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similar idiom is by no means unfrequent in Hebrew. Thus, Ex. 21. 4, 'If his master (Heb. 'masters') have given (sing.) him a wife. v. 29, His owner (Heb. owners') shall also be put to death.' (sing.) 1 Kings, 16. 24, Called the name of the city, which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner (Heb. 'owners') of the hill.' Is. 19. 4, And the Egyptians will I give over into the hands of a cruel lord (Heb. ' of a cruel lords; subs. plur. adj. sing.) Judg. 19. 11, "And the servant said unto his master' (Heb. 'masters.) If then such a peculiarity of diction obtain in the sacred writings in reference to men, on the same principle and with far greater propriety, it is maintained, may it be used in reference to the Most High, the Sovereign and Proprietor of all things. Accordingly it is said, Mal. 1. 6, If I be a master (Heb. masters,') where is my fear? Deut. 6. 26, For who hath heard the voice of the living God?" (Heb. the living Gods'-both plur.) Ps. 58. 11, Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth,' (Heb. 'He is Gods judging' both plur.) Josh. 24. 19, For he is an holy God' (Heb. he is holy Gods'both plur.) The use of the plural in all these cases, it is contended, is merely for the purpose of giving to the word greater fullness, emphasis, and comprehensiveness of meaning, thus making it better to accord with the nature of the subject. For ourselves, after all, we are too little satisfied as to the real grounds of the usus loquendi in the matter before us to pronounce in favor of the claims of the one hypothesis or the other; and having stated both, with the leading arguments adduced in their support, we leave it to the reader to form his own judgment. Of one thing however we may be entirely satisfied, viz. that the rendering this name in the singular in other languages has the unequivocal sanction of holy writ; for the N. T. writers, copying the Sept., uniformly translate it Theos, God, instead of Theoi,' Gods, an example which has been properly followed by all the

versions ancient and modern, as no other languago can in this particular reach the propriety and exactness of the Heb.--The Eng. word 'God,'Germ. 'Got.' is of Anglo-Saxon origin, supposed to be a contraction of good; God and good being justly considered as correlative terms. Our own language therefore and the German are peculiarly fortunate in affording, as the common title of the Most High, a name of which the primary import reminds us, not of his power, dominion, greatness, omniscience, or eternity, but of his GOODNESS.

Is the name 'Elohim' ever used in the Scriptures except as a title of the true God? Ans.-Beside this its primary and appropriate meaning it is applied, Ex. 1st. To false gods, or idols; to the divinities worshipped by the heathen. Ex. 20. 3,

Thou shalt have no other gods (Elohim) before me. Deut. 4. 28. And there ye shall serve gods (Elohim) the work of men's hands.' Josh. 24. 20, If ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods (Elohim) then will he turn and do you hurt.' 2d. To Angels. Ps. 8. 5, Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels.' (Heb. than the gods,'-Elohim.) Ps. 97. 7, Worship him all ye gods;' thus explained by the Apostle, Heb. 1. 6, And again when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world he saith, Let all the angels of God worship him.'. 3d. To men considered as in some way representing the person, or bearing the image of the Most High; men invested with spiritual authority, or pre-eminent by any kind of moral or sacred distinction. Thus, Gen. 6. 2, The sons of God (Heb. sons of the gods,'-Elohim) saw the daughters of men,' &c. i. e, the sons of the eminent ones, sons of the pious Patriarchs. See note on Gen. 6. 2. Ex. 21. 6, Then his master shall bring him unto the judges,' (Heb. unto the gods,') i. e. the rulers or elders of the people. Ps. 82. 1, God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, (Heb. the deityship,') he

judgeth among the gods;' i. e among the magistrates. This refers however particularly to the Jewish magistracy, which was rather a spiritual than a civil institution. In allusion to this passage, our Saviour says, John 10. 34, 35, Is it not written in your law, I said ye are gods? If he called them gods unto whom the word of God came,' &c. Ps. 138. 1, Before the gods will I sing praise unto thee;' i. e. in the presence of the most illustrious personages; before kings and princes. The words of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 8. 5, may be pertinently cited in this connection; For though there be that are called gods whether in heaven or on earth, (as there be gods many and lords many) but to us there is but one God the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ.'

