CHAP. IX. ---- Why it is that the Divine Scripture often uses the same term in different significations, even in the same place. From the Epistle to the Romans, Volume IX. on the words, "What then? Is the law sin?" 196

1. One term, law, may be used, but the scriptural account of "law" is not everywhere one and the same. A reader must therefore in every place consider with the utmost care first the literal meaning of the word "law," then the special significance of it. This is only what we do with most other words; for there are other instances of equivocal scriptural terms, such as confuse readers who suppose that because the word is the same the meaning must be the same wherever it is found. Now the word "law" is intended to serve not everywhere the same purpose, but many purposes; we will, therefore, passing by the numerous passages requiring careful reasoning because they suggest an objection which calls for an answer, set forth all such as may effectually convince anybody that the word "law" has many meanings. As an illustration let us take what is said in the Epistle to the Galatians. "As many as are of the works of the law are under a curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one which continueth riot in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them." 197 It is clear that we have here the literal law of Moses, enjoining on those under it what they are to do, and forbidding what they must not do. And we have no less clearly the meaning of the passage in the same Epistle, "The law was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise hath been made; and it was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator";198 and of another, "So that the law hath been our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor. For ye are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus." 199 And that "law" also denotes the historical writings of Moses we may gather from the passage in the same epistle ----"Tell me ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the freewoman. Howbeit the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the son by the freewoman is born through the promise." 200

2. I know that even the Psalms are called "law," as is plain from the passage, "That the word may be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause." 201 Nay more, the prophecy of Isaiah is called "law" by the Apostle, who tells us, "In the law it is written, By men of strange tongues, and by the lips of strangers will I speak unto this people; and not even then will they hear me, saith the Lord";202 and this is in effect what I found in Aquila's interpretation. The term is also applied to the more and Divine sense of the law; as, for instance, "We know that the law is spiritual."203 And besides all this, the Word sown in the soul, evidenced by the moral notions common to mankind, and in Scripture language "written in the heart," enjoining what we have to do, forbidding what we must not do, is called "law." This is proved by the following words of the Apostle: "For when the Gentiles which have no law do by nature the things of the law, these, having no law, are a law unto themselves; in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their consciences bearing witness therewith." 204 For the law written in men's hearts and in Gentiles who by nature do the things of the law, is no other than the law of common morality by nature written in our governing part,205 and day by day becoming clearer with the perfecting of reason. This is the meaning of law in the words,"Sin is not imputed where there is no law," 206 and in these, "I had not known sin except through the law." 207 For before the Mosaic law was given sin is found to have been imputed both to Cain and to the sufferers in the Deluge, and to the people of Sodom as well, and to countless others; and many came to know sin before the law of Moses was given. And do not be surprised if two meanings of the one word "law" are discovered in the same place; for we shall find this usage in other parts of Scripture; for example, "Say not ye, There are yet four months and then cometh the harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white already into harvest."208 The word "harvest" is used twice, the first time of the "corporeal" 209 harvest, the second time of the spiritual. And you will find a parallel also in the account of the healing of the man born blind. The man was literally blind, but the Saviour adds, "For judgment came I into this world, that they which see not may see; and that they which see may become blind." 210

3. So, then, it is as true as ever that; "apart from the law, the law of nature, a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets." 211 And we would tell those readers who shrink from admitting the double meaning of "the law," that if we are to understand the same law to be referred to in both clauses, "But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested," and "Being witnessed by the law and the prophets," we must conclude that if the righteousness hath been manifested apart from the Law, it is not witnessed by the Law; and if it is witnessed by the Law, it hath not been manifested apart from the Law. The truth is that the law of nature by no means witnesses to the righteousness of God manifested by Jesus Christ, for it is inferior to that righteousness; but the Law of Moses, not the letter, but the spirit, does witness, as also the Prophets in accordance with the spirit of the law, and as does the spiritual word in them. The reader of the Divine Scripture must therefore carefully observe that the Scriptures do not invariably use the same words to denote the same things; and they make the change sometimes on account of the equivocal sense of a word, sometimes for the sake of the figurative meaning, and sometimes because the context requires a different nuance in some places from that which the word has in others. If we are well on our guard in all this we escape many blunders and false interpretations. We ought, then, to know that the word "see" 212 does not always denote the same thing, sometimes being applied to bodily sight, sometimes to our understanding. Speaking generally, we ought to be aware that inasmuch as the purpose of the Spirit in the Prophets, and the Word in the Apostles of Christ, is to conceal and not plainly disclose the thoughts of the Truth, confusion arises again and again through the mere wording, and no close sequence of thought is preserved; the object being that even the unworthy may not to the judgment of their own soul discover the things which are thus for their good concealed from them. And this is often the reason why Scripture, as a whole, appears to lack orderly arrangement and consecutiveness, particularly, as we said before, the prophetic and apostolic writings; and in the apostolic writings, the Epistle to the Romans, wherein the functions of the Law are set forth in different terms, and applied to different circumstances. The result is that Paul in the composition of the epistle does not seem to be true to his aim.

