Your ShelfYour Projects

Review and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 50.

EASY STEPS IN THE BIBLE STORY

Review and Herald

Dec 14, 1911

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 14, 1911

EASY STEPS IN THE BIBLE STORY

Now Ready for Delivery

JUST THE BOOK YOU WANT FOR YOUR CHILDREN

A very entertaining and instructive volume. The stories are told with a vividness that makes them like real life.
BEGINNING with the story of creation, a connected line of stories of special events and of the lives of prominent characters down to the close of the life of Christ, is told in a most charming way. No child can read these stories without being helped in the forming of a strong character. Such stories as the life of Joseph, the life of Moses, and the life of Samuel place before the children high ideals worthy of imitation. There is nothing more interesting to children, or more helpful, than to study the lives of the mighty men of old who accomplished such wonderful things for God through faith in him.
The purpose of this book is to give a simple, consecutive story of the Bible for children. It might be appropriately called the child's Bible. It is printed in attractive form, with large open-faced type, profusely illustrated with original full-page drawings, colored plates, and new marginal illustrations that really illustrate the text, each page containing a picture made especially for illustrating and impressing the story recorded thereon.
Canvassers will find this an easy book to sell. Prospectuses are now ready. Write to your tract society for a sixteen-page circular, which will give pages and three-colored illustrations selected from the book, together with full description of same. The circular is free.
This new book is now ready for circulation. It contains 600 pages, and 88 beautiful full-page illustrations, of which 19 are in colors, besides a small picture on nearly every page. It is bound in three styles, as follows: Cloth, $3; half morocco, $4; full morocco, $5.
Order from Your Tract Society
Review & Herald Pub. Assn.
Washington, D. C.

The December Number of LIFE & HEALTH SELLS AT SIGHT

Until January 15, fifteen beautiful numbers of “Life and Health” for $1. See offer below.

The December Number of LIFE & HEALTH SELLS AT SIGHT

Cover Design Printed in Three Colors
The beautiful “Alps” cover design, in three colors, is worth much more than ten cents, the price of this copy. It is the most beautiful cover design of the year.
Until Jan. 15, 1912, all subscribers for one year will receive in addition to the 12 numbers for 1912, the beautiful October, November, and December issues free of charge,—15 months for $1.
New agents will find this “easy-to-sell” number a good proposition. Send ten cents for a sample copy, and full particulars regarding agency. Also, tell your friends to take up this easy and profitable line of work during the winter months, when people have the most time to read.

A FEW ARTICLES

Out-of-Doors in Winter, by Mary Alden Carver. (Five illustrations.) “There is too much of an inclination to seal up the doors and windows when cold weather comes, and sit huddled about a comfortable fire.”
The Sweetest Place on Earth, by Claude M. Dexter. The story of how Louisiana cane-sugar is made.
How Two Mothers Cared for Their Babies: Why One Succeeded and the Other Failed, by Lauretta Kress, M. D., of the Loma Linda (Cal.) Sanitarium staff. (Three illustrations.) The second of three articles from the pen of this physician of wide experience in Europe, Australia, and America. Mrs. Lake, the successful mother, gives Mrs. Franklin, the “dragged-out” mother, her first lesson in the care of the baby.
The Opium and Morphin Vice, by D. H. Kress, M. D., of the Loma Linda (Cal.) Sanitarium. (Illustrated.) The facts concerning this terrible slave-making habit; the use of opium in patent medicines; and how to successfully abandon the use of the drug. Your next-door neighbor may be a victim of this habit.
What and What Not to Eat, by R. S. Ingersoll, M. D., M. R. C. S. (England). (Illustrated.) What are proper food combinations? Is it safe to say, “O, I can eat anything”? How to avoid sour stomach and a cross disposition.
Ventilation, Exercise, and Sleep, by G. H. Heald, M. D. A short common-sense talk on “the breath of life,” the man who is “too busy” or “too dead tired” to take exercise, also, on burning the “midnight oil.”
Healthful Cookery, by George E. Cornforth. How to make apple, quince, crab-apple, plum, cherry, currant, grape, and barberry jelly,—eight valuable recipes given by a competent chef.
Do Not Move Into a Consumptive House. How many healthy people contract tuberculosis. Why Mr. Smith contracted the disease a second time after being cured out West.
Is Rabies, or Hydrophobia, a Contagious Disease? Does Alcohol Cause Insanity? The Cause of Warts, and 64 other valuable articles and items on health topics.
Buy this number, read it, and pass it on to others. Better still, send $2 for 50 copies; sell 20 to get your money back; then sell or give away the other 30 copies in the interests of true health reform.

