said to rest when we cease from labour so the earth is said to rest when wee forbeare labouring therein Againe because the earth when it is plowed to bring forth fruit sendeth out the strength and nourishment thereof which is abated and weakened by continuall bringing forth of fruit for which cause wee see by experience that Husbandmen doe let their grounds lye fallow and rest to gather strength therefore in this respect also it is said to rest Tostat. qu. 9. And although by this rest of the seventh yeere both the earth waxed stronger for to beare fruit afterward and the beasts also of the field were provided for yet this was not the speciall end of this seventh yeere of rest but these were the reasons of the institution thereof 1. That the poore might by this meanes be liberally provided for when they might freely without any let reape the fruit of the ground of vineyard and olive trees Tostat. 2. It was a benefit also to the servants who this yeere were set at liberty and as they had every weeke a day of rest so now they have every seventh yeere a whole yeere of rest and intermission 3. Beside the rich hereby were taught to moderate their greedy desire in gathering and laying up the fruits of the earth without any end Gallas And in this yeere the rich man tooke care as well as the poore What shall I eat Therefore the Lord would teach them by experience what the state of a poore man was 4. This also was a type and figure of their spirituall rest in Christ which should be accomplished in the kingdome of God as this seventh yeere of rest was made perfect and full in the yeere of Jubile Simler QUEST XX. What the poore lived upon in the seventh yeere BUt here a further question ariseth what the poore did eat this yeere and that which they left the beasts of the field did eat 1. Augustine is of opinion that they did sow the seventh yeere as they did in the six yeeres yet they did not reape or gather their fruit this yeere but left it to the poore But this is against the text here for six yeeres they are bidden to sow and gather their fruits but the seventh to let it rest therefore there here being an apparent opposition betweene the six yeeres and the seventh in the seventh they were neither to sow nor reape but it is yet more evident Levit. 25.4 in this seventh yeere the Lord saith Thou shalt neither sow thy field nor cut thy vineyard And so it is the opinion of Iosephus and generally of the Hebrewes and with them consent Lyranus Tostatus Simlerus with others that the land did rest upon the seventh yeere from all manner of labour and tillage for it would have seemed an hard thing to the stiffenecked Hebrewes if they should have sowed and others reape 2. Cajetane thinketh that the poore lived by selling of such herbes as grew of their owne accord that yeere in the field vendebant eas ex earum pretââ viveââââ they sold them and lived of the price of them but the text saith The rest of the land shall be meat for you Levit. 25.6 they then did eat of that which grew in the field 3. Wherefore they lived not only of the herbes which grew in the fields but of the fruit of vines and olives and other fruitfull trees Beside they had a kinde of harvest of the seed which was shed the former yeere as in some countries yet that are fruitfull the seed which was left after harvest doth bring forth abundance Gallas Simler and therefore it is said Levit. 25.5 That which groweth of it owne accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reape c. 4. And beside this common provision which came of it selfe out of the ground which as well the owner as the poore and strangers gathered for their use Levit. 25.6 the fruits of the sixth yeere were by Gods promise in such abundance as that they served for three yeeres the sixth seventh and eighth till the ninth yeere Levit. 25. vers 21 22. QUEST XXI Whether the seventh yeere were generally neglected in Israel 490. yeeres together as Tostatus thinketh NOw concerning the observation of this seventh yeere of rest Tostatus hath here a singular opinion by himselfe that it was neglected generally of the Israelites for the space of 490. yeeres and kept only during the time of 380. yeeres as he thus would gather from the going up of the Israelites out of Egypt till the captivity of Babylon under Nabuzaradan Nebuchadnezzars chiefe Captaine he counteth yeeres 867. which are thus divided from their departure out of Egypt unto the building of Salomons Temple were 480. yeeres 1 King 6.1 from the which he would have abaâed 40. yeeres the time of the Israelites being in the wildernesse so there remaine 440. from the building of Salomons Temple untill the captivity he counteth 427. yeeres more so the whole maketh 867. of this time 490. yeeres they neglected the seven Sabbath of yeares and therefore they were 70. yeeres in captivity for omitting 70. Sabbaticall yeeres which fell out just in 490. yeeres as it is said 2 Chron. 36.21 To ãâ¦ã of the Lord by the mouth of Ieremy untill the land had her fâll of Sabbaths for all the dayes that ãâ¦ã desolate she kept Sabbath to fulfill seventy yeeres Tostat. quaest 1â Contra. 1. But it is not like that this observation of the seventh yeere of rest was so long time or generally neglected for part of this terme of 490. yeeres will reach Davids reigne for all the yeeres of the reignes of the Kings after David untill the captivity make but 440. the other 50. yeere will comprehend all Davids reigne and ten yeeres before some part whereof might extend to ãâã time but it is not like that such an evident Law under those faithfull Prophets and Kings would have beene omiâted altogether 2. In the corrupt times under the idolatious Kings it is true that this yeere of remission was neglected as may appeare Ierem. 36.8.14 when as the King and Princes proclaimed liberty to their servants according to the Law and afterward revoked it againe for the which the Prophet thâre sharply reproveth them Neither would the faithfull Prophets of God have spared to tell the Princes and people of this great negligence if that the Sabbaticall yeere had altogether beene discontinued 3. In Hezekiah his time this yeere of rest was not intermitted for while the City was besieged by Senacherib for two yeeres together the land brought forth fruit without sowing 2 King 19.29 which blessing was conditionall in respect of their keeping of the seventh yeere of rest Levit. 25.6.21 They therefore enjoying the promised blessing did in all likelihood performe their due obedience 4. Beside captivity is threatned for the neglect of their Sabbaths of all sorts Levit. 26. â5 both the Sabbath of dayes of weekes of moneths yeeres and seven yeeres It is as like that they
Exod. 21.13 Tostatus who also includeth the punishment of death inflicted by the Magistrate that when the transgression is apparent and found out by witnesses then the Magistrate putteth to death as the man was stoned that gathered stickes Numb 15. But if the profaner of the Sabbath escape the punishment of man the judgement of God shall overtake him Tostat. qu. 12. 6. But beside these kinds of death which shall bee inflicted here in that it is said He shall die the death the other phrase In being cut off from among his people sheweth that beside there remaineth for them everlasting punishment in the next world as the Lord threatneth to the prophane fire unquenchable Ezech. 20.47 QUEST XVI Why the seventh day is called Sabbath Sabbaton Vers. 15. IN the seventh day is the Sabbath of holy rest unto Iehovah 1. Whereas the words in the originall are sabbath sabbaton some Hebrewes by the first understand the determined time of the Sabbath from evening to evening but because they know not certainly where the rest of the Sabbath should begin and where it should end they have added an houre more at the beginning and an houre at the end of the Sabbath and this they say is called sabbaton which is a diminutive word which is formed by putting to on as of ish a man is derived ishon a little man But it is a weake conceit to imagine that their additions which are brought in only by their tradition should be grounded upon Scripture 2. Oleaster therefore as the Hebrewes make both these words sabbath and sabbaton proper names for the seventh day of rest so hee translateth them thus requies requiri it shall be a rest of rest making them both appellative and common names because there was a greater rest required on the Sabbath than upon any other day whereupon in the Gospell Ioh. 19.31 the Sabbath is called a great or high day it was greater than the Passeover But Oleaster is deceived in this collection 1. For that Sabbath is called an high day because the Passeover did fall out upon that Sabbath 2. And though it be true that the Sabbath was a greater day of rest than the Passeover wherein they were allowed to do such works as were about that which they should eat Exod. 12.16 which were not lawfull upon the Sabbath Exod. 16.23 yet the rest of the Sabbath was not greater than of all other festivals for the tenth day of the seventh ãâ¦ã where the same word is used 3. Therefore it is better interpreted It is the Sabbath of rest to make the first a proper name and peculiar to the seventh day and the other common So reade Vatad Iun. Pagâin agreeing with the Lat. Chald. Septuag who thus interprete ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Sabbath a rest holy unto the Lord. 4. Now in that there is so often mention made of rest there is more intended than the outward rest of the bodie only as though it were sufficient to spend all the day in lying downe playing sleeping ãâ¦ã die âacra opera perficienda sunt but upon that holy and sacred day sacred exercises also should be performed Lippoman QUEST XVII How the observation of the Sabbath is perpetuall Vers. 16. THat they may observe the Sabbath ãâ¦ã their generations for an everlasting covenant 1. The Jewes hereupon doe take occasion to raile upon Christ tanquam ãâã as a law breaker for abolishing the Sabbath and so they presse these words literally as though the Lord ordained that the Sabbath injoyned them should be perpetuall But beside that the word gholam or ãâã doth not alwaies signifie that which is indeed perpetuall and eternall but sometime onely a long time Calvine or ãâ¦ã a time not limited or determined the words which are annexed Throughout your generations shew that the perpetuitie of this Sabbath is restrained to their posteritie and that as long as their policie and Common-wealth continued Osiander 2. Some doe understand it to bee eternall in this sense quia erat âterna rei signum because it was signe of a thing eternall August qu. 139. that is of our everlasting rest in Christ aternum manet ipso effectu it remaineth eternall in effect Calvine that is in ceasing from the works of sin 3. Some thinke that it is called perpetuall with relation unto the time of ceremonies quamdiu vellet Deus observari statum ãâã imperfectum Iudaicum c. as long as God would have that imperfect state of the Jewes to be observed Tostat. 4. But as I refuse not these two last interpretations so I thinke that there is more signified that God would have perpetually observed a day of rest set apart for his service though not that precise day prescribed to the Jewes as long as the world endureth so that it is not only spiritualiter sed moraliter aternum spiritually but morally eternall Pelarg. and not onely appointed for a politike order to avoid confusion that the people should have some certaine day to meet together in to heare the Word and receive the Sacraments Gallas For if the keeping of the Lords day were only grounded upon policie then any other day might as well be set apart as this which is now observed But I say further with Pelargus Nobis servâvissime demandatam religionis exercenda curam That the care of the practice of religion upon the Lords day is straitly commanded us atque ad cam noâ perpetuo âlligari and that we are for ever tied unto it by the institution and practice of the Apostles Act. 20.7 1 Cor. 16.2 who as Gallasius well concludeth did substitute the Lords day in remembrance of Christs resurrection in stead of the old Sabbath Spiritu Dei quo ipsi regebantur by the Spirit of God whereby they were guided And here Thomas giveth a good note why the Sabbath onely is here mentioned the other festivals of the Jewes being omitted wherein there was a commemoration of some particular benefits as in the pasch of their deliverance out of Egypt on the Sabbath pracipuum beneficium creationis the principall benefit of the creation was remembred which is generall to all people and not peculiar only to the Jewes beside therein was prefigured Quies mentis in Deâ in prasenti per gratiam in futuro per gloriam The rest of the mind in God in the present by grace and in time to come by glorie Thomas Therefore seeing the seventh day of rest is a commemoration of the creation of the world and includeth a memoriall of Christs resurrection upon that day and is a symbole of our everlasting rest in heaven it ought to be perpetually observed QUEST XVIII Whether the world were made successively in time or in an instant Vers. 17. FOr in six daies the Lord made heaven and earth 1. Oleaster well concludeth from hence that God made the world and the things therein not all at once but successively one day after another which he proveth by these reasons 1.
ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the paradise of pleasure s. H. hegan a garden guââden signifieth delight but paradise is derived from pardes which signifieth an ovehard 16. thou shalt freely eat T.g. in eating eat b. heb eat thou H. thou shalt eat meat s. 18. an helper like him b.h. meet for him T.G. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã according to hâm hâb as before him Chenegdo v. 20. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã like to him s. 23. she shall be called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã woman s. virago a mannes h. T. a woman or mannes â g he ish a man ishah a wâman virissa a viresse P. v. 8. the Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden b.g. T.s.p. the Lord planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning H. C micchedem from the east v. 17. thou shalt eat c. thou shalt die â g T.h.p. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã cât ye ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ye shall dye s. in the plurall v. 21. an heavy or deepe sleepe b.g. soporem a sound sleepe T.h.p. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an extasis which is of the minde rather than of the body f. tardemah of radham a sound sleepe heb v. 24. they shall be one flesh b.g. T. heb they two shall be one flesh s. H. which reading because it keepeth the sense is approved in the Gospell Matth. 19.5 v. 24. shall leave her father and mothers bed Ch. shall leave father and mother cât The Exegesis or Theologicall explication QVEST. I. How God is said to have rested 1. GOd rested from all his worke â Neither as being weary in working but resting is here taken only ãâ¦ã or leaving to worke 2. Neither did he rest from his workes to receive any use thereof or benefit to himselfe but the wiseman sheweth how God taketh delight in his workes Prov. 8.31 I tooke my solace in the compasse of the earth and my delight is in the children of maâ he made all things for ãâã use and man for his owne glory not that by man there is any new accession of glory to God which he had not for infinite was the glory of the blessed Trinity before the world was Ioh. 17.5 but by man Gods glory in the world is manifested not to Gods benefit but to his owne everlasting reward 3. Neither is God said simply to rest but only from the workes of the creation by his providence he worketh still in the preservation of those things which he hath made Iohn 5.17 My father worketh hitherto and I worke QVEST. II. How the Lord is said to have made an end of his worke the seventh day Vers. 2. IN the seventh day God finished his worke c. 1. Not that God made any of his workes upon the seventh day as Hierome urgeth this place against the Iewes tradition in Genes 2. neither is it so said because God in the last point of the sixt day finished his worke which therefore is counted of the seventh as the Hebrewes 3. Neither need we with the Septuagint to read sixt for seventh which were a corrupting of the text 4. Nor yet with some Hebrewes to understand the creation of the seventh day for God had already appointed the dayes to follow in order and the dayes are not properly said to bee created but the workes made therein 5. Neither yet doe wee approve the conceit of Aben Ezra who saith that the end or absolution of a worke is no worke 6. But without any more controversie the meaning is no more but this that God had now already upon the seventh day finished his worke the finishing was done before but now the Lord beheld it as complete and perfect Mercer Iun. QVEST. III. The meaning of these words vers 3. which he created to be made Vers. 3. WHich he created to be made 1. This is neither to bee referred to the eternall purpose of God to create those things which after were made as Rupertus lib. 2. de Trinitat c. 18. for Gods decree and purpose to create the world is of like eternity to himselfe but the creation had a beginning 2. Neither by these words to be made is signified the power of generation given to the creature to make like to it selfe for from this worke Gods providence ceaseth not still 3. Neither is insinuated thereby the end to the which and order wherein every thing was made as Cajetanus for this was done in the creation that beside it there need no new making 4. But either it is a phrase of the Hebrewes who for more certainty and emphasis of speech doe use to double the word as vers 16. in eating thou shalt eat vers 17. in dying thou shalt dye that is shalt freely eat and surely die so God created in making that is powerfully and wonderfully made Mercer or the words are inverted and may be placed thus in setting making before created as Tremellius and R. Isaac he rested from making the work which he had created 5. Or if we make any difference the creation was in the beginning of heaven and earth as the matter and substance the making was of the forming of the creatures on the six dayes out of that substance before by God created and prepared Muscul. 6. But most ridiculous and blasphemous is that fable of some Hebrewes that this worke which God created to make and made not were the Faunes and Satyres which God made in the evening upon the sixt day and being short of time could not finish them ex Muscul. QVEST. IIII. The Sabbath instituted of God after the creation Vers. 4. GOd blessed the seventh day and sanctified it Here wee have the institution of the Sabbath which afterward was revived by the promulgation of the morall law We refuse therfore the erronious opinion of Tostatus and Pererius two Popish writers who do think that this sanctifying of the Sabbath is here mentioned by way of anticipation being not instituted till the time of Moses for every day to man in the state of innocency should have beene a Sabbath neither was there any positive precept given to Adam in Paradise but only that of not eating the forbidden fruit Perer. in Genes lib. 1. p. 223. But in this affirming they are grosly deceived 1. Man had now transgressed before the Sabbath was instituted as afterward shall be proved and therefore they doe out of time urge the state of mans innocency 2. If man had continued in that state seeing he was appointed to keepe the garden and not to live idly no not in Paradise it is most like that even then he should have kept the Sabbath as a rest intermission even from such labour as became that place and as a symbole unto him of a further perfection to bee attained unto 3. That the Sabbath was instituted now the creation finished it may appeare by the fourth commandement Exod. 20.11 where this reason of the law is given For in six dayes the Lord made
words of Adam as Epiphanius thinketh or immediatly uttered by the Lord to Adam but of Moses directed by the spirit of God who inserteth here a perpetuall law concerning marriage 2. The man is said to leave father and mother either comparatively and in degree that he is rather to leave them than his wife Oecolamp or conditionally if they shall seeke to dissolve the knot of marriage therein the sonne is to leave them Muscul. as also the leaving of the father and mother signifieth the erecting of a new family as the Chalde readeth hee shall leave his father and mothers bed for the ancient use was for children unmarried to lye in their parents chambers Mercer 3. They shall be one flesh not only in respect of carnall copulation as R. Sel. for so bruit beasts may be said to bee one flesh but in respect of their perpetuall society the conjunction both of their bodies and minds Now whereas the Apostle saith that he which is joyned to an harlot is one flesh the Apostle there applieth not that which is proper to marriage to fornication but sheweth what injury they doe to marriage which commit fornication yeelding that to harlots which is peculiar to wives to be made one flâsh with them And yet this difference there is that the man and wife are joyned together both in flesh and spirit as it followeth in the same place he that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 but the harlot though joyned in body is severed in heart and affection QVEST. XLV How man was not ashamed of his nakednesse Vers. 25. THey were both naked and were not ashamed 1. Adam was not ashamed not as some Hebrewes say because Heva was of his owne flesh for afterward they were one ashamed to behold the nakednesse of another neither doth Moses set them forth as impudent and unshamefast persons such as the Adamites are pretending this example companying together like bruit beasts but this nakednesse of their bodies sheweth the nakednesse and simplicity of their minds for shame is the fruit of sin and therefore before sinne entred they were not ashamed 2. Some thinke that there remaineth yet in children that are not ashamed of their nakednesse some shadow of our first estate but children are therein unshamefast for want of reason as the like is to be seene in bruit beasts But in the kingdome of heaven we shall be all naked and without shame as Adam was and without feare or danger of sinne which Adam was not 3. Further notwithstanding their nakednesse they should not have beene offended with the weather either heat or cold not that their skin was like unto the nailes of the fingers as R. Eliezer thinketh which waâ taken away after their fall but God would have so tempered the elements and the quality of their bodies as that all things should have beene serviceable unto them 4. The places of doctrine 1. Doct. The Dominicall or Lords day is grounded not upon tradition or Ecclesiasticall institution but upon the scriptures IN that the Lord sanctified the seventh day and made it a day of rest we inserre that as the Sabbath kept then upon the seventh day in remembrance of the creation was of the Lords institution so the Lords day is now observed by he same authority in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ and our redemption by the same contrary to the Rhemists who count the observation of the Lords day but a tradition of the Church and Ecclesiasticall institution Rhemist Matth. 15. sect 3. Our reasons are these 1. The observation of a Sabbath or day of rest unto the Lord is commanded in the moral law which is perpetuall and not to be abrogated if this bee denied it will follow that there are but nine commandemets if that of sanctifying the Sabbath doe not binde now And although wee observe not now the same day for our Sabbath which the Jewes did yet the seventh day we keepe still retaining the substance of the law which is to keepe one day holy of seven The manner of computation and account of seven where to begin where to end and to bee tied to the very same prescript of the day was ceremoniall and a circumstance of the law and in that behalfe doth not conclude us 2. That which was by the holy Apostles by precept enjoyned and by example observed was of a divine institution thus the Lords day is prescribed by Saint Paul 1 Cor. 16.2 where the Apostle enjoyneth them to make collection for the poore in their meetings upon the first day of the weeke which then began to be observed for the Lords day he himselfe also Act. 20.7 observeth the same day and preacheth in it Saint Iohn calleth it the Lords day Revel 1.10 3. Every symbole significative or representing signe mentioned in scripture had a divine institution but so is the Sabbath a symbole or type of our everlasting rest Heb. 4.9 There remaineth therefore sabbatismus a sabbath rest to the people of God which words doe conclude that both the type remaineth that is a sabbatisme and the signification of the type everlasting rest 4. No constitution of the Church doth simply bind in conscience for Gods commandements only do so bind Iam. 1.12 There is one law giver which is able to save and destroy but the keeping of the Lords day bindeth in conscience for therein we are commanded not to doe our owne wayes nor to seeke our owne will nor to speake a vaine word Isay 38.13 which duties are alwayes commanded so especially upon the Lords day but these precepts the observation whereof is properly incident to the Lords day doe bind in conscience Ergo. c. 5. If the Lords day were but a tradition of the Church there should be no difference betweene that and other festivall dayes but all of the like necessity and with as great strictnesse are to be observed and kept these as the other But that were very absurd seeing we find the Lords day by the Apostles to have beene observed whereas no mention at all is made of the other in the scriptures and the Church of God in her practice hath alwayes made a difference betweene the observation of the Lords day and other festivals enjoyning that with greater devotion alwayes to be celebrated than the rest 6. This also hath beene the constant doctrine of the Church of God and the judgement of the fathers that the Lords day is of the Lords institution as may appeare by this sentence of Augustine Dominicum diem apostoli apostoliâi virâreligiosa sanctitate habendum sanxerunt c. The Lords day the Apostles and Apostolicall men have ordained with religious holinesse to bee kept because in the same our Redeemer rose from the dead and therefore it is called the Dominicall or Lords day that in it we onely may attend upon the divine service this is the first day in the world in it were created the elements
and the Angels upon this day Christ rose the holy Ghost was given and Manna descended from heaven first on this day serm detempor 251. Wherefore I cannot wholly condescend to Mercerus judgement who saith politiae causa retinuerunt Apostols diem dominicum Sabbato subrogatum that the Apostles for policy sake have retained the Lords day in stead of the Sabbath in 2 Gen. vers 3. A policy I grant in the use of the Lords day but that is neither the only nor chiefe reason of the institution thereof There are three causes of the observation of the Lords day a religious and holy use for the Lord to this end did consecrate this day by his owne example and commandement to bee spent in holy exercises the Civill or politicall use of the Lords day is for the rest of our selves our servants and catteâls the ceremoniall or symbolicall end was to shadow forth our spirituall rest in Christ in this last respect I confesse the ceremony of the Sabbath in part to be abolished for it is a symbole still of our everlasting rest in heaven Heb. 4.9 But in the other two respects the law of the Lords day is perpetuall for that as Philo saith it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã festum populare a popular or generall festivall to be observed of all people for ever I doe wonder then this doctrine of the Sabbath and day of rest now called the Lords day having such evident demonstration out of the scriptures and being confirmed by the constant and continuall practice of the Church in all ages that any professing the Gospell specially being exercised in the study of the scriptures should gainsay and impugne these positions following as erronious 1. That the commandement of sanctifying the Sabbath is naturall morall and perpetuall for if it be not so then all the commandements contained in the decalogue are not morall so should we have nine only and not ten commandements and then Christ should come to destroy the Law not to fulfill it contrary to our Saviours owne words Matth. 5.17 2. That all other things in the law were so changed that they were cleane taken away as the priesthood the sacrifices and the sacraments this day namely the Sabbath was so changed that it yet remaineth for it is evident by the Apostles practice Acts 20.7 1 Cor. 16.2 Apocal. 1.10 that the day of rest called the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day to the first day of the weeke and so was observed and kept holy under the name of the Lords day 3. That it is not lawfull for us to use the seventh day to any other end but to the holy and sanctified end for which God in the beginning created it for this were presumption to alter Gods appointment and the will and ordinance of the Creator must stand in the use of the creature otherwise the Apostle had not reasoned well for the use of meats from the end of the creation which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving 4. As the Sabbath came in with the first man so must it not goe out but with the last for if the keeping of a day of rest holy unto the Lord bee a part of the morall law as it cannot bee denyed then must it continue as long as the Lord hath his Church on earth and the morall Sabbath must stand till the everlasting Sabbath succeed in place thereof 5. That we are restrained upon the Sabbath from work both hand and foot as the Jewes were though not in such strict particular manner as they were for whom it was not lawful to kindle a fire upon the Sabbath Exod. 35.2 yet in generall wee are forbidden all kind of worke upon the Lords day as they were which may hinder the service of God saving such workes as either charity commandeth or necessity compelleth for it is a part of the morall precept in it thou shalt doe no manner of worke 6. That the Lord would have every Sabbath to be sanctâfied by the Minister and the people and that in the Church he ought to preach the word and they to heare it every Sabbath day but not each of these under paine of condemnation as the place is misconstrued is confirmed by the practice of our blessed Saviour Luke 4.16 and of S. Paul Act. 13.14 and 20.7 And hereunto are the Canons of our Church agreeable which require that every Minister preach every Lords day and likewise catechise the youth 7. That the Lord hath commanded so precise a rest unto all sorts of men that it may not by any fraud deceit or circumvention whatsoever be broken under the paine of his everlasting displeasure who doubteth of this but that every breach of any part of the morall law especially by deceit and circumvention deserveth in it selfe Gods curse and everlasting dâspleasure as the Apostle saith the wages of sinne is death and the Law saith Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the booke of the law to doe them as the Apostle citeth this text This doctrine of the Sabbath first grounded upon the authority of scripture hath accordingly beene ratified by the constant and perpetuall practice of the Church Origen saith In nostro Dominico die semper pluit Dominus Manna de coelo in our Lords day the Lord alwayes raineth Manna from heaven Hierome Dominicus dâes orationi tantum lectionibus vacat upon the Lords dayes they onely give themselves to prayer and reading Ambrose tota diâ sit vobis oratio vellectio c. nulle actus seculi actus divinitatis impedâant c. Let us all the day be conversant in prayer or reading let no secular acts hinder divine acts let no table play carry away the mind Augustine quomâdo Maria mater Domini c. As Mary the mother of our Lord is the chiefe among women so among other ãâã this is the mother of the rest the whole grace of the Sabbath and the ancient festiâity of the people of the Iewes is changed into the solemnity of this day Concil Tullen cap. 19. Oportet eos qui praesunt Ecclesiis c it behoveth those which are set over the Churches upon all dayes but especially upon the Lords dayes to teach the people c. Matisconens 2. cap. 1. Exhibeamus Deo liberam servitutem c. Let us exhibite unto God our free service not because the Lord requireth this of us to celebrate the Lords day by corporall abstinence but he looketh for obedience whereby we treading downe all terrene rites might be raised up to heaven But these allegations are here superfluous seeing there is a learned Treatise of the Sabbath already published of this argument which containeth a most sound doctrine of the Sabbath as is laid downe in the former positions which shall be able to abide the triall of the word of God and stand warranted thereby when other humane fantasies shall
the center of the earth as Plato imagined for by this meanes the waters should ascend three thousand and 500. miles for so farre it is from the Center of the earth to superficies which is against the nature of water 2. Neither was the Sea this great depth which some thinke is higher than the earth and kept in onely by the power of God which now was suffered to overflow the earth for neither is it true that the Sea is higher than the earth as is before declared neither doth Moses make any mention of it which might have beene sufficient by the overflowing to have drowned the earth if naturally it were so much above it 3. Wherefore the fountaines of the deepe were the deepe heads and springs of water within the earth which were opened and enlarged to make this inundation so that the Rivers that runne in the earth were cast up and the deepe gulph gushed forth and these may be the waters under the earth mentionod Exod. 20. vers 4. The windowes also of heaven signifie not the irruption or breaking forth of any waters in the Chrystall heaven as it is called above the starrie skie as Eugubinus and Oleaster imagine for neither are there any such watârs above the heavens as hath beene before declared and if there were how could they passe thorow the starrie heaven without the dissolution and corruption thereof and it would follow that the watery heaven should be now a vacaât and emptie place the waters being descended from thence But the opening of the windowes of heaven betokeneth the breaking of the clouds where the water is contained that whereas at other times The Lord bindeth the waters in the clouds and the cloud is not broken under them Iob 26.8 Now the Lord loosed the clouds which being made as full of windowes powred forth all the water that was kept in them Mercerus Perer. QVEST. XII Of the causes of the floud THese three were the causes of the floud 1. The issuing forth of the waters beneath out of the earth 2. The continuall raine for forty not onely dayes but nights together not onely powring from the clouds but increasing by the liquefaction and distilling of the aire into water Seneca writing of the generall deluge which he speaketh of not as past but to come addeth unto these three other causes 1. Crescunt maria super solitum c. the extraordinary swelling and overflowing of the sea 2. Incipit terra putrescere laxata ire in humorem The earth also it selfe did putrifie and resolve into water 3. He maketh the conjunction of the celestiall bodies another cause that like as he thinketh the world shall be burned when the starres shall concurre in the signe Cancer sic inundationem futuram cum eadem siderum iurba in Capricornum convenerit so hee thinketh there shall bee a generall inundation when the same company of starres shall come together in the signe Capricorne These causes may bee admitted as helping and necessary though not as principall saving that the conjunction of the starres in Capricorne seemeth rather to be a curious inquisition than to depend of any certaine demonstration QVEST. XIII Vpon what day Noah entred into the Arke Vers. 13. IN the selfe same day c. 1. Lyranus reading according to the latine text in the article of that day thinketh that the noone point of day is hereby expressed and so also Oleaster 2. Tostatus taketh it rather for the morning or twilight which is more properly a point parcell or article of the day It betokeneth nothing else but in the same day as I shewed before in the interpretation 3. Some Hebrewes think that this was wednesday when they say that the Sun is strongest that Noah might have some rest before the Sabbath but this is too curious 4. Some doe take this for the day before the floud being the sixteenth of the moneth that Noah entred then and his family before 5. Others thinke that Noah entred seven dayes before according to the text v. 1. Enter thou into the Arke c. v. 4. for seven dayes hence I will cause it to raine v. 7. so Noah entred c. v. 10. and so after seven dayes c. And thus Ambrose expoundeth so that here by way of recapitulation mention is made of the entring of Noah and Iunius to make the sense more full readeth thus In the same day when Noah was entred c. v. 13. c. God shut him in v. 16. He maketh the 13 14 15. verses to depend upon that clause in the 16. verse whereby is shewed how the providence of God watched over Noah and the rest when they were entred so shutting them up that the waters could not enter 6. But Iunius inserteth one word v. 13. which is not in the Hebrew quum ingressus esset when he was entred when is added so that according to the true reading the selfe same day Noah entred c. it is evident that Noah with his sonnes entred the same day wherein the raine began to fall God so providing that against that day all kind of cattell and fowles were present to enter with him And whereas Noah is bid to enter v. 1. before the seven dayes that is to bee understood of the preparing and making all things ready for his entrance Mercerus Now whereas Iunius thinketh that in the very seventh day the floud came and so readeth v. 10. I thinke rather that the seven dayes were fully expired and that upon the 8. day it began to raine because the text is that after seven dayes the waters were upon the earth Mercer QVEST. XIII How Noah was shut up Vers. 16. GOd shut him up c. 1. Not that after Noah was come into the Arke and his sonnes with their wives and the rest of the creatures God by the ministery of the Angels did shut the doore without and pitched it up occlusit pro eo God shut it up for him as Tremelius and Cajetanus read that is whereas Noah being within could not shut up the doore without God did it for him for as Noah opened the doore at his going out so it is like he shut it at his going in but hereby âs signified that what was wanting in Noahs labour was supplyed by Gods providence and that it was Gods worke to preserve Noah in the Arke Mercer 2. And this was done not so much to keepe him from the sight of the destruction of the world which might have ministred griefe unto him as Chrysostome collecteth for there was a window out of the which hee might behold that fearefull spectacle but to keepe himselfe from the violence and rage of the waters as also from the rage of men Mercer QVEST. XIV The 150. dayes must be reckoned from the beginning of the floud whereof the 40. dayes are a part Vers. 24. THe waters prevailed an 150. dayes This terme must not be counted from the end of 40. dayes mentioned v.
they did begin to eat unleavened bread on the 14. day at even and so from the 14. day till the 21. day numbring the first day there are eight dayes for the 14. day was ended when at eve after the sunne set they began to eat unleavened bread and then entred the 15. day wherefore it is said Levit. 23.6 In the 15. day of this moneth shall be the Feast of unleavened bread the 15. day then was the first and not the fourteenth 3. Wherefore according to the words of the text we hold that there were onely seven dayes of unleavened bread kept as is evident Exod. 12. Levit. 23. Numb 28. Deut. 26. And whereas Rupertus alleageth this text the first day shall bee holy unto you likewise the eight day shall be aequè venerabilis as well observed no such place can be found but the contrary in the first day shall be an holy assemblie likewise in the seventh day chap. 5.16 So that it is to be wondred at how Rupertus was so much overseene to alleage a text no where extant 4. And as there were not more than seven dayes so neither was there lesse For whereas it is said Deut. 16.8 Six dayes shalt thou eat unleavened bread and the 7. day shall be an holy assemblie the seventh day is not excluded as being none of the seven dayes of unleavened bread but is named by it selfe as being a principall and solemne day among the rest Perer. QUEST XXIII Why he which did not eat unleavened bread was to be cut off NOw as touching the festivall dayes of unleavened bread in particular first there ariseth a question about the first day of the seven whether the 14. or 15. day should be the first 1. Here we refuse the opinion of Rupertus seene before that they began to eat unleavened bread upon the 14. day of the moneth for then there should be eight dayes of unleavened bread and not seven onely as the Scripture saith and where it is said vers 18. In the first moneth and the fourteenth day of the moneth at even yee shall eat unleavened bread there the even is joyned with the fourteenth day not as a part thereof but as immediatly following for then in just account began the fifteenth day the first of unleavened bread Levit. 23.6 2. Neither doe we here receive Thostatus opinion who thinketh that the even when they began to eat unleavened bread was part of the fourteenth day but because it was but a small part it may be counted with the 15. day and so much was taken out of the 21. day for before Sunne set they began to eat unleavened bread Contra. 1. The evening began after Sunne set and then the day was ended that time then that followed was part of the 15. day and not of the 14. and that the evening began after the Sunne went downe is evident because betweene the first evening which was before the Sunne set and the latter evening at and after the Sunne set the lambe was to be killed as is shewed before quest 10. 2. That before Sunne set on the 21. day they brought leaven into their houses cannot be shewed but the contrarie rather that till the even of the 21. day which was after Sunne they were to eat unleavened bread till about the same time when they began 3. Therefore we thinke that not the 14. day but the 15. was the first of unleavened bread for these reasons 1. Because otherwise there should be 8. dayes of unleavened bread and not seven 2. Iosephus saith that the Jewes kept no festivall day without burnt offrings and ceasing from labour lib. 3. antiquit cap. 15. but not on the 14. but the 15. day were they commanded to abstaine from worke vers 16. 3. The same day when they began to eat unleavened bread the Lord brought them out of Egypt vers 17. but they went out not upon the 14. day it was the morrow after the Passeover when they went out Numb 33.3 for upon the 14. day which ended at Sunne set they did not goe out seeing about midnight following the first borne of the Egyptians were slaine before the Israeliteâ departed Perer. QUEST XXIV In what sense the first day of the seven was called holy Vers. 16. IN the first day shall be an holy assemblie 1. It is called an holy day because it was sequestred and set apart from all prophane use and consecrated as peculiar unto God In which sense both certaine places as the sanctuarie and vessels as they which belonged to the Sanctuarie and certaine persons as the first borne which were afterward redeemed were holy and consecrate unto God 2. This day was holy in three respects First because they were not to prophane it with any bodily worke secondly because there were peculiar sacrifices appointed for this first day of the seven as two bullocks one ramme seven lambs of a yeere old Numb 23. Thirdly because upon this day as likewise on other festivals they fared better and put on their festivall robes as Nehemias prescribed to be done in another festivall day chap. 8.10 Goe and eat the fat and drinke the sweet and send part unto them for whom none is prepared for this day is holy unto our Lord. 3. But here is to be observed a difference betweene the rest of this day and of other festivals upon this day though all other worke be forbidden yet it was lawfull to prepare their meat and drinke and so it was lawfull also upon the Feasts of Pentecost and of the Feast of Tabernacles but upon the Sabbath it was not lawfull to doe so much as they were forbidden to gather Manna upon the Sabbath chap. 16.5.23.19 and it was not lawfull to kindle a fire upon the Sabbath day for their necessarie use Exod. 35.3 Iun. But if this first festivall day did fall out upon the Sabbath then they were to rest therein simply from all labour Perer. 4. It is also called holy in respect of the holy convocation because the people were therein to bee called together to attend the service of God leaving all other works Iun. QUEST XXV Of the second solemne day of the pasch COncerning the second day of the paschall solemnitie this was peculiar to that day that therein they brought a sheafe of the first fruit of their harvest unto the Lord this was the morrow after the Sabbath Levit. 23.11 Wherein is to be considered 1. That then all their harvest was not ripe in Palestinâ but onely they culled out certaine principall eares and out of the forwardest grounds for these first fruits the Hebrewes hold to have come all out of the tribe of Nepthaly 2. They were not eares of wheat which was not ripe till Pentecost seven weekes after Exod. 34.21 but eares of barlie which was first ripe 3. Neither were they fully ripe and hardned for they did drie the eares at the fire and then rubd out the corne Levit. 2.14 4. The word Sabbath doth not here signifie
stocke of Iesse and of the graft that should grow out of his root Isay 11.1 who should make our bitter waters sweet as he saith Come unto me all that labour and I will refresh you Borrh. 3. It signifieth also that our bitter afflictions by faith are made easie and pleasant which remaine bitter sowre and tart Nisi fide adhibeamus ad lignum crucis Christi Vnlesse we doe apply by faith the wood of Christs crosse that iâ beleeve in his death Osiander So also Augustine Praefigurans gloriam gratiam crucis It prefigured the glory and grace of the crosse 4. This further sheweth what wee are by nature and what by grace by these bitter waters the Lord would bring to light Amaritudinem quae in eorum cordibus latebat the bitternesse which lay hid in their hearts Calvin By nature therefore our waters that is our thoughts and all our actions are bitter but they are washed and purified by grace and faith in Christ. QUEST XLIII What law and ordinances the Lord here gave his people Vers. 25. THere he made them an ordinance and a Law 1. The Hebrewes thinke that this Law here given them was concerning the Sabbath which in the next Chapter is confirmed and established where they are forbidden to gather Manna upon the Sabbath But the law of the Sabbath was more ancient for immediately after the creation the Lord sanctified the seventh day of rest to bee perpetually observed and kept of his Church And it is not to be doubted of but that the Israelites kept the Sabbath in Egypt as may appeare by the institution of the Passeover wherein both in respect of the number of the seventh day prescribed to be an holy convocation and by the manner of keeping the same in resting from all servile worke Exod. 12.16 there seemeth to be relation to the rest of the Sabbath and seventh day which they were already acquainted with after the ensample whereof they should keepe the seventh day of unleavened bread 2. Lyranus thinketh that these were certaine ceremoniall Lawes as of the red cow prescribed afterward at large Num. 19. and other rites of legall purifyings as also some judicials But this is only his conjecture without any ground the first Law that was given the people after they came out of Egypt was the morall Law and before this it is evident that there were certaine ceremoniall rites and judiciall equities kept by the Fathers so that this was not the first time and place that they received such things 3. Simlerus is of opinion therefore that such ceremonies and rites as were preserved and continued by tradition from the Fathers were here by the authority of God confirmed that they should not take them as grounded upon custome only but warranted and commanded by God But it seemeth by the phrase He set them an ordinance that they received an ordinance not given them before and seeing that the Lord intended shortly within the space of little more than a moneth as may be gathered chap. 16.1 and chap. 19.1 to give them Lawes and ordinances in mount Sinai there appeared no such necessity to prevent that time and place 4. Pellican understandeth the Lawes and ceremonies which were given afterward in mount Sinai Eo loci sed non jam tunc About that place but not at that time But neither about that place were the Lawes given which were delivered in mount Sinai for betweene Marah and the desert of Sinai they had six stations or mansions as they are numbred Num. 33. from verse 9. to vers 16. And this Law here mentioned was given at this time while they stayed in Marah where they proved and tried their faith and obedience as the next words shew 5. Some thinke that the Lord here gave them Lawes Non scriptura sed ore ut justè viverent not in writing but by word of mouth that they should live uprightly Ferus And what Lawes they were is not here expressed Osiander But to what purpose should a Law be given not written that the people might alwayes have it in remembrance 6. Therefore what this Law and ordinance was is here in the next verse expressed where the Lord moveth the people to the obedience of his Lawes with promise to bee their protector in keeping them from the plagues and diseases of Egypt Iun. So that the Lord in this place dealeth two wayes with his people Postquam aqua penuria illos examinavit verbo etiam admonuit After he had tried and examined them with the want and penury of water hee doth also by his Word admonish them to be more obedient Calvin QUEST XLIV Why the Lord at this time gave his people a Law NOw why the Lord gave them this Law and ordinance in Marah the reasons may be these 1. Because the people a long time having beene in bondage were not used to the Lords yoke they might have said then with the Prophet Isai. 26.13 Other Lords beside thee have ruled us therefore Hoc populo longa servitute oppresso forte iâ dissuetudinem venerant Because the people by their long servitude might perhaps have growne to a disuse the Lord giveth them a Law Simler 2. The Lord in thus doing Pactum cum patribus factum renovat Doth renne the covenant made with their Fathers Pellican Hee doth give them a Law to put them in mind of the ancient covenant made with their forefathers 3. The Lord taketh occasion by this present benefit in providing of them water in their distresse to take triall of their obedience Postquam aquae penuria examinavit populum After he had examined them with the penury of water Calvin Which might serve as a preparative to move them to obedience 4. Because they were a carnall and disobedient people they had need of a Law to bind them Carnales enim cancello legis indigent For carnall men had need to be held in by a Law Ferus As the Apostle saith The Law is not given to a righteous man but to the lawlesse and disobedient 1. Tim. 19. 5. The Lord here giveth them a Law to shew what was the end of their deliverance and redemption out of Egypt not to live as they list but to walke in obedience before God Populum docet ne ex servitute liberati ad carnis libidinem deflectat He teacheth the people lest they being delivered out of bondage should turne unto the lust of the flesh Pellican 6. And beside the Lord would by this meanes Paulatim populum jugo legis adsuefacere By little and little acquaint his people with the yoke of his Law which he was purposed to deliver more fully in mount Sinai Osiander So also Simler and Borrh. QUEST XLV Who is said here to tempt him ANd there he ââoved him 1. Some doe understand this of the people that they should tempt God and in that sense it is understood two wayes either that they tempted God after he had given them a Law which sheweth the
