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4. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the similitude of Melchizedec.'

3. Jacob likewise, and Esau, were typical persons; for their struggling together in their mother's womb prefigured the wars which the nations who were to descend from them were to wage with each other: and Jacob's taking hold of Esau's heel in their birth, prefigured that the descendants of Jacob would subdue the descendants of Esau. So God told Rebecca, Gen. xxv. 23. Two nations are in thy womb; and two kinds of people shall be separated from thy bowels: and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.'

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4. Joshua, who was the high-priest of the Jews during the rebuilding of the temple, was an eminently typical person: For he prefigured our great high-priest Christ, as we learn from the vision in which the prophet Zechariah, chap. iii. 3. saw him standing before the angel of the Lord in filthy garments, to represent the iniquity of the many which was to be laid on Christ. These filthy garments the angel commanded to be taken away from him; and said, ver. 4. Behold I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. 5. And I said, let them set a fair mitre upon his head: So they set a fair mitre upon his head,' such as the high-priests wore when they officiated, and clothed him with garments.' Then, to show the emblematical meaning of the vision, the angel of the Lord said, ver. 8. Hear now, O Joshua, the highpriest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee, for they are men of wonder,' typical men. So the phrase signifies, Isa. viii. 18. For behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.' Wherefore, Joshua in his character as high-priest, and his fellows the high-priests who preceded him, were all of them types, or prefigurations, of God's servant the Branch, in his character as high-priest; which also the author of the epistle to the Hebrews hath proved at great length.-Farther, to shew still more clearly that Joshua was a type of Christ, the prophet was ordered by God to take silver and gold and make crowns, and to set them on the head of Joshua in the house of Josiah, and to say to him, chap. vi. 12. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the Branch: He shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord;-and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.' But the man whose name is the Branch, and who is here foretold to grow up out of his place, was, according to Isaiah, to be a descendant of Jesse. Chap xi. 1. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.' Wherefore, Joshua being a descendant of Aaron, was not the person whom Isaiah foretold under the idea of a Branch growing out of the roots of Jesse; consequently, when God ordered the prophet to say to Joshua and the witnesses, after putting the crowns on Joshua's head, Behold the man whose name is the Branch, his meaning certainly was, that Joshua was a type of the man whose name is the Branch, in his two offices of a king and a priest, and as the builder of the true temple of the Lord. Accordingly, that this symbolical transaction might be remembered, and that Joshua in after ages might be known to have been a type and a pledge of the coming of the Man whose name is the Branch, the two crowns which the prophet had put on Joshua's head, as symbols of the two offices in which he was a type of Christ, were, by the command of God, delivered to the witnesses, to be laid up in the temple as a memorial, ver. 14.

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If, because Zerubbabel at this time was the prince of the Jews, any one suspects that he, and not Joshua, was called the man whose name is the Branch, he ought to

consider, that of the man whose name is the Branch it is said, ver. 13. not only 'that he shall build the temple of the Lord, and shall sit and rule upon his throne,' but that he shall be a priest upon his throne;' for this could not be said of Zerubbabel, who was not a descendant of Aaron. We may therefore conclude, that the things said and done to Joshua by the prophet Zechariah, were said and done to him as a type of Christ.

5. Of typical persons who were not declared to be such, till the persons of whom they were types appeared, Adam deserves to be first mentioned. For, in respect of his being the author of sin and death to all his posterity, he is said by the apostle, Rom. v. 14. to be by contrast TUTOS, the type or figure of him (Christ) who was to come,' for the purpose of being the author of righteousness and life to mankind. See Rom. v. 14. notes. Hence Christ is called, 1 Cor. xv. 45. the last Adam.— Adam was likewise a type of Christ in this respect, that Eve, who was an image of the church, was formed of a rib taken from Adam's side while he was in a deep sleep; for this transaction prefigured the formation of the church, the Lamb's wife, by the breaking of Christ's side on the cross, while he slept the sleep of death, as the prophet insinuateth, Eph. v. 32. See the note on that

verse.

