fathers; and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, "For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name." And again he saith, "Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people." And again, "Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people." And again Esaias saith, "There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust."

Jesus Christ, says Paul, "was a minister of the circumcision," - that is, born of, or commissioned to, the covenant race, -to bring about (not to contravene, as it was pretended that indulgence to the Gentiles would do) the true purpose of God, and to fulfil an expectation raised by the very fathers of the Jewish line; viz. that the Gentiles should have occasion to "glorify God for his mercy." And this point he establishes by quotations from ancient Scripture, in which the heathen are spoken of as future worshippers of Jehovah, and destined to share in the blessings of the Messiah's reign. (Ps. xviii. 49; Deut. xxxii. 43; Ps. cxvii. 1; Is. xi. 10; comp. Gen. xviii. 18, xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, xxviii. 14.)

XV. 20, 21.

Yea, so have I strived to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation but, as it is written, "To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see and they that have not heard shall understand."

Who can for a moment doubt that these words (from Is. lii. 15), used by the original writer in an entirely different sense, are here applied by St. Paul, in the way of mere rhetorical accommodation, to the plan which he declares himself to have pursued, of carrying the message of Christianity to regions where no preacher had preceded him?

XVI. 25, 26.

The mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.

was now

The "mystery' the hitherto unknown truth of the Gospel- "kept secret since the world (ó aiúv) began," from the very beginning of that dispensation which the Gospel was to succeed, "made known to all nations." And it was made known "by the Scriptures of the prophets," because those writers had from time to time expressed their expectation that "all nations" would ultimately in some way have a place in God's benignant regard. (See, e. g., the texts quoted on the last page.)

SECTION II.

FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.

THE quotations in this Epistle are all of that kind which present no difficulty to the interpreter who adopts the principles on which I have proceeded; while most of them would be explained on those principles, by critics of any school whatever. They are instances of accommodation by Paul, to his own uses, of language used by writers of the Old Testament, without any intimation that the application made of the words by the Apostle had been in the mind of the original writer. Having made this remark once for all, I need scarcely do more than set down Paul's words, with references to the passages from which they respectively quote.

I. 2.

To them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.

They were "sanctified" and "saints" collectively, as constituting a community of believers in Christ's religion. (See above, pp. 225-228.)

I. 19.

It is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."

Rebuking the presumption of his contemporaries, Isaiah (xxix. 14; comp. "Lectures," &c., Vol. III. p. 222) had represented Jehovah as using this threat concerning them. Paul appropriately applies the language to the ambitious marplots of his own day. In part of the following verse, "Where is the wise? where is the scribe?" Paul seems to have had in mind an expression of Isaiah in a different place (xxxiii. 18).

I. 31.

According as it is written, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

An inaccurate citation from the Book of Jeremiah (ix. 24).

II. 9, 10.

As it is written, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit."

An ancient writer (Is. lxiv. 4; comp. "Lectures,” &c., Vol. III. p. 270) had made this remark concerning the marvellous providences of God. Paul applies it, without verbal exactness, to that token of God's gracious providence, given in the revelation of Christianity.

II. 16.

Who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?

Without formal quotation, Paul seems to be using Old Testament language. (See Isaiah xl. 13.)

III. 19, 20.

The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." And again, “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain."

The sentences quoted are from the Books of Job (v. 13) and the Psalms (xciv. 11).

V. 7, 8.

For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Language strongly figurative, but quite intelligible, if we do not undertake to refine too far. The Jews, when the paschal lamb was slain, feasted upon it with unleavened bread. ("Lectures," &c., Vol. I. p. 137.) "Our passover, too, is slain for us, even Christ," says the Apostle (such is the exact rendering of the words). By his death a feast is spread for us, the feast of God's grace. Let us gladly keep the offered festivity; and, instead of a "leaven of malice and wickedness," - a fermenting element of angry passions, let our unleavened bread be a spirit of sincerity and truth.

VI. 16.

What! know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

To a hasty view, the form of Paul's argument here is that of an appeal to Scriptural authority. But he

could have intended no more than such an illustration as any book, without authority, would afford. For the passage to which he refers (Gen. ii. 24) relates professedly and solely to the conjugal relation, and not at all to the relation of which he is speaking.

IX. 9, 10.

It is written in the Law of Moses, "Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn." Doth God take care for oxen? or saith he it altogether for our sakes? for our sakes, no doubt, this is written.

Nothing can be clearer than that the provision of the Mosaic Law here referred to (Deut. xxv. 4) was intended to have a merely literal interpretation. St. Paul, urging the rightful claim of preachers of the Gospel to a support, quotes the words as embodying a principle which demanded a much wider application than that originally designed. "Is God careful for oxen?" he asks (that is, for oxen alone); "or is he assuredly saying it for our benefit? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written." It was written for them, not at all as having originally had them in view, but as susceptible of a useful application to their case. It is a result, and not a design, that Paul indicates (the exβατικόν, as distinguished from the αιτιολογικόν. See above, pp. 27, 28; also Rom. xv. 4; 1 Cor. x. 6, 11).

X. 1-5.

For, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness.