as true Gods animated by some heavenly Power Of which worship see Photius in his Bibliotheca CCXLII. But especially Bochartus L. II. Canaan cap. 1. where he shows the Phoenicians at least as the Jews think first worshipped this very Stone which Jacob anointed And afterward consecrated others which they called Baetylia and Baetyli in memory of this Stone anointed at Bethel See p. 785 786. Certain it is this Idolatrous Practice came very early into the World Which made Moses forbid the erecting of such Pillars they being in his time converted to a prophane use Lev. XXVI 1. Deut. XII 3. XVI 22. But the Name of that City Which was near to the place where this Pillar was set up Was Luz at the first So called perhaps from the many Almond-trees which grew there for Luz signifies an Almond see XXX 37. among which it is probable Jacob took up his lodging because they were a kind of Covering to him Both this Luz in the Tribe of Benjamin and the other among the Hittites in the Tribe of Ephraim Judg. I. 26. Bochart doubts not had there Name from this Original L. I. Canaan cap. 35. Ver. 20. Jacob vowed a Vow This is the first Vow that we read of in Scripture Which all Men allow is a part of Religion and so was acknowledged by the Law of Moses Deut. XXIII 21. Psalm L. 12. Psalm LXV 2 c. Perhaps Jacob was the first that in this manner expressed his devout Affection towards God If God will be with me c. Perform his Promise to me verse 15. Give me Bread to eat c. Support and maintain me which is the explication of the Promise Ver. 21. Then shall the LORD be my God I will most Religiously worship and serve him Which doth not imply that he would not worship him if he did not bring him home in Peace But that if he did he would perform some special Service to him and worship him with extraordinary Devotion Consecrating as it follows this Place to his Honour offering him Sacrifice and giving him the Tenths of all he had to maintain his worship Ver. 22. And this Stone which I have set for a Pillar All Pillars were not unlawful but such only as were for Idolatrous uses As Maimonides resolves L. de Idol cap. VI. § 8. And therefore the Jews so expound those words before-mentioned Thou shalt not set thee up any Statue or Pillar which the LORD thy God hateth Deut. XVI 22. concerning Pillars set up for worship not of those for memorial Shall be God's House Here will I set apart a Place for God's Solemn Worship and Service Build an Altar and offer Sacrifice c. See XXXV 3. Give the tenth unto thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Josephus the Tithe of all his In-come for the maintenance of Burnt-Sacrifices and such like pious Uses and perhaps for the relief of the Poor As for the Priests we do not yet read of any Tithe given to them Though Mr. Selden in his History of Tithes p. 4 c. and Review p. 451. thinks they were paid to Isaac who was then Priest of the Family And so Bishop Montacute in his Book against him p. 199. who observes that we read only of Abraham and Jacob paying Tithe not of Isaac Because Isaac was a more special Type of Christ than either of these And Abraham and Jacob were Types of those two People who were to have part in the true Isaac for Abraham was Father of all the Faithful and Jacob was the Type of the Synagogue as St. Ambrose handles these Matters in the Life of Abraham Yet the same Bishop confesses That many doubt whether Jacob paid the Tenth of all to Isaac or immediately to God Because Jacob also was a Priest himself See p. 205 c. This I think we may certainly conclude from this place That Jacob the Grand-Child of Abraham vowing the Tenth of all as Abraham had given the Tenth of the Spoil he was induced to it by the Custom which was then among Religious People How they came to pitch upon this Portion rather than a Fifth Sixth or any other is not so easie to be resolved But they seem to speak with much Reason who observe that in this Number Ten all Nations in a manner end their Account Aristotle in his Problems § XV. L. 3. and then begin again with compound Numbers Or as others phrase it This is the end of less Numbers and the beginning of greater So that it was lookt upon as the most perfect of all other and accordingly had in great regard But after all it seems most likely to me that they had some Divine Direction for it as they had for Sacrificing And it may be further noted That what they gave to their Kings was the Tenth Part as well as what they gave to God And nothing more common among the Gentiles than Tenths paid to their Kings and that very anciently for it appears from 1 Sam. VIII 14 15 17. that it was part of the Jus Regium among the Eastern People Aristotle himself mentions it under the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an ancient Law in Babylon And it was also used in Athens which was a Commonwealth as Dr. Spencer shows in his Learned Work de Leg. Hebr. Ritual L. III. cap. X. § 1. And Bishop Mountague shows they were paid among the Romans p. 248 c. CHAP. XXIX Ver. 1. AND Jacob went on his journey Because the Hebrew Phrase for went on is lift up his Feet some will have it that he proceeded most cheerfully in his Journey after this Glorious Vision Which we may believe to be true though not signified by this manner of speaking To the People of the East To Mesopotamia which lay Eastward from Canaan Ver. 2. A great Stone upon the Well's mouth To keep the Water clean and cool Ver. 5. Laban the Son of Nahor Grand-Son of Nahor Who is mentioned rather than Bethuel because he was the Head of the Family Ver. 6. Rachel his Daughter Her Name in Hebrew signifies a Sheep For it was anciently the manner to give Names even unto Families from Cattle both great and small So Varro tells us Lib. II. de Re Rustica c. 1. Multa nomina habemus ab utroque pecore c. a minore PORCIVS OVILIVS CAPRILIVS a majore EQVITIVS TAVRVS c. See Bochart P. I. Hierozoic Lib. II. cap. 43. Ver. 7. It is yet high day c. A great deal of the Afternoon yet remains It was the Custom of those Eastern Countries where the Sun had great Power in Summer time to bring their Flocks towards Noon into shady places where there was Water to refresh them Otherwise the extream Heat would have killed them There they rested it appears by many places of Scripture particularly Cantic I. 7. till the Heat of the Day was over and then having watered them again they carried them out to feed till Sun set Ver. 9. For she kept them It
Angels was a later invention Ver. 18. And to rule over the day and over the Night Some have fansied that the ancient Idolatry sprung from this word Rule Men looking upon these glorious Lights as having a dominion over them Whence the Sun was called Baal that is Lord or Governor by the Eastern People and Moloch that is King by the Egyptians But one word sure was not the ground of so foul an Error when the scope of Moses was to show that these things were made by an higher Being and made not to rule over Men but over the Day and the Night which the Sun makes when it rises and sets by the order and appointment of God And God saw that it was good He was pleased with this Work as suitable to the Ends for which he intended it The first Light was good ver 4. for the purpose to which it served which was by its heat to agitate rarefie and separate the Matter of the CHAOS for the making of Air and gathering together the Waters and drying the Earth and producing Grass Herbs and Trees which made it necessary it should continue some Days near to the Earth that it might powerfully penetrate into the Matter it was to digest But if it should have continued longer so near to the Earth it would not have been good for it because it would have burnt up all the Plants that the Earth had brought forth and by its too scorching heat have hindred the Production of those living Creatures which were ready on the next Day to be made or at least made the Earth unfit for their habitation For the Air which all living things even Fishes themselves need nay the Plants also which have Vessels for conveying Air to all their Parts would have been so very hot that it would have afforded no refreshment to them Therefore it was good that it should be advanced into the Firmament of the Heaven and there embodied in those Luminaries which being removed further from us give such a moderate heat as is necessary for the preservation of us and of all things living that dwell upon the Earth Ver. 19. And the Evening c. Thus the fourth Day concluded Ver. 20. And God said Let the Waters c. Now God proceeded to form the lower sort of Animals or living Creatures viz. The Fish and the Fowl which are in many respects inferior to Beasts And the Fishes are called moving in the Hebrew creeping Creatures because their Bellies touch the Water as creeping things do the Earth Both Fishes and Fowls were made out of the Waters that is out of such Matter as was mixed with the Waters which contained in them many things besides simple Water for the Sea and Rivers are still very richly furnished with various Compounds for the nourishment of an innumerable multitude of Fishes The great congruity that there is between Fish and Fowl in many particulars will not let us doubt they had the same Original For they are both oviparous which makes them more fruitful than the Beasts of the Earth neither of them have any Teats they both direct and as I may say steer their Course by their Tail c. See Ger. Vossius de Orig. Progr Idolol L. III. c. 78. Bring forth abundantly That is various sorts of both kinds there being many hundred kinds of Fishes and Birds or Fowls many of the latter of which live in the Water which shows their Original to have been from thence and others of them live both in the Air and Water The formation of these Creatures is in every part of them very wonderful especially in those parts whereby they are fitted to swim and to fly Which demonstrate a most wise Agent by whose infinite Power they were so contrived as to be able also to propagate their Kind Ver. 21. And God created great Whales The vastness of these Creatures perhaps made Moses again use the word Create which he had not done since the beginning of the Chapter not because they were made as the CHAOS was out of Nothing but because it required a greater Power to make out of the precedent Matter moving things of so huge a Bulk and of such great Agility than to make any other thing hitherto formed The Hebrew word Tanim which we translate Whales comprehends several sorts of great Fishes as Bochartus observes in his Hierozoic P. 1. L. I. c. 7. where he shows the prodigious bigness of some of them But he should have added that this word also signifies Crocodiles which he himself shows are