which they have regulated their inquiries and their decisions; we have the same materials which they possessed, and can in some degree put the accuracy of their results to the test. Further than this, we are hardly called upon in this country to go; because we cannot appeal to the ultimate sources. There is something in the very aspect and external appearance of a manuscript itself, which goes far in aiding to form a judgment as to its readings. Thus, if I may speak from my own feelings, the bare inspection of the controverted passage in 1 Tim. 3: 16, "God manifest in the flesh," in the famous Alexandrine MS. preserved in the British Museum, affords more decisive and satisfactory evidence as to the reading of that manuscript, than can be drawn from all the varying testimony extant upon the subject.

IV. Another preliminary object of attention is the branch now known as Biblical Hermeneutics, or the Theory and Rules of Interpretation, as applied to the Scriptures. The actual application of these rules is Interpretation itself, now often called Exegesis. It may at first be difficult, for one not versed in Biblical Literature, to perceive the necessity and importance of this branch of study. The principles of interpretation are as old as the creation; and are instinctively impressed upon our nature, the moment we begin to employ language as the representative of thought. The child comprehends its mother; and the mother finds no difficulty in interpreting the prattle of her child. We all interpret instinctively and involuntarily, when any one addresses us; and the reader is even now in the full practice of every principle of interpretation, while he dwells upon these lines.

Why then should it be necessary to draw out these principles into rules, and make a theory and science of what in itself is so practical and instinctive? We might reply, and with entire propriety, that it is interesting and important to bring out and exhibit in one general scientific view, the principles on which the human mind acts in this, as in so many other cases; that this indeed is one of the most important aspects of the science of mind; inasmuch as it respects all our intercourse with each other as intelligent beings. Still, the formation of rules to be applied to the interpretation of common discourse or of books on ordinary subjects, would certainly be in great part a matter of supererogation. Yet we find, that this science is of great importance in the legal profession; where the due interpreta

tion of the words of a law often requires the nicest skill and a train of profound reasoning. So it is in the Bible. The Scriptures are the Word of God, and reveal his holy law; they are in a language not our own, and which exists only in a fragmentary form. Hence the frequent necessity of applying all the various principles which can be brought to bear, for the elucidation of what might otherwise remain incomplete and obscure.

But in respect to the Bible, there is another aspect in which the science of Hermeneutics becomes of still more definite application and practical importance. This is presented by the question so often raised: Whether, after all, the language of the Bible is to be interpreted and understood on the same principles, and in the same manner, as that of other books? A priori there would seem to be no reason why the sacred volume should form an exception to the general rule. God speaks to men in the words of men; and means either to be understood, or not to be understood. If the former, then his language must be received and interpreted according to the innate fundamental principles of all human interpretation. If, on the contrary, he did not mean to be understood, then he has used the ordinary words of human language in a sense different from their ordinary and natural meaning; and has spoken one thing to the ear and eye, which all could understand, and another thing in a more hidden sense, which none could understand. I speak not here, of course, of parables and allegories, which are common to all writings human or divine; but more particularly of the poetical and prophetic parts of Scripture.

Here, in ancient times, Jewish interpreters were accustomed to suspend mountains of sense upon every word and letter of the Hebrew text; that is to say, the words were held to mean, not only what they would naturally express in their ordinary acceptation; but also every thing else which the fancy of the interpreter might choose to attribute to them. This tendency passed over from the Jewish Rabbins to some of the fathers in the early Christian church; and has been transmitted down in a greater or less degree even to the present day. This is the double or deeper sense, of which even now we hear so much; and which, as it seems to me, rests on an imperfect apprehension of the force and character of divine truth. Besides, if we admit more than a single sense, except in obvious allegories and parables, how are we to decide upon this second meaning; SECOND SERIES, VOL. V. NO. II.

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which, by the very supposition, is hidden? By what rules or instinct are we to interpret plain and intelligible language, so as to bring out this deeper hidden sense? And being thus hidden, how are we to know, whether it is the true meaning? Why may not another just as well bring out a different hidden sense? And how, if there be one hidden meaning, can we determine that there is not a second and a third and a fourth, all equally hidden, and just as much concealed under the plain language, as that which we propose? If all this be so, what barrier can we set up, indeed, against the interpretations of a Cocceius, or the dreamy reveries of a Swedenborg? I know of none.

In short, viewing the subject under every aspect, I must hold that any system of interpretation, which departs from the plain and obvious meaning of the language of Scripture, rests upon a wrong foundation, and is fraught with danger to the mind earnestly seeking after divine truth. It converts the Word of God into a book of riddles; such as were not uncommon in ancient times; and, more than all, it saps the fundamental principles, which regulate our conduct as beings capable of a mutual interchange of thoughts by means of language. It makes God profess to speak to us in the language of man; and yet takes his words out from the application of the rules, by which alone we understand or are understood, when speaking with each other.

