Having this case of the Israelites in view, we need not be surprised at the fascinating and blinding influence of Popery, whose idolatry and superstitions are exactly of the same character with those of the Israelites; no two cases can be more alike. Their identity is especially seen in this, — that there is an union of two worships — of God and of images; and this union was the idolatry condemned in the Israelites, and is the very idolatry that now exists in the Church of Rome: and as among the Israelites, so among the Papists, though God is not excluded, but owned, yet the chief worship is given to false gods and their images. That the two systems are the same, no one can doubt, except those who are under the influence of strong delusion; and this is what is often referred to and amply proved in this work.

It may be useful to subjoin here an account of the time in which THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS lived. The precise time cannot be ascertained: they flourished between the two dates which are here given. The names of the other four Prophets are also added.

BEFORE THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

Before Christ

I. Jonah,... 856-784. II. Amos,... 810-785. III. Hosea,... 810-725. 1 Isaiah,.... 810-698. IV. Joel,... 810-660. V. Micah,... 758-699. VI. Nahum,... 720-698. VII. Zephaniah,... 640-609.

IMMEDIATELY PREVIOUS TO AND DURING THE CAPTIVITY

VIII. Habakkuk,... 612-598. IX. Obadiah,... 588-583.

AFTER THE CAPTIVITY

X. Haggai,... 520-518. XI. Zechariah,... 520-518. XII. Malachi,... 436-420.

In the last Volume, the fourth, will be given the two Indices appended to the original work.

J.O. THRUSSINGTON, September 1, 1816.

POSTSCRIPT

After the preceding Preface had gone through the press, it has been discovered that The Twelve Minor Prophets cannot be comprised in four volumes of the size generally published in the present Series of The Works Of John Calvin.

The Translation, though it be as brief and concise as the idiom of the English language will well admit, takes up more space than the Editor at first anticipated. His first calculation was made from the Latin: he was not then fully aware of the great disparity in the two languages as to relative diffuseness of style. He has since found, by a minute comparison, that a work in Latin, comprised in five volumes, would require at least six of the same size and type in English: and in the present instance, what was calculated would be contained in four, must be extended to five volumes, on account of the respective Prefaces and Notes, &C. by the Editor, besides the Literal Translations Of each of the Books Of The Twelve Minor Prophets, which it has since been resolved shall be appended to each successive Commentary,

The arrangement of this Work, now made with some degree of certainty, is as follows:

The First Volume is to contain Hosea; The Second Volume, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah; The Third Volume, Jonah, Micah, and Nahum; The Fourth Volume, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Haggai; and The Fifth Volume, Zechariah and Malachi.

On this account, the Volumes cannot be all of equal size, some being considerably above, and some below, the average extent of the present Series of Calvin's Works, being 500 pages on the average. To avoid such inequality, it would have been needful to divide some of the Books — a thing by no means desirable in any case, and which has been studiously shunned in all the other Commentaries.

In addition to what was originally contemplated, there will be given at the end of each Book a continuous Literal Translation Of Calvin's Latin Version, as modified by his Commentary; and the Editor is requested to state that a similar plan is to be observed in all the other Prophetical Books of the Old Testament.

Editor. Thrussington, September 1846.

THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY

JOHN CALVIN

To The Most Serene And Most Mighty

KING GUSTAVUS, [1]

The King Of The Goths And Vandals.

What I once said, most excellent king, when the Annotations On Hosea, taken from my Lectures, were published, I now again repeat, — that I was not the author of that edition: for I am one who is not easily pleased with works I finish with more labor and care. Had it been in my power, I should have rather tried to prevent the wider circulation of that extemporaneous kind of teaching, intended for the particular benefit of my auditory, and with which benefit I was abundantly satisfied.