Quia corpora coelestia non suscipiâât peregrinas impressiones The heavenly bodies receive no forren or strange impressions Thostat This may be admitted and yet the sunne shall be hot for that is no elementary or forren impression but a quality inherent and native in the sunne seeing the Scripture saith nothing is hid from the heat thereof Psal. 19.8 which heat may be increased by the reflexion of the beames of the sunne and the exhalation of hot and drie vapours but the beginning of vitall and comfortable heat without any inconvenience may be granted to come from the body of the sunne as the fountaine thereof 3. Now the reason why the sunne as he riseth higher so waxeth hotter is this when the sunne is too low his beames doe not fall directly upon the earth but being in the East they tend to the West but as the sunne ascendeth unto the meridianall point so his beames doe descend and smite upon the earth which then beginneth more and more to feele the power and force thereof Tostat. 4. In that the Manna melted by the heat of the sunne but was hardned by the fire for otherwise it could not be baked and made into cakes it appeareth that neither of these proceeded from any naturall disposition or quality in the Man for if naturally it had beene dissolved by the sunne the heat of the fire in like manner would have wrought upon it therefore both these operations in Manna proceeded not from any naturall qualitie therein but was wrought extraordinarily by the power of God so disposing Tostat. quâst 11. 5. And this was the reason why it melted by the heat of the sunne to stir up the people to gather it betimes that they might have time to prepare it and then attend other businesse if it had beene to bee gathered all day they might have beene more slothfull and negligent Calvin 6. The time then of gathering Manna was after the sunne rise so soone as the dew was off the ground untill the sixth houre of the day toward noone when the sunne began to be hoâ Lyran. QUEST XXXI How they gathered twice so much upon the sixth day Vers. 22. THe sixt day they gathered twice so much c. 1. Some thinke that they gathered no more upon the sixth day than they did other dayes but that it was multiplied by the power of God and became twice as much that is two gomers for every man Ioseph Lyran. But the words of the text are otherwise they gathered twice so much it was not then made twice so much when it was gathered but they indeed gathered twice so much as they did upon any other day 2. Therefore herein the miracle was seene that upon the sixt day there fell twice so much as upon the other dayes Marbach And they indeed gathered as much againe as they used to doe for otherwise if the Lord had not commanded them so to doe to gather double upon the sixt day they had transgressed in exceeding a gomer in their gathering yet they are not reproved but commended for it And Moses saith they did herein the same thing which the Lord said If it were then Gods commandement that they should gather double this doubling was in their gathering not in the increasing afterward God would not have commanded them to doe that which was not in their power but in his owne working It was in their power to gather double when God had sent it upon the ground But it was in Gods hand onely to increase and multipliâ it when it was gathered Sic fere Tostat. quaest 12. QUEST XXXII What moved the Rulers to come and tell Moses that the people had gathered double Vers. 22. THe Rulers of the Congregation came and told Moses These were not the Captaines over thousands and hundreds and over fifties for they were not instituted till afterward chap. 18. nor yet were they the 70. Elders which also were not yet appointed but they were the Princes of the tribes and families such as are rehearsed Numb 1.2.7 Tostat. 1. Some thinke that these Princes came of a good minde and feared lest the people transgressed the commandement in gathering double because they knew not Gods will yet touching the Sabbath Ferus But they could not be altogether ignorant of that seeing the Lord by Moses had told them before vers 5. that upon the sixt day they should gather twice so much as they did dayly 2. Some impute it unto their forgetfulnesse and incredulitie that they beleeved not the word of God that he would send them double food upon that day Calvin Galâs But it is not like that the Princes and chiefest men which used to consult with Moses and were directors to the rest were more ignorant and of lesse beleefe than the common people neither doth Moses here reprove them for any such unbeleefe 3. Therefore the sounder opinion is that they were not ignorant herein of Gods commandement of gathering double and that the people did therein as they were commanded but they came to Moses to receive further direction how that double portion which they had gathered should bee ordered Tostat. 4. Another opinion is that Moses had not yet propounded to the people what the Lord had said concerning the double portion to be gathered upon the sixt day vers 5. but the people of themselves did it being accustomed to keepe the Sabbath knowing that upon that day they were to rest and yet that it was not Gods will they should fast that day and altogether abstaine from meat Piscator But this would lay both an imputation of unfaithfulnesse to Moses that he should conceale any part of Gods counsell from them especially in so necessarie a thing as the observation of the Sabbath was and of ignorance upon the Rulers of the Congregation that the common people did better know what was to be done than they and although it was an usuall custome among the people of God to keepe the Sabbath yet they were not yet so well instructed in the manner of the observation thereof therefore I rather preferre the opinion of Tostatus herein next before alleaged QUEST XXXIII Of the meaning of the 23. verse and whether they dressed upon the sixt day that which was reserved for the seventh Vers. 23. THe rest of the holy Sabbath is to morrow 1. Thostatus in not rightly pointing or distinguishing this verse putteth this word morrow to the next sentence reading thus Crâs quodcunque operandum est facite To morrow what is to be done do and so much busieth himselfe about the meaning of these words resolving upon this sense that what was to be done the next day about their victuall because it was the Sabbath they should doe it now but although this indeed be the meaning of the words following that what they had to seeth and dresse the next day they should doe it now yet all this labour might have beene spared if the word morrow be joyned with the former
sentence as it is here set downe and as it is in the originall the Sabbath is to morrow 2. The words following Seeth that which yee would seeth c. are two wayes understood that either they should seeth upon the sixt day so much as should serve the next also for upon the Sabbath they were not to busie themselves about their meat Iun Piscator Or they should seeth so much as would serve their turne presently and reserve the rest till the next day for if they had sod dressed that which was reserved till the next day it had seemed no strange thing that it was not putrified Simler But I preferre the former exposition both because there was much businesse which belonged to the grinding dressing of Manna and making it into cakes which works they were not to doe upon the Sabbath and it is like that the Manna which was reserved upon other dayes though sodden or baked yet was corrupted with wormes and of it selfe the Manna was not like to putrifie in one day though it were raw and unsodden but that the Lord caused it to corrupt thereby to admonish his people QUEST XXXIV Whether the observation of the Sabbath were now first instituted Vers. 20. THe Lord hath given you the Sabbath 1. Some are of opinion that the Israelites began first now to keepe the Sabbath and that this precept was but to continue till the comming of the Messiah Tostat. quaest 12. But this opinion hath no ground nor good warrant for Moses speaketh of the Sabbath as of a thing well knowne To morrow is the rest of the Sabbath and to what end else should the people have beene so readie to have gathered a double portion upon the sixth day but to prepare them for the Sabbath before Moses had yet spoken any thing of the rest thereof 2. Therefore it is more than probable that the Sabbath of ancient time was kept among the people of God grounded upon the example of God himselfe that rested after the creation finished in six dayes upon the seventh which observation was delivered by godly tradition from Adam to his posteritie for seeing that the Church had from the beginning a publike and externall worship of God it could not otherwise be but that they had also a certaine time prefixed wherein to celebrate the publike worship and service of God and then what time was more fit than that which God had sanctified by his owne example Simlerus Oleaster This law then of the Sabbath as belonging rather to the law of nature than to the law of Moses because it containeth the manner of Gods worship was to continue even after the abrogating of Moses law Ferus for though we keepe not the very same day which the Jewes did yet the Lords day is kept upon the seventh day Dic septima vacare catenus morale necessarium quod statâ tempore Domino vacandum sit Vpon the seventh day to rest is therefore morall and necessarie because we must upon some set time be vacant for God Pellican 3. Here the reason given of observing the Sabbath is taken from Gods liberalitie that had given them upon the sixt day meat for two dayes two other reasons are else where yeelded the one from the end of the creation Gen. 2. the other from the deliverance of the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt Deut. 5.15 Iun. QUEST LV. Of the Feast of the Sabbath Vers. 29. TArrie every one in his place let no man goe out There are three rules here set downe for the observation of the Sabbath 1. That every one should tarrie in his place and so being free from other businesse give himselfe to contemplation so Ferus interpreteth these words Maneat apud se Let him abide with himselfe that is enter to himselfe Conscientiam suam scrutetur Let him examine his conscience This indeed may very well be a consequent of that their staying and tarrying within for being sequestred from other affaires they were the freer for meditation but the literall sense of the words is that they should stay within 2. Neither were they to goe forth that is with intent to gather Manna which lay round about the host or to doe any further businesse they were not forbidden all kindâ of walking and going out for their solace and recreation as the mount Olivet is said to bee a Sabbath dayes journey from Jerusalem Act. 1. that is about a mile Thostat quaest 13. 3. They are also commanded to keepe the Sabbath rest to Sabbatize which is to be exercised in good works Ferus as Augustine saith Malè celebrat Sabbatum qui à bonis operibus cessat âtâum enim ab iniquitate debet esse quia bona conscientia non inquietum sed tranquillum facit animuâ He keepeth the Sabbath ill which ceaseth from good works for true rest must be from iniquitie because a good conscience doth make the soule not unquiet but calme and still yet although they were commanded to rest the seventh day unto the Lord Non obligâbantur tota diâ vâcare Dâo They were not bound all the day to attend upon Gods service but to cease from all other occupations Ne impedârantur si Deo vacare vellâââ That they should not be hindred if they were disposed to attend upon God Tostat. quaest 12. in Exod. QUEST XXXVI The description of Manna the quantitie fashion colour and taste thereof Vers. 31. IT was like unto Coriander seed white c. The Manna is resembled here and in other places to five severall things to the hoare frost vers 14. to Coriander seed unto wafer cakes made with hony and Numb 11.7 to âdâllium and fresh oyle 1. it is likened to the hoare frost Non quia exâââsum in modum prâââa sed sic multiplicatum Not because it was extended or lay in flakes as the âoare frost but it was multiplied in number like unto it as it is in the Psalme He scattereth the hoare frost likâ ashes Psal. 47. Oleaster Iosephus therefore is deceived who thinketh that it came downe like snowe foâ he saith that as Moses prayed it fell upon his hands and he thought it snowed 2. In quantitie and proportion it was like to Coriander seed not in colour for that kinde of seed is blackish Vatabl. And so vers 14. it is said to be a small round thing the word is Mâcusphas which Hierome translateth pâlo conââsâm as wheat that is husked and brayed with a pestle and the Chald. dâcârticatum like unto barked or pilled wood that is white the Septuag translate it white but the Hebrewes generally interpret here round this word is onely found in this place and so the signification is the more doubtfull and uncertaine here but I prefer the usuall reading 3. For the colour it is said here to be white and Numb 11.7 In colour like unto âdellium which some take to be white pearle Oleaster or a kinde of precious stone Vatab. the Septuagint take it
day c. 1. The opinion of some of the Rabbines is that this was not the 3. day of the moneth but the 6. day and the third from that time when the Lord thus spake to Moses for they say that upon the first day of the moneth Moses went up to God and received that message to bee delivered to the people and came downe the same day and stayed the next and reported not the answer of the people untill the 3. day R. Salom. Lyran. Cajetanus is of the same opinion that the first day of the moneth was but the 45. day after their departure out of Egypt and that the Lord upon the 48. day bid the people to bee ready against the third day after Contra. But this is not like for this would have shewed great negligence in Moses if he should have stayed so long before hee delivered the peoples minde to the Lord seeing mount Sinai was so neere unto the host 2. Some thinke that it was the third of the moneth and that it hath relation to the first day mentioned vers 1. Tostat. quaest 10. Gloss. ordin Ferus But this cannot stand neither for both Ferus and Gloss. interlin doe make the first day of the moneth but the 47. day then the third day wherein the law was given was but the 49. day but the day wherein the law was given is held of all to bee the Pentecost the 50. day Some to take away this doubt would borrow 17. dayes of the first moneth and 30. of the next and 3. of the third and so the publishing of the law shall fall out upon the 50. day So Augustine Gloss. ordin But there remained only 16. dayes of the first moneth to be counted the Passeover being kept upon the 14. day at even therefore they cannot make their reckoning of 17. dayes remaining in that moneth and to account 31. dayes unto the next moneth as some doe it was against the custome of the Hebrewes 3. Therefore it must thus be that on the first day of the moneth when the host was come into the wildernesse oâ Sinai Moses went up to the Lord and came downe with the message to the people and then the next day went up with the peoples answer unto God for it is not like that all the host came thither and Moses went up and came downe and propounded the Lords words to the Elders and they to the people and received their answer and returned the same all upon one day And Cajetanes conceit herein is not to be refused that because the Lord saith To day and to morrow sanctifie them Insinuatur quod haec dicta fuerint manâ It is insinuated that this was said in the morning This then was spoken upon the second day in the morning and the third day from thence was the law given which was not the third but the fourth day of the moneth Iun. Simler Rupertus also agreeth that the first day of the third moneth was the 47. day after the Passeover and that the fourth day after which was the 50. day Moses received the tables of the law but herein he differeth that the thicke cloud with the thunder and the lightning were seene and heard the day before which was the 49. But it is evident by the text that upon the third day was the voice of the Lord heard talking with Moses vers 19. QUEST XVII Whether the 15. day of the moneth were one of the fifty which went before the giving of the Law BUt here ariseth another doubt whether in the computation of these 50. dayes after the Passeover the next day after they had eaten the paschall lambe be included in that number or that there were fifty dayes beside 1. Some doe hold that the 15. day being the morrow after the Pasch must bee excluded because afterward in the law of the Pentecost they began the account of seven weekes upon the 16. day the morrow after the Sabbath or first solemne day of the Passeover as is further to be seene Lev. 23.11 and then after seven weekes complete the which make 49. dayes the next day which was the 50. was the day of Pentecost Cajetan But it is not necessary that this first 50. day should be accounted after that rule excluding the morrow after the Passeover as it may appeare partly by the text When yee bee come into the land which I shall give you vers 10. that law is made to bee kept after they were come to Canaan and the reason of this alteration was because they were to begin the account of the seven weekes from that day wherein they first put the sickle into the corne whereof they should bring a sheafe to shake before the Lord Deut. 16.9 which could not be done upon the first day of unleavened bread it being a solemne day and of the nature of a Sabbath wherein they were to doe no servile worke Levit. 23.7 Rupertus here agreeth that the Pentecost was not yeerely kept the just fiftith day after the Passeover as the law was given the fiftith day after the Passeover But herein he is deceived that upon what day soever the Passeover fell in the weeke they did expect the morrow after the next Sabbath when they were to bring in their sheafe and then beginne to count their seven weekes for herein is his errour he taketh the Sabbath there spoken of Levit. 23.10 for the seventh day of rest where it is understood to be the first day of unleavened bread which was a solemne day of rest as the Sabbath was Iun. Borrh. And by the way Rupertus in the same place slippeth in another point Prima dies azymorum Iudaeis in quintam feriam illo anno evenit The first day of unleavened happened to the Iewes that yeere upon the fifth day of the weeke For true it is that our blessed Saviour did eat the Passeover according to the law upon the 14. day which was as our Thursday at even but the Jewes following a tradition of their owne to avoid the concurrence of two Sabbath dayes did put off the eating of the Passeover untill the 15. day of the moneth at even which was the sixth day of the weeke because the next day was the Sabbath for if they had eat the Passeover when Christ did eat it with his Disciples then the next day should have beene kept holy neither were they to doe any worke therein but upon that day they put Christ to death which could not be done without more than servile labour in carrying the crosse and nailing Christ unto it and such like beside the text saith they would not put Christ to death upon the feast day lest there should bee some tumult among the people Mark 14.2 But this point is elsewhere handled more at large whither I referre the Reader 2. Some againe as Cajetane before excludeth the 15. day of the moneth out of the number of the 50. dayes so they include and take in both
the 14. and 15. dayes borrowing 17. dayes of the first moneth to make up the summe of 50. Augustine Ferus Gloss. ordinar as is shewed before quest 16. But this account cannot bee admitted for thus should they begin the 50. dayes both before the Passeover was eaten which was upon the 14. day at even whereas they must be accounted from the Passeover and before they were delivered and went out of Egypt whereas the Pentecost was kept in remembrance of their deliverance out of the servitude and hard bondage of Egypt as the reason of the institution thereof is yeelded Deut. 16.12 Thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt therefore thou shalt observe and doe these ordinances 3. Wherefore this remaineth as the most probable that the 15. day of the moneth the next day after they had eaten the pasch was the first day of the fifty howsoever in the anniversary Pentecost afterward there were some innovation Iun. Piscat Simler And that for these reasons 1. Because this was the day of their deliverance and going out of Egypt from the which they count their moneths and dayes chap. 16.1 2. And againe this first day of unleavened bread was not in respect of the present necessity and occasion of their sudden departure out of Egypt kept a solemne festivall day as afterward wherein they were to doe no servile worke This being then the first day of the fifty there are to bee accounted 16. dayes of the first moneth and 30. of the second so the first of the third moneth falleth out to bee the 47. and the 50. day was the fourth of the moneth 4. I cannot here omit the mysticall application of Rupertus of these three dayes of sanctification and preparation prescribed to the people which he wil have to signifie that sanctification of Christ in his death and passion and buriall Quam consummavit die tertia Which he finished upon the third day of the which sanctification our Saviour speaketh when he saith Fer their sakes doe I sanctifie my selfe Ioh. 17. QUEST XVIII How the Apostles Pentecost and the Iewes Pentecost fell out all upon one day HEre further it will be enquired how the Apostles Pentecost which was 50. dayes from Christs resurrection inclusively and the Jewes Pentecost which was 50. dayes from the Passeover exclusively that is not reckoning the morrow after the Pasch which was the first solemne day of the feast according to the law Levit. 23.10 would fall out together on the same day 1. Here Rupertus hitteth upon the right answer in generall that the same day wherein Christ rose againe the Jewes brought in their bundle or sheafe to be shaken before the Lord which bundle of their first fruits did prefigure Christ the first fruits of the dead who also in the Canticles is called fasciculus myrrhae a bundle of myrrh Cantic 1.12 From this day of shaking the sheafe the Jewes began to count seven weekes complete which is 49. dayes and then the next day was the Pentecost which was the 50. So 50. dayes from the resurrection of Christ including also that day came downe the holy Ghost upon the Apostles by the which the will of God is written in our hearts as here the law of God was written in tables of stone Thus far Rupertus proceedeth well 2. But his mistaking is in this partly touched before where the law prescribeth that they should begin to account the seven weekes from the morrow of the Sabbath Levit. 23.10 he understandeth this of the seventh day only that they were to expect the next Sabbath day after the Pasch and the morrow after to begin their account of seven weekes By which meanes a great errour would fall out that if the Passeover fell out upon the first day of the weeke there would be not onely seven but eight weekes betweene the Passeover and Pentecost which was against the meaning of the law By the Sabbath therefore in this place is not precisely meant the Sabbath day but that solemne day of rest which was the 15. day of the moneth which was commanded as strictly to be kept as the Sabbath without doing any worke therein and therefore it is better translated Postridie cessationis The next day after that solemne rest then the next day or morrow after the Sabbath Iun. But yet at this time when our blessed Saviour rose againe this day of shaking the sheafe fell out the morrow of the seventh and Sabbath day but not according to Rupertus rule but by this occasion This yeere wherein Christ the true Passeover was sacrificed the first solemne day was the 15. then followed the Sabbath which was the 16. day wherein because they were forbidden to doe any worke they could not that day put the fickle into the corne as is prescribed Deut. 16.4 And therefore in such cases they put it off till the next day following the Sabbath QUEST XIX How the Lord is said here to descend Vers. 11. THe third day the Lord will come downe Three wayes this terme of descending is used in Scripture when mention is made of God or his Angels 1. It is attributed unto God improperly for he being an infinite essence cannot be contained in any place as that which is of infinite quantity and magnitude cannot goe from place to place because it occupieth all places So neither can God who is of an infinite and incomprehensible nature either ascend or descend Therefore when God is said to descend it must not be understood properly sed quantum ad aliquam demonstrationem effectus in aliquae parte orbis c. But in respect of the demonstration of some effect in some part of the world where God did not manifest himselfe before Tostat. Descendere Deus dicitur quando aliquod novum quod antea non fuerit in humana creatura operatur God is said to descend when hee worketh some new and strange thing in the humane creature which was not before Eucherius As the holy Ghost is said to descend upon Christ because of that demonstration and representation in the likenesse of a Dove which lighted upon Christ and here the Lord descendeth in a thick cloud 2. Christ also is said to descend from heaven secundum idiomatum communionem because of the unity of his person and mutuall communicating of the properties of his nature whereas his Godhead could not properly descend but it is said so to doe propter humanam naturam assumptam in respect of the humane nature which hee had assumed Tostat. 3. These two are improper kindes of descending but Angels may be said properly to descend because they are finite spirits and so although nullum occupent locum sibi tamen definiunt though they occupy no place yet they are defined and limited in a place so that when they are present in one part of the world at the same instant they cannot bee in another Tostatus will have the descending here spoken of to bee of this third kinde
de Sabbato quia quae umbra depingebantur ut futura speculari debebant He saith of the Sabbath remember because they ought to behold the things to come which were described under the shadow Cyril ibid. But this remembrance is to this end as the words of the law shew to sanctifie the Sabbath 4. R. Salomon thus understandeth it that if they had any precious garments or any other thing of price they should remember to keepe them till the Sabbath Lyran. But the Sabbath is not sanctified by the putting on of costly garments 5. Cajetanus giveth this interpretation Vt intelligamus rationem praeceptâ esse recordationem c. that we should understand that in remembrance consisteth the reason of the precept that the rest from the outward workes is not pleasing to God Nisi ratione memoriae nisi ratione interni cultus But in regard of the memory and inward worship But although the sanctifying of the Sabbath specially consist in the internall worship yet it is not so well gathered out of this word 6. Therefore this rather is the meaning Remember that is Inprimis memoria tenendum esse the keeping of the Sabbath as a speciall thing is to bee remembred Galas And to this end is it so said because a man being hindered by the six dayes workes will hardly dispatch all to keepe the Sabbath unlesse he remember it and cast aforehand for it Oleaster As also they are bid to remember it because of old this day had beene sanctified before by the Lord and accordingly observed by the people of Goâ QUEST III. Why the Lord thought good to appoint a day of rest and that upon the seventh day THe Sabbath day 1. Some Jewes are of opinion that the Sabbath being the seventh day was appointed to be kept holy because it is Saturnes day which is evill and unluckie to begin any worke in but this is a Heathenish superstition to seeme to worship those things for feare that are thought to hurt aâ Tullius Hostilius the third King of the Romanes made the Quartane and Timâr Pallor Feare and Palenesse Goddesses The Lord taught his people otherwise that they should not be afraid of the starres of heaven nor to worship those things which God had given for the service of men Deut. 4.19 Tostat. 2. The speciall reason therefore why the seventh day was kept holy was grounded upon the Lords example that rested upon the seventh day after the works of the creation were finished 3. But that a day of rest was necessary to be appointed for the people of God divers reasons may be yeelded 1. This day was appointed and given ad destructionem erroris for the destruction of error because the Lord did foresee that divers in the world would make question of the beginning and creation thereof as they 2 Pet. 3. which say Where is the promise of his comming for convincing their error the Lord commanded this day to be kept as a monument of the creation 2. Datum fuit ad instructionem fidei redemptionis it was given to instruct in the faith of our redemption to signifie that Christs flesh should rest in the grave according to that saying in the 16. Psalme My flesh shall rest in hope 3. Datum fuit ad figurandum veritatem promissionis it was given to prefigure the truth of the promise both in our spirituall rest from sinne Corpus à peccatorum jugâ requiescere facientis Causing our body to rest from the yoake and servitudâ of sinne Damascen lib. 4. de orthodox fid cap. 24. as also in our everlasting rest in the Kingdome of God Futuram sanctorum requâem hinc significans Signifying hereby the rest of the Saints to come Cyril in Ioan. lib. 4. c. 51. And we looke for rest from three things A laboribus hujus vita à tentationum concussione à diaboli servitute From the labours of this life from the trouble of tentation from the service of the Devill Thomas 4. It was ordained ad inflammationem amoris to inflame our love that being free from worldly labours we might better attend upon God 5. Datum fuit ad opera pietatis it was given for the works of pietie for otherwise some would be so covetous that they would never leave working for gaine Thom. in opuscul 6. Vt quietâ repararentur corpora That the bodies should be refreshed by this rest For some through their insatiable greedinesse could scarse have afforded any rest unto themselves especially unto them which were at the command of others as children and servants Simler QUEST IV. Whether the precept of keeping the Sabbath were altogether ceremoniall 1. SOme were of opinion that the Sabbath was onely temporary that did bind the Jewes for a time thinking that the ancient Patriarks as Adam Evah Noe kept no Sabbath Tertullian Which is not true of the observation of the Sabbath in generall seeing it was sanctified by the Lord himselfe immediately after the creation which the Patriarks were not ignorant of but onely of that strict exact and rigorous observing the Sabbath which indeed was onely enjoyned the Jewes Simler 2. Other seeme to be of opinion that the Sabbath was altogether ceremoniall and that Christians therefore are not now bound unto the observation of dayes as the Apostle for this rebuketh the Galathians Yee observe dayes and mâneths times and yeares Galath 4.10 Thus the Anabaptists object But if this precept were altogether ceremoniall it could be no part of the Morall law and seeing the Israelites were charged to keepe other festivals also as well as the Sabbath as the feast of the Passeover of Pentecost and of Tabernacles with others whereof no mention is made in the Morall law but onely of the Sabbath it is evident that the Lord himselfe did make a manifest difference betweene that and all other festivals neither is the keeping of the Lords day now an observing of dayes seeing Christians doe celebrate this day without any opinion of holinesse or necessitie tied unto the day as the Jewes kept their Sabbath But this error of the Anabaptists shall be confuted more at large afterward among the places of controversie 3. Wherefore this precept is partly morall partly ceremoniall as to have some set time to attend the service of God it is morall and naturall Secundùm dictamen rationis naturalis aliquod tempus deputat homo Man according to the device of naturall reason will appoint some time for Gods service Thomas For all nations in the world unlesse they bee these inhumane and savage people which inhabite in the extreme and remote parts of the world as the Garamants and Anthropophagi Men-eaters which dwell toward the South pole and they which inhabite the Islands Orcades and other remote regions toward the North all other nations of any humanitie and civilitie did spend much time in the worship of their gods Tostat. But it is legall or ceremoniall in that some speciall day is prescribed and set apart for the service of God
In quantum speciale tempus determinatur in signum creationis in that a speciall time is determined in signe of the creation it is ceremoniall Thom. And in this manner the Jewes onely kept the Sabbath upon the seventh day and no other nations beside and therefore Seneca derided the Jewes as though they did Septimam partem âtatis inutiliter amittere Lose the seventh part of their age without any profit because they rested every seventh day unto the Lord and Ovid calleth the Jew virum septimum the seventh man because hee kept the seventh day Tostat. QUEST V. To observe one day of seven unto the Lord is Morall BUt this must be added further that the prescribing of some certaine day for the service of God is not ceremoniall as Thomas before seemeth to affirme but the speciall limitation of the seventh day the prescription and taxation of which day precisely is now abrogated yet so as that still one day of seven must be kept still This then may be safely affirmed that to keepe one day of seven holy unto the Lord is morall and not ceremoniall and although the precise rest of the seventh day which was enjoyned the Jewes be now abrogated by the libertie of the Gospell because it was a type of our rest in Christ and the bodie being come the shadow ceaseth yet Christians are bound to observe one day of seven for the reason annexed to this Commandement taken from the example of God which rested on the seventh day serveth not onely for the ceremonie of the seventh day but is also morall to put us in minde of the creation of the world made in six dayes and beside in regard of the benefit of the creatures which after six dayes labour are to rest the seventh the rule of the Creator in this morall equitie is to be followed not to exceed that time in affording rest unto the creature that laboureth Novit Dominus mensuram virium creaturae for God best knoweth the measure of the strength of the creature Lippom. and hath appointed the time of rest for the same accordingly Yet somewhat more fully to explaine this matter there are some things which are simply morall and simply ceremoniall some things are of a mixt kinde as being partly morall partly ceremoniall simply morall are those things which are grounded upon the judgement of naturall reason as to appoint some time for the service of God is simply morall as is shewed before all nations through the world agree herein that a time must be set apart for the Lord but precisely to appoint the seventh day more than any other of the weeke is simply ceremoniall Quia non habet fundamentum à ratione sed à sola voluntate condentis legem c. Because it is not founded upon reason but upon the will of the law maker Tostat. But to appoint one day of seven and that day wholly for the space of 24. houres to consecrate unto Gods service and therein to abstaine from all kinde of works these things are not purely or simply ceremoniall but partly morall as grounded upon the judgement of reason though not totally and wholly for the first if above one day in seven should be kept perpetually holy gravamen esset laborantibus toties vacare it would bee burdensome to those that labour to rest so often and if but one day in a fortnight or moneth should be appointed Oblivisceremur Dei per desuetudinem cultus ipsius By discontinuing of the worship of God we should grow to be forgetfull of him it standeth therefore with reason that one day of seven should be celebrated to the Lord. Likewise that the whole day should be consecrated to that end though there be somewhat ceremoniall in it yet it is grounded also upon reason because the service of God requireth great attention Et non est rationabile opus Dei facere negligenter And it is not reasonable to doe the worke of God negligently for if but two or three houres in the day were appointed all could not so well prepare themselves for Gods service as now the whole day being set apart And for the third the cessation or resting from all kind of worke it hath this reason because the minde being occupied in other affaires could not be so free for God and therefore abstinence from all servile works is enjoyned Vt sic liberum esset nos tota die vacare Deo si vellemus That so it might bee free for us to acted upon God the whole day if wee would Now then those things which in the Sabbath were meerely ceremoniall are abolished but the other remaine which are not purely and simply ceremoniall Tostat. quaest 12. QUEST VI. What things in the Sabbath were ceremoniall what morall NOw then it may appeare what things in the Sabbath were ceremoniall what morall what mysticall 1. These things in the Jewish observation of the Sabbath were ceremoniall 1. The prescript of the day seventh day 2. The manner of keeping it with sacrifices oblations and other rites 3. The strict prohibition of all kinde of works even concerning their meat as in gathering and preparing of Manna Exod. 16. yea it was not lawfull upon that day to kindle a fire Exod. 35.3 and that under paine of death as he that gathered sticks was stoned Numb 15. 4. The Sabbath was a shadow of our spirituall rest in Christ and of Christs rest in the grave In all these respects was the Sabbath ceremoniall and bindeth us not now 2. These things also in the Sabbath are morall and perpetuall 1. The rest and relaxation of the creatures from their ordinary labour which was not the chiefe and principall but accidentalis finis the accidentall end of keeping the Sabbath that they might better attend upon the service of God Calvin 2. The Sabbath was instituted specially for the service of God for the remembrance of his benefits the setting forth of his praise the meditating upon his works as the creation of the world the redemption the resurrection of Christ. Simler 3. Conservatio Ecclesiastici ministerii The conservation of the Ecclesiasticall ministry was not the least or last end of the Sabbath that there should be in the Church ordained and so preserved Pastors and Doctors who should divide the word of God aright instruct the people and exhort them to repentance Bastingius Vrsinus 3. The Sabbath also as it was unto the Israelites typicall and ceremoniall in shadowing forth first Christs rest in the grave and our spirituall rest in him Marbach so now it is mysticall in shewing our spirituall rest and cessation from the works of sinne as the Prophet applieth it Isai. 58.14 teaching us how to keepe the Sabbath in not doing our owne wayes nor seeking our owne will it is also Symbolicall in being a pledge unto us of our everlasting rest in the Kingdome of God as the Apostle sheweth Heb. 4.9 There remaineth then a rest to the people of God Simler 4. Thomas
maketh the Sabbath ceremoniall in these foure respects First in the determination of the day Secondly in the allegoricall signification as it was signum quiet is Christi in sepulchro a signe of Christs rest in the grave Thirdly in the morall sense prouâ significat cessationem ob omni actu peccati as it signifieth cessation from every act of sinne Fourthly in the anagogicall signification ut praefigurabat quietem c. as it prefigured our rest in the Kingdome of heaven So Thomas 2. 2. qu. 122. artic 4. But I rather with Vrsinus take this spirituall Sabbath which is begun in this life in ceasing from the works of sinne and perfited in the next to belong unto the morall and internall part of the Sabbath than to the externall and ceremoniall the two first indeed are ceremoniall in the Sabbath the other are not properly ceremoniall seeing they are perpetuall but morall rather spirituall and mysticall 5. So then by this which hath beene said it is easie to make a difference betweene our Lords day and the Jewish Sabbath 1. In that we are not tied to the necessary prescript of the day 2. And have more liberty and freedome in the rest 3. And their Sabbath was a type and figure of those things which are now fulfilled and accomplished in Christ. Bastingius QUEST VII What it is to sanctifie the Sabbath day TO sanctifie it 1. God is said to sanctifie the seventh day one way and man another God by instituting that day and consecrating it unto his service man by referring it unto the use and end appointed of God Vrsin 2. Neither is God said so to sanctifie it as though this day had any speciall kinde of holinesse in it selfe affixed to it but in regard of the use because it was consecrated and set apart for holy duties Simler 3. And this sanctifying signifieth two things both a separating of this day from other prophane and common dayes and the speciall addicting and appropriating of the same to the service of God 4. And it is not referred onely to the day sed ad ipsos homines c. but to the men themselves that they should be sanctified and prepared for the service of God Gallas 5. They then are deceived which thinke they doe sanctifie this day onely in the corporall rest and that they have done the dutie here required by abstinence from labour for the day must be sanctified that is consecrate to the service of God Deus non curat principaliter de quiete corporum God principally doth not take care for the rest of the bodie sed curat de cultu suo but he taketh care for his service the bodily rest is commanded to no other end than as it is an helpe to the setting forth of Gods worship Tostat. qu. 13. QUEST VIII Of the labouring six dayes whether it be a Commandement Vers. 9. SIx dayes shalt thou labour 1. In the Hebrew it is Six dayes shalt thou serve and it seemeth to have speciall reference unto the servant that hee should dispatch all his masters worke in six dayes and deferre none unto the seventh the other clause and doe all thy worke concerneth the master himselfe and those which were free for the servant did not his owne worke but his masters but the master and the free man did his owne worke Oleast 2. God here enjoyneth not to labour six dayes as though it were not lawfull upon any occasion to rest upon the weeke dayes sed ipsa facilitate ad parendum invitat but he doth perswade to obedience by the easinesse of the precept Calvin 3. And hereby the Lord sheweth how liberally he dealeth with us that whereas wee ought to spend every day in his service yet he leaveth unto us six dayes for our affaires and reserveth the seventh onely to himselfe Basting 4. And yet further God so giveth unto us six dayes to worke in as that the private worship of God be not neglected in prayer and hearing of his word as occasion serveth but the seventh day is set apart for his publike service in such sort as that then all other affaires must give place unto it Vrsin 5. Three reasons then are specially used to move unto the obedience of this Commandement one is from the end because it is to be kept holy to the glory of God another from Gods example which two reasons are mentioned afterward and here is propounded ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the easinesse of the precept that seeing wee have libertie to worke six dayes we may the better rest upon the seventh Pelargus QUEST IX What works were permitted to be done upon the Sabbath Vers. 10. THou shalt not doe any worke 1. We must observe that there was a great difference among the Jewes in the observation of their festivall dayes For the Sabbath was more strictly kept than the rest therein they were forbidden to prepare or dresse that which they should eat Exod. 16.23 or to kindle a fire Exod. 35.3 In the other solemne dayes as in the first day of the Pasch those works are excepted which were about their meat chap. 12.16 onely they are restrained from all servile worke Levit 23.7 And the reason hereof was because the Sabbath was a speciall figure and type of our spirituall rest in Christ and figures are most exactly to bee kept for the more lively shadowing forth of that which was prefigured And therefore we have now more libertie in keeping of the Lords day wherein it is lawfull to provide for our food and to doe other necessary things because the figure and shadow is past and the bodie come Tostat. qu. 13. 2. Notwithstanding the strict injunction of bodily rest certaine works it was lawfull for the Jewes to doe even under the law much more for us now as first works of necessitie qua non pâterant bene differri neque anticipari which could neither conveniently bee deferred nor yet prevented Lyran. Of this kinde is necessary defence against the invasion of the enemies as Mattathias resolved to fight against the enemie upon the Sabbath day lest they should have beene put to the sword as their brethren had beene before 1 Maccab. 2.40 So Ioshua with his companie compassed the walles of Jericho seven dayes together of the which number the Sabbath was one it was also lawfull for them on the Sabbath to lead their oxe or asse to water Luk. 13.15 and if their beasts were fallen into the pit to helpe them out Luk. 14.5 And as it was lawfull to save their cattell so also their other substance as if an house were set on fire to quench it if their corne were like to be lost in the field to preserve it They might also in case of necessitie seeke for their food upon the Sabbath as the Apostles rubbed the eares of corne Matth. 12. Secondly it was lawfull to exercise works of mercie and charitie upon this day as to visit the sicke to cure and heale the diseased as our Saviour
healed the woman that had beene bowed together upon the Sabbath Luk. 13.11 And at another time hee recovered a lame man upon the Sabbath day and bid him take up his bed and walke Ioh. 5.8 Thirdly works tending to pietie were not inhibited upon that day as the Priests did offer sacrifice and doe other bodily works that belonged thereunto and therefore they are said to breake the Sabbath and yet were blamelesse Matth. 12.5 not that indeed the Sabbath day was broken by them but this is spoken in respect of the vulgar opinion that thought the Sabbath violated if any necessarie worke were done therein Tostat. qu. 14. QUEST X. Why the children servants and cattell are commanded to rest Vers. 10. THou nor thy sonne nor thy daughter c. 1. The father of every house must not onely provide that himselfe keepe a Sabbath unto the Lord but hee must have a care of those which are under his charge as of his sonnes and daughters then of his servants whom he is bound to instruct in the wayes of the Lord. 2. But the case is divers where the servant is of the same profession and where he is not for if he be of the same religion the master is to instruct him and to see he keepe the Lords Sabbaths if he be of another profession as a Jew or Saracen now the servant is to be considered as a thing appertaining to the master and so he is to keepe the Sabbath though non propter se not of conscience in respect of himselfe yet propter Dominum because of his master who cannot observe the Sabbath quietly seeing his servant to breake it in his sight and so for the same cause the precept is given in the next place concerning the rest of the cattell 3. The beast also is to rest for these causes first that mercie and compassion should be extended even unto the dumbe creature that it may sometime be spared and have some respite from labour Secondly because the beast cannot be employed but man also thereby is constrained to worke also and so to violate the Sabbath in taking care for his beast Thirdly that by the fight of the cattell resting from their labour man also might be put in minde of his dutie to keepe the Lords rest like as for the same cause in publike fasts the beasts were enjoyned abstinence that men seeing them in their kinde to mourne might be stirred up unto griefe and sorrow Simler 4. But whereas mention is made onely of the sonne and daughter man servant and maid servant and not of such women as were married the wife therefore must be comprehended under this word thou because the Matrone of the house is in some sort joyned with the father of the house in the administration of the familie Tostat. qu. 14. 5. Cajetane also here giveth this note Quod nulla fuit mentio pastorum That no mention is made of shepherds which tended their flocks but onely of the domesticall servants which were as a part of the house because it was impossible to leave the great flocks of sheepe without a superintendent or keeper every seventh day QUEST XI What strangers were enjoyned to keepe the Sabbaths rest Vers. 10. NOr thy stranger that is in within thy gates 1. Tostatus understandeth such strangers as dwelt in their walled cities for the word here used signifieth both gates and cities so also Vatablus and Oleaster here alludeth unto that use and custome of strangers which inhabited rather in the suburbs and about the gates than in the heart of the citie but it is more largely taken than for the gates of the cities because many strangers might dwell among them in townes and villages where were no gates By gates then by a certaine metaphor are understood the bounds and limits of every ones jurisdiction Iun. whether it were in citie towne or familie 2. Tostatus thinketh that here the stranger is meant which was converted to the Israelites faith and such as were circumcised for then they were bound to keepe the whole law otherwise not quaest 14. But I preferre rather Cajetanes opinion that they were to compell even the Ethnikes among them to keepe the corporall rest though they did not communicate with them in other parts of the divine service Quoniam dedecet publicum festum turpe reddi à peregrinis Because it was not fit that the publike festivall should be defiled by strangers To the same purpose Lippoman Nulli cohabitanti permittitur Sabbati dissolutio None that cohabited was to be permitted to dissolve the Sabbath And this was commanded for these two reasons Ne suo exemplo scandalum praeberent Ecclesiae Lest they might give offence unto the Church by their example and lest the Jewes also by this occasion might have taken libertie to violate the Sabbath Vrsin QUEST XII Why a reason is added to this Commandement Vers. 11. FOr in six dayes c. 1. This is a reason not of the morall but of the ceremoniall part of this Commandement for the observation of the seventh day for otherwise we should be bound to the keeping of the same day still Lippoman 2. And the Lord herein doth propound his owne example to draw us to obedience that as children wee should imitate the example of our heavenly father Basting 3. Now the cause why a reason is annexed to this Commandement concerning the Sabbath but de caede nihil tale adjecit c. no such thing is added touching murther Chrysostome yeeldeth to bee this because the conscience of man by nature telleth him that murther is evill but the Commandement of keeping the Sabbath being but particular and for a time non est de principalibus per conscientiam exquisitis c. is not one of the principall things such as the conscience enquireth of But Thomas doth more fully explaine this reason Illa quae sunt pure moralia habent manifestam rationem those precepts which are meere morall are evident enough and need not have any other reason annexed but in those precepts which beside the morall part have a ceremoniall consideration as in the second of graveâ images and in the fourth of the determination of the day oportuit rationem assignari it behoved a reason to be assigned because being not wholly grounded upon naturall reason magis natum erat è mente excidere it was more apt to fall out of the minde 4. Cajetane also giveth another reason Inseruit Deus ãâã proprio aliquid juris positivi juri morali naturali c. God with his owne mouth did insert somewhat of the positive law into the naturall and morall law to authorise such positive lawes as should afterward be given by Moses lest if the Lord had not given with his owne mouth some positive law Moses might have beene thought to have framed them himselfe QUEST XIII How the Lord is said to have rested REsted the seventh day 1. Quievit à condendo alio mundo non
quievit ab administrando God rested from creating another world but not from the administration and government thereof Lippoman as our blessed Saviour saith in the Gospell My father worketh and I woâke 2. But God rested not as though he were wearie for virtus infinita non est fatigabilis an infinite power cannot be wearied as Gods power is infinite though Aristotle ignorantly denie it giving this for a reason why the earth moveth not because there is no power sufficient to stirre it out of the place lib. 2. de Caelo And beside potentia incorporea a power which is incorporeall is not subject to be wearie though it be not infinite as the Angels and the intellectuall part of man though this seeme sometime to bee dulled not in it selfe but in respect of the organes and instruments but if spirits of a finite nature are not fatigable or apt to be wearied much lesse God who is an infinite spirit Tostat. qu. 15. 3. Therefore God is said to rest both that this rest might bee mânumentum perfectae absolutae creationis a monument of the creation perfited and that God by his example might induce us in like manner to rest from our labours upon his Sabbaths QUEST XIV Of the changing of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the weeke THe seventh day 1. The Apostolicall Church changed the holy day of rest from the seventh day to the first which is the Lords day in remembrance of our Redemption by Christ which in the time of the new law is maximum beneficiorum recentissimum the greatest benefit and the newest and most fresh in memorie as the greatest benefit in the old law was the creation of the world 2. And although our redemption was purchased by the death of Christ yet because this benefit should not have a full perfection unlesse we should rise againe unto life eternall this day was to be assigned rather in memoriall of Christs resurrection than of his passion and though the rest of the Sabbath did signifie the rest of Christ in the grave having consummate and finished the painfull works of his passion yet because pretiosior nobis fuit resurrectio c. the resurrection of Christ was more precious unto us than his rest in the grave therefore not upon the Sabbath but upon the day of the resurrection doe we keepe an holy memoriall unto God Tostat. quaest 11. 3. The Apostolicall Church according to their Christian libertie in stead of the seventh day made choyce of the first in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ ut se à Iudaica synogoga discerneret that they might be discerned from the Jewish Synagogue Vrsin QUEST XV. How the Lord is said to have blessed and sanctified the day Vers. 11. THerefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day c. 1. Not that other dayes were accursed sed quod prae aliis hanc celebrem fecit but because he preferred this before the rest for if those dayes are counted blessed and had in remembrance wherein some good is wrought for the Church or Common-wealth much more this day wherein all things were finished Simler 2. Of the other six dayes it is not said the Lord blessed them for it was sufficient quod in singulis illis creatura productae sunt that in every one of them some creature was brought forth but of this day it is said God blessed and sanctified it what is this He sanctified it ab aliis illum segregavit he did separate and set it apart from other dayes Chrysost. homil 10. in Genes 3. Benedictio semper importat multiplicationem c. Blessing doth alwayes imply multiplying So God bestowed many blessings and good things upon this day beyond other dayes Tostat. qu. 16. 4. Isidore doth specially referre this Commandement to the holy Ghost for these reasons quia spiritus sanctus septiformis dicitur c. because the holy Ghost in respect of the manyfold graces thereof is said to be seven-fold the sanctifying of the seventh day peculiarly belongeth unto the Spirit quia non est nominata sanctificatio nisi in Sabbato and because no mention is made of sanctification but in the Sabbath day and further for that dono spiritus sancti nobis requies aeterna prâmittitur by the gift of the Spirit eternall rest is promised unto us whereof mention is made in this precept 5. But how is the Lord said to blesse the Sabbath here seeing the Lord saith by his Prophet I cannot suffer your new Moones and your Sabbaths Isai. 1.13 The answer is that the Jewes sinned carnaliter observantes sabbatum in observing the Sabbath carnally and so the Sabbath is not acceptable unto God but when it is so kept as that it putteth us in minde of our everlasting rest in the Kingdome of heaven Isidor 2. Places of Doctrine observed out of the fourth Commandement 1. Doct. Of the generall and particular contents of this Commandement IN this Commandement generally all such holy works and duties are prescribed to be done whereby the service of God is advanced and likewise therein is forbidden either the omission and neglect of such holy works or the prophanation thereof by all such works as do hinder the holy exercises and are contrary thereunto 1. In particular here is commanded the faithfull and diligent preaching and setting forth of the Word of God as the Apostle saith Wo is unto me if I preach not the Gospell 1 Cor. 9.16 and he chargeth Timothie to preach the Word to be instant in season and out of season 2 Tim. 4.2 Contrary to this dutie are 1. The neglect and omitting of teaching and preaching as the Prophet Esay reproveth the idle and carelesse watchmen They are all dumbe dogges they cannot barke they lie and sleepe and delight in sleeping Isai. 56.10 2. The abusing and counterfeiting of this holy function when the word of God is not sincerely and purely handled but according to mens fansies and humours but the Apostle saith We are not as those that make merchandize of the Word of God 2 Cor. 2.17 2. The often administration of the Sacraments as occasion serveth is another exercise whereby the Lords day is sanctified as Act. 2.42 They continued in the Apostles doctrine fellowship breaking of bread Contrary hereunto on the Ministers behalfe are 1. The negligent administration of the Sacraments and omitting to call upon the people often to resort unto them 2. The corrupting or perverting of the Sacraments as the Romanists have turned the Sacrament into a sacrifice being ordained for the living they applie it to the dead Christ biddeth us to eat and drinke it they hold it up to be gazed upon and in many such things have they degenerated from the institution of our blessed Saviour 3. The carefull hearing of the Word of God is commanded and diligent resorting to the exercises of religion as the Bereans are commended for searching the Scriptures whether those things were so which the
