tory of the Israelites, as well as of the Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, Egyptians, Assyrians, Medes, Babylonians, Persians, Arabians, Greeks, Romans, and other antient nations, is of the greatest importance to the historical interpretation of the Bible: for, as the Jewish people were connected with those nations, either in a hostile or in a pacific manner, the knowledge of their history, as well as of their customs, arts, and literature, becomes the more interesting; as it is well known that the Israelites, notwithstanding they were forbidden to have intercourse with the heathen, did nevertheless borrow and adopt some of their institutions. More particularly, regardless of the severe prohibitions against idolatry, how many idols did they borrow from the Gentiles at different times, previously to the great Babylonish captivity, and associate them in the worship of Jehovah! Their commercial intercourse with the Egyptians and Arabs, and especially with the Phoenicians, was very considerable and, at the same time, they were almost incessantly at war with the Philistines, Moabites, and other neighbouring nations, and afterwards with the Assyrians and Egyptians, until they were finally conquered, and carried into captivity by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Further, the prophets, in their denunciations or predictions, not only address their admonitions and threatenings to the Israelites and Jews, but also frequently accost foreign nations, whom they menace with destruction. The writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, contain very numerous predictions relative to the heathen nations, which would be utterly unintelligible without the aid of profane history. The same remark will apply to the divisions of time and forms of government that obtained at different periods, which cannot be ascertained from the perusal of the sacred writings merely.

In proportion, however, as the history of the antient nations of Asia becomes necessary to the interpretation of the Bible, it is to be regretted that it is for the most part involved in so much obscurity and confusion as to require no small labour before we can extricate it from the trammels of fable, and arrive at any thing like certainty. As the histories of antient Egypt have perished, with the exception of a few fragments preserved in the writings of Josephus, Eusebius, and other authors, our knowledge of the earliest state of that country (which is sufficiently confused and intricate) can only be derived from Herodotus, Diodorus, and some other Greek writers, who cannot always be depended on. The writings of Sanchoniatho, with the exception of a few fragments, as well as the works of Histiæus, and other Phoenician historians, have long since perished: and, for our accounts of the Assyrians, recourse must chiefly be had to the Scriptures themselves, as no confidence whatever can be placed in the narrations of Ctesias, whose fidelity and veracity have justly been questioned by Aristotle, Strabo, and Plutarch. The history of the Ammonites, Moabites, Idumæans, Philistines, and other petty neighbouring nations, who had no historians of their own, is involved in equal obscurity for the little that is known of them, with certainty, we are exclusively indebted to the Holy Scriptures.

The sources, therefore, of that historical knowledge, which is so essential to an interpreter of the sacred writings, are, in the first place, the Old and New Testaments, and next the works of Josephus and profane authors. It is however to be observed, that where the latter speak of the Jews, they wilfully misrepresent them, as is done by Justin and Tacitus. With a view to reconcile these various contradictions, and to overcome the difficulties thus interposed by the uncertainty of antient profane history, various learned men have at different times employed themselves in digesting the remains of antient history, and comparing it with the Scriptures, in order to illustrate them as much as possible: and the Connections of Sacred and Profane History, by Drs. Shackford and Prideaux, Stackhouse's History of the Bible, and Dr. Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel History, are particularly worthy of notice.1

3. Intimately connected with history and chronology is antient Geography, especially that of Palestine and the neighbouring countries; the knowledge of which, it is universally confessed, tends to illustrate almost innumerable passages of Scripture. The principal sources of sacred geography are the Scriptures themselves, and the antient Greek and other writers, who have treated on the different countries mentioned in the Bible; and to these may be added the voyages and travels of Chardin, Seetzen, and others, mentioned in p. 549. who have explored the East, and whose narratives contain many very happy elucidations of the physical and political geography of the Bible. These sources have been diligently consulted by most of the learned men who have applied themselves to the illustration of this important topic. The principal works on sacred geography are those of Bochart, Michaelis, Reland, and Wells.

2

4. Next to History and Geography, Genealogy holds an important place in the study of the sacred writings. The evidences of Christianity cannot be correctly, if at all, understood, unless the genealogy of the Messiah, and his descent from Abraham and David, be distinctly traced. This is obvious from the prophecies, which, ages before his advent, determined the line of his descent; and left nothing to chance or imposture on the important subject of the promised seed, that, in the fulness of time, was to "bruise the serpent's head," and by his one oblation of himself, once offered, was to make a full and perfect atonement for the sins of the whole world. Many neat genealogical tables are to be found in some of the earlier and larger editions of the Bible; but it was not until lately that an attempt was made to bring together the various genealogies of Scripture in one comprehen