It is on this ground, especially, that an attention to the principles and rules of Hermeneutics, becomes of high importance to the biblical student.

Thus far my remarks have had respect to the general method and principles of biblical study. Let us now survey, for a few moments, some of the more important sources, whence that information which must constitute the means and materials of the interpreter, is to be derived.

V. Among these, Biblical History occupies an important place. The Old Testament is itself the chief history of the Hebrew nation; for the early narrative of Josephus, the professed historian of his people, is drawn mainly from the Bible, with the addition of various particulars derived from traditional and doubtful authority. The Pentateuch indeed is the foundation of all human history, as well as of the Jewish; and brings down the narrative of that people to the eve of their establishment in the Promised Land. Every subsequent part of the

Bible, whether it be history, or poetry, or prophecy, gospel or epistle, refers back both to the Pentateuch and to Hebrew history in later times; and is absolutely unintelligible without an acquaintance with the facts there related. Thus far, the Bible is its own best interpreter,-the only storehouse where the facts are all laid up.

But there are also in the Scriptures frequent allusions to the history of other nations besides the Jews. Egypt and Ethiopia, Persia and Assyria, Babylon and Phenicia, play no unimportant part upon the pages of the sacred record; and an acquaintance with the facts of their history not only serves to illustrate the Holy Scriptures, but greatly to strengthen their authority. Indeed, no stronger testimony to the truth and authenticity of any ancient document can ever be expected or required, than exists in behalf of the Bible upon the walls of the vast temples of the Egyptian Thebes. We find there, for example, Sheshonk, the Shishak of the Scriptures, sculptured as a colossal figure with his name annexed, leading up rows of Jewish captives to present them to his god.* In this respect, the active spirit of the present age, in deciphering the sculptured monuments and writings of antiquity, is at the same time bringing out the strongest and most incontrovertible evidence, in behalf of the authenticity and claims of Holy Writ. And it is perhaps not too much to expect, that the illustrations and confirmations which have thus flashed upon us from the deciphering of the hieroglyphic writings, are but the precursors of others, to be yet developed from the wedge-formed inscriptions of the ancient Medes and Persians.

Not less in general importance to the interpreter, is the history of the Jewish people and the neighboring nations, during the interval of time between the Old Testament and the New. This whole period had a paramount influence in forming the character of the later Jews, and shaping their opinions on theological and moral subjects; and all these require to be well understood, in order to comprehend many of the allusions and much of the teaching in the New Testament, and judge of its force and adaptation to times, circumstances, and persons. In like manner, an acquaintance with the general history of the time of Christ and of the apostolic age, is absolutely essential for understanding the scope and foundation of their instruction and doctrines; and the history

* 2 Chron. xii. 2-9.

of the primitive church during the same age, serves to clear up much that must otherwise remain "hard to be understood," in the writings of the great apostle of the Gentiles.

VI. Intimately connected with the History of the Hebrew people, are their Antiquities so called, Ecclesiastical, Political, and Domestic. In respect to the Bible, it is perhaps an acquaintance with these, which constitutes the main and most essential qualification of the interpreter. It is this kind of knowledge, which, most of all, places him in the position of the Jews themselves; enables him to think as they thought, feel as they felt, judge as they judged, and understand as they understood. Indeed, allusion to these varied topics, is interwoven in the very texture of every page and almost every paragraph of the Bible.

The Ecclesiastical Antiquities have relation to the whole constitution and ritual of the Hebrew church under the Old Testament; to develop and establish which, as well as to sustain and purify them, was the primary object of a great portion of the Hebrew Scriptures. The New Testament indeed abrogates the ancient ceremonial law; but in order to know what is thus abrogated, we must first know what once existed; and be able to mark the distinction between that which, as the spirit, is of permanent obligation, and that which, as the letter, has been done away. We must learn too what came in place of these former institutions; and what was the constitution imposed upon the Christian church, its sanctions and its ordinances.

In the Political Antiquities of the Hebrews we are to look not only for a perpetual commentary and illustration of the sacred text; but also for the source of much that exists in modern legislation. The very peculiar character of a people governed by a theocracy; a nation of which God alone was king; needs to be well understood, in order to embrace the full meaning of much of the Old Testament. In the New Testament likewise, the situation of this same people, pining under the galling yoke of foreign dominion; and all the complicated particulars of its government and administration under a foreign master; must constantly be taken into account, in order rightly to apprehend the language of the sacred writers.

But that branch which comes home most of all to "our business and bosoms," and introduces us most completely into the very sanctuary of Hebrew life, is their Domestic Antiquities. These show us their household and family arrangements, their