Part 16

_7thly_, There are several hyperbolical ways of speaking in scripture, whereby more is expressed than what is generally understood. Thus the vessel in the temple, in which things were washed, which was ten cubits from one brim to the other, is called _a molten Sea_, 1 Kings vii. 23. because it contained a great quantity of water; though, indeed, it was very small, if compared with the dimensions of the sea: And in 1 Kings x. 27, it is said, that Solomon _made silver to be in Jerusalem, as stones; and cedars as the sycamore-trees, which are in the vale for abundance_. Silver was not, strictly speaking, as plentiful as stones; but it implies, that there were vast treasures thereof, heaped up by the king, and many of his subjects, and no lack of it in any one. And, in Judges xx. 16. it is said, there were _some of the Benjamites left-handed, every one_ of whom _could sling stones at an hair-breadth, and not miss_; which only signifies that they had an uncommon expertness in this matter; and when we read of some of the cities in the land of Canaan, that were _great, and walled up to heaven_, Deut. i. 28. it only denotes that their walls were very high: And, in Kings i. 43. it is said upon the occasion of Solomon’s being anointed king, that _the people rejoiced with great joy; so that the earth rent with the sound of them_; the meaning of which is only this, that the shouts of the people were so great, that if the concussion of the air, that was made thereby, could have rent the earth, this would have done it.

_8thly_, We sometimes find ironical expressions, and sarcasms used in scripture, with a design to expose the wickedness and folly of men. Thus, when our first parents sinned by adhering to the suggestions of Satan, who told them, that they _should be as gods, knowing good and evil_, Gen. iii. 5. God says in an ironical way, _Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil, &c._ ver. 22. And the prophet Elijah exposes Baal’s worshippers; and Micaiah, Ahab’s false prophets, by using a sarcastic way of speaking, 1 Kings xviii. 27. and chap. xxii. 15. And Job uses the same figurative way of speaking, when he reproves the bitter invectives, and false reasonings of his friends; _No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you_, Job xii. 2. And Solomon uses the same way of address, when he says, _Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: But know thou, that for all these things God bring thee into Judgment_, Eccl. xi. 9. And, the man that trusts in his own righteousness for justification, is also exposed in the same way, ‘Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled: This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow,’ Isa. l. 11. And when our Saviour says to his disciples, having found them asleep, in Matt. xxvi. 45, 46. ‘Sleep on now, and take your rest; behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners,’ it is plain from the following words, that he uses this figurative way of speaking; for he immediately adds, without an irony, _Rise, let us be going_.

This, some think to be the method of speaking which our Saviour makes use of, when he reproves his disciples for that fond conceit that they had, that his kingdom was of this world; and contending sometimes among themselves, who should be greatest therein: Upon which occasion he bids them make provision for war; and take care to secure those two things that are necessary thereunto, money and arms: Thus he says, in Luke xxii. 36. ‘He that hath a purse, let him take it; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one;’ they did not, indeed, immediately perceive that he spake in an ironical way; and therefore replied, in ver. 38. _Lord, behold here are two swords_: Upon which he says, still carrying on the irony, _It is enough_. So that, whether they understood his meaning or no, it seems to be this; if you are disposed to contend who shall be greatest, as though my kingdom were of a temporal nature, and to be erected and maintained by force of arms, do you think you have sufficient treasure to hire forces to join with you, or buy arms for that purpose? or, do you imagine that you have courage enough to attack the Roman empire, and gain it by force? You say, you have two swords, can you suppose that these are enough? what a ludicrious and indifferent figure would you make, if you expected to come off conquerors by this means? No, they that take the sword shall perish with the sword; for my kingdom is not of this world: So that all the advantages and honours that you are to expect therein, are of a spiritual nature. This seems rather to be the meaning of this scripture, than that which the Papists generally acquiesce in, namely, that by the _two_ swords, are meant the civil and ecclesiastical; both which, as they pretend, are put into the Pope’s hands.

9thly, The scripture often makes use of a figurative way of speaking, generally called an _hendyadis_, whereby one complex idea, is expressed by two words, which is very common in the Hebrew language. Thus in Jer. xxix. 11. when God promises his people, that he would _give_ them _an expected end_, intending hereby their deliverance from the Babylonish captivity; the words, if literally translated, ought to be rendered, as it is observed in the margin, _an end and expectation_; whereas, our translators were apprized that there is such a figurative way of speaking contained in them, and therefore they render them, _an expected end_: And this figure is sometimes used in the New Testament; as when our Saviour tells his disciples, in Luke xxi. 15. _I will give you a mouth and wisdom_; that is, I will give you ability to express yourselves with so much wisdom, _that all your adversaries shall not be able to gain-say_ it. And some think, that there is the same way of speaking used in John iii. 5. ‘Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God;’ that is, except a man be born of the Holy Spirit, or regenerated, which is signified by being born of water, he cannot, &c.

