2, 
 pp. 108, etc.), they are jjerfectly in accord with the 
 Dispensation in which we find them. 
 
 In many eases grave difficulties are created by not 
 observing this Canon of interpretation ; and hopeless 
 
 m C C 2 
 
XI. THE LIMITS OF INSPIRATION 
 
 efforts are made to get out of the entanglements of our 
 own assumptions. 
 
 If exceptions prove the rule, then the truth of the 
 Inspired record is enhanced by the one or tAvo exceptions 
 which are distinctly stated to be such by the Apostle 
 Paul himself. He thereby sets his seal to the fact that 
 all his other statements have Divine authority. 
 
 The same principle must be applied to actions of God's 
 servants. 
 
 David was "a man after God's own heart," as to his 
 being chosen as God's king : but it does not follow, 
 nor does it say, that all David's acts were according to 
 God's choice or even approval ; for we know how he was 
 judged by God for his sins and infirmities. The word 
 "heart" in the above quotation has to do with God's call 
 and not with David's walk. 
 
 The same is the case with Paul's last journey to Jeru- 
 salem. It was commenced in disobedience ; characterized 
 by dissembling ; and concluded in disaster (personally). 
 
 Peter also at Antioch manifested the same weakness 
 of human nature. 
 
 God's servants were men of like passions with ourselves, 
 neither more nor less. And we have an inspired record 
 of their actions and their words, which have to be 
 distinguished and rightly divided from the "words which 
 the Holy Ghost teacheth"; and those acts which were 
 done by direct Inspiration. 
 
 See what mischief has been made of the words of 
 Mary in Luke ii. 48, " Thy father and I have sought thee 
 sorrowing." These words have been quoted and used as 
 supporting the denial of the Virgin birth of the Lord 
 Jesus. Various arguments have been used to explain 
 Mary's words. In The Record of Feb. 1, 1907, a corre- 
 spondent labours to upset the Received Text, which, here, 
 is unquestioned, by setting above it some old Latin 
 Versions. But there is no need for all this if we remember 
 that this is not the only occasion when Mary "erred 
 with her lips." That she did so err is shown by the next 
 verse, where the Lord's correction is very pointed and 
 emphatic. She said "Thy father and I have sought 
 thee" (v. 48). He replies, "Wist ye not that I must be 
 about MY Father's business?" {v. 49). "They understood 
 
 404 
 
THE LIMITS OF INSPIRATION 
 
 not the saying which He spake unto them " (v. 50). But 
 those who do not observe this Canon of interpretation 
 do not "understand the saying"; and not only misunder- 
 stand it, bvit misuse it for tlie support of error. (See pp. 
 318 and 385.) 
 
 The need of observing it is clear enough in such cases 
 as the words Satan, and evil spirits, and the enemies of 
 God, such as Pharaoh, Rabshakeh, Herod, the Scribes 
 and Pharisees who opposed the Lord Jesus. 
 
 When we consider the havoc Avrought by the first two 
 lies of the Old Serpent, we may see the importance of 
 this Canon. Not only is the Old Theology permeated 
 with these two lies, but they are the two pillars on which 
 the "New Theology" is based: 
 
 "Ye shall be as God" (Gen. iii. 5). 
 "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. iii. 4). 
 
 These two lies led to the Fall of man ; and they are still 
 the two great signs of his fallen condition, for fallen man 
 prefers them to the truth of God. (Compare pp. 315, etc.) 
 
 When it comes to the words of others there is danger 
 lest we put them on the same level with the "words 
 which the Holy Ghost teacheth." The words and utter- 
 ances of men have all to be judged by the words of God ; 
 hence the need of careful attention to this Canon of 
 interpretation. 
 
XII. THE PLACE OF VARIOUS READINGS. 
 
 In speaking on or of the "words" of God, references 
 are sometimes made to variations in the Original Text 
 of the Old and New Testaments. 
 
 It may be well, therefore, to put the general reader, 
 who has not time to devote to this subject, in pos- 
 session of a few elementary facts in connection with it.^ 
 
 The Word of God has come down to us in manuscript 
 form ; and not until the invention of printing was it 
 possible to have it in any other form.'^ 
 
 These manuscripts are written by different hands at 
 different times, and existing copies date from the fourth 
 century. 
 
 Translations of them made before the fourth century 
 are also in existence, though the MSS. of these versions 
 (still in existence) are, of course, not so old. 
 
 There are also many quotations from these MSS. pre- 
 served in the writings of those who lived before the 
 fourth century, though the MSS. of their works are not 
 so old. 
 
 These transcriptions all bear the marks of human 
 frailties and infirmities, notwithstanding the great care 
 in copying them. In spite of all the safeguards invented 
 and provided for insuring accuracy, there are many 
 variations. 
 
 The human element in the transmission of the Divine 
 Word is neither more nor less than in the transmission 
 of ordinary literature. 
 
 Variations in reading are the normal characteristics 
 of all manuscripts, and it has ever been a copyist's or 
 
 1 Those who wish to more deeply into it must study Dr. Ginsburg's 
 Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (published by the Trinitarian Bible Society, 
 7. Bury Street, Bloomsbury, London) ; or a small pamphlet by the author 
 on The Massorah (Eyre & Spottiswoode (Bible Warehouse), Ltd., 33, Paternoster 
 Row, London, price Is.). For the New Testament Dr. Tregelles' work on The 
 History of the Printed I'ext of the Greek New Testament should be studied. 
 
 This (in England) was in 1455, but as early as 1475 there are two dated 
 books. These are in Hebrew. The first printed books of the Bible were the 
 Hebrew Peal Lcr, 1177, and the Hebrew Pentateuch, 1482 (Bologna). 
 
 406 
 
HEBREW MSS., OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 editor's aim to spare no pains in securing a good copy 
 and a sound text. 
 
 The mere mechanical act of copying, extending as it 
 did for many hours a day, and often for many months 
 and even years, not to speak of drowsy intelligences and 
 numbed fingers in a draughty scriptorium, will easily 
 account for deviations from an authentic text. 
 
 The many editions of Shakespeare, carried out by 
 numerous editors, show a remarkable tendency to a 
 progressive deterioration in textual accuracy.^ 
 
 The original texts of the Bible have had a singularly 
 happy exemption from the treatment of the texts of 
 modern writers. 
 
 Emendations are confined for the most part to the 
 pages of commentators, while the vast majority of textual 
 variations are trivial in the extreme, very many being 
 only a difference in spelling. Those which are really 
 vital and which affect doctrine or teaching may be 
 counted on one's fingers, if not on those of one hand. 
 
 There are many, of course, which are full of interest, 
 and are of more or less importance. We speak first of 
 
 The Hebrew MSS. (The Old Testament). 
 
 There were two great schools, or recensions of MSS., 
 Avhere they were transcribed between the sixth and tenth 
 centuries. One at Babylon in the East, and the other 
 at Tiberias in the West. 
 
 The variations are neither numerous^ nor important, 
 being confined to the vowel-points with a few exceptions. 
 
 There are five great standard Codices from which all 
 subsequent copies have been made. 
 
 1. The Codex of Hillel, which Rabbi Kimchi (cent, xii.) 
 says he saw at Toledo. 
 
 2. The Codex of Ben Asher, President of the School at 
 Tiberias in the early part of the eleventh century, known 
 as the Jerusalem Codex. 
 
 1 Especially in the four well-known folio editions between 1623 and 1C85. 
 Milton, Pope, Gray, Keats, Shelley, Cowper, and Wordsworth have all suffered 
 at the hands of their editors. Dr. Bentley's outrages, in 1732, on the text of 
 Paradise Lost are inexcusable. 
 
 They arc estimated at 8(>1 for the whole of the Old Testament. 
 
 407 
 
XIT. THE PLACE OF VARIOUS READINGS 
 
 3. The Codex of Ben Naphtali, President at Babylon, 
 and hence known as the Babylonian Codex. 
 
 4. The Pentateuch of Jericho, which was held by Elias 
 Levita to be the most perfect and correct. 
 
 5. The Codex of Sinai, also of the Pentateuch, and 
 differing from that of Jericho only in some of the 
 accents. 
 
 Besides these there are various readings noted in the 
 Massorah, i.e., the writing in small characters which is 
 seen at the head, foot, and in the margins of all the 
 ancient Hebrew MSS. No one MS. contains the whole 
 of this Massorah, and no one man had set himself to collect 
 the whole from vast numbers of MSS. until Dr. Christian 
 D. Ginsburg devoted his life to it. His edition of the 
 Hebrew Bible is the only one which exhibits these Various 
 Readings^; and his Introduction to the Hebrew Bible is 
 the only one which contains a complete history of the 
 Hebrew written and printed text. 
 
 Unfortunately, the work was so long neglected by 
 scholars, that we do not yet possess an Apparatus 
 Criticus or recognized list of MSS. The scholars of 
 various nations have not yet agreed on a universal or 
 standard list by which the MSS. may be referred to or 
 known by letters, numerals, or symbols, as is the case 
 with the New Testament. This is a great work which 
 is still needed to be done. 
 
 The New Testament. 
 
 The Greek MSS. of the New Testament (in whole or 
 in part) are over five hundred in number. 
 
 They are divided into two great classes, known as 
 Uncial (i.e., written in capital letters), or Cursive (i.e., 
 written in running-hand). The former are mostly 
 earlier than the eighth century, the latter date from 
 the tenth. 
 
 1 It was published, in 1894, by the Trinitarian Bible Society of London 
 (7, Bury Street, Bloomsbury), at the price of one guinea. A reprint of the 
 edition was published in 1907 at the reduced price of 7s. Gd. 
 
 408 
 
GREEK MSS., NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 There is a further classification, according to certain 
 characteristics, into Recensions (which in the case of 
 printed books, we speak of as Editions). 
 
 1. The Alexandrine or Egyptian. 
 
 2. The Western or Occidental. 
 
 3. The Oriental or Byzantine. 
 
 But the collators and editors of these MSS. are not 
 all agreed, and their reckonings often overlap. There 
 are other Recensions than these recognized and named 
 by other scholars and critics. 
 
 The chief MSS. of the New Testament are known and 
 referred to as follows : — 
 
 "A" is the recognized symbol of the Codex Alexan- 
 drinus. The MS is so called because it was brought from 
 Alexandria by Cyrillus Lucaris, a native of Crete and 
 patriarch of Constantinople, who sent it by Sir Thomas 
 Rowe, the British Ambassador, to King Charles I. The 
 proprietor of the MS., before it came into the hands of 
 Cyrillus Lucaris, had written a subscription in Arabic, 
 stating that it was written by Thecla, a Christian martyr, 
 about 1300 years before. This would make the date of 
 the MS. about the end of the fourth century. It could 
 not be earlier, as it contains a letter of Athanasius. It 
 is preserved in the British Museum. 
 
 " B " is the Codex Vaticanus. This MS. is so called be- 
 cause it is preserved in the Vatican Library at Rome. 
 