Apostle preached Act. 17.11 Contrary hereunto are 1. The negligent resorting to the holy assemblies of the Lords people in carnall men or the wilfull refusall in obstinate recusants who are like unto those in the Gospell who being invited to the marriage feast excused themselves and refused to come Matth. 22.5 2. The carelesse and fruitlesse hearing of the Word as Eutychus fell asleepe while Paul was preaching Act. 20. 4. The reverent and often receiving of the Sacraments is prescribed as Act. 20.6 On the first day of the weeke the Disciples came together to breake bread Contrary hereunto are 1. the neglect of the Sacraments 2. The prophanation of them when they obtrude themselves that are not prepared and so receive unworthily 1 Cor. 11.17 5. Publike invocation upon God and faithfull prayer is another exercise for the Lords day as Act. 16.13 On the Sabbath day we went out of the Citie beside a river where they were went to pray Contrary hereunto are 1. The neglect of publike and private prayer 2. To pray with the lippes and and not with the heart 3. Unfruitfull prayer in an unknowne tongue against the which S. Paul speaketh 1 Cor. 14.17 Thou givest thanks well but the other is not edified 6. Charitie is upon this day to be exercised and extended to the poore as our blessed Saviour healed upon this day Mark 3.3 Contrary hereunto are 1. The omitting of the works of charitie and despising of the poore as the rich glutton did despise poore Lazarus Luk. 16. 2. Or the giving of almes for praise and ostentation as the Pharisies did Matth. 6. Ex Vrsin 7. Meditating upon the works of God is peculiar for the Lords day as Psal. 92. which was appointed for the Sabbath day vers 4. the Prophet saith I will rejoyce in the works of thy hands Contrary hereunto are 1. To be occupied in carnall and worldly thoughts and bodily labour as in buying selling travelling working 2. To follow prophane games and sports to spend this day in quaffing drinking dancing and such like as the Israelites kept an holy day to the golden Calfe They sate downe to eat and drinke and rose up to play Exod. 32.6 2. Doct. How the Sabbath is to be sanctified Vers. 8. REmember the Sabbath day to keepe it holy or to sanctifie it In this precept two things are to be considered quid cavendum quid faciendum what is to be taken heed of and what is to be done The things to be avoided upon the Sabbath day are these 1. All corporall worke and labour So Ieremie saith chap. 17.24 Sanctifie the Sabbath so that you doe no worke therein But yet bodily works may bee done upon the Sabbath upon these foure occasions First propter necessitatem for necessity as our Saviour excused his Disciples for pulling the eares of corne being hungry Matth. 12. Secondly propter Ecclesiae utilitatem for the profit of the Church as the Priests did all necessary things that were to bee done in the Temple upon the Sabbath and were blamelesse Thirdly propter proximi utilitatem for the good of our neighbour as our Saviour healed upon the Sabbath one which had a withered hand Matth. 12.12 Fourthly propter Superioris authoritatem because of the authoritie of the Superiour as the Jewes circumcised upon the Sabbath because the Lord so commanded that they should circumcise their males upon the eight day 2. Debemus cavere culpam we must take heed of sinne as the Lord saith by his Prophet I cannot suffer your new Moones nor your Sabbaths Isai. 1.13 and then he giveth this reason vers 15. your hands are full of bloud 3. Debemus cavere negligentiam We must take heed of negligence and idlenesse upon the Lords day as it is said of the Israelites they sate downe to eat and drinke and rose up to play Exod. 34. The things wherein wee must be exercised upon the Lords day are these 1. In faciendis sacrificiis in offering of our sacrifices that as the Jewes offered up their externall sacrifices so Christians now must present unto God their spirituall sacrifices of prayer and thanksgiving as the Prophet David saith Let my prayer be directed in thy sight as incense 2. We must corpus nostrum affligere humble and afflict the body not pamper it upon this day and make as it were our belly our God so the Apostle exhorteth that we would give our bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God Rom. 12.1 3. Dando eleemosynas in giving of almes as the Apostle saith to doe good and distribute forget not for with such sacrifices God is pleased Heb. 13.16 So Nehemiah adviseth the people Send part unto them for whom none is prepared for this day is holy unto the Lord chap. 8. vers 10. 4. In divinorum exercitiis Wee must bee occupied in divine exercises as our blessed Saviour saith Ioh. 8. He that is of God heareth Gods words for herein consisteth the delight and rest of the soule this is that Sabbatisme or rest which the Apostle speaketh of Heb. 4. There remaineth then a rest to the people of God This pleasant rest of the soule is begun in this life and perfited in the next But before we can attaine to that perfect rest in the Kingdome of God three kinds of rests must goe before 1. Ab inquietudine peccati From the restlesse condition of sinne for as the Prophet saith The wicked are like the raging sea that cannot rest Isa. 57.20 A passionibus carâis from the passions of the flesh for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit Galath 5. Ab occupationibus mundi from the troubles and businesses of the world as our blessed Saviour said to Martha thou carest and art troubled about many things Luk. 10.41 Et tunc post hac anima liberè quiescit in Domino and then after all this the soule shall freely enjoy rest in the Lord Sic ferè Thomas in opuscul 3. Places of confutation 1. Cont. Against the Iewes and the Sabbatarians that contend for the Iewish Sabbath FIrst the Jewes doe thus object against the Christians for the perpetuitie and continuance of their Sabbath upon the seventh day 1. Object The morall law is perpetuall but this Commandement for the sanctifying of the seventh day is part of the morall law Ergo. Answ. This Commandement as it is morall continueth still namely that a certaine day should be set apart for the publike service of God yea and further as Chrysostom saith In circulo hebdomadis diem unum integrum segregandum c. That in the compasse of a weeke one whole day should be severed from the rest Hom. 10. in Genes But the ceremoniall part of this precept in the prescript of the seventh day bindeth us not now as the Apostle saith Let no man condemne you c. in respect of an holy day of the new Moone or of the Sabbath c. Coloss. 2.16 Vrsin 2. Object The lawes which were instituted before Moses are
immutable and perpetuall but such was the institution of the Sabbath Answ. The proposition is not true for the fathers before Moses used to offer sacrifices Circumcision was given to Abraham even from the beginning there was a difference betweene cleane and uncleane beasts and yet all these being types and figures of things to come are abrogated by Christ. Simler 3. Object The lawes given before mans fall in the state of his innocencie could bee no types of the Messiah being not yet promised and therefore they doe bind all Adams posteritie such was the sanctifying of the Sabbath Answ. 1. Such lawes the ground whereof was printed in the soule of man in the creation as are all morall precepts are perpetuall but not all in generall given unto Adam as was the prohibition to eat of the tree of life Vrsin 2. But it may be further answered that the Sabbath was not instituted before mans fall for he is held to have fallen upon the sixth day the same day wherein he was created as it is at large handled in that question upon the 3. of Genesis 3. This law of sanctifying the Sabbath in substance remaineth still though the ceremonie of the day be changed 4. Object The keeping of the Sabbath is called an everlasting covenant Exod. 31.16 it is therefore to remaine for ever Answ. 1. So Circumcision is called an everlasting covenant because they were to continue till the comming of the Messiah and so long as the Common-wealth of Israel continued to them it was perpetuall but now their state being dissolved the covenants made with them are expired also Simler 2. It is called everlasting in respect of the signification and substance thereof our rest in Christ and so it remaineth still and shall for ever as the Kingdome of David in the Messiah shall never have end Vrsin 5. Object The reason and cause of the law is immutable namely the memoriall of the creation therefore the law it selfe also and seeing the knowledge of the creation is necessarie so also is the symbole and monument thereof the celebration of the seventh day Answ. 1. The cause or reason of a law being immutable the law it selfe also is immutable if it bee so tied unto the law as that it cannot stand if the law be changed but so is it not here for the creation may as well be remembred upon another day as upon the seventh Vrsin 2. All the sacrifices and ceremonies of the law were symboles and signes of necessary things as Circumcision the paschall Lambe of the Circumcision of the heart and of the Messiah which things remaine still but the symboles are abolished Simler Now then that Christians are not bound unto the Jewish Sabbath it is evident by these reasons 1. By the doctrine of the Apostles Galath 4.10 You observe dayes and moneths times and yeares I am in feare of you lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vaine and by name S. Paul speaking of the Sabbaths saith They were shadowes of things to come but the bodie is in Christ Coloss. 2.16 2. The Apostles by their example shewed that the Jewish Sabbath was determined for they began to keepe the first day of the weeke Act. 20.7 and 1 Cor. 16.2 3. All types and shadowes were but to continue untill the bodie came which was Christ but the Sabbath was one of those shadowes 4. The Sabbath was a note of cognizance and a worke of distinction and difference betweene the Israelites and other people which difference and partition is now taken away in Christ for now there is neither Jew nor Grecian but all are one in Christ Galath 4.28 Ex Vrsin In Gregories time there were Qui die Sabbati aliquid operari prohiberent which did prohibite to doe any worke upon the Sabbath or Saturday whom he refelleth thus Quos quid aliud nisi Antichristi praedicatores dixerim c. whom what else should I call than the preachers of Antichrist who when he commeth shall cause both the Sabbath and the Lords day to be kept without doing any worke for because he shall faine himselfe to die and rise againe hee shall cause the Lords day to be had in reverence and because he shall compell them unto Judaisme he shall likewise command the Sabbath to be kept And thus he concludeth Nos quod de Sabbato scriptum est spiritualiter accipimus c. We spiritually observe that which is written of the Sabbath for the Sabbath signifieth rest Verum autem Sabbatum Redemptorem nostrum habemus and we have our Redeemer and Saviour our true Sabbath 2. Cont. Against the Iewes carnall observing of the Sabbath BEside this that the Jewes would enforce upon us their Sabbath they have another errour in the manner of keeping their Sabbath which they solemnize in taking their ease in eating and drinking and giving themselves over to all pleasure and licentiousnesse for as Burgensis reporteth of them The Jewes thinke they are bound upon every Sabbath to eat thrice that is one dinner and two suppers and in so doing they shall escape the punishment of hell Burgens addition 4. Contra. 1. Thus their forefathers kept an holy day to the golden Calfe in eating and drinking and rising up to play God will not be so served 2. The way to Paradise is a strait and narrow way by many afflictions we must enter into the Kingdome of heaven not eating and drinking and taking our pleasure 3. Augustine saith Quanto melius foeminae eorum lanam facerent quà m in neomeniis saltarent How much better might their women spinne than dance in their new moones Tract 4. in Ioan. 4. Chrysostome also thus proveth that the Sabbath is not âtii but spiritualis actionis materia not an occasion of idlenesse but of spirituall exercise because the Priests were by the law upon that day to offer double sacrifice but if it were a day of ease Oportebat Sacerdotem omnium maximè otium agere it was meet that the Priest most of all should take his ease then Concion de Lazaro 3. Cont. Of the Iewes superstition in the precise and strict keeping of the Sabbath rest AGaine the Jewes were superstitiously addicted to the corporall rest which they would not breake upon any occasion as our Chronicles doe make mention of a Jew that being fallen into a jakes refused to be taken out thence upon their Sabbath day and the next day being the Lords day the Governour would not suffer him to be pulled out upon that day because it was the Christians Sabbath and so the wilfull Jew there perished Of the like strictnesse were some among the Christians in keeping of the externall rest upon the Lords day therein imitating the Jewes as Gregorie in the fore-cited place writeth how some did forbid any to wash themselves upon the Lords day whom he thus confuteth 1. Si pro luxu animi ac voluptatis quis lavari appetit c. If any man desire to be washed of wantonnesse and pleasure it
Therefore the Lords day must be warranted by the word before it can be sanctified and set apart to holy uses 5. And seeing the Jewes Sabbath is warranted by the word it must also be changed by the word there must bee the same authority in the alteration of it which was in the first institution The Lords day then was not appointed by the ordinary authority of the Church for then the Church by the same authority might constitute another day if there were cause which cannot be admitted but as Vrsinus saith Apostolica Ecclesiae pro libertate sibi à Christo donata c. The Apostolike Church according to the liberty given them of Christ did make choice of the first day for the seventh The Church then by the extraordinary power of the Apostles directed specially thereunto by the Spirit of God did alter the day and Tostatus saith well Tota Ecclesia Spiritu sancto ducta hunc deem instituit The whole Church being led by the holy Ghost did institute this day quaest 11. 7. Conf. Of the preeminence of the Lords day beyond other festivals ANother errour of the Romanists is that they require sanctification and necessary keeping of all holy dayes as making a necessity of keeping all alike Rhemist annot Galath 4. sect 5. Contra. 1. The same difference that was betweene the legall Sabbath and other their festivals remaineth still betweene the Lords day observed among Christians and other holy dayes but the Sabbath day was more strictly observed than the greatest festivals besides for on their Sabbath it was not lawfull to kindle a fire Exod. 35.3 nor to dresse their meat Exod. 16.23 but on other festivals they were not forbidden to doe such works as were to bee done about their meat Exod. 12.16 they were onely restrained from doing servile works Levit. 23.7 but the works about their meat and drinke were not servile 2. The observation of the Lords day doth simply binde every Christian in conscience though there were no positive Law of the Church for it that wheresoever a Christian liveth in any part of the world it is his dutie in remembrance of the resurrection of our blessed Saviour to sanctifie the Lords day but other festivals of Saints a man is not bound in conscience simply to keepe but as hee is bound in generall to yeeld obedience to the superiour authoritie in lawfull things for onely Gods immediate Commandements doe simply bind in conscience in respect of the thing commanded as the Apostle saith There is one lawgiver that is able to save and destroy Iam. 4.12 and no more but he alone therefore by this reason the Lords day hath a preeminence before other festivals 3. Hereunto I will adde Tostatus reason Sabbatum vel una quaecunque esset dies in hebdomada observanda videbatur dependere à ratione naturali The Sabbath or what other day is to be kept in the weeke seemeth to depend upon naturall reason as is shewed before quest 5. Caetera observationes sunt magis ex voluntate legislatoris Other observations depend rather of the will of the lawmaker Tostat. qu. 13. So our Lords day succeeding the Jewish Sabbath is grounded in part even upon the law of nature but other festivities depend ab arbitrio Ecclesiae of the determination of the Church So then to conclude this point as Augustine saith Quomodo Maria virgo mater Domini inter omnes mulieres principatum tenet sic inter caeteros dies haec omnium dierum mater est As the Virgin Marie the mother of our Lord is the principall among women so among other dayes this day is as the mother of the rest Sermon de temper 36. 8. Controv. To commit any sinne upon the Lords day is a double transgression THe Romanists here have another erroneous assertion that the internall act of religion pertaineth not to the keeping of the Sabbath but the externall and so consequently they denie that any sinne committed upon the Sabbath is thereby the greater Bellar. de cult sanctor lib. 3. cap. 10. prop. 4. Contra. 1. But the contrarie is evident out of Scripture that it belongeth to the rest of the Sabbath to abstaine from the works of sinne ut vacantes à pravis actionibus c. that being vacant or ceasing from evill actions they might suffer God to worke in them by his Spirit therefore the Lord saith speaking of his Sabbath It is a signe betweene me and you in your generations that I the Lord doe sanctifie you Exod. 31.13 And to the same purpose Ezechiel chap. 20.12 I have given them also my Sabbath to be a signe betweene me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that doe sanctifie them These places are urged to this purpose by Pelargus Bastingius 2. So the Fathers expound that precept of doing no servile worke upon the Sabbath Ne nos voluptas corporis libido succendant That the pleasure and lust of the bodie should not inflame us upon this day qui enim facit peccatum est servus peccati for he that committeth sinne is the servant of sinne So Hierome in Esaiam cap. 59. Likewise Augustine thus writeth Spiritualiter observat sabbatum Christianus abstinens se ab opere servili c. A Christian man doth spiritually observe the Sabbath in abstaining from servile worke what is this from servile worke from sinne Tractat. 4. in Ioann So also Thomas Est triplex servitus una qua homo servit peccato c. There is a threefold service one when a man serveth sinne altera qua homo servit homini c. another when man serveth man and this service is according to the bodie not in the minde tertia est servetus Dei the third is the service of God If we understand servile worke this last way it is not forbidden upon the Sabbath day sed alia opera servilia primo vel secundo modo c. but other servile works the first or second way are contrary to the keeping of the Sabbath Sic Thomas 2.2 quaest 122. art 4. addit 3. 3. Hereunto I will adde Tostatus reason Hence it followeth that hee which committeth adulterie killeth or is drunken upon the Lords day magis peccat quà m si aliis diebus idem ageret sinneth more than if he should doe the same thing upon other dayes quia sic est transgressor duplicis praecepti because he so transgresseth two Commandements that precept Thou shalt not commit adulterie thou shalt not kill or any other and this of sanctifying the Sabbath Tostat. qu. 12. See more of this question elsewhere Synops. Centur. 2. err 70. 4. Morall observations 1. Observ. Against hypocrisie and vaine glorie Vers. 8. REmember the Sabbath day to sanctifie it c. Rupertus applieth this text against the doing of any thing for vaine glorie or to bee seene of men but wee should referre all to the praise of God In omnibus operibus tuis Deiretributionem attende c. In all thy works wait for
the Lords recompence that he will prepare eternall rest for thy reward and this it is to sanctifie the Sabbath So Augustine Spiritualiter observa Sabbatum in spe futurae quietis Observe the Sabbath spiritually in hope of the everlasting reward Libr. de 10. Chord All hypocrites therefore that keepe the Sabbath rest rather for feare of humane lawes than of conscience which also come before the Lord with a dissembling heart are transgressors of this Commandement for he that will truly consecrate the Sabbath unto the Lord must call it a delight Isa. 58.13 he must with all his soule delight therein 2. Observ. Against those which spend the Lords day in carnall delight TO sanctifie it The rest then of the Sabbath is commanded not as though it were in it selfe a thing acceptable unto God but that wee might the better attend upon Gods service They therefore which give themselves upon the Lords day to ease and idlenesse pampering and feeding themselves following their owne will and pleasure doe not sanctifie the Sabbath unto the Lord for hee that will consecrate a Sabbath as glorious unto the Lord must not doe his owne wayes nor seeke his owne will as the Prophet sheweth Isai. 58.13 Against such which carnally spent the Sabbath in pleasure and delight the same Prophet speaketh Wo unto them c. The Harpe and Violl Timbrell and Pipe are in their feasts Isai. 5.12 And of such Chrysostome saith well Accepisti Sabbatum ut animam tuam liberares à vitiis tu verò magis illa committis Thou hast received the Sabbath to free thy soule from vice and by this meanes thou doest commit it the more 3. Observ. No worke must be put off untill the Lords day THou shalt not doe any worke Here then such covetous and worldly minded men are taxed which cannot afford one day of seven for the Lord but toile themselves therein with bodily labour as if they have a job of worke of their weeks taske to doe they will dispatch it upon the Lords day if they have any journey to take they will put it off till then for feare of hindring their other worke therefore the Lord meeting with mens covetous humours forbiddeth all kinde of worke to be done therein Gregorie giveth two reasons why upon the Lords day we should cease from all terrene labour because Omni modo orationibus insistendum We should altogether attend upon prayer and spirituall exercises such works then must be shunned because they are an hinderance unto the service of God And againe Si quid negligéntiae per sex diesagitur c. if any thing have beene negligently done in the six dayes that upon the day of the resurrection of our Lord precibus expietur it may be expiate and purged by prayer Gregor in Registro lib. 11. epist. 3. We should not then commit more sinnes of negligence when we should pray for forgivenesse of our errours and negligence Cajetane giveth a good note upon this word Remember Ad hoc servit recordatio ut non reserves aliquid operandum in diem septimum c. therefore serveth this remembrance that no jot or worke be reserved till the seventh day 4. Observ. It is not enough for the master of the familie to keepe the Lords day unlesse his whole familie also doe sanctifie it THou nor thy sonne nor thy daughter c. This is added to reprove their nice curiositie who though themselves will seeme to make conscience of the Lords day are content yet that their children and servants doe breake it and put them to labour or suffer them to mispend the day in vaine pleasure thinking it sufficient if the master of the house keepe the rest of the Lords day But every good Christian must resolve with Ioshua I and my house will serve the Lord chap. 24.15 He thought it not enough for himselfe to be addicted to Gods service unlesse his whole familie also served the Lord. So then none are exempted here from keeping the Sabbath Nullus sexus nulla aetas nulla conditio c. no sex no age no condition is excluded from the observing the Sabbath Gloss. interlin Neither young nor old male or female master or servant Vpon the fifth Commandement 1. Divers Questions and difficulties discussed and explained QUEST I. Whether this precept belong to the first Table 12. HOnour thy father c. Iosephus with some other Hebrewes doe make this fifth Commandement the last of the first Table both to make the number even in both Tables and because mention is made here of Jehovah as in none of the other Commandements of the second Table and because it was fit that as the first table began with our dutie toward God our heavenly Father so it should end with our dutie toward our earthly parents Contra. These are no sufficient reasons for this division of the Commandements 1. For though the foure first Commandements in number answer not the other yet they are in the writing upon the Tables more and conteine a greater space than the other six and better it is to divide the Commandements by the matter referring onely those to the first Table which containe the worship of God than by the number 2. The name Jehovah is expressed in other judiciall and ceremoniall lawes which follow which belong not either to the first or second Table 3. The third reason better sheweth why this Commandement should begin the second Table then end the first 4. And whereas some object that place Rom. 13.9 where the Apostle rehearseth the five Commandements following omitting this as though it belonged not to the second Table the reason of that omission is because the Apostle directly in that place had treated before of the dutie toward the higher Powers and Superiours who are comprehended under the name of parents But our Saviour putteth all out of doubt Matth. 19.19 where he placeth this Commandement last in rehearsing the precepts of the second Table and joyneth it with that generall precept Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy selfe Calvin QUEST II. Why the precepts of the second Table are said to be like unto the first NOw our Saviour reduceth all the precepts of the second Table to one generall Commandement Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy selfe and saith it is like unto the first in these respects 1. Because the second Table of the morall law as well as the first hath a preeminence and excellencie above the ceremonials and therefore in regard of this dignitie and prioritie it is like unto the first 2. Because the same kinde of punishment even everlasting death is threatned against every transgression as well of the second as of the first Table 3. In regard of the coherence and dependance which the one hath of the other as the cause and the effect for a man cannot love his brother unlesse he first have the feare of God whose image he reverenceth in his brother Vrsin QUEST III. Why the precept of honouring
their necessity yet if they should hold them in perpetuall servitude they should usurpe upon the Lords right seeing they were his servants 2. Another reason is taken from the manner and condition of their service Deut. 15.18 Hee hath served six yeeres which is the double worth of an hired servant which is so said either because the service of six yeeres is double to the time of hired servants who used to covenant from three yeeres to three yeeres Vatab. Or rather because their workes were more laborious than were the hired servants Iun. For hee was to doe his worke for the which he was hired and no more but the other when he had done in his businesse in the field came home and ministred to his master first before hee did eaâ himselfe Luk. 17.10 And they only served not their master by day but by night they kept their flockes in the field as is evident in the example of Iacob Gen. 31.40 Simler 3. A third reason is taken from a promise of blessing The Lord thy God shall blesse thee in all that thou doest Deut. 15.18 Simler 3. Though this Law concerning the freedome of servants did specially concerne the policy of the Jewes and so belongeth not unto us for now servants are not bought and sold among Christianâ in the Romane Empire but only hired Osiander Yet the equity of this Law doth binde us that all they which have others in subjection under them should use their authority moderately and in mercy Galas 4. The word here used châpshi interpreted free signifieth also solitarie because servants were not solitary or alone by themselves in the house but attended on their masters they which were free were solitary and by themselves giving no attendance upon any Oleaster QUEST XIII Why the space of six yeeres is limited for their service BUt concerning the limiting of the space of six yeeres for service and the appointing of the seventh for liberty what might be the reason thereof thus it is diversly scanned 1. Some doe thus moralize it by six yeeres they understand the perfection of the active life because in six dayes the Lord made the world hee that will come unto contemplation must first approve himselfe in action Lyrân 2. Isidâre maketh this application in sex atatibus hujus sâculi servientes c. when wee have served the six ages of this world in the seventh which is the eternall Sabbath we shall be free 3. But I preferre rather Rupertus conjecture that this privilege of going out free in the seventh yeere and serving six was proper to the Hebrewes Quia videlicet pater âorum Iacob sex annis pro gregibus Laban servivit c. Because Iacob their father served six yeeres for Labans flockes and went out free in the seventh chusing rather to sojourne with his fathers Abraham and Isaack than to serve among his kindred for more profit therefore Haec ingenuit as patris illam posteris apud Dominum thesaurizavit This ingenuous minde of their father did treasure up this privilege before the Lord for his posterity that none should be compelled to serve above six yeeres Rupert lib. 3. in Exod. cap. 35. 4. But the best reason of all is because as the Lord had from the beginning given them a Sabbath of dayes which was the seventh day of rest so also he gave them a Sabbath of yeeres that every seventh yeere the land should rest and servants should rest from their labours and debters from their creditors and they had also a Sabbath of seven times seven yeeres prescribed that when they had counted seven times seven yeeres then the fiftieth yeere should be the great yeere of remission the yeere of Jubile which was a lively figure of that acceptable time of generall remission at the comming of the Messiah QUEST XIV How the servant is said to come in with his body and to goe out with his body Vers. 3. IF he came himselfe alone 1. Some read If he came with his garment he shall goe out with his garment Hierom. Lyran. But the word is guph which signifieth a body not gaph a wing of a garment the true reading therefore is If he came with his body that is alone without either the body of his wife or children Oleaster And so read both the Chalde and Septuagint If he entred alone he shall go out alone 2. But this case is excepted that if he in the time of service should marry a free woman and not a maid servant given him by his master in this case the free woman should not lose her freedome but should goe out with her husband Tostat. qu. 7. 3. And beside as if he brought a wife with him he went out with his wife so by the like reason if he had children before they should be free likewise Iun. Nay if he should gât children during his service by a wife married before his service those children also should âoe out with him and not remaine with his master partus sequitur ãâã the childe followeth the condition of the mother Tostat. quaest 6. 4. And of the former reading If he come in with his body rather than with his garment these two reasons are given 1. Because it is not like that the same garment with the which he entred could continue six yeeres Pallican 2. And the servant was not to bee sent out with his garment alone but with a liberall reward of shâepe corne and wine Deut. 15.14 Simler 3. Beside the next clause confirmeth this reading but If he were married c. so to come in alone is to come without a wife or children Iun. QUEST XV. What manner of wife the master was to give to his servant Vers. 4. IF his master have given him a wife 1. Some indifferently understand any maid servant whether a stranger or an Hebrewesse and that such wife and her children shall be her masters till the time of servitude come out Genevens But the master had no power to give an Hebrewesse maid to his servant to wife but he must either take her himselfe or give her to his sonne vers 7 8. Piscat Tostat. It is understood therefore of such maid servants as were of other nations Osiana 2. But it seemeth that the master could not give a Cananitish woman to his servant to wife for they are forbidden to contract marriages with them Deut. 7.4 Tostat. quaest 7. Neither had the master power to give any free woman to his servant for the master was to give onely his owne but a free woman was none of his possession Tostat. 5. This must be understood if the servant will take a wife for otherwise he was not to be compelled for if there were not a free consent it is held to be no marriage and the Master could no more compell the servant to lye with a maid against his will to get children for his masters profit than to force his maid to play the whore for her masters advantage It must be
neglected the Sabbath of dayes which was the seventh of weekes which was Pentecost of moneths which was the seventh as well as of yeeres yee the Sabbath of seven yeeres which was the Jubile was also intermitted if the seventh yeere from which they accounted it were not remembred 5. Further if they suffered not the land to rest in the seventh yeere they likewise abandoned other privileges incident to that yeere as the remission of debts the setting free their servants which apparent transgressions nay rebellions should not have beene suffered to slip without some reprehension by the Prophets and correction from God especially under the vertuous Kings of Judah QUEST XXII Why the Law of the Sabbath is so oft repeated Vers. 12. SIx dayes thou shalt labour 1. Some thinke that this precept concerning the observation of the Sabbath is repeated by reason of the former Law concerning the seventh yeere of intermission lest that the Hebrewes because that whole yeere was a time of rest might have taken unto themselves greater liberty in the keeping of the Sabbath Lyran. But this seemeth to be no sufficient reason because although they rested from the workes of husbandry all that yeere yet they attended other âââânesse and labour Tostatus 2. Some thinke that the Sabbath is here mentioned in respect of the civill ãâã thereof the rest and relaxation of the servants whereas before it was urged as a part of Gods service Gallas Siml 3. But the best reason is that the Law of the Sabbath is repeated because it chiefly concerned the worship of God and therefore so often is this precept iâcrated as chap. 20. Deut. 5 Exod. 31. ãâã and in divers other places Tostat. quaest 13. 4. And such respect the Lord hath to the seventh day of rest which he himselfe consecrated by his owne example that according to this rule he did proportion the other festivals as the seventh weeke the seventh moneth the seventh yeere yea in naturall experiments the seventh day is observed as the seventh fouretenth and twenty one are the criticall dayes for diseases as Hippocrates and Galââ have written Hierome 4. The benefit of this day the Lord would have extended to their servants strangers yea to the labouring cartell R. Salomon thinketh that in the next clause Yee shall take heed to all things c. the implements and instruments which are used to any businesse or worke are understood as the sword aâe cutting knife and such like that all these things should rest in like manner But this is too curious and beside it were superfluous seeing the men are forbid to labour without whose hands these things cannot stirre or move therefore this clause either is to be referred to the former duties which concerned the Sabbath Lyran. or in generall to their obedience to the whole Law and all the former precepts which were delivered have it Simler QUEST XXIII What manner of mention of strange gods is here forbidden Vers. 14. ANâ ye shall make no mention of the name of strange gods 1. The Latine Translator readeth Thou shalt not sweare but the word zachar signifieth to remember which is more than to sweare which is too strictly taken they must make no mention non solum jurando sed landandâ probande abtestande not only in swearing but in praising of them approving protesting by them Lippoman 2. The Jewes doe run into another extreme making this precept too generall they thinke it not lawfull at all once to pronounce the names of the Gentiles Idols but the Prophets which inveighed against them could not but pronounce their names with their mouth the meaning then is nullus loquatur honorabiliter none should make honourable mention of them Cajetane 3. This phrase then is to be understood as S. Paul would not have fornication once named among them Ephes. 5.3 that is that more should be committed none named with desire or delight Simler therefore here only is forbidden âonesta ãâã c. non inhonesta cum detestatione c. the comely and reverent mention of their gods not the iâreverent mention with detestation 4. Cajetane thus distinguisheth the sentence the first part biddeth ut praeteriti dâ non memorentur that the former strange gods should not be remembred but be forgotten as though they never had beene the other part neither shall it be heard out of thy mouth sheweth ut de moderuis diis nemo honorabiliter loquatur and of the gods present none should speake honourably But indeed the meaning is that generally the memory of all false gods should be extinguished as they ãâã commanded to abolish the very names of them Deut. 12.3 that neither in their oathes nor in their familiar talke they should revive the memory of them see the practice thereof Psalm 16.4 Neither will make mention of their names within my lips So the Lord saith by his Prophet I will take away the ãâã of Baalim out of her mouth and they shall be no more remembred by their names Hos. 2.17 Iun. 5. By the name of strange gods are here understood all which the Heathen worshipped whether by images or without whether things in heaven in the earth or under the earth which are called strange gods not because they are gods at all but so reputed in the opinion of their idolatrous worshippers and strange they were because such were worshipped onely of strange nations and not of the people of God Toâtat quaest 13. QUEST XXIV Why it is forbidden to sweare by the name of strange gods Vers. 13. YE shall make no mention of the name of other gods c. 1. If it be unlawfull to make any honourable mention at all of the names of strange gods no not in usuall talke much lesse is it lawfull to sweare by them because in taking of an oath invocatur Deus tanquam testis veritatio God is called upon as a witnesse of the truth so to sweare by the name of God is actus ââreiae an act of divine worship and therefore it cannot be given unto any other beside God and againe one Idols because they are false gods non possunt esse testes veritatis cannot be witnesses of the truth Lyran. 2. ãâã observeth here this difference betweene the Law and the Gospell there per nomen Dei jurure non ãâã they are not forbidden to sweare by the name of God Evangelica veritat non recipit juramentum But the Evangelicall truth admitteth no oath because the speech of a faithfull man ought to be in stead of an oath c. He thinketh that by this Law the Hebrewes had liberty given them to sweare at their pleasure so they did sweare only by the name of God But I rather here approve Calvins annotation Non incitât Deus pâpâlââ ad jurandi licentiam c. God doth not hereby incite his people to sweâing or give them liberty to sweare sed ubi opus fuerit vel necessitat justa ratio id postaââbit but where need it
done upon that day he materially breaketh it who doth a worke like unto that which is forbidden but yet is permitted by the law As if there were a law that no citizen should sell any thing to a stranger but such as were licensed to do it hee that so selleth being not allowed transgresseth the law formally he that doth it being thereunto licensed doth transgresse onely materially in that he doth the same thing which he committeth that transgresseth the law but not in that manner The same difference there was betweene the workes of the Priests which were allowed by the law upon the Sabbath day and the like workes of those which laboured in the building of the Tabernacle upon that day which were forbidden 3. Another difference is this the sacrifices belonged to the service of God which if they should have been intermitted upon the Sabbath the service of God should therby have been neglected But though the workes about the Tabernacle did cease upon the Sabbath Gods worship was not thereby neglected for they might as well be made upon other daies and so were 4. They were to do no servile works upon the Sabbath but many works necessarie for the building of the Sanctuarie were servile so were not the sacrifices and other duties performed by the Priests upon the Sabbath therefore the one were permitted upon the Sabbath and not the other Tostat. qu. 9. QUEST XIII How the Sabbath is said to bee a signe that the Lord did sanctifie them Vers. 13. IT is a signe betweene me and you that I the Lord do sanctifie you Which words are diversly expounded 1. Some make this the sense It is a signe that I sanctifie you in that I have separated you from other people selected you unto my self Vatab. Lyran. 2. Oleaster thus Sanctitas Sabbatâ signum est munditia c. The holinesse of the Sabbath is a signe of cleanenesse which I require of you Vt ex dicato tempore Deo credamus magis nos ipsos dicuri Deo c. That by the time dedicated to God wee should know that wee our selves much more should be dedicated Cajetan But more is here signified than so the words implie an actuall sanctification not signified onely 3. Hierom saith it is so said because it was signum veri Sabbati a signe of the true Sabbath wherein wee shall rest from the labours of the world 4. So also Irenam Non sine symbole erant signa the signes were not without some symbole and signification Sabbatâ perseverantiam totim diâi c. The Sabbaths holding our the whole day did signifie our continuance in Gods serââce But here the Lord speaketh of an actuall sanctification not of a typicall signification 5. Some say it is so called quia signum erat âudâris because it was a signe of the Covenant whereby the people did bind themselves to worship the Lord for their God and such signes were all the other ceremonies Marbach But there is a morall consideration in the sanctifying of the Sabbath therefore it was otherwise a signe than the other ceremonies 6. It was then a common signe betweene God and them they holding God to be their God Creator and sanctifier because the Sabbath was a commemoration of the creation and the Lord taking them for his people whom he created redeemed and sanctified Iun. Tostat. 7. Beside the keeping of the Sabbath was a signe of difference between them and all other prophane people of the world who derided the Jewes for their Sabbaths as ãâã derided them for this Quod septimâm partem ãâ¦ã Because they lost the seventh part of their age in resting every seventh day Tostat. qu. 10. 8. And specially it was a signe of their sanctification because that day they were sequestred by an holy rest from thinking or studying upon prophane things and in respect of the exercises of religion upon that day whereby they were sanctified sanctificaââr verbo Dei we are sanctified by the word of God Simler And they did meet together ad confirmandam ãâ¦ã to confirme their faith by the sacraments Osiander And because every Sabbath discatiâ doctrinam meam you learne my doctrine c. Iunius QUEST XIV The reasons why the Sabbath must be observâd Vers. 13. FOr it is a signe c. There are here divers reasons yeelded for the observation of the Sabbath 1. The first is à sine from the end it was a signe betweene God and them 2. Ab âtili it is holy unto you that is ordained for your benefit and commoditie as our blessed Saviour saith Mark 2.27 The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath Pelarg. So also Cajetan It is holy unto you that is ad vestrum bonum mandatur custodiendum it is appointed to be kept for your good 3. A necessarie from the necessitie of it because if they did not keepe it they should surely die as thrice the punishment of death is here threatned to those that defile the Sabbath and doe any worke therein Pelarg. 4. From the authoritie of the Institutor quia dicatur Domino c. because it is consecrated unto God vers 15. It is the Sabbath of the holy rest unto the Lord therefore it ought to be observed Cajetan 5. A facili from the easinesse of the precept the Lord appointeth but one day for the holy rest whereas he alloweth six for labour Pelargus 6. Ab exemplo Dei from Gods example who created the world in six daies and rested the seventh Pelarg. Simlerus 7. A consequenti from the event or consequent in observing the Sabbath efficient in succedentibus generationibus c. They shall procure that a perpetuall covenant shall be established in their generations betweene the Lord and their posteritie for ever Cajetan QUEST XV. What death is meant in this phrase He shall die the death Vers. 14. SHall die the death Whereas there are divers kinds of death there is everlasting death both of bodie and soule in the next world and the temporall death in this life either of the soule in being deprived of the life of grace or of the bodie either by the hand of God by sudden and extraordinarie death or by the hand of the Magistrate according to these divers kinds of death so is this place diversly interpreted 1. Some referre it to everlasting death and excluding from the societie of Gods servants Iun. 2. Some understand it of being deprived of the life of grace Vita gratiae destituetuâ hic infuturo seculo c. He shall be destitute of the life of grace both here and in the next world Lippoman 3. Some of being excluded from the people of God no more to be counted an Israelite Eâ Oleastr 4. Some of the violent death by the Magistrate Osiander Simler 5. Some of extraordinarie death when God cutteth one off and so punisheth him by death unlooked for as God is said to offer a man into ones hand when he is suddenly killed
times upon the Sabbath 3. Calvin affirmeth that this is so straitly commanded Vt dies septimus servetur etiam sub periculo communis jacturae That the seventh day should be observed even with the hazard and danger of the common losse But Gallasius better concludeth out of Christs words The Sabbath was made for man that the Jewes were not tied to such necessity in keeping the Sabbath in harvest and seed time but that in any common and apparent danger they might periculo occurrere prevent it 4. Some of the Hebrewes therefore understand this precept of the carnall act of generation which they would have here insinuated by the sowing of seed But beside that if the Scripture here had any such meaning it would have expressed it in plaine words for of such things the Scripture useth to speake exactly and plainly this were to make matrimony and the use thereof unholy Tostat. Though it must be confessed that greater moderation in such carnall delights is to be used when solemne and publike prayer is offered unto God according to S. Pauls counsell 1 Cor. 7.5 5. Therefore the better opinion is that even the rest of the Sabbath was dispensed withall to the Israelites in the times of seed time and harvest upon urgent necessity to prevent some common and imminent danger as if suddenly any inundation were feared which breaking in would destroy the seed or corne or any enemies should attempt to destroy the corne or it should chance to be set on fire it was lawfull even upon the Sabbath laborando succurrere to helpe to save it by labour for if it were lawfull to lead their cattell to water and helpe them out of the ditch upon the Sabbath as our blessed Saviour sheweth Luk. 13 and 14. which concerned but the state of private men much more for the common good was it permitted Tostat. qu. 18. Gallas R. Salom. thinketh it was lawfull upon the Sabbath to gather a sheafe of corne for the first fruits But he hath no warrant for that out of Moses QUEST XLII Whether now Christians are necessarily tyed to keepe the Lords day in seed time and harvest 1. THe Jewes to this day thinke that these workes to sow and reap are by no meanes upon any occasion never so necessary now to be dispensed with and some Christians are as strict now in the keeping of the rest upon the Lords day But this were to Judaize and to enthrall our Christian liberty and to bring us in bondage unto the service of dayes which were appointed for mans benefit as our blessed Saviour saith that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath Mark 2.21 2. Some on the other side give too great liberty upon the Lords day As Calvin hath these words writing upon Exodus chap. 31 1â Sabbatum quamvis hodât non sit in usu ejus externa observatio aeternum manet ipso effectu sicut circumcisio The Sabbath although the externall observation thereof be not now in use yet it remaineth in the effect as circumcision doth c. This permanent effect of the Sabbath is our cessation and rest from sinne This seemeth to give too great liberty to say that all externall observation of the Sabbath that is of the day of rest should now be out of use and that the Sabbath all rest how no more remaineth than circumcision for this were to make it arbitrary and indifferent whether Christians now should observe a day of holy rest unto the Lord at all or not 3. Oleaster goeth not so farre but he thinketh that though it were not lawfull for the Jewes to intermit the Sabbath then in earing time and harvest yet it is lawfull for Christians now Gallasius giveth this reason Quia ceremoniali observatione liberati sumus Because we are freed from the ceremoniall observation of the Sabbath and therefore he taketh it to be a needlesse question to dispute whether Christians are now bound to keepe the day of rest in seed time and harvest But this is no ceremoniall thing but morall to abstaine from all such workes upon the Lords day which may hinder the service of God 4. Osiander thinketh that by this instance of earing time and harvest all kinde of works were not forbidden the Jewes upon the Sabbath but onely quotidiana illa profana those daily prophane works which might hinder them from the service of God and the same reason may seeme to hold now But there are certaine bodily works which are a greater prophanation of the Lords day than the ordinary works of the calling as to dance to play at football and such like are worse than to dig or delve as Augustine saith of the Jewes Melius toto dit ararent quà m toto die saltarent It were âetter for them to plow all day than to dance all day 5. I therefore rather condescend to Simlerus that thinketh these things given in instance to be lawfull now upon the Lords day necessitate id postulante necessity so requiring longe arctior fuit observatio Sabbati in lege c. the observation of the Sabbath was more strict in the Law than now under the Gospell c. But men must take heed in earing time and harvest that they make not a necessity without a necessity it ought to be an urgent and extreme necessity indeed which should cause the service of God either wholly to be intermitted or in part hindred QUEST XLIII Why the people were charged to goe up thrice in a yeere to the feasts Vers. 23. THrice in a yeere shall all your men children appeare c. 1. There is a spirituall worship of God which the Israelites were to exhibite unto God at all times and in all places but the externall service which consisted in sacrifices and other solemnities was only to be performed in the Tabernacle whither the people were commanded to resort thrice in a yeere that whereas in their Synagogues at home they had nothing but Moses read unto them lest that they might by discontinuance grow into oblivion of the sacrifices and other solemnities prescribed for the Lords service they were commanded to that end to goe up to revive the memory of them 2. They went up alwayes with some gift as they were not to appeare before the Lord empty ut populus Deo praestaret obsequium that the people might shew their duty unto God 3. And because there was a collection yeerely in the feast of Tabernacles gathered of the people toward the maintenance of the Tabernacle and the services thereof the people were to goe up to contribute to that end Tostat. quaest 20. 4. Necessarium erat ad mutuum consensum in religione fovendum It was necessary also to maintaine a mutuall consent in religion Gallas Whereas if they should have had their severall places of meeting they might have devised new rites 5. And by this meanes the Lords feasts were celebriora more solemne and kept with greater majesty 6.
