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Julian Period, 4757. Vulgar Era,

46.

16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand, Antioch, in

remember the wonderful gifts with which the early converts
were honoured-the exceeding dignity attached to the word
presbyter-and the rapid increase of converts in the three first
centuries, which the Holy Spirit would have foreseen and pro-
vided for, it cannot appear impossible, but rather probable,
that the apostles ordained both bishops and presbyters, although
the distinct and strict meaning of these words was not originally
attached to them.

The apostles, for instance, set apart Timothy and Titus,
with power to ordain elders; that is, with powers which were
granted exclusively to bishops; but it does not appear that this
appellation was assigned to either of these eminent disciples.
The persons to whom the power of ordaining was committed,
did not themselves assume any title, but were indiscriminately
called presbyters, bishops, evangelists, or disciples. Their
office, however, was eminently superior to those to whom the
power of ordaining had not been committed; and in the following
age, after the death of the apostles, they were distinguished by
the peculiar appellation of bishop, as the power and authority of
the apostles seemed to devolve upon them. At this time an evi-
dent distinction was made between bishop and presbyter; and
here we clearly trace the three orders of the Christian mi-
nistry: first in the apostles-bishops, or presbyters, and dea-
cons and, after the death of the apostles, in bishops, pres-
byters, and deacons. And as these three orders were so evidently
set apart by the Holy Spirit of God, for the service of the
Christian Church, it is advisable to look for the origin of the
Christian priesthood from God, and not from man. It was ap-
pointed by the delegated ambassadors of Christ, and not from
the customs of the synagogue.

The subject is too extensive to be further discussed in a note. The reader who has leisure is referred to the laborious and learned volumes of Vitringa, Lightfoot, and Grotius. It is, however, well worthy the attention of the theological student.

(a) Biscoe on the Acts, vol. i. p. 271. (b) Mede's Works, book 2. p. 319. Treatises concerning Churches; that is, appropriate places for Christian Worship, both in and ever since the Apostles' times. See also p. 323, fol. edit. Erant autem illa privata vπeρwα, loca a Judæis semper sacris usibus destinata, saltem ex quo Daniel propheta ascendisse in cænaculum ad orandum diceretur: καὶ αἱ θυρίδες ἀνεῳγμέναι αὐτῶ ἐν τοῖς ὑπερῷοις κατέναντι Ιερεσαλήμ. ut et Sara filia Raguelis dicitur descendisse x T ужɛрш8, ubi oraverat. Unde Judæi sapientes suos appellabant by * filios cœnaculi. In eo celebrabant Pascha, Marc. 14. 15. Et ipse vobis demonstrabit, ávoyatov, canaculum grande stratum. In eo corpora mortuorum lavata prius reponebant, ut de Dorcade legimas, Act. ix. 37. Quam cum lavissent, posuerunt eam in cœnaculo. Unde et Petrum venientem dicuntur adduxisse in cænaculum Quare Apostoli ab ascensione Domini reversi Hierosolyma, ἀνέβησαν εἰς τὸ VEρov, ubi erant perseverantes unanimiter in oratione, et supplicatione, Act. i. 13. Pearson. Lectiones in Acta Apostl. p. 31. (c) Lightfoot supposes that these ten men were thus divided. Three were the axiovvaywyoi, who had the principal management of the synagogue; one was the 11, the episcopus, or bishop of the synagogue; three were deacons, who managed the poor. The eighth he will not so confidently affirm, but he believes was the 1, the interpreter. The ninth and tenth were united with another of the congregation, and were the triumvirate which governed the rest. But see on these points Vitringa, Archisynagogus, p. 22, &c. &c. and Pettit's Oservation, p. 25. Modera

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Julian Period, 4757. Vulgar Era, 46.

said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audi- Antioch, in ence 3.

17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.

