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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	die_v	time_n	year_n	9,015	5	4.8371	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70111	An excellent discourse proving the divine original and authority of the five books of Moses written originally in French by Monsieur Du Bois de la Cour, and approved by six doctors of the Sorbon ; to which is added a second part, or an examination of a considerable part of Pere Simon's critical history of the Old Testament ... by W.L.	Filleau de la Chaise, Jean, 1631-1688.; Lorimer, William, d. 1721.	1682 (1682)	Wing F904; ESTC R28418	86,453	212

that Order as P. Simon would have it and we ought to read the Three Verses aforesaid backwards because the Jews in this Age do not name their Children till after their Circumcision But can P. Simon prove that in Abrahams time Children were not named till after their Circumcision might they not be numbred at their Circumcision yea or before their Circumcision in Abrahams time God left it free unto Abraham and his Posterity to name their Children at vvhat time they pleased before at or after their Circumcision and no Man living can prove that in Abrahams time People vvere bound to name their Children after their Circumcision or that they generally used so to do such Arguments as this of P. Simons deserves no Ansvver but to be hissed at and his Immodesty in saying That the Sacred Historian ought to have kept the Order he speaks of is to be lamented by all that desire to fear God Thirdly He Objects Gen. 31. 46. This Verse says he is methinks likewise out of its Order as well as all the Discourse which treats of the Covenant between Jacob and Laban because they did not eat till the Alliance was made Answer Here is an Argument little better than the former only it is more modestly proposed They did not eat till the Alliance was made ergo all the Discourse which treats of the Covenant between Jacob and Laban is out of its order Any Man that attentively reads the Text of Moses would conclude the quite contrary that seeing they did not eat till the Alliance was made therefore all the Discouse that treats of the Covenant c. is in its Order because it is all set down before the offering of Sacrifice or killing of Beasts and eating of Bread mentioned Vers 54. As for Vers 46. there is nothing affirmed in it but what is most true It is most true that Jacob's Brethren gathered Stones it is most true that they made an heap and it is as true that they did eat there upon the heap But says P. Simon They did not eat till the Alliance was made I Answer Nor does the Historian say in Vers 46. that they did eat before the Covenant was made there he only says That they did eat upon the heap but does not say when and a little after in Vers 54. he tells us when it was they eat upon the heap to wit after the Covenant was made So that here is nothing to cavil at and find fault with only the same thing is twice expressed in somewhat different words First The matter of Fact is related in general without telling what was meant by it Vers 46. They took stones and made an heap and they did eat there upon the heap Secondly The meaning of the heap of stones and of their eating upon the heap is cleared up and the time mentioned when they eat upon the heap there it is shewed that the heap of stones was by agreement between Jacob and Laban ordained to be a Witness or Token of the Covenant between them Two and their eating upon the heap is clearly implyed to have been a federal Feast signifying and sealing up a lasting Friendship between the Parties Covenanted and last of all it is expresly declared when this Feast upon the heap of stones was to wit after the Covenant between Jacob and Laban was made and confirmed by the Oaths of both Parties Vers 53 54. To conclude this Answer Let it be considered that Vers 46 speaks only of the place where they eat without mentioning the time when But Vers 54 speaks only of the time when they eat without mentioning the place where that is without mentioning that it was upon the heap of stones and now why Moses yea why Gods Holy Spirit might not be the Author of both these 46 and 54 Verses and of all that comes between them it is above my capacity to understand I dare challenge any Man to bring an Argument from this place to prove that Moses could not be the Author of the Pentateuch an Argument I say that any Man of Judgment would not be ashamed of Fourthly He Objects Gen. 35. 