69. PROPHECIES SPOKEN AND WRITTEN

There is all the difference, surely, between τὸ ῥῆθεν (to rhēthen), that which was spoken, and ὁ γέγρχηται (ho gegraptai), that which standeth written.

Even granting that by a figure of speech, what is written is sometimes said to be spoken, there is no necessity arbitrarily to introduce the hypothesis when such introduction actually creates the difficulty.

9. Jeremiah the Prophet.—The same application of accuracy in reading the words of a Scripture solves the precisely similar difficulty in Matt. xxvii. 9. The prophecy as to the “thirty pieces of silver” was first “spoken by Jeremiah the prophet,” and afterwards written down by Zechariah.

And yet, having arbitrarily substituted in their minds the word “written” instead of “spoken,” commentators are at their wits’ end to explain the difficulty they have themselves created.

One says “Matthew quoted it from memory” (Augustine, followed by Alford); another speaks of it as a “slip of the pen” on the part of Matthew.

Another thinks that Jeremiah is put for the whole body of the prophets (Bishop Lightfoot).

Another thinks that the passage was originally in Jeremiah, but the Jews cut it out (Eusebius and others).

Another thinks that it may have been in another writing of Jeremiah which is now lost (Origen and others).

Another, (Bishop Wordsworth) believes that the mistake was made on purpose, so that we should not trouble ourselves as to who the writer was, but receive all prophecy as coming direct from God.

We make no comment on these, but only mention them to show the shifts to which expositors are driven in order to get out of the pit which they have digged themselves.

The solutions which are suggested are a greater obstacle to faith than the original difficulty; even if it were real instead of being only apparent.

10. The sending of the Centurion (Luke vii. 3, 6 and Matt. viii. 5).—In Matt. viii. 5 it reads as though the centurion came himself to the Lord; and in Luke vii. 3, 6, it reads as though he sent others and remained behind himself.

The difficulty is removed the moment we read the Greek accurately, and note that in Luke two different words are used for sending.

In Luke vii. 3 it is the verb ἀποστέλλω (apostellō), which means to send away from, the sender remaining behind. This is when he sends "the elders of the Jews."

In verse 6 the centurion "sent friends," but here it is the verb πέμπω (pempō), which means to send with, the sender either accompanying or sending an escort.

From this latter word being used in verse 6 it is clear that the centurion accompanied his "friends." This is where the account in Matthew takes up the narrative, when he says "there came to him a centurion."

We may note further that, in Matt. viii. 13, the Lord said, "Go thy way." But from Luke vii. 10 it appears that the Centurion did not go; his great faith not making it necessary for him to go and verify the Lord's word.

11. The Inscriptions on the Cross.—The variation between these in the four Gospels has given rise to charges which detract from the claim of the Gospels to the accuracy involved in inspiration; while the defences and explanations have been little less injurious in their effects.

The inscriptions are as follows:

1. Matt. xxvii. 37, "This is Jesus the King of the Jews."

2. Mark xv. 26, "The King of the Jews."

3. Luke xxiii. 38, "This is the King of the Jews."

4. John xix. 19, "Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews."

¹ In John xx. 21 we have both words in one verse: "As my Father hath sent me (apostellō), even so send I you (pempō)." While in other passages the latter verb is used also of the sending of the Lord Jesus by the Father; yet, here, in John xx. 21, for the purpose of emphasizing the fact that the Lord remains with those whom He sends, the verb πέμπω (pempō) is used.

² A very moderate statement of the difficulty presents it as follows: "The Evangelists, while fully agreeing in the substance of their narratives, are by no means careful about literal words—as for example, their record of the Inscriptions on the Cross, where no two of them exactly agree."—Rev. J. Paterson Smyth, in How God Inspired the Bible.