as high as the Moon or beyond the Ocean which he waded through to come to Iudea or that it is a separated ground hanging in the Air under the Moon from whence the four Rivers fall with violence and force through the Sea and rise again in our habitable World as Commestor dreamed and others That therefore the Truth might receive no prejudice God's Wisdom hath so carefully described the place for our easie finding as the choisest part of the Earth And if it be a generous mind to desire to know the Original of our Ancestors this search cannot be discommended § 5. Paradise is not so defaced by the Flood that it cannot be found as Augustinus Chrysamensis judged for though the Beauty of it be lost and Time has made it as a common Field in Eden yet eight hundred and seventy years after would not so particulary have described it nor the Prophets have mention'd Eden so often if the same could not be found or if the Rivers which in his time bear the Names were not the same of which Euphrates and Tigris were never doubted as the Country of Eden is yet well known As for the alteration made by the Flood changing the current of Rivers and raising of Mountains as some judge it is improbable for the Waters covered the Earth spherically and did not fall violently from higher places or come in with Storms ebbing and flowing which makes such choakings up of the mouths of Rivers The Waters then were raised by universal erruptions and by down right falls of Rain which use to scatter the strongest Winds Seth's Pillar erected 1426 year before as Antiquitiy reports and standing in Iosephus's days and the City under Libanus whose Ruins remained to Annius's days and by Berosus forged Fragments call'd Enochia built by Cain and the City Ioppa remaining after the Flood argue the Flood had no such effect to work such alteration when even Bay-Trees outstood it Antiquity also speaks of Baris and Sion on which the Fable is that Giants were saved which argueth their Judgment touching the Antiquity of Mountains See Psal. 90.1 2. § 6. Paradise was not the whole Earth as Manichus Vadianus Noviomagus and Goropius Becanus judged seeing the Text saith it was Eastward in Eden and the Angel was plac'd on the east side of Paradise and Adam was cast out of it not out of all the Earth Yet the Error of Ephrem Athanasius and Cyrill was greater that Paradise was beyond the Ocean through which Adam walked when he was cast out to return to the Earth of his Creation and was buried on Calvery § 7. Paradise by Bar-Cephas Beda Strabus and Rabanus was placed on a Mountain almost as high as the Moon neither did Rupertus differ much It seemeth they took it out of Plato and Socrates who mis-understood it no doubt took this Place for Heaven the Habitation of Blessed Souls after Death though for fear of the Areopagites they durst not set down in plain terms what they believed of that Matter And though in the end Socrates was put to death for acknowledging one only sufficient God yet the Devil himself did him that right to pronounce him the wisest Man As for the place in question Tertullian and Eusebius conceive that by it he meant the Celestial Paradise Solinus indeed reports of a place called Acrothonos upon Mount Atho pleasant and healthful whose Inhabitants are called Macrobioi long lived Upon the aforesaid Lunary Hill they say Enoch was preserved which Isidore and Lumbard approve and Tertullian Ireneus Iustin Martyr believed the Souls of blessed Men lived there which Fancies Hopkins and Pererius have Confuted As for the Bodies of Enoch and Elias they may be changed as others shall be at the last Day The School-men in this and their other Questions were exceeding subtle but yet taught their Followers to shift better than to resolve by their Distinctions The Fables of Olympus Atlas and Atho higher than any Clouds Pliny himself disproveth § 8. Tertullian Bonaventure and Durand place Paradise under the Equinoctial to which Aquinas opposeth the Distemper of Heat there But this is Non causa for causa the true Cause is Eden and the Rivers are not there else the Clime hath as pleasant fertile places as any other neither was any Region Created but for Habitation and those hot Countries are tempered by East Winds and long cool Nights as I well know only where Mountains hinder the Wind and in sandy Grounds void of Trees the Country is not so well Inhabited as the other parts which are so Fertile that the Inhabitants Idleness maketh them Vitious and the Countries to be Terrae Vitiosae § 9. Paradise not being in the former places we are certain it was in Eden not hard to have been found out had not Names been changed since Moses's days and that other Nations have sought to extinguish both the Name and Monuments of the Iews For our help we have Euphrates and Tigris agreed upon and that it was Eastward from Canaan which latter might agree with Arabâ—a Stony and Desart but the former cannot neither has it the property of being exceeding Fertile As for bordering Countries though Moses name none yet Esaiah and Ezekiel do and though that Amos name