 It is generally supposed to belong to the fourth or 
 fifth century. 
 
 " C " is the Codex Ephrcemi. It is so called because the 
 MS. contains, in the first part, several Greek writings of 
 Ephrem the Syrian. It is generally believed to have 
 been written in Egypt in the fifth or sixth century. 
 It is preserved in the National Ijibrary at Paris. 
 
 "D(l)" is the Codex Bezce. It is known also as the 
 Codex Cantahrigensis, because it was presented, in 1581, 
 by Theodore Beza to the library of the University of 
 Cambridge, where it is still preserved. It is believed 
 to belong to the fifth century. It contains only the 
 Gospels and Acts. 
 
 409 
 
XII. THE PLACE OP VARIOUS READINGS 
 
 "D(2)" is another MS. found by Beza at Clermont, 
 and called the Codex Claromontanus. It contains the 
 Pauline Epistles and Hebrews ; and is in the National 
 Library at Paris. 
 
 "X" denotes the Codex Sinaiticus, which is regarded 
 by some as the most ancient and important of any of the 
 MSS. at present known. It is so called from the fact 
 that it was discovered by Tischendorf so recently as 
 1844 and 1859 at the Convent of St. Catherine on Mount 
 Sinai. Its date may be fixed about the middle of the 
 fourth century, and its authority is very great. 
 
 It will be noted that, from the dates assigned to the 
 discovery of these several MSS., they were for the most 
 part unknown to the translators of the Authorized Ver- 
 sion ; so that due allowance must be made for the weight 
 (or the reverse) of their authority when we have to 
 consider any particular passage. 
 
 The above are the principal Uncial MSS. There are 
 many more ; and it is quite possible that some of the 
 later Cursive MSS. may be transcripts of MSS. still 
 older than aiiy of the existing Uncial MSS. So that no 
 one critic can speak with absolute authority. 
 
 The Ancient Versions 
 
 have also to be taken into account. Passing over the 
 Jewish (Hebrew) Targums or Commentaries, 
 
 1. The oldest is the Greek Version of the Old Testa- 
 ment, made about B.C. 277, ^ for the Jews dwelling in 
 Egypt. It is known as The Septuagint, from the tradi- 
 tional belief that it was made by seventy or seventy-two 
 translators. Hence it is referred to by the abbreviation 
 LXX. or by the Greek letter (sigma) for this number, (T. 
 
 2. The Peschito, or Old Syriac Version, was one of 
 several versions made by Christians in the earliest period 
 of the Christian Era. It is called " Peschito," which means 
 literal, and it Avas so named because it was a literal trans- 
 lation from the Hebrew. It was made at the close of the 
 first century or the early part of the second century. 
 
 1 It could not be earlier than this date because in Prov. viii. 18 yaio-os, a word 
 of Gallic origin, is used for a short javelin, first known in Greece by an invasion 
 of Gauls in B.C. 278. 
 
 410 
 
THE ANCIENT VERSIONS 
 
 There is a later Syriac Version, made in A.D. 488—518. 
 It is known as the " Philoxenian," or Syro-Philoxenian" 
 Version, from the name of Philoxenus, Bishop of Hiera- 
 polis, in Syria, who employed Polycarp to make it. 
 
 3. The Coptic (or Memphitic) Version was made from 
 the Septuagint in the third century, but not printed till 
 1716, at Oxford. 
 
 4. The Ethiopic (or Abyssinian) Version was made cer- 
 tainly in the second century. 
 
 5. The Armenian Version, made also from the Septua- 
 gint towards the close of Cent. IV, or early in Cent. V. 
 
 6. The Vulgate Version dates from the fourth century. 
 As Latin gradually displaced the Greek as the common 
 language of the people, so there soon sprang up a number 
 of versions in that language. These were translated, part 
 by one translator and part by another, until one complete 
 copy was made by combining the several parts. This 
 was know^n by the name of Itala, or the Italic Version, 
 called by Jerome sometimes the Vulgate (or Common) 
 Version, and sometimes the Old. Both Old and New 
 Testaments were translated from the Greek. 
 
 This was revised by Jerome, who re-translated the Old 
 Testament from the Hebrew. The work occupied him 
 from A.D. 385—405, and by the year 604 had superseded 
 all others, being known as the Vulgate Version. Since the 
 seventh century it has been adopted by the Church of 
 Rome, and in the sixteenth century it was declared by 
 the Council of Trent to be the "Authentic" Version. 
 
 With the multiplication of copies came, inevitably, 
 the multiijlication of errors. An attempt at correcting 
 these w^as ordered by Charlemagne in the eighth century. 
 A further revision was attempted by Lanfranc, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, in the eleventh century, and by 
 other scholars during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 
 
 It Avas first printed by Robert Stephens in 1528, and 
 a revision of this was printed by Pope Sixtus V. at a 
 Ijrinting office set up in the Vatican in 1590. So many 
 corrections were introduced by Sixtus V. that another 
 edition was prepared and printed by Pope Clement VIII. in 
 1592, which contained even more and greater divergencies, 
 
 411 
 
XII. THE PLACE OF VARIOUS READINGS 
 
 which gave Protestants like Thomas James ^ the oppor- 
 tunity of exposing the numerous additions, omissions, 
 and alterations between these two Editions. 
 
 In spite of all this, the Vulgate has its place in the 
 consideration of the subject of Various Readings. 
 
 The Printed Text op the Greek Testament. 
 
 The manuscripts mentioned above have been collated 
 at various times by many Avho have, from this, been 
 termed "Textual Critics." 
 
 These are quite different from the more modern genera^ 
 t ion of the so-called "Higher" Critics. 
 
 The former base their conclusions on documentary 
 evidence which they see before them ; while the latter 
 base theirs on hypotheses which are the productions of 
 their own imagination. 
 
 Some of the Textual Critics have published from time 
 to time Greek Testaments which they have compiled from 
 the manuscripts to which they have had access, and 
 to which they have attached the greatest weight. 
 
 The most important are as follows : — 
 
 The Complutensian Polyglot . . 1514 
 
 Erasmus (1st Edition) .... 1516 
 
 Stephens 1546—9 
 
 Beza^ 1624 
 
 Elzivir 1624 
 
 Griesbach 1774—5 
 
 Scholz 1830—6 
 
 Lachmann 1831 — 50 
 
 Tischendorf 1841—72 
 
 Tregelles 1856—72 
 
 Alford 1862—71 
 
 Wordsworth 1870 
 
 Revisers' Text 1881 
 
 Westcott and Hort .... 1881—1908 
 
 Scrivener 1886 
 
 Weymouth 1886 
 
 Nestle 1904 
 
 1 In his Bulhim Papale. London, 1600. 
 
 2 This, with the Elzivir, forms the Text used by the A.V. translators, and 
 is known as the Textus Beceptus, or Received Text. 
 
 412 
 
EDITORS OP GREEK TEXT. 
 
 All these have based their respective Texts on a careful 
 consideration of the value they put upon the various 
 MSS., Versions, etc. 
 
 We have put Dr. Scrivener's Text among these ; but 
 it differs from them all in one important particular which 
 makes it the very best Text for general use. 
 
 It gives the Textus Recephis, but prints every word 
 which is the subject of a Various Reading in thicker type, 
 quoting at the foot of the page the initial letter of the 
 names of the above Editors, according as they are in 
 favour of or reject the Reading in question. 
 
 All that now remains to be done is for us to give an 
 idea of the principles on which they base their respective 
 Texts, so that our readers may, as the net result of our 
 own labours, be able to estimate, each one for himself, 
 the value of the authority for or against any particular 
 Reading. 
 
 Griesbach (G.) based his Text on the theory of Three 
 Recensions of the Greek manuscripts (referred to above, 
 p. 409), regarding the collective witness of each Recension 
 as one ; so that a Reading having the authority of all 
 three was regarded by him as genuine. It is only a 
 theory, but it has a foundation of truth, and will always 
 retain a value peculiarly its own. 
 
 Lachmann (L.), disregarding these Recensions, pro- 
 fessed to give the Text based only on the evidence of 
 witnesses up to the end of the fourth century. All were 
 taken into account up to that date ; and all were discarded 
 after it, whether Uncial MSS., or Cursives, or other docu- 
 mentary evidence. He even adopted Readings which were 
 palpably errors, on the simple ground that it was the 
 best attested Reading up to the fourth century. 
 
 TiscHENDORF (T.) foUowed more or less the principles 
 laid down by Lachmann, but not to the neglect of other 
 evidence as furnished by Ancient Versions and Fathers. 
 In his eighth edition, however, he approaches nearer to 
 Lachmann's principles. 
 
 Tregelles (Tr.) produced his Text on principles which 
 were substantially the same as Lachmann, but ho admits 
 
 413 
 
XII. THE PLACE OF VARIOUS READINGS 
 
 the evidence of uncial manviscripts down to the seventh 
 century, and inckides a careful testing of a wide circle 
 of other authorities. 
 
 The chief value of his Text lies not only in this, but 
 in its scrupulous fidelity and accuracy; and is probably 
 the best and most exact presentation of the Original Text 
 of the Old Testament ever published. 
 
 Alford (A.) constructed his Text, he says, "by follow- 
 ing, in all ordinary cases, the united or preponderating 
 evidence of the most ancient authorities." 
 
 When these disagree he takes later evidence into 
 account, and to a very large extent. 
 
 Where this evidence is divided he endeavours to dis- 
 cover the cause of the variation, and gives great weight 
 to internal 'probability ; and, in some cases, relies on his 
 own independent judgment. 
 
 He says, "that Reading has been adopted which, on 
 the whole, seemed most likely to have stood in the Text. 
 Such judgments are, of course, open to be questioned." 
 
 Consequently, he sometimes is found adopting a Read- 
 ing contrary to all the ancient manuscripts. A word is 
 retained because it is "more usual"; or, it is omitted 
 because it appears to be a "grammatical correction" of 
 some transcriber ; or, it is rejected because it seems to 
 have been inserted "carelessly from memory"; or, is a 
 " mechanical repetition." 
 
 All this necessarily deprives his Text of much of its 
 weight, especially where he diifers from the other Editors ; 
 and places it far below them in critical value ; though, 
 where it is in agreement wdth them, it adds to the weight 
 of the evidence as a whole. 
 
 It follows, from the above, that, for the general reader, 
 who has not had the opportunity of becoming expert in 
 the value of the evidence of Ancient Manuscripts and 
 Versions, it is better to be guided by a consensus of the 
 above Textual Editors. 
 
 When Tregelles is supported by any (one or more) of 
 the others, his Readings may be relied upon as being the 
 best attested and most worthy of being regarded as the 
 original and inspired Text of the Greek New Testament. 
 