This National Health Magazine Will Tell You

How to keep well.
How to get well.
How to treat diseases at home.
How to eat, sleep, and dress for health.

PRICES

$1.00 a year, 10 cents a copy. 5 to 40 copies, 5 cents each. 50 or more copies, 4 cents each.
Send all Orders Through Your Tract Society

Paul in Rome

By Ellen G. White

(Concluded)
MRS. E. G. WHITE
MANY months passed by after Paul’s arrival in Rome, before the Jews of Jerusalem appeared in person to present their accusations against the prisoner. They had been repeatedly thwarted in their designs; and now that Paul was to be tried before the highest tribunal of the Roman empire, they had no desire to risk another defeat. Lysias, Felix, Festus, and Agrippa had all declared their belief in his innocence. His enemies could hope for success only in seeking by intrigue to influence the emperor in their favor. Delay would further their object, as it would afford them time to perfect and execute their plans; and so they waited for a while before preferring their charges in person against the apostle.
In the providence of God, this delay resulted in the furtherance of the gospel. Through the favor of those who had Paul in charge, he was permitted to dwell in a commodious house, where he could meet freely with his friends, and also present the truth daily to those who came to hear. Thus for two years he continued his labors, “preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”
During this time, the churches that he had established in many lands were not forgotten. Realizing the dangers that threatened the converts to the new faith, the apostle sought, as far as possible, to meet their needs by letters of warning and practical instruction; and from Rome he sent out consecrated workers to labor not only for these churches, but in fields that he himself had not visited. These workers, as wise shepherds, strengthened the work so well begun by Paul; and the apostle, kept informed of the conditions and dangers of the churches by constant communication with them, was enabled to exercise a wise supervision over all.
Thus, while apparently cut off from active labor, Paul exerted a wider and more lasting influence than if he had been free to travel among the churches as in former years. As a prisoner of the Lord, he had a firmer hold upon the affections of his brethren; and his words, written by one under bonds for the sake of Christ, commanded greater attention and respect than they did when he was personally with them. Not until Paul was removed from the believers, did they realize how heavy were the burdens he had borne in their behalf. Heretofore they had largely excused themselves from responsibility and burden-bearing because they lacked his wisdom, tact, and indomitable energy; but now, left in their inexperience to learn the lessons they had shunned, they prized his warnings, counsels, and instructions as they had not prized his personal work. And as they learned of his courage and faith during his long imprisonment, they were stimulated to greater fidelity and zeal in the cause of Christ.
Among Paul’s assistants at Rome were many of his former companions and fellow workers. Luke, “the beloved physician,” who had attended him on the journey to Jerusalem, through the two years’ imprisonment at Cæsarea, and upon his perilous voyage to Rome, was still with him. Timothy also ministered to his comfort. Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord, stood nobly by the apostle. Demas and Mark were also with him. Aristarchus and Epaphras were his fellow prisoners.
Since the earlier years of his profession of faith, Mark’s Christian experience had deepened. As he had studied more closely the life and death of Christ, he had obtained clearer views of the Saviour’s mission, its toils and conflicts. Reading in the scars in Christ’s hands and feet the marks of his service for humanity, and the length to which self-abnegation leads to save the lost and perishing, Mark had become willing to follow the Master in the path of self-sacrifice. Now, sharing the lot of Paul the prisoner, he understood better than ever before that it is infinite gain to win Christ, infinite loss to win the world and lose the soul for whose redemption the blood of Christ was shed. In the face of severe trial and adversity, Mark continued steadfast, a wise and beloved helper of the apostle.
Demas, steadfast for a time, afterward forsook the cause of Christ. In referring to this, Paul wrote, “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.” For worldly gain, Demas bartered every high and noble consideration. How short-sighted the exchange! Possessing only worldly wealth or honor, Demas was poor indeed, however much he might proudly call his own; while Mark, choosing to suffer for Christ’s sake, possessed eternal riches, being accounted in heaven an heir of God and a joint heir with his Son.
Among those who gave their hearts to God through the labors of Paul in Rome, was Onesimus, a pagan slave who had wronged his master, Philemon, a Christian believer in Colosse, and had escaped to Rome. In the kindness of his heart, Paul sought to relieve the poverty anddistress of the wretched fugitive, and then endeavored to shed the light of truth into his darkened mind. Onesimus listened to the words of life, confessed his sins, and was converted to the faith of Christ.