Eden which is Coelosyria and Beroaldus findeth a City there called Paradise yet can it not be the Eden we seek seeing Coelosyria and Cyprian Damascena is full North from Canaan and wants our known Rivers Come then to the Edomits in Thelassar and the rest named by Esaiah Thelassar was a strong City in an Island upon the Border of Chaldea on the River Euphrates towards the North which after Senacharib's death Merodach Balladan injoyning Babilonia fortified against Esar Haddon which City Marcellinus calls Thelatha Pliny Teridata which Iulian durst not assault The other places in Esaiah are either in Mesopotamia as Charan and Reseph or in Media as Gosan so Ezekiel setting out the Countries which traded with Tyrus joineth Charan with Eden as also Calne which Ierom calls Seleuiza standing upon Euphrates towards Tigris called also Canneh and the Inhabitants Schenits by Pliny who Inhabited from Seleucia on both sides Euphrates Westward to Coelosyria as far as Tapsachus where the River is Fordable Charan therefore cannot be Channeh the one standing on Euphrates the other on Chaboras which falleth into Euphrates far off in Mesopotamia Or Aran between the Floods Besides Channeh or Chalne is by Moses named in Shinar one of Nimrod's Cities Lastly Sheba and Rhaama upon the Persian Gulf traded with Tyrus by Tigris and so to Seleucia and so to Syria by Euphrates 'till they came to Aleppo or Hierapolis from whence they went by Land to Tyre and after decay to Tripoly and now to Alexandretta in the Bay of Issicus or Lajazzo Chalmad is also joined with Eden by Ezekiel a Region of higher Media N.E. of Eden called Coronitana by Geographers Thus Eden is bounded on the E. and N. E. by Elanah and Chalmad On the W.
greater difference in the rest which cannot be ascribed to the long abstinence from Marriage upon Religious respect as we see in holy Enoch Noah's Brethren perished in the Flood and so might some unnamed Children begotten before the three named being 500 Years old before § 5. The Patriarchs Years have been questioned some holding them Lunary or Egyptian but that cannot be for then some should beget Children at 6 7 or 8 Years old and the Eldest should live not 100 Years which is short of many after the Flood yea long since Pliny witnesseth under Vespasian in a search many were found above 120 and some 140 Years Old Simple Diet and temperate Life made the Essaeans Egyptian Priests Persian Magicians Indian Brachmans live long saith Iosephus Pliny reports Nestor's 3 Ages Tyresia's 6 Sybils 300 Years Endymion's little less Ant. Fumea a good Historian reports of an Indian above 300 Years Old and my self knew the old Countess of Desmond An. 1589 who lived many Years after who had been married in the Reign of King Edw. 4. To conclude there are three things not to speak of Constellations which are natural Causes of long and healthful Life Strong Parents pure Air and temperate use of Dyet Pleasure and Rest all which excelled in the First Ages And though the Flood infused an impure quality into the Earth to hurt the means of Man's Life yet Time hath more consumed Natures Vigour as that which hath made the Heavens wax old like a Garment Hereto add our strange Education of Children upon unnatural Curiosity nourished by a strange Dugg Hasty Marriage before Natures Seed be ripe or Stock well rooted to yield a Branch fit to replant But above all the Luxury of latter Ages which wilfully oppresseth Nature and then thinks to relieve her with strong Waters hot Spices Sauces c. § 6. The Patriarchs knowledge of the Creation might well come by Tradition from Adam to Moses seeing Methusalem lived with Adam 243 Years and with Noah 500 Years and he with Abraham 58 Years from whom it was not hard to pass by Isaac Iacob and his Posterity to Moses Yet for the more certainty of the Truth it was undoubtedly delivered to Moses by immediate Inspiration of the Holy Ghost as his many Miracles do prove Questionless also Letters were from the Infancy of the World as Enoch's Pillars and his Prophecy witness of which part was found in Saba saith Origen and Tertullian read some Pages neither can it be denyed there was such saith Augustine § 7. The Patriarchs Lives were lightly passed over 'till Enoch whose Piety is commended and his leaving the World not by Death Whether his Change were such as shall be at the last day let Divines judge Lamech's Prophecy of his Son Noah is touch'd upon but Noah's Life is handled more amply The Wisdom Policy and Wars of that World were no doubt great as may be gathered Gen. 5.4 but the Universal Impiety which brought the Universal Destruction deserved that the Memory of their Actions should be drowned with their Bodies It were madness to imagine the Sons of God spoken of Gen. 5.24 were good Angels which begat Giants on Women as Iosephus dreamt and deceived Lactantius Confuted by Augustine and Chrysostom § 8. The Giants spoken of Gen. 5. Becanus strains his Wit to prove they were not such properly but so called for their Oppression But Moses calling them Mighty which argueth extraordinary Strength and Men of Renown and great undertaking there is more Reason to hold them Giants in a proper sense especially considering what Scripture Reporteth of such in the Days of Abraham Moses and Ioshua David c. yea of whole Kindreds and Countries If such were found in the Third and Fourth Ages of the Worlds decay there is no Reason to doubt thereof in the First and Second flourishing Ages From this Story grew the Conceit That Giants were the Sons of Heaven and Earth And from Nimrod grew the Tale of Giants casting up Mountains to the top of Heaven CHAP. VI. The Original of Idolatry and Reliques of Antiquity in Fables §. 