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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Preface to Volume I].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2><B>P R E F A C E.</B></FONT>
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<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
T<FONT SIZE=-1>HOUGH</FONT> it is most my concern, that I be able to
give a good account to God and my own conscience,
yet, perhaps, it will be expected that I give the world
also some account of this bold undertaking; which
I shall endeavour to do with all plainness, and as one
who believes, that if men must be reckoned with in
the great day, for every vain and idle word they speak,
much more for every vain and idle line they write.
And it may be of use, in the first place, to lay down
those great and sacred principles which I go upon, and
am governed by, in this endeavour to explain and improve
these portions of holy writ; which endeavour
I humbly offer to the service of those (and to those only
I expect it will be acceptable) who agree with me
in these six principles:--</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. That <I>religion is the one thing useful;</I> and to know,
and love, and fear God our Maker, and in all the
instances both of devout affection, and of good
conversation, to <I>keep his commandments,</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+12:13">Eccles. xii. 13</A>)
is, without doubt, <I>the whole of man;</I> it is all in all to
him. This the wisest of men, after a close and copious
argument in his <I>Ecclesiastes,</I> lays down as the conclusion
of his whole matter (the <I>Quod erat demonstrandum</I>
of his whole discourse); and therefore I may be
allowed to lay it down as a <I>postulatum,</I> and the foundation
of this whole matter. It is necessary to mankind
in general, that there should be religion in the world,
absolutely necessary for the preservation of the honour
of the human nature, and no less so for the preservation
of the order of human societies. It is necessary
to each of us in particular, that we be religious;
we cannot otherwise answer the end of our creation,
obtain the favour of our Creator, make ourselves easy
now, or happy forever. A man that is endued with the
powers of reason, by which he is capable of knowing,
serving, glorifying, and enjoying his Maker, and yet
<I>lives without God in the world,</I> is certainly the most
despicable and the most miserable animal under the sun.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. That <I>divine revelation is necessary to true religion,</I>
to the being and support of it. That faith without
which <I>it is impossible to please God,</I> cannot come to
any perfection by seeing the works of God, but it must
come by <I>hearing the word of God,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:17">Rom. x. 17</A>.
The rational soul, since it received that fatal shock by the
fall, cannot have or maintain that just regard to the
great author of its being, that observance of him, and
expectation from him, which are both its duty and
felicity, without some supernatural discovery made by
himself of himself, and of his mind and will. Natural
light, no doubt, is of excellent use, as far as it goes;
but it is necessary that there be a divine revelation, to
rectify its mistakes, and make up its deficiencies, to
help us out where the light of nature leaves us quite
at a loss, especially in the way and method of man's
recovery from his lapsed state, and his restoration to
his Maker's favour; which he cannot but be conscious
to himself of the loss of, finding, by sad experience,
his own present state to be sinful and miserable. Our
own reason shows us the wound, but nothing short of
a divine revelation can discover to us a remedy to
be confided in. The case and character of those nations
of the earth which had no other guide in their devotions
than that of natural light, with some remains
of the divine institution of sacrifices received by tradition
from their fathers, plainly show how necessary
divine revelation is to the subsistence of religion; for
those that had not the word of God, soon lost God
himself, became vain in their imaginations concerning
him, and prodigiously vile and absurd in their worships
and divinations. It is true, the Jews, who had the
benefit of divine revelation, lapsed sometimes into idolatry,
and admitted very gross corruptions; yet, with
the help of the law and the prophets, they recovered
and reformed: whereas the best and most admired
philosophy of the heathen could never do any thing
toward the cure of the vulgar idolatry, or so much as
offered to remove any of those barbarous and ridiculous
rites of their religion, which were the scandal and
reproach of the human nature. Let men therefore pretend
what they will, deists are, or will be, atheists; and
those that, under colour of admiring the oracles of reason,
