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resurrection. It is, that the divine promise here referred to, is explained in verse 23, as fulfilled in raising up Jesus, not from the dead, but of the seed of David. "The promise made to the fathers,” says Outrein, “God did not fulfil in the first place and principally by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead; but by sending him in the flesh, and by appointing him to the various functions required of him."-KUINoel in loc.

It may be added, that the introduction of the doctrine of the resurrection renders the divine oracle under consideration less appropriate than it otherwise would be to the passages where it occurs. Such an allusion does not happily harmonize with the magnificence of the second Psalm. It affords no proof of the superiority of our Lord to angels, but tends rather to a contrary conclusion; nor in Heb. v. 5, does it supply any reason for the appointment of Christ to his priesthood, since it was subsequent to that event.

Upon the whole, therefore, it may fairly be doubted whether there exists any valid evidence in favour of the declarative sense of the passage before us; and hence we have no alternative but to explain it according to its literal acceptation, as an absolute affirmation of the divine Sonship of Christ. That this is the exposition which would most readily occur to the Jew, is too evident to require any detailed proof. He who regarded the title "Son" as, in its proper application to Christ, characteristic exclusively of a divine relation, and with whom the doctrine of an emanative production in the Godhead formed a part of his established creed, could scarcely hesitate as to the design of the oracle before us: nor is it easy to perceive how he could realize any sense but that for which his pre-conceptions so fully prepared him. In this exposition, therefore, the third of the above canons is satisfactorily complied with.

Nor need we demur with respect to the first; for certainly, however mysterious the doctrine of a divine geniture, this it is which is most readily suggested by the terms of the passage. Hence it is remarked by the elder Michaelis : "God saith not, I have adopted, but I have begotten thee; by which is signified the communication of the same divine essence and nature, though in a manner altogether ineffable." (Not. Uberior. in loc. Holden's Scrip. Test., p. 317.)

The great objection to the literal sense of the text generally is found in the term to-day, which it may be alleged is not expressive of unlimited duration. Of course it is conceded that this is not its ordinary acceptation; but it is to be recollected that "no prophecy is of self-interpretation;" (2 Pet. i. 20;) and hence it has pleased God, in the prophetic writings, to employ many expressions in a sense so singular as to be explicable only by the fulfilment of the predictions of which they form a part. Unless, therefore, a given exposition be prohibited by something in the essential meaning of the terms, the mere circumstance of remoteness from the common usage of language is by no means an insuperable difficulty.

To a people amply provided with philosophical phraseology, there would be no difficulty in appropriating an expression to the idea of unlimited duration. But this was not the case with those for whose benefit the Old Testament was primarily designed, and among whom its books were written. Neither its writers, nor those of the New Testament, had any diction properly philosophical. Hence of the two modes which they employ to express eternity, each is more than commonly inadequate to the truth. The one was by suggesting a period remote and obscure; the other, by the accumulation of age upon age, and cycle upon cycle. Thus y, atdios, aiúvros, eis Tovç alõvas tõv aióvov, and the like, though properly expressive of limited duration alone, are the only phrases of which the sacred writers usually avail themselves to convey the idea of that which is unlimited.

To all practical purposes these, notwithstanding their inherent imperfection, are doubtless sufficient; though of course sceptical minds, whenever it has suited their purpose, have not scrupled to take advantage of such an ambiguity. Yet it may rationally be questioned whether to the thoughtful and meditative the term before us does not convey a more profound and happier impression of perpetual and unchanging being. It is a mode of duration necessarily existent. To-day always is; and as it never began to be, so can it never cease to be. We cannot conceive of a point of duration past which, upon its occurrence, was not, nor of one to come which, upon its occurrence, will not be-to-day. Yesterday is always past; tomorrow is always to come: but each successive period as it

arrives, and that on through countless and never-ceasing cycles, is to-day. So Clement of Alexandria happily remarks, "To-day is the image of an eternal age.” (ή σήμερον ἀϊδίου αἰῶνος ἐστιν úv. Protrept., T. i., p. 78.)

When applied to Him with whom "one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day," the term is eminently appropriate to an emanation neither past nor to come, but perpetually present. Hence, with the utmost propriety, it may be employed as characteristic of the generation of the Son; for in all the annals of duration, as measured by men, there never was a period in which the first Subsistence of the Trinity might not declare to the second, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." In the order of idea, generation precedes sonship; and it is therefore said, "This day have I begotten thee:" but in fact neither is afore nor after; and hence Jehovah announces, "Thou art my Son." Nor can the period ever arrive in which this oracle will not be as appropriately and absolutely true, as at the first moment in which it was enunciated.

