making mention of you-you, the object of the mention; why not then, as, the object of the inheritance-God's inheritance of us." But I refer my reader for further proof on this purely grammatical difficulty to Note A already referred to. V. b. As to the parallelism I also demur. An appaßar or earnest is of twofold character, i. e. it has a relation both to buyer and seller, to the giver as well as to the receiver of a promise. I believe it is generally supposed that Paul was here using an expression familiar to Ephesians, in whose market was sold wood provided for the service of the temple of the great goddess Artemis, and that when a lot of wood was sold, the purchaser set his seal on certain bundles of the wood as an earnest of the purchase and of its future delivery to him. So it would present to the mind of those to whom this letter was written a very familiar illustration as to how they were to know (as enjoined in verse 18) the riches of the glory of His (God's) inheritance in the saints, and to us also who, after eighteen centuries of the Gospel, see so comparatively small results from its preaching; this threefold statement in verse 11, 14, and 18 in reference to God's purchased possession, is most reassuring and comforting, for according to Suicer's definition we know that for the ransom which was paid for all, the Redeemer will "tempore suo " inherit all nations and receive in fulness that humanity which He has purchased with His blood most precious. VI. Come we now to consider the heavenly places. 1. ch. i. 3. 4. ch. iii. 10. 5. ch. vi. 12. Each passage Blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. The principalities and powers in heavenly places. Why our translators should have varied the words in the last passage, it is difficult to conceive. The clear manifestation of these èroupávia in No. 5, is as the abode of the evil spirits τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, but in 1, 2, and 3, it is as clearly used in the very opposite sense of blessedness. Comparing these five passages with the same word in Phil. ii, 10, Heb. ix. 23, and John iii. 12, I think that the general idea embodies everything which is not earthly or material; invisible as opposed to visible; abstract, not concrete; spiritual, conceivable by the spirit, but not palpable to the senses. It would include the Jewish idea of a first, second, and third heaven, and thus we may reconcile the apparently irreconcileable idea of No. 2, “sitting at the right hand of God," and the 5th as the abiding-place of spirits of wicked. ness to the prince of the power of the air in ch. ii. 2. The point of interest however is as to the meaning of No. 4. Who are the principalities and powers to whom "might be known through the Church the manifold wisdom of God." I believe they are the same as in vi. 12, those enemies of the human race, the emissaries of Satan who are constantly performing the work of their chief, the ἄρχων τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος, and using the devices of Satan to deceive the ignorant and unstable. Then as saint after saint is delivered out of the power of darkness and made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in the light, the Church is thus formed and witnesses to these evil spirits, the abiding power of Christ, and that their ruler with all his permitted power cannot hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in thus destroying the works of the devil, by bringing sinners out of darkness into the light of the glorious Gospel. To my apprehension this is a much grander truth than the ordinary idea that these principalities and powers are good angels, who really need not the witness of the redeemed Church to enable them to say, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain," &c. VII. The mystery, then, here made known to Paul, and through him to the believers of all ages, is not the Church, nor the admission of the Gentiles, for that was part of God's revelation throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. It was His eternal purpose of restoring all things in Christ. It is not the present dispensation, 2 Suicer defines àßßaßàv, initialis pecunia, quæ datur ut certus fiat tum vendito quod reliquum ab emtore sit accepturus-tum emtor quod res emta et promissa à venditore sibi sit tempore suo tradenda. Money paid, which is given as an assurance not only that the seller shall receive the remainder from the buyer, but that the buyer should have the thing bought and promised, delivered to him in due time by the vendor. but a future one in the fulness of the times. It should be a comfort to those who are impatient at the slow progress of the Gospel, at man's unwillingness to accept eternal life as the gift of God." By grace are ye saved through faith, κal Toûтo, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Let us remember Peter, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise," &c., but He is constantly working by His Spirit and gathering together an ekkλnola, a continued witness of His love and mercy, and "long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' I have said nothing yet about the word "mystery," so prominent in this Epistle. It must occupy a separate paper which I hope to send for your next number. I will only observe that in every case it is a purpose of God made known to man, hidden heretofore, but now revealed for man's understanding and profit, and that it never means, according to modern ecclesiastical usage, a thing which cannot be understood. Note A. Gen. xxxvii. 