set forth in Job XLI as the most astonishing Work of God For Job Ludolphus I think hath demonstrated that nothing but the Crocodile can be meant by this word Tanim in Ezek. XXIX 3. and XXXII 2. and some other places Vid. L. I. Comment in Histor Aethiop Cap. XI n. 86. And God saw that it was good Was pleased with the Structure of these several Creatures Of the Birds who were furnished with Wings to fly in the Air and of the Fishes whose Fins serve them to swim in the Water and of Water-Fowl whose Feet are formed so as to serve for the same use and some of them such as dive under Water covered so thick with Feathers and those so smooth and slippery as the Learned and Pious Mr. Ray hath observed that their Bodies are thereby defended from the cold of the Water which cannot penetrate or moisten them See Wisdom of God in the Creation P. I. p. 135. Ver. 22. And God blessed them c. His blessing them was giving them a Power to Multiply and Increase till they had filled the Water with Fish and the Air with Fowl Which required a particular Care of Divine Providence as Abarbinel observes because they do not bring forth young Ones perfectly formed as the Beasts do but lay their Eggs in which they are formed when they are out of their Bodies This saith he is a wonderful thing That when the Womb as we may call it is separate from the Genitor a living Creature like it self should be produced Which is the reason he fansies that a Blessing is here pronounced upon them and not on the Beasts that were made the next Day The ancient Fathers are wont to observe That the first Blessing was given to the Waters as a Type of Baptism Theophilus ad Autolyc L. II. and Tertullian de Baptismo cap. 3. And let Fowl multiply in the Earth There for the most part they have their Habitation and their Food though some live upon the Water Ver. 23. See verse 19. Ver. 24. And God said Let the Earth bring forth Thus by a gradual process the Divine Power produced Creatures still more Noble The Matter being more digested and prepared in five Days time than it was at first I do not know whether there be any weight in the Note of Abarbinel who observes that Moses here uses a new word which we translate bring forth to show the difference between Plants
another Light being the Work of the first Day Ver. 6. And God said Let there be a firmament The next thing that God commanded to come forth of the Chaos was the Air particularly that Region next to us wherein the Fowls fly as it is expounded afterwards verse 20. The Hebrew word Rachia properly signifies a Body expanded or spread forth as may be seen in Exod. XXXIX 3. Isai XL. 19. Jer. X. 9. where it can have no other meaning but is by the LXX translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and from thence by us Firmament because the Air though vastly extended and fluid yet continues firm and stable in its place In the midst of the Waters and let it divide the Waters from the Waters This Region of the Air manifestly parts the Waters above it in the Clouds from those below it here upon Earth the one of which Waters bear a good proportion and are in some measure equal unto the other for there are vast Treasures of Water in the Clouds from whence the Waters here below in Springs and Rivers are supplied This appeared afterwards in the Deluge which was partly made by continued Rains for many days The great Objection against this Exposition is That now there were no Clouds neither had it after this rained on the Earth Gen. II. 6. But it must be considered That neither were the Waters below as yet gathered into one place And therefore Moses here speaks of the Air as a Body intended to be stretched between the Waters above and beneath when they should be formed That the Clouds above are called Waters in the Scripture-Language is plain enough from Psalm CIV 3. Jer. X. 13. and other places Ver. 7. And God made the firmament and divided c. What his Divine Will ordered his Power effected by that Light which rowled about the CHAOS and that Heat which was excited within it whereby such Exhalations were raised as made the Firmament That is the thicker Parts of them made this Region of the Air which is the lower firmament verse 20 And the thinner Parts of them made the Aether or higher Firmament wherein the Sun and the Planets are seated verse 14 15. Ver. 8. And God called the firmament Heaven Made it so different from the rest of the Mass called Earth that it had the Name of Heaven to distinguish it from the other So all above the Earth is called as appears by the following part of the Chapter in the Verses now mentioned And that 's the very import of the word Schamaim which in the Arabick Language as Aben Ezra observes signifies heighth or altitude And the Evening and the Morning were the second Day This was the Work of another whole Day Concerning which it is commonly noted That it is not said of this as of all the Works of the other five Days God saw that it was good What the reason of this should be is enquired by all Interpreters and the most solid Account that I can find of it is this That the Waters mentioned upon this Day were not yet separated and distinguished from the Earth And therefore in the next Day 's Work when he did gather the Waters together verse 10. and when he commanded the Earth which was become dry to bring forth verse 1.2 these words God saw that it was good are twice repeated Which made Picherellus and Ger. Vossius think the two next Verses 9 10. belonged to the second Days Work and that the first words of the ninth Verse should be thus translated And God had said Let the Waters under the Heaven c. And so the words in the end of the tenth Verse God saw that it was good relate to the second Day L. 2. de Orig. Idolol c. 67. Ver. 9. And God said Let the Waters under the Heaven All the Waters which continued mixed with the Earth and covered the surface of it Be gathered together c. Collected into one Body by themselves And let the dry Land appear Distinct and separate from the Waters There being such large portions of Matter drawn out of the CHAOS as made the Body of Fire and Air before-mentioned there remained in a great Body only Water and Earth but they so jumbled together that they could not be distinguished It was the Work therefore of the third Day to make a separation between them by compacting together all the Particles which make the Earth which before was Mud and Dirt and then by raising it above the Waters which covered its Superficies as the Psalmist also describes this Work Psalm CIV 6. and lastly by making such Caverns in it as were sufficient to receive the Waters into them Now this we may conceive to have been done by such Particles of Fire as were left in the Bowels of the Earth Whereby such Nitro-sulphureous Vapours were kindled as made an Earthquake which both lifted up the Earth and also made Receptacles for the Waters to run into as the Psalmist otherwise I should not venture to mention this seems in the fore-mentioned place to illustrate it Psalm CIV 7. where he says At thy rebuke they i. e. the Waters fled at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away And so God himself speaks Job XXXVIII 10. I brake up for it i. e. for the Sea my decreed place and set bars and doors Histories also tell us of Mountains that have been in several Ages lifted up by Earthquakes nay Islands in the midst of the Sea Which confirms this Conjecture That possibly the Waters were at the first separated by this means and so separated that they should not return to cover the Earth For the Word in the beginning of this Verse which we translate gathered comes from Kav which signifies a Square a Rule or perpendicular Line And therefore denotes they were most exactly collected and so poised in such just Proportions that they should not again overflow the dry Land This Work of God whereby the Waters were sent down into their proper Channels and the Earth made dry and fitted for the habitation of such Creatures as were afterwards created is observed by Strabo in his Geography as an act of Divine Providence L. XVII Because says he the Water covered the Earth and Man is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Creature that can live in the Water God made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. many Cavities and Receptacles in the Earth for the Water and raised the Earth above it that it might be fit for Man's habitation Ver. 10. And called the dry Land c. This is sufficiently explained by what hath been said upon Verse 5 8. only this may be added That the word Eretz Earth in Arabick signifies any thing that is low and sunk beneath opposite to Schamaim Heavens which in that Language as I noted before signifies high and lifted up Ver. 11. And God said Let the Earth bring forth grass the Herb yielding c. Or rather it should be translated and the Herb yielding
and Fore-appointing what we intend to do Purity and Holiness likewise seem to be comprehended in this As may be gathered from the Apostle Coloss III. 10. For the new Man consists in righteousness and true holiness Ephes IV. 24. But though he was created with a Faculty to judge aright and with a Power to govern his Appetite which he could controul more easily than we can do now yet he was not made immutably good quia hoc Soli Deo cedit which belongs to God alone as Tertullian excellently discourses in that place but might without due care be induced to do evil as we see he did For an habituated confirmed estate of Goodness was even then to have been acquired by Watchfulness and Exercise Whereby in process of time he might have become so stedfast that he could not have been prevailed upon by any Temptation to do contrary to his Duty And let them have dominion c. Some have thought the Image of God consisted in this alone See Greg. Nyssen cap. 4. De Opific Hom. p. 143. Which rather follows upon Man's being made in God's Image viz. An intelligent being which gave him Dominion over other things that are not indued with such Understanding I conclude this Note with a very pertinent Observation of his in that Book cap. 16. That Moses speaks more Magnificently of Man than any Philosopher ever did For they could say nothing of him beyond this That he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a little World But according to the Churches account his Greatness consists not in his Likeness to the created World but in his being made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the Image of the Nature of the Creator of all things Over all the Earth Over all four-footed Creatures in the Earth though never so wild as Bochartus observes Ver. 27. And God created Man in his own Image From these words Origen gathers there is a great deal of difference between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Image and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Likeness because though God said verse 26. Let us make Man in our Image and after our Likeness yet here he is said to have made him only in his own Image and not for the present after his Likeness For that saith he Lib. IV. contra Celsum is reserved to the other World when as St. John says 1 Epist III. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we shall be like him But this seems too curious No doubt God made Man just as he designed in such a compleat resemblance of himself that there is no Creature like to Man no more than God hath any equal to himself As some of the Hebrew Doctors explain this Matter And therefore Moses repeats it again In the Image of God created he him To imprint upon the Minds of Men a Sense of the great Dignity of Humane Nature which was foully debased by worshipping any Creature Male and Female created he them He made Woman the same Day he made Man as he did both Sexes of all other living Creatures and as he made Herbs and Plants with Seed in them to propagate their Species on the same Day they were produced It is plain by this also That Woman as well as Man was made in the Image of God And it seems to be pertinently observed by Abarbinel That Moses here again uses the word Create and that three times to denote the Original of Humane Souls which are not made out of pre-existent Matter as our Bodies are but by the Power of God when they had no Being at all Ver. 28. And God blessed them c. The former part of this Blessing be fruitful and multiply God had bestowed before verse 22. upon other Creatures Unto which he adds two things here replenish the Earth and subdue it He gives them the whole Earth for their Possession with a Power to subdue it That is to make it fit for their Habitation by bringing under or driving away wild Beasts For Secondly he gives them the Dominion unto which he designed them in their Creation over all other Creatures whether in the Water Air or Earth And he speaks to them in the Plural Number which is a demonstration that Man and Woman were both created and received his Blessing on the same Day Ver. 29. Behold I have given you c. Here he assigns them their Food and makes no mention at all of Beasts but only of Plants and Fruits of the Earth For Beasts being made by pairs in their several Species we may well suppose as Man and Woman were and not being yet multiplied the killing of Beasts Birds and Fishes would have been the destruction of the kind Whereas there were Plants innumerable and great variety of Fruit for their sustenance And therefore here being no grant made to them of Animals for their Food though no prohibition neither it is very probable they abstained from eating Flesh till after the Flood when God expresly gave them every living thing for Meat as much as the Herbs IX 2. unless it were upon some special occasions As perhaps when they sacrificed living Creatures which they did in process of time IV. 4 though not at the first Ver. 30. And to every Beast c. Here he gives to the Beast and Fowl and Creeping things all Herbs for their Food but saith nothing of Fruit from which we cannot well think the Birds would abstain And therefore they are included in the Phrase of every green Herb. Ver. 31. Very good From these words Epiphanius confutes the Manichees Haeres LXVI n. 18. where there is an explanation of this Phrase God saw that it was good throughout this whole Chapter Where it being said at the end of every Day 's Work God saw it was good and particularly here on the Sixth Day before he had quite ended the Work of it he saith so of the formation of the Beasts ver 25. Abarbinel will have this to relate peculiarly to the Creation of Man and Woman But the beginning of the Verse plainly shows that he speaks of every thing that he had made And therefore their Doctors in Bereschith Rabba whom he mentions say a great deal better That Man is meant in the first and principal place when Moses says God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good CHAP. II. MOSES having given a short Account of the orderly Production of all things from the meanest to the noblest explains more largely in this Chapter some things which were delivered briefly in the foregoing because he would not too much interrupt the coherence of his discourse about the Works of the Six Days Particularly he relates how Eve was made and also further illustrates the Production of Adam c. Ver. 1. Thus the Heavens and the Earth i. e. The visible World Were finished Brought to that Perfection wherein we see them And all the host of them That is all Creatures in Heaven and in Earth which are called Host or Army because of their vast
there was a remainder of the Name of Pison preserved in the Easterly River called Pasitigris which is the same with Oroatis as Salmasius observes in his Exerc. Plinianae in Solin p. 701 702 And is called as Mr. Carver notes by Xenophon simply Physeus in which the Name of Phison is plainly enough retained Which continued till the time of Alexander the Great For Q. Curtius as he further notes commonly calls Tigris it self by the Name of Phasis and says it was so called by the Inhabitants thereabouts Which in all probability was at first the Name of this other River Phison but lost by the many alterations which were made for a long time in the course of it as Pliny tells us For he says the Orcheni and other neighbouring Nations made great and deep Cuts or Canals to carry the Water of Euphrates meaning this River into their Fields and so it lost its course and run through Tigris and the Marshes into the Sea Strabo saith the same that from these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he calls them deep Trenches which carried the Water of Euphrates into Tigris came the Name of Pasitigris that is Pison mixed with Tigris See Salmasius in the fore-named Exercitations pag. 703 where he shows this River was not perfectly restored to its Course till the times of Alexander the Great That is it which compasseth the whole Land of Havilah By finding where this Country was we certainly find the River Phison Now Moses makes mention of two Havilah's one descended from Cush Gen. X. 7. and the other from Jocktan ver 29. The latter of these cannot be here meant for his Posterity were planted Eastward but the former who were a more Western People in that part of Arabia Foelix which bordered upon this Stream For the Ishmaelites who inhabited Arabia deserta are described by Moses XXV 18. as bounded by Shur towards Egypt and by Havilah in the way to Assyria And Saul found Havilah in after-times in the very same situation 1 Sam. XV. 7. And still much later Strabo mentions the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are certainly the Posterity of Chavilah among the People of Arabia See Bochart's Phaleg L. IV. c. 11. Where there is Gold Nothing is more famous than the Gold of Arabia Where Diodorus Siculus says it is digged up in great Lumps as big as a Chesnut L. II. p. 93. Edit H. Steph. Ver. 12. And the Gold of that Land is good i. e. Is excellent For the fore-named Author says it is of such a flaming Colour that it adds much to the Lustre of precious Stones that are set in it There is Bdellium The Hebrew word being Bedolach some have thought Bdellium to come from thence which is an Aromatick Gum. Others think Bedolach to be Chrystal others Amber but Bochart rather thinks it signifies Pearl Which he proves in his Hieroizoc P. II. L. V. c. 25. from the Country it self here mentioned viz. Havilah which he looks upon as that Part of Arabia which lies upon the Persian Gulph Where at Catipha there is a great Pearl-fishing The Manna also wherewith the Israelites were fed in the Wilderness is described Numb XI 7. to be round like Coriander-Seed and of the Colour of Bedolach Now in his former Description Moses says it was white Exod. XVI 14. which agrees to Pearls as also doth roundness but not to the sweet Gum called Bdellium Of which see Salmasius in his Exerc. Plin. p. 1150. And the Onyx Stone This Country also was famous for Precious Stones as appears by the Report which Nearchus Alexander's Admiral made of the Western Coast of the Persian Gulph in Strabo L. XVI But Braunius L. II. De Vestitu Sacerd. Hebr. cap. 18. thinks Schoham should rather be translated the Sardonyx Which soever it be Arabia was famous both for the Onyx and Sardonyae as Salmasius observes out of Pliny Ib. p. 562 563. Ver. 13. The name of the second River is Gihon There is no footsteps of this Name remaining that I can find but we are directed by the Country it is said to compass to take it to be the Eastern Stream that arose from the parting of Euphrates and Tigris as Pison I said was the Western Compasseth or runneth along by the whole Land of Aethiopia Or Cush Who was seated more Eastward than his Sons Havilah Seba and the rest mentioned Gen. X. 6 7. upon the Borders of this River For when People first began to spread themselves they kept as near to great Rivers as they could for the better Communication one with another and affording mutual Succour and Assistance It is probable that he gave Name to the Country of Susiana which the Greeks called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is now called by the Persians Chuzestan i. e. The Province of Chus And when his Posterity multiplied they went more Westward toward the Arabian Sea From whence his Brother Mitzraim passed into Egypt Our Translators follow the LXX in rendring the Hebrew Name Cush by Aethiopia Not meaning that in Africa but this in Assa For the Ancients frequently mention a double Aethiopia as many have observed particularly Job Ludolphus who herein justifies the LXX in great part L. II. Comment in Histor Aethiop Cap. III. n. 16. Ver. 14. The name of the third is Hiddekel Which River being called by Daniel X. 4. the great river cannot be as many have fansied Nahar-malca For that was but a Cut made by Trajan to waft his Army out of Euphrates into Tigris as Ammian Marcellinus tells us and therefore Hiddekel is Tigris it self Which as Pliny says was called Diglito in those Parts where its Course was slow and where it began to be rapid it took the Name of Tigris And so the Arabians call this River Deglat and Degela from the Hebrew word Hiddekel Which Salmasius derives from Hadda or Chadda sharp pointed and Kal swift because of its very quick and hasty Motion And thence the Greeks he observes derive the Name of Tigris 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exerc. in Solin p. 694. Rauwolff in his Travels P. II. c. 9. says That when he was at Caruch on the Confines of Media which was about an hundred Years ago Tigris was still called in their Language Hidekel Which goeth toward the East of Assyria If it make a great bend Northward as Pliny saith it doth about Apamia it must needs run toward the East of Assyria for some time But this is not the Course of the River and therefore the LXX translate the word Kidmath which we english toward the East simply toward And it is certain Tigris did run by Assyria for Nineveh the chief City of Assyria stood upon the East side of this River as Bochart hath demonstrated in his Phaleg L. IV. cap. 20. The fourth River is Euphrates None doubt that the River called here in the Hebrew Perath or Phrath is the same that hath been called for many Ages Euphrates The Course of which was so well known in those Days that Moses