the true service of God should not be inferiour unto the false worship of the Gentiles and involutum fuit Christi corpus Christs body was wrapped up in these ceremonies they were types and figures of things to come Simler 4. Now such sumptuous cost is not required in Gods service his worship being spirituall for the body being come the shadowes are ceased only a comelinesse and decencie is to be observed in the edifiers belonging to Gods service with seemely ornaments Simler QUEST IV. Whether one may offer himselfe to the calling of the Ministerie Vers. 10. ALL the wise hearted shall come c. Moses willeth such as God had endued with gifts to offer themselves to doe the service of the Tabernacle So it is not unlawfull for those which know themselves to be fitted and prepared with gifts to offer themselves in a modest and orderly sort unto the Ministery of the Gospell these conditions being observed 1. They must humbly acknowledge to have received all their gifts at Gods hands and that without his grace and helpe no vocation or calling can prosper as Iohn Baptist saith A man can receive nothing unlesse it be given him from heaven Iohn 3.27 and therefore their desire must be to referre all their gifts to Gods glory 2. They must submit themselves with lowlinesse to the judgement and triall of those penes quos est legitima vocatio unto whom belongeth the outward lawfull calling and approbation of men for the Apostle saith The spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets 1 Cor. 14.32 3. They must take heed they enter not by unlawfull meanes as by gifts and bribery to corrupt those to whom the allowance and approbation of them belongeth that are to enter In this manner for one to offer himselfe is not to be an intruder but such an one is rather to be held as called of God Marbach QUEST V. Of the liberall and franke offering of the people Vers. 21. THou all the Congregation of the children of Israel departed c. 1. In that they departed from Moses it sheweth their deliberation and consultation with themselves which commendeth their discreet liberality that they would doe nothing rashly for it falleth out oftentimes that hee qui subitâ fervore beneficus est which is liberall upon a sudden heat doth afterward repent him 2. They came and offered willingly not of constraint Marbach Some thinke this is added Every one whose spirit made him willing came and brought to shew a difference betweene the willing and unwilling but it rather sheweth that there was none found but brought willingly according to their ability 3. As by the manner their liberality appeareth so by the persons that offered not onely men but women not the Princes only but the people and as well the poore as the rich Pelargus 4. So also it is made manifest by the gifts which they offered not onely silver gold but even the Jewels and ornaments of their bodies earings rings bracelets even the nice and dainty women were willing to forgoe such things Marbach 5. And herein their repentance did shew it selfe that quae luxui antea servierunt c. the things which before they abused to wantonnesse and superstition are now consecrated to the service of the Tabernacle Simler QUEST VI. Why the women offered by themselves Vers. 22. THe men came with the women 1. The word is ghal which signifieth upon which Oleaster understandeth thus that the women were most forward and came first and then the men came upon them that is after them 2. Or he thinketh mention is made of men and women to signifie the great throngs and companies that came men and women together 3. But direct mention is made of the women to shew their ardent affection in not sparing to give their owne jewels Marbach And herein also was signified Deum non aspernari operas mulâârum That God despised not the service of women toward the worke of the Tabernacle Lippom. 4. The women offered by themselves but not without their husbands consent for all things were done in order the superstitious women alleage Ierem. 44.19 That they did not powre out their drinke offerings to the Queene of heaven without their husbands much more would not these devout women offer to the Lords worke without their husbands consent And though the husbands onely should have offered for themselves and their wives by mutuall consent it had come to one effect and should have beene alike acceptable unto God yet it contenteth the devout women better that they offer with their owne hands As when a summe was taken of the people every one put in halfe a sicle for himselfe Tostat. quaest 2. QUEST VII Why the workmen are named Vers. 30. THe Lord hath called by name Bezaleel 1. Marbachius thinketh that this narration of the workmen went before the offering of the people that they knowing who should have the disposing of their gifts might be more incouraged to bring but it is like that as the Lord after the description of the Tabernacle and what every one should bring toward it last of all made mention of the workmen chap. 31. so Moses observeth the same order 2. Cajetane saith that Moses signifieth who should be the chiefe workmen ne âriatur contentio inter artifices that there should be no contention among the workmen 3. But that other note of Cajetane is not so good that whereas it is said Hee hath filled him with the spirit Elohim of God he by elohim understandeth a Iudge that God had made him a Judge or Umpire relativè ad alios artifices in respect of other artificers 4. I preferre rather Osianders collection that out of these words Iehovah filleth him with the Spirit of God proveth the Trinâây for there is one person of Iehovah which filleth another of the Spirit wherewith he is filled and the third of the Sonne of God whose Spirit it is 4. Places of Doctrine ãâ¦ã Law of the Sabbaticall rest how morall Vers. 3. ãâ¦ã The Sabbath is taken two wayes either precisely for the seventh ãâ¦ã of the Law and is abolished or simply for a day of rest set apart for the ãâ¦ã there is no nation almost which had not some festivall dayes for the ãâ¦ã wherein although they diversly erred yet it sheweth that it was ãâ¦ã and consequently was morall that some time should be appointed ãâ¦ã 2. Doct. The libertie of Christians is greater in the Sabbaticall rest than of the Iewes BUt yet the rest of the Lords day is not so strictly now injoyned as under the Law sed nunc liberalius nobiscum agit but now under the new Testament God dealeth more liberally with us some works are such as doe hinder the service of God which are by no meanes now to be done nisi cogat necessitas unlesse necessity constraine other works there are which are not such an impediment unto Gods service which may be done upon the Lords day yet so as God be first
here gave his people 44. qu. Why the Lord at this time gave his people a law 45. qu. Who is said here to tempt 46. qu. Of the divers kinds of temptations 47. qu. Of the difference betweene good and bad temptations 48. qu. Wherein the Lord at this time proved his people 49. qu. What diseases of Egypt he meaneth 50. qu. Whether Job being a righteous man felt not of the diseases of Egypt 51. qu. In what sense the Lord saith I am thy healer 52. qu. Of the fountaines and Palme trees in Elim 53. qu. Of the mysticall signification of the twelve fountaines and seventie Palme trees 54. qu. Of divers errors and oversights of Josephus Questions upon the sixteenth Chapter 1. QUest Of the desart of sin 2. qu. Of the time when the Israelites came into the desart of sin 3. qu. Whether all the children of Israel murmured 4. qu. How they are said to have murmured against Moses and Aaron here and afterward against the Lord. 5. qu. Of the grievous murmuring of the Israelites 6. qu. How the Israelites are said to have sit by the fleshpots of Egypt 7. qu. In what sense the Lord saith he will raine bread from heaven 8. qu. Why they are commanded every day to gather this bread 9. qu. How the Lord is said by this to have proved his people and to what end 10. qu. Why the flesh was given in the evening the bread in the morning 11. qu. Whether the rocke were first stricken to bring out water or the flesh and bread first sent 12. qu. Why Moses biddeth Aaron to speake to the people and doth it not himselfe 13. qu. How the people are bid to draw neere before the Lord. 14. qu. What cloud it was wherein the Lord appeared 15. qu. When the Lord thus spake to Moses 16. qu. What manner of fowles were sent whether they were Quailes 17. qu. Whether the comming of Quailes were a naturall worke 18. qu. VVhether this storie of the sending of the Quailes and that Numb 11. be all one 19. qu. Whether the Manna were a kinde of dew 20. qu. Whether the Manna were a naturall meteor 21. qu. Whether the Manna lay about the campe onely and not within it 22. qu. Whence it was called Manna 23. qu. VVhy the Manna is said to be the bread of Angels 24. qu. Of the measure Gomer how much it contained 25. qu. How one measure of Manna sufficed for every ones eating 26. qu. Why a Gomer was appointed for every head 27. qu. Whether the people transgressed in gathering some more some lesse 28. qu. How it came to passe that none had over that gathered more nor none had any lacke that gathered lesse 29. qu. How the Manna grew to bee corrupt with wormes 30. qu. How the Sun is said to wax hot and of the melting of Manna 31. qu. How they gathered twice so much upon the sixt day 32. qu. What moved the Rulers to come and tell Moses that the people had gathered double 33. qu. Of the meaning of the 23. verse and whether they dressed upon the sixth day that which was reserved for the seventh 34. qu. Whether the observation of the Sabbath were now first instituted 35. qu. Of the rest of the Sabbath 36. qu. The description of Manna the quantitie fashion colour and taste thereof 37. qu. Whether the Manna had a divers relish according to every ones taste 38. qu. When Moses spake to Aaron concerning the pot of Manna to be set before the Lord. 39. qu. By whom this clause was added of the Israelites eating of Manna fortie yeares Questions upon the seventeenth Chapter 1. QUest Why some mansion places are omitted here 2. qu. Of penurie and want of water which the Israelites here indured 3. qu. Why it pleased God to prove his people with thirst 4. qu. How the people are said to tempt God 5. qu. Of Moses feare lest he should be stoned 6. qu. Why Moses is bid to take the Elders with him 7. qu. Why Moses is bid to take his rod. 8. qu. Whether it be all one storie of smiting the rocke Exod. 17. and Numb 20. or divers 9. qu. Of the mount Choreb 10. qu. Whether the water out of the rocke did still follow the Israelites 11. qu. What nation the Amalekites were and how they set upon Israel 12. qu. The reasons which moved the Amalekites to set upon the Israelites 13. qu. Why Moses goeth not himselfe to battell but appointeth Joshua 14. qu. Whether this Hur were the sonne of Caleb 15. qu. Whether Moses lifted up his hands in prayer 16. qu. How Moses hands were heavie 17. qu. Of the supporting and bearing up of Moses hands 18. qu. What this Amalek was and of whom descended 19. qu. What booke this was wherein Moses is commanded to write this storie 20. qu. Why Moses is commanded to rehearse it to Joshua 21. qu. Whether Amalek were wholly destroyed by Saul 22. qu. Of the building of the Altar and the name thereof 23. qu. Of the meaning of these words Thy hand is upon the throne of Jah Questions upon the eighteenth Chapter 1. QUest Whether Jethro and Rehuel or Reghuel were the same man 2. qu. How Jethro heard what the Lord had done for Moses and Israel 3. qu. The causes which moved Jethro to come unto Moses 4. qu. When Moses had sent Zipporah away 5. qu. Of Moses two sonnes 6. qu. How Moses was delivered from the sword of Pharaoh 7. qu. At what time Jethro came to Moses before the Law given in mount Sinai or after 8. qu. Wherefore Jethro sent before to Moses 9. qu. Of the manner of Moses entertainment 10. qu. Why Moses declareth all these things unto Jethro 11. qu. Of Jethro his joy and rejoycing 12. qu. Whether Jethro had before this the knowledge of the true God 13. qu. Of the meaning and true reading of the 11. verse 14. qu. Whether Jethro offered himselfe burnt offerings 15. qu. In what sense they are said to eat bread before the Lord. 16. qu. How the people came to Moses to aske of God 17. qu. Why the Lord would have Moses to take his dirrction from Jethro 18. qu. What causes Jethro would have reserved to Moses 19. qu. Of the qualities and properties required in good Magistrates 20. qu. How the Rulers over thousands hundreds c. are to be counted 21. qu. Of the number of these Officers and of their continuance and succession 22. qu. The difference betweene Moses office and the rest 23. qu. Of the meaning of these words And God command thee 24. qu. In what sense the people are said to goe quietly to their place 25. qu. Whether these Officers were chosen by Moses 26. qu. Whether these Officers were of equall authoritie or one subordinarie to another 27. qu. Of the difference betweene these Officers and the seventie Elders Numb 10. 28. qu. At what time Jethro tooke his leave of Moses Questions upon the ninteenth Chapter 1. QUest Of what
yeare this was the third moneth 2. qu. What day of the moneth the same day was 3. qu. VVhether this first day of the third moneth were the 47. day from the Passeover 4. qu. Of the place where they incamped 5. qu. VVhether the Israelites incamped on the East side of the mount Sinai 6. qu. How Moses is said to goe up unto God 7. qu. VVhy both these names of Jacob and Israel are joyned together 8. qu. How the Lord is said to carrie them upon Eagles wings 9. qu. How they are said to bee the Lords chiefe treasure 10. qu. How they are said to be a Kingdome of Priests 11. qu. By what reasons the Lord perswaded the people and why 12. qu. VVhether the people unfeinedly here promise obedience 13. qu. How the Lord is said to come in the thicke cloud when and in what thicke cloud it was 14. qu. VVhy the Lord talketh with Moses in the hearing of the people 15. qu. VVhy Moses is said twice to have reported the peoples words unto God 16. qu. Why they are bidden to wash their garments 17. qu. Whether this were the third day of the moneth when the law was given 18. qu. VVhether the fifteenth day of the moneth were one of the fiftie which went before the giving of the law 19. qu. VVhether our Saviour with his disciples and the Iewes kept the Passeover together 20. qu. How the Apostles Pentecost and the Iewes Pentecost fell out all upon one day 21. qu. How the Lord is said here to descend 22. qu. VVhether Jehovah Christ Iesus appeared not in the old Testament but onely or usually the Angels 23. qu. VVhether it were Jehovah the Lord Christ or an Angell that came downe upon mount Sinai 24. qu. VVhy the people are forbidden to come up into the mountaine 25. qu. VVhy hee shall bee killed that toucheth the mountaine 26. qu. VVhy no hand was to touch him that came neere the mountaine 27. qu. VVhy the beast that toucheth the mountaine is commanded to be slaine 28. qu. VVhether at any time it were lawfull for the people to goe up to the mountaine 29. qu. VVhy Moses is not set downe to have reported all to the people which was given him in charge 30. qu. VVith what water they washed their cloaths 31. qu. VVhy they are commanded not to come at their wives 32. qu. VVhy Moses maketh such an ample and full declaration and description of the Lords glorious appearing in mount Sinai 33. qu. VVhy it pleased the Lord in this trouble and fearefull manner to appeare with thunder and lightning 34. qu. VVhether this thunder and lightning were naturall 35. qu. VVhy the Lord appeared in a thicke cloud 36. qu. Of the blowing of the trumpet at the giving of the law what it signifieth 37. qu. Of the different manner of the delivering the law and the Gospell 38. qu. VVhat it was that Moses spake and the Lord answered 39. qu. VVhether God himselfe or an Angell spake to Moses in the mount 40. qu. VVhy Moses is commanded to charge the people againe 41. qu. VVhat Priests are here understood 42. qu. Why Moses replieth as unwilling to go downe 43. qu. VVhy the Lord not withstanding Moses answer still chargeth him to goe downe 44. qu. VVhy Aaron is bid to come up with Moses wherefore he went up and when Questions upon the twentieth Chapter 1. QUest Whether this be a Commandement I am the Lord. 2. qu. Of the distinction and difference of the lawes of Moses in generall 3. qu. Of the validitie of the lawes Morall Ceremoniall and Iudiciall which are abrogated which are not 4. qu. Of the difference betweene the Morall and Evangelicall law 5. qu. Of the manifold use of the law in the fourefold state of man 6. qu. Why it pleased God now and not before to give his written law to the world 7. qu. How the Lord spake all these words and why 8. qu. Why it pleased God himselfe to speake to his people in the giving of the Law 9. qu. Of the division of the Morall Law 10. qu. Whether foure Commandements or three onely belong to the first table 11. qu. Whether all morall precepts as of loving of God and our neighbour bee reduced to the Decalogue 12. qu. Of generall rules to be observed in expounding the Commandements 13. qu. Why the Commandements are propounded negatively 14. qu. Of the speciall manner of accenting and writing observed in the Decalogue more than in any part of the Scripture beside 15. qu. Why this preamble is set before I am Jehovah thy God 16. qu. Why their deliverance out of Egypt is here mentioned Questions upon the first Commandement 1. QUest Whether it is better read strange gods or other gods 2. qu. Why they are called strange gods 3. qu. Whether any kinde of externall idolatrie be forbidden in the first Commandement 4. qu. Of the meaning of these words Before me 5. qu. What reasons ought chiefely to move us to acknowledge the Lord onely to be our God Questions upon the second Commandement 1. QUest What a graven image is 2. qu. What things a similitude must not bee made of to worship 3. qu. Of the difference betweene bowing downe and serving 4. qu. In what sense the Lord is called a jealous God 5. qu. Of the titles which the Lord here giveth himselfe and wherefore 6. qu. Of the general commination promise annexed 7. qu. How it standeth with Gods Iustice to punish the children for the fathers sins 8. qu. Why mention is made of the third and fourth generation 9. qu. Why mercie is promised to be shewed to a thousand generations 10. qu. How men are said to hate God Questions upon the third Commandement 1. QUest What is signified by the name of God and how diversly it is taken 2. qu. That it is more to abuse the name of Iesus than simplie of God 3. qu. How many wayes the name of God is taken in vaine 4. qu. What is required in taking of a right oath 5. qu. Whether men be bound to sweare often 6. qu. Whether it be lawfull to use cursing 7. qu. For what things an oath is not to be taken 8. qu. Whether all kinde oaths are to be kept 9. qu. Of the commination added to the third Commandement Questions upon the fourth Commandement 1. QUest Of the order of the fourth Commandement why it is put after the other 2. qu. Why it is said onely in this Commandement Remember c. 3. qu. VVhy the Lord thought good to appoint a day of rest and that upon the seventh day 4. qu. VVhether the precept of keeping the Sabbath were altogether ceremoniall 5. qu. To observe one day of seven unto the Lord is morall 6. qu. VVhat things in the Sabbath were ceremoniall what morall 7. qu. VVhat it is to sanctifie the Sabbath day 8. qu. Of the labouring six dayes whether it bee a Commandement 9. qu. VVhat works are permitted to be done upon the Sabbath 10. qu. VVhy
vestra quam privatim expertus sum ut liberiùs animi mei sensa palam expromerem vestrae enim humanitati sat sciâ probatur Augustini consilium si quisquam est qui se non audet ingerere ad amicitiam faciendam cum aliquo nostro temporali honore aut dignitate revocetur offerendum est illi quadam commitate submissione animi quod petere per se ipse non audet desino jam plurib molestus esse excessi mensuram epistolae sed non excessi doloris modum ut ait Hieronym precor jam ut qua ipsi fratres conservos miseratione dignemini in terris ipsi abundè cumulatam apud misericordem patrem in coelis inveniatis Vestrae Reverentiae observantiss ANDREAS WILLETTVS THE FIRST BOOKE OF MOSES CALLED GENESIS CHAP. I. The Analysis or Logicall resolution IN this Chapter Moses treateth of the creation of the world first in generall how God created heaven and earth vers 1. then in particular in the rest of the Chapter where wee have the severall workes of God and their severall approbations that they seemed good unto the Makeâ The severall workes are distinguished into six dayes and in every dayes worke there are foure things to bee observed the authority whereby they are made as v. 3. The Lord said Let there be light c. the obedience of the creature in being made and there was light thirdly the approbation of the Creator v. 4. God saw that the light was good fourthly the distinction of the worke vers 5. The evening and the morning were the first day and so of the rest of the dayes workes Againe the order of the particular creation is this God createth the workes and câeatures without sense afterward the sensitive and living creatures the first are either the superiour and celestiall as the light made the first day the firmament the second the contents of the firmament the Sunne Moone and Starres the fourth day or the inferiour creatures as the earth with the trees plants and herbs the third day The sensitive creatures are either unreasonable as the fishes and fowles made the fifth day v. 20. the beasts and cattell made the sixth day or the reasonable creatures man and woman made the sixth day In the framing and bringing forth of man there is set forth first the consultation of the Trinity v. 26. Let us make man c. then the creation wherein is to be considered the substance and forme of mans creation according to Gods owne image v. 27. the endowment of man created in his preheminence and domination over all other creatures vers 28. his increase and procreation bâing forth fruit and multiply his maintenance and preservation vers 29. I have given unto you every herb c. that shall be to you for meat The Genesis or Grammaticall construction where the translations differ v. 1. God created b.g. T.H.p. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã made s bara created heb v. 2. was without forme b.g. T. empty H. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã invisible s solitudo vast solitary p. tohu heb 3. moved upon the waters b.g. incubabat did sit upon T. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã was carried upon c. s. motabat did flutter upon H. p. rachaph 6. the firmament ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã b.g. H.p.s. expansum the broad or spread heaven T. heb rachang to spread 11. bud and herb b. bud of the herb g. herbam virentem greene herb H. herbam teneram tender herb or grasse T. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the herb of grasse s. bud herb p. heb seeding seed g.s. T.p. heb making seed H. apt to seed b. 12. after his kinde and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã according to his likenesse This is added by the septuagint 18. to rule in the day g. to rule the day b. T.H.p. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to rule the day s.p. heb 20. let the waters bring forth b. H. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã s. bring forth in abundance g. T. bring forth as wormes that is in abundance p. heb sharats 29. every tree b.g. T.p. heb gnets ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã lignum every kinde of wood bearing fruit s. H. 3. The Exegesis or Theologicall explication of doubtfull questions and obscure places QVEST. I. What the heaven and earth was created in the beginning vers 1. Vers. 1. IN the beginning God made heaven and earth c. 1. Moses here doth not onely generally or summarily set downe the creation of the world which afterward is described in particular which was the opinion of Chrysostome remembred by Augustine lib. 2. cont Manich. c. 3. 2. Nor yet doe we understand a certaine first matter whereof the heaven and earth were afterward made as Augustine seemeth to thinke lib. 1. Genes cont Manich. c. 7. and one Philastrius Bishop of Brixia doth affirme it to be heresie to say that this was the element of the earth afterward created but another earth as the matter whereof other things were made catalog haeres 3. Neither yet do we approve the opinion of the Schoolemen which by the heaven understand only Coelum empyreum the highest heaven above the starrie skie the seat of the Angels and blessed Spirits and by the earth a confused substance whereout other things were formed afterward of which opinion were Alcuinus Rabanus Lyranus Tostatus Catharinus with others for Moses specially intendeth to set downe the creation of things visible and David expounding Moses speaketh of these heavens here created which should perish Psal. 102.25 which are not those highest heavens subject to no change 4. Neither yet doe wee here exclude the creation of those invisible heavens with Mercerus but in this word comprehend as well the invisible as visible heavens Colos. 1.16 Iun. 5. This heaven and earth then here mentioned to bee created in the beginning are the same heaven and earth which are now comprehending the generall matter and seed whereout all other things in heaven and earth were made first created in the matter afterward perfected in forme and lastly beautified with their ornaments this then was the order of the creation First the same heaven and earth were created in a confused substance and unformed matter then the forme was added in the first and second dayes workes Lastly the ornaments produced as trees and plants and beasts in the earth starres in the skie fishes in the sea fowles in the aire Thus S. Paul expoundeth Moses that God made the heaven and earth Act. 14.15 God made the world Acts 17.24 so that this heaven and earth first made was no other than the world though not yet set in perfect order Of this opinion are Basil Ambrose Theodoret and most of the ancient Writers QVEST. II. What beginning Moses speaketh of Vers. 1. IN the beginning c. 1. This is neither to be understood as Iohn saith in the beginning was the word for there hee speaketh of a beginning without a beginning that is from everlasting but this was the
day and night whereas the elements as the aire are universally dispersed and spread it is also probable that this light might be gathered to that side of the earth where it was day and so to continue for a time as wee see the water was afterward brought to one place and so continueth which light after the creation of the celestial bodies might be drawne upward and have his reflection upon the beame of the Sunne and of other Starres QVEST. VII How the evening and morning were the first day Vers. 4. THe evening and morning were the first day 1. Some thinke that the evening is here taken for the day because it is the end thereof and the morning for the night being likewise the end thereof and that the artificiall day was before the night So Ambrose Chrysost. hom 3. in Genes 2. Others affirme the contrarie that the evening and morning are taken for the night and day being the beginning thereof the part for the whole and doe gather thereof that the night belongeth to the day following of this iudgement is Hierome in cap. 2. Iona which I hold to be the sounder for these two reasons 1. because this is the use of the Scripture to account the naturall day from evening to evening Levit. 23.32 From evening to evening shall you celebrate the Sabbath 2. The morning is part of the day and not of the night Mark 16.2 In the morning the first day of the weeke the word is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the same which is here vsed by the Septuag for if the morning were part of the night and not of the day Christ in no sense could bee said to have risen the third day and so one of the principall points of our faith should be shaken 3. Further we refuse Eugubinus conceit which thinketh that in this first day there was only an euening not a morning as in the rest because the morning followeth after the night but here no night went before but the light was first for the words of Moses are plaine and evident that the evening and morning were the first day it consisteth of both these parts as the other dayes did and this first day had also a night going before not that darknes which was upon the earth as Iunius but when God purposed to make the light hee first caused the night to goe before and brought forth the light of the day Ramban Mercer 4. And the Sun not being yet made which by his course and turning about maketh it day and night at the same time in diuers places it may be thought that it was day and night at the same instant now over the face of the whole earth Mercer QVEST. VIII How God is said to see the light to be good Vers. 4. GOd saw the light 1. Not that God did not know the light to bee good before hee made it but Moses speaketh here according to our capacity that God approveth and ratifieth that worke now done which before he purposed to make and Ramban well referreth it to the stedfastnesse and continuance of this worke which God saw to be good 2. God made a separation betweene light and darknesse not only in respect of their names as Aben Ezra but in the things themselves giving to each of them their determined time Mercer 3. And in that it is said God called the light day c. 1. God onely did not make and ordaine the light to be the day Iun. Muscul. 2. nor yet directed or taught men so to call it Vatab. Mercer 3. but beside God gave these names himselfe Oecolamp QVEST. IX Why it is called the first or one day Vers. 5. WEre the first day or one day as the Chalde Septuagint and Hierome translate It is called then one and not the first day 1. not as R. Sol. because there was but one God in the world for so there was but one likewise in the rest of the dayes 2. Neither as Hierome because unity is good and two bringeth division for after the first day noxious and hurtfull things were created But the contrarie is evident out of the text that God saw that all which he made was good 3. Neither as R. Moss is it called one day because there were yet no more for it is so called in respect of the rest that follow 4. Wherefore the reason is this the Hebrewes use Cardinal numbers for Ordinal as the Grammarians speake as one for the first as Gen. 2.10 the name of the one that is of the first is Pishon so likewise in the new Testament Vna sabbati one day of the weeke is taken for the first day Mercer QVEST. X. Whether there are waters above the heavens Vers. 7. BY the firmament which separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters above the firmament divers of the ancient Writers understand the starry heaven and that there are waters above those heavens which serve to mitigate the heat of the Starres and from whence that abundance of raine came wherewith the world was overflowne so Basil. hom 3. Hexemer Ambros. lib. 2. in Hexemer c. 2. Beda with others But this cannot bee so 1. for that the waters being of an heavy substance must bee there kept against nature 2. Neither could the great waters that drowned the world come from thence unlesse the heavens also should have beene dissolved the windowes of heaven were opened which was nothing else but the opening and loosing of the clouds which as Gods bottles did powre downe raine abundantly 3. Neither are wee to imagine such heat in the celestiall bodies which are of no fiery or elementall nature that they need to be refrigerated or cooled This firmament then is the spreading or stretching out of the aire as the word rachiang signifieth which divideth the raine and waters in the clouds and keepeth them from the waters below as is expressed in Iob. 26.6 which bindeth the waters in the clouds and the cloud is not broken under them Now whereas afterward vers 14. it is said Let there bee lights in the firmament of heaven it followeth not that the firmament before spoken of is the starry heaven for Moses here speaketh after the capacity of the vulgar people who imagine the Starres to bee in the firmament of the aire the eye being not able to distinguish betweene the region of the aire and the azure skie And according to the vulgar opinion Moses also calleth the Moone a great light because it so seemeth to the eye to bee the next in greatnesse to the Sunne whereas many other both of the wandring and fixed Starres doe exceed it in greatnesse And whereas that place is objected Psal. 148.4 Praise him ye waters above the heavens by heaven we are here to understand the lower region of the aire as Psal. 18.13 The Lord thundred in heaven and gave his voice hailestones and coales of fire but thunder lightning haile come not properly from the heaven but out
heaven and earth c. 4. It is also evident that the Sabbath was kept by godly tradition before the morall law was given as Exod. 16.23 To morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath to the Lord. 5. Thus the fathers ground the institution of the Sabbath upon Gods example in this place as Hierome trad in 2. Gen. Augustine Psal. 80. and Origen thus answereth Celsus lib. 6. objecting if God were weary that he needed to rest God rested saith he ut nos ab operibus quiescentes c. that we resting from our works should celebrate that day QVEST. V. Of the generations of the heaven and earth how to be understood Vers. 4. THese are the generations c. 1. This word generations is not here to be taken actively as some of the Hebrewes for those things which the heaven and earth brought forth of themselves but passively for the beginning and originall of the heavens and earth 2. The Masorites note that this word toldoth which signifieth generations is twice only found fully written with vau in the beginning in this place after the world was finished and in the generation of Phares in the end of Ruth and they yeeld this reason thereof because this generation in the perfection of the world was complete and that other whereof Messiah should come but all other generations are imperfect and therefore they are defective in letters but these observations are curious ex Mercer QVEST. VI. Of the name of God Iehovah Vers. 4. IN the day that the Lord God 1. This is the first place of Scripture where the Lord is called by his name Iehovah 2. The reason whereof the Hebrewes make to be this that as Elohim is a name of power and justice given unto God in the creation so now Iehovah a name of mercy is attributed unto God the whole worke being finished because therein his mercy appeared or rather now after God had made his worke full and complete he is also set forth in his full and complete titles Iun. 3. The Hebrewes very superstitiously forbeare the reading or naming of this word Iehovah and use in stead thereof Adonaei which word we confesse is soberly to bee used and that it conveniently cannot bee pronounced because it borroweth all the prickes from Adonai and wee condemne also the heathens profanation of this name who derive from them the oblique cases of Iupiter Iovis Iovi 4. This name Iehovah some would have to expresse the Trinity because it consisteth of three kinds of letters some by He double understand the two natures of Christ but this is too curious It is derived of haiah which signifieth Gods being and essence and therefore hee is called Iehovah as by whom man and all things else have their being ex Mercer QVEST. VII The world made in six dayes and not all at once Vers. 4. IN the day that the Lord made the earth and the heavens From this place Augustine would gather that all the worâd was made in one day and that Moses doth divide the creation into six dayes worke that it might be the better understood of the simpler sort l. 4. de genes ad lit c. 21. the same was the opinion of Philo Iudaeus Procopius and Cajetanus a Popish writer But this opinion cannot stand 1. It is contrary to the Scripture Exod 21.11 For in six dayes God made heaven and earth And Moses writing the story of the creation must be taken plainly as he writeth For if the world was made at once how can it be true that it was made in six dayes 2 Augustine other-where holdeth the contrary that the world was not made in one day but in order and he giveth this reason because if the creatures had beene made together non haberent sensum infirmitatis c. they should not have the like sense of their infirmity as now they have one seeing another made before them quaest 106. ex vet testam Ambrose giveth the like reason ne increata crederentur the creatures were not made at once lest they might be thought not to have beene made lib. 1. Hexem c. 6. 3. Whereas Moses here saith in the day we will not answer with Gregory that it is so said because the matter or substance of the creatures was created at once in the beginning Gen. 1. 2. though they received their forme and perfection afterward lib. 32. moral c. 10. this also is Iunius opinion in his last edition for as yet the day was not created nor the light when the heaven and earth were made in the beginning and Moses here directly speaketh of the plants and herbs that were not made before the third day I allow rather Tremellius judgement in the first edition who translateth for in the day beâom in the time a part being taken for the whole as afterward vers 17. in âhe day thou eatest thereof that is in the time whensoever thou shalt eat thereof thou shalt dye the death so also Mercerus QVEST. VIII Of the mist that went up from the earth Vers. 6. BVt amyst went up because the Latine text readeth a fountaine Augustine being unskilfull of the originall much busieth himselfe about this matter sometime thinking that one fountaine is here taken for many whereby the earth is overflowne other while that some great river as Nylus might water the earth lib. 5. de genes ad lit c. 9. Others taking that to be impossible doe only understand Paradise to have beene watered with this fountaine as Albinus contrary to the text which saith it watered all the earth yea to make this matter more doubtfull the interlineary glosse saith that there fell no raine before the floud but that all the earth was watered with the fountaines and springs of the earth Wherefore to cleare these doubts we are to resort to the originall word gnedh which signifieth a vapour or a myst and let it here be noted that Perâtius a Jesuit writing upon Genesis in this place forsaketh the vulgar latine text and cleaveth to the Originall It being then agreed that wee are to read not a fountaine as Hieromes translation hath and the Septuagint but a myst or vapour yet there remaineth another doubt for some read affirmatively but a vapour ascended as all the interpreters but Tremellius who understandeth it negatively joyning it thus with the former verse there was not a man to till the ground or any vapour had ascended c. and so he would have the negative ain not used before to be supplied here This I take to be the best reading both for that it is most agreeable to the text which sheweth that God created the plants without any naturall helpe either of raine or mysts or artificiall of mans labour that neither raine had yet descended nor vapours ascended As also because the manner of Scripture phrase will beare it as Exod. 20.4 Thou shalt not make to thee any graven image or any similitude c. where throughout the whole
become as one of us 1. Not as one of the Angels as Oleaster interpreteth or that the Lord speaketh in the plurall number as is the manner of great persons for this phrase of speech was not used in those dayes neither are the Angels and God alike 2. But by us the Trinity is vnderstood and the rest is uttered ironice by way of derision Adam is rebuked that he came farre short to be as God as Sathan promised him either as God the Father in power or as the sonne in wisedome or as the holy ghost in goodnesse holinesse Verba sunt insultantis as Augustine saith quod non solum factus fuerit qualis esse voluit sed nec illud quod factus fuerat conservavit they are as the words of one that insulteth because he was so farre from being made that which he desired that hee could not keepe that which he was made And as Rupertus non solum nequaquam sicut Deus sed penefactus erat sicut diabolus He was so farre from being as God that he was almost become as the Devill if Gods mercie had not prevented him 3. I rather preferre this sense with Mercerus and Calvin that God speaketh ironically even in Adams hearing then either with Iunius and Paguine to referre these words to the time past when man was in the state of innocencie or to make it an affirmative speech of the time present with Onkelos that Adam now of himselfe knew good and evill as God for then he had gained and not lost by his transgression he knew evill by experience as he did not before but he had no such perfect knowledge as in the Angels therefore the Lord here derideth mans folly and alludeth to the vaine words of Satan who promised they should be as God 4. And where he saith lest he put forth his hands c. by living forever 1. Neither long life is meant 2. Nor that God herein had compassion of man that being brought to so miserable an estate he should not alwayes live in it 3. Neither that if he did eat of the tree of life he should have lived for ever as Calvin thinketh that God vitam conjungit cum externa tessera did joyne life with the outward signe for the tree of it selfe gave not life but was a symbole only of immortality which man should have received of God if he had persevered in his obedience Muscul. 5. But seeing the Lord had deprived man of life he taketh away also the symbole of it and speaketh according to the judgement of man who foolishly might thinke to recover his estate by eating of the tree of life and therefore by putting forth his hand is expressed that voluntary action whereby man of purpose would have eaten of the tree of life to releeve himselfe Mercer 6. Now although it had not beene materiall though Adam before his fall had eaten of the tree of life for it could not have helped him now yet I rather thinke with Ramban that he did not eat of it at all QVEST. XXXII At what time Adam fell Vers. 23. THerefore the Lord sent him forth from the garden of Eden Here a great question is moved how long Adam continued in Paradise and when he was cast out of Paradise Some would have Adam to continue so long in Paradise as Christ lived yeares on earth others the space of forty dayes and that Christ fasted so many dayes for a remedy against Adams intemperancie in Paradise so long others thinke that Adam fell the next day after his creation upon the day of rest as Tostatus but it is not like that God upon that day which was a time of rejoycing would execute judgement nor curse in that day which he blessed some thinke that Adam fell upon the eighth day of his creation that day seven night wherein he was made as Pererius but the most approved opinion is that Adam fell the same day of his creation which seemeth to be most probable for these reasons 1. The Angels that fell presently after their creation sinned as our Saviour saith that the Devill non steâit in veritate did not stand or continue in the truth Ioh. 8.44 Hereunto Augustine consenteth Factus coâtinuo se à luce veritatis avertit as soone as he was made he presently turned aside from the light of truth unde angelicae vitae dulcedinem non gustavit quam non acceptam fast idivit sed nolendo accipere de seruit amifit so he tasted not the sweetnesse of the angelicall life which he loathed not being received but by disdaining to receive it lost it So it is like that man also eftsoone lost the benefit of the creation 2. Our Saviour saith that the deuill was a murtherer from the beginning Ioh. 8.44 not of the world but of mans creation therefore at the very first he set upon them 3. The subtilty of the Devill doth insinuate as much who would then assault them when they were least able to resist before they by experience were confirmed in their obedience 4. And it was fit that man sinning should be cast out of Paradise before he had fully tasted of the pleasure thereof lest he afterward might have beene tormented with the losse and attempted to returne 5. And it is cleare by the serpents first onset Hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree c. that they had not yet tasted of any fruit but at the very first the forbidden fruit was offered before their appetite had beene served with any other 6. Adam had not yet eaten of the tree of life as is evident vers 21. lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and therefore Augustine is in an errour that he did eat of other trees and specially of the tree of life but if they had stayed any time in Paradise it is not unlike but they should have tasted of the tree of life it being in the heart of Paradise where Adams chiefe aboad was 7. Likewise seeing presently after the creation they were bidden increase and multiply it is not other like but the man should have knowne his wife in Paradise if they had stayed there so long and so they should have gotten children without sinne To this purpose Augustine saith Quasi in ea âtate facti credendi sunt ut expectanda esset maturitas pubertatis aut non illud tunc legitimum esset eâm primum fieri potuit as though they were created of such an age which was not fit for procreation or that it had not beene lawfull for them to come together as soone as might be 8. What became of Lions and Beares that lived of flesh all this while of Adams being in Paradise they could not fast so long and flesh they did not eat because there was no death before mans fall and they did not feed on grasse for then their nature should not so soone have beene changed to devoure flesh 9.
Never any man in earth Christ onely excepted kept the Sabbath without sin the Apostle saith He that is entred into his rest hath also ceased from his owne workes as God did from his Heb. 4.10 it is the rest onely of Christ where there shall be cessation from all the workes of sinne But that rest which Adam should have kept in Paradise was not Christs rest therefore he kept no rest there without sin he fell then before the Sabbath 10. That place lastly maketh to this purpose Psal. 49.13 Adam lodged not one night in honour for so are the words if they be properly translated the word is lun which signifieth to lodge or stay all night and thus divers of the Rabbines doe expound this place of Adam Upon these reasons it seemeth most probable that Adam did not continue one night in Paradise but fell in the same day of his creation Of this opinion are Irenaeus Cyrillus Epiphanius Moses Barcephas Philoxenus Ephrem with others rehearsed by Pererius upon this place though he himselfe be of another opinion That objection that so much businesse as the giving of names to the creatures by Adam the temptation of Eva by the Serpent and seduction of Adam by woman could not be dispatched in so small a time of six or seven houres may easily bee answered 1. It is evident by the text that the imposition of names was performed the day of his creation before the woman was made Gen. 2.20 and it asked no long time in regard of the singular wisdome and knowledge of Adam who was able at the first sight of the creatures without any long search or triall of their nature to give them fit names 2. Of Satans nimblenesse in hastening the tentation and insinuating himselfe to the woman there need bee made no doubt the celerity and agility of spirits is great 3. It was the coole of the day about the Eventide when sentence was given against Adam so that in the space of eight or nine houre from his creation to his fall all these matters might easily be done QVEST. XXXIII Whether Adam was cast out Vers. 24. THââ hee cast out man c. 1. Where the Septuagint adde and placed him before Paradise whereupon some writers have descanted of the causes why Adam was placed before Paradise that by the sight thereof he remembring from whence he was fallen might more effectually repent his sinne the originall is otherwise that not Adam but the Cherubims were placed before Paradise 2. Whereas Theodoret thinketh that these Cherubims were not Angels but certaine terrible visions set to feare man from that passage it may be otherwise gathered out of Scripture where wee read that the Cherubims pictured over the Arke were beautifull faces representing Angels and therefore the Prophet compareth the king of Titus glittering in his pretious stones to the Cherub Ezech. 28.14 3. Concerning the fiery shaken sword we refuse 1. either the collection of Tertullian who taketh it for torrida zââa the parching countrie under the aequinoctiall or of Liranus who would have it to be a certaine wall of fire about Paradise or of Rupertus that understandeth it of purgatorie fire for all these are deceived about the translation the word signifieth not a fiery sword shaken but rather a sharp sword shaken as the Chaldâ paraphrast readeth which by the shaking seemeth to glitter as the flame of fire or because the word Lahat signifieth to inflame it is not unlike but that some fierie inflammation in the likenesse of a sword might be set as a terrour in that place Iun. 4. Places of Doctrine 1. Doct. Spirits have power to possesse bodies and speake out of them WHereas Satan useth the serpent and out of his trunke frameth a voice we neede not thinke it strange that the Devill hath this power to possesse the bodies of beasts and to speake out of them which though Iulâaâ the Apostata counted a fable Cyrillus learnedly sheweth the like to have beene done out of the heathen writers as how in Homer Achilles horse inspired by Iuno foretelleth his death Pârphyrius writeth that the river Causus saluted Pythagoras saying Ave Pythagora and Phylostratus that a certaine Elme saluted Apollonius Isogonus Cithiensis saith that in Rhodeâ a certaine bull consecrate to Iupiter did speake The Pagans therefore and Atheists finding the like in their owne writers have no reason to deride this storie of the Devils speaking in the serpent Perer. 2. Doct. Adam and Eva sinned not before they were tempted WHereas Satan was the first that inveigled the woman with ambitious desire saying yee shall bee as Gods vers 5. The opinion of Prosper is discovered not to be sound that our first parents were tickled with pride before the tentation and therefore were permitted of God to fall into it for this difference is made betweene the sinne of man and of the Angels he fell being seduced but the other of their owne pride without a seducer transgressed 3. Doct. Adam if he had not sinned should not have died Vers. 19. DVst thou art and to dust thou shalt returne hence it is gathered that death was not naturall to man but hapned because of sinne contrary to the opinion of Iosephus that thinketh that man should have died though he had not sinned but his life should have beene much longer It was the opinion also of the Pelagians that death was in mans nature and sprang not from sinne Not much differing is the sentence of the Popish writers that man was created mortall by the condition of his nature yet preserved by a supernaturall gift the contrary is evident from hence because it was never said to man before he had sinned that he should returne to dust 4. Doct. The Trinity proved out of the Old Testament Vers. 22. BEhold the man is become as one of us This is an evident place against the Iewes to prove the Trinity for here the Lord speaketh of more than one neither can it be answered that it is but a phrase of speech to use the plurall for the singular for here is more than a phrase this speech could not be true to say one of vs if there were no more than one person in the God-head 5. Doct. Why God suffered Adam to be tempted and fall FUrther whereas the question will be demanded how it stood with Gods justice and holinesse to suffer man to be tempted whom he foresaw should fall Our answer is this 1. we say with the Apostle O the deepenesse of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God! how vnsearchable are his judgements and his waies past finding out Râm 11.33 And Augustine maketh the same answer to this question Altitudinem consiliâeâus penetrare non possum c. I cannot enter into the depth of Gods counsell 2. Yet for as much as God had given man free-will and sufficient strength to resist this tentation if he would it was fit he should be left to
4. And yet Athenaeus reporteth that Hiero King of Sicilie caused a ship to be made of such bignesse that there went unto it as much timber as sufficed to make 60. other ships three hundred workmen beside labourers were employed one whole yeere in this worke there were in it three divisions one above another and twenty rankes of oares it had also within it a fish-pond wherein were great and small fish the received report of this great galliasse may move them not to be so incredulous concerning the Arke Vers. 10. Noah begat three sonnes c. Because Noah was five hundred yeare old before he begat any children and afterward abstained an hundred yeare for so long it was to the floud and begat no more children hence Pererius inferreth that the gift of continency is not impossible against certaine heretikes as he calleth them meaning protestants Contra. 1. It is untrue that we affirme this gâft to be impossible but we say that it is rare neither is in every mans power to obtaine as they teach that any man that will may have that gift it followeth not because Noah had that gift of abstinence that all therfore are capable of it S. Paul saith every man hath his proper gift of god one after this manner another after that 1 Cor. 7.7 it is then a proper gift to some not common to all 2. And though Noah was a chast and temperate man in marriage yet it may be doubted whether he continued so long unmarried or did forbeare so long after 6. Places of exhortation and morall duties nt 1. Vers. 2. The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were faire We see the fruits of such marriâge as is enterprised only upon a carnall appetite and with persons of a diverse profession therefore the Apostle saith be not unequally yoaked c. 2. Vers. 3. My spirit shall not alwayes strive c. Gods mercy appeareth that threatneth before he punisheth that by his threatning men might learne to amend âut nobis correctis miâas ad opus minime perducat that we being amended his menacing need take no effect Chrysost. so the Apostle saith despisest thou the riches of the bountifulnesse of God c. not knowing that the bountifulnesse of God leadeth thee to repentance Rom. 2.4 3. Vers. 4. There were Giants By this we see that they which fall away doe run ârom one extreme to another as these which were in outward profession the sonnes and worshippers of God falling away became cruell and outragious tyrants of such the Apostle saith that it is impossible that they which were once lightned if they fall away should be renued by repentance Heb. 6.5 6. 4. Vers. 9. Noe was a just man in his âime Though all the world even where Noe lived were given unto wickednesse yet the Lord preserved him We learne therefore that although we be environed on every side with the wicked yet we should not doubt but that the Lord is able to preserve his and that therefore as the Apostle saith we should shine as lights in the world in the midst of a naughty crooked nation Phil. 2.15 CHAP. VII 1. The Method THis Chapter hath two parts 1. of the entrance of Noah and the creatures into the ârke from v. 1. to v. 10. 2. concerning the floud 1. God prescribeth what Noah should doe for himselfe vers 1. for the âeasts and fowles as touching their number of some to take seven of some âwo for their kinde male and female vers 3. the reason expressed vers 4. Then Noah sheweth his obedience in entring himselfe vers 6.13 and the âeasts vers 8 9. the creeping things and fowles shew their obedience in comming vers 14.15 Gods providence in shutting of them up vers 16. 2. First the causes of the floud are set forth vers 11. secondly the manner in the time when it came after seven dayes vers 10 how long it prevailed forty dayes vers 12. how farre it exceeded vers 20. how long it continued before it abated that is an 150. dayes vers 24. thirdly the effects of the floud it beareth up the Arke vers 17. it destroyeth all flesh beside those in the Arke vers 21. to 23. 2. The grammaticall or literall sense v. 5. yet 7. dayes S. before 7. dayes that is expired T. after 7. dayes cater v. 4. I will destroy all the resurrection ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã S. all the substance caet heb teâhem a substance or living body any thing that riseth from the ground v. 8. the seven and twenty day S. the seventeenth day caet v. 10. and upon the seventh day T. after seven dayes caet v. 13 in this day ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã S. in articulo in the point or article of this day H. Ch. in the selfe saâday B.G.T. in the body of this day heb gneâsem a body v. 14. every bird of every feather wanting in the S. the rest have it v. 16. God shut his Arke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã without S. God shut him in deforis without H. God protected over him Ch. shut him in round about B. shut him in G. God occlusit pro eo shut up for him T. bagnado over him heb The explanation of doubts or theologicall explication QVEST I. Why Noah prayed not for the old world as Abraham did for Sodome Vers. 1. THey have seene righteous before me c. 1. He was not onely righteous in respect of men but before God his righteousnesse was in truth 2. Whereas before Moses added that hee was just and upright Gen. 2.9 the Hebrewes hence gather because he is not here also said to bee upright but only just that he is commended only because hee was not unjust and cruell towards men But seeing it is said he was just before God the other addition need not for God seeth the heart 3. The Hebrewes doe further extenuate Noahs faith some saying that he thought not that God would destroy the world but that he threatned onely some that Noah only prayed for himselfe and not for the world as Abraham did for the Sodomites and therefore for these his oversights hee afterward offered sacrifice But they blame Noah without cause the reason why he prayed not as Abraham did for others for that hee saw them incorrigible and already God had given sentence that the world should be destroyed but when Abraham prayed for Sodome no sentence was as yet gone forth against them The sacrifice which Noah offered afterward was an oblation of thankesgiving for his deliverance not a deprecation for any such particular offence Mercer QVEST. II. Of the difference of cleane and uncleane beasts Vers. 2. OF every cleane beast c. 1. Some beasts were counted cleane some uncleane not simplâ ãâã respect of their nature and creation for God saw that all things were good neither in regard onely of mans use because some were more fit for food than others but chiefly by the
by 9. which is the height will produce the said number of an 135000. whereas fodder for the cattell occupieth not above 90000 ex Perer. QVEST. VIII Whether the ravenous beasts lived of flesh in the Arke WHereas it is also questioned whether the ravenous beasts were fed with flesh according to their naturall use while they were in the Arke 1. Neither is it like that all the beasts did eat of one common food for the text saith Genes 6.21 take with thee of all meat that is eaten 2. Neither is it like as Origen thinketh of which opinion also is Bucer that Adam brought into the Arke a great number of cattell to be food for the ravenous beasts for there came no more but two of the uncleane and seven of the cleane 3. Neither is it probable that these beasts did not live of flesh but herbs and other fruits of the earth before the floud as I have shewed at large quest 23 in 1. cap. of Genes 4. Wherefore I approve rather Augustines resolution to the which Mercerus subscribeth which is to this effect 1. that these devouring beasts as they doe live of flesh so also they use to eat of the fruits of the earth 2. That it might be revealed to Adam what food besides flesh was convenient and apt for them 3. That hunger will enforce beasts to eat that which otherwise is not usuall 4. But his best answer is quid non suave faceret Deus qui etiam ut sine cibo viverent divina facilitate donaret What could not God make pleasant who could have given them power to have lived without meat much more then could God by his power dispose them to live for that time of other food than flesh QVEST. IX How the yeare is to be counted wherein the floud came Vers. 10. SO it came to passe after seven dayes that the floud was upon the earth in the six hundred yeare of Noahs life in the second moneth c. 1. Noah went seven dayes into the Arke before the floud came not as the Hebrewes conjecture to lament for the death of Mathuselah for it is certaine that Mathuselah died the same yeare the floud came so whether hee died seven dayes or seven weekes before it is uncertaine but it is more like that Noah entred before to dispose of every thing in the Arke before it should be tossed of the waters as also as Ambrose noteth that the rest of the world seeing him enter before there was yet any apparant danger might have beene drawne to repentance 2. Neither was the 600. yeare of Noahs age now onely begun as Lyranus Tostatus with others thinke but complete for otherwise there should not bee 1656. yeares from the creation to the floud neither should Noah have lived 900. and fifty yeares whereof he lived but 350. after the floud if hee had not beene full 600. yeare old before 3. This second moneth was neither the second moneth of the yeare considered a part from Noahs age as Rupertus thinketh for it hath a coherence with the 600. yeare of Noahs life whereof mention is made immediatly before neither is it to be taken for the second of Noahs 600. yeare without respect of the season of that instant yeare as Cajetan seemeth to thinke but it was both the second moneth of the usuall yeare and of Noahs 600 yeare which concurred both together for Noah his 600. yeare was the 1656. yeare of the age of the world from the Creation Mercer QVEST. X. Whether the floud came in the Spring or Autumne THis second moneth some thinke to have beene in the Spring answering to the moneth of May. 1. That it might be the more griefe to the wicked to be taken away from their pleasure as our Saviour sheweth that they were taken away in the middest of their mirth Matth. 24.37 Luther 2. That the floud might not be imputed to any naturall causes but onely to the power of God the waters increasing in the time of Summer which is a season of drought and decreasing in Winter when as the waters naturally increase 3. And againe because the Dove brought the leafe of an Olive in the 11. moneth after the floud beganne some doe gather that the floud came in the Spring Rupertus 4. But better arguments than these may be produced to shew it more probable that the floud came in the Spring because that then the world is supposed to have taken beginning as is before proved Quest. 10. in 1. chap. Gen. and from the creation to the floud are reckoned 1656. even yeares 5. The floud came in the second moneth of the yeare now it cannot be shewed in any place of Scripture where the moneths are accounted in order the first second third but from Nisan which answereth to part of March part of Aprill Moses ordaining this moneth to be the first Exod. 12. doth make no new institution but reneweth the old account which was discontinued in Egypt by reason that the Egyptians indeed beginne their yeare from the moneth Pthoâ which answereth to our September And this reason from the order and account of the moneths I confesse hath much prevailed with me to thinke it more likely that the floud came in the Spring 6. And if it had beene Autumne when the Cattell came forth of the Arke when the herbs and plants doe fade whence should they have had food till the Spring 7. As also the cattell presently increasing and multiplying after their comming out of the Arke this might seeme rather to fall into the Spring time which is the aptest season for the copulation and ingendring of cattell but most especially of the fowles Of this opinion are most of the Ecclesiasticall Writers though divers of the Hebrewes hold the contrary as Ambrose among the rest thus resolveth Secundum mensem verni temporis fuisse non ambigitur quando augentur nascentia ager parturit c. tunc ergo fecit diluvium quando dolor eorum major foret qui in abundantia puniebantur c. It is not to be doubted but that the second moneth was in the Spring time when things increase and grow the field bringeth forth c. God therefore then sent the floud when their griefe should be the greater to be punished in their abundance The chiefest reason that moved Ambrose thus to thinke was the account of the moneths which alwayes in Scripture are reckoned from the Spring yea that moneth which some would have the beginning of the yeare when the feast of blowing the Trumpets and of Tabernacles was kept is called the seventh moneth Levit. 23.24.34 Of thâs opinion also is learned Mercerus that when the second or third moneth is simply named it must be accounted from Nisan which is in the Spring QVEST. XI What is vnderstood by the great deepe and the windowes of heaven Vers. 10. THe fountaines of the great deepe were broken up 1. By the deepe here is not understood the Tartarean waters about
should have engendred in the Arke neither would the Arke have contained them nor the food by Noah provided have sufficed them We answer then that God remembred them not for any such thing but for mans cause QVEST. II. What manner of wind it was that God sent GOd made a spirit or wind to passe 1. which was not the spirit of consolation wherewith Noah was comforted Rasi 2. Nor yet the holy Ghost as Ambrose and Theodoret suppose Ambrose reason is quomodo non evacuaretur mare ventorum vi if it were then wind that dryed up the floud much more is it able to dry up and empty the sea but this followeth not because this was an extraordinary wind not such as usually bloweth in the sea Theodoret saith further non solent ventis aquae imminui sed potius turbari c. the wind useth to trouble the water not to dry it up so did this wind cause the water to goe and come but it had also a drying faculty otherwise than ordinary winds have 2. Neither was this wind the spirit and heat of the Sunne as Rupertus thinketh but this was extraordinary caused whereas the Sun kept his ordinary course still 3. It was then a wind indeed that was raised by the extraordinary power of God for by exhalation out of the earth whereof winds are usually ingendred it being covered with waters this wind was not caused and God gave it also an extraordinary power both to dry the waters by rossing them to and fro and to force them by going and comming as the property of the water is to ebbe and flow to their proper place into the deepe fountaines from whence they came And these two properties the Scripture ascribeth to the wind 1. to force the waters as in the division of the red sea and to purge the ayre to disperse the clouds and dry up moysture Prov. 25.23 as the North wind driveth away the raine Perer. QVEST. III. When the fountaines began to be stopped and the raine to cease Vers. 2. THe fountaines of the deepe were stopped c. The raine ceased and the current of the water was stopped immediatly after the forty dayes as Augustine thinketh 2. not after the 150. dayes spoken of before as Oleaster imagineth for then the waters had not continued in their height any time at all but should presently have begun to decrease for after the 150. daies they began to abate and Moses saith that the raine was upon the earth forty daies and forty nights chap. 7.21 then not an 150. daies and nights 3. Wherefore I rather approve the opinion of some other Hebrewes that it ceased to raine at all after the forty dayes expired then of Aben Ezra to whom Mercerus seemeth to subscribe that it rained though not continually an 110. dayes after the 40. dayes that is in all 150. dayes 4. R. Sâl noteth that where it is said all the fountaines of the deep were stopped not all the fountaines as before it is said all the fountaines c. were opened that some fountaines remained unstopped for the procreation and sending forth of rivers and springs so also Iun. But it is more like that all the fountaines which were extraordinarily opened to augment the floud were stopped the ordinary springs of water continued still as before the floud QVEST. IV. How the seven moneth is to be counted Vers. 4. IN the seventh moneth the seventh day c. 1. Whereas the Latine text and the Septuagint read for the seventeenth day the seven and twenty day which reading is received of the popish interpreters that are addicted to their vulgar latine text and hereupon some of them reckon from the beginning of the floud seuen moneths that is 207. dayes counting twenty nine dayes and a halfe to a moneth whereof the floud continued one hundred ninety and so there should be seventeene daies betweene the beginning of the waters to abate the resting of the Arke sic Tostatus Others beginning their reckoning from the beginning of the floud till the waters abated which make five moneths and two dayes and a halfe accounting but twenty nine dayes and a halfe to a moneth and hereunto they put eight dayes more which was the space between the abating of the water and the resting of the Arke which added to the two dayes make up those ten which the latin hath more than the Hebrew sic Lyranus Pererius But wee refuse all these collections which goe about to justifie the vulgar latin against the originall veriây wherin S. Augustine giveth us a good rule ei lingua potius credatur unde est in aliaÌ per interpretes facta translatio that tongue is rather to be credited out of the which the interpreters have translated into another 2. Receiving then the Hebrew text that the Arke rested upon the 17. not the 27. day of the 7. moneth yet we refuse the opinion of Cajetan who therein followeth R. Sel. that would have this moneth the seventh from the beginning of the floud not the seventh of the yeare and the reason is because hee maketh not the 40. dayes of the raine part of the 150. dayes as it is to be truly taken as is shewed before cap. 7. quest 14. but he putteth them together making of them both 190. dayes which is the space of six moneths and sixteene dayes counting but 29. dayes to a moneth so that upon the 191. day after the beginning of the floud which is the 17. of the 7. moneth of the floud the Arke rested c. But this account cannot stand to make this seventh moneth the seventh from the beginning of the floud not from the beginning of the yeare seeing both the second moneth chap. 7.11 and the tenth moneth chap. 8.5 must of necessity be referred to the yeare not to the continuance of the floud And this were to breed a confusion in the story to take some moneths according to the season of the yeare and some according to the time of the floud for seeing the moneths both before and after are numbred according to the course of the yeare there is no reason to understand the seventh moneth otherwise 3. Neither doe we approve Lyranus conceit that whereas hee maketh the 150. dayes to determine the 19. of the seventh moneth after which time the waters began to decrease he would have the Arke to rest upon the 17. day according to the text but how is it like that the Arke should rest before the waters began to abate without a miracle 4. Neither can I condiscend to Mercerus judgement wherein hee followeth a certaine Hebrew in his booke of the binding of Isaack that the waters began to decrease before the 150. dayes expired though the decrease was not so sensible as afterward and so the waters might abate so much by the end of the 150. dayes as that the Arke might well be staid from floting but the text favoureth not this collection which saith that the waters prevailed
an 150. dayes but when they abated they prevailed not and againe v. 3. after the end of 150. dayes the waters abated Ergo not before 5. Wherefore we tooke this seventh moneth according to the order of the yeare being the sixt in number from the second moneth wherein the floud began and making in all but five compleat moneths that is an 150. dayes from the 17. of the second to the 17. of the seventh so that wee make the 40. dayes of continuall raine to be a parcell of the 150. dayes mentioned chap. 7.24 All which time the waters prevailed so then upon the same day the 151. from the beginning of the floud which was the 17. of the seventh the waters abated and the Arke rested upon the mountaines of Armenia this exposition best agreeeth with the text and thus Tremeliuâ and Musculus doe truly expound But two objections are made 1. saith Pererius by this exposition the Arke shall rest the very first day of the abating of the waters which is not like seeing that it was above two moneths after the 1. day of the 10. moneth when the tops of the mountaines appeared thus also objecteth Mercerus Answer 1 This doubt is easily removed 1. seeing that the waters exceeded not the highest mountaines above 15. cubits and the Arke might draw at the least a 11. cubits of water as R. Sel. thinketh so that the bottom of the Arke was but 4. cubits above the tops of the high mountaines it is not unlikely but that the waters might abate 4. cubits in depth the first day that the Arke might well touch the tops of those high mountaines which may very well be supposed to be the highest of the rest because the Arke first touched there 2. And that this great abatement the first day may seeme probable let it bee considered that in the spâce of an 160. and odde dayes from the 17. of the 7. moneth to the 1. of the first moneth in the 601. yeare v. 13. the very lowest parts of the earth were dried Now the highest hils are thought to be 3. miles at the least higher than the low places as mount Tabor is 30. furlongs high that is 3000. yards which maketh 6000. cubits the eight part of that number the eight part of the height of water must abate which is 750. cubits that is every day 37. cubits and an halfe or thereabout Now be it admitted that every day the waters were not wasted alike for the higher the water and the greater the compasse or circumference the smaller was the abatement yet according to this proportion the waters might very well sinke so much the first day that the Arke might well be stayed upon the high mountaines of Ararat or Armenia 3. And if we say that these mountaines whose tops appeared the first day of the 10. moneth were the lower and inferiour hils as some Hebrewes thinke whom Mercer followeth then there remaineth no doubt at all but that there might be the space of two moneths betweene the appearing of the tops of the highest and of the lowest hils QVEST. V. How many dayes are to be counted to a moneth SEcondly it is objected seeing an 150. dayes make five moneths and two dayes with an halfe reckoning 29. dayes and an halfe after the computation of Hebrewes to a moneth it will be found that the Arke rested two dayes and an halfe before the waters began to abate which was not till an 150. dayes expired but this is not like Answ. 1. We are not forced here to adde ten dayes more as the latine text for 17. readeth 27. which is a corrupting of the Scripture 2. Neither need wee say as some that the waters did abate indeed before the 150. dayes expired but that abatement was not sensible evident or apparant and therefore it is not accounted of for this were to contradict the text which saith after the end of the 150. dayes the waters abated Ergo not before and beside seeing the Arke rested and stayed at the very first abatement upon the mountaine how was it not apparant and sensible 3. Neither for the solution of this doubt are we driven to take this seventh moneth according to the tearme of the floud and not after the order of the yeare which were to confound the storie as is before shewed 4. But our answer is that a moneth here is neither taken for the space of 29. dayes as Cajetane nor of 29. and a halfe as Pererius affirmeth but for thirty dayes complete Iunius and so shall we have an 150. dayes just from the second to the seventeenth of the seventh moneth for unlesse this be admitted we shall neither find a sufficient answer to this objection propounded all those other conjectures being too weake And beside unlesse the Hebrewes should account 30. dayes to a moneth and rather more their yeares consisting of twelve moneths should be very imperfect for whereas a yeare according to the course of the Sunne containeth 365. dayes if there be but 30. dayes in a moneth there will be but 360. dayes if but 29. dayes and an halfe there will be but 354. so that by this reckoning the Hebrewes yeare should want 11. dayes of a perfect yeare which would worke a great confusion in the computation of yeares and is not to be admitted QVEST. VI. What mountaine the Arke rested upon THe Arke rested upon the mountaines of Ararat c. Some thinke that the Arke rested upon the mountaine Taurus from whence commeth the River Araxis which some understand hereby Ararath and upon that part of Taurus which hangeth over Cilicia and the rather for that the City Tarsus is there situate which seemeth to be derived of the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifieth to drie because that part and tract of Cilicia was soonest dried after the floud Perer. But the Chalde Paraphrast calleth that part of Armenia where the Arke rested Kardu Curtius Cordaeos the Cordeans or Gordians as Ptolomie where is one hill higher than the rest not called Baris as Iosephus alleageth out of Nicholaus Damascenus which Iunius out of Epiphanius sheweth must be read Lubaris which in the Armenian tongue signifieth a place of descending because there was the place where Noah first descended out of the Arke and this is most probable But whether part of the Arke remained so long time after as Iosephus Berosus Hieronymus say it continued till their time it is uncertaine Marlorat QVEST. VII How the tenth moneth is to be accounted Vers. 5. THe waters were going and decreasing till the tenth moneth c. This cannot be the tenth moneth from the beginning of the floud as Cajetane thinketh for seeing there was one moneth and 16. dayes of the second moneth past before the floud came by this reckoning this first day of the tenth moneth when the tops of the mountaines began to appeare should be the seventeenth day of the eleventh moneth which cannot be seeing after this Moses accounteth 40. dayes vers 6.
