Gill’s recourse to the Puritan and Reformed orthodox writers

“Gill’s recourse to the Puritan and Reformed orthodox writers of the seventeenth century was, in a sense, the alternative to the university. As a Dissenter, Gill had no access to the higher theological education of Oxford and Cambridge. In his search, therefore, not only for theological allies and dialogue partners, specifically of allies and partners who thought and wrote at the highest levels of theological discourse, he made up for his lack of access to the universities of the eighteenth century by close examination of the works of the universities of the seventeenth. And in so doing, he rooted himself in a theology that was far more compatible with his understanding of Scripture and Christian doctrine than the Anglican theology that inhabited the English universities of his time. While he remained in dialogue and debate with his contemporaries, his theology was, in large part, a return of Dissent to its roots in the glorious days, a hundred years past, when a Puritan and Reformed theological sentiment ruled Oxford and Cambridge and when English Puritan theology was in close dialogue with the Reformed thinkers of continental Europe.”

“John Gill and the Reformed Tradition: A Study in the Reception of Protestant Orthodoxy in the Eighteenth Century,” by Richard A. Muller, “Chapter Two” in The Life and Thought of John Gill (1697-1771): A Tercentennial Appreciation, Michael A. G Haykin, Editor. Studies in the History of Christian Traditions Series, Volume 77, 1997.

Martin Luther King Jr.: 4 Book Reviews

• Book Review - Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life -- “King’s extraordinary accomplishments become even more impressive when you realize that he was hewn from the same crooked timber as the rest of us.”
• Book Review: The True Martin Luther King, Jr. -- “...if the famous civil rights leader had been judged more by the content of his character than by his civil rights activities, he would have carved a far different niche in history.”
• Martin’s Dream: My Journey and the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Clayborne Carson -- “The fundamental dignity of the man, through the pages of this book amongst other things, still shines through the mists of time and the power and simplicity of his message echoes, loud and clear, down the decades.”
• Martin Luther King Jr.: an Oral History of His Religious Witness and His Life -- “By demonstrating King's profound importance not only as a national leader but at the personal and pastoral level, these volumes succeed in adding to our understanding of his ministry.”

3 Approaches to Textual Criticism

Summing up some of the writing of John Owen (Puritan theologian, 1616-1683), William Einwechter asserts that there are three approaches to textual criticism:

1. The approach that “presupposes the authority of Scripture to delimit the true text by means of divine inspiration and preservation.”

2. The approach that “presupposes the authority of the Papacy to define the text of Scripture by means of the pronouncement of the Pope or Councils.” [Note: Owen’s opposition was primarily from Roman Catholicism. I assume Greek Orthodoxy would have this same general approach.]

3. The approach that “presupposes the authority of man’s reason to determine the text according to scientific method.”

“John Owen’s Defense of the Received Text” by William O. Einwechter in Why I Preach from the Received Text, p. 88

The Shortness of Life, and the Goodness of God

“The Shortness of Life, and the Goodness of God” is an hymn written by Isaac Watts. It is Hymn 58 of Book 2, Hymns and Spiritual Songs: In Three Books, published 1709. It has seven stanzas in Common Meter, warning of the brevity of life while extolling the goodness of God. It is a timely reminder for us all. In The Sacred Harp we sing it with the tune Fleeting Days (No. 395b).
 
1. Time! what an empty vapour ’tis!
And days, how swift they are!
Swift as an Indian arrow flies,
Or like a shooting star.

2. The present moments just appear,
Then slide away in haste,
That we can never say—they’re here;
But only say—they’re past.

3. Our life is ever on the wing,
And death is ever nigh;
The moment when our lives begin,
We all begin to die.

4. Yet, mighty God! our fleeting days
Thy lasting favours share;
Yet with the bounties of thy grace,
Thou load’st the rolling year.

5. ’Tis sovereign mercy finds us food,
And we are clothed with love;
While grace stands pointing out the road
That leads our souls above.

6. His goodness runs an endless round;
All glory to the Lord!
His mercy never knows a bound;
And be his name adored!

7. Thus we begin the lasting song,
And, when we close our eyes,
Let the next age thy praise prolong
Till time and nature dies.

Leland, Spurgeon, and other book notices & reviews

The posting of book, film, or other reviews does not constitute endorsement of the products, reviews, or sites that are linked.