6. Of persons who in their natural characters and fortunes were types of future persons and events, Abraham's wives and sons are remarkable examples. His wives, Hagar and Sarah, were types of the two covenants, by which men become the people of God; and his sons Ishmael and Isaac were, in their characters and state, types of the people of God under these covenants. So the apostle Paul assures us, Gal. iv. 22. It is written that Abraham had two sons; one by the bond-maid, and one by the free woman. 23. But he, verily, who was born of the bond-maid, was begotten according to the flesh; but he who was born of the free woman was through the promise. 24. Which things are an allegory; for these women are the two covenants: The one, verily, from Mount Sinai, bringing forth children unto bondage, which is Hagar. 25. For the name Agar denotes Mount Sinai in Arabia; and she answereth to the present Jerusalem, and is in bondage with her children. 26. But the Jerusalem above is the free woman, who is the mother of us all.' See Gal. iv. 24. notes 1, 2. and ver. 25. notes, where, and in the commentary, this allegory is explained.

7. The third typical person I shall mention is David, who was raised by God to the government of the natural seed of Abraham, that in his office as their king, and in his wars against their enemies, he might be a type of Christ the Ruler and Saviour of Abraham's spiritual seed. This appears from what the angel who announced our Lord's birth said to his mother, Luke i. 32. The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall rule over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.' For in what sense could our Lord's spiritual dominion be called the kingdom of his father David, unless David's kingdom was a type thereof? In fact, the power and success with which David governed the natural seed, and subdued the neighbouring heathen nations, their enemies, was a fit prefiguration of the power and success with which Christ rules the spiritual seed, and subdues their enemics.-That David was a type of Christ appears from this also, that the prophets who foretold to the Israelites the coming of Christ, named him David, and David their king: by a common metonomy giving the name of the type to the person typified. See Jer. xxx. 9. Ezek. xxxiv. 23. xxxvii. 24. Hosea iii. 4, 5. and Isa. lv. 3. Acts xiii. 34. particularly the last mentioned passage, where the benefits which the spiritual seed derive from

the government of Christ, and in particular their safety from their enemies, are termed, The sure mercies of David. In short, unless David in his government of the natural seed was a type of Christ in his government of the spiritual seed, no just interpretation can be given of the divine revelations and promises which were made to him, and which are recorded by Ethan, Psal. lxxxix. 19--37. Whereas, if these things are spoken to David as an image or type of Christ, the whole is plain, and hath received a complete accomplishment.

8. The fourth typical person whose history is given in scripture is Solomon, who, in his ruling the natural seed, and in his building the temple, prefigured Christ the ruler of the spiritual Israel, and the builder of the Christian church, the great temple of God which in its perfect form will subsist in the heavenly country. For as David's government was so ordered by God as to be a striking representation of the powerful government which Christ now exercises, for protecting his people and subduing their enemies, so God raised up Solomon a peaceful king, and made Israel enjoy peace and prosperity under his government, and appointed him to build the temple of God at Jerusalem, 1 Chron. xxii. 9, 10. to prefigure the peace and happiness which the spiritual Israel shall enjoy after all their enemies are completely destroyed, and they themselves are introduced into the heavenly country, and formed into one great church or temple for the worship of God. This appears from Psal. lxxii. where Solomon's character and actions as a king are delineated, and the happy effects of his government are described. For in that Psalm things are spoken of him which do not be long to him, unless as a type of Christ; particularly ver. 5. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.'-Ver. 11. All kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him. 12. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him who hath no helper. 14. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence; and precious shall their blood be in his sight.-Ver. 17. His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed.'-This last circumstance indisputably proves Solomon to have been a type of Christ, for it was one of these distinguishing characters of Christ, Abraham's seed, that in him all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.'--Moreover, Psal. xlv. cannot be interpreted of Solomon, unless on the supposition that he was a type of Christ for in his natural character it could not be said to Solomon, ver. 6. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of rectitude. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness; therefore, O God, thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy associates.' See Heb. i. 8.

note 1.

