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THE

PREFACE

A Mong the many excellent Commen

taries and Expofitions which have

been written upon the Books of the Holy Scripture, I have not yet feen any wherein the Text of the New Teftament has been fully Paraphrafed with brevity and plainnefs. Erafmus's Performance of this kind, is very eloquent and judicious; but his Explications are large, having frequent Digressions, and in many places be indulges allegorical Interpretations; and moreover, the Beauty of his Work is very much loft in our Tranflation. The pious and learned Bishop Hall wrote a judicious Expofition upon particular difficult Texts; but because

ime of my Supevane Judgment 1 might safely

Now in God may long
TO Grace, for

Good and Honour of
Jis the conftant

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it was only upon particular Texts, the Design it self allowed him not, to regard the Tranfitions, and to make his Paraphrafe one continued uninterrupted Difcourfe. Dr. Hammond has with great Pains collected all the Affiftances of ancient and modern Learning, and with great Succefs applied them to the Explication of the Text of the New Teftament; But those who juftily admire his great Learning and Skill in Interpreting, yet complain of the obfcurity and perplexedness of his Stile, which makes his Paraphrafe fomewhat difficult and of tefs general use; and befides, it was never printed by it felf without his ·large Notes. The Right Reverend Fa ther in God the present Lord Bishop of Ely, has with admirable Learning and Judicioufnefs brought this way of writing to Perfection in his Paraphrafe upon ・fome Books of the Old Testament; and all who defire to understand the Scriptures fully will ever wish that his LordThip had gone through the whole Writings

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both of the Old and New Teftament in the fame way. Others who have written good Expofitions upon the Holy Scriptures, have either made large Commentaries, of less general and conftant Ufe or have infifted chiefly on fuch Critical Obfervations, as are proper only for the Learned.

I have endeavoured in these Papers to exprefs the full Senfe of the Evange lift in the plainest Words, and to continue the Senfe without interruption by the clearest Tranfitions that I could. I have all along confulted the beft Expofitors, and felected out of every one what feemed to difcover the most natural meaning of the Text: And where any thing remarkable offered it felf to my Thoughts, different from what I met with in Commentators, I fet it down in Short Notes in the Margin: But other Critical Obfervations I have generally omitted, (excepting what ufe is made of them in the Paraphrafe,) that I might not fwell the Marginal Notes in

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