Nevin Exegesis of NT Passages
James Dodson
EXEGESIS OF EPH. V. 19 AND COL. III. 16.
The word psallo occurs only in four places of the New Testament.* Three of these have been alluded to. The fourth remains to be considered. It is the noted passage, Eph. v. 19, where “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” are mentioned. We have met with no explanation of this passage which we consider correct in every particular, and we deem it of importance to draw attention to it at some length, even at the risk of repeating certain statements we have made elsewhere, partly as a matter of Scripture exegesis, and partly because we believe it enables us to fix the meaning of the word in question as regards apostolic usage. To arrive at a true exegesis there must be a careful collation with the parallel passage, Col. iii. 16. For the sake of distinctness we shall number our remarks.
_____
* The four are Rom xv. 9 (where it appears in what is simply a quotation from the Septuagint), 1 Cor. xiv. 15 (twice), Eph. v. 19, and Ja. v. 13.
[Page 64]
1. The passage has no reference to stated assemblies for worship, as is manifest from the connection. In the previous verse the apostle exhorts, “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be ye filled with the Spirit.” The reference plainly is to private convivial entertainments. These amongst Christians should present a marked contrast to the bacchanalian revels which were common among the Greeks, and in which they were accustomed to sing songs in honour of their false gods, and otherwise of an immoral kind. The same may be said of the parallel passage in Colossians. It may be objected that, if these passages refer to private convivial parties, and not to stated meetings for worship, then they have nothing to do with the controversy. But if we succeed in showing that the apostle’s language gives no sanction to the use of instruments in such parties, a fortiori it gives none to their use in worshipping assemblies. Besides, if it fix the meaning of psallo in New Testament usage, a strong point is gained.
2. Some take the “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” to have been all extemporized effusions composed for the occasion, whether with or without inspiration. Others understand the “psalms” to refer to the book bearing that name in the Old Testament, while the “hymns and spiritual songs” were of the extemporized kind. The true explanation is, that the apostle is simply referring to the inspired Book of Psalms in the Old Testament by quoting the descriptive titles prefixed to them in the Septuagint. The apostle was writing to Greeks, with whom the Septuagint would be the Old Testament, just as our Authorized Version is the Bible to all who speak only English.* In our Version some Psalms have a title prefixed, some have not. In the Hebrew there is no separate title to any, the original of what is made a separate title in our Version, being part and parcel of the Psalm. In the Septuagint every Psalm, except the first and second, has a separate title. The descriptive title to 86 out of the whole number is either psalmos, or ode, or the two together. Six have humnos. Twenty have Allelouia, but as this is a phrase (signifying praise ye the Lord) rather than a name, and as humnos is properly descriptive of a composition in which the element of pure praise predominates, these twenty come naturally under the heading humnoi. We have thus 112 out of the 150 Psalms—more than two-thirds—each having a title corresponding to one or two of the terms employed by the apostle. This was after the manner of such references in these days. Let any one turn to the title page of the Hebrew Bible, and he will find no Hebrew word corresponding to our Bible or Old Testament, but Torah, Nebiim,
_____
* This sufficiently accounts for the fact, on which undue stress has been laid, that in the apostolic epistles quotations from the Old Testament are generally made in the very words of the Septuagint.
