rates fifty-six generations from Abraham to the time when Jesus was thirty years of age. They agree, therefore." On consider ing this passage, it will, I think, become evident, that the anti thesis between the words " implied" and " expressed" is perfectly harmless ; and that the apparent difference in the numbers of generations mentioned by the two evangelists can be satisfac torily reconciled by means of those which St Matthew has omitted.
(7.) If St Matthew has omitted rather fewer generations, this does not detract from the remainder of my explanation.
(8.) Since the Programm (p. 13) touches on the passage in Luke iii. 23, we shall offer some observations also on it. In these Words, &v, uc evopifyro, uiog 'luffr,ip, rov *H>.£/, x.r.\. (being, as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which icas the son of Heli, etc.), Baumgarten expunges the comma after evoftiffro (was supposed), so as to make " ug irqu/£«re u/os 'lusritp (as icas supposed the son of Joseph} a parenthesis ; though the word svo^i^iro (ivas sup posed) belongs rather, without any diminution of truth, to the whole genealogy, as I have shown in the present work. I re mark by the way — on the passage in question, that, when our Lord is said to have been about thirty years of age, some latitude is ascribed to the year xxx. by the word w$ (about), so that there may have been an excess, or rather a defect, of some days, without detriment to the precise number of thirty years. Baumgarten, however, in his Church History, Sec. i. p. 105, introduces some few years above thirty : a license which is quite unallowable, since in this manner the most important calcula tions of time which occur in the evangelists, are put entirely out of joint. Scripture records many and various ages of men, and introduces odd numbers of years, such as 21 and 29, although they approach very nearly to round numbers, such as 20 and 30. We ought not, therefore, to imagine that the most important of all, namely, the age of Jesus, can have been left in doubt.
The third passage occurs at p. 26, and runs thus : — " They who attempt to produce any other equalization or comparison of these periods, seek to serve unwisely the interests of a good cause, which is not benefited by crude and harsh fancies, such as Bengel himself confesses that his own opinion (of the chrono-