5. Ενες, ήμαλα δυνάμεων, the working 5. Εἶτα χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων, healing.

of miracles".

• That Aiy

copias fignifies the knowledge that was the pecu- | nify the particular gift which thofe had who were most able to judge,

liar gift of an apoftle, fee the fecond Effay. That grows fignifies the knowledge peculiar to the highest rank of prophets, fee the second Effay.

whether those several performances proceeded from the Spirit or no ; fee 1 Cor. xiv. 29. where the apostle fays, "Let the prophets fpeak, "two or three at a time, and let the others judge (or difcern), axpiverway. Where judging, or difcerning, follows prophecying, as diaxplosis aveμáray follows weoprsía here; fee alfo 1 Cor. ii.15. where the spiritual man is faid to judge, or difcern, even the things revealed by the higher prophets.

By wisis, Mr. Locke here underflands fuch a full perfuafion of
the truths which the teacher taught, as enabled him to fpeak with
the affurance and authority that became a teacher or a doctor. (Locke
in loc). And that faith stands for a firm perfuafion or affurance, may
hand, in the fecond lift (helps) may answer to prophecy; in-
be feen in many other places; fee 1 Cor. xiii. 2. Matt. xvii. 20.
afmuch as thofe who had the gift of lower prophecy were the per-
Mark iv. 40. Luke xvii. 6. Rom. xiv. 22, 23. James v. 15.
d Gifts of healing, ver. 30. may fignify the gifts that were bene-fons that chiefly: fifted, or helped the chriftians in the public devotions.
i xuôepois ftands here, as I fuppofe, for difcerners or triers of
ficial to mens bodies, as teaching was to their minds; and might,
perhaps, be exercised on the illuminating prayer of faith. The rea-
fon of the gift of healing being given may have been, 1. That it
had been fometimes given to prophets under the Old Teftament.
3. That it was necefiary to cure the dif
2. That it was beneficial.

e Working of miracles being diftinguished here from the gifts of
healing, may fignify fomething that implies a greater power; as raif.
ing the dead; laying ftorms; turning water into wine; feeding
multitudes with a mall quantity of provisions, &c. These two gifts
are evidently tranfpofed in the three lifts.

fpirits.

k Perhaps the apoftle makes yém yhwor, in the fecond lift, anfwer both to tongues and to the interpretation of tongues in the firft. And perhaps hwcoais Aahuvles, in the third lift, may compretemper inflicted by the power of the apoftles in the exercife of difci-hend prophecy, difcernment of fpirits, and the gift of tongues in the first lift; inasmuch as these were generally the subjects thofe (poke of pline in the church. who had the gift of tongues. For we may always obferve, throughout the hiftory of the Acts, that those who had the gift of tongues prophecied, or fpoke, the wonderful things of God, or magnified God: and St. Paul, in the xivth chapter, feems to intimate, that at leaft many of those who had the gift of tongues, could prophecy, in the fenfe I have explained it; becaufe he bids them prophecy rather than use the gift of tongues. St Mark ufes the gift of tongues even in fomething a larger fenfe than this; and puts it for all the illumination which was ever uttered by the gift of tongues, Mark xvi. 17. as is plain from his not mentioning any other gift of illumination there. St. Paul places this gift laft, except the interpretation of tongues, because it was of the leaft ufe and benefit in the church, 1 Cor. xiv. As prophecy takes in lower revelations, exhortation, praying, 19-23; and in order to beat down the folly of the Corinthians, and finging in the Spirit: fo perhaps diangiosis wrupárov may fig-| who prided themfel, es fo extravagantly in it.

f By poprsia here may be understood, that lower fort of pro-
phecy, of which St. Paul chiefly treats, 1 Cor. xiv. and which I have
confidered as branched out into lower revelations, exhorting, praying,
and finging in the Spirit. Though I apprehend the fame word, name-
ly, prela, Rom. xii. 6. and Eph. iv. 11. means the higher fort
of prophecy; it standing there before the gift of teaching; whereas
here it is placed after it.

And

And I fhould apprehend, lower prophets, and difcerners of fpirits, were what St. Paul defigned by thefe two words; the rather, becaufe, as in the reft the lifts agree pretty well, fo I should think that they ought to be interpreted in fuch a manner as to fhew they agree in thefe two alfo: for it would be very odd to find the five firft gifts and the last the fame in all the lifts, and to find the fixth, feventh, and eighth to differ. And I should yet ftill incline to this laft fenfe of these words the more, because then there will be no gift mentioned, in thefe three parts of the chapter, but what belonged either to their great apoftle, or was common to several members of that church; which is what one would expect on this occafion: and perhaps that is the reafon why he fpeaks of thefe gifts and not of fome others; and why particularly he does not speak of fuch as fitted men to be deacons, evangelifts, and rulers. It may be they had no deacons or rulers among them; perhaps no evangelifts had as yet been fent to them or it may be, the gifts that fitted a man for a deacon or ruler being not the gifts they valued, as not being for oftentation or fhew; and that of an evangelist not belonging to any one in that church: those were not the gifts they had any contest about; and therefore St. Paul faid nothing about them. On the other hand, it is likely that the

reafon

reafon why he mentions fome of those gifts,as the gift of healing and miracles, which are averred to be gifts of the Spirit, though they were wrought by the Spirit, is, that thefe were fome of those gifts which the Corinthians had ftrife and emulation about. For it

was not any ways pertinent to his defign, to perfuade them against a fchifm or contention about gifts, concerning which they did not contend; but against a fchifm and contention concerning thofe gifts about which their paffions were the strongeft. For we are to confider St. Paul as writing an epiftle to men who had these gifts of the Holy Ghost, and as writing to them in this place not to contend with one another about them; and not as writing a treatise of these gifts, to inform those who had not thofe gifts what they

were.

And as to avres (helps) in particular, I must confefs, it would be fomewhat extraordinary if it should fignify evangelists; because then evangelifts, who appear, in the nature of their office, and by the place St. Paul affigns them, Eph. iv. 11. to be the third rank of mi- nifters in the church, would here ftand the lowest except two; and governments alío, a gift of great confequence to the church, as it fignifies prudence to propofe or advise on emergencies, would come the laft but one, and ftand after the gifts of healing.

And

And that I may likewise speak my mind freely about the other words used in scripture, which have been generally thought to be of the fame fignification with governments, and which I have therefore brought to support that rendering of the word xubepves which our tranflators have given it, namely, weoisάuo, προεςῶτες, ἡγέμθμοι ; I muft own, that though thefe words may be brought to fupport our rendering of the word ubegroes by the word governments, agreeably to facts that we find in other places of fcripture, and to the general fenfe of xubegunces, abstracted from its context; yet these words have much less force with me to that purpose when I confider them distinctly in the feveral places where they occur.

Thus to begin with i woïsau, Rom. xii. 8. when St. Paul had spoke of the gifts of prophecy, miniftry, teaching, and exhortation, ver. 6, 7. and in part of the 8th verfe, he adds, "He that giveth ( peradide's) let "him do it with fimplicity (ev aλótyti) or liberality he that ruleth (goïsaμxQ) προῖς άμμα) "with diligence (ev σd), with care and diligence. He that fheweth mercy with "chearfulness." Perhaps by the words, "he "that giveth" ( MeTadidas) is meant, him that is able to give; and St. Paul fays, "let " him do it (ev aλóTT) with liberality." For that ev άπλóτŋTMɩ fignifies with liberality, may

be