[Page 65]
Ukethubim, that is, The Law, The Prophets, and [the other] Scriptures. Just so our Lord declared, Luke xxiv. 44, “that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses, and in The Prophets, and in The Psalms, concerning me.” We have our Psalm Books printed separately, as a matter of convenience. The convenience of having the Psalter in a separate form would be much greater, at a period so long before the art of printing was invented, to the early Christians, who were so much in the habit of using them. And if they had such, we may be morally certain the title to the whole book would be, among those who spoke Greek, precisely the three terms employed here by the apostle—Psalmoi kai Humnoi kai Odai. The conclusion is strengthened by the fact, that he uses exactly the same three terms in writing to two distinct churches, showing that he was referring to what was perfectly well understood by those to whom he wrote, without the need of any explanation. The adjective, moreover, which follows all the three in the original, while it agrees in gender with the last of the three by grammatical attraction (psalmois kai humnois kai odais pneumatikais), was designed, we believe, to qualify all three. If not, it would naturally have preceded the last; and no reason can be given for applying it only to the last, not to the other two. Are we to suppose for a moment that the apostle required only the kind of compositions called odes to be spiritual, while he tacitly sanctioned the singing by Christians of profane compositions under the name of psalms and hymns? Now the adjective properly denotes what was composed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that the whole phrase means inspired psalms, hymns, and odes.*
3. The punctuation of the passage in the “Received” Greek text, as usually printed, followed in our Authorized Version, is, we believe, decidedly wrong. Let it be understood (we make the explanation for the sake of the mere English reader) that in the ancient manuscripts, whether written in the “uncial” character, that is, all capitals, or in the cursive character, there was no break, except what was necessitated by reaching the end of a line, not even to distinguish the ending of one word from the beginning of another. The separation of the words by small spaces and the introduction of stops, like the divisions into chapters and verses, are all the work of modern editors and printers. We have perfect liberty, therefore, to question the correctness of the punctuation in this instance or in any other where there seems reason. The
______
* The foregoing explanation did not escape the scholarship of the celebrated Dr. John Brown, of Haddington, who has given it in brief in the Preface to the Psalm Book with his practical reflections, a book now getting scarce. Most later expositors, even the most eminent, write as if no such view had ever been presented.
[Page 66]
“psalms, hymns, and odes” should be connected with what follows, not with what goes before. The phrase “in all wisdom,” in Colossians, is so read by the best expositors—“in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another”—and this being admitted, the same method of construction should be maintained throughout. Speaking (or teaching and admonishing) is not singing. They are distinct exercises. Besides, if the common pointing be adhered to, the secondary and subordinate design of psalmody, the didactic, has the precedence given to it over the primary one of offering praise to God. Yet the common reading makes a confused and incongruous mess of these things. Conybeare is the only writer we have met with who seems fully to comprehend this. He translates and points thus—“Be not drunk with wine, like those who live riotously; but be filled with the indwelling of the Spirit, when you speak one to another. Let your singing be of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and make melody with the music of your hearts to the Lord.” So in Colossians. There he renders the phrase which in our Version is “with grace” (en chariti) by “thankfully.” That too we believe to be correct, and it has its own significance for our purpose, as we shall see. The Greek charis, like the Latin gratia, is often employed to express the idea of thanksgiving, gratitude. See Rom. vi. 17: 1 Cor. xv. 57: &c.† It is admitted by good critics that this is the meaning in 1 Cor. x. 30—“For if I thankfully (chariti) be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that which I give thanks?” If the rendering “singing with grace” be insisted on, what grace is it? The grace of God it must be. But this is not subject to human volition, so as to be properly introduced in an exhortation in such a manner.
Alford objects to Conybeare’s punctuation, but his reasons appear to us to have no force whatever. They are two in Colossians. “1) the instrumental dative is much more naturally (!) taken after ‘teaching and admonishing one another,’ from the analogy of Eph. v. 19. 2) ‘singing’ here has already two qualifying clauses, one before and one after.” Now, every one who has studied composition to any extent knows, that a principal word in a sentence may have several dependent words or clauses, some preceding and some following. The analogy with Ephesians must go for nothing, since both passages must be interpreted alike, unless some stronger reason has been advanced there. Turning to Ephesians we find—“Conyb. places a full stop at heautois” (yourselves, or, one another, as it should be, and as the same word is rendered in Colossians):—“but surely both style and sense are thus marred.” That is all. After what we have stated before, we leave the reader to judge on which side the whole weight of sense
______
† Such is evidently intended even by the English word grace in the phrases, “to say grace,” “grace before meat,” “grace after meat.”
[Page 67]
lies, and it is useless to discuss the style of what is wanting in sense. Both style and sense are marred by the common punctuation.
