Sampson's Essay on Qualifications For Faithful Interpreters of Scripture

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Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

An interesting gem to be found in a posthumously-published commentary on the Book of Hebrews by Francis S. Sampson (edited by Robert L. Dabney) is the introductory essay on the critical interpreter of the sacred Scriptures. Sampson served as a professor of Oriental literature and languages in the Union Theological Seminary, Virginia, and was a colleague and dear friend of Dabney, who was also his biographer.

Sampson highlights the importance of the faithful interpreter of Scripture in the context of the Satan’s war against Christ and His Church. He argues that one of greatest means by which the devil causes harm to the Church is through the efforts of unfaithful theological professors and preachers who undermine the foundations of the Church. By the mangling and perversion of God’s Word, such sabotage from within greatly aids his efforts, by suppressing and distorting the truth, to derail the advancement of Christ’s kingdom. But to the contrary, faithful interpreters of Scripture who handle God’s Word with wisdom are indispensable instruments in the work of the Church to advance the cause of the gospel in the world.

Here is a brief summary of the qualifications which Sampson gives for the faithful interpreter of Scripture:

  1. The first qualification which I shall mention is, that he have a thorough conviction that the Scriptures are indeed the Word of God: in other words, that he be a firm believers in the plenary inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures.

  2. The next essential qualification for the sacred Scriptures which I shall mention is, that he be truly enlightened and regenerated by the Spirit which gave them.

  3. The third qualification, which I mention as essential to the critical interpreter of the Scriptures, is a thorough knowledge of the original languages in which they are written, as well as a good knowledge, at least, of their cognates.

  4. But not only is a thorough knowledge of the original and cognate languages of the Scriptures necessary to the interpreter; he has need, in the fourth place, of a very extensive and often minute acquaintance with various collateral knowledge.

  5. The next requisite to the interpreter of the sacred Scriptures which I shall mention is, a thorough and comprehensive acquaintance with the Scriptures themselves.

  6. The last qualification of the interpreter of the sacred Scriptures which I shall mention, is, that he possess correct principles of interpretation, and have the skill and judgment to apply them.

In the last discussion, Sampson highlights the importance of the principle of “historico-grammatical system of interpretation.” He adds: “In this last qualification, we only allow what, in strict accordance with the true nature of language, is allowed to all writings, — that they be interpreted according to themselves and according to the nature of the subjects of which they treat.”

The full essay explores the the value of each of these criteria for sound interpretation of what the Scriptures teach. It is remarkable that, though each point is so fundamental and basic as to seemingly go without saying, yet, departures from each of these points are widespread in the Church today with consequent harmful effects.

Read the full essay at Sampson’s page or Dabney’s and consider the importance of faithful teachers of God’s Word. Such men who meet those qualifications are treasures worthy of the great honor to handle the Word of God rightly.

Matthew Henry at Log College Press

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There are some names that die, in spite of all that can be done to keep them alive; there are others that live, whoever may combine to blot them out of existence. Be it that no monument tells where their ashes repose; that no orator commemorates their fame; that no memoir proclaims to the world their character or their doings; yet let them, by the greatness of their intellectual efforts or public services, identify themselves with the character of the age in which they live, and it were scarcely a more hopeless task to undertake to pluck a star from the heavens, than to quench the lustre of their names, or to limit the usefulness of their lives.

It will hardly be questioned at this day, that the name of Matthew Henry belongs somewhere on the comparatively small list of names, which are not destined to lose their lustre with the lapse of ages. Passing by all the other important services which he rendered to the great cause of truth and piety, his commentary is an imperishable monument both of his greatness and his goodness — William B. Sprague

American Presbyterians have long expressed a love for the Puritans generally. We have highlighted their appreciation for John Flavel previously, and today the spotlight is on Matthew Henry (1662-1714). He was an English Puritan, the son of Philip Henry, whose commentary on the Bible (completed with the assistance of friends after his death), is still valued today.

