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they are of this character; but, if the person who holds this doctrine, prefers the term "occasional cause" he may use it; though it seems absurd to call that cause occasional which, under given circumstances will always make the effect certain, that is, which is indissolubly connected with a certain effect.

Of what significance is it to talk about the power of contrary choice, when there is something else which makes it certain that all the acts of the will shall be sinful; or if it be maintained that it is the power of contrary choice, which makes it certain that all the volitions will be of a particular character and will bring man under condemnation, what absurdity to produce this power, as a peculiar evidence of man's freedom from fatality. It is with a very bad grace that a school in Theology announce themselves as the peculiar opposers of fatalism, who nevertheless start with the position, that there is something in an innocent creature who has not a single sinful disposition or inclination towards God or any moral object, which yet makes it certain that each of his volitions from first to last will be offensive to God and bring him under the sentence of his law.

We pretend not to assert, that the New Haven theologians hold the other doctrines of the Bible with the same qualifications as they do those of original sin, of regeneration and the efficiency of God in the production of holiness. Had they merely introduced the heresy of Pelagius, we should have thought the error more harmless; but, as they have attempted to overturn the doctrines of grace, not by the Bible but by a peculiar philosophy, we regard the danger far more serious. We regard their positions themselves as to the comparative authority of reason and revelation, as a denial of the authority of the Bible, and their peculiar philosophy of common sense, as subversive of some of the fundamental laws of human belief, as wholly infidel and licentious in its nature and tendency. This I shall attempt still farther to establish a few pages onwards.

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ART. VIII.-NORDHEIMER'S HEBREW CONCORDANCE.

Proposals for publishing by subscription, a Complete Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance to the Old Testament, with an Introduction and Appendices. By Dr. Isaac Nordheimer, Prof. of Orient. Langg. in the University of the City of New-York, and William W. Turner.

PROSPECTUS.

"AMONG the variety of works that now constitute the apparatus of the Biblical Student, there is not one which should rank so high as the Hebrew Concordance. In the first place, it can teach naught but what is true; for all its materials are drawn directly from the Bible itself, and in it nearly the whole of the Old Testament is contained. It furnishes the Grammarian and the Lexicographer with the data for their respective labors, and constitutes the only unerring test of the correctness of their conclusions. It affords constant aid to the interpreter of Holy Scripture in expounding dark and difficult places, by enabling him to use the Bible for its own elucidation. Even the tyro in Hebrew studies may receive from it essential assistance; since by its means he can at once ascertain the true derivation and inflections of words, to which his grammatical knowledge may oftentimes be insufficient to furnish him the clue.

That the force of these truths has long been felt and acknowledged in the learned world, is evident from the numerous Concordances to the Scriptures which have been published in various languages from time to time, and that too at periods when the production of works of this nature and of such magnitude was attended with far greater difficulty and pecuniary risk than at present. It is true indeed, that Buxtorf's Hebrew Concordance, published two centuries ago, has been suffered, although long become extremely scarce, to remain the standard work ever since; a fact which would seem almost unaccountable, especially when we consider the numerous defects which the lapse of time has made apparent both in its arrangement and execution, did we not also reflect on the many obstacles lying in the way of the

successful completion of so laborious and expensive an undertaking.

Although the projectors of the present publication do not undervalue the difficulties they will have to surmount, yet, being aware of the daily increasing demand for this most necessary help to the right understanding of the original Scriptures, knowing from experience the strength of their own resources and the means which with the blessing of God they can command for insuring success, and sensible of the great assistance to be derived from the admirable Hebrew Concordance of Dr. Fürst, now publishing in Germany and nearly completed, they have resolved on making the attempt to produce a new Concordance that shall be adapted in all respects to the wants and taste of this age and country. With this view, it is their intention to embody in their work all that is essential in that of Dr. Fürst, and at the same time to render it as convenient for use and bring it as much within the means of all classes of students as possible, by excluding from their plan every thing that, however valuable and interesting in itself, does not properly fall within the scope of a Concordance. Such, for instance, is the lexicographical portion of Dr. F.'s work, which, while it cannot enable the student to dispense with a separate lexicon, renders the Concordance itself both unwieldy and expensive. Besides comparing with the Bible every quotation contained in the work, and rectifying the mistakes, of which there are still not a few, they will also remedy some defects of arrangement which they have discovered, and adopt an improved method of indicating the inflections of words.

