those Nations there is mention made of two Chavilahs one the Son of Chus and the other the Son of Joctan M. Bochart who very learnedly explained that Chapter in his Phaleg sheweth that this last Chavilah is the Founder of the Nation that inhabits the Land of Chaulan situated on the easterly Coast of the Arabian Gulf on the West of Arabia Felix This Land hath no Affinity with that we look for but the other hath which took its name from Chavilah Son of Chus as the same M. Bochart doth tell us Moses and the Author of the Book of Samuel very plainly point at the Situation of this Land of Chavilah when in order to express the two Extremities of Arabia which lieth near the Holy Land they mention Chavilah and Sur. Sur was a Desart adjoining to Egypt towards the end of the Arabian Gulf. It follows then that Chavilah was on the other side of Arabia towards the end of the Persian Gulf that is to say beginning at the West of the mouth of the Canal which I pretend to be the Phison and extending it self towards the South along the westerly Coast of that Gulf as far as Catif And Josephus relating the same things that are spoken of in these places of Moses and of the Book of Samuel and having a mind to mark the same limits of that distance instead of Sur puts Peluse the first Town one meets going from Palaestina into Egypt along the Sea-shore and instead of Chavilah he puts the Erythrean or Red Sea plainly declaring by those words the Situation of Chavilah The Inhabitants of that Land were not unknown to Profane Authors They call them Chavlothéans Chablasians Chavlasians and Chaveléans which names are manifestly derived from Chavilah or Chavilath as it is written when it is conâ—â—â—ued and place them betwixt the Nabathéans and Agréans which were Ishmaelites by origin Inhabitants of Arabia Deserta pretty near the end of the Persian Gulf. Many learned Men amongst the Modern and especially Steuchus Beroaldus Grotius Hornius and Bochart have acknowledged this Situation of Chavilah and very well seen that these Nations which I named just now borrowed from it their Name and Situation Calathua a Town in Arabia Deserta which Ptolomy sets near the same places hath perhaps some relation to this CHAP. IX Continuation of the Explanation of the Eleventh Verse and a beginning of the Explanation of the Twelfth I. Gold of Arabia II. And especially of Chavilah I. THis is not all we must find here some Gold and that good too That will not be difficult for Authors both Sacred and Profane do very much commend the Gold and Riches of Arabia Diodorus writes that in Arabia was found natural Gold of so lively a colour that it was very much like the brightness of the Fire and so fixed that it wanted neither Fire nor Refining to be purified Towards the West of that Land there was such abundance of Gold in the Country of the Aliléans and Cassanites that they valued it less than Silver Brass and Iron One may judge how rich the Sabeans and other Arabians were by the Gifts that were made by the Queen of Saba and all the Kings of Arabia to Solomon and by many other Testimonies of Scripture and also by what Agatharchides hath written viz. That the Sabeans had filled Syria with Gold Many Nations in Arabia had the Name of Sabeans But to come to Chavilah that lies on the westerly and southerly Coast of the Persian Gulf it cannot be questioned but Ezekiel meant those that inhabited the same Coast when he says to the City of Tyre That the Merchants of Arabia Dedan and Cedar furnished it with their Commodities that those of Saba and Rhegma did trade there in Gold and precious Stones and in all sorts of Spices that Haran Chene and Eden Saba Assur and Chelmad sold there all kinds of Merchandices of a high value There was a great Communication betwixt all these Nations through the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf and we must particularly observe that the Prophet joins Eden a Region where Paradise was situated to Saba that lies in the Neighbourhood of Chavilah Of this Saba must also be understood the words of David directed to Jesus Christ under the name of Solomon in that Prophetical Psalm the 72 when he foretells him that the Kingâ— of Saba shall bring him Gifts and Gold out of their Country Which Prediction was fulfilled when the Wise Men that came from Arabia according to the most common opinion offered to our Saviour Gold Frankincense and Myrrhe Rhegma mentioned by Ezekiel was also a Town in Arabia situated on the same Gulf abounding in Gold and precious Stones II. Arabia being thus so silled with Riches and especially with Gold and very fine Gold no doubt but it very much dealt in it with the neighbouring Provinces situated along the Euphrates which was then the most populous Country in the World and the Province of Chavilah lying between those Countries besides the Gold of its own had to be sure a great deal also in its Ware-houses from the neighbouring Provinces by the Traffick and Entercourse of Merchants CHAP. X. Continuation of the Explanation of the twelfth Verse I. Divers