"in the bosom of the Father," is peculiarly striking. The second word, to which I would request the reader's attention, is rendered, "One brought up with him;", Nutricius, educatus, filius in sinu patris gestatus: yxoxos. Wisdom had said that she was brought forth; now she adds that she 'was in the bosom of the father:'2 (Robertson :) a word from the same root.

What shall we say to the words of Jacob, a short time before his death?" And Jacob blessed Jo"seph, and said, God, before whom my fathers "Abraham and Isaac did walk: the God that fed

me all my life long; the Angel that redeemed "me from all evil; bless the lads. &c."3 If this Angel were merely a creature, was not Jacob guilty of idolatry, in ascribing to him " redemption "from all evil," and in praying solemnly to him to bless his grandsons? We might multiply examples of this kind; but I must only refer the reader to a few of the scriptures where they stand recorded.5 God says of Moses, "The similitude of JEHOVAH "shall he behold." Now who or what is this SIMILITUDE OF JEHOVAH," except it be IMMANUEL, "the Image of the invisible God?"-Again, Who was "the Angel of God's presence," that saved Israel ? 8 Who was the Angel of the covenant? "JEHOVAH Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Angel of the "covenant, whom ye delight in."9

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All these things are perfectly easy, according to the Christian doctrine concerning "the great

mystery of godliness, God manifested in the " flesh;" but perfectly inexplicable on any other ground: as even the Rabbinical traditions, and endeavours to put another construction upon them, most evidently shew.

Here I must cease, not because I have exhausted the subject: but for fear of exhausting the reader's patience. Lay all these scriptures together; ponder each separately; appreciate the amount of them as collected together into a focus, like the rays of the sun in the burning glass: and then ask seriously and impartially, Does the Old Testament predict the Messiah, as one, 'the nature ' of whose person would be formed only like that ' of another man?' With confidence, and without fear of being refuted, I answer the question in the negative.

P. 17. 1. 24. 'FORGIVENESS OF SIN.' As this entirely depends on the questions under consideration respecting the person of the Messiah, it needs not any particular answer. If the Messiah were predicted as IMMANUEL, he " has authority to forgive "sin." If as a mere man, and 'the nature of his 'person be formed only like that of another man,' he has no such authority.

ON THE TIME OF MESSIAH'S COMING.

P. 18. 1. 3. 'WHEN IS THE MESSIAH TO COME?' Under this head, I shall endeavour to give 'scrip'ture proof,' that the Messiah is already come. Mr. C. indeed thinks that this must be done from

the prophecy of Daniel exclusively, if it be done at all; nay, he speaks as if Christians were ready to concede this! The prediction in Daniel, indeed, when fully and impartially examined, approaches as near to demonstration as the nature of the case can admit: but, before I enter on the consideration of it, or of Mr. C.'s remarks on it; I must prepare the way by examining some other prophecies concerning the Messiah.

Jacob, immediately before his death, pronounced blessings on his sons, evidently by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In blessing Judah he says, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a "lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh come; " and to him shall the gathering of the people be." 1 שֶׁבֶט signifies a rod or staff, a sceptre, a tribe. When Jacob spoke, his posterity was no more divided into tribes, than formed into a kingdom. But he foretold that the sceptre, or rod of authority, (like the rod of Moses,) would devolve on Judah. Accordingly it did so, as soon as Israel was numbered and marshalled in the wilderness ; and the tribe of Judah was the ruling and reigning tribe, in general, from that time, till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. The word cannot here signify tribe: for " the tribe shall not "depart from Judah," that is, from the tribe of Judah, gives no tolerable meaning. It is used for a sceptre in two Psalms prophetic of the Messiah ; 2 and in Ezekiel, where it is distinguished from an

'Gen. xlix. 10.

* Ps. ii. 9.-" A rod," or sceptre, " of iron." xlv. 6. "The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre."

ordinary rod; and by Amos, 2" The sceptre "shall not depart."- A king who is of Judah, ' and a legislator, shall not both at the same time depart. The sceptre departed in Zedekiah, but "the legislator departed not: except when Christ ' erected his kingdom over, the nations, and took away the authority from the former shepherds.' The sceptre shall not be removed from Judah ; (dux, dominus, dominator, rex) a leader, lord, 'ruler, king, so called, says R. E. because he used to 'bear a sceptre in his hand.-Kings and the royal authority, according to the threefold Targum, ' and the ancient Hebrew Talmudists, and many even more modern; so that they are employed ' in vain who interpret it otherwise.' (Robertson.)

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"And a lawgiver from between his feet:" pp, part. pohel from pp one decreeing, giving laws.3 The word occurs in Numbers, and is tranlated lawgiver. In the plural it is rendered "governors. "The portion of the lawgiver;" that is, the portion which Moses, the lawgiver, had prophetically assigned to Benjamin; or that which Joshua, the governor, afterwards allotted him. "Judah is my "lawgiver," with evident reference to this text 7 "The Lord is our Lawgiver, &c. -I believe, these are the only places in which the word occurs in the Hebrew Bible: and they are sufficient to fix its biblical meaning; namely, One having authority to enact laws, or at least to enforce by power laws already enacted. 'O 'Hyuevos (Sept.) Ηγέμενος

1 Ez. xix. 14. "She hath no strong rod, for a sceptre to rule."

2 Am. i. 5." Him that holdeth the sceptre."

4 Num. xxi. 18.

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Judg. v. 14.

Matt. xxiii. 2.

"Till Shiloh come." -' That the ancient He'brews by Shiloh understood "the Messiah," 'the threefold Targum teaches, or the Chaldee 'paraphrase of Onkelos, Jonathan, and Jerusa'lem; in which it is written for Shiloh, King 'Messias." (Robertson.) 'As all the three Tar'gums agree, and the Talmud in the title 'Sanhedrim; and many other ancient and 'modern Jews. I will mention only the words ' of R. Bechai, who confesses, that it is right to 'understand this verse of the Messiah.' (Βρ. Patrick.)

Different opinions prevail respecting the derivation and meaning of the name: but the Peaceable One, " the Prince of Peace," as tranquil, 'and 'the author of eternal tranquility,' seems the most obvious. This, however, does not at all affect our argument.

It was then expressly predicted by Jacob when dying, as his words are recorded by Moses, that the Messiah should come while Judah continued in authority; and while the Jews, so called from Judah, had power to make laws, or to enforce the law of Moses; and to manage the affairs of their nation by a government of their own: but that, afterwards "the gathering of the peoples" (plural) would be to Shiloh; or the obedience of the people would be rendered to him.

It is needless to go through the detail of the history of Israel, and of the ruling and legislative authority of Judah, previous to the Babylonish captivity. From the accession of David to the eve of that event, during almost 500 years, his descendents from father to son, possessed the