set aside as useless the oracles of God, undermine
the foundations of all religion, and do what they can
to cut off all communication between man and his
Maker, and to set that noble creature on a level with
the beasts that perish.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. That <I>divine revelation is not now to be found nor
expected any where but in the scriptures of the Old
and New Testament;</I> and there it is. It is true, there
were religion and divine revelation before there was
any written word; but to argue from thence, that the
scriptures are not now necessary, it as absurd as it
would be to argue that the world might do well enough
without the sun, because in the creation the world
had light three days before the sun was made. Divine
revelations, when first given, were confirmed by visions,
miracles, and prophecy; but they were to be transmitted
to distant regions and future ages, with their
proofs and evidences, by writing, the surest way of
conveyance, and by which the knowledge of other memorable
things is preserved and propagated. We have reason
to think that even the ten commandments, though
spoken with such solemnity at Mount Sinai, would have
been, long before this, lost and forgotten, if they
had been handed down by tradition only, and never had
been put in writing: it is that which is written, that
remains. The scripture indeed is not compiled as a
methodical system or body of divinity, <I>secundum artem--according
to the rules of art,</I> but several ways of writing,
(histories, laws, prophecies, songs, epistles, and
even proverbs,) at several times, and by several hands,
as Infinite Wisdom saw fit. The end is effectually obtained;
such things are plainly supposed and taken for
granted, and such things are expressly revealed and
made known, as, being all put together, sufficiently
inform us of all the truths and laws of the holy religion
we are to believe, and be governed by. That <I>all scripture
is given by inspiration of God,</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+3:16">2 Tim. iii. 16</A>)
and that <I>holy men spake and wrote as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost,</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+1:21">2 Pet. i. 21</A>)
we are sure; but who
dare pretend to describe that inspiration? None <I>knows the
way of the Spirit,</I> nor how the thoughts were formed
in the heart of him that was inspired, any more than
we know the way of the soul into the body, or <I>how
the bones are formed in the womb or her that is with child,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+11:5">Eccles. xi. 5</A>. But we may be sure that the blessed
Spirit did not only habitually prepare and qualify the
penmen of scripture for that service, and put it into
their hearts to write, but did likewise assist their
understandings and memories in recording those things
which they themselves had the knowledge of, and
effectually secure them from error and mistake; and what
they could not know but by revelation, (as for instance,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:1-31">Gen. i.</A> and
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:1-18">John i.</A>)
the same blessed Spirit gave
them clear and satisfactory information of. And no
doubt, as far as was necessary to the end designed, they
were directed by he Spirit, even in the language and
expression; for there were <I>words which the Holy Ghost
taught;</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+2:13">1 Cor. ii. 13</A>)
and God saith to the prophet,
<I>Thou shalt speak with my words,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:4">Ezek. iii. 4</A>.
However, it is not material to us, who drew up the statute, nor
what liberty he took in using his own words: when
it is ratified, it is become the legislator's act, and binds
the subject to observe the true intent and meaning
of it. The scripture proves its divine authority and
original both to the wise and to the unwise. Even to the
unwise and least thinking part of mankind, it is abundantly
proved by the many incontestable miracles wrought
by Moses and the prophets, Christ and his apostles, for
the confirmation of its truths and laws: it would be
an intolerable reproach to eternal Truth, to suppose
this divine seal affixed to a lie. Beside this, to the more
wise and thinking, to the more considerate and
contemplative it recommends itself by those innate excellences
which are self-evident characteristics of its divine
original. If we look carefully, we shall soon be aware
of God's image and superscription upon it. A mind
rightly disposed by a humble, sincere subjection to its
Maker, will easily discover the image of God's wisdom
in the awful depth of its mysteries; the image of his
sovereignty in the commanding majesty of its style;
the image of his unity in the wonderful harmony and
symmetry of all its parts; the image of his holiness in
the unspotted purity of its precepts; and the image
