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
did not only write to his own Age wherein his Father and Grand-father were well known but likewise to the following Ages to whom he seems in this place to direct his Discourse and not to his Contemporaries who knew all these Particulars well enough It was of Consequence for them to know that Aaron the Brother of Moses was descended from Levi and that he was the first Head of the Sacerdotal Families therefore it ought not to seem strange to any one that in this place Moses and Aaron are as it were pointed at and their Genealogy shown to the Israelites of future Ages 12. The words of Exodus 16.35 are alledged which they pretend could not be written till after the death of Moses And the Children of Israel did eat Manna forty years until they came to a Land inhabited They did eat Manna until they came unto the Borders of the Land of Canaan For it appears from the fifth Chapter of Joshua that Manna did not cease till after the death of Moses To this some answer That Moses fore-knew as is evident from Numbers 14.33 that the Manna would cease after the end of forty years so soon as the Israelites entred the Land of Canaan But this is here related and not foretold and therefore Moses uses the Preterperfect Tense Comederunt did eat For which reason I should rather chuse to say that this Verse as well as some more has been added to the Text by way of Parenthesis occasioned by what immediately goes before where mention is made of an Omer full of Manna to be laid up in the Ark. 13. Some Persons deny the following Verse to belong to Moses But an Omer is the tenth part of an Ephah because when a Measure is in use it is not customary to define it and therefore they believe that after the Hebrews were scatter'd into several Countries and consequently began to use the Measures of other Nations this was purposely written that they might understand which Measure was meant in this History The same is observed about their Money Numb 3.47 Chap. 18.16 But it does not appear that the Jews used any other Measures in Palestine so as to make it necessary to define the old Measures nor does an Ephah seem to be better known than an Omer But Moses who instituted the Jewish Commonwealth might designedly give a short Description of the Coins and Measures to the end that they might not afterwards be changed 14. The Sacred Historian thus begins Deut. 1.1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side Jordan in the Wilderness From whence they gather that the Writer of this Book was then in Canaan But we have discussed the Ambiguity of the Particle Bheber upon * M. le Clerk has promised the World a Paraphrase and Comment upon the other four Book of Moses but they have not seen the light as yet that place of Deuteronomy to which we refer the Reader 15. In the same Book Chap. 2.12 there are some words which they pretend could never come from Moses The Horims dwelt in Sur before time but the Children of Eâ—au succeeded them when they had destroyed them from before them and dwelt in their stead as Iâ—rael did unto the Land of his Possession But at that time when Moses writ this two Tribes and a half had already setled themselves near the head of Jordan and turn'd out the old Inhabitants and Moses had an Eye to that 16. Chap. 3.11 Thus the Sacred Writer speaks of the King of Basan For only Og King of Basan remain'd of the remnant of Giants behold his Bedsted was a Bedsted of Iron Is it not in Rabbah of the Children of Ammon Nine Cubits was the length thereof and four Cubits the breadth of it Now some can scarce believe that it was possible for Moses to speak thus of a Man that was lately dead and overcome by the Israelites and whose Bed was rather in Basan of which Territory he was King than among the Ammonites who were none of his Subjects But Moses had a mind to give a particular account of a thing which was well known at that time indeed but would have been unknown to Posterity unless he had deliver'd it in writing As for what concerns the Bed how it came to be carried into another Kingdom who can tell But since there is no Absurdity in this Story nothing can be gather'd from a thing the reason of which is altogether unknown 17. In the same Chapter v. 14. we meet with the following passage Jair the Son of Manasseh took all the Country of Argob unto the Coasts of Geshuri and Maacathi and call'd them after his own name Bashan-Havoth-jair unto this day We shall handle this matter more at large in our Commentary In the mean time if this were added by a later hand yet it would not follow from thence that the greatest part of the Pentateuch was not written by Moses 18. We will not deny the last Chapter of Deuteronomy to be writ by some one else where Moses's going up to Mount Nebo and his death are related and yet all the foregoing Chapters are not therefore to be given away from him We may easily suppose that this Book was supplied by another hand which had been in a manner imperfect if it had not ended with the death of Moses But those Jews that are of opinion that Moses foretold all these things as being assisted by a Prophetical Spirit do not deserve to be heard What can be said more plainly to make us understand that these things were written long after Moses's death than what we find in the three last Verses IV. Hence we may gather from these eighteen places which are commonly brought to prove the Pentateuch to be of a later date that most of them are doubtful and consequently ought not to be made use of as Arguments to prove these five Books to belong to another Age. Very few of them manifestly seem to be added by another hand and do not in the least hinder why we should not ascribe these Volumes to Moses After the same manner some ancient Grammarians tell us there are several Verses here and there inserted into Homer's Poems yet no one from thence takes occasion to deny that the Iliads and the Odysses were written by Homer We must not imagine that in former Ages they had such plenty of Books or so many Copies of the same Book as now we have and so it might easily happen that in succeeding Times one of the Prophets might make some Additions to Moses which afterwards were incorporated with all the Copies Indeed if it did not otherwise evidently appear that the greatest part by far of the Pentateuch was written by Moses I confess there would be great weight in the above-mention'd Objections to incline us to believe that these Volumes were written much later than is commonly pretended but since we have proved it beyond all manner of doubt that almost all the