28 29. The Death of Isaac there related seems to be out of its place says P. Simon because Isaac died not at that time and that Joseph was sold Twelve Years before the Death of Isaac yet nevertheless the History of Joseph begins but at the 37th Chapter of the same Book I Answer The Death of Isaac hath that place in the History which the wisdome of God thought fit to assign unto it and that we should account to be its place which Gods Wisdome by his Prophet hath put it in But says P. Simon Isaac died not at that time I Answer There is no other time of his Death mentioned there but that after he was One Hundred and Eighty Years Old he Died and was Buried which is most true but it is not at all said by the Sacred Historian that Isaac Died at that time when his Son Jacob came unto him unto Mamre for that had been false and I desire this may be taken notice of But says P. Simon Joseph was Sold Twelve Years before the Death of Isaac and yet the History of Joseph begins but at the 37th Chapter of the same Book I Answer This is indeed true for Isaac was Sixty Years Old when Jacob was Born Gen. 25. 26. And Jacob was One Hundred and Thirty Years Old when he stood before Pharaoh Gen. 47. 9. Now 60 and 130. make One Hundred and Ninety which is but Ten Years more than the Years of the Age of Isaac who Died when he was One Hundred and Eighty Years Old that is Ten Years before Jacob stood before Pharaoh so that Isaac must have Died about the time of Joseph's advancement in Aegypt as appears from Gen. 41. 53 54. compared with Gen. 45. 6. where we see that Seven Years of Plenty and Two Years of Famine had passed from the time of Joseph's advancement until the time of Jacob's coming into Aegypt Isaac then Living One Hundred and Eighty Years could not Die till about the time of Joseph's advancement either the Year of his advancement or the Year before his advancement and if it was the Year before his Advancement that Isaac Died then it was about Twelve Years after Joseph was Sold that Isaac Died for Joseph was Seventeen Years Old when he was Sold Gen. 37. 2. and Thirty Years Old when he was advanced in Aegypt Gen. 41. 46. and consequently he was not advanced till the Thirteenth Year after he had been Sold so that Isaac Dying the Year before his advancement he must have Died Twelve Years after he was Sold. But what is all this to the purpose this doth not prove that the Relation of the Death of Isaac is out of its place for as I have said that is its place which the Wisdome of God thought fit to assign unto it and there we find it in the end of the 35th Chapter

general Sum of the Males of the whole Tribe as appears Vers 39 Answer They were numbered because God would have it a known truth upon Record that there were at that time so many Males of the whole Tribe of Levi and no more they were put into the particular Sums because the particular Sums were to contain all the Males of the several Families whether they were First-born or not but they were left out of the general Sum because it was to ballance the general Sum of the First-born of the other Tribes and so no First-born Levites were to be taken into it Secondly I Answer That it becomes not us to call God to an account and to ask why he doth such a thing when we know certainly that he hath done it he giveth not account of any of his matters Job 33. 13. Even an Heathen King when his Understanding returned unto him had so much Reason and Religion as to confess unto God's praise That he doth according to his Will c. and none can say unto him what doest thou Dan. 4. 35. This is as true of God's way of Writeing his Word as it is of his way of Governing the World But notwithstanding of some things that may be secret and to us unaccountable in both yet we are sure in general that God doth all things well and wisely in the one and the other Seventhly He Objects Exod. 16. 35. where it is said That the Children of Israel did eat Manna Forty Years until they came unto the Borders of the Land of Canaan It is pretended that Moses could not write this Verse because he died before the Children of Israel left off eating of Manna which was not before they came to Gilgal in the Plains of Jericho beyond Jordan as appears from Josh 5. 10 11 12. Answer I deny the consequence of this Argument that because the Children of Israel continued to eat Manna after the death of Moses therefore Moses could not write this Verse any strength that this Argument may seem to have depends upon a false supposition that Moses was no Prophet and knew no more than other ordinary Men or that he did not write by the Spirit of Prophecy for if Moses was a great Prophet as certalnly he was Numb 12. 6 7 8. Deut. 34. 10. and if he knew more than other ordinary Men as certainly he did Dent. 31. from Vers 1 to 8 and from Vers 27 inclusively unto Vers 30. then he might easily know by the Spirit of Prophecy how long the Children of Israel should eat Manna and when and where the Manna should cease and it is most certain that long before his death the Lord God revealed unto him That the Children of Israel should wander or feed as it is rendered on the Margine of our Bible in the Wilderness Forty Years as is evident from Numb 14. 26 33. 