Prov. xxii. 6: "Train up, &c., not depart," &c.: i. e. for the most part. Pious principles instilled in youth seldom fail of operating in old age. Moses, Samuel, Timothy, &c., are instances of it. Yet wicked Ahaz was the son of a godly father, and the father of a godly son. Pious Hezekiah was the son of a wicked father, and the father of a wicked son. Jeroboam had a pious son Abijah, and Samuel a Joel and Abiah, who turned out unjust judges, though we have no intimation, as in the case of Eli, that he had been too indulgent to them. Other instances may be given of words not always being used in the same sense. Thus: 2 Kings xvii. 33: "The Samaritans feared the Lord and served their own gods;" in a very different sense then from (Pro. viii. 13) "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil." Matt. xxvi. 27: "He took the cup;" but in verse 39 cup means affliction. وو Heb. ix. 27: "It is appointed to man once to die;" i. e. temporally. John viii. 51: "If any man keep my sayings, he shall never see death;" i. e. the second or eternal death. These illustrations are sufficient to suggest caution in the interpretation of Scripture. That words are not always used in the same sense in Scripture arises from their being written, not as philosophers, but as men in general talk and write. That the Scriptures should be so written displays both the wisdom and the condescension of God. While the seeming negligence of the style, taken in connection with the sublimity of the matter, stamps its Divine origin, this popular style is really better suited to instruct mankind in the great truths of salvation. The chief guides to such knowledge are a spirit of prayer, a love of truth, good common sense, and a diligent comparison of Scripture with Scripture. § ix. Importance of attending to Proper Names. The same persons or places sometimes have several names. Joshua is called (Acts vii. 45; Heb. iv. 8) Jesus. Nahash (2 Sam. xvii. 25) is the same as Jesse (1 Chron. ii. 13, &c.), the father of David; and hence, learning that Joab and Amasa were near relatives to David, and to each other, many circumstances in their history are illustrated by this fact. Our blessed Lord is spoken of, in Ezekiel xxxiv. 23, xxxvii. 24. Hosea iii. 5, under the name of David. And again, under the name of Zerubbabel, Hag. ii. 23. John the Baptist, in Mal. iv. 5, as Elijah. Mark ii. 14: "And as he passed by, he saw Levi," &c. ; this is the same as Matthew. So Matthew is called the publican; and Simon, the leper (Matt. xxvi. 6), after they had ceased to be so. Horeb and Sinai are often used indiscriminately as the same, being different peaks of one and the same range of mountains (Deut. v. 2; Exod. xix. 18-23). The Sea of Tiberias is the same as the Lake of Gennesaret, or, as it was more anciently called, Cinnereth (Numb. xxxiv. 11; Josh. xii. 3); Edom, and Idumea are the same. 2. Many persons and places also have the same name. Ephraim, in Gen. xlviii. 5, refers to a person; in Judges i. 29, to a tribe; in Jer. xxxi. 18, "surely I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself," &c., to the Ten Tribes of Israel; in John xi. 54, to a city. Among the Kings of Judah and Israel there were several of the same name (see table at the end of 2 Chron. viii). There were several Zachariahs (1) Zachariah, the fourth in descent from Jehu, who reigned just long enough to fulfil God's promise to Jehu (2 Kings xv. 8. x. 30.)-(2) Zachariah, a prophet, basely murdered by Joash, who had been redeemed from destruction by his father (2 Chron. xxiv. 21.)-(3) Zachariah the prophet, whose writings form part of the Bible, and who was raised up to encourage the Jews to rebuild the temple (Ezra v. i). There were several Herods; (1) Herod the Great, who attempted the murder of our Blessed Lord in his infancy (Matt. ii.), (2) Herod Antipas, his son-inquisitive about the truth without loving it, (Mark vi. 20. Luke xxiii. 8.) crafty, (Luke xiii. 32) incestuous, (Matt. xiv. 3) superstitious, (Mark vi. 16) the murderer of John the Baptist, (Matt. xiv. 10) and the mocker of our Blessed Lord in his last sufferings, (Luke xxiii. 11.) (3) Herod Agrippa, nephew of Herod Antipas, and grandson of Herod the Great, the murderer of the Apostle James, and eaten of worms for his pride (Acts xii). So there are some names which appear to have been common to several successive kings of a country, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt; Abimelech (Gen. xx. 2. xxvi.) to the kings of the Philistines. Jabin was a common name of the kings of Canaan, as evidently the Jabin mentioned in Josh. xi. 1, xii. 19, was not the Jabin mentioned Judges iv. 2; Agag, of the Amalekites (Numb. xxiv. 7; 1 Sam. xv. 8) ; Artaxerxes, of the Persians; Cæsar, of the Romans. The Antioch of Acts xiii. 1, and the Antioch of 2 Tim. iii. 11, mean different places; the one was in Syria, the other in Pisidia. There were two Bethlehems (see Joshua xix. 15); several Cæsareas (Matt. xvi. 13; Acts ix. 30; xviii. 22); several Mizpehs-one in Judah, where Samuel dwelt (1 Sam. vii. 5, 6); Mizpeh in Gilead, where Jephthah dwelt (Judges xi.); also Mizpeh of Moab (1 Sam. xxii. 3), where David's conduct was a bright example of filial piety. 