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DEO REIPUBLICÆ ET AMICIS
ស
ESTO SEMPER FIDELIS
Gee Duffside
Tappan Presbyterian Association
LIBRARY.
Presented by HON. D. BETHUNE DUFFIELD.
From Library of Rev. Geo. Duffield, D.D.
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THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
CONNECTED,
FROM THE
CREATION OF THE WORLD
TO THE
DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE AT THE
DEATH OF SARDANAPALUS,
AND TO THE
DECLENSION OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL
UNDER THE REIGNS OF AHAZ AND PEKAH.
WITH THE TREATISE ON
THE CREATION AND FALL OF MAN.
BY
SAMUEL SHUCKFORD, M. A.
RECTOR OF SHELTON IN THE COUNTY OF NORFOLK.
A NEW EDITION.
VOL. I.
OXFORD,
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
MDCCCX.
J804
1
1
1
Takkan Есель
Pres, Arcoin.
4-8-1924
The first volume of this edition comprises the two
first volumes of the Connection; and the fe-
cond the laft volume of the Connection, with
the treatise on the Creation and Fall of Man.
!
1 1
1
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THE
PREFACE.
THE defign of this undertaking is to ſet before the
reader a view of the hiftory of the world, from Adam
to the diffolution of the Affyrian empire, at the death
of Sardanapalus, in the reigns of Ahaz king of Judah,
and Pekah king of Ifrael. At this period the moſt
learned Dean Prideaux began his Connection of the
Old and New Teftament; and I would bring my per-
formance down to the times where his work begins,
hoping that, if I can ſet the tranſactions of theſe
ages
in
a clear light, my endeavours may be of fome fervice
towards forming a judgment of the truth and exact-
neſs of the ancient Scripture-hiftory, by fhewing how
far the old fragments of the heathen writers agree with
it, and how much better and more authentic the ac-
count is which it gives of things where they differ
from it. What is now publiſhed is but a ſmall part of
my defign; but if this meets with that acceptance, which
I hope it may, the remaining parts fhall foon follow.
Chronology and geography being neceffary helps to
hiftory, I have taken care to be as exact as I can
in both of them; and that I might give the reader the
cleareft view of the geography, I have here and there
added a map, where I differ in any particulars from
other writers, or have mentioned any thing not fo
VOL. I.
2
clearly
ii
PREFACE.
clearly delineated in the draughts already extant.
And
as to the chronology, I have obſerved, as
as I go along, the
feveral years in which the particulars I treat of hap-
pened; and where any doubts or difficulties may ariſe,
I have endeavoured to clear them, by giving my
reaſons for the particular times of fuch tranfactions
as I have treated of.
In the annals, as I go along, I have chofen to make
ufe of the era of the creation of the world, that ſeem-
ing to me moſt eafy and natural. The tranſactions
I am to treat of are brought down from the beginning,
and it will be often very clear at what interval or
diſtance they follow one another, and how long after
the creation; whereas, if I had ufed the fame æra with
Dr. Prideaux, and computed by the years before
Chrift, it would have been neceffary to have afcer-
tained the reader in what year of the world the incar-
nation of Chriſt happened, before he could have had a
fixed and determinate notion of my chronology: how-
ever, when I have gone through the whole, I fhall add
fuch chronological tables, as may adjuſt the ſeveral
years of the creation both to the Julian period and
Chriſtian æra.
It is fomething difficult to fay of what length the
year was that was in ufe in the early ages. Before the
flood, it is moft probable that the civil and folar year
were the ſame, and that 360 days were the exact mea-
fure of both. In that ſpace of time the fun made one
entire revolution; and it was eaſy and natural for the
firſt aſtronomers to divide the circle of the fun's annual
courſe into 360 parts, long before geometry arrived at
perfection enough to afford a reaſon for the choofing to
divide circles into that number of degrees. All the
time of the antediluvian world, chronology was fixed
and
PREFACE.
111
and eaſy; a year could be more exactly meaſured than
it now can.
At the flood, the heavens underwent fome change:
the motion of the fun was altered, and a year, or
annual revolution of it, became, as it now is, five days
and almoſt fix hours longer than it was before. That
fuch a change had been made, moft of the philofo-
phers obferved; and without doubt, as foon as they did
obferve it, they endeavoured to fet right their chrono-
logy by it: for it is evident, that, as foon as the folar
year became thus augmented, the ancient meaſure of a
year would not do, but miſtakes muft creep in, and
grow more and more every year they continued to com-
pute by it.
b
C
The firſt correction of the year which we read of
was made in Egypt; and Syncellus names the perſon
who made it, viz. Affis, a king of Thebes, who reigned
about a thouſand years after the flood. He added five
days to the ancient year, and inferted them at the end
of the twelfth month. And this, though it did not
bring the civil year up to an exact meaſure with the
folar, yet was a great emendation, and put chronology
in a ſtate which it continued in for fome ages. The
Egyptian year thus fettled by Affis confifted of months
and days as follows:
2 See Plutarch de Placit. Philof.
1. ii. c. 8. l. iii. c. 12. l. v. c. 18.
and Plato Polit. p. 174, 175, 269,
270, 271. ex edit. Marf. Ficin.
Lugd. 1590. and Laertius in vit.
Anaxagor.
b Herodot. 1. ii. §. 4.
C
Syncell. p. 123. Paris, 1652.
a 2
Months.
iv
PREFACE.

Months.
Containing Beginning about
Days
1 Thyoth
30
Auguft 29
2 Paophi
30
September 28
3 Athyr
30
October
28
4 Choiac
30
November 27
5 Tubi
30
December 27
6 Mecheir
30
January
26
7 Phamenoth
30
February
25
8 Pharmuthi
30
March
27
9 Pachon
30
April
26
10 Pauni
30
May
26
11 Epiphi
30
June
25
12 Mefori
30
July
25
'Eπayóμevα, or additional five days,
begin Auguſt 24, and fo end Auguſt 28,
that the first of Thyoth next year may
be Auguſt 29, as above.
The
The Babylonians are thought to have corrected their
year next to the Egyptians: they computed but 360
days to a year, until the death of Sardanapalus, about
1600 years after the flood. At his death Belefis began
his reign; and Belefis being the fame perſon with Nabo-
naffar, from the beginning of his reign commenceth the
famous aſtronomical æra called by his name.
Nabonaffarean year agrees exactly with the Egyptian
year before mentioned. The months differ in name
only; they are the fame in number, and of equal
lengths but this year does not begin in autumn, as
the Egyptian does, but from the end of our February,
which was the time when Nabonaffar began his reign.
The
PREFACE.
The ancient year of the Medes is the fame with the
Nabonaffarean it begins about the fame time, has the
ſame number of months and days, and epagomena, or
additional days at its end, and was probably brought
into uſe by Arbaces, who was confederate with Nabo-
naffar againſt Sardanapalus, and who by agreement
with him founded the empire of the Medes, at the fame
time that the other fet up himſelf king at Babylon. Dr.
Hyded agrees to this original of the Medes' year, and
ſuppoſes it to have been inſtituted about the time of
the founding the empire of the Medes. He very juftly
corrects Golius, and accounts for the Median year's
beginning in the fpring, by fuppofing it derived from
the Affyrian, though in one point I think he miſtakes.
He imagines all the ancient years to have begun about
this time, and that the Syrians, Chaldæans, and Sa-
bæans, who began their year at autumn, had deviated
from their firſt uſage; whereas the contrary is true; all
the ancient nations began their year from the autumn.
Nabonaffar made the firſt alteration at Babylon, and
his year being received at the fetting up the Median
empire, the Medes began their year agreeably to it.
Dr. Hyde fuppofes the ancient Perfian year to be the
ſame with the Median; but Dean Prideaux was of
opinion that the Perfian year confifted but of 360 days
in the reign of Darius e.
f
Thales was the first that corrected the Greek year.
He flouriſhed fomething more than fifty years after
Nabonaffar. He learned in Egypt that the year con-
fifted of 365 days, and endeavoured to fettle the Gre-
cian chronology to a year of that meaſure. Strabo
d Rel. vet. Perf. c. 14. Oxon.
1700.
e Connect, vol. i. Ann. ante
Chriftum 509.
f
Diogenes Laert. in vit. Tha-
letis. Seg. 27.
g Strabo, 1. xvii. p. 806. Par.
1620.
a 3
fuppofes
vi
PREFACE.
D
ſuppoſes Plato and Eudoxus to have been the correctors
of the Greek year; but he means, that they were the
firft of the Grecians who found out the deficiency of
almoſt fix hours in Thales's year; for he does not ſay,
that Plato and Eudoxus were the firft that introduced
365 days for a year, but ſpeaks exprefsly of their firſt
learning the defect before mentioned; 365 days were
fettled for a year, almoft two centuries before the times
of Eudoxus or Plato. Thales's correction was not
immediately received all over Greece, for Solon, in the
time of Crœfus king of Lydia, was ignorant of ith.
i
The most ancient year of the Romans was formed by
Romulus. Whence or how he came by the form of it,
is uncertain; it confifted of but ten months, very
irregular ones, fome of them being not twenty days
long, and others above thirty-five; but in this reſpect
it agreed with the moſt ancient years of other nations;
it confifted of 360 days, and no more, as is evident
from the expreſs teftimony of Plutarch.
The Jewiſh year, in theſe early times, confifted of
twelve months, and each month of thirty days; and
three hundred and fixty days were the whole year. We
do not find that God, by any fpecial appointment,
corrected the year for them; for what may ſeem to
have been done of this fort m, at the inftitution of the
h Herod. 1. i. §. 32. Solon
feems to hint, that a month of
30 days fhould be intercalated
every other year; but this is fup-
pofing the year to contain 375
days. Either Solon was not ac-
quainted with Thales's meaſure of
a year, or Herodotus made a mif-
take in his relation;
or the
Greeks were about this time
trying to fix the true meaſure of
the year, and Solon determined
it one way, and Thales another.
i Thus Ovid, Faft. lib. i.
Tempora digereret cum conditor
urbis, in anno
Conftituit menfes quinque bis
cffe fuo.
k Plutarch, in. vit. Num. p. 71.
Par. 1624.
1 Id. ibid.
m Exod. xii.
Paffover,
PREFACE.
vii
O
Paffover, does not appear to affect the length of their
year at all, for in that refpect it continued the fame
after that appointment which it was before: and we
do not any where read that Mofes ever made a cor-
rection of it. The adding the five days to the year
under Affis, before mentioned, happened after the
children of Ifrael came out of Egypt; and fo Mofes
might be learned in all the learning of the Egyptians,
and yet not inftructed in this point, which was a dif-
covery made after his leaving them. Twelve months
were a year in the times of David and Solomon, as
appears by the courſe of houſehold officers" appointed
by the one, and of captains by the other; and we no
where in the books of the Old Teftament find any
mention of an intercalary month; and Scaliger is
pofitive, that there was no fuch month uſed in the
times of Mofes, or of the Judges, or of the Kings P.
And that each month had thirty days, and no more,
is evident from Mofes's computation of the duration
of the flood. The flood began, he tells us, on the
ſeventeenth day of the fecond month; prevailed with-
out any fenfible abatement for 150 days,' and then
lodged the ark on mount Ararat, on the feventeenth
day of the feventh month; fo that we fee, from the
feventeenth of the fecond month to the feventeenth of
the ſeventh [i. e. for five whole months] he allows one
hundred and fifty days, which is just thirty days to
each month, for five times thirty days are an hundred
and fifty. This therefore was the ancient Jewiſh year;
1 Kings iv. 7.
I Chron. xxvii.
¶ Lib. de Emend. Temp. Lib.
iii. in capite de Anno prifcorum
S
Hebræorum Abrahameo.
¶ Gen. vii. II.
r Ver. 24.
• Gen. viii. 3, 4.
a 4
and
viii
PREFACE.
t
and I imagine this year was in ufe amongst them, with-
out emendation, at leaſt to a much later period than
that to which I am to bring down this work. Dean
Prideaux treats pretty largely of the ancient Jewiſh
year, from Selden, and from the Talmud and Maimo-
nides; but the year he ſpeaks of ſeems not to have been
ufed until after the captivity ".
From what has been faid it must be evident, that
the chronologers do, in the general, miftake, in fuppof-
ing the ancient year commenfurate with the preſent
Julian. The 1656 years, which preceded the flood,
came fhort of fo many Julian years, by above twenty-
three years. And in like manner after the flood, all
nations, till the æra of Nabonaffar, which begins
exactly where my history is to end, computing by
a year of 360 days, except the Egyptians only, (and
they altered the old computation but a century or two
before,) and the difference between this ancient year
and the Julian being five days in each year, befides the
day in every leap-year; it is very clear, that the ſpace
of time between the flood and the death of Sardana-
palus, fuppofed to contain about 1600 ancient years,
will fall fhort of fo many Julian years by five days and
about a fourth part of a day in every year, which
amounts to one or two and twenty years in the whole
time but I would only hint this here; the uſes that
may be made of it fhall be obferved in their proper
places. There are many chronological difficulties, which
the reader will meet with, of another nature; but as I
have endeavoured to adjuſt them in the places they
belong to, it would be needleſs to repeat here what will
be found at large in the enfuing pages.
:
t Preface to the firft volume
of his Connection.
" See Scaliger in loc. fupr.
citat.
I fhall
PREFACE.
ix
I ſhall very probably be thought to have taken great
liberty in the accounts I have given of the moft ancient
profane hiſtory, particularly in that which is antedilu-
vian, and which I have reduced to an agreement with
the hiftory of Mofes. It will be faid, take it all
together, as it lies in the authors from whom we have
it, and it has no fuch harmony with the facred writer;
and to make an harmony by taking part of what is
reprefented, and fuch part only as you pleaſe, every
thing, or any thing, may be made to agree in this man-
ner; but fuch an agreement will not be much regarded
by the unbiaffed. To this I anſwer: The heathen ac-
counts which we have of theſe early ages were taken
from the records of either Thyoth the Egyptian, or
Sanchoniathon of Berytus; and whatever the original
memoirs of theſe men were, we are fure their accounts
were, fome time after their deceaſe, corrupted with fable
and myſtical philoſophy. Philo of Byblos in one place
feems to think, that Taautus himfelf wrote his Sacra,
and his theology, in a way above the underſtanding of
the common people, in order to create reverence and
reſpect to the fubjects he treated of; and that Surmu-
belus and Theuro, fome ages after, endeavoured to
explain his works, by ftripping them of the allegory,
and giving their true meaning: but I cannot think
a writer fo ancient as Athothes wrote in fable or al-
legory; the firſt memoirs or hiftories were, without
doubt, fhort and plain, and men afterwards embelliſhed
them with falſe learning, and in time endeavoured to
correct that, and arrive at the true. All therefore that
I can collect from this paffage of Philo Byblius is this,
that Thyoth's memoirs did not continue fuch as he left
* See Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
X
them;
PREFACE.
them; Surmubelus and Theuro in fome time altered
them, and I fear, whoever they were, they altered them
for the worfe; for fuch were the alterations which fuc-
ceeding generations made in the records of their ancef-
tors, as appears from what the fame writer further
offers y. "When Saturnus," fays he, [now I think
Saturnus to be only another name for Mizraim,] "went
"to the fouth," [i. e. when he removed from the lower
Egypt into Thebais, which I have taken notice of in
its place,]"he made Taautus king of all Egypt, and
"the Cabiri" [who were the fons of Mizraim] "made
"memoirs of theſe tranſactions:" fuch were the firſt
writings of mankind; fhort hints or records of what
they did, and where they fettled: "but the ſon of
"Thabio, one of the firſt interpreters of the Sacra of the
Phoenicians, by his comments and interpretations,
"filled theſe records full of allegory, and mixed his
phyfiological philofophy with them, and fo left them
"to the prieſts, and they to their fucceffors; and with
"theſe additions and mixtures they came into the
" hands of the Greeks, who were men of an abounding
66
fancy, and they, by new applications, and by increaf-
"ing the number, and the extravagancy of the fable,
"did in time leave but little appearance of any thing
"like truth in them." We have much the fame
"Sancho-
account of the writings of Sanchoniathon.
"niathon of Berytus," we are told", "wrote his hiftory
"of the Jewish antiquities with the greateft care and
fidelity, having received his facts from Hierombalus,
a prieft; and having a mind to write an univerfal
❝ hiſtory of all nations from the beginning, he took the
greateſt pains in fearching the records of Taautus;
66
▾ See Eufeb. Præp. Evang.
1. i. c. 10.
• See Eufeb. Præp. Evang.
1. i. c. 9. ad fin.
" but
PREFACE.
xi
but fome later writers [probably the perfons before
" mentioned] had corrupted his remains by their allego-
"rical interpretations, and phyfical additions; for (fays
46
Philo) the more modern igoxćyo, prieſts, or explain-
"ers of the Sacra, had omitted to relate the true facts as
56
66
they were recorded, inftead of which they had ob-
"fcured them by a invented accounts and myfterious
fictions, drawn from their notions of the nature of
"the univerſe; fo that it was not eafy for one to
diftinguiſh the real facts which Taautus had recorded,
"from the fictions fuperadded to them. But he [i. e.
Sanchoniathon] finding fome of the books of the
"Ammonei, which were kept in the libraries or regif-
"tries of the temples, examined every thing with the
"greateſt care, and, rejecting the allegories and fables
"which at first fight offered themſelves, he at length
66
brought his work to perfection. But the prieſts that
"lived after him, adding their comments and explica-
❝tions to his work, in fome time brought all back to
"mythology again." This, I think, is a juſt account of
what has been the fate of the ancient heathen remains ;
they were clear and true when left by their authors, but
We have an inſtance in Plu-
tarch, (lib. de Ifide ad in. p. 355.
Par. 1624.) of the manner in
which the ancient records were ob-
ſcured by fable. The ancient Egyp-
tians had recorded the alteration
of the year which I have treated
of, and perhaps obferved, that it
was cauſed by the fun's annual
courfe becoming five days longer
than it before was, and that the
moon's courfe was proportiona-
bly fhortened. The mythologic
prieſts turned this account into
the following fable: Rhea, they
fay, having privately lain with
Saturn, begged of the fun that
the might bring forth in no
month nor year; Mercury here-
upon was fet to play at dice
with the moon, and won from
her the feventy-fecond part of
each day, which being given to
the fun, made the five additional
days, over and above the ſettled
months of the year, in one of
which Rhea was brought to bed.
Five days are the feventy-fecond
part of 360 days, which was the
length of the ancient year.
after-
xii
PREFACE.
after-writers corrupted them by the addition of fable and
falſe philoſophy; and therefore any one that would en-
deavour to give a probable account of things from the
remains of Thyoth or Sanchoniathon, muſt ſet aſide
what he finds to be allegory and fable, as the fureft way
to come at the true remains of theſe ancient authors.
This I have endeavoured to do in my accounts of the
Phoenician and Egyptian antiquities. I have added
nothing to their hiſtory; and if their ancient remains be
carefully examined, the nature of what I have omitted
will juſtify my omitting it; and what I have taken from
them will, I believe, fatisfy the judicious reader, that
theſe ancient writers, before their writings were cor-
rupted, left accounts very agreeable to that of Moſes.
Some perfons think the remains we have of Sancho-
niathon, and the extracts from Taautus, to be mere
figments, and that very probably there never were either
fuch men or fuch writers. But to this I anſwer with
Biſhop Stillingfleet: Had it been ſo, the antagoniſts of
Porphyry, Methodius, Apollinaris, but efpecially Eufe-
bius, who was fo well verfed in antiquities, would have
found out fo great a cheat; for however they have been
accuſed of admitting pious frauds, yet they were fuch as
made for them, and not againſt them, as the works of
theſe writers were thought to do, when the enemies of
Chriſtianity produced them; and I dare fay, that if the
fragments of thefe ancients did indeed contradict the
facred hiſtory, inſtead of what they may, I think, when
fairly interpreted, be proved to do, namely, to agree
with it, and to be thereby an additional argument of its
uncorrupted truth and antiquity, our modern enemies.
of revealed religion would think it a partiality not to
allow them as much authority as our Bible.
Origines Sacræ, b. i. c. 2.
As
PREFACE.
xiii
As the works of Taautus and Sanchoniathon were
corrupted by the fables of authors that wrote after
them, fo probably the Chaldæan records fuffered al-
terations from the fancies of thoſe who in after-ages
copied them, and from hence the reigns [or lives]
of Berofus's antediluvian kings [or rather men] came
to be extended to ſo incredible a length. The lives of
men in theſe times were extraordinary, as Mofes has
repreſented them; but the profane hiftorians, fond of
the marvellous, have far exceeded the truth in their
relations. Berofus computes their lives by a term of
years called farus; each farus, he fays, is 603 years, and
he imagines fome of them to have lived ten, twelve,
thirteen, and eighteen fari, i. e. 6030, 7236, 7839, and
10854 years: but miſtakes of this fort have happened
in writers of a much later date. Diodorus, and other
writers, repreſent the armies of Semiramis, and her
buildings at Babylon, more numerous and magnificent
than can be conceived by any one that confiders the
infant ftate kingdoms were in when the reigned. Abra-
ham, with a family of between three and four hundred
perfons, made the figure of a mighty prince in theſe
early times, for the earth was not full of people: and if
we come down to the times of the Trojan war, we
do not find reaſon to imagine, that the countries which
the heathen writers treated of were more potent or
populous than their contemporaries, of whom we have
accounts in the facred pages; but the heathen hiftori-
ans, hearing that Semiramis, or other ancient princes,
did what were wonders in their age, took care to
tell them in a way and manner that ſhould make them
wonders in their own. In a word, Moſes is the only
writer whofe accounts are liable to no exception. We
muſt make allowances in many particulars to all others,
· and
xiv
PREFACE.
and very great ones in the point before us, to reconcile
them to either truth or probability; and I think I have
met with a faying of an heathen writer, which feems to
intimate it; for he uſes words fomething to this purpoſe :
Datur hæc venia antiquitati, ut mifcendo ficta veris pri-
mordia fua auguftiora faciat.*
C
In my hiſtory of the Affyrian empire after the flood,
I have followed that account which the ancient writers
are ſuppoſed to have taken from Ctefias. Herodotus
differs much from it; he imagines the Affyrian empire
to have begun but 520 years before the Medes broke
off their fubjection to it, and thinks Semiramis to have
been but five generations older thand Nitocris, the
mother of Labynetus, called in Scripture Belshazzar,
in whofe reign Cyrus took Babylon. Five generations,
ſays Sir John Marſhame, could not make up 200 years.
Herodotus has been thought to be miſtaken in this
point by all antiquity. Herennius obferves, that Baby-
lon f was built by Belus, and makes it older than Semi-
ramis by 2000 years, imagining perhaps Semiramis to
be as late as Herodotus has placed her, or taking Atoſſa,
the daughter of Cyrus, to be Semiramis, as Photius &
fuggefts Conon to have done. Herennius was indeed
much miſtaken in the antiquity of Babylon; but who-
ever confiders his opinion will find no reaſon to quote
him, as Sir John Marſham h does, in favour of Herodo-
tus. Porphyry is faid to place Semiramis about the
time of the Trojan war; but as he acknowledges in the
fame place that fhe might be older, his opinion is
no confirmation of Herodotus's account. From Mofes's
c Herodot. 1. i. §. 95.
d Id. ibid. §. 184.
e Can. Chron. §. 17. p. 489.
Lond. 1672.
f Ap. Steph. Byz. in voce ßab.
* Site Livie Prapatic.
8 Phot. Myriob. Tm. 186.
Narrat. 9.
h In loc. fupr. cit.
Eufeb. Præp. l. x. c. 9.
Nimrod
PREFACE.
XV
Nimrod to Nabonaffar appears evidently from Scripture
to be about 1500 years, for fo many years there are
between the time that Nimrod began to be a mighty
onek, and the reign of Ahaz king of Judah, who was
contemporary with Nabonaffar; and therefore Herodo-
tus, in imagining the firft Affyrian kings to be but 520
years before Deioces of Media, falls fhort of the truth
above 900 years. But there ought to be no great ftreſs
laid upon Herodotus's account in this matter; he ſeems
to own himſelf to have taken up his opinion from
report only, and not to have examined any records
to affure him of the truth of it.
Ctefias, who was phyfician to Artaxerxes Mnemon,
and lived in his court and near his perſon about ſeven-
teen years, wrote his hiftory about an hundred years
after Herodotus. He was every way well qualified to
correct the miſtakes which Herodotus had made in his
hiſtory of the Affyrian and Perfian affairs; for he did
not write, as Herodotus did, from hearſay and report,
but he ſearched m the royal records of Perfia, in which
all tranſactions and affairs of the government were faith-
fully regiſtered. That there were fuch records was a
thing well known; and the books of Ezra and Efther
give us a teftimony of them. Ctefias's account falls
very well within the compaſs of time which the Hebrew
Scriptures allow for ſuch a ſeries of kings as he has given
us and we have not only the Hebrew Scriptures to
affure us, that from Nimrod to Nabonaffar were as
many years as he computes, but it appears from what
Callifthenes the philofopher, who accompanied Alex-
n
* Gen. x. 8. 2 Kings xvi. 7.
I Lib. i. c. 95. ὡς τῶν Περσέων
μετεξέτεροι λέγεσι κατὰ ταῦτα
γράψω.
84.
m Diodorus Siculus, lib. ii. p.
Ezra iv. 15. Efther vi. 1.
Simplicius, 1. ii, de Cœlo.
ander
xvi
PREFACE.
ander the Great, obferved of the aftronomy of the
Babylonians, that they had been a people eminent for
learning for as long a time backward as Ctefias fup-
poſes; they had aftronomical obfervations for 1903
years backward, when Alexander took Babylon; and
Alexander's taking Babylon happening about 420 years
after Nabonaffar, it is evident they muſt have been
fettled near 1500 years before his reign; and thus
Ctefias's account is, as to the fubftance of it, confirmed
by very good authorities. The Scriptures fhew us that
there was ſuch an interval between the firft Affyrian
king and Nabonaffar as he imagines. The obfervations
of Callifthenes prove that the Affyrians were promoters
of learning during that whole interval, and Ctefias's
account only ſupplies us with the number and names of
the kings, whofe reigns, according to the royal records
of Perfia, filled up fuch an interval. Ctefias's accounts
and Callifthenes's obſervations were not framed with
a defign to be fuited exactly to one another, or to the
Scripture, and therefore their agreeing fo well together
is a good confirmation of the truth of each of them.
There are indeed fome things objected againſt Ctefias
and his hiſtory. We find the ancients had but a mean
opinion of him; he is treated as a fabulous writer by
Ariftotle, Antigonus, Cariftheus, Plutarch, Arrian, and
Photius: but I might obſerve, none of theſe writers
ever imagined him to have invented a whole catalogue
of kings, but only to have related things not true
of thoſe perſons he has treated of. There are, without
doubt, many miſtakes and tranfactions mifreported in
the writings of Ctefias, and fo there are in Herodotus,
and in every other heathen hiftorian: but it would
be a very unfair way of criticifing, to fet afide a whole
work as fabulous, for fome errors or falfehoods found in it.
However,
PREFACE.
xvii
However, H. Stephens has juftly obſerved, that it was
the Indian hiſtory of Ctefias, and not his Perfian³, that
was moſt liable to the objections of thefe writers:
in that indeed he might fometimes romance, for we
do not find he wrote it from fuch authentic vouchers ;
but in his Perfian hiftory there are evident proofs
that he had a difpofition to tell the truth, where he
might have motives to the contrary: in a word, though
he might be miſtaken in the grandeur of the first kings,
thinks their armies more numerous than they really
were, and their empires greater, and their buildings
more magnificent, yet there is no room to imagine that
he could pretend to put off a lift of kings, as extracted
from the Perfian records, whoſe names were never in
them; or if he had attempted to forge one, he could
hardly have happened to fill up fo exactly the interval,
without making it more or leſs than it appears to have
been from the Hebrew Scriptures, and from what was
afterwards obferved from the Chaldæan aftronomy.
I am fenfible that the account which Callifthenes
is faid to give of the celeftial obfervations at Babylon
is called in queftion by the fame writers that diſpute
Ctefias's authority, but with as little reafon. They
quote Pliny, who affirms Berofus to fay, that the
Babylonians had celeftial obfervations for 480 years
backwards from his times; and Epigenes to affert, that
they had fuch obfervations for 720 years back from his
time; and they would infer from hence, that the Baby-
lonian obfervations reached no higher. But it is remark-
able, that both Berofus and Epigenes fuppofe their
obſervations to be no earlier than Nabonaffar; for from
P Hen. Stephanus in Difquifi-
tione de Ctefia.
Plin. 1. vii. 56.
4 Id. ibid.
b
Nabo-
xviii
PREFACE.
t
Nabonaffar to the time in which Berofus flouriſhed
is about 480 years, and to the times of Epigenes about
720s. The Babylonians had not (as I have obferved)
ſettled a good meaſure of a year until about this time,
and therefore could not be exact in their more ancient
computations. Syncellus remarks upon them to this
purpoſe; and for this reafon Berofus, Epigenes, and
Ptolemy afterwards took no notice of what they had
obferved before Nabonaflar, not intending to affert,
that they had made no obfervations, but, their aftro-
nomy not being at all exact, their obfervations were
not thought worth examining.
There are fome other arguments offered to invalidate
the accounts of Ctefias. It is remarked, that the names
of his kings are Perfian, or Greek, and not Affyrian ;
and it is faid, that he reprefents the ftate of Affyria
otherwiſe than it appears to have been Gen. xiv. when
Abraham with his houſehold beat the armies of the
king of Shinaar, Elam, and three other kings with
them. But the latter of theſe objections will be an-
fwered in its place; and the former, I conceive, can
have no weight with the learned, who know what a
variety of names are given to the men of the firſt ages
by writers of different nations.
Upon the whole, Ctefias's catalogue of the firſt Affy-
rian kings feems a very confiftent and well-grounded
correction of Herodotus's hearfay and imperfect re-
lation of their antiquities; and as fuch it has been
received by Diodorus Siculus, by Cephaleon and Caf-
tor, by Trogus Pompeius, and Velleius Paterculus,
and afterwards by Africanus, Eufebius, and Syncellus.
Sir John Marſham raiſed the firft doubts about
• Marfham Can. Chron. 474.
t Syncell. p. 207.
it;
PREFACE.
xix
it"; but I cannot but think, that the accounts which
he endeavours to give of the original of the Affyrians
will be always reckoned amongſt the peculiarities of that
learned gentleman. There are fome fmall differences
amongſt the writers that have copied from Ctefias, about
the true number of kings from Ninus to Sardanapalus,
as well as about the fum of the duration of their reigns;
but if what I have offered in defence of Ctefias himſelf
may be admitted, the miſtakes of thoſe that have copied
from him will eaſily be corrected in their proper places.
I hope the digreffions in this work will not be
thought too many, or too tedious; they were oc-
cafioned by the circumftances of the times I treat of.
I have not made it my buſineſs to write at large upon
any of them; but I thought a few general hints of
what might be offered upon them would be both
acceptable to the reader, and not foreign to the purpoſe
I have in hand; all of them, if duly confidered, tending
very evidently to the illuftrating the facred hiſtory.
There are two fubjects which the reader might expect
at the beginning of this work; one of them is the
account of the creation of the world, the other is
the ſtate of Adam and Eve in Paradiſe, their fall, and
their lofs of it. Of the former of thefe I would give
fome account in this place: the latter, I think, may be
treated with greater clearnefs when I come hereafter to
ſpeak of Mofes and his writings.
I. The account which Mofes gives of the creation
is to this purpoſe:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth.
" Marſk. Can. Chron. p. 485.
fpeaking of Ctefias's catalogue,
he fays, De cujus veritate, cum
nemo adbuc fit qui dubitaverit,
&c.
b z
t
The
XX
PREFACE.
The earth after it was created was for ſome time
a confuſed and indigefted maſs of matter, a dark and
unformed chaos; but God in fix days reduced it into a
world in the following manner:
First, The Spirit of God moved upon the fluid
matter, and ſeparated the parts it confifted of from
one another; fome of them ſhined like the light of the
day, others were opake like the darkneſs of the night:
God ſeparated them one from the other; and this was
the firſt ſtep taken in the formation of the world.
X
Secondly, God thought it proper to have an * expan-
fion between the earth and heaven, capable of fupport-
ing clouds of water; the appointing this expanfion, and
ſuſpending the waters in it, was the work of the fecond
day.
Thirdly, After this, God caufed the waters of the
earth to be drawn off, fo as to drain the ground; and
thus were the ſeas gathered together, and the dry land
appeared; and then God produced from the earth all
manner of trees, and grafs, and herbs, and fruits.
On the fourth day God made the lights of heaven
capable of being ferviceable to the world in feveral
reſpects, fitted to diftribute light and heat, to divide
day and night, and to mark out time, feafons, and
years two of them were more efpecially remarkable,
the fun and the moon; the fun he made to fhine
in the day, the moon in the night, and he gave the
ftars their proper places.
Fifthly, Out of the waters God created all the fishes
of the fea, and the fowls of the air.
I
On the fixth day, out of the earth God made all the
Rachiang properly fignifies géwua, or our English word fir-
an expanfion, and not what is
implied by the Greek word -
mament.
other
PREFACE.
xxi
other living creatures, beafts, and cattle, and every thing
that creepeth upon the earth; and laft of all he made
man, a more noble creature than any of the reſt:
he made his body of the duſt of the earth, and after-
wards animated him with a living foul. And out of the
man he made the woman. This is the ſubſtance of the
account which Mofes has given of the creation of the
world. Mofes did not write till above 2300 years after
the creation; but we have nothing extant fo ancient as
this account.
II. We have ſeveral heathen fragments, which expreſs
many of the fentiments of Mofes about the creation.
The ſcene of learning, in the firſt ages, lay in India,
in the countries near to Babylon, in Egypt, and in time/
it ſpread into Greece.
The Indians have been much famed for their ancient
learning. Megafthenes is cited by Clemens Alexandri-
nus, repreſenting the Indians and the Jews as the
great maſters of the learning which afterwards the
Greeks were famous for: but the antiquities of theſe
nations have either been but little known, or their
ancient learning is by fome accident loft, for our beſt
late enquirers can now meet no remains of it. Strabo
and Clemens Alexandrinus give hints of feveral notions
amongſt them, which would argue them to have been
a very learned people; but the only confiderable fpeci-
men we now have of their literature is the writings of
Confucius their prefent notions of philofophy are
mean and vulgar, and whatever their ancient learning
was, it was either deftroyed by their emperor Zio, who,
they ſay, burnt all their ancient books, or by fome other
accident it is loft.
Strom. lib. i. p. 360. edit. Oxon.
b 3
The
xxii
PREFACE.
Z
The works of the moſt ancient Phoenician, Egyptian,
and of many of the Greek writers, are alſo periſhed; but
fucceeding generations have accidentally preferved many
of their notions, and we have confiderable fragments of
their writings tranfmitted to us. The Egyptians, as Dio-
dorus Siculus informs us, affirmed, that in the beginning
the heavens and the earth were in one lump, mixed and
blended together in the fame mafs. This pofition may
at firft fight ſeem to differ from Mofes, who makes
the heavens and the earth diftinct at their firft creation:
but it is obvious to obferve, that the Egyptians did not
take the word heaven in the large and extended ſenſe,
but only fignified by it the air and planetary regions
belonging to our world; for the firft Greeks, who had
their learning from Egypt, agree very fully with Moſes
in this point. In the beginning, fays Orpheus, the
heavens were made by God; and in the heavens there was
a chaos, and a terrible darkneſs was on all the parts of
this chaos, and covered all things under the heaven.
This pofition is very agreeable to that of Mofes: In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the
earth was without form, and void, i. e. was a chaos, and
darkneſs was upon the face of the deep. Orpheus did not
conceive the heavens and the earth to have ever been in
one mafs, for, as Syrian b obferves, the heavens and the
chaos were, according to Orpheus, the principia, out of
which the reft were produced.
The ancient heathen writers do not generally begin
their accounts fo high as the creation of the heavens
and the chaos; they commonly go no further backward
than to the formation of the chaos into a world. Mofes
z Diodor. Sic. 1. i. p. 4.
a Suid. voc. 'Opp. Cedren. ex
Timol. p. 57. Procl. in Tim. BiC.
B'. p. 117.
Ariftot. Metaph. p. 7. edit.
Acad. Ven. 1558.
defcribes
PREFACE.
xxiii
deſcribes this in the following manner: The earth was
without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face
of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of
the waters. Anaxagoras, as Laertius informs us, began
his book, All things were at firft in one mafs; but an
intelligent Agent came and put them in order: or as
Ariftotled gives us his opinion, All things, fays he, lay
in one mass, for a vast space of time; but an intelligent
Agent came and put them in motion, and fo feparated them
from one another. We have Sanchoniathon's account
of things in Eufebius; and if we throw afide the mytho-
logy and falfe philoſophy which thoſe that lived after
him added to his writings, we may pick up a few very
ancient and remarkable truths, namely, that there was a
dark and confufed chaos, and a blast of wind or air, to
put it in a ferment or agitation; this wind he calls aveμos
άνεμος
Koλría; not the wind Colpia, as Eufebius feems to take
it, but aveμos Col-Pi-Jah, i. e. the wind or breath
of the voice of the mouth of the Lord; and if this was
his meaning, he very emphatically expreffes God's mak-
ing all things with a word, and intimates alfo what the
Chaldee paraphraft infinuates from the words of Moſes,
that the chaos was put into its firft agitation by a mighty
and ftrong wind.
e
Some general hints of theſe things are to be found in
many of the remains of the ancient Greek writers.
Thales's opinion was, that the firft principle of all
things was dwę, or water f. And this Tully affirms to
- Πάντα χρήματα ἣν ὁμδ' εἶτα
Νᾶς ἐλθὼν αὐτὰ διεκόσμησε. Lib. ii.
fegm. 6.
Η Φησί γάρ Αναξαγόρας, ἐμε
πάντων ὄντων καὶ ἠρεμέντων τὸν ἄπει-
ρον χρόνον, κίνησιν ἐμποιῆσαι τὸν Νεν
xai daxgias. Arift. Phyf. Aufc.
1. viii. c. 1.
C
f
קול פי-יה :
᾿Αρχὴν τῶν πάντων ὕδωρ επεσή
o¤to. Laert. 1. i. fegm. 27.
8 Lib. de Natura Deorum i. §.
10. Thales Milefius aquam dixit
effe initium rerum.
b 4
have
XXIV
PREFACE,
:
have been his opinion: but it ſhould be remarked from
Plutarch's obfervation, that Thales's dwg was not pure
elementary water. The fucceffors of Thales came by
degrees to imagine, that water, by being condenfed,
might be made earth, and by being rarefied would evapo-
rate into air; and fome writers have hence imagined,
that Thales thought water to be the initium rerum, i. e.
the first principle, out of which all other things were
made but this was not Thales's doctrine. The ancient
philofophers are faid to have called water, chaos, from
xw, the Greek word, which fignifies diffufion; fo that
the word chaos was ufed ambiguoufly, fometimes as a
proper name, and fometimes for water; and it is con-
ceived, that this might occafion Thales's opinion to be
miſtaken, and himſelf to be reprefented as afferting the
beginning of things to be from chaos, water, when
he meant from a chaos. But take him in the other
fenfe, afferting things to have arifen from water, it
is eaſy to ſuppoſe him to mean, by water, a fluid fub-
ſtance, for this was the ancient doctrine: and thus San-
choniathon argues; from the chaos he ſuppoſes or
muddy matter to arife: and thus Orpheus h, out of the
fluid chaos aroſe a muddy ſubſtance: and Apollonius į,
out of the muddy fubftance the earth was formed, i. e.
fays the Scholiaft, the chaos of which all things were
made was a fluid ſubſtance; this, by fettling, became
mud, and that in time dried and condenfed into folid
earth. It is remarkable that Mofes calls the chaos,
water, in this fenfe; the Spirit of God, he fays, moved
upon the face of the maim, waters, or fluid matter.
The fragments to be collected from the Greek writers
are but few and fhort; the Egyptian are fomething
h
b Εκ τῷ ὕδατος ἰλὺς κατέση.
i Εξ ἐλῶ ἐβλάτησε χθὼν αὐτή.
larger.
PREFACE.
XXV
larger. According to Diodorusk, they affert, 1. as I
have before hinted, that the heavens and earth were
at firft in one confufed and mixed heap. 2. That,
upon a feparation, the lighteft and moft fiery parts flew
upwards¹, and became the lights of heaven. 3. That
the earth was in time drained of the water.
4. That
the moist clay of the earth, enlivened by m the heat
of the fun, brought forth living creatures and men.
A
very little turn would accommodate thefe particulars
to thofe of Mofes, as may be feen by comparing the
account of Diodorus with that which is given us by
the author of the Pimander in Jamblichus. The an-
cient philofophy had been varioufly commented upon,
diſguiſed and disfigured, according as the idolatry of
the world had corrupted men's notions, or the fpecula-
tions of the learned had mifled them, before the times
of Diodorus Siculus; and it is fo far from being an
objection, that the accounts he gives do in fome
points differ from Mofes, that it is rather a wonder that
he, or any other writer, could, after fo many revolu-
tions of religion, of learning, of kingdoms, of ages, be
able to collect from the remains of antiquity any pofi-
tions fo agreeable to one another, as thoſe which he has
given us, and the accounts of Moſes are.
But, III. Though the ancients have hinted many of the
pofitions laid down by Mofes, yet we do not find that
they ever made ufe of any true or folid reaſoning, or were
mafters of any clear and well-grounded learning, which
might lead them to the knowledge of theſe truths. All
k Lib. 1.
1 This was the opinion of Em-
pedocles. Εμπεδοκλῆς πυρινὰ τὰ
ἄςρα ἐκ τῶ πυρώδους, ὅπερ ὁ αἰθὴρ ἐν
ἑαυτῷ περιέχων ἐξέθλιψε κατὰ τὴν
my diúxgion. Plutarch. Placit.
Phil. ii. 13.
- Τὰ ζῶα ἐκ τῆς ἰλύος γεννηθῆναι,
was a poſition embraced by Ar-
chelaus, and feveral other Greeks.
the
xxvi
PREFACE.
the knowledge which the ancients had in thefe points
lay at firſt in a narrow compaſs; they were in poffeffion
of a few truths, which they had received from their
forefathers; they tranſmitted theſe to their children,
only telling them that fuch and fuch things were ſo,
but not giving them reafons for, or demonftrations of,
the truth of them. Philofophy" was not difputative
until it came into Greece; the ancient profeffors had
no controverfies about it; they received what was
handed down to them, and out of the treaſure of their
traditions imparted to others; and the principles they
went upon to teach or to learn by were not to fearch
into the nature of things, or to confider what they
could find by philofophical examinations, but, aſk, and
it fhall be told you; Search the records of antiquity, and
you shall find what you enquire after: theſe were the
maxims and directions of their ftudies.
And this was the method in which the ancient Greeks
were inftructed in the Egyptian phyfiology. The Egyp-
tians taught their difciples geometry, aftronomy, phyfic,
and ſome other arts, and in theſe, it is likely, they laid
a foundation, and taught the elements and principles of
each ſcience: but in phyfiology the cafe was quite other-
wife; the Egyptians themſelves knew but little of it,
though they made the moſt of their ſmall ſtock of know-
ledge, by keeping it concealed, and diverting their
ſtudents from attempting to fearch and examine it to
the bottom. If at any time they were obliged to admit
an enquirer into their arcana, we find P they did it in the
following manner: 1. They put him upon ftudying
their common letters; in the next place he was to
n Clem Alex. Strom. viii. ad
Princip.
• Strabo lib. xvii. p. 806.
P Clem, Alex. Strom. v. §. 4.
acquaint
PREFACE.
xxvii
acquaint himſelf with their facred character; and in the
laft place to make himſelf maſter of their hieroglyphic:
and after he had thus qualified himſelf, he was per-
mitted to fearch and examine their collections, and to
decipher what he found in them. And thus they did
not furniſh their ftudents with the reafons of things, or
teach them by a courfe of argument to raiſe a theory
of the powers of nature, for in truth they themselves
had never turned their ſtudies this way. The art 1 which
they had cultivated was that of diſguifing and conceal-
ing their traditions from the vulgar; and ſo, inſtead of
fupporting them with reafon and argument, they had
expreffed them in myftical ſentences, and wrote them
down in intricate and uncommon characters; and all
that the ftudent had to do was to unravel theſe intri-
cacies, to learn to read what was written, and to be able
to explain a dark and enigmatical fentence, and to give
it its true meaning.
If we look into the accounts we have of them, we fhall
find, that the moft eminent Greek mafters of this part
of learning were not men of retired ftudy and fpecula-
tion, but induftrious travellers, who took pains to col-
lect the ancient traditions. The firft hints of phyfiology
were brought into Greece by the poets, Hefiod, Homer,
Linus, and fome others: but theſe men had taken up
their notions too haftily; they gathered up a few of the
Egyptian fables, but they had not fearched deep enough
into their ancient treaſures; fo that in a little time their
notions, though they had taken root amongst the vulgar,
and were made facred by being of uſe and ſervice in
religion, came to be overlooked by men of parts and
enquiry, who endeavoured to fearch after a better philo-
• Clem. Alex. Strom. v. §. 4.
fophy.
*
xxviii
PREFACE.
fophy. From Pherecydes, the fon of Badis, to the times
of Ariſtotle, are about three hundred years; and during
all that ſpace of time, philoſophy, in all its branches, was
cultivated by the greateſt wits of Greece with all poffi-
ble induſtry but they had only Thales, Pythagoras,
and Plato, who were the eminent mafters; all the other
philofophers muſt be ranged under theſe, as being only
explainers or commentators upon the works of theſe,
or at moſt the builders of an hypothefis, from fome
hints given by them. Thales, Pythagoras, and Plato,
were the originals of the Greek learning; and it is re-
markable, that they did not invent that part of their
philofophy which I am treating of, but they travelled
for it, and collected it from the records of other
nations.
Thales, we find ', travelled to Egypt; and after hav-
ing ſpent fome years there, he brought home with him
a few traditions, which, though but few, obtained him
the credit of being the first who made a differtation
upon natures; for, in truth, all before him was fable and
allegory but Thales was fo far from having furniſhed
himſelf with all that might be collected, or from pre-
tending to build a theory of natural knowledge upon
principles of fpeculation, that he adviſed Pythagoras t,
who ftudied for fome time under him, to finiſh his
ſtudies in the way and method that himſelf had taken
and, according to his directions, Pythagoras, for above
forty years together", travelled from nation to nation,
· Laert. 1. i. feg. 24.
5 Πρῶτος δὲ καὶ περὶ φύσεως διε
λέχθη. Id.
u
t Jamblic. de vit. Pythag. c. 2.
Porph. de vit. Pyth. et Jam-
blic. Voff. de Philof. Sect. 1. ii.
c. ii. §. 2. Clem. Alex. Strom. i.
Id. Strom. v. Eufeb. Præp. E-
vang. 1. ix. c. 6. Jofeph. contra
Apion. Orig. adv. Celf. 1. i. p.
13. edit. Cant. 1677.
from
PREFACE.
xxix
from Greece to Phoenicia, from Phoenicia to Egypt,
and from Egypt to Babylon, ſearching every place he
came at, and gathering all the traditions he could meet
with; omitting to converfe with no perfon eminent for
learning, and endeavouring to collect from the Egyp-
tians and the Jews, and all others he could meet with,
every ancient dogma. Thefe were the purfuits of Py-
thagoras, and this his courſe of ſtudy; and from his
diligent ſearches he acquired a great ſtock of ancient
truths, collected in ſuch a manner, that it is no wonder
he afterwards taught them with an air of authority
condemned by Cicero, who would have fet philofophy
upon the baſis of reaſon and argument; but Py-
thagoras took up his notions upon the authority of
others, and could therefore give them to his difciples
no otherwiſe than he had them. His aurds on was the
proof of what he afferted, for he had collected, not in-
vented, his fcience, and fo he declared or delivered what
he had gathered up, but he did not pretend to argue or
give reaſons for it.
If we look into the writings of Plato, we may ſee that
he confeffed what I am contending for in the freeft
manner. He never afferted his phyfiology to be the
product of his invention, or the refult of rational en-
quiries and fpeculations, but acknowledged it to be a
collection of traditions gleaned up from the remains of
thoſe that lived before him. In the general he afferts,
that the Greeks received their moſt valuable learning
from the traditions of barbarians more ancient than
themſelves; and often ſpeaks of Phoenician and Syrian,
i. e. Hebrew fables", as the ground of many of their
* Lib. de Natura Deorum, i.
$.5.
y In Cratyl. p. 426.
z See Bochart's Phaleg. 1. iv.
C. 24.
notions.
XXX
PREFACE.
notions. He particularly inftances a Phoenician fable a
concerning the fraternity of mankind, and their firſt
derivation from the ground, or earth; and confeffes b
that their knowledge of the Deity was derived from
the gods, who communicated it to men by one Pro-
metheus: nay, he calls it a tradition, which the an-
cients, who, fays he, were better, and dwelt nearer the
gods than we, have tranfmitted to us. In his treatiſe
De Legibus, he makes mention of an ancient tradition
about the nature of God. And in his Phado, treating
of the immortality of the foul, he introduces Socrates
reminding his friend, that they had an ancient tradition
afferting it, and that the ſureſt and beſt way to prove
it was by the divine account or tradition of it. In his
Timæus, being about to treat of the origin of the uni-
verfe, he lays down this preliminary; "It is juft, that
"both I who difcourfe, and you that judge, fhould re-
"member that we are but men; and therefore, receiv-
ing the probable mythologic tradition, it is meet that
66
(6
we enquire no further into it." In his Politicus, he
gives a large account of Adam's ſtate of innocence, in
the fable of Saturn's golden age, which he was ſo far
from taking in the literal ſenſe of the poets, that he
complains of the want of a fit interpreter to give it its
true meaning. In the fame manner, his fable of Porus's
getting drunk in Jupiter's garden was very probably
derived from the ancient accounts of Adam's fall in the
garden of Eden. In fhort, Plato's works are every
where full of the ancient traditions, which, as he had
collected very carefully, fo he always endeavoured to
deliver without art or reſerve, excepting only fome fa-
2 Lib. de Rep. iii. p. 414.
b In Phileb. p. 17.
De Legib. 1. iii.
d In Phædon. p. 96.
e In Timæo, p. 29.
f P. 272.
bulous
PREFACE.
xxxi
bulous turn, which he was now and then forced to give
them, to humour the Greeks.
There were many philofophers amongſt the Greeks,
who in their ſeveral times endeavoured to reafon upon
the poſitions that had been laid down by theſe maſters,
and to form a fyftem by deductions of argument and
fpeculation; but all their attempts this way proved idle
and infufficient; truth fuffered inſtead of being ad-
vanced by them. Pherecydes endeavoured to form a
ſyſtem from the poets 5, and wrote a Theogonia in ten
books; but his performance was dark and fabulous, full
of fancy and allegory, but in no wife a fpecimen of true
philofophy. The followers of Thales made attempts of
the fame fort with as little fuccefs. Anaximander and
Anaximenes endeavoured to form a fyftem upon
Thales's principles; but, inftead of clearing any thing
that had been advanced by their mafter, or of opening
a way to more truth than he had diſcovered, they ra-
ther puzzled his philoſophy with a number of intricate
and confuſed notions. Anaxagoras undertook to cor-
rect the miſtakes of Anaximenes and Anaximander,
and pretended to fet Thales's principles in their true
light, and he is clear and confiftent juſt ſo far as he
keeps to Thales's traditions; but wherever we find him
attempting to fpeculate and give reafons, there he ap-
pears but trifling and inconclufive.
Amongst all theſe philofophers, Leucippus and De-
mocritus feem to have laid the beft foundation for a
good and rational theory of nature. They did not
puzzle themſelves with hard words of no meaning h,
harmonic forms, ideas, qualities, and elements; but
8 Laert. Ger. Voff, de Hiftor. h Burnet. Archeol. c. 12.
Græc. l. iv. c. 4.
confidered
xxxii
PREFACE.
confidered matter as a fyftem of infinitely ſmall indivi-
duals, contained in an infinite extenfion of void or
fpace but however they came by theſe principles,
they either let them in fo different a light, or the ftu-
dies of others had carried them into notions fo oppofite,
that this ſcheme, which had the moſt truths in it, was
leſs underſtood and more exploded than
any other.
As the traditions of Thales fuffered by being mingled
with the philofophy of his fucceffors, fo the doctrines
of Pythagoras met the fame fate. His difciples were
willing to have a fyftem, and to give reafons for the
truths they had to offer; but if we confider what rea-
fons they gave, what ſchemes they built, what com-
ments they made upon their maſter's doctrines, we
fhall be abundantly convinced, that the doctrines of
Pythagoras were not invented by their way of reaſon-
ing. The Pythagoreans must be allowed to have been
in poffeffion of many confiderable truths, but the rea-
fons and arguments they offered to prove them by are
weak and frivolous, and the additions they made to
them are trifling and inconfiftent, and all their fpecula-
tions fo falfe, or fo idle, as to fhew that they did not
think well enough to diſcover the noble and juſt ſenti-
ments which they had concerning the works of nature.
We have nothing of Pythagoras now extant, nori are
we certain that he ever wrote any philofophical compo-
fition; it is moft probable that all his vaft ftock of
knowledge was contained in a felect number of fen-
tences, which he expreffed after the manner of the
Egyptians, and explained to his difciples: but we have
* Ο μέν γε θεσπέσιος Πυθαγόρας,
μηδὲν αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ἴδιον καταλιπεῖν τῶν
αὑτὸ ἠξίωσεν. Lucian. in libro pro
Lapfu inter falutandum. The
books afcribed to him by Pliny
and other writers are eſteemed
fictitious.
feveral
PREFACE.
xxxiii
feveral Pythagorean fragments, the attempts of his fol-
lowers, and a complete book of Timæus Locrus; and
we may fee from any of theſe performances, that, as
foon as theſe men ventured to enlarge beyond the
dogmata of their mafter, and advanced fpeculations
which they had not his authority to fupport; inſtead of
maintaining the credit of their philofophy, they cor-
rupted it by degrees, made it fubtil and unintelligible,
until in time they funk it to nothing.
The laft of the ancient philofophers was Ariftotle;
his ſyſtem was indeed invented. He rejected the an-
cient traditional knowledge, thinking it unbecoming a
philofopher to offer opinions to the world, which he
could not prove to be true: but then I am ſenſible it
will be allowed me, that what he advanced is ſo totally
diftant from truth, that he will never be an inftance of
an ancient, who, by reafon and good argument, pro-
duced a well-grounded theory of natural knowledge.
And thus if we look over all the philofophers, and
confider what the treafures of knowledge were which
they had amongst them, we fhall find that there were
many beams of true light fhining amidſt their dark and
confuſed notions; but this light was never derived
from any uſe of their reaſon, for they never could give
any reaſonable account of it. The invifible things of
God had been fome way or other related to them, and
as long as they were contented to tranfmit to pofterity
what their anceſtors had tranfmitted to them, fo long
they preferved a confiderable number of truths; but
whenever they attempted to give reaſons for theſe opi-
nions, then in a little time they bewildered themſelves,
under a notion of advancing their fcience; then they
ceafed to retain the truth in their knowledge, changed
C
the
;
xxxiv
PREFACE.
the true principles of things, which had been delivered
to them, into a falſe, weak, and inconfiftent ſcheme of
ill-grounded philofophy. And now let us ſee,
IV. What does neceffarily follow if this be true. If the
natural knowledge which the ancients had was tradi-
tional; if the fucceeding generation received down only
ſome reports from the generation that went before it;
where was the fountain? who was the author of this
knowledge? Mofes was as unlikely as another to make
diſcovery of theſe truths by any powers of reafon; he
was indeed learned in all the learning of the Egyptians;
but we do not find any principles in the Egyptian
learning that could lead into the ſecret of theſe things.
It is remarkable, that Mofes's account of the creation is
a bare recital of facts; no fhew of argument or fpecu-
lation appears in it. He relates, that things were created
in fuch and fuch a manner; but has no attempt of
argument to eſtabliſh or account for any part of his
relation. We muft, I think, allow Mofes either to
have had theſe truths imparted to him by immediate
revelation, or we muſt ſay that he collected the dog-
mata of thoſe that lived before him. If we chooſe the
latter opinion, the queſtion ftill remains, who taught
the predeceffors of Mofes theſe things? Let us trace up
to the first man-how or whence had he this know-
ledge: how ſhould Adam diſcover the manner of his
own creation, or defcribe the formation of the world,
which was formed before he had any being? Befides,
* Nec enim mundus certum
diem habuit ortus fui, nec ali-
quid interfuit eo tempore quo
mundus divinæ mentis ac pro-
vidi numinis ratione formatus
eft: nec eo ufque fe intentio po-
tuit humanæ fragilitatis exten-
dere, ut originem mundi facile
poffit ratione concipere aut ex-
plicare. Julius Firmicus Mater-
nus. Mathef. lib. iii. c. 1.
if
Į
PREFACE.
XXXV
if theſe things were diſcoverable by reaſon, and Adam,
or any other perfon, brought them to light by a due
courſe of thinking, and related them to their children;
what were the traces of this reafoning? where to be
found or how were they loft? It is ftrange theſe
things ſhould be ſo obvious at firft, that an early at-
tempt ſhould diſcover fo much truth, and that all the
wit and learning that came after, for five or fix thou-
fand years, ſhould, inſtead of improving it, only puzzle
and confound it. If Adam, or fome other perſon of
extraordinary learning, had by a chain of reaſoning
brought theſe truths into the world, fome hints or other
of the argument would have remained, as well as the
truths produced by it; or fome fucceeding author
would, at one time or other, have reaſoned as fortu-
nately as his predeceffor: but nothing of this fort hap-
pened; inſtead of it, we find that the early ages had a
great ſtock of truths, which they were fo far from hav-
ing learning enough to invent or diſcover, that they
could not ſo much as give a good account of the true
meaning of many of them. A due confideration of
theſe things muft lead us to believe that God at firſt
revealed theſe things unto men; he acquainted them
with what he had done in the creation of the world,
and what he had thus communicated to them they
tranſmitted to their children's children. And thus God,
who in theſe laſt days hath ſpoken unto us by his Son, did
in the beginning, in fome extraordinary manner, Speak
unto our fathers; for there was a ſtock of knowledge in
the world, which we cannot fee how the poffeffors of it
could poffibly have obtained any other way and
therefore fact, as well as hiftory, teftifies, that the no-
tion of a revelation is no dream; and that Mofes, in re-
preſenting
xxxvi
PREFACE.
preſenting the early ages of the world to have had a
converſe with the Deity, does no more than what
the ſtate of their knowledge obliges us to believe of
them.
SHELTON, NORFOLK,
Oct. 2, 1727.
I
THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
CONNECTED.
BOOK I.
WHATEVER may have been the opinions of philofophers,
or the fables of poets, about the origin of mankind, we are
fufficiently informed from hiftory, that we are deſcended
from two perſons, Adam and Eve: they lived in the eaſtern
parts of the world; their firft children were Cain and Abel.
Jofephus mentions their having daughters, but does not ſay
how many; what their names were, when they were born,
or how they married.
ს
Cain and Abel grew men, but were of a different genius
and difpofition; Cain was an huſbandman, Abel a ſhepherd:
Abel was more virtuous than his brother, and when they
brought their offerings, his facrifice was accepted beyond
a Gen. i. 26. ii. 7, &c. Sanchonia-
tho begins mankind from two mortals,
Protogonus and Eon; the other hea-
then writers are not fo particular. Dio-
dorus Siculus formed his account of
the origin of mankind not from hifto-
ry, but from what he thought to be
the ancient philoſophy.
Antiquit. lib. i. c. 3. p. 7.
© Some writers have imagined that
Cain and Abel were twins; but the ac-
VOL. I,
count of their births, Gen. iv. 1, 2.
contradicts this notion. Others have
fuppofed [fee Selden de Jure Naturali
et Gentium, lib. v. cap. 8.] that Eve
at each of their irths brought forth a
daughter, and that Cain married the
daughter born with Abel, and Abel
the daughter born with Cain: but the
trifling concerts of this fort that might
be mentioned are innumerable.
B
Cain's:
2
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
Cain's Cain hereupon took a private opportunity, and out
of envy and malice killed him. And this was the firſt act of
violence committed in the world; it proceeded from a prin-
ciple, which many actions of the fame fort have fince pro-
ceeded from, a ſpirit of emulation, which being not duly
managed, and made a ſpur to virtue, took an unhappy turn,
and degenerated into malice and revenge. Soon after Cain
had committed this wicked action, God appeared to him:
-but the examination and refult of this affair will be bef
feen, if I add it in three or four particulars.
d
1. God had before both vindicated himſelf, and excufed
Abel, from having either of them given the leaſt reaſon for
this violent and unjuſt proceeding. God had indeed accepted
Abel's offering beyond Cain's; but that was owing to Abel's
beng better than Cain, and not to any partiality in God;
for if Cain would have been as deferving, he ſhould have
been as well accepted. If thou doft well, ſaid God to him ª,
fhalt thou not? i. e. thou shalt be accepted: but if thou dost not
well, fin lieth at the door. And as to Abel; he had not af-
fected to flight Cain, or to fet himſelf above him: Abel
would always have been heartily diſpoſed to pay him all re-
ſpect; and Cain might have had all the fuperiority of an
elder brother; for fo God argued with him, Unto thee ſhall
be his defire, [or will be,] and thou shalt rule over him; i. e.
thou mayeft be his fuperior.
C
The expofitors feem to treat this as a very difficult paffage,
and there are feveral very wild and foreign fenfes put upon
the words, unto thee shall be his defire. The true meaning of
them is clear and eafy, if we confider that there are two ex-
preffions in the Hebrew tongue to fignify the readineſs of
one perfou to ferve or refpect another. The one of them
expreffes an outward attendance, the other the inward tem-
per or readineſs of mind to pay refpect or honour: T
[aine el yad] or, our eyes are to his hand, is the one expreffion:
Sanpun [teſbukab el] or, our defire is to him, is the other.
d Gen. iv. 7.
e Dr. Lightfoot renders the word
Chataah here, a fin-offering, as if God
had reprehended Cain for not making
a due atonement for his fins. See here-
after in Book II.
f Gen. iv. 7.
}
Of
:
Book I.
3
and Profane Hifiory.