  • Archibald Alexander, Preface to Matthew Henry's Commentary (1828, 1833)

    Recommendation to Colin McIver’s edition of Matthew Henry’s Exposition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1846)

  • James R. Boyd, Daily Communion with God on the Plan Recommended by Rev. Matthew Henry, V.D.M., For Beginning, Spending, Concluding Each Day With God (1873)

  • John Forsyth, Exposition of James in Matthew Henry’s Commentary (1848)

  • Charles Hodge, Exposition of Romans in Matthew Henry’s Commentary (1848)

  • Colin McIver, Matthew Henry’s Exposition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1846)

    The Rev. Matthew Henry’s Aphorisms on the Ministry, the Church, and Other Kindred Subjects (1847)

  • William B. Sprague, Review of the Memoirs of Matthew Henry (1834)

In every age, God raises up men for the defence of the gospel, and also for the exposition of his word; and some of these are honoured not only with usefulness while they live, but with more abundant and ex tensive usefulness after their decease; so that being dead they still speak. — Archibald Alexander on Matthew Henry’s Commentary

George Burrowes: The Christian life is a series of revivals

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I sleep, but my heart waketh. — Song of Solomon 5:2

Commenting on this text of Scripture, George Burrowes takes occasion to expound upon the nature of the spiritual ups and downs of the Christian life more largely in descriptive terms to which experienced believers can well relate.

This passage, to the end of ver. 8, illustrates the exercises of the soul in a time of spiritual sloth and decay. After thus unfolding to us his love, he lets us, as in this passage, see our depravity and indifference. Our religious life consists of a series of revivals and of withdrawals by Jesus, for calling into exercise and putting to the test our graces. When under the influence of first love, we determine never to forget the Saviour, and think the thing almost impossible. After some experience of the deceitfulness of the heart, when at some subsequent period we have had our souls restored and made to lie down in green pastures, beside the still waters, we resolve again to be faithful in close adherence to our Lord, under the impression, that with our present knowledge of the workings of sin, and the glorious displays made to us of the loveliness of Christ, and of his love towards us personally, we shall now at length persevere; but we soon find to our sorrow, that, left to ourselves, we are as unsteady and unfaithful as ever. It is surprising how quickly coldness will succeed great religious fervour. To the experienced believer it will not appear strange, that this divine allegory should bring this representation of indifference to the beloved into such immediate connection with the remarkable expressions of Jesus' love contained in the foregoing chapter. Where is the Christian who has not found the truth of this in his own experience? The three chosen disciples were overcome with lethargy even on the mount of transfiguration; and immediately after the first affecting sacrament, they not only fell asleep in Gethsemane, but all forsook Jesus and fled; while Peter added thereto a denial of his Lord, with profane swearing. While the bridegroom tarried, even the wise virgins with oil in their lamps, slumbered and slept. After endearing manifestations of Jesus' love, how soon do we find ourselves falling into spiritual slumber — often, like the disciples on the mount, under the full light of the presence of the Holy Spirit. And after periods of revival, in the same way will churches speedily show signs of sinking down into former coldness.

Burrowes speaks similarly concerning Song of Solomon 2:8-9: “The Christian life is a series of visits and withdrawals of our Lord, of revivals of grace in the heart and exposure to trials.”

He himself walked through valleys and climbed mountaintops. In a nod to Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, that brilliant allegory of the Christian life, Burrowes writes elsewhere: “The Delectable Mountains and the River of the Water of Life, cannot be reached by the pilgrim without passing through the Valley of Humiliation and the Valley of the Shadow of Death” (Advanced Growth in Grace, 1868). James Curry writes in a biographical sketch of Burrowes found in his History of the San Francisco Theological Seminary, p. 62:

He was a Christian of deep and humble piety, and had at various times all through his mature life remarkable religious experiences. He attributed them to the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit. After one of these experiences he wrote:

"Had I stood with Moses on the top of Pisgah my soul could hardly have had such delightful emotions as those now felt." Again he wrote: "When I arise in the morning and come into my study, here I find Jesus already waiting for me, and I meet Him with delight of heart.” "I can scarcely conceive of anything more desirable in Heaven than merely to have these feelings made perfect, and the union with Jesus completed by my being brought to be with Him where He is to behold His glory."