2, Joseph brought to his father, their evil report, i. e., an evil report about them. Exod. xx. 20, his fear may be before your faces-not God's fear but the fear of God. Josh. ii. 9, were the object. Jer. ii. 19, Jer. xxxii. 40, Isa. liii. II, your terror is fallen upon us, i. e., the terror of which the Israelites my fear is not in thee. I will put my fear in their hearts. by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. Ezek. xxvi. 17, which causes their terror to be on all. Mal. i. 6, 1 Cor. x. II, 21, i. e. I will make thee a terror. 2 Tim. iv. 8, Eph. iii. 12, where is my honour, where is my fear? written for our admonition, i. e. the admonition of us. all who love his appearing, i. e., the epiphany of Christ. dià πloTews avtoù, through faith of which he is the object. Remember also the English liturgy, "rule her heart in thy faith, fear, and love." These examples might be indefinitely multiplied. LITERARY NOTICES. REAL-ENCYCLOPÄDIE FÜR BIBEL UND TALMUD. WÖRTERBUCH ZUM HANDGEBRAUCH FÜR BIBELFREUNDE, THEOLOGEN, JURISTEN, GEMEINDE UND SCHULVORSTEHER, LEHRER, &c. An Encyclopædia for the Bible and Talmud. A Lexicon which may be used as a manual by friends of the Bible, theologians, jurists, heads of congregations and schools, teachers, &c. Worked out by Dr. J. Hamburger, chief Rabbi of Strelitz in Mecklenburg. This really great literary enterprise was undertaken upwards of a quarter of a century ago, and carried on with consummate industry and more than ordinary ability. The Biblical part, or the first volume, has been completed some years ago. The Talmudical part, or second volume, is in process of publication in periodical instalments. It has as yet only reached the vocable Jose R. As may be expected, the learned author has a bias, and that a strong one, for everything that partakes of the Talmudical. Yet we recommend it as an important work of reference to German reading students of the post Biblical history of the Jews and of Rabbinical Judaism. It is somewhat surprising to us that so laborious and indefatigable an author, as Dr. Hamburger undoubtedly is, should have allowed so many Hebrew misprints to disfigure the work. One who is not a thorough Hebrew scholar should be careful how he uses quotations or references, given in this work, without first veri fying the same. The meagre table of Druckfehler-Berichtigung, misprints corrected, at the end of the first volume, does not give anything like the number of inaccuracies which escaped the correcting eye and pen of the erudite Rabbi of Strelitz. Like many another hard-working author, Dr. Hamburger found it necessary to transfer his work from publishers to publishers, and from printers to printers. There is a commendable improvement in the paper on which, and the type with which the last instalment, published at Vienna, is printed ; but we find no improvement in accurate printing. We constantly meet with the letters 2, 2, 7, 77, 1, 9, in lieu of 2, 2, 7, 17, 1, 2, and vice versa; besides numerous transpositions of letters in words, and words in sentences. Such slips may be deemed trifling in ephemeral works, but they ought not to be considered so in a work which aims to be ne plus ultra of its kind. ORIENTAL RECORDS, MONUMENTAL, CONFIRMATORY OF THE OLD Testament SCRIPTURES. By William Harris Rule, D.D. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons. In a certain sense every fresh compilation from the pen of Dr. Rule, which we are now and then called upon to peruse, now and then to analyze, reminds us of the parabled magazine of the man that is a householder. If our author does not always bring forth out of his treasury things new of any intrinsic value, the things old which he reproduces are of considerable worth. We therefore welcome the productions of our author's pen, feeling assured that every work which he publishes possesses the merit of bearing witness to the faith once committed to the saints under the Old Testament dispensation; every paragraph of which is an earnest testimony to the verity of the things recorded by Moses and the Prophets. The small volume under notice is a fair specimen of our author's modus operandi, tone, and style. The