Opinions concerning the signification of the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bedolach II. The two most probable are that it signifies an Aromatical Gum or Pearls III. The most famous Fishing for Pearls in the World is near Chavilah IV. There was also found in the same Country abundance of Bdellium I. THE Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bedolach which is rendred by that of Bdellium is very variously translated by the Interpreters The Seventy Interpreters will have it to signifie here the Carbuncle and in the eleventh Chapter of Numbers the Crystal Most of the Greek and Latin Fathers agree with them in the first Exposition St. Jerom after Josephus and the three Greek Interpreters Aquila Theodotion and Symmachus renders this word by that of Bdâ—llium which is a sweet-smelling Gum and supposed by many to be the Anime Some think that it is Ebeny or the Pepper tree or the Clove-tree The Persian Translator will have it to be the Beryl The Arabian Translators and the Syriack some Rabbins and Saadias Gaon at the head of them followed by a great number of learned Men maintain it to be Pearls Other Rabbins will have it to be the Chrystal some the Diamond others the Jasper others the Emerald or some other precious Stone II. Of all these opinions the two most probable and which most divided the Learned are that which takes Bedolach for an Aromatical Gum and that which takes it for Pearls The place of the Book of Numbers which they quote in defence of this last opinion seemeth to be so plain and decisive that I cannot see what exception can be made against it for Moses intending to describe the Manna says that it was
the proofs I produced being scattered may perhaps make the lesser impression upon the Reader 's mind they will perswade him better if they are joined and shew themselves altogether to him Moses then says That God planted a Garden in Eden We find a Province of that name along that River and towards the place that I marked That Province deserved the name of Eden which signifies Pleasure by reason of its Pleasantness and Fertility Although most part of it is not cultivated now-a-days it nevertheless seems to retain yet some marks of the bountiful hand of God in the goodness of its Soil That Garden was situated Eastward that is to say in the easterly part of the Land of Eden on both sides of the River This may also signifie that easterly side which in the whole extent of the running of the Tigris had the name of Kedem that is to say East as a Proper and not as an Appellative name Even as the Lands situated on the westerly side had the proper name of Ereb that is to say West from whence Arabia took its name So that Moses would give us to understand that Paradise at least its greatest and chiefest part was placed on the easterly side of the River Besides the natural goodness of that Country God beautified it in an extraordinary manner to make Paradise out of it in making grow out of the ground every Tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food II. That River went out of Eden to water the Garden that is to say that having ran through that Province it entred into the Garden which being at the East of Eden the River at the place where it entred into the Garden must have run from the West to the East and by consequence it must have been situated upon one of the turnings of the River which runs that way And since it makes no turning more considerable between its joining and dividing than that great one which is to be seen in Ptolomy's Maps it is the most likely thing in the World that Paradise was placed on the easterly end of the southerly branch of that turning The modern Maps do not represent it but we must not forget that the Art and Industry of Men brought considerable Alterations to the running of those Rivers They mark this drawing a little from the West to the East between the coming together of the Tigris and Euphrates and the City of Bassora Though the running of the Waters had been disposed so since the time of the Earthly Paradise and not according to the ancient Maps it would yet agree with Moses's description III. This River being considered in respect to the Garden according to the disposition of its Chanel and not according to the running of its Waters divided it self and was parted not into four Springs as some Interpreters believed but into four heads that is to say into four entries or apartures of four different branches These four branches were four Rivers two above in regard to the running of the Water viz. the Euphrates and the Tigris two below viz. the Phison and the Gehon IV. Moses who was writing these things in Arabia Petraea intending to make an enumeration of those Rivers in order to declare the Situation of the Earthly Paradise hath begun it with the Phison which I say is the more westerly Chanel of the two into which the River is divided before its entring into the Sea because it was the very next to the place where he was writing and presented it self first to his Mind as it