• Book Notice: Evangelicals and Digital Bible Use -- “...the future of Bible engagement involves readers using a mix of print, audio, and screens to suit their needs.”
• Book Review: A Visual History of the English Bible -- “Throughout this book, Brake inserts sidebars containing anecdotes of his insatiable hobby of antique Bible collecting. Living up to its title, the book offers numerous beautiful photos of various antique Bibles...”
• Book Review: John Leland: A Jeffersonian Baptist in Early America -- “Eric Smith’s work on John Leland is not only well-researched but well-written. While this is an academically minded book, it is also an enjoyable read.”
• Book Review: Kiffen, Knollys, and Keach -- “Haykin begins the book by examining three views of the contentious question about interpreting Baptist origins.”
• Book Review: Myths and Mistakes, by James Snapp, Jr -- “In general, each chapter of Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism has something worthwhile to offer to the reader...Bundles of misinformation from apologists such as James White, Matt Slick, Dan Wallace, Ben Witherington III, John MacArthur, the Got Questions website, the Defending Inerrancy website, etc., have been ignored.”
• Book Review: To Cast the First Stone -- “This is not the text-critically focused volume that some readers might expect. Nowhere in its 344 pages is there a straightforward list of Greek manuscripts in which John 7:53-8:11 follows John 7:52, and of Greek manuscripts which have nothing at all between John 7:52 and John 8:11, and of Greek manuscripts which move all twelve verses to another location, and of Greek manuscripts which have only part of the passage.”
• Book Review: The Making of Biblical Womanhood -- “...while I did learn about some obscure medieval women, I didn’t learn much of anything else. And it’s a real shame. There is a great need for a book on this topic.”
• McIntire: The Founding Father of the Religious Right -- “Fighting Fundamentalist presents McIntire as a larger-than-life figure...stating that ‘McIntire’s public image continues to be shaped by the partisan and prejudicial arguments that were first marshaled against him by his liberal opponents.’”
• Particular Baptist Heritage Books -- “Particular Baptist Heritage Books is a relatively recent endeavour, producing heirloom quality republications of historic Particular Baptist works.”
• Review: “Sheltered but Not Protected: Learning to Love, Forgive, and Heal After Emotional and Sexual Abuse” by Justin Woodbury -- “Why is it that we can have the right Bible (and we do), and the right doctrine (at least for the most part), and yet the fruit of so many ministries is complete destruction of families and individuals that should have been helped?”
• The Legacy of Charles Haddon Spurgeon -- “This 238-page volume is a collection of Spurgeon’s sermons (unabridged and modernized English) that cover all ‘five points’ of the Doctrines of Grace.”

How many words in the Bible?

According to various sources, such as the Art and the Bible Bible Concordance and others, the King James Authorized Bible has some 783,137 or so words. Of these 783,137 words, there are about 14,564 unique words.

Compared to three others:

• English Standard Version – 757,439
• New International Version – 727,969
• New King James Version – 770,430

Some of this is accounted for by translational differences, while for the ESV and NIV, they are also based on a Greek text with fewer words than the Textus Receptus.

A manifestation of the goodness of God

Benjamin Lloyd’s Primitive Hymns identifies only one hymn writer. A note under hymn number 690 explains, “This hymn was composed by Rev. F. Swint, formerly a member of the Darien Church, Ga., in view of the discord produced by the introduction of the religious societies in the churches.” Elder Frederick Swint (1789-1860) (there called “Reverend”) was an early Baptist minister in Chambers County, Alabama. He was one of four ministers of the presbytery when Mount Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church was constituted in 1837, and was the first pastor of the church. Don Clark, from Mount Pisgah, told me that Lloyd’s hymn book has been continuously used in the song services at Mount Pisgah Church since it was published in 1841. (Some photos of the Mount Pisgah Church building may be seen HERE.)

Frederick Swint composed the following poetry that was included in Benjamin Lloyd’s Primitive Hymns, published in 1841. It is Hymn 690 on page 694, written in Long Meter, titled “A manifestation of the goodness of God.”

1. My brethren dear, hear me relate
The troubles I have seen of late;
The sorrows I have waded through,
Only my God and Christ can know.

2. My heart with sorrow is cast down;
My brethren on me cast a frown;
Which often makes my fear and doubt,
The Lord has never called me out.

3. I do go mourning every day,
And feel like some poor castaway;
Which makes me often doubt the call,
Or whether I am called at all.

4. I have been tempted oft of late,
By the great tempter of my soul,
From the church of Christ to turn away,
And treat them all as they treat me.

5. But my poor heart was then so hard,
’Twas not one tear that I could shed;
One look from Christ did melt it down,
And made me love the church again.

6. Now, my dear brethren, I confess
That this indeed has been the case;
Thanks be to God, who brought relief,
In and through Christ’s own righteousness.