 414 
 
EDITORS OF GREEK TEXT, 
 
 We have already said that the best Greek Testament 
 to use is that of Dr. Scrivener,^ not merely because it 
 is not a new Text of his own, but because it gives the 
 Received Text which the Authorized Version practically 
 follows, while every word which is the subject of a Various 
 Reading is, as we have said, printed in different type. 
 The student, therefore, is able to see at a glance every such 
 w^ord ; and at the foot of the page may learn which of the 
 above Critical Editors favours or rejects the variation. 
 
 On the other hand, if he uses any of the other Texts, 
 he has, after all, to refer to the Textus Receptus to see 
 in Avhat the variation consists. 
 
 In this, and in all our other works, we have adopted 
 the plan of using the initials of the Various Critics, putting 
 the word "All" where they are all in agreement as to 
 the omission or the retention of any Various Reading. 
 
 If the Bible student desires to go further, then, without 
 the necessity of consulting either the MSS. or all the 
 Printed Texts referred to above, he will find all that he 
 needs in a little book entitled Textual Criticism of the 
 New Testament for English Bible Students, by C. E. 
 Stuart.2 
 
 1 Published bj^ Bell & Co., London and Oxford ; and on sale at the Depot 
 of the Trinitarian Bible Society, of London (7, Bury Street, Bloomsbury). 
 Price is. ; with References, 6s. Gd. 
 
 2 Published by Samuel Bagster & Sons, London, 
 
 415 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 There remain, now, only three things to be said by- 
 way of conchision. 
 
 1. The first, indeed, is hardly necessary, for it is ante- 
 cedent to all else in connection with this great subject. 
 
 It is assumed, from the first word to the last, that 
 the readers have passed from death unto life, and have 
 the Divine gift of a spiritual " understanding," apart from 
 which all that has been said will be useless. 
 
 We must be able to say : "We know that the Son of 
 God hath come, and hath given us an understanding, 
 that we may get to know HIM that is true, and we are 
 in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ" 
 (1 John V. 20). 
 
 We have not written to convince unbelievers, though 
 God may over-rule our work to that end. 
 
 We have not written in defence of the Bible, for not 
 only does it not need any defence of ours, but it is our 
 own " shield "(Ps. xci. 4) and "sword" (Eph. vi. 17), with- 
 out which we are defenceless indeed. 
 
 We have written only for those who have "peace with 
 God" (Rom. V. 1), and enjoy "the peace of God" (Phil, 
 iv. 7), and know "the God of Peace" (Rom. xv. 33). 
 
 Only such have leisure to be occupied with God. 
 
 Only such can "sit at the Lord's feet and hear His 
 Word" (Luke x. 39, R.V.). 
 
 All others must be "cumbered about much serving." 
 They must needs be occupied with themselves : either as 
 sinners taken up with their sins, or as penitents with 
 their repentance, or as believers with their faith, or as 
 saints with their holiness. 
 
 Unless and until we know our completeness in Christ 
 (Col. ii. 10), and "believe God" when He declares that 
 " He hath made us to be partakers of the inheritance 
 of the saints in light" (Col. i. 12), we shall be in such a 
 condition of conscience, and heart, and life as will not 
 leave us any time for occupation with God. 
 
 416 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 Instead of going on our way "giving thanks to God" 
 I'or what He has done, we shall be giving way to mourning 
 for what we have not done. We shall be like David when 
 he "sat in his house" and was occupied with Avhat he 
 would do for the Lord. For, not until we learn what 
 the Lord has done and purposed to do for us, shall we 
 be ready, with David, to go in and sit before the Lord 
 (2 Sam. vii. 1, 18). 
 
 In the former case David's thought was, " Who I am" ; 
 in the latter he was exclaiming, " Who am I, O Lord 
 God?" 
 
 2. The second thing, which follows on this, is, that this 
 Word of God is the food of the new nature. Nothing else 
 can sustain it. 
 
 Just as it is with our physical life; it cannot sustain 
 itself, and its support must come from without ; so it is 
 with our spiritual life. Its food must come from without 
 also. 
 
 As we cannot live on ourselves in the natural sphere, 
 even so we cannot feed on ourselves in the spiritual 
 sphere. We cannot live on our own feelings, nor on our 
 experiences, nor upon the sweetest words Avhich come 
 from man. These may excite, or warn, or interest us, but 
 they cannot feed us, nor support us, nor sustain our true 
 spiritual life. 
 
 It was a solemn truth that the Lord Jesus asserted, 
 when He compared Himself to food, saying : "As the 
 living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father : so 
 he that eatetli Me, even he shall live by Me " (John vi. 57). 
 For, as food must be eaten for one's self, and digested, and 
 assimilated, so that it becomes part of us, and enters into 
 our life, and gives us our strength, so is it with "the 
 bread of life." 
 
 This brings us to our third and last point. 
 
 3. All Bible study must in the end be individual. 
 
 As with ordinary bodily food : others may prepare the 
 food and serve it up in various forms : they may cook it 
 in more senses than one : they may present it in "made 
 dishes " : they may carve it, and cut it up, and even put 
 
 417 D D 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 it in the mouth, as with babes ; but, after all, there is 
 no more that they can do. They cannot eat it or digest 
 it for us ; they cannot assimilate it for us ; even so it is 
 with the spiritual food of the Word of God. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that has been said in the foregoing 
 pages, the great necessity remains : the work of Bible 
 study must be, to the end, intensely personal and in- 
 dividual. 
 
 Each one must look out the references for himself. 
 He must trace the words through all their occurrences 
 where these are given ; he must consider their usages ; 
 he must read the contexts ; he must make his lists and 
 tables, and do his countings for himself : for so only can 
 he feed upon the Word and the words, and be nourished, 
 and be strengthened himself, and grow thereby : so 
 only will he be able to say with Jeremiah : 
 
 " Thy words were found, and I did eat them ; 
 And thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of 
 my heart." 
 
 j 
 
 The End. 
 
 418 
 
INDEXES 
 
 i 
 
 I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 Page 
 
 
 Page 
 
 
 89 
 
 "Apology" 
 
 230n 
 
 Abiathar • • • • 
 
 326 
 
 Apostasy, The Coming of 
 
 
 Abimelech .... 
 
 368 
 
 the 
 
 356 
 
 Abraham, God's Covenant 
 
 
 " Apple," Adam's . 
 
 335 
 
 with .... 
 
 302 
 
 Application and Interpre- 
 
 
 Abraham's prayer for So- 
 
 
 tation .... 
 
 393 
 
 dom .... 
 
 285 
 
 Application of : 
 
 
 Abravanel .... 
 
 200 
 
 Creation (Gen. i.) 
 
 394 
 
 " Absent from the body " . 
 
 166, 
 
 Isaiah liii. . 
 
 396 
 
 223, 
 
 273 
 
 Jeremiah xviii. . 
 
 397 
 
 Abyssinian Version . 
 
 411 
 
 Revelation i. 7. 
 
 397 
 
 Adam a son of God . 
 
 192 
 
 the Potter's house 
 
 397 
 
 ,, under probation 
 
 85 
 
 Armenian Version 
 
 411 
 
 "Afterward" . . 300, 
 
 362 
 
 Article XX. 
 
 327 
 
 
 368 
 
 Ask or " borrow " 
 
 336 
 
 Ahithophel 
 
 326 
 
 "At hand" 
 
 259 
 
 Alexandrian MS. 
 
 409 
 
 "At that time" 
 
 323 
 
 Alford on Matt, xxvii. 9 . 
 
 341 
 
 Augustine on Matt, xxvii. 9 
 
 341 
 
 Alford's Greek Text . 
 
 414 
 
 Azariah de Rossi 
 
 200 
 
 " All," Meaning of . 
 
 109 
 
 
 
 "All power is given unto 
 
 
 Babylon and Zedekiah 
 
 337 
 
 Me" .... 
 
 131 
 
 Balaam's journey 
 
 338 
 
 All Scripture for our learn- 
 
 
 Baptism .... 
 
 128 
 
 ing .... 
 
 68 
 
 into the one name 129, 130 
 
 " All things work together 
 
 
 into one name and 
 
 
 for good" 
 
 272 
 
 three 
 
 136 
 
 Ammonite, The . 
 
 337 
 
 into the Triune name . 
 
 131 
 
 Amos quoted in Acts xv. . 
 
 138 
 
 with pneuma hagion . 
 
 129 
 
 Anah the Hivite 
 
 370 
 
 with pneuma hagion 
 
 
 Anathema .... 
 
 324 
 
 four times foretold . 
 
 135 
 
 Ancient Versions 
 
 410 
 
 " Baptized for the dead " . 
 
 53 
 
 Angels called "saints" 
 
 250 
 
 " Before all these things" . 
 
 153 
 
 ,, ,, sons of God . 
 
 144 
 
 " Before the foundation of 
 
 
 „ ,, spirits . 191, 
 
 219 
 
 the world " . 
 
 168n 
 
 " Another king " 
 
 349 
 
 Beginning and Ending of 
 
 
 Apocrypha quoted 
 
 260 
 
 Bible . . . . 
 
 24 
 
 419 D D 2 
 
I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 
 Page 
 
 " Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 
 
 Christ " . 
 
 271 
 
 Beth-shemesh, The number 
 
 
 slain at . 
 
 365 
 
 Beza's MS. 
 
 409 
 
 Bible, Whately's definition 
 
 
 of 
 
 184 
 
 Birthright, Esau's 
 
 91 
 
 ,, Privileges of 
 
 92n 
 
 Bishop Jebb 
 
 201 
 
 ,, Lowth . 
 
 200 
 
 " Blood," The mention of, 
 
 
 in 1 John i. 7 
 
 353 
 
 " Blood and Fire " . 
 
 336 
 
 Books of Bible : 
 
 
 Christ in the 
 
 19 
 
 Classification of . 
 
 30 
 
 Order of . . . 
 
 30 
 
 " Borrow " or Ask 
 
 336 
 
 Boys, Thomas . 
 
 201 
 
 "But now" . . 108 
 
 , 124 
 
 Burying of Jacob, The 
 
 348 
 
 Csesar .... 
 
 368 
 
 Canon, The Hebrew . 
 
 30 
 
 Canonical and Chronologi- 
 
 
 cal order 
 
 169 
 
 "Censure" 
 
 23071 
 
 Census of Num. i. and xxvi. 
 
 366 
 
 Centurion, The sending of 
 
 
 the 
 
 341 
 
 Changes in Punctuation of 
 
 
 A.V 
 
 39 
 
 Chapter-breaks . 
 
 34 
 
 Chapter-headings 
 
 37 
 
 Chapters, Division into 33 
 
 , Mn 
 
 of Hebrew Bible . 
 
 34n 
 
 Christ's Coming always a 
 
 
 Hope .... 
 
 161 
 
 Christ's Coming, Object of 
 
 94 
 
 Christ in the separate 
 
 
 Books of the Bible 
 
 19 
 
 Christ's words given to 
 
 
 Him .... 
 
 143 
 
 Chronology 
 
 373 
 
 Church, The 
 
 145 
 
 Usages of word . 
 
