21. Chapter VIII.

Chapter VIII.

Disciplinarian means for the interpretation of the Scripture The second sort of means for the interpretation of the Scripture, which are disciplinarian. The second sort of means I call disciplinarian, consisting in the due use and improvement of common arts and sciences, applied to and made use of in the study of the Scriptures. And these are things which have no moral good in themselves, but being indifferent in their own nature, their end, with the manner of their management for this, is the only measure and standard of their worth and value. Hence in applying them to the interpretation of the Scripture, they may be used rightly and in a due manner, and they may be abused to the great disadvantage of those who use them; and it has fallen out accordingly. In the first way, [using them rightly], they receive a blessing from the Spirit of God, who alone prospers every good and honest endeavor in any kind; and in the latter way, they are efficacious to seduce men to trust in their own understandings, which in other things is foolish, and in these things is pernicious.

1. In the first place,308 what I prefer of this sort is knowledge of and skill in the languages in which the Scripture was originally written. For their very words in this were particularly from the Holy Ghost, which makes them words of truth, and the Scripture itself to be a right, or upright, or perfect writing, Ecclesiastes 12:10. The Scriptures of the Old Testament were given to the church while it was entirely confined to one nation, Psa 147.19-20.309 Thus they were all written in that language which was common among, and particular to, that nation. And this language, like the people itself, was called Hebrew, from Eber the son of Salah, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, their most eminent progenitor, Genesis 10:21-24. For being the one original tongue of mankind, it remained in some part of his family, who probably did not join in the great apostasy of the world from God, nor was he concerned in their dispersion at the building of Babel, which ensued from that.Genesis 11:9 The derivation of that name from another origin is a fruit of curiosity and vain conjecture, as I have demonstrated elsewhere. In the process of time, that people was carried into captivity out of their own land, and forced to learn and use a language somewhat different from their own. It was not another language absolutely, yet it so far differed from it that those who knew and spoke the one, commonly could not understand the other, 2Kng 18.26.310 This was "the language of the Chaldeans," Daniel 1:4, which Daniel and others learned. But by the people’s long continuance in that country, it became common to them all. After this, some parts of the books of the Scripture, such as Daniel and Ezra, were written in that language, as also one verse in the prophecy of Jeremiah, when they were ready to be carried there, in which he instructs the people how to reproach the idols of the nations in their own language.311 The design of God was that His word should be always read and used in that language which was commonly understood by those to whom he granted this privilege; nor could any of the ends of his wisdom and goodness in that merciful grant be otherwise attained. The Scripture is the foundation-rule and guide of the whole church — the spiritual food and means of life for all its members. The prodigious conceit by the church (or those who pretend to be entrusted with its power and rights) of keeping it in a language unknown to the community of the people,312 had not then befallen the minds of men. Nor does it have any countenance given to it by the authority of God, nor by the reason of mankind. Indeed, the advancement and defense of this imagination is one of those things which sets me at liberty from being influenced by the authority of any sort of men in matters of religion. For what will their confidence not undertake to vent, and their sophistical ability not give countenance to or wrangle about, which their interest requires and calls for at their hands, when they can openly plead and contend for the truth of such an absurd and irrational assertion? It is contrary to all that we know of God and his will, and to all that we understand of ourselves or our duty with respect to this. When the New Testament was written, the church was to be diffused throughout the world among people of all tongues and languages under heaven. And yet there was a need for it to be written in some one certain language, in which the sacred truth of it might be safely laid up and deposited, as in original records. The Holy Ghost left it as "a good and sacred depositum" for the ministry of the church, to be kept inviolate.313 And it was disposed into writing in one certain language; on which the preservation of it in purity was committed to the ministry of all ages — not absolutely, but under His care and inspection. From this one language, God had ordained that it should be derived, by the care of the ministry, into the knowledge and use of all nations and people. And this was represented by the miraculous gift of tongues communicated by the Holy Ghost to the first-designed publishers of the gospel. In this case, it pleased the wisdom of the Holy Ghost to make use of the Greek language, in which he wrote the whole New Testament originally. The report that the Gospel of Matthew and the Epistle to the Hebrews were first written in Hebrew, is altogether groundless; and I have disproved it elsewhere.

