Several times I have been shown that critics, or those who had been very skilled in some Language, such as Hebrew, and even those who had composed lexicons, and translators of Moses and the prophets, understood much less than those who had not been critics. For the concentrated study of words brings with it a distraction of the mind from the context, and a dwelling on the words. And when they had gotten hold of a certain meaning of a given word, they seized upon it, disregarding the context, which they were nevertheless able to manipulate and force to conform. This they are accustomed to do in a thousand ways, once they have set the literal meaning. This has been proven to me by actual experience. 1748, 22 May.