is applied equally to things speculative, and, in that case, de notes, to understand, to comprehend; and to things practical, in which case it denotes, to resolve, and to execute. Every body must perceive that the reference here is to the latter of these. 13. Lay his hands upon them and pray. It appears to have been customary among the Jews, when one prayed for another who was present, to lay his hand upon the person's head. 17. Why callest thou me good? To me deyers aɣabov; Vul. Quid me interrogas de bono? Five MSS. read, in conformity to the Vul. Τι με έρωτας πέρι το αγαθε ; With this agree also the Cop. the Arm. the Sax. and the Eth. versions. This reading is likewise approved by Origen, and some other ancients after him, and also by some moderns, amongst whom are Er. Gro. Mill, and Ben. The other reading is, nevertheless, in my opinion, preferable, on more accounts than one. Its evidence, from MSS. is beyond comparison superior; the versions on both sides may nearly balance each other: but the internal evidence arising from the simplicity and connection of the thoughts, is entirely in favour of the common reading. Nothing can be more pertinent than to say, 'If you believe that God alone is good, why do you call me so?' whereas nothing can appear less pertinent than, If you believe that God alone is good, why do you consult me ⚫ concerning the good that you must do ?' 2 That life, any way, Diss. X. P. V. § 2. 20. The young man replied, All these I have observed from my childhood. Λεγει αὐτῷ ὁ νεανισκ3, Παντα ταυτα εφυλάξαμην εκ νέο Intos μs. E. T. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up. As he was a young man who made this reply, the import of EOTns must be childhood, as relat ing to an earlier stage of life, and is, therefore, badly rendered youth. 23. It is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. By the kingdom of heaven is sometimes understood in this history, the Christian church, then soon to be erected, and sometimes the state of the blest in heaven, after the resurrection. In regard to this declaration of our Lord, I take it to hold true, in which way soever the kingdom be understood. When it was only by means of persuasion that men were brought into a society, hated and persecuted by all the ruling powers of the earth, Jewish and Pagan; we may rest assured that the opulent and the voluptuous (characters which, in a dissolute age, commonly go together), who had so much to lose, and so much to fear, would not, among the hearers of the Gospel, be the most easily persuad ed. The Apostle James, ii. 5, 6. accordingly attests this to have been the fact; it was the poor in this world whom God hath chosen rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom; whereas, they were the rich in this world who oppressed them, dragged them before their tribunals, and blasphemed that worthy name by which they were culled. As little can there be any doubt of the justness of the sentiment, in relation to the state of the blessed hereafter, when the deceitfulness of riches, and the snare into which it so often inveigles men, are duly considered. So close an analogy runs through all the divine dispensations, that, in more instances than this, it may be affirmed with truth that the declarations of Scripture are susceptible of either interpretation. 24. A camel, naun. The. observes, that some explain the word as signifying here a cable. A good authority, however, for this signification, though adopted by Cas. who says, rudentem, I have never seen. The frequency of the term, amongst all sorts of writers, for representing the beast so denominated, is undeniable. Besides, the camel, being the largest animal they were acquainted with in Judea, its name was become proverbial for denoting any thing remarkably large, and a camel's passing through a needle's eye, came, by consequence, as appears from some rabbinical writings, to express a thing absolutely impossible. Among the Babylonians, in whose country elephants were not uncommon, the phrase was an elephant's passing through a needle's eye; but the elephant was a stranger in Judea. 2 Το pass through the eye of a needle, δια τρυπηματος ραφίδος διελθειν. A great number of MSS. some of the most valuable, though neither the Al. nor the Cam. instead of deλbe read exEv, enter. Agreeable to this are both the Sy. the Cop. Eth. and Ara. versions. The Vul. and other versions follow the common reading. Should the external evidence appear balanced on both sides, the common reading is preferable, as yielding a better sense. Passing through a needle's eye is the circumstance in which the impossibility lies. There was no occasion for suggesting whither. There is even something odd in the suggestion, which is very unlike the manner of this author. Wet. adopts the alteration. 28. That, at the renovation, when the Son of Man shall be seated on his glorious throne, ye, my followers, sitting also upon twelve thrones, shall judge, ότι ύμεις οι ακολέθησαντες μοι, εν τη παλιγγενεσία, όταν καθίση ὁ ύιος το ανθρωπο επίθρονες δόξης αυτό, καθίσεσθε και ύμεις επι δωδεκα θρον8ς, κρίνοντες. Ε. Τ. Ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging. In regard to which version, two things occur to be observed; 1st, That v naλıyyeveria (in which there is an am. biguity, as was remarked in Diss. XII. P. I. § 22.) is rendered, as though it belonged to the preceding clause, ακολέθησαντες μοι, whereas the scope of the passage requires, that it be construed with the clause which follows it. 2dly, That the word Ecia is, in this place, better translated renovation. We are accustomed to apply the term regeneration solely to the conver sion of individuals; whereas its relation here is to the general state of things. As they were wont to denominate the creation VEVEσis, a remarkable restoration, or renovation, of the face of things, was very suitably termed παλιγγενεσία. The return of the Israelites to their own land, after the Babylonish captivity, is so named by Josephus, the Jewish historian. What was said on verse 23. holds equally in regard to the promise we have here. The principal completion will be at the general resurrection, when there will be, in the most important sense, a renovation, or regeneration of heaven and earth, when all things shall become new; yet, in a subordinate sense, it may be said to have been accomplished when God came to visit, in judgment, that guilty land; when the old dispensation was utterly abolished, and succeeded by the Christian dispensation, into which the Gentiles, from every quarter, as well as Jews, were called and ad. mitted. CHAPTER XX. The yap 1. This chapter, in the original, begins, 'Ousta yap. shows manifestly that what follows was spoken in illustra. tion of the sentence with which the preceding chapter concludes, and which, therefore, ought not to have been disjoined from this parable. The Vul. has no particle answering to yag. In that version the chapter begins thus, Simile est regnum cælorum. But this does not seem to have sprung from a different reading, as there is no diversity here in the Gr. MSS. nor, for aught I can learn, in ancient translations. I rather think that the omission has happened after the division into chapters, and has arisen from a notion of the impropriety of beginning a chapter with the causal particle. It adds to the probability of this, that several old La. MSS. have the conjunction as well as the Gr. 2. The administration. Diss. V. P. I. § 7. 6. Unemployed, agys, wanting in the Cam. and 2 other MSS. not in the Vul. Sax. and Cop, versions. 7. And ye shall receive what is reasonable, ǹ ò ex n δικαιου anode. This clause is wanting in the Cam. and two other MSS. And there is nothing answering to it in the Vul. and Sax. versions. 13. Friend, iraupe. Diss. XII. P. I. § 11. 15. May not I do what I will with my own? 8% εžesi μoi moincar o DERW EY TOIS EμOIS; Vul. Non licet mihi quod volo facere? Here there is no translation of the words TOIS EMOS, though of manifest importance to the sense. There is the same defect in the Sax. and Arm. versions, but not in any Gr. MS. that has yet appeared, nor in any other translation, ة 22. Undergo an immersion like that which I must undergo, το βαπτισμα ο εγω βαπτιζομαι βαπτισθηναι. Ε. Τ. To be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised with. The primitive signification of βαπτισμα is immersion, of βαπτίζειν, to immerse, plunge, or overwhelm. The noun ought never to be rendered baptism, nor the verb to baptise, but when employed in relation to a religious ceremony. The verb Bay sometimes, and BUTTE, which is synonymous, often occurs in the Sep. and Apocryphal writings, and is always rendered in the common version by one or other of these words, to dip, to wash, to plunge. When the original expression, therefore, is rendered in familiar language, there appears nothing harsh or extraordinary in the metaphor. Phrases like these, to be overwhelmed with grief, to be immersed in affliction, will be found common in most langua ges. It is proper here farther to observe, that the whole of this clause, and that corresponding to it, in the subsequent verse, are in this Gospel wanting in the Vul. and several MSS. As they are found, however, in the far greater number both of ancient versions, and of MSS. and perfectly coincide with the scope of the passage, I did not think there was weight enough in what might be urged, on the opposite side, to warrant the omission of them; neither indeed does Wet. But Gro. and Mill are of the contrary opinion. 23. I cannot give, unless to those, 8x 1519 eμov dover, and' 015. E. T. Is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them. The conjunction λ, when, as in this place, it is not followed by a verb, but by a noun or pronoun, is generally to be understood as of the same import with un, nisi, unless, except. Otherwise, the verb must be supplied, as is done here, in the common ver sion. But as such an ellipsis is uncommon, recourse ought not to be had to it without necessity. Of the interpretation I have given of the conjunction λ, we have an example, Mr. ix. 8. compared with Mt. xvii. 8. Vul. Non est meum dare vobis. See Mr. x. 40. N. In the proper and primitive sense of di 26. Servant, dianovos. E. T. Minister.) 27. Slave, dλos. E. T. Servant: axovos, it is a servant who attends his master, waits on him at table, and is always near his person, to obey his orders, which was accounted a more creditable kind of service. By the word 20 is not only meant a servant in general (whatever kind of work he be employed in), but also a slave. It is solely from the scope and connection that we must judge, when it should be rendered in the one way, and when in the other. In the passage before that the true dignity of us, the view in both verses is to signify, the Christian will arise more from the service he does to others, than the power he possesses over them. We are to judge, there. fore, of the value of the words from the import of those they are contrasted with. And as desiring to be great is a more moderate ambition than desiring to be chief, we naturally conclude, that as the word opposed to the former should be expressive of |