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GENERAL CONTENTS.

Map of Palestine at the Commencement of the Christian Æra, illustrating the Gospel History.

The Gospel by Matthew.

The Gospel by Mark.

Map, showing a Comparative View of the Persian and Roman Empires.

The Gospel by John.

PREFACE.

THIS Edition of the Scriptures is a FAC-SIMILE REPRINT, WITH LARGER TYPES, of the “ENGLISH VERSION of BAGSTER'S POLYGLOT BIBLE." It corresponds page for page, and line for line, with the two Pocket Editions.

All who have been accustomed to the regular use of any particular edition of the Scriptures, must be aware how much their ability to refer from one passage to another depends on their remembrance of the position of the passages upon the particular parts of the pages where they occur; so that while they are able to turn with ease to the passage they wish to consult in their own Bibles, they are often quite at a loss in searching for the same truths in a Bible with which they are not familiar. This of course depends upon the local memory induced by the constant recurrence, during the daily reading, of the same passages upon the same pages and parts of the pages.

It is accordingly found by those whose failing sight obliges them to relinquish the use of their smaller Pocket Bible for a larger type, that the different arrangement of the matter in the newly adopted copy produces very considerable inconvenience, and materially hinders their accustomed enjoyment of the Sacred Word.

A Bible, therefore, that might supersede the smaller Pocket Companion, without destroying the valuable assistance of this local memory, and without the inconvenience of a new form and arrangement, has been long a desideratum.

Such a Bible is the present Edition.

It has been prepared more expressly for the readers of the "ENGLISH VERSION of BAGSTER'S POLYGLOT BIBLE," with both sizes of which it exactly corresponds, as well as with the various other Languages of the Series: and the numerous Bible readers accustomed to the use of either of these editions may now obtain the occasional relief of a larger print, or permanently lay aside their well remembered pages, without the least confusion or inconvenience, or the fear of losing the advantage of their previous research and familiarity with the Text.

The present Volume is, as it were, simply a magnified picture of the smaller editions.

A UNIFORM SERIES of Bibles is thus furnished by the publication of this edition; and those who have not hitherto become very accustomed to other editions, may with much advantage adopt either of the smaller copies for present use, secure of another similar copy with type of increased size, to suit the varying powers of the sight throughout the whole period of life.

The Contents of this Edition are too well known to require lengthened description. The TEXT is that of the Authorised Version, printed with the utmost attainable accuracy. The REFERENCES are original in plan and arrangement. They have been selected with laborious care,―to exhibit the harmony of the sacred writers on the subjects of which they treat: to show the connection of all the Divine attributes, and the holy uniformity of God in His government, both of His people and the world: to help those who are seeking the way of salvation, by pointing out the repeated invitations of mercy: to exhibit the constant reference of all the sacred writers to our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom give all the prophets witness: to connect the threatenings of God's holy law with sin, and with His infinite mercy in Christ: to demonstrate the concurrence of the Old and New Testaments, and the relation of the types and prophecies with their fulfilment: and to manifest respecting the gracious and indispensable operations of the Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier, that as He

PREFACE.

gave by inspiration the Scriptures for our use, so to Him are we indebted for all we have learned or may learn of them.

"It is incredible to any one who has not made the experiment, what a proficiency may be made in that knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation, by studying the Scriptures with reference to the parallel passages without any other Commentary, or Exposition, than what the different parts of the Sacred Volume mutually furnish for each other. Let the most illiterate Christian study them in this manner, and let him never cease to pray for the illumination of that Spirit by whom these books were dictated, and the whole compass of abstruse philosophy and recondite history shall furnish no argument with which the perverse will of man shall be able to shake this learned Christian's faith."Bishop Horsley.

The Chronology, placed at the top of each column of references, applies to the events contained in the text at the beginning of each page.

The Marginal Readings are all those which usually accompany the largest editions of the authorised Version.

The Tables of Weights, Measures, etc., and the account of the Political and other divisions of the Jews, are from the best authorities.

The Comparative Chronological arrangement of the contemporaneous history of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel will, it is hoped, materially decrease the difficulty of understanding this portion of the Scriptures.