of his goodness in the manifest tendency of the whole to
the welfare and happiness of mankind in both worlds;
in short, it is a work that fathers itself. And as atheists,
so deists, notwithstanding their vain-glorious pretensions
to reason, as if wisdom must die with them,
run themselves upon the grossest and most dishonourable
absurdities imaginable; for, if the scriptures
be not the word of God, then there is no divine revelation
now in the world, no discovery at all of God's
mind concerning our duty and happiness: so that,
let a man be ever so desirous and solicitous to do his
Maker's will, he must, without remedy, perish in the
ignorance of it, since there is no book but this that will
undertake to tell him what it is, a consequence which
can by no means be reconciled to the idea we have
of the divine goodness. And (which is no less an absurdity),
if the scriptures be not really a divine revelation,
they are certainly as great a cheat as ever was
put upon the world: but we have no reason to think
them so; for bad men would never write so good a
book, nor would Satan have so little subtlety as to
help to cast out Satan; and good men would never do
so wicked a thing as to counterfeit the broad seal of
heaven and affix it to a patent of their own framing,
though in itself ever so just. No, <I>there are not the
words of him that hath a devil.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
IV. That the <I>scriptures of the Old and New Testament
were purposely designed for our learning.</I> They might
have been a divine revelation to those into whose hands
they were first put, and yet we, at this distance,
have been no way concerned in them; but it is certain
that they were intended to be of universal and perpetual
use and obligation to all persons, in all places
and all ages, that have the knowledge of them, even
unto us <I>upon whom the ends of the world have come.</I>
See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+15:4">Rom. xv. 4</A>.
Though we are not under the law
as a covenant of innocency (for then, being guilty, we
should unavoidable perish under its curse), yet it is
not therefore an antiquated statute, but a standing
declaration of the will of God concerning good and evil,
sin and duty, and its claim to obedience is in as full
force and virtue as ever: and <I>unto us is the gospel</I> of
the ceremonial law <I>preached, as well as unto those</I> to
whom it was first delivered, and much more plainly,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+4:2">Heb. iv. 2</A>.
The histories of the Old Testament were
written for our admonition and direction
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:11">1 Cor. x. 11</A>),
and not barely for the information and entertainment
of the curious. The prophets, though long since dead,
prophesy again by their writings, <I>before peoples and
nations</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+10:11">Rev. x. 11</A>),
and Solomon's exhortation speaketh
unto us as unto sons. The subject of the holy scripture
is universal and perpetual, and therefore of common
concern. It is intended, 1. To revive the universal
and perpetual law of nature, the very remains of
which (or ruins rather) in natural conscience, give us
hints that we must look somewhere else for a fairer
copy. 2. To reveal the universal and perpetual law of
grace, which God's common beneficence to the children
of men, such as puts them into a better state than
that of devils, gives us some ground to expect. The
divine authority likewise, which in this book commands
our belief and obedience, is universal and perpetual,
and knows no limits, either of time or place; it follows,
therefore, that every nation and every age to which
these sacred writings are transmitted are bound to receive
them with the same veneration and pious regard
that they commanded at their first entrance. Though
God hath, in these last days, <I>spoken to us by his Son,</I>
yet we are not therefore to think that what he spoke
<I>at sundry times and in divers manners to the fathers</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+1:1">Heb. i. 1</A>)
is of no use to us, or that the Old Testament
is an almanac out of date; no, we are <I>built upon
the foundation of the prophets,</I> as well as of <I>the apostles,
Christ himself being the corner-stone</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:20">Eph. ii. 20</A>),
in whom both these sides of this blessed building meet
and are united: they were those ancient records of
the Jewish church which Christ and his apostles so oft
referred to, so oft appealed to, and commanded us
to search and to take heed to. The preachers of the gospel,
like Jehoshaphat's judges, wherever they went,
had this book of the law with them, and found it a
great advantage to them to speak to those <I>that knew
the law,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+7:1">Rom. vii. 1</A>.