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9. The fifth allegorical or typical person spoken of in scripture, is the son of the prophetess, whose birth was foretold Isa. vii. 14. The Lord himself shall give you a sign, Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.'-B. Lowth says this passage should be translated in the following manner: Behold this virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel: Butter and honey shall he eat when he shall know to refuse evil and choose good. For before this child shall know to refuse evil and choose good, the land shall be desolate, by whose two kings thou art distressed.' On Isaiah, p. 63. Lowth adds, "Harmer has clearly shewn, that these articles of food (butter and honey) are deli

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cacies in the east, and as such denote a state of plenty. See also Josh. v. 6. They therefore naturally express the plenty of the country, as a mark of peace restored to it." And in confirmation of his opinion he cites Jarchi, "Butyrum et mel comedet infans iste, quoniam terra nostra plena erit omnis boni." He then proceeds thus, p. 64.: " Agreeably to the observations communicated by the learned person above mentioned, (Harmer), which perfectly well explain the historical sense of this much disputed passage, not excluding a higher secondary sense, the obvious and literal meaning of the prophecy is this, That within the time that a young woman, now a virgin, should conceive and bring forth a child, and that child should arrive at such an age as to distinguish between good and evil, that is, within a few years, (compare viii. 4.), the enemies of Judah should be destroyed." And to shew that this prophecy actually hath a higher secondary meaning, that learned expositor reasons as follows: "But the prophecy is introduced in so solemn a manner, the sign is so marked, as a sign selected and given by God himself, after Ahaz had rejected the offer of any sign of his own choosing out of the whole compass of nature; the terms of the prophecy are so peculiar, and the name of the child so expressive, containing in them much more than the circumstances of the birth of a common child required or even admitted; that we may easily suppose, that, in minds prepared by the general expectation of a great deliverer to spring from the house of David, they raised hopes far beyond what the present occasion suggested, especially when it was found, that in the subsequent prophecy, delivered immediately afterward, this child, called Immanuel, is treated as the Lord and Prince of the land of Judah." (Chap. viii. 8.) To the things mentioned by Lowth, I add, that the account of the character and actions of this child, given Isa. ix. 6. is by no means applicable to the son of the prophetess, unless as a type of the divine person who was to be the deliverer of the people of God. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. 7. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end; upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even for ever: The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.'

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That the prediction of a virgin's conceiving and bearing a son, who was to be called Immanuel, was at that time understood to be a promise of the birth of a great and even a divine person, B. Lowth says, "may be collected with great probability from a passage of Micah, a prophet contemporary with Isaiah, but who began to prophesy after him, and who, as I have already observed, imitated him, and sometimes used his expressions. Micah having delivered that remarkable prophecy which determines the place of the birth of Messiah, the ruler of God's people, whose goings forth have been of old from everlasting,' that it should be Bethlehem Ephrata, adds immediately, that nevertheless in the mean time God would deliver his people into the hands of their enemies: he will give them up, till she who is to bear a child shall bring forth,' Micah v. 3. This obviously and plainly refers to some known prophecy concerning a woman to bring forth a child, and seems much more properly applicable to this passage of Isaiah, than to any other of the same prophet to which some interpreters have applied it. St. Matthew, therefore, in applying this prophecy to the birth of Christ, chap. i. 22, 23. does it merely in accommodating the words of the prophet to a suitable case, not in the pro

phet's view, but takes it in its strictest, clearest, and most important sense, and applies it according to the original design and principal intention of the prophet."

