Exercitations divine Containing diverse questions and solutions for the right understanding of the Scriptures. Proving the necessitie, majestie, integritie, perspicuitie, and sense thereof. As also shewing the singular prerogatiues wherewith the Lord indued those whom he appointed to bee the pen-men of them. Together with the excellencie and use of divinitie above all humane sciences. All which are cleared out of the Hebrew, and Greeke, the two originall languages in which the Scriptures were first written, by comparing them with the Samaritane, Chaldie, and Syriack copies, and with the Greeke interpretors, and vulgar Latine translation. By Iohn Weemse, of Lathocker in Scotland, preacher of Christs Gospell.

EXERCITAT. XI.

Of the Stile of the Scriptures.

Ioh. 7. 46.

Never man spake like this man.

VVHen we describe a mans speech, first we de∣scribe it by that which is naturall, as whe∣ther he be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, of a weake voyce, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 * 1.1 of a slow tongue. Secondly, in what language hee speaketh. Thirdly, in what Dialect he speaketh. Fourth∣ly, whether it be Soluta oratio or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Fiftly, the Pro∣perty of the speech. Sixtly, the Evidence of the speech. Seventhly, the Fulnesse of the speech. Eighthly, the Shortnesse of the speech. Ninthly, the Coherence, and lastly the Efficacie of the speech.

First, we describe that which is naturall, and procee∣deth from some defect of the organs, as if he spake with a weake voyce, or be of a stammering tongue, or thicke lippes, which Exod. 6. 12, are called Vncircum∣cised lippes: Contrary to this is a thinne lippe which is a signe of Eloquence, Iob. 12. 20. for these who have thinne lippes, commonly are Eloquent. Moses the Penman of the holy Ghost, although he was defective in speech; yet read his writings, and yee shall see such * 1.2 eloquence in him, that no Heathen could ever match it, and as it is sayd of Paul, when he was present in person he was weake, 2 Cor. 10. 10. and his speech base and con∣temptible yet his letters were weighty and powerfull: so whatsoever want or infirmity was in Moyses per∣son, yet there was no want or defect in his wri∣tings.

Secondly, in what language hee speaketh. The holy Ghost spake and wrote in Hebrew in the Old Testa∣ment, * 1.3 and in the New in Greeke. Hee wrote the Old Testament in Hebrew, a language which had this bles∣sing spoken of in the Law, Deut. 28. 12. Thou shalt lend and not borrow, so this language lendeth to many Nations, but borroweth of none. Hee wrote the New Testa∣ment in Greeke, a most copious and fertile tongue, * 1.4 which was then Lingua communis to the Iewes although not vulgaris.

Thirdly, in what Dialect he speaketh. The Dialects of the Hebrew tongue were sundry, first, Dialectus Hie∣rosolymitana, that Dialect which was spoken in Ierusa∣lem and about it, Ast. 1. 19. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. In their owne * 1.5 Dialect, or proper tongue. So the Dialect of the Ephra∣mites, who sayd, Sibboleth & not Shibboleth, Iud. 12. 6. and the Dialect of the Galileans, as Peter spake in the Gali∣lean Dialect, Matth. 26. 73. So in the new Testament there are sundry Dialects as Ionick, Dorick Attick, &c.

Fourthly, whether it be in prose or in verse. The Iewes divide the Old Testament according to the style into Charutz; rithmum; Shir carmen, & Halatza, Oratio∣nem solutam, that is prose.

Charuz is Soluta oratio, but in fiue Rithmo colligata; that * 1.6 is, it beginneth in prose, but endeth as it were in mee∣ter, such is Iob.

Shir, canticum; writen in meeter, as the Psalmes * 1.7 and Canticles.

Hallatza, written in prose; such are the Histories and * 1.8 the most of the prophets.

Fiftly, the property of the speech. The phrase in Hebrew is much to be observed, for in the Hebrew it will signifie one thing, and in other languages, ano∣ther thing.

Example, Num. 19. 20. Dies numeri, signifieth A few * 1.9 dayes, so Homines numeri, Gen. 34. 30. A few men, Deut. 4. 27. Ezek. 12. 16. So Esay 10. 19. The rest of the Trees of his Forrest shall be number, that a child may write them, that is, They shall be few. In other languages this phrase would signifie many men, and many trees, &c.

So some phrases of the Scripture have a contrary * 1.10 signification with the Hebrews, as Zack. 11. 24. Ascendit visio a me, that is, It perished. So Ier. 47. 15. Moab is spoyled and gone up out of her Cities, that is, Shee is destroyed. Sometimes againe it signifieth to waxe and increase, as 1 King. 22. 35. Bellum ascendit, The battell increased. So Psal. 74. 23. The tumult that arise up against thee ascendeth, that is, Increaseth continually.

So Levare peccatum is to take off the burden of sinne, Exod. 10. 17. and Iohn alludeth to this, 1. 29. Behold the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world. * 1.11 And Levare peccatum, Is to take up the burden of sinne, Levit. 5. 1. So Sakal, Lapidare & Elapidare, signifieth ey∣ther to cast stones upon a thing, as Deut. 22. 24. or to take away the stones out of a place, as Esa. 62. 10.

Another example, I am like a drunken man whom the wine hath gone over, Ier. 23. 9. that is, whom the wine hath overcome, but Matth. 26. 39. Let this cuppe passe over me, that is, let it not touch me; in a contrary significa∣tion. So Gen. 25. 18. Cecidit coram fratribus suis, He dyed in presence of his brethren, but the Seventie translated it * 1.12 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, He dwelt before his brethren.

The New Testament usually followeth these He∣braismes of the Old Testament as Hos. 8. 8. A vessel in which there is no pleasure, Rom. 9. 21. A vessell of dishonour. So 1 Sam. 21. 5. The vessels of the young men are holy, 1 Thess. 4. 4. That yee may know to possesse your vessels in holinesse. So Exod. 1. 8. there arose a new King in Aegypt who knew not Ioseph, Matth. 11, 11. there arose not a grea∣ter then Iohn the baptist.

So in the New Testament there are many peculiar phrases which are found in no other Greeke writers, and here we must distinguish inter Hellenismum & Grae∣cismum. * 1.13 Hellenismus is that sort of phrase which the Se∣venty use, for they translating the Scriptures for the use of the grecizing Iewes, followed the Hebrew Chaldee and Syriacke in many things: so that they have a pecu∣liar stile which is not to be found in other Greeke wri∣ters, * 1.14 example 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in the New Testament signifieth wrath and poyson Reve. 18. 3. Ex vino veneni, that is, poysoned wine. So Iob 4. 6. The reason of this is, be∣cause Hbema in the Hebrew, signifieth both wrath and * 1.15 poyson. Another example, 1 Cor. 5. 45. Death is swallow∣ed up into victory: the Seventy hath it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 In perpetuum, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 doth not signifie perpetuum amongst the Hea∣then, why doe they then translate it, For ever? because * 1.16 the word Netzahh, signifieth both Victory and Eternitie. A third example, Gen. 8. 21. Dixit ad cor suum dominus; * 1.17 but the Chaldee saith, Bemeria 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which phrase the Evangelist Iohn followeth; but this is not a * 1.18 phrase used amongst the Greekes. A fourth example, Give us this day, our daily bread, Matth. 6. 11. The Greeks say, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Panem quotidianum, but the Syriacke hath it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Crastinum panem, that bread which may feede us to day and to morrow. So Iam. 4. 6. The Lord exalteth the humble, but according to the Hebrew and Syriacke phrase, to Exalt, is to lift up on the Crosse, Ioh. 8. 28. When yee have lift up the Sonne of man, or exalted the Sonne of man, that is, lifted him up on the Crosse. These parti∣cular phrases used by the Seventy would be marked. And besides these, if we shall looke more nearely to the stile of the Scripture, as to the simplicity of it, then we * 1.19 shall much more admire it, 1 Cor. 2. 4. My preaching was not with inticing words of mans wisedome, but in de∣monstration of the Spirit, and of power.