1 THE Greeks and others corrupting the Story of the Creation and mingling their Fables with them suppos'd that After-Ages would take those Discourses of God and Nature for Inventions of Philosophers and Poets But as skilful Chymists can extract healthful Medicines out of Poison and Poison out of wholsome Herbs c. so may much Truth be found out of those Fables §. 2 The Antiquity of Corruption was even from Noah's Family For the liberal Grace of God being withdrawn after Man's Fall such a perpetual Eclipse of spiritual things follow'd and produc'd such effects as the general Deluge could not cleanse them even in the selected Family of Noah wherein were found those that renewed the Defection from God for which they had seen the Worlds destruction Hence the Caldeans Egyptians and Phaenicians soon after became Idolaters and the Greeks received their 12 Gods from Egypt and erected to them Altars Images and Temples saith Herodotus §. 3 As Men departed out of the way of Truth stray on in unknown Vices to Eternal Perdition so these blind Idolaters being fallen from the God of Heaven to seek God's on Earth to Worship beginning with Men they proceed to Beasts Fouls Fishes Trees Herbs the Four Elements Winds Morning Evening Stars Yea Affections Passions Sorrow Sickness besides Spirits infernal and among Terrestrials even the basest wanted not divine Honour as Dogs Cats Swine Leeks Onions c. which barbarous Blasphemy Iuvenal thus derided O happy Nations which of their own sowing Have store of Gods in every Garden growing § 4. Of Iupiter and other Gods That Egypt had knowledge of the First Age by Misraim the Son of Cham who had lived 100 Years in it we doubt not Having therefore learned that Cain did first build Cities they made him ancient Iupiter whom the Athenians also called Pollyeus and Herceios Founder and Fortifier of Cities This Iupiter married his Sister as did Cain His Father Adam they made Saturn and his Sons Iubal Tubal and Tubal-Cain were made Mercury Vulcan and Apollo Inventers of Pastorage Smiths-craft and Musick Naome Augustine expounds Venusta which was Venus Vulcan's Wife and Eva was Rhea the Dragon which kept the Golden Apple was the Serpent that beguiled Eva. Paradise was the Garden of Hesperides So Saturn's dividing the World between Three Sons came of Noah and his Sons and Nimrod's Tower was the attempt of Giants against Heaven The Egyptians also Worshipped Seth as their most Ancient Parent from whom they called their chief Province Setheitica and in Bithinia we â—ind the City Cethia § 5. Of the Three Chief Iupiters the First was Son of Aether Dies the Second of Coelum an Arcadian and King of Athens the Third Famous in the Greek Fables was of Creet or Candia as some say but there is no certainty c. § 6. Iupiter Chammon more Ancient than all the Grecian Iupiters was Cham Father
strange God's as Terah himself Ios. 24. Yet after Abraham's being called their willing departure with him from their Country and ordinary reverend Speeches of Iehova prove they were no Infidels and without Faith Gen. 24.31 50. I dare not therefore pronounce them out of the Church who I am sure were in the Faith § 6. Abraham's being first named proveth him not the Eldest § If in Scripture it appear not that God made especial choice of the First-born as it is in Seth Isaac Iacob Iuda David c. the being first named can prove no Birth-right Shem is first named among the Sons of Noah whereof said Augustine Order of Nativity is not here respected but signification of future Dignities in Gen. 25. And he rather judged Abraham the Youngest of the Three Piety saith he or rather Divine Election which draweth with it Piety and the Fear of God gave precedence to Shem among the Sons of Noah and to Abraham among the Sons of Terah Again Moses testifies Abraham was 75 Years old when he left Charran Stephen saith it was after Terah's death at 83 he rescued Lot at 86 Ismael was born and Isaac at 100 and all in Canaan But if he begat Abraham at 70 Abraham must be 135 Years old when he entred Canaan c. Moreover by this Accompt Isaac must be 35 years Old and Ismael 49. at Terah's death and Born in Mesopotamia contrary to Scripture Thirdly by this reckoning Terah should be but 145 Years Old at his Death when Abraham was 75. Fourthly Sarah being within Ten Years of Abraham her Unkle Haran her Father being his younger Brother must beget her at Nine Years Old which Reason Lyra useth The like Reason is taken