deviation has arisen rather from an endeavour to express
the sense more [Pg 511] clearly and definitely. On such deviations,
_Calvin_ strikingly remarks: "Let the reader always attend to the
purpose for which the Evangelists quote Scripture passages, that they
may not scrupulously insist upon single words, but be satisfied
with this,--that the Scriptures are never distorted by them to a
different sense."--Micah introduces Bethlehem in the person of its
representative; but this figure Matthew has dropped at the beginning.
Instead of the Masculine [Hebrew: ceir] he puts the Feminine [Greek:
elachiste]; and, on the other hand, he renders [Hebrew: balpi] by
[Greek: en tois hegemosi], which, in a way not to be mistaken, suggests
this representation. _Fritzsche_ announces himself as the man who would
heal this _f[oe]dum sol[oe]cismum_ which had not hitherto been remarked
by any one. He proposes to read: [Greek: Kai su Bethleem tes Ioudaias
oudamos elachiste ei en tois hegemosin Iouda],--"and thou Bethlehem, by
no means the smallest part of the land of Judah, art," etc. But
altogether apart from the arbitrary change of [Greek: ge Iouda],--which
certainly no one could ever have been tempted to put for the more
simple [Greek: tes Ioudaias],--the personification could even then not
have been maintained, and the _f[oe]dus sol[oe]cismus_ would still
remain. Even although the [Greek elachiste] be understood in accordance
with the "_elegantissimus Graecorum usus_," Bethlehem must, after all,
be treated as a thing--as a town. Nor is the case much improved by the
assistance which _Fritzsche_ immediately afterwards endeavours to give
to the text: [Greek: kai su Bethleem, ge Iouda, oudamos elachiste ei en
tais hegemosin Iouda], "among the principal towns of the families in
Judea." Is there an instance in which [Greek: hai hegemones] means the
"principal towns?" Moreover, the relation of [Greek: hegemosin] to the
subsequent [Greek: hegoumenos], which requires the Masculine, has been
overlooked.--Micah personifies Bethlehem from the outset. Matthew
first introduces Bethlehem as a town, but afterwards passes to the
personification by speaking of the [Greek: hegemones]; instead of
the tribes. For this he had a special reason in the regard to the
subsequent [Greek: hegoumenos]. Bethlehem, although outwardly small,
is, notwithstanding, when regarded from a higher point of view, even in
the present by no means small among the _leaders_ of Judah,