had presented it self first to his Eyes and Feet if he had gone that way And seeing that first River being once known the others would be easily known he affixed more marks upon it and those marks are peculiar to it and can fit no other V. The first mark is that that River is it which compasseth the whole Land of Chavilah From the knowing of that Land depends the knowledge of the Phison and there can be no question but it is that which lies on the northern end of the easterly Coast of Arabia that is on the westerly side of the mouth of the Euphrates and Tigris The Scripture exactly marks the Situation of it when it mentions Chavilah and Sur as the two Extremities of Arabia adjacent to the Holy Land For Sur lying at the entrance of Egypt toward the extremity of the Arabian Gulf it follows that Chavilah was on the other side of Arabia at the extremity of the Persian Gulf. Add to that the Testimony of the Heathen Authors who set in the same place the People called Chavlasians and Chavlotheans names undoubtedly derived from Chavilah All the marks given us by Moses that we might know Chavilah do exactly fit the Land I speak of There is gold there and the gold of that Land is good as David and Ezekiel do testifie and as it may be concluded from the Gifts the Wise men brought to our Saviour VI. There is Bdellium whether be meant Pearls by that word as it is in the Hebrew or an Aromatical Gum. The greatest fishing of Pearls that is in the World is made near the Island of Baharen which lies in the Persian Gulf near the Coast of Chavilah and to which the Phison leadeth The ancient and modern Authors speak of those Pearls as going beyond all the Pearls in the World and even all that Coast from Mascate to Catif is abounding in Pearls Arabia was no less abounding in Bdellium a sort of precious Gum called now Anime and in Onyx stones which as Pliny says were only found in the Mountains of Arabia Besides the Countries about the Tigris and Euphrates being then the richest and most populous in the World and Commodities being brought thither from all parts those of Arabia so necessary for Luxury and Pleasures were not left out and the Province of Chavilah lying on the way and being a necessary passage there must have been there also abundance of all precious Stones and Spices of Arabia VII In following Moses's order after having gone over the westerly Chanel through which the Tigris and Euphrates joined together run into the Sea one meets with the easterly-Chanel which must needs be the Gehon The same is it that compasseth the whole Land of Chus that is to say Susiana which still retains that old name and is called now a days Chuzestan being the same that the Scripture calls elsewhere Cutha according to the variety of Dialects From that name Chus have been derived the names of the Cosseans and Cissians Inhabitants of Susiana mentioned by prophane Authors And this gave them occasion to say that the Mother of Memnon a Prince of Susiana was a Cissian VIII The name of the third River Chiddekel which goeth towards Assyria is the Tigris The name it self sheweth it for taking away the first letter of Chiddekel which is but an Aspiration it remains Dekel out of which
Opinion of those who fansie that these four great Rivers sprung out of the same head and entâ—ed into the Earth almost as soon as they were come out of it to go into very remote places and there come forth again be very strange yet it hath found credit even amongst the Heathens themselves and so much the more because there are great conformities betwixt those Rivers Their overflowings are at set times though produced by different causes the Euphrates and Tigris as the Po and many others by reason of the Snow of the Mountains which melteth away at the approaches of the Sun the Nile and Ganges as all those of the Torrid Zone by reason of the Rains that are frequent there when the Sun is vertical The same Animals are found in the Ganges and in the other Indian Rivers as in the Nile as Crocodiles and also Hippopotames if we give credit to Philostratus and Onesicritus The latter is contradicted by Strabo and yet it is true that the Nile is not the only River that produces these Animals In that of Petzora and in all the Coast of the Samojedes which lies towards the Streights of Vaygats there is to be found an amphibious Animal which the Moscovites call Morss and is really a kind of Hippopotame This may well be the reason why it was thought that the Nile and Ganges had one and the same Spring since Alexander having found some Crocodiles in the River Indus and Beans like to those of Egypt upon the sides of the Acesine a River that falls into the Indus did not question but he had found the Spring of the Nile For all the Ancients knowing very little of Geography thought even since the time of Marcus Paulus a Venetian who lived four hundred years ago that the Aethiopians were neighbours to the Indians and very often took the one for the other and that the Nile came from the East and had its Spring in the Indies Virgâ—… tells