no other codices, so far examined; while in nearly two thousand instances it agrees with the Sinaitic, the Vatican, Codex Bezae, and others of that class, both of uncials and cursives, which have been considered to be most ancient, in opposition to the great mass of MSS. All this is set before the reader in carefully prepared tables, occupying about one hundred quarto pages, while the collation occupies forty-three pages more.

The author regards his work, even upon this MS., as a complete refutation of Dr. Hort's theory of the classification of MSS., and calls upon scholars to "realize that we are in the infancy of this part of the science," and "not to imagine that we have successfully laid certain immutable foundation-stones, and can safely continue to build thereon.' It is not so, he says, "and much if not all of these foundations must be demolished" (Introduction, p. cxvi). Among the passages in which 604 agrees with the Textus Receptus against the older uncials, and 1, 33, 69 of the cursives, are Matt. xi. 19, where 604 confirms TéKVwv against epywv of the older MSS.; Mark vi. 20, where it upholds the role of the Textus Receptus against ǹrópɛɩ of the older MSS. 604 also contains Mark xvi. 9-20, and in Luke ii. 14 reads evdoxía instead of εὐδοκίας. In John i. 18 it sustains viós against the @eos of the Sinaitic and the Vatican. 604 also contains, without any query, the passage concerning the woman taken in adultery (Introduction, p. cxvi).

In his Preface Mr. Hoskier complains with some reason of the confusion caused by changing the numbers by which the cursive MSS. are designated, and especially of Dr. Gregory in his Prolegomena to Tischendorf's eighth edition. For instance, from 450 to 737 Dr. Gregory has "put other codices into the places assigned to them by Scrivener and Burgon, some of which had been filled since 1873" (Preface, p. xx). The confusion is illustrated in this case by the fact that 604, according to Scrivener and Burgon, is referred to as 700 by Gregory, and as 2,610 by Egerton in the British Museum.

From the Preface we learn that Mr. Hoskier is pursuing these investigations as an az ocation, occupying such time with them as he is "able to snatch from an active commercial career." He certainly has conferred a great favor upon all students of the New Testament, and we shall look for the further results of his work with great interest and expectation. We would call the attention of all students of the Bible to the closing paragraph of the Preface, in which the author puts on record the fact that much more of the deeper insight into the true meaning and teaching of the spirit of the gospel has come to him through the textual study of the letter than in any other way. And so will it always be. Even the ordinary pastor will find such minute study as textual critics are compelled to put upon the New Testament, and such as is illustrated in this work, of the highest value.

A CRITICAL AND GRAMMATICAL COMMENTARY ON ST. PAUL'S FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. By Charles J. Ellicott, D. D., Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. Andover: W. F. Draper. 1889. (pp. 342. 634×334.) This volume adds another to the invaluable series already published by its

evangelical, learned, and cautious author, and is in many respects the best of them all. The earlier volumes, which were published before the Revised English Version of the New Testament (which Dr. Ellicott was prominent in securing) appeared, were cumbered with many points of discussion with reference both to text and translation which are now practically settled. The present volume therefore contains nothing but the ripest and best results of modern scholarship. The plan of treatment is likewise one which makes it most convenient for daily consultation. The Greek text, with proper critical notes, is given at the top of the page, while the comments are based upon a preliminary grammatical discussion, accompanied with ample references to the literature of the subject. The doctrinal and practical bearings of each passage are then discussed in the light of all its relations to the analogy of faith.

The reader will be glad to have us note the author's views upon some of the disputed questions connected with the Epistle. As to the population of Corinth at the time, Ellicott takes an extremely conservative view, setting it at not more than one hundred thousand, regarding the statement of Athenaeus, which would make it upwards of half a million, as wholly incredible (p. 13). The confidence with which this assertion is made will impress the ordinary reader somewhat unpleasantly, if at the same time he happens to take up the recent commentary of Godet, who, without a word of comment, asserts, as if it were not subject to dispute, that "the city counted from six to seven hundred thousand inhabitants, of whom two hundred thousand were freemen and four hundred thousand slaves” (p. 5). Where such divergences are possible, it would seem appropriate to have a more definite discussion of the original authority, for without it the ordinary reader is helpless in defending the views he may be led to entertain.