That celebrated translation of the Old
Testament in the Greek tongue by the Seventy, between
200 and 300 years before the birth of Christ,
was to the nations a happy preparative for the entertainment
of the gospel, by spreading the knowledge
of the law; for as the New Testament expounds and
completes the Old, and thereby makes it more serviceable
to us now than it was to the Jewish church, so
the Old Testament confirms and illustrates the New, and
shows us Jesus Christ the same yesterday that he
is to-day and will be for ever.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
V. That <I>the holy scriptures were not only designed
for our learning, but are the settled standing rule of
our faith and practice,</I> by which we must be governed
now and judged shortly: it is not only a book of general
use (so the writings of good and wise men may be),
but it is of sovereign and commanding authority,
the statute-book of God's kingdom, which our oath of
allegiance to him, as our supreme Lord, binds us to
the observance of. <I>Whether we will hear or whether we
will forbear,</I> we must be told that this is the oracle
we are to consult and to be determined by, the touchstone
we are to appeal to and try doctrines by, the
rule we are to have an eye to, by which we must in every
thing order our affections and conversations, and
from which we must always take our measures. This is
the <I>testimony,</I> this is the <I>law</I> which is bound up and
sealed among the disciples, that word according to which
if we do not speak, it is because <I>there is no light
in us,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:16,20">Isa. viii. 16, 20</A>.
The making of the <I>light within</I> our
rule, which by nature is darkness, and by grace is
but a copy of, and conformable to, the written work,
is setting the judge above the law; and the making
of the traditions of the church rivals with the scriptures
is no better: it is making the clock, which every
one concerned puts backward or forward at pleasure,
to correct the sun, that faithful measurer of time and
days. These are absurdities which, being once granted,
thousands follow, as we see by sad experience.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
VI. That therefore <I>it is the duty of all Christians diligently
to search the scriptures, and it is the office of
ministers to guide and assist them therein.</I> How useful
soever this book of books is in itself, it will be of no
use to us if we do not acquaint ourselves with it, by
reading it daily, and meditating upon it, that we may
understand the mind of God in it, and may apply what
we understand to ourselves for our direction, rebuke,
and comfort, as there is occasion. It is the character
of the holy and happy man that <I>his delight is in the
law of the Lord;</I> and, as an evidence thereof, he converses
with it as his constant companion, and advises
with it as his most wise and trusty counsellor, for
<I>in that law doth he meditate day and night,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+1:2">Ps. i. 2</A>.
It concerns us to be ready in the scriptures, and to make
ourselves so by constant reading and careful observation,
and especially by earnest prayer to God for
the promised gift of the Holy Ghost, whose office it
is to <I>bring things to our remembrance</I> which Christ
hath said to us
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:26">John xiv. 26</A>)
that thus we may have
some good word or other at hand for our use in our
addresses to God and in our converse with men, in
our resistance of Satan and in communing with our own
hearts, and may be able, with the good householder,
to bring out of this treasury <I>things new and old,</I> for the
entertainment and edification both of ourselves and
others. If any thing will <I>make a man of God perfect</I> in
this world, will complete both a Christian and a minister,
and <I>thoroughly furnish him for every good work,</I>
it must be this.
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+3:17">2 Tim. iii. 17</A>.
It concerns us also to
be <I>mighty in the scriptures,</I> as Apollos was
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+18:24">Acts xviii. 24</A>),
that is, to be thoroughly acquainted with the true
intent and meaning of them, that we may understand
what we read, and may not misinterpret or misapply
it, but by the conduct of the blessed Spirit may be
<I>led into all truth</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+16:13">John xvi. 13</A>),
and may hold it fast <I>in
faith and love,</I> and put every part of scripture to that
use for which it was intended. The letter, either of
law or gospel, profits little without the Spirit. The ministers
of Christ are herein ministers to the Spirit for
the good of the church; their business is to open and apply
the scriptures; thence they must fetch their knowledge,
thence their doctrines, devotions, directions, and
admonitions, and thence their very language and
expression. Expounding the scriptures was the most
usual way of preaching in the first and purest ages of
the church. What have the Levites to do but to teach Jacob the law
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:10">Deut. xxxiii. 10</A>);
not only to read it, but
to <I>give the sense, and cause them to understand the reading?</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+8:8">Neh. viii. 8</A>.