from the Age of Lot the Son of Haran called an Old Man at Abrahams's Eighty third year § 7. The Conclusion noting the Authors on both sides § It agreeth with Scripture Nature Time and Reason that Haran was Terah's Eldest Son Augustin was herein uncertain and what he saith in his City of God lib. 16.15 is answered in his 52d Question on Gen. And as he follow'd Iosephus so Isidore and Beda follow him The Hebrews and generally the Romanists following the first Opinion allow but 292 Years from the Flood to Abraham But Theodoret and divers later Beroald Codornan Beucer Calvin Beza Iunius c. hold Abraham begotten in the 130 th Year of Terah Scaliger Seth Calvisius c. to the contrary call it Heresy in Chronology Bucholcreus Chitreus Functius and others follow them yet Torniellus in his Annals confutes them But if we advisedly consider the state of the World in Abraham's days we shall rather increase the time from the Flood to Abraham as the Septuagint did to 1072 than shorten it to 292 For such paring of Time to the quick draws the Blood of the Story if Scripture's Testimony were not supreme Seeing then we know the World was so peopled and Kingdoms so furnished with Cities of State and Strength more time is required for it than many imagine c. § 8. The Assyrians Times order'd by Abraham 's History § Thus Abraham's Birth being 352 Years after the Flood and so the 2009 th Year of the World bringeth Ninus's 43 to the same date of the 352 Years we must consider what probably was spent before the coming to Shinar admitting Chus were born the Year after the Flood His youngest Son Nimrod Founder of the Empire born after Dedan Son of Raamah the fourth Son of Chus could not according to the ordinary course of those Times be esteemed Born 'till 65 Years after Chus allowing 30 Years to Chus before his first Son and 30 Years to Raama Father of Dedan born before Nimrod and 5 Years for his five Elder Brethren Allow 60 Years after for two Generations before their setting forth before Shinar and six Years for their Travail with Wives Children and Cattel out of the East through over-grown Countries and Mountains Thus 131 Years are spent before Babel is taken in hand the 221 Years which remain of 352 are divided to Ninus 42 before Abraham's Birth 65 to Belus and 114 to Nimrod yet this maketh Nimrod in all not above 180 Years old which was not much for that Generation Gen. 11.3 in which they lived yea 400 Years Ninus lived 9 Years after and Semiramis suceeded 42 Years when Abraham was 52 Years old Ninias or Zameis succeeded 38 in whose 23 d Year Abraham at 75 years old came to Canaan and 10 years after Abraham over-threw Amraphel King of Shinar which may seem to have been Ninias in whose 33 d year it happen'd though the Reasons to the contrary are not easily answer'd § 9. Amraphel King of Shinar probably was Ninias § Ninias was King of Babylon at that time in the 85th year of Abraham It is objected that Chedorlaomer was greater now than Amraphel who therefore was not like to be Ninias To this it may be answered under Ninias the Babylonian Command was fallen and the Persian his Neighbour King of Elam was enlarged § 10. Arioch King of Ellassar § This Country can neither be Pontus nor Hellespontus as some think being so far out of the way to be drawn by the Persian who little needed to seek such aid against such petty Kings which had not in all so much ground as Middlesex of which sort Canaan had 33 destroyed by Ioshua And the whole Country these four Kings subdued was no more than the two little Provinces of Traconitis or Basan and the Region of the Moabites Stephanus a Grecian Cosmographer de Vrbibus findeth Ellas in the Border of Coelosyria and Hierom calls it the City of Arioch This City was also in the Borders of Arabia of which Arioch indeed was King and Confederate with the Assyrian Kings as in Ninus's Life c. § 11. Tidal King of Nations § There were divers petty Kingdoms adjoining to Phoenicia and Palestine as Palmirenia Batanea Laodicene Apamena Chalcidice Cassiotis Chalibonitis having Mesopotamia on the North and Arabia on the East It is probable these were joined together under Tidal § 12. Chedorlaomer the chief of the Four § He was not King of Assur and the other three Vice-Roys as Pererius judgeth for Moses never useth Elam for Assyria or Babylon Neither do I believe the Assyrian or Babylonian Kingdoms were very large at this time 1. From Example Things hastily set up with violence last not as Alexander's Conquests and Tamberlain's whose Empires dyed with them neither had they time to review what they had done God adjoining short life to asswage Fury and Nature cares least for what she doth in hast Ninus persued boundless Dominion with Violence Semiramis exceeded him c. 2. Ninias having changed Nature and Condition with his Mother preferring Pleasure and Ease before Honour and Greatness as he indured his Mother's Reign so wanted he Spirit to maintain what she left him against Neighbouring Princes whose Wounds and Wrongs from his Parents put them in mind to cure the one
