was form'd of Clay Thus in the Latin Tongue which I believe no Man in the World ever dreamt to be the Primitive Language we might say that God call'd the first Man Homo because he was form'd ex humo i. e. out of the Ground Besides the same thing might accidentally happen in the words Isch and Ischah as amongst the ancient Latins (a) See what Fetstus in Querquetulana virae says Foeminas antiqui quas nunc dicimus Viras appellabant unde adhuc permanent Virgines Viragines St. Jerom uses this last word whom herein we had no mind to imitate because Virago neither signifies what Ischa does in Hebrew nor Vira in Latin but a Woman of a Masculine Spirit vir and vira were in use We might here produce the frequent Alterations of Names even of those we call Proper but the Reader may find them in the Learned Grotius's Annotations on Gen. 11.1 and in Huetius's Demonstratio Evangelica Propos 4. c. 13. § 4. We shall at present content our selves to give an Instance or two not taken notice of by them of an Etymology happily expressed in another Language Every one has heard of a Famous City in Egypt which the Greeks call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which name for 't is of Greek Extraction is rightly derived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from dirt because it was built in a dirty place For thus Strabo in his Seventeenth Book Page 552. of the Geneva Edition put out by Casaubon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now if the Books of the Hebrew Prophets were all lost Who would not Swear that this City had no other Name Who would not believe that it was built by some Greeks that settled there or by the Posterity of Lagus and bore this Greek Name ever since its beginning However 't is undeniable from Ezekiel 30.14 15. that it was call'd Sin by the Egyptians which word signifies dirt as Bochart has observ'd Phaleg l. 4. c. 27. The same has happen'd in the name of another place not far distant from Pelusium Diodorus Siculus in the first Book of his Bibliotheca mightily commends Actisanes the Aethiopian who after he had conquer'd Ammoses King of the Egyptians and subdued the whole Country neither put the Guilty to death nor yet wholly dismiss'd them unpunish'd but carried multitudes of the Condemned he thus used them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cutting off their Noses he transplanted them into the farthest parts of a desart Region and built a City and called it from this accident Rinocolura Strabo in his sixteenth Book makes the same Remark and so does Stephanus upon this word Now those Persons that do not know that the Egyptians at this time did not speak Greek would easily suffer themselves to be perswaded especially seeing it named among the Cities of Egypt that Rinocolura was the very name by which this City went among the Egyptians But if any one would rather desire to see Examples fetch'd from the Holy Scriptures he may observe how the Seventy Interpreters turn the Proper Names of the Bible into Greek Gen. 11.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Babel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore the name of it was called Confusion Babel or Babylon because there the Lord confounded the Lips of the whole Earth See likewise Gen. 31.47 32.20 Nay what is highly remarkable Moses has deriv'd the Original of his own Name from an Hebrew word and has introduced the Daughter of Pharaoh speaking Hebrew who without question exprest her self in the Egyptian Tongue Exod. 2.10 The Child grew up and his Nurse brought him to the Daughter of Pharaoh who called his name Mosche because said she I drew him out of the Water Mishithinou And the reason of it is plain for since Moses saw he could easily imitate the Egyptian Origination in the Hebrew Tongue he made no Scruple to bring in this Princess expressing her self after that manner But in the Egyptian Tongue he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is taken out of the Water for with the Old Egyptians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signified Water and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taken out Thus in the New Testament he that was called by the Syrians Chipha or Chepha was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peter by the Greeks and so that Paronomasia which our Saviour used in the Hebrew or Syro-Chaldaïc was conveniently enough translated into the Greek Tongue Matt. 16.17 However I would by no means be thought to affirm that the Name of Adam and such-like were changed For it might so happen that both the Primitives and Derivatives of the first Language were often preserved in the Hebrew But we must not conclude from thence that therefore Adam spoke pure Hebrew There are some Names which with equal Felicity may be deduced out of the Chaldee as for instance the Name Hhavah for Hhai signifies Living no less in Chaldee than it does in Hebrew Nay there are some Names which cannot Analogically be derived from the Hebrew Roots although Moses deduces them from those Roots which if we should urge as the Rabbins do to support the contrary Opinion we should from thence conclude that the Hebrew Tongue has no Affinity with the Language of the Antediluvians Thus Gen. 2.1 And she brought forth Cain and said I have got Kanithi a man of the Lord. The Name Kajin according to the common Rules ought to be deduced from Koun which signifies to Lament in Pihel as Kajits the Summer from Kouts Tsaiid Hunting from Tsoud and several more of the like nature From the Root Kanah we should more properly deduce Kanovi Now as we have observed if we were minded to copy after the Rabbins and follow their Conduct we might say That from hence 't is evident that the Hebrew Tongue is not the first since Moses was not able to express in it the Etymology of the word Kain We might gather