<I>How shall they do this except some
man guide them?</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:31">Acts viii. 31</A>.
As ministers would hardly
be believed without Bibles to back them, so Bibles
would hardly be understood without ministers to explain
them; but if, having both, we perish in ignorance
and unbelief, our blood will be upon our own head.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Being fully persuaded therefore of these things, I conclude
that whatever help is offered to good Christians
in searching the scriptures is real service done to the
glory of God, and to the interests of his kingdom among
men; and it is this that hath drawn me into this undertaking,
which I have gone about in weakness, and
in fear, and in much trembling
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+2:3">1 Cor. ii. 3</A>),
lest I should
be found exercising myself in things to high for me,
and so laudable an undertaking should suffer damage
by an unskilful management. If any desire to know
how so mean and obscure a person as I am, who in
learning, judgment, felicity of expression, and all advantages
for such a service, am <I>less than the least</I> of all
my Master's servants, came to venture upon so great
a work, I can give no other account of it than this: It
has long been my practice, what little time I had to
spare in my study from the constant preparations for
the pulpit, to spend it in drawing up expositions upon
some parts of the New Testament, not so much for my
own use as purely for my entertainment, because
I knew not now to employ my thoughts and time more
to my satisfaction. <I>Trahit sua quemque voluptas--Every
man that studies hath some beloved study, which
is his delight above any other;</I> and this is mine. It
is that learning which it was my happiness from a child
to be trained up in, by my ever honoured father,
whose memory must always be very dear and precious
to me: he often reminded me that a good textuary
is a good divine; and that I should read other books
with this in my eye, that I might be the better able
to understand and apply the scripture. While I was thus
employing myself came out Mr. Burkitt's Exposition,
of the Gospels first, and afterwards of the Act and the
Epistles, which met with very good acceptance among
serious people, and no doubt, by the blessing of God,
will continue to do great service to the church. Soon
after he had finished that work, it pleased God to call
him to his rest, upon which I was urged, by some
of my friends, and was myself inclined, to attempt the
like upon the Old Testament, in the strength of the
grace of Christ. This upon the <I>Pentateuch</I> is humbly
offered as a specimen; if it find favour, and be found
any way useful, it is my present purpose, in dependence
upon divine aids, to go on, so long as God shall
continue my life and health, and as my other work will
permit. Many helps, I know, we have of this kind
in our own language, which we have a great deal of
reason to value, and to be very thankful to God for:
but the scripture is a subject that can never be exhausted.
<I>Semper habet aliquid relegentibus--However
frequently we read it, we shall always meet with something
new.</I> When David had amassed a vast treasure
for the building of the temple, yet saith he to Solomon,
<I>Thou mayest add thereto,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+22:14">1 Chron. xxii. 14</A>.
Such a
treasure is scripture-knowledge; it is still capable of
increase, till we all come to the perfect man. The scripture
is a field or vineyard which finds work for variety
of hands, and about which may be employed a great
<I>diversity of gifts and operations,</I> but all from <I>the same Spirit</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:4,6">1 Cor. xii. 4, 6</A>)
and for the glory of <I>the same Lord.</I>
The learned in the languages and in ancient usages
have been very serviceable to the church (the
blessed occupant of this field), by their curious and
elaborate searches into its various products, their anatomies
of its plants, and the entertaining lectures they
have read upon them. The philology of the critics
has been of much more advantage to religion, and lent
more light to sacred truth, than the philosophy of the
school-divines. The learned also in the arts of war
have done great service in defending this garden of
the Lord against the violent attacks of the powers of
darkness, success fully pleading the cause of the sacred
writings against the spiteful cavils of atheists, deists,
and the profane scoffers of these latter days. Such as
these stand in the posts of honour, and their praise is in
all the churches: yet the labours of the vine-dressers
and the husbandmen
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+25:12">2 Kings xxv. 12</A>),
though they are
the poor of the land who till this ground, and gather
in the fruits of it, are no less necessary in their place,
and beneficial to the household of God, that out of
these precious fruits every one may have his <I>portion of
meat in due season.</I> These are the labours to which,
according to my ability, I have here set my hand. And
as the plain and practical expositors would not, for
a world, say of the learned critics, <I>There is no