 248 
 
 Page 
 
 Classification of Books of 
 
 O.T 30 
 
 Clement VIII. . . .411 
 " Closed the Book," Christ 103, 
 
 126 
 
 Cognate Parallelism . . 203 
 Comforter .... 234 
 "Comingforth" and "Com- 
 ing unto" . . . 162 
 Concurrent usages of Greek 
 
 words .... 243 
 Constructive Parallelism . 204 
 Context always essential . 264 
 Context, The nearer . 279-285 
 Coptic Version, The . .411 
 Correspondence : 
 
 Construction of . 208—210 
 Discovery of Laws by 
 
 Thomas Boys . . 201 
 Extended Alternation 206, 
 208 
 
 Introversion . 206, 208 
 Repeated Alternation 206, 
 207 
 
 Simple Alternation 205, 207 
 Covenant with Abraham, 
 
 God's .... 302 
 Creation, The . . .351 
 Critic, The Word of God 
 
 our 336 
 
 Cross, Inscriptions on the . 342 
 "Cunning" . . . 230w 
 
 David "a man after God's 
 
 own heart " . . . 404 
 David's last words . . 326 
 David's mighty men . . 326 
 Day of Christ," " The . 159 
 Day of the Lord," "The . 158, 
 159, 314 
 " Depart and be with 
 
 Christ" ... 63, 260 
 Depletion of Hezekiah's 
 
 treasury . . . 295 
 Diaspora, The . . 76, 127 
 " Discerner," The Word a . 336 
 Discipling the Nations . 130 
 
 420 
 
I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 
 Page 
 
 Dispensation : 
 
 
 of Glory 
 
 98 
 
 of Grace 
 
 94 
 
 of Judgment 
 
 96 
 
 Parenthesis of the Pre 
 
 
 sent .... 
 
 100 
 
 The Edenic . 
 
 84 
 
 The Millennial . 
 
 97 
 
 The Patriarchal . 
 
 87 
 
 under Law . 
 
 93 
 
 Dispensations : 
 
 
 Man's condition in each 
 
 98 
 
 meaning of the word . 
 
 79 
 
 seven in Number 
 
 83 
 
 Special Characteristics 
 
 
 of ... . 
 
 98 
 
 The Crisis of each 
 
 99 
 
 to be rightly divided . 
 
 78 
 
 Truth and Teaching of, 
 
 
 to be rightly divided 
 
 105 
 
 Dispersion, Epistles to the 
 
 73 
 
 Distinction, All without . 
 
 110 
 
 Divine Names and Titles . 
 
 312 
 
 Divisions : 
 
 
 into Chapters 
 
 33 
 
 of Greek Text . 
 
 33 
 
 of Hebrew Text . 
 
 32 
 
 of the Versions . 
 
 33 
 
 Door," Christ ''the . 
 
 146 
 
 Drinking of the Lord on 
 
 
 the Cross 
 
 344 
 
 Ecclesia, The 
 
 145 
 
 Economy .... 
 
 79 
 
 Edenic Dispensation, The . 
 
 84 
 
 Eight, Signification of the 
 
 
 number .... 
 
 311 
 
 Elements" . . 
 
 249 
 
 Elyon .... 
 
 312 
 
 English words : 
 
 
 changed . . 229- 
 
 -233 
 
 lowered meaning 
 
 230 
 
 obsolete 
 
 229 
 
 Engrafted Word," "The . 
 
 27 
 
 Ephraemi MS., The . 
 
 409 
 
 Ephraim slain, The num- 
 
 
 ber of ... . 
 
 365 
 
 
 Page 
 
 Errors arising from disre- 
 
 
 gard of Context 
 
 265 
 
 Esau's birthright 
 
 91 
 
 place of repentance 
 
 303 
 
 wives . . . . 
 
 370 
 
 Eternal state, The 
 
 98 
 
 Ethiopic Version, The 
 
 411 
 
 "Every," Meaning of 
 
 109 
 
 Eusebius on Matt, xxvii. 9 
 
 341 
 
 Exception, All without 
 
 110 
 
 Faithful Word," "The . 
 
 27 
 
 Family," "Every . 
 
 282 
 
 Fig: Israel's national pri- 
 
 
 vileges . . . . 
 
 70 
 
 Fig, Olive, and Vine . 
 
 70 
 
 Figures of Speech 
 
 390 
 
 Fire from heaven con- 
 
 
 sumed sacrifices 
 
 89 
 
 Firstfruits, The . 
 
 150 
 
 First Occurrences : 
 
 
 Day of the Lord . 
 
 314 
 
 Divine Names and 
 
 
 Titles 
 
 312 
 
 God ... . 
 
 309n 
 
 Hallelujah . 
 
 306 
 
 Jehovah 
 
 309ii 
 
 Jerusalem . 
 
 310 
 
 Man of God 
 
 314 
 
 Numbers 
 
 310 
 
 Prophet 
 
 304 
 
 Questions in O.T. and 
 
 
 N.T. 
 
 318 
 
 Selah .... 
 
 307 
 
 Son of Man, The 
 
 312 
 
 Utterance of Lord Je- 
 
 
 sus .... 
 
 316 
 
 Utterance of the Old 
 
 
 Serpent . 
 
 315 
 
 Five, Signification of the 
 
 
 number . . . c 
 
 310 
 
 Flinders Petrie, Prof c 
 
 366 
 
 Foreign Missions 
 
 361 
 
 " For ever sat down " 
 
 55 
 
 Four hundred and thirty 
 
 
 years. The 
 
 302 
 
 Four hundred years, The . 
 
 302 
 
 421 
 
I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Four, Signification of the 
 
 number .... 310 
 " From above " . . . 349 
 "From the foundation of 
 
 the world" . . .168 
 " From the very first " . 349 
 "Fulfilled," Meanings of, 
 
 in Luke xxi. 24, 32 .152 
 Future not to be read into 
 
 the Present . . .149 
 Future, One part of, not to 
 
 be read into another part 1 59 
 
 Gath, Goliath of . . 290 
 
 Genitive case . , .381 
 
 of Apposition . .385 
 
 of Character . . 382 
 
 of Contents . . 387 
 
 of Material . . .387 
 
 of Origin . . .383 
 
 of Partition . . 388 
 
 of Possession . .385 
 
 of Relation. . . 386 
 
 Genitives, Two dependent . 388 
 Gentile blessing never a 
 
 secret .... 141 
 Gentiles stand by faith . 71 
 Gentiles, The . . . 69 
 Geology . . . 351,352 
 God breathed. All Scrip- 
 ture . . . .320 
 "God is one" . . .302 
 God of the living," " The 164w, 
 
 267 
 
 " God's building " . . 272 
 
 Goliath . . . .311 
 of Gath . . .290 
 
 Gospel of God . . .119 
 of Kingdom . .119 
 of the Glory . .120 
 of the Grace of God . 120 
 
 Gospels, The four . .170 
 Various . . .118 
 
 "Go ye therefore" . . 131 
 
 Grace, Dispensation of . 94 
 of God, Gospel of the 120 
 
 Gradational Parallelism . 203 
 
 Page 
 
 Greek MSS. of N.T. . . 408 
 N.T., Editions of . 412 
 Text, Printed . . 412 
 
 Greek words : 
 
 changed . . 234-242 
 Concurrent usages . 243 
 Number in Greek 
 
 Literature . .228 
 Number in N.T. Vo- 
 cabulary . . . 228 
 Synonymous . .377 
 Uniform usage . . 252 
 
 Griesbach's Greek Text . 413 
 
 Hades . . . 256, 257 
 Hallelujah. . . . 306 
 Hebdomads , . . 376 
 Hebrew Bible : 
 
 Canon ... 30 
 Chapters of . . 34w 
 MSS. of O.T. . . 407 
 Text, Divisions of . 32 
 Words, Synonymous . 379 
 Hebrews, Authorship of 
 
 Epistle to ... 76 
 Herod, The seven so called 368 
 Hephzibah. . . .294 
 Hezekiah's treasury de- 
 pleted .... 293 
 "Higher" Critics . . 336 
 make God a liar . .183 
 " Him shall God destroy " 272 
 Homer . . . .338 
 
 Ignorance, Times of . . 87 
 "Immediately" . .361 
 Importance of Accuracy . 335 
 Imprecatory Psalms, The . 110 
 "Inn" . . . . 231w 
 Inspiration . . .317 
 Limits of . . . 403 
 Inscriptions on the Cross . 342 
 Interpretation and Appli- 
 cation . . . 106w, 393 
 Interpretation of Prophecy 319 
 Introverted Parallelism . 204 
 Isaac's Meditation . . 197 
 
 422 
 
1. INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 Page 
 
 
 Page 
 
 XOCtlCltlX V J.« UUWU^VC U TV J.^^./ J 
 
 
 Kingdom — continued. 
 
 
 Christ. 
 
 178 
 
 Similes of . . . 
 
 116 
 
 
 
 The .... 
 
 113 
 
 Paul .... 
 
 178 
 
 Kirk 
 
 149n 
 
 TsifiTnVi'e! viQinns! 'WTnno'lv 
 
 
 "Knave" . . . . 
 
 230n 
 
 V J.U.V^UL .... 
 
 67 
 
 Kohath, Sons of 
 
 289 
 
 Ishmaelites • • • 
 
 287 
 
 Korah, Sons of . 
 
 289 
 
 Itala Version, The « . 
 
 411 
 
 
 
 " It is written " . 
 
 316 
 
 Lachish, The taking of 356, 357 
 
 "I will build" . 
 
 147 
 
 Lachmann's Greek Text . 
 
 413 
 
 
 
 Last words of David, The . 
 
 326 
 
 Jacob, The burying of 
 
 348 
 
 Law and Grace . 
 
 108 
 
 Jacob's "kindred" 
 
 58 
 
 Leaven .... 
 
 261 
 
 James and Matthew com- 
 
 
 Legs, Breaking of the 
 
 347 
 
 pared .... 
 
 74 
 
 "Let him dip his foot in 
 
 
 James, Canonicity of. . 
 
 75 
 
 oil" 
 
 291 
 
 Epistle of . . 
 
 73 
 
 Libnah, The revolt of 
 
 293 
 
 Luther on . . . 
 
 75 
 
 Lightfoot on Matt, xxvii. 9 
 
 341 
 
 The three so-called . 
 
 367 
 
 Light of the eyes," "The . 
 
 200 
 
 To whom he wrote . 
 
 73 
 
 Light," "Walking in the . 
 
 353 
 
 Jehoshaphat 
 
 292 
 
 Limits of Inspiration . 
 
 403 
 
 Jehovah .... 
 
 312 
 
 Literary form of the Word 
 
 29 
 
 Jeremiah not all chrono- 
 
 
 " Lived not again " . 
 
 190n 
 
 logical .... 
 
 172 
 
 Living Word and Written 
 
 
 " Jeremiah the Prophet " . 
 
 341 
 
 Word, The . 
 
