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--- text:demonstration_of_the_gospel_book_10 [2013/09/07 16:56] – created fredmond
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 "And at the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour, and at the ninth hour Jesus called with a loud voice, Eloim, Eloim, lama sabachthani, that is to say, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
- And the Hebrew words are taken from this prophecy. So, then, the beginning of the Psalm includes the words "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani" in the same syllables, which (491) Aquila has thus translated: "My strong one, my strong one, why hast thou left me?" And everyone will agree that this is equivalent to our Saviour's words at the time of His Passion. You may therefore be quite convinced that the Psalm refers to Him and no one else, for its contents harmonize with none other but Him. The other predictions are exactly fulfilled in Him; and especially the words, "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots." It also foretells literally the (b) driving in of the nails, when His hands and feet were nailed to the Cross, saying "They pierced my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones." And the other predictions apply to Him alone, as my argument will shew. But if any one would apply them to some other person, whether king, prophet, or other godly man among the Jews, let him prove if he can how what is written is in harmony with him. For who of those who were ever born of women has attained such heights of virtue and power, as to embrace the knowledge (c) of God with unchanging reason, with unruffled soul, and with sober mind, and to fasten all his trust on God, so |217 as to say, "Thou art He that took me out of my mother's womb, my hope from my mother's breasts. I was cast on thee from my mother, from my mother's womb Thou art my God." And who that has ever been so cared for by God, has also become "a reproach of men "and "the outcast of the people''? By what bulls and calves can we (d) suppose such a man to have been surrounded? And in what suffering was he "poured out like water"? How were "all his bones loosened"? How was "he brought into the dust of death," and being brought into the dust of death how does he say those words still and live and speak? Who are "the dogs "that surround him, that are other than the beforenamed "bulls and calves"? What gathering of evil men pierced his feet as well as his hands, stripped him of his raiment, divided some of it among themselves, and cast lots for the remainder? What was the sword, the dog, and the lion? Who are they that surrounded him that are called Unicorns? And how after (492) a struggle with such numbers, after being brought into the dust of death, can he promise to proclaim His Father's name, not to all, but only to his brethren?
+ And the Hebrew words are taken from this prophecy. So, then, the beginning of the Psalm includes the words "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani" in the same syllables, which (491) Aquila has thus translated: "My strong one, my strong one, why hast thou left me?" And everyone will agree that this is equivalent to our Saviour's words at the time of His Passion. You may therefore be quite convinced that the Psalm refers to Him and no one else, for its contents harmonize with none other but Him. The other predictions are exactly fulfilled in Him; and especially the words, "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots." It also foretells literally the (b) driving in of the nails, when His hands and feet were nailed to the Cross, saying "They pierced my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones." And the other predictions apply to Him alone, as my argument will shew. But if any one would apply them to some other person, whether king, prophet, or other godly man among the Jews, let him prove if he can how what is written is in harmony with him. For who of those who were ever born of women has attained such heights of virtue and power, as to embrace the knowledge (c) of God with unchanging reason, with unruffled soul, and with sober mind, and to fasten all his trust on God, so |217 as to say, "Thou art He that took me out of my mother's womb, my hope from my mother's breasts. I was cast on thee from my mother, from my mother's womb Thou art my God." And who that has ever been so cared for by God, has also become "a reproach of men "and "the outcast of the people"? By what bulls and calves can we (d) suppose such a man to have been surrounded? And in what suffering was he "poured out like water"? How were "all his bones loosened"? How was "he brought into the dust of death," and being brought into the dust of death how does he say those words still and live and speak? Who are "the dogs "that surround him, that are other than the beforenamed "bulls and calves"? What gathering of evil men pierced his feet as well as his hands, stripped him of his raiment, divided some of it among themselves, and cast lots for the remainder? What was the sword, the dog, and the lion? Who are they that surrounded him that are called Unicorns? And how after (492) a struggle with such numbers, after being brought into the dust of death, can he promise to proclaim His Father's name, not to all, but only to his brethren?
 Who are the brethren, and what church is it of which this sufferer says, "In the midst of the Church I will hymn thee," adding, not the one Jewish nation but, "All the earth shall understand, and turn to the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him"? It is for you yourself to test every expression in the Psalm, and see if it is possible to apply them to any chance (b) character. You will find them only applicable to our Saviour, Who is most true and most to be trusted, and Who applied the words of the Psalm to Himself, as the Evangelists bear witness: Matthew in the quotations I have given, and Mark in his own record, where he says:
-"And at the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour (c) Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, which is to say, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And certain of them that heard said, He calleth for Elias.''
+"And at the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour (c) Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, which is to say, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And certain of them that heard said, He calleth for Elias."