Onesimus endeared himself to Paul by his piety and sincerity no less than by his tender care for the apostle’s comfort, and his zeal in promoting the work of the gospel. Paul saw in him traits of character that would render him a useful helper in missionary labor, and he counseled him to return without delay to Philemon, beg his forgiveness, and plan for the future. The apostle promised to hold himself responsible for the sum of which Philemon had been robbed. Being about to despatch Tychicus with letters to various churches in Asia Minor, he sent Onesimus with him. It was a severe test for this servant thus to deliver himself up to the master he had wronged, but he had been truly converted, and he did not turn aside from this duty.
Paul made Onesimus the bearer of a letter to Philemon, in which, with his usual tact and kindness, the apostle pleaded the cause of the repentant slave, and expressed a desire to retain his services in the future. The letter began with an affectionate greeting to Philemon as a friend and fellow laborer:— “Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” The apostle reminded Philemon that every good purpose and trait of character which he possessed was due to the grace of Christ; this alone made him different from the perverse and the sinful. The same grace could make the debased criminal a child of God and a useful laborer in the gospel.
Paul might have urged upon Philemon his duty as a Christian; but he chose rather the language of entreaty: “As Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds: which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me.”
The apostle asked Philemon, in view of the conversion of Onesimus, to receive the repentant slave as his own child, showing him such affection that he would choose to dwell with his former master, “not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved.” He expressed his desire to retain Onesimus as one who could minister to him in his bonds as Philemon himself would have done, though he did not desire his services unless Philemon should of his own accord set the slave free.
The apostle well knew the severity which masters exercised toward their slaves, and he knew also that Philemon was greatly incensed because of the conduct of his servant. He tried to write to him in a way that would arouse his deepest and tenderest feelings as a Christian. The conversion of Onesimus had made him a brother in the faith, and any punishment inflicted on this new convert would be regarded by Paul as inflicted on himself.
Paul voluntarily proposed to assume the debt of Onesimus in order that the guilty one might be spared the disgrace of punishment, and might again enjoy the privileges he had forfeited. “If thou count me therefore a partner,” he wrote to Philemon, “receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account; I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it.”
How fitting an illustration of the love of Christ for the repentant sinner! The servant who had defrauded his master had nothing with which to make restitution. The sinner who has robbed God of years of service has no means of canceling the debt. Jesus interposes between the sinner and God, saying, I will pay the debt. Let the sinner be spared; I will suffer in his stead.
After offering to assume the debt of Onesimus, Paul reminded Philemon how greatly he himself was indebted to the apostle. He owed him his own self, since God had made Paul the instrument of his conversion. Then, in a tender, earnest appeal, he besought Philemon that as he had by his liberalities refreshed the saints, so he would refresh the spirit of the apostle by granting him this cause of rejoicing. “Having confidence in thy obedience,” he added, “I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.”
Paul’s letter to Philemon shows the influence of the gospel upon the relation between master and servant. Slaveholding was an established institution throughout the Roman empire, and both masters and slaves were found in most of the churches for which Paul labored. In the cities, where slaves often greatly outnumbered the free population, laws of terrible severity were regarded as necessary to keep them in subjection. A wealthy Roman often owned hundreds of slaves, of every rank, of every nation, and of every accomplishment. With full control over the souls and bodies of these helpless beings, he could inflict upon them any suffering he chose. If one of them in retaliation or self-defense ventured to raise a hand against his owner, the whole family of the offender might be inhumanly sacrificed. The slightest mistake, accident, or carelessness was often punished without mercy.
Some masters, more humane than others, were more indulgent toward their servants; but the vast majority of the wealthy and noble, given up without restraint to the indulgence of lust, passion, and appetite, made their slaves the wretched victims of caprice and tyranny. The tendency of the whole system was hopelessly degrading.
It was not the apostle’s work to overturn arbitrarily or suddenly the established order of society. To attempt this would be to prevent the success of the gospel. But he taught principles which struck at the very foundation of slavery, and which, if carried into effect, would surely undermine the whole system. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,” he declared. When converted, the slave became a member of the body of Christ, and as such was to be loved and treated as a brother, a fellow heir with his master to the blessings of God and the privileges of the gospel. On the other hand, servants were to perform their duties, “not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”
Christianity makes a strong bond of union between master and slave, king and subject, the gospel minister and the degraded sinner who has found in Christ cleansing from sin. They have been washed in the same blood, quickened by the same Spirit; and they are made one in Christ Jesus.