Mediterranean-Sea and the Jordan but by no means brought it thither out of Chaldaea neither can I discover after the severest Examination the least Absurdity in this Opinion for here we have a Chaldean remove himself with his whole Family into another Country and having past the Euphrates and Jordan wanders up and down Canaan for a hundred years enters into Covenant with the old Inhabitants acquires a prodigious Wealth among them marries several Concubines gets Children lives in mighty Credit and Reputation and consequently has frequent Conversations with them Now after all this Can any one think it strange that he learnt a Language which has so great an Affinity with his own Mother-Tongue and that his whole Family conform'd themselves in their Speech to the Natives of the Place Add to this That Isaac passed his whole and Jacob the better part of his Life among them that the Children of them both were brought up in the same Country and had their Wives from thence So that upon a due Survey of the matter it had been a downright Miracle if they had still preserved the Chaldean Tongue so little reason have we to wonder that the Canaanitish Language became familiar to these People And therefore I look upon that Opinion to be ill grounded which supposes that the Israelites spoke a different Language from the People of Canaan 'T is certain that Isaiah plainly calls Hebrew the Language of Canaan Chap. 19.18 In that day says he there shall be five Cities in the Land of Egypt which shall speak the lip of Canaan which is all one as if he had said the Language of Canaan For the word lip both there and in Gen. 11.1 signifies Speech because the Lips are no less serviceable in speaking than the Tongue it self Nor is this Opinion supported by bare Probability or to be called a Conjecture merely deduced from the Name for Bochart in the second Book of his Canaan Chap. 1. has fully demonstrated it to be grounded upon Truth which we shall lay down before the Reader in a few words because in some Particulars we dissent from that admirable Man His first and strongest Argument to prove the Language of the Canaanites to be the same with that of the Hebrews is brought from the Names of Men and Places which are purely Hebrew N. Fuller in the fourth Book of his Miscellanies Chap. 4. maintains the contrary Opinion Though I grant says he all those names to be purely Hebrew yet I deny that any of them were Canaanitish names or given by those People I rather believe that the old names that were imposed by the Canaanites the Primitive Inhabitants of that Country were afterwards pronounced and expounded by the Hebrews who succeeded them in that Land after the Hebrew manner Which Hypothesis were it true no Argument could be formed out of the Antediluvian Names to prove the Antiquity of the Hebrew Language and yet Fuller would not willingly grant this nor indeed any of the Patrons of this Opinion But in truth this is no better than a Chimaera to which the Holy Scriptures give not the least Countenance for though we should allow that some of these words were disguised with a Hebrew Sound and Termination yet who can imagine that all of them were served after this manner and that neither Moses nor Joshua should in one single Line inform us that they changed all the names before the Israelites possessed themselves of the Land of Canaan Now besides that this is altogether Incredible and without President there are two things that demonstrate it to be absolutely False One is That Moses and Joshua give us an account of the Alteration made in several Names by which it appears that this was the particular Case of some few Cities and not common to them all Consult Gen. 23.2 as also Numb 32.38 and Joshua 15.13 14. c. 19.47 The other is That not only the names of those Cities in the Possession of the Israelites are of Hebrew Extraction but also of the neighbouring places which they had not subdued as Gaza Asdod Gâ—th Hekron Ascalon which belonged to the Philistines Tyrus Sidon Barepta c. The Second Argument to prove the Canaanean Original of the Hebrew Tongue is deduced from hence That though the Sacred Writers expresly tell us that several of the neighbouring Nations were of a Language different from the Hebrews yet there is not the least thing like this said of the Canaanites We have already taken notice that this was frequently observed of the Chaldeans The People of Egypt are called Lohez Psalm 114.1 that is to say Barbarous besides there was an Interpreter between Joseph who pretended himself to be an Egyptian and his Brethren see Gen. 42.23 likewise Psal 81.6 In the mean time though the Hebrews maintained such frequent Correspondences with the Canaanites and transacted so much Business with them from Abraham down to Joshua yet we find not the least mention of an Interpreter passing between them The Third Argument arises from the very use of the Interpreter whom Joseph employed for if only Jacob's Family spoke Hebrew How was it possible for Joseph to get an Interpreter He could have no other but some Fugitive Servant who would have soon known both Joseph and his Brethren The Fourth is by Bochart derived from the Remainders of the Phoenician Tongue which in the second Book of his Canaan he emply demonstrates to be purely Hebrew We shall add a Fifth which proceeds from the manifest Footsteps of Paganism that are easily to be traced in this Language For since Tongues are Images of the Sentiments of our Mind and are form'd and modell'd according to the Opinion of those People that use them it cannot otherwise happen but that the common Speech of any Country must derive a great Tincture from the received Opinions of the Inhabitants Thus learned Criticks have observed that the Arabians have more than five hundred names for a Lyon more than a thousand for a Sword two hundred at least for a Serpent and fourscore for Honey The reason of it is because the Arabians use frequently to talk of these things since their Country is so pester'd with Lyons and Serpents is inhabited by a Warlike People and abounds in Honey 'T is an easie matter to observe both in the Greek and Latin Tongues though we were destitute of all other Arguments which are indeed innumerable that the Greeks and Latins were of Opinion that the Gods beheld the Actions of Mankind and were Faithful Witnesses of the Truth from those frequent Forms of Swearing which they used so everlastingly in all their Conversations I will not give my self the Trouble to confirm a Truth which is supported by so many Examples not to mention the Custom of all the Modern Languages but come immediately to the Point The Hebrew Tongue which flourished and was for some time cultivated by the Canaanites a People who had strange Notions of the Divinity and were infected with Polytheism retain'd
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
them as being clearly of opinion that nothing ought to be despised which tends to Perspicuity and the Convenience of the Reader Nor will any one as we imagine blame these our Divisions as if they contradicted what we so solemnly professed before viz. That we would follow the Copies of the Masorites For though these Divisions are very serviceable to Perspicuity and Order yet they make not the least Alteration in the Reading or Pronouncing of words in which two respects we said we look'd upon these Copies to be the most correct of all We hope the Reader will not be displeased that after the Example of several Modern Interpreters we have not written the Proper Names as they are now a-days read by the Jews Our Ears have been so long accustom'd to them that we can scarce endure those that either speak or pronounce them otherwise for who with any Patience could hear a Fellow thunder out Chenahan Jitschak Jahacob Mosche Jehoschubak c. as those names are pronounced by the Jews according to the roughness of their Language There are also several words that were otherwise read by the LXX Interpreters than they are by the Masorites as Jerusalem not Jerusalaim Nabuchodonosor not Nebuchadnetsar and such-like Which of them pronounced the rightest we shall not now enquire for we do not regard the thing it self but only the Custom of the Christian Churches from the Beginning But then we observ'd this Conduct to set down the more celebrated and usual Names after the Christian manner and the less known and frequent after the Jewish because generally speaking they do not seem to be written true in the Greek and Latin Books Where-ever we have neglected to do it the Reader is to impute it to our being too attentive upon the