not to returne because he came not againe into the Arke bur onely rested upon it or for that he returned without giving notice of that wherefore he was sent as the Dove did sic Lyranus Tostatus 3. Their conjecture also which say that the Raven returned not but lighted upon some carrion or dead body cannot be allowed as contrary to the text and beside unlikely seeing now it was the eleventh moneth in which time all the dead bodies were either consumed of the water or devoured of the fish 4. Wherefore we hold the Septuagint and Latine to be corrupt and that according to the Hebrew text the Raven went and came to the Arke both because there was his food his mate or fellow and his nest or resting place though I thinke that Raven was not received into the Arke as the Dove was 5. But the Hebrewes fables we refuse how that the Raven was sent forth out of the Arke because of his intemperancie with his mate and that two other in the Arke were in the same case Cham and Canis the dogge likewise they imagine that the Raven should expostulate with Noah why he was sent out from his mate as though Noah should keepe her for himselfe some thinke that this was the Raven that afterward fed Elias but these ridiculous toyes are not worth the rehearsall 6. The Hebrewes and some Christian writers doe here much stand upon allegories some of them which tend to edifying we refuse not as that the simple hearted are signified by the Dove who are to be received into the Church but Hypocrites and carnall men must not be admitted into the Arke of the Church as the Raven returned not Mercer QVEST. XII Of the sending out of the Dove and the computation of the seven dayes Vers. 8. HE sent also forth a Dove from him c. 1. Though the tops of the mountaines appeared before the sending forth of the Dove yet she found no rest for the sole of her foot because the earth was not yet dry but muddy and standing with water as Chrysostome noteth and Iosephus saith that the dove returned with fowle and durty feet and beside the dove delighteth in the vallies and places which were yet under the water Mercer 2. whereas she brought an olive leafe c. I rather thinke with Chrysostome that the olive tree yet keepe the leaves greene under the water especially seeing the olive as Pliny noteth is one of those trees whose leaves are alwayes greene then with Ambrose that Deo jubente uno die c. germinavit terra c. at Gods commandement the earth in the same day wherin it began to be dry did bud and bring forth that this olive branch was fetcht forth from Paradise or out of the land of Israel is a Jewish fable 3. Where Moses saith v. 10. he abode yet other seven dayes I approve rather the opinion of Tostatus and Lyranus and Mercerus that Moses observeth thrice seven dayes then of Rupertus and Pererius that understand but twice seven which Noah waited for the sending forth of the dove for it is evident that he had staid 7. dayes before not seven other from those forty dayes as Pererius expoundeth it but other seven from the first seven as the seven other mentioned v. 12. were other from the second seven QVEST. XIII Of the account of the 601. yeare of Noahs age Vers. 13. IN the six hundred and one yeare c. 1. Whereas in the first moneth the upper face of the earth was dried and yet v. 14. it is said the earth was dried the 27. day of the second moneth wee need not with Cajetan to reconcile this doubt to say that this was all one moneth but divers in computation the first in respect of Noahs age the second of the yeare for it was not like that Moses in the same place would use a divers computation which would breed a confusion in the story but the text expoundeth it selfe that in the first moneth onely the upper face of the earth seemed to bee dry but it was not firme and sound and fit for habitation till the second moneth 2. In that Noah removed the covering of the Arke that is part thereof so much as might serve to looke forth it followeth not that the window of the Arke was too little for Noah to looke out at as Pererius noteth or not convenient in respect of the situation for that use for both Noah out of the window had perceived before the tops of the mounntaines to bee bare v. 5. for how else and of whom were they seene as also in that Noah put his hand out of the window and tooke in the dove it appeareth it was not out of his reach but from the top of the Arke Noah might see round about whereas the window opened but one way and therefore he removed some part of the cover QVEST. XIIII Noahs floud of the longest continuance of all others Vers. 14. ANd in the second moneth the 27. day of the moneth 1. This floud then which was in Noahs time was of the longest continuance of all flouds and inundations that ever were that great inundation of Nilus under Prometheus endured but a moneths space that under Ogyges in Achaia two moneths another under Deucalion in Thessalia three moneths they make mention also of a fourth inundation of the Isle Pharos called therefore Pharonica under the Aegyptian Proteus but none of these were like unto this inundation in Noahs time neither for generality of place or perpetuity of time 2. For this floud neither continued only nine moneths as Anniaââs thinketh or ten moneths as Cajetanus supposeth but twelve moneths full and ten dayes according to the course of the Sunne for Noah went into the Arke when the floud began in the second moneth and 17. day of the six hundred yeare and hee came forth the second moneth of the yeare six hundred and one upon the 27. day of the moneth QVEST. XV. Abstinence in the Arke Vers. 18. ANd Noah came forth c. 1. Ambrose noteth as some Hebrewes before that whereas Noah is bid to come forth he and his wife his sonnes and their wives v. 16. but when he is bid to come in he and his sonnes and his wife and his sonnes wives are joyned together chap. 6. v. 18. that they lived apart in the Arke and companied not together non commiscetur sexus in introitu sed commiscetur in ingressu although it is like that Noah and his sonnes lived in abstinence in the Arke because it was a time of mourning and therefore the Hebrewes note that Ioseph had his children not in the yeares of famine in Aegypt but before yet this cannot be gathered out of the 16. v. where Noah and his wife his sonnes and their wives are named together when they are bidden to come out of the Arke for here v. 18. they are againe named asunder 2. But R. Isaack Carus his
the just judgement of God that there is neither seed time nor harvest as it hapned under Elias 1 King 17. But it is referred to the generall condition of the whole earth wherein there shall be a perpetuall succession of these seasons 3. The yeare is not here divided into six parts as the Jewes imagine giving unto each part two moneths but Moses divideth the yeare according to the popular estimation into two parts cold and heat Summer and Winter and by seed time and harvest are understood the benefits that arise unto men by the season of the yeare Luther Perer. Mercer or by them the two other parts of the yeare are implyed the Spring and Autumne 4. Further it is said day and night shall not cease not because there was no distinction betwene the day and night during the time of the floud as some Hebrewes for we see that Noah accounted the dayes when he sent out the Dove which could not have searched about in the dark but there was not such apparant distinction of the day and night as before the whole frame of the world being then out of course Like as when the skie is darkned in Sea tempests as Act. 27.20 neither Sunne nor Starres appeared in many dayes the Sunne and Starres then kept their course but not to any such use of the inhabitants of the earth And this is to be understood generally for the continuance of day and night in the whole earth for in particular places the night may be altered as in Egypt and the day as when the Sunne stood still in the times of Iosua Mercer 4. Places of doctrine 1. Doct. Nothing acceptable to God without faith Vers. 21. ANd the Lord smelled a savour of rest c. Because Noah offered up his sacrifice in faith therefore it had a pleasant smell before God whereby it is evident that all service which is offered unto God being not mixed with faith doth stinke before him sic Oecolampadius 2. Doct. Originall sinne not by corrupt imitation Vers. 21. FRom his youth this place directly proveth originall sinne against the Pelagians who denied it to be a depravation of our nature but a corrupt imitation but here we see that even in the very youth and first age of man when he is not yet so apt to imitate there is evilnesse and corruption in the heart as it is in the Proverbs 20.11 a childe is knowne by his doings whether his worke bee pure or right 3. Doct. Excommunication how to be used Vers. 21. I Will no more curse the earth c neither will I from henceforth smite c. Here cursing and smiting goe together first God curseth then he smiteth after this rule none ought to be smitten by the spirituall censures of the Church but such as stand first accursed before God not as the Pope smiteth with his thunderbolts even those that are the faithfull servants of Christ but the Wise man saith that a curse causlesse shall not come Proverbs 26.2 4. Doct. The seasons of the yeare from Noahs time Vers. 22. COld and heat shall not cease c. That therefore is but a fabulous conceit of Ovid that in Saturnes time it was a continuall spring for we see that even these seasons of Winter and Summer began under Noah 5. Places of confutation 1. Confut. The Latine translation corrupt Vers. 7. WHereas the Latine text readeth that the Raven went out and returned not againe whereas the true reading is that the Raven went going forth and returning Bellarmine would excuse it thus that the Latine text in sense agreeth with the Hebrew for the Raven returned to the Arke going and comming but not into the Arke to Noah 1. But Bellarmine might know that there is difference betweene a Translator and an Interpreter the one followeth the sense the other should keepe the very words and sense withall 2. And as here the Latine varieth from the words so vers 21. it leaveth the sense for whereas the Hebrew readeth the thought of mans heart is evill c. the Latine doth mitigate the speech and saith prone to evill such liberty that corrupt translation taketh which they make authenticall to chop and change the originall text As likewise in the fourth verse for the 17. day of the moneth the Latine readeth the 27. day 2. Confut. God created nothing evill Vers. 21. THe imagination of mans heart jetser figmentum the frame or fashion of mans heart c. which must be understood not Passively for that frame of the heart which was created of God for that is good but Actively for that which the heart of man imagineth and frameth it to it selfe which is called the imagination and framing of the thoughts chap. 6. vers 5. and that is evill wherefore this place neither giveth any advantage to profane persons to conceive of God as though he were Author of evill for the heart as it is created of God is good the substance thereof is of God the evill quality thereof is of the corruption of our owne nature neither doth this place serve to uphold Illyricus conceit that originall sinne should be a substantiall thing 6. Places of exhortation and morall use 1. Morall Compassion toward the creatures Vers. 1. GOd remembred Noah and every beast c. Gods mercifull providence appeareth that watcheth not onely over men but over the inferiour creatures for mans sake according to the Psalme 36.6 Thou O Lord savest man and beast whereby man is taught to be like to his Creator in compassion to extend mercy even unto the bruit beasts as the Wise man saith a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast Prov. 12.10 Xenocrates an Heathen Philosopher is commended for his pitifull heart who succoured in his bosome a poore Sparrow that came flying to him pursued of an Hawke and afterward let the bird goe away saying Se supplicem non prodidisse that he had not betrayed his poore suppliant 2. Morall obser Obedience Vers. 14. THen God spake to Noah the earth was now perfectly dry and Noah might have gone out if he would but he waiteth upon God that as he entred into the Arke by his appointment so he will not goe forth without his commandement so Ambrose noteth well siccata erat terra exire potuit Noe de Arca c. sed justus nihil sibi arrogat se totum sed divino committit imperio the earth was now dried Noah might have gone forth but the just man doth arrogate nothing to himselfe he wholly committeth himselfe to Gods commandement By this wee are taught obediently in all our wayes to depend upon God 3. Morall obser Thanksgiving for benefits received Vers. 20. HE offered burnt offerings to testifie his thankfulnesse to God for this his great deliverance so the godly are taught for all the benefits which they receive to yeeld due thanks unto God and acknowledge him onely the author and giver of them as David saith What shall I render
the eldest sonne of Noah must be an hundred and two yeare old it remaineth then that Iapheth was the eldest Sem the next C ham the youngest Mercer Iunius But Sem is named first because of his prerogative as Isaach before Ismael and Iacob is set before Esau. Cajetanus to make his opinion good is forced to say that Sem might be an hundred and two years old when he begat Arphacsad and Pererius is also driven to this shift to say that Noah might not be five hundred yeare old precâsely but five hundred and two both which evasions are manifestly contrary and repugnant to the text as hath beene shewed QVEST. XXVI Of the sonnes of Sem. Vers. 22. THe sonnes of Sem Elam Ashur c. Elam from whence came the Elamites or Persians Iosephus Hieron as Susan the head City of Persia was in the Province of Elam Dan. 8.2 2. Ashur gave the name to Assyria 3. Arphacsad of whom the Chasdim that is the Chaldeans Pererius derideth this derivation and yet bringeth no other in stead thereof hence was named the Countrey Arphaxitis in Assyria Mercer 4. Lud the founder of the Lydians in Asia minor of the which Country rich Croesus was King there was another Lud one of the sonnes of Misraim father of the Lydians in Africa as is shewed before quest 20. 5. Aram of whom came the Aramites or Syrians whereof it is that the Scythians after their returne out of Asia and Syria were called Aramai Aramites Plin. lib. 6. cap. 17. This Country of Aram or Syria was divided into sundry regions as the Scriptures make mention of Aram of Damascus 1 Chron. 18.6 of Aram Maharaim that is of the flouds Aram Maachah 1 Chron. 19.6 Padan Ara Gen. 28.6 QVEST. XXVII The sonnes of Aram. Vers. 23. THe sonnes of Aram c. 1. Vz or Huz the founder of the region Trachonitis Iosephus Hier whose posterity inhabited the land of Vz Iobs Countrey Iob 1.1 which belonged to Idumaea Ierem. Lament 4.22 the Septuagint call it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hausitis 2. Chul which Iosephus and Hierome take for Armenia but it is rather the region Palmyrânâ where Ptolimie placeth the Towne Cholle 3. Gether which Iosephus taketh for the Bactrians Hierome for the Carians or Acarnanians but it is most like to bee the middle part of Syria about Cassiotis where Ptolome findeth the Towne Gindarus whence are the people Gindareni Plin. lib. 5. c. 23. which may very well be derived of Gether by an epenthesis the interlacing of u. 4. Mesch Hierome saith they are the Mocones Moenians Iosephus the Mesanci now the Inhabitants of Pasinum in Susianna Iunius taketh it for that Countrey that lieth betweene Cilicia and Mesopotamia and that part of the hill Amanus which they call Masium which may very well take beginning of Mesch Luther thinketh that the region Massa in India tooke denomination from hence QVEST. XXVIII Of Heber whether the Hebrewes were named of him Vers. 25. VNto Heber were borne two sonnes Hence it appeareth that of this Heber were the Israelites called Hebrewes and not as some thinke were they so called of Abrahams passage or comming over the River Euphrates and dwelling on this side because the Hebrew gnabbar signifieth a passage or going over Hence also of this Heber the Hebrew language is named which continued in Hebers stocke in the division of languages Mercer QVEST. XXIX Of Phaleg Whether the division of tongues happened in his time THe name of the one was Phaleg for in his dayes was the earth divided Phaleg signifieth to divide 1. Some thinke that this name was given to Phaleg at his birth by way of prophesie and that the division of tongues happened in the end of Phalegs age who lived 239. yeares and was borne ann 103. after the floud so that this fell not out in their opinion till 340. yeares after the floud some ten yeares before Noahs death who lived 350. yeares after the floud of this opinion seemeth Hierome to be Tostatus Lyranus and divers other Hebrewes But this is not like that the divisions of tongues fell out so long after in the end of Pelegs dayes for why should it be said that in his dayes rather than of Reu or Serug or of the rest that the earth was divided for all these Reu Serug Nahor Terah were borne before Peleg died And againe whereas most of the Inhabitants of the world dwelt together before the building of the Tower of Babel and all concurred to set forward that worke it could not possible bee if this happened 340. yeare after the floud when the world must needs have beene exceedingly increased that such a multitude of people could either dwell together or assemble into one place to intend one worke 2. Mercerus judgement is that this division of tongues fell not out either in the birth or end of Peleg but about the hundred yeare or middle part of his age some 200. yeares after the floud because of Iocktans sonnes And although Reu and Serug might be then borne yet Moses rehearseth them not here because they were all of one family and language But if this be admitted the reason doth not appeare why this division should be said to be in Pelegs dayes rather than of the other fathers who were then alive but were not at that time borne as Peleg was 3. I rather approve therefore Augustines opinion to the which learned Iunius and Pererius subscribe that this division was made at the birth of Peleg about 100. yeares after the floud The onely doubt is that because Iocktan the younger brother of Peleg had 13. sonnes which all are supposed to have beene men growne and their languages divided at the building of the Tower of Babel this should seeme not to be done at the birth of Peleg Augustines answer here is not sufficient that Iocktan was elder than Peleg for if this were granted yet Iocktan could not bee many yeares borne before Peleg whom Heber begat at 30. yeares but for Iocktan to have 13. sons men of years when Peleg was a childe would require the oddes at the least of forty or fifty yeares Wherefore the better answer is that it is not necessary to thinke that all those sonnes of Iocktan should have their tongues divided but that most of them kept the tongue of Heber as the eleven sonnes of Canaan spake all the Canaanitish tongue And hereof it is that the posterity of Heber who consented not to that wicked enterprise at Babel were not punished with division of tongues nor dispersed into remote Countries as the rest but dwelt all toward the East Neither is it to be supposed that all Iocktans sonnes were borne before the building of the Tower seeing Moses stayeth in Peleg but he setteth downe all Iocktans sonnes at once that hee might proceed afterward in the righteous line without interruption QVEST. XXX Of the sonnes of Iocktan Vers. 26. THen Iocktan c. Concerning these thirteene sonnes
patterne of these worthy examples we doubt not but that our Christian Soveraigne is resolved to take away all mixture of religion not to admit any toleration of contrary worship but with Iosias to expell all Idolatrous Chemarims and Masse-Priests with Asa to put all such from places of government and with Zerubbabel to reject their service and imployment either in Church or common wealth And we assuredly trust that the presence of Gods Arke among us shall cause that Dagon of Rome to lose both his hands and head for ever in this our famous and thrice renowned Countrey of Britaine CHAP. XVIII 1. The Method THis Chapter hath two parts ãâã The entertainment of the Angells in Abrahams tent and such things as there were done to vers 17. â The purpose of God concerning the destruction of Sodome with Abrahams deprecation for the same to the end of the Chapter In the first part 1. There is the apparition of the Angels both in what place and at what time vers 1. and in what manner vers 2. 2. Their entertainment offered by Abraham vers 3 4. accepted by the Angels vers 5. performed by Abraham ver 6 7 8. 3. The promise is renewed concerning Abraham and Saraes sonne vers 10. and Sara for her infirmity reproved both for her laughter 12 13 14. and for her deniall vers 15. In the second part 1. The Lord sheweth a reason why he will impart his counsell to Abraham concerning the overthrow of Sodome vers 18 19. 2. The Lord propoundeth his resolution with the cause thereof vers 20 21. 3. Abraham intreateth where first is set downe the ground of his prayers the justice of God 23 25. then his particular request six times repeated from fifty persons to bee found in Sodome to ten The divers readings v. 1. At the Oake of Mamre S. Plaine or valley of Mamre caet colon signifieth both a Plaine and an Oake it is most like it was a Plaine set with Oakes v. 2. He worshipped in or upon the ground S.C.H. bowed himselfe toward the ground T.P.B.G. shachah to bow so is it taken Isa. 15.23 bow downe that we may goe over v. 4. Let your feet be washed H. let them wash your feet S. wash your feet caet sic etiam hebr v. 5. You shall cat S. comfort or strengthen your heart caet v. 8. He ministred unto them C. stood by them caet v. 10. I will come to thee according to this time at the very houre S. in this time vita comite life being present H. or wherein ye shall be alive C. according to the time of life B.G.P. heb when this time shall flourish or revive againe T. v. 12. It was not so with me till now S. shall I have youth C. shall I have lust caet heb gnadan to take pleasure v. 15. Sarah deniall caet she lying denied T. cacash signifieth both v. 21. I will appeare and judge C. I will goe downe and see I will make an end of them if they repent not if they repent I will not revenge them Ch. the others have not these words v. 22. Abraham stood in prayer before God Ch. stood yet before God caet v. 28. Wilt thou destroy for forty five the whole City S. caet for five The Explanation of doubts QVEST. I. Of the vision and apparition made to Abraham in Mamre Vers. 1. AGaine the Lord appeared c. 1. This was the sixth apparition of God to Abraham taking those two in the fifteenth Chapter for one which herein is preferred before the rest because this apparition is made in an humane shape which is not expressed in the rest and this is the third vision of this kinde as Cajetane noteth when the Lord shewed himselfe in some visible forme 1. to Adam in Paradise 2. to Agar in the wildernesse Gen. 16.13 3. to Abraham in this place 2. This apparition was not long after the other in the former Chapter for in both after a yeare a sonne is promised to Abraham Rupertus and the promise is renewed for Sarahs cause Calvin 3. It was now in the heat of the day that is noone-tide Septuag the usuall time of rest and repast Iun. when Abraham sate at his doore to take shade and to espie what travellers passed by to give them entertainment Muscul. QVEST. II. Who the three Angels were that appeared to Abraham Vers. 2. THree men stood by him 1. They were not three men but so appeared Iun. They stood not hard by him for he needed not then have gone to meet them but they stood before him or over against him for so the word gnal signifieth Muscul. 2. Abraham at the first did not know them to be Angels for he received them unawares Heb. 13.1 yet there appeared some extraordinary excellencie in them in that Abraham useth them so reverently for otherwise to every common passenger hee would not have given such reverence Calvin 3. Neither can it bee certainly affirmed that these three men were the three Angels Michael Gabriel Raphael as some of the Hebrewes the first the messenger to Abraham the other appointed for the destruction of Sodome and Raphael for Lots deliverance for both the Angels that went toward Sodome were in equall commission to destroy the City chap. 19.13 The Lord hath sent us to destroy it and to deliver Lot vers 16. they caught Lot and his wife by the hand c. Abraham doth reverence to one above the rest calling him Lord v. 3. who also is called Jehovah v. 17. their opinion may safely bee received that thinke this eminent person with whom Abraham talked to be Christ. But it is a collection without ground by the apparition of these three Angels to conclude the Trinitie as Pererius seemeth to insinuate Calvin QVEST. 3. Why Abraham speaketh to one of the 3. Angels in chiefe Vers. 3. LOrd if I have found favour c. Abraham seeth three men but speaketh as to one 1. whereby neither a three fold knowledge of God is shadowed forth of his nature by his benefits by his judgements as Philo 2. nor yet hereby is signified the mysterie of the Trinitie that one God in three persons is to be worshipped as Rupertus 3. Neither did Abraham speake unto every one of them particularly as Ramban 4. But Abraham saluteth the third person as more excellent either for the dignity of his person or for some respect which the other two had unto him Chrysost. but for such services as equally belonged to them all hee speaketh to them all in generall as the washing of their feet 5. as they were three persons so he offreth unto them three services to wash their feet to rest them under the tree to comfort their hearts with bread Perer. QVEST. IV. Of the Hebrew measure called a Seime Vers. 6. THree measures of fine meale c. The word is Seime which is the same in English a seime 1. which neither containeth so much as Epiphanius
charge Chrysost. Mercer Vatab. Iun. QUEST XII How Iacobs heart is said to faile or faint and for what cause Vers. 29. IAcobs heart failed c. 1. Iacob was astonished at the report of his sonnes that Ioseph yet lived hee had not heard it then before as the Hebrewes fable how Serah Asers daughter had told Iacob that Ioseph was alive and therefore she was translated alive into Paradise ex Munster 2. The meaning is not that Iacob withdrew his heart and attention from them and greatly regarded them not as R. Sel. or as the Latine translator he was as raised out of an heavy sleepe that is Attonitus stupidus ad intelligendum heavie and hard to understand as a man newly awaked as Rupertus expoundeth 3. Nor yet as Ramban and R. Abraham whom Oleaster followeth is the meaning that his heart left beating and panting and so they would have the word phag to signifie to cease 4. But Iacob for the time did faint and swound not for any sudden joy conceived as Perer. for as yet he beleeved them not nor of an affection mixt together of joy and feare as Calvin Mercer for then the one would have qualified the other that Iacob should not have fainted but the very naming of Ioseph did renue and revive his former griefe and so perplexed him Iun. QUEST XIII How Iacobs spirit is said to revive Vers. 27. THe spirit of Iacob revived and he said it is enough c. 1. The Chalde paraphrast readeth The holy spirit rested upon Iacob as though the spirit of prophecie had departed from Iacob all the time of his griefe and heavinesse whereupon the Hebrewes further note that the spirit of God commeth upon those that are chearfull for which cause they say most of the Prophets were young men who are more given to chearfulnesse than they which are old but this is spoken of Iacobs spirit not of the spirit of God who now came to himselfe againe more giving credit to the sight of his eyes when they shewed him the charriots than to their words Muscul. Mercer 2. He saith it is enough not either in respect of Iosephs great honour or the rich gifts which were sent but because he heard he was alive Iosephs life was more worth unto him than all the rest Iun. 4. Places of Doctrine 1. Doct. The righteous are not void of affections Vers. 2. HE wept and cryed In that Ioseph sheweth himselfe to be a man of affection which draweth from him plenty of teares we doe learne that the righteous are not as stones and blocks that cannot be moved as the Stoicks defined their wise men but they also are subject to the affections of love joy sorrow compassion Calvin Our Saviour in the day of his flesh did weepe loved Iohn more than the rest sometime he was angry but in all these he sinned not as it is hard for us to keepe â measure 2. Doct. God turneth evill to good Vers. 8. YOu sent me not hither but God c. who hath made me a father c. As God turned the malice of Iosephs brethren to the great good of his Church the advancement of Ioseph preservation of the whole land of Egypt so is the Lord able still out of evill to draw goodnesse as he commanded light to shine out of darknesse 2 Cor. 4.6 Luther as Sampson found honey in the mouth of the dead and stinking Lion as the Apostle saith All things shall worke together for the best to those that love God Rom. 8.28 5. Places of Confutation 1. Confut. The selling of Ioseph into Egypt not done onely by Gods provision Vers. 8. YOu sent me not hither but God Not that God was the authour of that wicked conspiracie against Ioseph which was inspired by the suggestion of Satan not by the instinct of Gods spirit neither did God onely permit or suffer the same to be done as Bellarmine would have it lib. 2. de amission grat cap. 11. For if God withdraw his power nothing can be done in the world and therefore the Psalme saith Whatsoever pleased the Lord did he in heaven and in earth Psal. 135.6 Wherefore the Lord as he did foresee what Iosephs brethren should doe in this action and disposed and directed the same after it was done to an happy end so also he decreed that this thing should be done by no other meanes and although in the particular the evilnesse of the action proceeded not from the malicious minde stirred by Satan yet the generall overruling power and disposing providence of God so concurred as that Ioseph should by this meanes and no other be sold into Egypt So that Iosephs brethren were instruments herein of Gods decree and purpose yet not thereby are they excusable because they did that of a wicked minde which God in his wise providence converted to good as Iudas sinne was no whit the lesse in betraying Christ though as Peter saith he were delivered up by the determinate counsell of God Act. 2.23 Calvin Muscul. 2. Confut. Against the vulgar Latine translation Vers. 20. REgard not your stuffe The Latine translator maketh a contrary sense Leave nothing of your stuffe see before qu. 8. whereas the meaning is that they should not care to leave their stuffe behinde them thus that translation which the Romanists so much extoll and magnifie is found to bee faulty and erronious in many places 6. Places of Morall vse 1. Mor. Not to suffer men to be swallowed up of griefe Vers. 3. THen Ioseph said I am Ioseph He seeing his brethren almost oppressed with griefe doth speake comfortably unto them lest they might have beene overcome with too much heavinesse which teacheth governours not to cast downe altogether with griefe those which are sufficiently humbled Calvin as S. Paul shewed himselfe toward the incestuous party lest he be swallowed up of overmuch heavinesse 2 Cor. 2.7 2. Mor. To preserve from spirituall famine the greatest deliverance Vers. 7. TO save you alive by a great deliverance If it bee a great deliverance to preserve men from the famine of corporall food as Ioseph did much more ought wee to be thankfull to God for such governours as provide food for the soules of their people and deliver them from spirituall famine Muscul. for much more grievous is the famine of hearing the word than of bread or water Amos 8.11 3. Mor. Gods providence in turning all things to the best should move us to forgive Vers. 8. YOu sent me not hither but God Ioseph looking into Gods providence who turned his brethrens evill meaning toward him to good in that consideration is more easily brought to forgive them for when we see how God disposeth to our good of those wrongs that are done to us in the world wee should in that respect be more ready to forget them Thus S. Peter speaketh comfortably to the people that gave consent to the killing of Christ ye have killed the Lord of life c. but those things that God
giveâ to Ioseph we doe learne that the bodies of the Saints ought in comely and reverent sort to be brought to the grave as the brethren that feared God carried Steven to be buried with great lamention Act. 8.2 5. Doct. Of the lawfulnesse of an oath Vers. 31. ANd he sware unto him It was lawfull for Iacob in some serious and weighty matter to enquire an oath and for Ioseph to performe it for men are mutable and therefore may be bound with an oath and though Ioseph might otherwise have fulfilled his fathers will yet it was not amisse that he should be more straitly bound we see then the lawfull use of an oath against the errour of the Anabaptists which allow not Christians to take an oath for the Apostle saith An oath for confirmation among men is an end of strife Heb. 6.16 5. Places of Confutation 1. Confut. Against the corrupt Latine translation of this place Vers. 31. ISrael worshipped toward the beds head not as the vulgar Latine readeth he adored the top of his rod Heb. 11.21 which translation differeth both from the Latine in this place which thus interpreteth he worshipped turning toward the beds head and from the Septuagint which readeth he worshipped or bowed himselfe ùpi to ácron upon the top of his rod or staffe the Latine text corruptly leaveth out the preposition ùpi upon but it differeth most of all from the Hebrew which standeth thus he worshipped toward the beds head from which reading the Septuagint doe varie in these two points first in adding the word à ute his which is not in the Hebrew secondly in mistaking the word for mittah a bed reading mitteh a rod both which words are derived of natah which signifieth to extend or stretch forth because a man doth stretch himselfe upon his bed and on his staffe Wherefore we see what a simple ground the Rhemists have to prove by this corrupt Latine text that creatures may be adored annot Hebr. 10.21 there being no such thing in the Hebrew Greeke or Latine text in this place that Iacob adored his rod. Further the like ground had Hadrianus the Pope as hee is cited in that erronious Councell the second Nicene who by this text would prove the adoration of Images with relation to their protipa that is the presidents patterns or patrons of those Images because say they the adoration which Iacob gave to this rod he intended it to Ioseph whose rod and scepter it was for Iacob worshipped not either his owne staffe or Iosephs scepter but toward the beds head worshipped God 2. Confut. That the Latine text is not authenticall FUrther whereas the Apostle seemeth to follow the translation of the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew text the Rhemists doe infer thereupon that after the same manner the vulgar Latine text may be received as authenticall though it doe varie from the Hebrew ibid. Contra. 1. The Apostles indeed doe sometime follow the Septuagint because it was a common translation and of great authority but they therein neither approve their errors nor yet make it of equall authority to the originall citing only such testimonies wherein the Greeke translation keepeth the sense though not the words as in this place whether we say Iacob leaning upon his staffe or turning to the beds head worshipped the principall sense is kept that Iacob worshipped God especially seeing the same word with very little alteration in the points signifieth both a bed and a rod or staffe 2. Hieromes observation then is good though Pererius without cause misliketh it Diligentius observandum est c. It is to be diligently observed that where the Apostles and Evangelists doe cite testimonies out of the old testament they follow not the words but the sense and where the Septuagint differ from the Hebrew they expresse the Hebrew sense for the Apostle in this place keepeth the Hebrew sense that Iacob worshipped God leaning upon his bed and staffe for it is true that Iacob did both that he reared himselfe upon his staffe towards the beds head 3. The Apostle then rather expoundeth than alleageth that text for he nameth Iacob whereas Moses saith Israel he speaketh of Iacobs worshipping when he had blessed his children but here Iacob worshippeth before he blessed them 4. This then is no good argument the Apostles follow the Septuagint where they keepe the Hebrew sense though not the words Ergo the Latine text must be received where it differeth both in sense and words from the originall 6. Places of morall use 1 Mor. That none should live idly without some honest trade or vocation Vers. 3. WHat is your trade or what is your worke Pharaoh as a prudent Prince examineth Iosephs brethren of their manner of living and occupation by the which question it appeareth that he condemned all idle persons that lived without any trade and it is the part of good Magistrates straitly to fift and examine all such as spend their time unthriftily not in any profitable labour according to the Apostles doctrine that they which doe not worke should not eat 2 Thes. 3.10 Muscul. 2. Mor. A poore life in the Church of God is to be preferred before the pleasures of the world Vers. 3. THy servants are shepherds Ioseph taught his brethren thus to say that they might dwell apart by themselves and not be imployed in Pharaohs court or in the affaires of the kingdome they did choose rather to live as poore shepheards in the service of God than to be in the kings Palace as strangers from the Church and houshold of faith though Ioseph had a speciall grace given him of God not to be corrupted with that place of honour yet he saw it not to bee meet nor convenient for his brethren Calvin so the Prophet David saith A day in thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere Psal. 84.10 Moses likewise did choose rather to suffer adversity with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sinne for a season Heb. 11.25 3. Morall Men called to honour should not despise their parents Vers. 7. IOseph also brought Iacob and set him before Pharaoh Ioseph though of honourable place in Egypt yet was not ashamed of his poore aged father but presented him to the King to this Ioseph many are unlike in these dayes that thinke it a disgrace unto them to acknowledge their poore parents Muscul. So did not David who brought his father and mother to the King of Moab to keepe them and provide for them 1 Sam. 22.4 as Ioseph here setteth his father before Pharaoh 4. Morall Our life here is but a pilgrimage Vers. 9. THe dayes of the yeares of my pilgrimage Thus not only Iacob but the rest of the fathers counted themselves but as strangers and pilgrims in the earth and thereby declared that they sought a Countrey Heb. 12.13 14. So the Apostle againe saith We have not here a continuing Citie but seeke for one that is to come Heb. 13.14 and therefore we
and the other of Core his rebellious assemblies Numb 16. who was of Levi but it is more properly referred to the time past concerning the cruell exploit of Simeon and Levi Perer. QUEST VIII Whether Simeon and Levi digged downe a wall killed or haughed the oxen Vers. 6. IN their selfe-will they digged downe a wall 1. Some read they haughed a bull Septuag or carried away their oxen Iun. They which follow this reading some referre it to Sichem who was the principall man whom they slue some understand it of Ioseph who is compared to a bullocke Deut. 33.17 the same word shor is there used Tharg Hieros because Simeon and Lâvi are held to bee ring-leaders in that conspiracie against Ioseph for they were of the elder sort not the younger brethren that would have had Ioseph killed now Ruben and Iudah the first and the fourth sonnes consented not to kill him therefore it is most like that Simeon and Levi were the authors for which cause some thinke that Ioseph afterward caused Simeon to be bound in Egypt but this exposition agreeth not with the former clause in their wrath they slue a man for Ioseph was not killed Iunius seemeth to understand it of the spoile of the Citie and carrying away of their cattell but that seemeth to have beene the act rather of Iacobs sonnes than of Simeon and Levi Gen. 34.28 2. Mercer Musculus Calvin thinke this to bee the better reading they digged thorow a wall Of which reading these reasons may bee given 1. Because this was a more peculiar and proper act of their rage than to carrie away their oxen that proceeded of a covetous rather than irefull minde 2. Though this be not directly expressed yet these words insinuate as much they went into the citie boldly Gen. 34.25 that is breaking into the citie violently and over throwing the wals before them Perer. 3. Though shor the word here used signifie an oxe shur a wall yet schurech may bee put for châlem as the Chalde Interpreter readeth shur 4. The word ghacar to root or pull up properly understood of plants Eccles. 3.2 is more fitly by a metaphor applyed to the rooting up of cities Zâphan 2.4 than unto cattell and living things 3. But these reasons notwithstanding I rather preferre the reading of the Septuagint they houghed an oxe or bull for shor the word here used signifieth an oxe c. 32.5 Deut. 33.17 the word shur is a wall neither needed they to have undermined the wals the citie being secure and the gates open unto them the word ghakar is gnakar signifieth to hough or cut sinewes as Iosh. 11.6 Ioshua is bidden of the Lord to hough the Canaanites horse it seemeth in their furie that they abused the dumb beasts as Balaam in his rage threatned if he had had a sword to have killed his Asse Numb 12.29 now in that this is not mentioned before in the storie it need not see me strange in all matters and circumstances of fact the Scripture useth not to expresse as that of Iacobs concerning the Amorites with the sword bow c. 48.22 QUEST IX How Simeon and Levi were divided in Israel Vers. 7. I Will divide them in Iacob 1. Iacob appointeth a punishment answerable to the offence for as before they conspired together to doe mischiefe so now they shall be separated and divided Iun. 2. Which accordingly came to passe for Simeon had no possession or inheritance by himselfe but intermingled with Iudah Ios. 19. and were constrained afterward by force of armes to inlarge their bounds 1 Chron. 4.41 Iun. Some thinke that the poore Scribes which were dispersed in Israel came of Simeon Thaâg Hieros But certaine it is that it was a base and contemptible tribe in respect of the rest for which cause Moses omitteth it in his blessing Deut. 33. Mercer rather than for that Simeon was cruell against the Sichemites for then Levi should have beene omitted also or because Simeon was the chiefe in the conspiracie against Ioseph or because Iudas Iscariot came of Simeon for both these are uncertaine or for that Zimri of Simeon lately had committed such an uncleane act as Perer. 3. Levi also was divided in Israel they had no certaine inheritance but only certaine cities allotted unto them among the rest of the tribes to the number of 48. Ios. 21. they also went wandring up and downe the tribes to gather the tithes of their maintenance Mercer 4. Yet God who could bring light out of darknesse turned this which at the first was ordained for a punishment to a blessing for the calling of the Levites was honourable to themselves and everie one was glad to entertaine them it was also profitable to others for their instruction Calvin 5. This prophecie against Simeon and Levi is not unfitly by Ambrose Ruffin Rupert applyed against the Scribes Priests that put Christ to death for by this means the wals of Ierusalem were digged down overthrown the Jewes are dispersed in the world to this day Perer. QUEST X. Of the preeminence of Iudah Vers. 8. THy brethren shall praise thee c. 1. Though Iudah also was faultie concerning Thamar yet Iacob passeth over his offences and of the rest of his sons touching onely the most notorious sinnes among the rest as of Ruben Simeon Levi Muscul. 2. In saying Thy brethren shall praise thee he alludeth to the name of Iudah so called by Leah of judah to praise because shee had occasion thereby to praise the Lord and now his brethren shall magnifie and praise him Iun. The Chalde readeth Thou hast confessed and wast not ashamed which some understand of Iudah his delivering of Ioseph or of his acquiting of Thamar but the other reading is more proper 3. Iacob prophesieth foure things of Iudah 1. His principalitie over his brethren vers 8. 2. His victorie over his enemies vers 9. 3. The stabilitie and continuance of his kingdome under the Messiah vers 10. 4. His outward plentie and prosperitie vers 11. 4. Thy fathers sonnes shall bow downe c. Though Ioseph for the time present had the temporall honour yet the perpetuall preeminence is given to Iudah so that hence it appeareth why the Lord was angrie with the people for desiring a King because the time was not yet come when God purposed to exalt Iudah and for the same cause the Kingdome of Saul of Benjamin not of Iudah prospered not Calvin 5. This authoritie of Iudah over his brethren tooke beginning Iudg. 1. when the tribe of Iudah was appointed to be as the Captaine to the rest after Iosua his departure but it was more fully accomplished in David and Salomon and most of all in Christ of David of whose kingdome shall be none end Iun. 6. Although the ten tribes did revolt from Iudah yet the right of the kingdome remained with Iudah still which continued notwithstanding it was often by Israel impugned when the other was dissolved Calvin QUEST XI Of the explication of the tenth
21.22 2. The divers readings Vers. 7. Because of their exactors I.V.A.P.S. rather than taskmasters B.G. The word is derived of Nagash to exact oppresse Vers. 12. For I will be with thee I.V.A.P.S.B. rather than I will be with thee L. for here the causall particle for is wanting or Certainly I will be with thee G. chi signifieth for because This shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee when thou has brought c. ye shall serve God upon this mountaine I.S.A.P. that is this vision which thou seest shall be a signe not as the most reade That this shall be a signe namely that which followeth and shall serve me G.B.V.L. for the perfect distinction athuah commeth betweene and that could not properly be a signe to confirme him presently which was to be fulfilled afterward Vers. 14. Eâich which am hath sent me I. to whom consenteth Simlerus rather than I am that I am V. LS.B.G.X or I shall be what I shall be A.P. The first Ehich seemeth to be a proper name because God answereth directly to Moses question who was desirous to know his name the second Ehich is an interpretation of the former and not part of the name because that Ehich is but once repeated in the end of the verse Ehich signifieth properly I shall be but it is usuall with the Hebrewes to put the future for the preter tense Ehich hath sent me that is I am B.G.V. I shall be A.P. rather than he that is hath sent me L.S. for Ehich is the first person of the future of hajah to be Vers. 18. They shall hearken to thy voice I rather than heare thy voice V.L.S.B. or obey thy voice G.A.P. for then the preposition Lamed which signifieth to should be superfluous Vers. 18. The God of the Hebrewes hath met with us I.V.B.G. cum caeter rather than hath called us S. L. for the word is Karah with he to meete or come against not Kara with aleph which signifieth to call Vers. 19. The King of Egypt will not let you goe yea not by strong hand I.V.A. rather than he will not let you goe but by strong hand L.S.B.G. the word is Velo yea not or and not the meaning is that hee will be so obstinate that he will not a great while let you goe though he feele Gods mighty hand Vers. 22. And ye shall spoile Egypt or the Egyptians I.G.S.L. better than robbe the Egyptians B. Naâzal in Piel signifieth to take the spoile as 2. Chron. 20.25 They tooke the spoile to themselves 3. The explanation of doubtfull questions QUEST I. How long Moses kept his father in lawes sheepe what he did in the meane time and to what end he was so exercised Vers. 1. WHen Moses kept the sheepe 1. Concerning the time when this vision here following was shewed to Moses it fell out 40. yeeres after he fled out of Egypt Acts 7.30 about the 80. yeere of his age for so old he was when Moses appeared before Pharaoh Exod. 7.7 which was the same yeere Perer. 2. so that Moses kept his father in lawes sheepe the space of 40. yeeres for he was 40. yeeres old when he visited his brethren Acts 7.23 and now he was 80. yeere old wherein appeareth the singular patience of Moses that was brought ab aula ad caulam from the court as it were to the carte and in this state of life continued forty yeeres Simlerus During which time it is supposed that he wrote the Booke of Genesis and the Booke of Iob for the comfort of his afflicted brethren in Egypt But it is very like that hee gave himselfe to contemplation and much profited in the study of wisedome the grounds whereof he had learned in Egypt Perer. ex Philone 3. And thus it pleased God to exercise Moses in a shepheards life for these causes 1. That by this meanes he might fully bee weaned from the pleasures of Egypt and as it were renounce the world Perer. ex Gregor 2. The pastorall life and discipline was a kinde of introduction to prepare him for the governement which afterward hee tooke upon him as it is in the Psalme Thou didst leade thy people like sheepe by the hand of Moses and Aaron 3. that Gods power might appeare in raising Moses from this contemptible kind of life especially in the opinion of the Egyptians that abhorred all keepers of sheepe to that high place calling and authority to the which he was afterward advanced Simler QUEST II. Of the mount Choreb whether the same with Sinai HE came to the mountaine of God Choreb 1. Iosephus thinketh that mount Choreb and Sinai were all one some thinke they were two mountaines joyning together and that Sinai was the higher Cajetane thinketh that Choreb was the top of the mount Sinai but it is more like that Choreb was the name of that hilly trace or circuit so called of the drinesse or barrennesse wherein the mount Sinai was situated which place as Philo thinketh was full of bushes and that at the bottome of that bushie hill this vision was shewed 2. Moses drave his sheepe thither because there was good store of grasse by reason that the hill was unfrequented because of the reverence and holinesse of the place but the place was not had in such reverence before this vision therefore it is most like that he went thither as to a secret place and more fit for contemplation and that to him thus prepared this heavenly vision appeared Simler Or the Lord might by a secret instinct draw Moses thither where hee purposed to manifest himselfe unto him Perer. 3. It is called the mountaine of God not for any religion which was there placed of old as Iosephus or because of the height and excellencie thereof as such things are so called in Scripture as the cedars of God Psalm 104.16 But it is so named by an anticipation because there the Lord did appeare to Moses at this time and afterward shewed himselfe by visible signe at the delivering of the Law Iun. 4. This hill is famous in Scripture for seven memorable things there done as the vision of the fire in the bush the striking of the rock with Moses rod there Moses lift up his hands when Ioshua prevailed against Amalek there the Law was given Moses fasted fourty dayes and fourty nights and comming downe from thence broke the tables of stone there Helias had that admirable vision set forth 1. Kin. 19. Perer. QUEST III. Of the vision in the bush Vers. 2. THen the Angell of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire cut of the mids of the bush 1. This is one of the three most notable visions of the old Testament the two other were the vision of the ladder shewed to Iacob Gen. 28. The other of the ancient of dayes unto Dan. 7. Pereâ But unto these may be added as not inferiour to the rest the appearing of the Lord in
the Lord and said c. 1. Some as the Hebrewes doe altogether blame Moses in expostulating thus with God and lay upon him an imputation of a grievous sinne and for this cause they say the Lord would not suffer Moses to enter into the land of Canaan But if Moses herein had committed so great an offence the Lord would not have vouchsafed him so gratious an answere 2. Neither yet is Moses altogether to be excused as some thinke that he speaketh not out of his owne sense but in the peoples Augustine thinketh that he uttered not verba indignationis sed inquisitionis orationis words of indignation but of inquisition as desirous to be further instructed 3. But in that Moses was impatient of delay and complaineth that the people were not yet delivered whereas the Lord had before told Moses that Pharaoh would not let them goe at the first this sheweth Moses forgetfulnesse and herein his faith and infirmitie strive together Simler Borrh. QUEST IX How the Lord is said to afflict his people Vers. 22. WHy hast thou afflicted this people 1. God is said to afflict his people not onely because he suffered it to be done for so as Thostatus reasoneth God might as well be said to lie because he permitteth it to be done 2. Neither onely because the message which the Lord sent by Moses to Pharaoh was the occasion of this persecution Perer. 3. But beside that such evils as are punishments of sinne and not sinne may be caused by the Lord as the Prophet saith Shall there bee any evill in a citie and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3.6 The Lord is said to afflict his people as by whose providence their affliction was sent and the Lord directeth the same to his glory the good of his people and the destruction of his enemies Simler 4. Places of Doctrine 1. Doct. The beginning of our calling alwayes most difficult Vers. 23. SInce I came to Pharaoh to speake in thy name he hath vexed thy people c. This people being neere unto their deliverance are more grievously vexed so the beginning of a mans calling and turning to God is alwayes most difficult and Satan seeketh by all meanes to supplant them that are departing from him so it is said in Ecclesiasticus chap. 2.1 My sonne if thou wilt come into the service of God prepare thy soule to tentation Ferus Pererius 2. Doct. The preaching of the law discovereth and reviveth sinne FUrther in that by Moses preaching to Pharaoh he was thereby more incensed and his cruelty increased we see what the preaching of the Law worketh without the Gospell it reviveth sinne and discovereth that which before lay hid as the Apostle saith Sinne tooke occasion by the commandement and wrought in me all manner of concupiscence Rom. 7.8 Ferus not that the law is evill or properly bringeth orth or causeth sinne but mans corrupt nature thereby taketh occasion and rebelleth against the commandement and so sin which before lay hid and secret is made more manifest and beginneth to shew it selfe see Rom. 7.12.13 5. Places of Controversie 1. Conf. Not Protestants but Papists and Romanists the raysers of rebellion and plotters of treason Vers. 1. THen Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh c. thus saith the Lord God of Israel Pererius here upon giveth this note that Moses notwithstanding the unjust vexation of his people doth not cause them to rebellion but goeth in peaceable manner to the King so farre he collecteth well then he proceedeth and very untruly chargeth the Protestants whom he blasphemously calleth Hereticks in this manner Qui specioso quodam obtentu nescio cujus libertatis religionis Evangelicae omnia humana juxtaque divina jura confundentes ac pervertentes rapinis incendiisque ac caedibus sectam suam fundare propagare ac confirmare conati sunt Who by a goodly pretence of I know not what libertie and the religion of the Gospell confounding and perverting all humane and divine lawes endevour by rapines burning and slaughter to establish propagate and confirme their sect Perer. in cap. 5. disput What could be said or devised more maliciously against the profession of the Gospell If one word onely be changed and for Evangelicae put in Pontificiae if for the religion of the Gospell he had said the Popish religion nothing could be uttered more truly For we call the heaven and earth to witnesse that we are free from such imputations of rebellion as the late dayes of the Marian persecution in England can plentifully testifie when many hundred Martyrs willingly laid downe their lives like meeke lambes and patiently committed their bodies to the fire not inciting the people to any insurrection or stirring against their Prince But the Romanists all the dayes of Queene Elizabeth our late Sovereigne of blessed memorie tooke a quite contrarie course they would never suffer her to be at rest but first attempted a rebellion in the North after in Ireland then procured the Spanish nation to enterprise a professed invasion wherein the Lord shewed himselfe our protector from heaven not contented herewith they hatched as cockatrice egges many unnaturall treasons against her sacred person but the Lord preserved his annointed from their wicked conspiracies and granted her in despite of them all to end her dayes in peace Since which time their heads have beene working and have disquieted and endangered the state first by conspiracie of some Popish Priests combined with some more noble in birth than in any other condition or part of true nobilitie And of late by the desperate plot of some miscreant Gentlemen Jebusited by that wicked seed and seminarie of Satan they would have undermined the Parliament house set the same on fire and made an end at once of his sacred Majestie with all his honourable States and Peeres more cruell than Caligula which wished that all the Senators of Rome had but one necke that he might have stricken it off at once Now let all men judge whether these be not the men rather which pervert all humane and divine lawes which with fire and sword would make havocke of all the very enemies of all pietie and humane societie 2. Conf. Against the Epicures that denie the divine providence Vers. 20. WHy hast thou afflicted this people c. This teacheth that afflictions and calamities which are sent upon the people doe proceed from God and are governed by his providence contrary to the wicked opinion of Epicures who did not acknowledge any divine providence in the world but ascribed all to fortune and chaunce like to these whom the Prophet speaketh against Who were frosen in their dregges and said in their heart the Lord will neither doe good nor evill Zephan 1.12 6. Places of Exhortation and morall duties 1. Observ. The neglect of the service and worship of God procureth plagues Vers. 3. LEst he run upon us with the pestilence The neglect then of the service of God
because the Apostle readeth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã our pasch Christ is sacrificed for us 1 Cor. 6.7 Iun. Vatab. QUEST XVII Wherefore it was called the pasch or passeover NOw it was called the Lords pasch 1. Not because of the passing or going over of the Israelites through the red Sea as August seemeth to thinke quòd tunc primùm pascha celebravit populus Dei quando ex Egypto fugientes mare rubrum transierunt because then first the people of God kept the pasch when they fled out of Egypt and passed over the red Sea Tract 55. in Evang. Iohan. For the people kept the pasch and it was so called before they came to the red Sea 2. Neither as Philo thinketh because it was migrationis publicae festivitas a Feast of the publike passage of the Israelites out of Egypt as Nazianzen also thinketh 3. But the reason is given in this place why it is called the pasch for I will passe thorow the land of Egypt the same night and smite all the first borne it was therefore so called of the passing of the Angell over the houses of the Hebrewes and sparing them Perer. 4. But it is here to be noted that there are two words used that signifie to passe over pasach and ghabar but that betokeneth a passing over in mercie to spare the other a passing over the Egyptians houses in judgement to smite Simler QUEST XVIII The divers significations of the word pasch NOw the word pasch is taken to signifie three things in Scripture 1. It betokeneth the paschall Lambe it selfe as 2 Chron. 35.11 They slew the pasch and vers 13. they rosted the pasch at the fire 2. It is taken for the solemnitie it selfe of the pasch for the whole seven dayes of unleavened bread as Act. 3. then were the dayes of unleavened bread then it followeth vers 4. intending after the pasch to bring him i. Peter forth to the people 3. It is used also to signifie the very sacrifices which were offred at the pasch as Deut. 16.2 Thou shalt offer the pasch unto the Lord thy God of thy sheepe and bullocks Perer. 4. But here it is taken in a divers sense from any of these it is called the pasch because it signified and represented unto them the Lords passing over as the next words do shew in the 12. verse Genevens So circumcision is called the Lords covenant Genes 17.13 My covenant shall be in your flesh being onely a Sacramentall signe and seale thereof QUEST XIX What things are generally commanded concerning the keeping of the day of unleavened bread Vers. 15. SEven dayes shall yee eat unleavened bread 1. The Hebrewes had foure kinds of ceremoniall observations the first their sacrifices wherein they offred bullocks sheepe goats lambs calves the second were the holy things which belonged to the Sanctuary as the vessels curtaines Priestly garments as also to this sort belonged their festivals and solemnities the third sort was of their Sacraments which were circumcision and the paschall lambe the fourth more certaine ceremoniall rites which belonged to the cleansing and sanctitie of their persons as in their washings and legall purgations in the choice of meats and garments and such like This observation of unleavened bread belongeth to the fourth sort for it was a principall member and part of the paschall solemnitie Pererius 2. Foure things are here prescribed concerning the eating of unleavened bread First how long they should observe it for seven dayes secondly of the speciall preeminence and solemnitie of two dayes above the rest the first and the seventh with the manner how they should keepe them in abstaining from all worke saving about their meat thirdly the danger and punishment of him that should not observe this rite lastly the cause to put them in mind of their deliverance out of Egypt Simler QUEST XX. Why they were enjoyned to eat unleavened bread THe reasons of this observation of unleavened bread were these 1. They then of necessitie were forced to eat unleavened bread because they had no time to lay leaven as is shewed vers 39. Calvin Perer. 2. But afterward this ceremonie was injoyned to put them in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt when for haste they could not leaven their bread Simler 3. As also to call to their remembrance the great power of God in bringing them out of Egypt when they had no provision for their journey for when men are best provided of secundarie meanes Gods grace is more obscured Calvin 4. As also to put them in mind of sodaine deliverance even before they had thought that God made such speed to deliver them that they had no time to provide bread for God is more readie to bestow his benefits thââ we are to aske them Pellican 5. This also did put them in mind of their bitter and unpleasant servitude in Egypt as unleavened bread is not so pleasant to the taste as leavened Calvin And so God did deliver them from their former sorrow Vatab. 6. It also did move them to consider of Gods providence who nourished them 30. dayes even untill Manna came with that provision of unleavened bread dow which they brought out of Egypt Iosephus For like as the Manna ceased when they did eat of the fruit of the land so when their provision was done it is like that Manna came Pererius QUEST XXI Why seven dayes are limited for the keeping of the Feast of unleavened bread BUt why they were commanded to eat unleavened bread seven dayes the reason is not 1. Either because a finite number is taken for an indefinite as the number of seven is sometime used in Scripture and so these seven dayes did bring to their minde those thirtie dayes wherein they did eat unleavened bread Ioseph Perer. 2. Neither doe these seven dayes so much signifie that at all times they should remember their deliverance even all the yeere long Pellican 3. But this is more likely to have beene the reason thereof because there were so many dayes from the going out of Egypt untill the overthrow of the Egyptians in the red sea untill when their deliverance was not perfect nor they wholly out of danger for then the Lord is said to have saved or delivered Israel from the hand of the Egyptian chap. 14.30 Iun. And that this destruction of the Egyptians in the red sea followed seven dayes after the going of Israel out of Egypt shall be shewed in the 26. quest QUEST XXIII Whether the 14. or 15. day were the first of the seven COncerning the number of these dayes of unleavened bread 1. Neither is Iosephus opinion to bee received who saith Festa per octo dies celebramus quos vocamus azymorum We doe celebrate the Feast eight dayes which we call of unleavened bread for the direct words of the text are against him vers 15. Seven dayes shall yee eat unleavened bread 2. Nor yet is Rupertus reason any thing worth because
the Sabbath which was the seventh day but it is taken for any festivall day of rest and may here bee translated the morrow after the rest Iun. because upon the first day of the pasch they were commanded to rest 5. This they did in presenting their first fruits unto God both for remembrance of that time when they came out of Egypt which was in the moneth Abib the moneth of new fruits as also to stirre them to bee thankfull unto God and to acknowledge him to be the giver and author of their abundance and plentie Pererius QUEST XXVI Whether the seventh day were more solemne than the first Vers. 16. ALso in the seventh day shall bee an holy assemblie Here the solemnitie of the first and seventh day seeme to be alike But Levit. 23.8 the Latine translator readeth thus Dies septimus erit celebrior sanctior The seventh day shall bee more solemne and holy Unto this objection divers answers are framed 1. It is called holier because this day is by speciall words called a day of restraint or of a solemne assemblie Deut. 16.8 Wherein it being the last day of the Feast there was a great assemblie of the people gathered together to praise God So in the same sense the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles is called the great day Ioh. 7.37 2. Others answer that it was greater not in comparison of the first day but of the other comming betweene Lyran. 3. But the best answer is that in the originall there is no degree of comparison but as it is said of the first day there shall be therein an holy convocation so it is said of the seventh Thââe shall bee an holy assemblie or convocation Perer. So here a question is moved questionlesse and needlesse 4. Now the reason why the first and the seventh day were more solemne than the rest may be this because on the first day of the Passeover they went out of Egypt and on the seventh day they passed through the red sea and these two dayes in remembrance of these two great benefits they kept with greater solemnitie this generally is the opinion of the Jewes and the reasons to confirme it may be these two first because as in the first day there was an holy convocation so also was there on the last when Moses and all Israel gave solemne thanks unto God Exod. 15. And beside the manner and order of their travell agreeth thereunto for on the 15. day they came to Succoth on the 17. to Ethom to Pi-hahiroth or the mouth of Chiroth on the 18. day there they staied where Pharaoh overtooke them the 20. and the night following they went over the red Sea Iunius QUEST XXVII Why the seventh day is called a day of restraint Deut. 16.8 BUt whereas it is said Deut. 16.8 on the seventh day of the paschall solemnitie shall be a restraint oâ solemne assemblie where the Latine translator readeth collecta there shall be a collection here ariseth a question about the meaning of these words 1. They which defend this translation some doe expound it of the collection which was made toward the expences of the temple Thomas But against this sense both Lyranus his reason may bee urged because the morrow after the pasch it was lawfull for the people to returne home Deut. 16.7 and therefore it is not like that collection was made after their departure as also Paulus Burgensis sheweth out of the sentence of the Hebrewes that collection was used to be made for the temple throughout all Palestina upon the first day of the twelfth moneth Pererius also alleageth that place 2 Chron. 7.8 that Salomon Fecit die octava collectam Made a collâction upon the eight day but saith he it is not like that so rich a King as Salomon made any collection of mony Therefore Pererius interpreteth it of the solemne collection and gathering together of the people upon that day to give God thanks solemnely and publikely for their mightie and glorious deliverance out of Egypt But all this businesse will soone be at an end if the vulgar Latine interpretation be refused as not so agreeable to the originall word which signifieth rather a restraint as even now shall be shewed 2. The Septuagint also are as wide which doe translate the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the going out because then the Feast was at an end but this is not the meaning of the word though it be true that then the people were dismissed as Salomon upon the eight solemne day of the Feast of Tabernacles sent away the people 1 King 8.66 having kept that day as a time of restraint 2 Chron. 7.7 at even he gave them leave to depart for so these places are reconciled 3. Therefore the meaning rather is that it was a time of restraint the people were kept and restrained from worke upon that day so the word ghatzer signifies to forbid or restraine Lyran. Montan. Iun. And though the first day also were a day of restraint wherein they were forbidden all worke save about their meat yet it seemeth that this was the greater day being the conclusion and determination of the Feast as these two are joyned together the last and great day of the Feast Iohn 7.37 as iâ shewed before QUEST XXVIII Why he which did not eat unleavened bread was to be cut off Vers. 19. THat soule shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel 1. Some doe expound this onely of the capitall punishment that such as neglected or contemned this observation of unleavened bread should be put to death and so is this phrase taken Exod. 30.33 and 31. vers 14. and in other places Simler Piscat But though it be not denied that in some places this phrase to bee cut off from Israel signifieth onely the taking away of the life of the offender as in the places given in instance yet alwayes it is not so taken for Genes 17.14 it signifieth the cutting off from the societie and the communion of the Saints both in this life and in the next as may appeare by the reason there given because he hath transgressed my covenant 2. Neither is it referred onely to the spirituall punishment as Osiander expoundeth this place by that of the Apostle that he which eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh his owne damnation 1 Cor. 11.29 for under the law the punishment of death was used in the like transgressions in the contempt of the law as for violating the Sabbath 3. Therefore this sentence pronounced against such contemners includeth a penaltie both upon the bodie and the soule and of this strict severitie two reasons may be given the one from the authoritie of the law-maker God that gave us both bodies and soules and all other good things beside hath power to make lawes both to binde the bodie and the soule and the contempt of his Commandements is worthie of capitall punishment the other reason is taken from the constitution it selfe
so did this 4. Our fire heateth so did not this for then the campe had never beene able to have indured it being so great a fire as that the whole campe was lightned by it 5. Our fire burneth but the fire sitting upon combustable matter as the covering of the Tabernacle the Curtaines and such like yet devoured them not 3. Beside these reasons the Scripture giveth testimonie hereunto Numb 9.16 it is called March the shew or appearance of fire it appeared as naturall fire yet was no such fire if it had beene properly fire it could not properly be called the appearance of fire 2. It is before shewed out of the Scripture that this firie piller and the cloudie piller were all one but a cloud is no fit subject or receptacle of naturall fire being rather inclined to moysture 4. Then this we affirme that it was a fire not onely so in phantasie and imagination but a fire indeed because it had the light of fire but yet no naturall ordinarie or elementall fire There are three sorts of fire a grosse thicke fire such as is in coales and red hot iron which burneth much but giveth small light there is another which both giveth light and burneth as a flame of fire a third which giveth light and burneth not such as is the starres which are usually called both by Ecclesiasticall and prophane writers coelestes ignes heavenly fires and of this sort was this fire which gave light but neither burned or gave heate God who first gave unto the fire his qualities to burne and give light can restraine the same operations and transferre them into another subject as the Lord in the beginning could cause the light to shine that made the day before the sunne was created and as he gave afterward this glorious light and shining brightnesse to the bodie of the sunne so it was an easie matter with God to give unto this cloud the light of fire being no naturall fire naturally the fire hath three properties to give light heate and to burne these properties the Lord can separate the one from the other and so suspend them from the fire the fire in the bush gave light but burned not the Egyptians fire in the time of the three dayes darknesse burned but gave no light the fierie oven gave light but gave no heate for their garments did not so much as smell of the fire Dan. 3.27 As in the naturall fire God can restraine the naturall properties so God can give the naturall properties thereof to that which is no naturall fire as here the light of fire was in this cloud which yet was no naturall fire QUEST XXVII Whether the piller of the cloud were moved by any naturall motion COncerning the motion of the cloudy and fiery piller that is was not naturall nor yet procured by any naturall cause it is evident by these reasons 1. Vapors and fire have either naturally a motion of their owne in ascending upward or in being violently forced by the aire and winde which motion is alwayes certaine that way which they are driven But this cloud when the campe stood still neither ascended nor descended neither was carried one way or other but continued steadie all in one place 2. This cloâd pointed out the Israelites journey so can no other cloud being of an uncertaine motion 3. It was beyond the ordinarie and naturall motion of a cloud that sometime this piller went before the Israelites sometime it came after as when the Egyptians pursued them sometime it staied in the midst of the campe upon the Tabernacle 4. This cloudie piller moved no faster than the campe could follow wherein were both women and children this could not a naturall cloud doe 5. This cloud was alwayes of one fashion like unto a piller but other clouds varie and alter their forme according either to the varietie of the matter whereof they are made or as they are forced together of the wind 6. But that this piller was not moved by any naturall cause but by the Lord himselfe the Scripture it selfe testifieth as chap. 14.19 The Angell of God which went before the host of Israel removed and went behind them also the piller of the cloud went from before them and stood behind the piller then moved and removed as the Angell of God called before Iehovah chap. 13.22 directed it and therefore it is said Numb 9.18 That at the commandement of the Lord they journied and at the commandement of the Lord they pitched They removed when the cloud removed and the cloud removed at the commandement of God and so consequently they removed or made stay at the commandement of God Perer. QUEST XXVIII Of the times of the removing and staying of the cloud NOw as touching the times of the removing and staying of the cloudie and fierie piller 1. It is not directly expressed that the fierie piller removed more than once in the night and that was when the Egyptians pursued after them Perer. because the night was the fittest time for rest and it seemeth that the campe journeying all the day did ordinarily take their rest in the night the speciall use then of the fierie piller was to give them light in the night that they might bee defended from the inconveniences which the darknesse of the night might have brought upon them it might also serve to direct them to travell in the night if they had occasion as when they went through the red Sea 2. Neither is it to be supposed that when the cloud removed the campe followed and rested not till they came to a place to pitch their tents in for whereas they sometime went forward a whole day together they could not hold out without some repast which could not bee done without stay for neither could they have time to dresse their owne meat which they did sometime seeth sometime bake for beside Manna it is certaine they did eat of other meats as of the flesh of their sheepâ and cattell for part of their sacrifices their Priests did eat and the Offerer had part and to what end else served the heards and flockes of cattell than part for sacrifice but more for food likewise their Manna asked time to grind and bake it and prepare it as they thought good Exod. 16.23 Beside their cattell must have time sometime to feed all this could not be done without some stay therefore at the least once in the day if not twice it is like that the cloud staied that the people might refresh themselves and so goe forward againe 3. Therefore the cloud made three kind of staies one was but for a short time while the campe might refresh themselves the other was longer when they staied all night in a place but pitched no tents as they went three dayes journey from the red Sea till they came to Marah they pitched no tents neither had any mansion place till they came to Marah Exod. 15.22 and Numb 33.7 yet they had
should be comprehended in this word for they were also a kind of nourishment but the flesh and bread here promised were two distinct things as is evident vers 8. 2. Neither is yet bread here taken properly for that which is made of corne for of that kinde Manna was not 3. Therefore the name bread is here taken for that which should be in steed of bread as the foundation and stay of other meates which should serve to strengthen mans heart as bread doth Psalm 104.14 and for that they were to use it as bread in grinding it and baking it and making cakes of it Numb 11.9 Tostat. 4. It is said to raine from heaven because it came downe in the manner of raine or snow out of the aire which is called by the name of heaven as Psal. 8.8 they are called the fowles of heaven 5. And hereby the Lord signifieth the great abundance of this heavenly bread which should overflow and fall every where as the raine that both poore and rich might have enough and in that it came from heaven hee would teach them that although the earth was barren below that he could command the heavens above to nourish them that they should no more be so diffident or distrustfull Ferus QUEST VIII Why they are commanded every day to gather this bread GAther that which is sufficient for every day 1. What this sufficiency was is afterward expressed vers 16. for every one a gomer full Tostat. 2. And as God promiseth to send it so they are required to gather it whereby is signified that although God doe send bread and other necessaries for the sustentation of man yet hee must doe his diligence in the labour and travell of his vocation Ferus 3. And here the Lord promiseth only sufficiencie not superfluity that they should not give themselves to immoderate appetite and gluttony Pellican 4. And further the Lord promiseth bread not for yeeres or moneths but for every day for it selfe that they should depend upon Gods providence day by day Genevens And for this cause the Hebrewes thinke that the seventh yeere of rest was appointed in the law wherein they should neither sow nor reape that as well the rich as poore should that yeere depend upon Gods providence And agreeable unto this rule is that petition in the Lords prayer Give us this day our daily bread where our Saviour teacheth us daily to depend upon God for our food Oleaster QUEST IX How the Lord is said by this to have proved his people and to what end Vers. 4. THat I may prove them 1. This probation of them was not to that end that the Lord should have experience of them for their froward nature was well enough knowne to him but as Augustine saith ut ipsis hominibus ostenderet to make them knowne to themselves and others Tostat. 2. Some referre this probation or triall to that particular law and precept of gathering but a certaine portion of Manna every day to see whether they would beleeve Gods promise and depend upon him Sic Vatab. Borrha Galas Tostat. Rupert 3. Some understand it as well of that precept as of the other not to gather any upon the Sabbath as the Lord tried Adams obedience in that one prohibition not to eat of the forbidden fruit Simler 4. Some will have it taken more largely of all the precepts and commandements touching Manna which were eight in all 1. To gather Manna in the morning 2. To gather that which was sufficient 3. Not to exceede in eating the measure of a gomer 4. Not to leave any till the morrow 5. Upon the 6. day to gather double so much 6. To reserve one gomer for the Sabbath 7. To eat that measure so reserved upon the Sabbath 8. To keepe a gomer of Manna for a monument to posterity Lyranus 5. But it is better to take it in a more generall sense The Lord as hee had tried them before with crosses and adversity so now hee will prove them by his benefits to see whether they will afterward walke in his feare and in obedience before him Sic Ferus Calvin Osiand Pelarg. And thus by this particular benefit God would prepare them to the obedience of his law which should be given afterward Oleaster QUEST X. Why the flesh was given in the evening the bread in the morning Vers. 8. AT even shall the Lord give you flesh to eat c. 1. The reason why both the flesh and bread were not given together as the Ravens brought unto Elias bread and flesh at once both morning and evening 1. King 17. some take to be mysticall Augustine applieth it to Christ who was sacrificed in the evening and rose againe in the morning being the true bread which is given us from heaven Rupertus by the flesh in the evening signifieth the carnall rites of the law by the bread in the morning the faith of the Gospell Ferus by the flesh given in the evening understandeth the incarnation of the Sonne of God in the evening that is toward the end of the world who came to redeeme us and by the bread in the morning when they should see the glory of God the glory of immortality in the next life 2. But leaving these mysticall applications which may be as many and divers as their heads are thaâ devise them some other thinke that the reason was this because these times were best agreeable unto the things the evening was fittest for the fall of the quailes which being wearied by the ââight of the day doe light upon the ground at night and the morning was the fittest time for the Manna which fell with the dew and if it were not gathered betime it melted with the heat of the Sunne Lyranus These reasons are misliked by Tostatus the first because the quailes came not by any naturall instinct but sent of God by an extraordinary wind and the Manna which was hardned by the fire and melted by the heat of the Sunne had not that property by any naturall quality for then it should have melted by any heat whatsoever as we see butter and oyle doth and other liquid things therefore it was a supernaturall quality which was given to Manna to melt with one kind of heat and not with another But Tostatus hath not thus answered Lyranus reason concerning the falling of Manna in the morning for howsoever that were a supernaturall quality in the Manna yet iâ appeareth de facto that it did melt by the heat of the Sunne then was the morning the fittest season to gather it in before the Sunne waxed hot The morning then serving best for Manna what other time could bee âitter for the rayning of flesh than the evening for together they could not come if the flesh had fallen with the Manna it could not have beene gathered 3. But the best solution is which is touched by Lyranus also and subscribed unto by Tostatus that the Lord in sending
is not so lawfull upon any day si autem pro necessitaââ corporis c. But if it be for the necessitie of the bodie we doe not forbid it upon the Lords day for no man hateth his owne flesh 2. If it be a sinne to wash upon the Lords day neither is it lawfull so much as to wash the face Si hoc in corporis parte conceditur cur hoc exigente necessitate toti corpori negatur If this be permitted in one part of the bodie why necessitie so requiring should it be denied to the whole bodie So then neither were the Jewes so strictly bound from all corporall labour as they superstitiously observe as may appeare by Ioshuahs and the whole hosts compassing of Jericho seven dayes together Iosh. 7. and by the Macchabees fighting upon the Sabbath 1 Macchab. 2.41 And Christians have more libertie herein than the Jewes had for it is lawfull for them to prepare their food upon the Lords day which it was not lawfull for the Jewes to doe upon their Sabbath for as Thom. Aquinas well resolveth Opus corporale pertinens ad conservandum salutem proprii corporis non violat Sabbatum A corporall worke belonging to the conservation of the health of ones bodie doth not violate the Sabbath and this is grounded upon that saying of our blessed Saviour The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath Mark 2.27 God would not have the Sabbath which was made for mans benefit to be used to his hindrance Lyranus yeeldeth this reason betweene the strictnesse imposed upon the Jewes and the libertie of Christians quia illa vacatio figuralis erat because their resting was figurative and therefore was most strictly to be kept à figura quantumcunque modico subtracto mutatur tota significatio and take never so little from a figure the whole signification is changed as if you take l. from lapis or s. from stone that which remaineth signifieth nothing but though somewhat be taken from the substance of a stone it is a stone still 4. Conf. Against the Anabaptists that would have no day kept holy unto the Lord. IN the next place are the Anabaptists to be met withall and who else doe condemne the observation of the Lords day among Christians because the Apostle reproveth the Galathians for observing of dayes and moneths Galath 4. and in other places Contra. 1. The observing of dayes is not simply prohibited by the Apostle sed cum opinione cultus vel necessitatis but with an opinion of religion placed in the day and necessity the Jewes kept their Sabbath as making the observation of the day a part of Gods worship and they held it necessary to keepe that day unchangeable It was also unto them a type and figure of the spirituall rest But the Christians now keepe not the Lords day in any of these respects either as a day more holy in it selfe than others or as of necessitie to be kept but onely for order and decencie sake because it is meet that some certaine day should be set apart for the worship of God Vrsin 2. As in the practice of Physicke and in politike affaires and in the trade of husbandrie there is both a lawfull observation of dayes and an unlawfull for to observe seasons of the yeate for the earth and for ministring unto the bodie of man as also to make choice of the most convenient times for civill businesse is not unlawfull yet the superstitious respect of dayes as making some fortunate some unfortunate and to depend wholly upon the aspects of starres is a vaine and idle thing So likewise in the businesse of religion as dayes may bee superstitiously kept so they may also for order sake and to other good uses bee distinguished 3. Like as then though Christians yeeld a comely reverence unto the publike places of prayer yet not in like sort as the Jewes accounted of their Tabernacle so according to the same rule there is a preeminence given unto the Lords day but not with the like difference of dayes as the Jewes esteemed their Sabbath Simler 5. Conf. Against the Zuincfeldians that hold the preaching of the Word superfluous whereby the Lords day is sanctified THe Zuincfeldians doe also faile in the manner of celebrating the Lords day counting the ministery of the Gospell and preaching of the word of God whereby the Lords day is sanctified a superfluous thing cleaving wholly unto their vaine speculations and phantasticall visions and revelations whereas it is evident out of the Scriptures that both the old Sabbath of the Jewes was solemnized and kept in hearing Moses read and preached Acts 15.21 and the Lords day in like sort was sanctified by the Apostles with preaching Acts 20.7 ex Bastingio Now proceed we on to deale against the Romanists who diversly erre as touching the Lords day 6. Conf. That the Lords day is warranted by Scripture and not by tradition onely FIrst they hold that the keeping of the Lords day in stead of the Jewish Sabbath is not warranted by Scripture but onely by tradition from the Apostles To this purpose the Rhemists Matth. 15. sect 3. And there are other beside in these dayes that make the observation of the Lords day onely an Ecclesiasticall constitution Contra. 1. There are three most evident texts of Scripture usually alleaged which doe make it evident that this change of the Sabbath began in the time of the Apostles and so by their Apostolike authoritie being thereto guided by the Spirit is warranted and so declared and testified in Scripture These are the places Act. 20.7 1 Cor. 16.2 Revelat. 1.10 In the first we have the exercises of religion preaching and ministring the Sacraments which were peculiar to the Sabbath transferred to the first day of the weeke In the second publike charitable collections for the poore which was also used upon the Sabbath In the third the very name of the Lords day is set downe 2. And further that this day was consecrated by divine authoritie the great works doe shew wherewith this day from the beginning hath beene honoured as Augustine hath sorted them together Venerabilis est hic dies in quo transgressi sunt filiâ Israel mare rubrum c. This day is to be reverenced wherein the Israelites passed over the red sea wherein Manna first rained upon the Israelites in the desert our Lord was baptized in Jordan water was turned into wine in Cana of Galile wherein the Lord blessed the five loaves wherewith he fed five thousand men wherein he rose againe from the dead entred into the house the doores being shut wherein the holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles c. Serm. 154. 3. This reason also may perswade it because the Lords day is now sanctified to holy uses as the Sabbath was to the Jewes but it belongeth onely unto God to sanctifie by his word as the Apostle saith Every creature is sanctified by the word of God and prayer 1 Tim. 4.5
the law of Christ but that much was permitted and tolerated unto the Jewes onely for the hardnesse of their heart as our blessed Saviour sheweth Matth. 19. 2. Some doe urge the lawes of men and the greater punishments which have beene laid upon women for adulterie rather than upon men and that therefore the sinne of the woman should bee the greater But this sheweth not the greatnesse of the sinne before God but the greater inconvenience that is brought upon the civill and politike state which the lawes of men seeke chiefly to preserve by the adulterie of the woman rather than of the man 3. Some thinke that it is a greater sinne in the man because of his authoritie quia vir caput mulieris because the man is head of the woman and the Apostle biddeth that women if they would learne any thing should aske their husbands at home 1 Cor. 14.35 Est ergo vir doctor mulieris The man then is the womans teacher then as the Priest sinneth more than a lay man because he is his teacher so the man doth more grievously offend than the woman Thomas in opuscul But this proveth not that the sinne of the man simply is greater than the sinne of the woman but in a certaine respect 4. Wherefore the best answer is that the sinne of adulterie in some respects is equall in both sexes and in some other greater both in the one and the other 1. In regard of the law of Matrimonie whereby they have given their faith each to the other the sinne seemeth to be equall for the man hath no more power over himselfe in this behalfe than the woman as S. Paul teacheth 1 Cor. 7.4 and therefore by Moses law as well the adulterer as the adulteresse was to be put to death 2. But in respect of the qualitie and condition of the person because the woman is the weaker vessell and the man is the head of the woman and of the more strength this sinne is greater in the man because hee therein give than evill example to the weaker partie and teacheth her an evill lesson Ecclesiasticus 9.1 3. But the inconveniences considered that follow hereupon as the ignominie and shame of houses the confusion of inheritances and the obtruding of false heires by the adulterie and false play of women their sinne is thought to exceâd Simler Which might be the reason also why among the Jewes the men were permitted to have divers wives but not the women to have divers husbands QUEST IX Whether adulterie be now necessarily to be punished by death SOmewhat here would bee inserted concerning the punishment of adulterie by the sentence of death wherein there are these three opinions 1. Some thinke that adulterie ought to be punished capitally according to the judiciall law of Moses and not otherwise Piscaetor giveth divers reasons hereof but two especially I will single out 1. Delicta temporibus naturam suam non mutant Sinnes doe not change their nature in time 2. Deus naturam suam non mutat Neither doth God change his nature so that he hateth sinne no lesse now than in times past neither will he have it lesse punished Praefat. in Exod. Contra. 1. The nature of sinne is the same though the punishment bee altered adulterie is as grievous before God now as it was under the law but the circumstances as of place and person so also of time may give occasion of aggravating or alleviating the punishment Hee that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath was stoned to death Numb 30. because it was necessarie that the law at the beginning being then newly given should bee established by severitie But yet our Saviour excuseth his Apostles for gathering and rubbing eares of corne upon the Sabbath Matth. 12. Saint Peter pronounced the sentence of death upon Aâamas and Sapphira for deteining part of that which they had given to the Church for the terror and example of others yet now such dissimulation is not held to be worthie of death 2. Neither is God changed by the changing or mitigating the rigour of the law but he removing the same applieth his law according to the different respect of ãâã and persons for as well hee might bee said to be changed in the changing of other ãâã as of the ceremoniall and judicials thereto annexed 4. If all judicials annexed to the Morall law are now to be necessarily retained then the violating of the rest of the Lords day as then of the Sabbath which was in that respect morall should be punished with death and blaspheming and prophaning of the name of God by swearing as Levit. 24.16 which would seeme to be too rigorous 5. And seeing the times of the Gospell are the times of mercie and those under the Law were the times of rigour and severitie to abate somewhat of the rigorous punishments of the Law not leaving sinne unpunished may seeme not unlawfull 2. Another opinion is that adulterie is not at all now to be punished by death for our Saviour would not condemne the woman taken in adulterie Ioh. 8. Contra. 1. Upon that example of Christ it cannot be gathered that it is unlawfull to censure adultery by death for it would follow as well that adultery is not to be punished at all because Christ inflicteth no punishment at all upon her onely this may be inferred that by Christs silence and forbearance it appeareth that the punishment of adultery by death is not necessary for if his will had beene that the rigour of that law should stand in force our Saviour needed not to have feared their trap lest they should have condemned him of rigour and severitie if he had judged her worthie of death and if he had repealed that law they would have accused him as contrarie to Moses 3. This then may bee collected by Christs silence and connivence that it is not necessarie that adulterie should alwayes and in all places be sentenced unto death but rather that it is left indifferent that neither those Churches are to be condemned of too great severitie which follow the president of Moses judicials herein nor yet they are to be accused of too much lenitie which judge adulterie otherwise than by death as they see it best to fit their estate so that the severitie of the punishment be answerable to the quality of the sinne By Moses law they which committed adulterie were to die the death that is if it were duplex adulterium that both the adulterer and adulteresse were married or if the woman were anothers wife Levit. 20.10 otherwise it was not death for a married man beside his wife to have a Concubine or to one wife to take another so shee were not anothers wife What will they thinke now of such single adulterie that would have it revenged by death they have no president in Moses law for the punishing of this kinde of adulterie by death then it is evident that all adulterie by the law of Moses was not adjudged to
first rules of direction there needed not be any law given of them but they are of the second sort so knowne by the law of nature as that many doe doubt of them and doe erre about them 2 The old law was the ministration of death not of it selfe but occasionaliteâ by occasion because it commanded such things as were not in mans power to keepe and so the morall precepâs also did mortifie and kill Quia importabant difficultatem ad conservandum ea Because they did bring in a difficultie or rather impossibilitie to keepe them therefore in this respect there was no difference betweene the old law and the Morall law Tostat. quast 32. QUEST VIII Of the perfection and sufficiencie of the morall law BEside it will be thus objected against the sufficiencie of the morall law 1. Because the law prescribeth onely duties concerning God and our neighbour it speaketh nothing of the sinnes of man toward himselfe 2. It forbiddeth perjurie whereas blasphemie and heresie were as needfull to be forbidden 3. The precept of the Sabbath is expressed whereas there were many other festivities as of the Passeover Pentecost and others which the Israelites were bound to keepe 4. The dutie toward parents is commanded but not the love of parents againe to their children 5. The inward act of murther is not forbidden as the inward act of adulterie namely concupiscence therefore there is not a sufficient enumeration in the morall law of all morall duties Contra. 1. That the Morall law is perfect and every way sufficient it appeareth first by the generall contents thereof in prescribing all kinde of duties both toward God and man For first as three things are to bee performed to terrene governours namely fidelitie reverence and obedience so likewise the like duties but in an higher nature and degree are required toward God 1. Fidelitie in acknowledging him our onely God which is commanded in the first and second precept 2. Reverence in the third not to prophane his glorious name 3. Obedience and service which is performed in consecrating the seventh day wholly unto Gods worship Toward our neighbour our duties are either speciall toward those to whom we are bound by any speciall kinde of benefit as we are to our parents and superiours which is required in the fift precept or generally toward all in forbearing to doe them any hurt first either in deed as in their single person concerning their life or their coupled person touching their wife or in their goods we must not steale either in word where false witnesse bearing is forbidden either in heart as in the tenth Commandement There can be no dutie rehearsed appertaining to God or man which is not comprehended under some of these therefore the Decalogue containeth a perfect law 2. Now for answer to the objections in particular 1. It was not necessarie that any particular precept should bee given as touching the duties of man toward himselfe both because nature is not so corrupted in such duties but that a man still retaineth love to himselfe as it is in our love toward God and our neighbour ãâã also for that the rule of our love toward another is taken from a mans love toward himselfe he shall love his neighbour as himselfe therefore this is presupposed as granted of all and as a ground of the rest that a man loveth himselfe 2. The law giveth instance of the more generall and notorious transgressions such as at the first would be acknowledged of all and therefore because perjurie is more generall and more easily discerned than blasphemie or heresie under that the rest are understood 3. The other festivals were memorials of particular benefits which concerned the Israelites onely as the passeover and feast of Tabernacles of their deliverance out of Egypt but the Sabbath is a memoriall of the generall benefit of the creation which concerneth all nations therefore this precept concerning the Sabbath onely of all other festivals was onely to be inserted in the morall law 4. The love of parents toward their children though it be naturall yet the dutie of children toward their parents is more agreeable to the law of nature and the contrary namely their disobedience more unnaturall and therefore instance was to bee given in this rather than in the other and beside the names of father and sonne being Relatives the duties of each toward other are reciprocall and one may bee inferred upon the other 5. The concupiscence is expressely forbidden rather than the first motion of anger and revenge 1. Because it is harder to resist the motion of concupiscence than of rage and revenge and wee are more apt to sinne by that than this 2. Because the inward wrath and purpose of revenge Nâscitur ex concupiscibili beginneth with a desire for there are two things in revenge ipsa persequntiâ id quod persequimur that which we pursue and pursuit it selfe that which we pursue we judge to be evill and so hate it but the action of pursuit we thinke to be good namely to seeke revenge and so we thinke it good and desire it Seeing then all kinde of coveting and desire is forbidden even that also is included from the which rage and revenge taketh beginning but in the other kinde of coveting when wee propound unto our selves an object of some delectable or profitable good both the thing which is pursued with desire is judged good and the action it selfe of pursuing it with desire Sic fere Tostat. quast 24. But the better answer is why the first motion of anger is not expressely forbidden as of concupiscence because anger never riseth but with the consent of the will and therefore being a voluntarie motion it belongeth to the other precept Thou shalt not kill but concupiscence which is involuntarie and hath not the full consent of the will is forbidden in the tenth precept See more of this difference before quâst 1. QUEST IX Of the abrogation of the law NExt unto this question of the perfection of the law it followeth to consider of the perpetuitie and continuance of it for in some places the Scripture testifieth that Christ came to fulfill the law not to destroy it Matth. 1.17 and some where againe it so speaketh as though the law were abrogated aâ Rom. 6.14 Yee are not under the law but under grace Heb. 7.12 If the priesthood be changed there must of necessitie be a change of the law For the solution hereof thus much is to be added here though this question partly be touched before 1. First then concerning the ceremoniall law which was prescribed unto the Jewes to be observed in the worship of God it is wholly abrogated 1. Because the bodie being come the shadow must give place but all those ceremonies in their sacrifices purifications festivals and the rest were shadowes the bodie is Christ Coloss. 2.17 Ergo. 2. Those ceremoniall observations were tied unto a certaine place first to the Tabernacle then to the Temple
slaine and in the other that it is no breach of the Sabbath when necessitie compelleth to breake the rest thereof 1. This were a dispensation to make it lawfull to kill where one cannot justly be put to death and to worke upon the Sabbath where there is no necessitie 2. And a dispensation maketh that lawfull afterward which was not before such dispensation but it was alwayes lawfull both for the Magistrate to put to death and upon like necessitie to intermit or suspend the rest of the Sabbath 3. Beside these interpretations and declarations of these lawes are not devised by man but warranted in Scripture by the Lord himselfe the maker and author of the law and therefore they are not interposed by any humane authoritie Tostat. quast 35. 4. Morall observations 1. Observ. Why covetousnesse is to be taken heed of THou shalt not covet c. Men must not onely withdraw their hands from taking their neighbours goods but restraine their inward coveting and desire and that for these reasons 1. Propter concupiscentiae infinitatem because concupiscence is infinite the desire of the covetous is never satisfied as Isay 5.8 They joyne house to house c. till there be no more place 2. Aufert quietem it taketh away quietnesse Eccles. 5.11 The satiââie of the rich will not suffer him to sleepe 3. Facit divitias inutiles it maketh riches unprofitable Hee that loveth riches shall be without the fruit thereof Eccles. 5.9 4. Tollit justitiââquitatem it hindreth justice For rewards doe blind the wise and pervert the words of the just Exod. 23. 5. Necat charitatem it killeth charitie both of God and our neighbour therefore the Prophet saith Hide not thy selfe from thine owne flesh Isay 58.7 The covetous despiseth his brother who is as his owne flesh 6. Producit omnem iniquitatem it bringeth forth all iniquitie as S. Paul saith 1 Tim. 6.10 The desire of money is the root of all evill Thom. in opuscul 2. Observ. Of the remedies against concupiscence THe remedies against concupiscence are these Basil assigneth these two 1. Si cogitaveris quòd dissolvendus es in terram cessabit insana concupiscentia c. If thou bethinke thy selfe that thou shalt bee dissolved into earth unsound concupiscence will cease 2. Meliorum desiderium minora cogit contemâere The desire of better things will make thee contemne the lesse as the love to the Word of God which is more to be desired than gold will withdraw our love from earthly things Basil. in regula Thomas Aquiâ addeth foure remedies beside 3. Occasiones exteriores fugiendo By shunning all externall occasions as Iob made a covenant with his eyes chap. 31.1 4. Cogitationibus aditum non praebendo In giving no way to the thoughts as by humbling and afflicting the bodie as S. Paul did 1 Corinth 9.27 5. Orationibus insistendo By applying prayer as our blessed Saviour saith that even devils may bee cast out by fasting and prayer Matth. 17.21 6. Licitis occupationibus insistendo c. By being alwayes well occupied for idlenesse brought the Sodomites to lust it was one of their sinnes Ezech. 16.49 Thom. in opuscul 3. Observ. How the Lord hath punished the transgressors of his law THou shalt not covet In the last place I will shew how the Lord hath punished and judged the transgressors of this precept and likewise of the rest The punishment then which is due for the transgression of the law is either divine or humane The humane is that which is inflicted by the lawes of men which are divers according to divers usages of countries and conditions of people among whom one vice may reigne more than another and so more severitie is required But this defect generally is found in humane censures that the transgressions of the second table are more severely punished than those of the first and those in the second which doe concerne mans outward state as theft are more straightly punished than adulterie which Augustine found fault with in his time and he giveth this reason of this partialitie Quia id pejus credimus quod huic vitae nocet Because we thinke that the worse or greater evill which hurteth this life Lib. de Mendac cap. 9. The divine punishment is of two sorts it is either temporall in this life or eternall in the next And for the first where humane lawes are silent or connivent in censuring the sinnes of men yet the divine justice sheweth it selfe As now shall appeare in this particular enumeration of divers presidents and examples of Gods severitie exercised and shewed upon the transgressors of his law 1. Pharaoh is set forth as an example of an Atheist and prophane person who would not acknowledge the God of Israel but said I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel goe Exod. 5.2 who manifestly transgressed the first precept his end was to be drowned in the red Sea 2. Senacherib a most grosse Idolater as he was worshipping his Idoll Nisroch in the temple was slaine of his two sonnes 2 King 19.37 3. He which blasphemed the name of the Lord in the host of Israel was by the Lords commandement stoned to death Levit. 24.11 4. The man also which gathered sticks upon the Sabbath because he did it with an high hand and is contempt was stoned by Gods appointment Numb 15.31 5. Abshalom both a disobedient childe to his father and a rebell against his Prince was hanged by the haire of the head and stricken through with darts and so is made a spectacle unto all stubborne children and rebellious subjects that such should expect the like judgement at Gods hand 6. Cain for killing his innocent brother was cast out of Gods presence and made a runnagate upon the face of the earth Cruell Abimelech as he slew 70. of his brethren upon one stone so his braines were dasht out with a stone Iudg. 9. 7. Ammon an incestuous person was slaine by the procurement of his owne brother Abshalom for the deflouring of his sister Thamar 2 Sam. 13. That whore and strumpet Iezabel was eaten and devoured of dogges 1 King 21.23 2 King 9.22.35 And as adulterie is an abomination to the Lord the punishment whereof God reserveth to himselfe where the Magistrates hand is not extended as the Apostle saith Heb. 13.4 Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge So the sinne of drunkennesse and glutâonie shall not escape the stroke of Gods hand as being the nurserie and seminarie of filthinesse and uncleane lust Drunken Nabal for that sinne and others joyned withall was smitten of the Lord and died 1 Sam. 25.38 And that rich Glutton who pampred himselfe but was mercilesse toward poore Lazarus was tormented in hell Luk. 16. And here I cannot omit to make mention of a strange judgement of God shewed of late upon three persons for this sinne of excessive drinking which happened upon the 27. day of December last being the Lords day next after the Nativitie in the towne
he were a mercenarie man or an hireling then he together with the master that set him aworke are joyntly to beare the losse because it was in his power to have refused Tostat. So then not onely he that maketh such a pit and leaveth it uncovered but he that also caused it are punishable by this law Iun. 3. But in this other point R. Salomon his opinion is very probable that this law must be understood of such pits as were made in such common and usuall places where cattell used to goe not of such as were digged in solitarie and unfrequented places as in the mountaines for then it was a meere chance if any such casualtie happened Tostat. Lyran. Neither can this law take place now when men have their severall and divided grounds wherein they make their pits and wels which divisions were not so usuall among the Israelites then Gallas 4. Though mention be made onely of the oxe and asse that shall fall into the pit yet there is the same reason of other cattell as of sheepe and goats Lyran. But there is a greater doubt what should bee done if a man and woman should perish by such meanes Simlerus seemeth to be of opinion that the owner or maker of the pit should be punished in this case as if hee had not kept his oxe that used to goare But the life of man is of greater value than to be taken away where there is no direct law but by a kinde of consequent If indeed any man should of purpose leave open a well to intrap his brother here he is guiltie of wilfull murther because he lay in wait for his brother and therefore was to die for it according to the law vers 14. But if the pit bee left open of negligence in this case the digger of the pit shall not make satisfaction for the life of a man as for a beast there decaying because a man in his reason and discretion could better prevent the danger of falling into the pit than a bruit beast 5. Gregorie doth thus mystically applie this law Quid est aperire cisternam nisi sacra scriptura arcaâ penetrare c. What is it to open a well but to search into the Arke of the sacred Scripture Subliââs sensus coram non capientibus silentiâ contegat Let him cover with silence the high and secret sense before those which cannot conceive them otherwise he shall be guiltie si per verba ejus mens in scandalum c. if by his words the simple minde of the hearer shall be scandalized Gregor 17. moral cap. 13. 6. Thomas doth thus moralize Then one giveth occasion of falling to another which is to fall into the pit quando facit aliquid vel dicit minùs ratum when hee doth or saith any thing which is not right whereby occasion is ministred to another of falling Thom. quodlibet 4. art 23. ad 3. QUEST LXX How the live and dead oxe are to be divided where they were not of equall value Vers. 35. IF a mans oxe hurt his neighbours oxe c. they shall divide c. 1. This is not meant of the oxe onely but of other cattell also as if one mans ramme kill another à parte totum intelligendum est by one part the whole is to be understood August quaest 82. in Exod. 2. And this law is most equall because it cannot be knowne which of them first assaulted the other the one being not knowne to push more than the other that both the live dead should be equally divided Simler The like law the Romans had in the 12. tables that if ones beast hurt another the owner should make it good or deliver the beast Gallas 3. But this division must bee understood where the beasts are of equall value otherwise there should be wrong done to one of them As if the dead oxe were worth six pound and the live oxe but two pound if both should be divided then he that was owner of the live oxe should receive foure pound twice so much as his oxe were worth and the other should lose two pound in the price of his beast the meaning then is that an equall division should be made where the oxen are equall in value and the losse in the dead oxe to bee equally borne by them both as if the live oxe bee worth six pound and the dead oxe was worth as much being alive but now is valued at foure pound then either of them both the oxen being sold should have five pound a peece and so each of them should beare 20.s. losse Lyran. But where the value was unequall first the price must bee made up in money where the oddes was and then the rest divided as if the live oxe were worth 12. sicles and the dead oxe worth but six alive and foure now he is dead these being now both sold make 16. sicles in all of this summe first six sicles must be given unto the owner of the live oxe to make up the equall value of the dead oxe which was worth but six then the residue being ten sicles should bee divided to each of them five sicles and so the losse should bee indifferently borne betweene them Tostat. quaest 32. 4. To know then how an equall division may bee made when the beasts are of unequall value these rules must be observed 1. Si non perdit uterque aequaliter âf both doe not lose alike the owner of the live beast and the owner of the dead the division is not equall Tostat. quaest 33. Medietas damni debet poni super unum c. The halfe of the losse must bee laid upon one and the other halfe upon the other Lyran. As if the live oxe be worth 12. sicles and the dead oxe was worth but six being alive and now is sold for foure here are two sicles lost which must bee equally borne betweene them so that the owner must have five sicles and so he loseth but one 2. Another rule is that if either of the owners receive more for the live or dead oxe than it was worth being alive the division is not good as in the former example if the owner of the live oxe should have above 12. sicles or the owner of the dead above six 3. If the owner of the dead oxe have lesse allowed him than his dead oxe is worth as if hee should receive but three sicles when the dead carcase is sold for foure 4. If the owner of the dead oxe receive as much for the dead as he was worth alive as namely six sicles whereas he is worth but foure the division is unjust for now the whole losse of two sicles should lie altogether upon the owner of the live oxe Tostat. quaest 33. 4. Places of Doctrine 1. Doct. Of keeping the seventh day of rest holy unto God Vers. 2 IN the seventh yeare he shall goe out free Consider here Quali affectu Deus diem septimum prosequatur c.