opening sentence of his short preface is an accurate description of the character of the work. "I have endeavoured," writes our author, "so to collate some of the most ancient monumental records with Holy Scripture as to show that they confirm those portions of sacred history with which they correspond; and sometimes to show that they throw fresh light thereon." Such students of the Bible as crave for historico-monumental aid to their faith, but who have neither the time nor the opportunity, nor, may be, the ability, to wade through the existing monumental oriental records, published and unpublished, will find a simple and well-digested compendium of the same in Dr. Rule's work, bearing the above title. As a simple and well-digested compendium of oriental monumental records, we recommend this volume. JEWISH ARTISAN LIFE IN THE TIME OF OUR LORD. TO WHICH IS APPENDED A CRITICAL COMPARISON BETWEEN JESUS AND HILLEL. Translated from the German of Dr. Franz Delitzsch, by Mrs. Philip Monkhouse. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons. THIS work, as will be perceived by the title-page, consists of a translation of two of the most valuable brochures of the eminent Professor Delitzsch. The author's learned Addresses and Lectures have been most accurately and worthily reproduced by the accomplished and clever translator. The First Part of the volume before us—“Jewish Artisan Life in the time of our Lord "—has already appeared in our publication, in its monthly issues, in the course of 1875. We were then frequently constrained to give expression to our feelings of admiration for the manner in which she performed her part of the work. Mrs. Philip Monkhouse has prefixed a short Preface to that part. We quote some of it, as it gives a good idea of the intrinsic importance of the work now-a-days "In an age when, on the one hand, science and research have made all more or less critical, every contribution towards the more accurate realization of circumstantial details must commend itself to the Biblical student; whilst, on the other, in an age when science and research have made many educated men more or less sceptical, any contribution which places in clear and sharp contrast the wide gulf which separates the highest human intelligence from that of Him who spake as never man spake, must commend itself to all who recognize in Jesus the Son of God. "THE COLLEGE, BIRKENHEAD." The following are the headings of the five Addresses of which the First Part of the work consists : I. The Herodian Government and the Second Temple. II. Contemporary Views of Labour and Handicraft in General. III. The Comparative Rank held by different Trades in Public estimation. V. On the Combination of Letters and Handicraft. The Second Part--" A Critical Comparison between Jesus and Hillel "—has been only now, for the first time, published by Mrs. Philip Monkhouse. Students and scholars will hail the translation with gratitude. The laconic Preface, by which the Second Part is introduced, is a little gem in its way. We cannot withhold it from our readers. Here it is in extenso :— "Primarily designed for Jewish readers, the essay on Jesus and Hillel is so valuable in its suggestiveness, regarding not only the difference between Jesus and Hillel, but the difference between Jesus and all mere human teachers and reformers, antecedent or subsequent, as to form a most formidable weapon in the hands of those who see in Jesus not only the greater than Hillel, but the greater than Jonas, and the greater than Solomon, the wisest of men. Was Jesus man? Was Jesus God? Was Jesus truly both? In the belief that the ensuing pages will help many to decide these momentous questions for themselves, the present translation has been undertaken; it will have done its work should any, hitherto prepared when contemplating the life and character of Jesus, to say 'Ecce homo,' be led from its perusal to say 'Ecce Deus.' "THE COLLEGE, BIRKENHEAD." Our readers will observe that both Prefaces are hailed from "The College, Birkenhead." They may conclude, therefore, that the talented translator is the spouse of the highly-respected Principal of that educational establishment, the Rev. Philip Monkhouse. Our readers will, doubtless, cordially congratulate the alumni of a College superintended by such a Head Master, whose household is under the supervision of such a Head Mistress. CORRESPONDENCE. AN EXAMINATION OF THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE BOOKS TO THE EDITOR OF THE "HEBREW CHRISTIAN WITNESS," &c., &c. SIR,-Having been lately led to an examination of the Chronology of the Jewish Monarchy, I send you the result of my study of it, in the hope that it may prove interesting to your readers, and draw attention to the result arrived at in paragraph No. 5; the result of the proposed rectification mentioned towards the end of it has |