PREFACE. I HAVE long been convinced, that if any thing can stop that progress of infidelity and vice, which every wise man beholds. with sorrow and fear; that if any thing can allay those animosities, which (unnatural as they are) have so long inflamed us, and pained the heart of every generous Christian; in a word, that if any thing can establish the purity and order, the peace and glory of the church, or spread the triumphs of personal and domestic religion among us, it must be an attentive study of the word of God, and especially of the New Testament; that best of books, which, if read with impartiality and seriousness, under the influences of that blessed Spirit by whom it was inspired, would have the noblest tendency to enlighten and adorn the mind, and not only to touch, but to animate and transform the heart. The station of life in which Divine Providence has placed me, rendered it peculiarly necessary for me to make these sacred oracles my principal study; and having, to my unspeakable delight and advantage, felt much of their energy, I long since determined that it should be the main business of my life as an author to illustrate them, and to lead my fellow christians into a due regard for them, by endeavouring, in as plain and popular a manner as I could, to display their beauty, their spirit, and their use; and I thankfully acknowledge the goodness of God to me, in giving me health and spirits to finish so considerable a part of my design, though I have so much other business on my hands, and have been obliged to execute this in a much more laborious manner than I at first apprehended would have been requisite. The title I have given to the work sufficiently explains its original design, which was chiefly to promote family religion, and to render the reading of the New Testament more pleasant and improving to those that wanted the benefit of a learned education, and had not opportunity or inclination to consult a variety of commentators. And I thought it proper still to retain the title of The Family Expositor, even when I had made some alteration in the plan; because that is still the leading view of the greater part of the work. In pursuit of this, I have given a large paraphrase on the sacred text, well knowing that this is the most agreeable and useful manner of explaining it to common readers, who hardly know how to manage annotations, especially when they are to be read to others. The chief objection against this way is, that when a whole verse, and much more when several verses are taken together (as they frequently are,), it requires a great attention, PREFACE. and in some places some considerable penetration, to trace the exact correspondence between the respective clauses of the text and the paraphrase. There are some performances of this kind in our own language, as well as in others, in which such liberties are taken, that I freely confess that, were it not for the initial references, or opposite column, I should not be able to guess from the paraphrase itself, what the scripture was which it pretended to explain. This must undoubtedly give the greatest advantage for disguise and misrepresentation; and where those glosses are read by themselves without the scriptures (which I know has been the case in some families,) it is really exchanging the proph ets and apostles for modern divines. To prevent this intolerable evil, I have formed my paraphrase so, that it is impossible to read it without the text, having every where interwoven the words of scripture with it, and carefully distinguished them from the rest by the italic character: so that every one may immediately see, not only the particular clause to which any explication answers, but also what are the words of the sacred original, and what merely the sense of a fallible man, who is liable, though in the integrity of his heart, to mislead his readers, and dares not attribute to himself the singular glory of having put off every prejudice, even while he would deliberately and knowingly allow none. I thought it might be some additional improvement to this work, and some entertainment to the more accurate reader, to give the text in a new version; which I have accordingly done from the original with all the care I could. There are so few places in which the general sense will appear different from our received translation, that some will perhaps think this an unnecessary trouble but I can by no means repent it, as it has given me an opportunity of searching more accurately into several beauties of expression which had before escaped me; and of making some alterations, which, though they may not be very material to the edification of men's souls, may yet in some degree do a farther honour to scripture; raising some of those ornaments which were before depressed; and sufficiently proving, that several objections urged against it were entirely of an English growth: ends, which might yet more abundantly be answered by a new version of the Old Testament, which has suffered much more in our translation, as it is natural to suppose it must. I thought it might also conduce to the usefulness of this exposition to digest the history of the four evangelists into one continued series, or, in other words, to throw it into the order of an harmony. By this means each story and discourse is exhibited with all its concurrent circumstances, as recorded by the sacred penmen; frequent repetitions are prevented; and a multitude of seeming oppositions are so evidently reconciled, as to super PREFACE. sede many objections, and render the very mention of them unnecessary. My reader will hardly imagine the pains that this part of the work has cost me, both in examining the order of the several texts, and collating the different accounts in each, in such a manner, that no one clause in any of the evangelists might be omitted, and yet the several passages to be inserted might make one connected sense, and, without any large addition, stand in a due grammatical order. I was the more sensible of this labour, as I laid it down for a maxim to myself, when I entered on this work, that I would study as much as possible to make it an original in all its parts. Accordingly, the first copy of it was drawn up with hardly any other assistance than that of the Greek Testament, which I endeavoured to harmonize, to translate, to paraphrase, and to improve, just as if none had ever attempted any thing of that nature before me. Afterwards I was obliged to compare it with what others had done; and, as may easily be supposed, I found in many instances an agreement, and in many others a difference betwixt them and myself. Where we differed, I endeavoured impartially to examine the reasons on both sides; and where I have perceived myself indebted to any, for leading me into a more just and beautiful version, explication, or disposition, than I had before chosen, I have generally, and, so far as I can recollect, universally, acknowledged it; unless where the hint came from some living friend, where such acknowledgment would not have been agreeable. There are, no doubt, many other instances in which the thoughts that seemed originally my own might be suggested by memory, though I knew not from whence they came; and a thousand more are so obvious, that one would suppose they must occur to every attentive reader, who has any genius and furniture for criticism. To have multiplied references and quotations in such a case, would have been, I think, a very useless and burthensome piece of pedantry, and might (as I fear has been the case with Pfeiffer and Wolfius) have discouraged the reader from consulting any, in so great a crowd. I could not well brook the drudgery of transcribing the works of others, and should scorn the meanness of dressing myself up in borrowed plumes; but if any imagine me a mere compiler, I shall not be greatly concerned at their mistake, but say, with the modest and excellent Mons. Rollin, “If the things themselves are good, it signifies very little whose they are.