 9 
 
 Jerome's Version 
 
 411 
 
 Lord'sDay," "The 159, 198,240 
 
 Jerusalem .... 
 
 310 
 
 Lord's Prayer," " The 
 
 125 
 
 Jews and Hebrew Bible 
 
 71 
 
 "Lovest thou me more 
 
 
 and Religious privileges 
 
 70 
 
 than these?". 
 
 296 
 
 Jews, Gentiles, and Church 
 
 
 
 
 of God . . . 65, 66 
 
 Machpelah 
 
 348 
 
 Joab 
 
 326 
 
 Malefactors, The two 
 
 345 
 
 Joash hidden 
 
 292 
 
 "Man" and "men". 
 
 354 
 
 John, the four so-called 
 
 367 
 
 Man, God's estimate of 
 
 354 
 
 Jordan overflowing . 
 
 289 
 
 Hebrew words for 
 
 379 
 
 Joseph a type of (^hrist 
 
 20 
 
 of God 
 
 314 
 
 Joseph's coat 
 
 91 
 
 Man's Day 
 
 96 
 
 Judgment, Dispensation of 
 
 96 
 
 Maranatha. 
 
 324 
 
 God's principles of 
 
 87 
 
 Marks of Reasoning . 
 
 363 
 
 Judgments, The three 
 
 166 
 
 of time 
 
 356 
 
 
 
 Meaning of words to be 
 
 
 Kingdom : 
 
 
 gathered from Scope 
 
 186 
 
 Gospel of . 
 
 119 
 
 Meditation of Isaac, The . 
 
 197 
 
 in abeyance . 16 
 
 262 
 
 Memphytic Version, The . 
 
 411 
 
 means sovereignty 
 
 116 
 
 Menephta . . . . 
 
 350 
 
 not the Church . 114,115 
 
 Mention of " the blood " in 
 
 
 of Heaven, and of God 
 
 117 
 
 1 John i. 7 . 
 
 353 
 
 423 
 
I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 
 Page 
 
 Midianites .... 
 
 287 
 
 Millennial Dispensation, 
 
 
 The .... 
 
 97 
 
 Milton's amanuensis . 
 
 317 
 
 Mivart, Professor 
 
 338 
 
 Moabite, The 
 
 337 
 
 Moses a type of Christ 
 
 20 
 
 Moses' Parents . 
 
 288 
 
 seat . . . . 
 
 269 
 
 "Most High" . 
 
 312 
 
 Mustard-tree, The 
 
 262 
 
 Musterion, Usage of . 
 
 258 
 
 Mystery, The . 95, 141 
 
 , 257 
 
 Mysteries of the Kingdom . 
 
 103 
 
 Naked, The young man who 
 
 fled 296 
 
 Names : Changes in . .371 
 Different persons with 
 
 same . . . 367 
 of persons . . . 366 
 of places . . .371 
 same persons with dif- 
 ferent names . . 369 
 Nebuchadnezzar . .311 
 Nephllim . . . .192 
 New Theology, The . 86, 405 
 Nine, Signification of the 
 
 number . . . .311 
 No one passage repugnant 
 
 to another . . .327 
 * ' No smith found in Israel " 290 
 "Not the God of the 
 
 dead" . . .164?z, 267 
 "Not yet" . 177,262,313 
 Number in Scripture . 310, 319 
 Numeration . . . 364 
 
 Object of Christ's Coming 94 
 
 of the Word, The . 7 
 
 " Observe and do " . . 269 
 
 Obsolete English words . 229 
 Offering of drink on the 
 
 Cross .... 344 
 
 Offerings, The four great . 170 
 
 " Of," Meanings of . . 381 
 
 Oil plentiful in Asher . 291 
 
 Page 
 
 Old Serpent's first utter- 
 ance .... 315 
 Olive Tree, Israel's Reli- 
 gious privileges . 69, 70 
 
 Omer 338 
 
 One hundred and forty- 
 four thousand. The . .154 
 " On either side " . . 347 
 One, Signification of the 
 
 number .... 310 
 Origen on Matt, xxvii. 9 . 341 
 " Other sheep I have " . 146 
 " Others " crucified with 
 
 Christ, The . . . 345 
 " Out of the Scriptures " . 355 
 
 Page Headings . . .37 
 Papyri, The . . . 235 
 Parable of Ten Virgins, 
 
 Application of . . 400 
 Parables of Matt, xiii., The 
 
 Seven .... 103 
 Parables of the Kingdom . 262 
 Paradise . . .49, 256 
 Parallelism : 
 
 Cognate or Grada- 
 
 tional . . . 203 
 Introverted . . . 204 
 Synthetic or Construc- 
 tive .... 204 
 "Parasite" . . .231 
 Parenthesis : 
 
 Definition of . .57 
 Importance of . .56 
 of present Dispensa- 
 tion . . 100—104, 132 
 Parents of Moses, The . 288 
 Parousia .... 244 
 Past, One part of, not to 
 
 be read into another part 106 
 Patriarchal : 
 
 Dispensation . . 87 
 Forms and Ceremonies 92 
 Pauline Epistles : 
 
 Canonical order 175, 176 
 Chronological order . 178 
 
I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 Page 
 
 
 Page 
 
 Persons with same name . 
 
 367 
 
 Rameses .... 
 
 350 
 
 Peschito Version 
 
 410 
 
 Remembering and Forget- 
 
 
 Peter's love tested . . 
 
 296 
 
 ting .... 
 
 355 
 
 Petros and Petra 
 
 147 
 
 Remoter Context 
 
 285 
 
 Philippian jailor 
 
 271 
 
 Removal of difficulties 
 
 337 
 
 Place of a Passage 
 
 320 
 
 Repentance," " No place of 
 
 303 
 
 Places : 
 
 
 Repugnant Passages . 
 
 327 
 
 with different names . 
 
 373 
 
 Requirement of Word, The 
 
 
 with same name . 
 
 371 
 
 one 
 
 26 
 
 Pneuma .... 
 
 246 
 
 Rest, The Saints' 
 
 160 
 
 Pneuma hagiori) Occur- 
 
 
 Resurrection the subject of 
 
 
 rences of . . 247 
 
 248 
 
 Matt. xxii. 32 
 
 267 
 
 "Poor" . . . . 
 
 255 
 
 Resurrections, The 
 
 164 
 
 Porter, The . . . 
 
 146 
 
 Revelation of truths . 
 
 337 
 
 Potter's house," "The 
 
 397 
 
 Revised Version 
 
 195 
 
 " Power on her head " 
 
 302 
 
 Revisers' note on Rom. ix. 
 
 
 Prayer .... 
 
 286 
 
 5 disapproved . 43, 44 
 
 Present not to be read into 
 
 
 Revolt of Libnah, The 
 
 293 
 
 the Past .... 
 
 141 
 
 Rich Man and Lazarus, The 
 
 327 
 
 "Prevent" 
 
 230 
 
 Rightly Dividing Dispen- 
 
 
 Priesthood .... 
 
 125 
 
 sational Truth and Teach- 
 
 
 Priestly garments. Early . 
 
 91 
 
 ing 
 
 105 
 
 " Priests and Kings " 
 
 127 
 
 Rightly Dividing Dispen- 
 
 
 Priests before the Law 
 
 91 
 
 sations .... 
 
 78 
 
 Printed Text of N.T. 
 
 412 
 
 Rightly Dividing the Word 
 
 65 
 
 " Private Interpretation " 
 
 
 Rightly Dividing the Word 
 
 
 184 
 
 212 
 
 of Truth .... 
 
 26 
 
 Prophet God's spokesman . 
 
 305 
 
 Rock that followed," "The 
 
 61 
 
 Prophets, New Testament 
 
 306 
 
 Roe, Richard Baillie . 
 
 202 
 
 Punctuation : 
 
 
 Royal titles 
 
 368 
 
 Importance of 
 
 37 
 
 "Rudiments" . 
 
 249 
 
 none in Originals 
 
 38 
 
 " Ruth the Moabitess " . 
 
 337 
 
 of Authorized Ver- 
 
 
 
 
 sion .... 
 
 38 
 
 Sabbath, The . 
 
 111 
 
 of A.V., Changes in . 
 
 39 
 
 Sacrifices : 
 
 
 of A. v.. Changes ap- 
 
 
 accepted by fire 
 
 89 
 
 proved 
 
 42 
 
 not commanded . 
 
 338 
 
 of A.V., Changes dis- 
 
 
 Sadducees deny resurrection 
 
 267 
 
 approved . 
 
 40 
 
 " Saints " used of Israel . 
 
 251 
 
 of A.V., Improvements 
 
 
 used of Angels . 
 
 250 
 
 suggested . 
 
 43 
 
 Satan's first utterance 
 
 86 
 
 "Put away the strange 
 
 
 sphere of influence 
 
 316 
 
 gods " . . . . 
 
 280 
 
 " Say unto the Queen " 
 
 295 
 
 
 
 Schoettgen 
 
 200 
 
 
 
 Scope of a passage to be 
 
 
 " Quench not the Spirit " . 
 
 306 
 
 gathered from its Struc- 
 
 
 " Quickened," Christ's flesh 
 
 190 
 
 ture . . . . 
 
 199 
 
 425 
 
I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Scope of passage the key to 
 
 meaning of its words . 186 
 Scope of 1 Peter . .194 
 "Scrip" .... 237 
 Scrivener's Greek N.T. . 413 
 Seals, The seven . 152, 153 
 Second day," " The . . 356 
 Second Epistle to Timothy 321 
 Secrets of the Kingdom . 103 
 "Selah" .... 307 
 Septuagint Version, The . 410 
 Sermon on the Mount, The 121 
 Servitude in Egypt, The . 58 
 Seven Parables of Matt. 
 
 xiii., The . . . 103 
 Seven, Signification of the 
 
 number . . . .311 
 Shechem, The burials in 347, 348 
 Sheep-fold, The . . 146 
 Sheol, Renderings of He- 
 brew word . . 256, 257 
 Simon, The ten so-called . 367 
 " Sin," Hebrew words for . 380 
 Sinaitic MS., The . . 410 
 Six the number of Man . 310 
 Sixtus v., Pope . . .411 
 Sodom, Abraham's prayer 
 
 for 285 
 
 Sojourning of Israel, The . 58 
 " Son of David," Title of . 140 
 Son of Man," "The 153,312 
 Man, The title . . 140 
 Sons of God, The title . 144 
 ofKorah . . .289 
 Sphere of Satan's influence 316 
 Spies hidden, Joshua's . 290 
 Spirit striving, The . .374 
 Spirits in Prison . 188, 216 
 Stalks of flax . . .290 
 Standing or Falling to the 
 
 Earth . . . .339 
 Stephen sees Jesus standing 178 
 Stephens, Robert . .411 
 Structure : 
 
 Advantages of . . 211 
 History of . . .199 
 of Bible as a whole = 15 
 
 Page 
 
 Structure — continued. 
 
 of passage, the key to 
 
 its Scope . . . 199 
 Principles governing . 203 
 Gen. XV. 13 . . 58 
 
 1 Sam. xvi.- xviii. . 171 
 
 2 Sam. xxiii. 4 . .45 
 2 Sam. xxiii. 5 . .45 
 Ps. xix. . . .207 
 Ps. cv. . . .208 
 Ps. cxlv. . . .207 
 Isa. lii. 13-liii. 12 . 35 
 Jeremiah (whole book) 172 
 Jer. xxi. — xxxv. . 173 
 Joel (whole book) . 298 
 Joel ii. 18— iii. 21 . 299 
 Joel iii. 1—16 . . 299n 
 Matt. xxiv. 4-28 . 360 
 Matt, xxiv^ 29— XXV. 
 