things themselves and consequently not able to mind the words and not imagine that we did it on purpose As for what regards the Letters we have herein follow'd the Ancients that is to say Beth has always the power of the Latin B Zain is pronounced like a Z Cheth as a X which comes the nearest of any to the double Aspiration of the Hebrew Letter which in our Commentary we have express'd by a double H where we have observ'd how the Hebrew words are to be written Teth like a T Jod like the J Consonant of the French Caph like a X Ain like an H though 't is of a different sound but we could not think of a better Pe like the φ of the Greeks Tsaddi like T s Koph like K Schin always after the same manner that is as ch is pronounc'd by the French sch by the Germans sh by the English and lastly Tau like the Greek θ. We could give our Reasons for this way of Pronunciation if they would not take up too much room in this Dissertation But those that are not so well vers'd in these things may consult Drusius's old Hebrew Alphabet But as we hinted before in the more remarkable Names we have had a greater regard to Custom than to the power of the Letters and at other times thought it sufficient to make use of those Latin Letters that nearest resembled them IX Forasmuch as we have endeavour'd to translate and write Annotations upon the Sacred Volumes of the Hebrews after so many Learned Men we freely acknowledge that we have all along made use of the Labours of other Writers and derived considerable Assistances from them In the first place we profess that we have always consulted the Old and Modern Translations in all difficult places but so as never to give a blind assent to what they say but especially the Moderns We weigh'd and examin'd every Word and Expression if it contain'd any Difficulty with no less Care and Application than if no one had gone this way before us and therefore explain'd the Reasons of them which we knew to be certainly so Yet a vast difference ought to be made between the Ancient and the later Versions which we have accurately observed for since as we took notice in the former Dissertation the ancient Interpreters were able to know the Significations of Words and Phrases from the use of the Languages then in being their very Authority is by no means to be despised when it opposes no Reasons deduced from Grammar On the other hand The Opinions of the Modern Interpreters unless they are supported by the Truth ought to be little regarded because they had no other way to find out the Meaning of the Scripture but by long Study as well as we and therefore are not to be admitted unless they give substantial Grounds for what they avouch This is the Reason why we seldom borrow'd any Testimony from the new Translations because that after all the plausible Reasons they give for their particular Versions yet whether the Authority of their Translations goes for or against us 't is of it self of no weight at all However we would not be so mis-understood as if we despised them since we have frequently used them with great Advantage on our side but we thought our selves obliged to make this open Confession that the Reader might know once for all why we alledge their Authority so seldom Besides all or most of their Versions could not be compared without too great a Fatigue to the Reader and too tiresom a Prolixity nor censured without incurring the Envy of several ill-disposed Persons which we would willingly avoid Wherefore we thought it more advised to omit all the Modern Versions whatever and only to take our Testimonies from the Ancient and to compare them one with another though we are far from pretending to give an accurate Collation of them This would have proved too tedious a Work and indeed far different from our Design who intended to find out what the Sacred Writers meant and not how often or how much the Interpreters have deviated from their Sence We have likewise consulted the Annotations and Commentaries of several Writers but more especially have we read over a far greater number of Books that have occasionally treated of Sacred things and explained several Passages of Scripture Out of all these whatever seem'd necessary and to the purpose have we inserted into our Commentaries and indeed we have generally cited the names of the latter But as for those who have professedly written upon the Sacred Books we have more seldom made use of their Names because as they may be easily consulted so large Collections out of their Books are in every Bodies hands Our principal Aim was to set down those Observations by which we believed the Scriptures might be illustrated and not to swell our Volume with a Catalogue of Names which have no Authority in things of this nature But as we said before we have more frequently cited by name those that have not writ a continued Commentary as well out of Gratitude because some of them have given us much greater Helps than all the Commentators put together as also because
By what means says Isaac Vossius p. 398. could that Animal for instance which from the slowness of its Motion is called the Lazy arrive to Noah's Ark and travel so many Miles which after its own natural Pace it could not perform in the space of Twenty thousand years Let the Patrons of an Universal Deluge likewise inform us after what manner Id. p. 186. these Animals leaving Noah's Ark and the ancient World found their way into America and Lands that are disjoyned by a vast Ocean Another Absurdity too would follow which is this that such innumerable sorts of Creatures which were unknown to our World both formerly and now should pass through such mighty Tracts of Ground and not leave any remainders of their several Kinds in their former Habitations Sixthly The very building of the Ark presents us with no less Difficulties if it were true what the generality of Mankind believes viz. That it was a common Receptacle of all Beasts and that we cannot name one Animal whose Posterity did not come out of this Mansion If we only compute those Creatures which are frequently found in the old World yet the room which the Scriptures allow for this Ark could not contain so many different Species and the Food that was necessary to maintain them so long But if we take in the Beasts of the New World and the Southern Hemisphere there will not be room enough for the Animals themselves much less for the vast Provisions to keep them alive there Besides a Man cannot easily comprehend how these Animals after what manner soever they were distributed into their Cells and their several Apartments kept clean could live so long in this close Confinement The Question too may be put whether they generated in the Ark which if any one denies 't is very strange that these Brutes which if you except a few of them are hot for Copulation once a year at least should abstain from it and if 't is affirm'd then as their Off-spring increased there must be of course a greater Consumption of their Provisions Several Persons here have recourse to Miracles which as they might happen so we need not suppose them without urgent necessity But what necessity is there that Countries destitute of Men and the Animals of those Countries should be overflown Seventhly To lessen this Difficulty perhaps it may be objected That no more Creatures were created in every Species than in that of Man But the above-mention'd Learned Man thus confutes them God says he from the Creation fill'd the whole World according to the respective Faculty of every Country and Sea with all sorts of Beasts Fishes and Trees But Man alone is