But since that specimen, (The Commentary On Hosea,) published with better success than I expected, has kindled a desire in many to see that one Prophet followed by the other eleven Minor Prophets, I thought it not unseasonable to dedicate to your Majesty a work of suitable extent, and replete with important instructions, not only that it may be a pledge of my high regards, but also that the dedication to so celebrated a name might procure for it some favor. It is not, however, ambition that has led me to do this, for I have long ago learned not to court the applause of the world, and have become hardened to the ingratitude of the many; but I wished that some fruit might come to men of your station from the recesses of our mountains; and it has also been my legitimate endeavor, that many to whom I am unknown, being influenced by the sacred sanction of their king, might be made more impartial, and come better prepared to read the work.

And this, I promise to myself, will be the case, as you enjoy so much veneration among all your subjects, provided you condescend to interpose your judgment, such as your singular wisdom may dictate; or, as age may possibly not bear the fatigue of reading, such as your Majesty's eldest son Heric, the heir to the throne, may suggest, whom you have taken care to be so instructed in the liberal sciences, that this office may be safely intrusted to him. And that I might have less doubt of your kindness, there are many heralds of your virtues, and even some judicious and wise men, who are entitled to be deemed competent witnesses. It is not, therefore, to be wondered, most noble king, that a present from so distant a region should be offered to your Majesty by a man as yet unknown to you, who, on account of the excellent and heroic endowments of mind and heart in which he has understood you to excel, thinks himself to be especially attached to you.

But though the excellency of the Book may not, perhaps, be such as will procure much favor to myself, you will not yet despise the desire by which I have been led to manifest the high regards I entertain towards your Majesty, nor will you yet find this present now offered to you wholly unworthy, however much it may be below the elevated station of so great a king. If God has endued me with any aptness for the interpretation of Scripture, I am fully persuaded that I have faithfully and carefully endeavored to exclude from it all barren refinements, however plausible and fitted to please the ear, and to preserve genuine simplicity, adapted solidly to edify the children of God, who, being not content with the shell, wish to penetrate to the kernel. What I have really done it is not for me to say, except that pious and learned men persuade me that I have not labored without success. But these Commentaries may not, perhaps, answer the wishes and expectations of all; and I myself could have wished that I had been able to give something more excellent and more perfect, or at least what would have come nearer to the Prophetic Spirit. But this, I trust, will be the issue, — that experience will prove to upright and impartial readers, and those endued with sound judgment, provided they read with well-disposed minds, and not fastidiously, what I have written for their benefit, that more light has been thrown on the Twelve Prophets than modesty will allow me to affirm.

With the industry of others I compare not my own, (which would be unbecoming,) nor do I ask any thing else, but that intelligent and discreet Readers, profiting by my labors, should study to be of more extensive advantage to the public good of the Church; but as it has not been my care, nor even my desire, to adorn this Book with various attractives, this admonition is not unseasonable; for it may invite the more slothful to read, until, by making a trial, they may be able to judge whether it may be useful for them to proceed farther in their course of reading. Indeed, the fruit which my other attempts in the interpretation of Scripture have produced, and the hope which I entertain of the usefulness of this, please me so much, that I desire to spend the remainder of my life in this kind of labor, as far as my continued and multiplied employment's will allow me. For what may be expected from a man at leisure cannot be expected from me, who, in addition to the ordinary office of a pastor, have other duties, which hardly allow me the least relaxation: I shall not, however, deem my spare time in any other way better employed.

I now return again to you, most valiant king. He who knows your prudence and equity in managing public affairs, your moral habits, your whole character and virtues, will not wonder that I have resolved to dedicate to you this work. But as it is not my design to write a long eulogy on what is praiseworthy in you, I shall only briefly touch on what is well known, both by report and public writings: — God tried you in a wonderful manner before he raised you to the throne, for the purpose not only of exhibiting in you a singular proof of his providence, but also of setting forth to our age as well as to posterity, an illustrious example of a steady perseverance in a right course. You have, doubtless, been thus proved by both fortunes, that there might not be wanting a due trial of your temperance and moderation in prosperity, and of your patience in adversity, until it was given you from above to emerge at length, no less happily than in a praiseworthy manner, from so many dangers, perils, difficulties, and hindrances, that having set the kingdom in order, you might publicly and privately enjoy a cheerful tranquillity. And now, by the unanimous consent of all orders, you bear a burden more splendid and honorable to you than grievous, for all venerate your authority, and show their esteem by love as well as by commendations.

In addition to these benefits of God comes this, the chief, which must not be omitted, — that your eldest son, Heric, a successor chosen by you from your own blood, is not only of a generous disposition, but also adorned with mature virtues; and hardly any one more fit, had you no children, could the people have chosen for themselves. And this, among other things, is his rare commendation, that he has made so much progress in the liberal sciences, that he occupies a high station among the learned, and that he is not tired with diligent application to them, as far as he is allowed by those many cares and distractions in which the royal dignity is involved. At the same time, the principal thing with me is this, that he hath consecrated in his palace a sanctuary, not only to the heathen muses, but also to celestial philosophy. The more confidence therefore I have, that some place will be there found, and some favor shown to these Commentaries, which he will find to have been written according to the rule of true religion, and will perceive calculated to be of some small help to himself.

May God, O most serene king! keep your Majesty long in prosperity, and continue to enrich you with all kinds of blessings. May He guide you by his Spirit, until, having finished your course, and migrating from earth to the celestial kingdom, you may leave alive behind you the most serene king Heric, your successor, and his most illustrious brothers, John Magnus and Charles: and may the same grace of God, after your death, appear eminent in them, as well as fraternal and unanimous concord.

Gustavus was the King of Sweden, the inhabitants of which were then called Goths and Vandals. He was the first king of that name in Sweden, and had the surname of Vasa. He was born in 1490, and was a descendant of the royal family of Sweden. He delivered the kingdom from the attempted usurpation of Christian II of Denmark, and was made king in 1523, abolished Popery, and introduced Lutheranism in 1530, and died, at the age of seventy, in 1560, the year following the date of this Epistle. — Ed.

JOHN CALVIN

TO THE CHRISTIAN READER, HEALTH

Since I can truly and justly say and prove by competent witnesses, that the writings, which I have hitherto sent forth to the public, and which might have been finished with more care and attention, have been almost extorted from me by importunity, it is evident that these Annotations, which I thought might bear a hearing, but were unworthy of being read, would have never through me been brought forth to the light. For if, by many watchings, I can hardly succeed in rendering even a small benefit to the Church by my meditations, how foolish were it in me to claim a place for my sermons among the works which are published? Besides, if, with regard to those compositions which I write or dictate privately at home, when there is more leisure for meditation, and when a finished brevity is attained by care and diligence, my industry is yet made a crime by the malignant and the envious, how can I escape the charge of presumption, if I now force upon the whole world the reading of those thoughts which I freely poured forth for the present edification of my hearers? But since to suppress them was not in my power, and their publication could not be otherwise prevented by me than by undertaking the labor (which my circumstances allowed not) of writing the whole anew, and many friends, thinking me to be too scrupulous a judge of my own labors, cried out, that I was doing an injury to the Church, I chose to allow this volume, as it is, taken from my lips, to go forth to the public, rather than by prohibition to impose on myself the necessity of writing; which I was forced to do as to The Psalms, before I found out, by that long and difficult work, how unequal I am to so much writing. [2]

Let, then, these explanations on Hosea go forth, which it is not in my power to keep from the public. But how they have been taken down, it is needful to declare, not only that the diligence, industry, and skill of those who have performed this labor for the Church, may not be deprived of their commendation, but also that readers may be fully persuaded, that there are here no additions, and that the writers did not allow themselves to change a single word for a better one. How they assisted one another, one of their number, my best friend, and through his virtues, dear to all good men, Mr. John Budaeus, will, as I expect, more fully explain.

But it would have been incredible to me, had I not clearly seen, when the day after they read the whole to me, that what they had written differed nothing from my discourse. It would have perhaps been better had more liberty been taken to cut off redundancies, to bring the arrangement into better order, and to use, in some instances, more distinct or graceful language: but I do not interpose my judgment; this only I wish to witness with my own hand, That they have taken down what they have heard from my lips with so much fidelity, that I perceive no change. Farewell, Christian reader, whoever thou be, who desirest with me to make progress in celestial truth.