The Gates of Pearl

By L. D. Santee

L. D. SANTEE
FAR from the world of sin and care, Unseen by mortal eye, There stands a city passing fair, Gleaming in yon bright sky. There, where the tear-drops never fall, Love’s banners bright unfurl, And set within the jasper wall, Are wondrous gates of pearl.
They’ll swing full wide in welcoming, Obeying God’s behest, And the redeemed shall enter in, Their glorious home of rest.
No gloomy clouds, enwreathed with storm, Their darts shall ever hurl, But radiant are the skies of morn, Behind the gates of pearl.
City of light, thou land of love, Garden of fadeless flowers, Soon shall the ransomed dwell above, In heaven’s radiant bowers.
The stormy voyage o’er at last, Each straining sail they furl; ’Tis God, and heaven, and home at last Beyond the gates of pearl.

We Are Not Ignorant of His Devices

By C. McReynolds

C. MC REYNOLDS
IN the great controversy between good and evil, Satan tried to obscure the knowledge of God by endeavoring to lead the Israelites to forget God. The regard in which animals were held by the Egyptians as objects of their idolatrous worship, made it very difficult for the Israelites to carry forward the system of sacrificial offerings ordained by God as typical of the coming Messiah.
When Israel was finally brought into a state of bondage, when they were no longer held in high esteem, they were positively forbidden to sacrifice bullocks, lambs, etc., because these were worshiped as gods by the Egyptians. Thus deprived of the privilege of worship, Israel's faith was weakened, and they were led to forget the Lamb of God and the plan of salvation. In order to restore this knowledge among his people, God called them forth from Egypt, away from these blighting influences.
After Israel had heard the law proclaimed from Sinai in awful solemnity amid scenes of terrible grandeur, Satan again made a desperate effort to lead them to forget God. He caused them to erect a golden image of the god Apis—the sacred ox of Egyptian worship. Thus did they insult the God of the universe by transgressing the commandments of the sacred law they had recently pledged themselves in solemn covenant to obey.
Sun-worship had been early established as the leading idolatrous worship of the nations of the earth, and a day was set apart especially devoted to this worship. This was not the day set apart and made holy at creation. The Sabbath was designed as a reminder of the true God. Sun-worship was brought in by the arch-deceiver to lead men to forget God and his law. This he accomplished by taking from them the Sabbath. When the Lord proclaimed the law, the Sabbath commandment was so worded as to contain the name of God, and he was set forthas the creator of the heavens and the earth. The fourth commandment is the only one that designates God as the creator.
For many years, in this present time, an effort has been made to teach antinomianism, to set aside the decalogue as having been nailed to the cross. And this attempt is made in the very face of the statement by Paul that by faith in the cross of Christ, “we establish the law.”
Since there are some who still preach obedience to the eternal law, and Satan sees this “no-law” theory failing to deceive all, he now prepares another device of deception. He is willing that men shall feign honor to the law, if only they can be led to ignore the sign of God's creative power. He now proposes, through a council of all the great religious bodies of the world, to offer a revised edition of this law to men; a “shorter form of the ten commandments.” The principal changes to be made are in the second and the fourth commandments. In this abridged form the Sabbath commandment will read simply, “Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy.” Thus is taken away from the law God's title as creator, the seal of the law, and the reasons for the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath. This opens the way for the law to be made the basis of authority for the observance of the false sabbath, the institution of the man of sin. Thus the apostate Protestant world will be brought into line with that power that “shall think to change the times and the law.” Rapidly the sentiment of Protestantism is changing, and it is stretching its hands across the gulf to clasp hands with Romanism. The world is ripening for destruction.
The long reign of him who is constantly devising against God, and who is leading men to forget him, will soon come to an end, and the glorious day of victory to the faithful will dawn. May we indeed not be ignorant of his devices.
East Las Vegas, N. Mex.

The Millennium

By Mrs. M. E. Steward

MRS. M. E. STEWARD
THE millennium begins with the resurrection of the righteous, at the second coming of Christ, and continues a thousand years till the resurrection of the wicked. Revelation 20.
There will be two classes when Christ comes, the righteous and the wicked.
1. There will be both “just” and “unjust,” “righteous” and “filthy.” Rev. 22:11.
2. The wheat and the tares “grow together until the harvest.” “The harvest is the end of the world.” Matt. 13:30, 39.
3. One class will be giving “meat in due season;” the other begin to smite their “fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.” Matt. 24: 45, 49.

