an abortion. This remark has been somewhat sharply censured by Elsner; and ably defended by Valckenaer, Scholæ, tom. ii. p. 502. The fact is, that though expegoura be sometimes applied to fruc tification in a good sense, its meaning here is determined, by the antithetical form of the passage, and by the force of the adversative particle AE. Mr. Wakefield, in v.7, has this rendering; "the "rain that is often falling on it from God;" as though the original were ερχομενον απο του Θεου : he adds also the following modest note: "so I ven"ture to dispose of the phrase from mere conjec"ture, because the passage is unintelligible and "absurd without it: see Acts, xiv. 17. Zech. "x. 1. Silva Critica, sect. cli." From Acts, xiv. 17. and Zech. x. 1. we learn, what no reasonable theist can doubt, that God sends rain and showers from heaven: from the cited section of the Silva Critica, I can collect nothing to the purpose; there is, indeed, Mr. Wakefield's confident assertion that the text is dislocated, together with his bold effort to replace the joints: his reading is, "yn yas σε ή πιουσα τον επ' αυτην πολλακις ερχομενον ύετον απο του σε Θεου, και τικτουσα βοτανην ευθετον, εκείνοις, δι' ους και γεωρ γειται, μεταλαμβανει ευλογίας. Terra enim, quæ bibit pluviam sæpè in illam descendentem à Deo, et 66 66 66 congruas herbas pariens, participat laudem agri"colarum." The praise of the husbandmen ! And is this all? Surely that man is to be pitied, who accounts it unintelligible and absurd to say, that fertile ground partakes of the divine blessing; and who can resort to such gratuitous tortuosities, in order to evade the natural, simple, and beautiful sense of the inspired penman. I cannot refuse myself the pleasure of here inserting the very applicable warning of a scholar far superior to Mr. Wakefield. "Qui talia in auctoribus profanis pe"riclitari vellet, omnium sibilis exciperetur, nedum "talia tentare licet in sacris, ubi critica exercenda "sobria et modesta, ut a superstitione quidem libera, sic tamen multo magis a TEMERITATE.” Valckenaer, Schol. in N. T. tom. ii. p. 360. 375 SECTION XVIII. Ir sometimes happens in the parallelisms of the New Testament, that a precept is delivered, an assertion made, or a principle laid down, co-ordinate reasons for which are independently assigned; without any repetition of the common antecedent, and without any other indication of continued reference to the original proposition, than the repeated insertion of some causative particle; a rAP, for instance, or a 'oтi, a FOR, or a BECAUSE. This peculiarity of construction has not altogether escaped the notice of commentators; but I am not aware that it has ever been closely examined, or systematically exemplified. A few instances of it, therefore, drawn together and observed upon, may, I trust, be of some use to those students, who are desirous, in reading Scripture, to trace with accuracy the connexions and dependencies of the sacred text. I will place my examples in the order of the books from whence they are taken; as the most convenient for reference: and I will bring several examples from the Sermon on the Mount; as most familiar to readers of every description. Μακάριοι εςε, όταν ονειδισωσιν ὑμας και διωξωσι και είπωσι παν πονηρον ῥημα καθ' υμων, ψευδομενοι, ένεκεν εμου : χαίρετε, και αγαλλιασθε οτι ὁ μισθος ύμων πολύς εν τοις ουρανοις· όυτω ΓΑΡ εδιωξαν τους προφητας τους προ ύμων : Happy are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute; And, on my account, shall speak all manner of evil against you, falsifying : Rejoice, and be exceeding glad : FOR great is your reward in heaven; FOR So persecuted they the prophets who were before you : S. Matt. v. 11, 12. Here two co-ordinate reasons are assigned, why our Lord's persecuted disciples should rejoice: 1. they shall obtain a great reward in heaven : 2. they are assimilated to the prophets. The reference to a common antecedent is, in this place, too clear to be overlooked: it could never be supposed, that the resemblance in point of suffering, between the disciples and the prophets, was assigned as the cause why the former should obtain a great reward therefore I do not recollect any diversity of opinion among the commentators, respecting the construction of this passage. Μη νομίσητε ότι ηλθον καταλυσαι τον νομον η τους προφητας· ουκ ήλθον καταλυσαι, αλλα πληρωσαι : ακην ΓΑΡ λεγω ύμιν· ó έως αν παρέλθη ὁ ουρανος και ἡ γη, απο του νόμου, έως αν παντα γενηται : ός εαν ουν λυση μιαν των εντολών τουτων ελαχίσων, και διδαξη όυτω τους ανθρώπους, ευ έλαχιςος κληθήσεται εν τη βασλεια των ουρανων ὁς δ'αν ποιηση, και διδαξη, όντος μεγας κληθήσεται εν τη βασιλεια των ουρανων : λεγω ΓΑΡ ύμιν· ότι εαν μη περισσευση ή δικαιοσυνη ύμων, Think not, that I am come to dissolve the law or the prophets; I am come, not to dissolve, but to fulfil : FOR, verily I say unto you: Till heaven and earth pass away, One jot, or one tittle shall by no means pass away, Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of the least men so, Shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; The same shall be called great in the kingdom of· FOR I say unto you: That except your righteousness abound, More than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, Ye shall, by no means, enter into the kingdom of heaven. S. Matt. v. 17-20. I will confess, that, for a long while, the connexion of the last paragraph with the preceding exceedingly perplexed me: I was quite unable to discover its orderly dependance; nor did the commentators afford me the least aid. At length, I I was led to distribute the clauses in the order now given, and immediately my perplexities were at an end: nor am I without hopes that my readers will go along with me, while I state the considerations which freed my own mind from all doubt upon the subject. In the second line, then, I conceive, there is a division of the subject into two branches: 1. I am come, not to dissolve: 2. But I am come to fulfil. |