He was at this time engaged in writing his Comments on The Psalms; and they were published the following July. — Ed.

JOHN BUDAEUS

TO CHRISTIAN READERS, HEALTH.

When some years ago the most learned John Calvin, at the request and entreaty of his friends, undertook to explain in the School The Psalms Of David, some of us, his hearers, took notes from the beginning of a few things in our own way, for our own private meditation, according to our own judgment and discretion. But being at length admonished by our own experience, we began to think how great a loss would it be to many, and almost to the whole Church, that the benefit of such Lectures should be confined to a few hearers. Having therefore gathered courage, we fully thought that it was our duty to unite a care and concern for the public with our own private benefit, and this seemed possible, if, instead of following our usual practice, we tried, as far as we could, to take down the Lectures word for word. Without delay I joined myself as the third to two zealous brethren in this undertaking; and it so happened, through God's kindness, that a happy issue was not wholly wanting to our attempt: for when the labors of each of us were compared together, and the Lectures were immediately written out, we found that so few things had escaped us, that the gaps could easily be made up. And that this was the case as to the work in which was made the first trial of our capacities, Calvin himself is a witness to us; and that this has been far more fully the case with respect to the Lectures on Hosea, (as by long use and exercise we became more skillful) even all the hearers will readily acknowledge.

But the design on this occasion was to induce him, if possible, to publish complete Commentaries on this Author; but it then happened to us otherwise than we expected: for all hope of obtaining this object he cut off from us from reverence to Bucer, who, in this case, as well as in all other things, had performed most faithful and most useful services, as the whole Church acknowledges, and as Calvin in particular has at all times most honorably declared to us and to all. It therefore remained that the Lectures, as taken down by us, should be published. And as all the most pious promised to themselves great benefit from our labor, we daily increased our exertions, that such a hope might not pass away into smoke. Being therefore stirred on by these desires, as well, doubtless, as by the prospect of benefiting the godly, we exerted ourselves so much, that all readily allowed that we exercised nothing short of the greatest diligence. The more wonderful it may seem, that he was afterwards induced to change his mind, so as to frustrate our hope and that of many of the godly; and that, on the other hand, he was constrained, however anxious to perform a most useful service to the Church, to incur the great envy and implacable hatred of many. But those who plead only the authority of Bucer in this affair are moved, I willingly acknowledge, by a reason not altogether unjust; yet they will seem to me too stiff and unbending, if they will not suffer themselves to be influenced by sufficient excuses, which I hope will be the case before long. But as to those who are carried away by the insane love of evil-speaking, and avail themselves of the least opportunity of strife, as they ought to be disregarded and detested as monsters by all the godly, so it is not needful to labor much to satisfy them, for the barking of dogs, provided it hurt not the Church, may without great danger be passed by and despised.

We have, indeed, prefaced these things for the sake of those who have very often solicited us respecting the Lectures On The Psalms, that they may not think themselves to have been deceived by us with a vain expectation; for, let them know, that they shall sometimes have, through God's favor, correct and complete Commentaries on The Book of Psalms. But if this long desire does much distress them, let them remember that we also no less anxiously look for that great treasure. But it is right that we both should pardon a man who has constant and most burdensome occupations, and somewhat moderate our too prurient and premature wishes: and to indulge him seems right even on this one account, that he, the least of all, indulges himself, never taking any rest or relaxation of mind from his vast labors, so that it is a matter of doubt to none but that he drags a little body, not only through the divine kindness, but by a singular miracle, which cannot be told to posterity, — a body, by nature weak, violently attacked by frequent diseases, and then exhausted by immense labors; and, lastly, pierced by the unceasing stings of the ungodly, and on all sides distressed and tormented by all kinds of reproaches.