Reineccius some Ages after Ninus This Sesostris some think is Besak but it is not so as divers differences in setting out their Wars do manifest Whereas after Orus Menas is Reported by Herodotus and Diodorus Reineccius noteth that Osiris was so called by way of Dignity Krentzhemius probably gathers that Menas was Mercurius Ter-maximus Conquerour Philosopher and Benefactor to Mankind giving good Laws and teaching profitable Arts to his Conquered People After 33 Years he fell Blind as did Pherones his Son whom 14 Years after Orus the Second or Busiris succeeded 75 Years before Israel's Departure out of Egypt § 7. Busiris or Orus the Second whom Reineccius judgeth to have been a new Family though according to all Mens computation he began 5 Years after Moses's Birth yet might he be first Author of the Israelites Misery Ruling as Vice-Roy under the blind King whom he might easily draw to that Oppression of Strangers so to ease the Subjects and to win their Favour to promote his Off-spring to the Crown which he attained and held 30 Years according to Eusebius After him Thermutis Pharaob's Daughter which took Moses out of the Water succeeded Eusebius calls her Acencris but placeth Amenophis next before Busiris Herodotus and Diodorus call Sesostris Son Pheron so it may be she was his Daughter who Marrying Busiris Reigned after him 12 Years § 8. Rathoris or Athoris succeeded his Sister 9 Years and after him Chencris who perished in the Red Sea and Achencris succeeded 8 Years and Cherres 15 in whose 15 Years Epaphus Son of Teligonus Rathoris Brother Reigneth in the lower Egypt and Built Memphis Epaphus had Lybia which had Agenor Belus and Busiris Belus had Ameus or Danaeus who Reigned 4 Years after Cherres and then by Egyptus or Ramesses his Brother expelled who Reigning 68 Years he had Fifty Sons Danaeus had Fifty Daughters He began the Kingdom of Argos in Greece CHAP. III. Of Israels Delivery out of Egypt § 1. OF Israel's Captivty and Moses Birth § L. Vives on Augustin cites divers Opinions of Moses Birth but to me it is most Probable that he was Born while Saphrus called Spherus and Ipberus Govern'd Assyria Orthopolis Cicyonia and Criasus the Argives and Sesostris 2 d. the Egyptians For according to Augustin he led Israel out of Egypt about the end of Cecrops King of the Athenians which falls about the 9 th Year of Ascatades of Assyria who Ruled 41. Sparetus his Predecessor 40. Mamelus before him 30. And Saphrus 20 before So that from the 19 th of Saphrus to the 9 th of Ascatades which was the 46 th of Cecrops are 80 Years which was Moses Age when he brought Israel out of Egypt There being then 64 Years between Iosephs ' Death and Moses's Birth the Israelites Oppression seemeth to begin some 8 or 9 Years before Ioseph Dyed Anno Mundi 2370. Moses 80 th Year of Age was 2514. § 2. Of the Cities of Egypt mentioned in Scripture § Zoan Num. 13.23 called Taphnus Ier. 2.43 c. Ezek. 30. The Septuagint calls it Tanis c. This was near Gosen and chief City of the lower Egypt On or Heliopolis in the South of the lower Egypt Gen. 41.45 after Iunius Here Onias Built a Temple for the Jews under Ptolomy Philopater which stood till Vespasian's time Noph the City Esa. 19.13 Hos. 9.6 is called Mopb or Memphis by the Septuagint Pelusium which the Septuagint calls Sois. Montanus Lebna Iunius Sin Belbeis after now the Septuagint calls Diospolis and was afterwards called Alexandrina by Ierom. Moses 's Preservation and Education § Pharaoâ— having by Oppression discontented the Israelites and then doubting what a Poor Oppressed Multitude might be provoked to by suggestion of the Devil resolved the Slaughter of the Male Children in their Birth giving Order to all their Midwives by Two of the Chief of them But being by their Piety disappointed he Commanded all his People to perform his Bloody Decree which yet his Beloved Daughter finding Moses in an Ark of Reeds in Nilus was so far from Executing that she took him out of the Water and gave him Princely Education as her own Whose Excellent Learning testified by Pâ—ilo and Iosephus Martyr Stephen Confirmeth Leaving Iosephus's Fancy of Moses Besieging Saba of Ethiopia which he won by the means of the Kings Daughter whom he Married c. Moses in Rescuing an Israelite having slain an Egyptian fled into Arabia Petrea in whose Mountainous Desarts apart from the Glory of the World the Glory of God covered him over being from an Honourable Adopted Son of a Kings Daughter turned into the Condition of an humbe Shepherd In this Country lying between Iudea and Egypt he lived 40 Years skilful in the ways of the Wilderness through which he was to lead Israel and by exercise in a Pastoral Life he was prepared to Principality and perfected his Learning gotten in Egypt by Meditation in the Wilderness From Government of gentle Cattel Kings are called Shepherds to teach them to rule Men. Moses being called back into Egypt is Taught a Name by which he Describes God to the Hebrews setting out his ever only Being there being nothing â— that hath being of it self but that Eternal One of whose being