Againe the Evidence of the stile, the judgements of * 1.20 God are set downe, so vively in the Scripture, as if a man were looking on with his eyes, this is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 by the Greekes, as we may see in the deludge, the overthrow of Sodome, and the miracles in the Wilder∣dernesse, set downe so clearely before us, as if we had beene eye witnesses of them. See a notable example, Psal. 7. 12. 13. By a borrowed kind of speech he setteth forth the judgements of God which were to over take the wicked, as if we were looking on. If he turne not he will whet his Sword, he hath bent his bow, and made it rea∣dy, he hath also prepared for him the instruments of death: he hath ordained his arrowes against the persecutors.

Eightly, the Fulnesse of the speech. The Greekes * 1.21 call this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 wherein nothing is wanting, neyther in the enumeration of the parts, or explication of the causes, or reciting of the circumstances: for the holy * 1.22 Ghost setteth downe all the circumstances belonging to the purpose. So the Apostle Rom. 1. describeth at large the vanity and impiety of the Gentiles. And Rom. 2. the hypocrisie of the Iewes, and Cap. 3. he ma∣keth a full description of the corruptions of man, recko∣ning up the parts. There is none righteous, no not one, vers. 10. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God, vers. 11. They are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become unprofitable, there is none that doth good, no not one, Vers. 12. Their throate is an open Sepulcher, with their tongues have they used deceit, the poyson of Aspes is under their lippes, Vers. 13. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitternesse, Vers. 14. Their feete is swift to shed blood, Vers. 15. Destruction and misery are in their wayes, Vers. 16. And the way of peace they have not knowne, Vers. 17. And there is no feare of the Lord before their eyes, Vers. 18.

Ninthly, the Shortnesse of the speech: and here we

cannot enough admire the fulnesse of the stile and the shortnesse of it, & that which Cicero sayd of Thucycides * 1.23 may here be applyed fitly, Eum esse adeo plenum refer∣tum{que} rebus, ut prope verborum numerum, numero rerum exaequet, That every word carried a weight with it, and therefore we may call it Laconica Scriptura.

Tenthly, the Coherence: all things in the Scriptures are fitly joyned and coupled together. The Heathen * 1.24 sayd that there were three things unpossible, Eripere, Iovi fulmen, Herculi clavam & Homero versum; to pull Iupiters Thunder-bolt out of his hand, Hercules Club out of his hand, and a verse from Homer: for they thought, that there was such a connexion betweene Homers verses, that not one verse could be taken away without a great breach in the whole worke: but this may bee much more sayd of the Scriptures of God which have such a dependance and connexion, that if yee take away but one verse, the whole shall be mar∣red.

But it may be sayd that there are sentences which [Ob.] seeme not to cohere or agree fitly together, Gen. 48. 7. And as for me when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the Land of Canaan in the way, when there was but yet a little way to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath, the same is Bethlehem, Vers. 8. And Israel beheld Iosephs sonnes. How doth this cohere with that which goeth before; it would seeme that there is no dependance here.

They cohere well enough with the words going be∣fore; for Iacob had adopted two of Iosephs children, [Ans.] * 1.25 then hee giveth the reason of this adoption in these words; as if he should say, whereas I might have had moe children by my first wife Rachel, if shee had lived; it is great reason that I supply this defect in her, by placing some in sted of these children, which she might

have borne to me; and I adopt those thy sonnes since she is dead.

The second place which seemeth to have no cohe∣rence with things going before, Esa. 39. 21. Take a lumpe of figges, and lay it for a plaister unto the boyle and he shall recover, vers. 22. Ezekias also had sayd what is the signe, that I shall goe up into the house of the Lord. What coherence is betwixt these words, and the words going before?

There is a right coherence here, and hee setteth downe that last, which was first for brevities cause; which is more at large set downe in the booke of the Kings; and therefore Iunius translateth it well, Vajo¦mer, * 1.26 In plusquam perfecto, Esay had sayd.

Ier. 40. 1. The word which came to Ieremiah from the [Object.] Lord, &c. The words following seeme not to cohere with the former.