[1] Τίς ὁ λόγος τοῦ τὴν θείαν γραφὴν κατὰ διάφορα σημαινόμενα τῷ αὐτῷ ὀνόματι κεχρῆσθαι πολλάκις καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ. ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους: τόμος ἔννατος: εἰς τό: Τί οὖν; ὁ νόμος ἁμαρτία; Οὐχ ὥσπερ ὄνομα ἕν ἐστι νόμος, οὕτω καὶ εἷς ὁ περὶ νόμου πανταχοῦ τῆς γραφῆς λόγος. διὸ καθ' ἕκαστον χρὴ τόπον αὐτῆς ἐπιμελῶς ἐπιστήσαντα θεωρῆσαι, νῦν μὲν τί σημαίνεται ἐκ τῆς νόμος φωνῆς, νῦν δὲ τί χρὴ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐννοεῖν. ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ἄλλων πλειόνων: ὁμώνυμοι γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ ἄλλων εἰσὶ κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν φωναὶ, αἵτινες συγχέουσι τοὺς νομίζοντας ὅτι ὡς ὄνομα ἕν ἐστιν οὕτω καὶ τὸ σημαινόμενον ἓν, ὅπου ἂν τοῦτο ὀνομασθῇ. ὅτι δὲ ἡ νόμος φωνὴ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀλλ' ἐπὶ πλειόνων τέτακται, τὰ πολλὰ παραλιπόντες καὶ δεόμενα κατασκευῆς, ἔχοντα ἀνθυποφορὰν λύσεως δεομένην, ἐκθησόμεθα τὰ πάνθ' ὁντινοῦν δυσωπῆσαι δυνάμενα, ὡς τῆς νόμος φωνῆς κειμένης ἐπὶ πλειόνων: οἷον ἐπὰν ἐν τῇ πρὸς Γαλάτας λέγηται: Ὅσοι γὰρ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου εἰσὶν ὑπὸ κατάραν εἰσί, γέγραπται γάρ: ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὃς οὐκ ἐμμένει πᾶσι τοῖς γεγραμμένοις ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτά. σαφὲς ὅτι νόμος ὁ κατὰ τὸ γράμμα δηλοῦται Μωσέως, τὸ προστακτικὸν μὲν ὧν ποιητέον, ἀπαγορευτικὸν δὲ ὧν οὐ ποιητέον τοῖς αὐτῷ ὑποκειμένοις. τὸ δ' αὐτὸ δηλοῦται ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ ἐπιστολῇ καὶ ἐν τῷ: Ὁ νόμος γὰρ τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν ἐτέθη, ἄχρι οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα ᾧ ἐπήγγελται, διαταγεὶς δι' ἀγγέλων ἐν χειρὶ μεσίτου: καὶ ἐν τῷ: Ὥστε ὁ νόμος παιδαγωγὸς ἡμῶν γέγονεν εἰς Χριστὸν, ἵνα ἐκ πίστεως δικαιωθῶμεν: ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς πίστεως οὐκέτι ὑπὸ παιδαγωγόν ἐσμεν. πάντες γὰρ υἱοὶ θεοῦ ἐστὲ διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. σημαίνεται καὶ ἡ παρὰ Μωσεῖ ἀναγεγραμμένη ἱστορία ἀπὸ τῆς νόμος φωνῆς, ὡς ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς ἐπιστολῆς ἔστι λαβεῖν ἐκ τοῦ: Λέγετέ μοι, οἱ ὑπὸ νόμον θέλοντες εἶναι, τὸν νόμον οὐκ ἀκούετε; γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι Ἀβραὰμ δύο υἱοὺς ἔσχεν, ἕνα ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης καὶ ἕνα ἐκ τῆς ἐλευθέρας. ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται, ὁ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἐλευθέρας διὰ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας.