10. The sixth allegorical or typical person mentioned in scripture is the prophet Jonah, whose preservation in the belly of the whale during three days and three nights, and his being after that vomited up alive, Christ himself declares was a type of his own continuance in the grave, and of his subsequent resurrection from the dead: Matt. xii. 39. An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.' Farther, by saying, Luke xi. 30. As Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation,' our Lord insinuated, that as the miraculous preservation of Jonah in the whale's belly, when related to the Ninevites, induced them to give credit to the message which he brought to them from God, so Christ's resurrection from the dead, preached to mankind by his apostles, would induce many to believe on him as the Son of God: wherefore, in both these particulars, Jonah was a type of Christ.

11. Having said thus much concerning persons, who in their natural characters, and actions, and fortunes, are declared to have been types of future persons and events, it remains to speak of events happening to the ancient church and people of God, which by the circumstances wherewith they were accompanied, are shewed to have been typical of greater events than were to happen to the people of God under the gospel dispensation. Now concerning these I have two observations to make. The first is, that the things respecting the ancient people of God, which prefigured the greater things to happen to the people of God under the gospel dispensation, were in some instances foretold before they happened to the ancient people. My second observation is, that the prediction of these figurative events were also predictions of the events which they prefigured. Of this double sense of prophecy various instances might be given: Suffice it, however, to mention one instance only: namely, the deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, and their restoration to the land of Canaan. These, though natural events, prefigured the much greater and more important deliverance of mankind from the captivity of sin, and their introduction into the heavenly Canaan. For, in the writings of the evangelists, passages of the prophecies which foretold the deliverance from Babylon are applied to that greater deliverance. For example, Isa. xl. 2. 3. is said by Matthew, chap. iii. 3. and by our Lord himself, Matt. xi. 10. to have been fulfilled by John Baptist's preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Yet these verses, in their first and literal meaning, evidently relate to the return of the Jews from Babylon for Isaiah, in the end of chap. xxxix. having foretold that all the riches of his palaces, which Hezekiah had from pride shewn to the messengers of the king of Babylon, should be carried away to Babylon, and that his sons should be carried thither captives, and made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon, the prophet in his xlth chapter migitated the severity of that prediction, by foretelling, that whilst the Jews were oppressed with the miseries of their captivity, God would order his prophets who were among them to comfort his people, by assuring them that their captivity would at length come to an end; because, considering their sufferings as a sufficient punishment for their sins as a nation, he would pardon and restore them to their own land, ver. 2. 'Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is

pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord's hands double for all her sins.' The people in Babylon being thus assured that they were to be brought back to Judea, "the first thought," as B. Lowth observes, "which would occur to the captives, would be the difficulty and danger of their passing through the deserts of Arabia, where the nearest way from Babylon to Jerusalem lay." Wherefore the prophets in Babylon, to remove the fears of the people, were ordered to assure them, that by whatever road they should return, it would be made commodious for their safe passage. And this assurance the prophets would give them in language taken from the custom of the eastern princes, who, when they were about to march with their armies through difficult roads, sent pioneers before them to widen the narrow passes, to fill up the hollows, to level the heights, and to smooth the rough ways through which they were to march :-Ver. 3. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert an highway for our God. 4. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.' By these images the prophets intimated, that God was to march from Babylon at the head of his people, to protect them during their journey and to bring them safely into Judea. These things are more plainly expressed, Isa. lii. 12. Ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rere-ward."

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But although this whole prophecy, in its first and literal meaning, evidently related to the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, the application of the above cited passage to the preaching of John Baptist by the evangelist Matthew, and by our Lord himself, sheweth plainly, that the prophecies concerning the deliverance of the people of God from the Babylonish captivity, had a second and higher meaning, of which the literal sense was the sign. By foretelling the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, these prophecies foretold the deliverance of mankind from the infinitely worse bondage of sin. Moreover, the command to the prophets in Babylon to comfort God's people, by announcing that their sins were pardoned, and that they were soon to be brought back to their own land, was a command to the ministers of the gospel in every age to comfort penitent believers, by assuring them that their sins shall be pardoned, and that Christ will bring them safely into the heavenly country, (of which the restoration of the Jews to Canaan was an enblem and pledge), because he hath successfully removed all obstacles out of their way. The preparation of the way of the Lord among the Jews by the preaching of John Baptist, was fitly expressed by the voice of one crying in the wilderness. For, as Lowth observes on Isaiah, p. 188. "The Jewish church, to which John was sent to announce the coming of Messiah, was at that time in a barren and desert condition; unfit, without reformation, for the reception of her king. It was in this desert country, destitute at that time of all religious cultivation, in true piety and good works unfruitful, that John was sent to prepare the way of the Lord by preaching repentance."

