PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Works of John Owen — Volume 18
John Owen · 300,763 words · 293 reading sections
Section 61
3. Again, the Epistle is said to be translated by Clemens, but where, or when, we are not informed. Was this done in Italy, before it was sent unto the Hebrews? To what end, then, was it written in He- brew, when it was not to be used but in Greek? Was it sent in Hebrew before the supposed translation? In what language…
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Some considerations, in addition to what are noticed by Owen, have been deemed of force in support of a Greek original. 106 CITATIONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT [EXERC. V. Greek words occur which in Hebrew could be expressed only by a periphrasis :— ToAvuspas xa) roavrpora:, ch. i. 1; aratyarua, ch. 1.3; ebreplorares, ch…
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Ver. 6. Kal rpocnuvqsdrucuy wire rdévres dyyerdor Ocot-—“ And let all the angels of God worship him.” From Ps. xevii. 7, without change. Only DON, “ gods,” is rendered by the apostle éyyeru cod, “the angels of God;” of the reason whereof afterwards. The LXX., Ipo- onuvqoure aire rdvTes dyyeror wdrod,—“ Worship him all …
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Ver. 12. ’Arayyerd +d bvome cov Trois ddEADoIS wou, ev meow ExxAnoing iuvhow oe-— I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing praise unto thee.” From Ps. xxii. 22. The LXX., Arayjoowas rb dvoma, BBN. Ver. 13. *Eya foowas weroidas x” airg-—“I will put my trust in him.” From Ps…
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« 112 CITATIONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT [ EXERC. V. the original, and all translations besides the Syriac and the Arabic, which are made out of it (though the Syriac follows it not in the confused transpositions that are made of Jeremiah’s prophecies, from chap. xxv. to chap. xl, as the Arabic doth), is only to be con…
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15. It is also undeniably manifest, from this view of his words, that the apostle did not scrupulously confine himself unto the precise words either of the original or any translation whatever,—if any other translation, or targum, were then extant besides that of the LXX. Observing and expressing the sense of the testi…
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20. First, Whereas the reasons of the apostle for his application of the testimonies used by him in his words and expressions are evi- dent, as shall in particular be made to appear; so no reason can be assigned why the LXX. (if any such LXX. there were) who trans- lated the Old Testament, or any other translators of i…
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SUBSIDIARY NOTE ON EXERCITATION V. BY THE EDITOR. Dr OWEN is anxious to make it appear that “very few’’ of the quotations from the Old Testament in this Epistle agree with the Septuagint, and that in those instances where an agreement obtains between them, the Greek renderings of Paul in the Epistle may haye been subs…
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1. Roeth believes it to have been sent to the church at Ephesus; Baumgarten Crusius, to the joint church of the Ephesians and Colossians, 2. Under the second class, Jewish believers generally, or in Asia Minor, or Spain, or Rome, or Alexandria, or elsewhere, have been named as the parties to whom it was addressed. 3.…
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120 ONENESS OF THE CHURCH. [ EXERC. VI. added to the strengthening of their unbelief. They could not bear with patience an intimation of letting out the vineyard to other husbandmen. With this principle and prejudice of theirs the apostle dealt directly in his Epistle to the Romans, chap. ix.-xi, On the same grounds …
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4, Answerably unto this twofold end of the separation of Abra- ham, there was a double seed allotted unto him ;—a seed according to the flesh, separated to the bringing forth of the Messiah according unto the flesh; and a seed according to the promise, that is, such as by faith should have interest in the promise, or a…
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It is true, the former carnal privilege of Abraham and his pos- terity expiring, on the grounds before mentioned, the ordinances of worship which were suited thereunto did necessarily cease also. And this cast the Jews into great perplexities, and proved the last trial that God made of them; for whereas both these—name…
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2. The Scripture of the Old Testament they call 81?, and divide it into three parts:—(1.) MM, “The Law;” (2.) 08°23, “ The Pro- phets;” (3.) 21N3, “'The Writings by divine Inspiration,” which are usually called the “ Hagiographa,” or holy writings. And this distri- bution of the books of the Old Testament is in general…
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3. They also divide it into lesser sections, and those of two sorts, open and close, which have their distinct marks in their Bibles; and many superstitious observations they have about the beginning and ending of them. Of the first sort there are in Genesis 43, of the latter 48; in Exodus, of the first sort 69, of the…
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6. This oral law they affirm to be an wnwritten tradition and ex- position of the written law of Moses, given unto him in Mount Sinai, and committed by him to Joshua and the sanhedrim, to be by them delivered over by oral tradition unto those who should succeed them in the government of that church. It doth not appear …