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toribus Synagogorum, minus recte annumerantur, puhua nwy, decem
otiosi, &c. &c tales autem non erant, nisi in urbibus majoribus. Iken.
Antiq. Hebraicæ, pt. 1. cap. ix. de Synagogis, sec. 9. (d) Bingham's
Eccles. Antiq. vol. iii. book 8. chap. 3. (e)
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non 37. The ruler of the synagogue is he, by whose voice the
business of the synagogue is settled. R. Salomo in Annot. ad Sotæ, cap.
vii. sec. 7. ap. Vitringa Archisynagogus, p. 78. (f) Ecclesia tamen
Christiana primæva, hunc titulum synagogæ reliquit. Præpositos
suos non vocavit, ἄρχοντας τῆς ἐκκλησίας; sed potius presbyteros
episcopos, pastores, ductores. Seque ob hanc manifestam rationem,
quia ecclesia novi fæderis nullam fert doxy, nullum imperium. De
Synag. Vetere, lib. iii. Part 1. p. 610. Præter bunc titulum, alius quidem
quantum mihi constat, in scriptis N. T. non reperitur, qui directe ad præ-
fecturam synagogæ respicit. Vitringa de Archisyn. ap. De Synag. vetere.
lib. iii. part 1. cap. i. p. 611. Syrus interpres rous 'Axiovvaywys,
apud Lucam vertit per WP; presbyteros Synagogæ. I
have, however, shewn that there is no analogy whatever between these
and the Christian minister. Vitringa De Synag. vel. lib. iii. part 1.
cap. 1. p. 614. (g) Episcopi vero an in primis ecclesiis pro ȧpxiovva-
ywywv, more sudaria agitarint, ego equidem fateor me ignorare, &c. &c.
&c. For the meaning of the phrase sudaria agitarint, I must refer the
reader to the treatise itself. (h) De Synag. vetere, lib. iii. pars. 2.
cap. 3. p. 909. (i) Schoetgen Hora Hebraicæ, vol. i. p. 1089. (k)
Sallust says, the deliberative part of the Roman legislature were
called fathers-vel ætate, vel curæ similitudine.-See note 15, chap. x.
of this arrangement. (1) See on this point Vitringa, De Nominibus
Præfectorum Synagogæ et ecclesia-De Synag. vetere, lib. iii. pars. 1.
cap. 1. p. 614. (m) Fleury's Manners of the Ancient Israelites, by
Clarke, p. 162. and Schleusner on the word "perbuτépos.

5 This oration of St. Paul, the last he addressed peculiarly to the former objects of his patriotic affection, is most worthy the attention of the sons of Israel at present. Nothing can be added to the arguments which the apostles have addressed in their reported sermons and their invaluable epistles, to their beloved countrymen: and their doctrines seem to be all comprised in this address of St. Paul. He reminds them of the former mercies of God to the family of Abraham, and the prediction that their Messiah should be descended from David; and asserts that this Messiah was Jesus of Nazareth. He appeals to the well-known fact of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, as the principal evidence of the truth of his declaration, and concludes with enforcing that one important truth, in which the whole human race are so immediately interested, that forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed through Him alone; and that Christ alone can justify the Christian, not only from those offences, from which they were typically purified by the ceremonial law, but from those sins also for which that law had made no provision. For we have now the comfortable hope that all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, through the mercy and intercession of Christ; on the condition of sincere repentance, amendment of life, and faith in the great atonement.

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18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their Antioch, in manners in the wilderness".

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19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the
land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.
20 And after that, he gave unto them judges, about
the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel
the prophet'.

The word in the original ought rather to have been rendered, for forty years "be carried them in his arms, in the wil derness, as a nurse." It is used in a similar sense in the Alexandrian septuagint version, Deut. i. 31. τpopopópnσai σε Kúpios, ὡς εἴ τις τροφοφορήσαι ἄνθρωπος τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ. The Lord bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, is the translation in the authorized version. For rporоpóρηoev, the common reading which our translators have rendered" He bare their manners," Griesbach would insert έrpopopópŋσɛv, as the undoubted reading. He is supported by the authority of Pfaffius, Casaubon, Hammond, Mill, Matthai, Ernesti, Rosenmüller, and Valckenaer. Ap. Kuinoel, in lib. Hist. N. T. Comment. vol. iv. p. 445. See, however, Whitby in loc. who does not consider the alteration necessary; and interprets the words in the present Greek Vulgate, in the same manner as if Griesbach's reading had been adopted. He quotes Origen as explaining tтporoφόρησεν, by ἀρμόζεσθαι σὲ πρὸς τὸ ἀσθενὲς, to accommodate himself to the infirmities of children.

7 The apostle seems here to contradict the account in 1 Kings vi. 1. And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, he began to build the house of the Lord.

