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once to the last thing. As if he had said, I will not only glory in and proclaim thee, but, saying nothing about all my works and miracles, and my whole life, I will even willingly die; and, with the same confidence I am also assured, that my flesh shall rest indeed, but in the hope and expectation of a most sure resurrection.

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The Hebrew verb "shall rest," is the same as that which we have in the preceding Psalm, “shall rest, (or dwell,) in thy holy mountain.' Hence Hieronymus renders this passage My flesh shall dwell confidently:' and it signifies, as we have said, a quiet and peaceful habitation as if he said, as in Psalm iv. "I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest." And, by another signification of the verb, it may be rendered to bury:' as in Psalm vii. 5, " Let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust;" that is, bury it. So that the passage may be rendered thus,

My flesh shall be buried in hope.' But Peter, Acts ii. does not cite this verse according to the Hebrew, but according to the LXX. neither touching the verb 'to bury' nor my glory:' though neither translation injures the sense.

This is therefore a new prophecy never heard of any one before. For here, the one Christ alone casts away the general punishment of the whole human race, contained in Gen. iii. "And unto dust shalt thou return:" nor does the scripture, which consigns all men to dust, ever say any such thing of any one but Christ. He alone, by a new and glorious MICHTAM, bears this sweet and all-gladdening news,-that his flesh should not return to dust, but should, in peace, die with the fullest expectation.

Each of these golden words is to be weighed and pondered-" My flesh." Herein, he excepts his flesh from the flesh of all men; for the flesh of no other ever remained and rested in hope, but was changed and turned into dust. And here he intimates his death; for, the breath being separated from the body, his flesh died as the flesh of all men does. Here, therefore, is the great miracle,-that he should die as all other men do,

but that he should not see corruption.-And "shall rest," that is, even though it be buried as the flesh of all men is, yet it shall be in quiet and in peace; it shall not be touched by any rottenness or corruption, nor by any worm which peace and rest the flesh of no other ever knew. Again, "in hope." It did not rest thus for ever, but in the expectation that it should be raised again, and should live.

Behold, therefore, in what peculiar words David foretold that Christ should rise again; whereby he shews, that he had an all-clear and full knowledge that Christ should die and rise again. And therefore, the apostles have justly cited this passage especially above all others.

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Ver. 10. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

He now explains what he had before said, "shall rest in hope." And this is the "hope," thou wilt not leave me, nor suffer me to see corruption:' that is, without doubt, thou wilt raise me up. And it pleased him to say, not my spirit, (spiritus) but " my soul:" in the Hebrew NAPHSI: because, "soul" (anima) is used in the scriptures to signify the life,' or the soul' that gives life and motion to the body: whereby the Holy Spirit shews, that Christ was to be raised again to corporal life.

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Holy One," in this passage, is HASID; which is a spirit sanctified by grace and Christ every where in the scriptures is called the "Holy One" of God: even as he is also called "the Lord's Christ." Nor indeed is there any one found in the scriptures called " Holy One" of God, in the singular number, or " thine Holy One," but Christ only; of whom alone David is here speaking.

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And I consider the Hebrew expression "see corruption," which signifies to be corrupted,' is sufficiently well known; as, to see death,' signifies to die,' and, ' not to see death,' 'not to die:' as we have it in Luke ii. and John viii. which expression the scripture,

perhaps, uses, in order to set forth the divine power: in which, nothing dies, or is corrupted, but all things live but it is we that die to ourselves, and perish, and are corrupted to ourselves.