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SECT. 7-11.] OF THE ORAL LAW. 131 himself, after he came down from the mount; (3.) Constitutions and orders, drawn, by various ways of arguing (thirteen, as Rambam tells us), out of the written law; (4.) The answers and decrees of the san- hedrim and other wise men in former ages; (5.) Immemorial customs, whose origin…
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18. (2.) Did their forefathers at any time before the captivity transgress this oral law, or did they not? If they say they did not, but kept it, and observed it diligently, we may easily see of what importance it is, that the most strict observation of it could not preserve them from all manner of wickedness; and what…
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oth. 16. (1.) The Jews expressly contend that their oral law, their mass of traditions, was from God himself. They say, it was partly deli- SECT. 15-17.] ABOUT TRADITIONS. 135 vered unto Moses on Mount Sinai, and partly added by him from divine revelations which he afterwards received. Hence the autho- rity of it wi…
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SECT. 18. | ABOUT TRADITIONS. 137 own, so they entitle [prefix] not the name of God to their anven- tions: by which means they have set themselves at liberty to mul- tiply superstitious observations at their pleasure; which they had actually done in the days of our Saviour, and thereby “made the law of God of none eff…
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19, (4.) When these two laws, the law of God and their own, do come in competition, the Jews, many of them, do expressly prefer that of their own invention before the other, and that both as to certainty and use. Hence they make it the foundation of their church, and the only safe means to preserve the truth. So are we…
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It remains that we consider how these traditions come to be com- municated unto others, out of the secret storehouse wherein origi- nally they were deposited. This, as I have elsewhere and partly be- fore declared, was by their being committed unto writing by Rabbi Judah Hakkadosh ; whose collections, with their exposi…
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First, That there was a Messiah, or Saviour of mankind from sin and punishment, promised upon, and from, the first entrance of sin into the world, in whom all acceptable worship of God was to be founded, and in whom all the religion of the sons of men was to centre. — Secondly, That this Messiah, long before promised,…
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which is his voluntary subduction of himself from under the govern- ment of his Maker; and free from trouble, which is the effect of his displeasure on that subduction or deviation ;—in which two the whole nature of evil consisteth: so that it must have some other original. 3. Furthermore; in this first effort of imme…
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First, The punishment that was threatened unto and inflicted on the disobedience of Adam. Whatever there is of disorder, darkness, or confusion, in the nature of things here below; whatever is uncer- tain, irregular, horrid, unequal, destructive, in the universe; what- ever is penal unto man, or may be so, in this life…
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there is repentance, and that thou wilt receive them that repent and turn unto thee.” Hence, also, they tell us, that upon the pardon of his sin he sang a song of praise unto the Lord on the Sabbath-day ; which is mentioned in the Targum on the Song of Solomon, chap. i. 1, as one of the songs in reference whereunto tha…
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And these words are very consonant to those of our apostle, Rom. v. 12, “ As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men, for that” (or “ because in him”) “ all have sinned.” ‘To the same purpose speaks the Targum on Eccles. vii. 29,in the copies followed bythe Jayan[ Paris Pol…
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10, The SECOND consequent of the first sin of man is the moral corruption of nature, the spring of all that evil of actual sin that is in the world. And herein we have a full consent from the Jews, delivered after their manner, both in the Targums, Talmuds, and private writings of their principal masters; for an evil c…
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Fourthly, Solomon, as they suppose, calls it sw, an “enemy” or “hater,” Prov. xxv. 21. How properly they gather this name from that place “ipsi viderint.” This I know, that to the same purpose it is called in the New Testament dpa, “enmity,” or hatred, Rom. vil. 7; and all the effects of enmity, or actings of an enemy,…
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SECT. 12, 13.] PROMISED OF OLD. 155 whole person and all his concernments, to the displeasure and curse of God; to all the ewil which in this world he feels, or fears in another; to death temporal and eternal. And hence did all the dis- order which is in the universe arise. All this we have found them freely testifyin…
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First; The angels were created in an estate and condition much supertor unto and more excellent than that of man; and so like- wise were their present or actual enjoyments far above his, though these also were admirable and blessed. The place of their first SECT. 14.| PROMISED OF OLD. 157 habitation, which they left,…
