SIN
Ps8
68'-
lO'ff-
178ff'
22I''-
etc.
The
Second
Book
(Pas
42-72)
commences
with
a
poem
which
is
the
language
of
a
soul
desperately
longing
for
full
communion
with
its
God,
and,
in
spite
of
an
oppressive
fear
heightened
by
the
mockery
of
sinners,
triumphing
in
the
hope
that
the
lovingkindness
of
Jehovah
will
yet
call
forth
praise
and
joy.
It
is
in
this
section
that
we
have
teaching
of
the
deepest
import
touching
the
consciousness
of
personal
and
racial
^uilt;
and
at
the
same
time
a
detestation
of
sin
accompanied
by
a
spiritual
longing
after
inward
righteousness
hard
to
be
paralleled
in
the
OT.
Here,
too,
hope
conquers:
forgiveness
and
restoration
are
looked
forward
to
with
sublime
confidence.
Perhaps
in
50^-^^
we
have
an
echo
of
the
Prophetic
denun-ciation
of
legalism
in
its
degenerate
days(cf
.
Is
1^^-^^,
Jer
J^'^-,
Am
5=1,
Mai
l")
.
The
Third
Book
opens
with
a
poem
(Ps
73
)
in
which
the
holiness
of
God
is
opposed
to
tne
folly
and
pride
of
sinners.
The
difficulty
attaching
to
the
problem
of
the
relation
between
sin
and
suffering,
so
dramatically
discussed
and
worked
up
in
the
Book
of
Job,
is
here
dwelt
.
on.
For
its
answer
we
are
referred
to
the
certain
fact
that
God
is
the
strength
and
refuge
of
all
those
who
are
pure
in
heart.
In
Ps
90,
which
opens
the
Fourth
section
of
the
volume,
the
author
puts
the
eternal
and
omniscient
God
over
against
man,
with
his
iniquities
and
secret
sins,
as
they
call
forth
His
terrible
but
just
wrath
(v.i').
The
beauty
of
hoUness
and
the
confident
trust
that
God
is
the
ultimate
refuge
of
all
who
come
to
Him
are
again
and
again
dwelt
on
in
the
Psalms
of
this
book
(cf.
lOS^i^).
In
the
Fifth
division,
beginning
with
Ps
107,
the
note
of
praise
is
struck,
and
is
kept
up
almost
without
intermission
to
the
end.
The
final
exaltation
of
Zion,
corresponding
to
the
lasting
overthrow
of
iniquity
(Ps
107^^)^
jg
proclaimed
with
a
certainty
which
can
express
itself
only
in
songs
of
loudest
praise.
With
an
insight
which
can
only
be
termed
inspiration
.
we
find
one
of
thepoets
co-ordinating
the
forgiveness
of
Jah
and
the
fear
of
Him
as
cause
and
effect
(ISO^^-,
cf.
"The
Psalms'
in
The
Cambridge
Bible^
by
Kirkpa
trick).
6.
Job,
Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes.
—
The
confidence
thus
expressed
is
all
the
more
remarkable
because
of
the
general
belief
in
the
universality
of
sin
and
of
its
effects
(cf.
Ps
IV'
51'),
a
belief
which
was
shared
by
the
authors
of
the
Book
of
Job
(14*
15>«-
4"),
Proverbs
(209),
and
Ecclesiastes
(7™,
cf
.
1
K
8").
In
the
Proverbs
we
have
what
might
be
described
aa
an
attempt
to
place
the
moral
life
on
an
intellectual
basis.
The
antithesis
of
wisdom
and
folly
is
that
which
marks
the
life
of
the
righteous
man
and
the
sinner.
Ethical
maxims,
the
compiled
results
of
human
experience,
follow
each
other
in
quick
succession,
but
the
book
is
devoid
of
the
bright,
warm
hopefulness
so
characteristic
of
the
Psalms.
The
sinner
is
left
to
his
fate,
and
the
wise
man
is
he
who,
ordering
his
own
life
aright,
leaves
the
fool
to
pursue
his
folly
and
deserve
his
fate.
The
author
of
the
Book
of
Job
sets
himself
to
solve
the
problem
of
the
connexion
between
sin
and
human
suffering,
and
though
he
fails,
as
he
was
bound
to
fail,
to
clear
up
the
difficulty,
he
makes
it
evident
that
the
one
cannot
always
be
measured
in
terms
of
the
other.
The
conviction
of
his
own
innocence
—
Job's
most
treasured
personal
possession
—
upholds
his
belief
against
the
prevalent
conception
that
sin
is
always
punished
here
and
now,
and
that
righteousness
is
always
rewarded
in
like
manner.
The
end
of
this
dramatic
treatise,
however,
emphasizes
the
popular
creed,
though
the
experience
of
Job
must
have
shaken
its
universal
validity.
The
conception
of
sin
is,
of
course,
entirely
ethical,
but
is
very
wide
in
its
scope.
In
defending
himself
against
'the
thinly
veiled
accusations
of
his
friends,
Job
reveals
his
ideas
of
the
range
and
depth
of
the
ravages
of
sin
in
human
life
and
conduct,
and
gives
evidence
of
remarkable
spiritual
penetration
(e.g.
ch.
31,
see
R.
A.
Watson's
commentary
on
this
book
in
The
Expositor's
Bible).
Mention
may,
perhaps,
be
usefully
made
here
of
Elihu's
contribution
to
the
discussion,
in
which
he
intervenes
by
a
lengthened
argument
to
prove
that
suffering
may
be
looked
on
not
merely
as
punishment
for
sin,
but
also
as
a
means
of
discipline,
and
as
designed
by
God
as
a
warning
against
sin
(cf.
chs
33
ff.).