Now, this language at that time, through all sorts of advantages, was diffused throughout the world, especially in those parts where God had designed to fix the first and principal station of the church. For the eastern parts of the world, this language was long before carried into them, and its use was imposed on them by Macedonian arms and laws, with the establishment of the Grecian empire for various ages among them. And some while before, in the western parts of the world, the same language was greatly inquired into and generally received, on account of the wisdom and learning which was treasured up in it, in the writings of poets, philosophers, and historians, which had newly received a particular advancement.

Two things fell out in the providence of God about that time, which greatly conduced to the furtherance of the gospel. The Jews were wholly possessed of whatever was true in religion, and which lay in direct subservience to the gospel itself. They gloried and boasted in this as a privilege which they enjoyed above all the world. The Grecians, on the other hand, were possessed of skill and wisdom in all arts and sciences, with the products of philosophical inquiries, and an elegance of speech in expressing the conceptions of their minds. And they gloried and boasted in this above all other people in the world. Now, the Romans dispossessed both these nations of their empire, sovereignty, and liberty at home, and multitudes of them made it their business to disperse themselves in the world, and to seek, as it were, a new empire — the one for its religion, and the other for its language, arts, and sciences. The Roman writers in those days took notice of both sorts, along with their design, and greatly complained of it. These privileges being boasted of and rested in, proved equally prejudicial to both nations, as to the reception of the gospel. Our apostle disputes this at large in 1Corinthians chapters 1 and 2. But through the wisdom of God, disposing and ordering all things to his own glory, the design and actings of them both, became an effectual means to facilitate the propagation of the gospel. For the Jews having planted synagogues in most nations, and the principal cities in the Roman empire, they had leavened multitudes of people with some knowledge of the true God, which prepared the way for the gospel. They had also gathered fixed assemblies, which the preachers of the gospel constantly took advantage of to enter upon their work and begin the declaration of their message. The Grecians, on the other hand, had so universally diffused the knowledge of their language, that the use of that one tongue alone was sufficient to instruct all sorts of people throughout the world, in the knowledge of the truth. For the gift of tongues was only to be a "sign to unbelievers," 1 Corinthians 14:22, and not a means of preaching the gospel constantly in a language which the speaker did not understand.

God therefore ordered that the books of the New Testament be written in this language, as the most common, diffusive, and generally understood in the world. From this, by translations and expositions, it was to be derived into other tongues and languages. For the design of God was still the same — that his word should be declared to the church in a language which it understood. Hence that peculiar distribution of the nations of the world into Jews, Greeks, Barbarians, and Scythians, in Colossians 3:11, is not accommodated to the use of those terms in Grecian writers, to whom the Jews were no less barbarians than the Scythians themselves. But as the Scriptures of the Old Testament were uniquely given to the Jews, so were those of the New Testament given to the Greeks — that is, those who made use of their language — from which it was deduced for all other nations, who were called Barbarians and Scythians.

It must be acknowledged that the Scripture, as written in these languages, is accompanied with many and great advantages:

(1.) In them peculiarly, it is "writing by divine inspiration," 2 Timothy 3:16; and it is the "book of the writing of the Lord," Isaiah 34:16; with a singular privilege above all translations. Hence the very words themselves, as used and placed in it, are sacred, consecrated by God for that holy use. Indeed, the sacred sense of the words and expressions is the internal formal sacredness, or that in which the holiness of the Scripture consists. But the writing itself in the original languages, in the words chosen and used by the Holy Ghost, is the external formal sacredness of the holy Scripture, and it is materially sacred.

It is the sense of the Scripture, therefore, which principally and for its own sake we inquire into; that divine sense which, as Justin Martyr says, is absolutely "above our natural reason, understanding, and comprehension." In the words, we are concerned with this sense because, by the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, they are designed as the written signs of it.

(2.) Because the words of the Scripture are thus given immediately from God, every apex, tittle, or iota in the whole is considerable, as an effect of divine wisdom. And therefore it is filled with sacred truth, according to their place and measure. Hence they are all under the special care of God, according to that promise of our Savior, Matthew 5:18, "Truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will in no way pass from the law." I have proved elsewhere that our Savior means the writing of the Scriptures then in use in the church; and he assures the protection of God as to the least letter, vowel, or point of it. And in due time he will reprove the profane boldness of those who, without evidence or sufficient proof, without that respect and reverence which is due the interest, care, providence, and faithfulness of God in this matter, assert that manifold changes have been made in the original writings of the Scripture.314 But as I said, divine senses and singular mysteries may be couched in the use and disposal of a letter. God himself has manifested this in the change of the names of Abram and Sarai, and in various other instances, in which the addition or alteration of one letter carried along with it a mysterious meaning for the use of the church in all ages. In translations, nothing of that nature can be observed; and hence a due consideration of the very accents in the original of the Old Testament, as distinctive or conjunctive, is a singular advantage in the investigation of the sense of particular passages and sentences.