 46 . . . .360 
 Luke i. 68—79 . 208—210 
 Rom. viii. 19-21 . 60 
 Rom. xii. 1— xv. 7 . 333 
 1 Cor. viii. 1-8 . 331 
 
 1 Cor. viii. 9—13 . 332 
 
 2 Cor. (whole Epistle) 224 
 2 Cor. iii. 1— vi. 10 . 224 
 2 Cor. iv. 1— V. 11 .225 
 Hebrews (whole Epis- 
 tle) .... 220 
 
 Heb. i. and ii. . 64, 211 
 Heb. V. 1-x. 18 . 221 
 Heb. viii. 3-x. 18 . 222 
 Heb. viii. 7—13 . . 222 
 Heb. ix. 15-23 . . 223 
 Heb. ix. 25— X. 18 . 55 
 1 Pet. (whole Epistle) 216 
 1 Pet. ii. 11— iv. 6 . 217 
 1 Pet. iii. 17-iv. 6 . 218 
 
 1 Pet. iii. 18—22 . 219 
 
 2 Pet. (whole Epistle) 212 
 2 Pet. i. 16 -21 . . 212 
 2 Pet. i. 19, 20 . 214, 215 
 2 Pet. i. 21 . . 215 
 
 Subject-matter of the Word 
 
 to be divided ... 65 
 Subject of the Word, The . 14 
 
 426 
 
I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS 
 
 Paje 
 
 "Subtle" .... 230n 
 Sufferings and Glory " . 102 
 Synagogue. . . . 149 
 in James ii. 2 . . 75 
 Synonymous : 
 
 Greek words . .377 
 Hebrew words . . 379 
 Synthetic Parallelism . 204 
 Syriac Version, The . . 410 
 SyrophcBnician Woman, 
 The .... 140 
 
 Tabernacle : 
 
 Hebrew words for . 380 
 The Order of making . 169 
 " Teaching all nations " . 130 
 Temptation . . . 354 
 Ten, Signification of the 
 
 number . . . .311 
 Ten Virgins, Application of 
 
 Parable .... 400 
 Testament and Covenant 
 
 in Heb. ix. 15-23 195, 219 
 Testaments ... 29 
 Text-Garbling . . .278 
 Mangling . . 276, 277 
 Textus Receptus, The . 413 
 " That observe and do " . 269 
 "The End" . . 131,152 
 "The End not yet" . . 152 
 " Thee and thy seed " . 268 
 " Then came Amalek " . 357 
 " Then shall the kingdom 
 
 of heaven be likened" . 359 
 " Then shall the offering " 358 
 " Then they that feared the 
 
 Lord" .... 359 
 " Then will I sprinkle " . 358 
 Theology, The New . . 86 
 " Therefore . . . beseech 
 
 you" . . . . 363 
 " Therefore ... I charge 
 
 thee" .... 363 
 " These are the beginning 
 
 of sorrows" . . .153 
 The words of Christ given 
 
 Him to speak o . . 183 
 
 Page 
 
 Thief," " The dying . . 345 
 Thieves, The two . . 345 
 Thirteen, Signification of 
 
 the number . . .311 
 Thirty pieces of silver . 341 
 " This generation " . . 152 
 "This is that" . . .297 
 " Thou art Peter " . .147 
 " Thou . . . shalt not drink 
 
 wine "... 276, 277 
 Three, Signification of the 
 
 number .... 310 
 Times of the Gentiles," 
 
 "The . . . . 99 
 Timothy, Second Epistle to 321 
 Tischendorf's Greek Text . 413 
 "To-day" . . 48, 49 
 " To die is gain " . . 274 
 Tregelles's Greek Text . 413 
 Tribulation: The Church 
 
 not to pass through . 149, 
 150, 361 
 Triumph in resurrection, 
 
 Christ's . . . .191 
 Triune name. Baptism into 131 
 Truth resulting from due 
 
 regard to Context . . 279 
 Twelve, Signification of the 
 
 number . . . .311 
 Two, Signification of the 
 
 number .... 310 
 Two Testaments, The . 29 
 
 Under Law, The Dispensa- 
 tion .... 93 
 Unjust Steward, Parable of 46 
 Usage : 
 
 of words essential . 227 
 Uniform usage of Greek 
 words . . . 252 
 
 Various Readings 
 Vatican MS., The 
 Versions : 
 
 Abyssinian . 
 
 Armenian . 
 
 The Ancient 
 
 409 
 
 411 
 411 
 410 
 
 427 
 
I. INDEX OP SUBJECTS 
 
 
 Page 
 
 Versions — continued. 
 
 
 Coptic 
 
 411 
 
 Ethiopic 
 
 411 
 
 Itala .... 
 
 411 
 
 Jerome's 
 
 411 
 
 Memphitic . 
 
 411 
 
 Peschito 
 
 410 
 
 Septuagint . 
 
 410 
 
 Syriac 
 
 410 
 
 Vulgate 
 
 411 
 
 "Villain". 
 
 230» 
 
 Vine, Israel's Spiritual 
 
 
 privileges 
 
 70 
 
 Vulgate Version 
 
 411 
 
 Corruption of 
 
 19 
 
 "Waiting for God's Son 
 
 
 from heaven " 
 
 356 
 
 Walk in the light," " If we 
 
 353 
 
 "Was"and"2i;as". 
 
 351 
 
 Weak brother," " Thy . 
 
 329 
 
 Whale," " Jonah's . 
 
 3357Z 
 
 "When" in 2 Thess.i.7, 10 
 
 160 
 
 " Where art thou ? " . 
 
 318 
 
 " Where is He ? " 
 
 318 
 
 "Withhold "in 2 Thess. ii. 
 
 
 6,7 . . . . 
 
 253 
 
 Woman's head to be veiled 
 
 
 in worship 
 
 302 
 
 "Word " and the "Words," 
 
 1 
 
 Word of life, The 
 
 27 
 
 Page 
 
 Word of truth. The . . 27 
 
 Words, Meaning of, to be 
 gathered from Scope . 186 
 
 Wordsworth on Matt, 
 xxvii. 9 . . . .341 
 
 "Work out your own sal- 
 vation " . . . .275 
 
 World that then was," 
 "The . . . . 351 
 
 " Wouldest thou be spoken 
 for to the king ? " . . 281 
 
 Wrongly dividing the Word 
 
 28, 67 
 
 Years : 
 
 The 120, of Gen. vi. 3 374 
 The 400 . . .376 
 The 430 . . .376 
 The 450, of Acts xiii. 
 
 20 . . . .376 
 The 480th of 1 Kings 
 
 vi. 1 . . . 377 
 The 490, of Dan. ix. . 376 
 " Ye do alway resist " . 336 
 " Ye will not come " . . 336 
 Young man who fled from 
 Gethsemane . . .296 
 
 Zarephath .... 291 
 Zedekiah and Babylon . 337 
 
 428 
 
II. INDEX 
 
 OF TEXTS EXPLAINED 
 
 Page 
 
 Gen. i. 2 . . . .351 
 
 „ iii. 1 . . . .315 
 
 „ iii. 8 . . . .318 
 
 „ iii. 15 ... 19 
 
 „ iv 89 
 
 „ V. 1, 3 . . . 144 
 
 „ vi 192 
 
 „ vi.5, 4 . . . 144 
 
 „ vi. 3 . . . . 374 
 
 „ xii. 3 . . . .141 
 
 „ XV. 11, 12 . . 288 
 
 „ xviii. 11, 12 . . 286 
 
 „ xix 285 
 
 „ xxi. 25 . . . 357 
 
 „ xxiv. 24 . . . 286 
 
 „ xxiv. 63 . . . 197 
 
 „ XXV. 2 . . .288 
 
 „ xxvi. 19, 20 . . 357 
 
 „ xxvii. 34—38 . . 303 
 
 „ xxxv. 2 . . .280 
 
 „ xxxvii. 25 . . 287 
 
 „ xlvi. 26 . . .58 
 
 „ xlix. 6 . . .145 
 
 Exod. i. 8 . . . .350 
 
 „ ii. 17 . . . 358 
 
 „ iii. 22 . . . 336 
 
 „ xi. 2 . . . 336 
 
 „ xii. 35, 36 . . 336 
 
 „ xii. 40 . . .58 
 
 „ XV. 26 . . .339 
 
 „ xvi. 36 . . . 338 
 
 „ xvii. 8 . . . 357 
 
 „ xix. 5, 6 . . .126 
 
 „ xxiv. 5—8 . . 197 
 
 „ XXV. 17 . . . 239 
 
 Lev. i. 3, etc. . . . 339 
 
 „ xxiii. 17 . . . 261 
 
 Num. xvi. 1. . . . 289 
 
 „ xvi. 27 . . . 289 
 
 Page 
 
 Num. XX. 19 . . . 358 
 
 „ xxii. 22 . . . 338 
 
 „ xxvi. 59 . . . 288 
 
 Deut. vi. 25 and Rom. iii. 
 
 20 . . . 108 
 
 „ xxxii. 17 . . . 350 
 
 „ xxxiii. 2, 3 . . 250 
 
 Josh. ii. 6 . . . . 290 
 
 „ iii. 15 . . . 289 
 
 „ X. 31, 32 . . . 356 
 
 „ xix. 24—28 . . 291 
 
 Judg. i. 7, 8 . . . 310 
 
 „ V. 8 . . . .350 
 
 „ V. 11. . . . 358 
 
 „ viii. 24 . . . 287 
 „ xii. 6 ... 365 
 
 Ruth i. 22 ; ii. 2, 6 ; iv. 5, 
 
 10 . . . 337 
 
 1 Sam. vi. 19 . . . 365 
 
 „ xiii. 19 . . . 290 
 
 „ xvi. — xviii. . 170, 171 
 
 „ xvii. 4 . . .290 
 
 „ xxviii. 20 . . 340 
 
 2 Sam. xxiii. . . . 326 
 
 ,, xxiii. 5 . . .44 
 
 1 Kings vi. 1 . . . 377 
 
 xvii. 9 . . . 291 
 
 2 Kings iv. 13 . . . 281 
 
 „ xviii. 13, 14 . 293 
 
 „ xix. 8 . . . 357 
 
 „ XXV. 6, 7 . . 337 
 
 2 Chron. xvii. 1 . .291 
 
 „ xxi. 10 . . 293 
 
II. INDEX OP TEXTS EXPLAINED 
 
 
 Page 
 
 
 2 Chron. xxii. 11, 12 
 
 . 292 
 
 Jer. xxxiv. 7 
 
 xxxii. 9 
 
 . 357 
 
 ,, xxxiv. 18, 19 
 
 Est. i. 1—3 
 
 . 281 
 
 Ezek. xii. 13 
 
 
 
 xviii. 27 . 
 