Conflicting testimony:—

1. The evil servant says in his heart, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” Matt. 24:48. The Lord says, “He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Heb. 10:37.
2. A certain class says, “Peace and safety!”—a good time coming. The Bible declares, “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them.” 1 Thess. 5:3.
3. “Many people shall . . . say, . . . They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Isa. 2:3, 4. God says: “Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears.” “The great and the terrible day of the Lord” at Christ’s coming is the theme under consideration. Joel 2:30, 31.

The inhabitants of the world just before the second advent:—

1. “In the last days perilous times shall come. [The last includes the very last one.] For men shall be lovers of their own selves,”—then there follow about twenty specifications of depravity. “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:1-5, 13.
2. “In the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” 1 Tim. 4:1.

No conversions after Christ comes:—

1. Just before he comes “quickly,” the fiat goes forth: “He which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still.” Rev. 22:11.
2. Jesus comes to take “vengeance on them that know not God,” not to convert them. 2 Thess. 1:7, 8.
3. The tares are not to be converted; they are bound in bundles to be burned. Matt. 13:30.

The conditions of the earth when Christ comes:—

1. “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth.” Isa. 24:5, 6.
2. When our Lord comes, the earth will have just received the seven last plagues. Revelation 16. All vegetation is withered by the scorching sun; the water is turned to blood; the cities are broken down; and all beautiful palaces are in ruins.
3. “The slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth.” Jer. 25:33.

The condition of the earth during the thousand years:—

1. The earth will be “utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled.” Isa. 24:1-3.
2. There will be no man, no birds of heaven, no light in the heavens. The whole land will be desolate. Jer. 4: 25-28.
3. The earth will be so chaotic that it is called “the bottomless pit.” Rev. 20:1-3.
Since the earth is “without inhabitant,” the saints must be with their Lord and in heaven during the thousand years. The Rev. 20:4.

Missionary Opportunities

By Clarence E. Moon

CLARENCE E. MOON
There are opportunities that come to each one of us every day, and yet we may pass through life without finding them. Opportunities may seem to vanish before our very eyes, as in the case of Tantalus in the Greek myth: when he stopped to drink of the water at his feet, it vanished; and when he reached up to pluck the fruit from the branches, it was raised by the wind beyond his reach.
The primary requisite is a Spirit-filled life on the part of the worker, to have received into his own soul that love which transforms the whole life. “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Peter 4:10. The first part of this text has in it the key to successful missionary effort, “As every man hath received the gift.” Before we can impart to others, we must have had the experience of God’s grace in our own life.
If we could only realize this much, what a grand thing it would be! For young people who are anxious about entering the mission fields, who feel special anxiety about receiving a direct call from God, how simple it would all be! Why, we would simply begin our missionary effort with our schoolmate, with our brother or sister out of Christ, and would work, as did our blessed Pattern, for those with whom we meet.
On page 153 of “Ministry of Healing,” we read under the head of “Little Opportunities:” “Let none pass by little opportunities to look for larger work. You might do successfully the small work, but fail utterly in attempting the larger work, and fall into discouragement. It is by doing with your might what you find to do that you will develop aptitude for larger work. It is by slighting the daily opportunities, by neglecting the little things right at hand, that so many become fruitless and withered. Do not depend on human aid. Look beyond human beings, to the One appointed by God to bear our griefs, to carry our sorrows, and to supply our necessities. Taking God at his word, make a beginning wherever you find work to do, and move forward with unfaltering faith. It is faith in Christ’s presence that gives strength and steadfastness. Work with unselfish interest, with painstaking effort, with persevering energy.”
Again we read from page 159: “There is no limit to the usefulness of the one who, putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God.”
San Francisco, Cal.

Covenant or Testament — Which?