The HISTORY of the period between the close of the Old Testament Canon and the times of the New Testament, will furnish much desirable information of the political state of Judea during the life of our Lord and his Apostles.

The TABULAR HARMONY of the Four Gospel Narratives, and the Synopsis of the Itinerary of the Israelites according to the latest investigations, etc. will afford some assistance to the student.

The COMPARATIVE VIEW of the QUOTATIONS from the Old Testament by the New Testament writers, is entirely new, and, it is believed, is more complete than any other similar list. It may be remarked, in connection with these quotations, and to illustrate the value of such a help as is here offered, that in every case in which we can establish an undoubted reference of the Spirit of God in the New Testament to previous revelation in the Old Testament, we have, as it were, a nucleus of infallible interpretation around which to accumulate further light, and by which to estimate the soundness of our own understanding of the Scriptures.

The Maps have been prepared with the utmost care, both as regards their geographical accuracy and their artistic execution, and contain the newest information.

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THE JEWISH AND OTHER SECTS AND FACTIONS

MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES,

ABRIDGED FROM THE "COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE."

THE PHARISEES most probably derived their name

פרישין,perushim, in the Chaldee dialect (פרושים from

perishin, and D, perishaya, and in Syriac, la,;9, pherishai, which signifies persons who are separated from others; which name they assumed because they pretended to a more than ordinary sanctity, and strictness in religious observances. (Acts chap. xxvi. 5.) In the time of our Saviour, it would appear that the great mass of the common people, attracted by their exterior sanctity, their zeal, and their religious mysteries, were Pharisees. The leading distinction of character in this sect, however, arose from their holding the traditions of the elders; which they not only set upon an equal footing with the law of God, but, in many cases, explained away the latter by the former.

The SADDUCEEs most probably derive their name from Sadok, a pupil of Antigonus Sochæus, president of the great Sanhedrin about 260 years before Christ, who inculcated upon his scholars the duty of serving God out of pure love to him, and not in a servile manner, under the fear of punishment, or with the hope of reward. Sadok, misunderstanding this spiritual doctrine, concluded that there was no future state of rewards and punishments; and accordingly taught and propagated that error after his master's death. Hence they held, that "there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit" (Mat. xxii. 23. Ac. xxiii. 8), and that the soul perishes with the body at death: they rejected all traditions, adhering strictly to the letter of Scripture, but preferring the books of Moses; and they denied the superintending providence of God, and held that man enjoyed the most ample freedom of action, having the absolute power of doing either good or evil as he thought proper, and having his prosperity or adversity placed within his own control, being respectively the effects of his wisdom or folly.

The ESSENES probably derive their name from the Syriac, eso, in , eso, in Pael, asi, to heal or cure; for PHILO calls those who lived a contemplative life @epaTEντaι, Physicians, not because they studied physic, but because they applied themselves to the cure of the diseases of the soul. These Therapeuta were exceedingly abstemious in their diet, their food being plain and coarse, and their drink water. Their houses were mean; their clothes made of undyed wool, which they never changed till worn out; and they neglected all bodily ornaments, and would not so much as anoint themselves with oil. They lived in societies, and had all their goods in common; they were very exemplary in their morals; and were most rigid in their observance of the sabbath. They held, among other tenets, the immortality of the soul, (though they denied the resurrection,) the existence of angels, and a future state of rewards and punishments; and believed every thing to be ordered by an eternal fatality, or chain of causes.

The STOICS were the followers of Zeno, and held that all human affairs were governed by fate: they denied the resurrection of the body, and the immortality of the soul.

The EPICUREANS were the followers of Epicurus; who acknowledged no gods except in name, and denied that

they exercised any government over the world; and held that the chief good consisted in the gratification of the appetites. They also denied the resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul.

OF THE CHIEF POLITICAL FACTIONS

AMONG THE JEWS.

The SAMARITANS, so called from the country they inhabited, which derived its name from the city of Samaria, were originally heathens, of various nations, to whom the king of Assyria gave the cities and lands of the Israelites after their captivity. When they first settled in the country, they practised only the idolatrous rites of the several nations whence they came; but afterwards they incorporated the worship of the true God with the several customs and modes of worship to which they had been accustomed; and while Jehovah was feared, because of his supposed influence in the land, all the other gods of the Babylonians, Cuthites, Hamathites, Avites, and Sepharvites, were paid divine honours. (2 Ki. xvii. 24, &c.) This monstrous mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God continued till after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity.