 Job i. 6 ; ii. 1 . 
 
 . 144 
 
 xxxvi. 25 
 
 xxxviii. 7 . 
 
 . 144 
 
 „ xlv. 11 . 
 
 Psalm ii. 8 
 
 156, 266 
 
 Dan ii 31 39 44- 
 
 5, iii. . 
 
 . 308 
 
 iii. 25 
 
 „ X. 9 
 
 . 256 
 
 vi 1 
 
 „ xii. 6 
 
 . 227 
 
 „ ix. 27 
 
 „ xvi. 10 . 
 
 . 257 
 
 )5 All. X . 
 
 „ XX. 3 
 
 89 
 
 xxix. 1 . . 
 
 . 144 
 
 Joel ii. 28 
 
 „ XXXV. 10 
 
 . 256 
 
 „ ii. 28 — 32 . 
 
 Ixxxix. 6 
 
 . 144 
 
 „ ii. 30 . 
 
 „ ciii. 7 
 
 . 169 
 
 
 „ ciii. 14 . 
 
 . 355 
 
 Amos ix. 11, 12 
 
 „ civ. 35 . 
 
 . 307 
 
 
 „ cix. . 
 
 . Ill 
 
 Micah V. 2 and Zeeh 
 
 „ cxi. 2 . 
 
 . 199 
 
 „ vi. 5 
 
 „ cxix. 126 
 
 . 158 
 
 
 Prov. xi. 1 
 
 Isa. ii. 2 . 
 „ ii. 11, 12, 17 
 „ ii. 11, 17 . 
 „ vi. and Acts 
 ,, xxvi. 9 
 
 xxviii. 16 
 „ xlv. 18 
 „ lii. 4 . 
 „ liii. . 
 „ lii. 8 . 
 „ Ix. 1,3, 11 
 „ Ixii. 4, 5 
 
 Jer. vii. 22, 23 
 „ ix. 23, 24 
 
 xiii. 18 
 „ xviii. . 
 „ XXX. 3, 4, 7 
 „ xxxi. 34 
 „ xxx'.i. 4 
 „ xxxiv. 3 
 
 12 
 
 96, 
 
 239 
 
 156 
 314 
 158 
 15 
 111 
 147 
 352 
 350 
 396 
 265 
 157 
 294 
 
 338 
 326 
 295 
 397 
 151 
 355 
 337 
 337 
 
 Page 
 
 . 357 
 
 . 302 
 
 . 337 
 
 . 93 
 
 . 358 
 
 . 338 
 
 iii. 24 350 
 
 . 144 
 
 . 281 
 
 . 376 
 
 . 151 
 
 . 362 
 
 . 297 
 
 . 336 
 
 . 138 
 
 ix. 9 162 
 
 . 277 
 
 Hab. ii. 2 . . . . 265 
 
 Zech. ix. 9 and Micah v. 2 162 
 
 Mai. iii. 4 . 
 „ iii. 16 
 
 Matt. ii. 2 . 
 ii. 23 
 
 vi. 2, 5, 16 
 viii. 5 
 X. 1—15, 
 X. 5, 6 
 X. 8—10 
 X. 9, 10. 
 xi. 12 
 xi. 28 
 xiii. 15 
 XV. 21—24 
 xvi. 15—19 
 xvi. 19 . 
 
 xxii. 32 . 
 
 xxiii. 3 
 xxiv. 
 
 . 358 
 
 . 359 
 
 . 318 
 
 . 340 
 
 . 238 
 
 . 341 
 
 . 132 
 
 . 106 
 
 . 237 
 
 . 107 
 
 . 242 
 
 . 323 
 
 . 178 
 
 . 140 
 147, 148 
 
 . 117 
 
 . 267 
 
 . 269 
 
 . 153 
 
 430 
 
II. INDEX OF TEXTS EXPLAINED 
 
 
 
 Page 
 
 
 Page 
 
 Matt. xxiv. 13, 14 . 
 
 113—119, 
 
 John vii. 37 — 39 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 131 
 
 „ X. 9 . 
 
 . 146 
 
 )> 
 
 xxiv. 15 . . 
 
 . 238 
 
 „ xii. 27 
 
 51 
 
 
 xxiv. 29 . • 
 
 . 361 
 
 „ xii. 32 
 
 . 110 
 
 J) 
 
 XXV. 1 . • 
 
 . 359 
 
 „ xii. 40 
 
 . 178 
 
 55 
 
 XXV. 1—13 
 
 . 400 
 
 ,, xiv. 2 
 
 . 52 
 
 >J 
 
 XXV. 31 — 46 . 
 
 . 167 
 
 „ xiv. 16, 26; xv. 
 
 26: 
 
 >) 
 
 xxvii. 9 . • 
 
 . 341 
 
 xvi. 7 . 
 
 . 234 
 
 5> 
 
 xxvii. 37 . 
 
 . 342 
 
 „ xvi. 12 
 
 82 
 
 ii 
 
 xxvii. 44 . 
 
 . 345 
 
 „ xvi. 12—15 
 
 142, 174 
 
 J> 
 
 xxvii. 48 . . 
 
 . 345 
 
 xvii. 8 
 
 . 183 
 
 if 
 
 xxviii. 19, 20 . 
 
 130, 131 
 
 „ xvii. 8, 14, 17 . 
 
 . 317 
 
 
 
 „ xvii. 24 
 
 52 
 
 Mark 
 
 vi. 7 . 
 
 . 237 
 
 „ xix. 19 . 
 
 . 842 
 
 J) 
 
 xiii. 14 
 
 . 238 
 
 „ xix. 29 
 
 . 345 
 
 11 
 
 XV. 22, 23 
 
 . 345 
 
 „ xix. 32 
 
 . 347 
 
 11 
 
 XV. 26 
 
 . 342 
 
 „ XX. 21 
 
 . 342w 
 
 ii 
 
 XV. 36 
 
 . 345 
 
 ,, xxi. 15 
 
 . 296 
 
 
 
 Acts i. 4, 5 
 
 . 129 
 
 Luke 
 
 i. 3 . 
 
 . 349 
 
 „ i. 5 . 
 
 . 247 
 
 11 
 
 ii. 48 
 
 . 404 
 
 „ i. 16 . 
 
 2 
 
 
 ii. 49 
 
 . 318 
 
 „ ii. 4 . 
 
 . 247 
 
 11 
 
 iv. 16 
 
 . 238 
 
 „ ii. 16. 
 
 . 297 
 
 11 
 
 iv. 18—20 
 
 . 126 
 
 „ ii. 27 . 
 
 . 257 
 
 
 iv. 21 
 
 . 101 
 
 „ ii. 38 . 
 
 . 129 
 
 11 
 
 vi. 24 
 
 . 238 
 
 „ iii. 18 
 
 2 
 
 
 vii. 3, 6 . 
 
 . 341 
 
 „ vii. 15, 16 
 
 . 348 
 
 
 ix. 3 . 
 
 107, 237 
 
 „ vii. 17, 18. 
 
 . 349 
 
 
 X. 17— 19. 
 
 . 132 
 
 „ vii. 38 
 
 . 147 
 
 
 xi. 53 
 
 . 238 
 
 „ vii. 51 
 
 . 336 
 
 
 xvi. 9 
 
 . 46 
 
 „ viii. 27—31 
 
 5 
 
 
 xvi. 16 . 
 
 . 242 
 
 „ viii. 48 
 
 . 129 
 
 
 xvi. 19-33 
 
 . 327 
 
 „ ix. 7 . 
 
 339, 340 
 
 
 xvi. 22, 23 
 
 . 47 
 
 „ x. 48. 
 
 . 129 
 
 
 xxi. 24 . 
 
 . 99 
 
 „ xiii. 20 . 
 
 . 376 
 
 
 xxi. 24, 32 
 
 . 152 
 
 „ XV. 14—18 
 
 . 138 
 
 11 
 
 xxii. 25 . 
 
 . 240 
 
 „ XV. 17, 18. 
 
 52, 139 
 
 11 
 
 xxii. 36 . 
 
 108, 124 
 
 „ xvi. 31 
 
 . 271 
 
 11 
 
 xxii. 36 . 
 
 . 108 
 
 ,, xvii. 2 
 
 . 355 
 
 )) 
 
 xxiii. 7, 11, 15 
 
 . 241 
 
 ,, xix. 5, 6 . 
 
 . 129 
 
 11 
 
 xxiii. 38 . 
 
 . 342 
 
 xix. 6 . . 
 
 . 135 
 
 11 
 
 xxiii. 39, 40 . 
 
 . 346 
 
 ,, xxii. 9 
 
 . 339 
 
 11 
 
 xxiii. 43 . 
 
 . 48 
 
 „ XXV. 21 
 
 . 241 
 
 a 
 
 xxiv. 49 . 
 
 . 247 
 
 ,, xxvi. 14 . 
 
 . 340 
 
 John 
 
 i. 18 . 
 
 7 
 
 Bom. ii. 12 . . 
 
 . 87 
 
 »> 
 
 vi. 37 
 
 . 270 
 
 „ iii. 20 
 
 . 108 
 
 431 
 
II. INDEX OF TEXTS EXPLAINED 
 
 Ro 
 
 n. iii. 25 
 V. 16, 18 
 vi. 3 
 viii. 1 
 viii. 20 
 
 viii. 28 
 
 ix. 2, 3 
 ix. 5 
 
 ix. 25—27 
 xi. . 
 xi. 13 
 xiv. 5, 6 
 xiv. 15 
 XV. 28 
 
 1 Cor. iii. 17 
 iv. 3 
 viii. 11 
 X. 3—5 
 X. 32 
 xi. 10 
 XV. 20- 
 XV. 29 
 XV. 33 
 XV. 45 
 xvi. 22 
 
 28 
 
 2 Cor. iii. . 
 
 „ iii. 17—16 
 „ V. 10 
 
 Gal. iii. 15—17 
 „ iii. 20 
 „ iv.3, 9 
 
 Eph. i. 21 . 
 
 „ ii. 1 . 
 
 „ iii. . 
 
 „ iii. 15 
 
 „ iv. 1 . 
 
 „ iv. 11 
 
 „ iv. 12 
 
 „ iv. 30 
 
 Phil. i. 7 . 
 „ i.21. 
 i. 23 . 
 