all other things are but shadows Of all the Ten Plagues the last only brought that Tyrant Pharaoh to an absolute submission when he began to fear his own Life The Paschal Lamb was a Sacrament of our spotless Saviour § 3. Pharaoh seeing the Israelites departure with the Spoil also of the Egyptians bethought himself and pursuing them with all his Power Exod. 14.7 over-took them after Three Days March And though Moses knew he went out with the mighty Hand of God yet he neglected nothing becoming a Wise Man and a Valiant Conductor So he removed from Ramases in Goshen whither the dispersed Hebrews were gathered as to their Rendezvous and Marched Eastward toward Etham and Encamped at Succoth the Fifteenth Day of Abib which thenceforth was accounted the first Month of their Year for Religious Occasions leaving another for Politick which they distinguish from Sacred in Recording things Transacted § 4. Israel passing from Succoth kept Mountainous rough Ground on his left-hand to Etham that Pharaoh's Chariots should not compass him From Etham the next day he Marched South Eight Miles and on the Third day he came to Pihachoroth between the Mountains of Etham on the North and Baalzephon on the South and Encamped upon the wash of the Sea § 5. Moses who feared nothing but God himself comforting the fearful Multitude Exod. 14.13 called on God and putting in practice his Direction safely passed over the Foord which the Lord had made and left their stupified Enemies to the merciless Waves which returned upon them This Sea called Chencrese in which Pharaoh Perished the 16 th Year of his Reign is commonly called the Red Sea though of the Colour of other Waters It seemeth to me that Name grew from the Clifts Sands Islands and
Enoch was For God's infinite Wisdom fore-saw that the Earth could not have contain'd a perpetual increase or Millions of Souls must have been ungenerated The Immortality of Man if he had not fallen must be understood of Bodies Translated and Glorified § 2. Touching the Tree of Knowledge Goropius Becanus will have the honour to have found it to be the Indian Fig-tree but however that Opinion be esteem'd and that never Man thought better of his own than he yet herein he usurped upon Moses Bar-cephas who hit on this Conjecture 600 Years before and cited Pbilaxinus and others long before Becanus upon a Conceit this Tree is only found upon the Banks of Acesines which runneth into Indus will therefore find Paradise there but my self have seen 20000 of them in a Valley of America not far from Paria as also in Trinidado The magnitude of this Tree in Pliny and others I am asham'd to report the Stemm as streight as may be without Branch for Twenty or Thirty Foot where they spread abroad their Boughs and from the Head branches a Gumm that hangeth downward and by increasing in a few Months as a Cord reacheth the Ground taketh Root and becometh a Tree which also by the like Gum maketh others and in a short time such a Grove ariseth like which there is no Tree And if a Branch hang over the Water the Gum will pierce the Water and take root so that falling sometimes into a Bed of Oysters they are so intangled that plucking up one of these Cords I have seen 500 Oisters hanging about it The Leaves largeness and Fruits pleasantness I find not according to Report yet have I travelled 12 Miles under them In conclusion though Becanus count it impudent Obstinacy to dare to think this not the Tree yet Philo believes that the Earth never brought forth the Tree since § 3. Becanus's witty Allegory of the Indian Fig-tree believes it not worthy the Commendation given it § 4. Touching the name of the Tree Bar-cephas translated by Masius saith it was so called of the Event for that after eating thereof they should know by experience the Happiness they had lost and the Misery their Disobedience would bring them into Iunius followeth this Exposition Adam by excellency of Creation could not be ignorant of the Good and Evil of Obedience and Disobedience yet as Men in sickness better know the good of health and evil of sickness than they conceived before so was it with Adam For looking into the Glass of his guilty Conscience which Evil he never knew he saw the horrour of Gods Judgment and sensibly knew the loss of the Good which could not be valu'd and purchas'd Evil not to be expressed And then he saw himself Naked both in Body and Mind that is deprived of Gods Grace and former Felicity hereupon was it called the Tree of Knowledge and not of any Operation it had by a peculiar quality For the same Phrase is used in Scripture and names are given to Signs and Sacraments as to things performed and done But Adam being betray'd and overrul'd by his own Affection and ambitious of further Knowledge and of the glory would attend it and slightly looking on what the Lord had threatned was transported with the gentle winds of pleasing perswasion whereupon Satan strengthened his progression poisoning the roots of mankind which he moistened with the Liquor of the same ambition by which himself perished for ever The