said to be created by himself Now it would be monstrously absurd to imagine That only two Animals of every Species and that only in one place were formed by God Almighty For if we are of that Opinion what will become of those Plants and Animals which only breed in peculiar Continents and which for the above-mention'd reason could not be transferr'd and propagated from our World to theirs IV. These are the Arguments which have been urged to prove That only the inhabited part of the Earth and its Animals suffer'd in the Deluge But because the Maintainers of the contrary Opinion object That when God speaks all Humane Reasoning ought to cease True it is say the Patrons of a Particular Flood and so it ought if the Divine Words would only admit of an Interpretation And thus the most Reverend Bishop of Worcester Dr. Stillingfleet in the third Book and fourth Chapter of his Origines Sacrae where he treats of this Subject with that Learning and Judgment which is so peculiar to him owns that it cannot be proved by any necessary Arguments drawn from the Scriptures that the whole Superficies of the Earth was overflow'd We are at leisure now to examine the Answers they bring to the above-cited Reasons First Though All Creatures are said to be admitted into the Ark yet they observe that the word All is of doubtful Signification and is very seldom taken absolutely but in most places is restrained to the Subject then in hand Even in the Writings of Moses himself where he tell us That a Famine prevail'd in All the Earth our Divines own that 't is to be understood only of a particular part of the World Thus Vossius nay other Writers when they speak of a considerable number of Animals express themselves after the same manner Livy speaking of the Circensian Spectacles as they were exhibited in his Age has the following words Lib. 44. c. 9. It was the Fashion then even before our Modern Vanity was introduced of filling the Circus with the Beasts of ALL NATIONS to divert the People with several sorts of Spectacles Here a few Nations that were either Neighbours or Subjects of the Roman People are called Omnes Gentes In like manner several Birds and Beasts in the Prophet Ezekiel Ch. 31.6 where the King of Egypt is described under the Representation of a Tree are called All. In the Leaves of it All the Birds of the Air built their Nests under its Boughs All the Beasts of the Field did Copulate and under its Shade did dwell All Nations See Daniel 4.18 so likewise Hosea 4.3 where the great Devastation of Judaea is described Therefore says the Prophet the Earth shall Mourn and All dwelling therein among the Beasts of the Field and the Birds of the Air they shall fall Sick yea the Fishes of the Sea shall be destroy'd Therefore All Animals Clean and Unclean that were let into the Ark are to be understood only of those which that Country produc'd where the first Seat of Mankind was viz. That Fruitful Territory about the Tigris and Euphrates And perhaps the All here does not comprehend those of All Kinds but only All those which are useful to Man Of which Nature are the Cattel they feed upon as Oxen Sheep c. Horses Asses Camels which were there imploy'd in carrying of Burdens but therefore call'd Vnclean because they were not used for Food Of Birds there might be Cocks Geese Ducks Pigeons Ravens c. Nor is it strange that Noah was commanded to preserve these Animals which could not be had out of the neighbouring Countries nor tamed without a long and tedious Trouble As for what relates to Noah the Reasons why he was not ordered to fly to the adjoyning Country where the Deluge did not reach were because other People should not follow him thither Besides it was convenient that the Ark wherein he was to be preserved from the Deluge should be built before those very Persons to whom he foretold it that so they might be convinc'd he spoke to them in earnest God Almighty as Vossius conjectures thought that his Justice was not to be exerted but in a convenient place Now what more convenient place can be imagin'd than this where the Guilty were to be punish'd in Noah's sight and he that was
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
they understood very well But I had rather the Reader should be convinced of this Truth by the perusal of our Work than by our own Boasting In our Annotations we have only endeavoured to open and illustrate that which is called the Grammatical and by the School-men the Literal Sence We have there laid down no Theological or Theoretical no Moral or Practical Conclusions as well because it would have too much swell'd the bulk of the Work as because after the Grammatical Sence is once fully understood 't is the easiest matter in the World to find out the Theoretical or Practical Doctrines especially to those that have read any Systems of Divinity or Morality We have also meddled with no Theological Controversies because it was not our Intention to gratifie this or that Party but what all good Christians ought to agree in the lovers of the Holy Scriptures and of the Truth As for those Persons that take a delight to know these Squabbles which it were better for the Interest of Mankind that they were extinguish'd they may have Books and Comments more than enough written merely to gratifie a Faction and these they may turn over at their leisure Perhaps some People will censure me that I have not handled every thing more like a Divine but let them know whoever they be that I purposely left that Province to be manag'd by their sublimer Wits We might indeed be justly blamed if we omitted any thing we promised to perform but since it was never in our Thoughts as we have solemnly affirm'd to retail Theological Dogma's it would be hard measure to condemn us for what we never promised Nay they have our leave to despise these our Performances in comparison of Theological and abstruser Contemplations We 'll not disown if they please that we did not penetrate into the obscure meaning of the Holy Writers that lurks under the Cortex Grammaticus Let us be thought to understand no more in the Sacred Books of the Hebrews than the Authors were willing the People should understand which Antonius in Cicero speaking of the Graecian Learning frankly owns of himself If we have been able to attain but to this small Pittance every where we shall mightily congratulate our selves and others of vulgar Understanding to whose Apprehension this was suited But as we had often occasion to doubt whether our Conjectures were right and could not make out the meaning clear enough by the help of Grammar and Criticism alone or else several meanings of equal Probability offered themselves The Reader may observe that both in our Paraphrase and Commentary we use a doubtful and no Dogmatical Stile and perhaps he will there discover frequenter Reasons for suspending his Opinion than in most Writings of this nature But since every Man Believes and Doubts for himself I must inform those Learned Gentlemen that have a greater insight in these Matters that I writ for my self and such as stand upon the same level and may they hug themselves with the sweet Contemplation that they know more than their Neighbours Least we should betray any one into Mistakes we made a scruple to assert some things positively when neither by the assistance of others nor by our own Endeavours we were able to fix any certain Judgment However it does not follow that People do not invent because they do not affirm As we vastly disagree from the Opinion of those Persons who believe that nothing can be made out in Scripture with the help of Grammar alone unless Tradition comes in for a share so we do not believe that it can explain and clear every thing We are sure we have found it so Now where the matter was not evident beyond all possibility of Dispute we have taken care to restrain all rash Determinations which would be an unpardonable Imposition on the World if we should affirm things false or things unknown besides that nothing can be more Scandalous than to let our Approbation run before our Knowledge III. So much we thought our selves oblig'd to say concerning our Manner of Interpreting in general now we shall proceed to lay before our Reader the Difficulties that gave us no little Pain when we first began to set Pen to Paper If we rendred word for word it was apparent that the Version would become unserviceable to those that were unacquainted with Hebrew for whose use it was principally intended For it had been utterly impossible for them to understand it unless they perpetually consulted the Comments where nevertheless many Grammatical Criticisms of small importance are omitted And frequently too those that are unskillful in Hebraisms would have wrested them in a wrong Sence And now if to avoid these Inconveniencies we had follow'd a different Conduct allowing our selves too great a Latitude it was to be fear'd lest in obscure places we might impose our own Conjectures upon the Reader instead of the meaning of the Sacred Writers I know 't will be replied to all this That a middle way is then to be observ'd whereby the Translation shall neither be made so servile and close as to become obscure and mis-lead those that are only skill'd in Latin nor too lax or redundant so as to shew the Interpreter rather than the Writer himself But so severe an Undertaking is much harder to be well perform'd than 't is easie to talk of it as we shall shew by a few Examples 'T is a frequent Hebraism And he lift up his Eyes and saw Et sustulit oculos vidit See Gen. 13.10 18.2 22.4 13. 24.62 31.10 12. 37.25 39.7 43.28 This Phrase with the Hebrews as it appears by the above-mentioned places signifies to look round about one to see things at hand and remote and the like We frequently meet with it in the other Books of the Old Testament in the same Sence so that there is no room left to doubt of its Signification Now the Latins have the same Phrase but then 't is in a different meaning Those that are afraid and ashamed we use to say dare not oculos attollere and on the other hand those People tollunt oculos that are possess'd with no Apprehensions as it were easie to prove by several Instances Therefore this Hebraism we saw was not to be verbally translated There is a like Expression Chap. 29.1 Et sustulit Jacobus pedes And Jacob lift up his feet and went into the Eastern Country Now who could make any thing of tollere pedes The Latins indeed say Efferre inferre ferre pedem but in another Sense The Reader must be forc'd to own that these Hebraisms were so to be rendred in the Translation as to have Latin Phrases substituted in their room But there are other Hebraisms too no less frequent that afford us a juster occasion of doubting The Hebrews often use to subjoyn an Infinitive to any other Mood or Tense of the same Verb as dying thou shalt die seeing I saw and innumerable
't is impossible to make a Translation of the Scripture without a Man's interposing his own Sence against his Will Though it were to be wish'd that the Sacred Volumes could be so translated that our own Conjectures might not be read instead of the Divinely Inspir'd Author's meaning whether obscure or clear But this is impracticable for the above-mention'd Reasons and therefore after we have done all that we can to explain the Sence of the Scripture as plainly as 't is possible the World must either acquiesce in our Endeavours or every one must study Hebrew in his own defence and take the best Method he can to satisfie himself We have taken that care all along in our Translation as very seldom to interpose our own Judgment where the place was somewhat doubtful but it was impossible to use this Caution every where However we have faithfully set down in our Annotations what Conjunction or Preposition was read in the Hebrew word (f) In the Hebrew 't is and Noah and he staid but M. le Clerk has translated it Noachus tamen Expectavit tamen But with our Author's leave haec videntur esse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notata Consult our Notes upon Genesis 6.8 Chap. 8.12 We have also observed that sometimes the true Signification of the Particles is wrested where the Translator did not clearly understand why the Sacred Writers have used them in certain places See our Comment upon (g) Where agreeably to the Hebrew our Author has translated it supra Firmamentum St. Jerom sub Firmamento the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or juxta Firmamentum the English in the Firmament But his Reasons are too long to be set down Gen. 1.20 some have made no difficulty to use Latin Particles not such as exactly answer the Hebrew but such as they would have used if they had been obliged to express the same things in Latin after their own manner which Conduct may throw both Translators and Readers into very shameful Mistakes But we in the Translation of the Hebrew Particles have never receded from the most commonly received Signification of them unless we were absolutely forced to do it although sometimes it was none of the most proper For we are well satisfied that all Nations in the World do not connect their Sentences after the same manner and that we are not to introduce them using the same Thread of Narration if we design faithfully to Copy their different ways of Speaking If this had been duly considered by that Learned Author who has obliged the World with a laborious and useful Book called The Concordance of the Particles he had mightily lessened the Significations which he attributes to them for very often he minds nothing else but how to substitute an agreeable or a more emphatical Latin Particle in the place of the Hebrew The same ingenious Person has observed that these Particles are sometimes redundant and sometimes deficient which he has evinced by several unquestionable Examples though some of them 't is true may be call'd into question For as there are some places where 't is apparent that they either abound or ought to be supplied so there are others where they give us no small difficulty which 't is not in the power of every little Pretender to remove For instance if in Gen. 19.26 where we have render'd it And she became a Pillar of Salt we suppose the two Particles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be wanting as they commonly are then the Sence of that passage will be And she became like a Statue in a saltish Soil which seems to be the genuine Sence of the words as we have observed in our Dissertation upon that subject 'T is undoubted that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be understood Gen. 24.23 Ch. 38.11 and perhaps 't is understood in the abovemention'd place rather than express'd to avoid the harshness of the Sound which would happen there if the foregoing word terminated in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We have likewise shewn upon (h) Where Ishmael is said in the Original to be Onager homo instead of instar Onagri So Job 11.12 Pullus Onagri nascitur homo instead of rudis instar Pulli Onagri Gen. 16.12 that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Similitudinis as the Grammarians use to call it is frequently wanting However least we should forcibly seem to fasten our own meaning upon Moses's words we have rendred it verbatim as 't is in the Original See a farther instance of an Ellipsis of the like nature (i) In the Hebrew 'tis The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor the God of their Father where the Particle and is wanting after Nabor Gen. 31.53 We have brought some (k) As that of Levit. Et Postridie E T reliquiae ex to comedentur Where the Particle Et is certainly superfluous See other Examples in Ch. Noldius where he handles this Particle Numb 74. Examples upon Gen. 20.16 where Vau abounds and if we did not know that it was redundant the meaning would be perplex'd and obscure It is manifestly redundant Gen. 22.4 Nay sometimes it abounds in the beginning of a Book as in the first Verse of the Prophet Jonah And the Word of the Lord c. who for all that is no more tacked to Obadiah than Obadiah is to Amos. This occasion'd a certain Person to conclude absurdly that all the Books of the Old Testament were the Collections of one and the same Man connected together after that manner VII To this may be added their everlasting way of forming their Narrations by Preterperfect or Future Tenses joyn'd together by the Conjunction Vau which gave us no small trouble 'T is very certain that no Emphasis is design'd by it and that it may best be express'd by Latin Participles or other Particles with which the Latins use to joyn the parts of their Sentences together as all Interpreters have done although some of them have used this Liberty more sparingly than others However 't is an eternal Drudgery in a strict Translation frequently to change the structure of the Phrase nor indeed can any thing excuse our so doing but mere Necessity Therefore in the first Chapter of Genesis we were often forced to omit the Conjunction and exchange it for the Latin Particles verò autem deinde tum enim postea dein quoque etiam at que and such-like At other times we used Participles as the Reader will discover in abundance of places if he comparts our Translation with the Hebrew For instance the two and thirtieth Chapter is thus joyn'd together 1. AND Jacob went AND they met him 2. AND Jacob said AND he called the name of the place 3. AND Jacob sent 4. AND he commanded them 6 AND the Messengers returned 7. AND he was afraid AND was in distress AND he divided 8. AND he said c. Which would be insupportable in Latin There are several Versions of the
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
new Controversies that then employ'd the whole Christian World so that the Interpreters rather busied themselves to confute Errors than give us a plain and critical Enarration of the words I will not say that by thus inclining their Studies Men of Parts and Learning have been so far led out of the way that they have sought out Doctrines which were true indeed and agreeable to Religion in improper places though nothing be more certain however 't is manifest that by so doing they have neglected several helps necessary for the understanding of Languages since 't is impossible for a Man to grasp every thing at the same time They that have read the most celebrated Commentaries of the Divines of the last Age and examined their Translations know how true this is and to prove it to those that never looked upon them would be labour lost They that employ'd their time most this way chiefly depended upon some late Grammarians of the Jews and Modern Rabbins but were in a manner destitute of all other Assistances of Critical Learning I would fain know which of them in the last Age applied the Histories of the old Eastern People who border'd upon the Hebrews and what we find in ancient Authors relating to their Manners Opinions and their Country towards the Illustration of the Scriptures two or three perhaps and no more Nevertheless St. Jerom had long ago advised though no body would regard him That 't was one thing to compose Books of our own as for instance about Covetousness Faith Virginity Widows and upon each of these Heads to â—â—duce Testimonies from all parts of the Bible and set them off with a little secular Eloquence and make a magnificent appearance upon such common subjects and another thing to dive into the Sence of the Prophets and Apostles to know why they writ so by what reasons they support their Opinions what peculiar things the Idumeans the Moabites the Ammonites the Tyrians the Philistines the Egyptians and Assyrians have to themselves in the Old Testament For 't is necessary continues he that they should have different Causes and Arguments and Originals according to the Diversity of Places and Times and Men to whom they were written But neither in St. Jerom's time nor afterwards did any one before our Age regard this Advice as it deserved so that our Ancestors have left us a very ample Harvest for this sort of Learning upon this account we may pretend to set out more accurate Translations and Annotations upon the Scriptures than they did though we are otherwise inferior to them in Wit Learning and Industry In their times Theological and Moral Precepts could hardly be inculcated enough but now since they are known to all we lie under no necessity to dwell upon them any longer Therefore have we employ'd our selves in that way of Interpretation which we have describ'd in this Dissertation and have endeavour'd to observe the Laws we enjoyn'd our selves very Religiously How we have succeeded in our Performance let other Persons judge who have pursued these Studies out of a desire to find out the Truth to whose Censure we most willingly submit our Undertaking and shall be always ready to receive their Instructions and Emendations with all imaginable Gratitude Dissertation III. Concerning Moses the Writer of the Pentateuch and his Design in writing I. The Necessity of Treating of the Writer of the Pentateuch II. Three sorts of things we find in the Pentateuch 1. Those that happen'd before Moses 2. The Actions of Moses which were without doubt first written by himself 3. Other things which really are or at least seem to be later than the Age of Moses III. Those Passages which some People imagine to be later than Moses are examined IV. That very few places can come under that Denomination however that the Pentateuch ought not to be given away from Moses upon that account V. That 't is uncertain who made those Additions VI. That the Design of the Writer is of great Importance towards the better understanding of his Writings VII Moses's Design in writing the Pentateuch inquired into THE two former Dissertations had a relation to the other Books of the Old Testament as well as to those of Moses but now we intend to treat of the Mosaical Writings exclusive of the rest for we cannot well omit the Discussion of that celebrated Question which has been so warmly debated in this Age viz. Whether Moses writ the Pentateuch Some Authors that have made no small noise in the World have positively asserted that it was not writ by Moses or at least that such as it has come down to our hands it is not wholly his However we in our Commentaries according to the received Opinion of the most ancient Times have all along attributed it to him Therefore we must now enquire which of the two Opinions is most agreeable to Truth and this we shall perform after such a manner as not to bring the least Reproaches or invidious Reflections but only Reason and Arguments against those that are of the contrary side neither out of an unmeasurable Prepossession shall we deny those things that are evidently plain Then after we have fully proved the Pentateuch to be the Work of Moses we shall endeavour to find out his Design in writing it No Thinking Man will doubt but that both these Disquisitions are of the last Consequence towards the better understanding of these Books and since they could not so conveniently be handled in our Commentary we shall dispatch them in this Dissertation with all the brevity we can II. There are three sorts of things to be found in the Writings of Moses which we must here take into our Consideration We shall have soon done with the two first but we shall dwell somewhat longer upon the last The first comprehends those things which were done before Moses was born at least before he came to years of Maturity of which nature is the History compriz'd in Genesis and the beginning of Exodus and here if we except a few places which we shall hereafter examine we find nothing that may induce us to believe that Moses was not the Author No body doubts but that the Creation of the World and the other Matters of Fact which are there related down to Moses's Parents might be written by him Learned Men only doubt whether Moses really writ them and if he writ them whether he was the first that convey'd them down to Posterity in writing or whether he might not take what he has from ancienter Memoirs which were afterwards lost If Moses was the first that writ of these Matters and they were never consign'd in Writing before it necessarily follows that he must either have them by an immediate Revelation from God or else that they were communicated to him by Men who preserved them in their Memories for there is no other way for him to arrive to the Knowledge of them Now he no where tells us they
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
where the Ark was and Abraham and the Israelites from the Clouds and the midst of Fire They sometimes discover'd an Angel discoursing with them under a humane Shape by the Majesty of his Looks and the unusual Splendor of his Eyes The Wife of Manoah in Jud. 13.6 The Man of God says she of the Angel whom she saw comes towards me and his Look is like the Look of an Angel of God very terrible By this means Nebuchadnezzar seems to have known the Angel among the Children whom he commanded to be thrown into the fiery Furnace The Resemblance of the fourth says he is like that of one of the Sons of God Sometimes miraculous Actions that were above the Power of humane Performance were added as not to mention any more we may gather from the History of Gideon Jud. 6.17 I don't now speak of the Event of things foretold for the Question at present is How at the very moment when an Appearance happen'd they were able to distinguish it from a humane Trick before the Truth of those things they predicted was ratified by the Event V. The other Question is much more difficult viz. By what means they knew whether the Highest and the God of all Gods appear'd or if I may be allow'd the Expression one of the inferior Gods or good Angels dispatched for that Message by him The ancient Jews don't seem to have sufficiently considered this matter since 't is impossible to find out in any Narration of these Appearances whether God himself or an Angel speaks and God and his Angels are said to have appear'd promiscuously in one and the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Gen. ch 16.12 ch 22. v. 1.11 12. Exod. 3.2 and Seqq. So though Exod. 20. the Lord God is said to have spoken yet the old Hebrews were of Opinion that the Law was delivered by Angels as appears from Galatians 3.19 Heb. 2.2 Act. 7. v. 38.53 and the reason of it seems to be this because good Angels never tell or command Men any thing in their own name but behave themselves as the Ambassadors and Ministers of the High God Hence St. Austin Quaest in Genes 37. and elsewhere has observed that it is not so much the Angel that speaks as God in the Angel Perhaps says he of Abraham he understood it was God that spoke to him by some plain and manifest Proofs of the Divine Majesty Which being so it signified nothing to know whether God or an Angel spoke to them The Chaldeans indeed whose Doctrine Jamblichus delivers in his Book of Mysteries Sect. 2. ch 3. Seqq. pretended to know what was the certain Token of the Presence of God or an Angel or an Arch-angel or a Daemon or a Prince or a Soul This was Porphyry's Question in which Jamblichus largely endeavours to satisfy him but I shall not here cite those Passages in him not that every thing he there says is groundless and chimerical but because the Brevity of our Work will not allow us to be more prolix upon this Subject The pious Men among the ancient Hebrews don 't seem to have been very apprehensive of the Frauds of Evil Angels in this Affair because they did not question but that the Good Angels who were appointed by God Almighty to protect the Vertuous wou'd frustrate any such Design And indeed it was not agreeable to the Divine Goodness to expose those that fear'd him to invincible Temptations which he had certainly done if there were no exteriour Signs to distinguish Evil Spirits from the Good or if those Characteristicks which were looked upon by all Mankind to be infallible Indications of a Divine or Angelical Apparition might be usurped by a wicked Power Nevertheless I will not deny but that among a vicious reprobate People whom God Almighty may be supposed to have deliver'd over to the Devil it might so fall out that unclean Spirits sometimes deceived them with the like Appearances as we have mention'd But this was not the case of the Righteous Dissertation IX Concerning the Subversion of Sodom and the Neighbouring Cities I. The Occasion of this Dissertation II. The Situation of Sodom and the Neighbouring Cities III. The Sins they were guilty of IV. A Description of their Subversion V. The Lacus Asphaltites or Dead Sea an everlasting Monument of their Destruction VI. A Description of the Country about it from whence the seventh Verse in St. Jude's Catholick Epistle is explained and some other places of the New Testament VII This History gave occasion to some remarkable Circumstances in the Story of Baucis and Philemon which Observation is illustrated by several Examples VIII Whether the Subversion of these Cities situated upon the River Jordan is to be ascribed to a Miracle or is the common Method of God Almighty's Providence when he punishes Offenders I. AMong those other Punishments which the sacred Historians tell us the Divine Justice has inflicted upon wicked Men few of them are more wonderful than the sudden Destruction of Sodom and the adjoyning Cities However the Interpreters of the Scripture when they come to this surprizing Relation scarce seem to have employ'd the care they usually bestow upon other places For which reason we judged it convenient to publish this Dissertation where we have treated this Matter more amply than the narrow limits of our Commentary wou'd allow All the Translators which it has been my fortuen hitherto to see as if they imagined there was no difficulty in the case or else had nothing to remark upon so important a Scene barely tell us that this Country was burnt and subverted by fire from Heaven and having done so think they have discharged all that is required from a Translator The truth is what we have heard and imbibed from our Infancy becomes at last so familiar to us that we receive it almost without Examination But as I have read this History with no little Application so methinks I have discover'd several Particulars in it worthy of Observation by which not only this Narration may be wonderfully illustrated but many other Passages of the H. Bible conveniently expounded What we have therefore observed upon this Occasion we have thrown into the following Dissertation which if we have not handled with that Accuracy as the Dignity of the Subject seems to deserve yet since we have done it to the best of our Abilities we hope the Learned Reader will favourably receive it II. Before we examine the Destruction it self it will be necessary for us to give a short Description of the Situation of Sodom Gomorrah Adma and Zeboim because by this means we shall the better understand how we come to see nothing but a stinking Lake where this most delightful Country formerly stood Moses thus describes the Situation of these Cities Gen. 13.10 where he relates after what manner Lot and Abraham parted But Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan that it was well watered every where before the Lord destroyed
of this nature let him consult H. Grotius upon John 3.5 But the reason why Thunder is thus described no one certainly can be ignorant of that has either smelt those places that have been struck by Thunder or has read what Learned Men have writ upon this occasion I will only give my self the trouble to set down two or three Testimonies Thunder and Lightning likewise says Pliny lib. 35. c. 15. have the Smell of Brimstone and the very Light or Flame of them is sulphureous And Seneca in the second Book of his Natural Questions ch 21. tells us that all things that are struck by Lightning have a sulphureous Smell And indeed our Natural Philosophers have plainly demonstrated that the Thunderbolt is nothing else but a sulphureous Exhalation For this Persius in his second Satire calls it Sulphus Sacrum Ignovisse putas quia cum tonet ocyus ilex Sulphure discutitur sacro quam túque domúsque On the other hand because the Thunderbolt is of a Sulphureous nature the Greeks seem to have called Brimstone in their Language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Divine by a proper name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it comes from God Now God is not barely said to have rained down Brimstone and Fire but Brimstone and Fire from the Lord where the Addition of from the Lord which at first sight may appear to be superfluous does more particularly describe the Thunder-bolt which by the Hebrews and other Nations is frequently called the Fire of God and Fire from God Thus in the second Book of Kings c. 1. v. 12. THE FIRE OF GOD came down from Heaven and devoured him See likewise Job 1. v. 16. Isaiah uses the same Expression c. 66. v. 16. He shall be punished with the FIRE OF THE LORD After this manner the Latin Poets speaks herein intimating the Graecians as Ovid. Met. l. 15. Jamque opus exegi quod nec Jovis ira nec Ignes Nec poterit ferrum nec edax abolere vetustas Statius in the first Book of his Thebais Ilicet Igne Jovis lapsisque citatior astris Tristibus exiluit ripis Because Men have no power over these kinds of Meteors and 't is impossible for them by any contrivance to ascend up to the Clouds therefore God is supposed to dwell there and to cast his Darts from thence although he is equally present in all places and does not send his Thunderbolts for any peculiar reason Thirdly Though Moses does not inform us after what manner the Thunderbolts subverted these unhappy Cities and the adjoining Territory yet since he makes mention of them we cannot comprehend how it happen'd any otherwise than that the Thunderbolts falling in great plenty upon some Pits of Bitumen the Veins of that combustible Matter took fire immediately and as the Fire penetrated into the lowermost bowels of this bituminous Soil these wicked Cities were subverted by a Tremor and sinking down of the ground We will not here enlarge how easily Naphtha which is a sort of Liquid Bitumen is set on fire The Reader may at his leisure consult what Strabo l. 16. Plutarch in the Life of Alexander and Pliny l. 2. c. 105. have said upon this Subject Perhaps in some part of this delicious Plain which was overthrown there was only the thick Bitumen but even the very Vapour of that Matter which exhales from Grounds impregnated with it is easily set on fire In Lycia the Hephoestian Mountains if you do but touch them with a lighted Torch immediately take fire so that the very Stones in the Rivers and the Sands in the Water burn If you take a Stick out of these Waters and draw Furrows upon the ground with it according to the common report a track of Fire follows it These are Pliny's words l. 2. c. 106. There is a small Hill in the Province belonging to Grenoble from whence a Smoke of a Bituminous Smell is perpetually seen to proceed Now this Smoke by a lighted Flambeau or Chaff is soon set on fire which we our selves knew to be true by Ocular Experience In that lamentable Earthquake which in the Month of January 1693. shook all Sicily after so prodigious and miserable a manner some Authors of very good credit have assured us that Thunderbolts fell in several places of the Island And this Observation is not unknown to the Ancients for Seneca Quoest Nat. l. 2. c. 30. says Aetna has sometimes burnt exceedingly and thrown up a wonderful quantity of burning Sand the day obscur'd by the Smoke and Ashes so that the People were terrified at so unexpected a Scence of Darkness At these times as the common Tradition goes there is a great deal of Thunder and Lightning And therefore the â—itumen which is so plentifully found in the Soil of Sodom might be set on fire by a Thunderbolt and since it flows or is dug not from the Superficies of the Earth but from Veins of a mighty depth when once it had taken fire the Flame must of necessity run along all those Veins and at last shake and subvert the ground The same thing frequently happens to the Fields about Aetna and Vesuvius for the very same reason Innumerable Authors have written of the Soil of Sicily but Justin shall serve for all who in the beginning of the fourth Book thus describes it The Earth is naturally thin and friable and by reason of the several Caverns and Pipes so penetrable that the greatest part of it is exposed to the violence of the Winds Nay the Genius of the Soil is proper for generating and nourishing of Fire because it is said to be crusted within with Sulphur and Bitumen which is the reason that when the Wind struggles with the Fire under ground it frequently belches out sometimes Flames sometimes Vapours and sometimes Smoke and that in several places Cornelius Severus prosecutes this Argument at large in his Poem intituled Aetna The same Observations have been made of the Grounds that lye about the Vesuvius in the Kingdom of Naples and several Towns have frequently been there overthrown by Earthquakes Pliny the Younger in the 16th Epistle l. 6. where he relates the Death of his Learned Uncle who was suffocated as he approached too near the fire of that Mountain The Houses says he with frequent and prodigious Tremblings nodded and as if they had been removed from their Foundation seemed to move this way and that way And Seneca in the sixth Book of his Natural Questions ch 1. has the following Passage We are told that Pompeii a famous City of Campania was subverted by an Earthquake This Concussion happen'd on the * Which is our fifth Nones of February under the Consulate of Regulus and Virginius and occasioned incredible losses in Campania which though it was never free from these Motions yet it seldom suffer'd by them That which Seneca tells us happen'd to the City of Pompeii do we say was the very same Calamity which visited these Cities in the Plain of