Biographical History of Primitive or Old School Baptist Ministers of the United States by R. H. Pittman (Anderson, Ind., Herald Printing Co., 1909, p. 261) gives the following sketch of Swint:

Swint, Elder Frederick (1789-1860), of Alabama, was in early life convicted of sin, given a hope in the meritorious work of Jesus, united with the Baptists and a few years later was ordained to the gospel ministry. He was considered an able preacher, sound in the faith and full of hospitality, and his home was always open to his brethren. It was his custom to hold family prayer each night when at home. He was gifted as a writer also. Hymn No. 690 of Lloyd’s Collection is his composition. He raised a family of sixteen children, was a man of general information and wide influence and died as he lived— trusting in the all-sufficient atonement of Jesus for salvation.

17th Century King James Bible Printings

The Holy Bible, Conteining the Olde Testament, and the New. Newly Translated out of the Originall Tongues: and with the former Translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesties speciall Commandement.

The links below are to scans of early printings of the King James Bible, published at Google Books and Archive.org. Some are partial, some have bad pages, etc. Nevertheless, they can be useful research tools.

• 1611 Printing
• 1612 Printing
• 1613 Printing (in Roman type)
• 1613 Printing (front matter)
• 1613 Printing
• 1619 Printing
• 1628 Printing, B. Norton, John Bill
• 1631 Printing
• 1634 Printing
• 1637 Printing
• 1638 Printing, Robert Barker, John Bill (in Roman type)
• 1640 Printing, Buck and Daniel

• 1645 Printing, Roger Daniel
• 1650 Printing, Stationers

• 1657 Printing, John Field
• 1672 Printing, John Canne
• 1679 Printing, John Canne

• 1682 Printing, Oxford
• 1682 Printing, Cambridge
• 1683 Printing, Cambridge

Should Cainan be included in Luke 3:36?

Q. Should Cainan be included in Luke 3:36?

Luke 3:35-36 …the son of Sala, which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad…

A. Me? I am fully prepared to live with the idea that (1) the name Cainan belongs in Luke 3:36, and that (2) I may not able to (a) completely understand it or (b) satisfactorily explain it. That does not suffice for most folks, and I will attempt some discussion of it.

What is the problem?

The problem, succinctly stated, is that Cainan appears as the son of Arpahaxad and father of Sala in Luke 3:35-36, while he is not mentioned in the Old Testament genealogies of Genesis 10:24, 11:12, or 1 Chronicles 1:18, 24. Luke includes a person in Shem’s genealogical line not found elsewhere in Scripture.

• Genesis 10:24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
• Genesis 11:12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
• 1 Chronicles 1:18, 24 And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber. … Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah,

Why does Cainan appear in Luke 3:36?

The range of explanations.

I will limit the range of explanations to those maintained by Christians who believe in the inspiration of the Bible. The unbeliever and critic may simply say that Luke made a mistake. Bible believers do not have that option.

Cainan was in Genesis and 1 Chronicles originally, but was later omitted.

This explanation would exonerate Luke by blaming a Hebrew scribal error much earlier than Luke wrote his Gospel. A scribe omitted Cainan through parablepsis: that is, in this case a scribe accidentally skipped from Arphaxad down to Salah, thereby omitting Cainan from the genealogy. This view is extremely problematic, even from a merely human standpoint. A scribe or scribes would have missed Cainan’s name twice in Genesis 10 (Arphaxad begat Cainan; and Cainan begat Salah), and four times in Genesis 11 (Something like: “And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Cainan and Arphaxad lived after he begat Cainan four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Cainan lived X-number years, and begat Salah: and Cainan lived after he begat Salah X-number years, and begat sons and daughters…”). Additionally, a scribe or scribes would have missed him again in 1 Chronicles chapter 1. This seems unlikely. Andrew E. Steinmann highlights the problem:

“in order to defend Cainan as original to the text one is forced to propose a fairly complicated series of events that may have involved both accidental and purposeful changes to the text” and “the unlikely occurrence of three parallel cases of parablepsis at the identical generation in all three genealogies.”[i]

Cainan was in Luke originally.

• Luke included Cainan following the Septuagint reading

Both critics and supporters of the Bible propose this explanation – simply that Luke was using the Greek Septuagint (LXX) as the basis of his genealogy. Cainan is in the Septuagint. Therefore, Cainan is in Luke. That nevertheless still leaves open the question of whether Cainan should be in the Septuagint.

• Luke included Cainan through a revelation of the Spirit

And, if so, then Moses excluded him for the same reason (a revelation of the Spirit). “The Apparent Cainan Contradiction in Luke 3.36,” by Larry Brigden, Editorial Consultant for the Trinitarian Bible Society, represents a form of this argument. He writes, “Genealogies in Scripture are for specific purposes and it is important to understand the purpose in each case.” According to Brigden, “the genealogies in Genesis and 1 Chronicles do not record Cainan since their purpose is to trace the godly seed, and Cainan has no part in that genealogy because of his ungodliness.” On the other hand, “the purpose of the genealogy in Luke…is not to distinguish the godly from the ungodly seed, nor to look along that godly line in hope of the Saviour to come…Instead, Luke’s aim is to trace a genealogical line to confirm the credentials of a Saviour already come, as ‘son of David’, ‘son of Adam’ and ‘son of God’, for which purpose the godliness or ungodliness of the members of the line was not so important.”