need of them; </I> so, it is hoped, those eyes and heads will not
say to the hands and feet, <I>There is no need of you,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:21">1 Cor. xii. 21</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The learned have of late received very great advantage
in their searches into this part of holy writ, and
the books that follow (and still hope for more), by the
excellent and most valuable labours of that great and
good man bishop <I>Patrick,</I> whom, for vast reading, solid
judgment, and a most happy application to these
best of studies, even in his advanced years and honours,
succeeding ages no doubt will rank among the first
three of commentators, and bless God for him. Mr. <I>Pool's</I>
English Annotations (which, having had so many
impressions, we may suppose, have got into most hands)
are of admirable use, especially for the explaining
of scripture-phrases, opening the sense, referring to
parallel scriptures, and the clearing of difficulties that
occur. I have therefore all along been brief upon that
which is there most largely discussed, and have industriously
declined, as much as I could, what is to be
found there; for I would not <I>actum agere--do what
is done;</I> nor (if I may be allowed to borrow the apostle's
words) <I>boast of things made ready to our hand,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+10:16">2 Cor. x. 16</A>.
These and other annotations which are
referred to the particular words and clauses they are
designed to explain are most easy to be consulted upon
occasion; but the exposition which (like this) is put
into a continued discourse, digested under proper heads,
is much more easy and ready to be read through
for one's own or others' instruction. And, I think, the
observing of the connection of each chapter (if there
be occasion) with that which goes before, and the general
scope of it, with the thread of the history or discourse,
and the collecting of the several parts of it, to
be seen at one view, will contribute very much to
the understanding of it, and will give the mind abundant
satisfaction in the general intention, though there
may be here and there a difficult word or expression
which the best critics cannot easily account for. This,
therefore, I have here attempted. But we are concerned
not only to understand what we read, but to improve
it to some good purpose, and, in order thereunto, to be
affected with it, and to receive the impressions of
it. The word of God is designed to be not only a <I>light
to our eyes,</I> the entertaining subject of our contemplation,
but a <I>light to our feet</I> and a <I>lamp to our paths</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:105">Ps. cxix. 105</A>),
to direct us in the way of our duty,
and to prevent our turning aside into any by-way: we
must therefore, in searching the scriptures, enquire,
not only <I>What is this?</I> but, <I>What is this to us?</I> What use
may we make of it? How may we accommodate
it to some of the purposes of that divine and heavenly
life which, by the grace of God, we are resolved to
live? Enquiries of this kind I have here aimed to answer.
When the stone is rolled from the well's mouth
by a critical explication of the text, still there are those
who would both drink themselves and water their
flocks? but they complain that the <I>well is deep,</I> and
<I>they have nothing to draw with;</I> how then shall they
<I>come by this living water?</I> Some such may, perhaps,
find a bucket here, or water drawn to their hands; and
pleased enough shall I be with this office of the Gibeonites,
to <I>draw water for the congregation of the Lord</I>
out of these wells of salvation.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
That which I aim at in the exposition is to give what
I thought the genuine sense, and to make it as plain
as I could to ordinary capacities, not troubling my readers
with the different sentiments of expositors, which
would have been to transcribe Mr. <I>Pool's</I> Latin Synopsis,
where this is done abundantly to our satisfaction
and advantage. As to the practical observations, I have
not obliged myself to raise doctrines out of every
verse or paragraph, but only have endeavoured to mix
with the exposition such hints or remarks as I thought
profitable <I>for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness,</I> aiming in all to promote
practical godliness, and carefully avoiding matters of
doubtful disputation and strifes of words. It is only the
prevalency of the power of religion in the hearts and lives
of Christians that will redress our grievances, and
turn our wilderness into a fruitful field. And since our
Lord Jesus Christ is the true <I>treasure hidden in the
field</I> of the Old Testament, and was the <I>Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world,</I> I have been careful
to observe what Moses wrote of him, to which he himself
oft appealed. In the writings of the prophets we
meet with more of the plain and express promises of
the Messiah, and the grace of the gospel; but here,
in the books of Moses, we find more of the types, both
real and personal figures of him that was to come--shadows,
of which the substance is Christ,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+5:14">Rom. v. 14</A>.