By William Warren Prescott

We have already called attention to the fact that in order to arrive at a correct interpretation of the New Testament, it is necessary to remember that it is a further development of the gospel as revealed in the Old Testament, and that, therefore, the meaning of words sometimes turns upon the use of the corresponding words in treating the same subject in the Old Testament. A further application of this principle is found in determining the meaning to be attached to the Greek word diatheke in the New Testament, translated “covenant” and “testament.” In the Authorized Version the words covenant and testament appear to be used in most cases interchangeably. In the English Revised Version the word covenant is preferred in the text with the marginal reading “testament.” In the American Standard Revised Version the word covenant is used in every case without any alternative reading in the margin, except in Heb. 9:16, 17, where the word testament is used in the text, with this note in the margin, “The Greek word here used signifies both covenant and testament.”
In determining which word is the proper one to be used, we should remember that the covenant idea does not originate in the New Testament, but dates from patriarchal times, and that what is said in the New Testament upon this subject bears the closest relation to the Old Testament teaching upon the same subject.
It is true that the Greek word diatheke, or covenant, used in the New Testament, signifies both covenant and testament, or will, in ordinary Greek writings. If, therefore, the New Testament was an independent revelation, and not based upon the previous revelation found in the Old Testament, we might be in doubt whether to translate this word covenant or testament. But in view of the close relation between the two divisions of the Holy Scriptures, the proper way to determine the meaning of this word in the New Testament is to consider its relation to the Hebrew word berith, trans­latedcovenant in the Old Testament. This may be made clear by referring to a specific case. When the promise of the new covenant, recorded in Jer. 31:33, 34, is transferred to the epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 8:8-12), it would be manifestly a violation of all sound rules of exegesis to give to the Greek word which takes the place in the epistle to the Hebrews of the Hebrew word for covenant in the book of Jeremiah, any different meaning than that which is attached to the Hebrew word for covenant in the book of Jeremiah; but the Hebrew word berith, or covenant, not only in Jeremiah, but in every other case where it is used in the Old Testament, means simply covenant, and never testament. The idea of a testament or will does not attach to this word at all. In view of this fact it seems to be a serious departure from the right principles of interpretation to give to this Greek word in the New Testament any other meaning than covenant, even though the word itself may signify testament as well. We therefore are of the opinion that the Greek word diatheke, which is used in the New Testament as an equivalent to the Hebrew word berith, translated covenant in the Old Testament, should in every case be rendered covenant, and that the use of the word testament in any instance is entirely unwarranted.
It will perhaps appear to the reader that Heb. 9:16, 17 must be an exception to this statement, and we will, therefore, give a little study to this passage. The examination of the alternative readings given in the margin of the Revised Version, both English and American, will show that the translators did not appear to be quite sure of their ground, and wavered somewhat between the words covenant and testament. This may be seen by combining the alternative readings thus: “For where a testament [or, covenant] is, there must of necessity be [or, be brought] the death of him that made it. For a testament [or, covenant] is of force where there hath been death [or, over the dead]: for it doth never avail while he that made it liveth [or, for doth it ever avail while he that made it liveth?].” It will be noticed that the Revised Version drops out the word testator altogether, and that the question of time found in the Authorized Version in the expression “after men are dead” also disappears, and it should also be noted that in the expression translated “where there hath been death,” with the alternative reading “over the dead,” the plural form is used in the Greek, indicating the death of more than one.
As being more true to the original text, and more in harmony with the Old Testament idea of covenant making, we submit the following translation of Heb. 9:15-17, taken from the translation of the Bible by B. Boothroyd, D. D.:— “And for this purpose he is the mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called might receive the promised blessing of the everlasting inheritance. For where a covenant is, there must also of necessity be the death of that which establisheth it. For a covenant is made firm over dead victims; whereas it is of no force while that which establisheth it liveth.”
It appears evident that the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews is in this particular part of the epistle emphasizing the necessity of the death of Christ in order to ratify the new covenant. In doing this he calls attention to the method, well known among the Hebrews, of making a covenant, a method illustrated in the case of the covenant with Abraham recorded in Gen. 15:7-21. It seems altogether foreign to the argument to introduce the idea of a testament or will, and it is certainly a violation of all rules of translation to give to the Greek word in the sixteenth verse an altogether different meaning than is given to the same word in the fifteenth verse; but in the fifteenth verse, the word testament could not possibly be used in place of covenant, and it therefore surely ought not to be used in the sixteenth verse.
In view of the facts which we have adduced, we suggest that it would be proper to drop out from our treatment of the covenant the words testament and testator, and to eliminate from Heb. 9:16, 17, the idea of a will and of the time question in its relation to the new covenant, and to give to this passage the only interpretation which is in harmony with the line of argument followed in the epistle to the Hebrews, and with the treatment of this whole question in the Old Testament. We believe that the translation and interpretation here suggested are the only ones which will stand the test of critical examination and of a careful application of the sound rules of Scripture exegesis.
We might add that the use of the word testament in place of the word covenant in the New Testament appears to have grown out of the fact that in the Latin, or Vulgate, version of the New Testament the word testamentum was improperly used as a translation of the Greek word diatheke. This is not sufficient reason, however, for using the word testament in the English translation.
W. W. P.
Continue reading: The Greatest Power to Move the Message On