were communicated to him by God nor though such a thing is possible yet since Moses is silent in the matter dares any one pretend to affirm it as an undoubted Truth but only the Rabbins who were never asham'd of Lying and whose Assertions consequently are not much to be regarded Now it scarce seems probable that so many Names and the Particulars of so many Years could be handed down by Tradition 'T is much more probable that the ancient Patriarchs left them in Writing and so transmitted them to their Posterity which Monuments coming into the hands of Moses he diligently copied and connected them with the History of his own Age for what Design and Purpose we shall afterwards enquire Now what sort of Writings they were and how numerous only those Persons can inform us who lived in those Times if they were restor'd to Life again We conjecture that some of them were written carminibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Verses of the same Termination wherein we shall at some better convenience shew the Poetry of the Hebrews to consist (a) Lamech's Speech Gen. 4.23 M. le Clerk has observ'd to consist of words of the same Termination in the Hebrew and 't is his Opinion that Moses borrow'd abundance of Passages from ancient Verses in which Antiquity used to preserve the Memory of all remarkable Transactions before the discovery of Letters The same remark he makes upon Chap. 7.11 adding That there is something of a Poetical Spirit in the latter But I look upon this Criticism to be ill grounded for why might not such a Passage fall from Moses unawares as well as this Hexameter Verse from Tully in one of his Orations In quâ me non inficior mediocriter esse Besides who would conclude that Tacitus compil'd his History out of Poetical Monuments because he begins with Vrbem Roman à principio Reges habuere See our Notes upon Chap. 4.23 24. and Chap. 7.11 'T is certain that almost all Nations in the World preserved the Fragments of their ancientest Histories in Verse as several Learned Men have proved And it appears that even among the Hebrews in Moses's time the Memory of great Actions was celebrated in Verse which the People learn'd by Heart as the Songs of Moses himself that are extant both in Exodus 15. and Deuteronomy 32. demonstrate Nay God himself commanded the latter to be learn'd by the Children of Israel as we find in Deut. 31.29 Nor ought any one to wonder that we carry the beginnings of Poetry so high since Musick by the Invention of some Instruments flourish'd even before the Deluge as Moses expresly tells us Gen. 4.21 Nay 't is probable that Men employ'd themselves in Vocal Musick before they thought of the Instrumental But though some few memorable Transactions might be preserv'd in Verse which the long-liv'd Patriarchs perhaps might have by heart yet a Chronology including the Calculation of so many years seems too unruly an Argument to have been included in them And Moses makes mention of the Book of the Battels of the Lord of which we shall treat when we come to Numbers 21.14 The second sort of things which we read in the Pentateuch 't is evident were written by Moses himself First God commanded him to write the Law and Moses is accordingly said to have written it In Exodus 34.27 God after he had repeated the chief Precepts of the Law thus speaks to Moses Write thou these words for after the Tenour of these words I have made a Covenant with thee and with Israel But in Exodus 24.4 after several Laws were made Moses is said to have written all the Words of the Lord and frequent mention is made of the Book of the Covenant or Law as in the seventh Verse of the same Chapter In Deuteronomy 28.58 If thou wilt not observe says Moses to do all the words of this Law that are written in this Book which perhaps he then held in his hands see likewise v. 61. and Chap. 29.20 27. where the Curses are said to be writ in it This does Moses deliver to the Levites Chap. 31.9 and commands it v. 26. to be put in the side of the Ark that it may be a Witness against Israel Mention is made of the same Book as if it comprehended all the Divine Laws after the Death of Moses Joshua 1.8 where Joshua is commanded by God not to suffer that Book to depart out of his Mouth that is perpetually to read it and administer Justice to the People out of the Laws deliver'd in it See likewise Chap. 8.31 'T is true indeed that the Jews by the word Thorah Law are used to understand the whole Pentateuch nevertheless 't is certain that it is of a doubtful Signification and may signifie more or fewer Laws So Joshua 8.32 it is said that Joshua wrote a Copy of the Law of Moses upon twelve Stones of an Altar as he was commanded by the Book of the Law See Deut. 27.2 3. in all which places Thorah signifies only a small part of the Law as Learned Men have observed because it was not possible for the whole five Books of Moses to be writ upon twelve Stones joyn'd together to make a four-square Altar But 't is evident from the places above-mentioned that at least all the Precepts of the Law were written by Moses and indeed so many troublesom Laws could not be remembred unless their Memories were refresh'd by a written Book especially when they began to be observed Some Persons are of Opinion that only the Book of Deuteronomy is to be understood in Joshua and the above-cited places of Deuteronomy and that afterwards that Book alone was found in the time of Josiah King of Judah But although Deuteronomy is the Repetition of the Law yet many things are there briefly handled neither are they so clearly described that the Israelites who were none of the acutest People in the World and always inclin'd to Idolatry could have an accurate Knowledge of the whole Law only out of that Book and therefore if Moses design'd to have it all observ'd as no body questions but he did he ought to have given the Israelites a larger Exposition of it and this he actually perform'd for we have shown from two places of Exodus that the Laws which we see there were written by him and not Deuteronomy alone The Book in which he writ them is called The Book of the Covenant Exod. 24.7 which after he had solemnly read before the People without question he did not throw it away since it was as it were a publick Instrument wherein were preserved the Laws of the Covenant made with God Besides Moses writ some other Treatises not extant in Deuteronomy of which we shall discourse hereafter and which without doubt he bequeath'd to Posterity since they have arrived safe to our hands Therefore the above-mentioned Conjecture that only Deuteronomy was left us by Moses is altogether groundless and contrary to the Sacred
any farther I am to inform the Reader that it is consider'd by us not such as perhaps it was in its flourishing Condition but as we find it in the Holy Writings I freely acknowledge that there were much more words and a greater Variety of Phrases used than we find in this small Volume but as far as we can judge of it by its remainders we have just reason to believe it to be a barren ambiguous unrefined Language which now we shall endeavour to prove The Excellency of every Language consists principally in three things viz. Plenty of Words and Phrases Perspicuity of Speech and Purity the Rules for which are copiously laid down by those that have treated of Rhetorick Now 't is certain that several Languages but especially the Greek are much superior to Hebrew in all these Considerations and 't is a plain Case that Hebrew can with no Pretence be said to be the finest Language in the World In the first place Those that attentively read over the Holy Writings or consult the Hebrew Lexicons will be soon convinced that it has but very few Words and very few Phrases There are not only the same words but what argues a miserable Poverty we meet with the very same Expressions every where but especially in the Historical Books The same Thread of Narration the same Particularities of Style and Expression are visible all along Nor is this only observable of the Writers of one Age for all the Historians of all Times and Ages have writ exactly after the same manner I would demonstrate this Assertion more at large were not most Men convinced of the Evidence and Truth of it Therefore I will dwell no longer upon so plain a Chapter I will only add That the very Rabbins who generally omitting the true Praises of their Country still affect to Honour it with their Romances and Legends are uncontrolable Witnesses of the Poverty of their own Language since for the Interpretation of the Law they are obliged to coin innumerable Words for the present Occasion or else to setch them out of the Syro-Chaldaick and other Languages And in these the Talmudical Books abound and without them they could never be able to deliver or express their own meaning Every one knows that there are at least ten times more words in Buxtorf's Rabbinital Thesaurus than in his Bible-Lexicon Nevertheless with all their Foreign Assistance this Copia Rabbinica falls infinitely short of the Graecian and Latin Treasures If we enquire into the Cause of the great Sterility of the Hebrew Language we shall find it to be the same as has been observed of other Languages Where Arts and Sciences lie under Contempt and sew Treatises are written there must of necessity be a great want of words to express several things for Men never impose Names on things or the Notions of the Mind of which they never think dispute or write For example Before the Greeks diligently cultivated Philosophy there were a thousand things of which Men never thought and for expressing of which they had wanted fit words if they had not coin'd new ones The same thing befel the Romans when they first began to treat of Philosophical Subjects in Latin I call those things Qualities says Cicero l. 1. c. 7. Acad. quaest which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which very Term among the Greeks is not used by the Vulgar but only by Philosophers and several Instances there are of the like nature The Logicians too have their particular by-words which the People do not understand and this Method is common to all Arts For either new words are to be coin'd or else they are to be borrow'd from elsewhere and if the Greeks follow this Conduct who have for so many Ages exercised themselves in these Affairs How much more Lawful is it for us to do it who but now begin to treat of them By this Instance which may be back'd with several Arts unknown to the Hebrews 't is easie to perceive how great a Penury of words they must unavoidably labour under As they were in a particular manner ignorant in Grammar Rhetorick and the whole Circle of Philosophy as appears by their Writings they must consequently be destitute of all those great Assistances that those Arts use to furnish Poetry indeed as far as the Genius of their Language would permit was cultivated somewhat better by them several things are majestically and beautifully said in their Songs but yet so as to convince every impartial Reader rather what they might have done if they had used the same Application with other Nations than what Perfection of Eloquence they had already acquired Secondly Want of words begot Ambiguity for when we are destitute of proper Terms to explain our meanings by we must wrest them into another Sence or else express particular things in words common to several more For Metaphors as Cicero well observes l. 3. de Orat. c. 38. are like borrowing where what a Man has not of his own he supplies himself with elsewhere Now if one and the same word signifies several â—hings one in its proper Acceptation the rest 〈◊〉 a borrow'd or tralatitious Sence 't is no easie â—atter to distinguish its several Significations â—nd when Particulars are called by common Names it often happens that we do not clearly â—nderstand in what respect they differ from â—ther things of the same Genus For instance Erets signifies among the Hebrews Clay that Vessels are made of a Tract of Ground either â—ore or less suitable to the present Occasion â—he whole Globe of the Earth and the Men that â—nhabit it so that 't is hard to say which is its proper Signification and which Figurative When an universal Designation is fixed upon this word which is express'd by chol All 't is doubted whether the whole Kingdom or a less compass of Ground or the Globe of the Earth or whether all Men or only some are to be understood by it so that nothing but the Context or the Nature of the thing in debate can assist our Conjectures When figurative Words and Phrases cannot be so urged as fully to express the things they describe how far they may be urged without an Error is often doubtful Now if we consider the various Significations of the indeclinable Particles and how almost all the Tenses are confounded in the Verbs and add to this their everlasting change of the Gender Number and Person of which subject abundance of Learned Men have written carefully we shall have no great reason to boast of the Perspicuity of the Hebrew Tongue Read but over Chr. Noldius's Concordance of the Particles and Glasstus's Grammatica Sacra two well approved and excellent Treatises and when that is done I believe the most obstinate Man will be convinced that perhaps no Language in the World is fuller of Ambiguity and Obscurity than the Hebrew But yet I would not be so understood as if a General Scheme of the Jewish Religion and