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The sense, therefore, is most plain; and it has been set forth by the apostles with great fulness, and with much diligence. But here also men have begun to dispute, presuming all things upon their abilities and understandings, whether Christ was in hell accord ing to his soul, or according to his substance? Andi what are we to understand by his being in hell? Many here have dared to contradict the Spirit, and to say, that the soul of Christ was not in hell, only in sense, feeling, or affection. For these most excellent commentators! and glossaries on the Word of God have glossed the passage thus, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;' that is (say they) the affection or feeling of my soul. Again, "He descended into hell:" that is (say they) 'He caused his feeling or affection to be in hell, But,d despising these frivolous and impious triflings, det hus. rather understand the expressions of the prophet simply as they are and if we cannot understand them, let us faithfully, believe them for the authority of this scripture is of more weight than the capacities and abilities of all the human race put together; as Augustine saith. Most certainly, the soul of Christ truly, and in substance, descended into hell. But what this descent was, thou art to believe is not yet fully revealed, at least unto all of us

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...Peter, Acts ii. 24, says, "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of hell, (or, as the GreekR has it,) of death:" wherein he seems to signify, that Christ was loosed from the pains of death, or of h hell, his resurrection. For hell is the horror of death that is, the feeling sense of death, under which men have the dread of death, and yet do not escape it, being condemned thereunto; for death that is despised is not felt. We see, moreover, that the scriptures describe two places of the dead, a pit for the body, and a hell for the soul But Peter here does not say that death or hell alone was

loosed on Christ, or the pains of death or hell; (for many saints may be believed to have been in death and in hell, without any pain, having died in peace ;) but he seems to intimate, that Christ suffered pains in hell after his death, that he might conquer all things

for us.

Thus, I shall ever cleave to the words of Peter until I shall have been taught better,-and believe that Christ, differently from all others, felt not only death but also the pains of death and of hell:-that his flesh, indeed, rested in hope, but that his soul tasted hell:-and that this is what is meant in the present passage, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."

And these negatives, "thou wilt not leave," and "thou wilt not suffer," are more powerful than any affirmatives; and more firmly attest the resurrection, than if he had said, Thou shalt bring my soul out of hell, and shalt preserve thine Holy One from corruption.' And so, that scripture also, " Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken from her:" that is, shall most certainly remain with her. And so again here, "Thou wilt not leave;" that is, "thou wilt most speedily and quickly bring out." And "Thou wilt not. suffer thine Holy One to see corruption;" that is, thou wilt make all haste to bring me to the sound life of the body. For the Holy Spirit seems to me in these words to speak simply, and to have rather a respect unto the time, than to the place, or any other circumstance. So that the sense might be, thou wilt not leave me so long as the time in which bodies are naturally used to be corrupted, but will raise me up before the time in which they generally see corruption. Otherwise, the scripture might have appeared to speak of some one that should be preserved by a miracle in the grave and in hell until the day of judgment: though no one was ever thus preserved, nor preserved in the grave at all, except Christ; for although some bodies, as in Egypt, are preserved by being anointed with myrrh, which prevents putrefaction, yet, even here the flesh is consumed and

absorbed in the preparation, which is contrary to what is here said, "My flesh shall rest in hope."

Ver. 11.-Thou hast made known to me the paths of life: thou wilt fill me with joy by thy countenance: at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Hieronymus renders it 'Thou shewest me the path of life, a fulness of joys in thy presence, and eternal beauties at thy right hand:' where he makes three accusative cases governed by the verb "thou shewest;" one of which our translator has turned into a verb, "thou wilt fill;" and the third he has turned into a nominative, "there are pleasures:" no difference however is thus made in the sense. Peter in the Acts ii. follows the same rendering as our translator.

David here describes the glory of the resurrection in three points, eternal life, eternal joy, and eternal pleasure." The way of life" is so called, because it is that which leads from death unto life: as if he had said with the Apostle, Rom. vi. 9, "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." For Christ before did not know the way of life experimentally; for this life is only the way of death; or rather a race unto death. But to rise again unto eternal life, this is to know "the way of life," and this is an effect of the power and right hand of God only; as it is here said, "Thou hast made known unto me the paths of life. And Psalm lxxxix. 48," What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?" As if he had answered 'No one!' Hence Psalm lxviii. 20, “He that is our God is the God of salvation: and to God the Lord belong the issues from death:" because death being swallowed up in victory, he brings us into eternal life: as he promised, Hosea xiii. 14, 15, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave: I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hidden from mine eyes. Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord shall

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