1 See an account of their valuable works infra, in the Appendix, No. V. 2 The result of M. Seetzen's Researches, which were undertaken under the patronage of the Palestine Association for investigating the present state of the Holy Land, was published in a thin quarto tract, intituled "A brief Account of the Countries adjoining the Lake of Tiberias, the Jordan, and the Dead Sea." Bath and London, 1810. Many places in Palestine, particularly beyond the Jordan, which are in a great degree unknown, are satisfactorily described in this little tract. 3 The writings of most of the above noticed travellers have been consulted for the Summary of biblical Geography and Antiquities, forming the third volume of this work.

sive view. This has been done in an elegantly executed work, entitled

Scripture Genealogy from Adam to Christ; exhibiting, in a series of thirty-six engraved tables, a distinct view of the nation, tribe, family, lineal descent, and posterity of every person mentioned in the Bible, so far as they can be traced from sacred or profane history. London, 1817. royal 4to.

The plan of this work is excellent; and so far as we can judge from an examination of several of the descents contained in it, we believe it is very correctly executed. To the name of each person mentioned in every table, chronological dates are affixed on the very respectable authorities of Usher and Blair, and likewise references to passages of Scripture where the respective names are to be found. Altogether, this is a very useful and agreeable companion to the biblical student.

5. Of equal importance with either of the preceding branches of knowledge is Natural History; by which alone many, otherwise obscure, passages of Scripture can be explained. Thus, frequent direct mention is made of animals, trees, plants, and precious stones; sometimes the Scripture expresses sentiments either in allusion to, or by metaphors taken from, some fact in natural history; and sometimes characters are described in allusion to natural objects; and without the knowledge of these, we cannot perceive the nature of the characters intended. Much information concerning this important topic, may be derived from the labours of the oriental travellers already mentioned, and especially those of Shaw, Russel, Hasselquist, Forskäl, and Niebuhr. The most successful investigations of this interesting topic are to be found in the writings of Bochart, Celsius Scheuchzer, and Professor Paxton.

6. Lastly, in perusing the sacred volume, the attentive reader cannot fail to be struck with allusions to Philosophical Notions and Sects, as well as to certain branches of learning, which were cultivated by the nations or people therein mentioned: it is impossible fully to apprehend the force, propriety, and beauty of these allusions, without a knowledge of the notions, &c. referred to. A short sketch of the principal Jewish sects occurs in the third volume of this work; but the only writer, to the best of the author's recollection, who has discussed this subject in a separate treatise, is the learned and indefatigable Professor Buddeus, in his Introductio ad Historiam Philosophie Hebræorum, Hala, 1720, 8vo.; of whose labours he has availed himself. The philosophical notions which obtained among the Jews are also incidentally treated in most of the larger commentaries, as well as in most of those works, which profess to be Introductions to the Bible.1

SECTION VII.

OF THE SCOPE.

L The Scope defined. Importance of investigating the Scope of a Book or Passage of Scripture.-II. Rules for investigating it. J. A CONSIDERATION of the Scope, or Design which the inspired author of any of the books of Scripture had in view, essen1 See a notice of these compilations, infra, in the Appendix, No. V.

tially facilitates the study of the Bible: because, as every writer had some design which he proposed to unfold, and as it is not to be supposed that he would express himself in terms foreign to that design, it therefore is but reasonable to admit, that he made use of such words and phrases as were every way suited to his purpose. To be acquainted, therefore, with the scope of an author, is to understand the chief part of his book. The scope, it has been well observed, is the soul or spirit of a book; and, that being once ascertained, every argument and every word appears in its right place, and is perfectly intelligible but, if the scope be not duly considered, every thing becomes obscure, however clear and obvious its meaning may really be.1

The scope of an author is either general or special; by the former we understand the design which he proposed to himself in writing his book; by the latter, we mean that design which he had in view, when writing particular sections, or even smaller portions, of his book or treatise.

The means, by which to ascertain the scope of a particular section or passage, being nearly the same with those which must be applied to the investigation of the general scope of a book, we shall briefly consider them together in the following observations.

II. The Scope of a book of Scripture, as well as of any particular section or passage, is to be collected from the writer's express mention of it, from its known occasion, from some conclusion expressly added at the end of an argument; from history, from attention to its general tenor, to the main subject and tendency of the several topics, and to the force of the leading expressions; and especially from repeated, studious, and connected perusals of the book itself.

1. When the scope of a whole book, or of any particular portion of it, is expressly mentioned by the sacred writer, it should be carefully observed.

