A defense of the sincere and true translations of the holie Scriptures into the English tong against the manifolde cauils, friuolous quarels, and impudent slaunders of Gregorie Martin, one of the readers of popish diuinitie in the trayterous Seminarie of Rhemes. By William Fvlke D. in Diuinitie, and M. of Pembroke haule in Cambridge. Wherevnto is added a briefe confutation of all such quarrels & cauils, as haue bene of late vttered by diuerse papistes in their English pamphlets, against the writings of the saide William Fvlke.

MART. 25. What are those Hebrues then, that Beza speaketh of? forsooth certaine Iewes or later Rabbines, which, as they doe falsely interprete all the holy Scriptures agaynst our Sauiour Christ in other points of our beleefe, as against his Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection: so do they also falsely in∣terprete the holy scriptures against his descending into Hell, which those Iewish Rabbines deny, because they looke for ano∣ther Messias that shal not die at al, and consequētly shal not af∣ter his death go downe into Hel & deliuer the fathers expecting his comming as our sauiour Christ did. And therfore those Iew∣ish Rabbines hold as the heretikes do, that the fathers of the old Testament were in heauen before our sauiour Christs Incarna∣tion: & these Rabbines are they which also peruert the Hebrue word to the significatiō of graue, in such places of the holy scri∣ptures as speake either of our Sauiour Christes descending in∣to hel, or of the fathers going downe into Hell, euen in like maner

as they peruert other Hebrew wordes, of the holy scripture, as namely, alma, to signifie a young woman, not a virgin, against our Sauiours birth of the B. Virgin Marie.

FVLK. 25. Beza speaketh of the holy men of God, which did write the Scriptures, and so vse that word She∣ol, as it can not be taken to signifie any thing properly, but the graue or pit. And as for the Iewish Rabbīs, what reason is there, why we should not credite them in the interpretatiou of wordes, of their owne tongue, rather than any auncient Christians ignorant of the Hebrewe tongue? And although they doe sometimes frowardly contend about the significatiō of a word or two, against the truth of the Gospell, that is no sufficient cause why they should be discredited in all words. But beside them. Beza hath also the best Hebritians that haue bene in this laste age, among the Christians, not onely Protestants, but Papistes also, namely Pagninus, and Masius, in their Dictionaries.

Notes

• The Protestāt•• in interpretatiō of Scriptures, folovve the late Ievves, rather than the aunci∣ent fathers, and Apostolicall church.
• Esa. 7.