the same from Genesis Chap. 5. v. 29. where the Father of Noah calls the Name of his Son Noahh saying he will Comfort us Jenahhamenou for if we are to derive the Name of this Restorer of Mankind from Nahham we ought to have called him Nohhem that is to say a Comforter not Noahh which can be deduced from nothing else but Noahh quievit So that if a few happy Etymologies will prove the Antediluvian Language to have been the same with the Hebrew surely those of a different Nature will demonstrate the contrary But since both these Propositions cannot be true what remains but that we should own that the Hebrew Language is not indeed the first but the Off-spring of it as are likewise the Chaldee and Arabick and that some Remainders of it are still preserved in these three Dialects True it is that the Original of the Name of Tubal Cain which is neither to be traced out of Hebrew nor Chaldee is plainly found in the Arabick as we have shewn at the third (b)
the Reader as briefly as we can what is meant by the word Interpret for we do not here design to deliver all the Rules of that Art Now since they that speak make use of certain Words or Forms of Speaking in order to be understood by others and to raise the same Motions and Affections of the Mind in their Hearers as they feel themselves those may be said to interpret other Mens words if we take the word in a large Acceptation whoso express them in another Tongue that they who hear the Interpreter speak think altogether the same things in the very same order and manner as the Person that spoke first would have them If all Languages were equally Copious and furnish'd with words of the same Force and Energy we might safely then render Word for Word and Phrase for Phrase and consequently we should only have occasion for a literal simple Translation But since Languages do not answer one another so exactly 't is impossible to make a Verbal Translation if the Narration is somewhat long Many things must of necessity be explain'd in sewer or more words as the occasion demands if the Interpreter has a mind to be understood and to gain that Point in the Minds of his Hearers as he whose Interpreter he is desires he should Nay sometimes though we increase or diminish the number of words yet the same Notion cannot be express'd in two Languages by reason of the Diversity of the Idiom An infinite number of Words and Expressions whether Figurative or proper are so peculiar to their own Tongues that they can by no means be transfused into another without a long and troublesome Circumlocution which cannot be inserted into a Translation From hence 't is easie to conclude That no Translation can be in all Respects compleat that is to say such a Translation that after the perusing of it the Reader shall think the very same things and be affected after the same manner as if he understood the Language out of which the Version was made and was able to draw for himself out of the Original Fountain And as this holds certainly true in all Languages in the World so 't is most sensibly perceiv'd in the Latin Translations of the Hebrew Books by reason of the vast Disagreement between the Hebrew and Latin Tongues as we shall more fully demonstrate below We know indeed that the ancient Jews and Christians who were ignorant of the Hebrew Tongue thought the Greek Version of the Old Testament but especially that of the Pentateuch commonly said to be done by the LXX Interpreters to be the most absolute thing in its kind that ever was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Whether the Chaldeans learn the Greek Tongue or the Greeks the Chaldean Tongue and light upon both Scriptures the Chaldean and that into which it is translated they admire and adore them as Sisters or rather as one and the same both in words and things not content to call them Interpreters but Prophets and Revealers of heavenly things that happily expressed the genuine Thoughts of Moses with a most pure Spirit These are Philo's words in his Book de Vitâ Mosis which we could heartily wish were as true as they are remote from Truth We should then have the best and surest Interpreters of Moses and the exemplar of a perfect Translation which they were very far from obliging the World with But since 't is evident that what Philo pretends was done by the LXX Interpreters is impossible to be performed by reason of the great difference of Languages as it has been already observed we did not therefore attempt to translate the Old Testament because we hoped that those who were only well skill'd in Latin might be able after the reading of our Translation to reach the meaning of the Prophets as well as those that understand Hebrew and hear them speak in their own Native Tongue we thought 't was enough to aspire towards it as far as the most different Idioms of the two Languages would give us leave and since without taking too great a liberty we could not bend the Hebrew Phrase to the Genius of the Latin Tongue we often express'd the Hebraisms Word for Word especially such as the Christian World has been long accustom'd to or whenever we did not certainly understand the meaning of any place Of which more hereafter But because the Hebrew Phrases and manner of Expression being different from all others would give a great deal of Trouble to those that are only acquainted with Latin we have added a plain Paraphrase more suited to the nature of that Tongue by the reading of which if they cannot attain to the very words of Moses yet since we have in the same order express'd that in Latin which Moses did in Hebrew they will in some measure comprehend his Sense and not as I imagine deviate much from the true meaning of the Text. By this means what we were not able to compass by one single Version perhaps we may perform by the help of the Paraphrase But after all we