lessened by his forbearing them One hundred and twenty Years Which now we must suppose drew near to an end Verse 13. The observation of some of the Hebrew Doctors perhaps is too curious which is this That the Name of Jehovah which we translate LORD is used Verse 3. where the first mention is made of this matter for it betokens the clemency of the Divine Majesty till the One hundred and twenty Years were out and then Moses uses the Word Elohim which is a Name of Judgment the time of which was come For all flesh i. e. all Men had corrupted his way upon Earth Wholly departed from the Rule of Righteousness or had made their way of Life abominable throughout the whole World Ver. 13. The end of all flesh is come before me I am determined to make an end of i. e. to destroy all mankind shortly So it follows I will destroy them with the Earth i. e. With all the Beasts and the Fruits of the Earth Or from the Earth as it is in the Margin Ver. 14. Make thee an Ark. This Vessel was not in the form of one of our Ships or Boats For it was not made sharp forward to cut the Waves but broad like a Chest and therefore had a flat bottom with a Cover or a Roof We do not find it had any Rudder being steered by Angels Of Gopher-wood There are various opinions about Gopher which some take for Cedar others for Pine c. but our learned Nic. Fuller in his Miscellanies hath observed that it is nothing else but that which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Cypress-Tree For taking away the termination Cupar and Gophar differ very little in their sound Bochartus hath confirmed this and shown that no Country abounds so much with this Wood as that part of Assyria which was about Babylon Where Arrianus says Alexander built a Navy of these Trees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. L. VII for there is great plenty of these Trees alone in the Country of Assyria but of other fit for making Ships there is great scarcity Strabo saith the same L. XVI From whence Bochart thinks it probable that Noah and his Children lived in this Country before the Flood for it is not likely that such a vast Bulk as the Ark was carried far from the place where it was made And the Mountains of Ararat which he will have to be the Gordiaean Mountains are upon the borders of Assyria Northward which way the Wind blew if there were any in all likelyhood the Rain coming from the South Sea L. I. Phaleg c. 4. Rooms shalt thou make Little Cabbins or Cells to sever the Beasts from the Birds the clean Beasts from the unclean and to preserve their several sorts of Food And shalt pitch it c. So the Arabick translation expresly pitch it with pitch For the bitumen which was plentiful thereabouts which others think is here meant was of the same nature and served for the same use with Pitch Being very glutinous and tenacious to keep things close together But not only the Chinks were filled with it but the whole Body of the Ark seems to have been all over daubed with it Within To give a wholsome Scent some think among so many Beasts And without To make the Ark more glib and slippery to swim in the Water more easily Ver. 15. And this is the fashion c. There are those who take these for Geometrical Cubits every one of which contains Six of the common But there is no need of such For taking them for common Cubits containing each only one Foot and an half it is demonstrable there might be room enough in the Ark for all sorts of Beasts and Birds with Noah's Family and their necessary provision See Verse 20. Ver. 16. A Window shalt thou make to the Ark. To let in the Light into the several Apartments For which should we conceive that one great Window might be so contrived as to be sufficient I do not see how that would exclude many little ones here and there for greater convenience And in a Cubit shalt thou finish it above That is finish the Ark which had a Cover it is plain from VIII 13. and was made shelving that the Rain might slide off And the Door of the Ark shalt thou set in the side thereof But on what side or whereabouts on the side is not certain It is probable on one of the long sides and in the middle of it Patricides calls it the Eastern side With lower second and third Stories c. That Arabian Author and Pirke Elieser Cap. 23. place Noah and his Family in the uppermost Story the Birds in the middle and the Beasts in the lowest But they forget to leave a place for their Provision And therefore they make a better distribution who think the Beasts were bestowed in the lower Story and that the third served for the Birds with Noah and his Family The second between both being left for the Stores that were to be laid in of Meat and Drink for them all The creeping things some think might well live in the space between the lower Story and the bottom of the Ark. Ver. 17. And behold I even I do bring a Flood of Waters c. i. e. They shall unavoidably be all swept away for I my self will bring a Deluge upon them Not an ordinary Flood but one of which I will appear to be the Author All Nations it plainly appears by such Records as remain had heard something of this Flood Lucian in his Dea Syria tells a long story of it out of the Archives of Hierapolis very like to this of Moses only he puts the Name of Deucalion instead of Noah Plutarch mentions the Dove sent out of the Ark. And so doth Abydenus mentioned by Eusebius L. IX Praepar Evang. c. 12. speak of Birds in general which being sent out returned again to the Ship finding no place to rest in but there only Josephus mentions a great many more not only Berosus the Chaldaean but Hieronymus Aegyptius who wrote the Ancient Phoenician History Mnaseas Nicholaus Damascenus with many others St. Cyril also L. I. against Julian quotes a passage out of Alexander Polyhistor wherein is part of the Story only he calls Noah by the Name of Xisuthros as Abydenus calls him Seisithrus in the Dialect of the Assyrians as some conjecture And now it appears that the Americans have had a Tradition of it as credible Authors Acosta Herrera and others inform us which saith The whole Race of Mankind was destroyed by the Deluge except some few that escaped They are the words of Augustin Corata concerning the Peruvian Tradition And Lupus Gomara saith the same from those of Mexico And if we can believe Mart. Martinius his History of China there is the like among the People of that Country Ver. 18. And with thee I will establish my Covenant I will make good the Promise I have made thee
not compleat as appears by comparing this with IX 28 29. where he is said to have lived three hundred and fifty Years after the Flood and in all nine hundred and fifty Whereas it should have been nine hundred fifty one if he had been full six hundred Years old when the Flood began V. 10. And it came to pass after seven Days c. As he had said verse 4. Ver. 11. In the second Month. Of the Year not of the six hundredth Year of Noah's life i. e. In October for anciently the Year began in September Which was changed among the Israelites in Memory of their coming out of Egypt into March Exod. XII 2. The seventeenth Day of the Month. Which was the beginning of our November All the Fountains of the great deep were broken up c. Here are two Causes assigned of the Deluge First The breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep And Secondly The opening the Windows of Heaven By the great Deep is meant those Waters that are contained in vast quantities within the Bowels of the Earth Which being pressed upward by the falling down of the Earth or some other Cause unknown to us gushed out violently at several parts of the Earth where they either found or made a vent For that 's meant by breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep The great holes or rather gaps that were made in the Earth at which those subterraneous Waters burst out This joined with the continual Rains for forty Days together might well make such a Flood as is here described For Rain came down not in ordinary Showers but in Floods Which Moses calls opening the Windows or Flood-gates of Heaven And the LXX translate Cataracts Which they can best understand who have seen those fallings of Waters in the Indies called Spouts Where Clouds do not break into Drops but fall with a terrible violence in a Torrent In short it is evident from this History that the Waters did once cover the Earth we know not how deep so that nothing of the Earth could be seen till God separated them and raised some into Clouds and made the rest fall into Channels which were made for them and commanded dry Land to appear Gen. I. 2 7 10. Therefore it is no wonder if these Waters were raised up again by some means or other to cover the Earth as before Especially when the Waters above the Firmament came down to join with those below as they did at the beginning This some wise Heathen look'd upon as a possible thing For Seneca treating of that fatal Day as he calls it L. III. Nat. Quest c. 27. when the Deluge shall come for he fansied it still Future questions how it may come to pass Whether by the force of the Ocean overflowing the Earth or by perpetual Rains without intermission or by the swelling of Rivers and the opening of new Fountains or there shall not be one Cause alone of so great a mischief but all these things concurr uno agmine ad exitium humani generis in one Troop to the Destruction of Mankind Which last Resolution he thinks is the Truth both there and in the last Chapter of that Book Where he hath these remarkable Words Where hath not Nature disposed Moisture to attack us on all sides when it pleases Immanes sunt in abdito lacus c. There are huge Lakes which we do not see much of the Sea that lies hidden many Rivers that slide in secret So that there may be Causes of a Deluge on all sides when some Waters flow in under the Earth others flow