Of the former we have an inſtance, Pfalm cxxiii. The eyes of
Servants are to the band of their mafters, and the eyes of a maiden
are to the band of her mistress; i. e. they ftand ready, with a
vigilant obfervance, to execute their orders. We meet the
other expreffion in the place before us in Gen. iii. 16. and
it imports an inward temper and difpofition of mind to pay
reſpect and honour. His defire will be unto thee, i. e. he will
be heartily devoted (as we fay in English) to honour and re-
ſpect you, and thou shalt [or mayeſt] rule over bim; i. e. you
may have any fervice from him you can defire.
I have had an interpretation of this ſeventh verſe commu-
nicated to me by a perfon of very great learning, and I find
the critics g favour it. He thought the whole verfe was
fpoke of Cain's fin, that the Hebrew words might be tranf-
lated as I have interlined them below", and that it might be
Engliſhed thus: If thou doft well, shalt thou not be accepted;
but if thou doft not well, fin lieth at the door; indeed the appe-
tile of it [i. e. of fin] will be at thee [i. e. to tempt thee]; but
thou ſhouldeft rule over it. But the words will, I think, in no
wife bear this fenfe; inptin [Tefbukato] is not the defire or
appetite of it, but of him. And [Bo] does not fignify it, but
him. And the expreffion [eleka Teſbukato] is
the Hebrew expreffion for, he will heartily reſpect thee, and
not for, fin will tempt thee.
2. After Cain had been fo wicked as to kill his brother,
God was pleaſed to paſs a very juſt ſentence upon him: his
aim was to have made himſelf great and flourishing, in fa-
your with God, and credit with men, without any one to
ftand in competition with him; but he was diſappointed in
every particular he aimed at, for his attempting to compafs
his defigns fo wickedly: the ground was fentenced not to
yield him her ftrength ¹, i. e. he was to be unprofperous in his
huſbandry and tillage; and, inftead of being in God's favour
without rival, he was henceforwards to be hid from his face,
8 See Synop. Critic. in loc.
h Eum gubernares tu fed appetitus ejus quidem te Apud.
תשוקתו ואתה תמשל בו
1 Gen. iv. II, 13.
* Ver. 14.
B 2
ואליך
i. e.
4
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
i.e. he was not to have any longer that happy converſe with
the Deity, which theſe firſt ages of the world were bleſſed
with; and he was to be a fugitive and a vagabond', fo far
from being able to live amongst his friends with credit and
fatisfaction, that the ſenſe of what he had done fhould fo
hurry him, as to force him to retire from them to a diſtant
part of the world, as a miſchievous perfon, not fit to live and
be endured amongst them.
m
3. Cain had in a little time a full conviction of his folly
and wickedneſs. He repeats over God's fentence againſt
himſelf, as acknowledging the juſtice of it, and withal
thought fo ill of himſelf, and had fo true a fenfe of his
crime, as to imagine that every one that happened on him
would kill him°; that mankind would rife againſt him as a
perfon not fit to be fuffered to live, and in their own defence
deftroy him a fenſe of theſe things moved him to a great.
compunction; Is my fin, cried he, too great to be forgiven?
for this is the true ſenſe of ver. 13. We tranflate the words,
My punishment is greater than I can bear: but the Hebrew
word y [aven'] fignifies iniquity rather than puniſhment, and
the verb [nafba] fignifies to be forgiven, as well as to
bear; and the verfe may be rendered either pofitively, My
iniquity is too great to be forgiven, or the Hebrew expofitors
take it by way of interrogation, Is my iniquity too great to be
forgiven? And this laſt ſenſe is the beſt; for,
9
4. Upon Cain's being brought to a forrow for his fin,
God was pleaſed in fome meaſure to pardon his tranfgreffion:
there was as yet no exprefs law againſt murder, and God
gave a ſtrict charge' that no one ſhould for this fact deſtroy
Cain. Some writers make this an addition to his punish-
ment; but I fee no reaſon for their opinion. As Mofes has
repreſented this affair, it appears that Cain was very forry
for what he had done, and acknowledged the juft fentence
1 Gen. iv. 12.
m The Hebrew words exprefs an
unfettledneſs of mind, which probably
induced the LXX. to tranflate them
ξένων και τρέμων.
n Gen. iv. 14.
o Ibid.
P See the word fo uſed 1 Sam. xx. 8.
I
and in other places of Scripture ſo uſed
very often, particularly Job xi, 6.
9 See Fagius in loco.
r Gen. iv. 15.
s Fagius, Menochius, Tirnius, and
other expofitors, give the place this
fenfe.
of
Book I.
5
and Profane Hiftory.
of God against him, but reprefented that he ſhould be in
continual danger of a ſtill further evil; namely, that it ſhould
come to paſs, that every one that ſhould find him, or happen
on him, ſhould kill him: hereupon he bewailed the wretched
ftate he had brought himſelf into, and cried, Is my fin too
great to be forgiven? Can I find no mercy? no mitigation of
the puniſhment I have brought upon myself? Hereupon
God was pleaſed fo far to favour him, as to give orders that
no one ſhould kill him, and to make him eaſy by giving him
affurance of it: for fo
יהוה לקין אות
s
The words, ver. 15. which we render God fet a mark upon
Cain, fhould be interpreted. The Hebrew word MN [Aoth]
is a fign or token. The bow (Gen. ix.) was to be
[Leaoth] for a fign or token that the world fhould be no
more deſtroyed by water. So here the expreffion
ms ppb mm [vejafbem Jehovah lecain Aoth] is not as we
render it, And God ſet a mark upon Cain, but, God gave or
appointed to Cain a fign or token, [i. e. to affure him] that
no one fhould kill him. And here I might obſerve that
there is no foundation in the original, for the gueſſes and
conjectures about the mark fet upon Cain; about which fo
many writers have egregiouſly trifled '.
After this, Cain removed with his wife and children from
the place where he had before lived, and travelled into the
land of Nod ": here he fettled; and, as his family increaſed,
took care to have their dwellings built near to one another,
The ridiculous conjectures upon
this point have been almoft without
number. Some imagine that God im-
preffed a letter on his forehead. And
others have been ſo curious in their
enquiries, as to pretend to tell what
the letter was. A letter of the word
Abel, fay fome; the four letters of
Jehovah, fay others; or a letter ex-
preffing his repentance, fay a third
fort of writers. There have been ſome
that imagined that Abel's dog was ap-
pointed to go with him wherever he
went, to warn people not to kill him ;
but this does not come up to the hu-
mour of a mark ſet on Cain, and there-
fore other writers rather think his face
and forehead were leprous; others,
that his mark was a wild afpect and
terrible rolling eyes; others fay he
was fubject to a terrible trembling, fo
as to be fearce able to get his food to
his mouth; a notion taken from the
LXX. who tranflate fugitive and vaga-
bond, ξένων & τρέμων. And there are
fome writers that have improved this
conceit, by adding, that wherever he
went, the earth ſhook and tremoled
round about him. But there is ano-
ther notion of Cain's mark, as good as
any of the reft, namely, that he had a
horn fixed on his forehead, to teach
all men to avoid him.
u Gen. iv. 16.
B 3
and
6
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
C
d
and ſo made a little town or city, which he called Enoch *,
from a ſon he had of that name: here his deſcendants flou-
riſhed till the flood; they were the mechanics and tradeſmen
of the age they lived in. The fons of Lamech, who was
the fifth in defcent from Cain, were the chief artificers of
their time. Lamech had two wives, Adah and Zillah : by
Adah he had two fons, Jabal and Jubal. Jabal invented
tents, and gathered together herds of cattle. Jubal found
out mufic. By Zillah he had a fon named Tubal Cain,
who invented the working of brafs and iron; and a daugh-
ter called Naamah: Mofes only mentions her name; the
Rabbins fay fhe was the inventor of ſpinning. The de-
fcendants of Cain lived a long time in fome fear of the fa-
mily of Adam, left they ſhould attempt to revenge upon
them Abel's death. It is fuppofed that it was for this rea-
fon that Cain built a city, that his children might live near
together, and be able more eaſily to join and unite for the
common fafety. Lamech endeavoured to reaſon them out
of theſe fears; and therefore, calling his family together,
he argued with them to this purpoſe: "Why ſhould we
"make our lives uneafy with thefe groundleſs ſuſpicions?
"What have we done that we should be afraid of? We
"have not killed a mau, nor offered any injury to our bre-
"thren of the other family; and furely reafon muſt teach
"them that they can have no right to hurt us. Cain in-
"deed, our anceftor, killed Abel; but God was pleafed fo
"far to forgive his fin, as to threaten to take fevenfold ven-
geance on any one that fhould kill him: if fo, furely they
“muſt expect a much greater punishment who fhall pre-
"fume to kill any of us: if Cain fhall be avenged ſeven-
"fold, furely Lamech, or any of his innocent family, ſeventy-
"feven-fold." This I take to be the meaning of the ſpeech
of Lamech to his wives, Gen. iv. 23. Mofes has introduced
it, without any connection with what went before or follows
after; ſo that at firſt fight it is not eaſy to know what to ap-
66
x Gen. iv. 17
y Ver. 19.
z Ver. 20.
a Ver. 21,
b Ver. 22.
< See Genebrard in Chron. et Lira.
d Menochius in loc,
ply
Book I.
7
and Profane Hiftory.
re
ply it to; the expreffion itſelf is but dark, and the expofitors
have attempted to explain it very imperfectly. The Rabbins
tell a traditional ſtory, which they fay will lead us to the
meaning of it: they inform us, that "Lamech being blind,
"took his fon Tubal Cain to hunt with him in the woods,
"where they happened of Cain, who uſed to lurk up and
"down in the thickets, afraid of the converfe and fociety of
"men; that the lad miftook him for fome beaft ſtirring in
"the buſhes, and that Lamech, by the direction of Tubal
"Cain, with a dart or arrow, killed him; this they fay was
"the man he killed by his wounding him. Afterwards, when
"he came to fee what he had done, he beat Tubal Cain to
"death for miſinforming him, and fo killed a young man by
burting or beating him." But this unfupported old ſtory
is too idle to need a confutation. The most probable ſenſe
of the words is, I think, that which I have given them in
the paraphraſe above. I have flain a man, fhould be read in-
terrogatively, have I flain a man? i. e. I have not flain a
man, to my wounding, i. e. that I fhould be wounded for it,
nor a young man to my hurt, i. e. nor have I killed a young
man, that I ſhould be hurt or puniſhed for it. And this is
the ſenſe which the Targum of Onkelos moft excellently
gives the place. I have not killed a man, fays Onkelos, that
I ſhould bear the fin of it, nor have I deftroyed a young
man, that my offspring fhould be cut off for it and the
words of the next verfe agree to this fenfe fo exactly, there
will be a feven-fold vengeance paid for killing Cain, furely
then a feventy times feven for killing Lamech, that I wonder
how Onkelos fhould miſtake the true meaning of them, when
he had ſo juſtly expreffed the ſenſe of the other.
f
:
Adam, foon after Cain's leaving him, had a fon, whom
he named Seth; what other children he had we are not cer-
tain; we are told he had ſeveral, both fons and daughters,
probably a number of both fuitable to the many years of his
life, and to the increaſe neceflary to people the world. Mofes
has given us only the genealogy from Seth to Noah. The
children of Seth lived feparate from the reft of mankind;
• Gen. iv. 25.
f Chap. v. 4.
B 4
they
8
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
they led a paſtoral life, dedicated themfelves to the fervice
of God, and in a little time, in the days of Enos, the fon of
Seth, were diſtinguiſhed by the name of The Sons of God".
It is uncertain how long the children of this family were fo
eminent for their virtue: Enoch, one of them, was a perſon
of a diſtinguiſhed character, and the integrity of his life ob-
tained him a paffage into a better world without dying. It
is probable that all the perfons mentioned by Moſes, from
Seth to Noah, lived up to their duties; for the flood was, as
it were, deferred, until they were fafe out of the world. In
the days of Noah there was a general impiety. The fons of
God married the daughters of men ; the children of Seth
took wives out of the other families, and an evil communica-
tion corrupted their manners: the wickedness of the world
grew to fuch an height, that it pleafed God to determine to
deſtroy it Noah was a juſt and upright man, and he found
favour with God'. God difcovered to him that he intended
to deſtroy the inhabitants of the world by a flood about 120
years beforehand ", and inftructed him how to fave himfelf
and family, and a few creatures of every fort, from the deluge.
k
Noah hereupon, according to God's directions, built an
ark, about fix hundred feet long", an hundred feet wide, and
fixty feet deep, contrived into three ſtories; into this ark he
g Jofeph. Antiq. lib. i. cap. 3, 4.
h Gen. iv. 26.
i We might perhaps be inclined by
fome of the verfions to think that E-
noch died a natural death, and that
his tranflation here mentioned was
only ſuch a tranflation as is fpoken of
Wild. iv. 10, II. But the writer of
the Book of the Hebrews takes it very
clearly in another fenfe, Heb. xi. 5.
By faith Enoch was tranflated, that he
fhould not fee death.
k Gen. vi. 2.
1 Ver. 8.
m I fuppofe God determined that
mankind thould be ſtill continued 120
years, ver. 3. about the time that he
communicated his intentions of a flood
to Noah.
n The Hebrews made uſe of three
forts of cubits. 1. The common cu-
bit, which was about one foot and
half of our meaſure. 2. The facred
cubit, which was an hand's breadth
more than the common cubit. 3. The
geometrical cubit, which was about
nine feet. The reader, if he conſults
Buteo's Treatiſe about the ark, or reads
what Pool has collected, Syn. Critic.
in loc. may be fatisfied, that the ark is
to be meaſured by the common cubir.
The ftandard of the common cubit was
that part of a man's arm, which reaches
from the bent of the elbow to the
point of the middle finger. If we
think the ftature of mankind in Mo-
fes's time larger than it is now, we
may fuppofe the common cubit fome-
thing larger than we ſhould now com-
pute it; if not, the ftrict meaſure of
the ark will be, length 450 feet, breadth
75, height 45; and the beſt writers
generally agree, that the common fta-
ture of mankind has always been much
the fame that it now is.
gathered
Book I.
9
and Profane Hiftory.
O
gathered fuch a number of the creatures as God appointed
him, and having prepared fufficient provifion, he and his
wife, and their three fons and their wives, went into the ark,
in the fixth hundredth year of Noah's life, about the begin-
ning of our November P, according to the Hebrew computa-
tion, anno mundi 1656, and God caufed a flood of water over
all the world, thirty feet higher than the higheſt mountains,
and thereby deſtroyed the inhabitants of it.
This is all the hiftory which Mofes has given us of the
antediluvian world. We have fhort hints of thofe times in
the remains of fome heathen writers; and if we make al-
lowance for the fables which the heathen theology had in-
troduced into all parts of their early hiftory, the fubftance of
what they offer agrees very remarkably with the accounts of
Mofes. Berofus wrote the hiſtory of the Chaldeans: San-
choniatho, of the Phoenicians; and the antiquities of Egypt
were collected by Manetho the Egyptian. It may not be
amifs to examine the remains of thefe writers, in order to fee
what their accounts are of the first ages of the world. And,
I. As to the hiſtory of Berofus, the fubftance of it, as it is
given us from Abidenus Apollodorus, and Alexander Poly-
hiftor, is to this purpoſe, That there were ten kings of
Chaldea before the flood, Alorus, Alafparus, Amelon, Ame-
non, Metalarus, Daorus, Aedorachus, Amphis, Oliartes,
Xifuthrus; that Xifuthrus was warned in a dream that man-
kind was to be deſtroyed by a flood upon the 15th day of the
month Dæfius, and that he fhould build a fort of fhip, and
go into it with his friends and kindred, and that he fhould
make a provifion of meat and drink, and take into his veffel
fowls and four-footed beafts: that Xifuthrus acted accord-
The number of creatures taken
into the ark is very ingeniouſly con-
jectured by Buteo and Bishop Wilkins,
and the ſubſtance of what both have
faid upon the fubject is fet down in
Pool's Syn. Crit. Vide Pool in loc.
P The fecond Hebrew month, be-
fore the children of Ifrael were deliver-
ed out of Egypt, was Marchefvan,
which begins about the middle of our
October, and ends about the middle of
our November. After that deliver-
ance, the beginning of the year was
altered, and Nifan made the firft
month: but this alteration of the
year
was obferved by the Jews only in calcu-
lating their fafts and feaſts, and eccle-
fiaftical computations, and it is not like-
ly that the Book of Genefis contains
any computation of this latter fort, fo
the 17th day of the fecond month,
Gen. vii. 11. the day on which the flood
began, is 17 of Marchefvan, i. e. firſt or
fecond of our November. Mr. Whifton
fays November 28 Theory, p. 152.
9 Vid. Eufeb. Chron.
ing
10
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
ing to the admonition; built a ſhip, and put into it all that
he was commanded, and went into it with his wife and
children, and dearest friends. When the flood was come,
and began to abate, Xifuthrus let out fome birds, which
finding no food nor place to reſt on, returned to the ſhip again:
after fome days he let out the birds again, but they came
back with their legs daubed with mud: fome days after, he
let them go the third time, but then they came to the ſhip
no more: Xifuthrus underſtood hereby that the earth ap-
peared again above the waters, and taking down ſome of the
boards of the fhip, he faw that it refted upon a mountain.
Some time after he and his wife and his pilot went out of the
fhip to offer facrifice to the gods, and they were never ſeen
by thofe in the fhip more. But the perfons in the fhip, after
feeking him in vain, went to Babylon.-The Xiſuthrus here
mentioned was evidently Noah. And Berofus fuppoſes from
Alorus to Xiſuthras ten generations, and fo many Mofes
computes from Adam to Noah.
II. The hiftory of Sanchoniatho is to this effect. That
the first mortals were Protogonus and on; that by theſe
Æon
were begotten Genus and Genea; the children of thefe were
Phos, Pur, and Phlox; and of theſe were begot Caffius, Li-
banus, Antilibanus, and Brathys. Memrumus and Hypſu-
ranius were defcended from theſe, and their children were
Agreus and Halieus; and of theſe were begotten two bro-
thers, one of them named Chryfor and Hæphæftus, the name
of the other is loft. From this generation came two brothers,
Technites and Autochthon, and of them were begotten Agrus
and Agrotes; Amynus and Magus were their children, and
Mifor and Sydec were defcended of Amynus and Magus:
the fon of Mifor was Taautus or Thyoth. This is the Pho-
nician genealogy of the firft ages of the world, and it requires
no great pains to fhew how far it agrees with the accounts
of Mofes. The firft mortals mentioned by Sanchoniatho,
and called Protogonus and Eon, were undoubtedly Adam
and Eve; and his Mifor, the father of Taautus, is evidently
the Mizraim of Mofes : from Protogonus to Miſor, Sancho-
niatho computes eleven generations, and from Adam to Miz-
• In Eufeb. Præp. Evang. i. 10.
raim
Book I.
II
and Profane Hiftory.
raim Mofes makes twelve; fo that Sanchoniatho falls fhort
of Mofes only one generation; and this, I conceive, happen-
ed by his not having recorded the flood.
But thirdly, let us in the next place confider the Egyptian
antiquities, as collected by Manetho; and here, I must con-
fefs, we meet with great difficulties. The records of moſt
nations fall fhort of the flood; neither Chaldea nor Phoenicia
have offered any thing that can ſeem to be before Moſes's
time of the creation; but Manetho pretends to produce an-
tiquities of Egypt, that reach higher than the creation by
thouſands of years.
U
t
The accounts of Manetho ſeem at firſt fight fo extravagant,
that many good writers look upon them as mere fictions,
and omit attempting to ſay any thing about them; but other
learned men are not fo well fatisfied with this proceeding,
but think that by a due examination the Egyptian dynafties
may be made tolerably clear, and reduced at leaſt to a de-
gree of probability. The misfortune is, we have none of the
original works from whence they were collected, or which
gave account of them. The hiftorians, Diodorus Siculus
and Herodotus, did not examine thefe matters to the bot-
tom; and we have no remains of the old Egyptian Chroni-
con, or of the works of Manetho, except only fome quota-
tions in the works of other writers. The Chronographia of
Syncellus, wrote by one George, an abbot of the monaſtery
of St. Simeon, and called Syncellus, as being fuffragan to
Tarafius, Patriarch of Conftantinople, is the only work we
have to go to for theſe antiquities: Syncellus collected the
quotations of the old Chronicon, and of Manetho, and of
Eratofthenes, as he found them in the works of Africanus
and Eufebius; and the works of Africanus and Eufebius
being now loft, (for it is well known that the work that goes
under the name of Eufebius's Chronicon is a compoſition of
Scaliger's,) we have nothing to be depended upon, but
what we find in Syncellus above mentioned.
$ Scaliger fuppofes his Julian period
to begin above 700 years before the
world, but imagined the Egyptian dy-
nafties to reach higher than the begin-
ning of that period by above coo
years. See Can. Ifag. 1. ii. p. 123.
t Petav. Doctrin. Temp. I. x. c. 17.
" Marth. Can. Chron. p. t.
Our
12
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
Our learned countryman Sir John Marſham has collected
from Syncellus the opinions of theſe writers; and it muſt ap-
pear to any one that confiders what he has offered from
them, that they every one in their turn took great liber-
ties in correcting and altering what they pretended to copy
from one another; and though every one of them took a
different ſcheme, yet not one of them could give a clear and
conſiſtent account of the Egyptian dynafties. Sir John Mar-
fham comes the neareſt to it of any; the account he gives
from Menes downward is exceedingly probable, being con-
fiftent with the hiftories of other nations; and he has given
fome hints, which may, I think, lead to a very good expli-
cation of thoſe dynaſties which preceded Menes.
z
The Egyptian dynafties are by all that have treated of
them allowed to give an account, firſt of their gods, ſecond-
ly of their demi-gods and heroes, thirdly of their kings;
and in this order the hiftorians agree to treat of the Egyptian
antiquities. From Menes downward the account is clear,
if we take it as Sir John Marfham has explained it: the
number of kings are too many, if ſuppoſed to ſucceed one
another, as Manetho imagined; but if we fuppofe them to
be cotemporaries, as Sir John Marſham has repreſented them,
the accounts of Egypt from Menes or Mizraim will be eaſy,
and will agree very well with the accounts we have of other
nations. Africanus with good reaſon imagined all that is
prior to or before Menes to be antediluvian; fome broken
reports of what was the ftate of Egypt before the flood.
Let us therefore confider the antiquities of Egypt in this
view, and trace them backwards. The kings, the firft of
whom was Menes, reigned after the flood. Who were the
demi-gods and heroes that preceded them? how many were
they? and how long did they reign? In the next place we
muft enquire who were the gods of Egypt, and what are
their reigns; and perhaps fuch a thread of enquiry as this
may help us through the difficulties of the Egyptian anti-
quities.
* Martham Can. Προσκατασκευή.
y See Diodorus lib. i.
Z
z Syncellus, p. 54·
The
Book I.
13
and Profane Hiftory.
The fubftance of the Egyptian accounts is, that there were
thirty dynaſties in Egypt, confifting of 113 generations, and
which took up the ſpace of 36525 years: that after this pe-
riod was run, then there reigned eight demi-gods in the
ſpace of 217 years: after them fucceeded the Cycli Cynici,
i. e. according to Manetho, a race of heroes, in number fif-
teen, and their reigns took up 443 years; then began the
reigns of their kings, the firft of whom was Menes.
Menes therefore, by Syncellus called Meftraim, being the
Mizraim of Mofes, the eight demi-gods and fifteen heroes.
that reigned in Egypt before him were, as Manetho rightly
conjectures, antediluvians; and we have to enquire how
their reigns took up 217, and 443, in all 660 years.
Now, in order to explain what is meant by the number of
years in theſe reigns, I would obferve, that perhaps Egypt
was peopled no more than 660 years before the flood; which
may be true, though we ſuppoſe an elder ſon of Adam's to
have brought a colony thither. Seth was born in the 130th
year of Adam's life, and Seth lived till within 614 years of
the flood; and therefore a ſon of Adam but a century younger
than Seth (and Adam lived 800 years after the birth of
Seth, and begat fons and daughters) might plant Egypt, and
live 150 years at the head of his plantation; or if we fup-
poſe it firſt planted by fome children of Adam, two or three
centuries younger, they might come to Egypt in the flower
of their days.
It muſt indeed be allowed that the eight demi-gods and
the fifteen heroes cannot be a feries of kings fucceeding one
another; for feven generations in fuch a fucceffion would
take up very near the number of years allotted to all of them,
as may be ſeen by looking into the lives of Adam's defcend-
ants, fet down by Moſes. If we begin 46 years before the
death of Seth, we may fee that Enos lived 98 years after
Seth, Cainan 95 years after Enos, Mahalaleel 55 years after
Cainan, Jared 132 years after Mahalaleel, Enoch was tranf-
lated before his father's death, Methufelah died 234 years
after Jared, and in the year of the flood, and Lamech died
a Syncell. p. 40.
before
14
Book I,
Connection of the Sacred
"
་
before Methuselah; the fucceffion of thefe men, and there are
but feven of them, and a fhort piece of Seth's life, took up
660 years; and therefore if the lives of the other branches of
Adam's family were of the fame length with thefe, as it is pro-
bable they were, eight demi-gods and fifteen heroes, twenty-
three perfons, could not fucceed one another in ſo few years.
In this point therefore the Egyptian writers make great diffi-
culties, by fuppofing thefe demi-gods and heroes to reign.
one after another, when it is impoffible to find a good ac-
count of the times of ſuch fucceffive reigns, or to bring the
whole ſeries of them within the compaſs of time allotted to
them; but we may make this difficulty eafy, if we fuppofe
the eight deini-gods to be cotemporaries, perſons of great
eminence and figure in the age they lived in, and the fifteen.
heroes, who lived after thefe demi-gods, cotemporary with
one another; and I think their different titles, as well as
what we find about them in the hiftorians, lead us to this
notion of them. If theſe perſons were a fucceffive number
of kings, from the first of them to the flood, why fhould
eight of them be called demi-gods, and the reft but heroes?
The ſuperior appellation of the first eight looks as if they
ſtood upon an equal ground with one another, but fomething
higher than thoſe that came after them. And perhaps they
were eight children of Adam; and he had certainly enough
to ſpare many times eight to people the feveral parts of the
world. Thefe came together with their families into Egypt,
lived all within the compafs of 217 years, (which is an eafy
ſuppoſition,) and being all the heads of the families that came
with them, and were defcended from them, they might be
fo revered by their pofterity, as to have a title fuperior to
what their defcendants attained to. And it is obfervable,
that the hiſtorians who mention them give them names very
favourable to this account of them: the demi-gods, accord-
ing to Diodorus, were Sol, Saturnus, Rhea, Jupiter, Juno,
Vulcanus, Vefta, Mercurius; and thefe are the names of per-
fons, not of different, but of the fame defcent; brothers and
fifters, fome of whom, according to what was the early cuf-
Lib. i. p. 8.
tom
Book I.
15
and Profane Hiftory.
tom in Adam's family, married one another. In like manner,
if we look among their heroes, we fhall find them of the fame
fort; Ofiris and Ifis, Typhon and Apollo and Venus, are all
faid to be children of the fame family; they taught agricul-
ture and other ufeful arts, and thereby made themſelves
famous; and we are told that ſeveral of them went up and
down together, and were therefore cotemporaries; and it is
eaſy to ſuppoſe fifteen of them, the number which the old
Chronicon mentions, to flouriſh within the ſpace of 443 years:
and thus it will appear, that the reigns of the demi-gods and
heroes reach up to the very firft peopling of Egypt, and there-
fore what they offer about a race of gods fuperior to and
before theſe muſt belong to ages before the creation of the
world.
d
It was a very uſual and cuftomary thing for the ancient
writers to begin their antiquities with fome account of the
origin of things, and the creation of the world. Mofes did
fo in his book of Genefis; Sanchoniatho's Phoenician Hifto-
ry began in the fame manner; and it appears from Diodorus &
that the Egyptian Antiquities did fo too. Their accounts.
began with ſpeculations about the origin of things, and the
nature of the gods: then follows an account of their demi-
gods and terreftrial deities; after them come their heroes,
or first rank of men; and laft of all their kings. Now if
their kings began from the flood; if their heroes and demi-
gods reached up to the beginning of the world; then the
account they give of the reigns of gods before theſe can be
only their theological fpeculations put into fuch order as they
thought most truly philofophical.
The first and most ancient gods of the Egyptians, and of
all other heathen nations, after they had departed from the
worſhip of the true God, were the luminaries of heaven; and
it is very probable, that what they took to be the period or
time, in which any of thefe deities finifhed its courſe, that
they might call the time of its reign; thus a perfect and
complete revolution of any ftar which they worthipped was
the reign of that ſtar: and though it might be tedious to trace
Lib. i. p. 8.
d Lib. i.
too
16
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
too far into their antiquated philofophy, in order to find out
how they came to imagine that the revolutions of the feve-
ral heavenly bodies anſwered to fuch a number of years as
they afcribed to their respective reigns; yet it is remarkable,
that a whole entire revolution of the heavens took up, ac-
cording to their computations, exactly the number of years
afcribed by them to all their gods. A period of 36525
years is what they call an entire mundane revolution, and
brings on the ἀποκατάςασις κοσμική : in this fpace of time,
they fay, the feveral heavenly bodies do exactly go through
all the relations which they can have in their motions to one
another, and come round to the fame point from which all
their courſes began. Theſe heavenly bodies therefore being
their gods, fuch a perfect and entire revolution of them is a
complete reign of all the gods, and contained 36525 years.
But to the first of their gods, called here Vulcan, they
affign no time, his reign is unlimited. I fuppofe they meant
hereby to intimate that the fupreme God was eternal, his
power infinite, his reign not confined to any one, or any
number of ages, but extending itfelf through all: and fuch
high notions the Egyptians certainly had of the fupreme
Deity, though they had alfo buried them in heaps of the
groffeft errors. This
This I take to be a true account of the
Egyptian dynaſties; and if it be ſo, their hiſtory is not ſo ex-
travagant as has been imagined. The fubftance of what
they offer is, that the fupreme God is eternal, — to his
reign they affign no time: that the fun, moon, and ſtars, ran
their courſes thouſands of years before man was upon the
earth; into this notion they were led by their aftronomy:
that Egypt was peopled 660 years before the flood; and
very probably it might not be peopled fooner, confidering
that mankind began in Chaldea, and that the firſt planta-
tion went eastward with Cain, and that Seth and his family
fettled near home.-Amongſt theſe firſt inhabitants of Egypt
there were eight demi-gods and fifteen heroes, i. e. three
and twenty perfons illuftrious and eminent in their genera-
tions. After the flood reigned Menes, whom Mofes called
Mizraim, and after Mizraim a fucceffion of kings down to
Nectanebus.
Manetho
Book I.
17
and Profane Hiflory.
:
Manetho wrote his hiftory by order of Ptolemy Philadel-
phus, fome time after the Septuagint tranflation was made.
When the Hebrew antiquities were publiſhed to the world,
the Egyptians grew jealous of the honour of their nation,
and were willing to fhew that they could trace up their me-
moirs even higher than Mofes could carry thoſe of the
Ifraelites for this end Manetho made his collection; it was
his deſign to make the Egyptian antiquities reach as far
backwards as he could, and therefore as many kings' names
as he could find in their records, fo many fucceffive monarchs
he determined them to have had; not confidering that Egypt
was at firſt divided into three, and afterwards into four fove-
reignties for fome time, fo that three or four of his kings
many times reigned together. When he got up to Menes,
then he fet down the names of fuch perfons as had been fa-
mous before the times of this their firſt king; and then, it
being a point of his religion that their gods had reigned on
earth, and their aftronomy teaching that the reigns of the
gods took up the ſpace of 36525 years, he added theſe alſo,
and by this management his antiquities ſeem to reach higher
than the accounts of Mofes; when in reality, if rightly in-
terpreted, they fall fhort of Mofes by fuch a number of
years, as we may fairly ſuppoſe might paſs, before mankind
could be ſo increaſed as to people the earth, from Chaldea,
the place where Adam and Eve lived, unto Egypt.
:
The Chineſe have been ſuppoſed to have records that
reach higher than the hiftory of Mofes but we find by the
beſt accounts of their antiquities that this is falfe. Their
antiquities reach no higher than the times of Noah, for Fohi
was their firſt king. They pretend to no hiſtory or memoirs
that reach up higher than his times; and by all their ac-
counts, the age of Fohi coincides with that of Mofes's Noah.
Their writers in the general agree, that Fohi lived about
2952 years before Chrift: the author Mirandorum in Siná
et Europa computes him to reign but 2847 years before our
Saviour; and Alvarez Sevedo places his reign not ſo early,
imagining it to be but 2060 years; and all thefe compu-
tations agree well enough with the times of Noah; for
Noah was born, according to Archbishop Ufher, 2948 years,
VOL. I.
C
and
18
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
and died 2016 years before Chrift; fo that all the feveral
computations about Fohi fall pretty near within the com-
pafs of Noah's life. But we fhall hereafter ſee many reaſons
to conclude Mofes's Noah and the Chineſe Fohi to be the
fame perſon.
e
The length of the lives of mankind in this world was very
remarkable. Mofes numbers the years of fome of their
lives as follows:
Adam lived
Years.
930
912
Seth
Enos
Cainan
Mahalaleel
Jared
Enoch
Methuselah
Lamech
1
1
t
905
910
895
962
365
969
777
Some perfons have thought it incredible that the human
frame ſhould ever have endured to fo great a period; and for
that reaſon they fuppofe that the years here mentioned are
but lunar, confifting each of about thirty days: but this
ſcheme, under a notion of reducing the antediluvian lives to
our ftandard, is full of abfurdities. The whole time of this
first world would, at this rate, be leſs than 130 years. Me-
thufelah himſelf would have been little more than 80 years
old, not fo long-lived as many even now are. The perfons
above mentioned would have had children when mere in-
fants. Befides, if we compute the ages of thofe who lived
after the flood by this way of reckoning, and we have no
reaſon from the text to alter, they will not amount to the
years of a man. Abraham for inftance, who is faid to have
died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, was, as
Mofes writes, 175 years old; but according to the notion
of lunar years, he could not be fifteen. The years, there-
fore, that Mofes computed thefe men's lives by, were folar
e Gen. v.
f Gen. xxv. 7.
•
years,
Book I.
19
and Profane Hiftory.
3
years, of much the fame length as we now compute by,
and there muſt have been ſome reaſon in their ſtate and con-
ſtitution, and in the temperament of the world they lived in,
to give them that exceeding length of days, which they were
able to come up to. Their houfes of clay could ſtand eight or
nine hundred years; when, alas! thofe we now build of the
hardeft ftone or marble will fcarce laft fo long.
The curiofity of the learned in all ages has been much em-
ployed in finding out the reafons of this longevity. Some
writers have attributed it to the fimplicity of their diet, and
to the fobriety of their living; both of them indeed excel-
lent means to fupport nature, and to make us able to attain
our utmoſt period, but not ſufficient to account for ſo vaft a
difference as there is between our and their term of life.
We have had moderate and abftemious perfons in latter ages,
and yet they have very rarely exceeded 100 years.
h
Other writers have imagined the length of theſe men's
lives to have been owing to the ftrength of their ſtamina:
they think that we are made of more corruptible materials,
of a nature not ſo ſtrong as theſe men were, and therefore
cannot laſt fo long as they did. But this cannot be the fole
cauſe of their long lives; for if it were, why fhould the fons
of Noah, who had all the ſtrength of an antediluvian.confti-
tution, fall fo far fhort of the age of their forefathers? This,
and the manner of the decline of our lives, led a very ingeni-
ous writer i to imagine, that this alteration of the length of
human life was in a great meaſure owing to a change of
the temperament of the world; that the equality of the fea-
fons, and evennefs of weather, in the firft earth, were in a
great meaſure the caufe of that length of life enjoyed by the
inhabitants of it; and that the vaft contrariety of ſeaſons and
weather which we now have is a great reafon for the fhort-
nefs of our days.
If we examine the proportion in which human life ſhort-
ened, we fhall find this longevity funk half in half immedi-
ately after the flood; and after that it funk by gentler de-
3 Not exactly as long, for the an-
cients generally computed 12 months,
of 30 days each, to be a year.
h Shem lived to but 600 years.
1 Dr. Burnet,
grees,
20
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
i
grees, but was ftill in motion and declenfion, till it fixed at
length before David's time (Pfalm xc. 10. called a Pfalm of
Moſes) in that which has been the common ſtandard of
man's age ever fince: and how ſtrongly does this intimate
that our decay was not owing to irregular living, or to a de-
bility of nature only, but to our being, as I might fay, remov-
ed into a different world! for we fared like fome excellent
fruit tranfplanted from its native foil into a worſe ground
and unkinder climate; it degenerates continually till it comes
to ſuch a degree of meanneſs as ſuits the air and foil it is re-
moved into, and then it ſtands without any further depravity
or alteration.
The antediluvians were placed, according to the beſt and
moſt philoſophical notions we can form of the then world,
under a conſtant ſerenity and equality of the heavens, in an
earth ſo fituated with regard to the fun, as to have a perpe-
tual equinox, and an even temperature of the ſeaſons, with-
out any confiderable variety or alteration: and hence it
came to pafs that the human body could, by the nouriſhment
it is made capable of receiving, continue unimpaired to many
generations, there being no external violence to cauſe decay
in any part of its texture and conſtitution. But when men
came to live in the world after the flood, the world was
much altered: the ſtate of the earth and heavens was not the
fame they had before been; there were many changes of
feafons, wet and dry, hot and cold, and thefe of courfe caufe
many fermentations in the blood and refolutions of the hu-
mours of the body; they weaken the fibres and organs of our
frame, and by degrees unfit them for their reſpective func-
tions. Noah had lived fix hundred years in the firſt world,
ſo that we may reafonably fuppofe he had contracted a firm-
neſs of conſtitution, to be able to weather out the inconve-
niences of the new world; and we find his life was not fen-
fibly fhortened by them: but his children came into this fe-
cond world very young men, before their natures were fixed
1 Dr. Burnet feems to hint in this
manner, that the length of our lives
was reduced to 70 years about Mofes's
time but Mr. Whifton obferves, that
moſt of the perfons mentioned in
Scripture, who lived to old age, far ex-
ceeded that ftandard, till about Da-
vid's time. Chron.
Chron. p. 9 and 10.
and
Book I.
21
and Profane Hiftory.
and hardened, and fo they ſcarce exceeded two thirds of
what they might probably have otherwife lived to. The
• next generation, who began their lives in this difadvantage-
ous ftate of things, fell a third part fhort of them. The
change is not indeed immediately fenfible, but it ſtands with
reaſon that the repeated impreffions every year of unequal
heat and cold, drynefs and moisture, fhould, by contracting
and relaxing the fibres, bring in time their tone to a mani-
feſt debility, and caufe a decay in the leffer ſprings of our
bodies; and the leffer ſprings failing, the greater, that in
fome meaſure depend upon them, muſt in proportion fail alſo,
and all the ſymptoms of decay and old age follow. We ſee
by experience, that bodies are kept better in the fame medi-
um, as we call it, than if they often change their medium,
and be ſometimes in air, fometimes in water, moiftened and
dried, heated and cooled; thefe different ſtates weaken the
contexture of the parts: but this has been our condition in
this prefent world; we are put into an hundred different me-
diums in the courſe of a year: fometimes we are ſteeped in
water, or in a mifty foggy air for feveral days together, fome-
times we are almoſt frozen with cold, then as it were melted
with heat; and the winds are of a different nature, and the
air of a different weight and preffure, according to the wea-
ther and feafons: and now all thefe things must contribute.
apace to our decline, muſt agitate the air in the little pores
and chinks of our bodies very unequally, and thereby ſhake
and unſettle our frame continually, muft wear us very faſt,
and bring us to old age and decay in a fhort time, in com-
pariſon of what we might have lived to, if we lived as the
antediluvians, we think, did, in a fixed courſe of nature, en-
compaffed always in the fame medium, breathing always an
air of one and the fame temper, fuited exactly to their frame
and conftitution, and not likely to offer them any violence
without, or raiſe any fermentation within *.
The number of perfons in this firft world must have been.
very great if we think it uncertain, from the difference be-
tween the Hebrew and LXX. in this particular, at what time
k See Dr. Burnet's Theory, vol. i. b. ii. ch. 2, 3, 4.
C 3
of
22
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
of life they might have their first children, let us make the
greatest allowance that is poffible, and ſuppoſe that they had
no children till they were 100 years old, and none after
500, yet ſtill the increaſe of this world muſt have been pro-
digious. There are ſeveral authors which have formed cal-
culations of it, and they fuppofe upon a moderate computa-
tion that there were in this world at leaſt two millions of
millions of fouls, which they think is a number far exceed-
ing that of the inhabitants of the prefent earth.
It would be very entertaining, if we could have a view of
the religion, politics, arts or fciences of this numerous peo-
ple; but we can only make a few conjectures about them :
as to their religion, it is certain, 1. that they had Adam for
above 900 years to inſtruct them in all he knew of the crea-
tion of the world, and of the manner how he and Eve came
into it; and though I think there is no reaſon to magnify
Adam's knowledge, as fome writers have done, yet it muſt
furely be beyond all queſtion, that the inhabitants of this
first world were moft fenfibly convinced of God's being the
creator of all things: they needed no deductions of reafon, or
much faith, to lead them to this truth: they were almoſt
eye-witneſſes of it. Methufelah died but a little before the
flood, and lived 245 years with Adam; ſo that, though the
world had ſtood above 1600 years at the deluge, yet the tra-
dition of the creation had paffed but through two hands.
2. They had a very remarkable promife made them by God
in the judgment paffed upon the ferpent: I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between her feed and thy
feed: he ſhall bruife thy head, and thou shalt bruife his heel.
3. God was more fenfibly prefent in the world then, than he
now is. He appeared to them by angels; he caufed them to
hear voices, or to dream dreams; and by thefe, and fuch ex-
traordinary ways and means as thefe were, he convinced
them of their duties, inftructed them in his will, and gave
them directions for the conduct of their lives and in this
fenſe many good and virtuous men in this firft world, and
for feveral ages after the flood, had the happineſs to walk
with God; to have an intercourſe with the Deity, by divers
extraordinary revelations of himſelf, which he was pleafed
to
Book I.
23
and Profane History.
to give them in all parts of their lives, if they took care to
live up to their duties. If indeed any of them ran into evil
courſes of fin and wickedneſs, then they are faid to be hid
from the face of the Lord; or God is ſaid to turn away bis
face from them; or, to caft them away from his prefence:
by all which expreffions is meant, that from that time the
intercourfe between God and them ceafed, and that God fo
far left them, as to give them none of thoſe revelations and
directions about his will and their conduct, which they might
otherwiſe have had from him. And as this was the ſtate of the
firſt world with regard to God's preſence in it; fo, fourthly,
I believe from hence was derived the religion of it, God him-
felf teaching thoſe perſons he was pleaſed to converſe with
what facrifices he would have offered, what religious cere-
monies they ſhould uſe, and how they ſhould order them-
felves in his worſhip. We do not meet any of God's ex-
preſs orders in theſe matters before the flood, for the hiſtory
is very fhort; after the flood we have a great many but the
very nature of the worſhip that was in uſe does fufficiently
evidence, that it came into uſe from divine appointment, and
was not invented by the wit of man. Sacrifices were offer-
ed from the fall of Adam; Cain and Abel, we are ſure, uſed
them and the method of worshipping by facrifices does in
no wife appear to be an human contrivance, invented by the
natural light or common reaſon of men. If God had never
appeared to the firſt men at all, reaſon alone, if rightly uſed,
would have induced them to think that there was a God, and
that they were obliged to live in his fear a virtuous life, and
it might have led them to have prayed to him in their wants,
and to have praiſed and adored him for his favours; but I
cannot fee upon what thread or train of thinking they could
poffibly be led to make atonement for their fins, or acknow-
ledgments for the divine favours, by the oblations or expia-
tions of any ſorts of facrifice: it is much more reaſonable to
think that God himfelf appointed this worship. All nations.
in the world have ufed it. They that were fo happy as to
walk with God were inftructed in it from age to age: the
reft of mankind, who had caufed God to turn his face from
them, and to leave them to themfelves, continued the me-
:
C 4
thod
24
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
thod of worship they had before learned, and fo facrificed ;
but they invented in time new rites and new facrifices, ac-
cording to their humours and fancies, and by degrees de-
parted from the true worship, and at length from the true
God.
We meet with ſeveral particulars about the religion of the
antediluvians.
1. That they had ſtated annual and weekly facrifices; that
Cain and Abel, when they came to offer, came to one of theſe
folemn and public acts of worship. Theſe things may perhaps
be true, but we have no certain evidence that they are fo.
Ariftotle is quoted to confirm this opinion, who fays that
ſuch ſtated facrifices were from the beginning: but it ſhould
be confidered, that the heathen records commonly fall vaftly
fhort of theſe times; and when Ariftotle or any other fuch
writer fpeaks of a thing as practiſed from the beginning,
they can fairly be ſuppoſed to mean no more than that it was
in ufe earlier than the times of which they had any hiftory;
which it might eafily be, and at the fame time be much
more modern than the beginning of the world. Other writ-
ers would prove this opinion from fome words of Scripture.
Mikkets Jamim, Gen. iv. ver. 3. fignify, ſome ſay, At the
end of the week, others fay, At the end of the year: but thefe,
I think, are precarious criticifms. The words fairly con-
ftrued are no more than, At the end of days, or, as we render
them, In process of time.
2. Some have thought that the firft inftitution of public
worship was in the days of Enos the fon of Seth; others,
that not the public worſhip of God, but that idolatry or falſe
worſhip, took its rife at that time: both thefe opinions are
founded upon the expreffion at the end of Gen. iv. Then be-
gan men to call upon the name of the Lord.
The defenders of the firſt opinion conftrue the Hebrew
words in the following manner, Then men began to invoke the
name of the Lord, i. e. to ſet up and join in public invocations
of it; for as to private ones, they had without doubt uſed
them from the beginning. This interpretation is more eaſy
and natural than that which follows it; wasp [likra be
Shem] feems pretty well to anſwer our English expreffion, To
call
Book I.
25
and Profane Hiftory.
call upon the name, or
tranfitive, and Dux
the name, but
meaning.
invoke it; but [Kara] is a verb
[Kara Shem] might fignify to invoke
[Kara be Shem] has quite another
The authors of the fecond opinion, who would prove the
rife of idolatry from theſe words, think the word [Ho-
chal] not to fignify they began, but they profaned: they
make the ſentence run thus, Then they profaned in calling up-
on the name of the Lord. The Verb does indeed fome-
times fignify to profane, and ſometimes to begin; but then
it ought to be obſerved, that when it fignifies to profane, it
has always a noun following it; when an infinitive mood
follows, as in the paffage before us, it always fignifies to
begin. There are many paffages of Scripture which will
juftify this remark: Numb. xxx. 3. Ezek. xxxix. 7. are in-
ſtances of the former fenfe; Gen. vi. 1. xli. 53. 2 Chron.
iii. 1. and feveral other places, are inftances of the latter.
And thus I think it may appear that both the opinions found.
ed on this paffage are groundleſs; they have both of them
been eſpouſed by great authors; and the latter, which is the
more improbable of the two, is very much favoured by the
Paraphrafe of Onkelos, by Maimonides's Treatife of Idola-
try, by Selden, and feveral other learned men. But fince I
am fallen upon this paffage, I fhall add a few words more to
give it its true meaning: and I think the Hebrew words ver-
bally tranflated would be, Then it was began to call, i. e.
them, by the name of the Lord, i. e. as I expreffed it p. S.
they were then first called the fons of God. This is, I
muſt think, the true meaning of this expreffion. N
[Kara be Shem] fignifies to call or nominate by or after the
name; thus Gen. iv. 17. p [Jikra] He called the name of
the city o [be Shem] by or after the name of his fon.
Numb. xxxii. 42. p [Jikra] He called it Nobah, ipwa [be
Shemo] by or after his own name. Pfalm xlix. 11. 7877
[Kareau] They call their lands Draw [bifhmotham] by or
after their own
own names. Ifaiah xliii. 7. Every one that is
spin [Hannikra] called "w】 [biſhmi] by my name. And
the name here hinted is exprefsly given theſe men by Mofes
him-
26
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
himſelf, when he afterwards fpeaks of them, Gen. vi. The
fons of God faw the daughters of men.
to the antediluvians.
But to return
As we can only form fome few and very general conjec-
tures about their religion, fo we can only guefs at the pro-
grefs they might make in literature or any of the arts. The
enterpriſing genius of man began to exert itſelf very early in
muſic, braſs-work, iron-work, in every artifice and ſcience
uſeful or entertaining; and the undertakers were not limited
by a fhort life, they had time enough before them to carry
things to perfection; but whatever their ſkill, learning, or in-
duftry performed, all remains or monuments of it are long
ago periſhed. We meet in feveral authors hints of fɔme
writings of Enoch, and of pillars ſuppoſed to have been in-
fcribed by Seth; and the Epiftle of St. Jude' feems to cite a
paffage from Enoch: but the notion of Enoch's leaving any
work behind him has been fo little credited, that fome per-
fons, not confidering that there are many things alluded to
in the New Teſtament ", that were perhaps never recorded
in any books, have gone too far, and imagined" the Epiftle
of St. Jude fpurious, for its feeming to have a quotation from
this figment.
There is a piece pretending to be this work of Enoch,
and Scaliger, in his annotations upon Eufebius's Chroni-
con, has given us confiderable fragments, if not the whole of
it. It was vaftly admired by Tertullian P, and fome other
fathers; but it has fince their time been proved to be the
1 Ver. 14.
m There are many inſtances in the
New Teftament of facts alluded to,
which we do not find were ever re-
corded in any ancient books: thus the
contest between Michael and the Devil
about the body of Moſes is mentioned,
as if the Jews had, fomewhere or other,
a full account of it. The names of the
Egyptian magicians, Jannes and Jam-
bres, are fet down, though they are no
where found in Mofes's hiftory. St.
Paul mentions that Mofes exceedingly
quaked and feared on Mount Sinai;
but we do not find it ſo recorded any
where in the Old Teſtament. In all
theſe caſes, the Apoftles and holy writ-
ers hinted at things commonly re-
ceived as true by tradition amongst the
Jews, without tranfcribing them from
any real books.
n Enochi commentitia oracula ita
fprevit cordatior antiquitas, uti Hiero-
nymus Judæ epiftolam, quæ de feptem
Catholicis una eft, ob hanc caufam a
plerifque a catalogo facrorum volumi-
num dicat expun&tam, quia teftimo-
nium ibi citatur ex hoc futili fcripto.
Cunæus de Rep. Heb. 1. iii. c. 1. p. 300.
• P. 404.
P De habitu mulierum, lib. i. c. 3.
product
Book I.
27
and Profane Hiftory.
product of ſome impoftor, who made it, according to Scali-
ger, Voffius, Gale, and Kircher, fome time between the cap-
tivity and our Saviour's birth; but there are, I think,
good reaſons not to believe it even ſo old.
Г
As to Seth's pillars, Jofephus gives the following ac-
count of them: "That Seth and his defcendants were per-
"fons of happy tempers, and lived in peace, employing
"themſelves in the ſtudy of aftronomy, and in other ſearches
"after uſeful knowledge; that, in order to preſerve the
"knowledge they had acquired, and to convey it to pofte-
"rity, having heard from Adam of the flood, and of a de-
"ſtruction of the world by fire which was to follow it, they
"made two pillars, the one of ſtone, the other of brick, and
"infcribed their knowledge upon them, fuppofing that one
S
or the other of them might remain for the uſe of poſterity
"the ſtone pillar, fays he, on which is infcribed, that there
"was one of brick made alfo, is ftill remaining in the land
"of Seriad to this day." Thus far Jofephus: but whether
his account of this pillar may be admitted, has been vari-
ouſly controverted; we are now not only at a lofs about the
pillar, but we cannot fo much as find the place where it is
faid to have ſtood. Some have thought this land of Seriad
to be the land of Seirah, mentioned Judges iii. 26. and that
the quarries, as we render it, or the Pefilim, as it is in the
Hebrew, might be the ruinous ftones of which this pillar of
Seth was formerly made: other writers think the word
Pefilim to fignify idols, and that the ftones here mentioned
were Eglon's idols, lately fet up there. Bifhop Stillingfleet ",
if the word Pefilim can fignify piitars, approves of Junius's
interpretation of the place, and thinks the ftones here ſpoken
of were the twelve ftones pitched by Joshua in Gilgal, after the
children of Ifrael paffed over Jordan: but furely this inter-
pretation is improbable; the ftones pitched in Gilgal by Jo-
ſhua would have been called as they were when they were
pitched, ha Abenim, from Aben a ftone, or elſe the remem-
9 See Jurieu Crit. Hift. vol. i. p. 41.
Antiq. lib. i. c. 3. p. 9.
› Voffius de Etat. Mund. c. 10. et
Marſham Can. Chronic. p. 39.
Chytræus et alii.
"Origines Sacræ, b. i. c. 2. p. 37.
brance
28
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
brance of the fact to be fupported by them would be loft:
the defign of heaping them was, that when pofterity ſhould
enquire what mean ha Abenim, theſe ſtones, they might be
told how the waters of Jordan were cut off. It is unlikely
that the writer of the book of Judges ſhould alter the name
of fo remarkable a monument.
V
But it is more eaſy to gueſs where Jofephus had his ſtory
of Seth's pillars, than to tell in what country they ever ſtood :
there is a paffage quoted from Manetho, the Egyptian hiſ-
torian, which very probably was the foundation of all that
Jofephus has faid about them. Eufebius has given us the
words of Manetho; for, relating what he afferted to eſta-
blish the credit of his Egyptian dynafties, he fays, that he
pretended to have taken them "from fome pillars in the
"land of Seriad, infcribed in the facred dialect by the firſt
"Mercury Thyoth, and after the flood tranflated out of the
"facred dialect into the Greek tongue in facred characters,
"and laid up amongſt the reveſtiaries of the Egyptian tem-
ples by Agathodæmon the fecond Mercury, father of
"Tat." Jofephus very often quotes heathen writers, and
Manetho in particular; and it is probable, that, upon reading
this account of pillars in that hiftorian, he might think it
mifapplied. The Jews had an old tradition of Seth's pillars.
Jofephus perhaps imagined Manetho's account to have ariſen
from it, and that he ſhould probably hit the truth if he put
the hiſtory of the one and the tradition of the other toge-
ther; and it is likely hence arofe all he has given us upon
this fubject.
66
It may perhaps be enquired, what the wickedneſs was for
which God deſtroyed this firſt world. Some writers have
imagined it to have been an exceſs of idolatry; others think
idolatry was not practifed till after the flood; and indeed
the Scripture mentions no idolatry in theſe times, but de-
ſcribes the antediluvian wickedness to have been a general
neglect of virtue, and purſuit of evil. The wickedneſs of man
was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of
v In Chronico.
bis
Book I.
29
and Profane Hiftory.
his heart was only evil continually *. There is one particular
taken notice of by Mofes, The earth, he fays, was filled
with violence. This expreffion, and the fevere law made
againſt murder foon after the flood, makes it probable that
the men of this first world had taken a great licenſe in
ufurping upon the lives of one another.
There fhould be ſomething faid, before I conclude this
book, of the chronology and geography of this firſt world.
As to the chronology, feveral of the tranfactions in it are not
reduced to any fixed time: we are not told when Cain and
Abel were born; in what year Abel was killed, or Cain left
his parents; when the city of Enoch was built or at what
particular time the defcendants of Cain's family were born:
Moſes has given us a chronology of only one branch of
Seth's family. He has fet down the feveral defcendants
from Adam to Noah, with an account of the time of their
birth, and term of life; fo that if there was not a variety in
the different copies of the Bible, it would be eaſy to fix the
year
of their deaths, and of the flood, and to determine the
time of the continuance of this firſt world.
* Gen. vi. 5.
y Ver. 13.
But
30
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
But first of all, according to our Hebrew Bibles, the com-
putations of Mofes are given us as fet down in the following
table :


world
year of the
Died in the
Lived in all
years
fon's birth,
Lived after his
years
Had his fou in
life
the
year
of his
the world
in the year of
Began his life
Adam
I 130
Soo
930
930
Seth
130 105
807
912
1042
Enos
235
90
815
905
1140
Cainan
325 ༡༠ 840
910
1235
Mahalaleel
395
65
830
895
1290
Jared
460
162 800
962 1422
Enoch
622
65
300
365 987
Methufelah
687
187
782
969
1656
Lamech
•
874 182
595
777
1651
Noah
1056 | 500 |
According to the foregoing table, the flood, which began in
the fix hundredth year of Noah, who was born anno mundi
1056, happened anno mundi 1656; it continued about a year,
and fo ended 1657-
But
Book I.
31
and Profane Hiftory.
But fecondly, the Samaritan copies give us theſe compu-
tations fomething different; according to them,

year of the
Died in the
world
Lived in all
years
fon's birth,
Lived after his
years
Had his fon in
the year of his
life
the world
in the year of
Began his life
Adamı
I
130
800
930
930
Seth
130 105
807
912
1042
Enos
235
90
815
905 1140
Cainan
325
70
840
910 1235
Mahalaleel
395
65
830
895 1290

Jared
•
460
62
785
847 1307
Enoch
522
65
300
365
887
Methuselah
587 67
653
720 1307
Lamech
654 53 600
653 1307
Noah
| 707
500
а
Z
The reader will eafily fee the difference between the He-
brew and Samaritan computations, by comparing the two
tables with one another. Capellus makes a difficulty in re-
conciling them; but it is not ſuch a hard matter, if we con-
fider what St. Jerome a informs us of, that there were Sama-
ritan copies which make Methufelah 187 years old at the
birth of Lamech, and Lamech 182 at the birth of Noah:
now if this be true, it is eaſy to fuppofe 62, the age of Jared
at the birth of Enoch, to be a mistake of the tranfcriber, who
might drop a letter, and write 62 inftead of 162, and thus all
the difference between the Hebrew and Samaritan copies will
entirely vaniſh. Capellus is not fatisfied with this account
z Tract, de Chronol. facr, in Prole-
gom. Bib. Polyglot. Walton.
a In Quæft. in Genef.
of
32
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
C
of St. Jerome's, but obferves that Morinus b affures us, that
the Samaritan MS. Pentateuch agrees exactly with the cal-
culations given by Eufebius, according to which the fore-
going table is compoſed: but to this it may be anſwered,
that the MS. which Morinus faw is not older than the be-
ginning of the 15th century; it was, he fays himſelf, writ-
ten in the year of our Lord 1404; and ſurely it muſt be very
precarious to contradict what St. Jerome has afferted in this
matter, from ſo modern a tranſcript.
The writers who have given us the Samaritan chronology
do, in fome reſpects, differ from the foregoing table; but
their differences are of lefs moment, and may eaſily be cor-
rected.
તા
1. Eufebius fets the birth of Methufelah in the 60th year
of Enoch; but this is manifeftly an error either of the
printer or tranfcriber, who wrote & inſtead of Ę; the miſtake
was certainly not Eufebius's, becauſe he immediately adds,
METETÉN ÉV ETA GT' Te Nw, i. e. he was tranflated in the 180th
year of Noah. Now if Enoch was 60 years old at Methuſe-
lah's birth, according to Eufebius himſelf, from Methuselah's
birth to the 180th year of Noah is but 300 years, and confe-
quently Eufebius, to have been confiftent with himfelf, fhould
have made Enoch's age at his tranflation 360; but he has
made it 365. But farther, Syncellus from Eufebius ſays,
that the Samaritan computation falls fhort of the Hebrew
349 years; but, if in the life of Enoch 60 and 360 are the
true numbers, inftead of 65 and 365, the reader, if he com-
putes, will find that the Samaritan calculations fall fhort of
the Hebrew more than 349 years, namely 354. Once more,
the Samaritan computations, as cited by Scaliger, have in
this place 65, not 60; and 163, not 160.
There are feveral other miſtakes made probably in printing
Eufebius's Chronicon; namely, that Cainan lived to the
fxa, i. e. the 521ft year of Noah, it ſhould have been 4xŋ, 528;
b Joan. Morinus in Præfat. Græco-
Lat. Tranflationis LXX. Parifiis edit.
1618.
• See Ilarduin's Chronol. Vet. Teſt.
p. 6.
d Chronicon, p. 4.
Vid. Capelli Chronol. facr.
f Id. ibid.
g Id. ibid.
and
Book I.
33
and Profane Hiftory.
and Mahalaleel to the 4, i. e. the 585th year of Noah, it
ſhould have been cry, i. e. 583, for otherwife Eufebius con-
tradicts himself; for if a table were made from Eufebius's
computations, it would appear that Cainan died A. M.
1235,
and that would be the 528th year of Noah, not the 521ft;
and fo likewife Mahalaleel's death would be A. M. 1290,
which, according to Eufebius, would be the 583d year of
Noah, not the 585th.
Ꮒ
2. The Samaritan chronology, as given us by Scaliger »,
differs a little from Eufebius's account of it; for where Eu-
febius fays that Mahalaleel was E, i. e. 65 years old when he
begat Jared; Scaliger thinks it ſhould be os, i. e. 75. Again,
where Eufebius makes Methufelah's age 2, i. e. 67, at La-
mech's birth, Scaliger would have it be of, i. e. 77. By
theſe alterations he computes 20 years longer to the flood
than the received Samaritan copies. Scaligeri does indeed
produce an old Samaritan chronicle, with a table at the end
of it of the lives of the patriarchs, who lived from the crea-
tion to Mofes, in which he finds the variations from Eufebius,
which he would eftabliſh: but, firft, he himſelf owns that
this table contains fome very great abfurdities; a confeffion
which takes away a great deal of its credit. 2. The Sama-
ritan chronology is much more reconcileable to the He-
brew, as Euſebius has given it us, than it would be if theſe
alterations of Scaliger's were made in it. 3. The Samaritan
MS. agrees with Eufebius, but favours none of Scaliger's
emendations, as is clear from Morinus's account of that MS.
and was confirmed to Capellus by fome letters of Golius to
him. 4. If we alter Eufebius by this table of Scaliger's, we
fhall make Jared and Methufelah die A. M. 1317. i. e. ten
years before the flood; but all verfions agree, the Hebrew,
the Samaritan, and the Septuagint, however they differ
about the year of the flood, that Methufelah certainly died
that year.
Thirdly, We come now to the chronology of the Septua-
gint, which differs from the Hebrew in the following man-
per.
h Vide Capelli Chronol, facr.
VOL. I.
See Capellus before cited.
D
1. In
34
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
1. In the lives of Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel,
there are 100 years added before the births of their reſpec-
tive children, which 100 years are again fubftracted from the
time they lived after the births of them; ſo that the Hebrew
and Septuagint make the whole term of their lives exactly
the fame, only the Septuagint makes them fathers 100 years
later than the Hebrew.