(3.) In the originals of the Scripture, there is a peculiar emphasis on words and expressions, and a special energy in them, to intimate and insinuate the sense of the Holy Ghost to the minds of men, which cannot be transmitted into other languages by translations, so as to obtain the same power and efficacy. Now, this is not absolutely from the nature of the original languages themselves, and especially not of the Greek, whose principal advantages and excellencies, in copiousness and elegancy, are little used in the New Testament. But it is from a secret impression of divine wisdom and efficacy accompanying the immediate delivery of the mind of God in them. There is, therefore, no small advantage to be obtained from this in the interpretation of the Scripture. For when we have received an impression on our minds of the sense and intention of the Holy Ghost in any particular place, we will seek fit words to express it by, which the whole work of Scripture exposition consists in, so far as I have any acquaintance with it;315 for when the mind is really affected with the discovery of truth itself, it will be guided and directed in the declaration of it to others.

(4.) The whole course of speech, especially in the New Testament, is accommodated to the nature, use, and propriety of that language, as expressed in other authors who wrote in it, and had a perfect understanding of it. Much is to be learned from them, therefore, of the proper use and sense of the words, phrases, and expressions in the New Testament. No man can make a judgment about this in a due manner, except one skilled in that language, as used and delivered by them. Not that I think a commentary on the New Testament may be collected out of Eustathius, Hesychius, Phavorinus, Julius Pollux, and other glossaries, from whose grammaticisms and vocabularies some countenance themselves in having curious and bold conjectures; nor from similar expressions found in classic authors. I only say this: that it is of singular advantage, in the interpretation of the Scripture, that a man be well acquainted with the original languages, and be able to examine the use and meaning of words, phrases, and expressions as they are applied and declared in other authors. And even for understanding the Greek of the New Testament, it is necessary that a man have an acquaintance with the Hebrew of the Old. For even though I do not judge that there are a great number of Hebraisms in it — about which no small part of some men’s critical observations consists in a supposed discovery of them — yet I readily grant that there is such a cognation and alliance316 in and between the senses of the one and the other, that a due comparison of their expressions mutually contributes light and perspicuity to them. By these things, great advantage may be obtained for the right understanding of the sense of the Scripture, or of the mind of the Holy Ghost in this. For there is no other sense in it than what is contained in the words of which it materially consists; though really, that sense itself is such that our minds cannot receive it without the special divine assistance pleaded before. And in the interpretation of the mind of anyone, it is necessary that the words he speaks or writes are rightly understood. And we cannot do this immediately, unless we understand the language in which he speaks, and also the idioms of that language, with the common use and intent of its phraseology and expressions. If by this, we do not come to a perfect comprehension of the sense intended, because many other things are required for it, yet a hindrance is removed, without which we cannot comprehend it. Occasions of manifold mistakes are removed, and the cabinet is unlocked, as it were, in which the jewel of truth lies hidden, which may be found with a lawful and diligent search. Ignorance of these original languages has cast many expositors into great perplexities, mistakes, and errors, both of old and of late, especially among those who pertinaciously adhere to one translation (and that not being the best). This might be manifested by countless undeniable instances. Such is that gloss on Titus 3:10, "Hæreticum hominem de vita," which adds, as its exposition, "tolle." 317 And those among ourselves who are less skilled in this knowledge are to be advised that they should be careful not to venture on any singular exposition of the Scriptures, or any text in them, on the credit of any one or all translations they can make use of, seeing that persons of greater name and worth than to be mentioned to their disrepute, have miscarried on the same account. A reverential subjection of mind, and diligent attendance to the analogy of faith, are their best preservative in this matter. And I do not fear to add, that a superficial knowledge in these tongues, which many aim at, is of little use unless it is to make men adventurous in betraying their own ignorance. But because the sense and substance of the Scripture is contained entirely in every good translation (among which, that in use among ourselves is excellent, though capable of great improvements), men may, by the use of the means directed to before, and under the conduct of the teaching of the Spirit of God in them, usefully and rightly expound the Scripture in general for the edification of others. Many instances of this may be given among ancient and modern expositors. This skill and knowledge, therefore, is of great use to those who are called to the interpretation of the Scripture. And the church of God has had no small advantage by the endeavors of men who are learned in this, who have exercised it in the exposition of the words and phraseology of the Scriptures, as compared with their use in other authors. Yet, as observed before, this skill and its exercise in the way mentioned, is no duty in itself; nor is it enjoined to anyone for its own sake. But it only has goodness in it with respect to a certain end. Therefore, it is indifferent in its own nature, and it is capable of abuse in its utmost improvement; and lately, such abuse has fallen out to a great extreme. For the study of the ordinal languages,318 and the exercise of skill in them in the interpretation of the Scripture, has been of great reputation, and deservedly so. Hence multitudes of learned men have engaged themselves in that work and study. And the number of annotations and comments on the Scripture, consisting principally in critical observations, as they are called, have greatly increased. Those who are utter strangers to these things may not admit that many of them are of singular use. But where this skill and faculty has not been accompanied with that humility, sobriety, reverence of the Author of the Scripture, and respect for the analogy of faith — which ought to bear sway in the minds of all men who undertake to expound the oracles of God — may be, and has been, greatly abused, to the hurt of its owners and the disadvantage of the church. For —