Many other examples of prophecies might be mentioned in which the return of the Jews from Babylon was foretold, and of which passages are applied, by the writers of the New Testament, to the redemption of mankind from the bondage of sin. But the one explained above may suffice as a proof of what is called the double sense of prophecy, in which the obvious literal sense exhibits a second and higher meaning; so that these prophecies, properly speaking, are true allegories.

Thus it appears, that the high figurative expressions in the Jewish scriptures, which are so offensive to modern

ears and to minute philosophers, were occasioned by the poverty of the first language of mankind: that the boldest of these figures were derived from the ancient picturewriting that the symbols used in that kind of writing gave rise to the dark Egyptian allegory, which was held in great estimation at the time the scriptures were writ ten; and that, in the early ages, mankind, whether barbarous or civilized, were accustomed to express their sentiments and feelings by significant actions as well as by significant sounds. These things considered, it cannot be matter either of surprise or of blame, that the Jewish prophets exhorted the people and foretold future events in such figurative language as to us moderns appears extravagant; or that they delivered their exhortations and predictions in dark allegories, formed on the qualities and circumstances of the symbols by which the persons and nations, concerning whom they prophesied, were denoted in picture-writing or even that, on extraordinary occasions, they foretold things future by what may be called a drama continued through a great length of time, in which they spake and acted things which excited the wonder of the spectators, and led them to inquire what the prophets meant by them, and, when explained, could not but make a strong impression upon their imagination. These things were all done suitably to the genius and manners of the times, and were easily understood by the people for whose instruction they were intended. And with respect to the persons who, in the scriptures, are said in their natural characters and actions to have been types of future persons and events, that method of foretelling things future was of the same kind

with allegorical prophecy; for surely it made no difference whether the allegory was formed on the qualities and actions of a symbol, or on the qualities and actions of a real person. In the symbolical or instituted allegory, it was shewed to be an allegory by the particulars of which it was composed; but in the natural allegory, the characters and events of which it was composed do not shew it to be an allegory: wherefore, before these are considered by us as allegories, or prefigurations of future persons and events, we ought to be assured by some one or other of the prophets or inspired persons who afterwards arose, that they are allegories, otherwise they ought not to be considered as such.-By this rule, the futility of those allegorical meanings which some of the ancient fathers put on many passages of scripture will clearly appear; and the humour of finding mystical senses in the sacred oracles, which some of the modern commentators have too much indulged, will be effectually repressed.

Upon the whole, the observation suggested in the beginning of this Essay may now be repeated with some confidence; namely, That the high figurative language by which the Jewish scriptures are so strongly marked, together with the allegorical and typical senses with which they abound, and the extraordinary things done by the Jewish prophets, instead of being instances of absurdity, and signs of imposture, are proofs of their antiquity and authenticity; and even strong presumptions of the divine original of the revelation contained in these venerable writings.

THE

LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL,

BY WHOM THE GENTILES WERE CONVERTED,

ACCOMPANIED WITH

PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

I OFFER to the Public the history of the Apostle Paul, composed from materials furnished, partly by himself in his epistles, and partly by the evangelist Luke in his book of the Acts. And I do this in the persuasion, that the better we are acquainted with Paul's character and actions, the more will we be disposed to acknowledge his authority as an apostle, and to respect his writings as the oracles of God. This, however, is not the only advantage to be derived from the knowledge of Paul's history: It will establish us in the faith, by showing us in what manner the gospel was preached at the first, both to the Jews and to the Gentiles; what success it met with in the different countries where it was preached; what sufferings the first preachers and the first believers endured for the sake of the gospel; and how amply it was confirmed by the Lord, who gave testimony to the word of his grace, by the signs and wonders which he granted to be wrought by the hands of the apostles, in all the countries where they preached. To these advantages we may add, the use which the knowledge of Paul's history will be of in helping us to understand his writings, which make so considerable a part of the canon of scripture.