Sir Norton Knatchbull, in his Annotations upon difficult Texts, has considered the various solutions proposed by learned men, of the difficulty before us; and concludes, that the words of the apostle should not be understood as meaning how long God gave them judges, but when he gave them; and therefore proposes that the first words of this verse, Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ὡς ἔτεσι τετρακοσίοις καὶ πεντήκοντα, should be referred to the words going before, ver. 17. that is, to the time when the God of the children of Israel chose their fathers.

Now this time, wherein God may properly be said to have chosen their fathers, about four hundred and fifty years before he gave them judges, is to be computed from the birth of Isaac, in whom God may properly be said to have chosen their fathers; for God, who had chosen Abraham out of all the people of the earth, chose Isaac at this time out of the children of Abraham, in whose family the covenant was to rest. To make this computation evident, let us observe, that from the birth of Isaac to the birth of Jacob are sixty years; from thence to their going into Egypt, one hundred and thirty; from thence to the Exodus, two hundred and ten; from thence to their entrance into Canaan, forty; from that to the division of the land, (about which time it is probable they began to settle their government by judges,) seven years: which sums make four hundred and forty-seven, viz. 60+130+210+40+7=447. And should this be reckoned from the year before the birth of Isaac, when God established his covenant between himself and Abraham, and all his seed after him, Gen. xvii. 19. at which time God properly

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Julian Pe

21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave Antioch, in riod, 4757. unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Ben- Pisidia. Vulgar Era, jamin, by the space of forty years.

46.

22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a

chose their fathers, then there will be four hundred and forty-
eight years, which brings it to within two years of the four hun-
dred and fifty; which is sufficiently exact to bring it within the
apostles wc, about, or nearly.

Some have made the period four hundred and fifty-two years;
which, though two years more than the apostles' round num-
ber, is still sufficiently reconcileable with his qualifying particle
ws, about. And, it may be added, that the most correct writers
often express a sum totally, but not exactly.

Calmet has paraphrased these passages nearly to the same sense: the text may be thus connected, ver. 19. And having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot, about one hundred and fifty years after. And afterwards he gave them judges, to the time of Samuel the prophet. The paraphrase of Calmet is the following: "The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers in the person of Abraham; he promised him the land of Canaan, and four hundred and fifty years after this promise, and the birth of Isaac, who was the son and heir of the promise, he put them in possession of that land, which he had promised so long before (a)."

Lightfoot remarks on this passage: amongst the many things that are offered upon this difficulty, I would choose this; that in this number are reckoned the years of the judges, and the years of those tyrants that oppressed Israel, computing them disjunctly and singly: which, at first sight, any one would think, ought to be so reckoned, but that 1 Kings vi. 1. gives a check to a too large computation.

The years of the judges and tyrants, thus distinguished, answer the sum exactly :

The Tyrants.
Chushan.

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8

Ehud .....

80

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Deborah.. 40

Sisera

20

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So that reckoning three hundred and thirty-nine, and one bundred and eleven together, the sum amounts exactly to four hundred and fifty.

(a) Hebrew and Talmudical Exerc. on the Acts. Lightfoot, vol. viii. p. 466. See Dr. A. Clarke in loc.-Whitby-Doddridge-Bowyer's Crit. Conj. and particularly the Critici Sacri on 1 Kings vi. 18.

Julian Pe- man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my Antioch, in riod, 4757. will. Vulgar Era,

46.

23 Of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:

24 When John had first preached, before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he: but, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.

27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath-day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.

28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.

29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

30 But God raised him from the dead:

31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.

32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,

33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David'.

The construction of this verse is difficult. The word κρίναντες should be taken with τοῦτον, and ἀγνοήσαντες, with ràs povas. In which case it would run thus-They that dwell at Jerusalem, in condemning Him, not having known the voices of the prophets, which are read every sabbath-day, have fulfilled (the prophecies.) But see more on the passage in Knatchbull, Hammond, and the references and discussion in Kuinoel. in lib. Hist. N. T. Comment. vol. iv. p. 455.

The sure mercies of David are everlasting life, of which the resurrection was a pledge, and the blessings of the redemption of Christ an earnest, even in this world. The expression rà oota, holy, or just things, is the word used by the LXX in Isai. lv. 3. and in other places, for the word "on" mercies." The covenant which God established with David, 2 Sam. vii. 11, 12. which is explained by Ps. Ixxxix. 3, 4. xxviii. 29-36. implies that the house of David should never be extinct. It should endure as the days of heaven, and as the sun, to all generations. As far as relates to this earth, his family has long

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