der at the outset the qualifications which belong to the
biblical interpreter. These include high moral and intellectual
qualities, as well as varied and extensive acquirements.

3. Foremost among the qualities that belong to the interpreter is a
_supreme regard for truth_. A general conviction and acknowledgment of
the duty of truthfulness will not be sufficient to guard him against all
the seductive influences that beset his path. Though he may be a sincere
Christian, he will still be in danger of being misled by the power of
preconceived opinions and party connections. He will need a constant and
vivid apprehension of the sacredness of all truth, more especially of
scriptural truth, which God has revealed for the sanctification and
salvation of men. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
These words of the Saviour he will do well to ponder night and day, till
they become a part of his spiritual life; and to remember always that,
if such be the divine origin and high office of scriptural truth, God
will not hold guiltless any who tamper with it in the interest of
preconceived human opinions, thus substituting the folly of man for the
wisdom of God.

4. The interpreter further needs a _sound judgment_, combined with the
power of _vivid conception_. These two qualities are named together,
because they mutually supplement each other. A large part of the Bible
is occupied with description. Here the interpreter needs the power of
conception, that he may bring before his mind a vivid picture of the
scenes described, with the relations of their several parts to each
other. Another large part of the Bible contains the language of poetry
and impassioned feeling. In the interpretation of this, the faculty of
conception is especially necessary, that we may place ourselves as fully
as possible in the circumstances of the writers, and form a true idea of
the emotions which filled their minds and gave form and complexion to
their utterances. Pure cold logic, with the addition of any amount of
human learning, will not enable us to comprehend and expound aright the
forty-second Psalm. By the power of imagination, we must go with the
poet, in his exile from the sanctuary at Jerusalem, across the Jordan to
the land of the Hermonites; must see his distressed and forsaken
condition; must hear the bitter taunts of his enemies; must witness the
inward tempest of his feelings--a continual conflict between nature and
faith--b