[1.] It has been turned by some into the fuel of pride, and a noisome elation of mind. Indeed, experience shows that this kind of knowledge, where it is supposed signal,319 is the most apt of all others to puff up and swell the vain minds of men, unless alloyed with a singular modesty of nature, or the mind itself is sufficiently corrected and changed by grace.

Hence the expressions of pride and self-conceit which some have burst into, on an imagination of their skill and faculty in criticizing on the Scriptures, have been ridiculous and impious. The Holy Ghost usually does not teach such persons; nor should I expect to learn much from them relating to the truth as it is in Jesus. Yet the stones they dig may be used by a skilful builder.

[2.] In many, it has been accompanied with a noxious, profane curiosity. Every tittle and apex will give them occasion for fruitless conjectures, vain for the most part, as were those of the cabalistic Jews. And this penchant320 has filled us with needless and futile observations; which, beyond an ostentation321 of the learning of their authors (indeed, the ultimate end for which they are designed), are of no use or consideration. But this is not all: some men have been prompted by this to boldly venture to corrupt the text itself, or the plain sense of it. For what else is done when men, for an ostentation of their skill, produce quotations out of learned authors to illustrate or expound the sayings in Scripture, in which there seems to be some similarity in words and sounds, when in fact their senses are adverse and contrary? Among a thousand instances which might be given to exemplify this folly and confidence, we need take one alone. Take this saying of Hezekiah, "The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good, for there will be peace and truth in my days," Isaiah 39:8. To explain or illustrate it, one critic compares that holy man’s submission and satisfaction in the peace of the church and in truth, with the blasphemous imprecation322 of an impious wretch who would bring confusion on the world once he had left it. And many of our recent critics are farced323 with such notable sayings. And the confidence of some has fallen into greater excesses, and swelled over these bounds also. To countenance their conjectures and self-pleasing imaginations, from which they expect no small reputation for skill and learning, they fall in upon the text itself.324 Indeed, we have come into an age in which many seem to judge that they can neither sufficiently value themselves, nor obtain an estimation in the world, without some bold sallies325 of curiosity or novelty into the vitals of religion. They reflect contempt and scorn on all who are other-minded, as persons who are incapable of comprehending their attainments. Hence, among ourselves we have scarcely anything left unattacked in the doctrine of the reformed churches and England, in former days. Nor will he be esteemed by many as a man of talents, learning, or judgment, if he does not have some new curious opinion or speculation, differing from what has been commonly taught and received formerly — even though most of these "renowned" notions among us are but corrupt emanations from Socinianism or Arminianism on the one hand, or Popery on the other. But what we treat is men of another sort — in truth, of another manner of learning — than the present corrupters of the doctrines of the gospel (those who, so far as I can perceive, do not trouble themselves much about the Scripture one way or another). These men are those who, in the exercise of the skill and ability under consideration, fall upon the Scripture itself, to make way for the advancement of their own conjectures. Ten thousand of these are not of the least importance compared with the duty and necessity of preserving the sacred text inviolate, and the just and due persuasion that it has been so preserved. For, first, they command the vowels and accents of the Hebrew text out of their way, as nothing to be concerned with, when their use in any one page of Scripture is of incomparably more worth and use than they themselves are or ever will be in the church of God. And this is done on slight conjectures. If this does not suffice to make way for their designs, then letters and words must be corrected on an unprovable supposition that the ordinal text has been changed or corrupted. The boldness of some has grown so intolerable, that it is as likely a means for the introduction and promotion of atheism, as any engine the devil has set to work in these days, where he is so openly engaged in that design.

