xxxiv

JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

,typically to Christ docs not interfere with the grammar. 1 Chr. 17.1114 is another
,somewhat varied, record of the same transaction and observes the same syntax
Gen . 3 15 : again has the singular pronoun, the LXX has and all
the ancient versions (except the later Targums) interpret individually. It was so
understood evidently by Eve (Gen. 41), and its individual interpretation is assured
.by later revelation
Ezek. 17 13 is not stricdy to be cited as an instance, since the expression there
is of the seed of the kingdom instead of simply seed. -Nevertheless the refer
ence is to the individual Zedekiah, and the pronouns in the Hebrew, as in the
.ancient versions, are in the singular
Only one exception can be alleged to this rule, Isa. 48 19. But here the text may
-fairly be considered doubtful. The LXX changes the pronoun bis to tby9 intro
-dudng a different antecedent and making the passage more homogeneous. Simi
larly the Targ. Jonathan. This would entirely remove the exception. Even as the
text stands, however, the pronoun may well go back to vs. 15 for its antecedent
.and thus form no exception to the rule
O f the two remaining passages, one is immediately involved in the apostolic
argument, and the second is dependent on the first. Gen. 22 1 7 contains first a
promise to all the posterity o f Abraham, and then, by the construction, a selection
of one in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. The reference of
here to an individual accords with the promise of Gen. 3 15, which Abraham
must have understood as now renewed to his own descendant. The LXX omits
the pronoun, and all the ancient versions understood the word collectively; but
in the application of the promise in Ps. 72 1 7 (where
does not occur) they all
understand it individually, and it is so interpreted by St. Peter in Acts 3 25, 26.
The remaining passage, Gen. 24 60, depends upon this. Rebecca is blessed by her
Aramite friends, and the pronoun referring to her seed is singular (not plural as
in the A. V.). The ancient versions, as well as the modem, except Luther, have
missed the Messianic sense of the passage; but in the original the singular pronoun
in the mouths of these relatives of Abraham seems a reminiscence of the promise
.to him, and a prayer that it may be fulfilled through the wife of his son
St. Paul, therefore, in quoting (Gal. 3 16) the promise to Abraham, with its
;singular pronoun, was justified by the syntax in giving it an individual application
the grammatical sense, even independently of any theological tradition, afforded
.a sound basis for his argument

.After some discussion the next paper was read by Prof. W

Beecher, D.D., on the use o f the Hebrew tenses inPs. 109619, o f
:which the following is a brief abstract
USE OF THE HEBREW TENSES IN PS. 109 6-19
.This passage includes all of the Psalm that can fairly be called imprecatory
In verse 20 there is no reason for supplying the copula in the imperative, and after
this verse the verbs, imprecatively translated, are simply indeterminate,

PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE SOCIETY

XXXV

O ur passage is divided, by the style o f its verbs, into three sections. The first
section, verses 6u , contains nine verbs in the im perfect and tw o in the perfect,
w ith seven conversive follow ing an im perative. The nine are all indeterm inate
except tib'yeb, in verse 7, which is distincdy declarative. In the second secdon,
verses 1215, the verbs are jussives. In the third section, verses 1619, the verbs
o f the first three verses are either perfects o r im perfects, w ith vav conversive,
while verse 19 begins w ith a jussive.
The presum ption is that this grouping o f the verbs was designed, and not
accidental. It is therefore against a jussive translation o f the verbs which, in the
Hebrew, have been thus carefully made declarative o r indeterm inate; and particul
arly against the breaking up o f the first and third o f these sections into pairs o f
disconnected im precations. It is easy to translate in accordance w ith this presumption, if we consider the first section as a conditional sentence, having for its protasis either the whole o r the first half o f verse 6. This use o f the im perative is not
at all infrequent, either in Hebrew o r in English.
If thou put a wicked man in office over any one,
And thus a Satan (instead o f a protector) stand upon his right hand;
W hen that one is put upon trial he will come out wicked,
A nd his prayer (not his alleged offences, merely) w ill become sin;
Few w ill his days be,
H is office another w ill take;
O rphans his sons w ill be,
A nd his wife a w idow ;
A nd his sons w ill w ander, w ander, and be beggars,
And w ill seek, from their desolate hom es;
A creditor w ill set a trap fo r all which belongs to him ,
And strangers w ill plunder his earnings.
Then follow the im precations in verses 1215, and then:
Because he was not m indful to do mercy,
A nd pursued a man poor and needy,
A nd humiliated o f heart, to put to death;
A nd loved cursing, and it entered him ,
A nd delighted no t in blessing, and it was far from him ;
A nd p ut on cursing as his garm ent,
And it entered as the w ater w ithin him ,
A nd as the oil into his bones;
L et it be to him as clothing which he w ill wear,
A nd for a belt which he w ill continually gird.
The first section describes the evils brought upon any one by a bad ruler. The
second imprecates similar evils upon such a ruler himself. The third calls attention
to the law o f self-retribution in the case, attributing the divine judgm ent imprecated
3*

