L

BIBLICAL CRITICISM.

Dr. Alexander on Philip. ii. 5—11. SIR, Wakefield, June 12, 1817. OOKING over some of my papers the other day, I cast my eye on the following criticism on Philip. ii. 5-11; and recollecting some years ago to have shewn it to my friend Mr. Jones, * who, at that time, expressed his cordial approbation of it, it occurred to me, that it might not be unacceptable to your readers in general. In no version that 1 have yet seen does the sense of the original appear to me to have been adequately expressed; nor does any exposition of the passage that I have hitherto met with, convey, in my apprehension, the full force and peculiar propriety of the apostle's language. If, therefore, you deem it not unworthy of a place in your miscellany, it is entirely at your service.

DISNEY ALEXANDER, M. D.

In the passage before us the apostle is exhorting the converts at Philippi

to cultivate the amiable virtues of

humility, condescension and benevolence, intimating to them, at the same time, that they would be called to suffer in the cause of religion. And in order to give the greater effect to his exhortation, he places before them the animating example of the Founder of their faith, and reminds them of the glorious reward with which his

"Let

obedience has been crowned.
this mind be in you which was like-
wise in Christ Jesus, who, though in
the form of God, thought not of the
robbery of being equal with God, but
divested himself of it, and assumed
the form of a servant; who being in
the likeness of men, and proved to be
in frame as a man, abased himself so

* Author of Illustrations of the Four Gospels, a work replete with ingenious criticism and philosophical research; and which the scholar should read for its elegance, the Christian for the confirmation of his faith, and the sceptic for the cogent and luminous display of those beauties and evidences of our religion, which, however they may escape the notice of the careless and superficial, are nevertheless powerfully adapted to impress conviction on the mind of every serious and dispassionate inquirer,

as to become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. On which account God hath highly exalted him, and conferred on him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, among those that are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." On the passage thus rendered, I proceed to submit the following observations to the judgment of the reader.

Though in the form of God. The allusion is, as I conceive, to the transfiguration on the mount, where he assumed a divine or luminous or super. naturally splendid appearance, his face shining as the sun and his raiment becoming white as snow: μopen OEB without the article, literally in a form of God, a phraseology precisely answering to that in Mark ii. 22, Acts vii. 20, Gen. xxx. 8, and various other passages.

Thought not of the robbery of being equal with God. This is an exactly literal version of ex ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγε σαλο τὸ είναι ισα Θεῷ. So far was he from claiming it as his due, that he

never harboured such an idea, never once thought of the robbery of being equal with God; i. e. of arrogating to knew to be the prerogative of God himself that worship which he well

alone.

borrowed from the Jewish Scriptures. The language is evidently "Shall a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me." Mal. iii. 8." Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even thy whole nation," ver. 9.

See also Jer. vii. 11. But what gives a singular force and energy to this expression, is the circumstance that the Jews did actually accuse our Lord, during the exercise of his ministry among them, of this sacrilegious act. Compare carefully John v. 18, and x. 33. To repel, therefore, so unjust and invidious a charge, a charge to be urged against the meek and which, it is probable, still continued lowly Jesus by many, both among the open enemies and false friends of the Christian faith, appears to have been the chief, if not the sole object

of the writer in using this pointed and energetic language. And this remark shews the futility of the ingenious Mr. Robinson's sarcastic animadversions on the Unitarian interpretation of the passage in his Plea for the Divinity of Jesus Christ, a book, nevertheless, which contains the best and most eloquent defence of that doctrine which has, perhaps, ever yet appeared, and reflects equal credit on the talents and on the integrity of its author. The common English translation of this text, suggests a sense decidedly at variance with the uniform tenour of Scripture. But the propriety of retaining the literal sense of the term aprayor is, I think, obvious from what has already been remarked; and I may add, it is still farther confirmed by our Lord's own language; for in John x. 8, speaking of those false shepherds who obtruded themselves into the fold of God, and claimed divine honours, he explicitly denominates such persons thieves and robbers. Compare Acts viii. 9, 10, and 2 Thess.

ii. 4.

But divested himself of it, i. e. of that divine or supernaturally splendid form which he assumed on the mount, and which, had he been so disposed, he might have retained. So far, however, was he from seeking his own aggrandisement and exaltation, that, as soon as it had answered the end proposed, he laid it aside and assumed a character and situation exactly the reverse, taking upon him the form of a servant. How striking a contrast is here! and how necessary it is that it should be preserved in the translation! Wakefield, though he may have given the general sense of the passage, has not expressed it with that point and energy which the original manifestly We displays-the form of a servant. have seen, that in the former verse the apostle had been alluding to one specific and remarkable occurrence, and we shall find that he here refers to another; thus preserving the strength and beauty of the contrast. And when did Jesus assume the form, in other words, sustain the character of a servant? Surely, when after girding himself with a towel, he washed the feet of his disciples. Such a singular instance of condescension in one whom they regarded as their Teacher and Lord, was not less likely to live in the

recollection of the apostles, than the luminous and transporting scene which had presented itself on the mount; aud it is no wonder that we find Paul making honourable mention of it, and deducing, from so memorable an act of humility and affection, an argument to enforce on his brethren the indispensable obligations they were under to be mutually affectionate and condescending one to another.

