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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27998	A paraphrase on the book of Job as likewise on the songs of Moses, Deborah, David, on four select psalms, some chapters of Isaiah, and the third chapter of Habakkuk / by Sir Richard Blackmore.	Blackmore, Richard, Sir, d. 1729.	1700 (1700)	Wing B2641; ESTC R14205	136,050	332

of Men who are very apt to discover in Writings many notable things that never enter'd into the Author's Thoughts have found out wise and instructive Morals in the Poems before-mention'd yet this seems an Invention of their own For as the Learned Man before-mentioned observes 't is scarce possible to relate any wonderful Action of a Great Person or any considerable Occurrence but 't will be very easie to draw some Moral Inference from it tho' the Writer never had it in his Imagination And the very same Person has with as great grounds of Probability drawn from the Iliad and the Aencis Morals very different from those that are commonly mention'd and has offer'd sufficient Reasons to make us doubtful whether the Morals attributed to these Poems were ever intended by the Authors And if this be true of these two famous Writers that only the pleasing and amusing not the instructing of Mankind was their Design 't is more apparently true of the greatest part of the Moderns especially the Dramatick Poets Since this Book of Job and other Poetical parts of the Scripture some of which I have likewise undertaken to paraphrase does at least equal the chief Beauties of the Heathens and by their Vsefulness in their excellent Instructions infinitely excel them 't is a Matter of Admiration that the Christian Poets should be so far enamour'd with the Pagan Writings as to form themselves entirely by their Patterns to be taken up with the Study of them to the total neglect of these inspir'd Writings What pains and labour have our Men been at how great a part of their short Lives have they spent what a multitude of Volumes have they publish'd to illustrate the Meaning and discover the Excellencies of Greek and Latin Poets and to translate them into their own Languages If this were the Work of Gentlemen that had nothing else to employ themselves about and had no other Capacity of being useful to Mankind it might perhaps pass for an inoffensive Amusement and a pardonable ●ort of Idleness But 't is indeed wonderful that to give a new Sense to an Expression in an ancient Poet to slop a Period more exactly to rectifie a Word to give a truer Spelling to a Man's Name or to restore a corrupt Sentence should be look'd on as such a Perfection as sets a Man in the first Rank of Learned Men and that a kind of Knowledge which does not make Mankind any ways wiser or better should procure a mighty Reputation and dignifie the Owners of it with the honourable Titles of great Criticks and Masters of polite Learning I would not derogate from the true value of Classical Knowledge The Greek and Latin Poets should be study'd that we may understand those Languages of which there is such a manifest Necessity But 't is most evident that for the Sense for the noble and sublime Thoughts and what is more than all other Considerations for the forming a Man's Mind according to the justest Ideas of Vertue and true Wisdom and thereby promoting his Honour and his Happiness the Poetical parts of the Scripture have as before suggested an infinite advantage above all others put together and therefore one would think should not be less worthy of a Christian's Study and Application than Homer and his Followers The Language in which this Book was written is Hebrew and considering the very great difference there is between the Stil● or manner of Expression in the Eastern and Western part of the World their Eloquence as well as their Customs and Habits being of another kind than ours 't is very strange that a literal Translation of this Book as 't is now found in the Bible especially considering how long time since it was written how little the Language is understood and how much the Idiom of it is lost should not sound much more harsh and be less capable of being understood than it is I am confident that if several of the Greek Poets should be verbally translated they would be more obscure if not altogether unintelligible And if in a literal Translation the Book of Job written in an Eastern Language does so much affect us and raises in our Minds such an Admiration of its Beauty and Majesty what a wonderful and inimitable kind of Eloquence must be suppos'd in the Original when we can't translate verbatim a good Poem from one Modern Language into another tho' it be done by the nearest Neighbours without a mighty diminution of its Excellence As to the Time when Job liv'd it is highly probable that he was Moses's Predecessor or at least his Contemporary and that for these Reasons This righteous and devout Man was allow'd to offer Sacrifices to God which only the Priests under the Mosaical Dispensation had Authority to do and that only before the Tabernacle or Temple This devout Person seems intirely ignorant of the Modes of the Jewish Religion and of their manner of asking Counsel of God either by Urim and Thummim or by the Prophets and therefore 't is evident the Mosaical Scheme of Religion was not yet instituted In the whole Book of Job there is no mention made of the Law and the Prophets nor of the many Miracles wrought either in Egypt or in the Passage of the Children of Israel to Canaan though nothing could have been more pertinent and sutable to the Design of the Author of this Book had Job liv'd after that wonderful Deliverance and there is scarce any Writer that follow'd that Time that does not mention or allude to that famous History And this is yet farther confirm'd by the long Life of Job which was protracted to two hundred Years which agrees to the Times of the Old Patriarchs As to the Land of Utz the Country in which this great Man liv'd there are different Opinions occasion'd chiefly by the uncertainty which Utz it was for three are mention'd from whom it receiv'd its Name The first Utz the Son of Aram is mention'd Gen. 10. 23. who is reported to be the Founder of Damascus and Trachonitis and many Writers for this reason conclude the Seat of Job to have been in the Plain of Jordan in the Region of Trachonitis where the Tomb of Job is shown to Strangers at this day Others place it in the Famous Valley of Damascus A second Utz the Son of Nachor is mention'd Gen. 22. 21. from him the Country where he liv'd is call'd Usitis or Ausitis which by Ptolemy is plac'd near Euphrates and the City Babylon and therefore many Authors believe Job had his Habitation in that part of Arabia A third Utz who as Spanh●mius observes was a Horite of the Posterity of Sehir and not as commonly accounted of the Race of Esau is mention'd Gen. 36. 28. the Horites being driven out by the Edomites their Country was after that call'd Idumea which has for its bounds Arabia Canaan and the Red Sea and in this Country many believe was the Habitation of Job But if a Man could

remove the Obstructions of great Learning and Critical Remarks methinks it should be a very easie matter to settle this controverted Point ` T is allow'd by all that Utz the Country of Job was expos'd to the Incursions and Depredations of the Chaldeans and 't is allowed likewise that Chaldea was Eastward of Arabia Now suppose that in our English History there had been mention'd a great Man that had in ancient Times been plunder'd by a Band of Scotch-men and the Habitation or Country of this unfortunate Man being mention'd by an obscure or obsolete Word a Controversie should arise in what part of England this Man lived would not any Man that was derivered from the encumbrance of great Reading and learned Observations presently conclude that he lived in the North part of England not far from the Borders of Scotland And must it not have been a Critick of extraordinary Sagacity that should have found out his Seat in Middlesex or at the Land's End And yet those that place the Country of Job in Idumea or near Damascus remove it farther from Chaldea than those two Places before-named are from Scotland 'T is not therefore to be doubted but that the Country of Job was in the Eastern part of Arabia and 't is probable 't was near the River Euphrates and that he was of the Posterity of Nachor The Stories therefore of Job's Well near Jerusalem of his Scpulchre in the Plain of Jordan and of the Region in the North of Syria which the Inhabitants shew to Travellers for the Seat of Job are all Modern Fables and not to be regarded But much more ridiculous is the ●●rror of those Commentat●rs who make Constantinople to have been the Seat of Job The Scpulchre of Job in Armenia that favours this Opinion 't is very probable according to the Conjecture of several learned Men was erected in honour of some Captain of the Turks of that Name As to the Time when the Author of this Book liv'● there are many different Opinions Some believe 〈◊〉 this Book was wrote in the Time when the Israelites were under the Aegyptian Bondage and that it was compos'd to encourage them to a patient suffering of their Afflictions and to confirm them in their dependance upon God for Deliverance And those of this Opinion believe that either Moses himself was the Author or at least the Translator of it and that this was a Tradition among the ancient Jews several Authors testifie Others are of Opinion that the Writing was of much later date and give these Reasons for it They alledge that there are many Syriack and Arabick Words and Forms of Expression that were not in use among the ancient Hebrew Writers the Interpretation of which must be fetch'd from the Rabbins that there are many Elegancies relating to the Constellations and several Fish and Birds which shew it to be of a Modern Date and from hence they conclude that it was then wrote when these Foreign words and manners of Expression were introduc'd into the Hebrew Language They believe therefore that the Author liv'd after David and Solomon and before Ezekiel because he is mention'd by that Prophet Some believe that Isaiah himself was the Author the time when he lived being very sutable to this Conjecture besides the Majesty and Sublimity of his Stile his singular Erudition the similitude of Character and many Words and Forms of speaking common to them both Grotius imagines the Author to be an Hebrew because after the Custom of that Nation he calls Arabia the East tho' others suppose he was an Idumean because he abounds with Syriack and Arabick Words Whether he was the one or the other 't is plain the Author was well vers'd in the Hebrew Language and those of the Neighbouring Countries And that in the Writing of this Book he was under the direction and guidance of Divine Inspiration has been universally acknowledged by the Jews and Christians in all Ages But one single Reflexion prevails with me to believe that the Author was of the oldest date and that is that I cannot imagine that if he had lived after the Deliverance of the Children of Israel from their Aegyptian Bondage and after the Institution of the Mosaical Scheme of Religion he could have been so perfectly silent as to both 'T is hardly to be imagin'd that if he had liv'd after Moses he should ever have design'd to be so accurate and nice in relation to Time as not to say any thing in the whole Book but what might be well suppos'd to have been said by one who liv'd before Moses This exact Care seems not agreeable to the Writers of that Age. And if it should be suppos'd that an Author that many years after took this Subject of Job to write upon should resolve to say nothing but what might be fit to be said in that time when Job liv'd yet 't is a great difficulty to believe that he should be so successful as not in any one Place or in any one Expression to drop any thing that should mention or allude to some Matters of Fact that happen'd after especially such famous ones as the Miracles wrought when the Israelites were brought out of Aegypt their Settlement in the Land of Canaan and the Rites of the Mosaical Religion The same Reasons therefore that convince me that Job himself liv'd before or in the Time of Moses perswade me to think the Author of this Poem whoever he was did so too and therefore 't is very probable that this of Job is the oldest Book in the World The Argument of the Poem is this Job a Prince in his Country of distinguish'd Piety and eminent Justice at the Entrance of the Narration is represented as happy as the favour of Heaven and the affluence of all Earthly Possessions can make him From this present State of Prosperity he is all on a sudden by the permission of Providence for the trial of his Integrity depriv'd of his Estate his Children his Friends and Health and reduc'd to a Condition as perfectly miserable as his former had been happy After this surprizing change of his Fortune to exasperate the bitterness and anguish of his Soul his Wife in a most profane manner provokes and tempts him to quit all his Pretensions to Piety and desperately to renounce all his dependence upon God and all expectations of Deliverance from him In this she is imitated by the Aegyptians and old Grecians as well as other Idolatrous Countries who us'd under any great Calamities to rail bitterly at their Gods to pull down their Images and drag them about the Streets to be reveng'd on them for not preventing their misfortunes After this three Persons eminent for their Birth Vertue and Wisdom Eliphaz Bildad and Zophar perhaps Elihu was with Job before went to comfort their distress'd Friend Their Design was good and they considering that Wickedness was the meritorious Cause of Suffering and that Divine Justice was not to be clear'd if

middle Opinion that is that this is a Poem founded on a true History as those of Homer probably were But then they say the Conduct the Method the Machines the Incidents and the Episodes which make up a great part of the Poem were form'd in the Poet's Imagination and that therefore this Poem is of the Epick kind As to the first Opinion I think the Scriptures fully confute it by asserting the Person and Patience of Job so plainly that it leaves no room for any tolerable Evasion As to the two last many things of Weight and Importance may be urg'd on either side and therefore I shall not undertake to decide the Controversie but content my self in giving the Reasons that I have read or heard offer'd to support each Assertion Those of the last Opinion in the defence of it alledge that the Frame of the whole Book shews it to be the Work of Imagination and Contrivance and not a relation of a Series of real Actions No Body can believe say they that Satan did really appear before God and that the Discourse recited in the Book was indeed held between them in the Presence of the Holy Angels 'T is not credible that the Messengers that brought an account to Job of so many Sufferings that befel him did really come upon the heels of one another so fast and in such a manner as is there related They think 't is improbable that Job should sit so long upon a Dunghil and that his Acquaintance should wait seven days and nights together without speaking a word to their sorrowful Friend They look on this to be a Poetical way of representing the vast Distress that overwhelmed the patient Sufferer They say 't is incredible that all those prolix Discourses should be actually held between Job and his Friends and that a Man in such sad Circumstances as Job is supposed to be should speak so very long and use so many Poetical Similes Metaphors and beautiful Descriptions as are found in his several Speeches They urge also that it has an Air of Contrivance to sink a Man so suddenly from the most prosperous Condition and to lay him under such grievous Sufferings and the very extremity of Misery and then by a no less sudden and surprizing Revolution in so short a space of time to make him again the most happy Man in the World They urge that in the Catastrophe when this patient Man is rewarded for his inflexible Perseverance the allotting him just the same number of Children as he had lost and just a double quantity of Riches as he enjoyed before seems too nice to be a real Fact The Men of this Opinion do not dispute the reality of the Person of Job They allow there was a Person of that Name eminent for his Righteousness and famous for his Patience for this the Scriptures expresly affirm and they suppose some great Poet under the Guidance and Assistance of Divine Inspiration did for the Instruction of Mankind chuse this Subject and contrive the Poem upon it of which we are now discoursing They affirm that this Poem of Job is of the Epick kind here being found all the essential parts requir'd in the Constitution of such a Poem They add farther as a confirmation of their Opinion that though Machines that is the introducing of Invisible Superiour Beings and the interesting of them in the Business of the Poem are not necessary to an Epick Poem yet as it does greatly heighten and embelish the Narration they can't but take notice that this Conduct is observed here for the chief Apostate Angel and even the Divine Being himself are both introduced in the most proper manner that can be and as this perhaps is the Original of that sort of Writing so it does thereby discover a great Air of the Allegorial Epick Poetry Those on the other side argue thus As according to a settled Maxim of Interpreting the Scriptures we should not without apparent Necessity quit the plain and literal Sense and embrace a foreign more strain'd and less obvious Meaning so without the same necessity we should not turn the Relation of any Fact into Invention and Allegory And to make it appear that there is no such reason in this Case they alledge that there is nothing related in this Book but what may well be suppos'd to have actually happened that though many things appear improbable and hardly credible to the Reader this is no convincing proof that they were not real Facts For all Men that are are verst in History will meet with many wonderful and improbable Occurrences which notwithstanding upon sufficient Evidence they are forc'd to believe and they say that for that reason because the Facts were so extraordinary and surprizing they were recorded in this Book for our Admiration and Instruction They had rather give their Assent to some things that sound only harsh and improbable for many such Relations are undoubtedly true than by departing from the literal Sense encourage and embolden uncautious and wanton Wits to break in upon the Scriptures and turn the History of the Bible into Parables and Allegories for the Consequence of such a licentious way of interpreting the Scriptures they look on as very mischievous They think that the unnecessary Concessions of some Divines in these Points tend mightily to unsettle Men in the Principles of their Religion and weaken their Reverence of Divine Revelation They do indeed al●ow the appearance of Satan before the Throne of God and the Discourse on that Occasion to be an Allegory for there are cogent Reasons for it but for the rest of the relations in the Book they see no necessity of making them Allegorical also There is the like Allegory us'd in the History of Ahab where 't is said a Spirit appear'd before the Throne of God and offer'd to be a lying Spirit in the Mouths of Ahab's Prophets to perswade their Master to go down to War to R●amath Gilead and he had leave given him to do so But though this be an Allegory yet without doubt all the rest of the Story about this Expedition of Ahab against the King of Syria was real And to be more particular that Almighty God should permit the great Enemy of Mankind to afflict and persecute a great and a good Man for the proof of his Constancy and Uprightness and to make his Vertues more conspicuous and exemplary that he should leave him for a time under this sharp and severe Trial and at last deliver the patient Sufferer and restore him to his former flourishing Condition This has nothing in it but what is very agreeable to the Course of Divine Providence and if there be any Facts in the Book that seem improbable 't is owing to the Poetical manner of representing them in which perhaps the Time Order Place and other Circumstances are not so nicely observed But whether this be an Epick or barely an Historical Poem which I leave undecided the Character of Job