Gnomon of New Testament

THIS IS THE UPDATED VERSION WITH THE TEXT ALL FIXED UP, SPELL CHECK, FOOTNOTES PROPERLY DISPLAYED AND A FEW DIAGRAM IMAGES.

This is Volume 1 of 2 (Matthew-Acts) This textual document is not an image file, but work still needs to be done, as an updated version is coming soon. Matthew is being published and more of the New Testament is being worked on.

John Bengel's Gnomon is a classic Greek New Testament Commentary, the fruit of twenty years labor. Bengel condenses more matter into a line than other writers say in pages. It is said that Bengel could convey in two sentences where other authors needed two pages to say.

Bengel modestly entitled his work a Gnomon or index, a symbol of his desire for the reader to ascertain the meaning, than to save him from the trouble of personal investigation.

Bengel's principles of interpretation were to import nothing into Scripture, but to draw out of it everything that it really contained, conforming to grammatico-historical rulesnot to be hampered by dogmatical considerations; and not to be influenced by the symbolical books. Bengel's hope that the Gnomon would help to rekindle a fresh interest in the study of the New Testament was fully realized.

C. H. Spurgeon wrote that Bengel's NT commentary "is the Scholar's delight! Bengel condensed more matter into a line than can be extracted from pages of other writers."

John Wesley said of Bengel, "I know of no commentator on the Bible equal to Bengel" and referred to him as, "The great light of the Christian world."

Philip Schaff, who edited and wrote portions of the American edition of Lange's Commentary, said Gnomon is "a marvel of condensation and spiritual insight and will remain a classic."

Bengel's work on the New Testament is a valuable resource for modern students of the Scriptures. In 1734, he published a carefully prepared Greek text of the New Testament with an "Apparatus criticus," which formed the point of departure for modern New Testament textual criticism. His famous canon was: "The more difficult reading is to be preferred." This critical work was followed by an exegetical one, Gnomon Novi Testamenti (Tubingen, 1742). As a brief and suggestive commentary on the New Testament, the Gnomon is still of considerable use today. Bengel's chief principle of interpretation, briefly stated, is to read nothing into the Scriptures, but to draw everything from them, and suffer nothing to remain hidden that is really in them. His Gnomon exerted considerable influence on exegesis in Germany, and John Wesley translated most of its notes and incorporated them into his Annotatory Notes upon the New Testament (London, 1755).

In an age (late 1600's, early 1700's) noted for extremely wordy and dull commentaries Bengel's work was concise, meaty. Noting words or phrases in the Biblical text that he considers needing an explanation, Bengel with a phrase or brief sentence points at the essential thought rather than burying it in a paragraph or page of verbiage. The Latin term "gnomon" (Ed: the name given to his NT commentary) refers to the hand or pointer of a sun dial. With his brief comments, Bengel sought to point the reader to the thought and intent of the text and to send him back to and keep him primarily in the Biblical text rather than leading him away from it. Of all the theological literature produced by the Pietists, Bengel's Gnomon merits consideration as the best."

James Rosscup writes "This work (Gnomon), originally issued in 1742, has considerable comment on the Greek, flavoring the effort with judicious details about the spiritual life. It has much that helps...." (Commentaries for Biblical Expositors: An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Works or Logos)

Charles Haddon Spurgeon -- "'A Critical New Testament, so compiled as to enable a reader, unacquainted with Greek, to ascertain the exact English force and meaning of the language of the Ne

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