For the information of those who may not have enjoyed an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the production of Dr. Fürst which it is intended to make the basis of the projected publication, it may not be amiss to enumerate some of the principal advantages it possesses over all that have preceded it. Besides the essential improvements made by this indefatigable scholar on the general plan of Buxtorf, together with the additional insertion of many hundred citations and even entire articles, and the correction of an immense multitude of errors with which the references abounded, his work will contain, among others, the following highly useful appendices (except the sixth), which will also be inserted in the "Complete Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance."

1. An etymologico-alphabetical Index of all the words in the Old Testament, with references to the pages of the Concordance on which they are to be found.

2. A purely alphabetical Index of the same, with similar references (this will prove of much use to the beginner).

3. A tabular view of all the Forms of Nouns, with their origin and mode of formation (highly important to the grammarian and lexicographer).

4. An alpabetical List of all the Particles, i. e. of all the pronominal roots, with their compositions and formations. 5. An alphabetical List of all the Proper Names belonging to the Old Testament language.

6. An alpbabetical List of grammatical forms difficult for beginners to trace.

7. A Chronological Table of the Sacred Writings."

In recommending to the public Prof. Nordheimer's proposed Hebrew Concordance, we cannot give a more concise summary of its merits than that contained in the prospectus itself. We have therefore prefixed it to the few remarks that are intended to be offered. It is very common to speak of a new work as supplying a great desideratum. We know however of no one to which the term may with more justice and propriety be applied. A Hebrew Concordance is indeed a desideratum in our theological literature. We need not say, a good Hebrew Concordance; for it is a fact, that this is the first attempt in our country at any thing which bears even the name. Were it a mere vocabulary, furnishing the most concise references to all the passages in which the various words might be formed, or a mere numerical list of texts, it would in fact be a work of more value than the most accredited lexicon within it, and more deserving of a place in every Clergyman's library. No commentary, translation, or lexicon can supply its place. To use the language of the prospectus "it can teach nothing but what is true. It is a self-interpreting lexicon. It guides us to the meaning of the Hebrew, through the same process, by which we become acquainted with most of the terms of our native language. Very few comparatively of the words we meet with in English authors (to say nothing of the language of common discourse) have ever been examined by the aid of a dictionary; and yet we feel as much confidence in our knowledge of their correct application, as though that pro

cess had been gone through in every case. The understanding of a word is something more than a knowledge of its separate meanings, whether primary or secondary, as they are often arbitrarily arranged in a lexicon. It is not only true of connecting and qualifying particles, but also of all parts of speech, except the lowest class of nouns, that their full meaning cannot be felt nor correctly given when viewed as standing alone. Abstract terms of any kind therefore, can only be said to be understood, not by a direct reception in the mind, of the abstract or independent idea they contain, but by an apprehension of the fitness of their connections with the other members of a proposition. This apprehension is gained only by a constant and habitual observation of the company in which they are found, and of the associations with which they are most naturally united. In the case of a dead or foreign language, the Concordance is an expedient by which the length of this process is shortened, and its results condensed. It points out the primary and secondary application of terms, not by a confused array of all possible meanings leading to all possible interpretations, but, by familiarizing the mind with the spirit of the word, and by keeping prominent the one primary sensible meaning which forms the connecting bond of all its various uses, enables us to determine with confidence, that precise force and bearing which is intended in any particular connection.

Few persons, comparatively, can be expected to become such thorough masters of the Hebrew, as to be able to read every portion of the Old Testament scriptures with ease, and thus to make it their sole and daily medium of communication with the inspired volume. Without the aid of a Concordance, however, nothing less than this will render their knowledge of the language in a critical point of view, much more than a mere reliance upon authority. After all, the lexicon is only substituted for the translation. The spirit of the language is not caught. The student has not obtained that familiarity with its idioms, its usus loquendi, its modes of conception, which alone can place him in a situation approximating to that of the ancient writer, or so bring the words to his mind in connection with their primary and idiomatic associations that he can feel that he has grasped the true and only meaning which in any particular passage was intended. Laborious study, and constant reading for many years, can

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