2. In the life of Lamech the Septuagint adds fix years be-
fore Noah's birth, and takes away thirty years from the time
he lived after Noah was born, and in the whole makes his
life ſhorter than the Hebrew by twenty-four years.
Theſe differences, by advancing 600 years before the births
of Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, and Methuselah,
and fix years before the birth of Noah, (both the Septuagint
and Hebrew agreeing the flood to be in the fix hundredth
year of Noah's life,) do carry forward the time of the flood
606 years, and fo fix it A. M. 2263,
ing to the following table.
inſtead
of 1657, accord-

Died in the
year of the
world
Lived in all
years
fon's birth,
Lived after his
years
his life
the year of
Had his fon in
the world
in the year of
Began his life
According to the
Septuagint.
Adam
I
230
700
930
930
Seth
230 205
707
912
1042
Enos
435 190
715
905 1340
Cainan
625
170
740
910 1535
Mahalaleel
795
165 730
895 1690
Jared
960
162 800
962 1922
Enoch
1122 165 200
3651487
Methuselah
1287 187 782
969 2256
Lamech
Noah
1474 188
1662 500
565
753
2227
How
Book I.
35
and Profane Hiftory.
How the different computations of the Septuagint and the
Hebrew may be reconciled, or accounted for, is a point
which the learned are not agreed in. The Hebrew compu-
tations are fupported by a perfect concurrence and agreement
of all Hebrew copies now in being; we are fure there have
been no various readings in theſe places fince the Talmudsk
were compoſed: nay, the approved Hebrew copies computed
thus in our Saviour's time; for the paraphrafe of Onkelos,
which is on all hands agreed to be about that age, is the
fame exactly with the Hebrew in theſe points. St. Jerom,
in his time, took the Hebrew computations to be right, for
he tranſlated from them exactly agreeable to what we now
read them; and the vulgar Latin, which has been in uſe in
the Church above 1000 years, agrees to them: there is no
pofitive proof that there ever was an Hebrew copy different
from what the common Hebrew now is, in theſe computa-
tions.
But then, on the other hand, there are feveral arguments
which have induced learned men to fufpect, that the ancient
Hebrew copies might differ from the prefent; and that the
Greek computations, according to the Septuagint, are more
likely to be true than the preſent Hebrew; for,
1. As all the Hebrew copies agree in their computations,
ſo do the Greek copies agree in theirs likewiſe: the moſt
ancient MSS. have exactly the fame computations with the
common Septuagint, except a ſmall variation or two, which
fhall be, by and by, accounted for. And, though indeed we
ought not to oppoſe even the beſt tranſlation to the original,
yet what I have mentioned gives us reaſon at leaſt to enquire
impartially, how and when ſuch a difference began between
the original and the verſion; a difference which is not a mif-
take in this or that copy or tranſcript, but a difference proba-
bly made at firſt by the tranflators themſelves.
2. Theſe variations are of ſuch a fort, that they cannot be
imagined to be made accidentally by the tranſlators, out of
k The Talmuds were two, the Jeru-
falem and the Babylonian; the Jeru-
falem Talmud was compofed about
D 2
300 years after Chrift, the Babylonian
about 200 years later.
haſte,
36
Book 1.
Connection of the Sacred
hafte, or by mistake; the Hebrew computations, as St. Jerom
obferves, were not expreffed in words in the old copies, but
in ſmall characters fcarcely vifible: had the Septuagint fallen
ſhort in the numbers, we might have fuppofed that they
omitted fome letter, and fo loft 10 or 100 years; but fuch
alterations as thefe are, where there muſt have been letters
added, and where fometimes both parts of a verſe, and ſome-
times two verſes together are altered, and fo altered as ſtill to
keep them confiftent with one another; this, whenever done,
muſt be done defignedly, and with deliberation.
3. Though we have no direct proof of any variations in the
old Hebrew copies in theſe computations, yet we have fome
ground to fufpect there were fome. The Jews, before the
time of Antiochus, had a long enjoyment of peace, and were
very careleſs about the facred writings', fo that numerous va-
riations had, by degrees, got into their copies. Antiochus
ſeized and burnt all the copies he could come at; there were
only a few of thofe that were in private hands that eſcaped
him. After this calamity was over, the Jews enquired, and
got together thofe few, in order to have more copies wrote
out from them; and from theſe came all the copies we have
now in ufe. Now fuppofe the private copies, that eſcaped the
fury of Antiochus, had any of them dropped fome numeral
letters, and they were copied, as I faid, in an age when they
did not ſtudy to be very accurate; this might be the occafion
of the prefent Hebrew falling fhort in its calculations, the
Septuagint being tranflated from the copies before Antio-
chus's time, when the computations were not corrupted.
The Pharifees were the rifing fect after Antiochus's perfecu-
tion, and they were the correctors of the new tranfcripts, and
it is not likely their pride and ſtiffneſs thould let them con-
fult the Septuagint, or alter any thing in their copies by it;
it is more probable, that, if they found any point in their MS.
differing from the Septuagint, they fhould be fond of pre-
ferving the reading of their own originals, in oppoſition to a
foreign tranflation of their books, how good in its kind fo-
ever it might be.
1 Buxtorf.
4. Jofephus
Book, I.
37
and Profane Hiflory.
n
4. Jofephus is fome proof, that there were formerly old
Hebrew copies different in thefe computations from the pre-
fent ones.
He exprefsly fays ", that he wrote his hiſtory
from the facred pages; and his account of the lives of
theſe patriarchs agrees with the Septuagint, except only in a
very ſmall difference in the life of Lamech; fo that Jofephus
muſt have ſeen a copy of the Hebrew books, different from
the prefent ones, and at leaft very near agreeing with the
Septuagint.
5. The Greek hiftorians who wrote before Joſephus,
namely, ° Demetrius Phalereus, Philo the elder, and Eupo-
lemus, give us reafon to fufpect the fame thing. They are
writers very much commended by Clemens Alexandrinus.
and Euſebius. They learned their knowledge of the Jewiſh
affairs from Jews; and Joſephus fays, they wrote accurate-
ly about them. Now their computations differ very much
from the common Hebrew, and come very near the Septua-
gint. According to Demetrius P, from the creation to the
flood is 2148 years. Eufebius 9, from Alexander, (a very
ancient hiftorian,) computes from the creation to the flood
2284 years. Thefe authors must have feen or been informed
from Hebrew copies different from the prefent.
6. We may add to all this, that the whole Chriftian
Church, eaſtern and western, and all the ancient celebrated
writers of the Church, have neglected the Hebrew computa-
tions, and adhered to the Greek; till in the last century
fome of the Roman writers, and not all of them, in regard to
the decree of the Council of Trent about the vulgar Latin,
took to the Hebrew computations; not becauſe they were
the Hebrew, but becauſe the vulgar Latin agreed with them.
Baronius obferves, that the Church ufed anciently to com-
pute the years from the creation, not according to the He-
brew, but according to the Septuagint, and he cites many
writers to confirm it; and indeed he might juſtly have cited
m Contra Appion. lib. i.
n See it, Antiq. lib. i. c. 3.
• Walton. Proleg. de verfionibus
Græcis.
P Clem. Alexand. Strom. 1. i. p.
403. Ed. Exon.
4 See Walton, Proleg, de verfionibus
Græcis, §. 61.
In Apparatu ad Annales Ecclefiaf-
ticos, n. 118.
D3
every
38
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
every ancient writer, except St. Jerom and St. Auftin.
Amongst the moderns, Beza was the first that had any doubts
about the Greek chronology; I fay, had doubts, for he never
abſolutely rejected it, though he ſeemed moſt inclined to the
Hebrew. There have been a few that have followed his
opinion, but they are but a few, in compariſon of the many
that have gone the other way.
I have now given the fubftance of what is offered for the
Hebrew, and for the Septuagint. I fhould next obſerve,
that Capellus attempts to reconcile the differences in their
computations, in the following manner:
1. As to the difference between the Greek and Hebrew, in
the life of Lamech, he quotes St. Auſtin, who was of opi-
nion, that the very firft tranfcribers, who took copies of the
original Septuagint MS. in Ptolemy's library, made miſtakes
in tranſcribing it; that the Septuagint computed Lamech to
be 182 years old at Noah's birth, to live 595 after it, and to
live in all 777 years. This one correction will take away all
the difference between the Septuagint and the Hebrew, ex-
cept the 600 years added and fubftracted, as before mentioned;
and it will (agreeably to all other copies) make Methuselah
die in the year of the flood.
2. As to the addition and fubftraction of the feveral hun-
dred years, in the lives of the fathers before mentioned, the
fame author, from St. Auftin", anfwers, that they were not.
made by the Seventy themfelves, but by fome early tranfcriber
from them, and probably for one or other of theſe two
reaſons: 1. Perhaps thinking the years of the antediluvian
lives to be but lunar ones, and computing that at this rate
the fix fathers, whofe lives are thus altered, muſt have had
their children at five, fix, ſeven, or eight years old, which
could not but look incredible; I fay, the tranfcriber finding
this, might be induced to add and ſubſtract the 100 years, in
order to make them of a more probable age of manhood at
the birth of their reſpective children. Or, 2. If he thought
the years of their lives to be folar ones, yet ftill he might
s Lud. Capelli Chron. Sacr. in Ap-
paratu Walton. ad Bibl. Polyglot.
Aug. de Civitate Dei, lib. xv. cap. 13.
12.
U
Auguft. de Civit. Dei, lib. xv. c.
imagine,
Book I.
39
and Profane Hiftory.
imagine, that infancy and childhood were proportionably
longer in men, that were to live 7, 8, or 900 years, than
they are in us, and that it was too early in their lives for
them to be fathers at 60, 70, or 90 years of age; for which
reafon he might add the hundred years, to make their ad-
vance to manhood, which is commonly not till one fourth
part of life is near over, proportionable to what was to be
their term of life.
If theſe arguments are fufficient to anſwer in part what is
faid in favour of the Septuagint, in oppofition to the He-
brew, (and they ſeem to me to carry a great probability,)
what is offered from Jofephus, Philo, Demetrius Phalereus,
and the other Greek hiftorians agreeing in their computa-
tions with the Septuagint, is eafily anfwered. They all lived
fince the time that the Septuagint tranſlation was made, and
very probably took their computations from that, or ſome
copies of it, and not from any Hebrew copies of the Scrip-
tures.
Demetrius Phalereus was the first prefident of the col-
lege of Alexandria, to which the library belonged where the
original MS. of the Septuagint was lodged. He was a very
active man in the erecting the library, and ſtoring it with
books; for all that Ptolemy Soter did in this matter was by
his counfel and direction, and the whole care and manage-
And when Ptolemy So-
ment of it was committed to him.
ter died, his fon Ptolemy Philadelphus carrying on the fame
defign made uſe of Demetrius, as his father had before done.
Ptolemy Philadelphus, fays Arifteas, being defirous to raiſe a
confiderable library at Alexandria, committed the care of
this matter to Demetrius Phalereus, a noble Athenian, then
living in his court, directing him to procure from all nations
whatſoever books were of note amongst them: purſuant to
theſe orders, being informed of the book of the law of Mo-
fes among the Jews, he put the king upon fending to Jeru-
falem for a copy of it. Ariftobulus, an Alexandrian Jew,
x Tanto ferior fuit proportione pu-
bertas, quanto vitæ totius major an-
nofitas, fays St. Auguft. lib. de Civitat.
Dei xv. c. 15.
y See Prideaux Connect. part ii. b.
I. p. 14. fourth edition.
D 4
makes
40
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
Z
a
makes the fame mention of Demetrius's part in this affair.
We have now only fome fragments of Ariftobulus, quoted
by Clemens Alexandrinus and Eufebius; but he is faid
to have written a comment on the five books of Mofes, and
therein to have mentioned this Greek verfion, as made under
the care and direction of Demetrius Phalereus. The moſt
learned Dr. Prideaux does indeed imagine, that Demetrius
was put to death in the beginning of the reign of Ptolemy
Philadelphus; but he brings but very flender proof of it: it
is more likely that he lived till after the library was finiſhed;
and if he took this care about getting the tranſlation of the
books of Mofes, it is likely, when he had them, his curioſity
might lead him to look into them. He was a great ſcholar,
as well as a ſtateſman and politician; and if the computations
above mentioned were altered fo early as St. Auftin imagines,
and upon the reaſons he gives for it, the alterations might be
made by Demetrius, or by his allowance and approbation.
I have faid all this about Demetrius, upon fuppofition that
he was one of the Greek hiftorians whofe works might prove
the Septuagint computation more probable than the Hebrew.
Biſhop Walton does indeed quote him for that purpoſe,
but I doubt he was miftaken. The Phalerean Demetrius
lived a bufy, active life, a great officer of ſtate both at home
and abroad, and I do not find he ever wrote any hiſtory.
Biſhop Walton therefore might perhaps miſtake the name,
not Demetrius Phalereus, but Demetrius the hiſtorian ſhould
have been quoted upon this occafion. Demetrius the hif-
torian was an inhabitant of Alexandria, lived not before the
reign of Ptolemy Philopator, the grandſon of Philadelphus,
near ſeventy years after the Septuagint tranſlation was made;
he compiled the hiftory of the Jews, and continued it down
to the reign of Ptolemy Philopator before mentioned. It is
z In his comment on the books of
Mofes; fee Eufeb. Præp. Evang. lib.
xiii. c. 12.
a Strom. 1. i. 132. et l. v. 254.
Can. Chron. p. 145. Præp. Evang.
lib. vii. c. 13. lib. viii. c. 10. lib. xiii. c.
12.
c Connection, vol. ii. an. 284.
d In Proleg. ad Bibl. Polyglot. de
verfionibus Græcis, § 61.
e Clem. Alexand. Strom. lib. i. 146.
Hieronymus in catalogo illuft. Scriptor.
c. 38. Voffius de Hiftoricis Græcis, lib.
iii. fub litera D. He might poffibly live
fome time later than Ptolemy Philopa-
tor, for the exact time of his life is not
told us.
eafy
Book I.
41
and Profane Hiftory.
eaſy to ſee that this writer might copy from the Septuagint,
and be miſled by any early alterations that had been made
in it.
Philo lived ftill later, was cotemporary with our Saviour;
wrote almoſt 300 years after the Hebrew was tranſlated by
the Seventy. He lived conftantly at Alexandria, and there-
fore copied from the Septuagint; and, as he lived fo late, was
more likely to be impoſed upon by the early alterations that
had been made in it.
f
Jofephus, though a Jew, notwithſtanding he fo often af-
ferted that he wrote from the facred pages, did not always
write from the Hebrew Scriptures. He was, I own, a prieſt,
and of the firſt family of the prieſts, brought up from his
childhood in the Hebrew law, and perfectly ſkilled in the
Hebrew language; and I do not queftion but that he could
as eaſily make ufe of the Hebrew Bible as the Greek: but
ftill I think it is very evident, that in feveral parts of his
works, where he ought to have uſed at leaſt one of them, he
has uſed neither. The utmoſt that Dr. Hody could con-
clude about him was, that he principally followed the He-
brew text, which, if admitted, is confiftent with what Dr.
Cave obferved of him, that he often takes a middle way be-
tween the Septuagint and the Hebrew. But Dr. Wills has
examined his chronology with great exactnefs "h, and produces
feveral paffages, in which he adheres to the Hebrew againſt
the Greek; and feveral others, in which he agrees with the
Greek in oppofition to the Hebrew; and as many in which
he differs from both. From which he very reaſonably con-
cludes, that, in compiling his hiftory, he had both the He-
brew and Greek Bibles before him, and fometimes ufed one,
and fometimes the other; and when he thought there was
reaſon, he did not fcruple to recede from both. The Jews
had other ancient books to which they paid great deference,
beſides the Scriptures. Jofephus copied often from theſe,
and from heathen writers too; and he was not only many
f Hody, Differt. de Septuagint. I. iii.
C. I. §. 2.
• Hiftor. Literar. p. ii. p. 20, in
Jofeph.
h Differtation upon the chronology
of Jofephus, p. 16—21.
times
42
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
times led away by them from what is contained in the Scrip-
tures, but oftentimes miſled by them into trifles and mif-
takes. Jofephus is not of fufficient authority to induce us to
alter our Bible.
And as to the fathers of the firſt ages of the Church, they
were good men, but not men of an univerſal learning; they
underſtood the Greek tongue better than the Hebrew; ufed
and wrote from the Septuagint copies, and that was the
reaſon why the Septuagint computations prevailed amongſt
them. And thus I have put the whole of what may be faid
upon this ſubject together, into as narrow a compaſs as I
could well bring it. The reader may fee the former part of
what I have offered, treated more at large in Capellus's Sa-
cra Chronologia, prefixed to Walton's Polyglot Bible, and
in Bishop Walton's Prolegomenon upon the Septuagint and
Greek verfions of the Scriptures; and if the latter part may
be allowed, the differences between the Septuagint and
Hebrew, as far as we have yet entered into them, have but
little in them; they appear confiderable only, from the
weight which the learned have given them in their differta-
tions upon them; but they may, by the fuppofitions above
mentioned, be very eaſily reconciled.
There is one thing more that ſhould not be wholly omit-
ted, and this is, a variation or two in the ſeveral Greek co-
pies from one another.
We have in our table of the Septuagint computations fup-
poſed Methuselah to be 187 years old at Lamech's birth, to
live 782 years after it, and to live in all 969 years; but * Eu-
febius, St. Jerom, and St. Auftin affert, that according to
the Septuagint he begat Lamech in the 167th year of his
age, lived after his birth 802 years, and lived in all 969
years. The Roman edition of the Septuagint, printed in
Greek and Latin at Paris, in the year 1628, agrees with them
in thefe computations. But in anſwer to them: 1. St.
Auſtin himſelf confeffes, that there were various readings in
i St. Jerom and St. Auſtin (as was
before hinted) adhered to the Hebrew
computations; and they were, though
not the only two that underſtood the
Hebrew, yet without doubt much bet-
ter ſkilled in it than the fathers of
their age, except Origen.
k Capelli Chronol. Sacra.
the
Book I.
43
and Profane Hiflory.
the computations of Methufelah's life; that fome copies
(three Greek, one Latin, and one Syriac) made Methuſelah
die fix years before the flood. Now thefe copies muſt have
had 187, and 782, as in our table, for then they will exactly
do it. Nay, 2. As Eufebius allows that fome copies ſuppoſed
Methuselah to die fix years before the flood, fo he alſo ex-
prefsly computes him to live 782 years after the birth of La-
mech; now theſe copies must make him 187 at the birth of
Lamech, for there has been no doubt of his living in all,
according to the Septuagint, 969 years. 3. Africanus, cited
by Eufebius, fays from the Septuagint, that Lamech was
born in the 187th year of Methufelah. 4. If the computa-
tions above mentioned be admitted, Methufelah muft live
fourteen or fifteen years after the flood, which is too great an
abfurdity to be admitted. The two or three copies men-
tioned by Eufebius have probably the ancient reading of the
Septuagint, and Eufebius and Syncellus fhould have correct-
ed the exemplars, which they computed from, by them, as
moſt of the modern editors have done. For all the later edi-
tions of the Septuagint agree with our table, namely, the
Bafil edition of Hervagius, publiſhed anno Domini 1545:
Wichelius's, publifhed anno Domini 1595, makes no various
reading upon the place, as if all books were the fame with
it, or thoſe that were not, were not worth confuting: the
royal edition by Plantin is the fame, with this only fault,
that wevre is put inſtead of eπra, 185 inſtead of 187; but that
miſtake is corrected in the Paris Greek and Latin, made from
it anno Domini 1628.
There is one reading more, in which Eufebius feems to
differ from us. He makes Lamech to live øλɛ, i. e. 535
years after Noah's birth; we ſay he lived 565. But it is
probable this miſtake was either Scaliger's, or fome tran-
fcriber's, and not Eufebius's; 4 might easily be writ for
ç: for, 1. St. Jerom, who tranflated Eufebius into Latin,
wrote it DLXV. 2. All the modern editions of the Septua-
gint put it 565. 3. St. Auſtin ſays exprefsly, that the He-
brew computations in this place are 30 years more than the
Greek; now the Hebrew makes Lamech to live 595 years
after Noah's birth, therefore the Greek computation being
thirty
44
Book I.
Connection of the Sacred
thirty years lefs, muft be 565. 4. All copies of the Septua-
gint agree, that he was 188 at Noah's birth, and that he lived
in all 753 years; now from hence it is certain, that they
muſt ſuppoſe him to live 565 years after the birth of Noah,
for 188 and 565 is 753-
We are now come to the laſt point to be treated of, the
geography of the antediluvian world. There are but few
places of it mentioned; the land of Eden, with its garden;
the land of Nod on the east of Eden; and the city of Enoch
in that country.
The land and garden of Eden was in the eastern parts of
the world, remarkable for a river which arofe out of it, di-
viding itſelf into four ftreams or branches; the first of which
was named Pifon, and encompaffed the whole land of Havi-
lah; the ſecond was named Gihon, and encompaſſed the
land of Cufh; the third was Hiddekel, and ran into the
eaftern parts of Affyria; the fourth was the noted river
Euphrates. This is the defcription of the place, given us by
Mofes. The learned have formed different ſchemes of the
fituation of it, from this deſcription of it; two of which are
worth our notice.
Firſt, Some ſuppoſe the land to be near Cole-Syria; they
imagine the river arofe fomewhere between the mountains.
Libanus and Anti-Libanus, and from thence to run to the
place where Euphrates now divides Syria and Mefopotamia,
and there to divide itſelf, 1. into a ſtream, which we now
make part of the Euphrates; that this ſtream paffed through
the ridge of mountains that run croſs the country, and be-
yond them joined itſelf to the preſent Tigris, and continued
its courſe where the Tigris now runs into the Sinus Perficus;
all this ftream they call Hiddekel. 2. Their fecond river,
which they call Euphrates, is the prefent Euphrates, from
the place where we divide Tigris from it, down to the Per-
fian Gulf; much about the fame place they ſuppoſe the river
to divide into two other ſtreams, which ran through the land
of the Ifhmaelites, and divided the range of hills at the en-
trance of Arabia Felix, and fo encompaffed between their
ftreams a part of that country, and then met again; but af-
terwards divided, and ran, the one into the Indian, the other
into

BLACK
SEA
ļ
Land
of
Eden
The
Garden
MEDITERRANEAN
SEA
Lihon
R
iddekel
CASPIAN
SE A
Vol.I.Page 44.
The
Situation of the
Land & Garden of
E D E
together with the
Rivers of Paradise
as they are imagined to have
been situate by some Writers
who thought that the
Garden of Eden
was planted in that, which
was afterwards called
The HOLY LAND.
1. Euphra
PERSIAN GULF
R. Pison
LAND
R. Gihon
LAND
of
CHUS
ETHIOPIA
S'
I
E
of
HAVI LAH
1
1
1
1
1
X
*
7
"
+
41
I
BLACK, OR EUXINE
SEA
Cyprus
MEDITERRANEAN
SEA
i
7
Vol. I. Page 45.

CASPIAN
S
B
which runs before,
the borders or
R. Fiddekel,
ie.
R
or Assyria
A
MESOPOTAMIA
R.Euphrates
Euphrates
RED
SEA
SEA
Land of
Eden
alled
The
Garden
ncompassed the
Gihon, which,
of Cush·
R. Pison
A DRAUGHT
of the Parts of
A S I
in which the
GARDEN of EDEN
was- Situate, in the
ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD.
R.
GULF
of
PERSI A
Land of Havilah
Pison
Book I.
45
and Profane Hiflory.
into the Red Sea. The name of one of theſe ftreams was
Gihon, of the other Pifon. The draught which I have added
will fet this ſcheme in the cleareſt view.
The authors of the ſecond ſcheme, though they have,
every one of them, fome peculiarities, yet agree in the main,
that Eden was in Chaldea, that the garden was ſomewhere
near the rivers amongſt which Babylon was afterwards built:
they prove the land of Havilah, by undeniable arguments,
to be the country adjacent to the preſent Euphrates, all along
and upon the banks of that river, and fpreading thence to-
wards the deferts of Arabia. The land of Cufh, which our
Engliſh tranſlation erroneouſly renders Ethiopia, was, they
fay, that part of Chaldea where Cufh the ſon of Ham ſettled
after the flood. A draught of this fcheme will fet it in a
clearer light than any verbal deſcription; I have therefore
given a map of it, and fhall only add a reflection or two on
both the ſchemes, of the geography of this firſt world.
As to the former ſcheme, it is indeed true, there was a
place in Syria called Eden', but it was of much later date
than the Eden where Adam was placed. Syria is not eaſt to
the place where Mofes wrote, but rather north. And fur-
ther, none of the deſcriptions, which Mofes has given of
Eden, do belong to any part of Syria. There are no rivers
in the world, that run in any degree agreeable to this fancy;
and though the authors of it anfwer, that the earth and
courſe of rivers were altered by the flood, yet I cannot admit
that answer for a good one. Mofes did not defcribe the
fituation of this place in antediluvian names; the names of
the rivers, and the lands about them, Cufh, Havilah, &c. are
all names of later date than the flood; and I cannot but
think that Mofes intended (according to the known geogra-
phy of the world when he wrote, and according to his own
notion of it) to give us hints of the place near which Eden in
the former world, and the garden of Paradife, were feated.
As to the ſecond ſcheme, it ſeems to come a great deal
nearer the truth than the other; there are but ſmall objec-
1 See Amos i. 5.
m Mofes wrote, either when he lived in Egypt, or in the land of Midian.
tions
46
Connection of the Sacred and Profane Hiftory. Book I.
tions to be made againſt it. There is indeed no draught of
the country which fhews the rivers exactly to anſwer Mo-
fes's deſcription of them; but how eaſy is it to ſuppoſe,
either that the rivers about Babylon have been at ſeveral times
fo much altered, by ſtreams and canals made by the heads of
that potent empire, that we never had a draught of them
agreeable to what they were when Mofes wrote about them:
or, if. Mofes wrote according to the then known geography
of a country, which he had never feen, it is very certain, that
all modern obfervations find greater varieties in the fituation
of places, and make greater corrections in all old charts and
maps, than need to be made in this deſcription of Mofes, to
have it agree even with our lateſt maps of the preſent country
and rivers in and near Chaldea.
THE
THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
CONNECTED.
BOOK II.
b
а
NOAH, with the remains of the old world in the ark, was
carried upon the waters; for about five months there was
no appearance of the flood's abating. In the beginning of
April the ark touched upon the top of Mount Ararat.
After they had flopped here forty days, Noah, defirous to
know whether the waters were decreafing any where elfe in
the world, let a bird or two fly out of the ark ; but they
flew about till weary, and finding no place to light upon,
returned back to him. Seven days after he let out a bird
again; ſhe returned, but with a leaf in her mouth, plucked
from fome tree which he had found above water. Seven
days after he let the bird fly a third time; but then the
found places enough to reft on, and fo returned to him no
more. The waters continued to decreafe gradually, and
about the middle of June, Noah looked about him, and
а
150 days, Gen. viii. 3. i. e. exact-
ly five Hebrew months, each month
confifting of 30 days.
b On the 17th of the 7th month, Gen.
viii. 4. i. e. of the month Nifan, pretty
near answering to the 3d of our April.
Gen. viii. 6.
d Gen. viii. 7, 8.
e Ver. 10, II.
f Ver. 12.
8 In the tenth month, on the first day
of the month, i. e. on the firſt day of Ta-
muz, anſwering to about the 16th of
our June.
could
48
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
h
i
could fee the tops of many hills. About the middle of Sep-
tember the whole earth came into view; and at the be-
ginning of November was fufficiently drained; fo that
Noah, and his family, and creatures came out of the ark,
and took poffeffion of the world again. As foon as they were
come afhore, Noah raiſed an altar, and offered facrifices:
God was pleaſed to accept his piety, and promiſed a bleſſing
to him and his pofterity, granted them the creatures of the
world for their food, and gave ſome laws, for the future to be
obferved by them.
1. God granted them the creatures of the world for their
food; Every moving thing that liveth ſhall be meat for you,
even as the green herb bave I given you all things. In the first
ages of the world, men lived upon the fruits of trees and the
product of the ground; and it is afferted by ſome writers,
that the creatures were not uſed for either food or facrifice.
It is thought that the offering of Abel', who facrificed of his
flocks, was only wool, the fruits of his fhearing; and milk,
or rather cream, a part of his lactage. The heathens are faid
to have had a general notion, that the early facrifices were of
this fort: Theophraftus is quoted by Porphyry, in Euſebi-
us, afferting, that the first men offered handfuls of graſs; in
time they came to facrifice the fruits of trees; in after-ages
to kill, and offer cattle upon their altars. Many other au-
thors are cited for this opinion; Sophocles" fpeaks of wool
and grapes as an ancient facrifice; and Paufanias hints the
ancient facrifice to have been only fruits of trees, of the
vine eſpecially, and honey-combs and wool; and Plato was
of opinion, that living creatures were not anciently offered
in facrifice, but cakes of bread, and fruits, and honey poured
upon them; and Empedocles afferts, that the firft altars
were not ſtained with the blood of the creatures. Some
•
h On the first day of the first month,
(ver. 13.) i. e. on the first of Tizri, or
16th of our September.
127th of the fecond month, i. e. 27th
of Marchefvan, about the 10th of No-
vember.
k Gen. ix. 3.
The Hebrew word Minchah, bere
fed, favours this notion; being
the word which fignifies a facrifice
where any blood is thed.
in Eufeb. Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. 9.
Sophoclis Polyid. Fr. iv. e Clem.
Alex. Strom. iv. p. 565. Ed. Brunck.
• Paufanias de Cerere Phrygialenfi.
P Plato de Legibus, 1. vi.
9 Vide H. Stephani Puefin Philofo-
phicam, p. 29, 30,
Chriftian
Book II.
49
and Profane Hiftory.
Chriſtian writers have gone into this opinion, and improved
it; they have imagined, that facrifices were offered only of
thoſe things which men eat and drank for their fuftenance
and refreſhment; and that therefore, before the creatures
were uſed for food, they were not brought to the altars; and
they go further, and conjecture from hence, that the original
of facrifices was human, men being prompted by reaſon to
offer to God, by way of gratitude, part of thoſe things for
the uſe of which they were indebted to his bounty. I ſhould
rather think the contrary opinion true. God appointed the
fkins of beaſts for clothing to our first parents, which could
not be obtained without killing them, and this feems to inti-
mate, that the creatures were at that time appointed for fa-
crifice. It looks unlikely that God ſhould order the creatures
to be flain merely for clothing, when mankind were alrea-
dy ſupplied with another fort of covering; but very proba-
ble, that, if he appointed a creature to be offered in facrifice,
he might direct the offerer to uſe the ſkin for clothing and
perhaps from this inftitution was derived the appointment in
Leviticus, that the prieſt ſhould have the ſkin of the burnt-
offering. There are ſeveral confiderations which do, I think,
very ſtrongly intimate, both that facrifices of living creatures
were in ufe before mankind had leave to eat fleſh, and alſo
that the origin of facrifices was at firft by divine appoint-
ment. The Talmudifts agree, that holocaufts of the crea-
tures were offered in the earlieſt times, and long before men
had leave to eat fleſh; and it is very plain, that Noah offered
the creatures before God had granted leave to eat them',
for that grant is reprefented to be made after Noah's facri-
fice, and not before it": and it is evident that the diftinc-
tion of clean and unclean beafts was before the flood; and
it cannot be conceived how there could be fuch a diftinction,
if the creatures were neither eaten, nor uſed for facrifice,
Abel's facrifice feems rather to have been a burnt-offering of
the firflings of his flock, than an oblation of wool and
cream. The writer of the Epiftle to the Hebrews took it to
r Gen. iii. 7.
s Levit. vii. 8.
Gen. viii. 20.
VOL. I.
[]
u Gen. ix. 3.
Chap. vii. ver. 2-
z See Levit. vi. 12.
be
50
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
προσφορά, δῶρον
be fo; he ſuppoſed Abel's offering to be [Jucía] a facrifice of
a creature killed, and not an oblation, which would have
been called agor popà, or dipova. And as to the firft origin of
facrifices, it is extremely hard to conceive them to be an hu-
man inftitution, becauſe we cannot, this way, give any tole-
rable account of the reaſons of them. If inankind had in the
first ages no immediate revelation, but came to their know-
ledge of God by the exerciſe of their reafon, it muſt be al-
lowed, that ſuch notions as they had of God, ſuch would be
their way and method of ferving him; but then, how is it
poffible that they fhould go into fuch notions of God, as to
make it ſeem proper for them to offer facrifices, in order to
make atonement for their fins? Reafon, if it led to any, would
lead men to a reaſonable ſervice; but the worſhip of God in
the way of facrifice cannot, I think, appear to be of this fort,
if we take away the reafon that may be given for it from re-
velation. We facrifice to the gods, faid Porphyry", for three
reafons; either to pay them worship, or to return them
thanks for their favours, or to defire them to give us good
things, or to free us from evils: Ad hæc autem votum animi
fatisfacit. It can never be made out from any natural no-
tions of God, that facrifices are a reaſonable method to ob-
tain, or return thanks for, the favours of heaven. The re-
fult of a true rational enquiry can be this only, that God is a
fpirit, and they that worship him, muft worship him in fpirit
and in truth. And though I cannot fay, that any of the wife
heathens did by the light of nature bring themſelves to a
fixed and clear conviction of this great truth, yet it is remark-
able that feveral of them made great advances towards it ;
and all the wife part of them faw clearly, that no rational or
philofophical account could be given of their facrifices. The
inftitutors of them always pretended to have received parti-
a Heb. xi. 4. Porphyry in Eufebius
endeavours very fallaciouſly to derive
the word 9usia from Ivμiów, and would
infer its derivation from 9úw to be
modern, and taken up to defend the
doctrine of facrificing living creatures.
See Eufeb. Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. 9.
But we anfwer, he offers no reaſon for
his opinion, nor can it poffibly be de-
fended; Dvola and Jupiacis are, ac.
cording to all rules of etymology,
words of a very different derivation.
b Vid. Porph. de Abſtin, ab Animal.
nec. lib. ii. §. 24.
cular
Book II.
51
and Profane Hiftory.
cular directions from the gods about them, or at leaſt thoſe
that lived in after ages chofe to fuppofe fo, not knowing
how to fupport them otherwife. The more forward writers a
ftrove to decry them: the more moderate pleaded a reve-
rence to antiquity, and long and univerſal uſe in favour of
them; and the beſt philofophers qualified the uſe of them *,
by using them in a way and manner of their own, always
fuppofing, that the difpofition of the offerer, and not the ob-
lation which was offered, was chiefly regarded by the De-
ity f.
The true account therefore of the origin of facrifices muft
be this; God, having determined what ſhould, in the fulneſs
of time, be the true propitiation for the fins of the world, name-
ly Chrift, who by his own blood obtained us eternal redemption,
thought fit from the beginning to appoint the creatures to be
offered by way of figure, for the times then preſent, to repre-
fent the true offering which was afterwards to be made for
the fins of men. The writer of the Epiftle to the Hebrews
very largely argues the facrifices in the law to be grounded
upon this reafon 3; and I fhould conceive that his reaſoning
may be equally applied to the facrifices that were appointed
before the law; becauſe facrifices were not a new inftitution
at the giving of the law; for, fays the Prophet ", I ſpake not
unto your fathers, nor commanded them, in the day that I brought
them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or fa-
crifices: but this thing I commanded them, faying, Obey my voice,
and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people, and walk ye
in all my ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well
with you. There were no facrifices appointed in the two
tables delivered to Mofes; and it is exceeding probable, that
the rules which Mofes gave about facrifices and oblations
were only a revival of the ancient inftitutions, with perhaps.
fome few additions or improvements which God thought
C Thus Numa's inftitutions were
appointed him by the Goddeſs Egeria.
Florus. Livy.
d See the verfes of the Greek poet
in Clem. Alexand. Stromat. lib. vii. p.
303.
Many inftances might be brought
h
from the facrifices of Pythagoras; við.
Jamb. de vit. Pythag. et Porphyr, de
vita ejuldem.
f See Jamb. de vit. Pythag. §. 122.
8 Chap. ix. and x.
h Jer. vii. 22.
F 2
proper
52
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
proper for the flate and circumſtances through which he de-
figned to carry the Jewish nation; for the law was added be-
cauſe of tranfgreffions until the feed fhould come, and not to ſet
up a new religion.
Our bleffed Saviour, in his difcourfe with the woman of
Samaria, John iv. plainly intimated, that the worſhip of God
by facrifices was a pofitive inftitution, founded upon the ex-
pectation of a promifed Meffiah; for he hints the Samari-
tans, who either uſed facrifices, imagining them part of na-
tural religion, or at leaſt did not know the grounds of their
being appointed; I fay, he hints them to be blind and igno-
rant will-worshippers, men that worshipped they knew not
what, ver. 22. or rather it ſhould be tranflated *, men that
worshipped they knew not how ; i. e. in a way and manner,
the reafon and grounds of which they knew nothing of.
But the Jews knew how they worshipped, for falvation was
of the Jews; the promiſe of a Meffiah had been made to
them, and they had a good reafon to offer their facrifices, for
they were a method of worship appointed by God himfelf, to
be uſed by them until the Meffiah ſhould come.
The wo-
man's anſwer, ver. 25. I know that Meffias cometh, looks
as if the apprehended our Saviour's true meaning.
The reaſon given, in the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews,
for Abel's facrifice pleafing God better than Cain's, is an-
other proof that facrifices were appointed by fome poſitive in-
ftitution of God's: By faith Abel offered unto God a more ex-
cellent facrifice than Cain. The faith, of which feveral in-
ſtances are given in this chapter, is the belief of ſomething
declared, and in confequence of ſuch belief, the performance
of fome action enjoined by God. By faith Noah, being warn-
cd of God, prepared an ark, i. e. he believed the warning
given him, and obediently made the ark, which he was or-
dered to make. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go
out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
í Gal. iii. 19.
"
* In the expreffions ὑμεῖς προσκυνεί
τε ὅ ἐκ οἴδατε—ἡμᾶς προσκυνέμεν ὃ οίδα
ö oldu-
μsv, the prepofition xarà is under-
ſtood, x«9' ő oldars, and xx9 ő oldager.
The expreffion is frequent in all Greek
writers. If the Being worshipped had
been referred to, I think it would have
been, and not %.
obeyed;
Book II:
53
´and Profane Hiftory.
obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went, i. e. he
believed that God would give him what he had promiſed
him, and in conſequence of ſuch belief did what God com-
manded him. All the other inftances of faith, mentioned in
that chapter, are of the fame fort, and thus it was that Abel
by faith offered a better facrifice than Cain. He believed, what
God had then promiſed, that the feed of the woman should
bruiſe the ſerpent's head, and in confequence of fuch belief of-
fered ſuch a facrifice for his fins, as God had appointed to be
offered, until the feed fhould come. If God, at that time, had
given no command about facrificing, there could have been
no more of the faith treated of in this chapter, in Abel's fa-
crifice, than in Cain's offering. Cloppenburgh¹ has given a
very good account of Cain, and Abel's offering.
The abettors of the other fide of the queſtion do indeed
produce the authorities of fome heathen writers and Rabbins,
and of fome Chriſtian Fathers, and of fome confiderable au-
thors, both Papifts and Proteftants; but a general anfwer may
be given to what is offered from them. The heathens had,
as I obferved, no true notion of the origin of facrifices:
they were generally received and eſtabliſhed in all countries
as pofitive inftitutions; but the philofophers were willing to
prove them to be a reaſonable ſervice, and therefore thinking
they could give a better account of the inanimate oblations,
than of the bloody facrifices, they imagined theſe to be the
moft ancient, and that the others were in time added to them:
but there is no heathen writer that I know of that has gone
1 In Schol. Sacrific. p. 15. Etfi di.
verfæ oblationi videatur occafionem
præbuiffe diverfum vitæ inftitutum,
ipfi tamen diverfitati oblationis hoc
videtur fubeffe; quod Abel pecudum
oblatione cruenta ante omnia curarit,
τὸ ἱλασήριον διὰ τῆς πίτεως ἐν τῷ αίματι,
Propitiationem per fidem in fanguine
quo neceffàrio purificanda erant dona
Deo oblata, Heb. ix. 22, 23. Cainus
autem oblatione fola Euchariftica de
fructu terræ defungens fupine neglex-
erit facrificium ἱλαςικόν, ut eo nomine
Deo difplicuerit, neque potuerit obti-
nere juftitiæ Dei, quæ ex fide eft,
teftimonium, quod non perhibebat De-
us neglecto iftoc externo fymbolo fup-
plicationis ex fide pro remiffione pec-
catorum obtinenda. Quemadmodum
ergo in cultu fpirituali publicanus fup-
plicans cum peccatorum quoλoyńtes
defcendit in domum fuam juftificatus
præ Pharifæo cum gratiarum actione
Deo vovente decimas omnium, quæ
poffidebat, Luc. xviii. 12: fic cenfe-
mus hac parte potiorem fuiffe Abelis
oblationem præ oblatione Caini, quod
ipfe fupplicationem fuam proimpetran-
da peccatorum remiflione teftatus fit,
per facrificii propitiatorii cruentam ob-
lationem, cum alter dona fua Eucha-
riftico ritu offerret χωρὶς αἱματοχυσίας.
E 3
fo
54
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
ſo far as to affert expreſsly, that facrifices were at firſt an hu-
m
man inſtitution, or that has proved that fuch a worſhip
could be invented by the reaſon of man, or that it is agree-
able to any notions we can have of God. The Rabbins had
a general notion that facrifices were firſt appointed, or rather
permitted by God, in compliance with the difpofition which
the Ifraelites had contracted in Egypt; but this opinion is
very weakly grounded. I cannot queftion but, that when
the Epistle to the Hebrews was written, the current opinions
of the Jewiſh Doctors were of another ſort; for it is not to be
ſuppoſed that the first preachers of Chriſtianity argued upon
fuch principles as they knew would not be admitted of by
thoſe whom they endeavoured to convert to their religion.
It is certain that the Jewish Rabbins, when they were
preffed with the force of proofs in, favour of Chriſt from their
Scriptures, did depart from many of the ſentiments of their
ancestors, and went into new notions in feveral points, to
evade the arguments which they could not anſwer. The
Chriftian Fathers have fome of them taken the fide in this
queftion which I am contending for, eſpecially Eufebius ";
and if ſome others of them have thought otherwiſe, this is
not a point in which we are to be determined by their au-
thority. The Popish writers took up their notion of facri-
fices in order to favour fome of their opinions about the maſs;
and as to the Proteftant writers, it is not difficult to fee which
of them offer the beſt reafons. One thing I would obſerve
upon the whole if it appears from hiftory that facrifices have
been uſed all over the world, have fpread as far, as univer-
ſally amongſt men, as the very notions of a Deity; if they
were the first, the earlieſt way of worſhip in every nation;
if we find them almoft as early in the world as mankind up-
on the earth, and at the fame time cannot find that mankind
ever did, or could by the light of reafon, invent fuch notions.
of a Deity as fhould lead them to imagine this way of worſhip
:
m Jamblichus fays of facrifices, that
they were derived ex communi homi-
num ad homines confuetudine, neque
convenire naturæ Deorum mores hu-
manos fupra modum exuperanti. Lib.
de Myfter. Ægyp. in fect. de utilitate
facrificiorum.
1 Demonftrat. Evang. lib. i. c. 10.
• Greg. de Valentia de Miflæ Sacri-
fic. 1. i. c. 4. et Bellarm. de Miſſa, 1. i.
C. 20.
to
Book II.
55
and Profane Hiſtory.
to be a reaſonable ſervice; then we muſt neceffarily ſuppoſe
that facrifices were appointed for fome particular end and
purpoſe, and agree to what we find in Mofes's hiſtory, that
there was a revealed religion in the beginning of the world.
But however writers have differed about what was offered
before the flood, it is agreed that mankind eat no flesh, until
the leave here obtained by Noah for it. Every herb bearing
feed, and every tree, to you it fhall be for meat P. This was the
whole allowance which God at firft made them; and all
writers, facred and profane, do generally ſuppoſe that the
early ages confined themſelves very ſtrictly within the limits
of it.
If we rightly confider their condition whilft they were
under this reſtraint of diet, their lives must have been very
laborious; the fentence againſt Adam, which denounced that
in the fweat of their brow they should eat bread, muſt have been
literally fulfilled. We muſt not imagine that, after the
ground was curfed, men received from it a full and plenteous
product, without tilth or culture, for the earth was to bring
forth of itſelf only thorns and thiſtles; pains and labour were
required to produce another fort of crop from it. The poets,
in their accounts of the golden age, ſuppoſe the earth to have
brought forth all its fruits fpontaneouſly; but it is remark-
able that the hiſtorians found no fuch halcyon days recorded
in the antiquities of any nations. Adam and Eve are ſup-
poſed to have had this happineſs whilst they lived in Para-
dife; and the poets framed their accounts of the golden age,
from the ancient notions of the garden of Eden; but we do
not find that the profe writers fell into them. Diodorus Si-
culus fuppofes the lives of the firft men to have been far from
abounding with eafe and plenty; "Having houfes to build,
"clothes to make, and not having invented proper inftru-
"ments to work with, they lived an hard and laborious life ;
"and many of them not having made a due provifion for
"their fuftenance, perifhed with hunger and cold in win-
"ters." This was his account of the lives and condition of
the first men. The art of huſbandry is now fo generally un-
9 Lib. i. p. 6.
P Gen. i, 29.
E 4
derſtood,
56
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
derſtood, and ſuch plenty is produced by a due and proper
tillage, that it may ſeem no hard matter for any one, that has
ground to work on, to produce an ample proviſion for life;
but even ftill, fhould any family not ufed to huſbandry, nor
ſupplied with proper tools and inftruments for their tillage,
be obliged to raife from the ground as much of all forts of
grain as they ſhould want, they would find their time taken.
up in a variety of labours. And this was the condition of
the firſt men; they had not only to till the ground, but to
try, and by feveral experiments to find out the beſt and moſt
proper method of tilling it, and to invent and make all ſuch
inftruments as they had occafion for; and we find them con-
feffing the toil and labour that was laid upon them, in the
words of Lamech, at the birth of Noah; This fame fhall com-
fort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, becauſe of the
ground which the Lord hath curfed'. Lamech was probably
informed from God, that his fon Noah ſhould obtain a grant
of the creatures for the uſe of men; and knowing the labour
and inconveniences they were then under, he rejoiced in
foreſeeing what eafe and comfort they fhould have, when
they ſhould obtain a large fupply of food from the creatures,
befides what they could produce from the ground by til-
lage.
t
But fecondly, God reftrained them from eating blood,
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, fhall
you not eat.
What the deſign of this reftraint was, or what
the very reſtraint is, has been variouſly controverted. Mr.
Selden in his book De Jure Gentium juxta Difciplinam He-
bræorum, has a very learned chapter upon this ſubject, in
which he has given us the feveral opinions of the Rabbins,
though I think they give us but little true information about
it. The injunction of not eating blood has in the place be-
fore us no circumftances to explain its meaning; but if we
look into the Jewiſh law, we find it there repeated, and fuch
a reaſon given for it as feems very probable to have been the
firit original reafon for this prohibition: "Whatſoever man
r Gen. v. 29.
Chap. ix. ver. 4.
t Lib. vii. c. I.
u Levit. xvii. 10, 11.
there
Book II.
57
and Profane Hiftory.
there be of the house of Ifrael, or of the firangers that ſojourn
amongst you, that eateth any manner of blood, I will even fet
my face against that foul that eateth blood, and will cut him off
from among his people; for the life of the flesh is in the blood,
and I have given you that upon the altar to make an atonement
for your fouls; [or it might be tranſlated, I have appointed you
that to make atonement upon the altar for your fouls; for it is
the blood that maketh an atonement for the foul.] An an-
cient Jewiſh commentator upon the books of Moſes * para-
phrafes the words pretty juftly: "The foul, fays he, of all
"fleſh is in the blood, and for that reaſon I have choſen the
"blood of all the beafts to make an atonement for the foul
"of man." This is by far the beſt account that can be
given of the prohibition of blood: God appointed that the
blood of the creatures fhould be offered for the fins of men,
and therefore required that it ſhould be religiouſly ſet apart
for that purpoſe. If we examine the Mofaical law, we ſhall
find it ſtrictly agreeable to this notion. In fome places the
blood is appointed to be offered on the altar; in others, to be
poured on the ground as water: but theſe appointments are
eafily reconcileable, by confidering the reafon of each of
them. Whilft the Jews were in the wilder efs, and the ta-
bernacle near at hand, they were ordered never to kill any
thing to eat, without bringing it to be killed at the door of
the tabernacle, in order to have the blood offered upon the
altar. But when they came into the land of Canaan, and
were ſpread over the country, and had a temple at Jerufalem,
and were commanded ftrictly to offer all their facrifices there
only, it was impoffible to obferve the injunction before
named; they could not come from all parts to Jerufalem to
kill their provifion, and to offer the blood upon the altar.
Againſt this difficulty Mofes provided in the book of Deu-
teronomy, which is an enlargement and explanation of the
laws in Leviticus. The fubftance of what he has ordered in
this matter is as follows: that when they fhould come
over Jordan to dwell in Canaan, and there fhould be a place
* Chaufkunni: and Eufebius hints
the fame reaſon, Dem. Evang. lib. i.
. 10.
y Levit. xvii. 3, 4.
z Deut. xii.
chofen
58
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
chofen by God, to caufe his name to dwell there, they were
to bring all their offerings to that place ª, and to take heed
not to offer any offerings elſewhere. But if they lived fo
far from the temple, that they could not bring the creatures
up thither which they killed to eat, they had leave to kill and
eat whatsoever they had a mind to, only, inſtead of offering the
blood, they were to pour it upon the earth as water, and to
take care that they eat none of it. Thus the pouring out the
blood upon the earth was appointed, where circumſtances
were fuch that an offering of it could not be made; and
agreeably hereto, when they took any thing in hunting,
which probably might be fo wounded as not to live until
they could bring it to the tabernacle to offer the blood
the altar, they were to kill it, and pour out the blood, and
cover it with duſt d.
And we may from hence fce the rea-
fon for what David did, when his three warriors brought
him water from the well of Bethlehem, at the extreme ha-
zard of their lives; looking upon the water as if it were
their blood, which they hazarded to obtain it, he refuſed to
drink it, and there being no rule or reaſon to offer ſuch wa-
ter upon the altar, he thought fit to do what was next to of-
fering it, he poured it out before the Lord.
upon
f
There is no foundation in either the reafon of the thing,
or in the prohibition, to ſupport the opinion of fome perfons,
who imagine the eating of blood to be an immoral thing:
if it were fo, God would not have permitted the Ifraelites
to fell a creature that died in its blood, to an alien or ſtranger,
that he might eat it. The Ifraelites were ftrictly obliged by
their law to eat no fleſh until they had poured out the blood,
or offered it upon the altar, becauſe God had appointed the
blood to be an atonement for their fins; but the alien and
ſtranger, who knew of no ſuch orders for the ſetting it apart
for that uſe, might as freely eat it as any part of the creature.
And I think this account of the prohibition of blood will
fully answer all the fcruples which fome Chriftians have
about it. The uſe of it upon the altar is now over, and
a Deut. xii. 11, 12.
à Ver. 13.
© Ver. 21.
d Levit. xvii. 13.
1 Chron. xi. 18.
f Deut. IV. 21.
therefore
Book II.
59
and Profane Hiftory.
therefore the reaſon for abſtaining from it is ceaſed. And
though the Apoftless at the Council of Jerufalem, that offence.
might not be given to the Jews, adviſed the Gentiles at that
ſeaſon to abſtain from it, yet the eating it, or not eating it,
is no part of our religion, but we are at perfect liberty in this
matter.
In the third place, God fet before them the dignity of hu-
man nature, and his abhorrence of any perfon's taking away
the life of his brother, and commanded for the future, that
murder fhould be punifhed with death. Then he promifed
Noah, that mankind ſhould never be deſtroyed by water any
more; and left he or his pofterity fhould live in fears, from
the frequent rains to which the world by its conftitution was
become ſubject, he appointed the rainbow for a perpetual
memorial, that he had made them this promife.
b
The ark, we faid, touched upon mount Ararat. We do
not find it floated away from thence, but rather conclude
that here they came afhore. But where this Ararat is has
been variouſly conjectured. The common opinion is, that
the ark refted on one of the Gordyæan hills, which ſeparate
Armenia from Mefopotamia; but there are ſome reaſons for
receding from this opinion.
1. The journeying of mankind from the place where the
ark refted to Shinaar is faid to be from the Eafti; but a
journey from the Gordyæan hills to Shinaar would be from
the North. 2. Noah is not once mentioned in all the fol-
lowing part of Mofes's hiftory; a ftrong intimation that he
neither came with theſe travellers to Shinaar, nor was fettled
in Armenia or Mefopotamia, or any of the adjacent coun-
tries. He was alive a great while after the confufion of Ba-
bel, for he lived three hundred years after the flood; and
furely if he had come to Babel, or lived in any of the nations
into which mankind were diſperſed from thence, a perſon of
fuch eminence could not at once fink to nothing, and be no
g Acts xv.
h Homer feems to have had a no-
tion that the rainbow was at firſt, to
ufe Mofes's expreffion, fet in the
cloud to be a fign unto men; for he
fpeaks to this purpoſe, Iliad. λ'. v. 28.
•
'Εν νεφές σέριξε τέρας μερόπων ἀνθρώ
SWY.
That is here fignifies a fign is evi-
dent from the 4th verte of this Iliad.
Gen. xi. 2.
1
more
60
Book II:
Connection of the Sacred
more mentioned in the hiftory and fettlement of theſe na-
tions, than if he had not been at all. Some authors, for theſe
reaſons, have attempted to find mount Ararat in another
place, and fuppofe it to be fome of the mountains north to
India; they think that the ark refted in this country, and
that Noah fettled here after he came out of it: that only
part of his defcendants travelled into Shinaar, the other part
of them ſettled where he did; and that the reaſon why Mo-
fes mentions neither him nor them, was becauſe they lived
at a great diſtance from, and had no fhare in the actions of
the nations round about Shinaar, to whom alone, from the
difperfion of mankind, he confines his hiftory. The reafons
to be given for this opinion are, 1. If Ararat be fituate as far
eaſt as India, the travellers might very juftly be faid to jour-
ney from the eaſt to Shinaar. 2. This account is favoured
by old heathen teftimonies: "Two hundred and fifty years
"before Ninus (fays Portius Cato) the earth was overflowed
"with waters, and mankind began again in Saga Scythia."
Now Saga Scythia is in the fame latitude with Bactria, be-
tween the Cafpian fea and Imaus, north to mount Parapo-
nifus and this agrees with the general notion, that the
Scythians might contend for primevity of original with
the most ancient nations of the world. The later writers,
unacquainted with the original hiftory of this people, recur
to philofophical reaſons to fupport their antiquity, and ſpeak
of them as feated near the Mæotis and Euxine fea; but
thefe Scythians fo feated muſt be ſome later deſcendants or
colonies from the original Scythians; fo late, that Herodo-
tus imagined their firft fettlement under Targitaus to be not
above an hundred years before Darius's repelling the Scy-
thians who had invaded his provinces, i. e. about anno mun-
di 3400; fo late ", that they thought themfelves the moft
recent nation in the world. The original Scythians were
fituate", as I faid, near Bactria. Herodotus places them as
far eaſt as Perfia, and fays that the Perfians called them Sa-
In
k
k Juftin. lib. ii. c. 1.
1 Ibid. c. 1, et 2.
m In Melpom.
Η Σκύθαι λίγεσι νεώτατον ἁπάντων
¡Dvéwv sivas 7) oféregov. Herod. ibid. §. 5.
• See Ptol. Afiæ Tab.
P In Polyhymn. §. 63.
cæ,
Book II.
61
and Profane Hiftory.
cæ, and ſuppoſes them and the Bactrians to be near neigh-
bours. 3. The notion of Noah's fettling in thefe parts, as
alfo his living here, and not coming at all to Shiuaar, is
agreeable to the Chaldean traditions about the deluge, which
inform us, that Xifuthrus (for fo they called Noah) came
out of the ark with his wife and daughter, and the pilot of
the ark, and offered facrifice to God, and then both he and
they diſappeared, and were never feen again; and that af-
terwards Xiſuthrus's fons journeyed towards Babylonia, and
built Babylon and feveral other cities. 4. The language,
learning, and hiftory of the Chineſe do all favour this ac-
count; their language feems not to have been altered in the
confufion of Babel; their learning is reported to have been
full as ancient as the learning of the more weſtern nations;
their polity is of another fort, and their government eſta-
blished upon very different maxims and foundations; and
their hiſtory reaches up indifputably to the times of Noah,
not falling fhort, like the hiftories of other nations, fuch a
number of years as ought to be allowed for their inhabit-
ants removing from Shinaar to their place of fettlement.
The first king of China was Fohi; and as I have before ob-
ferved that Fohi and Noah were cotemporaries, at leaft, fo
there are many reaſons from the Chineſe traditions concern-
ing Fohi to think him and Noah the fame perſon. 1. They
ſay Fohi had no father', i. e. Noah was the firft man in the
poſtdiluvian world; his anceſtors periſhed in the flood, and
no tradition hereof being preſerved in the Chineſe annals,
Noah, or Fohi, ftands there as if he had no father at all. 2.
Fohi's mother is faid to have conceived him encompaffed
with a rainbows; a conceit very probably arifing from the
rainbow's first appearing to Noah, and the Chinefes being
willing to give ſome account of his original. 3. Fohi is faid
to have carefully bred feven forts of creatures, which he
uſed to facrifice to the fupreme Spirit of heaven and earth;
and Moſes tells us ", that Noah took into the ark of every
9 See Syncellus, p. 30, 31. and Eu-
febius in Chron. p. 10.
r Martinii Hift. Sinica, p. 11.
s Id. ibid.
t Le Compte, Mem. of China, p.
313.
"Gen. vii. and viii.
clean
62
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
clean beaft by fevens, and of fowls of the air by fevens:
and after the flood Noah built an altar, and took of every
clean beaft, and every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offer-
ings. 4. The Chineſe derive the name of Fohi from his ob-
lation, and Mofes gives Noah his name upon account of the
grant of the creatures for the uſe of men, which he obtained
by his offering. Laftly, the Chineſe hiſtory ſuppoſes Fohi
to have fettled in the province of Xeufi, which is the north-
weſt province of China, and near to Ararat where the ark
reſted: but, 6. the hiſtory we have of the world does neceſ-
farily fuppofe, that theſe eaſtern parts were as foon peopled,
and as populous, as the land of Shinaar; for in a few ages,
in the days of Ninus and Semiramis, about three hundred
years after the difperfion of mankind, the nations that came
of that diſperſion attacked the inhabitants of the Eaſt with
their united force, but found the nations about Bactria, and
the parts where we fuppofe Noah to fettle, fully able to re-
fift and repel all their armies, as I fhall obſerve hereafter in
its proper place. Noah therefore came out of the ark near
Saga Scythia, on the hills beyond Bactria, north to India.
Here he lived, and fettled a numerous part of his pofterity,
by his counfels and advice. He himſelf planted a vineyard,
lived a life of retirement, and, after having feen his offspring
fpread around him, died in a good old age. It were much
to be wished that we could attain a thorough infight into the
antiquities and records of theſe nations, if there be any ex-
tant. As they ſpread down to India fouth, and farther eaft
into China, ſo it is probable they alſo peopled Scythia, and
afterwards the more northern continent; and if America be
any where joined to it, perhaps all that part of the world
came from thefe originals. But we muſt now ſpeak of that
part of Noah's defcendants which travelled from the Eaft.
At what time theſe men left Noah, we are no where in-
formed, probably not till the number of mankind was in-
creaſed. Seventy years might pafs before they had any
thought of leaving their great anceſtor, and by that time
mankind might be multiplied to hundreds, and they might
* Couplet's Confucius, Procm. p. 38, 76.
be
Book II.
63
and Profane Hiftory.
be too many to live together in one family, or to be united
in any ſcheme of polity, which they were able to form or
manage; and fo a number of them might have a mind to
form a ſeparate fociety, and to journey and fettle in fome
diftant country.
From Ararat to Shinaar is about twelve hundred miles.
We must not therefore fuppofe them to have got thither in
an inftant. The nature of the countries they paffed over,
nay, I might ſay the condition the earth itſelf must then be
in, full of undrained marfhes and untracked mountains, over-
run with trees and all forts of rubbiſh of ſeventy or eighty
years growth, without curb or culture, could not afford room
for an open and eaſy paffage to a company of travellers; be-
fides, fuch travellers as they were, were not likely to prefs
forwards with any great expedition; an undetermined mul-
titude, looking for no particular place of habitation, were
likely to fix in many, and to remove as they found inconve-
niences. Let us therefore fuppofe their movements to be
fuch as Abraham made afterwards, fhort journeys, and
abodes here and there, till in ten or twelve years they might
come to Shinaar, a place in all appearance likely to afford
them an open and convenient country for their increaſing fa-
milies.
And thus about eighty years after the flood, according to
the Hebrew computation, anno mundi 1736, they might
come to the plain of Shinaar. They were now out of the
narrow paffages and faſtneſſes of the mountains, had found an
agreeable courtry to fettle in, and thought here to fix them-
felves and their pofterity. Ambition is a paffion extremely
incident to our firft ſetting out in the world; no aims feem
too great, no attempts above or beyond us. So it was with
theſe unexperienced travellers, they had no fooner determin-
ed where to fettle, but they refolved to make the place re-
markable to all ages, to build a tower, which ſhould be the
wonder of the world, and preferve their names to the end of
According to the fragment in Eu-
febius in Chron. they began to build
their tower, A. M. 1736; žáμεvor
the fays) βψλε ἔτσι οἰκοδομεῖν τὸν πύργον
p. 11. in which number there is an
evident miſtake, 6 instead of a, it
ſhould be ayas.
it.
64
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
it. They fet all hands to the work, and laboured in it, it is
thought, for fome years; but alas! the firſt attempt of their
vanity and ambition became a monument of their folly and
weakness; God confounded their language in the midſt of
their undertaking, and hereby obliged them to leave off
their project, and to ſeparate from one another. If we fup-
poſe them to ſpend nineteen or twenty years in fettling and
building, before their language was confounded, the divifion
of the earth muſt be placed anno mundi 1757, about one hun-
dred and one years after the flood, when Peleg the ſon of
Eber was born; for the name Peleg was given him, becaufe
in his time the earth was divided. And thus we have
brought the hiftory of mankind to a fecond great and re-
markable period. I fhall carry it no further in this book,
but only add ſome account of the nature and original of lan-
guage in general, and of the confufion of it here ſpoken of.