With regard to the passages in which Paul is supposed by some to disclaim the possession of inspired wisdom, Bishop Ellicott's views are very satisfactory, and the conclusions at which he arrives, it would seem, must commend themselves to all careful and candid students. Chap. ii. 13 he interprets to mean "that the apostle clothed his Spirit-revealed truths in Spirit-taught language, and thus combined what was spiritual in substance with what was spiritual in form" (p. 66). Upon chap. vii. 40, "I think that I also have the Spirit of God," our author remarks, that "the full and obvious meaning of these words is no ways to be diluted; the apostle in fact claims to be, and truly claims to be, an organon (Theod.) of the Holy Spirit" (p. 153). The claim of Paul to have seen the Lord Jesus in chap. ix. 1 is regarded by Bishop Ellicott as real, "even as the other apostles saw him when he appeared to them after his resurrection; comp. chap. xv. 5 seq., where, after recounting these appearances, the apostle specifies with solemn emphasis, He was seen by me also. This manifestation of the risen, and (in the case of St. Paul) ascended, Lord which was vouchsafed, not only on the way to Damascus (Acts ix. 17), but in visions (Acts xviii. 9; xxii. 17) and perhaps still more wonderful circumstances

(2 Cor. xii. I seq.), place St. Paul on a level, in regard of this important particular, with the very eleven" (p. 164).

Upon the important question raised in connection with chap. vii. 15 as to the right of a married person who, has been maliciously deserted, to marry again, Bishop Ellicott holds that "nothing certainly is expressly said, but the tenor of the words seems in favor of the liberty. . . . The only real difficulty is whether such an interpretation can be considered consistent with our Lord's declaration (Matt. v. 32; xix. 9). The ordinary view seems reasonable; viz., that our Lord's words must be understood as referring, by the very nature of the case and of the context, to those, and such as those, to whom the words were addressed, and that, in regard to such cases as those under consideration, nothing further could be deduced from our Lord's command than this— that the believing husband or wife was not at liberty to depart. If deserted by the unbelieving, then fresh considerations arose" (p. 135).

Upon the bearing of chap. xi. 26, where the command is given that they should show forth the Lord's death until he come, upon the question of the expected nearness of the second advent, we find these just and important remarks: "No inference can properly be drawn from these words as to any deliberate expectation, on the part of the apostle, of a speedy return of the Lord. Hope may have often made what was longed for seem nigh, and may have given its tinge to passing expressions; but when the subject was definitely entertained (2 Thess. ii. I seq.), then it becomes clear that the apostle, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, uses a language perfectly incompatible with any such alleged expectations” (p. 225).

In conclusion, we simply say that for the use of ordinary pastors having even a limited knowledge of Greek, as well as for those who are more familiar with the language, this commentary has no superior. In addition to being a great scholar, Bishop Ellicott has also the equally important qualification of being a safe guide in all important theological questions.

COMMENTARY ON ST. PAUL'S FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. By F. Godet, Doctor of Theology, Professor of the Faculty of the Independent Church of Neuchatel. Translated from the French by Rev. A. Cusin, M. A., Edinburgh. Volume First. New York: Scribner & Welford. 1886. (pp. 428. 6%x34.)

This first volume only covers the ground to the thirteenth verse of the eighth chapter. Like all the other commentaries of its distinguished author, this breathes a spirit of profound reverence, and is marked by high scholarly qualifications. The introduction and whole treatment is more ample than that of Ellicott, and the positions taken are equally evangelical. In explaining the passages which represent the Parousia as though it were an event which was to terminate the apostle's own life, Dr. Godet significantly remarks, that "in this Paul only does what the Lord himself did. Jesus very expressly set aside the idea of the nearness of his return (Matt. xxv. 5; Mark

xiii. 35; Luke xii. 45; xiii. 18-21; xxi. 24; Matt. xxiv. 14; comp. Mark xiii. 32); and yet this is how he speaks to his disciples (Luke xii. 36): 'Be ye like men looking for their Lord, when he shall return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately.' This is because, in fact, death is to every believer a personal and anticipated Parousia. The saying of Jesus is therefore for all on to the last day a moral truth, but this truth is only relative, till the promise be accomplished in its strict sense to the last generation. So it is with the sayings of Paul" (pp. 398, 399).

THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE. Expository Lectures on all the Books of the Bible. New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son. (5x33%.) Price per volume, $1.50. We have received the following volumes:

THE BOOK OF EXODUS. By the very Rev. G. A. Chadwick, D. D., Dean of Armaugh, author of "Christ Bearing Witness to Himself," "As He that Serveth," "The Gospel of St. Mark,' etc. (pp. xx. 442.)