round about it which being long pent up overwhelm it and Rivers join with Rivers Pools with Pools c. And as our Bodies sometimes dissolve into Sweat so the Earth shall melt and without the help of other Causes shall find in it self what will drown it c. There being on a sudden every where openly and secretly from above and from beneath an eruption of Waters Which Words are written as if he had been directed to make a Commentary upon Moses Ver. 12. And the Rain was upon the Earth forty Days c. It continued raining so long without any intermission Ver. 13. In the self-same Day c. In that very Day when the Rain began did Noah and his Family c. finish their going into the Ark. Which could not be done in a Day or two but required a good deal of time And now he had compleated it the very last Creature being there bestowed For it is likely he put in all other things first and then went in himself with his Wife and Children and their Wives Who were no sooner entred but the Waters brake in upon the Earth from beneath and came down pouring from above Ver. 16. The LORD shut him in Or shut the Door after him Closed it so fast that the Waters could not enter though it was not pitched as the rest of the Ark. How this was done we need not enquire It is likely by an Angelical Power which I supposed before conducted the several Creatures into the Ark. Ver. 17. And the Flood was forty Days upon the Earth c. After forty Days Rain the Waters were so high that they bare up the Ark so that it did not touch the Earth Ver. 18. And the Waters prevailed By more Rain which fell after the forty Days the Inundation grew strong and mighty as the Hebrew word signifies so strong that the Waters bore down Houses and Trees as some expound it And were increased greatly He said before verse 17. they were increased but now that they were greatly increased Which must be by more Rain still falling on the Earth though not in such uninterrupted Showers as during the forty Days And the Ark went upon the Face of the Waters Moved from place to place as the Waves drove it Ver. 19. And the Waters prevailed exceedingly upon the Earth This is an higher Expression than before signifying their rising still to a greater pitch by continued Rains And all the high Mountains that were under the whole Heaven were covered There were those anciently and they have their Successors now who imagined the Flood was not Universal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but only there where Men then dwelt as the Author of the Questions Ad Orthodoxos tells us Q. 34. But they are confuted by these Words and by other Passages which say all Flesh died For the truth is the World was then fully peopled as it is now and not only inhabited in some Parts of it as may be easily demonstrated if Men would but consider That in the space of One thousand six hundred fifty six Years when Men lived so long as they then did their increase could not but be six times more than hath been in the space of Five thousand Years since Mens lives are shortned as we now see them Therefore it is a strange weakness to fansie that only Palaestine Syria or Mesopotamia or some such
Country was drowned by the Flood no more of the Earth being then inhabited For those Countries could not have held the fortieth part of the Inhabitants which were produced between the Creation and the Flood no all the Earth was not more than sufficient to contain them as many have clearly proved Plato says there were in his days 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ancient Traditions which affirm'd there had been sundry destructions of Mankind by Floods as well as other ways In which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a small parcel of Mankind were left And particularly he saith concerning Floods That they were so great that only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some very little Sparks of Mankind were saved and those upon the tops of Mountains And the like he saith of Beasts That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 very few of them were left to support the life of Mankind L. III. De Legib p. 677. Edit Seran But this appears to have been an imperfect Tradition the higher Mountains having been covered with the Waters as well as the low Countries and that all the Earth over Which need not seem strange if we consider what was said before upon Verse 11. And withal observe that the Diameter of the Earth being seven thousand Miles and consequently from the Superficies to the Center no less than Three thousand five hundred Miles it is not incredible as Sir W. Raleigh discourses L. I. c. 7. § 6. that there was Water enough in the great Deep which being forced up from thence might overflow the loftiest Mountains Especially when Water came pouring down also from above so fast that no Words can express it For there is no Mountain above thirty Miles high upright which thirty Miles being found in the Depths of the Earth One hundred and sixteen times why should we think it incredible that the Waters in the Earth Three thousand five hundred Miles deep might be well able to cover the space of thirty Miles in heighth It would help Mens unbelief if they would likewise consider the vast Inundations which are made yearly in Egypt only from the Rains that fall in Aethiopia And the like Overflowings yearly in America of the great River Orenoque whereby many Islands and Plains at other times inhabited are laid twenty Foot under Water between May and September Ver. 20. Fifteen Cubits upwards did the Waters prevail c. Moses doth not here plainly say That the Waters prevailed fifteen Cubits above the highest Mountains though I do not see but there might be Water enough heaped up by the fore-mentioned means to cover them so high And the whole Verse be thus interpreted The Waters prevailed fifteen Cubits upwards after the Mountains were covered Otherwise by the high Hills in the Verse before we must understand only such single Hills as are in several Countries and by Mountains in this Verse those long Ridges of Hills such as Caucasus and Taurus c. which stretch themselves many hundreds of Miles through a great part of the Earth See VIII 5. Ver. 24. And the Waters prevailed upon the Earth an hundred and fifty Days These words seem to me to import That whatsoever short intermissions there might be yet the Rain continued an Hundred and fifty Days Otherwise it is hard to explain how the Waters increased more and more as it is said verse 17 18 19. Besides had the Rain ended as we commonly suppose at forty Days end the Waters could not have prevailed an Hundred and fifty Days but would have sunk much before that time by reason of the declivity of the Earth And yet they were so far from falling that as Mr. Ray hath observed in his pious and learned Discourse of the Dissolution of the World the tops of Mountains were not seen till the beginning of the tenth Month that is till Two hundred and seventy Days were passed CHAP. VIII Ver. 1. AND God remembred Noah c. Took Compassion upon him and heard his Prayers which we may well suppose he made for himself and for all Creatures that were with him Thus the word remember is used XIX 29. XXX 22. The Hebrew Doctors here again take notice of the word Elohim See VI. 12. which is the Name for Judges and observe that even God's Justice was turned to Mercy Justice it self was satisfied as Sol. Jarchi expresses it And God made a Wind to pass over the Earth c. Some gather from hence that during the fall of the Rain there was no Storm or violent Wind at all but the Rain fell down-right And consequently the Ark was not driven far from the place where it was built It having no Masts or Sails but moving as a Hulk or Body of a Ship without a Rudder upon a calm Sea Philo indeed in his Book De Abrahamo gives a quite different Description of the Deluge representing the incessant Showers to have been accompanied with dreadful Thunder and Lightning Storms and Tempests But there is not a word in this Story to countenance it This Wind it is very probable was the North-Wind which is very drying and drives away Rain Prov. XXV 23. which came perhaps out of the South as I said upon VI. 14. Thus Ovid represents it in the Flood of Deucalion where he saith Jupiter Nubila disjecit nimbisque Aquilone remotis c. And the Waters asswaged This drying Wind and the Sun which now began to shine with great power made the Waters fall For if the Second Month when the Flood began was part of our October and November then the Flood abated after an Hundred and fifty Days in the beginning of May when the Summer came on apace Ver. 2. The Fountains also of the Deep There was no further irruption or boiling up of the Water out of the Bowels of the Earth And the Rain from Heaven was restrained So that the Rains ceased at the end of an Hundred and fifty Days Ver. 3. And the Waters returned from off the Earth continually c. The Waters rolling to and fro by the Wind fell by little and little And after the end of the Hundred and fifty Days began to decrease So the vulgar Latin well translates the latter end of this Verse were abated i. e. began sensibly to decrease Ver. 4. And the Ark rested in the seventh Month c. Of the Year not of the Flood Vpon the Mountains of Ararat i. e. Upon one of the Mountains as XIX 29. God overthrew the Cities in which Lot dwelt i. e. In one of which he dwelt Judg. XII 7. Jephtah was buried in the Cities of Gilead i. e. In one of the Cities For there was no one Mountain called by this Name of Ararat But it belonged to a long Ridge of Mountains like the Alps or Pyrenaean which are Names appertaining not to one but to all And Sir W. Raleigh I think truly judges that all the long Ridge of Mountains which run through Armenia Mesopotamia Assyria Media Susiana c. i. e. From Cilian to Paraponisus are called by
