Luke ix. 27. John xiv. 19. Acts iv. 27. x. 38.) (27) And he came in the spirit (Rev. iv. 1.) into the holy place: and while the parents were bringing in the child Jesus, that they might do for him according to the custom of the law respecting him (Lev. xii. 2, 3.), (28) he also received him into his arms, and eulogized God, and spake, (29) Now, Master, thou releasest thy servant in peace, according to thy word. (Ver. 21. Isa. liii. 5. liv. 10. lv. 12, 13. lvii. 2.) (30) For mine eyes have seen thy salvation (Isa. xxxiii. 17-22.): (31) whom thou hast prepared in the person of all nations (Rev. i. 15.): (32) a light for the developement of the Gentiles (Eph. ii. 6. Titus ii. 11.), and the glory of thy people Israel. (Heb. divine rectitude, Gen. xlviii. 16. xlix. 10. Isa. ix. 2. xlix. 6-9. lxiii. 9.)

(33) And Joseph and his mother were marvelling at the things spoken concerning him. (34) And Simeon eulogized them, and said to Mary his mother, Behold, the same lieth (ver. 21.) for the fall and resurrection of many in Israel (Deut. Xxx. 6. 1 Sam. ii. 34, 35. Dan. xii. 1, 2. Micah vii. 8. Gal. iv. 16, &c. Col. ii. 11-13.); and to a sign disputed, reviled (Isa. vii. 13, &c. Dan. ix. 26. Rom. iv. 11. Eph. ii. 11. Rev. vii. 2. 1 Pet. ii. 7.): (35) yea, the knife (Heb. iv. 12.) shall pierce thine own soul (Zech. xii. 8-10. John xix. 25. 37. Heb. iv. 13.), that the diversities of the thoughts of many hearts may be disclosed. (Heb. iv. 12. Mark xvi. 16. Matt. xxvi. 33. Heb. viii. 10. 1 Chron. xvii. 13. Deut. xxx. 6.)

(36) There was Anna also, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser (1 Sam. i. 2.); the same advanced in many days, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. (37) And she was a widow of about eighty-four years: who departed not from the holy place, serving day and night with fastings and prayers. (Matt. xxv. 1.) (38) She also standing by at that very hour, responded with confession to the Lord (ver. 26. Isa. xix. 20. xliii. 3. 11. xlv. 15. 21. xlix. 26. lx. 16. lxiii. 8. Jer. xiv. 8. Hos. xiii. 4.), and spake concerning him to all who waited for redemption in Jerusalem. (Ver. 25. 29. Micah vii. 7. Mal. iii. 16.)

(39) And when they had perfected all things as appointed by the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their city Nazareth. (Matt. xxviii. 7. Luke xxiv. 44.) (40) And the child grew, and was strengthened, being filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him. (Isa. xi. 2. 8. Heb. John i. 14—17. 30. Col. ii. 8, 9.)

I. M. B.

Of the First Mosaic Record (commencing Gen. i. 1. and terminating ii. 4.).

THE first record preserved in the Pentateuch begins thus: "In the beginning Aleim created (produced, or had created, had produced,) the heavens and the earth."

so

There is here no statement of any precise time when "the heavens and the earth" were created or produced into existence; they were created "in the beginning" (MUN-1); but of the date of this beginning not a word is said. The record simply states, that they were created "in the beginning." There is not, in the Hebrew language, any distinction between the perfect tense and the pluperfect tense; and, where such distinction occurs in the translation, it is entirely arbitrary, it being regulated solely by the supposed or obvious sense of the context. Thus the past tense y he made, is in Gen. i. 31. ii. 2. iii. 1. translated he had made. So, which so continually occurs in the Pentateuch, and which is usually rendered," and the Lord said," is, in Gen. xii. 1, translated, "now the Lord had said." The words N, then, may be translated, "in the beginning Aleim (a title of the Deity which we shall hereafter examine, and which is rendered God) had created the heavens and the earth." "The beginning” (JUNT) refers to time whose date is not specified. St. John says, "In the beginning (v apx) was the Word: the same was in the beginning (v apx) with God, all things were made by him.' But St. John, like the author of the record under consideration, is silent as to the date of this "beginning" which he mentions: he says, indeed, that "the Word was God," and that this Word was in the beginning" that he was "in the beginning with God, all things were made by him;" consequently, he existed before the existence of the things which he made. "The beginning,” then, when he existed, preceded "the beginning" of the existence of all created things: "all things were made by him;" but when they were made, neither St. John, nor the Mosaic record, informs us.

The record proceeds to state :

"And the earth was desolate and void (1); and darkness (was) upon the face of the abyss (DMN); and Dimba min (TVεupa beou, spirit or wind of Aleim, translated Spirit of God,) fluttered (moved tremulously) on the face of the waters."

Thus the record, having simply stated that "the heavens and the earth" had been created, proceeds instantly to speak of

what relates solely to the earth; for the history of what relates to the heavens forms no part of the subject of the record. The record states, that "the earth," which had been created "in the beginning," was "desolate and void, and darkness upon the face of the abyss." It states that such was the condition of the earth: it does not say when that condition of the earth began: it does not say that the earth was desolate and void and dark when it first was created: it states merely, that "the earth was desolate, &c." Of any interval of time that may have elapsed between the first formation of the earth and the commencement of its state of gloomy barrenness and emptiness, it says not a word; it does not say that there was not any such interval. Nothing is said of the condition of "the heavens," either prior to, or during, or after this time of the earth's dark desolation.

