PROF. OF BIB, LIT. AND INTERP. OF SCRIP. IN THE THEOL. SEM. OF NEW-YORK & LONDON: WILEY AND PUTNAM. 1841. Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1841, by WILEY & PUTNAM, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New-York. J. P. WRIGHT, Printer, 18 New Street, New York. PREFACE. THE AUTHOR of the following work does not hesitate to acknowledge, that he offers it to the public with some solicitude. Apart from any personal considerations, which it would be affectation wholly to disclaim, there are others of a nature entirely different and vastly higher, which must make a strong impression on every writer who feels himself to be a moral and responsible agent. To comment on the sacred Scriptures is to interpret what God formerly revealed; and therefore, the attempt should be made with due seriousness of mind, and suitable intellectual preparation. The expositor should possess a competent acquaintance with the principles and laws of interpretation, and also with the various facts which bear, either directly or indirectly, on the points to be illustrated. He should exercise a proper care and judgment in selecting from the sources of information, and in applying his knowledge to the obscurities which are to be cleared up, and the difficulties which are to be removed. Whether these requisitions shall appear to be met, |