[2] Οἶδα καὶ τοὺς ψαλμοὺς ὀνομαζομένους νόμον, ὡς δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ: Ἵνα πληρωθῇ ὁ λόγος ὁ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ αὐτῶν γεγραμμένος ὅτι ἐμίσησάν με δωρεάν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ τοῦ Ἠσαΐου προφητεία νόμος παρὰ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ λέγεται. φάσκοντι: Ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γέγραπται: ἐν ἑτερογλώσσοις καὶ ἐν χείλεσιν ἑτέροις λαλήσω τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ, καὶ οὐδ' οὕτως εἰσακούσονταί μου, λέγει κύριος. εὗρον γὰρ τὰ ἰσοδυναμοῦντα τῇ λέξει ταύτῃ ἐν τῇ τοῦ Ἀκύλου ἑρμηνείᾳ κείμενα. λέγεται νόμος καὶ ἡ μυστικωτέρα καὶ θειοτέρα τοῦ νόμου ἐκδοχὴ, ὡς ἐν τῷ: Οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ὁ νόμος πνευματικός ἐστι. παρὰ δὲ πάντα ταῦτα λέγεται νόμος ὁ κατὰ τὰς κοινὰς ἐννοίας ἐνεσπαρμένος τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ, ὡς ὀνομάζει ἡ γραφὴ, ἐγγεγραμμένος τῇ καρδίᾳ λόγος, προστακτικὸς μὲν ὧν ποιητέον, ἀπαγορευτικὸς δὲ ὧν οὐ ποιητέον. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ δηλοῦται ἐν τῷ: Ὅταν γὰρ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ νόμον ἔχοντα φύσει τὰ τοῦ νόμου ποιῶσιν, οὗτοι νόμον μὴ ἔχοντες ἑαυτοῖς εἰσὶ νόμος: οἵτινες ἐνδείκνυνται τὸ ἔργον τοῦ νόμου γραπτὸν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν, συμμαρτυρούσης αὐτῶν τῆς συνειδήσεως. ὁ γὰρ γραπτὸς ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις νόμος καὶ ἐν ἐθνικοῖς φύσει τὰ τοῦ νόμου ποιοῦσιν οὐκ ἄλλος ἐστὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὰς κοινὰς ἐννοίας φύσει ἐγγεγραμμένου τῷ ἡγεμονικῷ ἡμῶν, καὶ τρανωτέρου μετὰ τῆς συμπληρώσεως τοῦ λόγου ὁσημέραι γινομένου. τοῦτο τὸ σημαινόμενον ἦν τοῦ νόμου καὶ ἐν τῷ: Ἁμαρτία οὐκ ἐλλογεῖται μὴ ὄντος νόμου: καὶ ἐν τῷ: Τὴν ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔγνων εἰ μὴ διὰ νόμου. πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ κατὰ Μωσέα νόμου ἐλλελόγηται ἁμαρτία καὶ τῷ Κάιν καὶ τοῖς κατὰ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν παθοῦσιν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Σοδομίταις καὶ ἄλλοις μυρίοις: πολλοί τε ἔγνωσαν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ πρὸ τοῦ Μωσέως νόμου. καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς εἰ δύο σημαινόμενα τοῦ ἑνὸς ὀνόματος τοῦ νόμου ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ παρείληπται τόπῳ: εὑρήσομεν γὰρ ταύτην τὴν συνήθειαν καὶ ἐν ἄλλαις γραφαῖς, οἷον: Οὐχ ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι τετράμηνός ἐστι καὶ ὁ θερισμὸς ἔρχεται; ἐπάρατε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν καὶ θεάσασθε τὰς χώρας ὅτι λευκαί εἰσι πρὸς θερισμὸν ἤδη. δὶς γὰρ ὁ θερισμὸς ὀνομασθεὶς κατὰ μὲν τὸ πρότερον ἐπὶ τὸν σωματικὸν ἀναφέρεται, κατὰ δὲ τὸ δεύτερον ἐπὶ τὸν πνευματικόν. τὸ δὲ ὅμοιον εὑρήσεις καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ γενετῆς τυφλοῦ θεραπευθέντος: ᾧ ἐπιφέρει σωματικῶς γενομένῳ τό: Εἰς κρίμα ἐγὼ εἰς τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον ἦλθον, ἵνα οἱ μὴ βλέποντες βλέπωσι καὶ οἱ βλέποντες τυφλοὶ γένωνται.