The writing of scripture is often explained in human terms – as in Luke using the Septuagint to record the genealogies of the descent of Jesus. Nevertheless, for all those who hold to the divine inspiration and infallibility of the original text of Scriptures, in whatever way the writer came to the completion of his text it was under the guiding hand of the Spirit of God, a revelation of the Spirit.

Cainan was not in Luke originally, but was later added.

This is a “mistakes of the scribes” explanation. John Gill and Andrew Steinmann represent past and present authors who believe Cainan was inserted between Arphaxad and Shelah in the LXX of Genesis 10-11 and 1 Chronicles 1 into order to harmonize the LXX them with the Gospel of Luke.[ii] Gill writes:

“Ver. 36. Which was the son of Cainan. This Cainan is not mentioned by Moses in Genesis xii.12 nor has he ever appeared in any Hebrew copy of the Old Testament, nor in the Samaritan version, nor in the Targum; nor is he mentioned by Josephus, nor in I Chronicles i.24 where the genealogy is repeated; nor is it in Beza’s most ancient Greek copy of Luke:[iii] it indeed stands in the present copies of the Septuagint, but was not originally there; and therefore could not be taken by Luke from thence, but seems to be owing to some early negligent transcriber of Luke’s Gospel, and since put into the Septuagint to give it authority: I say ‘early’, because it is in many Greek copies, and in the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, even in the Syriac, the oldest of them; but ought not to stand neither in the text, nor in any version: for certain it is, there never was such a Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, for Salah was his son; and with him the next words should be connected…”[iv]

In the minds of Gill and Steinmann, scribes inserted the name Cainan by homeoteleuton, that is, a scribe skips to another word with same ending (or in this case, the same word: τοῦ καϊνὰν τοῦ αρφαξὰδ τοῦ σὴμ τοῦ νῶε τοῦ λάμεχ τοῦ μαθουσαλὰ τοῦ ενὼχ τοῦ ιάρεδ τοῦ μαλελεὴλ τοῦ καϊνὰν). Commentator Matthew Poole seems to take a similar but reverse view – a scribe deliberately added Cainan to Luke’s text to harmonize it with the scribal error in the LXX genealogies of Genesis 10:24 and 11:13. To Gill, the scribal error occurred in Luke, and scribes of the LXX did the harmonizing.

The problem with the idea of a scribal error in Luke 3:36 is that the reading is so ubiquitous.[v] It pervaded almost the entire Greek manuscript tradition (at least the ones currently available to us today), and is in the early versions.[vi]

A textual variant.

In this case, those who carry water for either the so-called “oldest and best” manuscripts or the majority of manuscripts, as well as those who believe the Textus Receptus represents the preserved word, will all likely end up holding to Cainan in the text of Luke 3:36. Only one extant Greek manuscript omits Cainan – Codex D/Bezae (aka GA05, Cantabrigiensis, and Stephani β), a fifth century majuscule and Greek-Latin diglot. (For the reason I do not mention P⁷⁵, see “The Tyranny of the Experts.”) According to Steinmann, “D’s Greek text is very idiosyncratic” and it “has quite a few remarkable omissions…”[vii] Additionally, Ehrman and Metzger tell us:

“No known manuscript has so many and such remarkable variations from what is usually taken to be the normal New Testament text. Codex Bezae’s special characteristic is the free addition (and occasional omission) of words, sentences, and even incidents.”[viii]

The manuscript evidence for removing Cainan is so thin that almost all Bible translations keep “Cainan” in Luke 3:36. Every English translation at Bible Gateway (about 60) has Cainan in Luke 3:36 (most with the traditional spelling, but a few otherwise, such as Ca-i′nan, Kainan, Keinan).

Codex D/Bezae with red line where Cainan should be

Cainan mentioned elsewhere.

Cainan is mentioned elsewhere in a few sources, though not everyone considers these reliable. Here are two.

The Septuagint

The Alexandrine manuscript of the LXX includes Cainan in Genesis 10:24, 11:12-13 and 1 Chronicles 1:18 – but not 1 Chronicles 1:24-25.