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Lastly, We may add unto what hath been spoken, the concern- ment of the glory of God in the universe; for if man had been left for ever without relief, the whole race or kind of creatures, par- takers of human nature, had been utterly lost. Nothing of that kind could ever have come unto the enjoyment of God, nor could …
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Thirdly, That there is a way of deliverance for mankind, the event hath manifested in two remarkable and undeniable instances:— First, In that swndry persons who were, as others, “by nature children of wrath,” and under the curse, have obtained an undoubted and infallible interest in the love and favour of God, and th…
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SECT. 17.] PROMISED OF OLD. 163 state wherein they were upon the first entrance of sin, cumulated, as it were, with another world of confusion, disorder, mischief, and misery, There is also another head of the misery of man; and that is, the corrupt spring of moral evil that is in his nature. This also is uni- versal…
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But whereas they now are, and have been for many generations, deprived of the privilege, as they esteem it, of offering sacrifices according to the law, they hope that their own repentance, with their death, which they pray may be expiatory, will be sufficient to obtain for them the forgiveness of sin. Only, they say t…
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There was therefore a remedy in this case provided long before __ SECT. 20.] PROMISED OF OLD. 167 the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; and therefore the law was not given unto that purpose, but for other ends, at large declared by our apostle. Lither, then, they must grant that all the patriarchs, and he in especial…
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21. It remains, then, that the sacrifices of the law must yield the relief inquired after, or we are still at a loss in this matter. And these the Jews would willingly place their chief confidence in; they did so of old. Since, indeed, they have been driven from their ob- servation, they have betaken themselves unto ot…
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In brief, then, the Jews fixing on the law of Moses as the only means of delivery from sin and death, as they do thereby exclude all mankind besides themselves from any interest in the love, favour, or grace of God,—which they greatly design and desire,—so they cast themselves also into a miserable, restless, self-cond…
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SECT. 25, 26.] PROMISED OF OLD. 1738 did they leave thy commandment and follow my commandment ?’ and therefore he presently pronounced sentence against him.” And the same words are repeated in Midrash Vaiikra, ad cap. xiii. 2; which things can be understood of Satan only. I know some of the later masters have other th…
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We have also a surer word for our own satisfaction, in the appli- cation of this place unto Satan in the divine writings of the New Testament: as 2 Cor. xi.8; 1 Tim. i. 14; Rom. v. 11-18, 15; Heb. SECT. 26.] PROMISED OF OLD. 175 u. 14,15; 1 John iii. 8; Rev. xi, 9, xx. 2,3; but we forbear to press them on the Jews. …
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28. God having, in infinite wisdom and grace, provided this way of relief, and given this intimation of it, that revelation became the foundation and centre of all the religion that ensued in the world: for as those who received it by faith, and adhered unto it, continued in the worship of the true God, expressing thei…
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First, It is said that Abraham hereupon should be “ a blessing :” na mn, “ And thou shalt be a blessing ;’—‘ Not only blessed thy- self’ (which is expressed in the former words, “I will bless thee”), ‘but the means of conveying blessings, the great blessing, unto others.’ And how was this done in and by Abraham? In his…
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Hence Balaam among the Gentiles prophesied of him, Num. xxiv. 17, 19; and Job, among the children of the east that were not of the posterity of Isaac, professed his faith in him, chap. xix, 25, DYpY THyroy PANN 1D YPND AYT 2N1,—« And I know that my Redeemer liveth” or “is living;’ “and afterwards he shall stand on the …
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be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth ;” where “he is as fully promised unto the Gentiles, to be their “salvation,” as ever he was unto Abraham or his posteri…
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Secondly, They do the same in the description they give of the person that was to be this remedy or relief, and of the work that he had to accomplish for that end and purpose. For the former, they declare that he was to be the “Son of God,” God and man in one “person, Ps. ii. 7, cx. 1; Isa. ix. 6, 7; Jer. xxi. 5, 6; Z…
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12, 13, xii. 10, 50. Conclusion. 1. Havine considered the first great promise concerning the Messiah, and evinced from thence the nature of his work and office, 186 PROMISES OF THE [ EXERC. IX. as also showed in general how testimony is given unto him through- out the Old Testament, and whence his name is derived, w…