translated it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He shall observe thy head E. Castell remarks That this Root in the Arabick signifies observare spectare To which the LXX might have an Eye explained several obscure words out of Chaldee or Arabick rather than the Hebrew Books where sometimes they are extant but once or are read in a different Sence But now if we consider the lamentable Condition of the Jewish Republick on every side oppress'd and over-run by the Kings of Syria and Egypt for many years we shall find they had no opportunity to apply themselves to the Study of Grammar And indeed some Learned Men after a careful Examination of the Septuagint Version which was publish'd in those times have long ago concluded that they neither had any certain fixt Grammar or Glossary or Lexicon of the Hebrew Tongue For they frequently violate all the Laws of Grammar and in the translating of unusual words the meaning of which is not to be gather'd from the Context they are so strangely put to it that it plainly appears they were not led by Grammar Rules had no certain Knowledge of the true Signification of words but guess'd and conjectur'd as well as they could and so blunder'd right or wrong through all the difficult places I am not ignorant that Isaac Vossius and some other Persons who never gave themselves the trouble I suppose to compare it with the Hebrew Original endeavour to defend this Translation and say 't is in many places corrupted by the Negligence or Boldness of the Transcribers where there 's an evident Mistake in the Translating a Hebrew Word But those that examine this Version diligently will soon perceive the contrary nor indeed is it credible that it was every where almost corrupted in the obscure places to omit a hundred other things that may be said against so precarious an Hypothesis In those and the following Ages down to the time of the * A. D 494. Masorites though Jews seem wholly to have employed themselves in the Study of Allegories and Rites but not of Philological Learning which was the reason that they look'd upon this Translation which is far from being perfect not only as the most exact thing of that nature in the whole World but as Divinely Inspir'd See the History of Aristeus Philo in his Book de Vitâ Mosis and Josephus Jud. Ant. l. 12. c. 2. No surer an Argument can be given how far the old Hebrew was neglected in those times than their blind Admiration of these Interpreters who to speak impartially are rather to be pardon'd than commended for their Performance In the mean time we do not say this as if we thought that Translation to be of little use On the other hand we always believed it to be extreamly Serviceable provided we help the Unaccuracy and defect of Method in the Interpreters with Grammar Rules and the assistance of correct Lexicons As their Authority ought not to over-weigh Grammar-Reasons that are deduced from the immemorial Custom of any Tongue so where Grammar does not contradict and where the Sence allows it ought to be in great Esteem with us The Opinions of that Age which arose perhaps from some ancient Tradition nay even Conjectures that are supported by the use of the Syro Chaldaïc Language then in its flourishing Condition are by no means to be dis-regarded by such as are well skill'd in the Sacred Philology But as in those things they are much superior to us so we mightily exceed them in Method for since we have most accurate Grammars and follow fixt establish'd Rules we no longer unriddle the Construction of a Sentence by guessing nor are we carried up and down by uncertain Conjectures as we may observe the Ancients were We have likewise several Lexicons compiled from all places of Scriptures compared together by most Learned Men and Concordances wherein are all the words in the Bible and the places where they are to be found most accurately set forth by which Assistances we are now able more certainly to dâ—â—cover the various Signification of words and with more Reason to defend them Nor have we only very large Glossaries of the Hebrew Tongue but likewise of the neighbouring Languages as Chaldee Syriack and Arabick and out of these can we more conveniently compare these Tongues with one another than those that lived in the days of the Seventy Interpreters Of what prodigious Advantage a certain Method made up of immutable Rules is may for instance sake be soon known from the Latin and Greek Tongues In Cicero's time the Greek Tongue flourish'd in Greece and Asia he not only learnt it at Rome but in Greece it self and both writ and spoke Greek not amiss Who would believe now that in any of his Translations out of Greek any Passages could drop from him that are liable to Censure Yet for all this some Learned Men have discovered several Mistakes in him and the reason is because he acquired the Greek Tongue rather by Custom than Rules for which consult H. Stephens's Lexicon Ciceronianum Nay what is more do not we see that Cicero and Varro the most Learned of the Romans have committed such miserable Mistakes even in the Derivations of the Latin Tongue that we are ashamed of them For though the Latin was their Mother-Tongue and they daily took pains to learn Greek yet they were altogether Ignorant of the Etymologick Art and therefore committed unaccountable Errors The case of the LXX Interpreters is the same for being wholly Strangers to our Grammatical and Critical way of Interpretation they often mistake and unexpectedly fall into those Errors which we may easily avoid VIII If what I have advanced concerning Philological Learning being little minded by the Jews under the second Temple be true as it evidently appears by what has been already said and might be made out by many more Arguments we may probably suspect that the Holy Volumes were not always transcribed with that Exactness and Care by the Copyists then as they deserved 'T is certain the LXX Interpreters whoever they were which 't is not our business now to enquire seem to have made use of a very faulty Manuscript and sometimes were not able to guess the ductus literarum as Learned Men have long ago observed I own indeed that all the various Lections which may be collected in their Translation are not owing to a vitious Manuscript and that several of them perhaps ought to be imputed to their Conjectures As (h) In the second Chapter of Genesis v. 2. the Hebrew reads it On the seventh day God ended his Work but the Septuagint On the sixth day And so Gen. 8.4 the Hebrew is The Ark rested on the seventeenth day of the month but the â—XX say The twenty seventh day of the month and below v. 7. in â—he Hebrew 't is the Raven went forth and returned but the LXX insert a Negation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be did not return Gen. 2.2 Chap. 8.4 7.