CHAP. I.-Paul's Birth and Education; his Persecution of the Disciples of Christ; and his Conversion. PAUL was a Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin, rightly descended from Abraham, the founder of the Israelitish nation; in which respect he was superior to those Jews whose parents had been converted from heathenism. According to the manner of his people, he was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, and had an Hebrew name given him, being called Saul; but afterward he took the name of Paulus or Paul, in compliment to Sergius Paulus the proconsul of Cyprus, whom he converted in his first journey among the Gentiles, Acts xiii. 7,8. Tarsus, the place of Saul's nativity, though not a city of Judea, did honour to such Jews as were born there; for it was the metropolis of Cilicia, and, as a place of education, it excelled Athens and Alexandria, and all the other Greek cities where there were schools of philosophy and of the polite arts. So Strabo tells us, lib. xiv. Saul therefore had reason to boast even of the place of his birth, Acts xxi. 39. I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city.'

Saul's father was a Roman,* (Acts xxii. 28.), which in the provinces was a distinction highly honourable, as it entitled those who possessed it to many valuable privileges and immunities. For which reason it was either purchased with money, or it was bestowed as the reward

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of extraordinary services, Acts xx. 28. His being a Roman in the right of his father, is not the only circumstance which shews that Saul was well born: the care and expense bestowed on his education, is a proof that his family was in opulent circumstances.

As Saul hath termed himself an Hebrew of the Hebrews, we may presume that the language of his family was what they then called the Hebrew. Yet having passed the first years of his life in Tarsus, a Greek city, it is reasonable to believe that he spake the Greek language also, and was even taught to read it. But as to his education in the Greek literature I am not so certain. In his sermons and writings there are traces from which it may be gathered, that he had a general knowledge of the learning, the religion, the manners, and the customs of the Greeks, and that he had read some of their best authors. But whether he got that knowledge at Tarsus, in his younger years, may be doubted. He did not remain there the time that was requisite for acquiring it, and at Jerusalem, where he received the greatest part of his education, he had no opportunity of studying the Greek learning. I am therefore of opinion, that Saul's knowledge of the Greek rhetoric and philosophy was entitle him to the appellation of learned in these matters. not acquired in Tarsus. Neither was it such as could But it was a general knowledge only, acquired by conversing with the Greeks in the different countries where he preached the gospel. In any other manner he cannot well be supposed to have got that knowledge; because, however capable he might be of such studies, he had no leisure, after he became an apostle, to prosecute them. Besides the greatest proficiency in the rhetoric and philosophy of the Greeks would have been of no use to him in the discharge of the apostolic office. For Christ' sent him and the other apostles to preach the gospel, not with the wisdom of words,' lest the conversion of the world might have been attributed to the cloquence, knowledge, and superior abilities of the preachers, and not to the power of God which accompanied their preaching.

But though Saul was no proficient in the rhetoric and philosophy of the Greeks, he was thoroughly instructed in the learning of the Jews. For as soon as the years of his childhood were over, his parents sent him to Jerusalem, to study under Gamaliel, the most celebrated doctor of his time, and who, for his great knowledge and virtue, 'was had in reputation among all the people,' Acts v. 34.— According to Josephus, Ant. xx. the learning of the Jews consisted in the knowledge of their own laws and religion, as contained in their sacred writings. The doctors, therefore, employed themselves in explaining these writ ings to the studious youth, founding their interpretations upon traditions pretended to be handed down from Moses and the prophets. It is true, the doctors in some

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