thought we should not fully satisfie the Curiosity if not of the most Learned yet of those who were not altogether Strangers to Hebrew if we did not in our Annotations explain the Hebraisms Opinions Customs Rites the Allusions to them and the nature of places as far as we could arrive to the Knowledge of them and give an account of our whole Translation and Paraphrase Thus in our Paraphrase we have in a few words shewn what our Opinion was and in our Annotations more at large why we were of that Opinion Nevertheless there is something in the Paraphrase which is not always to be found in our Annotations for in the former the Reader will discover the Connexion and Series of the whole Oration which for brevity sake we could not always attend in our Comments Besides we have observ'd both by our own and the Experience of others that especially in difficult Books notwithstanding the Annotations of Learned Men upon every word the Connexion was very often obscure so that though all the words were well enough understood yet the Force and Order of the reasoning did not appear Therefore we thought our selves obliged to obviate this Inconvenience by making a continued Paraphrase after the Example of several judicious * As the Learned Publishers of the Books in usum Delphini have generally done Authors Which Conduct if it does not seem altogether so necessary in Historical Writings as some who have not duly consider'd the Matter may imagine yet the great Usefulness of it will at least appear in the Hagiographi as they are call'd and the Books of the Prophets However I dare without Vanity affirm that several who after they have read the Translation think they understand the Series of the Oration well enough will if they cast their Eyes on our Paraphrase even in the Historical Books confess that they miss'd several things which they fansied
effect with ours Cum in terris augeri coepissent as also the vulgar has translated it But the Tigurine Version and others have it barbarously Et factum est cum caepissent homines multiplicari Several Interpreters have not only Superstitiously every where translated word for word but have preserv'd the very Situation of the Hebrew words and the Construction as far as they could conveniently nay and farther too but in this matter we must own that we had a greater regard to the Latin than the Hebrew We saw that a world of Hebraisms had in spight of us crept into our Translation nor was it necessary since 't was of no advantage to the Reader to place the Latin words after the Hebrew manner where it was plain that though the Order was inverted yet the Sence was not Arias Montanus who published the Interlineary Translation as they call it was obliged to preserve the Order and as far as he was able even the very number of the words But those that publish'd their Version apart from the Original were not obliged in my opinion to be at so great an Expence to write barbarously I will produce one instance to explain my meaning The Tigurines whose Translation is otherwise not to be despised have thus rendred the 15 16 17 Verses of Gen 8. Loquutus est autem Deus ad Noah dicens Egredere ex arcâ tu uxor tua filii tui uxores filiorum tuorum tecum Cuncta animantia quae tecum sunt ex omni carne tà m in volatili quà m in jumento tum etiam omni reptili quod reptat educ tecum repant in terrâ fructum edant atque augescant But we have done it thus Tum allocutus est Noachum Deus his verbis Egredere ex arcâ tu unáque tecum uxor tua filii â—ui atque corum conjuges Omnem etiam bestiam quae tecum est ex omni carne inter volucres inter pecudes atque inter omnia reptilia quae in terris repunt unà educito repténtque in terrâ in eâ crescant ac multiplicentur There is nothing in the Hebrew words which ours do not comprehend nor has the Superstitious Nicety of the Tigurines unless I am mistaken perform'd more But we do not cite this or any other places because they have something remarkable in them but because we happened to meet with them first To conclude All the Translations of the Old Testament we ever saw are liable to the same Fault excepting that of Seb. Castellio which is somewhat too bold 'T is by no means our Intention to blame those Persons who in their Translations of the Bible have thought fit to despise all the Rules of Rhetorick as to their Periods for since the Hebrews have shorter turns of their Sentences and are not subject to the same Laws as the Greeks and Latins are there would be a wretched Confusion indeed if their Stile were to be suited to the Precepts of Rhetorick which yet Castellio does too often However I see no cause why we that speak Latin should so Scrupulously adhere to the Hebrew order There are other Hebraisms as we observ'd before the Signification of which is no less known and yet we are scarce able to translate them into Latin without a long Circumlocution but since our Ears are already accustom'd to some of them we use them as the Latins formerly did several Greek words which their Language wanted and besides they have been long ago naturalized and made Free of the Church by the Latin Fathers Some few Examples of them we 'll lay before the Reader as we did of the former Thus Genesis Chap. 5.22 24. and Chap. 6.9 Moses has used incedere cum Deo to walk with God instead of that which in Latin we say Sanctè ac piè vivere However the Metaphor could not be changed without assuming too great a Liberty for who can endure Castellio's translating it Ad dei voluntatem vitam agere ex dei voluntate sese gerere Chap. 6.9 Noah is said to be Vir justus ac integer in generationibus suis A Just Man and perfect in his Generations And Chap. 7.1 't is in eâ generatione in that Generation viz. that which was destroy'd in the Deluge Every Body sees 't is all the same thing as if Moses had said that Noah was the only righteous Person