Each of us has our own unique path to follow when we take up our cross to follow our Savior. Solomon himself elsewhere teaches that “The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy” (Prov. 14:10). If the same Shepherd leads one through a valley of the shadow of death, while another is led through a different sort of trial or grants a season of encouragement, be assured that our Lord is the only truly faithful guide. Each day, by the grace of God, we must do the hard work of sanctification, and though some days will be sweeter than others, we must walk by faith and not by sight (Heb. 11:13) with our eyes fixed on Jesus (Heb. 12:1). The soul that longs for Jesus in a dry and thirsty land (Ps. 63:1) will experience both nights of tears and mornings of gladness (Ps. 30:5), but in the words of many saints who have gone before, Heaven will make amends for all.

W.S. Rentoul's "The Bible"

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Described as “an odd-looking character, a Scotchman by birth,” William Skinner Rentoul (1812-1898) was a Philadelphia bookseller, publisher, writer and poet of the old school Presbyterian variety. He is best known for publishing both the Keys Psalter and Rentoul’s Library of Standard Bible Expositions, which includes some notable commentaries: 1. Ralph Wardlaw, Lectures: Expository and Practical, on the Book of Ecclesiastes (1868); 2. Alexander Moody Stuart, The Song of Songs: An Exposition of the Song of Solomon (1869); and 3. George Lawson, Practical Expositions of the Whole Books of Ruth and Esther (1870). He was also the author of a metrical version of the Song of Solomon, appended to Stuart’s commentary on the same.

Today we highlight a poetic composition he published in 1862. It is a sweet meditation on the Word of Life, and a reminder of what a precious gift the Lord has given unto us.

The Bible

O, rarest gift to mortals given!
Blest book! thou point’st the path to heaven.
The sinner, lost in darkness drear,
Heart-sick thro’ sin, whose eye the tear
Of anguish scalds, thro’ griefs and woes
That fill the poisoned cup of those
On whose soul rests, with weighty load,
The wrath of an offended God,
That takes thy sweet and kindly light
For guide, shall still be led aright;
Shall find Jehovah’s angry face
To favour changed. His smiles shall grace
His earthly labours: and at last, —
Eternal life, eternal rest —
Purchased by Jesus for his own;
For all who love that Holy One,
And wait His glorious coming - his cup of bliss shall crown.

Weight of Glory: Thoughts on Affliction

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John Franklin Bair writes, in Poems For All Classes (1922), p. 174:

The Blessings of Affliction

Afflictions come, but not by chance,
Nor do they from the ground arise,
They may be heavy, but each one
Is but a blessing in disguise.

By faith I see the hand of God
In all afflictions sent to me;
Therefore I will rejoice because
My future blessings they will be.

Do we measure our happiness in life by putting our afflictions on one scale and balancing them against our blessings? We may receive evil from the hand of the Lord, but we hope to receive more good. Is that the right way to take account of a good life? If one is opposed to the other, do we stand on pins and needles at the equipoise until the scales tip in our favor? In fact, on the scales of God's justice, we are found wanting. We deserve no good thing at all. But the afflictions of the righteous are in fact blessings in disguise. While they are hard providences, they are providences from the loving hand of Almighty God, who has promised that nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8.39), and "that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8.28). That being case, we must reckon rightly that blessings and afflictions are not properly weighed against each other but weighed together as "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4.17).

William Henry Green (1825-1900), chair of Biblical and Oriental Literature at Princeton, addressed this notion in his commentary on Job, originally titled The Argument of the Book of Job Unfolded (1874), pp. 313-314, 318; [republished with editorial modifications as Conflict and Triumph: The Argument of the Book of Job Unfolded (1999), pp. 152, 154]:

Sublime as was Job's resignation in the first and second stage of his afflictions, it is sublimer now. When his property and his children were all swept from him at a stroke, Job still blessed the name of the Lord, mindful of the fact that the Lord had given what he now took away. When in addition his own person was visited with a dreadful and incurable malady, he meekly received the evil at the hands of the Lord, mindful of the good which he had previously bestowed.