Many Christians seem to have lost sight of the true design of psalmody as praise to God. They will sing what is not praise to God at all, under the name of it—anything that is smooth in versification and has any, even the faintest, flavour of religion about it—exhortations to living sinners, something addressed to a spirit departed, the praises of a deceased widow, or of a dead body.* We cease to wonder so very much at this, when we find such a man as Professor Wallace laying down the false principle that “song belongs to prophecy, and not to priesthood,” and then backing this up by what we must regard as a misreading of these passages in Paul’s epistles. We may add that, if Conybeare’s punctuation be received, this effectually disposes of the argument which some have brought from these passages on behalf of antiphonal singing.
4. We come now to the force of the word psallontes in Eph. v. 19. The Professor says, p. 24—“The word ‘singing’ appropriates to itself the song and the vocal music; and if the second word be denied its own proper signification” [which he assumes always to imply the use of an instrument], “there is nothing for it to express.” That is, it expresses nothing different from the previous word rendered ‘singing.’ Suppose, now, we could point out no difference, would that be unprecedented? How are we precisely to distinguish the “iniquity, and transgression, and sin” in Exod. xxxiv. 7; or the statutes, judgments, and commandments in 1 Ki. vi. 12? But we can. Singing and praising are not perfectly synonymous. All singing is not praising, nor is praise restricted to singing. Even in singing the inspired Psalms we are sometimes singing what is history, prophecy, confession of sin, or petition. In singing these we are still giving praise to God in a sense, that is, constructively. But other portions consist of praise pure and direct. Some say that the subsequent phrase “in your heart” defines the meaning, so that, even if the word in itself properly meant instrumentation, still this must be taken in a figurative sense. The parallel passage in Colossians shows that this cannot be sustained. The order of the words in the original there is “thankfully singing with (en) your heart.” It will hardly be contended by any, that the singing there was meant to be only figurative. Alford’s view here is curious. He connects, as we have seen, the Psalms with the speaking to one another. Yet he rejects the rendering “heartily.” In Colossians he says, “‘Singing’ in your hearts to God” (this clause has generally been understood as qualifying the former. But such a view is manifestly wrong).
_____
* Fact. See Wesleyan Hymn Book.
[Page 68]
So the ‘in your hearts’ describes the method of uttering this praise, viz., by the thoughts only.” According to this the apostle contemplated two exercises going on simultaneously—a speaking to one another, or teaching and admonishing, which being in psalms, &c., must have taken the form of singing, and along with this outward singing to one another there was another inward and distinct ‘singing and playing’ (so he renders the words in Ephesians), ‘by the thoughts only,’ to God. The exegesis is too subtle to be correct. Nothing is gained by it. It just comes in the end to the same as the common view, not expressing any idea appreciably different, and only making the confusion worse confounded; for the inward singing and playing must be identical with the heartiness of the outward in the common view.
Not thus do we fix the meaning of psallo, but by a careful comparison of the two passages. Prayer and praise are closely allied, but praise and thanksgiving are still more so—so closely, indeed, that the one may be taken as implying the other, though we can distinguish. We praise God for what He is in Himself: we thank Him for what He has done for us. The same word may express both, or the one rather than the other, according to the connection in which it stands. If used with a word denoting praise, then it expresses thanksgiving. If used with a word signifying thanksgiving, then it expresses praise. Just such a word is the Greek verb eucharisteo, employed by the apostle in the continuation of the two passages under consideration. In Eph. v. 20—“Giving thanks always for all things, &c.”—thanksgiving in the strict sense. The “for all things” shows that, and the distinctive idea of praise is expressed by the psallontes of the 19th verse. In Col. iii. 17, again, the same word in strictness denotes praise, for the idea of thanksgiving has been already expressed in the 15th verse, and also as we believe by the en chariti of the 16th verse. That the reader may see at a glance the exact agreement in meaning, under a somewhat varied form of verbal expression, of these two passages, we shall present them in parallel columns, translating and punctuating as we think they should be.
EPH.
And be not drunk with wine, in which is profligacy; but be filled with the Spirit [when] speaking to one another: in inspired psalms, and hymns, and odes singing and giving praise with your heart to the Lord: giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the God and Father.
COL.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly: in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another: in inspired psalms, and hymns, and odes thankfully singing with your heart to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do, in word, or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving praise to the God and Father through Him.
The parallelism is complete; and thus we establish the meaning of the word psallo in the New Testament.