among the Men of that Age Castellio has translated it Saeculum and Aetas the latter of which is tolerable but the former cannot be endured For what Man that has made but a small progress in Hebrew reading this Translation would not believe that the Hebrews had a word which exactly answered Saeculum when indeed they have not Of the same nature is Chap. 6.8 Gratiam invenire to find Favour Which Phrase has several Significations and the Latin Tongue affords us no one single Expression that comes up to the full extent of it Sometimes where the Sence would bear it we have translated it Si qua mihi est apud te gratia for Si inveni gratiam in oculis tuis as Chap. 18.3 but this was not to be done always Castellio Chap. 6.8 instead of that which Moses expresses by Noachus apud deum gratiam invenit inverts the Phrase and turns it Noae fuit propitius Chap. 18.3 Si vis mihi gratissimum facere Chap. 19.19 Tanto me obstringis beneficio In all which he has not once hit the force of the Hebraism though he takes so large a Scope We find in the same Chapter v. 19. a common Hebraism by which omne animal is call'd omnis caro and for which Castellio uses omnia corpora but besides that 't is too remote from the Hebrew word Caro is so often taken in that Sence both in the Scripture and the Ecclesiastical Writers that 't is much better to retain it than interpret it by another Thus in the first Verse of Chap. 11. we read Cum universa terra labii unius eorundémque verborum esset The Phrases are Hebrew but we durst not change them in the Latin both because we could not light upon Expressions proper to match them as also because Learned Men are not agreed about their meaning as we have * See Dissertation VI. observ'd about that place Castellio has it thus Cum autem universus terrarum orbis eodem sermone atque oratione uteretur The same Reason supported by the Frequency of the Phrase prevail'd with us to retain the Hebraism Anima mea my Soul instead of ego Say I pray thee says Abraham to his Wife Chap. 12.13 thou art my Sister that it may be well with me for thy sake and my Soul shall live because of thee Castellio translates it Vt tuâ causâ atque operâ meae utilitati salutique consulatur The same Expression is to be found often in Homer which all the Interpreters have literally translated Many more Hebraisms we must confess are to be found in our Translation
Bible especially into the Modern Languages which have all along preserved this Conjunction as if it added some peculiar Energy or Beauty to the Narration but those that are acquainted with the Genius of the Hebrew Tongue can satisfie them of the contrary In a plain Narration indeed this troublesome Conjunction may pretty well be born in some other Tongues but in an Argument or so if it were used in French it would not only wound the Ears in a wonderful manner but so fatally disturb the Sence that what would be clear in Hebrew would be in French the most confused Stuff imaginable However in this as well as other things too great a License is to be avoided least by omitting a Particle or altering the structure of a Sentence we may happen to alter the Sence and render the Narration indirect and oblique For by this means an unskillful Reader will imagine that some things are related en passant while the Historian makes haste to go to others that are more material Thus according to our Translation Moses begins the 32d Chapter in these words Jacobus iter suum perrexit occurrerúntque Angeli Dei quos cum vidit Jacobus haec sunt ait Dei castra eique loco Machanajim nomen imposuit By this manner of relating the Story 't is plain that the meeting of the Angels is made a more remarkable Circumstance than if we had rendred it with Castellio Jacobus iter suum perrexit in quo cum ei Divini Angeli occurrissent ille eis visis ita dixit hoc divinum agmen est Itaque locum inde Machanaim appellavit It was no small Perplexity to us in our Translation that not only the Beginning Progress and Conclusion of the same thing were express'd by Verbs that were tacked together by the never-failing Conjunction Vau but likewise by one and the same Verb. Thus in the above-cited Narration and Jacob went the Hebrew word may be as well taken to signifie the Beginning of a Journey as the Continuation of it However we translated it in the latter Sence as the occasion there required VIII We have already declared in the eighth Section of the former Dissertation that we have follow'd the Masoretick Copy in our Translation But although we call it Copy in the Singular Number it may be called Copies since by this name we comprehend both the Readings in the Text and those in the Margin which came from two several Books unless we suppose that the Keri proceeded from the received way of reading in the Synagogue of Tiberias by some Oral Tradition as 't is called and the Ketib to have been the Reading it self written in a Book of venerable Antiquity However the matter was as these two Readings have been deservedly compared by the generality of Translators so that which seem'd the best we justly preferr'd and this is the conduct we follow'd Sometimes indeed the Keri affords a more convenient Reading than the Ketib but the latter very often is better than the former But as I often thought of this and several other things of the like nature I suspected that the Rabbins to inhance the value of their Trade observ'd the same Conduct as the Greek Rhetoricians were said to do Who least the World should imagine they knew but few things invented abundance of strange Terms that were nothing to the purpose that their Art might have the Reputation of being more difficult than really it was However we have all along follow'd the Masoretick way of Pointing except that with the generality of Interpreters we have not minded the Accents but only followed the Sence and