What is the leading scope and object of the first verse of Genesis?

Ans. To give, in a brief and compendious form, a summary or synopsis of the six days' work afterwards described in detail. Such general propositions not unfrequently occur, serving as an introduction or preface to the more expanded details which immediately follow. Thus it is stated in general terms, v. 27, that God created man in his own image; male and female created he them,' whereas the particulars of their formation are subsequently given at full length; ch. 2. 7, 18, 25. Sometimes

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they stand at the close as a concise summing up of the previous statement. Thus after the particular recital of the diversified work of the tabernacle under the direction of Moses, it is said, Ex. 39. 4, 21, ‘According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the ark.' That it was not the heavens' and the earth' as such that were first spoken into existence is evident from the ensuing narrative, in which we learn that these names were not bestowed before the second and third days.

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What is the precise idea to be attached to the word 'create' in this place?

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'Created; Heb. Bârâ; Gr. Epoiese,' made; Vulg. 'Creavit,' created. The Eng. term 'create' is a derivative from the Lat. 'Creo,' Creare,' to which language, the abstract idea of creation out of nothing was entirely unknown. The primary import of creo' in that tongue is to beget,' and secondarily to appoint,' 'constitute,' ordain.' Thus Virgil has Sulmone creatus,' born of Sulmo, and Horace, Fortes creantur fortibus,' the brave are born of the brave. Jerome also, in one of his epistles, (ad Eph. 4,) says-With us (Latins) generation or nativity is called creation.' Another leading sense of the word with classic authors is appointment to office. Thus Consuls, Dictators, and Military Commanders were universally said to be created such. So also the Gr. word by which Bârâ is rendered is a general term for formation, constitution, production of any kind; and that the Sept. interpreters understood the phrase of Moses here very much in the sense of the Lat. Creo,' to beget, is evident from the fact of their entitling this book Genesis,' i. e. generation, production, rather than Ktisis,' 'Poiesis,' or any other word more nearly allied to the modern sense of creation. It is not, therefore, from the language of any of the versions that we are taught to affix to Bârâ the sense of absolute creation out of nothing. Is this idea then implied in the native import of the word Bârâ, as used in the Hebrew Scriptures? Unquestionably not, as the shewing of a host of eminent Hebraists has long since made evident. It is often used synonymously with words signifying any kind of formation or effectuation, and in this very chapter is twice used to denote the making of one substance out of another previously existing, as of the fishes out of the water, v. 21, and of man out of the dust, v. 27. Its leading senses are two, which may be thus distinguished. 1. The production or effectuating of some

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thing new, rare and wonderful; the bringing of something to pass in a striking and magnificent manner. Thus, Num. 16. 30, But if the Lord make a new thing (Heb. 'create a creature, or creation,') and the earth swallow them up,' &c. Jer. 31. 22, For the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.' 2. The act or process of renovating, new-modelling or organizing a substance already in existence. In this sense it is used almost exclusively in the Scriptures in reference to the effects of the Spirit of God in the spiritual creation; i. e. regeneration. Thus, Ps. 102. 18, This shall be written for the generation to come, and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord;' paralleled by Ps. 22. 31, They shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born,' i. e. a people created anew or born again by Divine influence. Ps. 51. 10, Create in me a clean heart, O God;' explained by the parallel exegetical clause, Renew a right spirit within me.' Ps. 65. 17, • Behold I create new heavens and a new earth;' i. e. I re-create the heavens and the earth; q. d. I effect a stupendous moral renovation. Thus also the corresponding Gr. term, Ktizo,' with its derivatives, 'Ktisis' and Ktisma;' and also Poiema,' are used unequivocally to signify regeneration. Eph. 2. 10, We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus.' 2 Cor. 5. 17, If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. In all these cases the act implied by the word is exerted upon a pre-existing substance. As therefore in every instance throughout the Scriptures of the use of this word as predicated of God, beside the one before us, it may be naturally interpreted in one or the other of the foregoing senses, we do not feel at liberty to make this case an exception; as prevailing usage is the only sure guide in determining the signification of words. That the prevailing usage of'create' in the sacred writers is to re-form or reno

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