And,
a
1. It will, I think, be allowed me, that man is the only
creature in the world that has the ufe of language. The
fables we meet in fome ancient writers, of the languages of
beaſts and birds, and particularly of elephants, are but fa-
bles 2. The creatures are as much beneath ſpeaking, as they
are beneath reafoning. They may be able to make fome
faint imperfect attempts towards both; they may have a few
fimple ideas of the things that concern them; and they may
be able to form a few founds, which they may repeat over
and over, without variation, to fignify to one another what
their natural inſtincts prompt them to; but what they can
do of this fort is not enough for us to fay they have the uſe
of language. Man therefore is, properly ſpeaking, the only
converfible creature of the world. The next enquiry muſt
be, how he came to have this ability.
There have been many writers who have attempted to ac-
count for the original of language: Diodorus Siculus and
z Gen. x. 25.
a The author of the latter Targum
upon Efther reports, that Solomon un-
derstood the language of the birds, and
fent a bird with a meflage to the
b
Queen of Sheba; and Mahomet was
filly enough to believe it, for we have
much the fame ftory in his Alcoran.
See Walton. Prolegom. 1. §. 5.
b Lib. Hift. 1.
Vitruvius
Book II.
65
and Profane Hiftory.
C
Vitruvius imagined that men at firft lived like beafts, in
woods and caves, forming only ftrange and uncouth noiſes,
until their fears caufed them to affociate together; and that
upon growing acquainted with one another they came to
correfpond about things, firft by figns, then to make names
for them, and in time to frame and perfect a language; and
that the languages of the world are therefore diverſe, be-
caufe different companies of men happening thus together,
would in different places form different founds or names for
things, and thereby cauſe a different ſpeech or language
about them. It muſt be confeffed this is an ingenious con-
jecture, and might be received as probable, if we were to
form our notions of the origin of mankind, as theſe men did,
from our own or other people's fancies. But fince we have
an hiftory which informs us, that the beginning both of
mankind and converfation were in fact otherwife, and fince
all that theſe writers have to offer about the origin of things
are but very trifling and inconfiftent conjectures, we have
great reaſon with Eufebius to reject this their notion of the
origin of language, as a mere gueſs, that has no manner of
authority to fupport it.
f
d
Other writers, who receive Mofes's hiftory, and would
feem to follow him, imagine, that the firſt man was created
not only a reaſonable, but a ſpeaking creature; and ſo On-
kelos i paraphraſes the words, which we render, Man was
made a living foul, and fays he was made ruah memallela, a
ſpeaking animal. And fome have carried this opinion fo far,
as not only to think that Adam had a particular language, as
innate to him as a power of thinking, or faculty of reaſon-
ing, but that all his deſcendants have it too, and would of
themſelves come to fpeak this very language, if they were
not put out of it in their infancy by being taught another.
We have no reafon to think the first part of this opinion to
be true: Adam had no need of an innate fet of words, for he
was capable of learning the names of things from his Cre-
c Architec. lib. ii. c. 1.
d Viz. that of Mofes.
7, 8.
Eufeb. de Præp. Evang. lib. i, c.
↑ See Targum in loc.
YOL, I.
ator,
66
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
men.
h
ator, or of making names for things by his own powers, for
his own ufe. And as to the latter part of it, that children
would of courſe ſpeak an innate and original language, if not
prevented by education, it is a very wild and extravagant
fancy; an innate language would be common to all the
world; we ſhould have it over and above any adventitious
language we could learn; no education could obliterate it;
we could no more be without it, than without our natural
ſenſe or paffions. But we find nothing of this fort amongſt
We may learn (perhaps with equal eafe) any language
which in our early years is put to us; or if we learn no one,
we ſhall have no articulate way of ſpeaking at all, as Pſam-
miticus, King of Egypt, and Melabdin Echbar *, in the In-
dies, convinced themfelves by experiments upon infants,
whom they took care to have brought up without being
taught to ſpeak, and found to be no better than mute crea-
tures. For the found which Pfammiticus imagined to be a
Phrygian word, and which the children he tried his experi-
ment upon were fuppofed after two years nurfing to utter,
was a mere found of no fignification, and no more a word
than the noiſes are which dumb people do often make, by
a preffure and opening of their lips, and fometimes accident-
ally children make it of but three months old.
1
m
Other writers have come much nearer the truth, who ſay,
that the firſt man was inftructed to ſpeak by God, who made
him, and that his defcendants learnt to ſpeak by imitation
from their predeceffors; and this I think is the very truth, if
we do not take it too ftrictly. The original of our fpeaking
was from God; not that God put into Adam's mouth the
very ſounds which he defigned he ſhould uſe as the names of
things, but God made Adam with the powers of a man ".
He had the uſe of an underſtanding, to form notions in his
mind of the things about him; and he had a power to utter
Franc. Valef. de Sacra Philof. c. 3.
h See Mr. Locke's Effay, b. i.
1 Herod. l. ii.
k Purchaf. b. i. c. 8.
The found was Bec, fuppofed to
be like the Phrygian word for bread.
m Poftellus de Origin. p. 2.
In this fenfe the author of Eccle-
fiafticus conceived man to be endued
with fpeech from God, chap. xvii.
ver. 5.
founds,
Book II.
67
and Profane Hiſtory.
founds, which ſhould be to himſelf the names of things, ac-
cording as he might think fit to call them. Theſe he might
teach Eve, and in time both of them teach their children;
and thus begin and ſpread the firſt language of the world.
The account which Mofes gives of Adam's firſt uſe of ſpeech
is entirely agreeable to this; ° And out of the ground the Lord
God formed every beaſt of the field, and every focul of the air,
and brought them unto Adam, to fee what he would call them;
and whatſoever Adam called every living creature, that was the
name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle. God is
not here ſaid to have put the words into Adam's mouth, but
only to have fet the creatures before him, to put him upon
ufing the power he had of making founds to ftand for names
for them. It was Adam that gave the names, and he had
only to fix to himſelf what found was to ſtand for the name
of each creature, and what he fo fixed, that was the name
of it.
Our next enquiry fhall be, of what fort, and what this firft
language thus made was. But, before we can determine
this matter, it will be proper to mention the qualities which
did very probably belong to the firſt language.
And, 1. The original language must confift of very fimple
and uncompounded founds. If we attend to a child in its
firſt eflays towards fpeech, we may obſerve its noiſes to be a
fort of monofyllables, uttered by one expreffion of the voice,
without variation or repetition; and fuch were probably the
first original words of mankind. We do not think the firſt
man laboured under the imperfection of a child in uttering
the founds he might aim at; but it is moſt natural to ima-
gine, that he ſhould exprefs himfelf in monofyllables. The
modelling the voice into words of various lengths and diſ-
jointed founds, feems to have been the effect of contrivance
and improvement, and was probably begun when a language
of monofyllables was found too fcanty to expreſs the ſeveral
things which men in time began to want to communicate to
one another. If we take a view of the feveral languages in
the world, we fhall allow thofe to have been leatt poliſhed
• Gen. ii. 19, 20.
F 2
and
68
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
and enriched, which abound moft in fhort and fingle words;
and this alone would almoft lead us to imagine, that the first
language of mankind, before it had the advantage of any re-
finement, was entirely of this fort.
2. The first language confifted chiefly of a few names for
the creatures and things that mankind had to do with.
Adam is introduced as making a language, by his naming the
creatures that were about him. The chief occafion he had
for language was perhaps to diftinguiſh them in his ſpeech
from one another; and when he had provided for this, by
giving each a name, as this was all he had a prefent occafion
for, fo this might be all the language he took care to provide
for the uſe of life; or if he went further, yet,
3. The firſt language had but one part of ſpeech. All
that the firſt men could have occafion to expreſs to one ano-
ther, muſt be a few of the names and qualities and actions of
the creatures or things about them; and they might proba-
bly endeavour to exprefs thefe by one and the fame word.
The Hebrew language has but few adjectives; fo that it is
eafy to fee how the invention of a few names of things may
expreſs things and their qualities. The name man, joined
with the name of fome fierce beaſt, as lion-man, might be
the first way of expreffing a fierce man. Many inftances of
the fame fort might be named; and it is remarkable, that
this particular is extremely agreeable to the Hebrew idiom.
In the fame manner the actions of men or creatures might be
deſcribed; the adding to a perfon's name the name of a
creature remarkable for fome action, might be the firft way
of expreffing a perfon's doing fuch an action: our Engliſh
language will afford one inftance, if not more, of this mat-
ter the obſerving and following a perfon wherever he goes,
is called dogging, from fome fort of dogs performing that
action with great exactneſs; and therefore Cain Dog Abel,
may give the reader fome idea of the original method of ex-
preffing Cain's feeking an opportunity to kill his brother,
when the names of perfons and things were uſed to exprefs
the actions that were done, without obferving any variations
of mood and tenſe, or number or perfon for verbs, or of cafe
for nouns.
For,
Book II.
69
and Profane Hiſtory.
For, 4. all theſe were improvements of art and ſtudy, and
not the firſt eſſay and original production. It was time and
obſervation that taught men to diſtinguiſh language into
nouns and verbs; and afterwards made adjectives, and other
parts of fpeech. It was time and contrivance that gave to
nouns their numbers; and in fome languages, a variety of
cafes, that varied verbs by mood, and tenfe, and number,
and perfon, and voice; in a word, that found out proper va-
riations for the words in uſe, and made men thereby able to
expreſs more things by them, and in a better manner, and
added to the words in ufe new and different ones, to exprefs
new things, as a further acquaintance with the things of the
world gave occafion for them. And this will be fufficient to
give the reader fome ground to form a judgment about the
languages, and to determine which is the moſt likely to have
been the firſt and original one of mankind: let us now ſee
how far we can determine this queftion.
The writers that have treated this fubject do bring into
competition the Hebrew, Chaldean, Syrian, or Arabian;
fome one or other of theſe is commonly thought the original
language but the arguments for the Syrian and Arabian
are but few and trifling. The Chaldean tongue is indeed
contended for by very learned writers; Camden P calls it
the mother of all languages; and Theodoret, amongſt the
Fathers, was of the fame opinion; and Amira has made a
collection of arguments, not inconfiderable, in favour of it ;
and Myricæus ', after him, did the fame; and Erpenius, in
his oration for the Hebrew tongue, thought the arguments
for the Hebrew and Chaldean to be fo equal, that he gave
his opinion no way, but left the diſpute about the antiquity
of theſe languages as he found it.
I am apt to fancy, that if any one ſhould take the pains to
examine ftrictly theſe two languages, and to take from each
what may reaſonably be fuppoſed to have been improve-
ments made fince their original, he will find the Chaldean
P Britann. 204.
In Præf. ad Grammat, fuam Syri-
acam.
In Præf. ad Grammaticam fuam
Chaldaicam.
Erpenius, in Orat. de ling. Heb.
ait, adhuc fub judice lis eft:
F 3
and
70
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
and Hebrew tongue to have been at first the very fame.
There are evidently, even ftill, in the Chaldean tongue
great numbers of words the fame with the Hebrew; perhaps
as many as mankind had for their uſe before the confufion of
Babel; and there are many words in the two tongues which
are very different, but their import or fignification is very
often fuch as may occafion us to conjecture that they were
invented at or fince that confufion. The firft words of man-
kind were, doubtlefs, as I have before faid, the names of the
common things and creatures, and of their most obvious qua-
lities and actions, which men could not live without obſerv-
ing, nor converſe without ſpeaking of. As they grew more
acquainted with the world, more knowledge was acquired,
and more words became neceffary. In time they obſerved
their own minds and thoughts, and wanted words to exprefs
thefe too; but it is natural to imagine that words of this fort
were not fo early as thofe of the other; and in theſe latter
fort of words, namely, fuch as a large acquaintance with the
things of the world, or a reflection upon our thoughts might
occafion, in thefe the Chaldean and Hebrew language do
chiefly differ, and perhaps few of theſe were in ufe before the
confufion of tongues. If this obfervation be true, it would
be to little purpofe to confider at large the difpute for the
priority of the Hebrew or Chaldean tongue; we may take
either, and endeavour to ſtrip it of all its improvements, and
fee whether in its firſt infant ftate it has any real marks of an
original language: I fhall chooſe the Hebrew, and leave the
learned reader to confider how far what I offer may be true of
the Chaldean tongue alſo.
And if we confider the Hebrew tongue in this view, we
muſt not take it as Mofes wrote it, much leſs with the im-
provements or additions it may have fince received; but we
muſt ſtrip it of every thing which looks like an addition of
art, and reduce it, as far as may be, to a true original fim-
plicity. And 1. All its vowels and punctuations, which
could never be imagined until it came to be written, and
which are in no wife neceffary in writing it, are too modern
to be mentioned. 2. All the prefixed and affixed letters were
added in time to expreſs perfons in a better manner than
could
Book II.
71
and Profane Hiftory.
:
could be done without them. 3. The various voices, moods,
tenfes, numbers, and perfons of verbs, were not original, but
were invented as men found occafion for them, for a greater
clearness or copia of expreffion. 4. In the fame manner, the
few adjectives they have, and the numbers and regimen of
nouns, were not from the beginning. By theſe means we
may reduce the whole language to the fingle theme of the
verbs, and to the nouns or names of things and men; and of
theſe I would obferve, 1. That the Hebrew nouns are com-
monly derived from the verbs; and this is agreeable to the
account which Mofes gives of the firft inventing the names of
things when Cain was to be named, his mother obferved,
that ſhe had gotten a man from the Lord, and therefore call-
ed him Cain, from the verb which fignifies to get. So when
Seth was to be named, fhe confidered that God had appoint-
ed her another, and called his name Seth, from the verb
which fignifies to appoint. When Noah was to be named,
his father forefaw that he fhould comfort them, and fo
named him Noah, from the verb which fignifies to comfort.
And probably this was the manner in which Adam named
the creatures: he obferved and confidered fome particular
action in each of them, fixed a name for that action, and from
that named the creature according to it. 2. All the verbs of
the Hebrew tongue, at leaſt all that originally belong to it,
confiſt uniformly of three letters, and were perhaps at firſt
pronounced as monofyllables; for it may be the vowels were
afterwards invented, which diffolved fome of the words into
more fyllables than one; and I am the more inclined to think
this poffible, becaufe in many inftances the fame letter dif-
folves a word, or keeps it a monofyllable, according as the
vowel differs that is put to it., Aven, is of two fyl-
Jables; IN, Aour, and N, Дouth, are words of one;
and many Hebrew words now pronounced with two vowels
might originally have but one: 72, Barak, to blefs, might
at first be read 7, Brak, with many other words of the
fame fort. There are indeed feveral words in this language,
which are not ſo eaſily reducible to monofyllables, but theſe
feem to have been compounded of two words put together,
F 4
as
72
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
as fhall be obſerved hereafter. 3. The nouns, which are de-
rived from the verbs, do many of them confift of the very
fame letters with the verbs themſelves; probably all the
nouns did fo at firſt, and the difference there now is in fome
of them is owing to improvements made in the lan-
guage. If we look into the Hebrew tongue in this manner,
we ſhall reduce it to a very great fimplicity; we ſhall bring
it to a few names of things, men, and actions; we fhall make
all its words monofyllables, and give it the true marks of an
original language. And if we confider how few the radical
words are, about five hundred, fuch a paucity is another ar-
gument in favour of it.
But there are learned writers, who offer another argument
for the primævity of the Hebrew tongue, and that is, that
the names of the perfons mentioned before the confufion of
Babel, as expreffed in the Hebrew, do bear a juſt relation to
the words from whence they were derived; but all this ety-
mology is loft, if you take them in any other language into
which you may tranſlate them: thus the man was called
Adam, becauſe he was taken from the ground; now the He-
brew word N, Adam, is, they ſay, derived from 7N,
Admah, the ground. So again, Eve had her name becauſe
the was the mother of all living; and agreeably hereto
77, Hevah, is derived from the verb 7, Hajah, to live.
The name of Cain was ſo called, becauſe his mother thought
him gotten from the Lord; and agreeably to this reaſon, for
his name, Kain, is derivable from , Kanah, to get:
the fame might be faid of Seth, Noah, and feveral other
words; but all this etymology is deſtroyed and loſt, if we
take the names in any other language, befides the original
one in which they are given. Thus for inftance, if we call
the man in Greek, 'Avnp, or "Avpwños, the etymology is none
between either of theſe words, and yĩ, the earth, out of which
he was taken. If we call Eve, Eva,
If we call Eve, Eva, it will bear no relation
to ñv, to live; and Kalv bears little or no relation to any
Greek word, fignifying to get. To all this Grotius anſwers',
In Gen. xi. et not. ad lib. i. de Verit. n. 16.
that
Book II.
73
and Profane Hiflory.
that Mofes took an exact care not to uſe the original proper
names in his Hebrew book, but to make fuch Hebrew ones.
as might bear the due relation to a Hebrew word of the fame
ſenſe with the original word from whence theſe names were
at firſt derived. Thus in Latin, Homo bears as good a relation
to Humus, the ground, as Adam, in Hebrew, does to Admah
and therefore if Adam were tranflated Homo in the Latin,
the propriety of the etymology would be preſerved, though
the Latin tongue was not the language in which the firſt man
had his name given. But how far this may be allowed to be
a good anſwer, is ſubmitted to the reader.
;
There is indeed another language in the world, which
ſeems to have ſome marks of its being the firſt original lan-
guage of mankind; it is the Chineſe: its words are even now
very few, not above twelve hundred; the nouns are but
three hundred and twenty-fix; and all its words are confeff-
edly monofyllables. Noah, as has been obſerved, very pro-
bably fettled in theſe parts; and if the great father and re-
ftorer of mankind came out of the ark and ſettled here, it is
very probable that he left here the one univerfal language of
the world. It might be an entertaining fubject for any one
that underſtood this language, to compare it with the He-
brew, to examine both the tongues, and ſtrip each of all ad-
ditions and improvements they may poffibly have received,
and try whether they may not be reduced to a pretty great
agreement with one another. But how far this can be done,
I cannot fay. However, this I think looks pretty clear; that
whatever was the original of the Chineſe tongue, it ſeems to
be the firſt that ever was in thoſe parts. All changes and al-
terations of language are commonly for the better; but the
Chineſe language is fo like a firft and uncultivated effay, that
it is hard to conceive any other tongue to have been prior to
it; and fince I have mentioned it, I may add, that whether
this be the firſt language or no, the circumftance of this lan-
guage's confifting of monofyllables is a very confiderable ar-
gument that the firft language was in this refpect like it;
for though it is natural to think that mankind might begin
to form fingle founds firft, and afterwards come to enlarge
their ſpeech by doubling and redoubling them; yet it can in
no
74
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
no wife be conceived, that, if men had at firft known the
plenty of expreffion arifing from words of more fyllables than
one, any perſon or people would have been fo ftupid as to
have reduced their languages to words of but one.
We have ftill to treat of the confufion of the one language
of the world. Before the confufion of Babel, we are told
that the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Hitherto the firft original language of mankind had been
preferved with little or no variation for near two thouſand
years together; and now, in a little ſpace of time, a ſet of
men, affociated and engaged in one and the fame undertak-
ing, came to be ſo divided in this matter, as not to under-
ftand one another's expreffions; their language was confound-
ed, that they did not underfland one another's fpeech, and fo were
obliged to leave off building their city, and were by degrees
fcattered over the face of the earth.
Several writers have attempted to account for this confu-
fion of language, but they have had but little fucceſs in their
endeavours. What they offer as the general caufes of the
mutability of language does in no wife come up to the mat-
ter before us; it is not fufficient to account for this firft and
great variation. The general caufes of the mutability of
language are commonly reduced to thefe three; 1. The dif-
ference of climates; 2. An intercourſe or commerce with
different nations; or, 3. The unfettled temper and difpofi-
tion of mankind.
u
1. The difference of climates will infenfibly cauſe a varia-
tion of language, becaufe it will occafion a difference of pro-
nunciation. It is eaſy to be obferved, that there is a pro-
nunciation peculiar to almoſt every country in the world, and
according to the climate the language will abound in aſpi-
rates or lenes, guttural founds or pectorals, labials or dentals;
a circumſtance which would make the very fame language
found very different from itſelf, by a different expreffion or
pronunciation of it. The Ephraimites, we find, could not
pronounce the letter Schin as their neighbours did. There
u Bodinus in Method. Hift. c. 9.
* Judges xii. 6.
is
Book II.
75
and Profane Hiftory.
1
is a pronunciation peculiar to almoſt every province, ſo that
if we were to ſuppoſe a number of men of the fame nation
and language difperfed into different parts of the world, the
feveral climates which their children would be born in would
fo affect their pronunciation, as in a few ages to make their
language very different from one another.
2. A commerce or intercourſe with foreign nations does
often caufe an alteration of language.
Two nations, by
trading with one another, ſhall infenfibly borrow words from
each other's language, and intermix them in their own; and
it is poffible, if the trade be of large extent, and continued
for a long time, the number of words fo borrowed fhall in-
creaſe and ſpread far into each country, and both languages
in an age or two be pretty much altered by the mixture of
them. In like manner, a plantation of foreigners may by
degrees communicate words to the nation they come to live
in. A nation's being conquered, and in fome parts peopled.
by colonies of the conquerors, may be of the fame confe-
quence; as may alfo the receiving the religion of another
people. In all theſe cafes, many words of the fojourners, or
conquerors, or inftructors, will infenfibly be introduced, and
the language of the country that received them by degrees
altered and corrupted by them.
3. The third and laſt cauſe of the mutability of language
is the unfettled temper and difpofition of mankind. The
very minds and manners of men are continually changing;
and fince they are fo, it is not likely that their idioms and
words ſhould be fixed and ſtable. An uniformity of ſpeech
depends upon an entire confent of a number of people in
their manner of expreffion; but a lafting conſent of a large
number of people is hardly ever to be obtained, or long to
be kept up in any one thing; and unless we could by law
preſcribe words to the multitude, we fhall never find it in
diction and expreffion. Ateius Capito would have flattered
Cæfar into a belief, that he could make the Roman language
what he pleaſed; but Pomponius very honeftly affured him
he had no fuch power". Men of learning and obfervation
Y For this reafon the great orator
obferves, Ujum loquendi populo con-
ceffi, fcientiam mihi refervavi. Cic. de
Oratore,
may
76
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
may think and ſpeak accurately, and may lay down rules for
the direction and regulation of other people's language, but
the generality of mankind will ftill exprefs themſelves as
their fancies lead them; and the expreffion of the generality,
though fupported by no rules, will be the current language;
and hence it will come to paſs, that we ſhall be always fo far
from fixing any ftability of ſpeech, that we ſhall continually
find the obſervation of the poet verified:
Multa renafcentur quæ jam cecidere, cadentque
Que nunc funt in honore vocabula, fi volet ufus,
Quem penes arbitrium eft et jus et norma loquendi.
Language will be always in a fluctuating condition, fubject
to a variety of new words and new expreffions, according as
the humour of the age and the fancies of men ſhall happen
to introduce them.
a
Theſe are the general reaſons of the mutability of lan-
guage; and it is apparently true, that fome or other of theſe
have, ever fince the confufion of Babel, kept the languages of
the world in a continual variation. The Jews mixing with
the Babylonians, when they were carried into captivity 2,
quickly altered and corrupted their language, by introducing
many Syriacifms and Chaldeifms into it. And afterwards,
when they became fubject to the Greeks and Romans 2, their
language became not only altered, but as it were loft, as any
one will allow, that confiders how vaftly the old Hebrew
differs from the Rabbinical diction, and the language of the
Talmuds. The Greek tongue in time fuffered the fame fate,
and part of it may be aſcribed to the Turks over-running
their country, and part of it to the tranſlation of the Roman
empire to Conftantinople: but ſome part of the change came
from themſelves; for, as Brerewood has obferved, they had
changed many of their ancient words long before the Turks
broke in upon them, of which he gives feveral inftances out
of the books of Cedrenus, Nicetas, and other Greek writers.
z Walton. Prolegom.
2 Id. ibid.
b Walton. in Prolegom. de Lingua-
rum Natura, &c.
The
Book II.
77
and Profane Hiftory.
The numerous changes which the Latin tongue has un-
dergone may be all accounted for by the fame reafons:
they had in a ſeries of years fo diverſified their language,
that the Salian verſes compoſed by Numa were ſcarce un-
derſtood by the prieſts in Quintilian's time; and there were
but few antiquaries within about three hundred and fifty
years that could read and give the fenfe of the articles of
treaty between Rome and Carthage, made a little after the
expulfion of the kings. The laws of the Twelve Tables col-
lected by Fulvius Urfinus, and publiſhed in the words of the
Kings and Decemviri that made them, are a fpecimen of the
very great alteration that time introduced into the Latin
tongue: nay, the pillar in the capitol, erected in honour of
Drufillus, about one hundred and fifty years before Cicero,
fhews, that even fo fmall a tract of time as a century and
half caufed great variations. After the Roman tongue at-
tained the height of its purity, it quickly declined again and
became corrupted, partly from the number of fervants kept
at Rome, who could not be ſuppoſed to ſpeak accurately and
with judgment; and partly from the great concourſe of
ftrangers, who came from the remote provinces, fo that the
purity of it was to a great degree worn off and gone, before
the barbarifms of the Goths quite extinguiſhed it.
And what has thus happened in the learned languages, is
as obfervable in all the other languages of the world; time
and age varies every tongue on earth. Our English, the
German, French, or any other, differs fo much in three or
four hundred years, that we find it difficult to underſtand the
language of our forefathers; and our pofterity will think
ours as obfolete, as we do the fpeech of thoſe that lived ages
ago: and all theſe alterations of the tongues may, I think, be
fufficiently accounted for by fome or other of the cauſes be-
fore affigned; but none of them does at all fhew how or by
what means the confufion at Babel could be occafioned.
Our builders had travelled from their anceſtors many hun-
dreds of miles, from Ararat to Shinaar; the climates may
differ, and fuppofe we fhould imagine the country to affect
Walton. in Prolegom. de Linguarum Natura, &c,
the
78
Book II,
Connection of the Sacred
the pronunciation of the children born in it, yet ſtill it will
be hard to ſay that this ſhould breed a confufion; for fince
they were all born in or near the fame place, they would be
all equally affected, and ſpeak all alike. Befides, a difference
of pronunciation caufes difficulties only where perfons come
to converſe, after living at a diſtance from one another. An
imperfection in our children's fpeech, bred up under our
wing, would be obſerved from its beginning, grow familiar
to us as they grew up, and the confufion would be very lit-
tle that could be occafioned by it. And as to any com-
merce with other nations, they had none; they were nei-
ther conquered nor mingled with foreigners; fo that they
could not learn any ftrange words this way. And though
there have been many changes of language from the varia-
bility of men's tempers, theſe, we find, have been frequent
fince this firſt confufion; but how or why they ſhould ariſe
at this time is the queftion. Language was fixed and ſtable,
uniformly the fame for almoſt two thouſand years together;
it was now fome way or other unfixed, and has been fo ever
fince. There are ſome conſiderable writers that ſeem to ac-
knowledge themſelves puzzled at this extraordinary accident.
The confufion of tongues could not come from men, fays
St. Ambrofed, for why fhould they be for doing ſuch a mif-
chief to themſelves, or how could they invent ſo many lan-
guages as are in the world? It could not be cauſed by-an-
gels good or bad, fays Origen, and the Rabbins and other
writers, for they have not power enough to do it. The ex-
prefs words of Mofes, Go to, let us go down and confound their
language; and again, the Lord did confound the language of
the earth, (fays Bishop Walton ",) imply a deliberate purpoſe of
God himſelf to caufe this confufion, and an actual execution
of it. And the way in which it was performed, fays the
learned Bochart i, immediately, and without delay, proves it
the immediate work of God, who alone can inſtantly effect
f
d Thef. Ambrof. de Caufis Mutatio-
nis Linguarum.
* Origen. Hom. 11. in Num. cap.
xviii.
f Jonath. et al. in Gen. xi. 7, 8.
See Luther in Gen. xi. Corn. a
Lapide in Gen. xi,
ǹ Prolegom.
i Geograph. Sac. p. i. 1. i. c. 15.
the
Book II.
79
and Profane Hiftory.
the greateſt purpoſes and deſigns. Several of the Rabbins
have enquired more curiouſly into the affair, but I fear the
account they have given of it is poor and trifling. Buxtorf
has collected all their opinions, but they ſeem to have put
him out of humour with the fubject, and to occafion him to
conclude in the words of Mercerus, "There is no reafon to
enquire too curiouſly into this matter: it was effected in-
ftantly, in a way and manner which we can give no ac-
"count of; we know of many things, that they were done,
"but how they were done we cannot fay. It is a matter of
"faith.
<<
<6
The builders of Babel were evidently projectors, their de-
figned tower is a proof of it; and if they had one project, and
an idle one, why might they not have others? Language was
but one, until they came to multiply the tongues; but that
one was without doubt fcanty, fit only to expreſs the early
thoughts of mankind, who had not yet fubdued the world,
nor arrived at a large and comprehenfive acquaintance with
the things of it. There had paffed but eight or nine gene-
rations to the building of Babel, and all of them led in a
plain uncultivated method of living: but men now began to
build towers, to open to themſelves views of a larger fame,
and confequently of greater fcenes of action than their ancef-
tors had purſued. And why may not the thoughts of find-
ing new names for the things which their enlarged notions
offered to their confideration have now rifen? God is faid to
have fent down and confounded their language; but it is
uſual to meet with things fpoken of as immediately done by
God, which were effected not by extraordinary miracle, but
by the courſe of things permitted by him to work out what
he would have done in the world. Language was without
doubt enlarged at fome particular time; and if a great deal
of it was attempted at once, a confufion would naturally
arife from it. When Adam gave the first names to things,
he had no one to contradict him; and fo what he named
things, that was the name of them; for how ſhould his
children refuſe to call things, what he had taught them from
their infancy to be the names of them? And indeed Adam's
life, and the life of his immediate children, reached over fo
great
80
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
great a part of the first world, that it is hard to conceive men
could vary their ſpeech much, whilft under the immediate
influence of thoſe who taught them the firſt uſe of it. But
the men of Shinaar were got away from their anceſtors, and
their heads were full of innovations; and the projectors be-
ing many, the projects might be different, and the leading
men might make up feveral parties amongſt them. If we
were to ſuppoſe the whole number of them to be no more
than a thouſand, twenty or thirty perfons endeavouring to
invent new words, and fpreading them amongſt their com-
panions, might in time cauſe a deal of confufion. It does in-
deed look more like a miracle, to fuppofe the confufion of
tongues effected inftantly, in a moment; but the text does
not oblige us to think it ſo ſudden a production. From the
beginning of Babel to the diſperſion of the nations might be
feveral years; and perhaps all this time a difference of ſpeech
was growing up, until at length it came to ſuch an height,
as to cauſe them to form different companies, and fo to fepa-
rate. As to St. Ambrofe's argument, that men would not
do themſelves fuch a miſchief, it is not a good one; for, I.
Experience does not fhew us, that the fear of doing miſchief
has ever reſtrained the projects of ambitious men.
2. We
often fee the enterprifes of men run on to greater lengths
than they ever defigned them, and in time ſpreading ſo far,
as to be out of the power and reach of their firſt authors to
check and manage them; for this is a method by which
God often defeats the counfels, and controls the actions of
men: their own projects take turns that are unexpected, and
they are often unable to manage the defigns which them-
ſelves firſt ſet on foot; nay, they are many times defeated
and confounded by them. And, 3. I do not fee any mif-
chief that aroſe even from the confufion of language. It
would have been inconvenient for men to have been always
bound up within the narrow limits of the firſt ſcanty and con-
fined language; and though the enlarging ſpeech happened
to ſcatter men over the face of the earth, it was fit, and for
the public good, that they ſhould be ſo ſcattered.
If I may be indulged in one conjecture more, I would of
fer, that at this time the ufe of words of more fyllables than
one
Book II.
81
and Profane Hiflory.
one began amongst men; for we find that the languages
which moſt probably arofe about this time do remarkably
differ from the most ancient Hebrew, in words of a greater
length than the original Hebrew words feem to be of. The
Chaldean words are many times made different from the He-
brew by fome final additions; and the words in that lan-
guage, which differ from the Hebrew, are generally of more
fyllables than the old Hebrew radicals. The Syrian, Egyp-
tian, and Arabian tongues do, I think, afford inftances of the
fame fort; and the more modern tongues, as the Greck and
Latin, which probably arofe by fome refinements of thefe,
have carried the improvement further, and run into more in
number, and more compounded polyfyllables; whereas, on
the contrary, the languages of a more barbarous and lefs cul-
tivated original keep a nearer refemblance to the peculiar
quality of the firit tongue, and confift chiefly of fhort and
fingle words. Our English language is now fmoothed and
enriched to a great degree, fince the ftudies of polite litera-
ture have ſpread amongst us; but it is eafy to obferve, that
our tongue was originally full of monofyllables; fo full, that
if one were to take pains to do it, we may ſpeak moſt things
we have to ſpeak of, and at the fame time fearce ufe a word
of more fyllables than one. But I pretend to hint at thefe
things only as conjectures. The reader has my full confent.
to receive them or reject them as he pleaſes.
There is one enquiry more about the languages of the
world which I would just mention, and that is, how many
arofe from the confufion of Babel. Some writers think Mo-
fes has determined this question, by giving us the names of
the leading men in this affair. He has given us a catalogue.
of the fons of Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and told us, that by
them was the earth divided, after their families, lands, torgues,
and nations. But I think there is fome difficulty in con-
ceiving all the perfous there mentioned to have headed
companies from Babel; for it is remarkable, that they differ
from one another in age by feveral defcents; and it is not
likely that many of them could be at that time old enough.
to be leaders; nay, and certain from hiftory, that fome of
them were not fo, whilft their fathers were alive. Other
writers
VOL. I.
G
82
Book II.
Connection of the Sacred
writers therefore have endeavoured to reduce the number to
feventy, and think that there were feventy different na-
tions thus planted in the world *, from the difperfion at Babel ;
and this notion they think fupported by the exprefs words of
Mofes in another place. When the Mofi High divided to the
nations their inheritance, when he ſeparated the fons of Adam, he
Jet the bounds of the people according to the number of the chil-
dren of Ifrael, i. e. fay they, he divided them into feventy na-
tions, which was the number of the children of Ifrael when
they came into Egypt. The Targum of Jonathan Ben.
Uziel very plainly favours this interpretation of the words of
Mofes, but the Jerufalem Targum differs from it: according
to that, the number of nations were but twelve, anſwering
to the twelve tribes of the children of Ifrael: but I ſhould
think that neither of the Targums exprefs Mofes's meaning.
The people in the text are not the whole difperfed number
that were at Babel, but the inhabitants of Canaan; and the
true meaning of the words of Mofes is this, that when God
divided to the nations their inheritance, when he ſeparated
the fons of Adam, he fet the bounds of The People [i. e.
which had Canaan, the defigned inheritance of Jacob] ac-
cording to the number of the children of Ifrael; i. e. he gave
the Canaanites fuch a tract of land as he knew would be a
fufficient inheritance for the children of Ifrael. And thus
this text will in no wife lead us to the number of the nations
that aroſe at Babel. That queftion is moſt likely to be de-
termined by confidering how many perfons were heads of
companies immediately at the time of the difperfion. One
thing I would obferve, that how few or how many foever
the languages were now become, yet many of them, for fome
time, did not differ much from one another. For Abraham,
an Hebrew, lived amongst the Chaldeans, travelled amongst
the Canaanites, fojourned with the Philiftines, and lived fome
k Many writers have been of this
opinion, but the Greek Fathers make
the number ſeventy-two. Clem. Alex.
Strom. 1. i. p. 146. Eufebius in Chron.
1. i. p. 11. Epiphanius adver. Hærcf. i,
. 5. And the Latin Fathers have fol-
per
lowed them, Aug. de Civit. Dei. Prof-
de Promiff. et Prædict. p. 1. c. 8,
S. Ambrof. Med. de Vocat. Gen-
tium, l. ii. c. 4. et alii,
9.
1 Deut. xxi. 8.
time
Book II.
83
and Profane Hiflory.
time in Egypt, and yet we do not find he had any remark-
able difficulty in converfing with them. But though the
difference of the tongues was at firft but ſmall, yet every lan-
guage, after the ftability of ſpeech was loft, varying in time
from itſelf, the language of different nations in a few ages
became vaftly different, and unintelligible to one another.
And thus in the time of Jofeph, when his brethren came to
buy corn in Egypt, we find the Hebrew and Egyptian
tongues fo diverſe, that they uſed an interpreter in their con-
verſation. The gradual decline of men's lives, from longer
to ſhorter periods, without doubt contributed a great deal to
daily alterations; for when men's lives were long, and ſeve-
ral generations lived together in the world, and men, who
learnt to ſpeak when children, continued to ſpeak to their
children for ſeveral ages, they could not but tranfmit their
language through many generations with but little variation :
but when the fucceffions of mankind came on quicker, the
language of anceſtors was more liable to grow obfolete, and
there was an eaſier opportunity for novelty and innovation to
fpread amongſt mankind. And thus the ſpeech of the world,
confounded firft at Babel, received in every age new and
many alterations, until the languages of different nations
came to be ſo very various and diſtinct, as we now find them
from one another.
G 2
THE
7
THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
CONNECTED.
BOOK III.
THE people at Shinaar, upon the confufion of their lan-
guage, in a little time found it neceffary to ſeparate; and ac-
cordingly they divided themſelves under the conduct of the
leading men amongst them. And fome writers imagine,
that they formed as many focieties as Mofes has given us
names of the fons of Noah, Gen. x. for, fay they, in the
words of Mofes, Thefe were the fons of Noah after their fami-
lies, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations; and
by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood;
but, I think, this opinion cannot be admitted, for ſeveral
reafons.
1. The diſperſion of mankind happening about the time of
Peleg's birth, it is very plain that all the perfons named by
Mofes, which must appear younger, or not much older than
Peleg, could not be heads of nations, or leaders of compa-
nies, at this time, for they were but infants, or children; and
therefore the fons of Jocktan, who dwelt from Meſha to Se-
phar, had no hand in this difperfion; they were perhaps not
born, or at moſt very young men. They must therefore be
ſuppoſed
G 3
86
Book III.
Connection of the Sacred
fuppofed to have ſettled at first under their fathers; in time
each of them might remove with a little company, and fo
have a kingdom or nation deſcend from him.
2. The perfons named by Mofes, as concerned in the dif-
perfion, both in the families of Japhet and Ham, were none
of them lower in defcent than the third generation; they are
either fons or grandfons of Japhet or Ham; as Gomer, and
the fons of Gomer; Javan, and the fons of Javan; Cufh, and
the fons of Cufh; Mizraim, and the fons of Mizraim. The
defcendants of theſe made a figure afterwards, as appears
from the manner of mentioning a fon of Cafluhim, out of
whom came Philiftim, plainly intimating, that the perſon ſo
named was a deſcendant of Cafluhim, later than theſe days;
and if this obfervation may be allowed in the family of Ar-
phaxad, neither Selah nor Eber were leaders of companies at
the confufion of tongues.
3. Not all the perfons here mentioned, even of the third
generation, were immediately heads of different nations at
the time of the difperfion; for Canaan had eleven fons, but
they did not immediately fet up eleven nations, but after-
wards were the families of the Canaanites fpread abroad. They
at first lived together under their father, and fome time after
ſeparated, and in time became eleven nations in the land of
Canaan. In the fame manner, very probably, the fons of
Aram lived under their father in Syria; and it is evident
from the hiſtory of Egypt, that "Mizraim's children fet up
no kingdoms there during his life.
4. The fame obfervation may be made in other families;
and we may alfo confider, that fometimes fome one of the
children was the leader; and the father of the family, as
well as the reft, lived in the fociety erected by him. Thus,
for inftance, we do not find that Cufh was a king in any
country; all the countries into which his children feparated
came in time to be called after his name, as fhall be obferv-
ed hereafter; but the place where he himſelf lived was en-
m Gen. x. 18.
The word Mizraim is of the plu-
ral number, as are feveral other names
here uſed by Mofes : however, that 1
might not vary from the words of Mo-
fes, I have uſed them as fingulars.
compaffed
i
Book III.
87
and Profane Hiftory.
compaſſed by the river Gihon º, and therefore moſt probably
within the compafs of his fon Nimrod's dominions. And
the names of places do not always prove the perfons whofe
names they bear to have been kings in them, or to have
firſt peopled them, for fometimes rulers named places after
the names of their anceſtors, and fometimes after the names
of their children. The children of Dan, named Lefhem Dan,
after the name of Dan their father P; and Kirjath-Arba was
by Caleb called Hebron, after the name of Hebron his grand-
fon 9.
5. The numbers of mankind at this time is a good proof,
that all the perſons named by Mofes could not be leaders of
companies, and planters of nations, at the difperfion from
Babel; for at the birth of Peleg, the men, women, and
children at Shinaar could not be more in number than 1500,
and not above 500 of them of the age of thirty years: fuch
a body cannot be conceived fufficient to afford people for
fixty or ſeventy kings to plant nations with, in ſeveral dif-
tant parts of the world; they would not, at this rate, have
had above one or two and twenty men, women, and children,
in a kingdom.
But, 6. The manner in which mankind were diſperſed is a
farther proof that they did not go forth at firft in many compa-
nies, to plant different nations; for if we confider the fituation
of the nations which were named after thefe men, we fhall find,
that, notwithſtanding all the confufion of tongues, and diver-
fities of their language, yet it ſo happened in their diſperſion
from one another, that, except three or four inftances only,
the fons of Japhet peopled one part of the world, the fons of
Shem another, and the fons of Ham a third. Their families.
were not ſcattered here and there, and intermingled with one
another, as would very probably have happened, if fixty or
feventy different languages had immediately aroſe amongſt
them, and cauſed them to feparate in fo many companies, in
order to plant each a country, to be inhabited by as many as
agreed in the fame expreffion. If, at the first confufion of
• Gen. ii. 13.
9 Judges i. 10.
1 Chron. ii. 42.
P Joſhua xix. 47.
G 4
tongues,
88
Book III.
Connection of the Sacred
tongues, the fons of Shem had differed from the fons of
Shem, and the fons of Ham from the fons of Ham, and the
children of Japhet from their brethren, each one ſpeaking a
language of his own, the difperfion would in no wife have
been ſo regular as we fhall find it; each leading man muſt
have taken his own way, and the feveral branches of each
family muſt have been fcattered here and there, as the acci-
dental travels of their leaders might happen to have carried
them. Nothing lefs than a very extraordinary miracle could
have forted them, as it were, and caufed the children of each
family to fit down round about and near to one another.
From all theſe confiderations therefore, I cannot.but_ima-
gine the common opinion about the difperfion of mankind
to be a very wrong one. The confufion of tongues arofe at
firſt from ſmall beginnings, increaſed gradually, and in time
grew to fuch an height, as to fcatter mankind over the face
of the earth. When theſe men came firft to Babel, they
were but few, and very probably lived together in three fa-
milies, fons of Shem, fons of Ham, and fons of Japhet; and
the confufion arifing from fome leading men in each family
inventing new words, and endeavouring to teach them to
thofe under their direction, this in a little time divided the
three families from one another; for the fons of Japhet af-
fecting the novel inventions of a fon of Japhet; the fons of
Ham affecting thoſe of a fon of Ham; and the fons of Shem
ſpeaking the new words of a fon of Shem; a confuſion would
neceffarily arife, and the three families would part, the in-
ftructors leading off all fuch as were initiated in their peculi-
arities of ſpeech. This might be the firft ftep taken in the
difperfion of mankind; they might at firſt break into three
companies only; and when this was done, new differences
of ſpeech ftill arifing, each of the families continued to di-
vide and fub-divide amongſt themſelves, time after time, as
their numbers increafed, and new and different occafions
The writers upon this ſubje&t ge-
nerally fuppofe this particular to have
been the effect of a miracle: but I
think it may be better accounted for
in a natural way; and the advice of
the poet to the writers of his times is
not impertinent to the readers even of
the infpired books ;
Noc Deus interfit, nifi dignus vindice
nodus
Inciderit.
arofe,
Book III.
and Profane Hiftory.
89
arofe, and opportunities offered; until at length there were
planted in the world, from each family, ſeveral nations, called
after the names of the perfons of whom Mofes has given
us a catalogue. This I think is the only notion we can form
of the confufion and diviſion of mankind, which can give a
probable account of their being fo difperfed into the world,
as to be generally fettled according to their families; and
the tenth chapter of Genefis, if rightly confidered, implies no
more than this: for the defign of Mofes in that chapter was,
not to determine who were the leading men at the confu-
fion of tongues, but only to give a catalogue or general ac-
count of the names of the feveral perſons defcended from
each of Noah's children, who became famous in their gene-
rations; not defigning to purfue more minutely their feveral
hiftories fuch accounts of families as this is are frequent in
the Old Teftament. We meet another of them $, where
Mofes mentions Efau's family. He gives a catalogue of
their names, and adds, Thefe be the dukes of Edom according
to their habitations in the land of their poffeffion'; not that
theſe defcendants of Efau were thus fettled in theſe habita-
tions at the time of Ifaac's death, which is the place where
Mofes inferts his account of them; for at that time Efau
took his wives, and his fons, and his daughters, and went into
the country from the face of his brother Jacob, and he went and
dwelt in Mount Seir "; they lived all together in the family
of Efau, during the term of his life; when he died, then
they might ſeparate, and in time become dukes and gover-
nors, according to their families, after their places, and by their
names, mentioned in this catalogue; and this probably not
all at once, immediately upon Efau's death: for it feems
moſt reaſonable to imagine, that at his death they might di-
vide into no greater number of families than he had chil-
dren; though afterwards his grandfons fet up each a family
of his own, when they came to feparate from their father's
houſe. And in this manner the earth was divided by the
feveral fons of Noah, mentioned Genefis x. After their fa-
t Ver. 43.
s Gen. xxxvi.
" Ver. 6, and 8.
milies,
go
Book III.
Connection of the Sacred
milies, after their tongues, in their lands, and after their nations:
not that the perſons there mentioned were all at one time
planters of nations; but only, that there were fo many per-
fons of figure defcended from the fons of Noah, who, fome
at one time, and fome at another, became heads of nations,
or had nations called by their names by their defcendants;
and fo, by them the nations were divided, i. e. the people
were broken into different nations on the earth; not at once,
or immediately upon the confufion, but at feveral times, as
their families increafed and feparated, after the flood. And
this account will reconcile what I before obferved, that the
diſperſion of mankind happened about the time of the birth
of Peleg, with the fragment in Eufebius, which ſeems to
place it thirty years after: for, according to Eufebius, they
continued building their tower for forty years 2; but the
birth of Peleg was about ten years after their beginning it.
The confufion of language therefore, and the difperfion of
mankind, were not effected all at once; they began at the
birth of Peleg, but were not completed until thirty years
after; fome companies feparating and going away one year,
and fome another; and thus Afhur did not go away at firſt,
but lived fome time under Nimrod ª.
The authors that have treated upon this fubject endea-
vour to determine what particular countries were planted by
theſe men; and the ſubſtance of what they offer is as fol-
lows.
Noah had three fons ", Shem, Ham, and Japhet: the
eldeft of the three was Japhet. For, 1. Ham, or Canaan,
i. e. the father of Canaan, was his youngeſt fon, for fo he is
called by Mofes; And Noah awoke from his wine, and
knew what bis younger fon had done unto him, and he faid,
Curfed be Canaan: i. e. confidering the diſreſpect which his
youngest fon Ham, or Canaan, had fhewn him, he curfed
him. 2. Shem was Noah's fecond fon; for Shem d
hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad, two years after the
Eu-
x Gen. x. 32.
2 Εμειναν οικοδομέντες ἐπὶ ἔτη μ. Ευ-
feb. in Chron.
b Gen. v. 32.
c Chap. ix. 24, 25.
a Chap. xi. 10.
was an
a Gen. x. 11.
flood,
Book III.
91
and Profane Hiflory.
1
flood. Now Noah was five hundred years old at the birth
of his eldeſt fon; but if Shem was no more than an hundred
years old two years after the flood, it is evident that Noah
was five hundred and two years old at Shem's birth, and
confequently that Shem was not his eldeſt fon. 3. It re-
mains therefore that Japhet was the eldeſt ſon of Noah, and
fo he is called by Mofes, Gen. x. 21.
Japhet is fuppofed not to have been preſent at the confu-
fion of Babel. Mofes gives no account of his life or death ;
makes no mention at all of his name in the hiftory of the
nations that aroſe from Babel: ſo that it is probable that he
lived and died where his father Noah fettled after the flood.
The defcendants of Japhet, which came to Shinaar, and were
heads of nations, at or fome time after the difperfion of man-
kind, were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Meſech, Tubal,
Tiras, Aſkanez, Riphath, Togarmah, Eliſha, Tarſhiſh, Kit-
tim, Dodanim. The countries which they fixed in were as
follows:
Gomer, Tubal, Togarmah, Magog, and Meſech fettled in
and near the north parts of Syria. The prophet Ezekiel,
foretelling the troubles which foreign princes ſhould endea-
vour to bring upon the Ifraelites, calls the nations he ſpeaks
of by their ancient original names, taken from their first
founders or anceſtors: and thus Gog, the king of Magog, is
faid to be the chief prince of Mefech and Tubal f. So that
wherever thefe countries were, this, I think, we may con-
clude, that the lands of Mefech, Tubal, and Magog, were
near to one another; united in time under the dominion of
a prince, called by the prophet Gog. And as we learn from
Ezekiel, that theſe countries were contiguous; fo if we con-
fider that Hierapolis, or the prefent Aleppo, was anciently
called Magog, this will intimate to us the fituation of theſe
nations. The name that Lucian calls this city by, is its
common one, iɛpà wóλs, or the facred city; but he fays ex-
prefsly, that anciently it was called by another name. And
Pliny tells what that ancient name was; the Syrians, he
b
e Gen. v. 32.
f Ezek. xxxviii. 2.
8 Lucian. de Dea Syria.
↳ Lib. v. cap. 23.
90
{
fays,
92
Book III.
Connection of the Sacred
i
fays, called it Magog. Maimonides places Magog in
Syria; and Bochart himſelf, though he would willingly
plant Magog in Scythia, acknowledges Hierapolis to have
been named from him. We have therefore reafon to think
Magog the country, of which Aleppo was chief city, and the
land of Mefech and of Tubal were adjacent to it. In theſe
parts, therefore, Tubal, Mefech, and Magog fixed, and their
lands were called after their names. The houſe of Togar-
mah is in the fame chapter of Ezekiel' ſaid to be of the
North-quarters. There were two remarkable powers pro-
phefied of, who were to afflict the Ifraelites; and they are
defcribed in Scripture by the kings of the North, and the kings
of the South by the kings of the South are meant the kings
of Egypt; by the kings of the North, the kings of Syria.
Togarmah of the North-quarters therefore is a country, part
of Syria, very probably bordering upon Magog, which gives
it a fituation very fit for trading in the fairs of Tyre with
horfes and mules, according to what the Prophet " fays of
the Togarmians. Gomer and his bands feem " to be joined
by the fame Prophet to Togarmah. We may therefore fup-
pofe his country to be adjacent.
m
Aſkanez planted himſelf near Armenia; for the prophet
Jeremiah, fpeaking of the nations that ſhould be called to
the deſtruction or taking of Babylon by the Medes under
Cyrus, mentions Ararat, Minni, and Afkanez. It is proba-
ble theſe three nations, thus joined together by the Prophet,
bordered upon one another; and fince Minni is Armenia the
Lefs, called Aram-minni; and Ararat the country in which
the mountains of Ararat, or Taurus, take their rife, Afkanez
muſt be ſome neighbouring and adjacent nation. It is ob-
fervable from profane hiftory, that Cyrus, before he ſhut up
Babylon, in the fiege in which he took it, after the con-
queſt of Crœfus King of Lydia P, by his captains fubdued
Afia Minor, and with part of his army under his own con-
duct, reduced the nations of Upper Afia, and having fettled
In Halicoth therumoth, c. i. §. 9.
k Phaleg. 1. i. c. 2.
1 Ezek. xxxviii. 6.
m Ezek. xxvii. 14.
Ezek. xxxvii. 6.
• Jerem. li. 27.
P Xenophon. Cyropæd. 1. vii. c. 4.
Herodot. 1. i.
q Herod. 1. i.
them
Book III.
93
and Profane Hiftory.
I
them under his obedience, and very probably enforced his
army by levies of new foldiers made amongst them, he
entered Affyria, and befieged Babylon; and this was the
calling Ararat, Minni, and Afkanez, to affift the Medes
againſt Babylon, which the Prophet ſpeaks of.
Tarſhiſh planted Cilicia; for the prophet Iſaiah calls a
country of this name to join in lamentation for the deſtruc-
tion of Tyre, (Ifaiah xxiii.) And the country which the
Prophet thus calls upon, feems to lie over fea from Tyre,
and to be a frequent trader to Tyre', and therefore not vaft-
ly diſtant, and to be a place of confiderable ſhipping "; all
which marks belonged, at the time of theſe deſcriptions,
more evidently to Cilicia than to any other nation of the
world.
*
Kittim was the father of the Macedonians; for the de-
ftruction of Tyre, effected by Alexander of Macedon, is faid
to be of Kittim ; and Alexander himſelf is defcribed,
Alexander the ſon of Philip who came out of the land
of Kittim²; and the navy of Alexander is prophefied of and
called a hips that should come from Kittim; and Perfeus the
King of Macedon, who was conquered by the Romans, is
called the King of the Kittims b; and the Macedonian or
Greek ſhipping, which brought the Roman ambaffadors to
Egypt, are called the ſhips of Kittim. Bochart & thinks that
the ſhips here ſpoken of were ſhips of Italy; and from this
text, and another or two, which he evidently miſtakes the
true meaning of, he would infer the land of Kittim to be
Bochart in Phaleg. lib. iii. c. 9. en-
deavours to prove Aſkanez to be Phry-
gia, from fome particular levies which
Hyftafpes made there for the increaſe
of Cyrus's army: but as Cyrus made
uſe of theſe for the conqueft of many
other nations, before he went back to
Babylon, thefe levies cannot properly
be faid to have been raiſed for the fiege
of that city. It is more probable, that
he enforced his army in all countries
he fubdued; and as his laft conquefts
before he went to Babylon were in Ar-
menia, and the parts adjacent, it was
theſe nations he took with him to ſub-
due Affyria.
s Ifaiah xxiii. 6.
t Ezekiel xxvii. 12.
u Iſaiah xxiii. 1, and 14. And the
Heathen writers reprefent the Cilicians
as the ancient mafters of the feas. See
Strab. 1. xiv. p. 678. & Solin. 41.
x Ifaiah xxiii. 1.
Z
I Maccab. i. I.
a Num. xxiv. 24.
b
1 Maccab. viii. 5.
c Dan. xi. 30.
d Bochart would render the iſles of
Kittim, (Ezek. xxvii. 6.) ifles of Italy;
but it is more probably rendered, ifles
of Greece, or Macedon, i. e. ifles near
Macedon, in the Egean Sea.
Italy:
94
Book III.
Connection of the Sacred
Italy but if we confider the words of Daniel, we ſhall find
the meaning of them to be this; that, at the time appointed,
the king of the North, i. c. Antiochus ', fhould return and
come toward the South, i. e. towards Egypt; but it ſhould
not be as the former or as the latter, i. e. his coming fhould
not be fucceſsful, as it had once before been, and as it was
again afterwards; for the fhips of Kittim fhould come againſt
him; the Roman ambaffadors in fhips of or from Macedonia
fhould come againſt him, and oblige him to return home
without ravaging or feizing upon Egypt. And it is re-
markable, that the circumstances of C. Popilius's voyage,
who was the Roman ambaffador here ſpoken of, do give a
reafon for calling the fhips he failed in, ſhips of or from Kit-
tim, or Macedonia; for his voyage from Rome was in this
manner he failed into the Egean Sea, and defigned before
his embaffy to have gone to Macedonia, where the Conful
was then engaged in war with Perfeus; but the enemy
having fome ſmall veffels cruizing in thoſe feas, he was in-
duced for his fafety to put in at Delos, and fent his fhips
with fome meffage to the Conful in Macedonia. He intend-
ed at first not to have waited the return of his fhips, but to
have purſued his embaffy, by the affiftance of the Athenians,
who furniſhed him with fhips for the voyage; but before he
fet fail, his fhips came back again, and brought news of
Æmilius's conqueft of Macedon; upon this he diſmiſſed the
Athenian fhips, and fet fail towards Egypt. And thus the
fhips that carried him to the finithing this embaſſy came
from Kittim, or Macedonia.
Elisha is thought to have planted fome of the Cyclades in
the Ægean Sea, for the Cyclades are called by his name by
Ezekiel ". Blue and purple are faid to be brought to Tyre
from the ifles of Elifha. In after ages the beft blue and pur-
e Dan. xi. 29, 30.
f See Dean Prideaux's Connection,
b. iii. an. 168.
£ See Livy, lib. xlv. c. 10, 11, 12.
h Ezek. xxvii. 7. Homer, Iliad 4.
mentions the Carians and Mæonians as
the ancient dyers in purple, and per-
haps here the family of Elifha might be
first fettled. Caria and Mæonia are
two countries on the coafts of Afia,
near the Ægean Sea. The ancients
often called fuch countries, ifles, as
bordered upon the fea, though they
were really part of the continent, eſpe-
cially if they uſually failed to them.
ple
Book III.
95
and Profane Hiftory.
ple were of the Tyrian dye, but in the earlier times it was
brought to Tyre to be fold from the Cyclades; and, agree-
ably hereto, ſeveral authors, both poets and profe writers,
ſpeak of a dye for purple found in the Grecian feas, and
particularly among the Cyclades i.
1
m
Javan is thought to have planted Greece; the LXX. were
of this mind, and conftantly tranflate the Hebrew word Ja-
van, into 'Exxas, or Greece. And the prophet Ezekiel re-
preſents the inhabitants of Javan to be confiderable dealers
or traders in perſons of men. And this agrees very re-
markably with the heathen accounts of Greece; for the ge-
nerality of writers ſpeak of the moſt elegant and beſt flaves
as coming out of the feveral countries of Greece. Heliodo-
rus mentions two Ionian fervants fent as prefents to Thea-
genes and Chariclea. And in another place makes Cy-
bele's cup-bearer to be a lafs of Ionia. Ælian fuppofes the
cauſe of Darius's making war upon the Greeks, to be his
wife Atolla's defire to have fome Grecian maidens to attend
her. And Herodotus reports the fame fact, and adds, that
the perfuaded her huſband to turn his arms from the Scythi-
ans upon the Greeks, in order to get her fome fervants out
of fome particular parts of Greece, where he heard there
were very
famous ones. Claudian alludes to this requeſt of
Atoffa; and Martial many times fpeaks in commenda-
tion of the Greek flaves.
Madai was very probably the father of the Medes; for the
Medes are always called by this name ¹.
Tiras was the father of the Thracians ³.
Riphath fettled near the borders of Paphlagonia.
Where Dodanim fettled is very uncertain. His name is
alfo wrote Rhodanim. And it is thought he planted
1 Plin. l. ix. c. 36. Paufan. in La-
conicis. id. in Phocicis. Horat. lib. ii.
Od. 18. Stat. 1. i. Sylv. 2. Juvenal. Sa-
tyr. 8. 1. 101. Horat. lib. iv. Od. 13. Vi-
truv. 1. vii. c. 13.
k Ezek. xxvii. 13.
1 Heliodor. 1. vi. par. 1619. p. 338.
m Id. l. viii.
n Elian. de Animal. 1. xi. c. 27.
• Herodot, in Thalia, p. 13+
P Claudian. lib. ii. in Eutrop.
9 Epig. 1. iv. 66.
Dan. v. 28. chap. vi. ver. 8, 12,
15. chap. viii. ver. 20. and Efther i. 3,
14, 18, 19. chap. x. ver. 2.
s Abrah. Zacuth. in lib. Jachufin f.
145. Jofeph. Antiq. I. i. c. 7. Eufeb.
in Chron. p. 12. Euftath. in Hexaem.
Lug. 1629. p. 51. et al.
1 Chron. i. 7.
Rhodes;
୨୪
Book III
Connection of the Sacred
Rhodes; though the arguments to fupport this opinion are
very flender.
X
Z
น
Shem was the fecond fon of Noab. Mofes has told us
how long he lived, and when he died; ſo that probably he
lived amongst fome of thefe nations. It is no where faid
where he lived; but fome writers have imagined him to be
Melchifedec, the king of Salem, to whom Abraham paid
tithes, Gen. xiv. 20. Shem was indeed alive at that time
and lived many years after; but there is no proof of his be-
ing king of Salem. It is not likely he ſhould reign king
over the children of Ham. And Abraham's tithes were not
paid to Shem the anceſtor and head of Abraham's family,
but (according to Hebrews vii. 6.) to one of a different and
diftinct family; to one that was (fays the facred writer)
ὁ μὴ γενεαλογόμενΘ ἐξ αὐτῶν, not of their defcent or genealo
gy. The fons of Shem were Elam, Afhur, Arphaxad, Lud,
Aram.
Elam led his affociates into Perfia, and became the planter
of that country; and agreeably hereto the Perfians are con-
ftantly called in Scripture Elamites. Elam could at firft
people but a ſmall tract of ground; but it ſeems as if he fixed
himſelf near the place where the kings of Perfia afterwards
had their refidence; for when the empire, which began at
Elam, came to be extended over other countries, and to take
a new name, and to be divided into many provinces, the
head province retained the name of Elam; thus the palace
of Sufa, or Shufan, was in the province of Elam ".
Afhur for fome time lived under Nimrod, in the land of
Shinaar; but afterwards removed with his company into
Affyria, and built in time fome cities there, Nineveh, Reho-
both, Calah, and Refen .
Arphaxad lived at Ur of the Chaldees, which (according to
St. Stephen, who fuppofed Abraham to live in Mefopota-
" Gen. xi.
x Targ. Jonathan et Targ. Hierofo-
lym. et Midras Agada quam citat R.
Sclomo. et Cabbaliftæ in Baalhattu-
rim.
z For Shern, who lived to be 600
years old, lived 13 years after the death
of Sarah, and till Abraham was 151
years old.
a Ifaiah xxi. 2. Jerem. xxv. 25.
Acts 1. 9. et in al. loc.
b Dan. viii. 2.
© Gen. x. II, 12.
d Acts vii. 2.
mia,
Book III.
