h

be Aaron's Prince, the Greek and Latin Tranflations have it, He Shall Speak for thee to the People, he fhall be a Mouth unto thee, and thou shalt be unto him in things pertaining to God; that is, Thou fhalt be unto him a " King. From hence, Sir, I think it is plain, that the Priefts Office is the fame in Sacred, as Mofes his was in Civil Affairs When as King, or Ruler of the Twelve Tribes in the beginning of the Theocracy, he miniftred in temporal Matters betwixt God and the People. Hence Grotius thinks that the 6th Verfe of the xcixth Pfalm, ought not to be rendred Mofes and Aaron among bis Priefts, but rather, Mofes and Aaron among his Minifters, that is, Mofes among his Minifters of State, and Aaron among his Priefts, or Minifters of his Church. For the original Word Coben fignifies in its general Signification algos, Minifter, and tho' it is moft commonly used in the Old Teftament to denote a facred Minifter or Prieft, yet fometimes it is used to denote a Prince or great Man in the State, as in 2 Sam. viii. 18. Where it is faid, that Benaiah was over the Cherethites and Pelethites, there it is faid of the Sons of David, that they were Cobenim, which we render Chief Rulers, and the Greek Tranflation Princes, or Rulers of the Court. So in Gen. xli. 45. what our, and other Tranflations render Prieft of On, the Chaldee Verfion tranflates Rabba deon, Prince of On, and fome of the Criticks, think it the better Verfion. So faith

i

• Lelohim.

Grot. Hebraice, Tu eris ipfi in Deum, i. e. Jus gladii habe bis in ipfum & alios. Nunquam enim hoc nomen hominibus datur, nifi ad fignificandum jus vitæ, & necis. Fagius, Et tu eris illius Deus. Nam principes, judices, & magiftratus Dii vocantur in Scriptura, propterea quod Dei judicium exercent, ut Hebrai loquuntur. See alfo Chap. vii. I.

· Αυλάρχας,

* Cohen on.

Buxtorf,

Baxtorf, Chhen the Hebrew Word, Sometimes is used in a Large Senle for Profits, Groermars # Cities, and Freinces, and Coil Governnars, wid then it is render'd in the Targum, by Rabha, whils fignifies & Prince. Wherefore as is, in his re gal Capacity; was God's Minifter over the People in the State: Sodaren, in his facerdotal, was his Minifter over them in the Church. As the one, as a Prince, was his Vicegerent to tranfact temporal Mat ters between him and the People: So the other, as a Prieft, was his Vicegerent to tranfact fpiritual Matters between God, and them. They both acted as God's Minifters, though in different Spheres, and therefore faith Grotius of the Prieft, Heb. v. 1. Frat ejus officium Dei vice apud populum fungi, & populi vice apud Deum, it was the Prief's Office to be in God's ftead to the People, and the Peoples lead to God. I fay from this comparifon it is plain that the common Notion of a Prieft is to be a Negotiator between God and Man in facred things, as Mofes's was in Civil. Aaron was fo, after God divided the Sacerdotal from the Regal Office. He was chofen and appointed chief Minifter in the Jewish Church, as Mofes was in the Jewish State, to tranfact, and mediate in all facred Offices betwixt him, and the People: I fay he was chofen, becaufe, as the Apoftle obferves, no Man can take this Honour to himfelf, of standing, mediating, or interceding betwixt God and Man in divine Matters, but he that is call'd of God, as Aaron and his Sons were. So Chrift our great Archetypal High-Prieft did not arrogate to himself the Honour of the Prieftly Office, because he was call'd to it by God, who faid unto him, I hou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee, thou art a Prieft for ever after the Order of Melchifedech. This Vicegerency, or mediatory Office to tranfa&t, and

Lexicon Rabbinicum. In Cohen.

minifter in facred Morters betwixt God and Man, which belongs to the Prieftly Character, as fuch, is emphatically fet forth by the Hebrew Prepofition

which fignifies erga, adverfus, towards, è regio. ne, over-againft, ante, coram, before, in the prefence of, and with el before it, dvapéσov, in terminis, or in medio duorum, in the Boundaries, or middle between two, nigh, near, and ad to. And there