His constant trust in God rooted itself each time in the past, in the abundance of former mercies, his grateful sense of which was not effaced by all the severity of his present trials. He put his trials in the scales over against the benefits which the Lord had so bounteously conferred upon him, and the latter still largely outweighed.
...
This is the lesson which Job has now learned; and hence he retracts all his murmuring words, and all that he has said reproachful to his Maker. He abhors himself for having uttered them, and repents in dust and ashes. He would not ask as before, 'Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?' [(2:10)]. There is no evil [adversity], there can be no evil [adversity] from the hand of the Lord.

Evil [Adversity] is good when it comes from him. He [Job] no longer puts the benefits from God in one scale and afflictions in the other. But afflictions are put in the same scale with benefits: they, too, are benefits when God sends them. And thus, instead of tending to create a counter-poise, they but add their weight to that of obligation previously existing.

A 1903 recommended pastoral library

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We have examined previously what constitutes a solid, recommended pastoral library as described by Thomas Murphy; and J.O. Murray, B.B. Warfield, and others. In today’s post, we take a look at recommendations from George Summey of The Presbyterian Quarterly and R.A. Lapsley, Sr. in the Union Seminary Magazine of 1903.

In Vol. 16 of The Presbyterian Quarterly, pp. 407-409, we find a list of 100 recommended titles compiled from the suggestions of many pastors and professors as to what should constitute the basic inventory of a young pastor’s library.

Beginning with the King James Version and Revised Version of the Bible, and Greek and Hebrew lexicons, the list continues with Bible dictionaries and concordances, and Bible commentaries (Matthew Henry and J-F-B on the whole Bible, and select commentators on individual books, such as William Henry Green on Job and Joseph Addison Alexander on Isaiah), before proceeding to classics of Christian literature such as John Calvin’s Institutes, Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology, Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Christ, Thomas Murphy’s Pastoral Theology, Fisher’s Catechism, B.M. Palmer’s Theology of Prayer, and D'Aubigné’s History of the Reformation; and classics of literature in general, including Shakespeare, Milton, Tennyson and Dickens.

It is a full list with a sufficiently broad scope to encompass many areas of study with which each pastor ought to be acquainted. But no list of this nature is going to be complete. R.A. Lapsley wrote his own article to supplement that of the Presbyterian Quarterly by proposing several additional fields of literature of great value to the young minister.

  • Experimental religion - Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ; Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience; William S. Plumer, Vital Godliness; Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections; and the practical works of John Owen;

  • Revivals of religion - G.W. Hervey’s Manual of Revivals, with particular reference to the bibliography at p. 143-144, and the outlines of George Whitefield’s sermons, and others;

  • Sermons — The sermons of Charles Spurgeon are recommended, as well as Stuart Robinson’s Discourses of Redemption; and those found in the 1896 Southern Presbyterian Pulpit;

  • Hymnology — S.W. Duffield, English Hymns: Their Authors and History; and

  • Christian biographies — Memoirs of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, Edward Payson, William C. Burns, and David Brainerd are among those recommended.

Lapsley concludes thus:

These, then, are some of the lines along which a preacher's library ought to grow, building upon the solid foundation laid down in the Quarterly’s list of one hundred books. If a man is to be a preacher and pastor, as well as a theologian and exegete, he wants to have and “inwardly digest” some books on religious experience and revivals of religion, some volumes of sermons, something on religious poetry, especially hymnology, and a number of the choicest religious biographies. These, along with text-books on Pastoral Theology and hand-books of missions, furnish the material for that great department of Practical Theology which is a vital point in ministerial equipment, coördinate with dogmatics and hermeneutics.

In short, the well-read and well-rounded minister is one who begins with the study of the Bible and proceeds to consult spiritual classics from the spectrum of history. Lapsley is not averse to recommending (for occasional perusal) the autobiography of Charles Finney (with a caution about his Pelagianism), but offers his highest praise of the practical works of John Owen. Read Summey’s list here, and Lapsley’s article here, for the combined pastoral library recommendations from the 1903 Presbyterian Quarterly and Union Seminary Magazine.

