fifth a calf, in the sixth an ox, and in the seventh a child. All these were burned together, by heating the statue on the inside."

6th, The prophet adds, that "all the evil which the Lord had spoken he would bring upon them," chap. xix. 15. The following words of the apostle, 1 Thess. ii. 16. sufficiently explains this," for the wrath is come, or coming upon them to the uttermost." And the words of our Lord, quoted above,-" for these be the days of vengeance, that all things that are written may be fulfilled." Luke xxi. 22. This part of the prediction compared with these passages, show that the prophet did refer to the dreadful punishment which God brought upon the Jewish nation at the end of the world, or age, and described, Matth. xxiv. For "all the evil which the Lord had spoken" he did not bring upon them until the destruction of their city and temple by the Roman army.

Such are the principal things contained in this prophesy of Jeremiah. Whatever fulfilment these things had in the captivity, in the reign of Zedekiah, we think, the ultimate fulfilment of them took place in the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. It is then put beyond all fair debate, that Gehenna was made. an emblem of punishment to the Jews; and nothing but ignorance of their own Scriptures could prevent their fully knowing this. It is made an emblem of temporal punishment, and a very striking emblem indeed. But that it was made an emblem of eternal punishment to the Jews, or any of the human race, does not appear from this prophesy of Jeremiah, or any other part of the Bible. We hope these things will be kept in view, as they have a very important bearing on what is to follow, in considering the passages about Gehenna in the New Testament. Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom, or tophet, is made by Jeremiah an emblem of the temporal calamities coming on the Jewish nation.

That in this very way it is also used by our Lord in the New Testament, we shall show when we come to consider the passages in which this word occurs. Dr. Campbell, is so far correct then, in saying that Gehenna was made an emblem of punishment, but is certainly mistaken in saying that it was made an emblem of future eternal punishment for the devil and his angels, or any other beings in the universe. Supposing Gehenna to have been made an emblem of the place of eternal torment to the wicked, it is certain, it was not done by the Old Testament writers. Even Dr. Campbell himself assures us, that in this manner it does not occur in the Old Testament. That he is correct in this, has been shown from the places in which it occurs. Is it not then deserving particular notice, that the Old Testament writers should use the term Gehenna as an emblem of temporal and not of eternal punishment? and yet we are told, that in process of time it came to be used as an emblem of eternal punishment. Only let this change in the sense of Gehenna be established, on Scripture authority, and I am perfectly satisfied. Until this is done, to appeal to the Targums and the Apocrypha, is only in another way, telling us, that the Bible does not authorize it. See sect, iii.

10*

SECTION II.

A NUMBER OF FACTS STATED, SHOWING THAT GEHENNA WAS NOT USED BY THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITERS TO EXPRESS A PLACE OF ENDLESS MISERY.

BEFORE we proceed to consider the texts in which Gehenna occurs in the New Testament, some facts, of essential importance, ought to be noticed. These facts have been altogether overlooked, or but little attend-ed to, on this subject.

1st, Then, let it be kept in remembrance, that neither Gehenna, nor any other word, is used in the Old Testament to express a place of endless misery for the wicked. This we presume will be admitted, as established from the preceding part of our examination. It is evident from chap. i. that Sheol, Hades, and Tartarus, have no such meaning. Yea, it is contended by the authors quoted there, that Gehenna in the New Testament, is the word which is used to express the place of endless misery. They contend for no other, and I never heard that any other words were ever alleged as expressing this place, by the inspired writers. phrases, bottomless pit, and lake of fire and brimstone, it is true, have been thought to mean the same as Gehenna. We believe, however, that Gehenna is considered indisputable, and that in this sense it is uniformly used in the New Testament. If it fails, and refuge is taken in these two phrases, or any other, it will be then time enough to consider them.

The

Is it not

AN INQUIRY INTO THE WORD GEHENNA.

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then a curious fact, that Gehenna of the New Testament, should be taken from the Old, where this is allowed never to be its meaning, and for this change of meaning we should be referred to the authors of the Targums and the Apocrypha? This fact ought to lead us to examine carefully if this indeed be the sense in which Gehenna is used in the New Testament. We ought not to take it for granted; but be sure that we correctly understand the passages which speak of Gehenna. This fact leads to a suspicion, that we may have mistaken their mean-ing. But has it not been common to believe Gehen-na a place of endless misery, and that without any, examination?

2d, The word Gehenna occurs just twelve times in the New Testament, and is always translated HELL in our English version. The following are all the places where this word is found. Matth. v. 22, 29, 30. and xviii. 9. Mark ix. 43—47. Luke xii. 5. Matth. x. 28. and xxiii. 15, 33. James iii. 6. only refer to these texts now, because they shall all be particularly considered afterwards. The fact, that this word is only found twelve times in the New Testament, I notice for the following reasons. It is contended by Dr. Campbell, and I believe is universally admitted, that Gehenna is the only word which signifies the place of endless punishment for the wicked. But do most Christians know, that the word hell, so much talked of, and preached about, is only found twelve times in the Scriptures? But a little reflection may convince any one, that, properly speaking, it was not used originally so often as twelve times. It occurs eleven times in the gospels written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and by comparing the places, it is easily seen, that these historians only relate some of the same discourses, in which our Lord used this word. Though it occurs then eleven times, it is plain it was not so often used by him when he uttered his discourses. Viewing the matter

in this light, and surely it is the true one, few words of such importance occur so seldom in the New Testament, as the word Gehenna. I do not view this fact of any great importance, further than to show the dif ference between the inspired writers and modern preachers, as to their frequent use of this word; and to confine them, if possible, in preaching about hell, to those texts, and those only, in which Gehenna occurs. Whether they ought to quote the texts where Gehenna is used, or not, is the subject of our present investigation. Admitting that it occurs twelve times, and in all these it is certainly used to express a place of eternal misery, it deserves notice, that this is not so often in the whole Bible, as it is used by many preachers in the course of a single sermon.-But I have noticed this fact, with a view also to undeceive the minds of some, who, seeing the word hell so often in their Bibles, conclude that the Holy Spirit has said a great deal on this subject. The fact is indisputable, that it is only used twelve times in the New Testament, and every other text in which the word hell occurs, quoted to prove the doctrine of eternal misery, is worse than no proof; it is misquoting the Scriptures. I frankly admit, that, if in the texts in which Gebenna occurs, it can be fairly made to appear that the sacred writers use this word as expressive of a place of eternal punishment, it is a truth we ought to receive without gainsaying. Common Scripture usage of any word is an allowed just rule of interpretation. But it ought also to be admitted, that if this word is used in the above texts to express temporal punishment, or in a similar way as by the prophet Jeremiah, Gehenna must be given up, as meaning a place of endless punishment for the wicked.

3d, Another fact is, that the word Gehenna or hell, is used by our Lord, and by James, but by no other person in the New Testament. This fact, every person who can