of which the, מול האלהים fore by the Import of

Apostle's Greek is but the Tranflation, the Prieft is the common Manager, or Minifter of facred Affairs betwixt God and the People, over whom, by God's Appointment, he is Prieft. He is their Procurator, or Proxy, to tranfact with him, and his Procurator to tranfact with them. He ftands and acts as Mediator between both Parties, as it were in the middle Line of Converfation, and in the very Center of Communication betwixt them. He limits and regulates the Intercourfe on both fides between them, as their common Vicegerent; and in this double relation to the two Parties is conceiv'd to be as it were pofted between, or in the middle of them, and overagainst them both. When he speaks to, or acts with the People in God's Name, God is understood to draw nigh unto them, and when he speaks to him, or for them in their Name, and as their Oratour, they are understood to draw nigh unto him. A Priest then, properly fpeaking, is Moul le gnam haeloim, and Moul lelohim ba gnam, a Perfon ordained to all for the People God-ward, and for God to the Peopleward; i. e. as learned Men are wont to exprefs it, Pro hominibus conftituitur in iis que erga Deum, & pro Deo conftituitur in iis, que erga homines aguntur. Adftai propter populum coram Deo, &

propter

Hence in the German Verfion by M. Luther, Hebr. v. I. is render'd thus: For every High-Priest that is taken from among Men, is fet, or placed for Men over-againfi Ged. Der werd Geleyt kar die Menschen gegen Gott,

Deut

Deum coram populo. To exprefs my felf about the proper Notion of a Prieft in other Words: He is an Advocate, Mediator, Interceffor, Negotiator, Reprefentative, Vicegerent, Mandatary, Interpellant ; or if there is any other Name that will better exprefs the Force of the Hebrew and Greek Words, or better fuit with the honourable Character or Office of a Prieft, who by Divine Institution is to officiate betwixt God, and Man in their spiritual Addreffes to, and Negotiations one with the other.

The Heathens themfelves had the fame common Notion of Priests, and Priesthood. They accounted them as Mediators betwixt God and Men, being obliged to offer the Sacrifices of the People to their Gods; and on the other fide, Ἑρμηνεια ωρα Θεῶν ἀνθρώποις, deputed by the Gods to be their Interpreters to Men, to inftruct them how to pray for themselves, What it was most expedient to ask, what Sacrifices, what Gifts would be moft acceptable to the Gods; and, in Short, to teach them all the Rites and Ceremonies in Divine Worship. These are the Words of a most learned Antiquary in the beginning of the third Chapter of the fecond Book of his Archeologia Graca, or the Antiquities of Greece. Here I am invited to obferve how the common Notion of Priesthood, and the Idea of a Priest answering to it, were expreffed by the Pagan Goths, or rather Germans, in Words which are formed from their Word GÜD, which fignified God, and in the plural is GUDIN, Gods. Thofe Words are GUDINASSUS, and GUDI, or GUDA, from whence alfo Gudinon fignifies to do the Office of a Prieft. Thefe Words were all tranfferred from the idolatrous ufe of them to the Christian Religion, as may be feen in the Gothick Gofpels; and according to their Notation they fignifie the Minifters, and Ministry of any God, whatever that be.

No doubt but their religious Worship, and Rites was as various as their Gods; but whoever was appointed, as a publick Minifter, in the Service of any of their Gods, he was GUDI, his Office GUDIÑASSUS, and he was faid GUDINON, when he performed Divine Service, whatever that was.

III. Now, Sir, to apply this general Notion of a Prieft, or Priesthood, I would fain ask your late Writer, or his Second, if it doth not properly belong to Chriftian Bifhops, and Priefts. Are they not taken, or feparated from Men, as Aaron and his Sons were, Lecaben, isode, GODINON, Miniftrare, fungi Sacerdotio; or in the Words of our Tranflation, to Minifter unto the Lord in the Prieftly Office? Are they not Le gnam moul baelohim, po. pulo in his, que ad Deum pertinent? Ordained for Men in things pertaining to God? Do they not stand in the Prefence of God to perform Divine Offices, and Minister in his holy Worfhip for the Benefit of the People, and ftand before him to make Reconciliation for their Sins? Are they not à parte Dei, on God's part to the People? Do they not negotiate their Bufinefs with him? Are they not his Vicegerents to them, and their Vicegerents to him; And act between God and them in facred, as Mofes did in civil Things? Are they not Mediators, Interceffors, or Procurators betwixt God and Man, and, as fuch, tranfact and minifter in facred Matters between them? Are they not Reprefentatives of both Parties, and placed by the Nature of their Office, as it were el moul, in terminis, on the Frontier of Intercourfe, or middle Line of Communication between them? Do they not speak to, and act with the People in God's Name, and with God in the

• Exod. xxviii. I. xxix. 1.

P Sacerdos in altari vice Chrifti fungitur, & Sacrificium verum, plenum Deo Patri in Paffionis Unigeniti fui offert recordationem. Cyprian. Epift. 68.

Name