and in abundance of other places But then that very liberty they assume to themselves of guessing is a plain Demonstration that it was not generally believed at that time that the Copies were free from Faults since they were supposed to stand in need of Correction so often Besides we find that the Book which the Masorites made use of and was of venerable Antiquity without question has frequently faults in the * Text. Chetib which are amended in the †Margin Keri and which are often wanting in the Samaritan Copy As for instance the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Finalis which is to be found in the Samaritan is often omitted in the word Naharah a Girl which ought not to be left out and hi is frequently read for hou which generally speaking is amended in the Samaritan Book 'T is true these and some others of the like nature are but small inconsiderable Mistakes however they shew that Mistakes might creep in and indeed did creep into the Text and if they did it in a word so common and easie as Naharah certainly they would much sooner do so in an obscure difficult and rare word especially where the Sence was abrupt and the Series of the Oration did not help out the Transcribers who did not understand it Nevertheless because the Books of the Law were more frequently read than any of the rest and are more easie to be understood I must own there were but few Faults in them and those of small Importance And moreover that our Copy I mean that of the Masorites seems to be more Correct than the Samaritan for which reason I have all along Faithfully set it down not so much as changing a Letter As I hinted above some Faults are left by the Masorites which might have been amended but 't is better in my Opinion that those very Faults should be left in the Copy than that it should smell too much of a Critical hand which I have often observed in the Samaritan though it is not without its Faults as Learned Men have long since taken notice After all to deliver my own Sentiments upon a serious Examination of the whole Matter I am clearly of opinion that no Books of great Antiquity have arrived to our hands so correct as are the Holy Writings of the Hebrews although 't is certain they are much the oldest of any I mean those that were copied out by the Diligence of the Masorites and so transmitted to Posterity And that this did not happen without a particular Providence which has hitherto so miraculously preserved the Sacred Histories and the Revelations of the Prophets for the common Benefit and Use of Mankind no Man is better satisfied than my self I have likewise frequently in this Book defended the common Readings against the Conjectures of Learned Men as any one may see that will peruse my Annotations At the same time I freely own that the most indefatigable and judicious Lud. Cappel has infinitely deserved of the Sacred Learning by his Critica Sacra and Arcanum Punctuationis To speak ingenuously most of his Opinions do extreamly please me and I have set them down as if they had been so many Demonstrations But since I was obliged to chuse one certain Edition to follow and that the most accurate I have only followed the Masoritick Copy in my Translation as being the most correct of all and yet I have not neglected to set down in my Commentary all the various Lections out of the Samaritan and the Ancient Interpreters that seem'd to be of any Moment But I shall say more of this Matter in the following Dissertation Dissertation II. Of the best Manner of Interpreting the Bible I. The End of this Dissertation II. What it is to Interpret and the Principal Heads of that Method which we have follow'd III. How Difficult a Matter it is to Interpret the Holy Writings IV. What seems the best way to attempt it V. Hebraisms after what manner they are to be translated VI. The Difficulty of turning the Hebrew Particles into Latin VII What trouble there is in a Narration that consists of Preterperfect or Future Tenses joyn'd together by the Conjunction Vau. VIII The Masorite Copy to be follow'd as the most correct IX What Assistances are to be had out of the Old and Modern Interpreters X. What helps the neighbouring Languages afford XI Of what great use the comparing of several places of Scripture is XII What helps may be safely borrowed from Etymologies XIII That the Errors of some later Interpreters may be more easily avoided now than in the last Age. SINCE after the Labours of so many Learned Men who both in this and especially the last Age have endeavoured to Interpret the Holy Scriptures 't is my Lot also to undertake the same Province I think it but necessary to acquaint the Reader upon what Motives I attempted and after what manner I have perform'd it I am sensible that I have engaged not only in a very difficult but a most invidious Affair by reason of the different Parties and Factions that disturb the Repose of the Christian World For in a Business of this nature if a Man does not do something singular to distinguish him from the rest he must expect to meet with the Contempt and Laughter of the Learned and Unlearned and if he advances any thing unheard of and untouch'd before which I dare presume to say is no easie matter for his Recompense he 's sure to incurr the Hatred and Malice of the World especially as 't is manag'd by the Divines now a-days Nevertheless after I had seriously revolv'd all this in my Mind I was at last determin'd by the Authority of Philo Judaeus who after he has commended the Divine Volumes of Moses as they deserve and shown what a Fatigue and Trouble his Interpreters must expect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Yet we must not therefore desist but for the sake of Piety strive to say something above our Power and advance as far as 't is lawful for Humane Minds to aspire that are possess'd with the Love and desire of Wisdom In the beginning of his Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Having therefore with God's Assistance as I hope undertaken this difficult Affair I have all along endeavour'd neither to disgust the Nice Reader with any nauseous Repetitions nor disoblige the Lovers of Antiquity with any new Doctrines After what manner I have accomplish'd it I design to lay open in this Dissertation as plainly as I can but first of all I shall shew with what Difficulties I struggled and by what means I was able to overcome them and in this Age particularly better than could be done in the last not that we pretend to a greater share of Judgment but because we have much better helps now to enable us to surmount them II. Before we come to the Interpretation of the Holy Books 't will be necessary to remind
the Reader as briefly as we can what is meant by the word Interpret for we do not here design to deliver all the Rules of that Art Now since they that speak make use of certain Words or Forms of Speaking in order to be understood by others and to raise the same Motions and Affections of the Mind in their Hearers as they feel themselves those may be said to interpret other Mens words if we take the word in a large Acceptation whoso express them in another Tongue that they who hear the Interpreter speak think altogether the same things in the very same order and manner as the Person that spoke first would have them If all Languages were equally Copious and furnish'd with words of the same Force and Energy we might safely then render Word for Word and Phrase for Phrase and consequently we should only have occasion for a literal simple Translation But since Languages do not answer one another so exactly 't is impossible to make a Verbal Translation if the Narration is somewhat long Many things must of necessity be explain'd in sewer or more words as the occasion demands if the Interpreter has a mind to be understood and to gain that Point in the Minds of his Hearers as he whose Interpreter he is desires he should Nay sometimes though we increase or diminish the number of words yet the same Notion