I. D'OYLY's and MANT'S Bible, 2 vols. PARKHURST's Greek Lexicon. ROBINSON'S Theological Dictionary. HORNE'S Introduction to the Study of the Scriptures, 4. WELLS' Geography of the Old and New Testament, 2. HOOKER'S Ecclesiastical Polity, 3. PALEY'S Evidences of Christianity, 3. NELSON'S Fasts and Feasts. PALEY'S Hora Pauline. SHEPHERD on the Common Prayer, 2. PRIDEAUX'S Connexion of the Old and New Testament, 4. NEWTON'S Dissertations on the Prophecies, 2, CAMPBELL'S Dissertation on Miracles, 2. SECKER'S Works, 4. SHERLOCK'S Sermons, 5 in 3. (RANDOLPH'S) Enchiridion Theologicum, 2. The Clergyman's Instructor (Clarendon Press.) Assistant (Do.) II. Novum Testamentum, a VALPY, 3 vols. Biblia Vulgate Editionis. ROUTH Reliquiæ Sacra, 3. SCHLEUSNERI Lexicon in Novum Testamentum, 4. ELSLEY'S Annotations on the Gospels and Acts, 3. SLADE'S Annotations on the Epistles, 2. MACKNIGHT'S Harmony of the Gospels. STILLINGFLEET'S Origines Sacra. SYLLOGE Confessionum sub tempus reformunda Ecclesia. PEARSON on the Creed. BULLI Opera. POTTER on Church-Government. CAMPBELL on the Gospels, 4. MACKNIGHT on the Epistles, 6. BUTLER'S Analogy of Ñatural and Revealed Religion. TRAPP on the Gospels. BARROW'S Select Sermons. BEAUSOBRE and L'ENFANT'S Introduction to the N. T. JORTIN on the Truth of the Christian Religion. NOTT's Bampton Lectures. WATSON'S Theological Tracts, 6. III. 1. LXXII Virorum Versio (Clarendon Press), 6. TROMMII Concordantiæ Græca Vers. LXXII. WETSTEIN Prolegomena in Novum Testamentum. 2. WALTON'S Biblia Polyglotta, 6. PARKHURST's Hebrew Lexicon. SPENCER De Legibus Hebræorum, 2. KENNICOTT Dissertatio Generalis. HODIUS De Bibliorum Textibus Originalibus. BYTHNER'S Lyra Prophetica. GLASSII Philologia Sacra, by Dathe, 4 in 2. FABRICII Lux Salutaris Evangelii. LIGHTFOOT's Works, 2. LOWTH De Sacra Poësi Hebræorum, by Michaëlis, 2. MICHAELIS' Introduction to the N. T., by Marsh, 6 in 4. F. R. S. BIBLICAL CRITICISM. No passage in the whole range of Literature, sacred or profane, is so widely mistaken, or the mistake of which has opened so wide a door to the influx of superstition, as the following: "Then men began to call on the name of the Lord," Gen. iv. 26. This is the exact rendering of the original, according to the vowel points, and yet it is obviously at variance with the truth: Adam, Eve, and their children, especially Abel, having, from the beginning, never ceased to call on the name of the Lord. If we disregard these points we have the true sense : "Then men began to call themselves by the name of Jehovah;" that is, they spurned the title and attributes of the eternal God, thinking themselves immortal on the earth. This presumption, however impious or unreasonable it may now appear to us, was in these circumstances of mankind very natural. The leading idea which man ever attached to the character of God was exemption from death; and as there were among the antediluvians those who lived for ages in full vigor without, it is probable, being visited by infirmity or sickness, they began to consider themselves as Gods, and to hold themselves forth as such to the world, thus claiming the submission and homage of their fellow-mortals. Moses mentions this circumstance as the origin of idolatry, and proceeds to state the shortening the period of human life, and the destruction of the world by a flood, as the consequences of it. But as it was his purpose to relate the pedigree of Adam, who remained in the knowlege and worship of the true God, unseduced by the impious presumption of their degenerate brethren, he digresses to fulfil that purpose, and after exhausting it, he returns to the subject thus: "Then men began to assume the name of Jehovah"- "And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of the Gods saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, they made them their wives, whomsoever each might choose. And the Lord said, My breath shall not for ever remain in man, for he is himself but flesh, so that his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. Thus they were destroyers in those days: for after the sons of the Gods had commerce with the daughters of men, they bore them children, who became violent and mighty men, the same with those who of old were men of renown." The passage thus brought into one point of view, and more faithfully translated, is clear and consistent. Some of the descendants of Cain, who, having forsaken the true God, and who, living for ages probably with great bodily strength, began to consider themselves immortal, and to hold themselves forth as Gods to be worshipped by their inferiors in rank, might, and years. God beVOL. XXVII. CI. JI. NO. LIV. 2 С holding their impiety, removes the foundation of it, thus saying: "These men think that they have the principle of life in themselves, and that they will for ever live independent of me; I will correct their presumption: and as they breathe only in the breath which I gave them, I will recal it, and thus teach them humility and wisdom by shortening their days." This passage owes its obscurity to the misconception of two words in the original. The phrase ' ', translated “sons of God” in our common version, means sons of the Gods;" that is, the sons or descendants of those who made themselves Gods, or, according to the language of Moses, who called themselves by the name of Jehovah. These