97
and Profane Hiftory.
mia, before he lived at Haran) was near to Shinaar and
Affyria; but over the rivers, fo as to be in Mefopota-
mia. Eber, the grandſon of Arphaxad, had two ſons, Peleg
and Jocktan. Peleg was born about the time of the confu-
fion; and when Jocktan came to be of years to head a com-
pany, he led away part of this family to feek a new habita-
tion. Jocktan had thirteen fons, Almodad, Sheleph, Ha-
zarmeveh, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Dicklah, Obal, Abimael,
Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, Jobab. Theſe and their families
fpread, in time, from mount Meſha to mount Sephar, two
mountains in the Eafts. There were nations in India which
took the names of fome of thefe fons of Jocktan; namely,
Ophir, whither Solomon fent for gold; and Havilah, on the
bank of the river Ganges; and the Sabeans mentioned by
Dionyfius in his Periegefis. And fome writers have imagin-
ed, that Sheba, Havilah, and Ophir, inhabited India; but it
is much more probable, that as the fons of Jocktan ſpread
from Meſha to Sephar, fo their defcendants might in time,
in after ages, people the countries from Sephar, until they
reached to Ganges, and ſpread over into India; and the
countries there planted might be called by the names of the
anceſtors of thoſe who planted them; though the perfons
whoſe names they were called by never lived in them.
The other branch of Arphaxad's family continued at Ur
for three generations. In the days of Terah the father of
Abraham, the Chaldeans expelled them their country, be-
cauſe they would not worſhip their gods". Upon this they
removed over Mefopotamia to Haran, and here they conti-
nued until Terah died; and then Abraham, and Lot, and all
that belonged to them, left the reſt of their brethren at Ha-
ran, and travelled into Canaan *.
Lud is generally ſuppoſed to be the father of the Lydians
in Leffer Afia.
Aram. The name Aram is conftantly in Scripture the
name of Syria; thus Naaman the Syrian is called the Ara-
mean '; thus the Syrian language is called the Aramean ™ ;
e Gen. x. 25.
f Ver. 26-29.
i Gen. xi. 31.
1
k Gen. xii. 5.
2 Kings v. 1.
g Ver. 30.
h Judith v. 8.
H
VOL. I.
十
​Ezra iv. 7. and Ifaiah xxxvi. 11.
and
98
Book III.
Connection of the Sacred
and the Syrians are called by this name in all places of
Scripture wherever they are mentioned". And they were
known by this name to the ancient heathen writers. Syria,
fays Eufebius from Jofephus, was called Aram, until in after
ages it took another name from one Syrus. And Strabo ex-
preſsly fays, that the people we now call Syrians were an-
ciently called by the Syrians Aramenians, and Arameans.
And agreeably hereto the adjoining countries, into which
the poſterity of Aram might ſpread, took the name of Aram,
only with fome other additional name joined to it. Thus
Armenia the Lefs came to be called Aram-minni, or the Lit-
tle Aram. Mefopotamia was named Padan-Aram, or the
Field of Aram; and fometimes Aram-Naharaim, or Aram of
the Rivers. And we find Bethuel and Laban, the fons of
Nahor, the defcendant of Arphaxad, and not of Aram, are
called Syrians, or Arameans, from their coming to live in
this country. In what particular part of Syria Aram ſettled
himself is uncertain; nor have we any reafons to imagine
that his fons Hul, Mefh, or Gether, ever ſeparated from him.
Nor is it certain that the land of Uz, which the prophet Je-
remiah makes part of the land of Edom, and which was
the land in which Job lived, feated near the Ifmaelites and
Sabeaus who robbed him, had its name from Uz the ſon of
Aram.
Ham was the youngeſt ſon of Noah. It is thought that he
was at the confufion of Babel; and that after mankind was
difperfed he lived in Canaan, fays Jurieu 9, and was king of
Salem; or, fay other writers, he went into Egypt. Both
thefe opinions are at beſt uncertain. The reafons for the lat-
ter, that Egypt is often called the land of Ham', and that
Ham, or Jupiter Ammon, was there worshipped, are not con-
clufive arguments that Ham himſelf ever lived there. The
defcendants of Ham might call the land of Egypt, when they
came to dwell in it, after the name of their anceſtor, in re-
membrance of him; as the children of Terah called the
n See 2 Sam. viii. 5. and x. 6.
1 Kings xx. 20. 2 Kings v. 2. 1 Chron.
xix. 1o. ct in mille al. loc.
• Gen. xxv. 20.
P. Lam. iv. 21.
9 Critical Hiſt.
r Pl. cv. 23, 27. Pfal. lxxviii. 51,
&c.
1
country
Book III.
99
and Profane Hiſtory.
country they travelled into, when they left Ur, by the name
of Haran. Haran himſelf died in Ur of the Chaldees, the
land of his nativity; and perhaps his being dead occafioned
his kindred to call the part of Mefopotamia where they ſet-
tled, the land of Haran, in remembrance of him. In like
manner the defcendants of Ham, when they came to look
back to their anceſtors, and to pay honours to the memory of
fuch of them as had been of old famous in their generations,
might place their great anceftor Ham at the head of their
deities, though he had never lived amongst them. The fons
of Ham were Cufh, Mizraim, Phul, and Canaan.
Cuſh does not appear to have been a leader or a governor
of any particular company. He had fo much reſpect paid
him, as to have a country called by his name, the land of
Cufh; but its fituation was where his fon Nimrod bore rule ;
for the land of Cuſh was at firſt within the compaſs of the
river Gihon; for that river, ſays Mofes ", compaſſed the
whole land of Cufh. Perhaps fomewhere hereabouts Cufh
lived and died, honoured by his fons, who were fond of
calling their countries after his name; for we find the name
Cufh, though at firft confined to a fmall tract of ground, was
in time made the name of feveral countries. The children
of Cuſh ſpread in time into the feveral parts of Arabia, over
the borders of the land of Edom, into Arabia Felix, up to
Midian and Egypt; and we find inftances in Scripture of all
theſe countries being called by the name of the land of
Cufh.
I may here take notice of a very grofs miſtake which runs
through our English translation of the Bible. We con-
ſtantly render the land of Cuſh, the land of Ethiopia; but
there is not any one place in Scripture, where the land of
Cuſh ſhould be fo rendered. By the land of Cuth is always
meant fome part of Arabia; for there are fome texts which
cannot poffibly have any meaning, if we render Cufh, Ethi-
s Gen. xi. 31.
t Ibid. ver. 28.
u Gen. ii. 13.
* According to the Perfian and Ara-
bian traditions, Cuth lived at Erac, one
of his fon Nimrod's cities. Cuſh (is
eft Cutha) fuit rex territorii Babel, et
refidebat in Erac. Tabari. in cap. de
morte Saræ, apud Hyde de Rel. vet.
Perf. p. 40.
H 2
opia:
100
Book III.
Connection of the Sacred
Z
opia: but the ſenſe of all is clear and eaſy, if we tranſlate it
Arabia. Thus, for inftance, Ezekiel prophefying of a defo-
lation which God would bring upon all Egypt, ſays, that it
ſhould be utterly waſte and defolate, from the tower of Syene
even unto the border of Cufh. Now the tower of Syene ſtood
upon the borders of Egypt, next to Ethiopia; Cuſh, there-
fore, must be the oppofite country on the other fide of Egypt,
for this only can make the Prophet intelligible, who meant
from one fide of Egypt to the other. Syene and Ethiopia
join, and are contiguous, and therefore, from Syene to Ethio-
pia, are words of no meaning, or at moſt can be no defcrip-
tion of Egypt, but muſt be an evident blunder and miſtake
of our tranflators a. And as this particular paffage does
clearly evidence Arabia to be the land of Cuſh, ſo all other
places accord very well to this interpretation. We are told b
that the Arabians near the Cuſhites joined with the Philif-
tines againſt Jehoram. Now if theſe Cufhites are the Ethi-
opians, Ethiopia being fituate on the other fide of Egypt, no
Arabians could poffibly live near them. The Cufhites there-
fore here ſpoken of are the inhabitants of Arabia Felix,
where Dedan and Sheba, deſcendants of Cuſh, fixed them-
ſelves; and the Arabians bordering upon them, who joined
with the Philiftines, were the Edomites who had revolted
lately from Jehoram, and who lay between the Philistines and
theſe Cufhites. So again, when Sennacherib King of Affy-
ria was laying fiege to Libnah, upon hearing that Tirhakah,
a king of Cuſhi c, came out againſt him, he ſent a threatening
meſſage to Hezekiah, and prepared to meet this new enemy.
Our tranſlation makes Tirhakah a king of Ethiopia; but
how unlikely is it that a king, living on the other fide of
Egypt, fhould croſs all that country, and march an army four
z Ezek. xxix. 10.
ner.
A very learned writer would cor-
rect this miſtake in the following man-
The Hebrew word Migdol, he
fays, which is tranflated tower, is the
name of the city Magdolum, which
was at the entrance of Egypt from Pa-
leftine and Syene was at the other
end, and upon the borders of Ethiopia ;
but this correction, I think, cannot
;
be admitted, for the Hebrew words are
from Migdol ממגדל עד-סונה not
ממגדל סונה ועד- to Seveneh-but
v, i. e. from Migdol Sevench,
or of Seveneh, even to the border of
Cuſh.
b
2 Chron. xxi. 16.
C
2 Kings xix. 9.
or
{
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Aram minni
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Togarma
ARAM
& his Sons
Gomer
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Land of Haran
R. Faphrates
SH
Rehoboth
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1.MAP
of the Several Countries
peopled or planted
by the descendents of
NOAH,
who dispersed from the
Land of Shinaar
at er soon
after the
CONFUSION of TONGUES.
Ludim
Lehabim
+
Ah anim
M 1
Caphtorim
Naphtuhim
Philistim
CASPIAN
SE A
Sons of
M. Mesha
Jocktan
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Ur
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Babel
Land of
Shinaar
P
Land of Havilah
Erech
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Zeboim
Land
Seba
of
Havilah
Sabta
Dedan
Sabtecha
Casluhim
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Pathrusim
Sheba
Raama
Vol.I.p. 101.

Mt Sephar
Madai
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Book III.
ΙΟΙ
and Profane Hiftory.
d
or five hundred miles to affift the Jews! The feat of the war
lies too diſtant for the king of Ethiopia to be fo fuddenly
engaged in it. Some neighbouring prince, whoſe country
bordered upon the nations attacked by Sennacherib, might
think it adviſable to raiſe an army on his back to check
his conquefts, left himſelf in time fhould fuffer from him:
and fuch a neighbouring prince was this king of Cufh, a
king of Arabia, whofe country lay near to Ezion-Geber, and
not far from the borders of Judea. The learned Dr. Pri-
deaux makes Tirhakah an Ethiopian, kinfman to the king
of Egypt; and, to make it probable that the Ethiopian might
be concerned in 'the war, he imagines Tirhakah's army to
march against Sennacherib, when he was befieging Pelufi-
um, a city of Egypt. But this feems contrary to the hifto-
ry. Sennacherib had been warring againſt Lachiſh, and
was at Libnah when the rumour of Tirhakah's expedition
reached him. Sennacherib's war with Egypt was over be-
fore this, and he had done to Egypt all that his heart could
defire; had overrun the country, carried away captive all
the inhabitants of No-Anion, a great and ftrong city of
Egypt, according to what the prophet Itaiah had foretold f,
and the prophet Nahum obferved to the Ninevites. That
Sennacherib's conqueft of Egypt was over before he came to
Lachifh and Libnah, is evident, if we confider that after this
he undertook no expedition. Upon hearing the rumour of
Tirhakah, he decamped; and foon after God fent the blaſt
upon him, and deftroyed his army; and then he was ob-
liged to return home to his own land, and was there, fome
time after, murdered. And agreeably hereto, Rabſhakeh re-
preſents the king of Egypt but as a bruifed reed¹; but a
reed in his greateſt ſtrength, eaſy to be broken by the king
of Affyria; and a bruifed reed, already brought into a very
diſtreffed condition, by the victories his mafter had obtained
over him. Jofephus mentions this Tirhakah by the name
of Tharfices, and fuppofes him to aflift Egypt, and not the
k
d Con, vol. i. book i. an. 706.
• See 2 Kings xix.
Ifaiah xx. 4.
Nahum iii. 8.
h2 Kings xix. 7.
i
2 Kings xviii. 21.
k Jofeph. Antiq. 1. x. c. 1.
I.
H 3
Jews,
102
Book III.
Connection of the Sacred
Jews, and to march his army when Sennacherib was engag-
ed at Pelufium: but this is one inftance where Jofephus did
not copy carefully from the facred pages. He was mifled
in this particular by Herodotus, whom he quotes in his re-
lation of this ftory: however the defcription which Jofephus
gives of Tirhakah's march through the defert of Arabia, in-
to the territories of the king of Affyria, fhews evidently that
he was a king of Arabia, and not of Ethiopia. The king of
Cuſh, therefore, was a king of Arabia. I may add further,
that Egypt is deſcribed to lie beyond the rivers of Cuſh¹ 43
now if Cuſh fignifies Ethiopia, Ethiopia might poffibly be
faid to lie beyond the rivers of Egypt, but Egypt cannot
poffibly be deſcribed to lie beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
but Cush here fignifies Arabia; and the rivers of Arabia, be-
yond which Egypt is faid to lie, are that which runs into the
Lake Sirbonis, commonly called the river of Egypt, and
the river Sihor, mentioned Jofh. xiii. 3. Again, we are
told that Miriam and Aaron pake againfl Mofes, becauſe of
the Cubite woman whom he had married; for he had mar-
ried a Cufhite woman. We must not here render Cufhite,
Ethiopian, as our English tranflators do; for Mofes never
married one of that country; rather the Cufhite woman was
Zipporah the Arabian, the daughter of Jethro the prieſt of
Midian". I might bring feveral other paffages of Scripture
to prove the land of Cufh to be fome or other of the parts of
Arabia, where the defcendants of Cufh fettled. In the later
writings of the Scriptures, the name of Cuſh is given only to
the parts remote and diftant from Babylon; the reaſon
whercof was probably this: when the Babylonian empire
came to flourish, the parts near to Babylon acquired new
names, and loft their old ones in the great turns and revolu-
tions of the empire; but the changes of names and places
near Babylon, not affecting the countries that lay at a diſ-
tance, the Prophets in after ages might properly enough give
thefe the name of Cufh, long after the places, near to which
Cufh first fettled, had loft all name and remembrance of
him.
1 Ifaiah xviii. 1.
Numb. xii. 1.
* Exod. ii. 21.
The
Book III.
103
and Profane Hiflory.
The fons of Cuſh were Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, Sab-
techa, Sheba, Dedan, and Nimrod.
Nimrod reigned king at Babel, and built round him feve-
ral cities, Erac, Achad, and Calne.
Havilah lived within the branch of the river Pifon, which
ran out of the Euphrates into the bay of Perfia; for the
country of the Ifhmaelites, which extended itfelf from Egypt
in a direct line towards Babylonia, or Shinaar, is defcribed
to lie from Shur, which is before Egypt, to Havilah P.
Seba, Sabta, Raamah, Sabtecha, and their defcendants and
affociates, peopled Arabia Felix. There are but flender
proofs of the particular places where Seba, Sabta, and Sab-
techa first fettled. Pliny fays, the Sabeans, inhabitants of
Arabia, fainous for their ſpicery, are a number of nations
which reach from fea to fea, i. e. from the Perlian Gulf to
the Red Sea. It is probable they entered the country near
Havilah and Shinaar, and their first little companies took dif-
ferent paths in it; and whilft they were infant nations, they
might live diſtin& and feparate from one another; time and
increaſe made them fufficient to fill´and repleniſh it, and fo
to mingle with and unite to one another.
Raamia and his two fons, Sheba and Dedan, peopled the
parts adjacent to the Red Sea. Sheba lived on the borders
of the land of Midian; and hence it happened, that in after-
ages a queen of this country, hearing of the renown of King
Solomon, probably from his famous fhipping at Ezion-Ge-
ber, on the borders of her kingdom, went to visit him 9.
Raama was near to Sheba, for they are mentioned as joint
traders to Tyre in ſpicery, the noted product of thofe coun-
tries'. Dedan fixed on the borders of the land of Edom;
for Ezekiel, prophefying of the land of Edom, and the parts
adjacent, joins Dedan to it.
Mizraim was fecond fon of Ham. His defcendants were
Ludim, Ananim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrufim, Caflu-
him, Philiftim, Caphtorim.
• Gen. x. 10.
Chap. xxv. 18.
1 Kings x.
H 4
Ezek. xxvii. 22.
• Ezek. xxv. 13.
Mizraim
104
Book III.
Connection of the Sacred
Mizraim became king of Egypt, which after his death was
divided into three kingdoms, by three of his fons. His fons,
names that fettled here were Ananim, who was king of Ta-
nis, or Lower Egypt, called afterwards Delta; Naphtuhim,
who was king of Naph, Memphis, or Upper Egypt; and
Pathrufim, who ſet up the kingdom of Pathros, or Thebes,
in Thebais.
Ludim and Lehabim peopled Libya. The prophet Eze-
kiel' ſpeaking of the Libyans, whom he calls by their ori-
ginal name Lud, calls them a mingled people; perhaps hint-
ing their riſe from two originals: Libya feems rather deriv-
ed from Lehabim than Ludim, but we rarely find them
called otherwife than Lud; they are, I think, once named
from Lehabim, 2 Chron. xii. 3. people came out of Egypt,
the Lubims.
Cafluhim, another ſon of Mizraim, fixed himſelf at Caſhi-
otis, in the entrance of Egypt from Paleſtine. He had two
fons, Philiftim and Caphtorim. Caphtorim fucceeded him
at Cafhiotis. Philiftim planted the country of the Philistins,
between the borders of Canaan and the Mediterranean Sea.
Cafhiotis was called Caphtor, from Caphtorim, the fecond
prince of it: and the Philiftins are ſaid to have been of Caph-
tor", becauſe the place of their parent Cafluhim was fo
called.
Phut was the third fon of Ham. He was, I believe, plant-
ed fomewhere in Arabia, near to Cufh, not far from Shinaar,
probably in the land of Havilah; for the prophet Ezekiel, as
the northern enemies of the Jews were put together, fo alſo
joins thoſe that were to come from Babylon *, and makes them
to be Perſia, Cufh, and Phut. Some writers have imagined
Phut to have planted Mauritania; but how then could he be
neighbour to Cuſh or Perfia? The prophet Jeremiah, ſpeak-
ing of fome nations that ſhould over run Egypt, calls them
Cufh, Lud, and Phut y. Now the nations which fulfilled
this prophecy were, 1. Nebuchadnezzar with his army of
Cufhites and defcendants of Phut, who were both then fub-
t Chap. xxx. 5.
Amos ix. 7.
x Ezek. xxxviii. 5.
y Jerem. xlvi. 9.
ject
Book III.
105
and Profane Hiflory.
Z
ject to the Babylonian empire, greatly ravaged and laid waſte
the land; and when he had executed his mind, then Apries,
with fome forces out of Libya, killed the king of Egypt, and
finiſhed the defolation. Agreeably therefore to what was be-
fore ſaid, the Babylonians are called Cuſh and Phut, the de-
fcendants of Cufh and Phut being part of their army, and
Apries and his Libyan army are the men of Lud.
The fourth fon of Ham was Canaan. His fons were Si-
don, Heth, Jebufi, Emori, Girgafi, Hivi, Arki, Sini, Arva-
di, Zemari, Hamathi: theſe peopled the land of Canaan ª.
Sidon fixed in Phoenicia, one of whofe chief towns was
called by his name.
Ꮟ
Arvad was neighbour to Sidon ».
Heth lived near Gerar towards Egypt ©.
Where the other fons of Canaan fettled in this country
cannot be determined with any certainty and exactneſs;
only we muſt place them fomewhere between Sidon, and
Gerar, and Admah, and Zeboim, and Lafhah, for thefe places
were the boundaries of their land, according to Mofes d.
This is the fubftance of what is offered by the beſt writers,
about the firſt ſettlements after the difperfion of mankind.
We muſt not pretend to affirm it in every tittle true; but
the reader will obferve it to be countenanced by arguments
more favourable than any one, that never confidered the
fubject, would expect to meet with for a fact, that happened
ſo long ago, and but imperfectly deſcribed by the earlieſt
writers. Jofephus difperfes thefe men and their families all
over the world, into Spain and Italy; but we cannot poſſi-
bly conceive mankind fo numerous within 130 years after the
flood, as to ſend out colonies enough to ſpread into nations
ſo diſtant from the place they diſperſed from. We fee by all
the mention we have of the names of any of theſe men in the
books of the Old Teftament, that they appear to have been
firſt ſeated nearer to the land of Shinaar; and the utmoſt that
can be proved from the arguments which fome writers offer
z Prideaux Connect. book ii. an.
570. Herodot. 1. ii. §. 169.
a Gen. x. 18.
Ezek. xxvii. 8.
2 Kings vii. 6.
C
• Gen. x. 19.
in
106 Connection of the Sacred and Profane Hiftory. Book III.
in favour of Jofephus's remote plantations, will amount to no
more than this, that the companies which at the firſt dif-
perfing fettled nearer home, did afterwards increaſe, and in
time fend forth colonies, which planted the more remote.
countries. I believe, if an exact view was taken of all the
ſeveral ſchemes offered upon this ſubject, all of them, that
are ſupported with any fhew of argument, might be reduced
to a pretty good agreement with one another. For though
there is not a full and abfolute proof of any one ſcheme; yet
all that can be offered in this matter has the fame tendency
to prove this, that the feveral parts of the world, except
thoſe only where we have fuppofed Noah to ſettle, and the
plantations proceeding from them, were inhabited, and the
inhabitants of them cultivated the ufe of letters, and other
arts, fooner or later, in fuch a proportion of time as anſwers
to their diſtance from the place which Mofes calls the land
of Shinaar. On the other hand, there are no broken ftories,
nor pieces of antiquity, in all the monuments of learning,
facred or profane, that either are, or are faid ever to have
been in the world, which do make it feem probable, that
mankind were firſt ſeated in any other place.
The account of the diviſion of the earth, given us in the
Chronicon of Eufebius, is founded upon the fuppofition that
Noah, fome time before his death, fat down by divine ap-
pointment, and parted the world amongſt his three children,
ordering what regions the defcendants of each of them ſhould
inhabit; but this being a mere fiction, no great regard can
be had to it. Noah never came into thefe parts of the world
at all, as has been obſerved already from feveral very proba-
ble arguments for his fettling in a far diftant place, and will
be further evidenced hereafter, when I come to confider the
maxims and polity upon which kingdoms were founded
in the eaſtern parts, very different from thofe which the tra-
vellers from Shinaar adhered to, in their appointments of
kings and governors.
THE
THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
CONNECTED.
BOOK IV.
AFTER the feparation of mankind, Nimrod became the
head of thoſe which remained at Shinaar. Nimrod was a
mighly bunter before the Lord'. He taught the people to make
up companies, and to chafe and kill the wild beafts abound-
ing in thoſe parts; and from his gathering them together,
and exercising them in bands for this purpoſe, he by degrees
led them on to a focial defence of one another, and laid the
foundations of his authority and dominion. His kingdom
began at Babel; and in time, as his people multiplied, he
extended it further: perhaps he found it inconvenient to
have too large a number dwell together; a populous city
would not be ſo eaſily influenced as a fmall neighbourhood;
for we cannot imagine the firſt kings to be able either to
make or
execute laws with that ftrictneſs and rigour,
which is neceffary in a body of men fo large, as to afford
f Gen. x. 9.
In this manner the Perfians fitted
their kings for war, and for govern-
ment, by hunting. See Xenoph. Cy-
ropæd. I. i.
numerous
108
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
numerous offenders; and for this reafon it feems to have
been a prudent inftitution of Nimrod, when his city Babel
began to be too populous to be regulated by his inſpection,
and governed by his influence, to lay the foundations of
other cities, Erac, Achad, and Calne. By this means he dif-
poſed of numbers of his people, and put them under the di-
rections of fuch proper deputies as he might appoint over
them; or perhaps, they, with his confent ", might choofe
for themſelves. And thus by ſteps and degrees he brought
their minds to a fenfe of government, until the ufe of it
came to be experienced, and thereby the force and power of
laws fettled and confirmed. Many of the Fathers, and fome
later writers after them, repreſent Nimrod as a moft wicked
and infolent tyrant; and St. Auſtin in particular ſays he was
a mighty hunter; not as we tranflate it, before, or in the pre-
fence of the Lord, but against the Lord. It is very likely
that Nimrod exercifed his companions into ſome ſort of ſkill
in war;
and having a mind to fet down with them at Shi-
naar, he obliged his brethren that would not come into his
fociety to remove, and provide for themfelves other habita-
tions; and this might cauſe them to go away with ill no-
tions of him, and occafion them to ſpread amongſt their de-
ſcendants the worst accounts they could give of his hunting,
by which they were thus chafed from their firſt dwellings.
However, we do not find he waged any wars to enlarge his
empire. Ninus, according to Juftin, was the first that uſed
an army with this view. Nimrod's government was extend-
ed no farther than the neceffities or conveniences of his people
required. His country was probably no more than the pro-
vince of Babylonia. He began his reign anno mundi 1757,
and it is thought he reigned about 148 years, and ſo died
anno mundi 1905.
Some time in Nimrod's reign', Aſhur, one of the deſcend-
ants of Shem, led a number of men from Babel; they tra-
velled under his conduct up the Tigris, and fettled in Affy-
ria, and laid the firft foundations of Nineveh. Afhur go-
h Cufh, the father of Nimrod, is
thought to have been governor at Erac.
Hyde, Rel. vet. Perf. p. 40.
Gen. x. 11. Jofeph. 1. i. c. 7.
verned
Book IV.
109
and Profane Hiftory.
verned them as Nimrod did the Babylonians, and as they
increaſed, difperfed them in the country, and ſet them to
build fome little adjacent cities, Rehoboth, Refen, and Calah.
Belus fucceeded Nimrod, and was the fecond king of Ba-
bylon. We are not told of what family he was; and per-
haps he was not much akin to his predeceffor. Nimrod
himſelf was no way by birth entitled to be king of Shinaar;
nor have we any reafon to imagine, that mankind, when
they first formed larger focieties than thofe of families, were
directed by any thing in the choice of their kings, but the
expectation of ſome public good to be promoted by them.
The firſt civil polity was that of kings, according to Juſtin *;
and the perfons advanced to that dignity were promoted to
it not by a giddy ambition, but were chofen for their known
abilities of wiſdom and virtue. Nimrod had convinced the
people of the advantages of forming a larger fociety than
they had before ever thought of; and fo the people, under a
ſenſe of the weight and wiſdom of what he propoſed, choſe
him, though a young man in compariſon of many alive at
that time, to rule and govern them, for the ends which he
propoſed to them; and when he died, Belus appeared to be
the moſt proper perſon, and for that reaſon was appointed to
fucceed him. Belus was a prince of ftudy; the inventor of
the Chaldean aftronomy, fays Pliny. He is thought to
have ſpent his time in cultivating his country, and improv-
ing his people. He reigned fixty years, and died anno mun-
di 1965.
Afhur king of Nineveh dying much about this time,
Ninus became the fecond king of Affyria. Ninus was of an
enterprizing and ambitious ſpirit. He began the firſt wars,
and broke the peace of the world ". Babylonia was an ad-
jacent country, too near him to lie out of his view and de-
fires. He coveted to enlarge his empire; and having pre-
k Juftin. 1. i. c. I. and Diodorus Si-
culus was of the fame opinion: his
words are, Διὸ καὶ τὸ παλαιὸν παραδίδο
σθαι τὰς βασιλείας μὴ τοῖς ἐκγόνοις τῶν
ἀρξάντων, ἀλλὰ τοῖς πλῆςα κ μέγισα τὸ
πλῆρον εὐεργετᾶσιν, εἴτε προσκαλεσμένων
τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰς ἐφ' ἑαυτῶν βασιλᾶς ἐπὶ
τὴν κοινὴν εὐεργεσίαν, εἴτε καὶ κατ' ἀλήθει
αν ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς ἀναγραφαῖς ὕτω παρειλή
pórav. Diodor. Sic. Hift. 1. i. p. 28.
I Plin. lib. vi. c. 26.
m Juftin. 1. i. c. I.
pared
}
110
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
n
pared his people for it, he eafily overran his neighbours,
who were employed in cultivating other arts, but were inex-
pert at war: he in a little time fubdued the Babylonians.
Diodorus Siculus " makes particular mention of this conqueft
of Babylonia, in words very agreeable to the circumſtances
of theſe times. "Ninus (fays he) the king of Affyria, af-
"filled by a king of the Arabians, invaded the Babylonians
"with a powerful army. The preſent Babylon was not then
"built, but there were in the country of Babylonia other
"cities of figure. He eafily reduced theſe his neighbours,
"who had no great ſkill in war, and laid them under tri-
"bute." After Ninus had fubdued the Babylonians, he be-
gan to think of conquering other nations; and in a few
years overran many of the infant ſtates of Afia; and fo by
uniting kingdom to kingdom he laid the foundations of the
Affyrian empire. He was for ever reſtleſs and aſpiring; the
fubduing one people led him on to attempt another, and the
paffions of men being then of the fame fort they now are,
every new victory carried him ftill forwards, without end,
till he died. His laft attempt was upon Oxyartes, or Zoro-
aftres king of Bactria. Here he met a more powerful refift-
ance than he had before experienced. After feveral fruitleſs
attempts upon the chief city of Bactria, he at laſt conquered
it, by the contrivance and conduct of Semiramis, a woman,
wife of Menon a captain in his army. The fpirit and bra-
very of Semiramis fo charmed him, that he fell in love with
her, and forced her huſband to confent to his having her for
his wife, offering him in lieu of Semiramis his own daughter.
Ninus had a fon by Semiramis, named Ninyas; and after a
reign of two and fifty years, died anno mundi 2017.
When Ninus was dead, Semiramis expreffed in her actions.
fuch a conduct, as made her appear the fitteſt perſon to com-
mand the new but large empire. Her fon was but a minor,
and during the latter part of Ninus's life, fhe had had fo
great a fhare in the adminiſtration, and always acquitted her-
felf to the public fatisfaction, that there feems no need of
» Diodorus Siculus, 1. ii. §. 1. p. 64.
the
Book IV.
III
and Profane Hiftory.
the contrivance of perfonating her fon °, to obtain her the em-
pire. Her advancement to it was eafy and natural. When
fhe took upon her to be queen, the public affairs were but in
the hands into which Ninus when alive uſed generally to
put them; and it is not likely that the people fhould be un-
eaſy at her governing, who had for ſeveral years together, by
a feries of actions, gained herſelf a great credit and afcen-
dant over them; eſpecially if we confider, that when ſhe took
up the fovereignty, fhe ftill preffed forward in a courſe of
action, which continually exceeded the expectations of her
people, and left no room for any to be willing to difpute her
authority. Her first care was to ſettle and eſtabliſh her em-
pire. She removed her court from Nineveh to Babylon, and
added much to that city; encompaffed it with a wall, and
built feveral public and magnificent buildings in it. And
after ſhe had finiſhed the feat of her empire, and ſettled all
the neighbouring kingdoms under her authority, ſhe raiſed
an army, and attempted to conquer India: but here again,
as Ninus had before experienced, fhe found theſe eaſtern
countries able to oppoſe her. After a long and a dangerous
war, tired out with defeats, ſhe was obliged with a ſmall re-
mainder of her forces to return home. Some authors report
her to have been killed on the banks of Indus; but if fhe
was not, her fruitless attempts there fo confumed her forces,
and impaired her credit, that foon after fhe came home, fhe
found herſelf out of repute with her people, and fo refigned
her crown and authority to her fon", and foon after died.
Thus lived and died the famous Semiramis, an early inftance
of what ſeems very natural, that an ambitious, but defeated
prince fhould grow fick of empire. Charles the Fifth, em-
peror of Germany, refigned his dominions in much the fame
manner, and grew out of love with the pomp and greatneſs
of the world, when his fortune turned, his defigns were blaſt-
ed, and he could not command his triumphs to wait on him
any longer. Juftin has accufed Semiramis of lewdnefs and
• Juftin, from Trogus Pompeius,
fuppofes her to have made use of this
ftratagem; but Diodorus Siculus, with
more probability, afcribes her advance-
ment to her conduct, bravery, and
fuccefs in her undertakings.
P Diodorus Siculus, lib. ii. p. 76.
§. 20.
immodeſty ;
112
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
immodefty; and Diodorus Siculus is not favourable to her
character, though he does not charge her with the fame par-
ticulars as Juftin does. It is not poffible for us to determine
whether he was guilty or innocent; however we may ob-
ferve this, that whilft her enterprizes were crowned with
fortune and fuccefs, fhe maintained herſelf in great credit and
glory with her people; but the lived to find, a character fo
fupported is at fatal uncertainties; an unhappy turn of af-
fairs may quickly blaft it, and make it difficult to go down
with credit to the grave. Semiramis refigned her empire
after fhe had reigned forty-two years, anno mundi 2059.
I
Ninyas was the next king of the empirof Affyria 9. He
began his reign full of a fenfe of the errors of his mother's
adminiſtration, and engaged in none of the wars and danger-
ous expeditions, with which Semiramis feems to have tired
out her people. Moft writers reprefent him as a feeble and
effeminate prince; but perhaps all theſe accounts of him
arofe from the difpofition there is in writers, to think a tur-
bulent and warlike reign, if victorious, a glorious one, and
to overlook an adminiſtration employed in the filent, but
more happy arts of peace and good government. Ninyas
made no wars, nor ufed any endeavours to enlarge his em-
pire; but he took a due care to regulate and fettle upon a
good foundation the extenfive dominions which his parents
had left him, and by a wife contrivance of annual deputies
over his provinces, he prevented the many revolts of diſtant
countries, which might otherwife have happened. He is
faid to have begun that ſtate which the eaſtern kings im-
proved afterwards; was of difficult accefs, in order to raiſe
himſelf a veneration from his fubjects. We do not find but
he had an happy reign. He tranfmitted his empire to his
fucceffors fo well ordered and conftituted, as to laſt in the
hands of a ſeries of kings of no extraordinary fame above a
thousand years. This I take to be the hiftory of the Baby-
lonian or Affyrian empire for about three hundred years.
It may be proper, before I proceed further, to make fome
Juftin. Diodorus Siculus.
r Diodorus Siculus, 1. ii. p. 77.
remarks
Book IV.
113
and Profane Hiſtory.
remarks upon the affairs of the time we have gone over.
And,
1. Let us confider and fettle the chronology. Nimrod,
we ſay, began his reign anno mundi 1757, i. e. an hundred
and one years after the flood, at the birth of Peleg, the time
at which the men of Shinaar were firſt ſeparated. At that
time Nimrod began to be a mighty one in the earth ³, and the
beginning of his kingdom was Babel. It is probable that he
was not forthwith made a king; he might raiſe himſelf by
ſteps, and in time: and if we could fay how long he might
be forming the people, before he could ſet up his authority,
and rule them, perhaps we might begin his reign a few
years later but however that be, we are in no great mif-
take in dating it from the firft confufion of tongues, for then
he began to be a mighty one. The foundations of his fove-
reignty were then laid, which he proceeded to build up and
eſtabliſh as faft as he could, and from this time therefore we
date the rife of his kingdom. Nimrod at this time could be
but a young man, in compariſon of many others then alive;
for fuppofe his father Cufh, the fon of Ham, was born as
early as Arphaxad, the fon of Shem ", two years after the
flood; and that Nimrod, who feems to be the fixth ſon of
Cuſh, was born when his father Cufh was about thirty-eight
years old, Nimrod would, according to this account, be
about the age of fixty-one years; old enough indeed to have
many fons, and perhaps a grandfon, but not advanced enough
in years to be the father of a nation of people, or to have a
vaft number of perfons deſcending from him. He could not
have any paternal right to be a king, nor claim it fairly as
due to the ripenefs of his years, and the feniority of his age.
But to return to the fettling the chronology of his reign.
He began it at Babel, anno mundi 1757. But why do we
ſuppoſe that he reigned 148 years, and no more? To this I
anſwer, his reign may eafily be allowed to be fo long; for if
he began to reign at the age of fixty-one, and lived 148
years after, we ſhall extend his life to but 209 years, and the
$ Gen. x. 8.
t Ver. 10.
u Gen. xi. 10.
fons
I
VOL. I.
114
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
fons of Shem his cotemporaries lived much longer: fo that
the real difficulty will be to give a reaſon for our ending his
reign anno mundi 1905, not fuppofing it to be longer. But
to this I think we are determined by the reigns of his fuc-
ceffors Belus and Ninus. Eufebius has placed the birth of
Abraham in the forty-third year of Ninus, and Belus's reign
is commonly computed to be fixty years; fo that it is evi-
dent, that the ſpace of time between the death of Nimrod
and the birth of Abraham is 103 years; and fince it will ap-
pear hereafter very clearly, by the Hebrew chronology, that
Abraham was born anno mundi 2008, the 103 years belong-
ing to the reigns of Belus and Ninus, which are the ſpace of
time between the death of Nimrod and the birth of Abra-
ham, will carry us back to anno mundi 1905, and fix the
death of Nimrod, as we do, in that year. I might obſerve,
that the beginning of Nimrod's reign in this year agrees
perfectly well with the account that was afterwards given of
ſome aſtronomical obfervations made at Babylon. When
Alexander the Great took poffeffion of that city, Callifthenes
the philofopher, who accompanied him, upon ſearching into
the treaſures of the Babylonian learning, found that the
Chaldeans had a feries of aftronomical obfervations for 1903
years backward from that time. The year in which Alex.
ander came to Babylon was anno mundi 3674; from which,
if we trace upwards 1903 years, we fhall be brought back to
anno mundi 1771. So that in this year began the aftronomy
of the Chaldeans, i. e. fourteen years after the firſt begin-
ning of Nimrod's reign; and it is very likely that ſo many
years muſt be ſpent before the hurry arifing from the firſt
confufion of tongues could be over, before we can conceive
a fettlement of the people, or the new kingdom could be
brought into a ftate quiet and compofed enough for the cul-
ture of arts and fciences to appear, and draw the public at-
tention to them.
2
But, 2. It is thought by many perfons that Nimrod, Belus,
and Ninus, were all but one perfon, and that the firſt year of
Ninus was the first year of this empire, or at leaſt that Nim-
y Simplicius de cœlo, l. ii. p. 123. z Archbishop Uſher' Annals.
rod
Book IV.
115
and Profane Hiftory.
that there was but
To this I anfwer;
rod and Belus were the fame man, and
one king before Ninus, namely Belus.
the beginning of the Affyrian empire is very juftly comput-
ed from the reign of Ninus, for he was king of Nineveh, and
was the firſt that attempted to enlarge his dominions. The
kingdom was inconfiderable when he firft began his reign,
but his conquefts foon enlarged it, and from fmall beginnings
laid the foundations of a mighty empire: but then Ninus
cannot poffibly be as ancient as Nimrod, for all authors
agree, that the continuance of this empire, from its rife to
Sardanapalus, was no more than 1300 years. The death of
Sardanapalus happened anno mundi 3257, from which year if
we reckon backward 1300 years, we fhall come back to an-
no mundi 1957, the year in which I have placed the begin-
ning of Ninus's reign; but then this year falling 200 years
later than the confufion of mankind, at which time Nimrod
began to be a mighty one, Nimrod and Ninus cannot poſſibly
be the fame perfon.
b
That the empire of the Affyrians continued no more than
1300 years from Ninus to Sardanapalus, is the unanimous
opinion of all the ancient writers. Caftor Rhodius makes it
not quite ſo much; he computed it, as Syncellus informs us,
but 1280; but none of them make it more; for the two
paffages of Diodorus Siculus, in one of which the conti-
nuance of this empire is ſuppoſed to be 1360 years, and in
the other above 1400, are both efteemed by the learned to
have been corrupted; the former is twice quoted by Syn-
cellus, not 1360, but fomewhat above 1300, i. c. according
to Agathias, 1306 years, for ſo he cites this paſſage; and
the other paffage contradicts Eufebius and Clemens Alexan-
drinus, and both of them quoted Diodorus, and thought him
to know of no other number of years for the continuance of
this empire than the 1300 d.
As to Belus's being the fame perfon with Nimrod, there
a Syncell. p. 168.
b Diodor. Sic. 1. ii. p. 77. & p. 81.
Edit. Rhodoman.
c Lib. ii. p. 63.
d Eufebius feems by his own com-
putations to have followed Caftor's opi-
nion, for he computes from the firft
year of Ninus, to the laft of Sardana-
palus, but 1240 years; but he quotes
Diodorus, affèrting it to be 13co years.
Chron. p. 32.
I 2
are
116
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
are no good authors, that I know of, that do directly make
them fo. Nimrod is indeed no where mentioned but in
Scripture, or in writers that have copied from the facred
pages; but ftill all the writers that have mentioned Belus, af-
figning to his reign but about fixty years, he muſt begin his
reign anno mundi 1905, and fo could not be Nimrod, who
began to be a mighty one near a century and half before this
time, namely, at the difperfion of mankind, anno mundi
1757. Belus, reigning but fixty years, muſt have been an
old man when he was advanced to the throne. He might
be of equal years, nay older than Nimrod himſelf, live ſixty
years after Nimrod's deceaſe, and yet not live to above the
age of 270 years, an age which his cotemporaries in the fa-
mily of Arphaxad far exceeded. I fhould therefore imagine
Belus to have been of much riper years and a greater age
than Nimrod himself. The enterprizing ſpirit of Nimrod,
and the heat of the times, might put the unfettled affairs of
this part of mankind at first into the hands of a young man,
who did very evidently lead them into ſchemes effectually
conducing to the public good; but when he happened to be
taken off, whom fhould they next look to for counfel and di-
rection, but to ſome venerable perſon of authority, and years,
and wiſdom? If Belus was the ſtudent which Pliny fuppofes
him, if he first invented the Chaldean aftronomy, it is ob-
fervable that he had advanced his ftudies to fome degree of
perfection in the early years of Nimrod's reign; for the ob-
fervations, as we faid, began anno mundi 1771. Chronology
was very imperfect in theſe days; for the civil or computed
year confifting of but 360 days, and that being almoſt five
days and a quarter leſs than the folar year, the feafons did
not return at the times, and months, and days of the month
on which they were expected; for every year being five
days and a quarter longer than the computations in ufe had
calculated, it is plain that the feaſons of the year muſt be
carried forward five days and a quarter in every year, and
that in about feventeen years the first day of the winter
quarter would happen on the day of the month that belong-
ed to the ſpring, and fo on, till in about fixty-eight years the
feaſons would go almoft round, through the whole year, and
come
Book IV.
117
and Profane Hiſtory.
J
come about near to their true place again. And this con-
fuſion and variety of the feafons muſt have happened twice,
about the time of the difperfion of mankind, and was the
cauſe of ſuch diſorders in their affairs, that in time it became
a part of the prieſt's office to obferve the heavens, and to
make public declarations, when the feafons began for tillage
and harveſt, which the people had no way to find out by
any diaries then made, or tables of chronology. Perhaps
Belus was the first that became ſkilful in this matter.
If we
confider how ſlowly this fort of ſcience was advanced, and
that near a thousand years paffed before they came to form
any tolerable notion of the true length of the year, we may
imagine that Belus might purſue theſe ftudies for feveral
years together, without bringing them to a great height.
He might begin his ftudies years before the diſperſion of
mankind; might have made fuch a progrefs by the fourteenth
year of Nimrod, as to be able to give fome, though perhaps
not a very accurate account of the weather and ſeaſons, of
the feed-time and harveſt; and a ſcience of fuch ufe to the
public, however imperfect, could not but attract the regard
of the people, and procure great honours to the maſter of it.
A continued progreſs through a courſe of theſe ſtudies muſt
have every year more and more raiſed Belus in the eſteem of
the people, and by the time of Nimrod's death have procured
him fuch a veneration, as to make way for his being king.
There is a paffage of Eupolemus, which ſeems to make
Belus to be Ham the fon of Noah, for he defcribes him to be
father of Canaan, of Mizraim, of Cous or Cufh, and of an-
other ſon, i. e. of Phut; and theſe were the children which
Mofes afcribes to Ham. But if any one thinks all this not
probable, and will have it that Belus was a fon of Nimrod;
that when he came to be king, he only made a fettlement
and proviſion for the Chaldean aftronomers, and fo obtained
e Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. ix. c. 17.
It must be confeffed the ancient writers
have very much confounded theſe an-
cient names with one another: as Be-
lus feems by this paffage to be Ham;
fo we shall find from another paffage
which I have cited in its place, that
Phut, one of the fons of Ham, was pro-
bably called by this name; and per-
haps the words Chronus and Belus
were both like Pharaoh, a name or title
given to feveral kings.
I 3
the
118
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
the name of their founder, I cannot difpute it; we can only
gueſs in theſe matters.
f
But, II. Many authors have imagined that Nineveh was
not built by Aſhur, but by Nimrod himſelf, and they inter-
pret the 11th verfe of the 10th chapter of Genefis thus; Out
of that land he [i. e. Nimrod, before ſpoken of] went forth
into Affyria, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth and
Calab, &c. The reafons they give for this opinion are, 1.
they ſay, it does not feem likely that Moſes ſhould give any
account of the fettlement of one of the fons of Shem, under
the head where he is difcourfing of Ham's family, when we
ſee he referves a diſtinct head for each family, and after-
wards mentions Afhur in his place, verfe 22. 2. Afhur the
fon of Shem (fays Sir W. Raleigh) did not build Nineveh,
but fettled in another place. He built Ur of the Chaldees,
where the children of Shem fettled, until the removal of
Abraham out of that country. That Afhur built Ur of the
Chaldees, he collects from Ifaiah '; Behold the land of the
Chaldeans; this people was not, till Ajbur founded it for the in-
habitants of the wilderness. 3. They fay, if Athur was the
founder of Nineveh, what became of him? It is ftrange the
founder of ſo great an empire ſhould be but once mentioned,
and that by the by, and that we ſhould have no further ac-
counts of him. But to all this may be anſwered, 1. Mofes
is not fo exactly methodical, but that, upon mentioning Nim-
rod and his people, he may be conceived to hint at a colony
that departed from under his government, though it hap-
pened to be led by a perſon of another family. 2. If Ur of
the Chaldees was indeed built by Afhur, as is conjectured
from the paffage of Ifaiah before mentioned, that is in no
wife inconfiftent with Afhur's going into Affyria, but rather
agreeable to it; for Ur was not fituate where Sir Walter Ra-
leigh imagines, but in Mefopotamia, probably near the Ti-
gris, and might therefore, be built by the Affyrian, who bor-
dered upon it. That Ur was in Mefopotamia is evident
from St. Stephen's fuppofing Abraham to dwell in Mefopo-
tamia, before he went to Haran ; whereas he removed from
f Ifaiah xxiii. 13.
g
Acts vii. 2.
this
Book IV.
119
and Profane Hiftory.
this Ur of the Chaldees, or, as the fame St. Stephen expreffes
it, from the land of the Chaldeans, directly to Haran".
3. As to the filence of hiſtory about Affur, neither Nineveh,
nor the kingdom of Affyria, were raiſed to any remarkable
grandeur under Affur, the first founder of it. The glory of
Nineveh, and the increaſe of the empire, was the work of
after-kings. Affur only planted a few people in that coun-
try, and took care to have habitations for them; however
the country was, in fucceeding ages, called by his name,
and that is in reality a greater mention of him, than we have
of feveral other planters, who made perhaps more confider-
able plantations than Affur did. But, 4. It is probable that
Affur built Nineveh, from the conqueft of Babylonia by the
Affyrians under Ninus. If Nimrod had built Nineveh, and
planted Affyria, Babylon and Affyria would have been but
one empire, and it would be an inconfiftence to talk of a fuc-
ceeding king of one of them conquering the other. That
the Affyrian conquered the Babylonians is very particularly
recorded by Diodorus ; and therefore before Ninus united
them, Babylonia and Affyria were two diftinct kingdoms,
and not the plantation of one and the fame founder. 5. The
land of Afhur, and the land of Nimrod, are mentioned as
two diftinct countries, Micah v. 6.
i
III. Another remarkable thing in the tranfactions of this.
time, is the oppofition that Ninus met at Bactria, aud Semi-
ramis after him, when the endeavoured to penetrate farther,
and to conquer India. When Ninus had inftructed his
people for war, he over-ran the infant kingdoms of Afia, by
his own force and power, with much eafe, and without
meeting any confiderable oppofition: but when he came to
attempt Bactria, though with an army very probably en-
forced and increafed with fupplies from the conquered nations,
yet he met a power here equal to his own, and able to de-
fend itſelf against repeated attacks made by him. Bactria is
about a thouſand miles from Shinaar, and India two or three
hundred miles further; and now if we fuppote that the
whole race of mankind, Noah and all his children, were dif-
h Acts vii. 4.
i Loc. fup. cit.
I 4
perfed
120
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
perfed from Shinaar, how is it poffible that any one planta-
tion of them could, in fo few ages, reach and plant theſe diſ-
tant countries, and increaſe and multiply to a number able
to defend themſelves against the united force of fo many
companies of their brethren? I dare fay, had Ninus extend-
ed his arms as far weft, north, and fouth, as he did eaſt,
he would have found not powerful armies, or confiderable
nations, but uninhabited countries. At the feparation of
mankind, the only company that travelled this way from
Shinaar was Jocktan and his fons. We are told they lived
from Mefba to Sephar: and if we confider them, we cannot
but think them a younger branch; their numbers not fo
great as thoſe of ſome other planters, born a deſcent or two
before them. But if we fhould allow them to be as potent
as any other fingle people in the then world, able to defend
themſelves againſt the Babylonians, Affyrians, Medes, or any
other particular fociety of their brethren; yet how is it poſ-
fible that they ſhould travel to ſuch diſtant habitations, and
fettle themſelves into a firm and well-ordered government,
and be able to bring into the field fufficient forces to repel
the attacks of Medes, Perfians, Affyrians, Babylonians, and
moſt of the other colonies united together. The fact there-
fore here related confirms to me the ſettlement we before al-
lotted to Noah at his coming out of the ark. Bactria and
India are not very far from the Ararat we mentioned, and if
fo, it is eaſy to fay how the inhabitants of Shinaar might
meet here as numerous and as potent armies as their own.
Noah, and thoſe that remained with him, were fettled fooner
than the travellers to Shinaar; and their defcendants, with-
out doubt, were as many, as wife, as well inftructed in all.
arts, if not better; as potent in arms, and every way as well
prepared to fupport and maintain their kingdoms. This
therefore, I think, is the reafon why Ninus and Semiramis
ſo eaſily over-ran the kingdoms of Afia, but met ſo conſider-
able an oppofition at Bactria and India: amongst the former
they found only the young and unexperienced ſtates, that
aroſe from the divided travellers to Shinaar; but when they
came to Bactria and India, they had to engage with nations.
that were as foon or fooner fettled than themſelves, that were
defcended
Book IV.
121
and Profane Hiſtory.
defcended from their great anceſtor Noah, and thoſe that
continued with him, and had been growing and increaſing
as much as they, from the time that their fathers had left
their firſt ſeats to travel to Shinaar.
1
k
IV. Juftin mentions fome wars between Sefoftris king of
Egypt, and Tanais king of Scythia, which, he ſays, were
long before Ninus, and prior to all dates and computations
of time. It is fomething difficult to gueſs when thefe wars
happened. Some writers fuppofe that Juftin made a mif-
take, and ſuppoſed theſe wars fo early, when in truth they did
not happen until many ages after. Tanais and Sefoftris are
modern names; in thefe I do not queſtion but he was mif-
taken; there were no fuch kings before Ninus. Eufebius
takes notice ¹ from Abydenus, that much about the time of,
or ſoon after, the confufion of tongues, there broke out a war
between Chronus and Titan ; and it is moft probable that the
Chronus here ſpoken of was Mizraim, the first king of Egypt;
and if fo, Titan probably was Nimrod, and the wars here
hinted at were fkirmishes that might happen upon Nimrod's
attempting to drive Mizraim, and all others that would not
come into his fociety, from Babel, the place where he erect-
ed his kingdom. Thefe wars may juftly be ſuppoſed a great
while before Ninus, at leaft about 200 years. That Chro-
nus was Mizraim, may be hence conjectured: Eupolemus
makes Chronus to be one of the names of Ham, for he re-
cords the perfon fo named to be the father of the fame
children, whom Mofes affirms to be the fons of Ham, name-
ly, of Belus, of Canaan, of Cous, and of Meftraim: Canaan
and Meſtraim are evidently the fame with two of Ham's
fons mentioned by Mofes, and Cous may eafily be fuppofed
to be Cuth, and then Belus must be Phut. Chronus there-
fore was Ham, and thefe were his fons; but then it is re-
markable, that one of Ham's children was alſo called Chro-
nus, and this fecond Chronus was the Mizraim we are ſpeak-
ing of. That Chronus, or Ham, had a fon called alfo
Chronus, we are informed by Eufebius"; and the fame au-
R
k Lib. i. c. I.
1 In Chron. p. 13. et in Præp. Evang.
lib. ix. c. 14.
ת
m Eufeb. Præp. Evang. lib. ix. c.17.
n Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
thor
122
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
thor affures us, that this Chronus was Mizraim, by inform-
ing us that he left his kingdom of Egypt to Taautus, whom
all writers acknowledge to be the fon of Menes, or Mizraim,
and to have fucceeded him in that kingdom: and this is
what induces me to imagine that the wars afcribed by Juſtin
to Tanais and Sefoftris, were fome fkirmishes that might
happen between Nimrod and Mizraim. Other writers be-
fides Abydenus have mentioned theſe wars; we have fome
hints of them both in Plutarch P and Diodorus ", but with a
ſmall change of the names of the warriors: according to
them, theſe wars happened between Typhon and Ofiris; but
Typhon and Titan may be easily conceived, by the accounts.
the Greeks give of them, to be the fame perfon; and there
is good reafon to think Ofiris the fame perfon with Miz-
raim, both if we confider the name ', and what is affirmed of
him. Plutarch, in his account of theſe wars, gives us fome
things hiftorically falfe, and others fabulous; but that is no
wonder. The Greeks have been obferved to augment all
the ancient ſtories, which they brought from Egypt, with
various additions. His account, that Typhon had the aid of
Afo, a famous queen of Ethiopia', againſt Ofiris, looks as if
theſe wars had been imagined to have been carried on in the
times of Semiramis; but Mizraim died before Belus, the
fecond king of Affyria. Upon the whole, all we can offer
about theſe wars muſt be imperfect and uncertain: we can
only pretend to fhew, that the beſt accounts of them do not
contradict, but rather agree with the hiftory of theſe times.
Mizraim and his fons were in after-ages worſhipped as gods
in Egypt; and the ftory of this war of Titan ", or Typhon,
against them, gave occafion to the Greek fables about the
war of the giants with the gods. But to return to our hif-
tory.
Whilft Nimrod was fettling his people at Babel, Mizraim,
• Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. 1o. p. 25.
P Lib. de ltid. et Ofirid.
9 Hift. lib. i.
r Mizraim in the fingular number is
Mifor; and Oliris is often written Iſi-
ris, or Ifor.
3 Ifiris is affirmed to be the brother
of Cuan, which was the ancient pro-
nunciation of V12, or Canaan. Eufeb.
Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10. p. 25. Mofes
makes Mizraim the brother of Canaan.
Ethiopia is the land of Cufh.
Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
P. 25.
with
Book IV.
123
and Profane Hiftory.
with thoſe that adhered to him, took his way towards.
Egypt, and arrived there, it is thought, about the fifteenth
year of Nimrod, anno mundi 1772. He feated himſelf near
the entrance of Egypt, and perhaps built the city Zoan,
which Bochart proves to have been the feat of the kings of
Egypt in the firſt ages. The time of Mizraim's fettling in
Egypt, fifteen years later than Nimrod at Shinaar, is very
probable. From Shinaar to the entrance of Egypt is near
ſeven hundred miles, and we cannot fuppofe that he went
directly thither. Hebron in Canaan was built feven years.
before Zoan in Egypt, and it ſeems by its fituation to have
ftood in the mid-way between Shinaar and Egypt. Whe-
ther Mizraim was at the building of Hebron, we cannot fay;
he very probably made many ftops in feveral places; for we
cannot think that he knew any thing of Egypt at his firſt
ſetting out, but he travelled in ſearch of a country where he
fhould like to fettle; and after many journeys, and perhaps
fome fhort abodes in feveral places, where fome inconveni-
ences or other diffuaded him from fettling, at length he came
to the banks of Nile. Here he found a plentiful and well
watered country, and therefore here he determined to fix,
and move no further; and he may well be ſuppoſed to have
ſpent fifteen years in travelling thus far in this manner.
The perſon whom Mofes calls Mizraim is by Diodorus
and the other heathen writers commonly called Menes; by
Syncellus, Meftraim. Menes is fuppofed to be the firſt king
of Egypt, by Herodotus 2, Diodorus, Eratofthenes, Africa-
nus from Manetho, Eufebius, and Syncellus; and the times
of their Menes coincides very well with thofe of Mofes's
Mizraim, as Sir John Marſham has pretty clearly evidenced
in the following manner c.
1. He obferves from Diodorus, that Menes was fucceed-
ed by fifty-two kings, whofe reigns, all together, took up
the ſpace of above 1400 years, in all which time the Egyp-
tians had done nothing worth the recording in hiſtory. 2.
He ſuppoſes thefe 1400 years to end at Sefoftris; for Hero-
y Numb. xiii. 22.
z Lib. ii. §. 4.
a Lib. i. p. 14.
b In Chron. Eufeb. p. 29.
c Can. Chron. p. 22.
d Lib. i. p. 29.
dotus
124
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
3
dotus is expreſs, that the firft illuftrious actions were done
in Egypt, in the time of Sefoftris; before Sefoftris, fays he f,
they had nothing famous; and Diodorus fays, that Sefof-
tris performed the moft illuftrious actions, far exceeding all
before him. 3. He ſuppoſes with Jofephus", that this Se-
foftris was Seſac, who befieged Jeruſalem in the fifth year of
Rehoboam king of Juda, about anno mundi 3033. The only
difficulty in this argumentation will be, that it places Menes,
or Mizraim, above a century earlier than his true age; for if
we reckon backward 1400 years, from the year before-
named, in which Sefac befieged Jerufalem, we ſhall place
Mizraim anno mundi 1633, i. e. 23 years before the flood,
and 139 years earlier than the true time of his reign,
which began, as we before faid, at least 15 years later.
than that of Nimrod, anno mundi 1772. But this difficulty
may be eaſily cleared: the number 1400 years is a miſtake :
Diodorus fays exprefsly, that there were but fifty-two kings
from Menes, to the time where Sefoftris's reign is fuppofed
to begin; and according to Sir John Marſham's tables of
the Theban kings, from Menes to Sefoftris is but 1370
years, though we fuppofe Sefoftris the fifty-fifth king from
Menes; and even this number is too great, if, as Diodorus
computes, there were fifty-two kings only. The ancients
generally allowed about 36 years and an half to the reign
of a king, and therefore if we deduct from 1370 the number
of years between Menes and Sefoftris, according to Sir John
Marſham's tables, I fay, if we deduct three times 36 years
and an half, or about 110 years, fuppofing thofe tables to
have the names of three kings too many, the number of kings
being, according to Diodorus, fifty-two, and not fifty-five,
we fhall then make the ſpace of time between Menes and
Sefoftris about 1260 years; and fo it really is, according to
the Hebrew chronology, Menes beginning his reign, as we
before ſaid, anno mundi 1772; and Sefoftris, or Sefac, be-
e Lib. ii. §. 101.
f Sir John Marſham thus quotes
Herodotus; but Herodotus's words are,
in loc. fupr. cit. Tẩy de äλdwy Buoi-
λέων, ὃ γὰρ ἐλεγον ἐδεμίην ἔργων απόνε
ξιν, κατ' ἰδὲν εἶναι λαμπρότητα πλήν
ἑνὸς τῇ ἐσχάτε αὐτῶν ΜοίριΘ. Moris
was the immediate predeceffor of Se-
foftris.
g Lib. i. p. 34
h Antiquit. lib. viii. c. 4. p. 368.
edit. Hudf.
fieging
€
Book IV.
125
and Profane Hiſtory.
fieging Jeruſalem in the fifth year of Rehoboam, anno mundi
3033. It is remarkable, that the marginal note in Rhodo-
mannus's edition of Diodorus Siculus fuppofes the number
1400 years to be a miſtake: but the annotator was not hap-
py in his emendation; for if we fhould read 1040, as he
would correct it, that would fall as fhort of the true age of
Menes, as the other exceeds it.
There is a quotation from Dicæarchus, the fcholar of
Ariftotle, a more ancient hiftorian than either Eratofthenes
or Manetho, and a writer of the best character with the
learned, which may alfo determine the age of Menes.
The paffage is preſerved by the ſcholiaft upon the Argonau-
tics of Apollonius *. Dicæarchus there affirms, that the
reign of Nilus was 436 years before the firſt Olympiad.
Now, according to Archbishop Uſher, the firſt Olympiad
fell anno mundi 3228; the reign of Nilus therefore began
anno mundi 2792: and by the Canon of Eratofthenes, Nilus
was the thirty-fixth king from Menes, or Mizraim, and
Mizraim's reign began 987 years before Nilus, and confe-
quently began anno mundi 1805. The difference between
this and the firſt year of Menes, according to the other com-
putation, is but thirty-three years; we cannot fay which of
them, or whether either of them be the exact truth, but
their agreeing fo nearly is an evidence that neither of them
vary much from it.
Menes, though he at firft feated himſelf in the land of
Zoan, in the entrance of Egypt, yet did not ſettle here for
life. He afterwards removed further into the country, into
the parts afterwards called Thebais, and built the city
Thebes; he is alſo ſaid by Herodotus to have built the city
of Memphis'; and by Plato" he is faid to have reigned
king over all Egypt. His removal into the fouth parts of
Egypt, namely, the country of Thebais, is taken particular
notice of by Eufebius", and the time of this his migration is
i Marſham, Can. Chronic.
k_Lib. iv. ver. 272.
1 Herod. lib. ii. §. 99.
m In Phædro, p. 1240. Plato calls
him Timaus.
n Eufebius, Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. 10.
p. 39. Eufebius calls him Keó: but
it is to be obferved, that Kg, the
father of Taautus, was the ſon of
Koór, or Ham, for fo was Mizraim ;
and thus he is recorded to have been
by Eufebius, p. 37.
fixed
126
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
fixed by Apollodorus °, and faid to be 124 years after the
difperfion of mankind, i. e. anno mundi 1881. Menes is fup-
poſed to have lived fixty-two years after his planting The-
bais, and ſo to have died anno mundi 1943. Menes cannot
be ſuppoſed to have been born much earlier than Arphaxad,
i. e. not before two years after the flood; at the diſperſion of
mankind, therefore, he could be but ninety-nine; at his en-
trance into Egypt but fifteen years older, i. e. 114; at his
removal to Thebais, 124 years; after the difperfion of man-
kind, he might be 238; and if he reigned fixty-two years
after this, he died in the three hundredth year of his age.
