XII. Obfervations, on the eleventh, and following Verfes, of the fifth Chapter of the Acts of the Apo- Containing fome Conclufions founded on I. On St. Peter's Account of the De- ftruction of the Earth by Fire. SECTION VIII. CONCERNING THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGEMENT; AND Some Inferences to be obviously drawn from VOL. II. the And with regard even to thefe very first . words, I cannot but juft make one short obfervation for, though I have tranflated this verse just as we find it in our version; neverthelefs I must beg leave to remark, that there 334. is, in the original, a particle dè (but or and) at very beginning of the whole defcription, to which it is almoft impoffible to annex any meaning; unless we fuppofe it to imply a strong contrast between the fate of glory in which thofe bleffed Spirits who come with their Lord shall appear, and that outer darkness into which the unprofitable fervant is faid to be caft, in the Parable immediately preceding. It naturally leads us, therefore, to recollect those re'markable words of the apoftle Paul, in two of his Epiftles, relating to this fubject, before we proceed any further; and to compare them. with what is here faid, and also with what we read in fome other parts of Scripture. The firft of those remarkable words are to be met with in the Epiftle to the Theffalo nians: 1 Theff. ch. iv. ver. 13, &c. 13. Οὐ θέλομεν δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοῶν, ἀδελ φοί, φοι, περὶ τῶν κεκοιμημένων, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε, καθὼς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα. 14. Εἰ γὰρ πιςεύομεν ὅτι Ἰησᾶς ἀπέθανε καὶ ἀνέση, ὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τὰς κοιμη θέντας, διὰ τὸ Ἰησὲ ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ. 15. Τῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν λέγομεν ἐν λόγῳ Κυρίε, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες, οἱ περιλειπόμε νοι εἰς τὴν παρεσίαν τ8 Κυρίς, ἐ μὴ φθά σωμεν τὲς κοιμηθέντας· 16. ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγ[έλε, καὶ ἐν σάλπιγ[ι Θε8 κα]αβήσεται ἀπ ̓ ἐρανᾶ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν Χρισῷ ἀναςήσονται πρῶτον· εν 17. ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες, οἱ περιλειπόμενοι, ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις ὡς ἀπάνησιν τ8 Κυρίε εἰς ἀέρα, καὶ ὅτω πάν]ο]ε σὺν Κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα. 18. Ωςε παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλες ἐν τοῖς. 335. λόγοις τέτοις. 13. But we would not that you should be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are RESTING *; to the end that you may not forrow, even as others do who have not hope. 14. For if we believe that fefus died, and rofe again; even fo alfo them that REST* in Jefus, [or by means of Jefus,] God will bring WITH HIM. 15. For this we fay unto you, by the word of the Lord: that we [any of us] who are living, who are left furviving till the coming of the Lord, fhall not be beforehand with those who are now at rest. 16. For the Lord Himfelf shall defcend from heaven, with great fhoutings, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. * Kouáquaι is rather cuto dormiendi gratia,-reclino me ad capiendum fomnum, than dormio; fee H. Stephens, T. II. p. 290; and therefore much rather implies reft than pofitive fleep. And this will appear ftill more ftrongly, if we recollect the paffage already cited from the LXX, (1 Kings, ch. xix. ver. 5.) where we find the LXX did not think this word alone, by itself, fufficient to exprefs fleep. For it is faid, concerning Elijah fleeping under the tree, nai Exowńên xai ŭwvwσev, i. e. and he rested and flept; and dormio is properly Υπνάω, five Υπνέω, five Υπνόω. Το which, in confirmation of the tranflation here given, I may further add the ufe made, by the LXX, of the word иuáquaι, Deuteronomy, ch. xxxi. ver. 16; 2 Kings, ch. iv. ver. 34; and by the apostle Paul, 1 Cor. ch. xv. ver. 18. + There is no article in the original. And |