There are also various other ways by which this great help to the understanding and interpretation of the Scripture may be and has been abused; those mentioned may suffice as instances confirming our observations. Therefore, just as substantial knowledge and skill in the originals is useful, and indeed necessary, for someone called to the exposition of the Scripture, so in the use and exercise of it, various things ought to be well-considered by those who are furnished with them: such as —

1st. That the thing itself is not a grace, or any peculiar gift of the Holy Ghost, but a mere fruit of diligence upon a common furnishing with natural abilities. Nothing of this nature is to be rested on, or much trusted, in sacred things.

2dly. That the exercise of this skill in and about the Scripture is not in itself, as such, a special or immediate duty. If it were, there would be special grace promised to fill it up and quicken it; for all gospel duties are animated by grace in their due performance — that is, those who perform them have special assistance in doing so. But it is reduced to the general head of duty with respect to the end aimed at. Therefore,

3dly. The blessing of God on our endeavors, succeeding and prospering them, as in other natural and civil occasions of life, is all we expect in this from the Holy Spirit. And,

4thly. Various other things are required of us, if we hope for this blessing on just ground. It may be that some ignorant persons are so foolish as to imagine that if they could understand the original languages, they must of necessity understand the sense of the Scripture. And there is nothing more frequent than for some, who either truly or falsely pretend to have a skill in them, to bear themselves high against those who perhaps are really more acquainted with the mind of the Holy Ghost in the word than they themselves are — as though all things were plain and obvious only to them, and others know nothing, unless it is by them or those like them. But this is only one means of many that are useful for this purpose. And it is such that, if it is alone, it is of little or no use at all. What must make this or any other means of the same nature effectual, is fervent prayer, humility, lowliness of mind, godly fear and reverence of the word, and subjection of the conscience to the authority of every tittle of it, a constant attendance to the analogy of faith, with due dependence on the Spirit of God for supplies of light and grace.

2. I also reckon an acquaintance with the history and geography of the world and with chronology, among disciplinarian aids in the interpretation of the Scripture. For just as time is divided into what is past and what is to come, so there are various things in the Scripture which, in all seasons, relate to this: for —

(1.) God has given us an account in this, of the course and order of all things from the foundation of the world. And he did this for various important reasons, as incident with the general end of the Scripture. For hereby he has secured the testimony that he has given to his being, power, and providence, by the creation and rule of all things. The evidences that are given to this are those which are principally attacked by atheists. And although they sufficiently manifest and evince their own testimony to the common reason of mankind, yet various things relating to them are so involved in darkness and inextricable circumstances that, if all their concerns had not been plainly declared in the Scripture, the wisest of men would have been at a great loss about them; and so were those who always wanted the light and advantage of this. But here, just as he has plainly declared the original emanation of all things from his eternal power, so he has testified to his constant rule over all in all times, places, ages, and seasons, by uncontrollable instances. In this he has treasured up all sorts of examples, with such impressions of his goodness, patience, power, wisdom, holiness, and righteousness upon them, that they proclaim his almighty and righteous government of the whole universe. And on the whole, he has delivered to us such a tract and series of the ages of the world from its beginning, that atheism has no tolerable pretense from tradition, testimony, or the evidence of things themselves, to challenge it. Whatever is objected against the beginning of all things, and the course of their continuance in the world as delivered to us in the Scripture — and which is secured not only by the authority of divine revelation, but also by a universal evidence of all circumstances — is foolish and ridiculous. I speak of the account given in general, sufficient for its own ends, and not from any men’s deductions and applications of it to minute portions of time, which it was probably not designed for. It is sufficient for its end that its account, in general, which confounds all atheistic presumptions, is not to be impeached. And although the authority of the Scripture is not to be pleaded immediately against atheists, yet the matter and reason of it is — which from its own evidence, renders all contrary pretensions contemptible.

