v. 1, xx. 17, 19, 20, xxii. 9. 16,xxiv. 15, Numb. ix. 13, —xiv. 34,-xviii. 22, -xxx. 15, Ezek. xvi. 58, -xxiii. 35, 49, -xxxix. 26, -xliv. 10, 12, 13.

42. Eighthly, the children of the Israelites bare the sins of their parents in the wilderness forty years. Numb. xiv. 33, And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms. And, Lam. v. 7, the whole nation in the Babylonish captivity complains, Our fathers have sinned and are not, and we have born their iniquities.

43. Ninthly, the prophet Ezekiel bare the iniquity of the house of Israel, Ezek. iv. 4, 5, 6, Lie thou also on thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it, thou sha.t bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: So shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

44. These are all the bearers of sin, and these all the places I can find where they are said to bear sin in scripture. Now observe,

45. (1.) That no Levitical sacrifice is ever said to bear sin. The scape-goat did bear sin; but it was not sacrificed, or slain.

46. (2.) When the great God is said to bear sin, the meaning, I apprehend, must be, that he took or carried it away: for this is a common and current sense of the word N nasa. Gen. xlvii. 30. Thou shalt carry me out of Egypt. Exod. x. 19. a strong wind took away the locusts. Lev. x. 4, carry your brethren out of the camp. Numb. xvi. 15, I have not taken one ass for them. 1 Sam. xvii. 34, a lion-took a lamb out of the flock. 1 Kin, xv. 22, and

they took away the stones of Ramah.—xviii.

1

12, the spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whether I know not. 2 Kin. xxiii. 4, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel. Chr. x. 12, took away the body of Saul. 2 Chr. xii. 11, came and fet them [took them away] and brought them again into the guard chamber.—xiv. 13, they carried away much spoil.-xvi. 6. carried away the stones of Ramah. Job xxiv. 10. they take away the sheaf.-xxvii. 21. eastwind car

rieth him away.-xxxii. 22. my Maker would soon take me away. Eccl. v. 15,which he may carry away in his hand. Isa. viii. 4, the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away.-xv. 7, shall they carry away to the brook.-xl. 24, whirlwind shall take them away.-xli. 16, wind shall carry them away. -lvii. 13, wind shall carry them all away. -lxiv. 6, have taken us away. Ezek. xxix. 19, he shall take [away] her multitude-xxxviii. 13, art thou come-to carry away silver? Dan. i. 16, Melzar took away the portion. Dan. xi. 12, when he hath taken away the multitude. Hos. i. 6, I will utterly take them away. —v. 14, I will take away. Amos iv. 2, he will take you away with hooks. Mic. ii. 2, and take them away. Mal. ii. 3, shall take you away. Job vii. 13, my couch shall ease [take away, remove] my complaint.

bearing the ark,

But those I have

47. More places might be produced; and indeed the texts where it signifies bearing by way of remove, as &c. are very numerous. quoted, as they are easy and obvious, so they are sufficient to shew, that this is not a forced, but a natural and common sense of the word.

And in this sense it is

סגל

easy to conceive, how the great God bears sin; viz. as he pardons, removes, or takes away the guilt of it; and our translators have once [Hos: xiv. 2.] and the Septuagint hath several times so rendered it. 2 100, Isa. liii. 11. will admit the sense of carrying off, or away, Isa. xlvi. 4, Even I will carry you off, and I will deliver you. This word is also used Isa. liii. 4, he hath carried our sorrows; which doubtless St. Matthew (chap. viii. 17) understood in the sense of removing or carrying off, when he saith; himself took [away] our infirmities, and bare [carried off] our sicknesses.

48. (3.) And in the same sense, or one near akin to it, our blessed Lord,* and the Jewish high-priests, priests, and levites, bare sin, as they made atonement for sin, or suffered or did those things which

*This idea the writers of the New-Testament give us of atonement and pardon; particularly in relation to our Lord. John i. 29, The Lamb of God [o digwy] which taketh away the sin of the world. 1 John iii 5, He was manifested that he [agn] might take away our sins. Rom. xi. 27, when [aεhwar] I shall take away their sins. Heb. x. 4, It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should [Paigɛ] take away sins. Ver. 11, Which can never [Tɛgiɛλɛ] take away sins. Put away sin, and bear the sins of many, signify the same thing, Heb. ix. 26, 28.

God was pleased to appoint as proper, on their part, either for the removal, or to signify the removal or taking away of guilt. Even as the scape-goat made atonement for sin, by bearing or carrying upon him all the iniquities of the children of Israel unto a land not inhabited; [Lev. xvi. 10, 22.] which was a figurative way of signifying the total removal of guilt. Thus also the angel, God sent before the Israelites, and those who forgave such as had offended them, might bear sin, by taking it away, or removing it out of their thoughts, so far as it was disgusting, or so far as concerned the punishment of it. Or

49. (4.) They might bear sin, and God might bear a sinful place or people, as they forbear, or endured it with lenity and patience; for so the word nasa sometimes signifies. Prov. xxx. 21, four things the earth cannot bear. pointed feasts I am weary to bear. Jer. xliv. 22, So that the Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, &c.

Isa. i. 14, Your ap

50. (5.) The word also denotes to bear a burden; and so metaphorically to bear, or to be liable to bear, or endure punishment and suffering. Thus criminals bore

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