 Let us now proceed to investigate, in what way the |218 expressions of the Psalm must be referred to Him. And first we will deal with the inscription which says, "To the end," or according to Aquila, "To the Conqueror," or according to Symmachus, "Ode of Victory concerning the Succour." I have an idea, based on the words of the Evangelists, "There was darkness from the sixth hour unto the ninth hour," that our Saviour's Passion was concluded about the ninth hour, when with a loud voice He spake the words quoted a little before, and that we should consider that His Passion was past at eventide on the approach of night. Then His Resurrection from the dead, which was the Succour of the Father Who succoured Him, and drew Him to Himself, from the land of death, and received Him, must have taken place at dawn, as we learn from the Evangelists. For Luke says, "On the first day of the week at the break of dawn they came [that is the women], to the sepulchre, bearing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And going in they did not find the Body, because our Saviour was already risen from the dead." Mark also tells the same story, saying:
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 "And very early in the morning, on the first day of the week they went to the sepulchre, at the rising of the sun, and said to one another, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the Sepulchre? for it was very great."
-They went, and found it rolled away. And He was already risen. There is the same witness in John: "On the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene to the sepulchre, while it was still dark, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre." And Matthew too, although he had said, "late on the Sabbath," adds, "As it began to dawn on the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary to see the sepulchre, and behold there was a great earthquake. For the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre." I have necessarily given |219 these quotations to shew the meaning of the "succour at dawn "predicted in the Psalm. For since it tells of our Saviour's Passion, and since the dispensation concerning Him was in no way hindered by the Passion, and the end of the Passion was His Resurrection from the dead and "the succour at dawn," the oracle crowns its description with the final miracle, as if the whole account and the sufferings before the end were incidental to the Resurrection from the dead, and the succour at dawn. For our Lord and Saviour said, (d) "My God, my God, give ear to me, why hast thou forsaken me? "And then added, "I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men, and the outcast of the people"; and in addition to this, "Many oxen have encircled me, fat bulls have hemmed me in"; and gave a clear prediction of His Death in the verse, "Thou hast brought me into the dust of death, for many dogs have surrounded me, the council of the wicked has hemmed me in, they pierced my hands and my feet;" and He gave still further details of His Passion in the words, "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots." And having given those and similar predictions He did not cease there, but added: "Ye that fear the Lord praise (494) him, for he hath not despised, nor been angered at the prayer of the poor, nor turned his face from him, but when I cried unto him he heard me." How could He claim to have been heard, unless He had had a complete answer to the prayers which He had just uttered, when He said, "Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. Save my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the power of the dog"? Nay, having prayed thus, and asked that He might be rescued and saved from these enemies, He adds, '' He hath not despised, nor been angry at the prayer of the poor, nor turned away his face from him: but when I cried unto him, he heard me." He evidently means His Return to life after death, which came to pass through the Succour at dawn, which the Psalm goes on to shew, saying, "But thou, O Lord, do not remove thy help, come to my succour." And it is. this succour that is referred to by the Inscription of the Psalm.
+They went, and found it rolled away. And He was already risen. There is the same witness in John: "On the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene to the sepulchre, while it was still dark, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre." And Matthew too, although he had said, "late on the Sabbath," adds, "As it began to dawn on the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary to see the sepulchre, and behold there was a great earthquake. For the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre." I have necessarily given |219 these quotations to shew the meaning of the "succour at dawn "predicted in the Psalm. For since it tells of our Saviour's Passion, and since the dispensation concerning Him was in no way hindered by the Passion, and the end of the Passion was His Resurrection from the dead and "the succour at dawn," the oracle crowns its description with the final miracle, as if the whole account and the sufferings before the end were incidental to the Resurrection from the dead, and the succour at dawn. For our Lord and Saviour said, (d) "My God, my God, give ear to me, why hast thou forsaken me? "And then added, "I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men, and the outcast of the people"; and in addition to this, "Many oxen have encircled me, fat bulls have hemmed me in"; and gave a clear prediction of His Death in the verse, "Thou hast brought me into the dust of death, for many dogs have surrounded me, the council of the wicked has hemmed me in, they pierced my hands and my feet;" and He gave still further details of His Passion in the words, "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots." And having given those and similar predictions He did not cease there, but added: "Ye that fear the Lord praise (494) him, for he hath not despised, nor been angered at the prayer of the poor, nor turned his face from him, but when I cried unto him he heard me." How could He claim to have been heard, unless He had had a complete answer to the prayers which He had just uttered, when He said, "Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. Save my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the power of the dog"? Nay, having prayed thus, and asked that He might be rescued and saved from these enemies, He adds, " He hath not despised, nor been angry at the prayer of the poor, nor turned away his face from him: but when I cried unto him, he heard me." He evidently means His Return to life after death, which came to pass through the Succour at dawn, which the Psalm goes on to shew, saying, "But thou, O Lord, do not remove thy help, come to my succour." And it is. this succour that is referred to by the Inscription of the Psalm.
 So much about the Inscription of the Psalm. Let us now (c) sound the deeper studies of the Hebrews on the words, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani," which were said by. our |220 Saviour in the hour of His Passion in the actual Hebrew words, and which are enshrined in the Psalm. Now Eloeim is a name for God. And you will find it throughout nearly all the Scriptures: and even now in the Septuagint He is called properly by the Hebrew name. Though of course the Hebrews had other expressions for the divine Name----such as Saddai, Jao, El, and the like.