 Page 
 
 . 239 
 
 . 242 
 
 . 130 
 
 . 242 
 
 . 59 
 
 . 272 
 
 . 60 
 
 . 43 
 
 . 148 
 
 . 69 
 
 . 70 
 
 . 113 
 
 . 328 
 
 . 241 
 
 . 272 
 96,158,315 
 
 . 328 
 
 . 61 
 
 . 65 
 
 . 302 
 
 . 62 
 
 . 53 
 
 . 234 
 
 . 190 
 
 . 324 
 
 . 16 
 
 . 62 
 
 166, 223, 273 
 
 302 
 302 
 250 
 
 283 
 62 
 62 
 282 
 363 
 305 
 53 
 241 
 
 239 
 274 
 62 
 
 Phil. ii. 12 
 „ iii. 11 
 „ iii. 11—14 
 „ iv. 6, 7 
 
 Col. i. 16, 17 
 
 „ ii. 8, 20 
 
 „ ii. 11. 
 
 „ ii. 14. 
 
 „ ii. 14, 15 
 
 „ ii. 16. 
 
 „ iv. 16 
 
 1 Thess. i. 10 
 „ iv. 17 
 „ v. 1-4 
 „ V. 1-5 
 „ V. 20 
 « V. 27 
 
 2 Thess. i. 7, 10 
 „ i. 10 
 „ ii. 2 
 „ ii. 6, 7 
 „ ii. 7 
 ii. 30 
 
 1 Tim. vi. 11 
 
 2 Tim. ii. 15 
 
 „ iv. 3, 4 
 
 „ iii. 16, 17 
 
 „ iii. 17 
 
 „ iv. 1 
 
 „ iv. 6 
 
 „ iv. 13 
 
 Philem. 15 
 
 Heb. ii. 8 . 
 „ ii. 9 . 
 
 iv. 12 
 vi. 16 
 
 viii. 12 ; x 
 
 ix. 5 . 
 X. 12 
 
 17 
 
 Page 
 
 . 275 
 
 . 166 
 
 . 165 
 
 . 309 
 
 . 86 
 
 . 250 
 
 . 41 
 
 . 241 
 
 . 195 
 
 . 113 
 
 . 238 
 
 . 356 
 274, 359 
 
 . 150 
 
 . 97 
 
 . 306 
 
 . 238 
 
 . 160 
 
 . 252 
 
 . 259 
 
 . 253 
 
 . 253 
 
 . 356 
 
 . 314 
 
 26, 27 
 
 . 316 
 
 . 320 
 
 . 314 
 
 . 363 
 
 . 261 
 
 . 238 
 
 . 238 
 
 262, 313 
 42, 64,110 
 
 . 336 
 
 . 239 
 
 . 355 
 
 . 239 
 
 . 54 
 
 482 
 
II. INDEX OF TEXTS EXPLAINED 
 
 Heb. xi. 4 . 
 „ xii. 17 
 
 1 Pet. i. 10, 11 . 
 „ ii. 2 
 „ iii. 19 . 
 „ iv. 11 . 
 
 2 Pet. i. 16—21 
 
 „ i. 20 
 
 „ ii. 4 
 
 „ ii. 22 
 
 „ iii. 6 
 
 „ iii. 15 
 
 „ iii. 19 
 
 Page 
 . 89 
 . 303 
 
 101,258 
 241 
 188 
 234 
 
 213 
 186 
 191 
 56 
 352 
 76 
 64 
 
 1 John i. 7 
 ii. 1 
 
 Jude 6 
 „ 14 
 
 Rev. i. 3 
 i. 7 
 i. 10 
 V. 9, 10 
 vi. 
 vii. 
 
 xiv. 14—16 
 xix. 1—3 . 
 XX. 11-15 
 
 . 353 
 
 . 353 
 
 193, 273w 
 
 . 252 
 
 . 238 
 
 . 397 
 
 . 96 
 
 . 127 
 152, 153 
 
 . 154 
 
 . 313 
 
 . 307 
 
 . 168 
 
 433 
 
 E E 
 
III. INDEX OF GREEK WORDS 
 
 
 Page 
 
 
 Page 
 
 ayyap€.v(ji . 
 
 . 123n 
 
 
 50 
 
 ayyeAos 
 
 
 
 . 259 
 
 r 
 
 aytos 
 
 
 evrevuev Kai evTa)U€\y 
 
 . 347 
 
 aOoAos 
 
 
 
 1 act 
 
 166 
 
 OLKoXovOeo) 
 
 61 
 
 
 . 321 
 
 OLKOVOi 
 
 . 339 
 
 
 . 187 
 
 aWos 
 
 . 347, 350 
 
 eTTtXvo) . . 
 
 . 187 
 
 avayLViocTKw 
 
 . 238 
 
 
 . 196 
 
 av a A vert? . 
 
 
 iTTLOVCriOS • 
 
 . 228w 
 
 avaXvo) 
 
 . 260 
 
 €T€pO<S . . 347, 
 
 350, 350n 
 
 dvaTre/x-TTW 
 
 . 241 
 
 evayyeXit,(o 
 
 . 190n 
 
 avcoOev 
 
 . 349 
 
 evapecrro^ . 
 
 . 354 
 
 
 . 238 
 
 €V€pyeTq<; . 
 
 . 240 
 
 
 . 329, 330 
 
 
 
 aTToXvd) 
 
 . 329, 330 
 
 ^ao) .... 
 
 . 194 
 
 airoa-riXXoi - 
 
 . 342 
 
 
 . 261 
 
 aTrocTTOfxaTLt/i) • 
 
 . 238 
 
 
 . 236 
 
 aperrj 
 
 . 234 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 ^aoriXeta . 
 
 ., 116 
 
 ^Oo<i .... 
 
 . 234 
 
 
 . 239 
 
 Tjv-^op-'qv . 
 
 . 60 
 
 y8ta^o/xai . 
 
 . 241 
 
 
 
 
 ^eOTTJ/CUCTTOS . 
 
 . 320 
 
 yevrjTaL 
 yivojxat 
 
 ypafjiw . . 
 
 . 152 
 . 188n 
 . 238 
 
 lOtOS .... 
 
 IXacrTrjpiov 
 
 . 187 
 
 . 239 
 
 
 tcTTa/xat 
 
 . 340 
 
 
 . 196 
 
 
 
 
 . 195, 196n 
 
 KCLipO'i ... 
 
 8tacroj^w . • 
 
 . 193 
 
 KaKOTTOtO? . 
 
 . 346n 
 
 SLariOrjjJLL . 
 
 . 196 
 
 KaKOvpyo^ 
 
 . 346n 
 
 8tKatos 
 
 . 239 
 
 KaraKpLfxa 
 KaraXvM . 
 
 . 242 
 . 333 
 
 iyKaiVL^u) . 
 
 . 223 
 
 KaravTctco . 
 
 . 166?z 
 
 . 
 
 . 190n 
 
 
 . 253 
 
 €t? TO Sirjvc'^i^ . 
 
 54, 55 
 
 Krjpv$ 
 
 . 190w 
 
 Ik . 
 
 . 63 
 
 Krjpvcraoi . 
 
 . 190w 
 
 iKK\y]a(a . 
 
 . 234, 248 
 
 ' KvpiaK6<i . 
 
 . 240 
 
 434 
 
III. INDEX OF 
 
 GREEK WORDS 
 
 
 Page 
 
 
 Page 
 
 X'aix/Sdvo) . 
 
 , 166n 
 
 irpecrfivTcpos 
 
 . 238 
 
 Xoyos 
 
 . 183 
 
 
 . 255 
 
 M ; 
 
 . 26871 
 
 p^fxa 
 
 . 183 
 
 /JLLKpoq 
 
 . 240 
 
 
 
 fJiV<TTrjpLOV 
 
 . 257 
 
 aKdvSaXov 
 
 . 234 
 
 
 
 aror^eia . 
 
 . 249 
 
 VCKpOt 
 
 53w 
 
 (TVVTeXcia . 
 
 . 163 
 
 o yiypairraL 
 
 . 341 
 
 Ttt eOvT] 
 
 . 167 
 
 vSrjyeuj 
 
 6 
 
 TttTreti/os . 
 
 . 255 
 
 OLKrjrripLov 
 
 . 273n, 274, 400n 
 
 reAos 
 
 . IC2, 163 
 
 OLKOL • . 
 
 . 282 
 
 Tt . . • 
 
 
 OLK0V0p.La . 
 
 . 79 
 
 TO dvaXvcraL 
 
 . 62 
 
 OpOoTOjJLOVVTa 
 
 . 26 
 
 TO SoKLp,LOV 
 
 . 239 
 
 orav eXOrj 
 
 . 160w 
 
 TO prjOev , 
 
 . 341 
 
 
 . 274 
 
 TOVTOV » 
 
 . 272 
 
 TrapctSeicros 
 
 . 256 
 
 vTToaTacrL's 
 
 243 
 
 7rapaKXr)To<i 
 
 . 234 
 
 
 
 Trapovata . 
 
 . 244 
 
 <jiepo) 
 
 . 213, 214 
 
 Trarrjp 
 
 . 282 
 
 <f>0€LpO} 
 
 . 272 
 
 ireLpd^d) 
 
 . 254 
 
 Xdpayfxa . 
 
 
 7r€Lpa<T/x6<s 
 
 . 254 
 
 . 241 
 
 
 . 342 
 
 ^apLTOO) 
 
 . 354 
 
 
 . 255 
 
 ^eipoypa^ov 
 
 . 241 
 
 Trrjpa 
 
 . 236 
 
 '^opTjyew . 
 
 . 234 
 
 TrXrjOo^ 
 
 . 240 
 
 
 . 234w 
 
 7rXr)p6(x) 
 
 . 15271 
 
 
 
 TTvevfxa dyLOV 
 
 . 188w 
 
 (jjSivoyv . • 
 
 . 153w 
 
 7rpav<s 
 
 . 255 
 
 ttXTTe «. • 
 
 . 161w 
 
 4nr, 
 
IV. INDEX OF HEBREW WORDS 
 
 
 Pcige 
 
 
 Page 
 
 ins . 
 
 . 301 
 
 
 . 32w 
 
 
 . 301 
 
 
 . 92 
 
 
 
 
 . 33w 
 
 |i . . . 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 85n 
 
 
 040 
 
 Cl-lp . 
 
 e 350 
 
 n^n . 
 
 . 351 
 
 
 
 . 350 
 
 nnt . 
 
 . 196 
 
 
 n-n . 
 
 . 376n 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 r-n . . . 
 
 . 265 
 
 
 147w 
 
 
 . 336 
 
 
 . 26 
 
 '? . . . 
 
 . 45 
 
 
 . 197 
 
 
 . 239 
 
 
 . 90 
 
 
 . 337 
 
 
 . 91m 
 
 
 Sn 
 
 
 . 192w 
 
 
 . 287 
 
 •inh . 
 
 . 352 
 
 
 . 340 
 
 
 . 375 
 
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