Matth. i. 25. 1 Tim. iv. 13. Ps. cx. 1.DONEC, a Latin particle, which generally signifies until, as long as, and shews that such a thing ends within a certain time, and that it lasts but till such a time. But in Scripture Donec1 is not always construed in this manner : it often signifies simply what is doing, or shall be doing till such a time, without our being able to conclude from thence, that it shall not be doing any longer. For example, St. Matthew says, that Joseph knew not the blessed Virgin till she had brought forth her first-born. Et non cognoscebat eam, donec peperit filium suum primo-genitum. We cannot from hence conclude, that he knew her after the birth of our Saviour. In like manner St. Paul says to Timothy, Till I come, give attendance to reading. Will any one understand by this that he was to employ himself no more this way after the arrival of St. Paul ? And the Psalmist speaking in the person of the Father, says to the Messiah, Set thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Is this saying, that then Jesus Christ shall cease to reign, and to sit at the right hand of his Father ? See Gen. xxviii. 15. and 1 Sam. xv. 35. Isai. xlvi.6. Matth. xii. 20. and Psalm cxxii. 13.
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Footnotes
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Translators’ note. See more particularly concerning this particle, and the Greek and Hebrew of it. ἕως עד אשרin Huetius’s explanation of the celebrated Prophecy relating to the Messiah in Gen. xlix. 10. Demonstr. Evangel. Prop. IX. § vi. ↩