xxxvi

JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

upon him to his ow n malignant, persistent choice. The presum ption w ith which
we started becomes pretty decided proof, when we thus find the logical divisions
o f the meaning coinciding w ith the transitions in the style o f the verbs.
This view makes the imprecations o f the Psalm more terrible, by diminishing
their num ber; but it entirely clears the Psalm from the charge that its author loves
to repeat over and over his harsh prayers against his enemy, and gloats over the
evil which he imprecates.

This paper was also discussed by most o f the members present. The next paper was by Prof. F. Gardiner, D .D ., on in Acts 11 2 6 .
O N T H E . . OF ACTS 11

26

This name, equivalent to followers o f the Messiah, could not have been
given by the Jews, the form o f expression implies that it was not assumed by the
disciples themselves (Suidas being erroneously quoted for this view), and hence
it has been often w rongly supposed to have been given by their enemies.
The adoption o f the name marks an im portant epoch in the grow th o f the
church, when it began to be more distinctly separated from Judaism, and embraced large num bers o f G entile converts. It involves a recognition by the w orld
o f Christ as the source and centre o f the new religion.
If we look at the grammatical form alone, may be considered as
under the same regimen w ith the preceding , so that they have the same
subject. This construction is favored by the particle re, and would lead to the
translation that the aposdes taught much people and called the disciples Christians first at A ntioch. The objection to this view is that seems to belong to the class o f verbs which assume in the active voice a neuter sense. It is
used often enough w ith the accusative o f * (or its relative), but this rather
completes the sense o f the verb itself. Josephus (Ant. i o 1 , 3 ; 1 1 8 , 4 ) uses it w ith
a personal object in the dative, and once (ib. 5. 1, 14) w ith an infinitive. Basil
(Horn, in Ps. 7 1) uses it transitively in a passage quite parallel in construction to
Acts i l 2 6 , and as synonymous w ith . This construction, however, may
be left as doubtful.
The point o f interest is in the connection in which the w ord is always used in
Hellenistic Greek. The later common sense in classical G reek is to take and bear
a name o r title, and this text is generally explained accordingly. But in the Scriptures and Josephus it never occurs except in connection w ith some divine communication. I t is used ten times in the LX X . (1 K i. 18 2 7 ; Job 40 3 (Eng. 8 ) Jer. 32
1 6 (Eng. 25 3 0 ) bis; 33 (Eng. 26) 2 bis; 36 (Eng. 29) 2 3 ; 37 (Eng. 30) 2 ; 43 (Eng. 36)
2 , 4 , when the Vatican text substitutes and \, but the Alexandrine
still shows the usage o f the w ord. In all these places the fact o f a divine communication is made plain, either by the nominative or by the context; but the
point is that, occuring so often, it never occurs in any other sense. In the New

Copyright and Use:

As an ATLAS user, you may print, download, or send articles for individual use
according to fair use as defined by U.S. and international copyright law and as
otherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement.
No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without the
copyright holder(sV express written permission. Any use, decompiling,
reproduction, or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be a
violation of copyright law.

This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permission
from the copyright holder( s). The copyright holder for an entire issue of ajournai
typically is the journal owner, who also may own the copyright in each article. However,
for certain articles, the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the article.
Please contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specific
work for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or covered
by your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement. For information regarding the
copyright holder(s), please refer to the copyright information in the journal, if available,
or contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s).
About ATLAS:
The ATLA Serials (ATLAS) collection contains electronic versions of previously
published religion and theology journals reproduced with permission. The ATLAS
collection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association
(ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.
The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the American
Theological Library Association.