• Genesis 10:24 And Arphaxad begot Cainan, and Cainan begot Sala. And Sala begot Heber.
• Genesis 11:12-13 And Arphaxad lived a hundred and thirty-five years, and begot Cainan. And Arphaxad lived after he had begotten Cainan, four hundred years, and begot sons and daughters, and died. And Cainan lived a hundred and thirty years and begot Sala; and Cainan lived after he had begotten Sala, three hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters, and died.
• 1 Chronicles 1:18, 24-25 And Arphaxad begot Cainan, and Cainan begot Sala, and Sala begot Eber. … 24 Sala, Eber, Pheleg, Ragan…

The Book of Jubilees

The Book of Jubilees (circa 2nd century BC) in 8:1–5 inserts Cainan between Arphaxad and Shelah. Thus, that genealogical chronology has been around awhile (but see Steinmann, footnote ii). The Jubilees account, which I see as somewhat dubious, introduces a story of Cainan (Kâinâm in R. H. Charles’s translation), who sinned in transcribing omens of “the Watchers” concerning the sun, moon, and stars. Some take this as an independent uninspired historical account of the person mentioned in Luke 3:36, while others reject it as a person derived from the LXX.[ix]

A possible but less common suggestion

In his comments on Luke 3:23, Johann Bengel writes:

“this clause, ὡς ἐνομίζετο, no less than that one to which it is immediately attached, ὢν υἱός, extends its force to the whole genealogical scale; and that too, in such a way as that the several steps are to be understood according to what the case and relation of each require and demand. Jesus was, as He was accounted, son of Joseph…He was, as he was accounted, Son of Heli…So in ver. 36 it was said, Sala was, as he was accounted, son of Cainan; whereas the Hellenistic Jews, following the lxx. interpretation reckoned him among the series of fathers after the flood. Therefore as far as concerns Joseph and Cainan, Luke, by the figure προθεραπεία [See Append.] or anticipatory precaution, thus counteracts the popular opinion, as Franc. Junius long ago saw…”[x]

Bengel here takes a different approach, which, if others have done so, I have overlooked. He thinks that since Luke was writing to Greeks, he referenced what they knew by the LXX. Doing so does not endorse the presence of Cainan in the genealogy, but simply recognizes he was by them generally supposed to be in the genealogy. Therefore, Luke flags his genealogical statement with a “prefatory observation, as was accounted, Luke 3:23...” (i.e., the Hellenistic Jews and Gentiles would be following the LXX, which accounted Sala as the son of Cainan).[xi]

Concluding thoughts

The entire question seems to proceed from the belief that either the Masoretic text is right in omitting Cainan, or Luke is right in including Cainan – that both texts cannot be right. This, however, ignores the fact seen within the testimony of the Bible itself that genealogies are not always complete. It can be both/and rather than either/or.

In Matthew 1:1, Jesus Christ is the son of David, the son of Abraham – many generations are skipped. Even as the chapter continues and Matthew fills gaps, he does no fill all of them. To see this, compare Matthew 1:8 and 1 Chronicles 3:10–14.[xii] Additionally, neither son of (Matthew 1; Luke 3) nor begat (Genesis 5; 11) necessarily signifies immediate parent-child relationship (cf. 2 Kings 20:18; Isaiah 39:7). Both Jacob the Pharisees of Jesus’s day called Abraham “father,” when he was, respectively, a grandfather (Genesis 32:9) and distant ancestor/ progenitor (John 8:39).

Shawn Brasseaux writes: 

“Since Matthew skipped some names to provide only three sets of 14 generations in his genealogical records, surely, we can: (1) permit Moses and the Chronicler to intentionally skip one name in their respective Books, and (2) allow Luke to insert that name not found in the Old Testament in order to show Jesus’ perfection.”

At the conclusion, I am in much the same place I began.[xiii] I accept the idea that (1) the name Cainan belongs in Luke 3:36, and that (2) I may not able to (a) completely understand it or (b) satisfactorily explain it. I can live with this ambiguity.