רוח we may observe, that רוח אלהים With regard to the words

denotes wind or air in motion, as well as spirit (ventus as well as spiritus; пveuμa having also the same double import); and DN (the title of the Godhead, q. d. mighty ones,) succeeding to a noun, has, in some instances, been considered as denoting might thus (1 Sam. xiv. 15.), which in the margin is rendered "trembling of God," is in the text translated "a very great trembling;" but the former translation accords very well with the context, for the trembling was the effect of divine agency (read from verse 6 to 23.), and it might justly be called a trembling of God, or a trembling sent on them from God (éyéveto exotαois Taρà xugíoυ, Sept.); and

66

t

x bp (Exod. ix. 28.) which in the margin is rendered voices of God, is in the text translated "mighty thunderings;" but the words may as properly be rendered voices or thunderings of God: for in verse 23 it is said, a mini • Jehovah sent thunder and hail” (κύριος ἔδωκε φωνὰς καὶ χάλα lav, Sept.). Thunder having been regarded as the voice of the Deity: Jehovah thundered from heaven, and the Most High (b) uttered his voice" (2 Sam. xxii. 14.). Hence some commentators have considered m (in Gen. i. 2.) as signifying a mighty wind; and they would make the termination of the verse imply, that "a mighty wind fanned (or tremulously agitated) above, or upon, the surface of the waters." Jehovah, indeed, speaks of his M or spirit, which influences or inspires the thoughts and affections (Gen. vi. S. Joel ii. 29. or iii. 1.); and this Spirit is frequently spoken of in the Scriptures as m Mor Spirit of Jehovah (see inter al. Gen. xli. 38. 2 Chron. xxiv. 20. Isa. Ixi. 1.): so that as denotes the Spirit of Jehovah, om might, naturally enough, be regarded as

denoting the Spirit of Aleim, or of God. It must be acknowleged, however, that the expression mm does, in many passages, seem (as Parkhurst observes) to denote, a miraculous wind from Jehovah (see 1 Kings xviii. 12. and compare with Ezek. iii. 14. viii. 3. xi. 1. 24. 2 Kings ii. 11. 16. and Acts viii. 39.). So that Dm may be translated, Spirit of Aleim (God), or wind of Aleim (God).

The record proceeds:

"And Aleim said, Be light, and light was. And Aleim saw the light that (it was) good; and Aleim divided between the light and between the darkness."

દ

As the record relates things only with a reference to the earth; as the "darkness" spoken of in verse 2. was "darkness upon the face of the abyss" of the earth; so must the statement of the dispersion of that "darkness" refer exclusively to the earth. "Darkness" is expressed by a word denoting restriction, Tun; "light," by a word expressive of fluency: or flowing forth, 8. The TT was " upon the face of the abyss" of the earth. We are not told that it was upon the face of any other part of the creation: we are not told that "the heavens" were in a state of darkness during the time that darkness was upon the face of the abyss of the earth : so that during the time in which the earth was enveloped in gloomy obscurity, all the rest of God's works might have enjoyed a full blaze of unrestricted light. We cannot infer from the record that such was not the case: we cannot infer that light was, for the first time, produced when the restriction, or T, which caused obscurity over the face of the abyss of the earth, ceased: we cannot infer that the earth had not enjoyed the presence of light before the commencement of its state of desolation, emptiness, and darkness. The record is silent on these points.

"And Aleim called the light D, and the darkness he called night; and it was (or, there was) evening, and it was (or, there was) morning (or, evening was and morning was) one D."

The light was divided from the darkness (or, a division was made between the light and between the darkness): the former being called ", the latter being called (night); and one O contained "evening" and "morning." So that the word Dis here used in two imports: it is applied in.a limited sense to denote the presence of light; and it is used in a general sense to express a certain time. D expresses, in some places, a given time, without reference to the duration or length of that time; thus, m (Isa. ii. 12.) rendered "the day of

the Lord of Hosts;” mba D (Judg. xviii. 30.) rendered "the day of the captivity of the land:" (see also Ísa. xi. 6.)

גם מיום אני הוא : is also used to denote the beginning of time יום

(Isa. xliii. 13.) "even from D (τ an' άpxñs, Sept.) I am He;" and it is used to denote the time when "the earth and the heavens" were created (Gen. ii. 4.), which time is in Gen. i. 1. included in "the beginning." In the record which we are now considering, seven periods of time are mentioned, to each of which the term is applied; but no statement is made as to the date of the commencement of the first of these periods: there is no mention made as to the lapse of time between "the beginning" and the commencement of the first of these periods; there is nothing said as to the length of either of these periods. The record does not say that the first of these periods commenced with the commencement of the earth's existence : it is silent on all these points. But no inference can be drawn from the silence of the record as to any of these points. The record does not speak of the revolutions of the earth, either diurnal or annual: it does not tell us that it performed these revolutions from "the beginning," when it was first created: it does not tell us that it performed them during its state of barren emptiness and gloom: it does not tell us that it performed them during the first D, or during either of the succeeding periods denoted by the term D; but it does not say that the earth did not perform its revolutions during either D, or during the state of darkness and desolation, or from its first date of existence it is utterly silent on the subject. But the silence of the record on this subject does not induce any one to deny that the earth has a diurnal and an annual motion; so neither does the silence of the record warrant any inference that the condition of the earth from "the beginning" was a state of barren and empty desolation and darkness: it does not warrant any supposition that the earth had no annals prior to those which the Pentateuch records.

"And Aleim said, Let there be an expansion (p) in the midst of the waters (i. e. the waters of the earth, spoken of in verse 2.); and let it divide between waters to waters (between waters with respect to waters, or divide the waters from the waters); and Aleim made the expansion, and divided the waters which (were) under the expansion from the waters which (were) above the expansion: and it was so (or thus, i. e. it took place accordingly),

The expansion here spoken of as separating a portion of the waters of the earth from the waters which covered its surface,