how the Lord is affected to the seventh day of rest that in remembrance thereof he also privileged the seventh yeare for the freedome of servants and the fiftieth yeare of Jubile Oleaster Whereby we are taught religiously to consecrate unto Gods honour the seventh day 2. Doct. Of Gods providence even in such things as seeme to fall out by chance Vers. 13. BVt God hath offred him into his hand Discamus non casuâ aut fortunae istos occursus attribuere sed providentiae supremi Iudicis c. Let us learne saith Cajetane hereupon to attribute such occurrents not unto chance or fortune but unto the providence of the highest Judge Even these accidents which seeme to fall out by chance are ruled and governed by the providence of God as our blessed Saviour saith that even our haires are numbred and therefore nothing can happen unto us otherwise than as God disposeth 3. Doct. The fact is to be measured by the minde of the doer Vers. 13. IF a man have not laid wait Vides externa facta non esse judicanda juxta externam facti speciem c. You see that outward facts are not to bee judged according to the externall shew sed juxta internum facientis animum but according to the inward minde and purpose of the doer Lippom. As God saith to Abimelech when he had taken Sara Abrahams wife I know that thou didst this even with an upright minde Genes 21.6 4. Doct. In all wrongs there must be satisfaction and restitution made Vers. 19. HE shall beare his charges The injurie must be freely forgiven but yet there must be recompence and satisfaction made for the losse and hindrance so likewise vers 34. The owner shall make it good The law sheweth that restitution must be made for the hurt and damage made unto another Oleaster Therefore a man cannot looke for remission of his trespasse from God which he hath committed against his neighbour where he refuseth to make him amends it being in his power so did just Zachtus restore fourefold whatsoever he had wrongfully gotten Luk. 19.8 5. Places of confutation 1. Confut. Of the Anabaptists that denie the use of the sword unto the Civill Magistrate Vers. 14. THou shalt take him from mine Altar that he may die This place doth authorise and warrant the lawfull power of the Civill Magistrate in the use of the sword against the error of the Anabaptists which would altogether deprive the Magistrate of it urging that place in the Gospell Matth. 5.39 I say unto you resist not evill But here our blessed Saviour repealeth not the law of Moses An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but onely reverseth the corrupt exposition of the Pharisies which by this text would give warrant unto privat men to seeke their owne revenge whereas the law giveth this power onely unto the Civill Magistrate So the Apostle also saith that the Magistrate heareth not the sword for nought for he is the minister of God to take vengeance on him that doth evill Rom. 13.4 2. Confut. Against the Papists that would exempt Ecclesiasticall persons from the Civill power Vers. 14. THou shalt take him from mine Altar Even the Priest ministring at the Altar if he had committed wilfull murther might be taken from thence and put to death by the Magistrate as R. Salomon noteth wherein appeareth the soveraigne right and power which then the Civill Magistrate had over the Priests of the law which Tostatus granteth but he saith that herein there was great difference betweene the Priests of those times and of ours and thereupon he putteth this note in the margen Nota differentiam inter Sacerdotes veteris Testamenti nova legis note a difference betweene the Priests of the old Testament and of the new law Tostat. quaest 16. Contra. 1. But herein is no difference at all for the Ministers of the Gospell are no more exempted now from the Civill power than the Priests were then for the Apostle saith Let every soule be subject to the higher power Rom. 13.1 In this generall speech none are excepted yea our blessed Saviour who might have pleaded a greater privilege in this behalfe then any refused not to pay tribute for avoiding of offence Matth. 17.27 See more of this question Synops. Centur. 1. err 98. 3. Confut. Against the great abuse of Popish Sanctuaries FRom mine Altar This sheweth that the Temple and Altar as also the Cities of refuge were privileged places for some kinde of offenders though not for wilfull murtherers Here then somewhat would be inserted concerning the great abuse of Sanctuaries and privileged places in times past 1. Concerning the beginning and first occasion of them it is grounded upon and derived from the judiciall constitutions of Moses who by Gods appointment assigned certaine Cities of refuge for some offenders to flee unto but not for all malefactors from Moses the Gentiles seemed to borrow the like custome in giving immunitie and privilege to some places As in Athens Hercules nephewes builded the Temple of Mercie and obtained for the same this privilege that they which fled thither for succour should not by violence be taken thence In Rome Remus and Romulus betweene the tower and the Capitol appointed a place of refuge called intermontius betweene the hilles after that the Temples and Altars and then the images of the Emperours were privileged to give protection to those which fled thither for succour And from this example came the like immunities which were given afterward to the Churches of Christians which was afterward enlarged unto Church-yards and Monasteries As this reason is alleaged in the Imperiall constitutions of Theodos. and Valentin that because the Gentiles gave such honour to their Idoll temples c. Quantum oportet praesidii ad sacratissimas aras confugientibus praestare How much reliefe ought we to yeeld to those which flie to the most holy Altars The same reason is yeelded Concil Matiscin 2. can 8. Simundani Principes suis legibus censuerunt c. If worldly Princes have decreed by their lawes that whosoever did flee unto their images should be without hurt how much should he remaine undemnified qui suae gremium matris Ecclesia petierit c. which goeth to the bosome of his mother the Church 2. Now for the convenient and necessarie use of such Sanctuaries and privileged places these reasons are brought 1. That they which were innocent as in the case of involuntarie killing might rescue themselves from the rage of the pursuers 2. They which were oppressed by unequall Judges might finde shelter here till either the Judges wrath were appeased or a more indifferent Judge found 3. Such places served for the reliefe of servants that were cruelly handled of their masters 4. And for such as were endebted and were pursued of their cruell creditours and exactours 5. And in time of warre such places were of speciall use that they which fled thither might be preserved from the sword As
money or stuffe to keepe c. As God would have his people to be faithfull in keeping and restoring such things as were committed to their trust so much more should we shew our faithfulnesse in these things quae ipse apud nos deponit which he committeth unto our trust and credence as in using well to his glorie the gifts and graces which we have received as S. Paul saith to Timothie That worthie thing which was committed unto thee keepe through the holy Ghost 2 Tim. 1.14 Marbach This also may be applied unto that care and faithfulnesse which Pastors ought to shew in diligent feeding of the Lords flocke committed unto them Simler 2. Observ. Experience of misery causeth us to pittie the miserable Vers. 21. FOr ye were strangers Optima pietatis magistra experta indigentia c. Our owne experience of want and necessitie is the best instructer and teacher of mercie Oleaster They then which have beene in miserie themselves and know not how to pitie others in the like case shew themselves to be of a vile nature and of an hard and cruell disposition the Scripture saith of Christ himselfe In that hee suffred and was tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted Heb. 2.18 3. Observ. Against cruell Creditors that keepe their debtors in prison Vers. 27. FOr it is his covering onely If the law judge it a cruell thing to take a mans covering for a pledge which should keepe him from the cold of the night how much doth their crueltie exceed which cast their poore debtors into prison there to lie in cold iron naked and hungrie without comfort Simler Which hard dealing is reproved in the parable in him that cast his fellow servant in prison for debt not to come out thence till he had paid it Matth. 18.30 CHAP. XXIII 1. The Method and Argument THere are two parts of this Chapter 1. Certaine lawes are propounded first Civill to vers 10. then Ecclesiasticall from thence to vers 19. 2. Then followeth a generall exhortation to obedience to Gods Commandements thence to the end of the Chapter The Civill lawes are of two sorts either generall concerning all sorts of men to vers 6. or speciall touching the office of Judges vers 6. to 10. The generall likewise are either of particular politicke duties namely these foure 1. Not to receive a false rumour 2. Not to be a false witnesse 3. Not to follow a multitude to pervert the truth 4. Not to be partiall in an unjust commiseration toward the poore in his cause vers 3. either of the generall duties of charitie as what is to be done toward ones enemies oxe or asse being found going astray or lying under his burthen vers 4 5. The speciall lawes concerning a Judge are these 1. Not to overthrow a poore mans right vers 6. 2. Not to heare a false matter 3. Not to condemne the innocent vers 7. 4. Not to receive rewards vers 8. nor to oppresse strangers vers 9. The Ecclesiasticall lawes follow of two sorts 1. Concerning the festivall times 1. Of the yeare of rest vers 10 1. 2. Of the day of rest vers 12. 3. Of the three feasts of the yeare to vers 17. 2. Then follow certaine lawes belonging to the service of God 1. Of their appearing before God 2. Of leavened bread 3. Of the fat of the sacrifices 4. Of the first fruits 5. Of not âââthing the kid in the dammes milke to vers 19. The second part containeth an exhortation to obedience 1. Concerning their state present that they should be obedient to the Angell which conducted them which was Christ Jesus with two reasons thereof 1. From the feare of those judgements and revenge which the Angell should otherwise take of them vers 21. 2. From the benefits which he should procure for them if they did obey vers 22.23 2. Then he sheweth how they should walke in the service of God afterward when they were come into the land of Canaan and root out all Idolatrie vers 24. which exhortation is strengthened with divers promises 1. Of plentie 2. Of health 3. Of fruitfull ãâã 4. Of the casting out of their enemies before them with the meanes whereby vers 28. and the manner how by little and little vers 29 30. 5. Of the dilating of their borders vers 31. with removing two impediments thereof the making of covenant with the Canaanites and suffering of them to dwell among them 2. The divers readings Vers. 1. Thou shalt not carrie a false report I.A. better than thou shalt not receive L.S.V.G.P.G. nasha signifieth the first rather here because in that sense as well the author as reporter of a false tale is here reproved as Thou shalt not have to doe with any false report B. Vers. 2. Thou shalt not follow the mightie I. So Oleaster better than the many or the multitude B. G. cum caeter rabbius signifieth both the mightie and many the first rather because of the opposite part in the next verse dal the poore which is set against the mightie Vers. 5. Thou shalt put it downe with it I. better than wilt thou leave it with him V. A. with an interrogation for lawes use not to be set forth interrogatively or thou shalt helpe him up with it B. G. cum câter the word ghazab signifieth to leave lay aside not to helpe so also Oleaster See the question following upon this verse Vers. 8. Gifts blind the seeing B.V.A.P.I.S. better than the wise L.C.G. the word is pikechim the seeing that is the wise that is the sense but not the interpretation Vers. 24. Thou shalt not bow thee downe to their gods I. A. P. better than bow downe to c. for the verbe is in hithpael or than thou shalt not worship their gods or idols V.L. cum cater for shacah signifieth to bow downe and the preposition â lamed signifieth to 3. Questions discussed QUEST I. Of raysing or reporting false tales Vers. 1. THou shalt not report a false tale 1. Some doe read Thou shalt not receive because the word nasha doth as well signifie to beare and sustaine as raise and lift up So read the Chalde Septuagint Latine with others Oleaster Lyranus Calvin also and Simlerus doe preferre this sense But it is better translated Thou shalt not raise a false tale Iun. As the like law is given Levit. 19.16 Thou shalt not walke about with tales and this generally comprehendeth as well the first author of a false report as the bearer and carier and so Lippoman also interpreteth well Non siâ author falsi rumeris aut fingas in cerdo c. Be not the author of a false report or faine it in thine heart c. 2. Some doe referre it to the person of the Judge that he should not punish any because of an evill report spread of him Osiander Or Vt non audiatur una pars in absentia alterius c. That one part should not be heard in
is not to play the Jew but a Christian may as lawfully doe it as to sweare upon the Gospels or any other part of the divine Scriptures 2. Dare favorem errori Iudaeorum c. To give way or shew favour unto the errour of Jewes is sinne but a Christian swearing upon the Thora should give way unto the Jewish errour Ergo. Answ. To sweare upon the Thora where any scandall or offence may grow unto the weake or any occasion of hardning to the Jew it is unlawfull yet this sheweth not but that where no such danger is simply so to take an oath is not unlawfull 3. To make this a lawfull act then for a Christian to take an oath upon the Jewes Thora these things must be considered 1. If he sweare upon it not as upon any other booke of the same contents that is comprehending the five bookes of Moses but as it is a monument of the Jewes bound up in silke and laid up in their Synagogue so is it not lawfull because to be addicted to such superstitious observations is sinne 2. Though there be no difference betweene their Thorah which is written in Hebrew and our Pentateuch in Latine or English in respect of the substance but one indifferently may lay his hand upon the one or the other for there is no difference of languages before God yet if a man make difference in his owne opinion thinking the one not as lawfull as the other herein he should offend doing against his owne conscience 3. Or if an Hebrew should require a Christian to sweaâe upon his Thorah rather than upon the Gospels it were not lawfull for hereby we should confirme him in his errour 4. Or if one Christian should require another to sweaâe rather upon the Jewish Thorah than upon the Gospels it were not safe so âo doe because such an one giveth occasion of suspition that he doth not firmely and stedfastly beleeve the contents of the Gospell 5. But if a Christian of himselfe without any such motion made by another doe willingly take his oath upon the Thorah either of necessity because there is no other booke of Scripture present or because he maketh no difference betweene one booke of Scripture and another he may doe it lawfully so it be done without offence unto others Sic Tostat. quaest 16. QUEST XXIX That it is not lawfull for a Christian to sweare upon the Turkes Alcaron or Mahomets thigh nor for a Turke himselfe BUt though a Christian may sweare upon the Jewes Thora the former considerations being observed yet is it altogether unlawfull for him to sweare either upon Mahomets thigh which is kept as an holy relique among the Saracens and Turkes or upon their Alcaron 1. The first is evident because this being a morall precept to sweare by the name of God only and not by the name of any strange gods bindeth all beleeving people for ever now to sweare by Mahomets thigh is to sweare by a strange god and therefore it is unlawfull as well for the Jew as the Christian to take such an oath seeing they are both bound to keepe the morall precepts and Commandements Tostat quaest 19. 2. The other also is unlawfull as it may thus be shewed for an oath is made three wayes either ãâã God alone without any other externall signe or symboll which is a lawfull and sufficient oath or by the creature alone which is an unlawfull oath for so the glory which is onely due unto God should be given unto the creature or by God and some creature together with reference unto God as when in taking an oath the hand is laid upon a booke But such a creature is used as an externall symboll in an oath as in quo nihil est mendacii wherein there is no lye and it must immediat è nos ducere in cognitionem Dei bring us immediatly to the knowledge of God therefore we lay not our hand upon a stone because it hath no instruction in it as a booke hath But the Gospell hath both these properties there is no falsehood or untruth in it and it doth bring us immediatly and directly to the knowledge of God The Turkes Alcaron hath neither for both it containeth many falsehoods fables and untruths and it can never bring us to the knowledge of the true God having many errours in it So then a Christian taking his oath upon the Alcaron thereby should confesse all to be true which is there contained and so blaspheme God and beside give great offence unto Christians and so secondly his brethren therefore it were better for a Christian to chuse rather to dye than to take such a blasphemous oath Tostat. qu. 20. The like judgement is to be given of the Jewes Talmud which containeth many fables and blasphemies against Christ. And for the same reasons before alleaged even a Turke or Saracen sinneth in taking an oath upon Mahomets thigh though he directly make it not God because he useth such an unholy superstitious and abominable thing in taking of a sacred oath likewise he offendeth in swearing upon his Alcaron which containeth abominable lies and the same most pernicious even concerning the end of all our happinesse in blessednesse in the next world which their Alcaron placeth and maketh to consist in the carnall pleasures of eating and drinking and the use of women Tostat. quaest 21 22. QUEST XXX Why three feasts are only named wherein they had more Vers. 14. THree times thou shalt keepe a feast unto mee in the yeere 1. They had divers other festivall dayes beside these three which are here named the Pasch called the feast of unleavened bread Pentecost named the feast of first fruits and the feast of Tabernacles called here the feast of gathering fruits in the end of the yeere which said three feasts are not named because they were more strictly observed than the rest for the Sabbath was more straitly kept wherein it was not lawfull to kindle a fire Exod. 35.3 nor consequently to doe any worke about preparing of their meat neither in the feast of reconliation was it lawfull to doe any worke at all Levit. 23.28 whereas in other feasts only servile workes are forbidden and in the feast of the Passeover such workes as were about their meat and drinke were permitted Exod. 12.16 But therefore are these three feasts named because in them onely the people were bound to come up before the Lord. 2. And these three were speciall feasts above the rest for these causes 1. Because in them onely the people were required to appeare before the Lord. 2. Speciall oblations were offered in these feasts In the Passeover was offered a sheafe of the first fruits Levit. 23.10 in the feast of Pentecost they presented the first fruits of their wheat harvest faire flower baken with leaven Levit. 23.17 And in the feast of Tabernacles they were commanded to make them boothes of boughes ibid vers 40. 3. Those feasts excelled the other in respect of the
covenant with Abraham and he had divided certaine beasts as God had commanded him and laid one part against another a smoaking firebrand went betweene representing God signifying that so he should be divided which violated the covenant So in this place not much unlike the bloud is parted in twaine shewing that so should his bloud be shed which kept not the covenant Tostat. qu. 11. QUEST XVIII Whether all the people were besprinkled with the bloud Vers. 8. THen Moses tooke the bloud and sprinkled it on the people c. 1. Some thinke that the people themselves were not sprinkled with the bloud for that had beene both too great a labour for Moses to goe in and out among the people to sprinkle them neither would the bloud have sufficed therefore either the twelve pillars were sprinkled with bloud which stood for the people or else the Elders were besprinkled in the name of the whole people as sometime they did represent the whole congregation as Deut. 21.6 Iun. Contra. 1. It is not like that the bloud was sprinkled upon the pillars for Moses saith This is the bloud of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you but with the pillars no covenant was made 2. The Elders were for the whole congregation in such actions which the people could not performe in their multitudes as when the Elders for the people laid their hands upon the sacrifice Lev. 4.15 which the people could not doe in their owne person and so they lay their hands upon the heifer Deut. 21.6 But here both the people might come together to be besprinkled and it was such an action the establishing of a covenant wherein the person and presence of the people was necessary 2. Tostatus therefore thinketh that Moses did sprinkle the bloud upon the people themselves and upon all of them either going in and out among them or they succeeding by companies one another quaest 13. 3. But as it is gathered out of the text that the people were present in person that as they for themselves promised obedience saying All that the Lord hath said will wee doe so they in their owne person had part of the bloud and because the covenant was made with the people therefore they also received the signe of the covenant and the Apostle also saith that Moses sprinkled both the booke and all the people Heb. 9.19 Yet it is not necessary to understand all the people in particular for a whole day nay many dayes had not sufficed to doe it but all the people which were in circuitu which were round about Moses and could well assemble together QUEST XIX When Moses and Aaron with the rest went up Vers. 9. THen went up Moses and Aaron c. 1. Some thinke that this was done when the Lord descended upon mount Sinai chap. 19. Pellican But as is shewed before quaest 1. then Moses was bidden to bring Aaron up with him but here Nadab and Abihu and 70. of the Elders also goe up therefore this was done in the same order as it is set downe that after Moses had performed all those rites and ceremonies in confirming the covenant betweene God and his people then they went up Iun. Noâ cum historia transire putamus etiam rei gesta ordinem c. We thinke the history to passe on in order as the things were done Lippoman 2. Cajetane thinketh that this was the execution of the commandement given before unto Moses vers 1. But I rather thinke with Hugo de S. Victor that this charge was given to Moses after he was come downe from the mount and had performed all the rites of the covenant and that this part of the chapter from the second verse to the ninth in order goeth before the giving of that charge vers 1. for how could Moses otherwise be bidden to come up being in the mountaine already See before quest 1. 3. But herein Hugo is deceived he thinketh this to be but the third time that Moses ascended up to God the first was chap. 19. when he went up before the Law was delivered the second chap. 20. when he ascended to receive the ceremonials and judicials and the third time is here yet this was the fourth time for twice he ascended before the Law was given as is evident in the 19. chapter vers 3. and 20. QUEST XX. Wherefore those went up with Moses Vers. 9. ANd seventy of the Elders 1. Lyranus thinketh that these went up ad confirmationem legis for the confirming and further ratifying of the Law which they had received Tostatus misliketh this opinion and thus confuteth it that if they went up to that end oportebat ut cum Domino loquerentur it was requisite that they should all have spoken with God but so did they not and Moses onely drew neere unto God They all ascended to their places seniores remotiùs alii propinquiùs the Elders further off others neerer as Aaron and his sonnes but only Moses talked with God Lippoman 2. Neither yet did they only goe up to accompany Moses ad honorandum eum to honour him because he went now to receive the tables of the Law Tostat. For when Moses went up thus accompanied the Lord had not yet signified so much unto Moses that he would deliver him the tables of the Law for that followeth afterward vers 12. 3. Therefore the end of their going up was that after they had seene the Majesty of God and Moses talking with him testes veritatis essent they might be witnesses of the truth Simler Et res idoneis testibus probata indubiam fidem acquireret c. And the matter being proved by fit and sufficient witnesses might be undoubtedly beleeved Calvin And so by this meanes Moses ministery should be of the greater authority QUEST XXI How they are said to have seene God Vers. 10. THey saw the God of Israel and under his feet c. R. Abraham thinketh Istam visionem imaginariam That this vision was imaginary not to the externall but to the inward sense But this is not like that this should be as a Propheticall vision and revelation for they were not all Prophets unto whom this vision was shewed and as there was really objected to their sight in mount Sinai flaming fire so this was a reall vision like to that which Moses saw in the bush Exod. 3.2 Viderunt Deum Israel sed non sicut est They saw the God of Israel but not as he is for no man hath seene God Rupertus They neither saw God in his essence nor in his infinite Majesty Osiander But they knew him to be present Innotescente illis Domino in specie aliquae vel forma c. The Lord shewing himselfe in some forme and shape as it pleased him and as their infirmity could beare Lippoman Pellican 3. Neither yet did the Lord shew himselfe in any humane shape here as Lyranus thinketh to signifie Quod assumpturus erat naturam humanam c. That he was
8. QUEST XII Whether the high Priest did well in meeting Alexander in his Priestly attire BUt if it were not lawfull to carrie the Priestly garments out of the Tabernacle it will be objected that Iaddua the high Priest being apparelled in his Priestly robes met Alexander the Great without the gates of Jerusalem and by the sight of him Alexanders wrath was appeased and the Citie delivered from the danger which was feared 1. Here it may be answered that as wee receive this part of Iosephus narration how Alexander meeting the high Priest reverenced him and adored that God whose name hee carried written in his forehead so if we give credit to the rest how that after publike supplication made before unto God and solemne sacrifice for their deliverance the Lord appeared in a dreame the next night unto the high Priest appointing him to go forth to meet Alexander in his Priestly attire this being admitted for truth this question is at an end for by Gods extraordinarie direction the Priest might do that which ordinarily was not lawfull as though they had a strait charge to offer their sacrifices at the doore of the Tabernacle yet the Prophets as Samuel David Elias built Altars in other places and there offered their sacrifices Tostat. quaest 17. 2. But though there had beene no such vision shewed to the high Priest which it is not necessarie to beleeve seeing Iosephus is found to be very forward in setting downe such things as might tend to the credit of his nation yet this act of the high Priest might be justified in respect of that necessitie whereunto they were then brought for the ceremoniall lawes were to give way in such cases as David to satisfie his hunger might lawfully eat of the shew-bread which otherwise none were to eat of but the Priests So likewise they might upon the Sabbath lead their oxe or asse to water or helpe them out being fallen into a ditch and yet not transgresse against the rest of the Sabbath If these ceremonies were dispensed with for the safegard and preservation of one man or of a few cattell much more for the deliverance of the whole Citie which was then in danger might the high Priest without any extraordinarie direction have put on his Priestly apparell to meet that victorious King QUEST XIII Of the matter whereof the holy garment should be made Vers. 5. THey shall take gold and blew silke 1. By gold is here understood Aurum in massa aurum in filis Gold in the lumpe or masse and golden threed for the garments were made of golden threed the precious stones were set into gold and thereof was made the golden plate in the high Priests miter Tostat. qu. 8. 2. And under the name of gold are comprehended also the precious stones because they were inclosed and set into the gold Simler 3. And these five are named gold blew silke purple skarlet fine linen not that all these concurred to the making of every garment Sed quia nullum ornamentum erat quod non ex istorum aliquo c. But because there was not any of the ornaments which was not made of some of them Cajetan 4. The blew colour was like unto the skie or violet the purple was like to the rose colour which was made of the liquor or bloud of a certaine shell-fish called the purple the skarlet was died with certaine graines growing in a tree whereof Plinie writeth and to make the colour deeper it was twice died in the wooll and afterward when it was spun the fine linen was made of a most fine and white kinde of flax or linen Ribera 5. These foure colours represented the foure elements two of them in colour the skarlet the fire the blew the skie or ayre the other in their originall the purple the water the linen the earth out of the which they came and hereby as Iosephus noteth was signified Sacerdotem illum esse summi rerum omnium conditoris That he was the Priest of the high Creator of all things because the colours of his garments did represent the whole world 6. Beda also thus collecteth that because all things were prescribed to be made of gold and precious colours Nihil vile vel sordidum in Sacerdotis ore vel opere debet apparere There should no vile thing appeare either in the Priests words or works c. Ribera QUEST XIV Of the name of the Ephod and the divers kinds thereof Vers. 6. ANd they shall make the Ephod 1. The Latine Interpreter calleth it superhumerale following the Septuagint which interpret it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the shoulder garment Iunius translateth it amiculum a short cloake but the Hebrew word is better retained Ephod because it was a peculiar garment belonging to the high Priest so called of the word aphad which signifieth to close or compasse or gird about as chap. 39.5 Thou shalt close them to him with embroidered gard of the Ephod Oleaster 2. There were two kinds of the Ephod one was common made of linen onely both to the inferiour Priests as Saul put to the sword 85. Priests that did weare a linen Ephod as also to the Levits as Samuel ministred before the Lord girded with a linen Ephod 1 Sam. 2.18 Some thinke that this kinde was also permitted unto lay men in generall Ribera Some that the Kings had a privilege to weare it because David danced before the Arke in a linen Ephod 2 Sam. 6. But R. Salomon thinketh more probably that none were girded with the Ephod but colentes Deum aut servientes ei They which worshipped God or were specially addicted to his service Other then beside the Priests might weare the linen Ephod but onely insacred actions as David at that time danced before the Arke Gallas Oleaster The other kinde of Ephod was peculiar to the high Priest which was made of gold and of the foure colours before named Hierome ad Fabielam And this Ephod it was not lawfull for any other to imitate which was the cause of the fall of Gedeons house because he made an Ephod like unto that used in the Tabernacle Gallas QUEST XV. How Gedeon offended in making an Ephod BUt whereas Gedeon made that Ephod of 1700. sicles of gold Iudg. 8.26 1. Augustine moveth a question how so much gold could be put into one Ephod and thinketh that by the Ephod are understood as the whole by the part Omnia qua constituit Gedeon in civitate ad colendum Deum All the other things which Gedeon made in his City to worship God by as in the Tabernacle And he thinketh further that all Israel is said to go a whoring after it although Gedeon made no image Quia extra Tabernaculum fieri aliquid simile fas non erat Because it was not lawful to make any like thing out of the Tabernacle 2. But it need not seeme strange that so much gold was put into one vesture for the
upward because they begin at twentie yeares to be fit for service in the Common-wealth at home and abroad in warre Tostat. qu. 9. 2. The children then and women are not counted but the one were reckoned with their fathers the other went under the account of their husbands Simler 3. It is not here expressed as they began at twentie so at what age they ended the account It is not like that the aged men were here reckoned but such only as were fit for warre Numb 1.3 which Iosephus saith was from twentie untill the age of fiftie Cajetan And this may be gathered by the like because the Levites after fiftie gave over their service in the Tabernacle Numb 8.25 as to beare burthens and to remove the Tabernacle much more at that age were they to be freed from the service of warre which was much more painfull and cumbersome 4. The Levites were accounted after another manner they were numbred from a moneth old Numb 3.39 Oleaster who here affirmeth that David offended God in numbring the people because hee would have all numbred and not onely from twentie and above But that was not the cause of the offence for it is evident out of the text that they onely were numbred which were strong men and able to draw swords 2 Sam. 24.9 See before quest 15. QUEST XXII Why the poore pay as much as the rich Vers. 15. THe rich shall not passe and the poore shall not diminish c. Divers reasons may bee yeelded hereof why the same portion was required as well of the poore as rich 1. It was done concordiae causa for concord and unitie for otherwise there might have growne contention the poore being unwilling to pay as much as the rich Tostat. qu. 10. 2. And by this meanes also the poore were not despised and ne divites se sanctiores reputarent pauperibus lest that the rich might have thought themselves holier than the poore in giving more unto the Tabernacle the Lord would have an equall rate set Lyran. 3. And this was prescribed ut numeri ratio constaret that the number of the people might bee certainly knowne which had beene uncertaine if they had not all paid alike 4. This was jus personale a personall right Calvin ad testandum obedientiam impositum and imposed to testifie their obedience that hereby everie one should acknowledge that they belonged unto God Simler 5. It was for the redemption of their soules quae unicuique aequalis fuit which was equall to all Gallas 6. And to shew that God is no accepter of persons but that the poore and rich if they bee faithfull are alike accepted before him Osiander 7. Hereby also is spiritually signified that the spirituall price of our redemption by the bloud of Christ doth belong equally unto all Simler QUEST XXIII Whether all these things were declared to Moses at once Vers. 17. ALso the Lord spake unto Moses 1. It appeareth by this that all these things before rehearsed from chap. 25. concerning the Tabernacle and things thereunto belonging were not delivered by one continued speech from the Lord unto Moses but that there were certaine breakings off as is evident in this place and likewise vers 11. afterward the Lord spake 2. It also may bee gathered that all these things were not delivered in one day unto Moses but in the space of fortie dayes as is shewed chap. 31.18 that after the Lord had made an end of communing with Moses hee delivered him the tables of stone which was in the end of fortie dayes as is declared Deut. 9.10 Tostat. qu. 11. The Lord could have delivered all these things at once unto Moses and have made him capable thereof to understand and remember But as the world was created in six dayes which the Lord in his great power could have finished all in one day yea in a moment yet it pleased him for our better understanding and for the establishing of a perpetuall order to be observed while the world endureth in giving six dayes for worke and one for rest to sort out all his workes into six dayes so likewise he divided the narration of these things unto Moses into the conference of many dayes QUEST XXIV Of the fashion of the brazen laver Vers. 18. THou shalt make a laver of brasse and his foot of brasse 1. By this description it may be gathered that this laver did not stand flat upon the ground but was reared upon his foot and consequently it being so lifted up upon the foot or base the Priests could not put their feet therein to wash them 2. R. Salomon therefore thinketh that this laver was made broad and large below and narrow above and that it had two spouts of each side for the water to issue forth and at the foot or bottome there was some place to receive the water which otherwise would have run along upon the ground This description followeth Lyranus Tostat. Montan. Genevens And Cajetan doth inferre thus much out of the text because it is said vers 19. Aaron and his sonnes shall wash their hands and feet mimmenu ex ipsa out of it not as the Latine whom Beda followeth in ea in it 3. This laver was set in the outward court betweene the Altar of burnt offering and the Tabernacle but not directly for then it would have somewhat hindred the âight of the Tabernacle but it was placed toward the South side which though it be not here expressed may be ãâ¦ã sea which Salomon made in stead thereof which was so placed in the Temple 1 King 7.39 Simler QUEST XXV Of the use of this brazen laver Vers. 20. WHen they go into the Tabernacle 1. The Latine Interpreter readeth When they go into the Tabernacle c. and when they go vnto the altar to offer incense c. which Tostatus understandeth of the altar of incense but that was included in the former clause When they go into the Tabernacle and the word is ishah which signifieth a sacrifice made with fire he meaneth the altar of burnâ offering that when they want in to doe my service in the Tabernacle or ãâ¦ã without they should wash both their hands and feet 2. These parts above the rest must bee washed because they were apâest to gather soile the feet with dust and the hands with touching and handling of other things Tostat. 3. It is evident then that at the least twice everie day they washed their hands and feet at morning and even for then without in the Court they offered the morning and evening sacrifice and in the Tabernacle they burned incense and dressed the candlesticks Lippoman also thinketh that they ministred at the Altar barefoot as Moses was bid to put off his shooes when the Lord appeared unto him Exod. 3. But it is more like that they were shod with a kinde of light shooes called sandals as Tostatus inferreth out of Iosephus for as they washed their feet from soile when they began
Because the seventh day is determined wherein he rested then consequently they were six daies wherein he was making the world 2. Mention is made of the evening and morning therefore the day and night one succeeded another 3. And seeing light was created the first day and light and darknesse could not be at once in the same hemisphere the one therefore must needs successively follow the other 2. But yet although God made the world successively in respect of the daies which one succeeded another and all was not made in one day Yet Tostatus opinion is not to be received that in some of the works of the creation God did agere persuccessionem worke by succession and in time and did not produce the creatures in instanti in an instant The first second and fourth daies worke he granteth were done in an instant but the third daies worke was done successively the winde helping to drie it which is said to have moved upon the waters And the plants and trees were brought out of the earth in time God giving such great strength and force to the earth to bring them forth As he giveth instance of some herbs as ãâã parsely that will grow out of the ground in the space of two houres Likewise in the creation of man hee thinketh it is probable that the Angels made his bodie of the slime of the earth and the Lord breathed in the breath of life Contra. 1. That God created ãâ¦ã Psal. 33.9 he spake and ãâ¦ã 2. That was not the winde which moved upon the ãâ¦ã as in the same Psalme vers â the Spirit is called the breath of Gods mouth By ãâ¦ã Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth 3. Neither did God use the helpe of the Angels in the framing of mans bodie he did it himselfe for when he said Let us make man in our image he consulted not with the Angels but with the blessed Trinitie for he was created in the image of God Genes 1.27 nor in the image of Angels for then Christ when he was made man should have taken upon him the nature of Angels which the Apostle denieth Hebr. 2.16 And it is directly said that God Iehovah made the man of the dust of the earth Genes 2 7. but Iehovah is not given unto any Angell it is a name peculiar unto God QUEST XIX How the Lord is said to have rested and from what Vers. 17. IN the seventh day he ceased and breathed 1. Which is a metaphor taken from those which when they have sore laboured doe breath and take aire Oleaster Not that God was wearied with the works of the creation but he onely left creating all things being finished which he intended to make and he did it for our instruction that we by his example might keep an holy rest 2. God then ceased from creating of another world Osiand or from creating any new workes for then the creation had not been perfect if any thing had been wanting neither could it have been said God saw all that hee had made and loe it was verie good Gen. 1.31 3. But he ceased not both from preserving that which hee had made which is no new worke but that was continued during all the six daies and is exercised still Tostat. For God is not like to a builder of an house or carpenter of a ship which having finished his worke so leaveth it but Gods providence still watcheth over that which he hath made Gallas Likewise the Lord ceaseth not from making particular works daily for he doth wonderous things and miraculous thorow the world sed non creat novas species he doth not create now any new kind Marbach 4. Then here appeareth the error of certaine Hebrewes which thinke that the Sabbath which is called Saturns day was appointed first to bee kept because that is an unluckie planet and unfortunate and therefore it was not fit to undertake any businesse upon that day for the reason appeareth to be this because God rested upon the seventh day and they will not say that God was afraid to doe any thing upon Saturns day Tostatus quest 11. 5. Againe hence is gathered a firme reason for the continuance and perpetuitie of the Sabbath because God did not create the heaven and earth only for the sonnes of Iacob but for all men Quibus ex aquâ Creator est nemiâem ergo ab isto Sabbatisââ excludi c. To whom he is a Creator alike and therefore no man is to be exempted from the keeping of the Sabbath Lippoman QUEST XX. What workes are to be rested from upon the Lords day what not ANd as God rested not from all kind of workes upon the seventh day so neither are all kind of workes unlawfull now to be done upon the Lords day of rest The workes that men attend are of two sorts either naturall or voluntarie 1. Naturall workes are not forbidden to be done as to eat drinke sleepe so they be done in order and measure 2. Voluntarie works are either good or evill evill workes are at all times unlawfall much more upon the sabbath 3. Good workes are either sacred or civill and politicall the sacred are either immediatly belonging to the worship of God as the duties of the first Table which principally are to be done upon the Lords day 4. Or they are such workes as are mediatly referred unto God as the workes of mercie the duties of the second Table which also if occasion so require are to bee done upon this day as to visite the sicke to helpe those that are in danger 5 The politike workes follow as the workes of mens vocation merchandise making of warre all which must be intermitted upon the Lords day and therefore that commandement beginneth with Remember that men aforehand should thinke of the Lords day and not deferre any of their busines till then but vrgent necessitie constraining such things may be done then as the Macchabees did fight upon the Sabbath and the Disciples of Christ being hungrie pulled the eares of corne Marbach QUEST XXI Whether Moses received the directions concerning the Tabernacle in the first or second fortie daies Vers. 18. THus when the Lord had made an end of communing with Moses c. 1. R. Salâm whom Lyranus followeth understandeth this communing or speech of God with Moses only of the former charge concerning the Sabbath not of all the declaration before going which concerned the making of the Tabernacle which hee thinketh was done in Moses second going up to the Lord after the people had made the golden calfe and so he thinketh the historie to be transposed 2. Contra. 1. First as sometime in Scripture the order of time is changed and the historie transposed when there is any apparant cause to meet with some inconvenience which otherwise might follow so to imagine any such transposing where there is no such necessitie were to bring in such an uncertaintie into the sacred storie as
madly bent c. or when he saw that they would kill him Nisi Altare construeret unlesse he would build an Altar then he proceeded Tostat. qu. 12. QUEST XX. How Aaron proclaimed an holy day unto the Lord. Vers. 5. TO morrow is the holy day of the Lord. 1. Some thinke that Aaron of purpose did put off this solemnitie to the next day Quia sperabat Mosem rediturum c. because hee hoped Moses would returne before the next day Vatablus Tostat. But Cajetans opinion is here more probable that noteth great forwardnesse in Aaron to keepe this solemnitie the people no doubt urging and in a manner forcing him Non poterat festum citius indici The feast could not be sooner appointed than against the next day So by this it rather may be gathered that Aaron to satisfie the peoples desire when he saw they would not be gainsaid proclaimed this solemnitie upon a very short warning 2. But Cajetans opinion in the rest is very harsh that Aaron was herein more besotted than the people for whereas the people gave but the common name Elohim to the idoll Ipse ineffabile incommunicabile nomen attribuit He attributeth unto it that incommunicable name not to be uttered c. hee meaneth Iehovah and that Nullo instigante none pricking him forward Et voce publica and with publike proclamation Contra. Aaron was not so prophane and irreligious as to ascribe the name Iehovah unto an idoll but he would seeme to doe all this for the honour of God Illâ culium hunc institutum indicat He sheweth that this solemne worship was instituted for God Simler Gallas Osiand Calvin Like as Micah having made him images and gotten a Levite into his house thought that God was thereby well pleased and would surely blesse him Iud. 17. And with the like superstitious devotion they sacrificed unto God afterward in high places thinking that service to be acceptable unto God as here Aaron would seeme to celebrate this solemnitie unto the Lord Ferus QUEST XXI Of the sacrifices who and what was offered upon the Altar that Aaron made Vers. 6. SO they rose up the next morning and offered burnt offerings c. 1. Here their diligence is observed that earely in the morning rose up to keepe this idolatrous and impious solemnitie Simler Cajetan 2. And whereas the Priests of the Levites were not yet consecrated to the Priesthood it is like that according to the ancient custome the first borne offered sacrifices as it is observed c. 24. how Moses sent certaine young men of the children of Israel to sacrifice 3. And though as yet the lawes and ordinances were not delivered them concerning sacrifices yet herein they followed the ancient practice continued among Gods people in offering sacrifices and that of cleane beasts for that distinction of cleane and uncleane beasts was of old time observed even before the floud as is evident Genes 7. 4. They offer but two kinde of sacrifices burnt offerings which were wholly consumed upon the Altar and peace offerings part whereof they did eat which brought the sacrifices and therewith the people did feast now sin offerings they brought none because they had not seene Moses hitherto to have offered any sacrifice for sin but onely of the two former kinds And the people did flatter themselves that herein they did well and were farre off from acknowledging their sinne and therefore thought not of any sin offering Tostat. qu. 16. QUEST XXII What is meant in that it is said They rose to play Vers. 6. THe people sate downe to eat and drinke and rose up to play 1. Whereas this word tzachak to play signifieth foure things either play and sport as children use to play as Ismael did with Isaak Gen. 21. or to dally as man and wife as Izhak sported with Rebekah Gen. 26. or to fight as Abner spake to Ioab that the young men might play together in which sword play the one killed another 2 Sam. 2. or to commit idolatrie Here R. Salomon whom Tostatus followeth doth thinke it to bee taken in the last sense as the Apostle seemeth also to affirme 1 Cor. 10.7 Neither be yee idolaters as were some of them as it is written they sate downe to eat and drinke and rose up to play But this their wanton and lascivious playing was a fruit rather and effect of their idolatrie they first had committed idolatrie in offering sacrifices before the golden calfe then Ex idololatria ad gulam prorumpunt ex gula in lasciviam From idolatrie they fall to gluttony from gluttony to wantonnesse And the Apostle doth not conclude their idolatrie out of that word but Ludos illos inter idololatrica sacra recenset Rehearseth their play among the ceremonies and rites of idolatrie Osiander They were idolaters because they did all these things in honour of that idoll 2. By their playing therefore properly is understood their dancing singing and leaping before the golden calfe as appeareth by the noise which was described by Moses and Iosua before they came at the campe Iun. Tostat. Simler Thus the people turned all upside downe their earings and jewels which God had given them from the Egyptians they bestow upon an idoll with the same feet wherewith they walked thorow the red sea they dance before the golden calfe and with the same mouth wherewith they sung praises unto God after the destruction of the Egyptians in the red sea they now sing unto the idoll 3. But although by play is chiefely meant here the mirth and melodie which they made yet they by all likelyhood fell into a further degree of wantonnesse and lascivious behaviour as when Israel joyned themselves to Baal peor they did not onely commit spirituall fornication in bowing unto their gods but defiled their bodies also with the daughters of Midian Such were the sacrifices of the Gentiles set forth with obscene spectacles in their sacrifices called floralia the harlots were brought forth naked upon the stage Simler So Procopius Immunditia conspicitur in idololatrarum solemnitatibus Uncleannesse and filthinesse is seene in the solemnities of idolaters 4. Where it is said they did eat and drinke Calvin saith Inscitè multi ad crapulam torquent Many unskilfully doe wrest it to shew their riot and excesse and thinketh thereby onely to bee signified simplie that they feasted But I rather here approve Simlerus judgement Credo hoc convivium immodestum fuisse intemperans c. I beleeve rather that this feast was immodest and intemperate And so Ambrose expoundeth it Nemo se luxui committit nisi qui recedit à praeceptis Dei No man giveth himselfe over to riot but he which departeth from the precepts of God and then he alleageth this place QUEST XXIII Whether this sin of Aaron and the Israelites can any way be excused BUt now all this fact of Aaron and the Israelites in making a golden calfe sacrificing and dancing before it some goe about to excuse 1.