Of all criteria this is the most certain, by which to ascertain the scope of a book. Sometimes it is mentioned at its commencement, or towards its close, and sometimes it is intimated in other parts of the same book, rather obscurely perhaps, yet in such a manner that a diligent and attentive reader may readily ascer tain it. Thus the scope and end of the whole Bible, collectively, is contained in its manifold utility, which St. Paul expressly states in 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. and also in Rom. xv. 4. In like manner, the royal author of Ecclesiastes announces pretty clearly, at the beginning of his book, the subject he intends to discuss, viz. to show that all human affairs are vain, uncertain, frail, and imperfect; and, such being the case, he proceeds to inquire, What profit hath a man of all his labour which

1 "How unfair, how irrational, how arbitrary, is the mode of interpretation which many apply to the word of God? They insulate a passage; they fix on a sentence; they detach it from the paragraph to which it belongs, and explain it in a sense dictated only by the combination of the syllables or the words, in themselves considered. If the word of God be thus dissected or tortured, what language may it not seem to speak, what sentiments may it not appear to countenance, what fancy may it not be made to gratify? But would such a mode of interpretation be tolerated by any living author? Would such a method be endured in commenting on any of the admired productions of classical antiquity? Yet in this case it would be comparatively harmless, although utterly indefensible but who can calculate the amount of injury which may be sustained by the cause of revealed truth, if its pure streams be thus defiled, and if it be contaminated even at the very fountainhead." Rev. H. F. Burder's Sermon on the Duty and Means of ascertaining the genuine Sense of the Scriptures, p. 21.

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he taketh under the sun? (Eccl. i. 2, 3.) And towards the close of the same book (ch. xii. 8.) he repeats the same subject, the truth of which he had proved by experience. So, in the commencement of the book of Proverbs, Solomon distinctly announces their scope, (ch. i. 1-4. 6.)—" The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David king of Israel; to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give subtility to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion; to understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.". Saint John also, towards the close of his Gospel, announces his object in writing it to be, "That ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that, believing, ye might have life through his name." Therefore, all those discourses of our Lord, which are recorded almost exclusively by this evangelist and apostle, are to be read and considered with reference to this particular design: and, if this circumstance be kept in view, they will derive much additional force and beauty.

Of the application of this rule to the illustration of a particular section, or the ascertaining of a special scope, the seventh chapter of Saint Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians will supply an example. In that chapter, the object of which is to show that it was not good to marry, the apostle is replying to the queries which had been proposed to him by the Corinthian converts; and it is evident that his reply is continued through the whole chapter. But did he mean to insinuate absolutely that matrimony in itself was not good? By no means: on the contrary, it is clear from the scope of this section, given by Saint Paul in express words, that his design was not, in general, to prefer a state of celibacy to that of marriage; much less was it to teach that the living unmarried was either more holy or more acceptable to God; or that those who vow to lead a single life shall certainly obtain eternal salvation, as the church of Rome erroneously teaches from this place. But we perceive that he answered the question proposed to him with reference to the then existing circumstances of the Christian church. The apostle thought that a single life was preferable on account of the present distress — that is, the sufferings to which they were then liable. The persecutions to which they were exposed, when they came upon them, would be more grievous and afflictive to such as had a wife and children who were dear to them, than to those who were single: and therefore, under such circumstances, the apostle recommends celibacy to those who had the gift of living chastely without marriage.

2, The scope of the sacred writer may be ascertained from the known occasion on which his book was written.

Thus, in the time of the apostles, there were many who disseminated errors. and defended Judaism: hence it became necessary that the apostles should frequently write against these errors, and oppose the defenders of Judaism. Such was the occasion of Saint Peter's second epistle: and this circumstance will also afford a key by which to ascertain the scope of many of the other epistolary writ ings. Of the same description also were many of the parables delivered by Jesus Christ. When any question was proposed to him, or he was reproached for holding intercourse with publicans and sinners, he availed himself of the occasion to reply, or to defend himself by a parable. Sometimes, also, when his disciples laboured under any mistakes, he kindly corrected their erroneous notions by parables.

The inscriptions prefixed to many of the Psalms, though some of them are evidently spurious, and consequently to be rejected, frequently indicate the occasion on which they were composed, and thus reflect considerable light upon their scope. Thus the scope of the 18th, 34th, and 3d Psalms is illustrated from their respective inscriptions, which distinctly assert upon what occasions they were composed by David. In like manner, many of the prophecies, which would otherwise be obscure, become perfectly clear when we understand the circumstances on account of which the predictions were uttered.

3. The express conclusion, added by the writer at the end of an argument, demonstrates his general scope.

Thus, in Rom. iii. 23. after a long discussion, Saint Paul adds this conclusion: Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law: Hence we perceive with what design the whole passage was written, and to which all the rest is to be referred. The conclusions interspersed through the epistles may easily be ascertained by means of the particles," wherefore," "seeing that, therefore," "then," &c. as well as by the circumstances directly mentioned or referred to. The principal conclusions, however, must be separated from