the Structure of the words We shall not here repeat what several Learned Men have said upon this occasion Let the Reader only turn over the 23d Chapter of Buxtorf's Thesaurus lib. 2. where he treats of this Subject and he will be satisfied that what I have advanced concerning the Rabbins is true and that these Masters affect an abstruse unedifying Knowledge and have clogg'd a Study which otherwise would be easie enough with endless Difficulties of their own raising The two first words of Genesis sufficiently confute all that Learning Of greater moment is the distinction of Verses as they are called which however Elias Levita a Jew and several Christians have demonstrated to have been made by none of the Prophets And indeed this distinction is not to be found in the Manuscript Copies of the Old Interpreters nor can be used in many places without maiming the Period or dividing the Verb from what relates to it which is extremely ridiculous Therefore though to comply with a received Custom and that the Citations might more easily be found oâ—â— we have distinguished the Verses by Numbers yet we have only had a regard to the Sence in the manner of our Pointing Sometimes the Period if the parts of a Sentence in the Latin Translation of an Hebrew Book may be called by that name ends with the Verse and sometimes it is carried beyond it Nay sometimes it begins in the middle of a Verse and sometimes it terminates with it as seem'd most agreeable to the nature of the Latin Tongue The Reader will likewise find both in our Translation and Paraphrase two other sorts of Divisions which we must give him an account of We have not always follow'd the Chapters in the distinction of our Sections although in complaisance to the ancient Custom we have mark'd them on the top of the Page and in the Margin but we have divided the Argument into greater or lesser Sections according as the Matters of Fact happen to be connected And this we did upon the following Consideration that both the whole Argument in one Series and our Annotations upon it might be read in the same order because both the Divine Historian and our Comments upon him would by this means be better understood 'T is certain the Jews have their own Sections plainly different from our Chapters which they follow in their publick Readings in their Synagogues Besides this we have divided every Section into several Paragraphs to borrow a Term of Art from the Lawyers though somewhat of the longest which we supposed would contribute to the Perspicuity of the History and be of great Advantage to the Reader For where the particular Reasonings or several parts of the Narration are not continued as it were in the same breath with the rest but divided by certain Intervals we better comprehend both the Parts and Series of the Oration and imprint it on our Memory and if there be occasion recollect it in our Minds This is the reason why the Grammarians in former times to distinguish the several parts of the Chorus's in their Tragedies and the Lawyers to distinguish the Heads of their Laws made use of Paragraphs And therefore though in the Manuscripts and in the Editions no distinctions of this nature do appear for we do not mind the Jewish yet we thought it à propos to make use of
Nature which uses to abuse God Almighty's Gifts abandoned themselves to all the degrees of Wickedness as Moses particularly informs us Gen. 18 19. After Men were satiated with good things says Philo in his Book concerning Abraham this Satiety after the manner of the World soon begot Wantonness If we may take Cicero's word for it Men derive their Manners not so much from the Seed of their Parents as from those things which are afforded by the nature of the Soil and our manner of Living The Carthaginians were not born deceitful and Liars but made so by the Nature of the place for by reason of the abundance of their Harbours and their frequent Dealings with Merchants and Strangers the desire of Gain put them upon the Art of tricking and cheating The Genoeses inhabiting a Hilly Country were hard and clownish the very Nature of their Soil taught them this which produces nothing but with much Cultivating and Labour The Campanians were always proud by reason of the great Fertility of their Land the Plenty of Fruits the Wholesomeness and Beauty of their City From this Abundance and Superfluity of every thing arose that Pride which disposed these People to demand of the ancient Romans that one of the Consuls should be chosen out of Capua and afterwards that Luxury which helped to ruine Hannibal whom all the Difficulties and Fatigues of War could not conquer Cicero argues after this rate in his Oration de lege Argrario delivered before the People against Rullus and likewise in another which he spoke in the Senate-house He is utterly against the sending a Colony to that place which by reason of the Fruitfulness of the Soil and the Plenty of all things is said to have begotten Pride and Cruelty All which things exactly proved true in the Inhabitants of the Plain of Jordan whose Soil that we may observe this by the by was not unlike that of the Campanians which to this day abounds in Bitumen and Sulphur Now these People as they were corrupted by Prosperity so it seems Adversity made not the least Impression upon their Minds or reform'd their Manners Although they were conquer'd by the Etymaeans and their Confederates which Afflictions might have awaken'd a less flagitious People to a Sense of their Duty yet it wrought not any good Effects upon these Debauchees who as soon as they were delivered out of Captivity carried their old Customs and Vices home along with them See the 14th Chapter of Genesis Now the Sinfulness of these People did not only consist in this that they were given to Uncleanness and Lasciviousness as appears from Gen. ch 19. but