3. Scripture names have often a very significant meaning. Thus: Achan means “he that troubleth," thus his name becomes an epitome of his history (Josh. vii.) Adam, earthy, or red earth (Gen. ii. 7) so far in the works of God does the workmanship exceed the materials. Abraham, father of a great multitude, (Gen. xvii. 5) a prophecy wonderfully fulfilled with regard to both his natural and spiritual seed (Gal. iii. 29; Rev. vii. 9). Alleluia, praise the Lord (Rev. xix. 1). Beer, a well (Numb. xxi. 16; see also Gen. xvi. 14). Beerlahacroi, Hagar's memorial of God's compassion to her. Edom, red (Gen. xxv. 30) a brand put on Esau's profaneness in selling his birthright for a mess of red pottage. Ebenezer, the stone of help (1 Sam. vii. 12). Jah, self-existent, everlasting. Judah, praise the Lord, directing us to him as the ancestor of the promised Messiah. Jubilee, sounding of the trumpet. Melchizedek, king of righteousness, (Gen. xiv. 18. with Heb. vii. 2) remarkably showing how much Christ is kept in view in the historical parts of the Old Testament. Messiah (the same as Christ) anointed (1 Sam. ii. 10; Dan. ix. 25). Moses, taken out of the water (Exod. ii. 10). Noah, rest. Salem, peace. Solomon, peaceable. Samuel, asked of the Lord (1 Sam. i. 20) peculiarly descriptive of the fact, and it is very observable that he whose name was intended as a memorial of God's goodness in answering prayer was in his life distinguished as a man of prayer (Ps. xcix. 6.) Teraphim, images, referring to idolatrous worship, and thus throwing light on Hosea iii. 4, that remarkable prophecy respecting the present state of the Jews, bitter enemies of truth, as seen in their continued rejection of Christianity, and yet restrained from idolatry to which they were formerly so prone. Tophet, a drum, the name of a place near Jerusalem, where children were burnt as offerings to Molech, and drums beat to drown their cries. Urim and Thummim, light and perfection (Exod. xxviii. 30) indicating the clearness with which God would impart to the High Priest the knowledge of His will when that knowledge was sought by means which He had appointed. Those names which begin or end with EL, or begin with JE, or end with IAH, were generally designed to express some relation to God, as Bethel, the house of God. Israel, a prince with God, a name given to Jacob as an encouragement to us to perseverance in prayer (Gen. xxxii. 28) as the name Israelites given to His people was to remind them of what should be their distinguishing character. § x. Value of some knowledge of Geography. Geography principally refers to the relative situation of places. 1. The first thing we may notice, is the peculiarity of some geographical terms, as used in the Scriptures. The Hebrews (as Mr. Mede observes) use the word "Isles," to signify all those countries divided from them by sea (Isa. xi. 10, 11; xl. 15; Jer. ii. 10): or the word may be used generally, for a region, country, or province (Job xxii. 30; Isa. xx. 6). The term coasts does not always apply to land bordering on the sea-thus Matt. ii. 16. "in all the coasts" means all the parts; and Matt. xv. 21. "coasts" refers to the inland countries belonging to the cities of Tyre and Sidon. Lesser Asia and Europe, peopled by the descendants of Japheth, are called the Isles of the Gentiles, Gen. x. 5. Acts xvi. 7. Paul was forbidden to preach in Asia, yet he immediately essayed to go into Bithynia. Without a knowledge of the peculiarity of some of the Geographical terms of Scripture we might be ready to charge him with an act of disobedience, for Bithynia was not only in what we call Asia, but in Asia Minor. "Asia," throughout the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul, so far from being what we understand by the term, does not (as Paley remarks) mean the whole of Asia Minor, or Anatolia, nor even the whole of Proconsular Asia, but a district in the interior part of the country, called Lydian Asia, divided from the rest much as Portugal is from Spain; and of which district Ephesus was the capital (Acts ii. 9; 1 Cor. xvi. 19; Rev. i. 4). Ever since the Grecian monarchy prevailed over so great a part of the world, the Jews called all the civilized part of mankind, except themselves, Greeks. See Acts xix. 10. xx. 21.; Rom. i. 16. ; ii. 9. 10.; x. 12.; and this explains why she who is called by Matthew (chap. xv. 22.) a woman of Canaan, i. e. one of the old stocks of the Canaanites, is called by Mark (chap. vii. 26.) a Greek, though, as Mark himself says, she was a native of Syro-Phœnicia. The term Grecians, however, as used in the New Testament, refers not to Gentiles, but to Jews, to those Jews who, born and living in other countries, though occasionally coming up to Jerusalem, as their law required, used the Greek language and the Greek translation of the Scriptures; see Acts vi. 1. ix. 29. xi. 20. When places are mentioned as lying North, South, East, or West, it is generally to be understood of their situation with respect to Judea and Jerusalem. 2. Without a knowledge of ancient Geography many fulfilled prophecies must be unintelligible. Thus : Numb. xxiv. 24: Balaam's wonderful prophecy of the conquests of Alexander and his successors, and of the Romans, over the Assyrians and Jews, and of the destruction of the Macedonian and Roman Empires, would be unintelligible to those who knew not that Chittim, or Kittim, (referring to the descendants of Javan, Gen. x. 4.) settled in Macedonia and Italy; that Ashur refers to the Assyrian, sand Eber to the Jews. 3. A knowledge of Geography often removes apparent contradictions. Luke xxiv. 50 (referring to our Lord's ascension), says, "Jesus led his disciples out as far as Bethany," &c.; but Acts i. 12, we read the disciples returned from Mount Olivet. But Olivet was situated between Bethphage and Bethany, and our Lord ascended from that part of the moun |