34 35. and he knew well enough without having it immediately revealed to him that they had nothing else but Manna to live upon in the Wilderness yet God might tell him that they should not be starved but the Manna should be continued to them and their Children till their Children were entered within the Borders of the Land of Canaan and sufficiently provided for in an ordinary way without Manna Now Moses believing this and knowing infallibly that it would be so as the Lord had spoken he might write of it before his death in the same manner as he would have done in case he had lived to see it all fulfilled he might write of it in the Preterit Tense because the whole Forty Years were almost expired before his death and they had already eaten Manna for many Years and as for the short time that remained in which they were to have the Manna continued to them he was so sure of it that the Manna should be continued to them and that they should eat of it till they passed over Jordan and entered into Canaan that he needed not to alter the Tense but might very well express it altogether in one and the same Preterit Tense for the use of that and succeeding Generations to whom it would certainly be a thing past After all the vain attempts made hitherto by P. Simon to prove that Moses could not be the Author of the Pentateuch at last out come the Arguments that Spinosa had formerly borrowed as he says from Aben Ezra to prove his position that Moses could not be the Author of the Books attributed to him Eighthly Then P. Simon Objects Deut. 1. 1. And to put some colour upon the business and to make the Objection seem to have some weight in it he thus renders the First Verse of Deut. These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel beyond Jordan in the Wilderness and then he Argues that the Book of Deuteronomy could not be written by Moses because he never went over Jordan but lived and died on this side Jordan in the Wilderness he that wrote thus must have been in the Land of Canaan which therefore could not be Moses but some Body after his death that wrote thus of him that he spoke such words unto all Israel beyond Jordan Answer It seems strange to me that P. Simon who is such a Learned Hebrician was not ashamed of this Argument whereof the whole strength lies on the signification of the Hebrew word Beeber indeed if Beeber signifie only Trans beyond then the Argument is good but if Beebers signifie also Cis on this side as it is rendered in our English Bibles then the Argument is stark nought we must therefore for clearing of this matter inquire what Beeber signifies And First I grant that Beeber doth some times signifie trans beyond I grant also that the Vulgar Latine the Seventy and that Edition of Munsters Translation which I have render it beyond but that is no proof that Beeber signifies always beyond and that it should be so rendered in this place for P. Simon himself finds fault with all these Three Translations and acknowledges that they may be mended in several places why then may not this be one of the places that ought to be mended in these Translations For Secondly It is not to be granted because it is false that Beeber always signifies beyond I demonstrate as clearly as any thing of this nature can be demonstrated that Beeber signifies also Cis on this side and that in some places it must do so and cannot do otherwise as for instance in Josh 1. 14 15. where the same words Beeber Haijarden are twice repeated and of necessity must be Translated on this side Jordan and cannot be otherwise Translated For whosoever he was that wrote the Book of Joshua and when or wheresoever it was written yet still this is true That before any of the Israelites had passed over Jordan here Joshua is brought in making a Speech to the Reubenites Gadites and half Tribe of Manasseh in which Speech he tells them That Moses had

in whose name he spake and as having God's Power in his own hands to punish those that should resist him 14. The greatest efforts and endeavors of humane Wit to disprove the truth of Moses his Books may be reduced to such imaginations as these and yet nothing less rational could be invented for if men would in this matter make use but of proofs taken from meer sense how difficult is it to reconcile the Wisdom and Vertue which clearly appear in this Moses with so black an Imposture how difficult is it to comprehend that this man in an Age so remote so dark and so rude and without any help from the Inventions of those that had gone before could have been able to contrive of his own head not only a Law from which all other Laws have been obliged to borrow something or other but moreover that he could have been able to have framed the Idea or Notion of a God and that an Idea so great and so worthy that excepting those who have trodden in his steps there were never any who have had an Idea of God but what was infinitely below it whereas all other humane Inventions grow up to perfection successively and by degrees in fine how strange a thing would it be that this first born of all Impostors should have hit so right in a matter so far elevated above the thoughts of men and should have known so well what should be due to a God and what a God should be that really Men are sensibly convinced that he must be such a God if he be at all and that honest hearts should be grievously troubled at it if such