(2.) God has hereby given an account of the beginning, progress, trials, faith, obedience, and whole proceedings of the church, in the pursuit of the first promise, to the actual exhibition of Jesus Christ in the flesh. All things tended toward this for four thousand years. It is a glorious prospect that we have in this, to see the call and foundation of the church in the first promise given to our common parents:

what additions of light and knowledge he granted to it successively by new revelations and promises; how he gradually adorned it with gifts, privileges, and ordinances; what ways and means he used to preserve it in faith, purity, and obedience; how he chastened, tried, punished, and delivered it; how he dealt with the nations of the world with respect to it, raising them up for its affliction, and destroying them for their cruelty and oppression of it; what the ways of wicked and sinful men were among them or in it, and what the graces and fruits were of his saints; how by his power He retrieved it out of various calamities, and preserved it against all opposition until its appointed season;

— all of which, with innumerable other effects of divine wisdom and grace, are blessedly represented to us in it.

Now, besides that spiritual wisdom and insight into the great design of God in Christ, which is required for a right understanding in these things (as they were types of better things to come and examples of gospel mysteries), there is a skill and understanding in the records and monuments of time, the geographical respect of one nation to another, the periods and revolutions of seasons and ages, that are required to rightly apprehend them in their first literal instance and intention. And besides what is thus historically related in the Scripture, there are also prophecies of things to come in the church and among the nations of the world, which are great evidences of its own divinity, and supporting arguments of our faith. But without some good apprehension of the distinction of times, seasons, and places, no man can rightly judge about their accomplishment.

Secondly, there are, in particular, prophecies in the Old Testament which reach to the times of the gospel, upon the truth of which the whole Scripture depends. Such are those concerning the calling of the Gentiles, the rejection and recovery of the Jews, the erection of the glorious kingdom of Christ in the world, with the oppositions that would be made to it. And many are added to these in the New Testament itself, such as Matthew 24-25, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, 1 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; but especially in the book of the Revelation, in which the state of the church and of the world is foretold up to the consummation of all things. How can any man arrive at a tolerable acquaintance with the accomplishment of these prophecies as to what has already past, or have a distinct and grounded expectation of the fulfilling of what remains foretold, without a look into the state of things in the world, the revolutions of times past, with what fell out in them? These are the things spoken of. Those who address them without it, only feign chimeras326 to themselves, as men in the dark are apt to do; or they corrupt the word of God by turning it into senseless and excessive allegories. And on the other side, those who wholly neglect these things, despise the wisdom and care of God towards the church, and disregard a blessed means of our faith and consolation.

I acknowledge that some things of this nature, especially those which relate to chronological computations, are attended with great and apparently inextricable difficulties. But the skill and knowledge mentioned will guide humble and modest inquirers into so sufficient a satisfaction in general, as to all things which are really useful, that they will have no temptation to question the verity of what in particular they cannot solve. When we are guided and infallibly satisfied in a thousand things which we know are not otherwise, it is an intolerable pride and folly to question the authority of the whole because we cannot comprehend one or two particulars — which perhaps were never intended to be reduced to our measure. Besides, just as the investigation of these things is attended with difficulties, so ignorance or mistakes about them are of no great disadvantage while the minds of men are free from stubbornness and a spirit of contention. For they have very little influence on our faith and obedience if we do not call into question what is revealed. It is probable that the Scripture never intended to give us such minute chronological determinations as some would deduce their computations to; and that is because it is not necessary.

