portant fact demonstrated in the work itself, that between the baptism and crucifixion of our Lord, there could have been no more than three feasts of the passover. With respect to the arrangement of the work, he further states, that he had prefixed a summary of the four gospels, noticing each apparent discrepancy between that of St. Mark and St. Luke; after which he had given the text itself in Luther's version (with appropriate running titles and sectional divisions,) so printed, that what was related on each subject by the several evangelists, might be seen at once in parallel columns. At the close of every portion he had subjoined annotations, serving either to justify the correctness of the harmony, or to convey some other useful instruction. To such as might find too little for edification, he offered the following advice:-"Whatever you read here, whether concerning God, the Saviour, the Spirit of God, the holy angels, or the followers of Christ, read it for the purposes of admiration, thankfulness, repentance, faith, growth in knowledge, and of doing the will of God. Whatever defect or evil you perceive in any characters here presented to you, take it as a warning. Does the narrative conduct your attention to a variety of circumstances which took place in connexion with our Lord and his apostles? consider yourself interested in such circumstances, and, as it were, placed in the midst of them; for instance, when it is said in Mark x. 49, He calleth thee,' think, Jesus calleth you; or so treasure up, by meditation, the particulars of each transaction, that some general useful instruction may be the result. Does any good and cheering consideration arise in your heart— any sweet and tender emotion? turn yourself with it to your Saviour, just as if you were one of those who personally conversed with him when he was upon earth. Thus will you acquire a readiness in communing with him by ejaculation and prayer, better than from the use of any devotional manual; though I have no wish to depreciate such prescribed and valuable helps. God grant us more and more light and strength out of the fulness of the Beloved, in whom he hath graciously made us accepted!"

In the preface of the second edition, he says, "this revised work is the same in its main points with the first edition: for I abide by what I have said of the three passovers, and of our Lord's having adapted his discourses to the portions of Scripture publicly read among the Jews on their Sabbaths and festivals. But in other respects I have made considerable alterations, which

will not be regarded by reflecting persons as beside the purpose. For no one can communicate to-day, what he is unable to learn till to-morrow. Opinions given of one's book, with more matured consideration used by its author, serve often to enlarge or rectify one idea and another. And as every author ought to be free from any favourite prejudices, so he ought to endeavour, with each new edition, to benefit his readers as much more as he is able. Since my first publication of this kind, others have wrought considerably in the same department, and have had regard to my deductions. What therefore has further occurred to myself, after weighing what they and others have said, I have conscientiously inserted here, to improve or defend my observations. But it is far from my wish that any, even the most ignorant, should rely solely upon what I have written; indeed I wish that none of us may rest upon mere human authority; but that we may wisely learn to prove all things.""

It is worthy of notice that Bengel, by the present work, performed an essential service to theological science, in abandoning the notion, that each evangelist intended to relate every event according to the exactest order of time; and yet in keeping far aloof from the arbitrary liberties to which some writers have resorted, through a forwardness to account for apparent discrepancies.

A work printed at Leipsic anonymously in the year 1765, entitled "A History of the Life and Ministry of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, compiled after Bengel's 'Harmony,'” and moulded into one running text, with a preface by Crusius, served to extend the usefulness of the present work; as did also Dr. Gottlob Christian Storr's adding Bengel's Table of the harmony to an edition of the Lutheran Bible which he published at Tübingen in the year 1793.

CHAPTER VI.

HIS EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE.

No book of Scripture has had so many expositors, at least so many incorrect ones, as the Revelation of St. John. But ought this consideration to deter from further attempts to disclose its mysteries, and from the hope of ever arriving at its true interpretation? Or are Christians at least bound to let the book alone, till its interpretation shall manifestly appear of itself, in the historical events of the christian church? Bengel certainly did not think so, nor could he see it his duty to think so. As his researches had fully satisfied him that this book is a genuine writing of the beloved disciple, so he believed that the particula providence of God, which had watched over all the canonical books in general, had especially watched over this last of them, and had a wise and good design in adding it to their number. But if it was not in vain that the book had been extant for so many centuries, surely it was intended to be studied; moreover, if we are justifiable in deferring the understanding of prophecy, to the time of its complete fulfilment, then were the Jews justifiable in rejecting the true Messiah. Bengel therefore believed the possibility of arriving at a correct interpretation of this book of prophecy, even before its complete fulfilment; and this he believed so certainly, as to venture to say, that an expositor who concerns himself only with its predicted events, and not also with their dates, is a useless interpreter of any thing predicted in it. For it was not without design that twenty specific periods of time are inserted in this inspired book. (Its Divine Author has connected them with their respective predicted events, and) "What the Lord has" thus "joined together, let not man put asunder." Bengel thus regarded the explication of the dates or periods not only as practicable, but essentially requisite, quite as much so as that of the subject matter. But he thought it probable, that the development of such periods would become clearer and more satisfactory as time advances; and that at present it was enough "to be able to show, that each past generation had received as much