in all manner of Wickedness Certainly the Debauchery of that place could admit of no new Accessions but was already arrived to its heighth where they cou'd think of abusing Strangers after so abominable a manner Therefore Josephus deservedly begins this History with the following words The Sodomites waxing proud for their Riches and Wealth grew contumelious towards Men and impious towards God so that they were wholly unmindful of the Favours they received from him They hated Strangers and burnt in mutual Lust with one another Hence we see that in the Prophets the proverbial Appellation of wicked Men is that of Sodom and Gomorrah Thus Isaiah calls the People of Jerusalem ch 1.10 Hear the Word of the Lord ye Princes of Sodom listen to the Law of your God ye People of Gomorrah See likewise Ezekiel 16.46 Seqq. IV. And therefore the Divine Justice offended at these horrid Enormities resolved utterly to destroy some Cities situated in the farthest part of the Plain of Jordan which Moses relates to have been done in the following manner The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah Brimstone and Fire from the Lord out of Heaven and he overthrew those Cities and all the Plain and all the Inhabitants of the Cities and that which grew upon the ground Gen. 19.24 25. We have already shown that this whole Tract of Land was full of Bitumen which as it will easily take fire was soon kindled by the Lightning and the Flame was not only to be seen upon the Superficies of the Earth which frequently happens in such places without the Destruction of the Inhabitants but so pierced into the Subterranean Veins of Brimstone and Bitumen that that matter being destroyed the whole Earth sunk down and offorded a Receptacle to the Waters flowing thither All which Particulars we will now endeavour to handle more copiously and to illustrate by other Examples First Though Moses only mentions two Cities which God destroy'd by Lightning namely Sodom and Gomorrah yet there were two more destroy'd at the same time Adma and Zeboim which lay near the two above-mentioned Cities as appears from Chapter 14.2 Nay Moses himself affirms as much Deut. 29.23 where taking occasion to describe the Punishments with which God would visit the wicked Israelites he tells them that Strangers as they travelled that way should gaze upon their Lands burnt up with Brimstone and Salt in which there should be no sowing nor should any thing grow nor any Herb appear as in the Destruction of Sodom Gomorrah Adma and Zeboim which the Lord overthrew in his Anger and Wrath. See likewise Hosea 11.8 Now the reason why these two last Cities were omitted seems to be because perhaps the Kings of these places were tributary to those of Sodom and Gomorrah Strabo indeed in his sixteenth Book does not mention that only four Cities were subverted by this Subterranean Fire but thirteen but perhaps he might be deceived in this matter as well as he was in believing that the Lacus Serbonis was the same with the Asphaltites .. Perhaps to nine other smaller Towns which depended upon these four were destroyed at the same time 'T is certain that Ezekiel does not only make mention of Sodom but its Daughters Chap. 16. that is the Cities that were situate in the same Province As I live saith the Lord God to Jerusalem thy Sister Sodom and the Daughters thereof that is to say the Cities which it had built around it or else sent Colonies into have not done as thou and thy Daughters have done It may not improbably be supposed that Strabo a Man of great Diligence and infinite Reading might have an account of the number of these Cities from some Writer of the Phoenician History Secondly God is said to have rained down Fire and Brimstone from the Lord which is a Periphrasis for Lightning as in Psalm 9. ver 6. He will rain Whirlwinds upon the Wicked Fire and Brimstone and Ezekiel 38.22 I will punish him with Pestilence and Blood a mighty Shower Stones of Hail FIRE and BRIMSTONE will I rain down upon him Now Thunder is therefore called Fire and Brimstone which is as much as to say Brimstone set on fire and lighted So in the third of Genesis v. 16. we find Pain and Conception that is Pain which follows Conception He that is desirous to see more Examples
of this nature let him consult H. Grotius upon John 3.5 But the reason why Thunder is thus described no one certainly can be ignorant of that has either smelt those places that have been struck by Thunder or has read what Learned Men have writ upon this occasion I will only give my self the trouble to set down two or three Testimonies Thunder and Lightning likewise says Pliny lib. 35. c. 15. have the Smell of Brimstone and the very Light or Flame of them is sulphureous And Seneca in the second Book of his Natural Questions ch 21. tells us that all things that are struck by Lightning have a sulphureous Smell And indeed our Natural Philosophers have plainly demonstrated that the Thunderbolt is nothing else but a sulphureous Exhalation For this Persius in his second Satire calls it Sulphus Sacrum Ignovisse putas quia cum tonet ocyus ilex Sulphure discutitur sacro quam túque domúsque On the other hand because the Thunderbolt is of a Sulphureous nature the Greeks seem to have called Brimstone in their Language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Divine by a proper name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it comes from God Now God is not barely said to have rained down Brimstone and Fire but Brimstone and Fire from the Lord where the Addition of from the Lord which at first sight may appear to be superfluous does more particularly describe the Thunder-bolt which by the Hebrews and other Nations is frequently called the Fire of God and Fire from God Thus in the second Book of Kings c. 1. v. 12. THE FIRE OF GOD came down from Heaven and devoured