case of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost; and yet, when Peter shortly afterwards denied Jesus before men three times, joining oaths and curses with his denials, yet, upon his repenting and weeping bitterly, he was not only forgiven, but continued in his apostleship. Again, whenJesus was on the cross, some of the rulers derided him, saying, he saved others, let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God, Luke xxiii. 35. By which words, it appears that they acknowledged Jesus to have wrought miracles, and yet rejected him, denying that he wrought them by the holy spirit of God; and yet Jesus prayed to his Father that hey might be forgiven, Luke xxiii. 34. To this may be added, that in this chapter, ver. 38—41, those Pharisees who had blasphemed against the Holy Ghost asked for a sign, and our Saviour gave one to them, viz., the sign of the prophet Jonas; and what could this sign be given for, unless for their conviction, and for disposing them to repent, and in consequence of this to be forgiven? From all which, it may (I think,) be concluded, that to speak against the Holy Ghost (as those Pharisees did,) was therefore not to be forgiven in that age, or in the age to come, because no means of obtaining forgiveness for it was to be found, either in the Jewish law, or under the Christian dispensation; but that, however, upon their repentance, they might be forgiven, and admitted to the divine favor.' Com. and Note in loc.

5. WAKEFIEld. 'Age; aioni; i. e., the Jewish dispensation, which was then in being, or the Christian, which was going to be established. But an attentive reader of the scriptures will perceive, that, under this sort of phraseology, a comparison is intended to be made, as if he had said-Though the Christian religion is a dispensation of mercy, this sin shall no more be forgiven by the laws of the gospel, that it is by the law of Moses, under which the punishment was death, Lev. xxiv. 16.' Note in loc.

6. ROSENMULLER. This author closes a long note on the passage thus: :

The sense of these words of Jesus would be this :

I will rather endure any other injury whatever, than excuse and pardon this impiety.' Scholia in loc.

7. CLARKE. Neither in this world, &c.

Though I follow the common translation, yet I am fully satisfied the meaning of the words is, neither in this dispensation, viz., the Jewish, nor in that which is to come, viz., the Christian. Olam ha-bo, the world to come, is a constant phrase for the times of the Messiah, in the Jewish writers. The sin here spoken of by our Lord ranks high in the catalogue of presumptuous sins, for which there was no forgiveness under the Mosaic dispensation. See Num. xv. 30, 31, xxxv. 31, Lev. xx. 10, 1 Sam. ii. 25. When our Lord says that such a sin hath no forgiveness, is he not to be understood as meaning that the crime shall be punished under the Christian dispensation as it was under the Jewish, viz., by the destruction of the body? And is not this the same mentioned 1 John i. 7, called there the sin unto death, i. e., a sin that was to be punished by the death of the body, while mercy might be extended to the soul? The punishment for presumptuous sins, under the Jewish law, to which our Lord evidently alludes, certainly did not extend to the damnation of the soul, though the body was destroyed; therefore I think that, though there was no such forgiveness to be extended to this crime as to absolve the man from the punishment of temporal death, yet, on repentance, mercy might be extended to the soul; and every sin may be repented of under the gospel dispensation.' Com. in loc.

The foregoing testimonies are sufficient to show that, orthodox commentators being judges, the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost does not necessarily involve the endless misery of the offender; but that, like other sins, it may be forgiven, on repentance.

SECTION XXII.

'But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.'—MATT. xii. 36.

THESE words seem to have been spoken by Jesus to show the reasonableness of what he had before said in relation to the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and its punishment. He declares that for every idle, or foolish, or unprofitable word, men must render an account: much more then, must they render an account for such malicious words as were used when they attributed the miracles of Jesus to the power of the devil. From the phrase, day of judgment, many have supposed this account must be rendered, and reward or punishment administered, in the future life. But the reader will see

from the foregoing notes, that this phrase does not necessarily convey such an idea. Dr. Clarke says the day of judgment to any particular person or city is the day when such person or city receives punishment from God. 'So the day of judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah was the time in which the Lord destroyed them by fire and brimstone,' &c. See his note on Matt. x. 15.

LIGHTFOOT. In Matt. xii. 36, the rema argon, or idle word, for every one of which our Saviour saith men shall give an account, (he doth not say shall be condemned or punished,) may perhaps be of the same importance with that which the Talmudists and Rabbins call, "the talk of those who are idle," at leisure, have little to do; such as is used among people in ordinary conversation,when they meet together :-as, What news? How doth such a person? or the like. Even this may be well or ill done, prudently or foolishly: and therefore even of this an account will be required.' Works (8vo. Ed.) vol. i. 27, 28.

Lightfoot says nothing as to the time when this account should be rendered, and judgment passed, whether in this life or the next. At all events, he could not have

supposed that the invariable penalty annexed to idle words is endless torment; because he expressly says that Jesus 'doth not say he shall be condemned or punished.' The most that can be made of it is, that, even for such trivial actions as idle words, men are accountable to God, and shall be rewarded or punished according to the goodness or badness of these, as of all other actions. But it by no means follows that this must be done in the future life for there is a God that judgeth in the earth.'

SECTION XXIII.

"The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold a greater than Solomon is here.'-MATT. xii. 41, 42.

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THE parallel place is Luke xi. 31, 32. I know not for what reason this text should be supposed to furnish proof of future torment, except the mere fact that it contains the word judgment. This word, many seem to imagine, cannot have legitimate application to any thing in this world, forgetting that there is a God that judgeth in the earth.' But I believe not much reliance is placed on this passage, for the purpose mentioned; hence the fewer quotations may suffice. The reader will notice that in what follows, not a hint is given that Jesus had what is called the day of general judgment in his thoughts.

1. THEOPHYLACT. 'After Jonas was delivered from the whale, and commenced preaching, the men of Ninevah believed. But when I shall have risen from the dead, ye will not believe. Wherefore ye shall be condemned by the Ninevites, who believed on my servant without the testimony of miracles, though they were barbarians: but ye will not believe on me, the Lord, though ye have

the advantage of the ancient prophecies, and my miracles which ye have seen.' Annot. in loc.

2. GILPIN. 'But as Jonas is a type, let the men of Nineveh be an example to you. They repented at the preaching of Jonas, who performed no miracle among them but you turn a deaf ear to one who teaches you under the manifest authority of God. The queen of Sheba took a long journey to hear the wisdom of Solomon; while you reject the voice of heavenly wisdom itself, which even cries in your streets.' Expos. in loc.

3. HAMMOND. ' And they that are not convinced and brought to repentance by my resurrection and the preaching of my apostles, which shall be consequent to that, their sin and condemnation shall be much greater than that of the Ninevites was: for upon Jonas' recovery from the whale's belly, and coming to preach to them, they repented, Jon. iii.; whereas the resurruction of Christ, and mission of the Spirit, and preaching of the apostles over all Judea after that, is a far greater way of conviction, than that recovery and preaching of Jonas. For certainly here is that which is infinitely more than all that wisdom of Solomon, manifestations of God infinitely more discernable than ever Solomon's wisdom was, which yet was so talked of that it brought in foreign princes from afar at the news of it.' Par. in loc.

SECTION XXIV.

"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return to my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.'-MATT. xii. 43-45.

THE parallel place is Luke xi. 24-26. Some have supposed this passage to indicate the future torment of those of whom the words were originally spoken, and of all others in like circumstances. But Jesus seems rather