means the Devil us'd was his Wife given to have been a Comforter not a Counseller She desiring to know what was unsit for her as doth all that Sex ever since and He unwilling to grieve or discontent her as all his Sex are to this day yielded to her Charms If this befell him in his perfection not yet acquainted with bewitching Imbracements and if Solomon the wisest could not escape the snare of Female Allurements it is not so wonderful as lamentable that other Men perish at that Roâ—k CHAP. V. Of memorable things between Adam and Noah § 1. CAIN inheriting his Fathers Pride and disdaining his Brother who was more acceptable than himself became the first Murderer and made his Brother the first Martyr And tho' God mitigated his Revenge of this Sin upon Cain's complaint yet for the Sins of Cruelty and Injustice he destroyed the World § 2. Cain's dwelling in the Land of Nod or agitation as Iunius expounds it is not as Ierom and others held that he setled in no certain Country but of his distracted Thought and unquiet Conscience the Country was so called This Country in which he setled and in which for fear of wandering he built a City Iunius supposeth to be Arabia the Desart but the Text boundeth it on the East of Eden whereas Arabia is West As for the Nomades which liv'd upon Pasturage without Tillage they were not any particular Nation but it was a common Name for all that so lived as the Northern Tartars Getulians Numidians Ancient Britains and Northern Irish. Besides the World being unpeopled and Adam's Family small and that also on the East side of Eden in that part of Assyria which Ptolomy calls Calena it is unlike Cain would go so far West to Arabia Touching the City Enoch built either for security or to oppress others as Iosephus judged probably it was of great Repute in the days of Noah when mighty Oppressors carried all the Fame It may be also some Monuments of it remained as they say of Ioppa after the Flood which might induce some of Noah's Posterity being of like violent disposition either to reedifie the same or some other of that Name Hence it might be that in time Colonies scatter'd from thence their Captives the name of Henochians from Bactria and Sogdiana East from Eden where Pliny and Stephanus find the Name South from Oxus unto Iberia Albania and Colchis near Pontus § 3. Moses has been very brief in the Story of Cain's Issue it being utterly to be destroy'd Yet the long lives of that Age and the liberty his Children took in Marrying may well argue he might in one quarter of his Life people a large City which his Issue were more ingenious to supply with the Inventions ascribed to them while Seth's Posterity is commended for care of Religion and Heavenly things § 4. The Patriarchs Ages when they began to generate is not found in them that are named For Moses's purpose was not to record a Genealogy of the first begotten but of the Ancestors of Noah before the Flood and of Abraham after so that having the Age of these that succeed one another in that Line it was sufficient whether they were younger or elder Brethren Cain was the Eldest of Adam's Sons yet Adam's Age when he begat him is not expressed as it is of Seth Neither can any one say directly Adam had but Cain and Abel before nor that Enoch was Seth's Eldest Son Mehalaleel begat Iared at 65. who begat Chanoch at 162 the like or
as is generally held and was Iaphet's Seventh Son § 8. Ascanez Son of Gomer Eusebius makes Father of the Gothians Pliny finds Ascania and the River of Ascanius and the Lake of Ascanez between Prusia and Nice in Phrygia Iunius takes them for Inhabitants of Pontus and Bythinia in which Ptolomy hath such a Lake Strabo finds a City River and Lake in Mesia near Gio as Pliny But Ier. 51.27 determins it North of Asia near Ararat and Minni Mountains of Armenia Riphat Gomer's Son Father of Riphcior Paphlagone Famous in the North of Sarmatia after called Henites of whom Polonia Russia and Lithuania were Peopled Melancton thinks they spread from the Baltick to the Adriatick Sea and findeth a Venetian Gulf in Russia called Heneti the same with Veneti § 9. Elisa eldest Son of Iavan was Father of the Nicolians from whence the Grecians were called Helens saith Montanus and Ezek. 27.7 mentions the Isles of Elesa that is of Grece Tharsis his Second Son Planted Cilicia where is the City Tharsis This word is often put for the Sea because the greatest Ships were there and they were called Seamen and the first Iones Montanus and Cal. Paraphrase mistake it for Carthage Cittim his Third Son Father of the Macedonians not Italians Esa. 23. with 1 Mac. 1. Yet it may be he first Planted Cyprus where Iosephus found the City which remained in Ierom's days saith Pintus but this Isle proving too narrow they sent out and Peopled Macedon whose Plantation Melancton ascribes to him Dodanim his Fourth Son settled at Rhodes Dodanim and Rhodanim being easily confounded He also sent Colonies to Epirus where was the City Dodana § 10. Chush Eldest Son of Cham with his Associates Peopled Babylonia Chaldea and all the Arabias