that he intended to quote Isaiah 64, 4, the difficulty is twofold, first, the language or words are different, and secondly, the sense is different. Isaiah 64, 4, (or 3 in the Hebrew) as liter- ally translated by Dr. J. A. Alexander, is : " And from eter- nity they have not heard, they have not perceived by the ear, the eye hath not seen, a God beside thee (who) will do for (one) waiting for him." The idea is, that men had never known any other God than Jehovah who did, or could do,
tat he threatened to do. The Septuagint expresses the same a. The meaning in Isaiah as connected vrith what pre- cedes, seems to be that the reason why such fearful things as had been predicted were to be expected from Jehovah is, that he alone had proved himself able to perform them. To get over this difficulty some propose a different interpretation of the passage in the prophet. By connecting it with what fol- lows, and by taking the word God in the vocative, the sense may be, * From eternity they have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, eye hath not seen, O God, without thee, (i. e. with- out a revelation) what he, (or, by change of person) what thou hast prepared for those that wait for thee.' This is the ver- sion given in the Vulgate, and brings the passage into har- mony with the apostle's quotation.
Others, assuming the first-mentioned interpretation of the passage in Isaiah to be the true one, consider the apostle as using scriptural language without intending to give the sense of the original. T&s we often do, and it is not unfrequently done in the New Testament, Rom. 10, 18. As it is written is not, in this case, the form of quotation, but is rather equivalent to saying, ' To use the language of Scripture.'
A third explanation of this difficulty is, that the apostle did not intend to quote any one passage of scripture, but to appeal to its authority for a clearly revealed truth. It is certainly taught in the Old Testament that the human mind cannot penetrate into the counsels of God ; his purposes can only be known by a supernatural revelation. This is the truth for which the apostle cites the authority of the Old Testament. There is, therefore, not the slightest ground for imputing fail- ure of memory, or an erroneous interpretation to the inspired apostle.
10. But God hath revealed (them) unto us by his Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.