A chat with Charles Spurgeon about some Log College Press commentaries

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For today’s post, we have decided to consult with renowned English Reformed Baptist minister Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) to seek his opinions regarding some of the commentaries available to be read at Log College Press. He is the author of a book published in 1876 which is a most helpful evaluation of Bible expositions [from which his responses are given] covering a full spectrum of writers from different backgrounds. The scope and depth of his knowledge in this area is respected by all, and so we present his remarks for consideration to our readers.

Charles Spurgeon, Commenting and Commentaries Title Page.jpg

Log College Press: Thank you for joining us today. We have high regard for your love of God’s Word, and the faithful exposition of it. We know with what high esteem you hold such expositors as John Calvin, Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Trapp, John Gill and others. We too value standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us in regards to our understanding of what the Bible teaches. Our focus at Log College Press is on American Presbyterians who have labored to expound upon the Bible or portions thereof. We wanted to seek your opinion regarding particular authors. We begin with some Princeton expositors. How would you rate Joseph Addison Alexander on the Psalms?

Charles H. Spurgeon: Occupies a first place among expositions. It is a clear and judicious explanation of the text, and cannot be dispensed with.

LCP: That is high praise. It seems that Charles Hodge also thought highly of J.A. Alexander as a Biblical commentator. What did he have to say about Alexander on Isaiah?

CHS: Dr. Hodge says of the author: "I regard Dr. Joseph Addison Alexander as incomparably the greatest man I ever knew—as incomparably the greatest man our Church has ever produced." He wastes no space, but gives the essence of exposition.

LCP: And your thoughts on J.A. Alexander’s commentary on the Gospel of Matthew?

CHS: Dr. Alexander's last work. He died before it was quite finished. It is complete to Chapter XVI. Its value is great.

LCP: What about his commentary on the Book of Acts?

CHS: In all respects a work of the highest merit.

LCP: Turning to Dr. Charles Hodge himself, what are your thoughts on his commentary on Romans?

CHS: Hodge's method and matter make him doubly useful in commenting. He is singularly clear, and a great promoter of thought.

LCP: As we continue down the list of New Testament expositions by Hodge, what about First and Second Corinthians?

CHS: The more we use Hodge, the mare we value him. This applies to all his commentaries.

LCP: And Hodge on Ephesians?

CHS: Most valuable. With no writer do we more fully agree.

LCP: What is your opinion of another LCP author who served as pastor of the Presbyterian church in Princeton, New Jersey, James Madison MacDonald, who wrote on Ecclesiastes?

CHS: Thoroughly exegetical, with excellent "scopes of argument" following each division: to be purchased if it can be met with.

LCP: What are your thoughts on John Miller’s exposition of Proverbs?

CHS: This author's interpretations are new, and in our judgment very far removed from accuracy. Certainly the old interpretations are better in many ways. His theory that the' Proverbs are spiritual and not secular will not hold water. He needs reading with very great discrimination: if read at all "Too great innovation" is the author's own suspicion of his work, and we quite agree with him, only we go beyond mere suspicion.

LCP: Here is a controversial name. Albert Barnes. What do you think of him?

CHS: Albert Barnes, say you, "What, do you think of Albert Barnes?" Albert Barnes is a learned and able divine, but his productions are unequal in value, the gospels are of comparatively little worth, but his other comments are extremely useful for Sunday School teachers and persons with a narrow range of reading, endowed with enough good sense to discriminate between good and evil. If a controversial eye had been turned upon Barnes's Notes years ago, and his inaccuracies shown up by some unsparing hand, he would never have had the popularity which at one time set rival publishers advertising him in every direction. His Old Testament volumes are to be greatly commended as learned and laborious, and the epistles are useful as a valuable collection of the various opinions of learned men. Placed by the side of the great masters, Barnes is a lesser light, but taking his work for what it is and professes to be, no minister can afford to be without it, and this is no small praise for works which were only intended for Sunday School teachers.

LCP: Thank you for those thoughts. What would you say about Barnes on the Psalms, specifically?

CHS: Thoroughly good. Using these notes constantly, we are more and.more struck with their value. For the general run of preachers this is probably the best commentary extant.

LCP: And Barnes on Job?

