zzo jefusofNazareth the,only True andP,omï¡ed Mefriah. tion of all their other objeâions, and on the determination whereof, thewhole Con- trovexfie from this place dependeth, I (hall fully clear the Truth of what we affert, For the Jewsthemfelves will not deny, but that if theconception of a Virgin be in- tended, it mutt referr unto fome other, and not to any in thofe dales. ramp, The wordhere ufed, isfrom i=7y to bide, or i=7y7 in Nipbal , .hidden, kept clofe, re- ferved. Hence isthat name ofVirgins, partly in general from theirbeing unknown b y man, andpartly from the univerfal cuflorn of the Bali', wherein ahofe Virgins who were of anydiem, or account, werekept hidand referved from all publick or com- mon converfation. _Hence by theGrecians alfo they are called xardxaimo, fhiut up, or reclufes, and their firft appearance in publick they termed dvaaaru12Ie,a, the feafo t of bringing them out from the retirements wherein they were hid. -The original fignifi- cation ofthe word then denotes precifely a Virgin, and cannot be wrefted,to a perfon living in the lute ofWedlock, much lefs unto a proftitute Harlot, as the Jews pre. tend. Secondly, The çonftant ufe of the words dieu t us to the fame fignificatioti. It ìsfeven times ufed in the Old Teftament, and in every one of them doth dill de- note a Virgin, or Virgins, either in a proper, or metaphorical fcnfe : The firft time it is ufed, is Gen. 24. v 43. where Rebeckah is faid to be riot) a Virgin, v. t6. She is faìd to be, rISI i3 a Maid, and 191t tZ7 unet a Man bad not known her ; fe, that ;,Diy ìs y1t ittT wtK 1WLi ;141há a Maid that no Man bath known ; that is, an un- fpotted Virgin. And doubtlefs fuck ,a one, and no other, was intended by Abrahams Servant for a Wife unto Ifaac when he prayed, thatShe nthyr1 .which came forth to the water, might anfwer his token_ that he had fixed on. Again, it is nfid, Exod. a. 8. where MofeesSitier, who called her Mother unto Pharaohs Daughter, is termed ;len) ; and her age being then probably not above nine or tenyearn old, with the.courfe of her life in her Mothers houfe, declare her fufficiently to have been a Virgin. Once it is ufed in the Pfalmr in the plural number, Pfàl. 68.v.z6. flint) lri 'Minn in the midff, the Virgins playing with Tymbrels; where alto none but VW- gins properly fo called, can be intended ; for theywere by themfelves,exercifed to., celebrate the praifes of God in the great Aflembly. Twice is the word ufed in the fame number in a.metaphorical fenfe in the Cantiles; and in both places hater refped unto Virgins, chap. 1. 3. Therefore do the rift love thee ; that is the Virgins, as theydo adefirable perfon from whence theAllufion is taken. And chap. 6, 7. They rIt7`W are diftinguifhed firfi from 11í3'0 the g_ueens, or the Kings marriedWives; and then from the i=httiL7,9 or Concubines: thofe whowere admitted ad nfunr Theri, to the marriage-bed, though their children didnot inherit with thofe of the married Wives : And thereforenone but. thofe who were properly Virgins, could be defigned by that name : And by them are thole denoted who keep themfelves chaff unto Chrift, and undefiled in his Worfhip. Hence are they in the Revelations, chap. 14. 5. faid tobe aaptévoi Virgins or áur tot ivoia,ov ei epóve rb eiïr, v. 17. perfons unblameable before the' Throne of God, having not.defiled themfelves with the ípecial fornications of the great Whore. There remainethonly One placemorewherein this word is ufed, whence the Jews would wren fomewhat to countenance their exceptions ; this is Prov. 36. 19. ,e7171 127 1111 And the way of a Man with a Maid. And who is intended by rtt4y there, they fay, theenfuing words declare reammob: X11:3 So is the way of an, Adultereß, or a. Woman an Adulterefs, an Harlot, fo that rjo,'ty may it feems be fuch an one. But r, Suppofe the Word Ihould in this placebe ufed in afenfe quite contraryunto that of all other places wherein mention' is made of it ; is it equal that we fhould take the importance of it from. this one abufe, rather then from the conftant ufe of it in other. places; efpecially confidering that this "place will by no means admit of that fignit cation, as we fhall immediately evince. Secondly, It is ufed herepeculiarly with the prefix 3 ; rttd4y1 whence it is rendred by the LxXi in the abffrati, év onz+, The way of. a Man in his youth; which fenfe Hierom follows viam viri in Adolefentib, ind-it may thus Teem to be differenced from the fame word in all other places, But. Thirdly, Indeed the meaning of the wife man is evident, and it is a Virgin that he intended by the word and nD771 131 111 is the way that aman taketh to corrupt a Virgin, and to compafs his lull upon her. This is fecret, hidden, 'full of {hares, and evils, fuck as ought not to enter into the thoughts of a good madto conceive, much Ids to approveof. And therefore,where- as he faits of the refidue of the &uaternion joyned with this, v. 18. 123797 They are too wonderful for me, he adds on the mention of this evil, ¶Dy1t Lá7 I know it. not, or as Hieran,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=