de justitia sua gloriantibus aterna exprobratio est This iteration of these precepts is an eternall exprobration to the carnall Jewes which doe glory in their righteousnesse c. Seeing Moses still insisteth in the first principles and rudiments and carnall observations wherein Moses is unlike unto the Apostle thus writing Therefore leaving the doctrine of the beginning of Christ let us goe forward unto perfection Hebr. 6.1 4. Againe another principall cause of the institution first and now the renovation of those festivals was ut futura mysteria saltem sub umbra veneretur that the people as under the shadow might in these festivals reverence the mysteries which should be revealed in time to come Lippoman QUEST XXXVII Why some feasts and not all are here rehearsed ANd it pleased God to appoint these festivals unto the Israelites 1. That although all our life time should be consecrate to Gods praise yet quia non valet humana infirmitas because humane infirmity is not able so to doe this continuall praising of God being reserved for the next life it pleased him to content himselfe with certaine times appointed to that end Tostat. qu. 14. And this God doth also that mans dulnesse might by such solemnities be whetted and stirred up to a thankfull commemoration of his benefits Marbach 2. Here are the three principall morall feasts only mentioned the Passeover the feast of weekes and the feast of gathering fruits though they had more feasts as they are rehearsed because in these three only the people were bound to assemble together before the Lord Tostat. 3. And the Lord beginneth with the Passeover which was the first instituted and brought to their remembrance the greatest benefit of their deliverance out of Egypt And hereby was mystically signified that fine fide passioniâ Christi c. that without faith in the passion and resurrection of Christ which was shadowed forth in the passeover none could be saved Lippoman QUEST XXXVIII Of the passeover the rites end and use thereof Vers. 18. SEven dayes shalt thou observe In the feast of the Passeover there are foure things to be observed the rite and ceremonie the end the morall use the type and figure 1. There are three things here prescribed concerning the rite and manner First they must eat unleavened bread because at that time when they came out of Egypt the Egyptians urged them to come out in haste so that they could not leaven their bread therefore in remembrance of their affliction in Egypt and their deliverance therefrom they must keepe this feast with unleavened bread and that for seven dayes from the 14. day at even untill the 21. day at even as is prescribed Exodus 12.18 the moneth also is prescribed wherein they should observe this feast in the moneth Abib which the Latine Septuagint Chalde interpret ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the moneth of new fruits quando spica è culmis prodibant when the eares began to shoot out of the hose Vatabl. Not because the corne began then first to grow but then first began to be ripe and the âickle to be put unto it Tostat. This moneth fell out sometime in the moneth of March as if the new moone were before the 25. of March about which time the equinoctiall was then when the dayes and nights are alike sometime in Aprill when the aquinoctium fell out afterward for the Hebrewes began their moneths with the new moone And this moneth Abib was the first in the yeere from the which they counted the rest as the Romans did begin their moneths at March and so they called July and August Quintilis and Sextâlis the fift and sixt moneths this moneth Abib was also called Nisaâ that is Nisiââ the moneth of wonders because many wondrous things were done in this moneth Simler The other rites belonging to this feast are set forth at large Exod. 12. thorowout the chapter 2. The end of this feast was to call to minde the benefit of their deliverance out of Egypt and the preservation of their first borne when all the first borne in Egypt were slaine 3. The morall signification is this by leaven is understood false doctrine as our blessed Saviour giveth his Disciples warning to take heed of the leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees that is their corrupt doctrine likewise it signifieth the leaven of maliciousnesse as the Apostle sheweth 1 Cor. 5. both which by the unleavened bread they were admonished to take heed of 4. This Passeover was a type of our Saviour 1. He suffered about the same time of the yeere wherein they used to kill the Passeover 2. The paschall Lambe was without blemish and Christ was without sinne 3. It was rosted with fire to signifie the burning love of Christ. 4. The bloud of that Lambe was a signe of their corporall deliverance out of Egypt and by the bloud of Christ we obtaine spirituall deliverance Simler See more of the spirituall application of the passeover qu. 39. chap. 12. QUEST XXXIX Why the first borne males were only due unto the Lord. Vers. 19. EVery male that first openeth the wombe 1. These words male and first are not here in the text but must be inserted to explaine the text as may be gathered Exod. 13.12 The males only of the first borne were the Lords 2. And the reason hereof was 1. Because the males in their kinde were the perfitest and therefore they were only to be offered in such sacrifices as were of necessity as in their burnt offerings and vowes in their free offerings they might bring their female 2. The first borne which were slaine in Egypt both of men and beasts were males in liew whereof the Lord required the first borne And that the first borne males were only slaine in Egypt it may thus appeare 1. Because the punishment was answerable to their sinne that as they commanded all the males of the Hebrewes to be killed so the males only of the Egyptians should be destroyed 2. Though in many houses in Egypt the first borne of the house were not males yet the first borne of the maid servants must also be counted as is evident chap. 11.5 and if neither they nor the masters of the house had any first borne that were males then either the master himselfe or the servant of the house if he were the first borne was taken and so it was true that there was not an house in Egypt where there was not one dead Exod. 12.30 And as the first borne of men onely were slaine so it is like the same proportion was observed in their cattell Tostat. qu. 15 16. 3. The first borne were of two sorts of men and they were to be redeemed because their service unto God was performed when they were living not by their death the beasts were either cleane and they were to be offered their best service unto God was by their death in being sacrificed or uncleane which might either be redeemed by exchange as an asse
by giving a lambe Exod. 13.18 or by that price which the Priest should value it at Levit. 27.12 or else were to be killed the reason whereof was this that the first borne not redeemed should be killed because they were holy unto God and it was not lawfull to convert them unto any private use Simler QUEST XL. Why mention is made only of asses of the uncleane beasts Vers. 20. THe first of an asse thou shalt buy out with a lambe 1. Tostatus thinketh that concerning other uncleane beasts as horses camels that the first borne were not required because the Hebrewes had none of them in Egypt and such things of theirs only which were preserved at their comming out of Egypt from the destruction of the first borne they were to pay the first of them unto God dogs and cats they had but they came not forth with them and yet they were saved alive as he would prove by that place chap. 11.7 that among the Israelites a dog should not so much as move his tongue which sheweth that they perished not Tostatus hath another answer beside concerning those base creatures which shall be remembred afterward quast 18. Contra. 1. It is not like that the Hebrewes had no horse or camels but only asses for carriage seeing Egypt so much abounded with horse being a plaine country and full of grâsse it cannot be thought but they had of those kinde for their necessary use 2. And for the other it is very like that no living thing among the Israelites miscarried though that place prove it not for the meaning is that a dog-shall not move his tongue lecol against any of the children of Israel not among them Iun. But it cannot be imagined that the dogs unlesse their masters killed them of purpose which is not to be thought would leave them when they went out of Egypt 2. Some Hebrewes are of opinion that the word behemah beast the firstlings whereof they were to give unto God doth signifie bestias comestibiles beasts which may be eaten and are not wilde as chajâth signifieth beasts as well not to be eaten as those that are wilde and therefore they thinke that under that word behemah only three kindes are signified bullocks sheepe and goats But if this were so then asses should be excluded out of the Law of the first borne which were not to be eaten though not wilde and Tostatus also giveth an instance of swine that they also should be included which might be eaten and yet they were not offered nor any thing for them because the Hebrewes brought none such out of Egypt But he faileth in this last instance for swine were neither beasts allowed to be eaten among the Hebrewes and though they were uncleane yet the first borne of them were to be redeemed as other uncleane beasts were Wherefore the word behemah rather signifieth all domesticall beasts whether cleane or uncleane the firstlings whereof were due unto God which is expressed here by another word miknah which signifieth a possession whatsoever beasts then were in ones possession he was to pay the first borne of them wild beasts then were excepted as not being in a mans possession And Calvin inferreth as much upon these words all the first borne among the children of Israel chap. 13.2 to make a difference betweene domesticall beasts which were among them and wild beasts 3. Simlerus thinketh that the firstlings of dogs were due unto the Lord but they were to be killed not to be redeemed at all because it is forbidden Deut. 23.18 that they should not bring the price of a dog into the house of God But it rather seemeth that God would not have such a vile creature to be counted as due unto him at all for then it had beene lawfull to redeeme it as they were to redeeme all uncleane beasts by the Law Numb 18.15 Therefore seeing it was not lawfull to redeeme the firstling of a dog it followeth that the Lord challenged no right in such 4. Wherefore concerning all uncleane beasts which were profitable as horse camels I agree with Iunius against Tostatus that the first borne of them were all due unto God and that by the asse all other like uncleane beasts must bee understood which Oleaster also concludeth out of those generall words Numb 18.15 The first borne of uncleane beasts shalt thou redeeme And concerning dogs and cats and other vile beasts I judge rather with Tostatus against Simlerus that they were not due at all because they were vile and of no account which is his other answer for whereas they were to exchange the foale of an asse with a lambe Non erat aliquod animal immolabile tam parvi valoris c. There was not any beast for sacrifice of so small value to be exchanged with any of those vile and contemptible creatures 5. Oleaster yeeldeth two reasons why the asse was to be redeemed either because it was a vile creature or for that it was not apt for food because the sacrifices were cibationes Domini as the Lords meat or food Pellican understandeth it mystically Quia Deus stoliditatem asininam abominatur God abhorreth asmine foolishnesse and blockishnesse So Isidore and the Interlinearie Gloss. give this sense that to change an asse with a sheepe Est immunda vitae primârdia ad innocentia simplicitatem convertere Is to convert the beginnings of an uncleane life into innocent simplicity But the reason indeed is because such beasts were counted uncleane and so more vile whereas the Lord would have of the best and being uncleane and unapt for food they were consequently unfit for sacrifice because some part thereof unlesse only in burnt offerings was for the Priests food and in some sacrifices the owner and offerer also had part QUEST XLI Whether the Israelites were absolutely bound to keepe the rest of the Sabbath in earing time and harvest Vers. 21. BOth in earing and harvest time thou shalt rest c. 1. Like as before chap. 31. when mention was made of making the Tabernacle the observation of the Sabbath is urged lest they might thinke that the rest thereof upon that necessary occasion of working in the Tabernacle might be dispensed with Oleaster So here in this place it being required that the people should goe up thrice in the yeere to the three solemne feasts they might have thought it lawfull to travell upon the Sabbath when they went up to the Tabernacle and therefore is that precept of the Sabbath also mentioned here to take away all such scruple Tostat. quast 17. 2. Mention is made of resting in seed time and harvest as the most necessary workes not as giving them liberty at other times to breake the rest of the Sabbath but exclusis his videantur omnia alia exclusa that even these necessary times being excluded all other might seeme also to be excluded So also Augustin By this it is signified Omni tempore Sabbato debero cessari That they ought to rest at all
was brought not only gold and silver and precious stones but other things of lesse price as rams skins badgers skins and by whom they were offered by the men women and Princes to vers 30. 3. Then the institution of the workmen is expressed 1. Who they were 2. What gifts they were indued with 3. To what end not only to worke themselves but to teach others vers 35. 2. The divers readings Vers. 22. Hookes or buttons earings rings and studded girdles I. better than rings and chaines B. or rings and bracelets G.L.S.C. or rings and aprons A. the ornaments of the nether parts it is not like they offered such the word is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã chumaz which Iunius interpreteth cingulaâ bullatas studded girdles here and Numb 31.50 Vers. 34. Both him and Aholiab c. that is God hath called both him and Aholiab Iun. So also the vulgar Latine putteth it in the accusative likewise A.P. better than in the nominative as V.B.G.S.C. For so it hath no grammaticall construction with the precedent sentence 3. The questions discussed QUEST I. Why the precept of keeping the Sabbath is so often inculcate Vers. 1. IT shall be unto you the holy Sabbath of rest unto the Lord. 1. Cajetane thinketh that this is the reason why the precept of the Sabbath is here iterated because Moses propositurus ceremonialia being to propound ceremoniall Lawes beginneth with the chiefest of them which is concerning the Sabbath But the preamble vers 1. These are the words which the Lord hath commanded that ye should doe them sheweth that Moses speaketh not only of ceremoniall but morall duties also which were to be done and performed by them Marbach 2. But there are two reasons of this repetition one lest they might thinke that they might intermit the rest of the Sabbath because of the workes of the Sanctuary for the which reason this precept was urged before chap. 31. Iun. Marbach Pelarg. 3. The other reason is because this precept religionis caput totum Dei cultum continet c. doth in a manner containe the head of religion and the whole worship of God because upon the Sabbath they were taught their whole duty toward God therefore the neglect thereof would tend to the ruine and decay of all religion Gallas Simler 4. And this precept is so often inculcate to admonish us Primo omnium Dei regnum quarendum esse That first of all we must seeke the kingdome of God Osiander QUEST II. Whether it were simply forbidden the Israelites to kindle fire upon the Sabbath Vers. 3. YOu shall kindle no fire thorowout all your habitations c. 1. The Hebrewes were so strict in keeping the very letter of this Law that they thought it not lawfull to strike fire out of a stone or iron nor to light a candle but for the sicke nor to put out a fire and if they made a fire to warme them by they were not to kindle it with bellowes but with reed Oleaster And therefore the Jewes used to hire Christians to make their fires upon the Lords day Lippomnn But this their superstition was convinced by their owne practice in the Tabernacle where the Priests did keepe fire on the Lords day upon the Altar which was never to goe out 2. Some of our owne Writers thinke that by this they were forbidden to make a fire ad calefaciendum to warme them by And therefore the man that gathered stickes upon the Sabbath day was stoned to death Gallas But seeing the Sabbath was made for man that is for his good not for his hurt there was no doubt but in extremity of cold for the preservation of their health it was lawfull for them to warme them at the fire the man was put to death for gathering stickes not for kindling of a fire and he did it with an high hand that is of an obstinate minde as may be gathered Numb 15.30 3. Some thinke that only such kindling of fire is forbidden ex quo lucrum sperari posset whereof they made gaine as in furnaces and forges Vatab. But the words are generall that not only in their shops and forges but thorowout all their habitations they should not kindle a fire 4. Therefore I preferre rather Cajetanes opinion that it is not simply forbidden to kindle a fire but relativè ad coquendum with relation to the seething and dressing of their meat which asked much businesse and great preparation they were to prepare their meat the day before Exod. 16.23 which shewed a difference betweene the Sabbath and other festivall dayes wherein it was lawfull for them to dresse their meat as in the Pasch chap. 12.16 5. R. Abraham Aben Ezra did hold it lawfull to kindle a fire upon the Lords day to warme them by though not to dresse their meat whereupon the other Rabbines would have pronounced him an Heretike and they writ a booke against him under the name of the Sabbath as though the Sabbath it selfe had spoken against him But as herein Aben Ezra did hit upon the meaning of the Law yet he was deceived in another point that though it were not lawfull to kindle a fire upon the Sabbath from the rising of the Sunne to the setting thereof yet they might doe it in the night before But they used in the account of their feasts to begin from the evening before as they began the feast of unleavened bread upon the 14. day at even Exod. 16.18 They observed then their feasts according to the naturall day which contained both the day and the night not after the artificiall from Sunne to Sunne Tostat. qu. 1. 6. This precept of not kindling a fire upon the Sabbath must be understood extra casum necessitatis beside the case of necessity Marbach For otherwise to kindle a fire to dresse meat rather than to starve and to comfort the sicke was not forbidden 7. It is added thorowout their habitations that is their private dwellings for otherwise in the Tabernacle they did kindle a fire and doe other bodily workes which concerned the service of God Tostat. quaest 1. QUEST III. Why the Lord would have his Temple built sumptuously Vers. 5. LEt him bring an offering to the Lord gold silver c. 1. Moses to shew his faithfulnesse in executing Gods commandement neither adding thereto nor taking any thing therefrom repeateth in these chapters this and the rest following almost the same things verbatim which were prescribed before to be made concerning the Tabernacle chap. 25 26 27 28. Gallas And therefore the Reader is to be referred to the large treatises and questions there handled if he desireth in any thing to be satisfied 2. The people then had both silver and gold and other jewels which they brought out of Egypt with them neither had they bestowed all upon the golden Calfe 3. It so seemed good unto God that his Tabernacle should be builded sumptuously ne veri Dei cultus esset inferior gentilium cultu that
the children servants and cattell are commanded to rest 11. qu. VVhat strangers were injoyned to keepe the Sabbaths rest 12. qu. Why a reason is added to this Commandement 13. qu. How the Lord is said to have rested 14. qu. Of the changing of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the weeke 15. qu. How the Lord is said to have blessed and sanctified the day Questions upon the fifth Commandement 1. QUest Whether this precept belong to the first table 2. qu. VVhy the precepts of the second table are said to be like unto the first 3. qu. VVhy the precept of honouring parents is set first in the second table 4. qu. VVhy speciall mention is made of the mother 5. qu. VVhether the child is more bound to the father or mother 6. qu. Why the Lord commandeth obedience to parents being a thing acknowledged of all 7. qu. VVho are comprehended under the name of fathers and mothers 8. qu. VVhy the Lord here useth the name of father and mother to signifie the rest 9. qu. VVhat is meant by this word Honour 10. qu. Certaine doubts removed how and in what cases parents are to be obeyed 11. q. In what sense Christ biddeth us hate our parents 12. qu. How farre children are bound to obey their parents 13. qu. At what age it is most convenient for men to marrie to get children 14. qu. VVhether the reciprocall dutie also of parents toward their children be not here commanded 15. qu. VVherein the dutie of parents consisteth toward their children 16. qu. VVhether all the duties of mercie and charitie are commanded in this precept 17. qu. Of the true reading and meaning of these words That they may prolong it 18. qu. In what sense the Apostle calleth this the first Commandement with promise 19. qu. Why the promise of long life is made to obedient children 20. qu. What other blessings are promised under long life 21. qu. This promise of long life did not onely concerne the Iewes 22. qu. Whether long life simplie be a blessing and to be desired 23. qu. VVhy wicked and disobedient children are suffered to live long 24. qu. How this promise of long life is performed seeing the righteous seed are many times soone cut off Questions concerning the dutie of Subjects unto Civill Magistrates 23. QUest Of the dutie of Subjects toward their Prince 24. qu. How farre Subjects are to obey their Governours 25. qu. Whether it had beene lawfull for David to have killed Saul against Bucanus Questions upon the sixth Commandement 1. QUest Why this precept is set before the other that follow 2. qu. Whether it be here forbidden to slay any beast 3. qu. Of the divers kinds of killing 4. qu. How the soule is killed by evill perswasion 5. qu. That it is not lawfull for a man to kill himselfe 6. qu. The inward murder of the heart forbidden 7. qu. What things are to be taken heed of in anger 8. qu. Of rayling and reviling 9. qu. VVhether beating and wounding though there be no killing be not forbidden here 10. qu. VVhy actuall murder is such an haynous sinne before God 11. qu. How diversly murder is committed 12. qu. Of the divers kinds of murder 13. qu. Magistrates are not guiltie of murder in putting malefactors to death Questions upon the seventh Commandement 1. QUest Of the order and negative propounding of this Commandement 2. qu. Whether the uncleane desire of the heart be forbidden in this precept 3. qu. Other acts of uncleannesse beside adulterie here forbidden 4. qu. Of the sinnes of unnaturall lust 5. qu. VVhy some kinde of uncleannesse is not forbidden by humane lawes 6. qu. Of the greatnesse of the sinne of adulterie 7. qu. Adulterie as well forbidden in the husband as in the wife 8. qu. VVhether adulterie be a more grievous sinne in the man or in the woman 9. qu. VVhether adulterie be now necessarily to be punished by death 10. qu. VVhether it be lawfull for the husband to kill his wife taken in adulterie 11. qu. Simple fornication whether a breach of this Commandement 12. qu. Spirituall fornication is not a breach of this precept 13. qu. Of the lawfulnesse and dignitie of mariage 14. qu. Of the espousals and contract of mariage with the difference and divers kinds thereof 15. qu. Of mariage consummate and the rites and orders therein to be observed 16. q. What conditions are required in lawfull mariage 17. qu. Of the ends of the institution of matrimonie 18. qu. Of the mutuall matrimoniall duties betweene man and wife 19. qu. VVhether mariage be left indifferent to all Questions upon the eighth Commandement 1. QUest Whether the stealing of men onely be forbidden in this precept 2. qu. Of the order and phrase used in this precept 3. qu. Of the generall heads of the things here prohibited 4. qu. Of Sacrilege 5. qu. Whether it bee lawfull to convert things consecrated to idolatrie to other uses sacred or prophane 6. qu. Of the sacrilege of spirituall things 7. qu. Of Simonie 8. qu. Of common theft with the divers kinds thereof 9. qu. Of the divers kinds of transactions and contracts 10. qu. Of the divers kinds of fraud and deceit used in contracts 11. qu. Of unlawfull and cosening trades 12. qu. How this precept is broken by procuring our neighbours hurt 13. qu. Of the abuse of mens goods and substance another generall transgression of this precept Questions upon the ninth Commandement 1. QUest What it is to answer a false testimonie 2. qu. Whether false testimonie in judgement be here onely forbidden 3. qu. How divers wayes a false testimonie is borne 4. qu. Who is to be counted our neighbour 5. qu. What conditions must concurre to convince one of falsehood 6. qu. Of the divers kinds of lies 7. qu. Some cases wherein the truth is not uttered and yet no lie committed 8. qu. How the truth may bee uttered and yet this Commandement broken 9. qu. Of the divers kinds of false testimonies 10. qu. Of a false testimonie in matters of religion 11. qu. Of falsehood and error in Arts. 12. qu. How falsehood is committed in judgement 13. qu. Of the danger of bearing false witnesse in judgement 14. qu. Of the detorting and wresting of words to another sense another kinde of false testimonie 15. qu. Of the violating of faith in leagues and covenants 16. qu. Whether are more grievous publike or private false witnesse bearing 17. qu. Of the divers kinds of private false testimonies 18. qu. Of a false testimonie which a man giveth of himselfe Questions upon the last Commandement 1. QUest The last precept whether two or one 2. qu. What manner of concupiscence is here forbidden and how this precept differeth from the former 3. qu. Whether involuntarie concupiscence having no consent of the will is here forbidden 4. qu. Why there is no precept to direct the inward passion of anger as of coveting 5. qu. Whether sinne properly consist in the internall or
Jehovah is doubled 10. qu. Of the twelve names and epithetes here given unto God 11. qu. VVhat the Lord visiteth for in the posteritie of the wicked 12. qu. How the children are punished for their fathers sinnes 13. qu. Why the posteritie of the wicked are punished for their fathers sinnes 14. qu. How Moses and Ezechiel may bee reconciled 15. qu. How a thousand generations are to bee counted 16. qu. The fathers merits are not extended to their children onely Christs merits are extended to infinite generations 17. qu. After what manner God sheweth mercie to thousands and visiteth iniquitie to the third and fourth generation 18. qu. Why Moses made haste 19. qu. Of Moses prayer the manner thereof and of Moses perswasions used in his prayer 20. qu. VVhat covenant the Lord renueth with Moses 21. qu. Of the divers kinds of marvels 22. qu. What marvels those are which the Lord saith he will doe 23. qu. Why the Gangashites are here omitted 24. qu. How it stood with Gods justice to destroy all the inhabitants of Canaan 25. qu. Why they were to make no compact with the Canaanites 26. qu. Why their images were to be broken downe 27. qu. To what use images being pulled downe may be converted 29 qu. To whom it belongeth to pull downe images 30. qu. How the Lord is said to be a jealous God 31. qu. Why they are commanded to cut downe the groves 32. qu. Why idolatrie is called fornication 33. qu. How farre it is lawfull and unlawfull to eat of things consecrated to Idols 34. qu. Why mariages with the idolatrous were forbidden and in what cases 35. qu. Why the images are called molten gods 36. qu. Why the principall feasts of the Israelites are here rehearsed 37. qu. VVhy some feasts and not all are here rehearsed 38. qu. Of the Passeover the right ends and use thereof 39. qu. Why the first borne males were onely due unto God 40. qu. Why mention is made onely of ashes of uncleane beasts 41. qu. Whether the Israelites were absolutely bound to keepe the rest of the Sabbath in earing time and in harvest 42. qu. VVhether now Christians are necessarily tied to keepe the Lords day in seed time and harvest 43. qu. Why the people were charged to goe up thrice in a yeare to the feasts 44. qu. Who were bound to goe up to the feasts 45. qu. Whether all the males were bound every yeare to goe up thrice to the Sanctuarie 46. qu. Whether Moses were twice or thrice fortie dayes in the mount 47. qu. Of the shining of Moses face 48. qu. Why it pleased God to give such great glorie to Moses countenance 49. qu. Why Moses face shined more now at his second being in the mount 50. qu. VVhy the people were afraid to come neere Moses 51. qu. Whether Moses covered his face before hee spake to the people or after 52. qu. What the vailing of Moses face signifieth 53. qu. How long the shining of Moses face continued 54. qu. Whether Moses face continually shined or onely at certaine times Questions upon the five and thirtieth Chapter 1. QUest VVhy the precept of keeping the Sabbath is so often inculcate 2. qu. VVhether it were simplie forbidden the Israelites to kindle a fire upon the Sabbath 3. qu. VVhy the Lord would have his Temple built sumptuously 4. qu. Whether one may offer himselfe to the calling of the Ministerie 5. qu. Of the liberall and franke offering of the people 6. qu. Why the women offered by themselves 7. qu. Why the workmen are named Questions upon the six and thirtieth Chapter 1. QUest Wherefore Moses maketh such a large rehearsall of those things before named 2. qu. Why the same order is not kept in the making of the Tabernacle which was observed in the prescription 3. qu. Whether the middle barre were onely in the west end 4. qu. To what purpose the hooks upon the pillars served Questions upon the seven and thirtieth Chapter 1. QUest How the rings are said to have beene in the sides of the Arke 2. qu. Why it is said He made where the Lord said before to Moses Thou shalt make 3. qu. In what forme the branches of the candlesticke went up Questions upon the eight and thirtieth Chapter 1. QUest Whether there were more than one Laver made 2. qu. Of the forme and fashion of the Laver. 3. qu. How the brasen Laver is said to be made of the womens looking-glasses 4. qu. How the women are said to watch at the doore of the Tabernacle 5. qu. Of the meaning of these words The heighth in the breadth 6. qu. VVhat ministerie of the Levites is here understood 7. qu. Whether the gold or silver onely were given according to the number of the people 8. qu. When the people were first numbred 9. qu. Whether this numbring of the people and that Numb 1. were the same 10. qu. The summe of the gold and silver offered to the Tabernacle as it is valued with money now currant 11. qu. What things were made of silver 12. qu. Of the quantitie of brasse which was offered Questions upon the nine and thirtieth Chapter 1. QUest At what time the worke of the Tabernacle began and when it was finished 2. qu. Why they brought their worke to Moses 3. qu. How Moses is said to have blessed them Questions upon the fortieth Chapter 1. QUest When the Lord spake âo Moses to set up the Tabernacle 2. qu. Why so often rehearsall is ââde of the Tabernacle and the parts thereof 3. qu. Why all the parts of the Tabeââacle are not said alike to be sanctified 4. qu. Whether it be lawfull for one iâsue for a Bishopricke or other Ecclesiasticall prefââment 5. qu. When the Tabernacle began the set up 6. qu. What Testimonie was put into ãâã Arke 7. qu. Whether the tables of the law âre put into any other Arke beside the Arke of the âestament 8. qu. When the Priests were consecrated whether at the erecting of the Tabernacle or after 9. qu. Why the Priests were commanded to wash their hands and feet 10. qu. What cloud this was which covered the Tabernacle 11. qu. How the glorie of the Lord filled the Tabernacle 12. qu. Why it pleased God to make the cloud a signe of his presence 13. qu. Why Moses could not enter into the Tabernacle 14. qu. In what order the campe marched 15. qu. Why it is called the Lords cloud and of foure miraculous things in it Tâe end of the Table THE EXPLANATION AND RECONCILIATION of that point of theft handled pag 3. and pag. 5. of this Commentarie WHereas pag. 3. lin 32. Piscators opinions misliked which would not have simple theft punished by âath and yet pag. 5. lin 13. the same seemeth to be affirmed in âhe first place understand by simple theft such theft as concurrâh not with another sin as theât violence and such like in the other that is âlled simple theft which is onely upon extreame necessitie and committed in
latine vulgar text refused of the Papists Iunius translation preferred The tree of life did not give immortality Tree of life not effectively so called but significatively What kind of tree it was Why it was so called Synoâs contr ãâã quaest 3. It cannot be the river Ganges Gihon not Nilus The frame of mans body more excellent than of any other creature Adam how the longest liuer of all the Patriarks Adam not the greatest man in stature of body Hebrewes curious observations Adam by his transgression made subject to eâernall death Foure kinds of death To what end the creatures were brought Adam Hebrewes vâine collections Salomon not wiser than Adam Whether Adam knew of the fall of the Angels Hebrew curiosities ãâã he ãâ¦ã one ãâã The observation of the Lords day is morall The Lords day instituted by the Apostles The Lords day a symbole of everlasting rest The observation of the Lords day bindeth in conscience Difference betweene the Lords day and other festivals See the booke of the catholike doctrine of the Church of England printed at Cambridge p. 37. ibid. p. 195. 1 Tim. 43. ibid Ibid. p. 196. Can. 45. 54. p. 189. Rom. 6. Galath 3.16 Hom. 7. in Exod. ad Rustich Serm. 33. de tempor serm 36. D. Bound Tractat. â in Matth. Pererius against Bellarmine Hesiods story of Pandora For further answer to this obiection The religious vse of the Lords day Mans base beginning should teach him humilitie The earthly paradise should put us in minde of the celestial No man ought to lâve idleây The dutie of the wife The duâie of the husband Gods watchfull providence over man S.C. â S.H.c. T.P. â H.C.c. S.H. dr diff ver C.B.S.r. C.H.c. T.B.r. S.H.c. T.B.r. S. ad S.H.c. S.ap. for pr. div sign C.c. Serpents whether they had the use of speech Of the natural wisdome of the serpent What kind of serpent it was Hebrewes fansies Eva altereth Gods words Satans doubtfull answer Adams sinne neither is to be aggravated nor the womâns to be extenuate August lib. 14. de civitaâ dei c. 17. Strabo lib. 15. Diod. ãâã lib. 4. 2. Mag histor scholastic Gen. c. 23. 3. Irenaeus lib. 3. advers haeres c. 37. 4. Ambros. l. de parad c. 13. Lib. de paraââ c. 13. Lib. 5. advers haeres lib. 28. moral c. 2. Lib. 3. advers haeres cap. 37. Lib. 11. de Gen. ad liter cap. 33. In cap. 38. Ioâ â Genes ad âit l. 11 c. 13. Adam heard Gods voice he saw him not Lib. de par c. 44. Who is understood to be the seed of the woman Lib. de tracta c. 20. The Serpent made dumbe What is signified by the heele How the Serâent feedeth of dust Lib. 3. de Trini c. 23. Rupert ibid. Lib. 7. de hist. 2. animal c 9. Womans subjection to her husband how a punishment Man should not have returned to dust if he had not sinned Lib. 3. d. ãâã c. 20. Thoâd quest 35. in Genes Origen ãâã p. in Levit. Lib 11. Genes ad lit c. 33. Lib 3. Comment in Genes c. 28. Adam being deprived of life lost also the symbole and signe of iâ Divers reasons shewing that man feâl the day of his creation De Genes ad lit lib. 11.23 De peâcat merit râmiss lib. 2. cap. 21. R. Natâââ â Meâachââ Mâdâaâ ãâã The contrary objection answered Quâst 40. in Genes What the Cherubims were that kept Paradise Whether Paradise were kept with a ficâio sword Prosper lib. 2. de vit contempt c. 19. Bâllar de grat ãâ¦ã lib. 1. c. 6. Lib. 11. Gen. ad lit c. 4. Lib. 7. de Civit. Dâi c 30. Aug. l. de cor grat c. 10. August in Psal. 70. Bellar. ãâã 3. amiââ grat lib. 3. c. 4. Perer an ãâã 6. disputat de pe c. Eva. ãâã 1. Perer. in 3 Gââ v 15. Bellar. lib. 2. de verb. Dei c. 1â Bellar. de grat ãâ¦ã c. â8 Degrees of tentation Eyes opened after sinne Worldly shame Excusing of sinne Sobrietie in apparell S. ad T.G.r. S. Chal. ad T. B.G.r div accep T.G.B.r. Sic. T.G.B.r. div accept ap f. pr. Hier. S. alter S H.c. T. B.G r. Chal. ad Rupertus lib. 3. in Gen. c. 34. A fable fathered upon Methodius Lib. 1. de Cain Abel c. 3. Ambr. de Cain Abel c. 6. Hom. 18. in Gen. Aug. l. 15. de civ des c. 7. How sinne is said to lye at the doores Lib. 4. in Gen. c. 9. Hierom. in libtrad in Gen. Rupert lib. 3. in Genes c. 8. Ambros lib. 2. de Cain Abel â 9. Of the land of Nod. Ioseph lib. 1. antiquitaâ c. 11. Plato in protagora Arist. lib. 1. poliâiâor Epist. 125 ad Damasc. Theod. quest 44. in Gen. The occasion of Lamechâ speech to his wives Chrysost. hem ãâã Gen. Iosâph lib. 1. antiq Rupert lâb 3. ââ Gen. c. â ãâã 22. Moral ââ 12. Bellar. lib. 1. de grat priâ hom c. 13. Bellar. de liber arb lib. 5. c. 22. Perer. in hanc locum Bellar lib de liber ar c. 7. The wicked hate the righteous A great judgement for a sinner to be forsaken of God Ambros lib. 2. de Cain Abel c. 9. The vaine coÌforts of worldly men The hope of worldly men in this ãâã A righteous man afflicted in this life S. ap f. pro. S. ad S. ad det S. ad S. det S. ad S. det S. ad det S. ad det S. alt S. ald Chal. cor S. ad S. det Matthew and Luke reconciled concerning the generation of Christ. Hebrew fables Hebrew fables Plin. lib. 7. c. 29. Divers men of great yeares Ioseph l. 3. antiq c. 3. Ioseph l. 1. antiq Iren. lib. â ad vers hâres August lib. 15. de civ deâ c. 13. The divers errors of the septuagint in the translation of this 5 chap of Genesis Lombard lib. â dist 30. c. Catherin âpâs de peââat origââ câ 6. Rom 3.12 Bellar. de ãâã pecat âib 5 c. 7. Pererius in hunc ãâã Sixt. Senens lib. 5. ãâ¦ã 6.1 quâs 4. Perer. lib. 7. in Gen. quest 7. Perer. ibid. qu. 7. Theodor. qu. 45. in Genes In comment ad Hebr. c. 11. Wisd. 4.11 Perer. lib. 7. in Genes q. 4. de Henoch Luk. 1.17 Tertul. lâb de ãâ¦ã ãâã in 1. ep ãâ¦ã Medin l. 6. in âect in dâum Iude. c. 24. August lib. â3 de câvâ Deâ c. 38. Oâg in Num. ãâã âlt God will alwayes have a Church on earth Godly life goeth before everlasting glorie The Patriarkâ beleeved in Christ. T.r. Chal. corâ T.B.G.r. S.H. Ch. ad Tr. S. Ch. ad Litt. de Ch H. ad S. al H. de T.B.G.r. S. cor S. altâ T. P.R S. cor T. r. S det H. ad H. coâ Diodorus Siculus lib. 3. c. 2. Exod. 23.2 Exod. 23.2 Angels fell not for the love of women Francisc. Georg. 1. tom problem 3â 331 Devils are not corporall Plutarch lib. de ãâã Devils have no generation Burgens in â Genes Tostatus in
superstition of the Egyptians in worshipping their god Apis. Reconciliation of some difference in the genealogie of the Belahites in the Chronicles Benjamin a grandfather at Iacobs going downe to Egypt Hebrewes conceits The Septuagint whether here in an errour Why 70 persons descended into Egypt Whether Iacob or Ioseph fell one upon the others necke T.G.r. H. alt T.B.G.r. H. cor divers sig H.S. cor divers sig H. cor T. mut num H. alt T.B.G. divers signif Perer. error in the chronologie How Iacob did know that he should not attaine to the yeares of his father Aug. lib. 1. de civit c. 12.13 Heb. 11.21 How and when the Apostles doe follow the Septuagint H.S.C. mut voc S.c. S.H.c. H.S.c. diff verb. H.S. det H.S.C. mut voc Canterp S. ap f. pro. C. cor 1 Tim 3.3 Tit. 1.8 Offic. 2.27 Christs-church in Oxford In obit Satyr Master Gibbons upon Genesis dedicated to the L. Bishop of Duresme Orat. pro Archia 1 ãâã 2.21 1 Pet. 3.9 Romana apud Hieron H.S.c. H.S.C. cor H.S.C. cor T.B.r. S.H.C. â T.r. divers signif S.c. T.p.r. T.r. T.r. T.C.r. C. cor H. cor Ch. c. B.G.T. â G. cor S. cor Ch. c. C.c. C.c. C.H.S. cor C. cor C.c. S. dâv signif H.S.C. div signif H.S. div signif S.C.H.c. C. cor S.c. H.S.c. T.B.r. T.B.r. C. cor S.c. C.c. S.c. T.H.r. T.G.r. S.c. C.c. inter S. mut pârs H. det How Moses came to the knowledge of Iacobs will Iacobs testament depraved and abused The last times how taken in Scripture The error of Isidor Pâlusioâa Of Ruben Of Simeon and Levi. The greatnesse of the sinne of Simeon and Levi. How Christ is the expectation and desire of the Gentiles The prophecies touching the Messiah absolute not conditionall No King of the tribe of Iudah after Ieconiah How the scepter should not depart from Iudah till Shiloh come Moses prophecie of Gad compared with thiâ of Iacob ââwes S.c. S.c. T. r. G. pr. f. app H.T.r. Herodot lib. 2. Diodor. lib. 2. Histor. scholast c. 114. in Genes Why the Egyptians are noted to have mourned Of the dayes and time of mourning for the dead Hebrewes curious observations When and upon what occasion this message was sent to Ioseph Joseph lib. 2. antiquit How long Joseph died before Moses was borne Iustinus the historiographer detected of sundrie untruths Hebrewes fables How Stephen might know that the rest of the Patriarkes were buried in Sechem Bellar. de purgato lib. 1. c. 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ex Stobaâ ser. ââ Psal. 113.5 Prov. 20.8 â Sam. â3 11 Ambros. in obitum Valentin Ambros. ser. 40. Iudg. 9. Iudg. 1. 1 Sam. 21.18 2 King 11. âeneâ 2. de iâa Hierom. ad Oceanum Hexamer lib. â cap. 21. Iudg. 9.19 Numb 16. Ierem. 22.19 2 Chron. 20. Esth. 9.19.22 Esther 9.18 1 Maâh 4.59 Ioâ 10.22 Zach. 2.5 Iob 28.7 Iob 34.25 vers 22. Psal. 91.5 Numb 21.17 Iudg. 5.31 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1 Cor. 14.3 Anthistenes Apolog. 2. in Ruffin Galath 4.16 Hieron ad Rustic 2 Cor. 10.18 Philip. 1.18 Serm. 79. de verbi Apostolis * Galath 3.19 Iosephus Origen Cyprian Cyril Chrysostom Hierom. Augustine Gregorie Theodoret. Damascene Lyranus Thom. Aquin. Hugo Cardinalis Isidore Hugo de S. Vict. Burgensis Rupertuâ Rabanus Calvin Pagnin Iunius annot Arias Moâtaâ Iunius Analys Pellican Simlerus Gallasius Marbachiuâ Pelargus Borrhaius Osiander Arâtius Zeiglerus Cajetanus Lippomanââ Tostatus Ferus Pererius Vatablus Olâaster Piscator Genevens Ambros. ãâã in Luc. Moses Iudicials of thâee sorts Moses Iudicials noââeft absolutely free unto Christian Magistrates The Christian Magistratie not necessarily tied to Moses Iudiciali How far Moses Iudicials doe bind Ambr. lib. 7. commânt in 9. cap. Luc ãâ¦ã is citeâ ãâ¦ã Piscat de abrogation Iudicial ration 2. The âigour of Moses law mitigated * Or rather the author of âper imperfect ãâã 43. in cap. ââ Matth. and it is alleaged Caus. 27. qu. 1. cap 12. Câprian lib. 4. ââistol 2. Epistol ad Innocentium Whether adulterie necessarily is to be punished by death Annot. in Heb. epist. Hieron ad Innocentium Cyprian lib â epâst 2. Some kinds of theft punishable by death by the word of God Simple theft deserâeth not death Cod lib 6. â 2. l. 11. leg 18. Cod. lib. â tit 1. leg 3. Caus 17. qu. 4. c. 17. Annot. Erasâi in Hieron epistol ad Innocentium A.P.B.G. cum caeter T. T. S· G.A.P. T. Lib. 1â de Ciâ âitaâ Deic 7. Lib. 7. de histor ãâã cap. 4. How Pharaoh is said to dealâ wisely that is subtilly with Israel Hierom. lib. de locâ Hebrâiâ August libr. contr mendaâiâm c. 15.16 âib contra mendacium Câp. 10. Greg. lib. â moral Hierom. in cap 65. Isai. Hier. in cap 65. Isai. Rup lib. 1. Exod. cap. 7. Epist. ad Hâw the ãâã is said to turne the hearts of the Egyptians to hatred Theod. in Psalm 105. August in Pâââm 104. V.I. G.I. I.C. I. L.c. L.S.c. I.A.P. Pharaohs edict against the children continued not long Pererius deceived in the computation of 120. yeeres âuseb lâb 10. de ãâ¦ã Evang. ãâã ult The time of Moses birth compared with forren stories Appion the Grammarian that wrote against the Jewes of two grosse erroââ Philo lib. 1. de vita Moses Ioseph lib. 2. Antiq. cap. â Euseb. lib. 9. de praepârat Evangel cap. ult Clemens Alexandrinus lib. 1. âib de civitate Dei 18. cap. 59. Whether Moses found out the use of letters âristeus in his historie of the 72. translations Lib. 18. de civ Dei cap. 40. Why ãâ¦ã the ãâ¦ã and I ãâ¦ã not Thââ secund secund q. 61. artic ult Hierom. de ãâã Hebraic Hierom contra Heluidium Pererius deceived I.V. cum caeter I.S. â I.G.B. cum caeter I.V.B.G. I.V.A. I.G. cum caeter Why Moses went thither Why it was caâled the mountaine God Ambâ lib. 7. Comment in ãâ¦ã âypr lib. 1. advers Iud. cap. 19. ãâ¦ã in cap. ãâ¦ã Iosephus lib. 5. Antiquââââ Of the wonderfull fruit of Palestina called the Apples of Paradise Hier. Epist. 129. ad Dardonum Thâm ãâ¦ã 3. Dionys. Whether Plato and other Philosophers received any light from Moses bookes 1. doct That there is but one God â doct That Christ is God 3. doct God doth not alwayes shew his immediate power but worketh by meanes Perer. Distâ 3 cap. Exâd Numer 2â Epist. How places are to be respected I.V. I. I. V. I.V. B.G. cum caeter I.G. I.L.S. I. Serm. 86 âe tempore Reconcilâation Hebrewes fââbles Lib. 3â âor cap. 23. Epist. 142. ad âardaâ Wherein Moses sinned How God is angry with his Children Zach. 9.9 God Satan and man himselfe are said to harden the heart but diversly August âeâ ââ De âempore Aâgust serm 141. de tempore Bernard 1. ser. de cârcumcis Hug. lib. 2. de sacram 12. Thostat in Exod. Thom. 2. par 4.70 resp ad secund Lib. 2. cont epist. Parââen câp 13. I.P. I. A. P. I.S. I. A. P. I.A.P. I.
3. bell Iudaic. cap. 12. Laert. lib. 1. c. 1. Ioan. Leo in descriptione Africa lib. 1. cap. 27. Plutarch in Lycurg Psal ââ 34 Deut. â 5 Aristot. lib. 8. cap. 14. Ierem. 26.14.15 Prâcop in cap. â7 Exod. Lib. de cura mortuorum c. 5. ââpert lib. 3. ãâ¦ã Rupert lib. 3. cap. 20. Ioseph lib. 3. antiq Iudââ cap. 3. Lib. 3. in Exod. cap. 19. I.C. I. V. cum caeter I.B.G. cum caeter I. I.G.B. Lâran in 2. Exod. August quast 67. in Exod. Quast 68. in Exod. Lib. 3. in Exod. cap. 22. Ecclesiastic cap. 7.6 Deut. 26.19 Other properties requisite in Magistrates Chrysost. serm de Evang. nuptia facta sunt 1. Cor. 7.5 Super Math. cap. 7. A defence of Queene Elizabeths government ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Plutarââ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Matth. 6 Luke 14.14 Menideâuâ Ex histor Nicolaâ de mârib Gentiaâ A 9. â Cor. 11. â Ex Aâlii Donati praefât in Terântium Oenopides so distinguisheth the bookes of the learned and unlearned Lima nunquam pulchriâr appareâ quà m cum plena est Heb. 5.4 a Exod. 2.12 b Exod. 18.14 c Deut. 16.19 d Ibid. Exod. 1â Hieron epitaph Paule 2. Cor. 12.14 Bernard de considerat lib. 3. Deut. 34.5 Ambr. de Cain Abel lib. 1. cap. 2. I. B.G.A. B. cum cat I. â B.G. cum cater V.I.A.P. August quest 70. in Exod. 5. Sam. 8.7 Rupert lib. 3. in Exod. cap. 24. Whether our Saviour with his Disciples and the Iewes kept the Passeover together Synops. controv 13. qu. 4. Rupert lib. 3. in ââod cap. 28. Tostatus his reasons answered Rupert lib. 3. in Exod. cap. 28. Gregor 6. moral cap. 27. Thom. in Epist. ad Hebraeos cap. 12. lâ 4. Lyranus deserded against Buâgens and Tostat. Chrysost. in Epist. ad Hebraos hom 32. Thom. in Epist. ad Hebraeos cap. 12. lâ 4. Gregories opinion concerning the apparition and minystrie of Angels examined How Christ was the mediatour of the old Testament That place expounded Heb. 2.2 how the word and the law was spoken by Angels I.G.B. I.A.P.L. B.G.L. I.V.A. The difference of filiall and servile feare âyrâl conera Iulian. l b. 8. Heresies concerning the Trinity ãâã the fiâst mandenâ Of diversâ kindes of faith James 2.19 Synops. pap pag. 879. Divers reasons shewing that justifying faith iâ not commanded or contained in the Morall law Of the starres Of the Beasts Of Fishes Whether the waters be under or above the earth See more of this question Synops. pap pag. 400. Of oathes made to enemies Of oathes made to theeves Of unlawfull oathes Objections answered made in defences of swearing by Saints Lib. de artâ amandi The difference betweene the Sabbath of the Jewes and Christians Chrysost. in serm ad popul Antioch pro gratiarum actione Thom. 1.2 q. 100. art 7. ad 2. distinct 37. art 2. q. 1. ad 3. Reconcil Upon what occasion some works are allowed to be done upon the Lords day Divers kinds of rests in the soule Gregor ãâã registrâ lib. 11. Epist. â Chrysost. concion de Lazaro Reconcil Thom. in opuscul Whether Naboth did well in not yeelding his vineyard to the Kings desire What it is to call the brother Racha It is proved lawfull by the Word of God for Christians to wage battell The conditions required in lawfull warre August in lib. de 10. chord cap. 9. Of slandering Of railing Of whispering and tale bearing Of flattery Of lying Confession of the truth To interpret things in the best part The difference of good and bad suspition A lye in the case is to be admitted Reasons shewing the last precept of coveting to be one and not two Of the degrees to be considered in sinne Difference betweene the full assent of the will and an inclination only The divers kindes of concupiscence Of the ceremoniall law Of the judiciall law How the Morall law bindeth How the law is possible to bee kept in the regenerate How it is impossible to be kept in the regenerate Difference betweene the sinnes of the regenerate and unregenerate Of the true end and use of the law a Juel defens Apolog. pag. 59. a Juel defens Apolog. pag. 59. a Juel defens Apolog. pag. 59. a Juel defens Apolog. pag. 59. How God himselfe neither can not will dispense with his owne law It is not in mans power to dispense with the Morall law though God may dispense A strange example of Gods judgement shewed upon three excessive drinkers in little Eason in Essex the 27. of December last Reconcil Of two kindes of high places Three kindes of wayes is the soule joyned to the body R. Parkes his strong positions of comprehending the Godhead Apolog. pag. 204.20 I. A. P. I.B.G. cum caeter I.V.A. I. I.A. I.A. I.B.V.G. Oblation of incense a meere ceremony of the old Law and therefore cannot be retained under the Gospell Moses Judicials rather to be imitated than any other humane constitutions What was to âe done if a âan should fall into the pit The oriâânall and beginning of Sanctuaries How Sanctuaries should be moderated I. I.L.C. I.C.S. I.V. A. V.I.A.P.B. Thom. 1.2 q. 105. art 2. ad Cod lib. 4. tit 34. leg 1. Cod. lib. 4. tit 34. c. 10. Diocletian Cod. lib. 4. tit 34. c. 11. Ibid. leg 7. Cod. lib. 4. tit 34 c. 3. Thom. 1.2 qu. 105. art 2. ad 3. The keeper in trust is not to answer for casualties Cod. lib. 4. tit 23. leg 1. Diocletiââ Cod. lib. 4. tit 23. leg 1. 1.2 q. 105. art 2. ad 4. Cod. lib. 4. tit 23. d. 4. Institut de public judit § secundo Extra de adulter in capit perveâiââ * qu. 8. in 7. â p. 7â Objections made in the excuse of witches answered Cod. lib. 9. tit 1â leg 4. 2 King 1. Caus. 26. q. 5. c. 18. Caus. 26. q. 7. c. 15. Caus. 26. q. 2. c. 6. Ibid. c. 7. Ibid. q. 5. c. 4. Caus. 26. q. 5. c. 3. Reasons shewing the equity of this law against witches 4 D. 34. ad 3. in Ser. Cod. ãâã 9. ãâã 18. leg 2. Ibid. leg 3. Ibid. leg â 2.2 q. 154. ãâã 12. ad 4. Lib. 3. ãâã c. â ãâã lib. de exhortat Martyr c. 5. cited in the Decrees Caus. 23. q. 5. c. 32. Epistol 40. ad Vincentâum cited C. 23. q. 4. c. 41. Plat. lib. â5 de legib August in Psal. 36. cited C. 14. qu. 3. c. 1 sess 10. sub Leon. 10. a Cod. lib. 3. tit 32. log 12. super verb. centesimae b Lib. 7. tit 5â leg 2. c Lib. 4. tit 32. leg 26. super verb. tertium d Ibid. e Lib. 6. tit 34. leg 1. super haeredes f Cod. lib. 3. tit 32. leg 12. in verb. centesimae g Concil Laodicen c. 5. Cod. lib. 7. tit 47. leg 1. super verb. cum prâ eo c. Hom. 38. super Matth. Chrysost. ibid cited Decret 88. c. 11. Lib. de Tobiae C. 15. cited c. 14. q. 3 c. 12. Ad Macedonium epist. 5â cited
their time of rest during this three dayes journey Perer. But when they removed from the wildernesse of Sinai they went three dayes together without any stay the Arke still going before them to find out a resting place Numb 10.13 till they came to Kibroth Hatavah which was their next mansion place Numb 33.16 The Lord still animating and strengthning his people to go forward Iunius The third manner of staying was when the cloud remained still upon the Tabernacle two or three dayes and then they pitched their tents and thus the cloud staied in 40. yeere not above 42. times for so many mansion or camping places they had as they are set downe Numb 33. 4. Now how to know when they were to pitch their tents Pererius conjectureth at it and giveth these three rules First if the cloud stayed about noone then they knew that it onely rested till they had refreshed themselves but if it staied in the afternoone before night that they journeyed no more that day they tooke it that then they were to stay there some while and so pitched their tents But if it made no stay till the evening they pitched no tents till the next morning and then if the cloud went not forward they then set up their tents These are onely Pererius conjectures and uncertaine And it otherwise may be gathered out of the Scripture that they did not pitch their tents till the cloud had staied two dayes at the least as we read Numb 9.20 When the cloud abode a few dayes in the Tabernacle they pitched their tents at the commandement of God and afterward vers 22. If the cloud tarried two dayes or a moneth or a yeere upon the Tabernacle the children of Israel pitched their tents It seemeth then by this that this was a rule unto them not to pitch their tents or settle their campe till after two dayes Beside they had Moses to give them direction also in this case when to encampe themselves who continually consulted with God 5. Now the manner of their removing was this when the cloud arose from the Tabernacle the Priests and Levites tooke up the Arke and carried it and when they went forward with the Arke Moses used this prayer Rise up O Lord and let thine enemies bee scattered and let them that hate thee flee before thee And when the Arke rested hee said Returne O Lord to the many thousands of Israel Numb 10.35 Hereunto the Prophet alludeth when hee saith The Lord shall arise and his enemies shall be scattered Perer. 6. This cloud began not onely now to appeare when they were come to their third mansion place in Etham as Hierome thinketh but straightway upon their setting forth from Ramesis though mention be made first of it here that proveth it not now first to have appeared as Moses is said first in this place to have taken Iosephs bones with him which was done notwithstanding at his first comming out of Egypt the Scripture observeth not alwayes the order of time in setting downe matters of historie but the coherence of the argument So neither did the cloud leave them at Aarons death as is the opinion of the Hebrewes for seven moneths after Aarons death who died in the fift moneth immediatly before Moses death when Iosuah was consecrated to succeed him mention is made of the piller of the cloud wherein the Lord appeared to Moses Deut. 31.15 See more of this quest 22. before 7. Gregorie maketh the appearing of the bright cloud by day a signe of Gods favour and mercie to his obedient people and the appearing of the terrible fire by night as a signe of his severitie and justice against the wicked and unbeleevers Gregor hom 21. in Evangel Ex Perer. 4. Places of Doctrine 1. Doct. Of the lawfull use of ceremonies Vers. 9. THis shall be as a signe unto thee upon thine hand c. As this place sheweth that there were then in the Church and so are still commendable ceremonies which the Lord hath instituted to be ââmembrances of spirituall things as these were of their deliverance out of Egypt so their superstition is reproved that dwell in the externall ceremony not looking unto the spirituall sense Ferus as the Pharisies did which did weare their phylacteries and fringes yet forgot the law represented and signified by them 2. Doct. Christ the Mediatour both of the old and new Testament Vers. 21. IEhovah went before them He that is here called Iehovah is chap. 14.19 called the Angell of God which was none other but Jesus Christ Iun. the Prince and Captaine of his Church the Mediatour both of the old and new Testament according as the Apostle saith Heb. 13.9 Iesus Christ yesterday and to day and the same also is for ever 3. Doct. Christ sheweth us the way to the heavenly Canaan as the piller did direct the Israelites toward their Canaan Vers. 22. THe Lord went before them by day in a piller of fire This piller divers wayes represented Christ 1. He is the piller and upholder of his Church 2. He leadeth us the way unto eternall life as he himselfe saith I am the way the truth and the life Ioh. 14. 3. Aperit nobis viam maris rubei id est gratiam baptismi sanguine suo rubentes He openeth to us the way of the red sea that is the grace of baptisme died red in his bloud Rupertus 4. Christ is both a fire and a cloud that is both God and man 5. In noctâ veteris testamenti paucis lucebat c. He did shine but to a few in the night of the old Testament as this fierie cloud gave light by night Ferus 6. But the most lively signification is this that Christ is that covering cloud under whose shadow wee are defended from the heate and stormes of temptation as the Prophet sheweth Isai. 4.6 Simler 5. Places of Confutation 1. Conf. Against the theatricall Pagean of the Masse Vers. 9. THey shall be a signe unto thee upon thine head These externall signets upon the head and frontlets betweene the eyes instituted at the first to a good end to put them in minde alwayes of the law of God they afterward superstitiously abused onely glorying in the outward ostentation of them so in Poperie the right use of the Supper of the Lord is turned into theatricum quândam actum Missa into a theatricall shew of the Masse calling men à communione ad spectaculum from the communion of the bodie and bloud of Christ to a gazing spectacle Simlerus 2. Conf. Against the adoration of reliques Vers. 19. MOses tooke the bones of Ioseph This maketh nothing for the adoration of the reliques of Saints which idolatrous use is still retained and practised in Poperie for Iosephs bones were carried to be buried they tooke up the bones of Saints and Martyrs after they have beene buried these were true bones they shew counters and ducks bones and such like trash for the bones of the Saints as hath beene found by