Hence we see that some who have labored in this in prodigious industry and learning, although they have made some useful discoveries, they have never been able to give such evidence of their computations, that others would acquiesce in them. Rather, by all their endeavors they have administered occasions for new strife and contention about things that, it may be, are of no great importance to be known or determined. And in general, men have run into two extremes in these things. For some pretend to frame an exact computation and consent of times from the Scripture alone, without any regard for the records, monuments, histories, and signatures of times in the world. Wherever these appear in opposition or contradiction to the chain and links of time which they have framed for themselves (as they suppose from the Scripture), they reject them as matters of no consideration. It would be good if they could do this to satisfaction. But they have evidently failed in this — as for instance, in the computation of Daniel’s weeks, in which they will allow but four hundred and ninety years from the first of Cyrus to the death of our Savior, contrary to the common consent of mankind about things that happened, and their continuance between those seasons, taking up five hundred and sixty-two years — this is manifest to all. The Scripture, indeed, is to be the only sacred standard and measure of things, in its proper sense and understanding. Nor is anything to be esteemed which rises up in contradiction to this. But just as due consideration of foreign testimonies and monuments often gives great light to what is more generally or obscurely expressed in the Scripture, so where the Scripture in these things may be interpreted in fair compliance with uncontrolled foreign testimonies — with those allowances which it declares everywhere are admissible — that interpretation is to be embraced. The question is not, therefore, whether we will regulate the computation of times by the Scripture, or by the histories and marks of time in the world. The question is whether, when the sense of the Scripture is obscure in those things, and its determination is only general, so as to be equally capable of various senses, all other things being equal, is that not to be preferred which agrees with the undoubted monuments of times in the nations of the world? For instance, the angel Gabriel informs Daniel that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the prince and his cutting off, should be seventy weeks (to speak only of the whole number in general) — that is, four hundred and ninety years. Now, there were various commandments given or decrees made by the kings of Persia, who are intended for this purpose. Of these, two were the most famous: the one granted by Cyrus in the first year of his empire, Ezra 1:1-4; and the other by Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign, Ezra 7:11-26.

Between the first of these and the death of Christ, there must be allowed five hundred and sixty-two years, unless you would offer violence to all monuments, records, and circumstances of times in the world. It is therefore safer to interpret the general words of the angel, as referring to the latter decree or commandment, whose circumstances also make it more probable that it was intended, in which the space of time mentioned falls in exactly with other approved histories and records. Nor would I disallow another computation which, contending that the first decree of Cyrus is the beginning of the time mentioned, and allowing the whole space from there to be really five hundred and sixty-two years, affirms that the Scripture excludes the consideration of the years supernumerary to 327 the four hundred and ninety. This is because of the interruptions which, at several times, were put upon the people in accomplishing the things foretold for so many years. Some suppose these are signified by the distribution of the whole number of seventy weeks into seven, sixty-two, and one, each fraction of which has its proper work belonging to it — for this computation offers no violence either to sacred or unquestionable human authority. But on the other extreme, there are some who, observing the difficulties in these accounts as expressed in the Scripture from the beginning, have framed another series of things for themselves, openly diverse from that exhibited. And they have raked together from other authors some things giving countenance to their conjectures. Thus they profanely make bold to assault the original text, accusing it of imperfection or corruption, which they will rectify by their fine inventions, and by the aid of a translation known to be mistaken in a thousand places, and in some, justly suspected of wilful corruption. But this presumptuous confidence is nothing but an emanation from that flood of atheism which is assaulting the world in these declining ages.

3. The third aid or assistance of this kind, is a skill in the ways and methods of reasoning, which are supposed to be common to the Scriptures with other writings. And this, as it is an art, or an artificial faculty like those other means mentioned before, is capable either of a right improvement, or of being abused. An ability to judge the sense of propositions, how one thing depends on another, how it is deduced from it, follows from it, or is proved by it; what is the design of the one who writes or speaks in any discourse or reasoning; how it is proposed, confirmed, and illustrated — all this is necessary for any rational consideration to be exercised about whatever is so proposed to us. And when the minds of men are confirmed in a good habit of judgment, by the rules of the art of reasoning about the ordinary ways and methods of it, it is of great advantage in the investigation of the sense of any writer, even of the Scripture itself. And those ordinarily who would undertake the interpretation of any series of Scripture discourses without some ability in this science, will find themselves often entangled and at a loss, when by virtue of this science, they might be at liberty and free. Many of the rules which are commonly given about the interpretation of the Scripture — such as, the scope of the author in the place is to be duly considered, as are things that are antecedent and consequent to the place and to the words to be interpreted, and the like — are but directions for the due use of this skill or faculty. But this also must be admitted to have its limitations; for whatever perfection there seems to be in our art of reasoning, it is subject to the wisdom of the Holy Ghost in the Scripture. His way of reasoning is always His own. Sometimes it is sublime and heavenly, so as not to be reduced to the common rules of our arts and sciences without a derogation from its instructive, convictive, and persuasive efficacy. For us to frame for ourselves rules of ratiocination,328 or to have our minds embondaged to those of other men’s invention and observation, thinking we can absolutely reduce all the reasonings in the Scripture to them, we may fall into a presumptuous mistake. In the consideration of all the effects of infinite wisdom, there must be an allowance for the deficiency of our comprehension. Humble subjection of conscience, and captivating our understandings to the obedience of faith, is the best means of learning what is proposed to us. There is nothing more contemptible than the arrogance of those persons who think to fathom the depths of Scripture senses, by the willow measures329 and short lines of their own weak, dark, and imperfect reasoning.