CHS: Exceedingly good. One of the best of this author's generally valuable productions. The student should purchase this work at once. as it is absolutely necessary to his library.

LCP: There are also some Southern Presbyterian expositors to consider. What is your opinion of T.V. Moore on Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi?

CHS: A capital book. Most useful to ministers.

LCP: What about William Swan Plumer on Romans?

CHS: Plumer is a laborious compiler, and to most men his works will be of more use than those of a more learned writer.

LCP: And your thoughts on Plumer’s commentary on the Psalms?

CHS: A huge volume, compiled from such works as were accessible to the author in the United States. Full of instructive comment, but not very original, or remarkably learned.

LCP: What is your opinion of Francis Smith Sampson’s commentary on Hebrews?

CHS: A respectable production, but we know many which we value far more. As a set of lectures to a college class these comments would be of great value, but the author did well not to print them, although it was natural and fitting that his surviving colleague [Robert Lewis Dabney] should do so.

LCP: A. Moody Stuart has given an opinion of George Burrowes on the Song of Solomon. Can you remind us of what he had to say?

CHS: Mr. Moody Stuart says — “The excellent work of Dr. Burrowes is specially fitted to remove the prejudices of men of taste against the Song of Solomon, as the medium of spiritual communion between the soul and Christ. We welcome it as a valuable contribution to us from our transatlantic brethren.”

LCP: Thank you, sir, for your time and valued opinions. To our readers, we would add that we have a number of additional commentaries to consult here. The love of the God’s Word leads to an appreciation of faithful expositions thereof, and while not all commentaries are equal in value, we are pleased to continue building this page as one of many resources for students of the Scriptures here at Log College Press.

New Addition to Log College Press: B.M. Smith & A.R. Fausset on the Poetical Books of the Bible

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The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary on the Bible (1871) has been a valuable tool for student of the Bible for almost 150 years. It is so named for the Biblical scholars who collaborated to publish it: Robert Jamieson (Scottish, 1802–1880); Andrew Robert Fausset (Irish-English, 1821–1910); David Brown (Scottish, 1803–1897). It fell to Jamieson to comment upon Genesis-Esther; Fausset expounded upon Job-Malachi and 1 Corinthians to Revelation; and Brown commented upon Matthew-Acts. This work has been commended by Charles Spurgeon and many others.

Less well-known perhaps, A.R. Fausset had collaborated earlier with the American pastor-scholar Benjamin Mosby Smith (1811-1893) to publish The Poetical Books of the Holy Scriptures: With a Critical and Explanatory Commentary. Francis R. Flournoy, Smith’s grandson and biographer, tells us a little about this:

In 1859 he published, in co-operation with the Rev. A.R. Fausset, an English scholar, an edition of the Poetical Books of the Bible, with a critical and explanatory commentary, Dr. Smith preparing the sections on Psalms and Proverbs. This work was published in England, and after the Civil War it was brought out in the United States.

Thus in this collaborative commentary on the Poetical Books, Fausset wrote on Job, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon, while Smith wrote on the Psalms and Proverbs. Interestingly, a comparison of the Fausset-Smith commentary with the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary on the same poetical books shows that the material is largely the same. An example of this can be seen where Smith is credited for a comment upon Ecclesiastes 12:6 in the 1859/1867 FS commentary at LCP as well as within editions of the 1871 JFB commentary; and, more significantly, the introductions to Psalms and Proverbs are verbatim in both commentaries (the same is true of Fausset’s individual book introductions, although the overall introduction to the poetical books differs). Further - but not by this writer a complete - comparison between the commentaries shows that much of the commentary material on Psalms and Proverbs from the FS edition is to be found in the JFB edition as well. WorldCat shows that early editions under the title, for example, “The Holy Bible: According to the Authorised Version, with original and selected parallel references and marginal readings, an an original and copious critical and explanatory commentary” (1871) do credit B.M. Smith as an author, along with Jamieson, Fausset and Brown. Later editions, however, have simply largely or completely scrubbed out Smith’s name as a contributor. The fact remains that Benjamin Mosby Smith is today a largely uncredited and mostly forgotten contributor to to the Psalms and Proverbs portions of the more well-known JFB commentary.