[3] Οὕτω τοίνυν καὶ νῦν χωρὶς μὲν νόμου τοῦ τῆς φύσεως δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ πεφανέρωται, μαρτυρουμένη δὲ ὑπὸ νόμου Μωσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν. εἴποιμεν δ' ἂν πρὸς τοὺς ἔτι ὀκνοῦντας παραδέξασθαι τὸ διττὸν σημαινόμενον τοῦ νόμου, ὅτι εἴπερ ὁ αὐτὸς νόμος παρείληπται ἔν τε τῷ: Νυνὶ δὲ χωρὶς νόμου δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ πεφανέρωται: καὶ ἐν τῷ: Μαρτυρουμένη ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν: εἰ μὲν χωρὶς νόμου πεφανέρωται, οὐχ ὑπὸ νόμου μαρτυρεῖται: εἰ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου μαρτυρεῖται, οὐ χωρὶς νόμου πεφανέρωται. τῇ τοίνυν δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ φανερουμένῃ ὑπὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μαρτυρεῖ οὐδαμῶς μὲν ὁ τῆς φύσεως νόμος: μικρότερος γάρ ἐστιν αὐτῆς: ὁ δὲ Μωσέως νόμος, οὐ τὸ γράμμα ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ οἱ ἀνάλογον τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ νόμου προφῆται, καὶ ὁ ἐν αὐτοῖς πνευματικὸς λόγος. διὸ χρὴ ἐπιμελῶς τὸν ἀναγινώσκοντα τὴν θείαν γραφὴν τηρεῖν ὅτι οὐ πάντως ταῖς αὐταῖς λέξεσιν ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν πραγμάτων χρῶνται αἱ γραφαί: τοῦτο δὲ ποιοῦσιν, ὁτὲ μὲν παρὰ τὴν ὁμωνυμίαν, ὁτὲ δὲ παρὰ τὴν τροπολογίαν, καὶ ἔσθ' ὅτε παρὰ τὴν σύμφρασιν ἀπαιτοῦσαν ἄλλως τῇ λέξει χρήσασθαι ἐν τοῖσδέ τισιν ἢ ὡς κεῖται ἐν ἑτέροις. καὶ τοῦτο ἐὰν ἐπιμελῶς παραφυλαττώμεθα, πολλῶν σφαλμάτων ἀπαλλαττόμεθα καὶ παρεκδοχῶν. χρὴ οὖν εἰδέναι ὅτι τό: Ἑώρακεν οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀεὶ κεῖται, ἀλλ' ὁτὲ μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ σωματικοῦ ὁρᾷν, ὁτὲ δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ νοεῖν. καθόλου γὰρ τοῦτο ἰστέον, ὅτι προκειμένου κρύψαι καὶ μὴ φανερῶς ἐκθέσθαι τὰ νοήματα τῆς ἀληθείας τῷ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις πνεύματι καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις Χριστοῦ λόγῳ, πολλαχοῦ καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς φράσεως συγχεῖται καὶ οὐχ ὡς ὑπὸ μίαν λέγεται ἀκολουθίαν: ἵνα μὴ καὶ ἀνάξιοι εἰς κρίμα τῆς ἑαυτῶν ψυχῆς εὕρωσι τὰ συμφερόντως αὐτοῖς ἀποκεκρυμμένα. καὶ τοῦτο πολλαχοῦ αἴτιόν ἐστι τοῦ δοκεῖν μὴ ἔχειν σύνταξιν μηδὲ ἀκολουθίαν τὴν ὅλην γραφήν: καὶ μάλιστα, ὡς προείπομεν, τὴν προφητικὴν καὶ τὴν ἀποστολικήν: καὶ μάλιστα τῆς ἀποστολικῆς τὴν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἐπιστολὴν, ἐν ᾗ τὰ περὶ νόμου διαφόρως ὀνομάζεται, καὶ ἐπὶ διαφόρων πραγμάτων κείμενα: ὥστε δοκεῖν ὅτι οὐκ ἔχεται ὁ Παῦλος ἐν τῇ γραφῇ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς τοῦ προκειμένου αὐτῷ σκοποῦ.