age

insight into the Apocalypse as was requisite for its own particular use." Convinced of this, he regarded it as the duty of every fresh expositor to follow up the discoveries possessed by the he lives in, by carefully concentrating every scattered ray of light already thrown upon it, and waiting in patience and humility, if God peradventure shall grant any further light upon it, even to such an insignificant person as himself. This had been his own way of proceeding. As early as before the year 1724, he had expounded the Apocalypse with the rest of the Greek Testament to his pupils at least six times, and before the end of that year had nearly completed a body of annotations on the New Testament, which he designed to publish under the title of "Gnomon;" though up to that time those of them he had affixed to the Apocalypse were all of a borrowed kind. But just then (to use the words of a contemporary writer respecting him,) "did the Lord grant such light to spring up unto him, that the portal to the Divine structure of the Apocalypse became open to his view." He used to speak of this valued vouchsafement as connected with the following remarkable circumstances. When about to prepare a sermon which he was to preach on the first Sunday in Advent, 1724, his thoughts were led to the twentyfirst chapter of the Revelation; and recollecting Potter's view of it, who understands in a mere general sense of architectural enlargement not only the measuring numbers mentioned in the 16th and 17th verses, but even the numbers mentioned in the thirteenth chapter, the question all at once arose in his mind, "What if Potter be right in the former case, but not in the latter? What if indeed for the kingdom of God in its full and glorious accomplishment, no chronological bounds, according to our notions of time, can be affixed; though such be affixed to the previous great tribulation which directly conducts and breaks open the way to this glorious consummation? If such be the fact, then will not only the forty and two months of the Beast's blasphemy, (ch. xiii. 5, 6,) but likewise the number of his name, six hundred three-score and six, contain a precise and definite period of TIME; and these two expressions denote one and the same identical period." The idea came so forcibly to his mind, and so occupied it, that he could not continue his meditations upon the text he had chosen for his sermon; which however proved no loss either to himself or to his congregation, so beneficial was now the influence of those great and glorious things which were anticipated as couched in the above mystical periods.

From that moment he set about tracing, at his private leisure, the golden line of scripture chronology, prospective as well as retrospective; and thus more and more clearly perceived the glorious harmony of the Apocalypse with the history of the world and of the Church. Here also he found the use of a discovery he had made in Greek Testament criticism; that in Rev. vi. 11, the true reading is simply xpóvov, a time, or period; and not xpóvov Jukoòv, "a little season."* χρόνον μικρὸν,

His pleasure was only equalled by the humility with which he entertained the whole disclosure as an unmerited vouchsafement of God. This we shall afterwards see from some extracts of his letters, and at present from the following to J. F. Reuss :

"Dec. 22, 1724.

"It is impossible for me to withhold from you a disclosure, which, however, I must request you to keep entirely to yourself. By the help of the Lord I have found the number of the Beast. It is six hundred and sixty-six years, from A. D. 1143, to A. D. 1809. This key to the Apocalypse is of importance, and even consoles me with respect to the repeated losses of my infant children; for those who are born in this generation are entering into troublous times. You, also, my dear friend, may well make ready to meet such times; for wisdom will be greatly needed. But Blessed be He that cometh! (in the name of the Lord.' Ps. cxviii. 26; Luke xiii. 35.)”

"Jan. 20, 1725.

"Some are urging me to publish on the number of the Beast; others dissuade it. For the sake of the Roman Catholics I am not in a hurry about it. To every thing there is a season; a time to wait, and a time to hasten. It was with great pleasure I lately noticed Luther's remark upon Rev. xiii. 18; for I find that he too interpreted the number of the Beast as denoting 666 years for the period of the papal temporal domination; only according to him, that period commenced under Hildebrand in A. D. 1013."

* MeKpòv, Lectio certissime delenda. Griesb.

+ Having at length seen it his duty to publish it, he afterwards wrote, "It does not surprise me that many are so prejudiced against my apocalyptical discoveries. It is something quite strange to us to be obliged to adopt new truths. We directly feel as if upon slippery ground. Writing upon events which are yet to come is quite a different undertaking from that of history. The latter can bring credit; the former must bring obloquy and contempt; for it is proscribed by the world, by the learned, and even by the godly. But truth is of more importance than one's credit or any thing else. We must not be deterred from uttering truth, by any concern as to what people will say of us."