cannot be express'd in two Languages by reason of the Diversity of the Idiom An infinite number of Words and Expressions whether Figurative or proper are so peculiar to their own Tongues that they can by no means be transfused into another without a long and troublesome Circumlocution which cannot be inserted into a Translation From hence 't is easie to conclude That no Translation can be in all Respects compleat that is to say such a Translation that after the perusing of it the Reader shall think the very same things and be affected after the same manner as if he understood the Language out of which the Version was made and was able to draw for himself out of the Original Fountain And as this holds certainly true in all Languages in the World so 't is most sensibly perceiv'd in the Latin Translations of the Hebrew Books by reason of the vast Disagreement between the Hebrew and Latin Tongues as we shall more fully demonstrate below We know indeed that the ancient Jews and Christians who were ignorant of the Hebrew Tongue thought the Greek Version of the Old Testament but especially that of the Pentateuch commonly said to be done by the LXX Interpreters to be the most absolute thing in its kind that ever was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Whether the Chaldeans learn the Greek Tongue or the Greeks the Chaldean Tongue and light upon both Scriptures the Chaldean and that into which it is translated they admire and adore them as Sisters or rather as one and the same both in words and things not content to call them Interpreters but Prophets and Revealers of heavenly things that happily expressed the genuine Thoughts of Moses with a most pure Spirit These are Philo's words in his Book de Vitâ Mosis which we could heartily wish were as true as they are remote from Truth We should then have the best and surest Interpreters of Moses and the exemplar of a perfect Translation which they were very far from obliging the World with But since 't is evident that what Philo pretends was done by the LXX Interpreters is impossible to be performed by reason of the great difference of Languages as it has been already observed we did not therefore attempt to translate the Old Testament because we hoped that those who were only well skill'd in Latin might be able after the reading of our Translation to reach the meaning of the Prophets as well as those that understand Hebrew and hear them speak in their own Native Tongue we thought 't was enough to aspire towards it as far as the most different Idioms of the two Languages would give us leave and since without taking too great a liberty we could not bend the Hebrew Phrase to the Genius of the Latin Tongue we often express'd the Hebraisms Word for Word especially such as the Christian World has been long accustom'd to or whenever we did not certainly understand the meaning of any place Of which more hereafter But because the Hebrew Phrases and manner of Expression being different from all others would give a great deal of Trouble to those that are only acquainted with Latin we have added a plain Paraphrase more suited to the nature of that Tongue by the reading of which if they cannot attain to the very words of Moses yet since we have in the same order express'd that in Latin which Moses did in Hebrew they will in some measure comprehend his Sense and not as I imagine deviate much from the true meaning of the Text. By this means what we were not able to compass by one single Version perhaps we may perform by the help of the Paraphrase But after all we thought we should not fully satisfie the Curiosity if not of the most Learned yet of those who were not altogether Strangers to Hebrew if we did not in our Annotations explain the Hebraisms Opinions Customs Rites the Allusions to them and the nature of places as far as we could arrive to the Knowledge of them and give an account of our whole Translation and Paraphrase Thus in our Paraphrase we have in a few words shewn what our Opinion was and in our Annotations more at large why we were of that Opinion Nevertheless there is something in the Paraphrase which is not always to be found in our Annotations for in the former the Reader will discover the Connexion and Series of the whole Oration which for brevity sake we could not always attend in our Comments Besides we have observ'd both by our own and the Experience of others that especially in difficult Books notwithstanding the Annotations of Learned Men upon every word the Connexion was very often obscure so that though all the words were well enough understood yet the Force and Order of the reasoning did not appear Therefore we thought our selves obliged to obviate this Inconvenience by making a continued Paraphrase after the Example of several judicious * As the Learned Publishers of the Books in usum Delphini have generally done Authors Which Conduct if it does not seem altogether so necessary in Historical Writings as some who have not duly consider'd the Matter may imagine yet the great Usefulness of it will at least appear in the Hagiographi as they are call'd and the Books of the Prophets However I dare without Vanity affirm that several who after they have read the Translation think they understand the Series of the Oration well enough will if they cast their Eyes on our Paraphrase even in the Historical Books confess that they miss'd several things which they fansied
perfect Translation such as we had conceived an Idea of in our Mind but if we could not reach that heighth we must be content to come as near it as possibly we could Therefore we proposed to our selves constantly to follow a middle way that is neither to render those places that were obvious enough in the Original obscure with the Hebraisms nor out of too nice an Affection of writing Latin to indulge our selves in too bold a Version But this you 'll say a thousand People have threatned to do many years before you were born and yet we do not rest satisfied with their Performances Do you think then that you shall be able to answer our Expectations No I am not so blinded with Self-love as to imagine any such thing but since the Condition of Humane Affairs is such that nothing is perfect in all Respects and nothing pleases all alike 't is sufficient if I do not incurr the Displeasure of all and if my Attempt does not lagg behind the Endeavours of others Cicero formerly translated the noblest Orations of two of the most Eloquent Men that Athens ever bred Aeschines and Demosthenes one against another neither did he literally translate them like an Interpreter as he tells us himself for the Translations are not extant but like an Orator giving them all the Spirit and Life and beautiful turns of the Latin Tongue As this was impracticable in a literal Version he had a greater Respect to the Sence than the Expressions for he did not think himself obliged to tell over all his Authors words to the Reader but to give him them in weight Now since this was not to be done in too strict a Translation of the Holy Books we endeavoured to reach it in a looser Paraphrase that so those Persons that are not delighted with the Barbarousness of a Translation or do not understand Hebraisms may have somewhat to read and understand But perhaps we have departed farther from our Original than Cicero did from his because the Hebrew Language differs more from the Latin than the Athenian way of Writing did from the Roman 'T is true in our Version we have followed the Hebrew closer than the Purity of the Latin will allow us but since it could not be avoided we hope we shall make our Reader some amends by our Paraphrase Therefore though 't is the confess'd Genius of the Latin Tongue to love Perspicuity more than the Hebrew does nay on the contrary endeavours to avoid all Obscurity as much as it can we acknowledge our Translation to be somewhat Obscure but as we are used to commend Pictures not for shewing us a handsom Face but for representing Nature to