Moses Ararat as by Pliny they are called Taurus And that Author thinks the Ark setled in some of the Eastern Parts of Taurus because Noah planted himself in the East after the Flood and it is likely did not travel far from the place where the Ark rested as appears he thinks from Gen. XI 2. where we read his Posterity when they began to spread went Westward and built Babel The common Opinion is That the Ark rested in some of the Mountains of Armenia as the vulgar Latin translates the word Ararat i. e. saith St. Hierom upon the highest part of Taurus But Epiphanius who was before him saith upon the Gordiaean Mountains and so Jonathan and Onkelos and the Nubiensian Geographer and many others mentioned by Bochartus Who is of this Opinion as having the most Authority Many of which say That some Relicks of the Ark were remaining upon those Mountains Which as Theodoret observes upon Isa XIV 13. were accounted the highest in the whole World V. Phaleg L. II. c. 3. and L. IV. c. 38. There were such Remainders of this History among the ancient Scythians that in their dispute with the Egyptians about their Antiquity they argue it partly from hence that if the Earth had ever been drown'd their Country must needs be first inhabited again because it was first clear'd from the Water being the highest of all other Countries in the World Thus their Argument runs in Justin L. II. c. 1. where he hath given us a brief relation of it if we had Trogus whom he Epitomizes it 's likely we should have understood their Tradition more perfectly in this manner If all Countries were anciently drown'd in the Deep profectò editissimam quamque partem we must needs grant the highest parts of the Earth were first uncovered of the Waters that ran down from them And the sooner any part was dry the sooner were Animals there generated Now Scythia is so much raised above all other Countries that all the Rivers which rise there run down into the Moeotis and so into the Pontick and Egyptian Sea c. Ver. 5. And the Waters decreased continually until the tenth Month. For the Summer's heat must needs very much dry them up when there was no Rain In the tenth Month were the tops of the Mountains seen This shows the Mountain on which the Ark rested was the highest at least in those Parts Because it setled there above two Months before the tops of other Mountains were seen And perhaps the Ark by its weight might settle there while the top of that Mountain was covered with Water Which it 's possible might not appear much before the rest Ver. 6. At the end of forty Days Forty Days after the tops of the Mountains appeared i. e. on the eleventh Day of the eleventh Month which was about the end of our July Ver. 7. He sent forth a Raven For the same End no doubt that the Dove was sent forth To make discovery whether the Earth were dry For if it were the smell of the dead Carcases he knew would allure it to fly far from the Ark Which it did not but only hover'd about it as it follows in the next Words Went forth to and fro In the Hebrew more plainly going forth and returning That is it often went from the Ark and as often returned to it For after many flights finding nothing but Water it still betook it self unto the Ark either entring into it or sitting upon it 'till at last the Waters being dried up it returned no more That is Fifty Days after its first going forth Verse 13. All which time it spent in going out and coming back Bochart indeed approves of the Greek Version which makes the Raven not to have returned For which he gives some specious Reasons L. II. c. 12. P. 2. Hierozoic and hath such of the Hebrews to countenance him as R. Elieser who saith Pirke c. 23. That the Raven found a Carcase of a Man upon a Mountain and so would return no more But the next words which in the Greek and Hebrew are both alike confute this Translation Vntil the Waters were dried up from the Earth Which make this plain and easie Sence in connexion with the foregoing as they run in the Hebrew that while the Earth continued covered with Water the Raven often flew from the Ark but finding no convenient place to rest in returned thither again Till the Ground was dry Whereas according to the Greek we must suppose the Raven to have returned to the Ark when the Waters were dried up from the Ground Which is very absurd For if it had some time sat upon a Carcase floating in the Waters before they were dried up or upon the top of some Mountain which already appeared what should make it return when all the Waters were gone every where and not rather while they remained upon the Ground Ver. 8. Also he sent forth a Dove As a proper Creature to make further Discoveries Being of a strong flight loving to seed upon the Ground and pick up Seeds and constantly returning to its rest from the remotest places These two Birds the Raven and the Dove some imagine were sent forth upon one and the same Day or but a Day between as Bochartus conjectures But this doth not agree with Verse 10. where it is said Noah stayed yet other seven Days and then sent out the Dove again Which relates to seven Days preceding which seem to have passed between the sending out of the Raven and of the Dove Ver. 9. The Dove found no rest c. For though the tops of the Mountains appeared yet they continued muddy as some conceive or they were so far off that the Dove could not easily reach them Ver. 10. And he staid yet other seven Days It appears by this that on the seventh Day Noah expected a Blessing rather than on another Day It being the Day devoted from the beginning to Religious Services Which he having it is likely performed thereupon sent out the Dove upon this Day as he had done before with hope of good Tidings Ver. 11. And lo in her Mouth was an Olive-Leaf or Branch the word signifies pluckt off Bochart thinks the Dove brought this out of Assyria which abounds with Olive-Trees and lay South of Ararat the Wind then blowing towards that Country from the North. See Hierozoic L. I. c. 6. p. 2. where he shows out of many Authors that not only Olive-Trees but some other also will live and be green under Water All the difficulty is how the Dove could break off a Branch as the Vulgar translates it from the Tree But it is easily solved if we allow as I have said before that now it was Summer-time which brought new Shoots out of the Trees that were easily cropt So he knew the Waters were abated The tops of Mountains were seen before verse 5. but now he understood the Waters had left the lower Grounds Yet not so left them that
our Asses Ver. 19. They came near to the Steward c. They desired to speak with him before they entred into the House That they might set themselves right in his Opinion Ver. 20. We came at the first time to buy Food And we paid for it what was demanded Ver. 21. When we came to the Inn c. There we found that very Money to a Farthing in our Sack 's Mouth c. Ver. 22. We cannot tell who put our Money c. We are ignorant how it came there but suppose it was by some mistake And therefore have brought it again with new Money for another Purchase Ver. 23. Peace be to you Trouble not your selves about that Matter Your God and the God of your Fathers c. This Steward had learnt of Joseph the knowledge of the True God To whose Kindness he bids them ascribe this Event And he brought Simeon out unto them Unbound as free as themselves Ver. 24. Gave them Water Ordered Water to be brought as the Custom was to wash their Feet See XVIII 4. Ver. 26. Bowed themselves to the ground Here again was Joseph's Dream fulfilled See XLII 6. Ver. 28. Thy servant our Father c. Here they made a Reverence to him in the Name of their Father Whereby that part of the Dream XXXVII 9 10. which concerned him was also fulfilled And they speak likewise of him in an humble Style signifying his inferiority to Joseph Ver. 29. Saw his Brother Benjamin He had seen him before verse 16. but did not think fit to take notice of him at the first Or perhaps was then full of business when they presented themselves at their first appearance and had not leisure to speak with them till Dinner-time God be gracious unto thee my Son He blessed him as Superiors were wont to do those below them Whom they called their Sons with respect to themselves as Fathers of the Country Ver. 30. His Bowels did yern He felt a great commotion within himself which he was not able to keep from breaking out And therefore he made haste out of the Room where they were as if some other business called him away Ver. 31. Set on Bread Set the Dinner upon the Table Ver. 32. And they set on for him by himself c. There seems to have been three Tables One where he sat alone in State Another where his Brethren sat And a third where the great Men of Egypt were entertained For the Egyptians might not eat Bread with the Hebrews c. Because the Hebrews saith Jonathan did eat those Beasts which the Egyptians worshipped And to the same purpose writes Onkelos In which regard the Egyptians were as scrupulous to eat with a Grecian in after-times as now with an Hebrew So Bochart observes out of Athenaeus L. VII Deipnos where Anaxandrides a Comedian jeers the Egyptians for worshipping an Eel as a Great God whom we saith he think to be most excellent Meat And out of Herodotus who in his Euterpe cap. 41. saith no Egyptian Man or Woman would kiss the Mouth of a Greek nor make use of a Knife a Spit or a Pot belonging to them nor take a bit of Beef cut with a Greek's Knife See Bochart's Hierozoic P. I. Lib. II. cap. 53. And Dr. Spencer de Rit Hebr. p. 125. But though it appear by such Passages that in the time of Herodotus and other fore-named Writers several Animals were held so Sacred among the Egyptians that they would not eat them yet it may well be questioned whether it were so in the Days of Joseph For there is not the least sign of it in this Story much less of their worshipping such Creatures The worship of the famous Ox called Apis being a much later Invention as many learned Men have demonstrated And some of them having given probable Reasons that Joseph himself was the Person at first represented by that Figure under the Name of Ab i. e. Father of his Country See Ger. Vossius L. I. de Idol cap. 29. Therefore it is most likely that this Abhorrence is to be resolved only into the very different Manners of the Hebrews from the Egyptians Particularly at their Meals in the way of dressing their Meat or in their eating For we know some of the Jews themselves afterwards scrupled to eat with those who had unwashen Hands and several Nations have avoided such Familiarity with others merely on the account of their different Customs Of which the Egyptians were exceeding tenacious as Herodotus himself informs us particularly in their eating For he concludes his Discourse about their Feasts with this Observation in his Book before-mention'd cap. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Using their own Country Customs they receive no other And in the Ninety first Chapter of the same Book he saith that as they would use no Greek Customs so to speak all in a word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Neither would they use the Customs of any other Men in the World whatsoever Nay one Part of Egypt differed extreamly from another For in the Theban Province they abstained from Sheep and sacrificed Goats but in the Mendesian quite contrary they abstained from Goats and sacrificed Sheep As he tells us in his Euterpe cap. 42. And the wisest of them were so nicely Superstitious that some of them thought it unlawful to eat of the Head of any living Creature others of the Shoulder-blade others of the Feet others of some like part So Sextus Empiricus tells us Lib. III. Pyrrh Hypot cap. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Upon which score I do not know but such kind of People might be so whimsical as to refuse to eat with one another Ver. 33. They sat before him For that was the Custom before the way of lying upon Beds was invented See XXVII 19. XXXVII 25. And the Men marvelled one at another That they should be so exactly disposed according to the order of their Birth And so kindly treated by one that had lately used them very roughly Ver. 34. And he took and sent messes c. Ordered those that waited to take and carry Messes from his own Table unto theirs For such was the ancient Custom for great Men to honour such as were in their Favour by sending Dishes to them which were first served up to themselves From whence they were called MISSA Messes things sent The ancient way of eating also is to be observed which was not like ours As appears by Plutarch in his Sympos Lib. II. Q. ult where he disputes which was the better Custom to eat out of one common Dish or every one to have a Dish to himself As the manner was in old time When all the Meat being set on the Table the Master of the Feast distributed to every one their Portion Benjamin's Mess was five times as much c. He had five Dishes to their one Which was intended as a peculiar Respect to him Or as others understand it there was five times as much