him See likewise Job 1. v. 16. Isaiah uses the same Expression c. 66. v. 16. He shall be punished with the FIRE OF THE LORD After this manner the Latin Poets speaks herein intimating the Graecians as Ovid. Met. l. 15. Jamque opus exegi quod nec Jovis ira nec Ignes Nec poterit ferrum nec edax abolere vetustas Statius in the first Book of his Thebais Ilicet Igne Jovis lapsisque citatior astris Tristibus exiluit ripis Because Men have no power over these kinds of Meteors and 't is impossible for them by any contrivance to ascend up to the Clouds therefore God is supposed to dwell there and to cast his Darts from thence although he is equally present in all places and does not send his Thunderbolts for any peculiar reason Thirdly Though Moses does not inform us after what manner the Thunderbolts subverted these unhappy Cities and the adjoining Territory yet since he makes mention of them we cannot comprehend how it happen'd any otherwise than that the Thunderbolts falling in great plenty upon some Pits of Bitumen the Veins of that combustible Matter took fire immediately and as the Fire penetrated into the lowermost bowels of this bituminous Soil these wicked Cities were subverted by a Tremor and sinking down of the ground We will not here enlarge how easily Naphtha which is a sort of Liquid Bitumen is set on fire The Reader may at his leisure consult what Strabo l. 16. Plutarch in the Life of Alexander and Pliny l. 2. c. 105. have said upon this Subject Perhaps in some part of this delicious Plain which was overthrown there was only the thick Bitumen but even the very Vapour of that Matter which exhales from Grounds impregnated with it is easily set on fire In Lycia the Hephoestian Mountains if you do but touch them with a lighted Torch immediately take fire so that the very Stones in the Rivers and the Sands in the Water burn If you take a Stick out of these Waters and draw Furrows upon the ground with it according to the common report a track of Fire follows it These are Pliny's words l. 2. c. 106. There is a small Hill in the Province belonging to Grenoble from whence a Smoke of a Bituminous Smell is perpetually seen to proceed Now this Smoke by a lighted Flambeau or Chaff is soon set on fire which we our selves knew to be true by Ocular Experience In that lamentable Earthquake which in the Month of January 1693. shook all Sicily after so prodigious and miserable a manner some Authors of very good credit have assured us that Thunderbolts fell in several places of the Island And this Observation is not unknown to the Ancients for Seneca Quoest Nat. l. 2. c. 30. says Aetna has sometimes burnt exceedingly and thrown up a wonderful quantity of burning Sand the day obscur'd by the Smoke and Ashes so that the People were terrified at so unexpected a Scence of Darkness At these times as the common Tradition goes there is a great deal of Thunder and Lightning And therefore the â—itumen which is so plentifully found in the Soil of Sodom might be set on fire by a Thunderbolt and since it flows or is dug not from the Superficies of the Earth but from Veins of a mighty depth when once it had taken fire the Flame must of necessity run along all those Veins and at last shake and subvert the ground The same thing frequently happens to the Fields about Aetna and Vesuvius for the very same reason Innumerable Authors have written of the Soil of Sicily but Justin shall serve for all who in the beginning of the fourth Book thus describes it The Earth is naturally thin and friable and by reason of the several Caverns and Pipes so penetrable that the greatest part of it is exposed to the violence of the Winds Nay the Genius of the Soil is proper for generating and nourishing of Fire because it is said to be crusted within with Sulphur and Bitumen which is the reason that when the Wind struggles with the Fire under ground it frequently belches out sometimes Flames sometimes Vapours and sometimes Smoke and that in several places Cornelius Severus prosecutes this Argument at large in his Poem intituled Aetna The same Observations have been made of the Grounds that lye about the Vesuvius in the Kingdom of Naples and several Towns have frequently been there overthrown by Earthquakes Pliny the Younger in the 16th Epistle l. 6. where he relates the Death of his Learned Uncle who was suffocated as he approached too near the fire of that Mountain The Houses says he with frequent and prodigious Tremblings nodded and as if they had been removed from their Foundation seemed to move this way and that way And Seneca in the sixth Book of his Natural Questions ch 1. has the following Passage We are told that Pompeii a famous City of Campania was subverted by an Earthquake This Concussion happen'd on the * Which is our fifth Nones of February under the Consulate of Regulus and Virginius and occasioned incredible losses in Campania which though it was never free from these Motions yet it seldom suffer'd by them That which Seneca tells us happen'd to the City of Pompeii do we say was the very same Calamity which visited these Cities in the Plain of