Those to whom <I>to live is Christ</I> will find in these
that which is very instructive and affecting, and which
will give great assistance to their faith, and love, and
holy joy. This, in a particular manner, we search the
scriptures for--to find what they testify of Christ and
eternal life,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+5:39">John v. 39</A>.
Nor is it any objection against the
application of the ceremonial institutions to Christ
and his grace that those to whom they were given could
not discern this sense or use of them; but it is rather
a reason why we should be very thankful that the veil
which was upon their minds in the reading of the
Old Testament is <I>done away in Christ,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+3:13,14,18">2 Cor. iii. 13, 14, 18</A>.
Though they then <I>could not stedfastly look to the
end of that which is abolished,</I> it does not therefore
follow but that we who are happily furnished with a
key to these mysteries may in them, <I>as in a glass, behold
the glory of the Lord Jesus.</I> And yet, perhaps, the
pious Jews saw more of the gospel in their ritual than
we think they did; they had at least a general expectation
of <I>good things to come,</I> by faith in the promises
made to the fathers, as we have of the happiness
of heaven, though they could not of that world to come,
any more than we can of this, form any distinct
or certain idea. Our conceptions of the future state, perhaps,
are as dark and confused, as short of the truth
and as wide from it, as theirs then were of the kingdom
of the Messiah: but God requires faith only according
to the revelation he gives. They then were accountable
for no more light than they had; and we now are
accountable for that greater light which we have in
the gospel, by the help of which we may find much
more of Christ in the Old Testament than they could.
If any think our observations sometimes take rise from
that which to them seems too minute, let them remember
that maxim of the Rabbin, <I>Non est in lege vel
una litera &agrave; qu&acirc; non pendent magni montes--The
law contains not a letter but what bears the weight of
mountains.</I> We are sure there is not an idle word in
the Bible. I would desire the reader not only to read
the text entire, before he reads the exposition, but, as
the several verses are referred to in the exposition,
to cast his eye upon them again, and then he will the
better understand what he reads. And, if he have leisure,
he will find it of use to him to turn to the scriptures
which are sometimes only referred to for brevity's
sake, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
It is the declared purpose of the Eternal Mind, in all
the operations both of providence and grace, to <I>magnify
the law and to make it honourable</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+42:21">Isa. xlii. 21</A>),
nay to <I>magnify his word above all his name</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+138:2">Ps. cxxxviii. 2</A>),
so that when we pray, <I>Father, glorify thy name,</I> we mean
this, among other things, Father, magnify the holy
Scriptures; and to that prayer, made in faith, we may
be sure of that answer which was given to our blessed
Saviour when he prayed it, with particular respect to
the fulfilling of the scriptures in his own sufferings,
<I>I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it yet again,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+12:28">John xii. 28</A>.
To this great design I humbly desire to
be some way serviceable, in the strength of that grace
by which I am what I am, hoping that what may
help to make the reading of the scripture more easy,
pleasant, and profitable, will be graciously accepted
by him that smiled on the widow's two mites cast into
the treasury, as an intention to magnify it and make
it honourable; and if I can but gain that point, in any
measure, with some, I shall think my endeavours abundantly
recompensed, however, by others, I and my
performances may be vilified and made contemptible.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I have now nothing more to add than to recommend
myself to the prayers of my friends, and them to
the grace of the Lord Jesus; and so rest an unworthy
dependent upon that grace, and, through that, an expectant
of the <I>glory to be revealed.</I></P>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
<TR><TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=+1>M. H. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </FONT></TD></TR>
<TR><TD> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <I>Chester,</I>
<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <I>October 2, 1706.</I></TD></TR>
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