men, instead of confining themselves to a faithful union with one woman, agreeably to the marriage insti tution appointed and recommended to Adam by God himself, indulged themselves in promiscuous intercourse with the daughters of men; that is, women in the lower classes of life, and thus gave birth to a race of children, who, possessing vast stature and great bodily strength, and withal abandoned on the world without virtuous example or education, lived by violence and plunder, the terror and disturbers of society. Many tales respecting these marauders, who, in after days, were called giants, were doubtless handed down to posterity by the family of Noah; and it is to these traditional tales, current in his days, that Moses alludes when he says: "They became violent and mighty men, the same with those who of old were men of renown." The other mistake lies in the "shall verb idun, which our translators have rendered by strive," while the Syriac and Arabic versions, the Chaldee paraphrase, the Septuagint and even the Latin Vulgate have rendered it by terms expressive of the meaning I give to it, viz. "shall remain." How is this to be accounted for? The Chaldeans often changed the final into, such as the termination of plural nouns, Deem into peen. Thus the verb. 17 dum, to continue, to perpetuate, became changed into ¡17 dun, the same in form with another verb already existing in Hebrew, under the sense of striving, contending, litigating: This accidental corruption may have taken place in the times of Moses or upwards, who has consecrated the vulgar corruption with the primary meaning of " continuing or remaining." The corrupted verb dun is the parent of the Greek δην, δηναιοs, δήθα, δηθύνω, while dun, to contend, gave birth to δεναξω, δεινος. This confusion having taken place, it was natural that the interpreters of Moses should have been divided, some adopting the sense of the corrupted, and others that of the genuine verb, and agreeing in nothing but in overlooking the meaning of the passage. In the Jewish scriptures, Angels are called, "sons of God." See Job, i. 6. xxxviii. 7. Now, as the Jews believed that angels were employed under God in superintending the affairs of men, and as the title by which angels are elsewhere designated, is here used by Moses, it was natural for the Jews to conclude, that the 1 same writer meant angels in this place. But it seems that some of these angels, while engaged in the affairs of men, perceiving how fair their daughters were, became enamoured of them, and seduced them, and thus fell from God. Josephus, the Jewish historian, who could not have been mistaken as to the sentiments of his countrymen on this subject, states this to be the fact in express terms. See Antiq. Jud. i. 4., and also Just. Martyr Apol. ii. p. 112. Here we see the origin of fallen angels; nor is there another single verse in all the Jewish scriptures that can be considered as countenancing the same absurd notion. But, though the Jews believed in the preposterous notion of fallen angels, they did not think it consistent with the character of God, to suffer beings so subtle and powerful, to roam at large, worrying mankind, and seducing them to evil. They therefore imagined, that the Almighty keeps them chained up in Hades, till the day of judgment. This notion is countenanced by Peter, 2d Epist. ii. 4. "For if God spared not the angels who transgressed, but cast them down to Hades, and put them in chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment, and spared not the old world.... when he brought the flood, &c." It is needless to say, that this is a piece of Jewish mythology which forms no part of the Gospel, For neither Christ, nor any of the Evangelists sanction it; and Peter alludes to it as an opinion, which he believed in common with other Jews before the coming of our Lord and he himself refers to the very passage in Moses, on which that notion is grounded. But these fallen angels, being spirits, could not have commerce with flesh and blood, in a state purely incorporeal. The meaning then, was, that they had previously entered the bodies of men; and the men thus possessed, acting solely under the influence of the supposed indwelling spirits, assumed their name of "sons of God." In other words, they were demoniacs, tyrannical and violent men, instigated by demons or evil spirits. Hence the origin of demoniacal possessions. According to the Jews, and many Christians, good angels are still employed in administering the affairs of men. But, it is thought, they will not look in the face of women, lest they be tempted, and follow the example of their fallen brethren. And to *this alludes the following verse of the Apostle Paul: "For this cause ought a woman to have a veil over her head, because of the angels." This illustrious champion of the Christian faith correctly understood the language of Moses, and his words are to this effect: "The marauders and oppressors of old, who go under the name of sons of God, or angels, laid violent hands on those females who came within their view. For this reason, let every woman wear a veil, lest she should become the victim of temptation; lest she should expose herself to some person, who by intrigue or violence, by wealth or power; may lead her astray." Nor should it be forgotten, that this admonition was given to the women of Co 4 |