Commentary on the Epistles to the Seven Churches

Richard Chenevix Trench ( 1807 – 1886) was an Anglican archbishop and poet. In 1851 he established his fame as a philologist by The Study of Words, originally delivered as lectures to the pupils of the Diocesan Training School, Winchester.

There are, perhaps, few men who have acquired a higher reputation for scholarly attainments than Dean Trench, particularly in the department of the English language. He appears to have studied our mother tongue with a peculiar relish, and in all his writings, in so far as they have come under our observation, he exhibits a refinement of taste, in this respect, which constitutes a striking characteristic. On this account, if from no other consideration, we think it would be well for those who are providing themselves with a library, to select the works of this author among the first.

This, however, is not the only commendable qualification of Trench. The reader will be sure to find on every page indications of good sound sense. He will find matter worthy of reflection.

Beside the ripe learning, the doctrinal sobriety, and the devout spirit of this writer, one can greatly admire his good, masculine commonsense. An intimate acquaintance with modern hermeneutical science, as cultivated in the German schools, has not spoiled him as a biblical guide. His fondness for word-criticism finds a rich opportunity to indulge itself, in the peculiar phraseology of these chapters of the Apocalypse. His remarks upon Greek and Hebrew symbolism and his application of them to the interpretation of the "white stone" and the "new name," as referring to the Urim and Thummin of the high priest are worthy of consideration.

His Commentary on the Epistles to the Seven Churches has been elaborated by him, on the ground-work of three lectures delivered to the theological students at King's College.

This book was originally published in 1863 and has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting.