A TREATISE OF THE Situation OF PARADISE Written by P. D. HUET Bishop of SOISSONS To which is prefixed a Map of the adjacent Countries Translated from the French Original LONDON Printed for James Knapton at the Sign of the Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCXCIV TO THE READER OUR first Parents READER were turned out of Paradise for their Disobedience Many of their Posterity endeavour by their Disbelief of Moses's Writings to turn Paradise out of the World To stop and correct this Humour several Learned Books have been put in Print and this the last of all It was writ by that Excellent and much Celebrated Peter Daniel Huet now Bishop of Soissons in France Because the French Copy was scarce and like to be so and the Argument so useful in these days It hath been judged very expedient to put it forth in English Atheists and Scoffers whom the Psalmist calls Pests usually demand What 's become of Paradise Shew us the place in the Maps And if this be not done for them they are generally lazy with all exactness butted and bounded by Longitude and Latitude hedged in with Degrees and Minute Measures attested also by Strabo and Ptolomy they will slide into a disbelief first of Genesis then of the whole Bible and lastly of all revealed Religion This great and wise Author hath pitched upon that very Method which this sort of Men call for He treateth the cause and question with good profane History which they so much love and Humane Testimony Could the Situation of Persepolis of Solomon's Tadmor the course of Virgil's Timavus be so clearly described and set out I suppose these Men would cease their Disputings about those Matters In the present Controversie they are more yare For should they acknowledge Satisfaction in this Point they must alter retract and part with many other their ill grounded Perswasions They mightily doubt the reality of the Torments of Hell because they have not yet found it proved to be Local This is very difficult to prove for should one come from the Dead they would not believe him I see no way more probable to remove their distrust than Experiment But who ought to be at the Pains and Cost of it but they that want to be convinced Well then If these Men stand to their own Principles they must henceforth allow the History of Paradise for it is here so fully and plainly evidenced to be Local as any thing can possibly be so distant in time and remote in Situation A TABLE OF THE Chapters and Sections OF THIS TREATISE PREFACE 1 THE Occasion and Argument of this Work Page 1 2 The manner how it is handled p. 3 3 Diversity of Opinions upon the Situation of the Terrestrial Paradise ibid. 4 And upon such things as have any reference to its Situation p. 5 5 And also upon some other matters concerning Paradise which are out of our Subject p. 6 6 Mr. Bochart who intended to treat of this matter hath not made known clearly his mind p. 7 7 We cannot discover the Situation of Paradise but by the words of Moses p. 9 CHAP. I. The Text of Moses and a Summary declaration of our Opinion 1 THE Text of Moses where the Situation of Paradise is described p. 10 2 The Opinions which have been proposed hitherto do not agree with the words of Moses which do mark it out exactly p. 11 3 Our Opinion is the only one which doth agree with them p. 12 4 A short declaration of our Opinion ibid. 5 No Opinion cometh nigher â—o ours than that of Calvin and Scaliger p. 14 CHAP. II. The Explanation of the eighth Verse of the second Chapter of Genesis 1 THE Obscurity and Ambiguity of this eighth Verse p. 15 2 What the word Eden signifieth Many take it for a Noun Appellative p. 16 3 Others differ about it but the greatest part take it for the name of a place p. 18 4 A frivolous distinction of the Rabbins between Eden marked with five Points and Eden marked with six p. 19 5 The Preposition which is added to the word Eden proveth that it is a name of a place ibid. 6 Many places have been called by the name of Eden p. 21 7 The Situation of Eden where Paradise was p. 22 CHAP. III. A Continuation of the Explanation of the eighth Verse 1 A New Ambiguity in this Verse by the Hebrew word Mikkedem p. 26 2 Mikkedem may signifie Time and Place but here it doth signifie specially Place p. 30 3 One might alledge to prove this the ancient Custom of the Christians to set their Churches Eastward p. 31 4 Moses hath always used the word Mikkedem in the signification of a Place p. 33 5 Moses doth signifie here by the Word Mikkedem that Paradise was situated in the Eastern Part of Eden p. 34 CHAP. IV. The Explanation of the tenth Verse 1 THE Ambiguity of the tenth Verse p. 37 2 The Foundation of that opinion which maketh the four Rivers of Paradise rise out of the same Spring and to dive under ground and spring again some where else p. 40 3 The opinion which holdeth that the River which did go out of Eden to water Paradise did spring without Paradise and Eden is better grounded p. 42 4 It is supported by the description which Moses hath given p. 43 5 An approach to more exact knowledge of the Situation of Paradise p. 44 CHAP. V. A Continuation of the Explanation of the tenth Verse 1 A New Ambiguity in this Verse The division of the River was made out of the Garden p. 47 2 The four heads into which the River was divided were four different Rivers p. 49 3 Why these four Rivers were called heads p. 51 CHAP. VI. The Explanation of the eleventh Verse 1 A General view of the course of the Euphrates and Tigris p. 56 2 The face of the Country through which the Euphrates and Tigris run is very much changed since Moses his days p. 57 3 The Euphrates at first had but one Chanel which joined it to the Tigris but since many others have been made p. 58 4 More Chanels drawn out of the Euphrates p. 60 5 Other Alternations made in those places p. 62 6 Some have denied without reason that the Tigris and Euphrates after their conjunction separate themselves before they fall into the Sea p. 64 CHAP. VII A Continuation of the Explanation of the eleventh Verse 1 THE most common opinion concerning the Phison is That it is the Ganges p. 67 2 Foundations of this Opinion p. 68 3 They do not satisfie the Objections p. 70 4 Some have believed that the Phison is Indus others Hydaspes others Hyphasis p. 72 5 Haython believed it to be Oxus ibid. 6 Many Rabbins Nilus ibid. 7 Others Phasis p. 73 8 Some Danube ibid. 9 Some others Naharmalca p. 74 10 And others lastly the Eastern Chanel of those two into which the Tigris and Euphrates are divided after their former conjunction p. 75
willingly did take upon me that Debt and should clear it one time or other I do it now Gentlemen and I 'll endeavour that it may be in good coin But to confess the truth in this I do not so much perform my Promise as I follow my Inclination And as I have had the honour for many years of being a Member of your Society and having been received amongst you in so favourable a manner I am very glad to give you publickly this mark of my Thankfulness and to shew the World that I glory in the title of being with you a Member of the Academy But above all I most passionately desire to express the great Veneration I have for a Society so famous for the Vertue Honour Politeness great Parts and great Learning of its Members and more to be valued for those Qualities which put it far out of the reach of Detraction and Envy than for the eminent Dignities of most of the Members of it II. But yet Gentlemen don't expect here an Elegancy of Speech nor Fineness of Thoughts You must on the contrary prepare your selves to a dry Reading to a thoâ—â—y Inquiry to the Tediousness of Citations and to hear some Greek and Hebrew Words A matter as dark as this is cannot be made clear but by these helps I call it dark for altho' the Wit and Learning of the Fathers of the Church of the Interpreters of Holy Scripture and of all sorts of learned Men hath been more employed about this matter than any other and altho' it hath produced an infinite number of Books yet there is hardly any certainty in it Their number will render my attempt excusable and if I do not succeed their example will merit pardon III. Nothing will shew more evidently how little the Situation of the Earthly Paradise is known than the variety of Opinions of those who inquired about it They placed it in the third Heaven in the fourth in the Orb of the Moon in the Moon it self upon a Mount near the Orb of the Moon in the middle Region of the Air out of the Earth upon the Earth under the Earth in a hidden place and far beyond the Knowledge of Men. They placed it under the artick Pole in Tartaria in the place where now is the Caspian Sea Others have placed it as far as the extremity of the South in the Land of Fire Many will have it to be in the East either along the sides of the River Ganges or in the Isle of Ceilan deriving also the name of Indies from the word Eden which is the name of the Province where Paradise stood They have placed it in China and beyond the East also in a place uninhabited Others in America others in Africa under the Aequator others in the Aequinoctial-East others upon the Mountains of the Moon from which they thought the Nile sprung The greatest part in Asia some in the great Armenia others in Mesopotamia or in Assyria or in Persia or in Babylonia or in Arabia or in Syria or in Palaestina Some also would have honoured with it our Europe and which is beyond the greatest Impertinency placed it at Hedin a City in Artois upon no other ground than the Affinity of that name with the word Eden I do not despair but some Adventurer to have it nearer to us will one day undertake to place it at Houdan IV. This variety of opinions is not only about the Situation of Paradise but also about those things which have any relation to it The Phison which was one of the branches of the River that did water it many think to be the Ganges others the Nile the Hyphasis the Cyrus the Danube also and in fine the eastern Channel through which the Tigris and Euphrates being joined discharge themselves into the Persian Gulf. They will have the Country of Chavilah through which this River passes to be the Indies they will have it to be the Susiana some a part of Arabia They are divided about the Bdellium which is to be found there and they do not know whether it is an aromatical Gum or a precious Stone or Pearls They are no less divided about the Onyx being uncertain whether it is really the Onyx or the Sardonyx or the Beryl or the Carbuncle or the Crystal The Gehon which was another branch of the same River that sprung out of Paradise is the Nile according to the most common opinion others will have it to be the Gehon a Brook near Jerusalem which the Scripture calls in other places Siloe others affirm that it is the Araxus and some more clear-sighted but yet not enough will have it to be the western mouth of the Tigris joyned with the Euphrates All do not agree that the Province which the Gehon crosses called Chus in the Hebrew Text and Aethiopia in the vulgar Translation be Aethiopia in Africa some being of opinion it is that other in Arabia V. I pass over many other questions which are treated of in the Books of Divines and even of the Fathers as that which is proposed by St. Austin viz. Whether Paradise be Spiritual or Material or both together As this other viz. Whether it was created before the World as St. Jerom seems to believe with the ancient Hebrews and the Author of the fourth Book of Esdras or Whether it was created on the third day with the Plants of the Earth or whether it was created in the order observed by Moses in speaking of it Such also as these are viz. What was its extent which some Interpreters have as boldly determined as if they had measured it some making it equal to that of the whole East others to that of Asia and Africa together some to that of the whole Earth and the Talmudists who set no bounds to their own Extravagancies making it threescore times larger Whether there were any living Creatures in it which some have denied forgetting the Serpent who seduced our first Parents and even not admitting in it the Bird of Paradise Whether it be still in being Whether Enoch Elias and St. John the Evangelist have been carried thither alive as into a place of Refuge against Death to continue there until the end of the World All these Questions do not belong to my subject and I only intend to inquire into the Situation of Paradise VI. Of late Mr. Bochart whom I look upon to have been one of the most learned Men of his Age did intend to treat of this matter This he declares in some places of his Writings and he speaks of it as if the work had been already finished and as if his Phaleg had been but a sequel of it Yet I heard from one of his Relations that after his Death they found nothing amongst his Papers but a very imperfect draught of his design which even doth not declare what opinion he was of It were to be wished that he had performed his Enterprize No body was more
Valley deserved the Name of Eden or rather of Beth-Eden that is to say House of Pleasure by reason of its Fertility and Pleasantness This induced some to believe That the earthly Paradise stood there and they were the more perswaded of it because they found in the Neighbourhood a Town called Paradise mentioned by Pliny and Ptolomy They sought also there the place where Adam was created and that where Cain killed his Brother and perswaded themselves to have found 'em there But all these Conjectures disappear when you go to compare 'em with the Text of Moses and all the Circumstances that are marked in it and when you find there neither Phison nor Gehon nor Chavilah nor Chus Such was Adana a Town in Cilicia so called by reason of the goodness of its Soil and the pleasantness of its Situation Such is also the Village of Eden near Tripoli in Syria on the way which leads unto Libanon where some have placed the earthly Paradise And finally such is that famous Port called Adana or Aden so much resorted to these many Hundred Years which for having been the most delightful place of a very delightful Country I mean of the Arabia Felix hath been called it self Arabia Felix as comprehending in it all the Beauties of that Country Tho' besides that Adana there was another in the middle of the same Country bearing the same Name with the first for the same Reason It is no wonder then that the Arabians who inhabited that Province believed that Paradise was amongst ' em VII Having as I think clearly demonstrated that the Name of Eden is the proper Name of a Place we must now endeavour to discover its Situation that we may know that of Paradise which was the noblest Part of it We read in the fourth Book of Kings and in Isaiah That Sennacherib King of Assyria designing to terrifie Ezechias who had rebelled against him boasts that he had destroyed the Countries of Gozan of Haran of Reseph and of the Children of Eden who were in Thelassar The Learned agree that Gozan is the Gauzanitis a Province in Mesopotamia that Haran and Reseph are Carrhae and Rescipha Cities in the same Land of Mesopotamia the first of which hath been famous by the overthrow of Crassus That Eden is the same Country where Moses hath placed Paradise and that Thelassar is Talatha a City in Babylonia placed by Ptolomy upon the Canal of the Tigris and Euphrates join'd together And when Stephanus the Geographer speaks of a City on the Euphrates called Adana we are almost sure that he means some retired place of the Inhabitants of the Land of Eden which took its Name from it In the Prophecy of the Prophet Ezekiel about the destruction of Tyre when he enumerates the Nations with whom this powerful City used to Trade he puts Haran and Chene and Eden together Here is again Haran and Eden joined together which shews That the same places are to be understood as in the precedent Text that is Carrhae in Mesopotamia and the Country of Eden mentioned by Moses And the Interpreters agree to it Now in these Two places the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eden is marked with Six Points which shews how vain is the forementioned distinction of the Rabbins betwixt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eden marked with Five Points and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eden marked with Six The Land of Eden extended it self below yea perhaps also above the coming together of the Tigris and Euphrates and took up a good part of that vast Country which hath since been called Babylonia At first Babylonia ended at the joining together of the Tigris and Euphrates The Land which lies below that coming together as far as the Persian Gulf is called Iraque by Alferganus commonly called Alfragan by Abulfeda and other Arabian Geographers from the Name Erec which with Babylon and other places was the beginning of the Kingdom of Nimrod These are the Words of Moses Ere◠was a Town situated on the common Canal of the Tigris and Euphrates Babylon was situated on the Euphrates above the joining of the Two Rivers These Two Towns gave their Name to Two Provinces Babylonia extended it self as far as the joining of the Rivers and the Province of Erec or Iraque extended it self all along the common Canal of these two Rivers on the Right and the Left Hand from their joining together to their coming into the Sea Time hath altered these things Iraque hath extended it self to Babylonia Assyria and Media and gave 'em its Name and Babylonia possessed it self of the whole ancient Province of Iraque I say then that the earthly Paradise was situated in Eden a part of the Province of Babylonia or Iraque which extended it self all along the common Chanel of the Two great Rivers near the place where was the ancient Town of Erec or Aracca according to the Position of Ptolomy CHAP. III. A Continuation of the Explanation of the Eighth Verse I. New Ambiguity of this Verse in the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 II. Mikkedem may signifie both Time and Place III. We might prove it by the ancient Custom of the Christians of turning their Churches Eastward IV. Moses makes constantly use of the Word Mikkedem to signifie a Place V. Moses meant here by the Word Mikkedem that Paradise was situated in the Eastern Part of Eden I. VErse 8. Eastward the Hebrew Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mikkedem which I render by this Word Eastward is the Cause of a great many new Ambiguities and diversity of Explanations For as it may signifie both Time and Place the Author of the Vulgar Translation who is no other here than St. Jerom the Graecian Translators Aquila Theodotion and Symmachus the Chaldaick Paraphrasts Onkelos and Jonathan and the Interpreters who make open Profession of following the Vulgar Translation have taken it in the first Sence and rendred it in the beginning This very Translation is ambiguous for some understand it as if this Garden had been planted before the Creation of the World The Author of the Fourth Book of Esdras Jonathan the Paraphrast and St. Jerom himself as I told you before are of that Opinion Some make it only as old as the World and the greatest part pretend that it was planted the Third Day of the Creation Those who believe that by the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mikkedem is meant a Place and not Time are not all of the same Mind for some are perswaded that it signifies the extremity of the East others and those more in number and of greater Learning maintain That the Word East is never given in Scripture to the Regions that are beyond the Persian Gulf but only to those that lie betwixt that Gulf and Judaea I mean Arabia Chaldaea Mesopotamia and Persia I shall add this Proof to theirs That the Chaldaeans who dwelt towards the lower part of the Euphrates were called Sabaeans
Canals CHAP. VII Continuation of the Explanation of the eleventh Verse I. The most common opinion concerning the Phison is That it iâ— the Ganges II. The Ground of this Opinion III. Which dâ— not satisfie all the Objections IV. Others believed that the Phison was the Indus others thâ— Hydaspes others the Hyphasâ—… V. Haython the Oxus VI. Many Rabbins the Nile VII Others the Phasis VIII Some the Danube IX Some others the Naharmalca X. And in fine others the easterly Canal of the two intâ— which the Tigris and Euphrates joined together are divided XI The Phison is the westerly Canal of the two into which are divided the Tigris and Euphrate after they be joined together and the proofs of it XII The Origin of the word Phison serves to prove it XIII Many learned Men have had some knowledge of what the Phison is XIV The Phison hath since given its name to other Rivers I. VErse 11. The name of the first is Phison The word River must be supplied here which the sacred Author expresseth afterward when he speaks of the other Rivers This is the first of the four into which the great River that went out of Eden and Paradise was divided It would be a very great undertaking very tedious to the Reader and yet more to me to relate in particular the different opinions Men have had about this River the Names of the Authors that maintained them and the reasons whereon they grounded them and to lose time in examining and contradicting them I will only touch upon them by the bye being perswaded that they cannot be better confuted than by carefully seeking after the Truth and endeavouring firmly to establish it when it is found for this being done every thing that will not agree with it must necessarily fall of it self The most ancient and generally liked opinion is That the Phison is the Ganges It seems that Josephus was the first Author of it Eusebius St. Ambrosins St. Epiphanius St. Jerom St. Austin many other Fathers of the Church and most of the modern Interpreters and Divines have followed the opinion of Josephus The Indians themselves were of the same opinion and it was upon this account that they believed the Ganges Holy that it washes away their Sins and Sanctifieth them when they wash in it and that it will save them after Death if their Bodies be plunged in it II. The Beauty Riches and Conveniencies of that River wherewith the Books of Travellers are filled are the chief reasons why Men gave credit to that opinion for tho' Arrian hath written that all the Indians whom Alexander subdued had no Gold yet there was some in their Country and Moses had a regard to the Nature of the Country and not to the Manners of the Inhabitants It is certain that the Ganges hath some Gold in its Sands and on its Banks that it is reckoned one of the chief Rivers that produceth precions Stones that the Kingdoms of Golconda and Bisnagar that lie on the westerly Coast of the Gulf of Bengal where the Ganges empties it self are full of Pearls and precious Stones and it not being likely that mean Rivers should come out of a place prepared and adorned by the hands of God that Honour could not be ascribed but to the most famous Rivers of the World So the Beauty and Riches of the Ganges made Men believe that it came out of Paradise and this opinion was the occasion of its being reputed Holy But besides as those who pretend that the Phison is the Ganges do also perswade themselves that the Gehon is the Nile we discover another Motive that inclined them to give credit to that opinion I mean this place of Ecclesiasticus where we read that God filleth all things with his wisdom as Phison and as Tigris in the time of the new fruits He makes the understanding to abound like Euphrates and as Jordan in the time of the Harvest He maketh the doctrine of knowledge appear as the light and as Gehon in the time of Vintage The Fathers in reading this perswaded themselves that the Author had begun the Enumeration of those Rivers with the East and finished it with the West according to the custom of the Hebrews to look on the East in their Geographical Descriptions and by consequence to have the North at their left hand and the South at their right and that the Phison being the most easterly of the five it could be no other than the most noble of the Rivers of the East which is the Ganges The Tigris comes after as being the most easterly of the four others next to it comes the Euphrates then Jordan and in fine the Gehon which ought to be the most famous River of the West as the Ganges was of the East and they found none to be preferred to the Nile But nothing that I see can induce us to believe that that sacred Author had a regard to this in disposing these Rivers in such an order but that rather he did dispose them so by chance III. This ground being laid that the Phison is the Ganges they took no notice of the Objection that might reasonably be made concerning the distance of its Spring from the Springs â— the other Rivers which came out â— the same place by which they â—ade the Garden almost as big as the â—arth They had recourse to some â—â—â—olous Conjectures or to Fictions â—ithout any ground or to a Miracle â—hich is the ordinary Reinge of those â—ho have no Reason to defend themâ—lves and a most sure means to justifie â—e most strange Opinions They had â—â—ard some falsly say that the Tigris â—d Euphrates sprung out of the same â—ead and they had heard it truly said â—at pretty near that Spring they hid â—hemselves under the Earth and soon â—fter came out again They did not â—xamine the length of this hidden â—nning and they gave a huge extent â— a length of few Miles They said that â—is pretended Spring divided its Waâ—ers into four Rivers which afterwards â—d themselves under the Earth and â—at thorough long and unknown turnâ—gs under many Countries and Seas â—hey run to the Extremity of the World â—d there came out again Upon that â—ound they made choice of what â—ivers they pleased to make the Phison â—d Gehon out of them And indeed â—iver for River they could not chuse â—etter than the Ganges IV. Those who without going sâ— far believed that the Phison is thâ— Indus or Hydaspes that falls into it oâ— the Hyphasis which as some think falâ— also into it or according to the opinion of others enters into the Sea bâ— its proper mouth found in it some oâ— the Advantages that the others founâ— in the Ganges The Hydaspes beaâ— Gold and precious Stones and Philâ— storgius to shew that the Hyphasis â— the Phison says there grows the Clovâ— tree which the Inhabitants of thâ— Land think to be one of the Trees oâ—