the Life so a Translation where the Language of the Original is clear ought to be clear and where it is obscure ought to be obscure Now we mean here by obscure not those things that are obscure to the ignorant in Hebrew for then most of the Scripture Expressions would be obscure but those that are not sufficiently understood even by such as are tolerably vers'd in that Language On the other hand by the word clear we do not only mean those things which are obvious to all Understandings not excluding those of the duller sort but which give no manner of Difficulty to the Skillful in that Language or may be so expounded as to leave no Doubt at all in the Minds of the Learned V. Now that we might be able to observe this Method through the whole Work we laid it down for an unalterable Law in translating the Hebraisms which so often occur 1. That all the clear Hebraisms which would bear a Translation should be translated 2. If any of them could not well be rendred into Latin yet if our Ears were accustom'd to them they should be literally translated 3. That all obscure Hebraisms should be retained Which it will not be amiss to illustrate by a few Examples Nothing is more common in Scripture than Speeches and Dialogisms that are usher'd in by the Verb Vaijomer dixit or the Gerund Lemor dicendo Now 't is evident that the former may be fully and pertinently express'd by the Latin word inquit the latter by his verbis and yet the Interpreters have generally forborn to use them as if this forsooth had been too great a Liberty to take Now this runs through all the Bible so that you may find an infinite number of Sentences with these words dixit and he said So in Genesis 3.1 And he said to the Woman yea hath c. 2 And the Woman said unto the Serpent we may eat c. 4. And the Serpent said unto the Woman c. 9. And he said unto him where art thou 10. And he said I heard thy Voice c. 11. And he said who told thee c. 12. And the Man said the Woman c. 13. And the Lord God said unto the Woman c. 14. And the Lord God said unto the Serpent c. 16. To the Woman he said c. 17. And unto Adam he said But why we should servilely be confin'd to the order of the Hebrew words as if there was something extraordinary in them we saw no reason and the comparing of our Version with the rest will shew which of us has express'd himself most agreeably to the Genius of the Latin Tongue So Chap. 8.15 And God spake unto Noah saying Et loquutus esi Jehova ad Noach dicendo or dicens is indeed exactly conformable to the Hebrew words but does not express the meaning any better than Alloquutus est Noachum Deus his verbis 'T is certain that many of the Interpreters by their obscure Diligence have made their Translations so insupportable that they are not to be read without Contempt But let not the Reader imagine that this is occasion'd by the over great care they took to render even the least Particles of Scripture as far as 't was possible for if this Scruple had possess'd them they had never translated the obscure places with so much boldness as if it were not an invidious labour we could easily shew 'T is a common Hebraism to call ones name vocare nomen alicujus instead of nomen imponere To give one the name of As in Chap. 5.29 and 't is often in the Book of Genesis alone And she called his name Noah Et vocavit nomen ejus Noach that is Ei Noacho nomen indidit Noachum cum nomine appellavit There 's not the least reason in the World to doubt but 't is so and yet after the vulgar Interpreter's Example several since have translated it Vocavit nomen ejus Noah which is obscure and barbarous when the Hebrew Phrase is plain enough We frequently meet in the beginning of a Narration Et fuit And it came to pass in the Hebrew As Chap. 6.1 Et fuit cum caepit homo multiplicari And it came to pass when Men began to multiply c. which is the same in
Bible especially into the Modern Languages which have all along preserved this Conjunction as if it added some peculiar Energy or Beauty to the Narration but those that are acquainted with the Genius of the Hebrew Tongue can satisfie them of the contrary In a plain Narration indeed this troublesome Conjunction may pretty well be born in some other Tongues but in an Argument or so if it were used in French it would not only wound the Ears in a wonderful manner but so fatally disturb the Sence that what would be clear in Hebrew would be in French the most confused Stuff imaginable However in this as well as other things too great a License is to be avoided least by omitting a Particle or altering the structure of a Sentence we may happen to alter the Sence and render the Narration indirect and oblique For by this means an unskillful Reader will imagine that some things are related en passant while the Historian makes haste to go to others that are more material Thus according to our Translation Moses begins the 32d Chapter in these words Jacobus iter suum perrexit occurrerúntque Angeli Dei quos cum vidit Jacobus haec sunt ait Dei castra eique loco Machanajim nomen imposuit By this manner of relating the Story 't is plain that the meeting of the Angels is made a more remarkable Circumstance than if we had rendred it with Castellio Jacobus iter suum perrexit in quo cum ei Divini Angeli occurrissent ille eis visis ita dixit hoc divinum agmen est Itaque locum inde Machanaim appellavit It was no small Perplexity to us in our Translation that not only the Beginning Progress and Conclusion of the same thing were express'd by Verbs that were tacked together by the never-failing Conjunction Vau but likewise by one and the same Verb. Thus in the above-cited Narration and Jacob went the Hebrew word may be as well taken to signifie the Beginning of a Journey as the Continuation of it However we translated it in the latter Sence as the occasion there required VIII We have already declared in the eighth Section of the former Dissertation that we have follow'd the Masoretick Copy in our Translation But although we call it Copy in the Singular Number it may be called Copies since by this name we comprehend both the Readings in the Text and those in the Margin which came from two several Books unless we suppose that the Keri proceeded from the received way of reading in the Synagogue of Tiberias by some Oral Tradition as 't is called and the Ketib to have been the Reading it self written in a Book of venerable Antiquity However the matter was as these two Readings have been deservedly compared by the generality of Translators so that which seem'd the best we justly preferr'd and this is the conduct we follow'd Sometimes indeed the Keri affords a more convenient Reading than the Ketib but the latter very often is better than the former But as I often thought of this and several other things of the like nature I suspected that the Rabbins to inhance the value of their Trade observ'd the same Conduct as the Greek Rhetoricians were said to do Who least the World should imagine they knew but few things invented abundance of strange Terms that were nothing to the purpose that their Art might have the Reputation of being more difficult than really it was However we have all along follow'd the Masoretick way of Pointing except that with the generality of Interpreters we have not minded the Accents but only followed the Sence and the Structure of the words We shall not here repeat what several Learned Men have said upon this occasion Let the Reader only turn over the 23d Chapter of Buxtorf's Thesaurus lib. 2. where he treats of this Subject and he will be satisfied that what I have advanced concerning the Rabbins is true and that these Masters affect an abstruse unedifying Knowledge and have clogg'd a Study which otherwise would be easie enough with endless Difficulties of their own raising The two first words of Genesis sufficiently confute all that Learning Of greater moment is the distinction of Verses as they are called which however Elias Levita a Jew and several Christians have