it very plainly and the Poet Gratius who lived in the time of Augustuâ— writes that the Kings of Egypt did reap the Nard which grows on the sides oâ— the Ganges They believed also as Pausanias and Philostratus inform us that the Nile was derived from the Euphrates which after having plunged his Waters into some Meers sprung oâ—â— again in Aethiopia under the name of Nile And finally we know by the Testimony of the Poet Lucan and of Bâ—â—tius some fansied that the Euphrates and Tigris had the same Spring Here theâ— you have the Springs of the Ganges Nile Euphrates and Tigris very near one another and even united according to ancient Geography which is indeed very false and very ridiculous and which very much helped the receiving the gross Error of those who misunderstood the words of Moses which we are now about to examine III. But those who maintain that this River that went out to water Paradise had its Spring out of Paradise and Eden and that the word went out doth not signifie sprung out but run fâ—om Eden into Paradise are more in number and of greater weight The word Egrediebatur which the Author of the vulgar Translation made use of and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Seventy Interpreters used answered to by the Oriental Translations express the running of a River and not its Spring And even the term 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jotse which is in the Hebrew Text gives us the same Notion For altho' it is taken elsewhere and even by Moses himself for the Spring of Waters yet these being figurative Expressions and this word being never made use of in historical Narratives I do not see what may be inferred from thence for its proper signification The Hebrews have many other words much more proper for that signification and they have none more proper than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jatsa to signifie coming out or running to go into another place IV. If we consider well the thing it self described by Moses it leadeth us to this very sence For Eden and Paradise being two different places I mean different as the whole from its part and the Sacred Author having a mind to say that the River went from one to go into the other he expressed the two bounds of this running Eden and the Garden and he used the Words and Particles most suitable to this Expression for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jatsa as I said in its most natural sence signifies go out and the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Min which is joyned with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eden in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meeden doth denote the place of this going out The Seventy Interpreters rendred it very well by the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the vulgar Translation by De. In the following word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lâ—haschcoth to water the Particle expressed by the letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commonly denoting the Gerund signifies the final cause of this going out And the following words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ethhagan the Garden denote the local bound of this running If by these words And a river went out of Eden to water the Garden Moses had meant that this River sprung out of the Earth in Eden 't is evident his Narrative had been defective having said nothing of the running of this River And to make it compleat it should have been in these words And a River had its Spring in the Land of Eden from whence it ran along to water the Garden V. This Explication being received we begin to have a clearer sight of the Situation of Paradise I said that Paradise was situated on the Canal of the Tigris and Euphrates joyned together betwixt their coming together 〈…〉 separating from one another This Canal is now called Schat-el Arab that is to say the River of the Arabians It is the River here spoken of by Moses Seeing Paradise comprehended the easterly part of the Province of Eden as I suppose I have plainly evidenced it and the River that did water it ran through that Province before it entred into Paradise it must necessarily follow that Paradise was situated on one of the turnings of this River that goeth from West to East And if any should desire to have something more precise or particular in this we may understand that great turning of the River toward the West betwixt its joyning and dividing and which is called Agathodaemon in the Maps of Ptolomy and say that Paradise stood at the easterly end of the Meridional Branch of this turning And consequently all those who set it in the places where this River runs towards the West or the South have been under a mistake Perhaps it had another turning in Paradise and then ran as before toward the South Josephus says That it incompassed that delicious place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which I but partly believe for I am persuaded that the greatest part of the Garden