Read the newly-added FS commentary for yourself here at Smith’s author page or at the Commentaries page, and if you seek to glean more from the Psalms and Proverbs, remember to consult the scholarship of B.M. Smith.

James Kennedy on the Song of Solomon

James Kennedy (1818-1898) was born in Northern Ireland and ministered in the Reformed Presbyterian of Ireland for many years before moving to America in 1870 and assuming the pastorate of the Fourth Reformed Presbyterian Church of New York City, which he served until 1894.

Perhaps his most notable work is his study of the Song of Solomon: Christ in the Song: An Explanation of all the Figurative Descriptions of Christ in the Song of Solomon (1890). Like George Burrowes, he takes the allegorical interpretation of the SoS.

In this volume, he examines specifically particular figurative descriptions of Christ used by Solomon in some detail. The table of contents illustrates his approach:

  • The Principle on which the Song of Songs is interpreted

  • The Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ

  • Our Lord's Complexion

  • Our Lord's Pre-eminence

  • Our Lord's Head of Gold

  • Our Lord's Bushy Raven Locks

  • Our Lord's Dove Eyes

  • Our Lord's Aromatic and Brilliant Cheeks

  • Our Lord's Lily Lips Dropping Myrrh

  • Our Lord's Jewelled Hands

  • Our Lord's Ivory, Sapphire-set Body

  • Our Lord's Marble Limbs in Sockets of Gold

  • Our Lord's Countenance as Lebanon with its Cedars

  • Our Lord's Mouth Most Sweet

  • Our Lord Altogether Lovely

  • Our Lord our Beloved and Friend

This, then, is Kennedy’s aim in this exposition: “Our chief object in preparing [this] is a desire to exalt the ‘Glorious One’ of whom they treat, make him better known, endear him more to the children of God, and attract others to him as the great object of their confidence and love.” May his study of the SoS stir us up thus to more dearly love our precious Savior.

Don't Miss These Faithful Studies of God's Word

The 19th century published its share of commentaries, and Presbyterians were at the forefront of that effort. Joseph Addison Alexander, the son of Archibald Alexander, was one of those men of whom the word "prolific" does not even begin to describe the amount of writing they are able to produce and publish in a normal life span. He wrote commentaries on Isaiah, Acts, Mark, Matthew, the Psalms - and he had time to preach. (This doesn't even include everything he wrote that's available in digital form! It may take you a lifetime to read what he wrote in his 51 years of life. But here it is, available to you when you need it.) Another 19th century American Presbyterian, Thomas Verner Moore, wrote on the post-exilic prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. You can find more commentaries on our site by visiting our Commentaries page.

19th Century Commentaries at Log College Press

If you're starting a new sermon series this fall, make sure to check out the Commentaries page on the Log College Press website to see if a 19th century American Presbyterian has written on the book through which you plan to preach. The Princeton theologians, Joseph Addison Alexander and Charles Hodge, have the most studies of Scripture on our site, but a total of twenty-one authors so far are listed - and surely we'll find more to add. 

Did Joseph Addison Alexander Ever Sleep?

There are a few people in history, even in our own day, of whom the word "prolific" does not even begin to describe the amount of writing they have been able to produce and publish in a normal life span. Joseph Addison Alexander, the son of Archibald Alexander, was one of those men. He wrote commentaries on Isaiah, Acts, Mark, Matthew, the Psalms - and he had time to preach. But this doesn't even include everything he wrote that's available in digital form! It may take you a lifetime to read what he wrote in his 51 years of life. But here it is, available to you when you need it. Enjoy!

If You're Looking for Commentaries on the OT Prophets, Don't Miss These

The 19th century published its share of commentaries, and Presbyterians were at the forefront of that effort. Thomas Verner Moore wrote on the post-exilic prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, while Joseph Addison Alexander wrote on Isaiah (in two parts - the second part will be posted soon!). There are more commentaries that we need to find and make available, but hopefully soon all 19th-century Presbyterian commentaries will be accessible from this site.