sound of syllables ; and this of course has relation to pronun-
84 ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRixi:. [book hi.
God who jiistifieth ? "—the answer " No " being understood. And in the same way we shall have the inquiry, " Who is he that condcmneth ? " and the answer here again in the form of an interrogative, " Is it Christ who died ? yea, rather, who is risen again ? who is even at the right hand of God ? who also maketh intercession for us ? "—the answer " Xo " being
to every one of these questions. On the other hand, in that passage where the apostle says, " AVhat shall we say then ? That the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained to righteousness ; "^ unless after the inquiry, " What shall we say then ? " what follows were given as the answer to this question : " That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness ; " it would not be in harmony with the succeeding context. But with Avhatever tone of voice one may choose to jironounce that saying of Nathanael's, " Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ? "*—whether with that of a man who gives an affirmative answer, so tliat " out of Nazareth " is the only part that belongs to the interrogation, or with that of a man who asks the whole question with doubt and hesitation,
I do not see how a difference can be made. But neither sense is opposed to faith.
7. There is, again, an ambiguity arising out of the doubtful sound of syllables ; and this of course has relation to pronunciation. For example, in the passage, " My bone [os maim] was not hid from Thee, which Thou didst make in secret,"^ it is not clear to the reader whether he should take tlie word os as short or long. If he make it short, it is the singular of ossa
[bones] ; if he make it long, it is the singular of ora [mouths]. Now difficulties such as this are cleared up by looking into the original tongue, for in tlie Greek we find not arofia
[mouth], but uareov [bone]. And fur this reason the vulgar idiom is freq\iently more useful in convoying the sense tlian the pure speecli of the educated. For I would rather have the barbarism, non est ahsconditum a tc ossum mcum^ than have
' I^oni. ix. 30. ' .Tnlin i. 17.
' P.S. cxxxix. 16. "My substnncc wns not hid from Thee whcu 1 was made in secret" (A.V.).
* My bone was not hid from Thee,