"surably"-that" in him might dwell all "THE FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD cor

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poreally, or substantially." Luke ii. 47— 52, John iii. 34, Col. ii. 9.—According to the apposite and elegant imagery of Holy Writ, the reins denote the affections, inciting him to love GOD," with all his heart, with "all his soul, and with all his strength.""Per renes erudientes, intellige stimulum "secretum ad bona quæque incitantem.""Renes hic significant intimum amoris affectum qui eum ad laudationem DEI inci"tabat." Poole Synops. And the meaning of this figurative passage is well expressed by Dathius:

"Gratias ago Jove, qui suas mihi dedit promissiones: noctu adeò intimo ejus afficior "desiderio."

8. Here THE MESSIAH represents the genuine effect of the divine communications, in his unerring obedience; and accordingly JESUS declares, John viii. 29," THE FA

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THER who sent me, is with me; He sent me not alone, because I always do those things that please him. "Which of you" —said He, with all the dignity of conscious

D

worth

"

worth--" convicteth ME of sin?" John viii.

29-46.

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my

9. Instead of the Hebrew TIJ, glory," the Septuagint version substitutes, ἡ γλώσσα με, my tongue :" a sense in which the Hebrew term is plainly understood elsewhere, Ps. xxix. 12, and Ivii. S.-Either because the tongue is the instrument of glorifying Gop, James iii. 9, or else, because language is the chief glory, the proud prerogative of the human race; whence they are styled by the heathen poets Hesiod and Homer,-pigotes a: Opw, "men endued with "articulate speech."-And as the Septuagint rendering is sanctioned by the New Testament also, (Acts ii. 26,) I have not hesitated to adopt it, with the Geneva Bible.

Homer,μέροπες ανθρώποι,

ing,

10. Instead of the present Masoretic read

n," thy saints," the singular, 7707, "thy saint," is supported, 1. by the Septua gint version, and by Acts ii. 27, and xiii. 35; all rendering it, τον ίσιον σε. 2. By the Chaldee paraphrase, the Vulgate, the Syriac, the Ethiopic, and the Arabic.-3. By many printed editions, with Vander-Hoghts, representing the latter jod (or mark of the plural number)

number) as redundant: and by the Keri, or various readings of others, exhibiting the singular, D, in the margin. — And, 4. by no less than 180 MSS. of Kennicott's collation; and 100 MSS. of De Rossi's additional collation, most of them Spanish, and of the first authority: and, to crown all, by 5. the present Masoretic pointing, TTPexhibiting the proper punctuation of the singular number, instead of the plural; which ought to be pointed, TT, as in 1 Chron. vi. 41. And this last argument infallibly convicts the Masorite editors themselves of a palpable forgery, and ill-disguised interpolation of the latter jod, in order to evade the irresistible force of this prophetic attestation of the singular number, to the signal resurrection of the only true "SAINT," JESUS CHRIST, "without seeing" or expe riencing "corruption," or putrefaction: according to the joint argument of the two apostles Peter and Paul: that the text was applicable to CHRIST alone, and not to David," who died, and was buried, and saw "corruption."-N. B. The notorious adulteration, therefore, of this prophecy by the Jews,

D 2

former argu

Jews, strongly supports my ment, to prove the adulteration of Balaam's famous prophecy respecting THE MESSIAH, Numb. xxiv. 7. The singular THY SAINT," pre-eminently, is also applied to THE MESSIAH, Ps. lxxxvi.

,חסידך

1.

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The Hebrew 18, Sheol, rendered by the Septuagint and the New Testament Ads, signifies the residence of departed souls, as distinguished from the sepulchre or grave, the receptacle of their bodies. It contained the mansions of the good, as well as of the wicked spirits of men, between their death and resurrection; though separated from each other by an impassable gulf. See the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke xvi. 20, and our SAVIOUR'S promise to the penitent thief on the cross: "To-day fhalt “thou be with me in paradise," Luke xxxiii. 43, where the souls of Abraham and the faithful remain, for a season, until their resurrection in glorified bodies.

11. The finest comment, perhaps, on this verse, is furnished by the apostle Peter, Acts ii. 32, 33.-" This JESUS, GOD raised up, "whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, "having

having been exalted at the right [hand] of "GOD [in the highest heavens]," &c. See Heb. i. 3. And to prove that this transcendant exaltation could not possibly be understood of David, he adds; "for David did "not ascend into the heavens," &c.

And as an inference from the whole of this argument, I will conclude with the words of the apostle: "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that Gop made "this same JESUS, whom ye crucified, both "LORD and CHRIST."

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