the flock was not in his own power. The purchase of the potter's field was the act of the council. Put all these minute details together, and the conclusion must be, that the history of Jesus is authentic, and that it accurately fulfils the prophecy. But if not, then the prophecy has never been fulfilled, and the words of the prophet are

found false.

If, therefore, there had been no allusion to this prophecy in the New Testament, the mere Gospel narrative would have led us to see that it was fulfilled in the

history of Jesus. But Matthew expressly cites it; for after narrating that the thirty pieces of silver were applied to the purchase of the potter's field, and that this field was called "the field of blood," he adds, "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy, the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me" (Matt. xxvii. 9, 10). This citation is, however, made the ground of an objection against St. Matthew. It is said, first, that he quotes the words of the Old Testament inaccurately; and, secondly, that he falsely ascribes the words of Zechariah to Jeremiah. We reply, in the first place, that even admitting, for the sake of argument, that both charges are true, they will not in any wise invalidate the claims of Jesus of Nazareth. Whether St. Matthew was or was not mistaken, we have already shown that his history exactly agrees with the Hebrew prediction. Whatever then, may become of St. Matthew, Jesus is the person of whom Zechariah spake, that is, he is the Messiah. If we should admit that St. Matthew was so ignorant as to quote Jeremiah instead of Zechariah, it is plain that we must acquit him of all fraudulent alteration of the text; for if he did not know the author of the words which he was quoting, it is certain that he could not have gone

to the original in order to falsify it. And if he was, generally, so ignorant of prophecy, it is equally plain, that he could not have falsified the history, in order to make it agree with prophecy, of which he was ignorant : he is, therefore, a most unexceptionable witness as to the facts which he relates; and the ignorance of St. Matthew, if admitted, would thus render the proof from prophecy doubly cogent. Either the Jews must admit that he was acquainted with the prophecies, and then they must acquit him of mistake; or they must acknowledge that he was ignorant of the prophecies, and thus add to the weight of his testimony as to the facts which fulfilled the prediction. But, in the second place, we deny both charges. We say of the first, that he did not quote inaccurately, but that he intentionally gave the sense of the passage, instead of citing it verbatim; and that this mode of citation is fully justified, not only by the rabbies, but by the inspired writers of the Old Testament. Nehemiah says, "Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations; but if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there" (Neh. i. 8, 9.). Now there is no such passage in the law, though there are several, of which it gives the sense. Compare also chapter x. 34-38, where the same method of citation appears. Daniel also, in his prayer, proves that the predictions of Moses were accomplished in the calamities that had come upon the Jews, and yet does not accurately cite the words of any one, but contents himself with giving the sense. "Therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

And he hath confirmed his words which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil; for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem; as it is written in the law of Moses, All this evil hath come upon us," &c. What, therefore, is esteemed perfectly consistent with the character for inspiration of the Old Testament writers, can never be charged as a fault upon St. Matthew.

As to the second charge, several answers have been given, any one of which is sufficient to vindicate the character of St. Matthew. It has been said, that the abbreviations for Jeremiah and Zechariah, Zgov and Igou, are so alike as to be easily mistaken by the copier of the MS. It has been urged that some copies do really read"Zechariah," or, that in the original there was no prophet named, and that this mistake arose from the insertion of a marginal gloss. But Hengstenberg, following a hint thrown out by Grotius, appears to me to give the true answer; and that is, that St. Matthew intentionally ascribed the words of Zechariah to Jeremiah, because he wished to impress upon his readers the fact, that Zechariah's prediction was a reiteration of two fearful prophecies of Jeremiah (Jer. xviii. xix.), and should, like them, be accomplished in the rejection and destruction of the Jewish people. He wished to remind them, that "The field of blood," purchased with the money that testified the fulness of their guilt, was a part of that valley of the son of Hinnom, which their fathers had made a "field of blood" before them, and where Jeremiah had twice, by the symbol of a potter's vessel, announced their coming destruction. The words of the prophet, "Cast it to the potter," were in themselves sufficient to direct the attention of readers acquainted with the prophecies, to those two chapters of Jeremiah; but the manner in which St. Matthew in

troduces his quotation, makes the allusion still more plain. He first relates the purchase of the potter's field, thereby pointing out the locality of Jeremiah's prophecy-then he mentions the fact that it was called "the field of blood," thereby referring to a very similar expression in that prophet; "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter" (Jer. xix. 6.); and then cites the words of Zechariah, as spoken by Jeremiah, in order to make all mistake impossible. St. Matthew had, therefore, a direct purpose in introducing the name of Jeremiah; it was to warn the Jews against the coming judgments. They fondly hoped that, as the chosen people of God, they were safe. St. Matthew points them to the potter's field, and thus reminds them of the calamities which had already come upon them for past sin, less heinous than that of which the potter's field now testified.

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CHAPTER XII.

1. "The burden of the word of the Lord."- After mentioning the punishments of Israel, and the several desolations of the land, he prophecies concerning the good of Israel, and the punishments of the nations, and says, "Thus saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth;" i. e., He created the heavens and the earth, and the universe is in his hand, to pull down and to throw down, to build and to plant. "Man" is mentioned, as Isaiah says, "I have made the earth, and created man upon it" (xiv. 12): that is to say, And I led Israel captive, and it is in my hand to lead them up from captivity, and to take vengeance on their enemies. The wise man, R. Abraham ben Ezra, of blessed memory, has written, that the words "And formeth the spirit of man within him," are connected with "stretching forth the heavens, and laying the foundations of the earth," because man is a little world, as the heavens and the earth are the great world. As to these words,

-ex יצר we do not find the word ,וְיוֹצֵר רוּחַ אָדָם בְּקִרְבּוֹ

cept of things which have solidity and are perceptible to the senses, which the Spirit, , is not. These words therefore, are spoken in reference to the formation of the organs of the body which receive the power of the Spirit, and these are the marrow and the heart.

2. "Behold I — —a cup of trembling."

is

similar to D, "a cup of trembling," which he that drinks dies; so all that go up against Jerusalem shall perish and be cut off.

"And also against Judah shall it be in the siege;" that is to say, that Judah will be joined with the enemies