_10thly_, Nothing is more common than for the Holy Ghost, in scripture to make use of metaphors, which are a very elegant way of representing things, by comparing them with, and illustrating them by others, and borrowing such modes of speaking from them, as may add a very considerable beauty to them. Thus repentance and godly sorrow, together with the blessed privileges which shall hereafter attend them, are compared to sowing and reaping, in Psal. cxxvi. 5, 6. ‘They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.’ And the prophet sets forth the labour and pains which Israel had taken in sin; and exhorts them, by a metaphor taken from husbandry, to be as industrious in pursuing what would turn to a better account, in Hos. x. 12, 13. where he speaks of their having _plowed wickedness, and reaped iniquity_; and advises them to _sow to themselves in righteousness, and reap in mercy_; which, as he farther adds, they should do by _seeking the Lord_; and _it is time_, says he, _to seek_ him, _till he come and rain righteousness upon you_; which is necessary to a plenteous harvest of blessings, which you may hope for in so doing. And, in chap. vii. 4. he reproves their adulteries by a metaphor, taken from _an oven heated by the baker_; and their hypocrisy by another, taken from _a cake not turned_, ver. 8. and their being weakened, and almost ruined hereby, he compares to the _gray hairs_ of those who are bowed down under the infirmities of age, ver. 9. and for their cowardice and seeking help from other nations, and not from God, he calls them _a silly dove without an heart_, ver. 11.

And we may observe, that there is oftentimes a chain of metaphors in the same paragraph. Of this kind is that elegant description of old age, sickness, and death, which Solomon gives, in exhorting persons to _remember their Creator in the days of their youth_, Eccl. xii. 1-6. _while the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars be not darkened_; by which, it is probable, he intends the impairing the intellect, the loss of those sprightly parts which once they had, or, of the memory and judgment; upon which account men are sometimes said to, out-live themselves. And he speaks of _the keepers of the house trembling_; that is, the hands and arms, designed for the defence of the body, being seized with paralytic disorders; _the strong men bowing themselves_; that is, those parts which are designed to support the body being weakened, and needing a staff to bear up themselves; _the grinders ceasing because they are few_, signifies the loss of teeth; _and they that look out of the windows being darkened_, a decay of sight; their _rising up at the voice of the bird_, implies their loss of one of the main props of nature, to wit, sleep; so that they may rise early in the morning, when the birds begin to sing, because their beds will not afford them rest: _And the daughters of music being brought low_, denotes a decay of the voice and hearing, and being not affected with those sounds which were once most delightful to them. _The almond-tree flourishing_, plainly signifies the hoary head; _the grashopper_ being _a burden_, is either a proverbial speech, importing a want of courage, strength, and resolution to bear the smallest pressures; or, as others understand it, their stooping, when bowed down with old age. _The silver cord loosed_, or, _the golden bowl broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern_, signifies a decay of the animal spirits, a laxation of the nerves, the irregular circulation of the blood, or the universal stoppage thereof; and then the frame of nature is broken, and man _returns to the dust_[45].

In the New Testament there are several metaphors used; some of which are taken from the Isthmian and Olympic games, practised by the Greeks and Romans. Thus the apostle Paul compares the Christian life to _a race_ in which _many run_; but they do not all _receive the prize_, 1 Cor. ix. 24. And, in ver. 25. he alludes to another exercise, to wit, wrestling; and recommends temperance as what was practised by them, as a means for their obtaining the crown. And, ver. 26. he uses a metaphor, taken from another of the games, to wit, fighting, in hope of victory; by which he illustrates his zeal in the discharge of his ministry. And in Heb. xii. 1. he speaks of the Christian _race_, and the necessity of _laying aside every weight_, to wit, allowed sins, which would retard our course, or hinder us in the way to heaven. And in Phil. iii. 13, 14. he speaks of himself both as a minister and a Christian, as ‘forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,’ and, ‘pressing towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus;’ where he plainly alludes to the purpose, industry, and earnestness of those who run in a race. And, in Eph. vi. 11-16. he speaks of the difficulties, temptations, and opposition that believers are exposed to, in the Christian life; and advises them, to _put on the whole armour of God_; and so carries on the metaphor or allegory, by alluding to the various pieces of armour, which soldiers make use of when engaged in battle, to illustrate the methods we ought to take, that we may come off conquerors at last.