The HERODIANS, rendered in the Syriac version,

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(i. e. the domestics) of Herod," most probably derived their name from Herod the Great; and were distinguished from the other Jews by concurring with Herod's scheme of subjecting himself and his dominions to the Romans; and likewise by complying with him in many heathen practices, such as erecting temples with images for idolatrous worship, building theatres, and instituting pagan games, and placing a golden eagle over the gate of the temple of Jehovah. This symbolising with idolatry, upon views of interest and worldly policy, was probably the leaven of Herod, against which our Lord cautioned his disciples. (Mar. viii. 15.) It is also probable, that the Herodians, in their doctrinal tenets, were chiefly of the sect of the Sadducees, who were the most indifferent to religion of any of the Jews; for that which is called by one evangelist, "the leaven of Herod," (Mar. viii. 15,) is by another styled "the leaven of the Sadducees." (Mat. xvi. 6.)

The GALILEANS, or Gaulonites, were a faction raised up and headed by Judas the Galilean, or Gaulonite, against the Roman government, on occasion of the tax which Augustus levied in Judea, when he reduced it to the form of a Roman province. He exhorted them to shake off this yoke, telling them that tribute was due to God alone, and consequently should not be paid to the Romans; and that religious liberty, and the authority of the divine laws, were to be defended by force of arms.

The ZEALOTS, of which we read so much in JOSEPHUS'S account of the Jewish war, if not the followers of Judas, closely resembled them in their principles and practices.

The SICARII, Zikapiot, rendered murderers, in Ac. xxi. 38, were properly assassins, who derived their name from their using poniards like the Roman sica, which they concealed under their garments, and with which they privately stabbed the objects of their malice.

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MEASURES, WEIGHTS,
WEIGHTS, AND COINS,

MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES.

I. THE names of the smaller Measures of length among the Hebrews have been borrowed from some of the members of the human body, as digit, handbreadth, or palm, span, foot, cubit. The following are the measures of length mentioned in Scripture:

1. The digit, or fingerbreadth, Y, etzba, is said to contain the breadth of six barleycorns, where thickest, and equal to 0.912 inch, or rather more than threefourths of an inch.

2. The handbreadth, or palm, n, tophach, is the width of a man's four fingers laid flat, i. e. four digits, or rather more than 34 inches.

3. The span, П, zereth, is the measure from the thumb to the little finger expanded, equal to three palms, or about 10 inches.

4. The cubit, DX, ammah, is the measure of a man's arm, from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger, equal to about 1 foot 8 inches; though some compute it at 1 foot 9 inches, and others at 1 foot 6 inches, or even less.

5. The fathom, apyvia, is the distance between the hands stretched out, including the breast, equal to four cubits, or about 6 feet 8 inches.

6. The reed, p, kaneh, was six cubits and a handbreadth, or about 10 feet 10 inches.

7. The stadium, σradiov, contained 400 cubits, or about 145 paces, nearly equal to a furlong, or the eighth part of an English mile.

8. A mile, uλiov, so called from mille, a thousand, contained in the East 10 stadia, or about one-fifth more than an English mile.

II. Of Measures of capacity, some of which were for liquids, and some for things dry, the following are mentioned in Scripture:

1. The log,, the smallest measure for liquids, was one-fourth of a cab, and one-seventy-second of an ephah, about three-fourths of a pint.

2. The cab, p, kaßos, was one-sixth of a seah, and contained 24 eggs, or 33 pints English.

3. The omer, y, was a measure for things dry (Ex. xvi. 36), about 64 pints English.

4. The hin, 1, was a measure of liquids (Ex. xxix. 40; xxx. 24, &c.), equal to two Attic choas, i. e. one gallon and a half English.

5. The seah, ND, or σarov, was a measure of things dry, containing of an ephah, and equal to about two gallons and a half English.