That these remarks will relieve the subject from all its difficulties, it would be presumptuous to imagine. The writer indulges no conceit so absurd. But they may at least suffice to show, what indeed is their only design, that when the application is made known of such a prophecy as that under consideration, there is no difficulty in perceiving that a term employed in an unusual sense is yet susceptible of explanation in harmony with the purpose of the whole. And if this is admitted to have been shown in the present case, no valid objection, it is apprehended, can be inferred from such a phrase against the literal interpretation of the text in general.

Professor Stuart cites Theodoret and Chrysostom as giving a different exposition of the word "to-day." As it is possible that the quotation of Mr. S. might unintentionally convey an erroneous impression, it is to be noted, that upon the doctrine in question both these fathers are nevertheless most explicit. The former especially, commenting upon the place, sets out with the remark, "God the Word had the name of Only Begotten Son, as well as what the name signifies, before the worlds.”

Before we dismiss the subject, it is of some importance to show the appropriateness of this exposition to the passages in

which the oracle occurs. This indeed is required by the second of the critical canons stated in the commencement of this note. In the second Psalm the text is found in immediate connexion with the loftiest prerogatives and functions of the mediatorial dignity; such as absolute royalty, (verse 6,) universal, unrestricted, and irresistible dominion. (Verses 8, 9.) Especially for the Son is demanded the religious homage and trust due to Jehovah alone.

"Serve JEHOVAH with fear,

And with trembling rejoice.

Kiss THE SON, lest he be angry,

And ye perish from the way,

When his wrath is kindled but a little.

Blessed are all they that put their trust in HIM."

(Verses 11, 12.) Here, then, there is no difficulty in perceiving the appropriateness of such a topic as the eternal relation of the Messiah to the Father. This is the foundation of all that is transcendently great in the mediatorial scheme. It is this which displays the beneficence of him who gave, and the condescension of him who was given to the work of human redemption. Upon this great truth depend the infinite value, prevalency, and glory of our Redeemer's oblation; the magnificence, amplitude, and perpetuity of his government; and especially the homage and confidence of his people's faith.

The same remarks are not inapposite to the illustration of the superiority of Christ to angels. With the argument of the Apostle, both on this subject and on the priesthood of our Lord, (Heb. v. 5,) it is evident that no exposition can fall in so happily, or rather that, excepting only the one considered immediately before, no other exposition can harmonize at all. A nature so certainly divine, in a connexion so intimately with Jehovah the Father, and from which the Christly dignity derives its surpassing exaltation, may well be described in the emphasis of the Hebrew idiom as a more excellent name than that of the angels. Of its connexion with the sacerdotal work and eminence of our Lord, we shall have hereafter to speak more at large.

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'Nor is it difficult to discern," as Wolf remarks upon St. Paul's sermon at Antioch, "why a passage which properly and

expressly treats of the eternal generation of the Son should be quoted in this place where the discourse is of the incarnation and mission of the Messiah. It is done with the design to show that Jesus, who is here spoken of as manifested and sent, is such a Saviour as was described and promised in that Psalm; namely, the eternal and proper Son of God."

The whole of the commentary of this writer upon the passage, especially in connexion with the authorities to whom he refers, is worthy of the reader's attention. Kuinoel also has some valuable remarks in the details of his criticism, though the result falls far short of the magnificence of the oracle. See also Suicer. Thesaur. Eccles., in voc. onμepov; Augustine et Amama in Psalm ii. 7; Theophylact. et Ecumenius in Heb. i.; Witsi Animadvers. Iren., c. iii., sect. xiii.; Ib. in Symbol., Exercit. vii., sect. x., xi.; Owen's Vindic. Evang. in answer to Biddle, c. ix., sect. xi.; and especially the beautiful and terse exposition by Mr. Wesley of the entire passage.

This note cannot be more appropriately concluded than by the following citations from two of the above named fathers. To render the former intelligible, it may be necessary to remark, that in Luke iii. 22, instead of the reading in our text, some copies quote Psalm ii. 7. These, though without adequate authority, are followed by several of the fathers.

"That oracle of the Father, which was pronounced upon him at his baptism, To-day I have begotten thee, indicates, not that day of time alone in which he was baptized, but the day of a changeless eternity; as it also showed, that the man was united to the person of the Only Begotten. For where a day neither begins by the end of yesterday, nor ends by the beginning of to-morrow, it is always to-day." (Augustin. Enchirid. ad Laurent., c. xlix., T. iii., p. 74.)

"How is it shown, some one may inquire, that he is better than the angels? The reply is, By his name. For the name Son indicates kindred, even that near kindred which is by immediate descent. If he is a Son by grace, he is inferior to the angels. The expression, To-day I have begotten thee, signifies simply from the beginning, from the period in which God was the Father. As he is called I am, with reference to the present period, and that most appropriately, so also is the phrase today employed in this place." (Theophylact. in Heb. i. 5.)

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