just as all the People of the seven united Provinces are now commonly called Hollanders who are the most Potent of all the rest CHAP. XLIX Ver. 1. JAcob called unto his Sons When he had done speaking with Joseph perceiving his end approaching he sent one to call the rest of his Sons to come to him Gather your selves together Come all in a Body to me Let me see you all together before I die What shall be in the last Days The Condition of your Posterity in future Times Jacob is the first that we read of who particularly declared the future state of every one of his Sons when he left the World But it hath been an ancient Opinion That the Souls of all excellent Men the nearer they approached to their departure from hence the more Divine they grew and had a clearer prospect of things to come Whence Xenophon L. VIII makes his Cyrus say when he was near his end That the Souls of Men at the point of death become Prophetick Which never was universally true for Prophecy is not a natural thing nor were all excellent Men partakers of it and God communicated it in what measures he pleased to those who had any thing of it and to Jacob more than had been bestowed upon his great Ancestors For these last words of his may be called Prophecies rather than Benedictions Some of them containing no Blessing in them but all of them Predictions Ver. 2. Gather your selves together This is repeated to hasten them as the two next words hear and hearken are used to excite their attention It was the manner of good Men among the Hebrews to call all their Children before them and give them good Counsel together with their Blessing when they drew near to their end The words then spoken being likely to stick fast in their Mind Ver. 3. Reuben c. It is commonly observed that the Style wherein he speaks to his Sons is much more lofty than that hitherto used in this Book Which hath made some fansie that Jacob did not deliver these very words but Moses put the Sence of what he said into such Poetical Expressions But it seems more reasonable to me to think that the Spirit of Prophecy now coming upon him raised his Style as well as his Understanding As it did Moses's also who delivered his Benedictions in Deut. XXXIII in a strain more sublime than his other Writings Thou art my first-born So we read XXIX 32. To whom the Jews commonly observe belonged three Prerogatives a double Portion of the Father's Estate the Priesthood and the Kingdom as they speak i. e. chief Authority among his Brethren The first of these saith the Chaldee Paraphrast was given to Joseph the second to Levi the third to Judah because Reuben had forfeited all the Rights of his Primogeniture by his Incest with his Father's Wife But Mr. Selden himself who gives a full account of the Jews Opinion in this matter acknowledges the Priesthood was not confined to the First-born before the Law as appears by Abel's offering Sacrifice as well as Cain and Moses being a Priest as well as Aaron Psalm XCIX 6. unless we understand thereby the Office of Chief Priest And so Jonathan here reports the ancient Opinion of the Jews that Reuben lost the High-Priesthood L. I. de Synedr cap. 16. pag. 643 c. My might Whom I begot when I was in my full Vigour The beginning or the first fruits of my strength The same thing in more words Or it may be interpreted the prime support of my Family The First-born is called the beginning of strength in Deut. XXI 17. Psalm CV 36. The excellency of Dignity Who hadst the Preheminence among thy Brethren being the First-born if thou hadst not fall'n from it by thy Folly as it follows afterwards And the excellency of Power Who wast born to the highest Authority among them The Hebrews referr Dignity to the Priesthood and Power to the Kingdom But there being no solid ground to think the Priesthood as I said before was confined to the eldest Brother I take Dignity to signifie the double Portion of the Estate and Power Authority among them while they remained in one Family Ver. 4. Vnstable as Water The Hebrew word Pachaz signifying haste and in the Chaldee having the signification of leaping the Interpretation of St. Hierom seems most reasonable which is poured out like Water out of a Vessel upon the Ground And then it denotes Reuben's falling from his Dignity and losing his Preheminence as Water suddenly disappears when it is poured out on the Earth and suckt up into it Many referr it particularly Ca. Vitringa in his late Sacred Observations Lib. I. cap. 12. unto his unbounded Lust But that is taken notice of in the latter part of this Verse and given as a reason of his being degraded Others therefore translate the Hebrew word Pachaz by the Latin word Levis a light or vain Person as we speak at this day and then the meaning still is Water is not more prone to flow when it is poured out than thou wast to lose thy Dignity So Georg. Calixtus Thou shalt not excel There is nothing Great said to be done by this Tribe in Scripture And they were not so numerous to which the Vulgar Latin referrs this by more than a third part as the Tribe of Judah to whom God gave part of Reuben's Prerogative when Moses by God's Command took the Summ of all the Congregation Numb I. 21.27 Because thou wentest up to thy Father's bed Committedst Incest with my Wife XXXV 22. Then defiledst thou it He went up to my Couch Or rather When thou defiledst my Couch it vanished i. e. his Excellency departed For the word Halah which is here translated to go up signifies often in Scripture to vanish or perish As in Psalm CII 25. Isai V. 24. which makes the easiest Sence of this place in this manner Ex quo polluisti thorum meum ascendit ut vapor aut fumus excellentia dignitas tua i. e. dilapsa est extincta est evanuit From the time that thou defiledst my Couch thy Excellency and Dignity went up like a Vapour or Smoak i. e. it slid away it was extinct it vanished They are the words of the fore-named Calixtus Who well observes that this is explained in 1 Chron. V. 1. Ver. 5. Simeon and Levi are Brethren So were all the rest but the meaning is they are alike in their Dispositions and linkt together in the same wicked Designs for so the word Brother sometimes signifies a Companion or Associate that agrees in the same Inclinations or Undertakings with others As Prov. XVIII 9. Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations The word Mecheroth which we translate Habitations is no where else found nor is there any root in the Hebrew Language from whence it may derive that signification Therefore Lud. de Dieu from the Aethiopick Language translates it Counsels For so the word signifies in that
was deprived of his Government and banished to Vienne in France And then Judaea was reduced into the Form of a Province and ruled by Roman Governors After which there was no King nor Ethnarch of Judaea So that after this time we may safely conclude the Jews lost even their Mechokkim or Governors as they had long ago lost the Scepter And had no Power remaining among them of administring the Affairs of their Commonwealth Now at this time our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the true Shiloh came Who was the Founder of a new and heavenly Kingdom And nothing more was left to be done for the fulfilling of this Prophecy but after his Crucifying to destroy Jerusalem and the Temple and therewith the whole Form of their Government both Civil and Sacred Then all Power was intirely taken from Judah when Christ had erected his Throne in the Heavens and brought many People in several Parts of the Earth unto his Obedience and made them Members of his Celestial Kingdom Till which time this Prophecy was not compleatly fulfilled Which may be the reason possibly that it is not alledged by Christ and his Apostles because the Jews might have said We have still a Government among us Which could not be pretended after the destruction by Titus Which is now above Sixteen hundred Years ago And there is not the least sign of their restitution Which so perplexed R. Samuel Maroccanus that it made him write thus to a Friend of his above Six hundred Years since I would fain learn from thee out of the Testimonies of the Law and the Prophets and other Scriptures why the Jews are thus smitten in this Captivity wherein we are Which may be properly called the PERPETVAL ANGER OF GOD because it hath no end For it is now above a Thousand Years since we were carried captive by TITUS and yet our Fathers who worshipped Idols kill'd the Prophets and cast the Law behind their Back were only punished with a Seventy Years Captivity and then brought home again But now there is no end of our Calamities nor do the Prophets promise any If this Argument was hard to be answered then in his Days it is much harder now in ours Who still see them pursued by God's Vengeance which can be for nothing else but rejecting and crucifying the Messiah the Saviour of the World Ver. 11. Binding his Foal unto the Vine c. This Verse sets forth the great Fertility of Judah's Country abounding with Vineyards and Pastures by two Hyperbolical Expressions First That Vines should be as common there as Thorn-Hedges in other places so that they might tie Asses with their