---

[i] “Challenging the Authenticity of Cainan, Son of Arpachshad,” Andrew E. Steinmann, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Vol. 60, No. 4, 2017, p .699. Such an idea is also problematic from a standpoint of providential preservation.
[ii] Steinmann, ibid., p. 711. Gill commentary on Luke 3:36. Steinmann also believes Cainan’s mention in the Book of Jubilees is a late addition, p. 711. Some see Cainan as an addition influenced by the LXX.   Jubilees 2:23 states there were 22 heads from Adam to Jacob. The presence of Cainan increases the number to 23. On the other hand, he could be deliberately excluded from the “heads” count for the same reason he is excluded from the Masoretic Text.
[iii] Despite Beza writing that about the absence of the name in an old codex, he kept “Cainan” (Καϊνὰν) in his Greek text. See 1598 Beza Greek Latin New Testament, p. 251.
[iv] Luke 3 Exposition by John Gill.
[v] Another variant is included in some manuscripts and translastions – the name “Admin” is inserted between Aminadab and Aram (aka Arni). See, for example, the ESV, NASB, NET, and RSV translations. The NET version note says “The number and order of the first few names in this verse varies greatly in the mss.”
[vi] For examples: Coptic Sahidic NT (circa 3rd century AD), Syriac Peshitta (circa 3rd century AD), Latin Vulgate (4th century AD), Gothic Wulfila (probably 4th century AD), and Armenian (circa 5th century AD; v. 34 in linked version). The proximity of the two Cainans in Luke 3:36-37 makes it seem likely that, if it were an error, it could have been caught and corrected by any number of scribes. Yet the extant manuscript tradition presents a very different scenario. I found one Reformation era translation that removes Cainan, the Diodati Italian version (1607), Luke 3:35b-36a “...figliuolo di Sala; Figliuolo d’Arfacsad, figliuolo di Sem...”
[vii] Steinmann, p. 702.
[viii] The Text of New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, 4th Edition, Bruce M. Metzger, Bart D. Ehrman, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 71.
[ix] “This extra generation does, however, appear in the 2nd century BCE work of the Book of Jubilees, a book that in other chronological respects owes little to the LXX. The existence of this second, independent source should suggest some caution in treating the extra generation of Cainan as merely a later interpolation made by LXX chronographers.” Jeremy Northcote, “The Schematic Development of Old Testament Chronography: Towards an Integrated Model,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2004, p. 8.
[x] Gnomon on the New Testament, Volume II, John Albert (Johann Albrecht) Bengel, translated by Andrew R. Fausset, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1877, pp. 45-46. On verse 36: Τοῦ Καϊνὰν, Kainan) Let some, as best they can, furnish out a plausible array of some MSS. which are without the name Cainan: one is without it, viz. Cantabrigiensis, called also Stephani β, and also codex Bezæ [D]; which, as being a MS. containing the Latin as well as the Greek, deserves the title, not so much of a codex, as of a rhapsody comprising various readings of fathers. “Even supposing that in countless copies of the New and Old Testaments,” as Voss rightly remarks, “the name of this Cainan were wanting, which however is not the case, yet no argument could be derived from that circumstance. For the reason of the omission would be evident from the fact that the Church approved of and followed the calculation of Africanus and Eusebius; and therefore I wonder that more copies are not found, in which the name of Cainan is expunged.”—c. Horn., p. 13. Nevertheless so many in our time disapprove of the Cainan here, that there is a risk of its being ere long thrust out from Luke; a judgment which betrays great rashness, as Rich. Simon on this passage properly remarks, and so also Gomarus. Besides Cainan is retained in Luke by J. E. Grabius, John Hardouin, Jac. Hasæus, G. C. Hosmann, to whom are to be added thes. phil. p. 174 of Hottinger, Glassius, etc. Among the ancients is Ambrose, who, on Luke vii., says, “The Lord was born of Mary in the seventy-seventh generation.” That this Cainan was mentioned in the lxx. Version made before the nativity of Christ (See Genesis x.24; Genesis xi.12; 1 Chronicles i.18, [in which passages Cainan’s name is passed over]) the Chronicon of Demetrius in Eusebius, B. ix. præp. Ev. page 425, proves. Moreover many documents attest that Theophilus, to whom Luke wrote, was at Alexandria. There is no doubt but that ‘Cainan’ was read at least in the lxx. Version at Alexandria, that I may not say that it was in that city the insertion of his name took place. Wherefore it was not suitable that ‘Cainan’ should already at that early time [the first sending of the Gospel to Alexandria] be either omitted by Luke or marked openly with the brand of spuriousness. Elsewhere also Luke made that concession to the Hellenistic Jews, that he followed the lxx. translators in preference to the Hebrew text. Acts vii.14. And so here he did not expunge ‘Cainan,’ whose name was inserted in their version. And yet he did not thereby do any violence to truth; for the fact of the descent of Jesus Christ from David, though some fathers have been passed over in Matthew, and similarly on the other hand Cainan has been retained in Luke, still remains uninjured. Nay, even he took precaution for the exactness of the main truth by that prefatory observation, as was accounted, ver. 23, where see the note. In fine, it is not the province of those who discuss the New Testament to warrant the infallible accuracy of readings of the lxx. translators. In the chronology the question concerning Cainan is of especial moment. Therefore we have said something concerning that person in the Ordo Temporum, p. 52 (Ed. ii., p. 44, 45), Lightfoot read Cainan in the Accusative form (‘Cainanem’). Gnomon, pp. 47-48.
[xi] At risk of possibly forfeiting my “KJVo card,” I must say I find this solution appealing. J
[xii] Ozias is Uzziah, also called Azariah. Matthew skips 3 generations – Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah – related to God’s purpose of creating three groups of fourteen. Hilary of Poitiers (circa AD 310–368) adds this explanation in his commentary on Matthew: “It was done in this way because Joram begot Ahaziah from a pagan woman, that is, from the household of Ahab, and it was declared by the prophet that not until the fourth generation would anyone from the household of Ahab sit on the throne of the kingdom of Israel.” Augustine and others have found significance in Luke including 77 generations (though Luke, unlike Matthew, does not mention a numerical significance). “But Luke, who ascends up through the generations from the baptism of the Lord, makes up the number seventy-seven, beginning to ascend from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself through Joseph, and coming through Adam up to God.” (Augustine of Hippo, Sermon on the agreement of the evangelists Matthew and Luke in the generations of the Lord.)
[xiii] In all the discussion of Cainan, there is one difficulty that troubles me (that is, one that I would prefer to resolve in a better way than I have). I take the Genesis chrono-genealogies in a literal way of measuring time and understanding the age of the world. That being true, then, though there is a gap of a generation in Genesis 11, there is not a gap in time – which the LXX tries to fill in a quite bungling way, giving Cainan exactly the same figures as his son Salah. Maintaining my “status quo,” then Arphaxad and Cainan must have begotten children when they were about 18 and/or 17 years of age. Not impossible, but quite distinct from the rest of the begetting ages in Genesis 11.

