use a Scripture word, in a sense which man's wisdom teacheth? Are we to believe, that he who said to the Jews, "full well ye reject the commandment of the Lord, that ye may keep your own traditions," thus gave them countenance by his example? Admitting, for argument's sake, that Gehenna was made the emblem of a place of endless torment, I ask, by what name was it called before this new sense was affixed to the word Gehenna? Dr. Campbell says, that Gehenna came gradually to mean this place and at last came to be confined to it. Before this term was then used to express a place of endless misery, was such a place known, and what word or phrase did men use to designate it? Or was it a nameless place, before Gehenna was used as an emblem of it? If so, how could they speak about it? But it seems men came gradually, in process of time, to use Gehenna as an emblem of this place of torment, before they had any revelation about it. We thought places and things were first known, and then names for them followed; but here the matter seems to have been very different. In fact, there is something here which will not bear examination. I ask again, why were not men content to speak of it by the name God had given it, if indeed he had said any thing about it? Or did men first invent this place of torment, and then make Gehenna an emblem of it? Unless it is proved, that our Lord did use Gehenna in this new sense, will it not follow that such a place of torment is not mentioned in the Bible by the name Sheol, Hades, Tartarus, or Gehenna? If it is proved, that he used Gehenna in this sense, does it not follow, that he adopted a heathen notion, and has made it a principal article of belief to all his followers. It may just be added, how could Dr. Campbell with truth say, that tophet came gradually to be used as an emblem of hell, the place of future torment, "and at length to be confined to it?" It could not be confined to it by the Jews in

reading the Old Testament Scriptures. Let any one consult the places where it occurs, and see if it could be so understood by them. If they did, it was a great misunderstanding of the passages; for Dr. Campbell himself declares, that in this sense it does not occur in the Old Testament.

4th, Dr. Campbell declares in the above quotation, that Gehenna does not occur in the Old Testament in the sense of a place of torment for the wicked, yet he gives us the following information about it. He says

"it is originally a compound of the two Hebrew words, ge hinnom, the valley of Hinnom, a place near Jerusalem, of which we hear first in the book of Joshua xv. 8. It was there that the cruel sacrifices of children were made by fire to Moloch, the Ammonitish idol, 2 Chron. xxiii. 10. and that, as it is supposed, from the noise of drums, toph signifying a drum, a noise raised on purpose to drown the cries of the helpless infants.” -Here, then, is the origin of Gehenna in the New Testament, stated by Dr. Campbell himself.

We see,

though it does not occur in the sense of a place of torment for the wicked, yet it does occur in the Old Testament in some sense. What this sense is, and what it is there made an emblem of by divine authority, ought to be carefully considered, and not departed from, unless very substantial reasons are assigned. We do not think it at all probable, that our Lord would use Gehenna in such a different sense, or make it an emblem of such a very different thing from that of the Old Testament writers, if Dr. Campbell himself may be believed in the following quotations. In his fifth Dissertation, part ii. sect. 13. he says, Our Lord, we find from the evangelists, spoke to his countrymen in the dialect of their own Scriptures, and used those names to which the reading of the law and the prophets, either in the original, or in the versions then used, had familiarized them. Our translators, and indeed most European translators,

represent him as using words, which, even in their own translations of the Old Testament, never occur, and to which, in fact, there is nothing there that corresponds in meaning. In his first preliminary Dissertation, part I. sect. 1. and 2. he further says, "if the words and phrases employed by the apostles and evangelists, in delivering the revelation committed to them by the Holy Spirit, had not been agreeable. to the received usage of the people to whom they spoke, their discourses, being unintelligible, could have conveyed no information, and consequently would have been no revelation to the hearers. Our Lord and his apostles, in publishing the gospel, first addressed themselves to their countrymen the Jews; a people who had, many ages before, at different periods, been favored with other revelations. As the writings of the Old Testament are of a much earlier date, and contain an account of the rise and first establishment, together with a portion of the history of the nation to whom the gospel was first promulgated, and of whom were all its first missionaries and teachers, it is thence unquestionably that we must learn, both what the principal facts, customs, doctrines, and precepts are, that are alluded to in the apostolical writings, and what is the proper signification and extent of the expressions used."

