who were Jews by birth, and wrote and spoke in the Jewish idiom, have very frequently alluded to the sacred books, after the customary style of their nation; intending no more by this mode of speaking, than that the words of such an antient writer are happily descriptive of what was transacted in their time, and might, with equal propriety, be adapted to characterise such a particular circumstance as happened in their days: that there was a con-similarity of case and incidents; and that the expressive style and diction of the old inspired prophets were as justly applicable to the occurrences recorded by the apostles, as they were suitable to denote those events and facts in their times which they had commemorated. Thus, our Lord, speaking of the insurmountable prepossessions and perverseness of the Jews to whom he preached, says: - Seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand,- that is, their stupidity is so gross, and their prejudices are so numerous, that though they have capacities proper for understanding and receiving my doctrine, they will neither understand nor receive it; so that in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, his words are perfectly applicable to the present age, and descriptive of their moral character and condition:- Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Isa. vi. 9, 10. cited in Matt. xiii. 14, 15.) The same passage of the evangelical prophet is cited by St. Paul (Rom. xi. 8.), and applied to the invincible obstinacy of his countrymen, not, indeed, as though they had then, and then only, received their precise accomplishment, but as beautifully expressive of the obduracy, determined infidelity, and impenitence of the Jews. Again, the prophet Jeremiah, describing the miseries of captivity by a beautiful figure, represents Rachel as deploring the loss of her children, bathed in tears, piercing the air with loud lamentations, and indulging inconsolable grief. When Herod imbrued his hands in the blood of the innocents in Bethlehem and its vicinity, how applicable were the prophet's words to such a cruel scene, and how happily are they cited by the evangelist, to exhibit to his reader the mourning and lamentation caused by that sanguinary tyrant! They are a beautiful quotation. and not a prediction of what then happened: and yet, upon the murder of these babes, the sacred historian says, according to the Jewish phraseology, when they cited Scripture: Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet Jercmiah; in Ramah there was a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted because they are not. (Jer. xxxi. 15. cited in Matt. iii. 17, 18.) Once more, our Lord having delivered several parables, the sacred historian, after remarking that Jesus Christ chose to convey his religious and moral instruction to the Jews by means of parables, with which all his public discourses abounded, says That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet," I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world." (Psal. lxxviii. 2. quoted in Matt. xiii. 35.)1 A similar instance of accommodation occurs in St. Paul's second Epistle to the Corinthians (vi. 2.); where he cites the saying of the Prophet (Isaiah xlix. 8.) -I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation I have succoured thee. In this passage the apostle does not mean to declare that the prophet had the Corinthians in view, but he cites it as a parallel case: intimating that they 1 This mode of accommodating passages was not confined to the inspired penmen. Pagan writers often cite passages from their old poets, to describe things of which these poets never thought; and this Dr. Jortin remarks, is no fault, but rather a beauty in writing: and a passage, applied justly in a new sense, is ever pleasing to an ingenious reader, who loves to see a likeness and pertinency where he expected none. (Rem. on Eccl. Hist. vol. i. p. 120.) In Elian, Diogenes the Cynic philosopher is reported to have said, that "he fulfilled in himself all the curses of tragedy": and Olympiodorus, in his life of Plato, has this expression, “that it might be true concerning him," and then cites the following verse from Homer Του και απο κλωσσης μελιτος γλυκιων ρεεν αυδη. Words sweet as honey from his lips distilled. POPE. Which verse, however applicable to that great philosopher, is not to be considered as an oracle delivered by the poet, with a view to the particular use or accommodation of it by this biographer. (Sharpe's Second Argument in Defence of Christianity, p. 349.) might collect from that saying that there was a certain accepted time, in which God would hear them, and which, therefore, it concerned them not to let pass without carefully improving it. The following table presents a list of the passages thus accommodated from the Old Testament by the writers of the New: Rom. iv. 18. Rom. iv. 3. Gal. iii. 6. and James N. 23. Luke xvii. 28, 29. 32. Rom. ix. 7. Heb. xii. 16. Heb. xi. 20. xii. 17. Rom. ix. 17. 1 Cor. x. 7. 1 Pet. i. 16. Rom. x. 5. Gal. iii. 12. 1 Cor. ix. 9. 1 Tim. v. 18. Rom. xii. 19. Heb. x. 30. Heb. x. 30. Rom. xv. 10. Heb. xiii. 5. Matt. xii. 3, 4. Mark ii. 25, 26. Luke vi 3, 4. Rom. xi. 3, 4. Rom. iii. 13. Rom. iii. 14. Rom. iii. 10-12. Rom. x. 18. 1 Cor. x. 26. 1 Pet. iii. 10-12. Rom. viii. 36. Rom. iii. 4. Rom. xv. 3. Rom. xi. 9, 10. Rom. iii. 15- 17. Heb. xii. 5, 6. James iv. 6. 