In other words, the bretheling ballyhoo

• annunciation, noun. An act or instance of announcing; proclamation; (often with initial capital letter) the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary of her conception of Christ.
• augury, noun. The art or practice of an augur; divination; an omen, token, or indication.
• ballyhoo, noun. (originally and literally) A showman’s touting speech, or a performance advertising a show; (derivatively and figuratively) bombastic nonsense; extravagant or brash publicity; noisy fuss.
• bantling, noun. A very young child; brat (sometimes a bastard or illegitimate child).
• bookstall, noun. A stall or stand where books are sold, as on a street, and often secondhand.
• bretheling, noun. A worthless or contemptible person; a good-for-nothing; a wretch.
• chapman, noun. Merchant, trader, or peddler.
• coterie, noun. A group of people who associate closely; an exclusive group; clique.
• enunciation, noun. An act or manner of enunciating (especially in an articulate or a particular manner); utterance or pronunciation; a formal announcement or statement.
• fawn, verb. To give a servile display of exaggerated flattery or affection, typically in order to gain favor or advantage.
• folly, noun. A building in the form of a small castle, temple, etc., that has been built as a decoration in a large garden or park.
• hubris, noun. Excessive pride or self-confidence.
• louche, adjective. Of questionable morality or repute.
• ninguid, adjective. Snowy; covered in snow.
• nisi, adjective. Taking effect at a specified time unless previously modified or avoided by cause shown, further proceedings, or a condition fulfilled.
• obsequious, adjective. Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.
• petard, noun. A device containing explosives used to breach a wall, doors, etc.
• salient, adjective. Strikingly conspicuous; prominent; projecting or jutting beyond a line or surface; protruding.
• sycophant, noun. A person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage.
• voisinage, noun. Neighbors, neighborhood.
• wayfarer, noun. A traveler, especially on foot.
• yeet, verb. To throw or hurl, especially with force and without regard for the thing being thrown.

The perfection, authority, and credibility of the Holy Scriptures

After God had spoken by severall parcels, and after divers manners by the Prophets, at last he sent his Son to perfect the book, write it full, and seal it up: and this is so well done, that whosoever shall adde any thing, instead of mending the work, and doing the world a curtesie, he shall but bring a curse upon himselfe: for Christ hath made it, (i.e.) a perfect Canon.

Now that appears thus. God hath declared Christ to be our Prophet,[i] commanded us to hear him,[ii] told him all his mind concerning us,[iii] laid up in him all the treasures of divine wisdom.[iv] He told his Disciples, all that he heard of his Father,[v] bad them go and preach it,[vi] and promised salvation to all that should believe it. Paul professed that he had declared the whole Councell of God in his preaching,[vii] and pronounced a curse upon any Angel, that should bring another Gospel.[viii] The Evangelist Luke wrote all that Christ taught till his Ascension,[ix] and Saint Iohn added as much concerning the miracles of Christ, as was enough for motive to faith.[x]

From all which we argue, Christ was in the bosome of the Father, and knew all; he came from thence and told all, his Scholars at his command preached; and, for the benefit of future times, wrote all. We acknowledge they did, received their books, and are satisfied; only the Papists and some other Hereticks, that they might have the honour and profit to make the supply, say they did not; but who will believe them? when Christ sayes, Go and preach what I have taught you, and promiseth salvation to those which believe that and no more. They will make pretty work, that after this appoint other necessaries to be believed, (i e.) such necessaries to salvation, as one may be saved, and not believe them.

