PRINCIPIUM, Beginning. This is the most general Acceptation of this Word: In Gen. i. 1.principio creavit Deus coelum & terram; At the Beginning of Time, God created the Heaven and the Earth. In principio, sometimes also signifies, from Eternity. In principio John i. 1.erat Verbum; The Word was from the Beginning. And Wisdom says of herself, Ab initio & ante saecula creata sum: And elsewhere, Eccles. 24. 14. Prov. viii. 22, 23.The Lord possess’d me in the Beginning of his Way, before his Works of Old: I was set up from Everlasting, from the Beginning, or ever the Earth was.
Principium also denotes the Eastern Coast; as in this Passage; God created the Gen. ii. 8.Garden of Eden at the Beginning, in Principio. The Hebrew says, Eastward.
Psal. cix. 3.Principium filiorum; The Eldest of the Children. Principium gentium Amalec; Amalek is the first, the most ancient, the most formidable of the Nations. Principium filiorum Ammon; The Chief, the Choice, the Principal of the Children of Ammon. Principium viarum Domini. The Behemoth, or Elephant, is the noblest of Animals that God hath made; ‘tis by that, as we may say, he began to display his infinite Power; it is the Master-piece of his Ways. He only speaks of Terrestrial Animals. Tecum principium in die virtutis tuae. In this Passage, Principium may be taken two ways; either for Eternity, from which the Word was begot by the Father; or for the Power, the Command, the Authority of the Son, which must especially shine forth, in the Day of his Power, or at the Day of Judgment: The Greek Fathers readily understand it in this Sense. The Hebrew Text is differently translated. The Jews read; Thy People is devoted to Thee in the Day of thy Might; They freely expose themselves to the greatest Dangers, to follow Thee in the Day of Battle. The Septuagint have read otherwise; Liberality, Principality is with Thee. The Hebrew Word Nadab, which signifies, to be liberal, to offer voluntarily and freely, is also put sometimes for a Prince: For Liberality is a Quality that Ps. cxviii. 160.chiefly belongs to Princes. Principium Verborum tuorum veritas; The Word of God is essentially founded upon Truth. Truth, Fidelity, and Certainty, are the Characteristicks of his Words and Promises. The Hebrew has literally; The Head of thy Word is Truth.
Isai. 41. 26.A Principio, expresses a Time at a great Distance. God challenges Idols and Idol-worshippers to discover those Things which have passed à principio, in ancient Time, from the Beginning of the World. Isai. lii. 4.He says, That his People went down into Egypt, à principio, a very long Time ago. The Jews complain to the Lord, That they are forsaken of him, and delivered up Isai. lxiii. 19.to the Nations, as at the Beginning, before he had declared himself their God, and they were admitted as his People. Elsewhere, Jer. vii. 12.God says, That his Name has remain’d to his Son in the Beginning; that is, for a long Time. And Jeremiah; Renew Lam. v. 21.your Days, as in the Beginning, as Heretofore; Shew thy Mercy towards us, as in ancient Times.
Principium peccati est filiæ Sion, quia in te inventa sunt scelera Israel; The Beginning Mich. i. 13.of the Crimes and the Misfortunes of Sion, and of Judah, was, when they follow’d the Transgressions of the Kingdom of Israel. This is the Source of of all their Calamities.
Johan. viii. 25.Principium qui & loquor vobis; I am the Beginning, I that speak to you. ‘Twas thus that Jesus Christ answer’d the Jews, when they asked him, Who art thou? I am the Beginning; This is the Name that agrees to me best of all; ‘Tis by Me that all Things were first created, and still subsist. This is the Name that St. Paul gives Col. i. 18.him; Qui est principium primogenitus ex mortuis. And St. John, in his Revelations; Ego sum Alpha & Omega, principium & finis. The Words before mention’d, Principium qui & loquor vobis, by others are otherwise explain’d. Before I tell you who I am, hear first what I have to say to you. The Greek Text favours this Explication; it does not read it in the Nominative, but in the Accusative: Principium quod & dico vobis; Before all things, hear what I have to say to you. Otherwise; I am what I have told you from the Beginning, and frequently ever since.