But as this is not the place for making complaints, I now come to you, Christian Readers, to whom it is our purpose to dedicate this work, The Lectures On The Prophet Hosea; and we dedicate it, not that we claim any thing as our own, except the diligence we employed in collecting it: but we hesitate not to make it, as it were, our own, for it would have never come to you except through our assistance. For though we judged the work altogether excellent, which is now offered to the Church, yet we could hardly at last convince the author of this; and he suffered himself to be overcome by our importunate entreaties only on this condition, that we were to be accountable for whatever judgment good men might form of the work: so unfit a judge he is of his own productions. But we, though he may modestly extenuate them more than what is right, yet dare to promise to ourselves, that not only the author's labor will be duly appreciated by you, but that we shall also secure to ourselves no common favor.

These Lectures, we trust, will not be less acceptable to you, because the author, regarding the benefit of the school, (as it was right,) in some degree departed from the usual elegance of all his other works, and from embellishment of style. For, being oppressed with a vast quantity of business, he was constrained to leave home, after having had hardly, for the most part, half an hour to meditate on these Lectures: he preferred to advance the edification and benefit of his hearers by eliciting the true sense and making it plain, rather than by vain pomp of words to delight their ears, or to regard ostentation and his own glory. I would not, at the same time, deny, but that these Lectures were delivered more in the scholastic than in the oratorical style. If, however, this simple, though not rude, mode of speaking should offend any one, let him have recourse to the works of others, or of this author himself, especially those in which, being freed from the laws of the school, he appears no less the orator than the illustrious theologian: and this we declare without hesitation, and with no less modesty than with the full consent and approbation of the best and the most learned.

We do not indeed thus speak as if we would, by a censorious superciliousness, claim for him alone the glory of an orator, or would not, by calling him a theologian, acknowledge many others as celebrated men. Far from us be such a folly. But an occasion such as this being offered of testifying our mind, we could hardly, even in any other way, excuse our neglect to the godly, to whom it is well known, that our silence concerning Calvin has not hitherto well pleased turbulent men; who are more willing to have their vanity expressly reprobated by us, than to suffer us by a tacit consent and modest silence either to approve of his doctrine, and to acknowledge in him an evidence, the most clear, of God's kindness towards us, or to cover by a fraternal dissimulation their madness; and thus each of us would have to mourn by himself in silence.

But, as I have said, the language here is unadorned and simple, very like that which we know was ever wont to be used formerly in Lectures: not such as many of whom we have heard employ, who repeat to their hearers from a written paper what had been previously prepared at home; but such as could be formed and framed at the time, more adapted to teach and edify than to please the ear. Except, then, we are greatly mistaken, he so expresses almost to the life the mind of the Prophet, that no addition seems possible. For, after having carefully examined every sentence, he then briefly shows the use and application of the doctrine, so that no one, however ignorant, can mistake the meaning: in short, he so unfolds and opens the subjects and fountains of true theology, that it is easy for any one to draw from them what is needful to restore and refresh the soul; yea, the ministers of the word may hence advantageously derive ample streams, with which, as by a celestial dew, they may abundantly refresh the people of God, whether by exhortation, or consolation, or reproof, or edification. And of these things we clearly see some instances and examples in all his discourses, especially in those in which he so accommodates the doctrine of the Prophets to our own times, that it seems to suit their age no better than ours.

But that we may at length make an end, it remains, Christian Readers, that we receive and embrace with suitable gratitude all the other innumerable gifts of God which he daily pours on us in great abundance, as well as this incomparable treasure of his goodness, and employ them for the purpose of leading a holy and godly life to the glory of his name, and to the edification of our brethren: and that this may be done, we must pray for the Spirit of God, that we may come to the reading of Scripture instructed by him, and bring a mind purified from the defilement's of the flesh, and a meek spirit capable of receiving celestial truth. And for this end much help may be given us by the short prayers which we have taken care to add at the close of every Lecture, as gathered by us with the same care and fidelity as the Lectures were: the minds of the pious may by these be refreshed, and may collect new vigor for the next Lecture; and the ignorant may also have in these a pattern, as it were, painted before them, by which they may form their prayers from the words of Scripture. For as at the beginning of the Lectures he ever used the same form of prayer, which we intend also to add, that his manner of teaching may be fully known to you; so he was wont ever to finish every Lecture by a new prayer formed at the time, as given him by the Spirit of God, and accommodated to the subject of the Lecture.