II.
Apocryphal
Books.
—
Sirach
and
Wisdom
of
Solomon.
—
The
intellectualism
which
is
characteristic
SIN
of
Proverbs
and
Ecclesiastes
finds
a
prominent
place
in
Sirach
and
the
Wisdom
of
Solomon.
There
are
here
two
sharply
defined
classes
of
men
('two
and
two,
one
against
another,'
Sir
33"),
a
dualistic
conception
which
permeates
all
creation
(cf.
42").
The
sinner
is
to
be
dealt
with
unmercifully
('help
not
the
sinner,'
12'),
for
no
good
can
come
from
him
who
refuses
instruction.
It
is
possible,
however,
for
the
sinner
to
return
unto
the
Lord
and
forsake
his
sins
(172"-).
The
only
way
in
which
righteousness
may
be
pursued
Is
by
the
cultiva-tion
of
wisdom
and
instruction,
and
by
paying
heed
to
the
experiences
of
daily
life
(34»
39'-»
142'«).
Let
reason
be
the
guide
of
human
action
and
all
will
be
well
(37i«,
cf.
32'9).
It
is
possible
for
the
educated
man
to
acquire
such
a
command
over
his
inclinations
that
he
is
able
of
himself
to
make
the
great
choice
between
life
and
death
(16"),
but
for
the
fool
there
is
little
hope
(16').
Looking
back
on
the
centuries
of
human
history,
the
writer
discovers
that
sin
has
brought
in
its
train
all
the
great
physical
calamities
which
mark
its
progress
(39''<').
The
relation
is,
however,
external,
and
is
a
mark
of
Divme
vengeance
and
wrath
against
sinners
(cf.
40").
There
is
no
trace
of
the
profound
conception
of
spiritual
sympathy
between
the
different
orders
of
creation,
characteristic
of
the
teaching
of
St.
Paul
(cf.
Ro
S"-^^).
The
author
of
the
Book
of
Wisdom
displays
the
same
fundamental
thought
that
wisdom
and
sin
are
totally
incompatible
(Wis
l"-)-
Ignorance
and
folly
are
identified
with
sin
(2"'-
4"
5'
etc.).
and
not
merely
the
causes
of
sin.
The
only
way
to
attain
to
righteousness
is
by
the
careful,
unremitting
discipline
of
the
reason
(cf.
2'
17'
6"').
Running
like
a
thread
of
gold
through
the
whole
book,
however,
is
the
conception
of
the
immortality
of
righteousness
and
of
those
who
cultivate
wisdom
(I's
Z^
3«
6>8f.
8"-
"
etc.).
In
the
beautiful
personification
of
Wisdom
(6'2-8M)
we
find
the
writer
not
only
speaking
of
the
Spirit
of
God
as
being
its
Author
and
Diffuser,
but
practically
identifying
them
with
each
other
(cf.
9"
12',
cf.
2
Es
14«).
The
uni-versality
of
sin
does
not
enter
largely
into
his
teaching
(cf.,
however,
3'^
12"'
13'),
and
at
times
we
feel
as
if
he
believed
that
some
were
born
to
be
righteous
and
some
to
sin,
the
power
of
moral
choice
being
really
confined
to
the
former
(cf.
8'm'-
7'"-).
III.
The
New
Testament.
—
1.
Synoptlsts.
—
The
prac-tical
outcome
of
the
teaching
of
the
OT
is
seen
in
the
emphasis
laid
by
the
first
of
the
Synoptlsts
upon
the
function
which
it
was
the
destiny
of
Jesus
to
discharge
in
connexion
with
sin.
The
angelic
communication
to
Joseph
(Mt
12')
may,
without
illegitimate
criticism
of
origins,
be
considered
as
one
of
those
illuminating
flashes
of
Divine
revelation
which
obtain
their
inter-pretative
value
in
the
light
of
subsequent
history.
At
any
rate,
this
is
the
feature
of
Jesus'
work
upon
which
the
Apostles
laid
particular
stress,
in
their
earliest
as
in
their
latest
teaching.
It
is
true
that
the
preparatory
work
of
the
Baptist
aroused
in
the
breasts
of
the
multi-tudes
who
thronged
to
hear
him
an
active
consciousness
of
sin,
together
with
the
necessity
for
repentance
and
the
possibility
of
consequent
forgiveness
(Mk
1<).
The
preaching
of
John
was,
however,
necessarUy
lacking
in
one
element
which
makes
the
life
and
work
of
Jesus
what
it
pre-eminently
is
—
a
new
power
introduced
into
the
world,
giving
unto
men
the
gift
of
repentance
(Ac
5",
cf.
ll's),
and
enabling
them
'to
turn
away
every
one
from
their
iniquities'
(cf.
Ac
S^*).
It
is
significant
in
this
connexion
that
the
recorded
teaching
of
Jesus
bears
comparatively
few
traces
of
direct
abstract
in-struction
regarding
sin.
At
the
same
time,
we
must
not
forget
the
scathing
denunciation
hurled
by
Him
at
the
legalistic,
and
worse,
conceptions
of
sin
abounding
in
the
Rabbinical
schools
of
His
time
(cf
.
Mt
23<-",
Mk
7™-),
or
the
positive,
authoritative
declarations
by
which
He
drew
from
the
ancient
laws
of
Sinai
the
essential
ethical
ideas
therein
enshrined
(cf.
Mt
5"-",
where
the
teaching
may
be
described
as
an
intension
rather
than