In this quotation, it is freely admitted+" Our Lord spoke to his countrymen in the dialect of their own scriptures, and used those names to which the reading of the law and the prophets, either in the original, or in the versions then used, had familiarized them." But it is universally confessed, that Gehenna, does not signify a place of endless punishment in the Old Testament, either in the original, or versions used in the days of Christ. To say then, that our Lord used Gehenna in such a sense, is to "represent him, as using words in a sense, which does not occur in the Old Testament, and to which, in fact, there is nothing there that

corresponds in meaning." This, Dr. Campbell condemns, and declares, that it is to the writings of the Old Testament we must go, to learn-"the proper signification and extent of the expressions used in the new.' Let us then have recourse to the Old Testament, to learn the "signification and extent" of Gehenna in the New?

What then is the meaning of Gehenna in the Old Testament? In what sense or senses is it used there? I answer in the two following, It is used,

1st, Literally. Dr. Campbell above, allows, Gehenna in the New Testament-is originally a compound of the two Hebrew words ge hinnom, the valley of Hinnom, a place near Jerusalem, of which we hear first in the book of Joshua xv. 8." The word ge, or gia, signifies a valley, and enm, or Hinnom, the name of its owner. The following are the places where it thus occurs, which the reader may consult. Josh. xv. 8; xviii. 16. Neh. xi. 30. 2 Chron. xxviii. 3, and xxiii. 6. Jer. xxxii. 35. The reader who consults these texts, will see, that kings and princes, Priests and people, burnt their children to Moloch, and practised the most horrid abominations in the valley of Hinnom. The following texts may also be consulted, which refer to the same scenes of wickedness, 1 Kings ii. 4-8. Ezek. xvi. 20, 21. xxiii. 37-39; xx. 26-31. Amos v. 26. Acts vii. 43. It appears from the following texts, that it was death by the law of Moses, for any man to sacrifice his children to Moloch, Levit. xviii. 21. Comp. xx. 1-6.

In this valley of Hinnom was Tophet, concerning which Calmet thus writes. "It is thought Tophet was the butchery, or place of slaughter at Jerusalem, lying south of the city, in the valley of the children of Hinnom. It is also said, that a constant fire was kept here, for burning the carcasses, and other filth, brought hither from the city. Into the same place they cast the ashes

and remains of the images of false gods, when they demolished their altars, and statues. Isai. xxx. 33, seems to allude to this custom, of burning dead carcasses in tophet. When speaking of the defeat of the army of Sennacherib, he says; for tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire, and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it.'*Others think, the name of tophet is given to the valley of Hinnom, because of the sacrifices offered there to the god Moloch, by beat of drum, to drown the cries of the consuming children."-The idol god Moloch was worshipped in the valley of Hinnom. On the word Moloch, Calmet says :-"The rabbins assure us, that the idol Moloch was of brass, sitting on a throne of the same metal, adorned with a royal crown, having the head of a calf, and his arms extended as if to embrace any one. When they would offer any children to him, they heated the statue within by a great fire; and when it was burning hot, they put the miserable victim within his arms, where it was soon consumed by the violence of the heat; and, that the cries of the children might not be heard, they made a great noise with drums, and other instruments, about the idol. Others say, that his arms were extended, and reaching toward the ground; so that when they put a child within his arms, it immediately fell into a great fire which was burning at the foot of the statue. Others relate that it was hollow, and had internally seven partitions, the first of which was appointed for meal or flour; in the second there were turtles, in the third an ewe, in the fourth a ram, in the fifth a calf, in the sixth an ox, and in the

*Parkhurst renders this text thus-" for the furnace is already set in order for the king (of Assyria namely), it is prepared" etc.

But was

hell prepared for this king? and if it refers to hell in another world"the pile thereof is fire and much wood." We have heard this text quoted, to prove a hell in another world.