a God were not 15. But to pass from this unto such things as bear a greater proportion unto all sorts of Capacities let us see whether it be possible that all the Miracles mentioned in those Books should be but so many Fables invented by Moses if this be possible then either he must have hoped to make the Jews believe him or at least he must have hoped to perswade them to Authorize them by their consent without believing them and to conspire with him to conceal the knowledg of this Cheat from posterity for undoubtedly none will say that he invented them upon design to pass for an Impostor without expecting any advantage thereby and withal it must be supposed either that the Jews believed them to be true though they were false or that allowing them to be false they all with one consent agreed in a design to make them pass for true to their Posterity 16. But what can be imagined more groundless and undefensible than all this could Moses promise himself that he should be able to perswade the Jews to believe the turning of Rivers into Blood the thick palpable Darkness which covered all Aegypt for the space of Three Days the Israelites only being free from it the Death of all the first Born of the Aegyptians in one Night whilest the Jews in the mean time felt not the least hurt the division of the Red-Sea which opened and on each side stood up in an heap like two Walls to make way for the passage of the Israelites and then fell down again and returned to its ordinary course to swallow up and Drown the Army of the Aegyptians with all the rest of those Miracles which visibly succeeded one another before that people went out of the Land of Aegypt could he hope that none of the Jews would doubt of the truth of all these things if they were false nor have at least the curiosity to enquire concerning them of the Aegyptians who in all probability were not combined in the Plot with him 17. Moreover could he believe that he should be able easily to perswade them to give credit unto what he writes of the Forty Years which they spent in the Wilderness which is no less than another Series of Miracles that he should be able to make them believe though there was no such thing that he had drawn out of a Rock Water enough to quench the Thirst of Five or Six Hundred Thousand Men that before their eyes the Earth had swallowed up quick Corah Dathan and Abiram after he had advertised the people that they should die of a strange and extraordinary kind of Death that they themselves had lived for the space of Forty Years only upon Food sent down from Heaven and last of all that he should be able to make them believe that great and dreadful sight of Mount Sinai while it appeared all in a Flame with such a noise of Lightning and Thunder that the people who stood by and heard and saw all that passed desired to treat and converse no more but by Ambassadors with that God whose glorious presence they thought they could not bear and live 18. If Moses had been so senseless and mad as to flatter himself with this hope how unable would he have been even for that very reason alone to succeed and bring to pass any great design and instead of carrying matters so far and bringing them to that Issue as he did such a mad head would not have failed to imbroil and confound all its own projects where is there an example in all Histories of any cheat of this nature these are not the ways and methods which Deceivers take they do not lay open their Lies to so great a light and they are too wary to chuse Judges so hard to be deceived as the Eyes and Ears of Six Hundred Thousand Men and a whole Nation of Enemies they feign some obscure blind Mitacle whereof there have been but few Witnesses and cause the Fame of it to be spread abroad by their Partisans above all they avoid with great care the provoking of humane Nature to rise up in contradictory opposition to them which they would surely do if they should boldly take folks to witness of such things as wherein they should have so great cause to fear to be belied and there is nothing which they shun so much as the giving occasion unto Mens minds to think often upon their Falshoods and the inducing them to make frequent reflections upon their Lies they account themselves happy that they were once suffered to scape without being punished for their cheating Tricks and they cannot possibly so far root out of their natures all sense of Fear and Shame as to dare set gross Impostures continually before the eyes of a whole Nation taking them to witness and exciting them by such an unsufferable boldness to enquire into and consider of them with the greater care and wariness 19. Let Moses be tryed by these Rules to see whether he observes any of these precautions and takes any of these measures which Nature and Interest would teach the most desperate yea and even the most Foolish inconsiderate Impostors He speaks upon every occasion both of the Plagues of Aegypt and of the Miracles in the Wilderness and that with a confidence sufficient to provoke the