AN IMPORTANT RENDERING.
By W. H. Littlejohn
In the general crusade against the Lord’s Sabbath which is taking place at the present time, every resource is exhausted to dislodge the commandment which enforces it from its proper place in the moral law. A notable instance of the ruling propensity to accomplish this end is found in the use which is made of the following scripture:—“For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Rom. 13:9. The line of argument runs on this wise: The apostle, say they, is here alluding directly to the ten commandments, and as he fails to mention the fourth, such neglect on his part furnishes proof positive that he did not consider it as being of binding obligation. But let us see how far their premises are properly taken, and their conclusions safely drawn. Is it true that Paul is here referring to the decalogue? We reply that it is to a certain extent. The context will prove just how far the ten commandments were passing in review before him. In verse eight he declares that we should “owe no man anything, but to love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” But what law is here referred to? As already seen, it is agreed on all hands that it is the ten commandment law. Is it, then, true that in loving another we fulfill all the requirements of the decalogue? The answer must be in the negative; for Christ teaches that this law requires not only love to man, but also love to God. How, then, shall we reconcile the statements of Paul and Christ? We reply that it is very easily done if we have no pet theory which is to be allowed to stand in the way of such reconciliation. Christ was speaking of the whole law, embracing as it did the first four commandments which enforced our duty to God, and the last six which taught our duty to our fellow-men. Paul on the other hand is giving special attention to that portion of the law embraced in the last six precepts, which regulate our conduct toward others. While endeavoring to enforce the obligation to love another, he emphasizes that duty by quoting a portion of those commandments which are found in the six that are given on purpose to instruct us as to how we should relate ourselves to our fellow-men. By examination we shall discover that he mentions five of them so clearly that there can be no mistake as to the ones to which he alludes. The commandment which he omits altogether is the fifth. Summing up, he says: “If there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” That is, to be brief, all of the remaining commandments relating to this subject, as well as those I have already quoted, are embodied in the expression, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” not meaning by any means to declare that our duty to God is fulfilled when we love our fellow-men, or that by so doing we are released from our obligation to observe the first four commandments; but simply that love answers the requirements of the five mentioned by him, and others which bear upon the question of our responsibility to our fellow-men. Any other view would be suicidal; for if the passage claimed perpetuates the obligation of the commandments mentioned therein simply, it not only disposes of the fourth, but also of the first, second, and third, as these also are not referred to, thereby exonerating us altogether from the duty of worshiping God, avoiding idolatry, profanity, etc. Here, then, we leave the matter. If our opponents, in order to get rid of the Lord’s Sabbath, are ready to sacrifice all those sacred precepts which show our relation to Him, then the extreme desperation of their case has become so manifest as to work a cure for all the injury which it would be possible for them to do. In conclusion, we offer the following rendering of the passage as given in Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul: “For the law which says, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet (and whatsoever other commandment there be), is all contained in this one saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love works no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” It is not claimed on the one hand that the foregoing translation is exactly literal; and, on the other hand, it is disclaimed that it is a mere paraphrase. The author sets it forth as a free translation, which is better calculated to convey to the mind of the English reader a correct idea of the meaning of the great apostle than would be a word for word translation of what he has written. The name of Dean Howson, now a member of the Board of Bible Revision of Great Britain, will have sufficient weight with the scholars of the present day to secure for the translation which he has thus offered their respectful consideration. That translation presents this advantage over the one in our common version; viz., in substituting the words “whatever other commandment there be” for the words “if there be any other commandment,” all difficulty in regard to the seeming uncertainty on the part of the apostle as to whether there were other commandments is removed, and it becomes apparent that he used the form of expression under consideration simply for the sake of brevity.