demonstrated to have been made by none of the Prophets And indeed this distinction is not to be found in the Manuscript Copies of the Old Interpreters nor can be used in many places without maiming the Period or dividing the Verb from what relates to it which is extremely ridiculous Therefore though to comply with a received Custom and that the Citations might more easily be found oâ—â— we have distinguished the Verses by Numbers yet we have only had a regard to the Sence in the manner of our Pointing Sometimes the Period if the parts of a Sentence in the Latin Translation of an Hebrew Book may be called by that name ends with the Verse and sometimes it is carried beyond it Nay sometimes it begins in the middle of a Verse and sometimes it terminates with it as seem'd most agreeable to the nature of the Latin Tongue The Reader will likewise find both in our Translation and Paraphrase two other sorts of Divisions which we must give him an account of We have not always follow'd the Chapters in the distinction of our Sections although in complaisance to the ancient Custom we have mark'd them on the top of the Page and in the Margin but we have divided the Argument into greater or lesser Sections according as the Matters of Fact happen to be connected And this we did upon the following Consideration that both the whole Argument in one Series and our Annotations upon it might be read in the same order because both the Divine Historian and our Comments upon him would by this means be better understood 'T is certain the Jews have their own Sections plainly different from our Chapters which they follow in their publick Readings in their Synagogues Besides this we have divided every Section into several Paragraphs to borrow a Term of Art from the Lawyers though somewhat of the longest which we supposed would contribute to the Perspicuity of the History and be of great Advantage to the Reader For where the particular Reasonings or several parts of the Narration are not continued as it were in the same breath with the rest but divided by certain Intervals we better comprehend both the Parts and Series of the Oration and imprint it on our Memory and if there be occasion recollect it in our Minds This is the reason why the Grammarians in former times to distinguish the several parts of the Chorus's in their Tragedies and the Lawyers to distinguish the Heads of their Laws made use of Paragraphs And therefore though in the Manuscripts and in the Editions no distinctions of this nature do appear for we do not mind the Jewish yet we thought it à propos to make use of
History Matters being thus no one will doubt that the Laws which are contain'd in Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy are the very same that were written by Moses ' T is certain that the Laws which were written in Moses's time were still extant in the Reign of Josiah as it appears from 2 Kings 22. nor can any tolerable Reason be assign'd why they were not incorporated at least into the Books of the Pentateuch Therefore whatever Laws we find in the Pentateuch we ought to look upon them as written by Moses himself and consequently the greatest part by much of the Pentateuch came from the same hand Nay 't is evident that several other things were writ by him Secondly Moses is said Deut. 31.22 to have written the Song which we find in the following Chapter and since that is set down word for word as he made it we cannot deny that the rest which belong to the Law are the very words of Moses without opposing the plainest Truths imaginable Thirdly He is in express Terms said to have written some part of the History of the Hebrews for he transmitted in Writing the War against the Amalekites and God's Sentence pronounced against them Exod. 17.14 After the like manner he writ the several Mansions of the Israelites in the Wilderness Numb 33.2 Moses wrote their goings out according to their Journeys by the Commandment of the Lord. And yet that part of their History which we find in that Chapter of Numbers was not of so great a Consequence as to be writ before the rest from whence it naturally follows that the four last Books of the Pentateuch at least were written by Moses for if he writ all the Laws and the whole History of Israel he is certainly the Author of these Books wherein nothing else is contain'd for who after Moses had once written would attempt to write and model them anew Indeed if we consider the frequent Repetitions which we met with in these Books and the great disorder in the delivery of the Law we shall soon be inclin'd to think that these Books are come to our hands just as they were at several times first written by Moses in that long uncomfortable Pilgrimage in Arabia Deserta For if they had been compil'd out of Moses's Memoirs they had certainly been digested into better order and all the Repetitions had been cut off as is usually done in Works of that nature but if we except a few Passages they have descended to Posterity just as they were publish'd at first when a full Collection was made of all that Moses writ and at several times repeated to the Israelites who after all these Repetitions did scarce understand their own Law sufficiently But about the middle of this Age a certain Author that shall be nameless started up whose Opinion afterwards found some Disciples and these have been so hardy as to deny that Moses was the Writer of the Pentateuch and pretend to shew several Passages in him which were manifestly writ since his time Aben-ezra indeed had formerly deliver'd himself much to the same purpose but worded it so warily and obscurely that he is hardly to be understood Now we will here consider their Reasons III. Their Arguments are partly drawn from the Stile of the whole Book and partly from particular places As for the former they pretend that the difference of Stile which is easily observ'd in the Pentateuch plainly shews that it was not written by one hand for some places are writ in a short compendious Stile full of Ellipses and others in a loose redundant one But this Objection soon vanishes if we consider that the variety we find in these Volumes is rather to be ascribed to the unrefin'd Condition of the Hebrew Tongue than any diversity of Writers Others object That Moses never speaks of himself in the Pentateuch in the first Person but that all his Actions and Speeches are related in the third but these People are easily confuted by the Example of Xenophon Coesar and Josephus and other Historians of the first Class who whenever they have occasion to speak of themselves alway do it in the third Person But 't is not so easie to solve some Arguments that are drawn from several places of the Pentateuch although some of them I must own are trivial enough as will appear by examining them In the first place they object that passage in Gen. 2.11 12. The name of the first is Pison that is it which compasseth the whole Land of Havilah where there is Gold and the Gold of that Land is good there is Bdellium and the Onyx-stone Now this they say was written by one that lived in Chaldea because Pison as they imagine is a branch of the Euphrates which after it has washed Chaldea falls into the Persian Gulf and then the Geography of these Countries according to them does not seem to be so well known in Moses's time that so particular an account could be given of them especially if we consider at what a great distance they lay But we have shown that the Country of (b) Bochart l. 5. c. 5. Hieroz Part 2. supposes the Land of Havilan to be that part of Arabia near Catipha and Bahare where precious Stones are dug up and the Pison to be that Branch of the Euphrates which Petrus Texeira an Eye-witness affirms to fall into the Persian Guâ—ph at Catipha near Bahare But our Author places Havilah nearer to Judea not far from Coelesyria In 1 Sam. 15.7 Saul is said to have destroy'd the Amalekites with Fire and Sword from Havilah until thou comest to Sur that is over against Egypt