The impostors, while they maintained the Divinity of Christ, asserted that he was a man only in appearance, denying at the same time the reality of his death. They denied his death, with a view to set aside the scriptural doctrine of the resurrection; and it is probable they rejected his real humanity, that they might have a more plausible pretext for disputing the reality of his death; and thus we see why the great doctrines of the humanity and death of Jesus were necessarily connected and associated together in the mind of our apostle; and likewise, why the apostles in general, both in their discourses and in their epistles, so frequently recur to these topics, and appear to lay so much stress upon them. It is to these that the writer next adverts. Who being in the likeness of men, and proved to be in frame as a man, abased himself so as to become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, i. e. as Jesus in form resembled men, so he was found or proved, on the fullest investigation, to be really a man. The term Eugees found or proved, seems to be used in a judicial sense, and implies full and satisfactory evidence of the fact (compare John xx. 27, Acts i. 3, Luke xxiv. 39, and 1 John i. 1, &c.); and as a farther confirmation of his "possessing a real human nature, and at the same time a mind infinitely exalted above all selfish or ambitious views, he submitted to a death at once the most public, painful and ignominious that can be conceived."

Wherefore, or on which account God also hath highly exalted him, agreeably to the tenour of his own declaration, he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. That the exaltation of Jesus to a state of unrivalled dominion and supreme felicity, was the reward of his previous self-abasement and voluntary sufferings, is the uniform doctrine both of the Old and of the New Tes

Christ hath tasted death for every man-if he be exalted a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and remission of sins unto his people-if the lip of infallible truth have declared by the mouth of an apostle, that for this very end Christ was thus exalted, viz. "that every knee might bow and every tongue confess Jesus to be Lord, to the glory of the Father;" does it not follow, as a necessary inference, even supposing it no where to have been expressly asserted, that, under the government of au infinitely wise and powerful and benevolent Being, a period will come, when, to use the emphatic language of Scripture, "death and hell" having been "cast into the lake of fire," God shall reign the acknowledged Sovereign and beloved Father of all his rational off spring, and the empire of truth, of virtue and of happiness, be universally and eternally predominant?

Translation and Emendation of Psalm

SIR,

cxxxvii.

Alnwick, Aug. 30, 1817. N perusing Monthly

Christians do, to be the effusions of uninspired men, still the brutal fierceness expressed in the text, is irreconcileable with all our ideas of humanity, honour and justice. To seize little children and to dash them against stones; to refuse to censure the perpetrator of such an act, but even to applaud the monster, and to consider him a happy man, evince a ferocity and insensibility of mind, which, it is presumed, could not exist, in the breasts of men, so enlightened and polished as the Jewish prophets were. The Hebrew

here rendered children, has a variety of significations; but as it often denotes wickedness, injustice, &c., I would suggest, that it should be rendered in this passage, idols, not children. What confirms the idea is this, the Babylonians were idolators. The worship of their idols brought upon the Jews such heavy calamities, as led them to deprecate idolatry, and to consider that man happy, who durst seize the little household gods of their oppressors, and dash them to pieces. Let us translate the whole Psalm anew, and consider how

Itor, I frequently find many valua- it agrees with this emendation.

ble criticisms upon obscure passages in the New Testament. This encourages me to hope, that some observations upon difficult texts in the Old Testament, will not prove uninteresting. I am not so presumptuous as to imagine, that my views will always be correct, or that my solutions will afford constant satisfaction; yet, if what I advance, will induce abler pens to discuss the subject, I shall be satisfied; as the end I have in view will be attained.

The 137th Psalm has often been admired for the tenderness of its strains, and it is presumed, that no person can peruse it without being affected. Beautiful as it is, there is a harshness in the last verse, of which I can never approve, and which, I think, the writer never intended. The verse to which I allude runs thus:-" Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against a stone." If we consider the book of Psalms, as many do, to have been written by men divinely inspired for that purpose, we perceive a spirit of savageness and barbarity in this passage utterly incompatible with that goodness which characterizes a holy God. Or, if we view the Psalms, as some sensible

1. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat

down,

We wept also, when we remembered Zion. 2. Upon the willows in the midst, we hung our harps;

3. For there, those who captivated us,
Demanded of us, the recitation of a song;
And our spoilers said in mirth,
"Sing us one of Zion's songs.'
4. How can we sing the song of Jehovah,
In a foreign land?

5. But if I forget thee, O Jerusalem!

Let my right hand forget its office. 6. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,

If I do not remember thee

If I do not exalt thee, O Jerusalem!
Above my chief joy.

7. Jehovah remembers the Edomites,

Since the day Jerusalem was taken; Who said, "Raze, raze it to its foundations."

8. Daughter of Babylon! who art to be
destroyed,

He will be happy who will repay thee;
Who will reward thee, as thou hast acted

towards us.

9. He will be happy, who will seize, And dash thy idols against the stone. CAMBER.

REVIEW.

"Still pleased to praise, yet not afraid to blame."-POPE.