covenant, it is well known, was ratified with a sacri- fice ; and the victim must die, before the covenant could be complete. It is equally clear, that a testament is of force only when the testator is dead : so that, in both cases, death must ensue, before the instrument can be valid : in the one case, the death of a victim ; in the other case, the death of the party himself. But, I confess, this is not very satisfactory ; and perhaps, after all, the best way is, to take the idea of a covenant throughout the whole, and to put that construction or, the word in the different places where it is translated " testament." This will pre- serve more of unity throughout ; and be, upon the whole, least liable to objection.
However, whilst I state the difficulty as appearing in the context, it is proper to observe, that it does not at all affect the sense of our text. That is clear and determinate ; and it will open to us a field of rich instruction, whilst I shew from it,
I. Whence arose a necessity for typical purifica- tions—
Typical purifications were made on many occa- sions—
[The Apostle here refers to tliem, first, as made for the ratification of the covenant which God entered into with his people on Mount Horeb : yet, if we compare his account with that of Moses, we shall see several points of difference between the two ; because, though the Apostle princ'q^ally referred to that occasion, he had other occasions in his mind, which he comprehended with it. The account of Moses is, that Moses first related to the people the terms of God's covenant — that the people consented to them — that Moses then wrote them in a book — that the next morning early he built an altar, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon it — that he then put half of the blood into basons, and sprinkled the other half upon the altar, having previously, it should seem, put the book upon the altar — then he read to them from the book the very same words which he had before delivered orally ; and they again renewed their consent to them, and their perfect acquiescence in the terms proposed — then he took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, " Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you con-