We find Arphaxad his cotemporary, defcendant of Shem,
lived to be 438. So might Mizraim have been, but the an-
cients were of opinion that he was killed.
OTOT
Diodorus Siculus informs us, that he was killed by Ty-
phon P. The Egyptian records give the account of his
death more obfcurely; they ſay, 'Yлò 'Innoпoτάμe úfráðn,
that he was pulled in pieces by the crocodile. Eufebius
explains this by obferving, that the Egyptians, when
theſe facts afterwards came to be turned into fable
and allegory, reprefented Typhon by the figure of a
crocodile; and Plutarch informs us, that there was ſuch a
repreſentation of Typhon at Hermopolis; and Ælian re-
marks, that the reaſon for the averfion, which the inhabit-
ants of Apollinopolis had to a crocodile, arofe from a tradi-
tion, that Typhon was turned into a creature of that ſhape.
$
As Mizraim came afterwards to be worshipped, fo his
death was commemorated with great folemnity; and Sir
John Martham" was of opinion, that the ceremony of the
women fitting at the north gate of the temple *, weeping
for Tammuz, was an imitation of fome Egyptian rites on
this occafion.
After the death of Mizraim, his feven fons governed each
of them a little kingdom, and thefe I take to be the Cabiri
of the ancients. There were feven of the Cabiri, fons of one
• In Eufeb. Chron. p. 18.
P Lib. i. p. 56. §. 89.
9 Eufeb. Chronic. Syncellus, p. 54.
116.
Præp. Evang. lib. iii. c. 12. p.
s Lib. de Ifide et Ofiride, p. 371.
t De Nat. Animal. lib. x. C. 21.
u Can. Chronic. p. 31.
* Ezek. viii, 14.
perfon,
t
Book IV.
127
and Profane Hiflory.
d
perfon, called Sydec²; and there was an eighth perfon
added to them, concerning whoſe name they differed a little ;
fome of them, according to Eufebius, calling him Efcula-
pius; others, according to Damafcus in his life of Ifidore in
Photius 2, naming him Efmunus. It is impoffible to reduce
the numerous but fabulous ſtories we have of theſe Cabiri,
to any tolerable confiftency; for they were all the inventions
of later ages; and when the fabulous accounts of later ages
were intermixed with the ancient traditions, it often hap-
pened, as is obferved in Eufebius, that the truth was very
much obfcured by them. Diodorus Siculus very juftly ob-
ferves, that the Greeks worshipped for their gods fome
heroes and great men that had formerly been famous in
Egypt, whofe lives at firſt, or at leaſt ſhort memoirs of them,
had been written in a plain and fimple manner, but after-
writers embellifhed the accounts given of them, by adding
to them various fictions. Of this fort I take to be the ac-
counts we have of Chronus building Byblus and Berytus,
and of the Cabiri dwelling there. This ftory looks like an
invention of Philo's, to do honour to his own country, or to
raiſe the reputation of Sanchoniathon's writings. Mizraim
and his fons fettled in or near to Egypt, and it does not look
probable that they built cities in Phoenicia, or could travel
all over the world, as Diodorus Siculus relates of them.
They travelled from Shinaar to Egypt, and up and down
Egypt, and backwards and forwards in the countries near it,
as Abraham did afterwards up and down Mefopotamia, Ca-
naan, and Egypt; and this was enough to give an handle to
writers to repreſent them in after-ages as travelling from one
end of the earth to the other. Taautus, one of the Cabiri,
is faid to have made fchemes and reprefentations of the de-
ities but this flory confutes itfelf; fuch fchemes and re-
preſentations could not be made, until the mythologic times,
i. e. not till many years after Thyoth or Taautus was dead and
f
:
z Eufeb. Præp. Evang. c. x. p. 39.
a Bibliothec. §. 242. p. 1974. Edit.
Paul. Steph. 1611.
b
Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 9. & 10.
© Lib. i. §. 23. P. 14.
d Eufebius, Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. 10.
P. 39.
e Eufeb. Præp. Evang. p. 38.
f Id. ibid. p. 39.
buried.
128
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
buried. The word Cabiri, according to the explanation
given of it by Varro and Macrobius, fignifies powerful
deities, and fuch the idolatrous nations thought their ancient
heroes, when they came to worship them. The Cabiri were,
as I obferved, eight in number; feven, fons of one man;
and fo many, according to Mofes, were the fons of Mizraim ;
the eighth perfon added to them might be the father of the
Philiftins, whom Mofes mentions along with the fons of
Mizraim.
Three of the fons of Mizraim became kings in Egypt,
Ananim, Naphtuhim, Pathrufim: Ananim, or rather Anan,
was king of the Lower Egypt, or Delta; Naphtuhim, or
Naphth, of the parts near and about Memphis; Pathrufim,
or Pathrus, of the country of Thebais; and agreeably here-
to, the countries they were kings of took their ancient names
from the names of theſe men; Lower Egypt was called
Zoan, or Zanan, or more probably Tanan, according to the
Latin word in Agro Taneos; the kingdom of Memphis.
was called the land of Noph, or Naph; and the kingdom
of Thebais, the land of Pathrus, or Pathros m.
Ananim was alfo called Curudes. We have little of this
first king of Lower Egypt but his name and term of life;
according to Syncellus, he reigned fixty-three years, and fo
died anno mundi 2006.
Naphtuhim was the king of Naph, or land of Memphis ;
his Egyptian name was Toforthrus, and the Latins after-
wards called him Æfculapius. He was of greater eminence
than his brother Ananim, but not fo famous as his other
brother, who was king of Thebes. Pathrufim is imagined
to have firſt invented the uſe of letters, but Naphtubim is
faid to have learnt both them and feveral other uſeful arts
from him, and to have inftructed his people in them. He is
faid to have been the author of the architecture of theſe
Varro, lib. iv.
h Saturnal. lib. iii. c. 4.
i Gen. x. 14-
k Pfal. lxxviii. 12. and 43. Ifaiah
xix. 11. and 13. chap. xxx. 4.
1 Ifaiah xix. 13. Jerem. ii. 16. chap.
xliv. ver. 1. chap. xlvi. ver. 14. Ibid. 19.
Ezek. xxx. 13, 16.
m Jerem. xliv. s.
n Syncell. p. 56. гgapñs imeµchŕdn.
Id quidem non de illarum inventione
intelligi debet, fed de cura fecundaria,
operaque ex præcepto Mercurii nava-
ta. Marfham, Can. Chron. p. 40.
ages,
Book IV.
129
and Profane Hiſtory.
ages °, and to have had ſome uſeful knowledge in phyfic and
anatomy P. The Egyptians do indeed, in the general,
afcribe all their fciences to the other brother; but it is eaſy
to conceive how this might happen. Pathrufim, whom
they called Thyoth, was a perſon ſo extraordinary, that it
might be difficult for any other name befide his to obtain any
confiderable ſhare of reputation in the age he lived in. Let-
ters indeed are faid to have come into uſe in theſe days, and
men began to minute down in characters upon pieces of
ſtone, or lumps of burnt earth, ſome hints of things, in order
to tranfmit them to future ages; but as few perfons only
were ſkilled in this art, and as the names of the inventors of
arts were but few, it is probable their names were not always
recorded with their inventions. The age they lived in knew
them and honoured them, and tradition preferved their cha-
racters for generations; but tradition becomes in time a very
uncertain regiſter of paft tranfactions, and fo it happened in
this cafe; what was recorded was handed down to poſterity;
but after-ages grew more and more uncertain who were the
authors of what was tranfmitted to them; and men afcribed
things more or leſs to particular perfons, according as they
had their names in honour and efteem. The most ancient
fragments of the Egyptian learning were fome infcriptions
upon lumps of burnt earth, called six, or pillars; and
theſe were, fome ages after thefe times, found hid in fome
caves near Thebes or Diofpolis . Agathodæmon, called the
fecond Mercury, deciphered them; they were two and for-
ty in number'; fix and thirty of them were wrote upon phi-
lofophical fubjects, i. e. upon the origin of the world, and
hiſtory of mankind, which was the philofophy of thefe times;
the other fix related to medicine. It is probable none of
thefe pillars had any author's name fet on them; and the
humour then being to afcribe all fcience to Thyoth, the de-
cipherer might take them all for his, whereas tix and thirty
of them only might be Thyoth's, and the other fix Tofor-
• Syncell. p. 56.
P Syncell. p. 54.
Jamblich. de Myfter. Egypt.
• Syncell. p. 40.
VOL. I.
K
• Paufan, lib. i. p. 78.
t Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. vi. §. 4.
P. 758. Edit. Potter. Oxon. 1715.
thrus's,
130
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
thrus's, who is faid to have been more fkilful than other men
upon this fubje&. How long Toforthrus lived is uncer-
tain.
X
Pathrufin was king of Thebais; his Egyptian name was
Thyoth, or, according to the Alexandrian dialect, Thoth.
He was alfo called Athothes. His Greek name was Her-
mes; and afterwards the Latins named him Mercurius. He
is faid to have been a perfon of a very happy genius for all
inventions of common ufe and fervice to mankind". And
whi! Mizraim was alive, he is fuppofed to have been his
fecretary, and great afliftaut in all his undertakings; and
when his father Mizraim died, he is faid to have inftructed
his brothers in the arts and fciences that he was maſter of.
Eufebius relates , that Mizraim, (whom he mentions by the
name of Chronus,) when he died, left his kingdom wholly to
this Thyoth, or Taautus, and fo perhaps he might; and
Taautus having inftructed his brothers, might fend them out
to plant each a nation. He made laws; enriched his lan-
guage, by teaching his people names for many things,
which before they had no words for; and he corrected and
made more expreffive the language then in ufe amongſt
them. He is faid to have fettled their religion, and method
of worship, and to have made fome aftronomical obfervations,
and to have taught the ufe of letters; and his fuccefs in
theſe and other attempts was fo great, and obtained him fo
much honour, that pofterity thought him the fole author of
all their arts and fciences whatfoever. And this is the beſt
account that can be given of the nations that inhabited Egypt
in the ages next after the difperfion of mankind.
There is no doubt but other nations were fettled in thefe
times, though we have not any hints of their history. It is
certain Canaan was inhabited even fooner than Egypt; for,
according to Moſes, Hebron in Canaan was built feven
years before Zoan in Egypt; and it is generally thought
that about the fifteenth year of Belus, i. e. 165 years after
the first year of Nimrod's kingdom, and 150 years after Miz-
u Diodor. l.i. §. 15. p. 10.
× Eufeb. Præp. Evang. c. x. p. 36.
Diodor. ut fupr.
y Eufeb. Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. x.
P. 39.
z Numb. xiii. 22.
raim's
Book IV.
131
and Profane Hiftory.
raim's fettlement in Egypt, anno mundi 1922, Egialeus be-
gan a kingdom at Sicyon in Greece; fo that mankind was
ere this time diſperſed over a confiderable part of the world.
But it does not appear that any of theſe nations made a great
figure in the firſt ages. The few men of extraordinary emi-
nence that were in the world in theſe times, lived in Egypt
and Affyria; and for this reafon we find little or no mention
of any other countries, until one of theſe two nations came to
fend out colonies, by whom the people they travelled to were
by degrees poliſhed and inſtructed in arts and ſciences, made
to appear with credit in their own age, and fome accounts of
them tranſmitted to thofe that ſhould come after. As Affy-
ria has the credit of the firſt attempts in aftronomy, fo fome
authors imagine letters to have been firſt invented in Egypt.
There are other writers that afcribe them to other nations.
The ufe of letters was certainly very early, for elſe we could
not have had the thort memoirs we have of the firſt ages of
the world; and though the learned have not agreed about
the first author of them, and the place where they were in-
vented, yet it is remarkable, that by a review of what has
been written about them, we may trace them backward
from nation to nation, as we have reaſon to think the uſe and
knowledge of them has been propagated, and find thema
moft early uſed in thofe parts from whence mankind diſperſed
at the confufion of tongues.
For, to begin with the Europeans as we are fettled far
from the firſt feats of mankind, far from the places which the
defcendants of Noah firft planted; fo the ufe of letters ap-
pears to have been in the world much earlier than mankind
can be reaſonably ſuppoſed to have inhabited theſe countries.
It is remarkably evident, that many of the European nations
came to the knowledge of letters but in late ages. Elian
makes particular mention of the ignorance of the Thracians,
which was fo great and univerfal, that he quotes Androtion,
affirming, that many of the ancients rejected the accounts
they had of Orpheus, imagining them to be fabulous, be-
caufe he was a Thracian, which they thought argument fuf-
a Eufeb. Chron. p. 19.
Var. Hift. lib. viii. c. 6.
K 2
ficient
132
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
none of the ancient
ficient to prove him to be illiterate :
Thracians, fays he, knew any thing of letters; nay, the Eu-
ropeans thought it difreputable to learn them, though in Afia
they were in more request. The Goths had their letters and
writing from Ulphila, who was their biſhop, fo late as 370
years fince our Saviour, according to the expreſs teſtimony of
Socrates. So that the opinion of Olaus, of the antiquity of
their letters, is very groundleſs. The Slavonians received
their letters from Methodius a philoſopher, about the time
of the Emperor Lewis II. fucceffor to Lotharius, i. e. about
anno Domini 865; and it is but a fiction, that the ancient
Franks, who fet up Pharamond the first king of France, had
letters like the old Greeks, as Cornelius Agrippa' imagined.
St. Jerome tranflated the Bible into the Dalmatian tongue,
in letters ſomething like the Greek ones, and taught the
people of that country how to read it. St. Cyril did the
fame for the Illyrici; and the people of theſe countries have ·
books wrote in theſe letters, and call them after the names i
of St. Jerome and St. Cyril to this day. The Latins and
Greeks were certainly the only people of Europe that had
the uſe of letters very early: let us now ſee how they came
by their knowledge of them.
Ꮒ
And as to the Latins, all writers agree, that they received
their letters from the Greeks, being first taught the uſe of
them by fome of the followers of Pelafgus, who came into
Italy about 150 years after Cadmus came into Greece, or by
the Arcadians, whom Evander led into theſe parts about
fixty years after Pelafgus. Pliny and Solinus imagined the
Pelafgi* to have been the firſt authors of the Latin letters;
but Tacitus was of opinion that the first Italians were taught
letters by the Arcadians; and Dionyfius Halicarnaffeus " ex-
prefsly affirms the fame thing; fo that in this point indeed
there is a difference amongft writers; but ftill the Pelafgi
d Socr. Hift. Ecclef. lib, iv. c. 33.
e Aventin. Annal. lib. iv. p. 334.
Edit. Cifner. Bafil. 1580.
f Voffius de Arte Gram. lib. i. c. 9.
Corn. Agrip. de vanit. Scien-
tiar. lib. i. c. 11.
Walton, Prolegom.
il. §. 13.
h Id. ibid.
i Id. ibid.
1
* Plin. lib. vii. c. 56.
I Lib. xi. §. 14.
m Dion. Halicar. lib. ii. c. 33. B.
26. Edit. Oxon, 1794.
and
Book IV.
135
and Profane Hiftory.
and Arcadians being both of them Grecian colonies that re-
moved to feek new habitations, it remains uncontroverted,
that the Latins received their letters from the Greeks, which-
foever of theſe were the authors of them. It is very proba-
ble the Pelafgi might firft introduce the ufe of them, and
the Arcadians, who came fo foon after them, might bring
along with them the fame arts as the Pelafgi had before
taught, and letters in particular; and fome parts of Italy
might be inftructed by one, and fome by the other; and
this is exactly agreeable to Pliny ". That the Latin letters
were derived from the Greek feems very probable, from the
fimilitude the ancient letters of each nation bear to one ano-
ther. Tacitus obferves that the fhape of the Latin letters
was like that of the most ancient Greek ones; and the fame
obfervation was made by Pliny P, and confirmed from an
ancient table of brafs infcribed to Minerva. Scaliger has
endeavoured to prove the fame point, from an infeription on
a pillar which food formerly in the Via Appia to old Rome,
and was afterwards removed into the gardens of Farnefe.
Voffius is of the fame opinion, and has thewn at large how
the old Latin letters were formed from the ancient Greek,
with a very ſmall variation.
O
S
Let us now come to the Greeks; and they confe's that
they were taught their letters. The Ionians were the firft
that had knowledge of them, and they learned them from
the Phoenicians. The Ionians did not form their letters ex-
actly according to the Phoenician alphabet, but they varied
them but little, and were ſo juſt as to acknowledge whence
they received them, by always calling their letters Phoni-
cian. And the followers of Cadmus are fuppofed to be the
perfons who taught the Ionians the firft ufe of their letters.
This is the fubftance of what is moft probable about the ori-
gin of the Greek letters. There are indeed other opinions of
n Lib. vii. c. 56.
• Tacit. Annal. lib. xi. §. 14.
P Lib. vii. c. <8.
•
Digreff. ad Annum Eufeb. 1617.
Voff. lib. i. c. 11, 12, &c.
• Herod. in Terpfichor. §. 58.
* See Plut. Sympof. lib. ix. prob. 2.
K 3
t
Philoftrat. lib. ii. de vit. Sophift. Critias
apud Athenæum, lib. i. c. 23. Clem.
Alex. Strom. lib. i. p. 360. Oxon. 1715.
Voff. de arte Gram. I. i. c. 1o. Scaliger
in Not. ad Eufeb. 1617. Grot. in Not.
ad lib. de Veritat. Rel. lib. i. §. 15. n.
Bochart. Geog. Sacra, lib. i. c. 15.
fome
134
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
ท
w
ſome writers to be met with; for fome have imagined that
Palamedes was the author of the Greek letters, others that
Linus, and others that Simonides; but theſe perſons were
not the first authors, but only the improvers of the Greek
alphabet. The long vowels and were the invention of
Simonides; for at firſt ɛ and o were ufed promifcuouſly, as
long or fhort vowels : 4, X, and , were letters added to the
alphabet by Palamedes; and and, though we are not
certain who was the author of them, did not belong to the
original alphabet; but ftill, though thefe letters were the
inventions of Palamedes, Linus, or Simonides, yet they can-
not be faid to be the authors of the Greek letters in general,
becauſe the Greeks had an alphabet of letters before theſe
particular ones came into ufe; as might be fhewn from fe-
veral teftimonies of ancient writers, and fome ſpecimens of
ancient infcriptions, feveral copies of which have been taken
by the curious.
*
Voffius was of opinion that Cecrops was the firſt author
of the Greek letters; and it must be confeffed that he has
given fone, not improbable, reafons for his conjecture; and
Cecrops was an Egyptian, much older than Cadmus, and
was remarkable for underflanding both the Egyptian and
Greek tongues; but the arguments for Cadmus are more in
number, and more conclufive than for Cecrops. If Cecrops
did teach the Greeks any letters, the characters he taught
are entirely loft; for the most ancient Greck letters which
we have any ſpecimen of were brought into Greece by Cad-
mus, or his followers. Herodotus exprefsly affirms him-
ſelf to have ſeen the very oldeft infcriptions in Greece, and
that they were wrote in the letters which the Ionians firſt.
ufed, and learned from Cadmus, or the Phoenicians. The
infcriptions he ſpeaks of were upon the tripods at Thebes in
Boeotia, in the temple of Apollo. There were three of theſe
tripods the firſt of them was given to the temple by Am-
phitryon, the defcendant of Cadmus : the fecond by Laius,
the fon of Hippocoon: the third by Laodamas, the ſon of
× Loc. fupr. cit.
y Loc. fupr. cit.
Etcocles.
Book IV.
135
and Profane Hiftory.
Z
2
Eteocles. Scaliger has given a copy of thefe infcriptions
(as he fays) in the old Ionian letters; but I doubt he is in
this point miaken, as he is alfo in another piece ² of anti-
quity which he has copied, namely, the infcription on He-
rod's pillar, which flood formerly in the Via Appia, but was
afterwards removed into the gardens of Farnefe. The letters
on this pillar do not feem to be the old Ionian, as may be
feen by comparing them with Chifhull's Sigean inſcription,
or with the letters on the pedeſtal of the Coloffus at Delos,
of which Montfaucon gives a copy; but they are either (as
Dr. Chiſhull imagines) fuch an imitation of the Ionian, as
Herod, a good antiquary, knew how to make; or they are
the character which the Ionian letters were in a little time
changed to, for they do not differ very much from them.
But to return it is, I fay, agreed by the beſt writers, that
the Greeks received their letters from the Phoenicians, and
that the ancient Ionian letters were the first that were in ufe
amongst them. And thus we have traced letters into Pho-
nicia. We have now to enquire whether the Phoenicians
were the inventors of them, or whether they received them
from fome other nation.
We must confefs that many writers have fuppofed the
Phoenicians to be the inventors of letters. Pliny" and Cur-
tius both hint this opinion; and agreeable hereto are the
words of the poet ".
C
Phonices primi, famæ fi credimus, aufi
Manfuram rudibus vocem fignare figuris.
And Cretias:
Φοίνικες δ' εὗρον γράμματ' ἀλεξίλογα.
And fo Hefychius makes ἐκφοινίξαι and ἀναγνῶσαι, to all the
Phoenician, and to read, to be fynonymous terms. But there
are other authors and with better reaſon of another opinion.
Diodorus fays exprefsly, that the Syrians were the in-
f
z Digreff. ad Ann. Eufeb. 1617.
a Loc. fupr. cit.
b Plin. lib. v. c. 12. et lib. vii. c. 56:
c Lib. iv. §. 4.
d Lucan. Pharfal. lib. iii,
* Apud Athenæum, lib. i.
f Lib. v.
K 4
ventors
136
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
f
t
ventors of letters, and that the Phoenicians learned them from
them, and afterwards failed with Cadmus into Europe, and
taught them to the Greeks. Eufebius affents to this %, and
thinks the Syrians that firft invented letters were the He-
brews; though this is not certain. It is indeed true ", that
the ancient Hebrews had the fame tongue and characters, or
letters, with the Canaanites or Phoenicians, as might be evi-
denced from the concurrent teftimonies of many authors;
nay, all the nations in theſe parts, Phoenicians, Canaanites,
Samaritans, and probably the Affyrians, for fome ages, ſpake
and wrote alike.
Athanafius Kircher ¹ imagined that the Phoenicians learned
their letters from the Egyptians, and endeavoured to prove
that the first letters which Cadmus brought into Greece
were Egyptian. He defcribes the figures of theſe Cadmean
letters, and endeavours to prove, that they were the very
fame that were uſed at that time in Egypt; but his argu-
ments for this opinion are not conclufive. The letters he
produces are the prefent Coptic, as the very names and
figures of them fhew evidently; not that the Greek letters
were derived from them, but rather that the Egyptians.
learned them from the ancient Greeks; and I believe, fays
Biſhop Walton, whoever fhall read the Coptic books will
find fuch a mixture of Greek words in them, that he cannot
doubt but that Ptolemy, after his conquefts in Greece,
brought their letters, and much of their language, into Egypt.
Kircher endeavours to fhew by their form and fhape, that
the Greek letters were formed from the Egyptian defcription
of their facred animals, which he thinks were the letters
which the Egyptians at firſt uſed in their common writing,
as well as in their hieroglyphical myfteries. Theſe letters,
he fays, Cadmus communicated to the Greeks, with only
this difference, that he did not take care to keep up to the
precife form of them, but made them in a looſer manner.
He pretends to confirm his opinion from Herodotus; and
Præp. Evang. lib. x.
b Lucian. Chæril. de Solymis. Scal.
Digrell: ad Ann. Euſeb. 1617.
i dip. Ægypt. tom. iii, diatr. præ-
lufor. 3.
laftly
Book IV.
137
and Profane Hiftory.
lafly affirms from St. Jerome, that Cadmus, and his brother
Phoenix, were Egyptians; that Phoenix, in their travels from
Egypt, ftayed at Phoenicia, which took its name from him;
that Cadmus went into Greece, but could not poffibly teach
the Grecians any other letters than what himſelf had learned
when he lived in Egypt. But to all this there are many ob-
jections. 1. The hieroglyphical way of writing was not the
moſt ancient way of writing in Egypt, nor that which Cad-
mus taught the Greeks. 2. Herodotus, in the paffage cited *,
does not affirm Cadmus to have brought Egyptian letters
into Greece, but exprefsly calls them Phoenician letters; and,
as we faid before, the Phoenician letters were the fame as the
Hebrew, Canaanitiſh, or Syrian, as Scaliger, Voffius, and
Bochart have proved beyond contradiction. 3. St. Jerome
does not ſay whether Cadmus's letters were Phoenician or
Egyptian, ſo that his authority is of no fervice in the point
before us; and as to Cadmus and Phoenix's being Egyptians,
that is much queſtioned; it is more probable they were Ca-
naanites, as ſhall be proved hereafter.
Many confiderable writers have given the Egyptians the
credit of inventing letters; and they all agree that Mercury
or Thyoth was the inventor of them. Pliny ', in the very
place where he fays that fome afcribed the invention of let-
ters to the Syrians, confeſſes that others thought the Egyp-
tians the inventors of them, and Mercury their firſt author.
Diodorus m exprefsly afcribes the invention of them to the
fame perfon; and fo does Plutarch", and Cicero ". Tertul-
lian went into the fame opinion; and we alfo find it in
Plato. Kircher defcribes the fhape of the very letters which
this Thyoth invented. And Philo-Biblius, the tranſlator of
Sanchoniathon's hiftory, quoted by Eufebius and Porphyry,
mentions the Commentaries of Taautus, or Thyoth, and the
facred letters he wrote his books in; and Jamblichus fpeaks
r
* In Terpfich. §. 58.
1 Hift. lib. vii. c. 56.
m Diodor. lib. i. §. 16. p. 10.
n Sympof. lib. ix. c. 3.
• Lib. de Natur. Deorum iii. §. 22.
P Lib. de Corona Militis, c. 8. et de
Teftim. Animæ c. 5.
1 dip. Egypt. tom. iii. diatrib.
prælufor. 2.
Lib. de Myfteriis, cap. de Deo at-
que Diis.
of
138
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
of an incredible number of books wrote by this Taautus ³.
All antiquity agrees, that the uſe of letters was very early in
Egypt, and that Thyoth or Mercury was the firſt that uſed
them there, and taught others the uſe of them; but though
he is by many writers, for this reaſon, called the inventor of
letters, yet I cannot think that he really was fo; conſidering
that mankind was not planted firſt in Egypt after the flood,
but travelled thither from other countries. We have already
fhewn that the uſe of letters was in Greece firft, then in
Italy, and afterwards ſpread into the other parts of Europe.
We have alfo confidered how they came into Greece, name-
ly, from Phœnicia; and they were most probably introduced
into Phoenicia from Syria, and the Syrians, Canaanites, and
Affyrians, uſed originally the fame letters; ſo that in all pro-
bability they were introduced into all theſe nations from one
to another, and were earlieft at the place where mankind
ſeparated at the confufion of tongues; and from this place
it is alſo likely they were propagated into Egypt, and into
all other countries into which any companies difperfed from
Shinaar. I always thought letters to be of an Affyrian ori-
ginal, faid Pliny; and this was his opinion after duly con-
fidering what all other writers had offered about them. It is
highly reaſonable to think that all arts and fciences flourished
here as much earlier than in other parts, as the inhabitants
of theſe parts were fettled fooner than thoſe that went from
them. We have a fufficient account of the firſt kings, and of
the ancient hiftory of this part of the world, to induce us to
believe that they began their annals very early; and we are
fure from the aftronomical obfervations found at Babylon in
the time of Alexander the Great, which were before men-
tioned, that they fiudied here, and recorded fuch obfervations.
as they made, very few years after the difperfion of man-
kind; a plain indication that they had at this time the uſe
of letters; and we have no proofs that they had the uſe of
them thus early in Egypt, or in any other of the nations
derived from the difperfion of mankind. Taautus is by all
s By the books of Taautus I fup-
pofe are meant pillars, or lumps of
earth with inſcriptions on them, books
not being invented in theſe early ages.
t Hift. Nat. lib. vii. c. 56.
writers
Book IV.
139
and Profane Hiftory.
writers held to be the firſt that uſed letters in Egypt; and if
we ſuppoſe him to have uſed them before he came to be
king, when he was fecretary to his father Mizraim, yet ſtill
the uſe of them must be later in Egypt than in Affyria,
for they were probably ufed in the aftronomical records at
Babylon, even before Mizraim entered Egypt. One thing is
here remarkable, namely, that in thefe parts, where the
early uſe of letters is fo capable of being proved, there is no
mention of any particular perfon's being the author of them;
for the opinion of Suidas, who imagined Abraham to be the
author of the Affyrian letters, like that of Eupolemus " and
Ifidorus *, who thought Mofes the inventor of the Hebrew
letters, and of the Egyptian, deferve no confutation. Letters
were uſed in Affyria long before Abraham was born, and in
Egypt much longer before Mofes; and the ancient Hebrew
and Affyrian letters were the fame. The true reaſon why
we meet with no ſuppoſed author of the Affyrian letters, is,
I believe, this; antiquity agreed that letters were not in-
vented in Affyria. Mankind had lived above 1600 years be-
fore the flood, and it is not probable they lived without the
uſe of letters; for if they had, how fhould we have had the
fhort annals which we have of the firft world? If they had
letters, it is likely that Noah was ſkilled in them, and taught
them to his children. In the early ages, when mankind
were but few, and thofe few employed in all manner of con-
trivances for life, it could be but here and there one that had
leifure or perhaps inclination to ftudy letters; and yet it is
probable that there were too many that understood them
amongſt the people who remained at Shinaar, to prevent any
rumour of a fingle perfon's inventing them. The compa-
nies that removed from Shinaar into the other parts of the
world were but rude and uncultivated people, who followed
fome perſons of figure and eminence, who had gained an
afcendant over them; and hence it might come to paſs, that
when they had feparated their people from the reft of man-
kind, and came to teach them the arts they were mafters of,
all they taught them paffed for inventions of their own, be-
* Eufeb. Præp. Evang. lib. ix. c. 26.
Origines, lib. i. c. 3.
caufe
140
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
cauſe they knew no other perfons fkilled in them. But at
Shinaar there were ſeveral eminent perfons who lived ſubject
to Nimrod, and who underſtood and were maſters of the
feveral arts and fciences which mankind enjoyed together,
before fome of the great and leading men made parties for
themſelves, and feparated in order to difperfe over the world;
and therefore, though we here meet with a reported author,
when any new ſcience was invented, as Belus was imagined
to be author of their aftronomy; yet in the cafe of letters, in
which there was nothing new, nothing but what feveral
amongſt them, and many that were gone from them, were
very well ſkilled in, there could arife no account of any one
perfon amongſt them being the author or inventor of them.
There is one confideration more which makes it very pro-
bable that the uſe of letters came from Noah, and out of the
firſt world, and that is the account which the Chineſe give
of their letters. They affert their firft emperor, whom they
call Foli, to be the inventor of them; before Fohi they
have no records, and their Fohi and Noah were the fame
perfons. Noah came out of the ark in thefe parts of the
world, and the letters ufed here were derived from him; and
it happened here, as it afterwards did in other parts of the
world, Noah being the fole inftructor of his defcendants,
what he taught them was by after-ages reported to be his
own invention, though he himfelf had learned it from thoſe
who lived before him. Bishop Walton offers arguments to
prove that the Chinefe had not the earliest afe of letters; but
all his arguments arife from a fuppofal that the ark refted in
Armenia, and that mankind lived in Affyria foon after the
flood, and before they came to China; which I have proved
not likely to be true.
Z
We can carry our enquiry into the original of letters no
higher. Pliny in one place hints them to have been ſup-
pofed to be eternal; but that opinion muft either be founded
upon the erroneous notion of the world's being eternal, or
can mean no more than that the firft men invented them.
z Pliny hints it only from the fup-
poſal of fome perfons imagined to be
very ancient having ufed them. Lib.
vii. c. 56.
Some
Book IV.
141
and Profane Hiflory.
Some of the Rabbins afcribe them to Adam, and fome to
Abel; but they have nothing to offer that is to be depended
on. But furprisingly odd is the whim of fome of the
Jewish doctors, who affirm ten things to have been created
on the evening of the firft Sabbath, namely, the rainbow;
the hole of the rock, out of which the water flowed; the
pillar of the cloud and of fire, which afterwards went before
the Ifraelites; the two tables on which the law was written;
Aaron's rod, and letters: but this fort of trafh needs no con-
futation,
Turpe eft difficiles babere rugas,
Et flultus lalor eft ineptiarum.
If we confider the nature of letters, it cannot but appear
fomething ftrange, that an invention fo furpriſing as that of
writing is, fhould have been found out in ages fo near the
beginning of the world. Nature may easily be ſuppoſed to
have prompted men to ſpeak, to try to exprefs their minds to
one another by founds and noifes; but that the wit of man.
fhould, amongst its firit attempts, find out a way to exprefs
words in figures, or letters, and to form a method, by which
they might expofe to view all that can be faid or thought,
and that within the compafs of fixteen, or twenty, or four
and twenty characters, varioufly placed, fo as to form fylla-
bles and words; I fay, to think that any man could imme-
diately and directly fall upon a project of this nature, ex-
ceeds the higheſt notion we can have of the capacity we are
endued with. We have great and extraordinary abilities of
mind, and we experience that by ſteps and degrees we can
advance our knowledge, and make almoft all parts and crea-
tures of the world of ufe and fervice to us; but fill all theſe
things are done by fteps and degrees. A firſt attempt has
never yet perfected any feience or invention whatever. The
mind of man began to exert itself as foon as ever it was fet
on thinking; and we find, the firft men attempted many of
the arts, which after-ages carried forwards to perfection; but
they only attempted them, and attained no further than to
leave imperfect elays to thofe that came after. The firit
men, though they had formed a language to be underfood
by,
142
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
by, yet certainly never attained to an elegancy of ſpeaking.
Tubal-Cain was the firft artificer in brafs-work and iron, but
without doubt his best performances were very ordinary, in
compariſon of what has been done by later artifts. The arts
of building, painting, carving, and many others, were at-
tempted very early; but the firft trials were only attempts;
men arrived at perfection by degrees; time and experience
led them on from one thing to another, until by having tried
many ways, as their different fancies at different times hap-
pened to lead them, they came to form better methods of
executing what they aimed at, than at firſt they thought of.
And thus, without doubt, as it happened in the affair of let-
men did not at firſt hit upon a method extremely arti-
ficial, but began with fomething eafy and plain, fimple, and
of no great contrivance, fuch as nature might very readily
fuggeft to them.
ters:
And, if I may be allowed to make ſome conjectures upon
this fubject, I fhould offer, that it is not probable that the
firſt inventors of letters had any alphabet, or fet number of
letters, or any notion of deſcribing a word by fuch letters as
ſhould ſpell, and thereby expreſs the ſound of it. The firſt
letters were, more likely, ftrokes, or dafhes, by which the
writers marked down, as their fancies led them, the things
they had a mind to record; and one ſtroke, or dafh, without
any notion of expreffing a found or word by it, was the mark
of a whole action, or perhaps of a ſentence. When the firſt
man began to fpeak, he had only, as I before hinted, to fix
to himſelf, and to teach others to know by what particular
founds he had a mind to exprefs the things which he had
to ſpeak of: in the fame manner, whenever mankind
formed the first thoughts of writing, he that formed them
had only to determine, by what particular marks he would
exprefs the things or actions he had a mind to mark down;
and all this he might do, without having any notion of ex-
preffing a found, or word, by the characters he made. We
have amongst us, in frequent ufe, characters which are as
fignificant as letters, and yet have no tendency to expreſs this
or that particular found; for inftance, our numeral letters,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. exprefs, as clearly as the words themfelves
could
Book IV.
143
and Profane Hiftory.
could do, the numbers intended by them, and they no more
ſpell one, two, three, four, five, than they do unum, duo,
tria, quatuor; or the Greek words for them, tv, dúo, τpía,
τέσσαρα, &c. Our aftronomical characters are of the fame
fort, O, D,, 8, ô, 4, h; with many others that
might be named, and are at fight intelligible to perfons of
different nations, and who would read them into words of
different founds, as each of their languages would direct
them. Such as theſe probably were the letters of the firſt
men; they had no notion of fpelling, and expreffing the
ſound of words, but made a few marks to be the figns of the
things which they had a mind to write down, and which
might be cafily understood by thofe that made them, and by
as many others as would take the pains to learn their cha-
racter. This is what nature would directly lead to in the
firſt attempts of writing. There could be no notion of fpell-
ing, nor any thought of a fet number of letters; for men.
could hardly have a thought of thefe, until language came to
be confiderably improved; until they had viewed on all
fides the nature of their words, and found out how many
forts of founds were required to exprefs them. If we look
amongſt the ignorant perfons which are now-a-days in the
world, we may fee enough to fhew us what the first attempts
of nature would be, and what is owing to improvement.
There are many perfons in the world, who, not having been
taught either to write or read, have no notion of ſpelling,
and yet can, by their natural parts, form themfelves a cha-
racter, and with a piece of chalk record, for their own uſe,
all that they have occafion to mark down in their affairs.
I have been told of a country farmer of very confiderable
dealings, who was able to keep no other book, and yet car-
ried on a variety of buſineſs in buying and felling, without
diforder or confufion he chalked upon the walls of a large
room fet apart for that purpoſe, what he was obliged to re-
member of his affairs with divers perfons; and if we but
ſuppoſe, that ſome of his family were inftructed in his marks,
there is no difficulty in conceiving, that he might this way,
if he had died, have left a very clear fiate of his concerns to
them. Something of this fort is like the firft effay of nature,
and
144
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
and thus, without doubt, wrote the first men. It was time
and improvement that led them to confider the nature of
words, to divide them into fyllables, and to form a method
of ſpelling them by a ſet of letters.
If we look amongst the Chinefe, we find in fact what I
have been treating of. They have no notion of alphabetical
letters, but make ufe of characters to exprefs their meaning.
Their characters are not defigned to exprefs words, for they
are uſed by feveral neighbouring nations who differ in lan-
guage; nor are there any fet number or collection of them,
as one would imagine art and contrivance would, at one
time or another, have reduced them to; but the Chineſe ſtill
write in a manner as far from art, as one can conceive the
first writer to have invented. They have a mark for every
thing or action they have to write of, and not having con-
trived to uſe the fame mark for the fame thing, with fome
common diftinctions for the accidental circumftances that
may belong to it, every little difference of time, manner,
place, or any other circumftance, cauſes a new mark, ſo that,
though their words are but few, their letters are innume-
rable. We have in Europe, as I before hinted, characters
to expreſs numbers by, which are not defigned to ſtand for
any particular ſounds, or words; but then we have artil-
cially reduced them to a ſmall number. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, and the cipher o, will exprefs all numbers that can
poffibly be conceived. Without doubt the Chineſe charac-
ter might be contracted by a proper method; but the writing
of this people, as well as their language, has had little
improvement. When mankind began firft to make their
marks for things, having but few things to mark down, they
eafily found marks enough for them as they grew further
acquainted with the world, and wanted more characters,
they invented them, and the number increaſing by degrees,
it might cauſe no great trouble to perfons who were ſkilled
in the received characters, and had only to learn the new
a Alvarez Semedo, apud Walton.
Prolegom. ii. §. 21.
b Their letters are 60, 80, or 120,000,
fays Walton ¡in loc. ſup. cit.) ; 54,409
:
fay other writers; and Le Compte fays,
that he is no learned man amongst
them that does not underſtand 15 or
20,000 of their letters.
ones,
Book IV.
145
and Profane Hiftory.
ones, as they were invented; but it is ſtrange that a na-
tion fhould go on in this method for thouſands of years, as
the Chineſe have really done: one would think, that it muſt
easily be foreſeen to what a troubleſome number their letters
muſt in time grow, and that a ſenſe of the common conve-
nience ſhould, at one time or other, have put them upon
trying to reduce them; but we find in fact they have not
done it. The Chineſe report their letters to have been in-
vented by Fohi, or Noah; and in reality both their letters
and their language feem fo odd, that they might well pafs
for the invention of the early and uncultivated ages of man-
kind. Without doubt the Chineſe have added to the num-
ber of their letters fince the time of their emperor Fohi,
and probably altered the found of their old words, and made
fome new ones; but they differ fo remarkably, both in
writing and language, from the reft of mankind, that I can-
not but think them the defcendants of men that never came
to Shinaar, and who had no concern or communication with
thoſe who were thence diſperſed, by the confufion of Babei,
over the face of the earth.
C
We have no remains, nor fo much as any hints in ancient
writers, to induce us to imagine, that this fort of writing was
ever ufed by any of the nations that were diſperſed from
Babel. We read of no letters on this fide India truly an-
cient, but what were defigned to exprefs the words of the
people that wrote them. Laertius indeed feems to hint
that the Babylonians had anciently a facred character, dif-
ferent from the letters in common ufe: and Eufebius d from
Philo-Biblius reprefents Sanchoniathon to have ſearched re-
cords wrote in a character of this fort. The facred letters of
Egypt are frequently mentioned: there were two pillars in-
feribed in this fort of letters at the tomb of Ifis and Oſiris ;
and Strabo fpeaks of a pillar in memory of Sefoftris, which
had theſe characters cut upon it; and the remains of Thyoth
were without doubt written in this character f. If we con-
Burnet. Archæolog. lib. i. c. 8.
edit. 2.
d Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. 9.
e Lib. xvi. 729. edit. Par. 1620.
f Eufeb. Chron. p. 6.
VOL. I.
L
fider
146
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
I
g
b
fider that Herodotus and Diodorus mention only two forts
of letters, the facred and common letters ; and that Cle-
mens Alexandrinus, and Porphyry, and the later writers,
who take in the hieroglyphics, mention three forts; it
will perhaps induce us to imagine, with Dr. Burnet ¹, that
the ſacred letters of the Egyptians were different from their
hieroglyphics, and that the hieroglyphics were not in uſe in
the first times. It is true, Diodorus *, by his deſcription of
the facred letters, makes them to be hieroglyphics; but I
imagine that he happened to do ſo, becauſe hieroglyphics
being in ufe before his time, and the facred letters, which
were diſtinct from them, being then wholly laid aſide, he
knew of but two forts, the hieroglyphics and the common
letters; and fo took the facred letters, which he found men-
tioned by thoſe that wrote before him, to be the hierogly-
phics. But Porphyry very evidently diftinguiſhes them one
from the other: he calls the facred letters, ispoyλufixa
ἱερογλυφικά
κοινολογούμενα κατὰ μίμησιν· and the common hieroglyphics,
συμβολικά αλληγορούμενα κατά τινας αἰνιγμούς. It is indeed
fomething difficult to apprehend how letters can be faid to
imitate the things defigned by them; however we find this
was an ancient notion. Plato puts it into the mouth of So-
crates. But though, for theſe reaſons, I imagine that there
was an ancient character in Egypt, diftinct from both the
vulgar letters and common hieroglyphics; yet I cannot
think, with Dr. Burnet, that it was like the letters uſed in
China. The Chineſe letters exprefs no words or particular
ſounds whatſoever; but the old Egyptian letters did, as ap-
pears plainly from the account we have of Agathodæmon's
tranflating them. The remains of Thyoth were inſcriptions
on pillars, [σηλών, ἱερᾷ διαλέκτῳ καὶ ἱερογραφικοῖς γράμμασι κε-
xαpaxтnρioμśvav] written upon, in the facred language and
facred characters: and Agathodæmon tranflated them [x
τῆς ἱερᾶς διαλέκτε εἰς τὴν Ἑλληνίδα φωνὴν γράμμασιν ἱερογλυφικοῖς]
Herodotus in Euterpe. Diodorus,
lib. i. p. 51.
h Strom. lib. v. p. 657. edit. Potter.
Porph. de vita Pythag. c. 12.
¹ Archæolog. lib. i. c. 8.
n
k Lib. iii. p. 101.
1 In lib. de vit. Pythag.
m In Cratylo.
Eufeb. in Chron. p. 6.
out
Book IV.
147
and Profane Hiftory.
out of the facred language, into the Greek tongue, in facred let-
ters; i. e. he changed the language, but uſed the ſame letters
in which Thyoth wrote. Here therefore we fee, that the
facred letters were capable of being uſed to expreſs the
words of different languages, and were therefore not like the
Chinefe, or of the fame fort with the firft letters of mankind,
which expreffed no words at all. Plato fays P, that Thyoth
was the first that diftinguiſhed letters into vowels, and con-
fonants, and mutes, and liquids, and was the author of the
art of grammar. I doubt theſe improvements are more mo-
dern than the times of Thyoth; however, Plato's opinion in
this matter is an evidence that there was no notion in his
days of Thyoth's ufing any other than alphabetical letters.
The uſe of alphabetical letters therefore began very early
in the fecond world, probably not long after the diſperſion of
mankind; for the records of the Chaldæan aftronomy reach
almoſt up to this time, and Thyoth's infcribing pillars was
not above two centuries later. Alphabetical letters were
perhaps invented both in Affyria and in Egypt, and to one
or other of thefe two nations all other countries are indebted
for the uſe of them. We find the great project at Babel,
next to the building of the tower, was the improvement of
language; for this caufed the confufion which ſcattered
mankind over the face of the earth and if the courfe they
took in this affair was fuch as I imagined, namely, an at-
tempt to diffolve the monofyllables, of which the firſt lan-
guage of mankind confifted, into words of various lengths,
in order to furniſh themſelves with new fets of names for
new things; it may be conceived, that a project of this fort
might by degrees lead to the invention of alphabetical let-
• Biſhop Stillingfleet, and ſeveral
other writers, translate isgyKufixois
ιερογλυφικοῖς
goduμæsu, hieroglyphic chara&ers ; and
the learned Bithop remarks upon the
paffage as follows: "It is well ftill
"that this hiſtory ſhould be tranſlated
"into hieroglyphic characters; what
"kind of tranflation is that? We had
"thought hieroglyphics had been re-
"preſentations of things, and not of
"founds and letters, or words. How
"could this hiftory at firft have been
L 2
:
"written in any tongue, when it was
"in hieroglyphics? Do hieroglyphics
CC
ſpeak in ſeveral languages? And are
"they capable of changing their
"tongues?" The reader will easily
obferve from this remark, that itsoy2.0-
Qixsis yzauuxon, in the paffage before
us, fhould be tranflated not hierogly-
phies, but facred letters, and then the
ſenſe will be clear and eaſy.
? In Philebo, p. 374.
ters
148
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
ters. It is not likely that they immediately hit upon an al-
phabet, but they made attempts, and came to it by de-
grees.
If we look into the Hebrew tongue, which, before it was
improved, was perhaps the original language of the world,
we ſhall find, that its diffyllables are generally two monofyl-
lable words put together: thus the word Barah, to eat, is
only Bar, the old word for Beer, to declare; and Rab, the
old word for Rach, to fee; fo the word Kaſhaſh, to gather, is
only the word Kafb, which fignifies ftraw, and Safb, to re-
joice; Ranal, to be moved, is only the old word Ran, which
was afterwards wrote Ranan, to be evil; and Nain, which
was anciently wrote Nan, to direct the eye; Abah, to be wil-
ling, is made of two words, Ab, a father, and Bah, the old
word for Bobu, for our Lexicons derive Bobu from an ancient
word Bab, or Babah. This obfervation may, I believe, be
carried through the whole language; there is hardly an He-
brew diffyllable, except fuch only as were anciently pro-
nounced monofyllables, or fuch as are derived from ſome
theme, and made up of the letters of that theme, with fome
additional affix, but what are plainly and evidently two
words (i. e. two fignificant founds) joined together; and I
dare ſay, inftances of this kind are not to be found in any of
the modern languages. This therefore was the method
which men took to make words of more ſyllables than one;
they joined together their monofyllables, and that afforded a
new ſet of words for the enlarging their language; and if
this may be allowed me, it will, I think, lead us to the firſt
ſtep taken towards altering the first characters of mankind.
As they only doubled their ſounds, fo they might at firſt only
repeat their marks, and the two marks put together, which
fingly were the characters of the fingle words, were the firft
way of writing the double ones; and this I think muft
bring them a very confiderable ftep towards the contriving a
method of making letters to ſtand for founds, and not for
things. When men ſpake in monofyllables only, and made
fuch marks for the things they ſpoke of as the fancy of the
first author had invented, and cuftom had made familiar to
all that uſed them, they might go on as the Chineſe have,
and
Book IV.
149
and Profane Hiftory.
and never think of making their marks ftand for the words
they ſpoke, but rather for the things they meant to expreſs
by them; but when they once came to think of doubling or
joining their marks, in a manner that ſhould accord with the
compofition of their words, this would evidently lead them
to confider ftri&ly, that as founds may be made the means of
expreffing our thoughts, by agreeing to uſe particular founds.
for fuch thoughts as we would exprefs by them; fo alſo
may characters be made the marks of particular ſounds, by
agreeing what character fhall be uſed for one found, and
what for another. To give an inſtance from ſome one of the
words I have before mentioned: ſuppoſe Kaſbafb to be the
new invented word, defigned to fignify what we call to ga-
ther; and ſuppoſe this new word to be made by agreeing, as
I faid, to put two known words together, Kaſh, the word for
ſtraw, and Saſh, to rejoice; and ſuppoſe the ancient charac-
ter for Kafb was 8, and for Safb was 8, the character then for
Kaſhaſh would be 8 8. Here then it would be remarkable,
that the reader, however he might not obſerve it when he
met either of theſe characters fingle, yet he could not but
fee when he met them together, that each of them ftood in
the compound word for a found, and not for a thing; for
the two founds, one of which each character was to exprefs,
were, when put together, to fignify a very different thing
from thoſe, which each of them fingle would have offered.
If language therefore was altered as I have hinted, which
looks very probable from confidering the nature of the He-
brew diffyllables; and if this alteration of language led to
fuch a duplication of character as I have imagined, which is
a method very eaſy and natural for men to fall into, we may
fee that they would be engaged in making characters ſtand
for founds before they were aware of it, and they could
hardly do fo long, before they must confider it; and if they
came once to confider it, they would go on apace from one
thing to another; they would obferve how many founds the
words they had in ufe might be compounded of, and be
hereby led to make as many characters as they could frame
fingle founds, into which all others might be refolved, and
this would lead them directly to an alphabet.
L 3
It
150
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
It is pretty certain, that various nations, from a difference
of pronunciation, or from the different turn of imagination
that is always found in different men, would hardly, though
agreeing in a general ſcheme for the framing their letters, yet
happen to frame an alphabet exactly the fame, in either
ſhape or number of letters; and this we find true in fact:
the Arabian and Perfian alphabet have fuch a fimilitude, that
they were probably derived one from the other. And the
old Hebrew and Arabian (and perhaps the old Egyptian)
characters agree in fo many refpects, as to give reaſon to
imagine that they were formed from one common plan;
though they certainly fo differ in others, that we cannot but
think that the authors of them fat down and formed, though
upon a common ſcheme, yet in their own way, in the coun-
tries which they planted. It is very probable, that there
may have been in the world feveral other alphabets very dif-
ferent from thefe. I think I have read of a country in In-
dia, where they uſe an alphabet of fixty-five letters; and
Diodorus Siculus P informs us, that in the island of Tapro-
bane, which we now call Ceylon, they anciently uſed but
feven: but perhaps the reader may be better informed in this
matter, if he confults fome books which Bishop Walton ª
directs to, and which I have not had opportunity of feeing,
viz. Poſtellus de xii. Linguis, Duretus de Linguis et Characte-
ribus omnium Linguarum; the Alphabetical Tables of vari-
ous Characters, published at Francfort 1596; and Ja. Bonav.
Hepburn's Seventy Alphabets, publiſhed at Rome 1616.
J
The characters which are now commonly uſed in Europe
being, as I have faid, derived from the ancient Latin; the
ancient Latin from the old Greek letters; the Greek letters
from the Phoenician; and the Phoenician, Syrian, ancient
Hebrew, and Affyrian, having been much the fame; I could
willingly, before I cloſe this effay, add a few obfervations
upon each of thefe in their order.
And, 1. The ancient Hebrew alphabet was not wrote in
the preſent Hebrew character, but in a letter pretty much
the fame as the preſent Samaritan. Buxtorf and Lightfoot
P Lib. ii. p. 98.
• Prolegom.
were
Book IV.
151
and Profane Hiftory.
were not of this opinion; but it has been abundantly proved
by Scaliger, Cafaubon, Grotius, Voffius, Bochart, Father
Morin, Breerwood, Capellus, and Walton. Bishop Walton
has proved it beyond contradiction, from fome ancient Jeru-
falem coins, called Shekels. The Rabbins, Talmudifts,
Chriſtian Fathers, Origen, and St. Jerome, all believed that
there had been a change of the Hebrew letters. St. Jerome
afferts it very expreſsly. Spanheim and Dr. Allix took the
other fide of the queſtion, but they have anſwered only a
ſmall part of the arguments againſt them. This change of
the Hebrew letters was made by Ezra, after the rebuilding
the temple, when he wrote out a new copy of the law.
The old Hebrew letters were wrote in this manner'.
GREEN EIGIN
NWI PM TO
Like to theſe were the Syrian and Phoenician; the beſt
copy we can take of the old Phoenician muſt be had from
Scaliger, and are wrote thus ;
"Y LYME DEFEATIN
NWAYMJOGS
MI

From the Phoenician were derived the ancient Greek let-
ters, which, according to the most ancient fpecimen we have
of them, were thus written:
ABNA E HIKLM MONAST
αβγδεβικλμνοπρστ
Theſe were probably the first letters of the Greek alphabet,
De Siclorum Formis, in Prolegom.
3. S. 29, 30. See Dr. Prideaux's Con-
nect. vol. i. part i. b. v. an. 416.
• In Præfat. ad Lib. Regum.
There is no reafon to think the
I 4
first and most ancient Hebrew alpha-
bet had thus many letters. Irenæus
favs exprefsly, Iffe antiquæ et prima
Hebræorum Heræ, et Sacerdotales nun-
cupata, decem quidem funt numera,
which
152
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
which originally were no more than fixteen ". Some time
after theſe following letters were added ;
FIÐ YO+
f yo
Ө
v © X
χ
for we find all thefe in the ancient Sigean infcription, pub-
lifhed by Dr. Chiſhull.
The Greek letters were not anciently wrote from the left
hand to the right, as we now write them, but from the right
hand to the left, as the Hebrew and Phoenicians wrote; and
then the letters being inverted had a nearer reſemblance to
the Phoenician character, from whence they were taken,
being wrote thus * :
T29704MJX THEA 18A
In time the Greeks left off writing from the right to the
left in part, and retained it in part; that is, they began one
line from left to right, the next from right to left, the third
from left to right, &c. This they called writing Bespoørdov,
βετροφηδόν,
or, as oxen plough; the lines in this way of writing being
drawn in the manner of furrows. Paufanias mentions an in-
ſcription wrote in this manner, namely, that on the cheft
of Cypfelus in the temple of Juno at Corinth. Periander,
the fon of Cypfelus, is ſuppoſed to be the perſon who in-
fcribed it. The laws of Solon were wrote in this manner ².
And Chifhull's Sigean infcription is a complete ſpecimen of
this fort of writing.
The letter H in the old Greek alphabet did not found
what we now call, but was an afpirate like the Engliſh H.
This was proved by Athenæus a, and has been fince further
evidenced by Spanheim, from feveral ancient coins ; and
u Eufeb. in Chron. Num. 1617.
× We have inftances of this way of
writing in the Etrufcan monuments,
and upon fome Æolic coins.
y Paufanias, lib. v. c. 17.
2 See Suid. et Harpocrat. in i xár-
WDEN VOμO.
b
a Athenæi Deipnofophift. lib. ix.
C. 12.
Spanheim. de Præftant. et Ufu
Numifm. antiq. Differt. 2. p. 59. 74.
there
Book IV.
153
and Profane Hiftory.
there are no leſs than four inftances of it in the Sigean in-
ſcription.
The letters E and O were anciently wrote in the fame
characters, whether they were long or ſhort vowels; for the
ancient alphabet had neither, nor wd. Simonides was
The
the perſon that invented thefe two long vowels.
Ionians firſt uſed them, which occafioned Suidas to call them
Ionian letters f. The Athenians came into them by de-
grees, and they were ordered to be uſed in the public in-
ſcriptions when Euclid was archon. Before w came into
ufe, o was wrote for w, in the dative cafe fingular of nouns %.
The ancient alphabet having at firſt no v, 8 in the geni-
tive caſe was conftantly wrote o: this appears both from
Quintilian and Athenæus. Athenæus, in his Convivium ",
introduces Achæus remarking that Alovico was wrote upon
an ancient cup, whereupon all the Sophifts determined that
the letter u was omitted, becauſe the ancients wrote o inſtead
of 8. Quintilian remarks, that o was anciently uſed fome-
times for a long vowel, fometimes for a fhort vowel, and
fometimes for a fyllable, that is, for the diphthong 8.
i
We come now to the letters that have been taken into the
Greek alphabet; and the firſt of them is F: this is a cha-
racter which is not now found in it; it was invented by the
Æolians, who avoided having two vowels come together in
a word, by inferting this where they happened to do ſo :
they called it a digamma, and the found or power of it was
much the fame as our Engliſh ƒ: Priſcian gives ſeveral in-
ftances of it ; in the word δάϊον, wrote δάξιfoν ; Δημόφρον, wrote
Δημόφο
Anμógo Fov; Aαóxoov, wrote AaFoxo Fov; and we have a re-
markable inſtance of it in the infcription on the pedeſtal of
the Coloffus at Delos *, where Furo is wrote for auto; but
the infcription being a fhort one, and the letters being truly
* See Plato in Cratylo.
• Suidas in Simonide.
f Id. in Σαμίων ὁ Δῆμο.
k
g See Scholiaft. in Euripid. in Phoe-
niff. v. 688. And there are two in-
ftances of it in the infcriptions on the
Theban tripods.
h Lib. xi. c. 5.
iDe Inftitut. Orator. lib. i. c. 7.
k Montfaucon. Palæograph. Græca,
lib. ii. c. 1. p. 121.
ancient,
154
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
0
ancient, being uſed for e, according to what has been ob-
ferved, I fhall here tranſcribe it :
'ΟΛΑΥΤΟ ΛΙΘΟΑΜΑΝΔΡΑΣ
KAITOS OF LAS
i.ε. 3 αὐτῷ λίθε εἰμὶ ἀνδρίας καὶ τὸ σφέλας
The F was probably derived from the Hebrew or Phoe-
nician Vau, which was thus written: F
The letter V, or u, though an afcititious letter, was cer-
tainly in the Greek alphabet very early, evidently before the
times of this pedeſtal, or of the Sigean ftone. It is uſed on
the pedeſtal of the Coloffus for the vowel u in the word
aFUTO; but I fancy it was defigned originally for a ſofter di-
gamma, as the confonant is fofter than f. We have in-
ftances of this in fome Greek words; and it is remarkable
that the Latins took it fo, and have for that reafon put the V
for the Greek F, in the words they have taken out of the
one tongue into the other. This may be obſerved in the
words "Aogy, anciently wrote "A Fopy, in Latin, Avernus ;
and 'Apyao, Argivi. We find in Prifcian, da Fiov, or dáviov,
for dýïov, the firft the most ancient way, and the ſecond per-
haps after the fofter V came into ufe. He gives another
inftance in the words, wrote auús. Dionyfius Halicar-
naffeus obferves, that oveλia was anciently wrote Fénia",
and in Latin we write it Velia.
Z was thought by Pliny to be an original letter of the
Greek alphabet; and he quotes Ariftotle in proof of it".
Scaliger derives it from the Hebrew or Phoenician Zain, and
thinks it was another y, from its being wrote in a word in
Dan, i. 8. I fhould rather think it one of Simonides, or
Palamedes's letters, it being commonly uſed as a double
1 I imagine that the letter T at the
beginning of this line muft have been
worn out when copies were taken of it,
and that it began rã air, and not
Ἡ αὐτά.
in Dion. Halicar. lib. i. c. 20.
n Plin. lib. vii. c. 56.
• Digreff. ad num. Eufeb. 1617.
>
confonant,
Book IV.
155
and Profane Hiſtory.
L
confonant, and ftands for EA, or A, as is evident from
Σδεύς, and Ασεύς, being two ancient words for Ζεύς.
,, X, are allowed to be Palamedes's letters, and are
only Cadmus's T, II, X, afpirated, and were probably at first
wrote TH, ПН, КН Р.
There are two letters more belonging to the Greek alpha-
bet, & and . Thefe are only two confonants put together,
and if Palamedes was not the author of them, are certainly
later than Cadmus. & is only x5, or ys; & is only ™, or ßs;
this has been obferved and proved from feveral inftances in
the Baudelotian marble; and there is fuch an analogy be-
tween the genitive cafes of nouns and their nominatives, and
the future tenfes of verbs and their prefent tenfes, that the
ſpelling of the one fhews evidently how the other were an-
ciently written; thus ragxòs and poyos came from the an-
cient nominatives ragxs, and paòys; and ors and 4x6s were
the ancient words inftead of ↓ and çay, as appears from
their genitives ἀπὸς and φλεβός; κατήλιψ, κατήλις ; and sit,
sixos, thew that is fometimes uſed for 45, and έ for x5.
The Greek alphabet did thus in time grow from fixteen to
twenty-four letters; they were never reckoned more; fo
that the F and V must be counted to be but one and the
fame, for fo they were originally; and theſe four and twenty
were received and uſed, according to Eufebius, 1617 years
after the birth of Abraham, in the year after the overthrow
of the Athenian power 9. Now the furrender of Athens to
the Lacedæmonians happening the year before the ma-
giftracy of Euclid, this agrees perfectly well with the ac-
count of Suidas, who fuppofes the twenty-four letters to be
received at Athens, by the perſuaſion of Archinous the fon
of Athenæus, when Euclid was archon at Athens,
The Greek letters did not keep exactly their firſt ſhape, for
it is obfervable that length of time introduces changes into
all characters. We do not make alterations in our letters
P There are feveral inftances of this
in the infcriptions on the Theban tri-
pods ; àvednée is twice wrote ANETHE-
KE, and is wrote KH in two words,
x
viz. in συγμαχέων, and in Μέναιχίων
and is wrote TTH, in the word 'Au-
φιτρύων.
9 See Chron. Euſeb.
Ufher's An: als.