Colts to them Or as some will have it lade an Ass with the Fruit of one Vine Secondly That Wine should be as common as Water so that they should have enough not only to drink but to wash their Clothes in it Which doth not imply that they made it serve for that use but only denotes its plenty Which was so very great that in treading the Grapes and pressing out the Juice their Garments were all sprinkled with Wine which one might wring out of them Choice Vine The Vine of Sorek which we here translate choice and in Jerem. II. 21. noble Vine was the most excellent in all that Country For Sorek was a place not above half a Mile from the Valley of Eschol from whence the Spies brought the large Bunches as a Sample of the Fruitfulness of the Country See Bochart P. I. Hierozoic Lib. III. cap. 13. Ver. 12. His Eyes shall be red with Wine c. This Verse sets forth the Healthfulness and Vigour of the Inhabitants of that fertile Country But Dr. Castell thinks this not to be a good Translation because it can be said of none but a Drunkard that his Eyes are red with Wine And therefore it ought to be translated his Eyes or his Countenance for so Eyes sometimes signifies shall be brighter and more shining than Wine So the word we render red signifies in the Arabick Tongue as he shows in his Oratio in Schol. Theolog. p. 31. and in his Lexicon Yet the same word in the Proverbs XXIII 29. cannot have any other signification than red and the red Colour of the Eyes answers well here to the whiteness of the Teeth which follows and there is no more reason to think he means they should make their Eyes red with drinking Wine than that they should wash their Clothes in it But it may only express the great abundance of Wine to serve not only their necessity but excess And his Teeth white with Milk Milk doth not make the Teeth white but gives such an excellent Nourishment that they who live upon it are healthy and strong And their Teeth not so apt to rot as theirs who feed upon greater Dainties So the meaning is the rich Pastures in that Country should feed great Flocks and consequently they should have abundance of Milk so good and nourishing that the Teeth of the Country-men who lived upon it should be as white as the Milk they drank Or if the foregoing words be translated His Eyes shall be brighter than Wine these are to be translated His Teeth whiter than Milk Out of these three Verses foregoing Bochartus thinks the whole Story of Silenus was forged by the Poets See his Canaan Lib. I. cap. 18. p. 482. Ver. 13. Zebulon shall dwell at the Haven of the Sea Near the Lake of Tiberias called in Scripture the Sea of Gallilee He shall be an Haven for Ships The Lot that fell to him extended from thence to the Mediterranean Where there were Ports for Ships His Border shall be unto Zidon He doth not mean the City of Zidon for the Tribe of Zebulon did not extend themselves beyond Mount Carmel which is forty Miles at least from thence But the Country of Zidon i. e. Phoenicia as Bochart observes in his Phaleg L. IV. cap. 34. which the Zebulonites touched For as the Phoenicians were called Syrians from Sur i. e. Tyre so they were called Sidonians from Sidon as Hesychius tells us Who interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whence the LXX have Phoenicians for Sidonians Deut. III. 9. and Phoenice for Sidon Isai XXIII 2. It is very much to be admired That Jacob should foretell so many Years before-hand the Situation of his Posterity in the Land of Canaan when their several Portions fell to them by Lot and not by their own choice Josh XIX 10 11. This could not have been but by the Spirit of Prophecy And it is remarkable also that he mentions Zebulon before Issachar who was his elder Brother XXX 11. for no other reason that I can discern but because Zebulon's Lot was to come up before Issachar's in the Division of the Land His being the third and Issachar's the fourth Josh XIX 10 17. By this they were taught that their Habitation in the Land of Canaan was the Gift of God and did not come
of it and exercised great Cruelties there Amos I. 13. Long before which the Book of Judges informs us how they were oppressed by this People for eighteen Years together X. 8. and came with a great Army and encamped in Gilead verse 17. which was in the Tribe of Gad. But he shall overcome at the last This was eminently fulfilled when Jephtha the Gileadite fought with the Children of Ammon and subdued them before the Children of Israel Judg. XI 33. and when this Tribe together with their Brethren of Reuben and Manasseh made War with the Hagarites and possessed themselves of their Country Which they kept till the Captivity because the War was of God 1 Chron. V. 22. Ver. 20. Out of Asher i. e. Of his Country His Bread shall be fat Shall be excellent Provision of all sorts for the sustenance of humane Life For Bread comprehends not only Corn but Wine and Oil and all sorts of Victuals XXI 14. And he shall yield royal dainties His Country shall afford not only all things necessary but the choicest Fruits fit to be served up to the Table of Kings For part of it lay about Carmel Josh XIX 26. where there was a most delicious Valley Ver. 21. Naphtali is a Hind let loose As he had compared Judah to a Lion and Issachar to an Ass and Dan to a Serpent so he compares this Son to a Hind which is not confined within Pales or Walls But runs at large whither it pleaseth Whereby is signified that this Tribe would be great lovers of Liberty He giveth goodly or pleasing words Which denotes their Address as we now speak charming Language and Affability to win the Favour of others And thereby preserve their Peace and Liberty Mercer makes this Verse to signifie their speed and swiftness in dispatch of Business and their smoothness in the management of it Which might render them acceptable to all Men. There are no Instances indeed in Scripture to make out this Character For Barak who was of this Tribe was very slow in undertaking the Deliverance of Israel Nor do we read they were more zealous Assertors of Liberty than others But yet this will not warrant us to alter the punctation of the words as Bochart doth P. I. Hierozoic L. III. cap. 18. to make a quite different Sence which is this Naphtali is a well-spred Tree which puts out beautiful Branches For we do not find that they were either more beautiful or numerous than other Tribes But we find quite contrary that Simeon Judah Issachar Zebulon and Dan were all more numerous than they when Moses took an account of them Numb I. 23 27 29 31 39. Besides this Interpretation makes this Verse in a manner the very same with the next concerning Joseph Therefore though the LXX agree to Bochart's Version we had better stick to our own which makes a Sence clear and proper enough Ver. 22. Joseph is a fruitful Bough Or young Plant. It is an Allusion to his Name which imports growth and increase And may well be understood of the great Dignity to which he was risen in Egypt Unto which he was advanced in a short time after Pharaoh took notice of him Like a Bough or young Plant which shoots up apace and thence compared in the next words to A fruitful Bough by a well Or Spring of Water Which in those dry Countries made the Plants which were set near them to grow the faster and to a greater heighth Psalm I. 3. and therefore signifies his extraordinary advancement Whose Branches run over the Wall Cover the Wall that surrounds the Spring or the Wall against which the Tree is planted Which seems to denote the two Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh which sprang from him and were very flourishing As appears from Josh XVII 14 17. where they tell him they were a great People whom the LORD had blessed hitherto And Joshua there acknowledges as much saying Thou art a great People and hast great Power And therefore assigns them a larger Portion of Land than they had at first The Hebrew word Banoth which we translate Boughs literally signifying Daughters some think that as he speaks of the Sons of Joseph in the foregoing part of the Verse so in this he speaks of his Daughters that they should go to the Wall i. e. saith Dr. Lightfoot even to the Enemy To repair the Hostile Tribe of Benjamin which otherwise had decayed for want of Wives For so the word Schur signifies and is translated by us an Enemy Psalm XCII 11. And D. Chytraeus understands hereby Daughters the Cities of the Tribe of Ephraim which should be well governed though some should set themselves against it Ver. 23. The Archers In the Hebrew the words Baale chitsim signifie Masters in the Art of Shooting and therefore denotes those here spoken of to be skilful in doing Mischief Such were his Brethren who were full not only of Envy but Hatred to him XXXVIII 4 5 11. Some referr it also to Potiphar's Wife who wickedly slandred him And others to the whole Tribe of Ephraim who were incompassed with Enemies who in general are meant by Archers when the Kingdom was setled in them over the ten Tribes Have sorely grieved him By their unkind or rather churlish Behaviour towards him for they could not speak peaceably to him XXXVIII 4. and it 's likely they reviled him and threw out bitter words against him Which are properly compared to Arrows Psalm LXIV 3. And shot at him Designed to destroy him and did actually throw him into sore Afflictions XXXVIII 22 24 28. And hated him Which arose from their hatred to him Ver. 24. But his Bow abode in strength He armed himself with invincible Patience having nothing else to oppose unto their malicious contrivances It seems to be a Metaphor from those Soldiers who have Bows so well made that though often never so often bent they neither break nor grow weak Such was the Temper of Joseph's Mind And the Arms of his Hands were made strong i. e. He was strengthned and supported Being like to a strenuous Archer the Muscles and Sinews of whose Arms are so firm and compact that though his Hands draw his Bow continually he is not weary By the Hands of the mighty God of Jacob. Which Fortitude he had not from himself but from the Almighty who had supported Jacob in all his Adversities and made all that Joseph did when he was sold and imprisoned to prosper in his Hands XXXIX 3 22 23. The Hebrew word Abir which signifies Potent or Powerful and we translate mighty One is as much as the LORD of Jacob. For from Power it comes to signifie Potestas Authority and Dominion also as Bochart observes From thence From the Divine Providence over him before mentioned Is the Shepherd Joseph became the Feeder and Nourisher of his Father and of his Family and of their Flocks and Herds Preserving them all from being famished And the Stone of Israel Who upheld them all