views as these; or even suspect that aught, save the blood of Christ,
can atone for human guilt. It is strange, therefore, that they could
have imagined that he wished to suffer with this view. And it is no
less so, that it should be thought that prejudices against Paul could
have occasioned Jewish prejudices against Christianity, when it is so
evident that their prejudices against Paul were wholly occasioned by
his attachment to Christianity--he having been high in their esteem
till he became a Christian.

David once asked to suffer in Israel's stead; but the circumstances of
the case were then totally different from those of the case now before
us. Israel were suffering _for his sin_ in numbering the people; "I
have sinned and done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done?
Let thine hand, I pray thee be against me."--But Paul had not sinned,
to bring evil on his people--the guilt was all their own.

Expositors having mistaken Moses' prayer "to be bloated out of God's
book," seem generally to have had that prayer in their eye when they
have attempted to explain the text; and supposing that Moses prayed to
be made sacrifice for Israel, have thought that Paul had the same
spirit, and here followed his example! But that neither of them ever
entertained the thought of suffering to expiate the sin of their
people, and that the two passages bear no kind of relation to each
other, we conceive indubitably certain.

But let us consider the text and judge for ourselves the meaning.

Perhaps the difficulties which have perplexed it may have chiefly
arisen from the translation. The silence of expositors on this head,
while puzzled with the passage, is strange, if the difficulty might