like Persons distracted and out of their wits which sad Accident if it surprized this poor Woman as her Husband was making the best of his way to escape 't is no Mystery that she was not able to save herself Seneca tells us that this frequently happen'd when Campania was shaken by an Earthquake Sen. Quaest Nat. l. 6. c. 1. and in the 38th Chapter of the same Book he assigns the following Reasons for it for if Fear even when it is moderate and not so general makes Men reel up and down as if they were actually mad what wonder is it that when the Terror is publick when Cities fall when the Earth trembles when whole Multitudes are Buried in the Ruins that our Minds what between Fear and Grief should forsake us 'T is a hard matter not to be concern'd when we see Thousands before us are so and therefore the most resolute Dispositions were so disorder'd by Fear that they knew not what they did Nay Men of the best Courage are not exempted from Fear and the wise Stoick was never yet to be sound who as the same Philosopher expresses himself cou'd without any manner of concern behold the dreadful and angry Face of Heaven when it Thunders tho' the Firmament were dissolved and darted its Fires to the Destruction of every thing but especially itself There is not and never was such a Man in the World that cou'd behold the Ground breaking under him and be at the same time fearless and unconcern'd And can any one therefore think it strange if we say that Lot's Wife overcome by so Tragical a Spectacle was benummed or fainted away and consequently cou'd not save herself by flight If any one shall Reply that this manner of Death does not seem probable to them perhaps 't is no absurd Conjecture that this Woman not only cast back her Eyes towards her native Country but went back thither as soon as the Angels were gone to behold the Burning of it nearer and so was suffocated by some poisonous Vapour as Pliny the Elder was whom his Curiosity led too near the Mountain Vesuvius And this seems to be implied in our Blessed Saviour's Words Luke 17.32 Where after he had said Let no Man return back i. e. to Jerusalem after he was once gone out of it the Siege of it now drawing near he immediately adds Remember Lot 's Wife who returned back perhaps to see whether she cou'd save any of her Houshold Stuff Nor do the Angels seem to have forbidden Lot's Wife to look back as if God Almighty would punish her with Death only for casting her Eyes back but that she might not loyter and tarry as those Persons are used to do who often look behind them out of Love to the place which they leave or are minded when a Town is destroying to behold at a nearer Distance what becomes of it And the following Words and stay not in all the Plain seem to have been added to oblige them to make the greater speed the Angels therefore advis'd them to hasten because as the Destruction encreased on all sides they might be consumed with the rest tho' they only tarried to look on which frequently happens in such Earthquakes and Fire as are fed and nourished by the Nature of the Soil Cornelius Severus in his Poem of Aetna says Ardebant arvis segetes millia culta Jugera cum dominis sylva collesque virentes c. Cunctantes vorat ignis undique terret avaros Namely such as tarried behind to carry off their Wealth which perhaps Lot's Wife endeavour'd to do and because she was not removed from the place where she fell therefore she is said to be like a Statue of Salt in that salt Country Nor is there any reason to urge the Emphasis since we find the same Expression used about Matters of less Importance In the first of Samuel c. 25. v. 37. the Sacred Historian speaks thus concerning Nabal And his heart was dead within him and he was changed into a Stone that is after his Wife Abigale had recounted to him the Danger he had escaped by her making some Presents to David this foolish old Hunks either out of Fear or Covetousness was so stupified that he seem'd to be a Stone and died within ten Days But altho' Nabal is here said to be made a Stone yet no one will conclude from thence that he was actually Metamorphos'd into a Stone So in like manner we must not suppose Lot's Wife was a Statue of Salt for all she is said to become a Statue of Salt or in Salt The Latin Poets have used the like Expressions to signifie a mighty Amazement Thus Ovid introduces Ariadne who had been abondon'd by Theseus and left all alone in a solitary Island expressing her Grief and Wonder Aut mare prospiciens in saxo frigida sedi Quamque lapis sedes tam LAPIS ipsa fui Metam l. 5. Mater ad auditos stupuit ceu saxea voces And l. 13. speaking of Hecuba after she had seen Polydorus's dead Body Duroque simillima saxo Torpet VII In the most ancient Histories of the Greeks which are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we find innumerable Stories or Fables not corrupted so much for the sake of Lying but because the Narrations of the ancient Inhabitants were not understood well enough and because their Metaphorical Expressions were erroniously interpreted in the proper or literal Sense We will here set down some few Examples of it which we hope will not be unpleasant or disagreeable to the Reader They that first related the History of Niobe who was destroy'd by Grief dirigiusque males i. e. was rendred stupid or sensless by her Misfortunes perhaps expressed it after such a manner as we find the Sacred Historian did in the Story of Nabal which after Ages not regarding the Meaning so understood as if Niobe had been really changed into a Statue of Stone But Men of more acute Understandings were aware that something else was formerly meant by it Niobe says Tully in his Tusc 3. was for a reason supposed to be turned into a Stone because as I imagine she was everlastingly silent in her Grief Palaephatus de incred Hist c. 9. who ever believes a Man was made of a Stone or a Stone made of a Man is a Fool. But the Reality of the Truth is this Niobe after the Death of her Children caused her own Statue to be made and placed it upon their Sepulchre We might here observe by the bye that Niobe's Misfortune is said to have happened in Phrygia which Country as we have remark'd in the former Dissertation has a great Affinity with the Valley of Sodom since both of them are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. burnt We might add too that Niobe's Children are reported to be buried by the Gods which Tzetzes thus interprets Chil. 4. Carm. 141. These Gods are Elements which thus interr'd Her wretched Children Earthquakes Thunder Floods Perswaded cruel Men to