_James._ To impute,[40] signifies in general, to _charge_, _reckon_, or _place to account_, according to the different objects to which it is applied. This word, like many others, has a _proper_, and an _improper_ or figurative meaning. First: It is applied to the _charging_, _reckoning_, or _placing to the account_ of persons and things, THAT WHICH PROPERLY BELONGS TO THEM. This I consider as its _proper_ meaning. In this sense the word is used in the following passages. “Eli _thought_ she, (Hannah,) had been drunken—Hanan and Mattaniah, the treasurers were _counted_ faithful—Let a man so _account_ of us as the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God—Let such an one _think_ this, that such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also indeed when we are present—I _reckon_ that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.”[41] Reckoning or accounting, in the above instances, is no other than judging of persons and things _according to what they are, or appear to be_. To impute sin in this sense is to charge guilt upon the guilty in a judicial way, or with a view to punishment. Thus Shimei besought David that his iniquity might _not be imputed to him_; thus the man is pronounced blessed to whom the Lord _imputeth not iniquity_: and thus Paul prayed that the sin of those who deserted him might _not be laid to their charge_.[42] In this sense the term is ordinarily used in common life. To impute treason or any other crime to a man, is the same thing as charging him with having committed it, and with a view to his being punished. Secondly: It is applied to the _charging_, _reckoning_, or _placing to the account_ of persons and things, THAT WHICH DOES NOT PROPERLY BELONG TO THEM, AS THOUGH IT DID. This I consider as its _improper_ or figurative meaning. In this sense the word is used in the following passages—“And this your heave-offering shall be _reckoned_ unto you _as though it were_ the corn of the threshing-floor and as the fulness of the wine-press—Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and _holdest_ me for thine enemy—If the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be _counted_ for circumcision—If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, _put that on mine account_.”[43]