(6.) It will be very useful, in order to our understanding scripture, for us to know some things, relating to the different forms of civil government, and the various changes made therein, among the Jews, and other nations, with whom they were conversant. At first we find, that distinct families had the administration of civil affairs committed unto them, and the heads thereof were, as it were, the chief magistrates, who had the exercise of civil power, in some instances; especially if it did not interfere with that of the country wherein they lived. Some think, indeed, that it extended to the punishing capital crimes with death; and that Judah, who was the head of a branch of Jacob’s family, when he passes this sentence concerning Tamar, in Gen. xxxviii. 24. _Bring her forth, and let her be burnt_, does it as a civil magistrate: But, if it be not deemed a rash and unjustifiable expression in him, when he says, _Let her be brought forth, and burnt_, we must suppose the meaning to be, let her first be confined till she is delivered of her child, and then tried by the civil magistrate, the consequence whereof will be, her being burnt, when found guilty of the adultery that was charged upon her. So that it does not appear that the heads of families, when sojourning in other countries, had a power distinct from that of the government under which they lived, to punish offenders with death; though, I think, it is beyond dispute, that they had a government in their own families, that extended, in many respects, to civil affairs, as well as obliged them to observe those religious duties which God required of them.

It may be farther observed, that this government extended so far, as that the Patriarchs, or heads of families, had, sometimes, a power of making war, or entering into confederacies with neighbouring princes, for their own safety, or recovering their rights when invaded. Thus when Lot and the Sodomites, were taken prisoners by the four kings that came up against them, we read, in Gen. xiv. 13, 14. that Abraham called in the assistance of some of his neighbours, with whom he was in confederacy, and _armed his trained servants, three hundred and eighteen, born in his house_, and rescued him, and the men of Sodom from the hands of those that had taken them prisoners.

We have little more light as to this matter, so long as the government continued domestic, and the church in the condition of sojourners: But, when they were increased to a great nation, their civil, as well as religious government, was settled, by divine direction, under the hand of Moses, in the wilderness. The first form thereof, was a theocracy, in which God gave them laws in an immediate way; condescended to satisfy them, as to some things, which they enquired of him about; gave them particular intimations how they should manage their affairs of war and peace; and appeared for them in giving them victory over their enemies, in a very extraordinary, and sometimes, miraculous way. But, besides this great honour that God put on them, he established a form of government among them, in which they were divided into _thousands_, _hundreds_, _fifties_, and _tens_, Exod. xviii. 31. Deut. i. 15. each of which divisions had their respective captain or governor; who are, sometimes, styled the _nobles of the children of Israel_, Exod. xxiv. 11. And these governors were generally heads of considerable families among them; which were also divided in the same way, into thousands, fifties, and tens, in proportion to the largeness thereof; thus Gideon, speaking of his family, in Judges vi. 25. calls it, as the Hebrew word signifies, his _thousand_. And, in the same manner, their armies were divided, when engaged in war; thus when Jesse sent David with a present, into the army, to his brethren, he bade him deliver it to the _captain over their thousand_, 1 Sam. xvii. 18. and chap. xviii. 13. And we read, that Saul made David his _captain over a thousand_; which is the same with what we, in our modern way of speaking, call a commanding officer over a regiment of soldiers. Again, when David’s soldiers went out to war against Absalom, it is said, _They came out by hundreds and by thousands_, 2 Sam. xviii. 4. each distinct company, or regiment, having their commanding officer.

Thus the government was settled as to civil and military affairs, in such a way, that the head of the respective division, had a power of judging in lesser matters. But since there were some affairs of the greatest importance to be transacted in the form of their government, by divine direction, God appointed seventy men of the children of Israel, to assist Moses in those matters, in which they had more immediately to do with him; and accordingly he _gave them the Spirit_, Numb. xi. 16, 17. that is, the extraordinary inspiration of the Spirit; whereby he communicated his mind and will to them. This was the first rise of the Sanhedrim; and these had a power of judging in civil matters, throughout all the ages of the church till the Jews were made tributary to the Romans; and after that, this body of men were as vile and contemptible as they had before been honourable in the eyes of just and good men, as appears by their tumultuous and unprecedented behaviour in the trial of our Saviour, and the malicious prosecutions, set on foot by them, against the apostles, without any pretence or form of law.