* The notes are, at the desire of many friends, entirely added to my first scheme; and when I saw so many persons of learning and rank were pleased to encourage my undertaking, I thought it would be no unacceptable expression of my gratitude to them to Que m'importe d'ou il soit, pourva qu'il se trouve utile. Roll. Man. d'enseigy. Vol. I. p. 75. PREFACE. insert several which I should otherwise have omitted. Some of them seemed absolutely necessary to justify the version and paraphrase, in what might seem most peculiar in it: several more refer to the order, and give my reasons for leaving the general track, where I have left it; and for not leaving it much oftener, where some very learned and ingenious authors have taken a great deal of pains (though, I persuade myself, with a very good intent) to lead us out of the way: and as several of these are modern writers, the remarks are such as do not commonly occur. The rest of the notes consist, either of some observations on the beauty and force of various passages, which I do not remember to have seen elsewhere; or of references to, and observations upon, considerable writers, whether they be or be not professed expositors of scripture, who seem in the most masterly manner to examine or to illustrate and confirm the sense I have given. These are generally but very short; because it would have been quite foreign to my purpose, and utterly inconsistent with my scheme, to have formed them into large critical essays: but I hope they may be some guide to young students, who, if they have libraries at hand, are in great danger of being lost in a wood, where, I am sorry to say it, they will find a multitude of prickly and knotty shrubs, and in comparison but few pleasant and fruitful trees. It has appeared to me an office of real and important friendship to gentlemen in this station of life, to endeavour to select for them the most valuable passages which occur in reading, and to remit them thither, not only for the illustration of scripture, but also for their direction in studying the evidences and contents both of natural and revealed religion. This I have done with great care and labour in a pretty large work, which perhaps may be published after my death if surviving friends should judge it proper. To that I have generally referred those citations which relate to polemical divinity; and at present only add that, with regard to these notes, I have endeavoured to render them easy and entertaining, even to an English reader; and for that purpose have cautiously excluded quotations from the learned languages, even where they might have served to illustrate customs referred to, or words to be explained. That deficiency may be abundantly made up by the perusal of Elsner, Albert, Bos, Wolfius, Raphelius, Fortuita Sacra, &c.;* books which As some of the books mentioned above are not very common among us, it may not be improper to insert their titles, viz. Jacobi Elsner. Observat. Sacra, 2 vols. 8vo. Traject. ad Rhen. 1720. Lamberti Bos Exercitat. Philolog. Franek. 1700. Animadvers. Franek. 1715. Observat. Miscell. Leovard. 1731. Raphelii Annotat. Philol. in Nov. Test. ex Xenophonte, Polybio, and Herodoto collectæ, 3 tom. Lunen. 1731. Wolfii Gura Philolog. and Critica, 4to. Hamb. 1725. PREFACE. I cannot but recommend to my young friends, as proper not only to ascertain the sense of a variety of words and phrases, which occur in the apostolic writings, but also to form them to the most useful method of studying the Greek classics; those great masters of solid sense, elegant expression, just lively painting, and masculine eloquence, to the neglect of which I cannot but ascribe that enervate, dissolute, and puerile manner of writing, which is growing so much on the present age, and will probably consign so many of its productions to speedy oblivion. If it be The improvement of each section is entirely of a practical nature, and generally consists of pressing exhortations, and devout meditations, grounded on the general design, or on some particular passages, of the section to which they are annexed. They are all in an evangelical strain, and they could not with any propriety have been otherwise. I am well aware that this manner is not much in the present taste, and I think it at once a sad instance, and cause of our degeneracy that it is not. necessary that I should offer any apology, it must in short be this: I have with all possible attention and impartiality consid ered first the general evidences of the truth of Christianity, and then those of the inspiration of the New Testament, which seems to me inseparably connected with the former; and, on the whole, am in my conscience persuaded of both, and have been con-firmed in that conviction by the most laboured attempts to overthrow them. It seems a necessary consequence of this convic tion (and I am astonished it should not be more generally attended to,) that we are with the humblest submission of mind to form our religious notions on this plan, and to give up the most darling maxims which will not bear the test of it. I should think an impartial reader must immediately see, and every judicious critic, be daily more confirmed in it, that the New Testament teaches us to conceive of Christ, not as a generous benefactor only, who, having performed some actions of heroic virtue and benevolence, is now retired from all intercourse with our world, so that we have no more to do with him than to preserve a grateful remembrance of his character and favours; but that he is to be considered as an everliving and everpresent friend, with whom we are to maintain a daily commerce by faith and prayer, and from whom we are to derive those supplies of divine grace, whereby we may be strengthened for the duties of life, and ripened for a state of perfect holiness and felicity. This is evident not only from particular passages of scripture, in which he is described as always with his church (Mat. xxviii. 20,) as present wherever two or three are assembled in his name (Mat. xviii. 20,) as upholding all things by the word of his power (Heb. i. 3,) and as Head over all his church (Eph. i. 22,)but |