might be united to his people.' But how is it possible that the words, "A man shall leave his father and mother," can mean Christ left God and heaven? If the passage be understood in reference to the future, the meaning will be, 'We are members of Christ's body, and therefore, hereafter, when he comes the second time, he will leave his Father's throne, and take his church as his bride.'* But this view not only does the same violence to the meaning of the words, but is in direct contradiction to the whole context. Paul does not say that hereafter the church shall be united to Christ as his bride, but that his people are now members of his body, flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bones.

The third explanation assumes that the first part of the verse has no reference to Christ and the church, and that the passage is quoted from Genesis solely for the sake of the last words, they shall be one flesh. The meaning and the connection then are, 'As Eve was formed out of the body of Adam, and therefore it is said a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh; so, since we are members of Christ's body, therefore Christ and his church are one flesh.' This view is,-1. In entire accordance with the context. 2. It avoids the forced and unnatural interpretations which are unavoidable if the former part of the 31st verse be understood in reference to Christ. 3. It satisfies the demands of the 32d verse, which asserts that the words 66 one flesh" do refer to Christ and the church. And, 4. It is in accordance with the usage of the apostles in quoting the

*"Deshalb, weil wir Glieder Christi, von seinem Fleisch und von seinem Beinen sind, wird verlassen ein Mensch (d. i. Christus, bei der Parusie) seinen Vater und seine Mutter (d. i. nach der mystischen Deutung Pauli: er wird seinen Sitz zur Rechten Gottes verlassen) und verleniget werden mit seinem Weibe (mit der Gemeinde), und (und dann) werden die Zwei (der Mann und die Frau, d. i. der herabgestiegene Christus und die Gemeinde) zu Einem Fleische sein (Eine ethische Person ausmachen)."-Meyer.

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language of the Old Testament. They often recite a passage of Scripture as it stands in the Old Testament, for the sake of some one clause or expression in it, without intending to apply to the case before them any other portion of the passage quoted. In Heb. ii. 13, the whole stress and argument rest on the single word "children; see also Gal. iii. 16. Very frequently the particles indicating the grammatical or logical connection of the passage in its position in the Old Testament, are included in the quotation, although entirely unsuited to the connection in which the passage is introduced. This is so frequently done as to be almost the rule. It is, therefore, not an arbitrary proceeding to make the last words of this verse refer to Christ, while the former part of it is made to refer to the context of the passage as it stands in Genesis.

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Ver. 32. To muorýgioν TOUTO μéyα šorív, this mystery is great.— The word "mystery" does not refer to the passage in Gen. ii. 24, as though the apostle intended to say that that passage had a mystical sense, which he had just unfolded by applying it to the relation between Christ and his church. It is the union between Christ and his people, the fact that they are one flesh," he declares to be a great mystery. The word Morgon is used here, as it is everywhere else, for something hidden, something beyond the reach of human knowledge. Whether its being thus hidden arises from its lying in the future, or because of being imperfectly revealed, or because it is in its own nature incomprehensible, must be determined by the connection. In this place, the last is probably the idea intended. The thing itself is beyond our comprehension. The Vulgate renders this passage, "Sacramentum hoc magnum est." The Latin word "sacramentum," besides its usual classical sense, a sacred deposit,' was often used to signify any thing sacred, or which had a hidden import. In this latter sense it agrees in meaning with the word uorigrov, which also is used to designate something the meaning of which is hidden.

Hence, in the Vulgate it is often translated as it is here. In the Latin church the word " sacramentum," however, gradually changed its meaning. Instead of being applied to every thing having a sacred or secret meaning, it was confined to those rites or acts which were assumed to have the power of conferring grace. This is the Romish idea of a sacrament. The Papal theologians, taking the word in this sense here, and understanding the apostle to refer to marriage, quote this passage in proof that matrimony is a sacrament. The answer to this argument is obvious. In the first place, it is not marriage, but the union between Christ and his church, that Paul declares to be a μvorýgiov, and the Vulgate a sacramentum;" and, in the second place, neither the Greek nor Latin term means a sacrament in the Romish sense of the word. The Vulgate translates 1 Tim. iii. 16, "Magnum est pietatis sacramentum," which no Romanist understands as teaching that the manifestation of God in the flesh is a sacrament in the ecclesiastical meaning of the term.

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Ver. 33. The relation of this verse to what precedes, as indicated by λ, admits of two explanations. That particle is used at the beginning of a clause, after an interruption, to introduce the resumption of the main subject. It may be so here. The principal object of the whole paragraph from ver. 21 is to unfold the true nature of the conjugal relation and its duties. With this was connected an exposition of the analogous relation between Christ and the church. This latter point, in ver. 30, 31, is the only one brought into view. Here the apostle reverts to the main subject: But, to resume my subject, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself. This explanation is the one commonly adopted. П, however, may mean "nevertheless," as it is rendered in our version, and this verse be connected with the 32d: " The relation between Christ and the church is a great mystery; nevertheless, do you also love your wives.' That is, al

though there is something in the relation between Christ and the church which infinitely transcends the conjugal relation, nevertheless there is sufficient analogy between the cases to render it obligatory on husbands to love their wives as Christ loves his church. This view of the connection is to be preferred, especially because of the words xal vues, "you also," which evidently suppose the reference is to what immediately precedes.

The husband is to love

Ὑμεῖς οἱ καθ ̓ ἕνα, you severally, ἕκαστος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα οὕτως ἀγαπάτω ὡς ἑαυτόν, let each one so love his wife as himself. -The construction varies, the verb ȧyazár being made to agree with exactos, instead of us the real subject. The meaning is the same as in ver. 28. his wife as being himself. In the next clause (ǹ dè yuvǹ iva φοβῆται τὸν ἄνδρα), ἡ δὲ γυνή is the nominative absolute, and iva depends on a verb understood: But as to the woman, let her see that she reverence her husband. The word pole may express the emotion of fear in all its modifications and in all its degrees, from simple respect, through reverence, up to adoration, according to its object. It is, however, in all its degrees, an acknowledgment of superiority. The sentiments, therefore, which lie at the foundation of the marriage relation, which arise out of the constitution of nature, which are required by the command of God, and are essential to the happiness and well-being of the parties, are, on the part of the husband, that form of love which leads him to cherish and protect his wife as being himself, and, on the part of the woman, that sense of his superiority out of which trust and obedience involuntarily flow.

CHAPTER VI.

RELATIVE DUTIES OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN AND OF MASTERS AND SERVANTS, VER. 1-9.-EXHORTATIONS AND DIRECTIONS AS TO THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT, VER. 10-20.-CONCLUSION, VER. 21-24.

1.

SECTION I.-Ver. 1-9.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment 3. with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest 4. live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children

to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the 5. Lord. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your 6. heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but

as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7. with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: 8. knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same 9. shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

ANALYSIS.

Children should obey their parents. This obedience should be in the Lord, determined and regulated by a regard to Christ, ver. 1. The ground of the obligation is,-1. It is itself right; 2. It is enforced by an express command in the decalogue, to which a special promise is annexed, ver. 1-3.

Parents should do nothing to cherish evil feelings in the minds of their children, but bring them up in the discipline of Christianity, ver. 4, 5.