JUDGES AND RUTH. By the Rev. Robert A. Watson, M. A., author of "Gospels of Yesterday." (pp. viii. 424.)

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. By the Rev. George Adam Smith, M. A. Vol. I. Chaps. I.-XXXIX. (pp. xvi. 456.)

THE PROPHECIES OF JEREMIAH, with a sketch of his Life and Times. By the Rev. C. J. Ball, M. A., Chaplain of Lincoln's Inn; contributor to Bishop Ellicott's " Commentary," "The Speaker's Commetary," etc. (pp. vi. 424.)

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. By the Rev. Marcus Dods, D. D. (pp. vii. 399.)

THE EPISTLE OF THE GALATIANS. By the Rev. Professor G. G. Findlay, B. A. Headingley College, Leeds. (pp. viii. 461.)

THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. By the Rev. Alfred Plummer, M. A., D. D., Master of University College, Durham; formerly Fellow and Senior Tutor of Trinity College, Oxford, author of the "Church of the Early Fathers, and editor of "The Gospels and Epistles of St. John," etc. (pp. 435.)

THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. By Thomas Charles Edwards, D. D., Principal of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. (pp. vi. 337.)

THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. Twenty-one Discourses with Greek Text, Comparative Versions, and Notes Chiefly Exegetical. By William Alexander, D.D., D.C.L., Brasenose College, Oxford, Lord Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. (pp. ix. 309.)

THE BOOK OF REVELATION. By William Milligan, D.D., Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism in the University of Aberdeen; author of "The Resurrection of Our Lord," etc. (pp. v. 392.)

Pastors and intelligent laymen will find this series of books, edited by W. R. Nicoll, editor of the London Expositor, of great value. While absolute uniformity of plan has not been attained, and probably has not been sought, and the volumes are of somewhat unequal value, the set as a whole, so far as issued at least, deserves high commendation as a scholarly, reverent, and perspicuous exposition of the several books treated. When complete, it will form a set worthy of a place on any pastor's shelf, and one which he can for the most part commend to his congregation. The volumes deserve

separate mention.

66

The Book of Exodus" is one of the best of the series. The treatment of the text is thorough, the discussions by the way are full of suggestions, the style is captivating, the movement is constant and without effort, and the language is transparent and free from pedantry. The author's purpose is not controversial, but he has not "suppressed exposition where it carries weapons." He admits that much that was once believed concerning the book, is now denied or doubted within the church, and he considers his mission to be edification, and in a secondary sense, information, concerning a book of which at least it can be said that Jesus treated it as possessed of scriptural authority. Hence, while himself believing that its teaching harmonizes with the principles and theology of the New Testament, and even demands the New Testament as a commentary upon it, and not shrinking from the defence of his belief against the theories of Wellhausen and others, "by far the greater part of the volume appeals to all who accept their Bible as in any true sense a gift from God."

Among the more valuable of the volumes, is that on "Judges and Ruth." Taking up that "second Genesis, or Chronicle of the Beginnings so far as the Hebrew commonwealth is concerned," Mr. Watson follows one by one its events, describing "the birth throes of national life, the experiments, struggles, errors, and disasters out of which the moral force of the people gradually rose, growing like a pine tree out of rocky soil." Emerging from these scenes of disorder and strife and anarchy, he conducts us into the quiet scenes of the book of Ruth, and tells us again, in fitting words, the story of that sweet pastoral tale. He excels in character protraiture. The pen-pictures of Samson and Gideon and Deborah, especially, are well drawn.

"The Book of Isaiah" treats of the first thirty-nine chapters only. The publishers promise us another volume soon, by the same author, completing the book. The prophecies are arranged chronologically in four groups, in connection with the four Assyrian invasions which determined the prophecies. The author, while accepting the truth of the divinity of Christ, declines to believe that Isaiah saw in the future "a God in the metaphysical sense of the word." "Just because we know the proofs of the divinity of Jesus to be so spiritual, do we feel the uselessness of looking for them to prophecies, that manifestly describe purely earthly and civil functions"" (p. 140). Isaiah gave to his generation "the vital kernel of Messianic prophecy,” with as much of the essence of the gospel as was possible to communicate to