1 Pet. iv. 8. Rom. xii. 20 2 Pet. ii. 22. It cannot escape observation, that by far the larger portion of the preceding quotations is accommodated by the apostle Paul. Dr. John Taylor has some useful remarks (of which the following are an abstract), on the various designs with which St. Paul cited them : 1. Sometimes his intention goes no further than using the same strong expressions, as being equally applicable to the point in hand. Thus, in Rom. x. 6-8. he uses the words of Moses (Deut. xxx. 12 -14.), not to prove any thing, nor as if he thought Moses spoke of the same subject; but merely as intimating that the strong and lively expressions, used by Moses concerning the doctrine he taught, were equally applicable to the faith of the Gospel. So, in Rom. x. 18. he quotes Psal. xix. 4. though it is not unlikely that those expressions were used by the antient Jews in application to the Messiah, as the apostle applies them. 2. Sometimes the design of the quotation is only to show that the cases are parallel: or that what happened in his times corresponded with what happened in former days. See Rom. ii. 24. viii. 36. ix. 27 -29. xi. 2-5. 8-10. and xv. 21. 3. Sometimes the quotation is only intended to explain a doctrinal point. See Rom. i. 17. iv. 7, 8. 18-21. ix. 20, 21. x. 15. and xv. 3. 4. Sometimes the quotation is designed to prove a doctrinal point. See Rom. iii. 4. 10-18. iv. 3—17. v. 12-14. ix. 7. 9. 12, 13. 15. 17. x. 5. 11. 13. xii. 20. and xiv. 11. Lastly, when a passage of the Old Testament is quoted in the New, in order to prove a point of doctrine, the person or writer applies it, though not always in the precise words of the original, yet constantly according to its genuine sense as it stands there. Examples of such application will be found in Deut. viii. 3. compared with Matt. iv. 4. ; Deut. vi. 16. compared with Matt. iv. 7., Deut. xxxiii. 35. and Prov. xxv. 21, 22. compared with Rom. xii. 19, 20. The expression in Hos. vi. 6. mercy and not sacrifice is applied to different purposes in Matt. ix. 13., but to both properly. In applying the accommodated citations of the Old Testament, Turretin has suggested the three following rules, which claim the attention of the biblical student. 1. In applications of this kind, we must not neglect the literal sense, which is the first and only genuine sense of Scripture. 1 In his Paraphrase and Notes on Saint Paul's Epistle to the Romans, p. 339. 4th edit. 1769. 2. Such applications ought not to be forced, or far-fetched; for those which were made by the apostles, were simple, and easy to be apprehended. 3. Too much stress ought not to be laid on these applications; which, it should be considered, are merely illustrations adduced by the sacred writers further to explain the subjects under their discussion. 4. Such being the nature of these accommodations, it follows that no doctrines at least such as are necessary to salvation - either can or ought to be deduced from them.1 IV. Of Quotations, and other Passages from the Old Testament, which are alluded to in the New. Besides the passages mentioned in the preceding class, as accommodated by the writers of 'the New Testament, there is a fourth class, nearly allied to them, and comprising a few quotations, together with a larger number of other passages not distinctly cited from the Old Testament; but which, on comparing them with the New Testament, appear most evidently to have been present to the minds of the sacred writers, who have alluded to them by way of illustration or example. A careful inspection of such passages, with reference to their scope and context, together with an application of the rules above suggested by Turretin, will readily enable the student to judge of the allusions which he may meet with in the New Testament and in addition to those rules, Dr. Gerard has remarked, that when the inspired writers quote a passage from the Old Testament, merely in the way of allusion, it is enough that the words which they borrow emphatically express their own meaning. It is not necessary that they be precisely the same with those of the passage alluded to, nor that they be there used, either of the same subject or of a similar subject.2 Thus, Deut. xxx. 12-14. which was originally written concerning the law, is by Saint Paul accommodated to the Gospel (Rom. x. 6-8.), with proper variations and explanations. The following table presents a list of the principal passages thus alluded to in the New Testament. Gen. i. 6. 9. Gen. i. 27. Gen. ii. 2, 3. Gen. ii. 7. Gen. ii. 21, 22. Gen. ii. 24. Gen. iii. 6. Gen. iii. 4. 13. alluded to in 2 Pet. iii. 5. Matt. xix. 4. Mark x. 6. 1 Cor. xi. 7. James iii. 9. Heb. iv. 4. 1 Cor. xv. 45. 1 Cor. xi. 8. 1 Tim. ii. 13. Matt. xix. 5. Mark x. 7. 1 Cor. vi. 16. 1 Tim. ii. 14. 2 Cor. xi. 3. 1 Turretin, De Sacr. Script. Interpretatione, pp. 118, 119. see also pp. 107-117. The subject of accommodated passages of Scripture is more fully discussed by Dr. Sharpe (Second Argument from Prophecy, pp. 347-365.); Dr. Hey (Norrisian Lectures, vol. i. pp. 260. 262.); Dr. Harwood (Introduction to the New Test. vol. i pp. 279-290.); Rumpus (Comment. Crit. ad Libros Nov. Test. pp. 443. 449, 450.); Bishop Kidder (in his Demonstration of the Messias, chap. iii. Boyle's Lectures, vol. i. pp. 150—152.); Dr. Nicholls (Conference with a Theist, part iii. vol. ii. pp. 10-13. ed. 1698); and especially by Dr. Sykes (On the Truth of the Christian Religion, chapters xiii. xiv. and xv. pp. 206–296. edit. 1725.) The reader will also find some excellent remarks on the different modes of quotation, in Dr. Cook's Inquiry into the Books of the New Testament, pp. 284-304. 2 Institutes of Biblical Criticism, p. 422, § 135. |