• Suidas in Sauiwy i Aîu&.
defignedly,
156
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
defignedly, but accidentally; all men never did write ex-
actly alike; and hence it has happened, that frequent muta-
tions are to be found in all ancient fpecimens of letters.
And thus the old Greek A was fometimes wrote A, and
afterwards A; N was wrote C, and ▲ was wrote D;
I was wrote L; P was wrote R; S
was wrote; and
V, Y: when the Greek character had received theſe
ſmall immutations, the old Roman letters might be eafily
derived from them, for they were thus written :
A B C D E F H I K L M NOTR
STV
Time, and the improvement of good hands, brought the
characters of both languages to a more exact ſhape, as may
be ſeen by comparing the letters in Scaliger's copy of the
tripods at Thebes, and the inſcription on Herod's pillar, with
the common Roman letters.
It may perhaps be entertaining to the reader, to fee
copies of fome of the ancient infcriptions: I have therefore
taken copies of the Sigean, and of the infcriptions on the
tripods at Thebes, and of that on Herod's pillar; in which
the reader may fee inftances of what we have been treating
of, if he has not at hand the works of better writers.
The
Book IV.
157
and Profane Hiftory.
The Sigean Infcription, and the ancient Greek alphabet,
according to Dr. Chithull.

ΠΑΝΟΔΙΚΟ: ΕΙΙ:TOH
0404 ΠΟΤ:ΣΟΤΑΜΟΥ 17
NEZIO:KANO:KPATEPA
ΜΟΑΗΙΑΙ:ΟΤΑΤΟΙΑΥ
ON: E27PVTANEION:E
ΕΥΖΙ:ΕΑΝΔΕΤΙΠΑ2+
ΣΙΛΕΙΕΣ: ΚΑΙΝΕΠΟ
JAX: 2070ZIAH:43213
ΗΑΔΕΙ ΦΟΙ
In modern characters thus:
Φανοδίκε εἰμὶ τοῦ
Ερμοκράτες το προκο
νησίς. καγώ κρατῆρα
καπίςατον καὶ ἦθο
μου ἐς πρυτάνειον ἔ-
δωκα μνήμα σιγει
εῦσι. ἐὰν δέ τι πάχε
ω μελεδαίνειν ἕω
Σιγείεις καὶ μ᾿ ἐποί
ησεν ὁ αἴσωπα καὶ
οἱ ἀδελφοί.
The Old Greek Alphabet.
Δ[Β]ΛΔΕ[Ι]ΗΘΙΚΙΝ
The
158
Book IV.
Connection of the Sacred
The infcriptions on the Tripods at Thebes, from Scaliger.
AMPHITRVON.M.ANETHEKEN.
EON APO TELEBOAON.
i. e. Αμφιτρύων μ' ἀνέθηκεν ἐὼν ἀπὸ τηλεβοάων.
SKALOS. PVM AKHEON. ME.
HEKEBOLOI. APOLLONI.
NIKESAS. ANETHEKE TEIN DE
RIKALLES ANALMA·
i. e. Σκατα συγμαχέων με ἑκηβόλῳ Απόλλωνι
Νικήσας ἀνέθηκε τεὶν περικαλλὲς ἄγαλμα.
LAODAMAS. TRIMOD AVTON.
EVSKOPOL. APOLLON L•
MOVNARKHEON.ANETHEKE
TEIN. PERIKALLES ANALMA•
i. e. Λαοδάμας τρίποδ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐϋσκόπῳ ᾿Απόλλωνι
Μεναρχέων ἀνέθηκε τεῖν περικαλλὲς ἄγαλμα.
The inſcription upon Herod's pillar, from Dr. Chiſhull.
ODENI SEMITON METAKINESAE EK
TO TRIOPIO HO ESTIN EMI TO TRITO
EN TEI HODOI TELAPPIAI EN TOL
ΑΓΓΙΑΙ
HERODO A ROI OAR LOION TOI
KINESANTI MAPTYS DAIMON EN HODIA
This is wrote on one fide of the pillar; on the other fide
thus:


Book IV.
159
and Profane Hiftory.

KAI HOI KIONES DEMETROS KAIKORES
ΑΝΑΘΕΜΑ ΚΑΙ ΑΘΟΝΙΟΝ ΘΕΟΝ.

In modern Greek thus:
ἐδενὶ θεμιτόν μετακινῆσαι ἐκ τοῦ τριοπίε ὅ ἐσιν ἐπὶ τῷ τρίτῳ ἐν
τῇ ὁδῷ τῇ ᾿Αππίᾳ ἐν τῷ Ἡρώδε ἀγρῷ. & γὰρ λώϊον τῷ κινήσαντι.
Μάρτυς Δαίμων Ενοδια.
- καὶ οἱ κίονες Δήμητρα
καὶ Κόρης Ανάθημα καὶ χθονίων θεῶν.
1
THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
CONNECTED.
BOOK V.
WHEN Athothes, Thyoth, or Pathrufim, the king of
Thebais, died, about the year of the world 2002, he was fuc-
ceeded in part of his dominions by a perfon of the ſame
name; and the other part was governed by a king named
Cencenes. The country of Thebais is divided into two
parts by the river Nile: Thyoth, the fecond of that nanie,
governed the country towards Afia; the other part, which
was fituate on the other fide of the river, was fubject to
Cencenes, and called the kingdom of This, from a city of
that nameª near Abydos, which city was the metropolis of
this new erected kingdom. The kings of This never raiſed
themſelves to any height of glory; we have little more of
them than their names. Athothes, the fecond king of
Thebes, reigned 32 years; and Cencenes, the first king of
This, 31. About this time, at Memphis, Meſochis, Soiphis,
Tefortafis; and in Lower Egypt, called the land of Tanis,
VOL, I.
3 Θις πόλις Αίγυπτία πλησίον Αβύδα. Steph. Βyz. in Θ.
M
Ariftarchus
162
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
Ariftarchus and Spanius fucceeded one another as kings of
thefe countries.
A. M. 2034, when Athothes the fecond king of Thebes
died, Diabies fucceeded him; he reigned nineteen years,
and died A. M. 2053; and the year before Diabies began his
reign, Venephes fucceeded Cencenes at This: Venephes
built fome pyramids in a plain towards Libya, in the deſert
of Cochome. Of the fucceeding kings of Egypt we have
nothing but names, and the dates of their reigns, which the
reader may fee by confulting Sir John Marfham, who has
given the moſt exact tables of them.
There was a family which dwelt amongſt the Babylonians,
and made a confiderable figure in thefe ages, and muft
therefore be particularly mentioned. At the divifion of
mankind, Arphaxad, the fon of Shem, lived near the place
which Afhur fome time after built for them, and which
was named Ur of the Chaldees. Part of his family lived
here with him he had two grandfons, Peleg and Jocktan :
Jocktan and his affociates travelled, and were feated from
Metha to Sephar; Peleg and his defcendants lived here at
Ur, until the latter end of the life of Terah, the father of
Abraham. The Chaldeans, who at this time governed
this country, were corrupted in their religion; and Terah's
anceſtors at firft complied with them; but Terah endea-
voured to begin a reformation, and put his family upon ad-
hering to the true worthip of God: this cauſed a rupture
between him and the Chaldeans, and occafioned the firft
perfecution on account of religion, for the Chaldeans drove
them out of the land f.
Terah hereupon, with Abram, Nahor, and his fons, and
with Lot the ſon of Haran, (for Haran died before they left
Ur,) and with as many as would adhere to them, travelled,
in order to find a more quiet refidence; they crofled over
Mefopotamia, and ſettled in the parts of it moſt diſtant from
b Sir John Marfham fuppofes theſe
Pyramids to be in number eighteen, of a
fmaller fize than thoſe which were af-
terwards reckoned amongst the won-
ders of the world. Can. Chron. p. 46.
c Vid. fup.
d Gen. xi. 28-31.
e Jof. xxiv. 2.
f Judith v. 8.
the
Book V.
163
and Profane Hiflory.
the Babylonians; and as they increaſed, they built them-
ſelves houſes, and in time made a little town or city, which
they named the city of Nahor; and they called the land the
land of Haran, perhaps in remembrance of their relation of
that name, who was dead. Here they lived until the death
of Terah ³.
h
After Terah's death there arofe fome difference about reli-
gion amongſt them alfo. Terah does not ſeem to have
brought his family to the true worship of God; and Nahor,
who continued in the land of Haran after Terah died, ap-
pears evidently to have deviated from it. The God of
Abraham and the God of Nahor is fo mentioned ¹, as to
imply a difference of religion between Laban and Jacob,
founded upon fome different fentiments of their forefathers;
for if their fentiments about the Deity had been exactly
alike, an oath in the fame uniform expretlion had been ſuf-
ficiently binding to both of them, and there had been no
need for each to adjure the other, as it were, by his own
God: nay, we are exprefsly told, that both Terah and Nahor
went aftray in their religion, and that for that reafon Abra-
ham was ordered to remove from them. Your fathers (ſays
Joshua ) dwelt on the other fide the flood, or river, namely
Euphrates, i. e. in Mefopotamia, in old time, even Terah the
father of Abram, and the father of Nabor: and they ferved other
gods. And I took your father from the other fide the flood, or
river, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan. Abra-
ham therefore, upon account of fome defection in his family
from the true worſhip of God, upon receiving an admonition
to do fo*, took Sarah his wife, and Lot his brother's fon,
and all their cattle and fubftance, and as many perſons as
belonged to them, and went away from his country and
kindred, and father's houſe, and travelled into the land of
Canaan.
1
The land of Canaan was at this time poffeffed by the
defcendants of Canaan the fon of Ham, fo that Abram was
only a traveller or fojourner in it. The earth was not at this
Gen. xi. 28-32.
h Chap. xxxi. 53.
i Jofh. xxiv. 2.
M2
k Gen. xii. 1, 4, 6.
L Ver. 6.
time
*
164
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
m:
time fo full of people, but that there was in every country
ground enough, and to fpare, and any traveller might come
with his flocks and herds, and find convenient places enow
to fuftain himſelf and family, without doing injury to, or
receiving moleftation from, any perfon. Accordingly Abram
travelled until he came to the plain of Moreh in Sichem m
here it pleaſed God to repeat a promiſe which he had before
made him, That he would give all that land to his children;
upon which Abram built an altar, and worſhipped. Some
time after he removed thence, to a mountain between Bethel
and Hai", and there he built another altar. He continued
in this place but a little time, for he kept on travelling
to the fouth, till at length there happened a famine in
Canaan, upon account of which he went to live in Egypt.
And this is the hiftory of Abram's family for above 300
years after the difperfion of mankind; and fince the firft æra
or epoch of the Hebrew chronology is commonly made to
end here, (for from this journey of Abram's into Canaan.
they begin the 430 years, during which time the children of
Ifrael were only fojourners, having only unfettled habitations
up and down in kingdoms not their own ",) I fhall carry
on my hiſtory no further in this volume, but ſhall only en-
deavour to fix the time of theſe tranſactions; and fince we
have met with accounts of different religions thus early in
the world, I will endeavour to enquire what religion at this
time was,
and how and wherein it differed in different coun-
tries.
As to the time of theſe tranſactions, it is eaſy to fix them;
for, first of all, from the flood to the birth of Terah, the
father of Abram, is 222 years, as may be computed from the
genealogies given us by Mofes, Gen. xi. And Terab lived
Seventy years, and begat Abram, Nabor, and Haran'. We
muſt not underſtand this paffage as if Terah had theſe three
m Gen. xii. 7.
n Ver. 8.
• Ver. 10.
P Exod. xii. 40,
9 Ver. 10-25. From the flood to
the birth of Arphaxad are two years;
thence to the birth of Salah, 35;
१
thence to the birth of Eber, 30; thence
to the birth of Peleg, 34; thence to
the birth of Reu, 30; thence to the
birth of Serug, 32; thence to the birth
of Nahor, 30; thence to the birth of
Terah, 29; in all 222 years.
• Gen. xi. 26.
fons
Book V.
165
and Profane Hiſtory.
fons when he was feventy years old, or as if Abram was born
in the feventieth year of Terah's life; for Abram was but
ſeventy-five years old when he travelled into Canaan, and
he did not go into Canaan until Terah's death ', and Terah
lived to be 205 years old; fo that Abram must be born in
Haran might perhaps be
the 130th year of his father's life.
born in the feventieth year of Terah, for he was, by many
years, the eldeſt fon; he had a daughter", Milcah, old
enough to be wife to Nahor, brother of Abram; and Lot the
fon of Haran feems to have been of much the fame
age with
Abram. The removal from Ur of the Chaldees into Mefo-
potamia was in the feventieth year of Abram: for the pro-
mife made to Abram was before he dwelt in Haran, and it
was 430 years before the Law; but from the birth of Iſaac
to the Law was 400 years ²; and therefore the promiſe made
at Ur, 430 years before the Law, was made 30 years be-
fore the birth of Ifaac, who was born when Abram was 100
years old; fo that the promife made 30 years before was
when Abram was 70, and we muſt fuppofe the removal to
Haran to be upon this promife, and much about the time of
it. Abram went into Canaan when he was 75 years old ª,
i.e. five years after he came to Haran. And thus Abram
was born in the 130th year of Terah, 352 years after the
flood, A. M. 2008; went from Ur to Haran when he was 70
years old, i. e. 422 years after the flood, A. M. 2078; he
removed into Canaan five years after, i. e. 427 years after the
flood, A. M. 2083; his going into Egypt was probably two
or three years after this, and, according to the tables of the
Egyptian kings of thefe times, Abram's coming into Egypt
was about the fifteenth year of Toegar Amachus, the fixth
king of Thebes, and about the tenth year of Miebidus, the
fixth king of This, and about the thirty-third year of Achis,
s Gen. xii. 4.
↑
Chap. xi. 32. Acts vii. 4.
Gen. xi. 29.
x Acts vii. 2.
y Gal. iii. 17.
z Ifaac was the feed to whom the
promife was made, Heb. xi. 18. Gen.
xvii. 19. and as he was born in a
frange land, and the feed was to be
a
ftrangerin a land not theirs for 400 years,
before God would begin to take ven-
geance upon the nation that oppreffed
them, Gen. xv. 13, 14. fo from hence,
to Mofes's appearing for the delivery of
the Ifraelites, will be found to be about
400 years.
* Gen. xii. 4. ut fupr.
M 3
the
166
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
the fixth king of Memphis. The name of the king of
Lower Egypt, into whofe kingdom Abram travelled, is loft,
according to Syncellus; the Scripture calls him Pharaoḥ,
but that is only a general name belonging to the Egyptian
kings. Africanus fays his name was Rameffomenes. Ac-
cording to Caftor, Europs, the fecond king of Sicyon,
reigned at this time.
©
In my computations beforegoing, I have indeed fixed the
birth of Abraham according to the Hebrew chronology, that
ſeeming to me the moſt authentic. The chronology of theſe
times, both in the Septuagint and Samaritan verſions, is in
many particulars different from the Hebrew; and if I had
followed either of them, I must have placed the birth of
Abraham later than I have done by feveral hundreds of years;
but there is fo little to be faid in favour of the Septuagint or
Samaritan chronology, in the particulars in which it here
differs from the Hebrew, that I think I fhall incur no blame
for not adhering to them. I am not willing to enlarge
upon this ſubject; the reader may fee it fully treated in Ca-
pellus's Chronologia Sacra, prefixed to Bishop Walton's
Polyglot Bible; and he will find in the general, that the
Samaritan chronology of this period is not of a piece with
the rest of the Samaritan chronology, but bears ſuch a fimi-
litude to that of the Septuagint, that it may be juſtly fuſ-
pected to have been taken from it, to fupply fome defect in
the Samaritan copy. It was indeed not very carefully tran-
fcribed, for it differs in fome particulars; but the differences
are fuch, as unſkilful or careleſs tranſcribers may be fuppofed
to have occafioned.
As to the Septuagint, it differs from itſelf in the different
copies or editions which we have of it; and the chronology
of theſe times, given us from the Septuagint by Eufebius
and Africanus, is fo different from what we now find in the
printed Septuagints, that it is evident that they had feen
copies different from any that are now extant; fo that there
would be fome difficulty in determining what are the true
numbers of the Septuagint, if we were diſpoſed to follow
c In Chron. Eufeb. p. 20.
d In eod. ibid.
them;
Book V.
167
and Profane Hiflory.
·
them; but it is of no great moment to fettle which are the
beft readings, becauſe at laft the beft is but erroneous, as
differing from the Hebrew text, which feems to offer the
moft authentic chronology. The differences between the
Greek and Hebrew chronology (ſetting afide the variations
occafioned moft probably by tranfcribers) may be reduced to
two heads. 1. In the lives of the patriarchs, from Shem to
Terah, the Septuagint infert 100 years before the time at
which they had children, i. e. the Septuagint make them
fathers 100 years later than the Hebrew text. 2. The Sep-
tuagint add a patriarch not mentioned in the Hebrew,
namely Cainan, making thereby eleven generations from
Shem to Abraham, infiead of ten. As to the former of theſe
particulars, namely, the addition of the 100 years before the
births of the patriarchs' children, it has been already con-
fidered in my account of the antediluvian chronology,
Book I. and the anſwer that is given there to this point will
fuffice here, and therefore I refer the reader to it, to avoid
repeating what is there fet down at large. 2. As to Cainan's
being one of Abraham's anceſtors, as the Septuagint fup-
poſe, great ſtreſs is laid upon it by fome learned men; they
obſerve, that Cainan's name is inferted in the genealogy of
our Saviour, Luke iii. which, they fay, would not have been
done, if the Septuagint were not right in this particular;
for St. Luke being an infpired writer would not have in-
ferted a particular that is falſe, differing in it at the fame
time from the Hebrew Scriptures.
Father Harduine is in great difficulties about this point;
for finding Cainan omitted in the vulgar Latin trauflation in
Genefis, and inferted in the fame tranflation in Luke, and
the Council of Trent having decreed, under pain of anathe-
ma, that all the books of the Scriptures are in all points and
particulars to be received, as they are ſet forth in that par-
ticular tranſlation, he thinks himſelf obliged to defend both
the omiffion of Cainan in the one place, and the inſertion of
him in the other, and at the fame time to make it out that
Salah was born in the thirty-fifth year of Arphaxad, accord-
* Chronolog. Vet. Teft. p. 20. Par. 1700.
M 4
ing
168
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
ing to Genefis xi. 12. which he does in the following man.
ner: 1. He ſays, Arphaxad and Cainan were very inconti-
nent perſons, and married more early than ufual; and that
Cainan was born when his father Arphaxad was but eighteen
years old; and that Salah was born when his father Cainan
was but ſeventeen: fo that Salah, though not the ſon, yet
the deſcendant of Arphaxad, was born when his grandfather
Arphaxad was but thirty-five. 2. He thinks Mofes omitted
Cainan's name, being defirous not to expoſe him and his
father for marrying fo foon, and therefore put down Salah as
defcended from Arphaxad, in the thirty-fifth year of his life,
which he really was, though not immediately as his fon, yet
really defcended of him, being his grandfon. But, 3. St.
Luke puts in Cainan's name, and he ſays he might very well
do it, becauſe, not mentioning the times of their nativities in
his genealogy, he did not hereby expoſe Cainan or Arphaxad,
for their fault before mentioned. And thus the learned men
of the Church of Rome are forced to labour to cover the
blunders and palliate the errors of their Church; and thus it
will always happen, where fooliſh and erroneous poſitions
are eſtabliſhed by canons and decrees. Some men of learn-
ing will have a zeal to defend the communion they are mem-
bers of, and in ſo doing muſt bear the misfortune of being
forced into argumentations, which muſt appear ridiculous to
the unbiaffed world, in order to obtain the character of good
churchmen in their own country. But to return: Cainan
is inferted in the Septuagint Bible, and in St. Luke's Goſpel ;
but there is no fuch name in the Hebrew catalogue of the
poftdiluvian patriarchs. To this I anfwer; Eufebius and
Africanus, both of them, (befides other writers that might be
named,) took their accounts of theſe times from the Septua-
gint, and yet have no fuch perfon as Cainan amongſt theſe
poftdiluvians. 2. They did not omit his name through care-
leffneſs, for by the number of generations, and of years
which they compute from Shem to Abraham, it is plain they
knew of no other name to be inſerted than what they have
given us therefore, 3. The ancient copies of the Septua-
gint, from which Africanus and Eufebius wrote, had not the
name of Cainan. 4. This name came into the Septuagint
copies
Book V.
169
and Profane Hiſtory.
copies through the careleffneſs of fome tranfcriber, who,
through inattention, inferted an antediluvian name (for fuch
a perſon there was before the flood) amongſt the poſtdilu-
vians, and having no numbers for his name, he wrote the
numbers belonging to Salah twice over. 5. Other copies
being taken from this erroneous one, the name of Cainan in
time came to be generally inferted. 6. St. Luke did not
put Cainan into his genealogy: but, 7. Learned men find-
ing it in the copies of the Septuagint, and not in St. Luke,
ſome tranſcribers remarked in the margin of their copies
this name, as thinking it an omiffion in the copies of St.
Luke's Goſpel. 8. Later copiers and editors finding it thus
in the margin, took it into the text.
Let us now enquire what religion at this time was, and
how it differed in different countries. Corruptions in reli-
gion were indeed very early; but it is very probable they
were at firſt but few. The religion of mankind was almoſt
one and the fame, for many years after they were divided
from one another. We read that the Chaldeans were ſo
zealous in their errors, even in Abram's days, that they
expelled him their country for his diffenting from them; but
we have no reaſon to think, that either the Canaanite or the
Egyptian were as yet devoted to a falfe religion. The king
of Salem, who was a Canaanite, of a different family from
Abram, was the prieſt of the most high God, in the coun-
try he was king of; and we do not find that Abram met
with any diſturbance upon account of his religion from the
inhabitants of that country, nor have we reaſon to think that
his religion was at this time different from theirs. In the
fame manner when he came to Egypt, God is faid to have
fent judgments upon Pharaoh's family ", becauſe of Abram's
wife; and the king of Egypt feems to have been in no wife
a ſtranger to the true God, but to have had the fear of him
before his eyes, and to be influenced by it in all his actions.
Religion was at this time the obſervance of what God had
been pleaſed to reveal concerning himfelf, and his worſhip;
and without doubt mankind, in all parts of the world, for
f Capell. Chron. Sacr. In Not. ad Ta-
bulas 3. ct 4.
g Heb. vii. 1.
Gen. xii. 17.
fome
170
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
fome generations, adhered to it. The only wicked perfons
mentioned about this time in the world were the Sodomites;
and their depravity was, not the corruption of falſe religion,
but immorality. But I fhall examine this fubject a little
more exactly; and the beſt method I can do it in will be to
trace and confider the ſeveral particulars of the true religion
of Abram; and in the next place to enquire what reaſons we
have to think that the other nations of the world agreed
with Abram in his religion; and laſtly, to examine when,
and how, by what ſteps and means they departed from it.
I. Let us confider what was the religion of Abram. And
here, as all religion must neceffarily confift of two parts,
namely, of fome things to be believed, and others to be per-
formed, fo we muft enquire into Abram's religion under
theſe two heads. All religion, I fay, confifts of faith and of
practice. Faith is a part of even natural religion; for he
that cometh unto God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that ferve him; and this faith will oblige
him to perform the practical part of religion; for if there is
a God, and he is a rewarder of his fervants, it neceffarily
follows, that we must take care to ferve and pleaſe him.
But let us enquire what the former part of Abram's religion
was, what his faith was, what he believed.
And in the general, Abram muſt unavoidably have had a
very lively fenfe and firm belief of the common attributes
of Almighty God; theſe he muſt have been convinced of
from the hiftory of mankind, from God's dealing with the
world. The very deluge muft have fully inftructed him in
this faith. We cannot imagine that he could receive the
accounts of that aftonishing vengeance, executed upon a
wicked world, which, without doubt, were tranfmitted down
from Noah's fons to their defcendants, eſpecially in thoſe
families which adhered to the worship of the true God; I
fay, he could not have the account of this remarkable tranf-
action tranſmitted to him in all its circumflances, without
being instructed from it to think of God, 1. That he takes
cognizance of what is done on the earth. 2. That he is a
i Heb. xi. 6.
lover
Book V.
171
and Profane Hiftory.¨
lover of virtue, but an abhorrer of vice; for he preferved a
well difpofed family, but deftroyed a wicked and finful
world. 3. That God has infinite power to command winds
and rains, feas and elements, to execute his will. 4. That as
is his power, fo is his mercy; he was not defirous that men
fhould perish; he warned them of their ruin, in order to
their amendment, 120 years before the executing his ven-
geance upon them. A fenſe of theſe things muſt have led
him, laſtly, to know and believe, that a Being of this fort
was to be ferved and worshipped, feared and obeyed. A
general faith of this fort Abram muſt have had, from a con-
fideration and knowledge of what had been done in the
world; and the world was as yet fo young, the very perfons
faved in the flood being ftill alive, and their immediate
children, or grand-children, being the chief actors in theſe
times, that no part of mankind can well be conceived to have
deviated much from this faith but then, Abram's faith
went ftill further, for he believed fome things that were
revealed to him by Almighty God, over and above the
general truths before mentioned. As it had pleafed God to
defign from the fall of man a ſcheme, which in Scripture is
fometimes called the will of God, fometimes the counſel or
defign of God; fometimes the hidden wifilom, or purpose of
God, by which mankind were to be redeemed from the ruin
which the fin of our firft parents had involved us in fo he
was pleaſed to give various hints and difcoveries of it to
feveral perfons in the ſeveral ages of the world, from Adam,
to the very time when this purpoſe, fo long before concerted,
was to take effect and be accomplished; and the receiving
and believing the infimations thus given was a part of the
religion of the faithful, in their feveral generations.
:
:
From Adam to the flood we have but one intimation of
this fort, namely, that which is contained in the threatening
to the ferpent, That the feed of the woman should bruife the
ſerpent's head: a propofition, which, if taken fingly, and by
itſelf, may perhaps feem to us fomething dark and obſcure :
* Eph. i. 9. Heb. x. 7—10.
Aas ii. 23. xx. 27. Ephef. i. 11.
1 Cor. ii. 7. Ephef. iii. 11. 2 Tim. i. 9.
m Gen. i 15.
but
172
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
but I would obferve from the very learned Dr. Sherlock",
that thoſe writers who endeavour to pervert the meaning of
this promife, and to give the words a fenfe not relating to
the Meffiah, under a pretence of adhering to a literal inter-
pretation of Scripture, cannot, in this place, make it ſpeak
common ſenſe; and I might add, that the words of the
prophecy cannot, without breaking through all rules of
grammar and conftruction, admit of the interpretation which
they would put upon them. They enquire, by what rules
of language the feed of the woman muft fignify one particular
perfon? I anſwer, in the place before us it cannot poffibly
fignify any thing elſe; the verfe, if tranſlated exactly from
the Hebrew, would run thus: I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy feed and her feed. He fall
bruiſe thy head, and thou shalt bruife his heel. If by the feed
of the woman, had been meant the defcendants of Eve, in the
plural number, it ſhould have been, they ſhall bruiſe thy head,
and thou shalt bruife their heels. The Septuagint took parti-
cular care in their tranflation to preſerve the true meaning of
it, by not using a pronoun that might refer to the word
feed, but a perfonal pronoun, which beft anſwers the Hebrew
word N, or be, in English. AUTÓS σоυ τпρησα xeqahǹv, xal
σὺ τηρήσεις αὐτῷ πτέρναν.
When God was pleaſed to admonish Abram to go out of
his country, from his kindred and relations, he encouraged
him by giving larger intimations of the mercies he deſigned
the world. The firft of thefe intimations is recorded Gen.
xii. God there promifes, upon requiring him to leave his
kindred and father's houſe, "That he would give him and
"his defcendants abundance of happineſs and proſperity;
"that of him ſhould ariſe a great nation; that his name
"ſhould be famous; that he fhould be a bleffing," i. e. ex-
ceedingly happy or bleffed; "that he would advance his
"friends, blefs them that bleffed him, and deprefs his enemies,
"or curfe them that curfed him: and moreover added, that in
" Dr. Sherlock's Ufe and Intent of
Prophecy, Difc. 3. well worth every
one's ferious peruſal, and which gives
a better account of what I am in this
place hinting, than I can exprefs, with-
out I were to tranfcribe at large what
he has offered.
bim
Book V.
173
and Profane Hiftory.
him all the families of the earth fhould be bleſſed, but not in him
perfonally, for it was afterwards explained to him°, In thy
feed fhall all the nations of the earth be bleſſed.
This expreffion of all nations being bleffed in Abram, or
in Abram's feed, is by fome writers faid to mean no more,
than that Abram and his pofterity ſhould be ſo happy, as
that thoſe who had a mind to blefs, or with well to their
friends, fhould propoſe them as an example or pattern of the
favours of heaven; in thee ſhall all the families of the earth be
bleſſed, i. e. all people of the world fhall blefs, or with well to
their friends [in thee, i. e.] according to what they ſee in
thee, according to the meaſure of thy happineſs. To be
bleſſed in one, fays a learned writer ³, implies, according to the
genius of the Hebrew language, as much as to wiſh the
fame degree of happineſs as is poffeffed by the perſon
alluded to, or propoſed as the pattern of the bleffing: of this
(fays the fame writer) we have a remarkable inftance in the
hiſtory of the bleffing beſtowed by Jacob upon Ephraim and
Manaffeh : And be bleſſed them that day, faying, In thee ſhall
Ifrael blefs, faying, God make thee as Ephraim and Manaſſeh :
whence it is plain, that the meaning of Jacob in faying, that
in thee fhall Ifrael bless, was, that Ephraim and Manaſſeh
fhould be propoſed as examples of bleffing; fo that people
were to wiſh to thoſe they intended to bleſs, the fame hap-
pineſs which God had beftowed upon Ephraim and Manaf-
feh. As this is an expofition of the promiſe to Abram,
which is conceived fufficient to fhew that that promife had
no relation to the Meffiah, fo I have expreffed it in its whole
force, and I think it may be very clearly confuted; for, 1.
The learned critic above-named has very evidently mistook
the expreffion. To bless a perfon in one, eſpecially when ex-
plained by additional words, God make thee as fuch an one,
which is the cafe in the bleffing of Ephraim and Manaſſeh,
may eaſily be apprehended to be propofing the perfon fo
mentioned as a pattern of the bleffing or happineſs wiſhed to
him, and that without laying any firefs upon the genius or
• Gen. xxii. 18.
1
P Jurieu Crit. Hift. vol. i. c. 1.
1 Gen. xlviii. 20.
idiom
174
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
I
idiom of the Hebrew tongue, for the words can really have
no other fignification; but to ſay a perfon fhall be bleſſed in
or by thee, without any addition of words to give the ex-
preffion another meaning, is evidently to ſay, that thou ſhalt
blefs or make that perfon happy, by being a means of his
proſperity. The expreffion in the one place is, in thee ſhall
Ifrael blefs, or exprefs their good wishes to one another; and
the expreffion is unquestionably clear, for it is added how
they ſhould fo blefs, namely, by faying, God make thee as
Ephraim and Manaffeb. In the other paffage it is, all fami-
lies fhall be bleffed in or by thee, i. e. fhall be made happy by
thee; for this is the natural fenfe of the expreffion, and, un-
lefs fomething elſe had been added, the words cannot be
turned to any other meaning. 2. None of the ancient ver-
fions give the words our author's fenfe, but fome of them the
very ſenſe I have explained them in. 3. The beſt interpre-
ters have always taken them in the fenfe I am contending
for. St. Paul exprefsly tells us, that by the feed of Abram
was meant, not the defcendants of Abram, in the plural
number, but a fingle perfon; and the writer of the book of
the Acts mentions Chrift as the particular perfon, who,
according to this promife, was to blefs the world: and in-
deed, the fuppofing this promiſe to be fulfilled in Chrift is
abfolutely neceffary, becaufe neither Abram, nor any per-
fon defcended from him, but Chrift, was ever, in any tole-
rable ſenſe, a bleffing, or means of happineſs to all the
families of the earth. Here, therefore, God enlarged the
ſubject of Abram's faith, and revealed to him, that a perfon
fhould be defcended from him, who fhould be a blefling to
the whole world. There are feveral places in Scripture,
where God, as circumftances required, repeated the whole
or part of this promife; in the plain of Moreh"; and again,
after Lot and Abram were parted from one another; and
t
S
×
The expreffion, Gen. xlviii. 2o. is
is active. The other expreffion is,
in which the verb בך יברך ישראל
,ונברכו בך כל משפחת האדמה
והתברכו בזרעך,Gen. xii. 3. or
" Gen. xxii. 18. in
both which places the verb is paf-
five.
s Gal. iii. 16.
t Acts iii. 25.
u Gen. xii. 7.
x Chap. xiii. ver. 15, &c.
afterwards
Book V.
175
and Profane Hiftory.
afterwards the particulars of this promife were further ex-
plained, as I fhall obſerve in its proper place. This there-
fore was the particular faith of Abram, over and befides what
reaſon and obſervation might dictate to him concerning God
and his providence: he received the diſcoveries which God
was pleaſed to make him of his defigning an univerfal bene-
fit to the world, in a perſon to be defcended of him, and
Abram believed whatever it pleaſed God to diſcover to him,
and fuch bis belief was counted to him for righteousness, it was
a part of his religion.
There is a paffage in the New Teſtament, which, as it re-
lates to Abram's faith, may not improperly be confidered in
this place our bleffed Saviour told the Jews, that Abra-
ham had ſeen his day, and rejoiced at it; from whence it is
concluded, that Abraham had a knowledge of Jeſus Chriſt
to come, and that by looking forward, through faith, he
faw him as if then prefent, and embraced the expectation of
him, and rejoiced in him as his Saviour. But to this it is
objected, 1. That it no where appears that Abram knew
any thing of Chrift, any further than that fome one de-
fcendant from himſelf ſhould be a bleffing to the whole
world. 2. They ſay, the interpreting this paffage in this
manner feems to deftroy the truth which our Saviour in-
tended to eſtabliſh by it: our Saviour ſpoke it (they fay) in
order to hint to the Jews, that he was a greater perfon than
what they took him to be, for that he not only now ap-
peared and lived amongst them, but that he had ages before
been ſeen by Abraham; from whence the Jews concluded,
that he meant to affert what he upon their not believing it
affured them was true, ver. 58, that he was older than
Abraham : but if Abraham faw his day only by looking for-
ward in faith to the expectation of it, no fuch conclufion
could follow from his fo feeing it; he might thus fee it,
and yet the Saviour, whofe day he fo looked to, might be
ages younger and later than himself: therefore, 3. As the
deſign of this paffage was to prove Chriſt older than Abra-
y John viii. 56.
We have an account of Abram's
faith, Heb. xi. 17. and there is no
mention in it of his believing in Chriſt.
ham,
176
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
a
ham, fo they argue the true meaning of it is, that Chrift was
himſelf ſeen by Abraham, and ſo he really was; for, as many
of the Fathers rightly conjecture ª, the divine Perfon, who
was ſo often ſeen by Abraham, when God was ſaid to ap-
pear to him, was our bleffed Saviour then in being ages be-
fore he took upon him the feed of Abraham; Abraham there-
fore, literally ſpeaking, faw him; and our Saviour might
very juftly conclude from Abraham's thus feeing him, that
he was really in being before Abraham. I have expreſſed
this objection in its full force, but I think the objectors do
not confider the accounts we have of Abraham's worſhip.
Abraham built his altars not unto God, whom no man bath
feen at any time, but unto the Lord, who appeared to him;
and in all the accounts which we have of his prayers, we
find they were offered up in the name of this Lord: thus at
Beersheba, he invoked, in the name of Jehovah, the everlasting
God. Our Engliſh tranſlation very erroneouſly renders the
place, he called upon the name of Jehovah; but the expreffion
Kara be hem never fignifies to call upon the name: Kara
hem would fignify, to invoke, or call upon the name; or,
Kara el fhem would fignify, to cry unto the name; but
Kara be them fignifies, to invoke in the name, and feems to
be uſed where the true worshippers of God offered their
prayers in the name of the true Mediator, or where the
idolaters offered their prayers in the name of falſe ones;
for as the true worshippers had but one God and one Lord,
fo the falfe worshippers had gods many and lords many .
We have feveral inftances of Kara, and a noun after it, fome-
times with, and fometimes without the particle el, and then
it fignifies, to call upon the perfon there mentioned; thus
Kara Jehovah is to call upon the Lord', and Kara el Jehovah
imports the fame ; but Kara be ſhem is either, to name by
g
a See Eufeb. Hift. Ecclef. lib. i. c. 3.
Juftin. Martyr. Dial. cum Tryph. p.
370, &c. Edit. Jebb. Lond. 1719.
Irenæus Heref. lib. iv. c. 12. Clem.
Alexand. Pædag. lib. i. c. 7. Tertull.
contra Marcion. lib. ii. c. 27. lib. iii.
c. 6. et contra Prax. c. 14. cum
multis aliis, qui citantur, et vindican-
tur in illuft. Bullii Def. Fidei Nicenæ
C. I.
b Gen. xii. 7.
c Chap. xxi. 33. See Exod. xxiii.
21. and Ifaiah ix. 6.
d
1 Kings xviii. 26.
с
Ι
e I Corinth. viii. 5-
f Pfalm xiv. 4. xvii. 6. xxxi. 7. liii.
4. cxviii. 5, &c.
€ 1 Samuel xii. 17. Jonah i. 6, &c.
the
Book V.
177
and Profane Hiſtory.
the name, (as I have formerly hinted,) or, to invoke in the
name, when it is uſed as an expreffion of religious wor-
ſhip.
h
As we have hitherto confidered the faith of Abram, we
have now to treat of that part of his religion which con-
cerned his practice in his worship of God. The way and
method of worſhipping God in theſe early times was that of
facrifice, and, as I have already hinted that facrifices were a
divine, and not an human, inftitution, it feems most reafon-
able to ſuppoſe, that there were fome preſcribed rules and
appointments for the due and regular performance of this
their worship. Plato lays it down for a general rule, that
all laws and appointments about divine matters muſt come
from the Deity; and his opinion herein is agreeable to that of
the facred writer, who obferves, that a perſon cannot be
capable of being a prieft, to offer facrifice for fins, unleſs he
be appointed by God unto that office; for no man taketh this
bonour unto himſelf, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
It is, I think, therefore moſt probable, that as God at firſt
appointed facrifices to be offered, ſo he alſo directed, 1. Who
fhould be the prieſt, or facrificer, to offer them; 2. What
forts of facrifices fhould be offered; 3. What creatures
fhould be facrificed, and what not; and, 4. With what rites
and ceremonies their facrifices fhould be performed.
As to the perſon who was to be the priest, or facrificer, it
is generally agreed by the beſt writers of all forts, that the
honour of performing this office belonged to the eldeſt or
firſt-born of each family: ❝k Before the tabernacle was
"erected, private altars and high-places were in ufe for
“facrifices, and the eldest of each family performed the fa-
crifice," and that in the following manner: 1. When the
children of a family were to offer a facrifice, then the father
was the prieſt in this manner Cain and Abel offered their
facrifice; for it is not faid, that either of them actually
offered, but that each of them brought his offering. It is
probable that Adam their father offered it for them.
h De Legibus, 1. vi. p. 759.
1 Heb. V. 4.
VOL. I.
N
k Tract. Melikim. in Miſhna, 14.
1 Gen. iv.
2. When
178
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
2. When the fons of a family were met together to offer fa-
crifice, after they came to be themſelves fathers of houſes and
families of their own, and were feparated from their father
and father's houfe, their father not being preſent with them,
the eldeſt ſon was the prieſt, or facrificer, for himſelf and his
brethren ; and this was the honour which Jacob coveted
when he bought Efau's birthright: "He had a moſt earneſt
"defire (fay the Jewish writers ") to obtain the privilege of
"the firft-born from Efau; becaufe, as we have it by tradi-
"tion, before the tabernacle, whilft private altars were in
"uſe, the eldeſt or firſt-born was the facrificer, or prieſt, of
"the family." And it is for this reaſon that Efau was called
profane " for felling his birthright, becauſe he ſhewed him-
felf to have but little value for that religious office, which
was annexed to it. 3. All the children of a family, younger
as well as elder, when they were fettled in the world, and
had families of their own, had the right of facrificing for
their own families, as heads of them of this we have feve-
ral inftances in the facrifices of Jacob in his return from La-
ban with his wives and children.
n
:
As to the feveral forts of facrifices which were to be
offered, we do not find any exprefs mention of any other
than theſe following: The expiatory facrifice; this was that
which Abel was fuppofed to offer; and it is generally held
by all the best writers, that the fathers of every family
offered this facrifice, as Job did for his children °, daily.
2. They had precatory facrifices, which were burnt-offerings
of feveral creatures, in order to obtain from God fome particu-
lar favours; of this fort was the facrifice of Noah after the
flood: Noch builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every
clean beaſt, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings
upon the altar. And the Lord fmelled a fweet favour, and ſaid,
I will not again curfe the ground, neither will I fmite every
thing living any more—And God bleſſed Noah, and faid— e.
This facrifice of Noah's, fays Jofephus, was offered, in
order to obtain from God a promife, that the ancient and
m Berefchit Rabba, fol. 7
* Hebrews xii. 16.
• Job i. 5.
.
P Gen. viii. 20.
Antiquitat. lib. i. c. 3.
natural
Book V.
179
and Profane Hiftory.
natural course of things fhould be continued, without being
interrupted by any farther calamities. If we attend to the
circumſtances belonging to this facrifice, we find (chap. viii.)
that God promifed this favour, and enjoined them the ob-
fervance of fome laws, and covenanted, that they ſhould af
furedly have the mercies which he had prayed for. In
much the fame manner God covenanted with Abram, upon
his offering one of thefe precatory facrifices, to give him the
land of Canaan. Abram faid unto God, Whereby fhall I
know that I ſhall inherit it? And God faid unto him, Take
me an heifer of three years old, and a fhe-goat of three years old,
and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young
pigeon; and he took unto him all thefe, and divided them in the
midft, and laid each piece one against another, but the birds di-
vided be not. This was the method and order in which he
laid them upon the altar for a facrifice; and he fat down to
watch them, that the fowls of the air might not feize upon
them; and about the going down of the fun Abram fell
afleep, and in a dream God revealed to him how and in
what manner he defigned to give his defcendants the land
of Canaan. And after fun-fet, Behold a fmoking³ furnace
and a burning lamp paſſed between theſe pieces, i. e. a fire from
heaven confumed the facrifice, and in that fame day, i. e.
then, or at that time, the Lord made a covenant with Abram,
faying, &c. And thus I have fet down all the particulars of
this facrifice, it being the fulleft defcription we meet with
of this fort of facrifice. Thefe precatory facrifices might alſo
be called federal; the Pfalmift alludes to them, where he
fpeaks of thofe that had made a covenant with God by facri-
fice.
3. A third fort of facrifice in ufe in theſe times was a
burnt-offering of fome parts of a creature, with a feaſt upon
Gen. xv. 8-18.
s Gen. xv. 17. Ilere is evidently a
miſtake in our Hebrew Bibles; ay,
to pass, and y, to kindle, or burn,
are words of exactly the fame letters;
and through the mistake of ſome tran-
fcriber, Nabar is in this place inſtead
of Banar, which would make the fenfe
N 2
much more clear: the meaning of the
place is, that the parts of the facrifice
fmoked firft, and afterwards fell on
fire; and the words rightly taken do
very well exprefs this: Behold a ſmok-
ing furnace and a burning lamp" [not
paffed but kindled amongſt the pieces.
Palm 1. 5.
the
180
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
the remaining parts, in order to ratify and confirm ſome
agreement or league between man and man: of this we
have a particular inftance in the facrifice and feaft of Jacob in
the mount with Laban and his brethren. 4. They offered by
way of gratitude oblations of the fruits and product of their
tillage; Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto
the Lord. 5. They made an offering of oil or wine, when
they made a vow, or laid themſelves under a folemn promife
to perform fome duty, if it fhould pleaſe God to favour them
with fome defired bleffing. Thus Jacob, when he went to-
wards Haran ", vowed a vow, faying, If God will be with me,
and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread
to eat, and raiment to put on, fo that I come again to my father's
houſe in peace, then the Lord ſhall be my God, and I will give
the tenth, &c. And in order to bind himſelf to this vow, he.
took the ſtone
and fet it up for a pillar, and poured oil
upon the top of it. In the fame manner in another place,
Jacob Set up a pillar in the place where God talked with him,
even a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink-offering thereon,
and be poured oil thereon. Theſe are, I think, all the feveral
forts of offerings and facrifices which we can prove to have
been in ufe in thefe early times; if they ufed any other,
they have left us no hints of them.
Let us now enquire what creatures were offered in facri-
fice, and what not. To which I anfwer, all clean beaſts
whatſoever, and no other; and all clean fowls, and no other.
What the number of the clean beafts and fowls were, and
when or how that diftinction began, are points which the
learned have not given a full and fatisfactory account of.
It ſeems moſt probable, from the firſt chapter of Leviticus,
compared with the facrifice of Noah after the flood, and
with that of Abram, Gen. xv. 9. that the clean beaſts uſed
for facrifice were of the cow-kind, or of the fheep, or of the
goats, and that the clean fowls were only turtle-doves and
young pigeons. Theſe were all the creatures which God
appointed the Jews for burnt-offerings; and theſe were
the creatures which Abram offered in his folemn facrifice,
u Gen. xxviii. 20-22.
x Chap. xxxv. 14.
in
Book V.
181
and Profane Hiftory.
in order to obtain the affurance of the land of Canaan; and
in this fort of facrifice it was uſual to offer of every ſort of
creature uſed for facrifice, for fo Noah's facrifice, which was
of this fort, is defcribed; He took of every clean beaſt, and eve-
ry clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings upon the altar. Noah
took, fays R. Eleazar, of all forts of clean beafts, namely, the
bullock, the lamb, and the goat; and from among the
birds, the pigeon and turtle-dove, and facrificed them.
b
y
Our last enquiry was, what ceremonies were uſed at this
time in religion. And here we can have but little to offer,
becauſe we have few particulars handed down to us.
If we
look into the journeyings of Abram, we find, that where-
ever he made any ftop, he conftantly built an altar; this he
did in the plain of Moreh ; and afterwards when he re-
moved, he built another in the place where he pitched his
tent, between Bethel and Hai; and afterwards another,
when he came to dwell in the plain of Mamre. In the fame
manner Ifaac built an altar at Beersheba a; and Jacob after-
wards, both at Shalem and at Bethel. In all places
where they fixed their habitations, they left us theſe monu-
ments of their being very punctual and exact performers of
their offices of religion; but what the particular ceremonies
uſed in their religious performances were, or what were the
ſtated or occafional times of fuch performances, we cannot
fay with any certainty; and therefore, though I cannot but
think, with many learned writers, that a great deal may be
gueffed upon this fubject, from obferving what was after-
wards enjoined in the law of Mofes, yet all that amounting
at moſt to no more than conjecture, I fhall chooſe to omit it
in this place. We have indeed mention made of two parti-
cular ceremonies of religion, a very little after Abraham's
time. Jacob, in order to prepare his family to offer facrifice
with him upon the altar which he defigned to make at
Bethel, bids them be clean, and change your garments. Be
clean, i. e. waſh yourfelves, as Dr. Lightfoot rightly inter-
y Gen. xii. 7.
z Ver. S. Chap. xiii. 18.
Chap. xxvi. 25.
b Chap. xxxiii. 20.
C
< Chap. xxxv. 7.
d Chap. XXXV. 2.
e Har. Evang.
N 3
prets
182
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
prets it, this being not only a moſt ancient uſage, but a
ceremony univerfally practifed by all nations. It ſeems at
firſt to have been appointed by God, to keep up in their
minds the remembrance of the deluge; they were to uſe
water upon their having contracted any defilements, in order
to hint to them, how God by water had formerly waſhed
away all the pollutions of the world; for by a flood of wa-
ters he waſhed away all the wicked and polluted men from
off the face of the earth. That this was the firſt occafion of
God's appointing water to be uſed for their purifications,
ſeems very probable from the ſeveral opinions which all forts
of writers have handed down to us about the deluge. We
learn from Philof, that the ancient Jews reputed the deluge.
to be a luſtration or purification of the world; and Origen
informs us, that their opinion in this point was embraced
by the first Chriftians: and the fame writer" fays, that fome
eminent Greek philofophers were of the fame opinion; and
Plato ſeems to hint it in ſeveral places i in his works; and I
think I may ſay St. Peter alludes to this opinion, where he
compares the baptifm of Chriftians to the water of the flood.
As they had their altars for their facrifices, fo they had
profeucha, or places of retirement, to offer prayers unto
God, at fuch times as they did not offer facrifices with them;
and theſe profeucha, or places of prayer, were ſet round
with trees, in order to make them the more retired. A place
of this fort Abraham prepared for himfelf in Beersheba ', and
in it be called upon the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.
There is one ceremony more, which was appointed to
Abraham, to be obſerved by him and his poſterity, and that
is circumcifion, of which Mofes has given a full account ".
II. We are in the next place to enquire how far the
ſeveral nations at this time in the world agreed with Abram
in his religion. And as all the nations that were at this
time in the world of any figure, or of which we have any
Lib. quod deterius potior infid. fo-
leat. ad fin.
& Contra Celfum, lib. iv. p. 173. ed.
Cant. 1677.
h Ibid. lib. vi. p. 316.
i De Legib. lib. iii. p. 676. et in al.
k Pet. iii. 20, 21.
1 Gen. xxi. 33.
m Chap. xvii.
accounts,
4
دی
Book V.
183
and Profane Hiftory.
accounts, were either the inhabitants of Perfia, Affyria, Ara-
bia, Canaan, or Egypt; fo I fhall mention what may be of-
fered concerning thefe in their order.
And 1. the Perfians. They for fome time adhered to the
true and pure worſhip of God. They are remarkable beyond
other nations" for having had amongſt them a true account
of the creation of the world; and they adhered very ſtrictly
to it, and founded all their religion upon it. The Perfians
were the children of Shem, by his fon Elam, as Abraham
and his defcendants were by Arphaxad; and therefore the
fame common parent that inftructed the one branch in the
true religion did alſo inſtruct the other; and Dr. Hyde re-
marks, that he could not find any reaſon to think, but that
they were for fome time very ſtrict profeffors of it, though
by degrees they corrupted it, by introducing novelties and
fancies of their own into both their faith and practice. Dr.
Hyde treats of the Perſian religion under theſe three heads:
1. He fays the true religion was planted amongſt them by
Elam, but in time it was corrupted into Sabiifm³. 2. Their
Sabiiſm was reformed by Abraham, but in time they re-
lapfed into it again. 3. They afterwards introduced Ma-
giifm. According to this account, the Perfians were fallen
into the errors of the Sabians in Abraham's days, and were
reduced by him back again to the true religion; but in this
point I ſhould think that learned writer to be miſtaken: all
his accounts of their having been anciently Sabians are
taken either from the Mahometan writers, or Greek hifto-
rians; but theſe authorities only prove that they were Sa-
bians before the Magian religion took place amongſt them;
but not that they were fo as early as Abraham's days. He
alfo imagines that their religion was reformed by Abraham,
and confequently that it was corrupted before or in his
days. Their ancient accounts (he fays) call their religion
Millat Ibrahim, or Kîſh Abrâhám, i. e. the religion of Abra-
n Hyde, Religio veterum Perfarum,
cap. 3.
o Id. c. I.
P Sabians were the worshippers of
the hoft of heaven. See Prideaux
Connect, vol. i. book iii. p. 140. edit.
1718.
9 Magians were worshippers of fire.
See Connect. ibid.
N 4
Bam;
184
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
bam; and their facred book, which contains the doctrines
of their religion, is called Sobfi Ibrahim, i. e. the book of
Abraham; and he concludes from hence, that their firft and
moft ancient religion being planted amongst them by Elam
their firſt founder, their religion could not poffibly be called
the religion of Abraham, unleſs he had reformed it from
ſome corruptions that were crept into it; and therefore he
gives it as his opinion, that Abraham did fome time or other
in his life reduce them back to the true worship; but it is
remarkable, that he is very much at a lofs to determine in
what part of Abraham's life he made this reformation. He
fays, that they report Abraham to have lived fome part of
his life in Bactria, agreeably to what is remarked by one of
their writers, that Balch was the city of the prophet Abra-
ham: now the city Balch was fituate in the farther parts of
Perfia, towards India; but Dr. Hyde allows, that we cannot
find from the Scripture that Abraham ever travelled that
way; nay further, that Balch was built by a king of Perſia
long after Abraham's time, and that the true meaning of the
expreffion above cited, that Balch was the city of the pro-
phet Abraham, was no more than this, namely, that Balch
was a city eminent for the profeffion of Abraham's religion.
Again, he would imagine the Perfians to have been brought
over to Abraham's religion by the overthrow which he gave
the king of Elam and his affociates, when he reſcued Lot
from him; but this is an unfupported and very improbable
imagination. The true reaſon for the Perfians having been
anciently recorded to be of Abraham's religion feems more
likely to be this: as the fame of Abraham, and his oppoſing
the Chaldæans in their corruptions and innovations, was
fpread far and near over all the Eaft, and had reached even
to India, ſo, very probably, all Perfia was full of it; and the
Perfians not being then corrupted, as the Chaldæans were,
but perſevering in the true worſhip of the God of heaven,
for which Abraham was expelled Chaldæa, might, upon the
fame of his credit and reputation in the world, profeſs, and
take care to deliver themfelves down to pofterity as pro-
feffors of his religion, in oppofition to thoſe innovations
which prevailed in Chaldæa. The firſt religion therefore of
the
1
Book V.
185
and Profane Hiftory.
the Perfians was the worship of the true God; and they
continued in it for fome time after Abraham was expelled
Chaldæa, having the fame faith and worſhip as Abraham
had, except only in thoſe points concerning which he re-
ceived inſtruction after his going into Haran and into Ca-
naan.
The next people whoſe religion we are to confider are the
Chaldæans. They indeed perfevered in the true religion but
for a little time; for (as I before obferved) about the feven-
tieth year of Abraham's life the Chaldæans had fo far de-
parted from the worship of the God of heaven, and were fo
zealous in their errors, that upon Abraham's family refuſing
to join with them, they expelled them their country; fo
that we muſt paſs from them until we come to treat of the
nations that were corrupted in their religion.
The people next to be confidered are the Arabians, many
of whom perfevered in the true worſhip of God for ſeveral
ages, of which Job was an inftance perhaps in thefe times of
which I am treating, and Jethro³, the prieſt of Midian, in the
days of Moſes. Their religion appears in no reſpect to have
differed from that of Abraham, only we do not find any
proof that they were acquainted with the orders which were
given him, or the revelations made to him after he came
into Canaan.
And if we look amongſt the Canaanites, here, as I before
hinted, we fhall find no reaſon to imagine that there was a
religion different from that of Abraham. Abrahamı travelled
up and down many years in this country, and was reſpected
by the inhabitants of it as a perfon in great favour with
God. Melchifedec the king of Salem was a priest of the
moſt high God, and he received and entertained Abraham
as a true fervant and particular favourite of that God, whoſe
prieſt he himſelf was; Bleſſed, ſaid he, be Abraham, fervant
of the most high God, poſſeſſor of heaven and earth. The Ca-
naanites gave Abraham no manner of difturbance, as the
Chaldæans had done, during all the time that he fojourned
amongſt them, and we have no reaſon to imagine that they
Judith v. 7, 8.
s Exod. xviii. 10-12.
t Gen. xiv. 19.
differed
186
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
Y
differed from him in their religion. In the fame manner,
when he came to Gerar ", into the land of the Philiſtines,
he found Abimelech to be a good and virtuous king, one
that received the favour of admonitions from God *, and
ſhewed himſelf, by his obeying them, to be his true ſervant.
Abraham indeed, before he came amongst them, thought
the Philistines to be a wicked people, and imagined the fear
of God not to be in that place : but the addreſs of Abime-
lech to God, upon his receiving intimations that Sarah was
Abraham's wife, fhews how much he was miſtaken in his
opinion of them: Lord, wilt thou flay a righteous nation?
Said he not unto me, She is my fifter? and she, even ſhe herſelf,
faid, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and inno-
cency of my hands have I done this. We find alſo that Abi-
melech made no fcruple of admitting Abraham for a pro-
phet, and of getting him to intercede for him. There is no-
thing in the whole account of this affair which intimates a
difference in religion between Abraham and Abimelech, nor
any thing which can intimate Abimelech not to be a wor-
ſhipper of God in great fincerity and integrity of heart.
And this, I believe, was the ftate of the world at this time:
the Chaldæans were fomething fooner fettled than other
nations, and ſo began to corrupt their religion more carly;
but in Abraham's time, all the other nations or plantations
did adhere to the true accounts of the creation and deluge
which their fathers had given them, and worshipped the
true God according to what had been revealed to them, and
in a manner not different from the worſhip of Abraham, un-
til God was pleaſed to make further revelations to Abraham,
and to enjoin him rites and obfervances in religion, with
which he had not acquainted other nations; and we fhall
find this true amongſt thoſe whom we are next to confider;
for
The Egyptians alſo at firſt worshipped the true God. For
as Abraham was received at Gerar, fo alſo was he enter-
tained at Egypt. We find indeed that the Egyptians fell
u Gen. xx.
x Ver. 3.
y Ver. 11.
z Ver. 5.
a Gen. xii. 14, &c.
into
Book V.
187
and Profane Hiftory.
;
into idolatry very early; but when they had thus departed
from the true worſhip of God, we fee evident marks of it in
their converfation with thoſe who ſtill adhered to it for in
Joſeph's time we are told, that the Egyptians might not eat
bread with the Hebrews, for that was then counted an abo-
mination to them; but in Abraham's time we meet with no-
thing of this fort: Abraham was entertained by Pharaoh
without the appearance of any indifpofition towards him, or
any the leaft fign of their having a different religion from
that which Abraham himſelf profeſſed and practifed. The
heathen writers give us ſome hints, that the Egyptians were
at first worshippers of the true God. Plutarch teftifies, that
in Upper Egypt the inhabitants of that country paid no
part of the taxes that were raiſed for the idolatrous worſhip,
afferting themſelves to own no mortal being to be a god,
but profeffing themſelves to worſhip their god Cneph only,
whom they affirmed to be without beginning and without
end. Philo-Biblius informs us, that in the mythologic
times they reprefented this deity, called Cneph, by the fi-
gure of a ferpent, with the head of a hawk in the middle of
a circle; but then he further tells us from the ancient re-
cords, that the God thus reprefented was the creator of all
things, a being incorruptible and eternal, without beginning
and without parts; with ſeveral other attributes belonging
to the fupreme God. And, agreeable to this, Porphyry calls
this Egyptian Cneph, Tòv ônμioupyòv, i.e. the maker, or creator,
of the universe. If we fearch the Egyptian antiquities, we
may
find in their remains as noble and as true notions of the
Deity, as are to be met with in the antiquities of any other
people; theſe were certainly their first principles, and as
long as they adhered to thefe, fo long they preferved the
knowledge of the true religion; but afterwards, when they
came to add to theſe ſpeculations of their own, then by de-
grees they corrupted and loft it.
And thus at first there was a general agreement about re-
ligion in the world; and if we look into the particulars of
b Gen. xliii. 32.
c Plut. de Ifide et Ofiride, p. 359.
ed. Par. 1624.
d Eufebius, Præp. Evang. lib. i.
C. IC.
e Id. lib. iii. c. 11. ad fin.
the
188
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
the heathen religion, even after they were much corrupted,
we may evidently find ſeveral practices, as well as principles,
fufficient to induce us to think that all the ancient religions
in the world were originally the fame. Sacrifices were uſed
in every country; and though by degrees they were disfi-
gured by many human ceremonies and inventions, in the
way and method of ufing them; yet I might ſay, the hea-
thens generally offered the fame forts of facrifices as were
appointed to Noah, to Abraham, and to the other ſervants
of the true God. They offered expiatory facrifices to make
atonement for their fins, and precatory facrifices to obtain
extraordinary favours: they had their vows and their obla-
tions. And many inftances of all theſe may be found in
Homer, and in many other heathen writers. In the next
place, prieſts were appointed to be the facrificers for them;
and though, when civil fociety came to be ſet up, it became
as neceffary to have national priefts, as it was in families to
have private ones; (inftances of which we meet with
amongſt the true worthippers of God, Melchifedec at Salem,
as well as Anius at Delphos, being both prieſt and king;
and God himself appointing the Ifraelites a national prieſt,
when they afterwards became a people ;) yet we find, that
amongst the heathens, for many ages, the original appoint-
ment of the head of every family to be the prieſt and facri-
ficer to his family was inviolably maintained, as may be
proved from their private feaſts, where neither the public,
nor confequently the public minifters of religion, were con-
cerned; and thus Homer very remarkably repreſents Eu-
mæus, the keeper of Ulyffes' cattle, officiating as prieſt in
the facrifice which he made when he entertained Ulyffes,
who viſited him in the drefs and habit of a poor traveller.
In the fame manner we have reaſon to think, that for a
great while the creatures ufed in facrifice were the fame as
Noah called the clean beaſts; for fuppofing them to be, as I
before obferved, only bullocks, fheep, or goats, thefe were
moſt anciently and moſt generally ufed by the heathens:
time, indeed, and a continual increaſe of fuperftition, made
f Virgil. En. iii. 1. 80.
g Odyff. xiv. 1. 432. 446.
numerous
Book V.
189
and Profane Hiftory.
numerous additions to all parts of their religion; but Job's
friends amongst the Arabians ufed bullocks and rams for
their burnt-offerings, and the Moabites i did the ſame in
Mofes's time; and the common expiations mentioned in
Homer are either [ἑκατόμβας ταύρων ἠδ᾽ αἰγῶν] hecatombs of
bulls or goats, or [apväv alyvтE TEλelwv] lambs and goats with-
out blemish; and Achilles joins them all together *, fuppof-
ing that an offering of one or other of theſe was wanting to
avert the anger of Apollo, hereby intimating theſe to be the
common and ordinary expiations. As to the ceremonies
uſed in the early days, we have fo fhort an account of what
were uſed in the true religion, and there was ſuch a variety
of additions made to the falfe, that we cannot offer a large
compariſon between them; however we may obferve, that
the two ancient ceremonies which I have taken notice of,
namely, of waſhing and changing their garments, in order
to approach the altar, univerfally took place in all the feve-
ral forts of the heathen worſhip. Various authors might be
cited to prove this, which the reader may fee in Dr. Spen-
cer's differtation upon the ancient purifications: but there
are two lines of the Latin poet which defcribe theſe two
rites in words fo agreeable to the directions which Jacob
gave his family about them, that I ſhall fet them down as a
ſpecimen of the reſt.