The beginning of the fortieth Chapter, with the se∣venth [Answ.] Verse of the fortiesecond Chapter, and these things which are insert betweene them, doe containe but the occasion of the prophesie, to wit; when Godo∣liah was killed, the rest of the Iewes would have gone into Aegypt, which Ieremiah forbiddeth them to doe. And it came to passe ten dayes after, Chap. 42. 7, &c. This should be joyned with the first Verse of the fortieth Chapter, and all the rest should be included in a paren∣thesis.

As we have spoken of the stile of the Scripture in generall, so let us observe the stile of some of the writers in particular. Esayes stile differed much from the stile of Amos, he being a Courtiour, and he but a Neat-herd. So the stile of Ezekiel differed from the stile of the rest of the Prophets: he calleth himselfe The Sonne of man, not because it is a Chaldee phrase, but because of the excellent visions which he saw, therefore

he is called the Sonne of man, that is, an excellent man; as Iesus Christ in the New Testament is called The Son of man, that is, an excellent man. So this is peculiar to Iohn the Evangelist, to call Christ the Sonne of God 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, for the Chaldees and the Talmud usually call him so: Iohn opposed himselfe to Ebion and Cerinthus two Iewes who denyed the divinity of Christ, wherefore he hath usually the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, 1 Ioh. 7. 5. which was frequent in the Chaldee paraphrast, and read often by the Iewes.

So there are some things peculiar to Paul; for hee useth some words according to the manner of the speech in Tarshish and Cilicia, as Collos. 2. 18. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in their language, signifieth insidiose alteri praeripere pal∣mam. So 1 Cor. 4. 3. Mans day according to the phrase of Tarshish, is put for the time of judgement; because they had some appointed times for judgement.

The Conclusion of this is, here we may admire the [Conclusion.] wisedome of God, who gave most excellent gifts to his Secretaries for the edification of his Church. Moses was a man of a slow speech, and of a slow tongue, and Aaron * 1.27 must be his spokesman, Exod. 4. Yet Moyses was mighty in words and deeds, Act. 7. 22. It is sayd of Paul that his bo∣dily presence was weake, but his letters were weighty, 2 Cor. 10. 11. By his preaching he converted many, from Ie∣rusalem to Illiricum, Rom. 15. 19. but by his letters hee converted moe, both in Europe Africa and Asia; such * 1.28 was the majesty and grace in his writing, that they ac∣knowledged it to be from the Lord.

Notes

• * 1.1

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.2

  The writers of the Scriptures although weake in person yet powerfull in words.
• * 1.3

  The Old Testament was written in He∣brew, and the New in Greeke.
• * 1.4

  The Hebrew tongue lendeth to many, but borroweth of none.
• * 1.5

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.6

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Rithmus.
• * 1.7

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Carmen.
• * 1.8

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Oratio soluta
• * 1.9

  Dies numeri quid apud Hebraos.
• * 1.10

  Some phrases with the Hebrewes have a con∣trary signification.
• * 1.11

  • ...〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
    • Lapidare.
    • Elapidare
• * 1.12

  The New Testament useth often times the Hebraismes of the Old
• * 1.13

  Difference betwixt Hellenismus & Graecismus. Hellenismus quid.
• * 1.14

  The Seventy follow the Hebrew, Chaldee and Syriacke in many things.
• * 1.15

  • ...〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
    • ira.
    • venenum.
• * 1.16

  Amos 8. 7. and 2 Sam. 2. 26. Lament. 5. 20.
• * 1.17

  • ...〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
    • Victoria.
    • Aeternitas.
• * 1.18

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.19

  The simplicity of the stile of the Scripture is admirable.
• * 1.20

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 oculata fides cum qu•• ipse videt.
• * 1.21

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.22

  The holy Ghost setteth downe all circumstan∣ces belonging to the purpose whereof hee intreateth.
• * 1.23

  Every word of the Scripture carrieth a weight.
• * 1.24

  All things in the Scrip∣are fitly joyned.
• * 1.25

  How sentences in the Scripture seeming to disagree cohere very well.
• * 1.26

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.27

  God gave excellent gifts to his Secretaries, for the good of his Church
• * 1.28

  Paul converted moe by his writing, than by his preaching.