After the death of Joshua, and the elders that survived him, there was an alteration in the form of government, occasioned by the oppression which they were liable to from their enemies, who insulted, vexed, and sometimes plundered them of their substance. Then God raised up judges, who first procured peace for them, by success in war; and afterwards governed them; though without the character or ensigns of royal dignity. And, this government not being successive, they were, on the death of their respective judges, brought into great confusion, every one doing that which was right in his own eyes, till another judge was raised up, as some future emergency required it. Thus the posture of their affairs continued, as the apostle observes, _about the space of four hundred and fifty years_, Acts xiii. 20. and then it was altered, when, through their unsettled temper, they desired a king, in conformity to the custom of the nations round about them; which thing was displeasing to God: nevertheless, he granted them their request, 1 Sam. viii. 5-7. and so the government became regal. And then followed a succession of kings, set over the whole nation, till the division between Judah and Israel; when they became two distinct kingdoms, and so continued, till their respective captivity. These things being duly considered, will give great light to several things contained in scripture; especially as to what relates to the civil affairs of the church of God.

And, for our farther understanding thereof, it will be necessary that we take a view of the government of other nations, with whom they were often conversant. We read almost of as many kings in scripture, as there were cities in several of those countries which lay round about them; thus, in Gen. xxxvi. we read of many dukes and kings, (whose power was much the same) who descended from Esau. These had very small dominions, each of them being, as it is probable, the chief governor of one city, or, at most, of a little tract of land round about it; and, indeed, besides the Assyrian, and other monarchies, that were of a very large extent, and had none who stood in competition with them, under that character, while they subsisted; all other kingdoms were very small; therefore four kings were obliged to enter into a confederacy, to make war with Sodom, and the four neighbouring cities, which a very inconsiderable army might, without much difficulty, have subdued, Gen. xiv. 1, _&c._ One of them, indeed, is called king of nations; not as though he had large dominions, but because he was the chief governor of a mixed people, from divers nations, who were settled together in one distinct colony; and the king of Shinar, there spoken of, is not the king of Babylon, who was too potent a prince to have stood in need of others to join with him in this expedition; but it was a petty king, who reigned in some city near Babylon, and was tributary to the Assyrian empire. These four kings, with all their forces, were so few in number, that Abraham was not afraid to attack them; which he did with success.

Again, we read, that in Joshua’s time, the kings in the land of Canaan, whom he subdued, had, each of them, very small dominions, consisting of but one capital city, with a few villages round about it. Thus we read of thirty one kings that reigned in that country, which was not so big as a fourth part of the kingdom of England, Josh. xii. And afterwards most of these kingdoms were swallowed up by the Assyrian empire. Thus the king of Assyria, as Rabshakeh boasts, had entirely conquered the kings of Hamath, Arphad, Gozan, and Haran, with several others, 2 Kings xix. 12, 13. these had very small dominions, and therefore were easily subdued by forces so much superior to any that they could raise. Egypt, indeed, was more formidable; and therefore we often read in scripture of Israel’s having recourse to them for help, and are blamed for trusting in them more than God: And, in Arabia, there were some kings who had large dominions, as appears by the vast armies that they raised: Thus _Zerah the Ethiopian came forth against Asa, with a thousand thousand men_, 2 Chron. xvi. 19. Nevertheless, the church of God was able to stand its ground; for, whether the neighbouring kings were many of them, confederate against them, or the armies they raised, exceeding numerous, like the sand on the sea shore; they had safety and protection, as well as success in war, from the care and blessing of providence; of which we have an account in the history of scripture relating thereunto.

(7.) It will be of some advantage, in order to our understanding the sense of scripture, for us to enquire into the meaning of those civil and religious offices and characters, by which several persons are described, both in the Old and New Testament. Concerning the Priests and Levites, we have had occasion frequently to insist on their call and office: Among the former of these, one is styled _high-priest_; who was not only the chief minister in holy things under the Jewish dispensation; but presided over the other priests in all those things that respected the temple-service. There was also another priest, who had pre-eminence over his brethren, that was next to the high-priest in office, who seems to be referred to, in 2 Kings xxv. 18. where we read of _Seriah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest_. This office is not often mentioned in scripture, but is frequently spoken of by Jewish writers: They call him, who was employed therein, as the author of the Chaldee paraphrase does on that text, the Sagan: And, some think, that this office was first instituted in Numb. iii. 32. in which Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest was to be _chief over the chief of the Levites, and to have the oversight of them, that kept the charge of the sanctuary_: And elsewhere, we read of Zadok and Abiathar, being, by way of eminency, _priests at the same time_, 2 Sam. xv. 35. by which, it is probable, we are to understand, as many expositors do, that one was the _high priest_, the other the _Sagan_; who was to perform the office that belonged to the high priest in all the branches thereof, if he should happen to be incapacitated for it.