Now who can believe that Saul marched with his Forces an hundred and fifty German Miles for so much 't is at least from the Frontier of Israel to Havilah in Bochart's own Tables especially if he considers how destitute of all Provisions Arabia Deserta was and that Saul's Army consisted of 200000 fighting Men. Besides if Havilah had been more remote than Sur the Sacred Historian would not have said that Saul wasted the Country of the Amalekites from Havilah to Sur but from Sur to Havilah Therefore Sur and Havilah he concludes to be the Borders of those People the former to the South and the latter to the North. As for the Pison he is of opinion that some Footsteps of it are to be found in Chrysorrhous which rises near the City of Damascus plentifully supplies it with Water and is in a manner wholly lost in several little Streams as Strabo l. 16. and Pliny l. 5. c. 18. tell us Petrus Belonius Observat l. 2. c. 91. says That Damascus is so abundantly furnish'd with Water from this River that not only every private House but every Garden has a Fountain out of it Now this Description admirably agrees with the Hebrew word Phison which is derived from the Hebrew Root Phasha diffusus fuit The Greeks called it Chrysorrhoas because of the Gold Sands found
Pentateuch belongs to Moses we have no reason to ascribe those Books to any one but him V. It has been long controverted among Learned Men who it was that made these Additions which we find in the Books of Moses and they have gone upon various Conjectures Some would have him to be Joshua others Esdras and lastly others to be the under Scribe among the Hebrews but this is only guessing for they bring no Reasons to enforce their Opinions Because Joshua succeeded Moses therefore some People fancy it was he that inserted those Passages that seem to carry Discoveries of a later Age. Again others ascribe this to Esdras who is by the Jews said to have regulated the Sacred Volumes and by some to have made them up again out of his Memory after they were certainly lost But since these different Hypotheses are supported by no competent Witnesses that is to say such as flourished in the same Times or such as might have learn'd the Truth out of the Memoirs of their Contemporaries they may be as easily rejected as they are brought upon the Stage Nor is a multitude of Authors who lived several Ages after and never cite any that are older than themselves and who do but transcribe one another of any weight Esdras is only called a Scribe and a ready Scribe in the Law of Moses in those Books that go under his Name See chiefly the seventh Chapter of Esdras and this seems to have given occasion to that Fable of his restoring the Sacred Books though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather signifies a Learned Man as we might easily demonstrate than one that is busied in transcribing of Books Several uncertain things have been positively asserted concerning these under Scribes as we shall shew at a more proper place upon the following Books but this is the most uncertain of all viz. That they inserted the above mention'd Additions into the Mosaical Volumes And therefore after a diligent Examination of the Matter we ingenuously own that here we do not know what to conclude perhaps one of those who are already supposed perhaps some one else and perhaps several hands have at several times inserted these things into Moses Therefore we can have no surer or safer Sanctuary here than prudently to suspend our Judgments by which conduct if we do not discover the Truth yet at least it is not excluded from the Mind VI. If we were able to discover all the Designs that Moses proposed to himself in writing this would be of much greater Importance towards the better Interpretation of his Volumes for these Books are not like the Works of Mathematicians where we find nothing but general Propositions that have a relation neither to certain Places nor Times nor Men and do not allude to any thing but the business in hand Moses writ for the Benefit and Instruction of a particular People called the Jews though I do not deny that by the means of Divine Providence his Books were afterwards serviceable to innumerable other Nations Upon this account he said abundance of things merely for the use of that People which he had omitted if he had not been influenced by this Consideration He likewise had an Eye to the Opinions and Customs of the neighbouring Nations which he assented to or rejected according as they agreed with Reason and the Truth We know indeed from the nature of the thing it self that the general aim of his writing was to teach the Israelites the Worship of one God and to deliver them the Laws which he had received from him but it is to be wished that we particularly knew for what Reasons he followed one certain Method in Writing more than another and what he chiefly had an eye to in that Abridgment of the ancient History which he has left behind him From hence perhaps we might be able to comprehend why he omits several Transactions to give us a Narration of some other Events which are not as we imagine of so great Importance why he used such and such Words and Expressions why he mentions some things only en passant and treats of others in a more copious and frequent manner with other things of the same nature which would give considerable light to many obscure places Were it possible for any one so to secure his Readers before they were admitted to the perusal of Moses that they should find no rugged places or at least but few that were hard to be understood so universal an Obligation could never be requited with Thanks and Commendations enough For Example No one reads the short Prologomena which Asconius Pedianus has given us before some of Cicero's Orations against Verres but he would with all his heart be at any Expence that all the rest of his Orations were recommended and illustrated by such Prefaces For those Prefaces or Arguments are no small helps towards the understanding of Tully and would be infinitely more serviceable to the World if they were but longer Now since we are destitute of such Assistances by reason of the shortness of Moses's History and the great Scarcity of ancient Oriental Authors and can by no means supply the Defect of those things which are necessary to such a Design it remains that we must often be involv'd in the greatest Difficulties And as I often considered of this Matter when I had the Mosaical Writings in my hands so I was resolved to collect and gather out of Moses himself whatever might be pertinently said upon this occasion I flatter'd my self that I should not be so rigorously censur'd if I did not answer the Reader 's Expectation as if I only raised his Appetite and did not endeavour to satisfie him for this reason I made no scruple to set what follows before my Commentary whatever the Learned World may think of it VII That no body may mistake me or expect to find what I never promised I do not here inquire what was Moses's or rather God's Intention in delivering the Law which we shall consider when we come to the particular Laws but what was Moses's chief and principal aim in writing and publishing the Pentateuch such as we now have it All Men as we observed before know well enough that Moses chiefly writ to teach the People of the Jews that only one God was to be worshipped and after what manner that was to be done but we must more distinctly shew what method he took to reach that mark if I may be allow'd so to express my self and what other ends he might possibly have 1. We must chiefly and in the first place remember that it never was in Moses's thoughts to write the Annals of all Mankind down to his own time but only to select those Passages out of the Histories of former Ages which agreed with his general Design before mention'd or some other particular by ends Hence we find that nothing can be shorter than his History is from the Creation of the World to Abraham since