Again; whatever sense any man supposes or judges this or that particular place of Scripture to yield or give, to the best of his rational intelligence, is immediately to give way to the analogy of faith — that is, to the Scripture’s own declaration of its sense in other places to another purpose, or contrary to it. The lack of attending to men’s duty in this, with a mixture of pride and stubbornness, is the occasion for most errors and noxious opinions in the world. For when some have taken up a private interpretation of any place of Scripture, if they do not submit their conception to the authority of the Scripture in the declaration of its own mind in other places, doing so before they have thoroughly imbibed and vented it (even though they seem to be greatly satisfied in it, and full of it), there is but small hope of their recovery. This is that pride which is the source and origin of heresy — namely, when men prefer their seemingly wise and rational conceptions of the sense of particular places, before the analogy of faith.

Moreover, there is a pernicious mistake that some have fallen into about these things. They suppose that by taking in the help of skill in the original languages for understanding the words and their use, whether proper or figurative, nothing more is necessary for understanding and interpreting the Scripture than the sedulous and diligent use of our own reason in the ordinary way, and according to the common rules of the art of ratiocination.

"For what more can be required," they say, "or what more can men make use of? By these means alone, we come to understand the meaning of any other writer, and therefore also of the Scripture. Nor can we, nor does God require that we should, receive or believe anything except according to our own reason and understanding."

Yet these things, though some of them are partly true in themselves, as they are used for the end mentioned, they are perniciously false; for —

(1.) It greatly unbecomes any Christian to suppose there is no need for other assistance, nor the use of any other means for interpreting the oracles of God, or coming to understand the hidden wisdom of God in the mystery of the gospel, than there is to understanding or interpreting the writings of men, which are the product of a finite, limited, and weak ability. If it were not for some secret persuasion that the Scripture indeed is not what it pretends to be, which is the word of the living God, or that it does not indeed express the highest effect of His wisdom and deepest counsel of His will, it could not be that men would give way to such foolish imaginations. The principal matter of the Scripture is mysterious; and its mysteries are laid up in it by God himself; and that is done in a way that is inimitable by the skill or wisdom of men. When we speak of and express the same things according to our own measure of comprehension, in which, from its agreement with the Scripture, what we say is materially divine, our words are yet not divine. Nor is there the same respect to the things themselves as the expressions of the Scripture have, which are formally divine. And can we ourselves trace these paths of wisdom without His special guidance and assistance? It is highly atheistic to fancy it.

(2.) We address an interpretation of the Scripture that is real, and that is accompanied with an understanding of the things that are proposed and expressed, and not merely of the notional sense of propositions and expressions. For we speak of such an interpretation of the Scripture as it is a sanctified means of our illumination; nor does the Scripture require nor God regard any other. It has been demonstrated before, that it is the unique work of the Spirit of God to give this to us, notwithstanding the use and advantage of all outward helps and means.

It is true that we can receive nothing, and reject nothing, as to what is true or false — nor can we conceive the sense of anything — except by our own reasons and understandings. But the inquiry in this is, What supernatural aid and assistance our minds and natural reasons stand in need of, to enable them to rightly receive and understand spiritual and supernatural things. If it is true that no more is required for the due understanding and interpretation of the Scriptures, than the exercise of our own reasons, in and by the helps mentioned — namely, skill in the original languages, the art of ratiocination, and the like, which are exposed to all in common, according to the measure of their natural abilities and diligence — then the sense of the Scripture, that is, the mind of God and Christ in this, is equally discernible, or can be attained, by all sorts of men, good and bad, holy and profane, believers and unbelievers, those who obey the word and those who despise it. This is contrary to all the promises of God and to innumerable other testimonies of Scripture.