Nathaniel Ingelo, The Perfection, Authority, and Credibility of the Holy Scriptures, London: Printed by E.T. for Luke Fawn, 1659, pages 22-25.

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[i] Acts 3:22
[ii] Matthew 17:5
[iii] John 12:49
[iv] Colossians 1:19
[v] John 15:15
[vi] Matthew 28:20
[vii] Acts 20:27
[viii] Galatians 1:8

[ix] Acts. 1:1-2

[x] John 20:31

The Truth Sent From Above

I recently ran across this traditional English folk carol online, and thought I would share it here. According to the Hymns and Carols of Christmas site, the earliest known appearances of this carol “are on a pair of Broadsides printed in Birmingham in the early 1800s. Both had 8 eight-line verses, which were later printed as 16 four-line verses.” When Cecil Sharp collected this song, he made notes on how the traditional singers sang it.

1. This is the truth sent from above,
The truth of God, the God of love;
Therefore don’t turn me from your door,
But hearken all both rich and poor.

2. The first thing that I will relate,
That God at first did man create
The next thing which to you I tell,
Woman was made with him to dwell.

3. Then after that, ’twas God’s own choice
To place them both in Paradise,
There to remain from evil free
Except they ate of such a tree.

4. But they did eat, which was a sin,
And then their ruin did begin —
Ruin’d themselves, both you and me,
And all of their posterity.

5. Thus we were heirs to endless woes,
Till God the Lord did interpose
For so a promise soon did run
That he’d redeem us with a Son.

Here are two versions of the carol:

• The Truth Sent From Above, collected by Sharp
• The Truth Sent From Above, collected by Walters

Asymptotic Certainty, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• Asymptotic Certainty and the Purity of Scripture -- “Let me try to make this concept more relatable before applying it to Scriptural purity.”
• Commentary On The King James Bible Translators’ Preface -- “Smith began by defending Bible translation IN PRINCIPLE. Miles Smith was not making a sweeping statement on the validity of various ‘bible’ versions.”
• Effects Of Pandemic Life Changes On Mothers -- “A recent study revealed how mothers were impacted by the changes that came during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it had some surprising results.”
• Have We Undervalued Baptism? -- “Baptism is for life, not just for beginnings...It defines who we are and therefore shapes how we live.”
• Identical Twins Won a Lawsuit After Accusations of Cheating Due to Similar Answers -- “The twins identically answered 296 of the 307 questions and were accused of ‘academic dishonesty’ after an investigation.”
• King James Bible, 1611 -- “The King James, or Authorised, Version of the Bible remains the most widely published text in the English language.”
• KJV Dictionary -- “This online dictionary of King James Version words contains over 11,000 definitions, derived from Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language.”
• Libraries Cave After Refusing Faith-Based Story Hour -- “Kirk Cameron celebrated after libraries that had refused to host him over his new faith-based children’s book reversed course.”
• ‘Monty Python’ Alum John Cleese Slams ‘Wokes’ And The Current ‘Thrill Of Being Offended’ -- “I’m not so sure that the wokes would ever laugh at themselves, no matter how hilarious they are.”
• Occasional Notes: The Lord’s Day -- “May each one of us so apply ourselves to seeking the Lord both before and on the Lord’s Day that it would indeed by a delight to us.”
• Rand Paul endorses Electoral Count Act reform -- “Our Founders provided us with an ingenious system for representative government that derives its just powers from the consent of the governed without descending into a tyranny of the majority.”
• Sandy Creek Primitive Baptist Church, Org. 1824, Butts County -- “Sandy Creek Baptist was organized in October of 1824 under an oak tree at the home of Elijah McMichael, two miles north of the present church house, which was then in Monroe County.”
• The Marks Of True Conversion -- “With these things before us, we can see that there is such a thing as a false conversion; but what are the marks of true conversion?”
• The Next Generations’ Yeoman Farmers -- “The yeoman farmer – later idealized by Thomas Jefferson and his political supporters – refers to the population of common people like these, who maintained small subsistence farms largely by family labor.”
• Tom Brady pushed crypto to his fans. This lawyer wants him to pay up. -- “Then FTX filed for bankruptcy in a spectacular collapse that vaporized at least $10 billion in assets, according to bankruptcy filings, including all the money Livieratos had on the platform.”
• Zulu and UTC: the story behind aviation’s time zone -- “When it comes to time zones, if you’re still talking about Greenwich Mean Time there’s something you should know: it’s old news. Okay, that’s not perfectly correct.”