Ethiopia was not his as Iosephus the Septuagint and others misled by them judged First From Numb â—2 2 Moses's Wife was a Chushite not an Ethiopian as Iosephus Reports who tells us that Moses leading an Egyptian Army against the Ethiopians the Kings Daughter fell in Love with and betrayed the City Sheba to him after called Meros On the contrary Strabo and all Geographers place Sheba in Arabia whence the Queen came to visit Solomon Damianus and Goes tell us that the Prester Iohns of the Aybssinians came of that Queen by Solomon But without Scripture or Probability seeing her supposed Bastard assisted not his Brother Rehoboam against Shishack King of Egypt But Moses cleareth his Wives Kindred against Iosephus making her a Midian not far from Horeb. So Iethro's coming to Moses c. Chrisamensis also proveth Midia cannot be Ethiopia Thirdly So Ezek. 29.10 Nebuchadonosor's Conquest of Egypt is set out by the Bounds Seveneth which is next Ethiopia and the Chushits ill Translated Black Moors for Arabians the other next Neighbours whereas the Moors were beyond Seveneth or Syene as Scotland is beyond Barwick Fourthly So Ezek. 30.9 Chush cannot be Ethiopia but Arabia Whereto Nebuchadonosor having Conquered Egypt even the Tower Syene in Thebaida bordering on Ethiopia sent Ships over the Red-Sea which to the Ethiopians joyning to Syene he needed not to have done neither would the fall of Nilus suffer nor was his invading that part of Arabia so fit by Land all the length of Egypt being between and all the tedious Desarts of Paran Lastly This placing a Family of Chush from all the rest to go and come through Misraim would make a confusion in the Plantation Besides there was never any thing between Iews and Ethiopians as between them and Chushits Fourthly So Esa. 18.1 turning Chush to Ethiopia for Arabia puts one Kingdom for another confounding the Story For what Kingdom beyond the River of Ethiopia can be found which Assur was to waste as an Enemy to the Iews who were never injured by the Ethiopians much less by any beyond them But I acknowledge that here Egypt which threatned Israel is threatned and Arabia with it Esa. 19.20 The like Errour is committed in 1 Kings 19.9 Making Tirhaka an Ethiopian for a Chushite or Arabian as in Zerah 2 Chron. 14.9 For how should he bring such an Army through such a Kingdom as Egypt § 11. Mizarim Cham's Second Son took into Egypt along Nilus unto Syene bordering on Ethiopia to the South from the Mediterranean Sea which was his North Border Phut the Third Son travell'd to the West beyond him along the Sea Inhabiting Mauritania Egypt was known to Moses and the Prophets by the Name of Mizraim but was called Egypt by a King of that Name otherwise called Rameses the Son of Belus who chased his Brother Danaeus into Greece where he setled in Morea after the Flood 877. Many are the Fancies of the Egyptian Antiquity of Three Hundred and Thirty Kings before Amasis Contemporary with Cyrus and of their Story of 13000 Years c. And Mercator pleads their Antiquity from their Dynasties of which the Sixteenth began with the Flood so that the first must reach the Creation But Eusebius begins the Sixteenth with Abraham 292 Years after the Flood Annius begins the first Dynasty 131 Years after the Flood forgetting that he had said that Nimrod came but that Year to Shinar so that the Dynasty could not begin till after the Confusion But where Pererius holds it impossible that Egypt could be Peopled 200 Years after Adam and supposing it not replenished at all before the Flood I find no force in the assertion For we have no reason to give less Increase to the Sons of Adam than Noah the Age of the one being double and after a while treble to the other which Argueth strength to beget many a long time This appeared in Cham who replenished Five Cities with his own Issue Nimrod's Troops at Shinar were great no doubt yet it is probable all came not thither as may be gathered by the Multitudes which Encountered Semiramis in the East Indian Wars As for Egypt being an Established Kingdom in the Days of Abraham it argues 't was Inhabited long before And contrary to Pererius we may rather wonder how the World could contain the Issue of those long living heathful Fathers than doubt the Peopling of it For if our short Lives wherein scarce one in Ten Liveth to 50 Years the World wants no People And if Wars and Pestilence did not cut them off by Thousands the World could not contain them What would it do if none dyed before 50 or 100 Years Then Conceive the Millions when Men Lived 8 or 900 Years c. Pererius is likewise deceived in the occasion of their dispersing at Babel For had not that occasion happened their Increase would in short time have forc'd them to seek new Habitations c. That therefore the World was all over Peopled with offenders it appeareth by the Universality of the Flood As for Egypt's Antiquity it is probable that Mizaraim's Sons found some Monuments in Pillars Altars or other Stones or Metals touching former Government there which the Egyptians added to the Lives of the Kings