6. The ephah, 15, was a measure of dry things, containing three sæta, or seahs, equal to about 7 gallons and a half English.

7. The bath, n, or Baros (Lu. xvi. 6), was a measure of liquids, of the same capacity as the ephah, "the tenth part of an homer" (Ęze. xlv. 14).

8. The lethech,, was a measure of dry things, and contained fifteen seahs, as EPIPHANIUS states, equal to 16 pecks English.

9. The homer, or chomer,, a measure of dry things, contained ten ephahs (Eze. xlv. 11), equal to 32 pecks, 1 pint, English.

10. The cor,, or κopos, was a measure both for liquids and solids, of the same capacity as the homer (Eze. xlv. 14. Lu. xvi. 7).

BESIDES these measures, peculiar to the Hebrews, there are three others mentioned in the New Testament, belonging to other nations.

1. The sextarius, or georns, rendered a pot (Mar. vii.

4), was a Roman measure of liquids, equal to about a pint and a half English.

2. The chanix, xouis, rendered a measure (Re. vi. 6), was a Grecian measure of capacity, about a pint and a half, corn-measure.

3. The metretes, μerpηrns, rendered firkin (Jno. ii. 6), is supposed to be equal to the Hebrew bath, i. e. about seven gallons and a half.

III. As the Hebrew Coins were originally Weights, and as it is by their respective weight that their value is ascertained, it will be necessary to treat of both at

once.

1. The gerah,, rendered a piece of money, was onetwentieth of a shekel (Ex. xxx. .13), weighing nearly 11 grains, in value about ltd.

2. The beka, yp, was a half shekel (Ge. xxiv. 22. Ex. xxxviii. 26), weighing about 4 dwt. 133 grains, in value rather more than 1s. 1d.

3. The shekel, p, according to which all the other weights and coins are computed, has been variously estimated at from 218 grains and four-sevenths to 273 grains and three-fifths; and consequently in value from 28.3d. to 38. Bp. CUMBERLAND states that the weight of the shekel was half a Roman ounce, or 219 grains, Troy silver to be five shillings an ounce, its value in English weight; according to which, supposing the value of money must be 28. 3d., for which fraction, we may, for convenience in computation, use, the difference being only little more than one-fifth of a farthing.

4. The maneh, p, or mina, in gold was equal in weight to 100 shekels (comp. 1 Ki. x. 17 with 2 Ch. ix. 17), or about 3lb. 9 oz. 1 dwt. 3 grains; and consequently, reckoning gold at £4 an ounce, was in value rather more than 180. But, in silver, it weighed only 60 shekels (Eze. xlv. 12), or 2lb. 3 oz. 7 dwt. 12 grains; and as a coin it was only equal to 50 shekels, or about £5 148.

5. The talent,, kikkar, weighed 3000 shekels, or 114 lb. 15 dwt.; and was in value about £342 38. 9d.

BESIDES these coins, proper to the Hebrew nation, the following Greek and Roman coins are mentioned in the New Testament:

1. The mite, or λETTоv, called by the later Jews Ina, peruta, the eighth, i. e. of an assarium, was equal to half a quadrans (Mar. xi. 42), or about three-eighths of a farthing.

2. The farthing, кodpavτns, or quadrans, so called from quatuor, four, was a Roman brass coin, in value about three-fourths of a farthing.

3. The assarium, aoσapiov, or as, rendered a farthing (Mat. x. 29), and called by the Rabbins D', isor, who say that it contained eight mites, was equal to the tenth part of a denarius, about 3 farthings and one-tenth of our money.

4. The penny, or denarius, dŋvaptov, so called because in ancient times it consisted denis assibus, of ten asses, was a Roman silver coin, equal to about 7 d. of our money.

5. The drachma, Spaxun, of Attica, was equal in value to the Roman denarius (Lu. xv. 8).

6. The didrachma, dispaxμov, or double drachm, rendered by our translators tribute money (Mat. xvii. 24), was consequently equal to 18. 3 d.

7. The stater, σTarp, a Grecian coin, was, as appears from Mat. xvii. 27, equal in value to two didrachmas, or four Attic drachms, and consequently to 28. 7d.

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