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the first dominion.” Now, this tower of Edar was a place in or near ~~ to Bethlehem, as is manifest from the place in Genesis; for whereas Jacob is said to stay at Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem, where he set up a pillar on the grave of Rachel, verses 19, 20, upon his next removal he spread his tent “ beyond the tower o…
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‘ liverance out of Egypt was a type of the deliverance by the Messiah, whose sacrifice and suffering were represented in the paschal lamb, which gave occasion unto this gloss. 8. Exod. xl. 10. Targum of Jonathan, “Thou shalt sanctify it for the crown of the kingdom of the house of Judah, thyt smwy x21 sry spa Syne n…
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192 PROMISES OF THE [ EXERC. IX. 11. Deut. xviii. 15-19. This place is an eminent prophecy concern- ing the Messiah, and of his prophetical office, not before anywhere mentioned. But the law being now given, which was to continue inviolably unto his coming, Mal. iv. 4, when it was to be changed, removed, and taken awa…
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have so large a place in the Exposition of the Epistle itself. 14, 1 Sam. ii. 10, “He shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.” Targum, nymwD ms>D ‘31;— “ And he shall exalt the kingdom of his Messiah.” In Midrash Tehil- lim also on Ps. Ixxv., they ascribe this place unto the Messiah, and…
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16. 1 Kings iv. 33, instead of these words concerning Solomon, * He spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall,” the Targum reads, 5y ‘29ny) smwt onset xodyay pon xodya vowed ponyt ot na s2bo,—“ And he prophesied of the kings of the house of David in this…
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20, Ps. xviii. 32. Targum, cineisd Saynt xapaiey xp2 Sy ov]; — “ Because of the miracles and redemption which thou shalt work for thy Messiah.” I mention this place only that it may appear that the Jews had a tradition amongst them that David in this psalm bare the person of the Messiah, and was considered as his type.…
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25. There is mention likewise made of him in the Targum on Ps. Ixxx. 16, “ The vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, > NAYS ayn 7 and on the branch thou hast made strong for thy- self:” so our translation. But all old translations, as the LXX., Vulgar Latin, and Syriac, interpret /2 not in analogy unto the preced…
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28. We are now entering on the Prophets, the principal work of some whereof was to “testify beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that was to follow,” 1 Pet. i. 11; and therefore I do not at all design to gather up in our passage all that is foretold, promised, declared, and taught, concerning him in them …
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SECT. 29, 30.] MESSIAH VINDICATED. 203 the words to Ezra and Nehemiah upon the return from the captivity, on what grounds he doth not declare. Abarbanel having, as is his manner always, repeated the various expositions and opinions of others, adds at last, ndbx» mnpa pty mwp Sy oms wee ons — “ Others expound the words…
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32. And this testimony of their Targum the present Jews are - SECT. 81-33. | MESSIAH VINDICATED. 205 much to be pressed withal; and there are not many from which they feel their entanglements more urgent upon them. And it would at the same time move compassion at their blindness, and indignation against their obstina…
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SECT. 34-37. | MESSIAH VINDICATED. 207 who took all the cities of Judah, one or two only excepted, verse 13. And in what sense shall he be called “The Prince of Peace?” The rabbins, after their wonted manner to fetch any thing out of a word, whether it be aught to their purpose or no, answer, that it was because of th…
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pe SECT. 38-42. | MESSIAH VINDICATED. 209 they fancy is far from answering the words of the prophecy, which express a change in the nature of the worst of men by virtue of the rule and grace of the Messiah. I cannot but add, that Abarbanel, writing his commentaries about the time that the European Christian nations w…
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For the preservation of the name of this “ righteous Branch,” wWPTY Ti, “ Jehovah our righteousness,” we may bless God for the SECT. 43, 44.] MESSIAH VINDICATED. 211 original; for the old translations are either mistaken, or corrupt, or perverted in this place. The Vulgar Latin is the best of them, which reads, “ Dom…
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Hos. xiv. 8. Targum, [panwn Sonn pan] ;—“They shall sit under the shadow of their Messiah.” See Cant. ii. 3. 47. Mic. iv. 8, “And thou, O tower of the flock,” ete. Targum, xmadi spiny 75 ys sNDID DT DAP yo WoT Sse Nw ANNI ;—“And thou, Messiah nf Israel, who art hid because of the sins of ‘the con- gregation of Zion, t…
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49. Zech. iii. 8, “For, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.” Targum, ‘Sony NM! May non soN N;—~ Behold, I bring forth my servant the Messiah, who shall be revealed.” This revelation of the Messiah relates unto their apprehension of his being born long since, but to lie hid because of their sins, as was be…
902 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1850–1870); OCR text from Internet Archive. OCR may contain scanning/transcription errors. Verify quotations against page images when precision matters.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.