Cafta placent fuperis, pura cum vefte venite,
Tibul.
Et manibus puris fumite fontis aquam.
Upon the whole, it is remarkable, that fome learned writers,
and Dr. Spencer in particular, have imagined, that the re-
femblance between the ancient heathen religions, and the
ancient religion which was inſtituted by God, was in many
reſpects ſo great, that they thought that God was pleaſed to
inftitute the one in imitation of the other. This conclufion
is indeed a very wrong one, and it is the grand miſtake
which runs through all the works of the very learned author
laſt mentioned. The ancient heathen religions do indeed in
many particulars agree with the inftitutions and appoint-
b Job xlii. 8,
i Numb. xxiii, i.
* Homer. Il. i. 66.
:
ments
190
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
ments of that religion which was appointed to Abraham and
to his family, and which was afterwards revived by Moſes;
not that theſe were derived from thoſe of the heathen na-
tions, but much more evidently the heathen religions were
copied from them; for there is, I think, one obfervation
which, as far as I have had opportunity to apply it, will
fully anſwer every particular that Dr. Spencer has offered,
and that is this; he is able to produce no one ceremony or
ufage, practifed both in the religion of Abraham or Mofes,
and in that of the heathen nations, but that it may be
proved, that it was uſed by Abraham or Mofes, or by fome
of the true worshippers of God, earlier than by any of the
heathen nations.
:
III. We are to enquire how, and by what means, the fe-
veral nations in the world departed from the true religion
and fince Diodorus Siculus has given a very probable ac-
count of the rife of falfe religion in Egypt, I will begin
there firft, and endeavour to illuftrate what I fhall fay of
other nations from what we find of them.
The first men of Egypt, fays he ', confidering the world,
and the nature of the univerfe, imagined two firſt eternal
Gods; fo that it was their fpeculative enquiries into the
nature of things, that led them into errors about the Deity;
and if we examine, we ſhall fee, that from the beginning to
the prefent times, it has always been a vain philoſophy, and
an affectation of ſcience falſely ſo called, that has corrupted re-
ligion. The firft Egyptians had without doubt a fhort ac-
count of the hiftory of the world tranfmitted to them; an
account of the creation; of the origin of mankind; of the
deluge; and of the method of worthip which God had ap-
pointed. As Abraham had received inftruction in theſe
points from his forefathers, fo alfo the Egyptians had from
theirs; but they did not take a due care not to deviate from
what had thus been tranfmitted to them: fome great genius
or other thinking to fpeculate, and to eſtabliſh ſuch ſpecula-
tions as he judged to be true, and therefore very proper to
be admitted into their religious enquiries, happened to think
Diodor. Sic. lib. i. p. 7. §. 11,
wrong,
Book V.
191
and Profane Hiſtory.
wrong, and fo began a fcheme of error, which others, age
after age, refined upon and added to, until by ſteps and de-
grees they built up the whole frame of their idolatries and
fuperftitions.
The perſon that firft fpeculated upon theſe fubjects was
Syphis, the firſt of that name, (for his fucceffor was likewife
fo called,) a king of Memphis. This Syphis began his reign
about A. M. 2164, which is about eighty years after Abra-
ham's coming into Egypt; he reigned fixty-three years,
and fo died above forty years after Abraham; ſo that he
may well be imagined to have heard of all the tranfactions
of Abraham's life, of his fame in the feveral countries where
he had lived; and being a prince that had an ambition to
raiſe himſelf a reputation in the world", and ſeeing Abra-
ham's greateſt glory to be founded upon his religion, and
the revelations which God had been pleaſed to make him,
he endeavoured to make himſelf confpicuous the ſame way,
and for that end περιόπτης εἰς Θεὸς ἐγένετο, καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν συνέγραψε
Bíbλo". A learned writer would feem to infer from theſe
words, that Syphis faw and converfed with God as Abraham
and the Patriarchs did. He tells us from Manetho in Jofe-
phus, that Amenophis affected to have feen God, and an-
fwers Jofephus's query about it by hinting, that the expreſ-
fion of feeing God was a form of speaking common to the
Egyptians, Hebrews, and other nations at this time. The
learned author expreffes himſelf fo dubiouſly in his whole
chapter, that one cannot well fay, whether he intends to in-
finuate that Syphis converfed with God as much as Abra-
ham, or rather that neither of them converfed with God at
all; but only each of them confidering and contemplating
what was moſt reaſonable, they gave the greater authority
to what they had a mind to impofe, by pretending to have
converfed with the Deity, and to have received their orders
from him; but nothing of this fort follows from either
what we read of Syphis, or from what Manetho reports of
Amenophis, or from any of the quotations which Sir John
m Manetho afcribes to him the
largeſt of the pyramids, and fo does
Herodotus. See Eufeb. Chron. p. 14.
n Syncellus, p. 56. Paris, 1652.
Marſham, Can. Chron. p. 51.
Marfham
192
Book V
Connection of the Sacred
Marſham has cited upon this fubject; rather, on the other
hand, the true conclufion from them is this, that God was
pleaſed to make feveral revelations to Abraham and to his
defcendants, and that, upon the fame of theſe ſpreading
abroad in the world, many kings and great men defired
greatly, and uſed arts to have it thought that they had the
fame favours fhewn to them; as the forcerers and magi-
cians afterwards pretended to work miracles, in order to ap-
pear to have the fame powers with thoſe which God had
given to fome other perfons.
The expreffion περιόπτης εἰς Θεοὺς ἐγένετο, does not fignify,
that he ſaw the Gods, but contemplator in Deos fuit, i. e. he
fpeculated about the deities, and from his fpeculations he
wrote his book. Manetho pretends that he had this book
of Syphis; but Sir John Marſham very judiciouſly queries
whether books were thus early; or whether they did not
rather at this time mark or infcribe memoirs and hints of
things on pieces of ftone, or lumps of burnt earth. Mane-
tho's book might be a tranſcript from fome remains of Sy-
phis. We are told, that Syphis's doctrines were highly
eſteemed amongst the Egyptians P, and that they followed
them very ftrictly; and Sir John Marfham very juſtly re-
marks 9, that this king's Osorría, or pretence of having feen
God, was the foundation of all the Egyptian errors in re-
ligion.
The ſubſtance of what Syphis fpeculated upon theſe ſub-
jects is given us by Diodorus Siculus as the fentiments of
The most ancient Egyptians about religion. He confidered
the world, and the nature of the univerfe, and examined the
influence which the fun and moon had upon it, how they
nouriſhed and gave life and vigour to all things; and con-
cluded from hence, that they were two powerful and migh-
ty deities; and fo inftituted a worthip for them. And per-
haps this was all that Syphis innovated. Other errors were
P Eufeb. Chron. p. 15. ed. 1658.
9 Can. Chron. p. 54.
Lib. i. in loc. fup. cit.
s Plato afferts the ancient Grecians
to have been charmed with the fame
fort of argument, ἅτε ἦν αὐτὰ ὁρῶντες
πάντα ἀεὶ ἰόντα δρόμων και θέοντα ἀπὸ ταύ
της της φύσεως τῆς τὸ θεῖν Θεοὺς αὐτὸς
ἀπονομάσαι.
}
added
Book V.
193
and Profane Hiflory.
added afterwards. Syphis fet himſelf to lay the foundation
of a rational religion: he confidered the influence which the
luminaries of heaven had upon the world; and becauſe it did
not fall in with his fcheme of fpeculation, he fet aſide what
his anceſtors had before taught, that in the beginning God
created the heavens as well as the earth; the fun, moon, and
ftars, as well as the creatures of the lower world: thus he
reafoned wrong, and fo, inſtead of inventing a good one, he
defaced and corrupted the true religion; and all this he was
probably induced to by the fame of Abraham, out of a pride
and defire to vie with him; for the Egyptians had a parti-
cular inclination to affect to practiſe what they heard was
introduced into Abraham's religion; they in a little time
followed him into the practice of circumcifion; and when
the report of his intending to facrifice his fon Ifaac came to
be known amongſt them, they inſtituted human facrifices, a
barbarous cuſtom, which continued amongst them for five
or fix hundred years.
t
I am fenfible that feveral writers have intimated, that the
Egyptians were fo far from copying after Abraham, that
they pretend that Abraham rather imitated them in all his
religious inftitutions: they fay, that Abraham was not the
firſt that uſed circumcifion, but that he learnt it from the
Egyptians. A noble writer feems very fond of this opi-
nion; but he has ſaid nothing but what Celfus" and Julian *
faid before him. Herodotus is cited upon this occafion, af-
firming, that circumcifion was a very ancient rite amongſt
the Egyptians, inftituted by them an' agxs, from the begin-
ning. Again, in the fame place he ſays, that other nations
did not uſe circumcifion, except thoſe who learnt it from
the Egyptians. Again he tells us, that the Colchians,
Egyptians, and Ethiopians, and the Phoenicians and Syrians
that lived in Paleſtine, [¿. e. as Jofephus rightly corrects
him, the Jews,] ufed circumcifion; and they confeſs them-
felves, fays he, to have learnt it from the Egyptians. Dio-
Lord Shaftesbury Charact. Tr. 6.
u Apud Origen. lib. v. p. 259. ed.
1677.
* Apud Cyrill. lib. x. ad fin. p. 354.
VOL. I.
ed. Spanhem. 1696.
y Lib. ii. §. 104.
z Contra Apion. lib, i. §. 22. p. 1346.
ed. Hudf.
dorus
194
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
a
dorus Siculus thought the Colchians and the Jews derived
from the Egyptians, becauſe they uſed circumcifion. And
again, he ſpeaks of fome other nations, who, he fays ', were
circumciſed after the manner of the Egyptians. This is the
whole of what is offered from the heathen writers. That
circumcifion was uſed anciently by feveral nations befides
the Jews, we do not deny; nay, we may allow it to have
been practifed amongst the Egyptians åπ” άpxñs, from the be-
ginning, not meaning by that expreffion from the firſt riſe or
original of that nation, but that it was fo early amongſt
them, that the heathen writers had no account of the ori-
ginal of it. When any thing appeared to them to be thus
ancient, they pronounced it to be an axis. That Herodo-
tus himſelf meant no more than this by the expreffion, is
evident from his own words. We find him querying, whether
the Egyptians learnt circumcifion from the Ethiopians, or
the Ethiopians from the Egyptians; and he is able to deter-
mine neither way, but concludes it to be a very ancient rite c.
There had been no room for this query, if he had before
meant that it was an original rite of the Egyptians, when he
faid it was uſed by them from the beginning; but amongſt
the heathen writers, to fay a thing was an' άpxis, from the
beginning, or that it was very anciently practifed, are terms
perfectly fynonymous, and mean the fame thing. As to
Herodotus and Diodorus declaring that the Jews learnt cir-
cumcifion from the Egyptians, we anfwer, the heathen
writers had but very little knowledge of the Jewiſh hiſtory;
they are feldom known to mention them without making
palpable miſtakes about them, Jofephus's books againſt
Apion give many inftances of numerous miftakes, which the
heathen writers were in about the hiftory of the Jews; and
the account, which Juftin the epitomizer of Trogus Pom-
peius gives of their original, fhews evidently, that they
were but very fuperficially acquainted with their affairs, and
therefore Origen might juftly blame Celfus for adhering to
a Lib. i. §. 28. p. 17.
b Lib. iii. §. 32. p. 115.
c Herodotus, lib. ii. c. 104.
d Juftin. lib, xxxvi. c. 2.
e Origen contra Celfum, lib. i. p. 17.
e
ed. Cant. 1677. Sir John Marſham
mifrepreſents Origen, intimating him
to ſay, that Mofes faid in expreſs
words, that Abraham was the first per-
fon that was circumcifed; whereas
Origen
Book V.
195
and Profane Hiflory.
:
the heathen accounts of circumcifion, rather than to that of
Mofes for Mofes has given a full and clear account of the
original of the inftitution; they only offer imperfect hints
and conjectures; nay, and Herodotus, who fays moſt of it,
did not know f at laft where it was firft inftituted, whether
in Egypt or Ethiopia, and therefore not certainly whether
in either. But there is one thing further to be offered; we
have the teftimony of an heathen writer unquestionably con-
firming Mofes's account of Abraham's circumcifion. We
read in Philo Biblius's extracts from Sanchoniathon %, that
it was recorded in the Phoenician antiquities, that Ilus, who
was alſo called Chronus, circumcifed himſelf, and compelled
his companions to do the fame. This Ilus or Chronus, fays
Sir John Marſham ', was Noah, or at leaſt, according to
other writers, he is pretended to have been a perſon far
more ancient than the times of Abraham; and therefore
they ſay, from this paffage it appears that circumcifion was
practifed before the times of Abraham. But to this I an-
ſwer, the ſame author that gives us this account of Ilus or
Chronus fufficiently informs us who he was, by telling us
that he facrificed his only fon *; nay, and further we are in-
formed from the Egyptian records of this very Chronus,
that the Phoenicians called him Ifrael. Chronus, therefore,
or Ifrael, who was reported to have facrificed his only fon,
can be no other perſon than Abraham, whom the heathen
writers repreſent to have facrificed his only fon Ifaac: Jacob
was the perſon who was really called Ifrael m; but the hea-
then accounts" of him were, that he had ten fons; fo that
here is only a ſmall miſtake in applying the name Ifrael to
the perſon who, they fay, offered in facrifice his only fon,
when in truth it was a name that belonged to his grandfon :
but theſe writers make greater miſtakes than this in all parts
of their hiftories: and thus it appears from this paſſage, not,
Origen only deduces what follows by
a very juft inference from Mofes's ac-
count of the inftitution of circumci-
fion.
*
See his query above mentioned.
8 Eufeb. Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. 10.
p. 38. ed. Par. 1628.
p. 38.
I
Oper. Spencer. lib. i. c. v. §. 4. P.
56. ed. 1727.
k Eufeb. loc. fup. citat.
1 Id. p. 40.
m Gen. xxXV. 10.
a Juftin, lib, xxxvi, c. 2.
A Can. Chron. p. 72. confer. cum
0 2
as
196
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
as fome writers would infer from it, that circumcifion was
uſed in heathen nations ages before Abraham, but that
Abraham and his family were circumcifed; and therefore,
unleſs they can produce a teftimony of fome other perſons
being circumcifed cotemporary with, or prior to Abraham,
we have their own confeffion that Abraham was circumcifed
earlier, than they can give an inftance of any other perfon's
being circumcifed in the world. There are feveral writers
that have treated upon this fubject. Sir John Marſham and
Dr. Spencer favour the opinion of Celfus and Julian: but as
I think what I have already offered is fufficient to fhew what
a bad foundation it is grounded upon; fo I ſhall add no-
thing further, but leave the reader, if he thinks fit to en-
quire more into the fubject, to confult thoſe who have
treated of it more at large.
o
As the Egyptians were led away from the true religion by
fpeculations upon the nature of the univerfe; fo the Chal-
dæans were perverted in the ſame manner. Their idolatry
began earlier than that of other nations, as early as the days
of Abraham, as I before obferved; but it was of the fame
fort with that which the Egyptians first practifed. We are
told that Ninus τὸν Νεβρώδ, i. e. τὸν το Νεβρώδ, the defcend-
ant or rather the fucceffor of Nimrod, whom they call the Af-
fyrian, [as being the founder of the Affyrian empire,] taught
the Affyrians to worship fire, not common fire, I conceive, but
the fun, moon, and ſtars, which they probably imagined to
confift of fire; and in the proceſs of their idolatry we are
further informed of them, that they were the firſt who ſet
up a pillar to the planet Mars, and worſhipped it as a God'.
This therefore was the firſt idolatry of the Babylonians and
Affyrians, and it is very probable that their early ſkill in
aftronomy led them into it: they had been ſtudents of aftro-
• There are feveral writers cited by
Fabricius, Bibliograph. Antiqu. ed. 2.
1716. p. 383. as oppofers of the opi-
nion of Spencer and Sir J. Marſham,
viz. Ramirefius, cap. 4. Pentecontar-
chi Nat. Alexand. ætate 3. Vet. Teft.
diff. 6. Leydecker. de rep. Heb. ii. 4.
Anton. Bynæus et Sebaft. Schmidius
in diff. et tractat. de circumcifione.
Salom. Deylingius, ii. 6. obferv. facrar.
Rich. Montacutius, parte 1. orig. Es-
clef. et al.
P Chronic. Alexand. p. 64.
9 Empedocles took up this opinion.
from the ancients, and held rupivà rà
pz. Plut. Placit. Philof. 1. ii. c. 13.
Chronic. Alexand. p. 89.
nomy
Book V.
197
and Profane Hiftory.
nomy for at least two hundred and thirty-feven years at the
birth of Abraham, and had made fuch obſervations all the
time as they had thought worth recording. What their ob-
fervations were we cannot fay; but it is most likely that
they obferved the courfes of the heavenly bodies as well as
they were able, and according to their abilities philofo-
phized about their nature and influence upon the world; and
their philofophy being falſe, a falfe philoſophy naturally
tended to introduce errors in religion.
The fun, moon, and the particular ftar called Mars, were
the first objects of the Chaldæan, Babylonian, or Affyrian
idolatry; and this feems to be confirmed by the names
which they gave to their ancient kings. We cannot indeed
infer any thing of this fort from Ctefias's catalogue, for the
names he uſed are known not to be Affyrian; they are either
Greek or Perfian, for he ufed fuch names as the Perfians,
from whofe records he wrote, had translated the old Affyrian
names into, or he turned them into fuch as his own lan-
guage offered to him, (a liberty which has been uſed by
other writers; by the Greeks, when they called the Egyp-
tian Thyoth Hermes, and again by the Latins, who named
him Mercurius ;) but the ancient Affyrian names were of
another fort; for in order to raiſe their kings to the higheft
honours, and to cauſe the people to think of them with the
utmoſt veneration, they commonly called them by the
names of two or three of theſe planetary deities put toge-
ther, intimating them hereby to be perfons under the ex-
traordinary care and protection of their gods. Thus their
kings and great men were called Pelefer³, Belſhazzar‘, Bel-
tefbazzar", Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonaffar, with other names
of the ſame fort; in order to explain which, we need only
obſerve, that Pil, Pal, or Pel, or Baal, or Bal, or Bel, which
was wrote Biλos in Greek, or Belus in Latin, and ſometimes
it is wrote Phel, or Phul, or Pul, for they are all the fame
word, fignifies Lord, or King, and was the name of the fun,
whom they called the Lord or King of the beaven. Baalah,
S 1 Chron. v. 6.
I
Dan. v. I.
* Dan. i. 7.
x Dan. iii. I.
y The name of Belefis, Dr. Pri-
deaux Connect. p. 1.
03
Baalta,
198
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
Z
Baalta, Belta, or Beltes, which fignify Lady, or Queen, were
the names of the moon, whom they called Queen of heaven.
Azer, or Azur, or Azar, was the name of Mars. Gad figni-
fies a troop, or hoſt. And Nabó, or Nebo, was a name for the
moon. From obferving this, it is eaſy to explain thefe names
of the Affyrian kings. Pelefer is Pel-Azar, or a man in the
eſpecial favour of the fun and of Mars. Belshazzar, i. e.
Bel-Azar, or Bel's-Azar, a word of the fame import with
the former. Belteſbazzar, i. e. Baalta, or Belta's- Azar, i. e.
a perſon favoured by the moon and Mars. Nabonaffar is
Nabo-Azar, i. e. a favourite of the moon and of Mars. Ne-
buchadneffar is Nabo, or Nebo-Gad-Azar, or one favoured by
the moon, by the host of heaven, and by Mars. And this
cuſtom ſpread into other nations. Beleazar was the name
of a king of Tyre; and Diomedes, i. e. one in the favour of
Jupiter, was one of the Grecians famous in Homer. The
learned Dr. Hyde differs a little from what I have here of-
fered; he ſuppoſes Bel to be the name of the planet Jupiter;
Belta, of Venus; Nabo, of Mercury; and Gad, of Jupiter;
as if the first Affyrians worshipped the feveral planets of
theſe names: but I think it much to be queſtioned whether
they diftinguiſhed thus early between the planets and the
other ſtars. We are indeed told from the Alexandrian Chro-
nicon, that they fet up a pillar unto Mars, as I before hinted;
and very probably in time they diftinguiſhed the other pla-
nets and remarkable ſtars, and took them into the number
of their gods: but we do not find that they did this in the
very early days; for, according to Diodorus Siculus, when
Jupiter was first worshipped, he was confidered not as a ſtar,
or planet, but as one of the elements. And Eufebius, in his
account of the ancient Egyptian worship of Jupiter, obferves
the fame thing. And the Phoenicians, in their firſt uſe of
this name, intended to fignify the fun by it, and not the
ftar, or planet, which was afterwards called Jupiter. The
aftronomy of the ancients was not fo exact as we are apt to
imagine it. Some accidental thought or other might induce
z Rel. vet. Perfarum, c. z. p. 67.
ed. Ok. 1700.
a Lib. i. §. 11. et 12. p. 7. et 8.
Præp. Evang. lib. iii. c. 3.
c Id. lib. i. c. 10.
the
Book V.
199
and Profane Hiflory.
the Affyrians to pay a greater honour to Mars, than to any
other flar, as the Egyptians did to the Dog-ſtar, for the in-
fluence which they imagined that ftar to have upon the
flowing of the river Nile; and the Affyrians might very pro-
bably pay the like honour to Mars, and not know him to be
a planet, nor yet diſtinguiſh him, except by fome odd conceit
or other which they had about him, from the reſt of the hoft
of heaven. Voffius, and feveral other writers, take the
words Bel, Belta, Nabo, and Gad, as I have taken them.
The Perfians corrupted their religion in much the fame
manner: they are thought not to have fallen into ſo groſs
an idolatry as their neighbours; but they did not keep up
very long to the true and pure worship of God. Sabiifm
was the firft error of this nation. The word Sabifm is of
Hebrew original; it comes from Sabah, which fignifies an
boft; ſo that a Sabian is a worshipper of an hoft or multi-
tude; and the error of the Perfians was, they worſhipped the
hoft of heaven. When or by whom they were led into this
error is uncertain, but very probably it was effected in much
the fame method as that by which the Egyptians were fe-
duced. It is thought that the Perfians never were ſo cor-
rupted, as entirely to loſe the knowledge of the fupreme
God, and that they only worshipped the luminaries as his
moft glorious minifters, and confequently with a worſhip in-
ferior to what they paid the Deity. They looked up to
heaven, and confidered the glory and brightneſs of the
lights of it, their motion, heat, and influence upon this
lower world, and hereby raiſed in their minds very high no-
tions of them. It was an ancient opinion, that thefe beings
were all alive, and inftinct with a glorious and divine fpi-
rit; and what could their philofophy teach them better,
when they were far from having true notions about them:
d Marſham. Can. Chron. in wooxa-
Taσxeun, P. 9.
e De Origine et Progreff. Idololatriæ,
lib. ì, c. 16. &c.
f Hyde, Religio vet. Perfarum, c. 1.
8 This notion the philofophers in
time improved into that noble intima-
tion given us in Virgil.
0 4
Principio cælum, ac terras, campofque
liquentes,
Lucentemque globum lunæ, Titaniaque
afìra,
Spiritus intus alit; totamque infufa pir
artus
Mens agitat molem, et magno fe cor-
pore mifcet. Eneid. vi. ver. 725.
they
*
200
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
they ſaw them, as they thought, running their courſes day
and night over all the world, diſpenſing life, and heat, and
health, and vigour, to all the parts and products of the
earth: they kept themſelves fo far right as not to miſtake
them for the true God; but they imagined them to be the
moſt glorious of his minifters that could be made the object
of their fight; and not taking due care to keep ſtrictly to
what their forefathers had delivered to them from revelation
about religion, they were led away by their own imagina-
tions to appoint an idolatrous worship for beings which had
been created, and by nature were no gods.
And of this fort was the idolatry that firſt ſpread over Ca-
naan, Arabia, and all the other neighbouring and adjacent
nations; and I might ſay the fame was firſt propagated into
the more diftant and remote countries. When the Ifraelites
were preparing to take poffeffion of the land of Canaan, the
chief caution that was given them againſt their falling into
the idolatry of the nations round about them, fhews what
the religion and idolatry of thoſe nations was: and the vin-
dication which Job made for himſelf intimates that this
was the idolatry of the Arabians in his days. He tells us ",
that he had never beheld the fun when it shined, nor the moon
walking in brightness; and that his heart had not been enticed,
nor his mouth kiſſed his hand, i. e. he had never looked up to
the fun and moon, and bowed down to pay a religious wor-
ſhip to them; or, (as Mofes expreffes it in his caution to the
Ifraelites ¹,) he had not lift up his eyes to heaven, nor when he
faw the fun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of
beaven, was driven to worship and to ferve them. This there-
fore was the firſt and moſt ancient idolatry.
i
And when the feveral nations of the world had thus be-
gun to deviate from the true worthip of God, they did not
ſtop here, but in a little time went further and further into
all manner of fuperftitions, in which the Egyptians quickly
outftripped and went beyond all the other nations of the
earth. The Egyptians began, as I have faid, firſt with the
worſhip of the fun and moon; in a little time they took the
h Job xxxi. 26, 27.
i Deut. iv. 19.
elements
Book V.
201
and Profane Hiſtory.
elements into the number of their gods, and worſhipped the
earth, the water, the fire, the airk; in time they looked over
the catalogue of their anceſtors, and appointed a worſhip for
fuch as had been more eminently famous in their genera-
tions; and they having before this made pillars, ftatues, or
images, in memory of them, they paid their worship before
theſe, and fo introduced this fort of idolatry. In time they
defcended ſtill lower, and did not only worſhip men, but,
confidering what creatures had been moſt eminently fervice-
able to their moſt celebrated anceſtors, or remarkably inftru-
mental in being made uſe of by the firſt inventors of the ſe-
veral arts of living, towards the carrying forward the inven-
tions that were first found out, for the providing for the con-
veniences of life, they confecrated theſe alſo; and in later
ages, vegetables and inanimate things had a religious regard
paid to them. In this manner they fell from one thing to
another, after they ceafed to retain God in their knowledge, ac-
cording to what God had been pleaſed to reveal to them
concerning himſelf and his worſhip; becoming every day
more and more vain in their imaginations, they wandered
farther and farther from the true religion, into all manner of
fooleries and abominations.
At what particular times the Egyptians took the ſeveral
ſteps that led them into their groffer idolatries, we cannot
fay, but we find they were got into them very early. They
worſhipped images, even the images of beafts, before the
Ifraelites left them, as appears from the Ifraelites fetting up
the calf at Horeb ", in imitation of the gods which they had
feen in Egypt; and it is remarkable that they were by this
time fuch proficients in the art of making theſe gods, as to
caſt them in metal, for fuch an image was that which the
Ifraelites fet up; and this makes the obſervation of Pauſa-
nias appear very probable, who remarks", that the Egyp-
tians had wooden or carved images at the time that Danaus
came into Greece; for fuppofing Danaus's coming into
Greece to be about the time where the Arundelian marble
* Diodor. Sic. lib. i. §. 11, 12, &c.
1 Id. ibid.
m Exod. xxxii.
n In Corinthiacis, p. 118. ed. Sylb.
Han. 1613.
fixes
202
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
fixes it °, i. e. a little before the time when Mofes vifited the
children of Ifrael, namely, A. M. 2494, it looks very proba-
ble that they had this fort of images thus early, becauſe it
appears from what I before obferved, that before twenty
years after this time they were ſo improved as to make them
of better materials, and in a more curious and artful man-
ner; for Archbiſhop Uſher places the exit of the children of
Ifrael out of Egypt but nineteen years after this year, in
which Danaus is fuppoſed to have come into Greece. The
obfervation of Paufanias was, [ξόανα τὰ πάντα, μάλιςα τὰ Αἰ-
YÚTTI,] that the Egyptian images were all wooden Por
carved ones at that time, i. e. at the time that Danaus left
Egypt, which being, as will appear hereafter, feveral years
before he came to Greece, it is very probable that the uſe of
images in Egypt was then in its firſt riſe and infancy, and
that the makers of them were not got further than to try
their art upon fuch common and eafy materials as young be-
ginners would chooſe to make their first attempts on. The
religion of Egypt was fo entirely corrupted in Mofes's time,
that he could not venture upon fuffering the Ifraelites to fa-
crifice unto the Lord their God in the land; for he told Pha-
raoh, that it would be in no wife proper for them to attempt
it ª, becauſe they would be obliged to facrifice the abomina-
tion of the Egyptians before their eyes, i. e. fome of thoſe living
creatures which the Egyptians had confecrated; and that
they ſhould hereby fo enrage them, that they would ſtone
them for fo doing. But they do not ſeem to have deviated
thus far in the days of Jofeph: Jofeph appears by all the
actions of his life to have been a man of virtue; his heart
• Archbishop Ufher fuppofes the Pa-
rian Chronicon to have been compoſed
A. M. 3741: and the marble tells us
that Danaus's coming into Greece was
1247 years earlier, fo that according to
this account it was A. M. 2494, as I
have placed it, which is about twenty
years before the Ifraelites going out of
Egypt.
P The tranflator of Paufanias renders
the word goava, e ligno, and fo I find
many authors agree to take it. Cle-
mens Alexandrinus [in Cohortat. ad
Gentes] thinks oavoy to be a carved
ท
image of either wood or ftone; and
Hefychius fays, ξόανα ἀγάλματα κυρίως
τὰ ἐξ ξύλων ἐξεσμένα ἢ λίθων. The beft
explanation of the true meaning of the
word feems to have been deſigned by
Eufebius, [Præp. Evang. lib. iii. c. 8.]
where he oppoles it to a σκέλμιον ἔργον,
meaning perhaps a molten image: but
the paffage is lo corrupted, that there
is no gueffing at the true meaning of
it. I have been in fome doubts whe-
ther ava in Paufanias might not be a
miflake for ζώικα, οι ξεινα.
q Exod. viii, 36.
was
Book V.
203
and Profane Hiftory.
was full of the hope and expectation of the promiſe which
God had made to Abraham, to Ifaac, and to Jacob '; and
therefore he took an oath of the children of Ifrael, that
when God fhould vifit them, and bring them out of Egypt,
they would carry away his bones with them; and yet he
married in Egypt the prieſt of On's daughter'; and after-
wards, when the land was famiſhed, he took the priests un-
der his protection, fo as not to have them fuffer in a cala-
mity which was fo fevere and heavy upon all the other in-
habitants of the land. If the religion of Egypt had at this
time been fo entirely corrupted, as it was in Mofes's time,
Jofeph, who had the fame faith as Mofes had, would furely
no more than Mofes did, have fat down in the enjoyment of
the pleaſures and honours and riches of Egypt; but at leaſt,
when Pharaoh had put him in full power, fo that without
bim no man lifted up his band or foot in all the land of Egypt",
he would have ufed his credit with the king, and his autho-
rity both with the priests and the people, to have in fome
meaſure corrected their religion, if there had been any of
thefe groffer abominations at that time in it; and he might
ſurely have as easily effected ſomething in this matter, as he
brought about a total change of the property of all the ſub-
jects of the land. But the truth of the matter was moſt pro-
bably this: the Egyptians and the Ifraelites were indeed at
this time in fome reſpects of a different religion, and not be-
ing able to join worship at the fame altar, they might not
(according to their notions of things) eat with one another :
but their differences were not as yet fo wide, but that they
could bear with Joſeph, and Joſeph with them; and there-
fore all their groffer corruptions, which led them to worſhip
the images of beafts and of men, muſt be ſuppoſed to have
arifen later than theſe days; and the time between Joſeph's
death, and the children of Ifrael's going out of Egypt, being
about a century and half, they may very well be ſuppoſed to
have been begun in the first part of this time, and the Egyp-
tians to have had only carved or wooden images, according
• Gen. 1. 24, 25.
s Gen. xli. 45.
t Gen. xlvii. 22.
Gen. xli. 44.
to
204
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
to Paufanias, until after Danaus left them, and to have fo
improved as to make molten images before the Ifraelites' de-
parture from them.
There is indeed one paffage in Genefis, which ſeems to
intimate that there was that religious regard, which the
Egyptians were afterwards charged with, paid to creatures
even in the days of Joſeph; for we are informed, that he put
his brethren upon telling Pharaoh their profeffion, in order
to have them placed in the land of Gothen, for, or becauſe,
every Shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. I muſt
freely acknowledge, that I cannot fatisfy myſelf about the
meaning of this paffage: I cannot fee that thepherds were
really at this time an abomination to the Egyptians; for
Pharaoh himſelf had his fhepherds; and when he ordered
Jofeph to place his brethren in the land of Goshen Y,
he was
fo far from diſapproving of their employment, that he or-
dered him, if he knew of any men of activity amongſt them,
that he ſhould make them rulers over his cattle: nay, the
Egyptians were at this time fhepherds themſelves, as well as
the Ifraelites; for we are told, when their money failed,
they brought their cattle of all forts unto Jofeph, to ex-
change them for corn, and, among the reft, their flocks of
the fame kind with thoſe which the Ifraelites were to tell
Pharaoh that it was their profeffion to take care of, as will
appear to any one that will confult the Hebrew text in the
places referred to. Either therefore we muſt take the ex-
preffion, that every fhepherd was an abomination to the Egyp-
tians, to mean no more than that they thought meanly of
the employment, that it was a lazy, idle, and unactive pro-
feffion, as Pharaoh feemed to question, whether there were
any men of activity amongſt them, when he heard what
their trade was; or, if we take the words to fignify a reli-
gious averfion to them, which does indeed feem to be the
true meaning of the expreffion from the ufe made of it in
other places of Scripture, then I do not fee how it is recon-
cileable with Pharaoh's inclination to employ them himſelf,
or with the Egyptians being many of them at this time of
Z
x Gen. xlvi. 34:
y Gen. xlvii. 6.
z Ver. 17.
the
Book V.
205
and Profane Hiftory.
the fame profeffion themfelves, which the heathen writers
agree with Mofes a in fuppofing them to be.
The learned have obferved, that there are feveral interpo-
lations in the books of the Scriptures, which were not the
words of the facred writers. Some perſons affecting to ſhew
their learning, when they read over the ancient MSS. would
ſometimes put a fhort remark in the margin, which they
thought might give a reaſon for, or clear the meaning of,
fome expreffion in the text againſt which they placed it, or
to which they adjoined it; and from hence it happened now
and then, that the tranfcribers from manufcripts fo remarked
upon did, through mistake, take a marginal note or remark
into the text, imagining it to be a part of it. Whether
Mofes might not end his period in this place with the words,
that ye may dwell in the land of Gofben; and whether what
follows, for every Shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians,
may not have been added to the text this way, is entirely
fubmitted to the judgment of the learned.
As the Egyptians did thus fink into the groffeft idolatries
very early, fo they propagated their errors into all the neigh-
bouring nations round about them: the Philistines quickly
came to have fome of the gods which the Egyptians ferved;
they had fet up Dagon before Eli's time, and the image of
Dagon was in part an human repreſentation, for it had an
head, face, and palms of hands; and the nations which the
Ifraelites paffed through, after their coming out of Egypt,
had amongſt them at that time idols, not only of wood and
tone, [which were the goava before mentioned, and the moſt
ancient,] but of filver and gold alfo : Egypt was the fruitful
mother of all theſe abominations; and the nearer nations were
fituated to, or the fooner they had acquaintance with Egypt,
the earlier idolatries of this fort were practifed amongst
them: for,
If we go into Afia, into the parts a little diſtant from
Egypt, we find, that, during all the firft ages, the luminaries.
of heaven or the elements were the only objects of their ido-
a Diodorus Sic. lib. i. §. 73, 74. P
47.
I
bi Sam. v.
< Deut. xxix. 16, 17,
latrous
206
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
5.
latrous worship. Baal, or Bel, or Baal-famen, i. e. accord-
ing to their own interpretation, the King or Lord of Heaven,
as the Hebrew word Baal-fhemaim would import, or Baal-
Zebub, i. e. the Lord of Flies, (by which names they meante
the fun,) were the ancient deities of the Phoenicians. The
Ammonites worshipped the fame god under the name of
Milcom, or Moloch f, i. e. Melech, or the King. The Arabians
likewife worshipped the fun under the name of Baal-Peor,
or Baal-Phegor . And the men of Sepharvaim, who were
brought out of Affyria into Samaria, in the reign of Ahaz
king of Judah, and Hofhea king of Samaria, had Anam-
melech, i.e. the King of the Clouds; and Adram-melech, or rather
Adar-ba melech, i. e. Adar, or Mars the King, for their gods;
and very probably Nergal and Afhima, Nibhaz and Tartak,
the gods of the other nations that were brought with them,
were deities of the fame fort. Theſe, and fuch as thefe, were
the gods worſhipped in the feveral countries of Afia in the
firft days of their idolatry, and fome nations did not defcend
lower for many ages. The Perfians in their early times bad
no temples, ftatues, altars, or images i; but they facrificed on
the top of mountains, to the fun, moon, earth, fire, and
water. The firſt image that was fet up amongſt them was a
ftatue to Venus, and that was erected not till almoft the end
of the Perfian empire, by a king whom Clemens Alexandrinus
calls Artaxerxes, and very probably he meant Artaxerxes
Ochus, the predeceffor of Darius, in whofe reign Alexander
the Great overthrew the Perfian empire. We read in many
places of the Old Teſtament of the idols of Babylon, and
Nebuchadnezzar fet up an image of gold in the plain of
Dura'; and though this was not the first image fet up amongſt
them, (for Ifaiah mentions their hiring goldfmiths to make
them gods",) yet I believe that we may place their be-
Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
* Procop. Gazæus in 1 Kings xvi. p.
231. Ed. Meurf. 1620. Servius in Æn.
lib. ii. v. 83. Damafcius in vita Ifidori
apud Photium. §. 242. p. 1050. Ed.
1611. Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 7.
f 1 Kings xi. 5. 7. Levit. xviii. 21.
ibid. xx. 2, 3, 4, 5.
8 Numb. xxv. 3. 5. 18. Pfalm cvi.
28. Hofea ix. 10.
i
h 2 Kings xvii. 31. and 24.
Herodot. l. i. §. 131. Strabo. 1. xv.
p. 732. Ed. Par. 1620. Xenophon. in
Cyropæd. in multis loc. Briffonius de
regno Perfarum, lib. ii.
k Cohortat. ad Gentes. p. 37. Ed.
Sylb.
1 Dan. iii.
m Ifaiah xlvi. 6.
ginning
Book V.
207
and Profane Hiftory.
ginning this idolatry about or but little before this time; for
the removal of the Cuthites, of the men of Ava, Hamath,
and Sepharvaim, from the countries of Babylon into Sama-
ria, was about a century before the reign of Nebuchadnezzar,
and they ſeem not to have learnt in their own countries to
become worshippers of theſe fort of gods; for when they ſet
up the idolatries of their nations in Samaria, they did not
fet up images, but made Succoth-benoth, i. e. fhrines, or
model-temples, little ftructures, fuch as St. Stephen ſpeaks
of, when he mentions the tabernacles of Moloch, which they
took up and carried about in proceffions; or they had fidereal
repreſentations of the luminaries of heaven, fuch as St. Ste-
phen calls the star of the god Remphan.
The first step which the Babylonians, and very probably all
other nations, took towards image-worship, was the erect-
ing pillars in honour of their gods. All their other idols
were novelties, in comparifon of thefe. We read that Jacob
fet
up
a pillar, when he vowed a vow unto the true God º;
fo that the erecting thefe pillars was a very ancient practice,
even as ancient as A. M. 2246, and practifed we fee by the
profeffors of the true religion; and when men fell into ido-
latry, they kept on this practice, and erected fuch pillars to
their falfe gods. The Alexandrian Chronicon, in the place
which I have before cited, remarks to us, that the Babylo-
nians fet up a pillar to the planet Mars; and Clemens Alex-
andrinus obferves, that before the art of carving was in-
vented, the ancients erected pillars, and paid their worship
to them, as to ſtatues of their gods. Herodian mentions a
pillar or large ftone (for it is to be obſerved, that thefe pillars.
were large ſtones fet up without art' or workmanship) erected
in honour of the fun, by the title of Eligabalus, or El-Gebal,
i. e. the god of Gebal, a city of Phoenicia. Paufanias mentions
feveral of theſe uncarved pillars in Boeotia in Greece", and
he fays they were the ancient ftatues erected to their gods *.
Some time after the firft ufe of thefe, they erected wooden
n
г
2 Kings xvii. 24.
• Ver. 30.
PA&s vii. 43.
9 Gen. xxviii, 18. and xxXV. 14.
Stromat. 1. i. §. 24. p. 151.
s Lib. v. p. 563.
Paufan. in Boeoticis, and in this
reſpect they were like Jacob's pillars.
ù In Boeoticis.
* Idem in Achaicis.
ones,
208
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
ones, and theſe at firſt had but little workmanſhip beſtowed
upon them; for we read in Clemens Alexandrinus ', that a
block, or trunk of a tree, was an ancient ſtatue of Juno at
Samos; and Plutarch informs us, that two beams, or pieces
of timber, joined together with two ſhorter croſs beams, was
the ancient reprefentation of Caftor and Pollux; and hence
it came to paſs, that the aſtrologers pitched upon the figure
of this repreſentation to be the character for the conſtellation
called Gemini, which they deſcribe thus ¤.
b
Epiphanius, and other writers, have imagined that image-
worſhip was very early in Affyria and Chaldæa, even as early
as the days of Abraham; they reprefent, that Serug, Nahor,
and Terah the father of Abraham, were ftatuaries and carvers,
and that they made idols, and fet up image-worſhip in
theſe countries: but there is no proof of this opinion, except
Jewiſh traditions, which are of no great account. Pillars of
ſtone were perhaps in ufe in theſe times, but they were only
common ftones heaped upon one another, as Jacob afterwards
heaped them, and Joſhua upon another occafion ↳ many ge-
nerations after; or they were large, but åpyoì λíð01, as Pauſa-
nias calls them; they had no workmanſhip about them, which
could intimate the hand of the artificer to have been con-
cerned in them. Laban indeed, a defcendant of this family,
had his teraphim, in our tranflation, gods, which Rachel
ftole from him ; but we have no reaſon to imagine that theſe
were image-gods; it is more probable that they were little
pillars, or ftones, which had the names of their anceſtors in-
fcribed upon them. As they erected larger pillars to their
deities, ſo they made ſmaller and portable ones in memory
of their anceſtors, which were eſteemed by them much as
family-pictures are now by us; and that made Rachel fo fond
of taking them when ſhe went away from her father's houſe,
and Laban fo angry at the thoughts of their being taken
from him. In after-ages, when the pillars erected to the
gods were turned into ftatues, theſe family-pillars were con-
verted into little images; and theſe feem to be the beginning
y Cohort. ad Gentes, §. 4. p. 13.
z Philadelph. p. 478. initio.
a Adverfus Hæref, 1. i. §. 6. Suidas
in E, et al.
b Josh. iv. 5.
• Gen. xxxi,
of
Book V.
209
and Profane Hiſtory.
of the Penates, or family-gods, of which we have frequent
mention in after-times.
Idolatry made its progrefs in Greece in much the fame
manner; for, according to Plato's exprefs words, the firſt
Grecians eſteemed thoſe to be the only gods, which many of
the foreign nations thought fo, namely, the fun, moon, and
ftars they worſhipped therefore at firft the luminaries of
heaven; in time they came to worship the elements; for the
fame author mentions theſe alfo as their ancient deities, and
they erected pillars in honour of them, as the Afians did to
their gods, as appears from the authorities already cited, and
many other places which might be quoted from Paufanias
and other writers. At what time the Greeks came to wor-
ſhip fuch gods as Homer fings of is uncertain; but their
worſhip was evidently eſtabliſhed before his time. All wri-
ters do in the general agree, that the Greeks had the names
and the worſhip of theſe gods from Egypt; and Herodotus
was of opinion, that the Pelaſgi firft encouraged the reception
of them f, at what time he does not tell us; but we may re-
mark this, that we cannot ſuppoſe it to be before the planta-
tion of that people, which left Greece under the conduct and
command of Oenotrus %, were migrated into Italy; for if it
had, they would have carried theſe gods and this fort of
worſhip with them.
e
h
But if we look into Italy, we not only find in general that
the writers of their antiquities remark, that their an-
cient deities were of a different fort from thoſe of Greece;
but, according to Plutarch, Numa, the fecond king of
Rome, made expreſs orders againſt the uſe of images in the
worſhip of the Deity; nay, he fays further, that for the firſt
170 years after the building the city, the Romans ufed no
images, but thought the Deity to be invifible, and reputed it
unlawful to make repreſentations of him from things of an
οι
Φαί
In Cratylo. His words are, aí-
νονταί μοι οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων περὶ
τὴν Ἑλλάδα τέτες μόνες Θεὸς ἡγεῖσθαι,
οὥσπερ νῦν πολλοὶ τῶν Βαρβάρων, ἥλιον καὶ
σελήνην καὶ γῆν καὶ ἄτρα καὶ ἔρανον.
e Eufeb. Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. 6.
Diodor. Sic. lib. i. &c. Clem. Alexand.
VOL. I.
P
et mult. al.
f In Euterpe, c. 50.
• Paufanias in Arcadicis, p. 458. Ed.
Sylb. 1613.
h Dionyf. Halicar. lib. vii. c. 70.
In Numa. Init. et Clem. Alexand.
Stromat. 1. i. §. 15. p. 130.
inferior
210
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
inferior nature; fo that, according to this account, Rome
being built about A. M. 3256*, the inhabitants of Italy were
not greatly corrupted in their religion even fo late as A. M.
3426, which falls when Nebuchadnezzar was king of Baby-
Jon, and about 169 years after the time where I am to end
this work. It is remarkable that Plutarch does not reprefent
Numa as correcting or refining the ancient idolatry of Italy;
but expreffes, that this people never had theſe groffer deities,
either before, or for the first 170 years of their city; fo that
it is more than probable, that Greece was not thus corrupted,
when the Pelafgi removed from thence into Italy; and fur-
ther, that the Trojans were not fuch idolaters at the deftruc-
tion of their city, becauſe, according to this account, Æneas
neither brought with him images into Italy, nor fuch gods
as were worſhipped by the adoration of images; and there-
fore Paufanias', who imagined that Æneas carried the Pal-
ladium into Italy, was as much miſtaken as the men of Ar-
gos, who affirmed themſelves to have it in their city ". The
times of Numa are about 200 years after Homer, and very
probably the idolatry fo much celebrated in his writings
might by this time begin to appear in Italy, and thereby
occafion Numa to make laws and conſtitutions againſt it.
There are feveral other particulars which might be added
to this ſubject; but I am unwilling to draw out this digref-
fion to a greater length, and ſhall only offer a remark or two,
and put an end to this book.
It is obfervable, that the firſt corruptions of religion were
begun by kings and rulers of nations. Ninus taught the
Affyrians to worſhip fire; and Syphis, king of Egypt, wrote
a facred book, which laid the foundation of all their errors :
in like manner in after-ages, Nebuchadnezzar fet up the
golden image in the plains of Dura; and when image-wor-
ſhip was brought into Perfia, it was introduced, as the
learned Dr. Hyde obferves, by fome king, who built temples,
ſet up ſtatues, appointed priefts, and fettled them revenues,
for the carrying on the worſhip according to the rites and
inftitutions which he thought fit to preſcribe to them. And
k Archbiſhop Uther's Annals, 1 In Corinthiacis. p. 127.
m Ibid.
in
Book V.
211
and Profane Hiftory.
in this manner, without doubt, Sabiiſm was planted, both in
Perfia and all other nations. Kings and heads of families
were the prieſts amongst the true worshippers of the God of
heaven; Melchifedec was prieſt as well as king of Salem;
and Abraham was the prieſt of his own houſehold: and we
have reaſon to believe that other kings were careful to pre-
ſerve to themſelves this honour, and prefided in religion, as
well as ruled and governed their people; and in reality, as
the circumſtances of the world then were, if they had not
done the one, they could not have effected the other. Kings
and rulers therefore being at this time the fupreme directors
in religion, their inventions and inſtitutions were what began
the firſt errors and innovations which were introduced into
it. This point ſhould indeed be a little more carefully ex-
amined, becauſe fome writers have a favourite fcheme, which
they think they can build great things upon, and which runs
very contrary to what I have offered. Thefe gentlemen ad-
vance propofitions to this purpoſe: that God had given to
all men innate principles, fufficient to lead them to know and
worſhip him; but that the great misfortune of the heathen
world was, too ftrict a reliance of the laity upon the clergy,
who, for the advancement of their own lucre, invented tem-
ples, and altars, and facrifices, and all manner of fuperftitions.
Thus they run on at random. The whole of their opinion
may be expreffed in theſe two pofitions: 1. That the powers
and faculties, which God at firſt gave to men, led them na-
turally to know and to worſhip him, according to the dictates
of right reafon, i. e. in the way of natural religion. 2. That
the prieſts for their own ends fet up revealed religion: and
this is in truth the foundation of our modern deifm; the pro-
feffors of it believing in their hearts that there never was a
real religion at all, but that the firſt religion in the world was
merely natural, men worshipping God only according to
what reaſon fuggeſted to them; but that in time artful men,
for political ends, pretended to revelations, and led the world
away into ſuperſtition; and the firſt pretenders to theſe reve-
lations were, they fay, the prieſts or clergy. But all this is
fiction and chimæra; we can find nothing to countenance
theſe extravagant fancies in any hiſtory of any part of the
world :
P 2
212
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
:
world for with regard to the first point, that the prieſts were
the firſt corrupters of religion; let them but tell us when,
and where all the hiftory we have of the feveral kingdoms
of the world agree in this, that kings and rulers were, in all
the heathen nations, the first inftitutors and directors of the
rites and ceremonies of religion, as well as of the laws by
which they governed their people: and we have not only
plain hints to this purpoſe in the remains of thoſe early
kingdoms, of which perhaps it may be faid, that the accounts
are ſo ſhort and imperfect, that we may be deceived if we lay
too great a ſtreſs upon them but we find, that all antiquity
was fo univerfally agreed in this point, that if we look into
the foundation of thofe later kingdoms, of which we have
fuller and clearer accounts tranfmitted to us, we find fuller
and clearer accounts of this matter. Romulus and Numa,
and other fucceeding kings, were the authors and inftitutors.
of every part of the Roman religion; and we are told that
Numa wrote a book upon the fubject: and we find amongſt
the appointments of Romulus, that when he had ſettled the
ſeveral magiftrates and officers, which he thought neceffary
for the well-governing of his people, he reſerved to himſelf
as king to be the ſupreme director of the facra and facrifices,
and to perform himſelf the public offices of religion; for ſo I
underftand the words, πάντα δι' ἐκείνε πράττεσθαι τὰ πρὸς τὰς
Oe's σia. And I think I am directed fo to underſtand
them, by what happened afterwards; for when Brutus and
his affociates expelled the kings, banishing Tarquinius, and
erecting a commonwealth inftead of the kingly government,
it is remarkable that they found themſelves obliged to ap-
point a new officer, whom they called the Rex Sacrificulus,
that there might be one to offer thofe facrifices, which uſed
to be offered by the king for the people P. Quia publica fa-
cra quædam, ſays Livy 9, per ipfos reges factitata erant, ne ubi-
ubi regum defiderium effet, regem facrificulum creant: i. e.
"Becauſe fome of the public facrifices were performed by
"the king himſelf, that there might not be any want of a
n Dionyf. Halicarnaff. lib. i. c. 63.
p. 124.
Dionyf. Halicarn, lib.ii. c. 14. p. 87.
269.
Dionyf. Halicarn. 1. iv. c. 74. P.
9 Liv. 1. ii. c. 2.
"king,
Book V.
213
and Profane Hifiory.
"king, they created a royal facrificer." In Greece we find
the fame inſtitutions; and, according to Xenophon, the
kings of Lacedæmon having officers under them for the fe-
veral employments of the ſtate, referved to themſelves to be
the prieſts of their people in divine affairs, and their gover-
nors and fupreme directors in civil. And this was the moſt
ancient practice in all nations; and priests were fo far from
being the firſt inventors of fuperftition, or corruptors of reli-
gion, that in the ſenſe in which theſe writers uſe the word,
there were no prieſts at all until religion was confiderably
depraved and vitiated. Every man was at first the prieſt of
his own family, and every king of his own kingdom; and
though we may ſuppoſe that in time, when kingdoms came
to grow large, the people to be numerous, and the affairs to
be tranſacted full of variety; that then kings appointed, for
the better governing of their people, miniſters under them,
both in facred and civil matters: yet this was not done at
firft; and when it was done, the minifters fo appointed were
only executors of the injunctions and directions, orders and
inſtitutions, which the kings who appointed them thought
fit to give them. In time, the ceremonies and inſtitutions of
religion grew to be fo numerous, as that kings could not al-
ways be at leiſure to attend upon the performance, or the
taking care of the particulars of them, nor could a new king
be ſufficiently inſtructed, at his coming to a crown, in all the
various rites and uſages that had, fome at one time, and
ſome at another, been eſtabliſhed by his anceſtors; and this
occafioned the appointing a ſet of men, whofe whole buſineſs
it might be to take care of theſe matters, which then princes
began to leave to them; and from this time indeed the power
and authority of the prieſts grew daily; though even after
this time we find fome of the greatest kings directing and
acting in theſe things themſelves. Cyrus commonly offered
the public facrifices himſelfs; and Cambyfes his father, when
he ſent him with an army to affift Cyaxares his uncle, ob-
ſerved to him, what care he had taken to have him fully in-
In Repub. Lacedæm. p. 688. ed.
Leunclav. 1594.
• Xenophont. Cyropæd. 1. iii. et in
mult. al. loc.
P 3
fructed
214
Connection of the Sacred
Book V.
ftru&ed in augury, that he might be able to judge for himſelf,
and not depend upon his augurs for their directions. And thus
I have endeavoured to fet this matter in the light in which the
best writers and hiftorians agree to place it; and theſe were, I
believe, the ſentiments which Jofephus had about it, who en-
quiring into what might be the firft occafion of the many
heathen fuperftitions and errors in religion, profeffes himſelf
to think that they began at firft from the legislators, who
not rightly knowing the true nature of God, or not rightly
explaining and keeping up to that knowledge which they
might have had of it, were hereby led to appoint conſtitu-
tions in religion not ſuitable to it, and fo opened a door for
thoſe that came after to introduce all forts of deities and fu-
perftitions". And very agreeable to this is the determination
of the author of the Book of Wiſdom, that the heathen ido-
latries were ſet up by the commandments of kings. It will
perhaps be here faid, that kings then were the first intro-
ducers of revelation and ſuperſtition, and that they did it to
aggrandize themſelves, to attract the greater regard and ve-
neration of their people. To this I anſwer: we find accounts
of revelation earlier than we find any mention of kings. Noah
had ſeveral directions from the Deity, and fo had Adam; fo
that we muſt ſet afide what hiftory affures us to have been
fact, in order to embrace what feems to theſe fort of writers
to be moſt probable, inſtead of it. But I have already con-
ſidered that the worſhip of God, which all men univerfally
in all nations performed in the moſt early times, was of fuch
a nature, that we cannot with any appearance of probability
imagine, but that it was at firſt introduced by divine appoint-
ments; for we cannot learn from hiftory, nor, if we reflect,
can we conceive, that natural reaſon fhould ever have led
men into fuch fentiments, as fhould have induced them to
think of worſhipping God in that manner. But there are two
queries which I would put to theſe writers: 1. If there was
no revelation made to the men of the firſt ages in matters of
religion, how came all nations of the world to be fo fully
t Xenophont. Cyropæd. 1. i.
u Contra Apion. lib. ii. §. 35. P.
1386. ed. Hudf.
x Chap. xiv. 16.
y Book II. p. 50.
perfuaded
Book V.
215
and Profane Hiflcry.
perſuaded that there was, as to make it neceffary for legiſla-
tors, who made appointments in religion, to pretend to fome
revelation or other, in order to fupport and eſtabliſh them?
2. How came men to think of acknowledging and worſhip-
ping a God, ſo early as they did really worſhip and acknow-
ledge him? If we look into the religious appointments of
the ſeveral kings and rulers whom we have accounts of, we
find their inftitutions always received as directions from
heaven, by their bands tranfmitted to their people. Romulus
and Numia were both believed to have been directed by a
revelation, what ſacra they were to eſtabliſh; and Lycurgus
was ſuppoſed to be inftructed by the oracle at Delphos 2; and
thus Syphis the king of Egypt was eſteemed to be Оsóπтs,
one that had a converfe with the gods. The general maxim
of Plato, that all laws and conftitutions about divine worſhip
were to be had only from the gods, was every where received
and believed in the world; and when kings made appoint-
ments in theſe matters, their ſubjects received what they or-
dered as the dictates of infpiration, believing that a divine
fentence was in the lips of their kings, and that their mouths
tranfgreſſed not in the appointments which they made them ;
and this they readily went into, not being artfully betrayed
by kings into a belief of revelation, but believing them to be
inſpired, from the univerſal knowledge which the world was
then full of, that God had revealed to their feveral anceſtors
and heads of families, in what way and manner they ſhould
worſhip him. If reaſon only had been the firſt guide in mat-
ters of religion, rulers would neither have thought of, nor
have wanted, the pretence of revelation, to give credit to their
inftitutions; whereas, on the other hand, revelation being ge-
nerally eſteemed in all nations to be the only true foundation
of religion, kings and rulers, when they thought fit to add
inventions of their own to the religion of their anceſtors,
were obliged to make uſe of that difpofition, which they
knew their people to have, to receive what came recom-
mended to them under the name of a revelation. But to pro-
ceed to the ſecond query: if there was no revelation made
z Plutarch. Lycurg.
a De Legib. 1. vi.
P 4
b Prov. xvi. 10.
to
216
Book V.
Connection of the Sacred
to the men of the firft ages, how came the knowledge and
worſhip of God fo early into the world? Perhaps fome will
anſwer, according to Lord Herbert, from innate principles :
if they do ſo, I muft refer them to what our ingenious
countryman Mr. Locke has offered upon that fubject. The
only way that reaſon can teach men to know God, muſt be
from confidering his works; and if ſo, his works muſt be firſt
known and confidered, before they can teach men to know
the author of them. It ſeems to be but a wild fancy, that
man was at firſt raiſed up in this world, and left entirely to
himſelf, to find out by his own natural powers and faculties
what was to be his duty and his buſineſs in it. If we could
imagine the firſt men brought into the world in this manner,
we muft, with Diodorus Siculus, conceive them for many
ages to be but very poor and ſorry creatures. The invifible
things of God are indeed to be underflood by the things that are
made; but men in this ftate would for many generations be
confidering the things of the world in lower views, in order
to provide themſelves the conveniences of life from them,
before they would reflect upon them in ſuch a manner as
fhould awaken up in their minds any thoughts of a God:
and when they ſhould come to confider things in ſuch a light
as to diſcover by them that there was a God, yet how long
muft it be before they can be imagined to have arrived at ſuch
a thorough knowledge of the things of the world, as to have
juft and true notions of him? We ſee in fact, that when men
firſt began to fpeculate and reaſon about the things of the
world, they reaſoned and ſpeculated very wrong. In Egypt,
in Chaldæa, in Perfia, and in all other countries, falfe and ill-
grounded notions of the things which God had made in-
duced them to worship the creatures, inftead of the Creator,
and that at times when other perfons, who had leſs philofo-
phy, were profeffors of a truer theology. The deſcendants
of Abraham were true worshippers of the God of heaven;
when other nations, whoſe great and wife men pretended to
confider and reafon about the works of the creation, did in
no wife rightly apprehend or acknowledge the Workmaſter; but
* Lib. de Religione Gentilium, c. 1, et 2.
decmed
Book V.
217
and Profane Hiftory.
deemed eitber fire, or wind, or the fwift air, or the circle of the
ftars, or the violent water, or the lights of heaven, to be the gods
which govern the world; being delighted with their beauty, or
aftonished at their power, they took them for gods. In a word,
if we look over all the accounts we have of the ſeveral
nations of the earth, and confider every thing that has been
advanced by any or all the philofophers, we can meet with
nothing to induce us to think, that the first religion of the
world was introduced by the uſe and direction of mere na-
tural reaſon; but on the other hand, all hiſtory, both ſacred
and profane, offers us various arguments to prove, that God
revealed to men in the firft ages how he would be worſhip-
ped; but that, when men, inftead of adhering to what had
been revealed, came to lean to their own underſtandings, and
to ſet up what they thought to be right, in the room of what
God himſelf had directed, they loft and bewildered themſelves
in endleſs errors. This I am ſenſible is a ſubject that ſhould
be examined to the bottom; and I am perfuaded, if it were,
the reſult of the enquiry would be this, that he that thinks
to prove, that the world ever did in fact by wisdom know Gode,
that any nation upon earth, or any ſet of men ever did, from
the principles of reafon only, without any affiftance from re-
velation, find out the true nature and the true worſhip of the
Deity, muft find out ſome hiſtory of the world entirely dif-
ferent from all the accounts which the preſent facred or pro-
fane writers do give us; or his opinion muſt appear to be a
mere gueſs and conjecture of what is barely poffible, but
what all hiſtory affures us never was really done in the
world.
d Wiſdom xiii. 1, 2, 3, 4.
I Corinth. i, 21.
END OF VOL. I.
1
1
1
}
1
1
THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
CONNECTED.
t
VOLUME THE SECOND.
1
f
THE
PREFACE.
THIS fecond Volume, which I now offer to the public,
carries down the hiftory of the world to the exit of the
children of Ifrael out of Egypt. The method I have kept to
is the fame as in the former Volume; and I have in this, as
in the other, interfperfed, as I go along, feveral digreffions
upon fuch fubjects, as either the Scripture accounts, or the
hints we meet with in profane authors concerning the times
I treat of, fuggeſted to me.
Sir Ifaac Newton's chronology was not publiſhed until
after I had finiſhed both my former Volume, and the Preface
to it but as his fentiments upon the ancient chronology
have been fince that time offered to the world, it will become
me to endeavour to give ſome reaſons for my having formerly,
and for my ſtill continuing to differ from him. I am not
yet come down to the times where he begins his chronology,
and for that reafon it would be an improper, as well as a
very troubleſome anticipation, to enter into particulars, which
I fhall be able to fet in a much clearer light, when I fhall
give the hiftory of the times which he has fuppofed them to
belong to. But fince there are in Sir Ifaac Newton's work
feveral arguments of a more extenfive influence, than to be
confined to any one particular epoch, and which are, in truth,
the main foundation of his whole fcheme, and do affect the
whole body of the ancient chronology, I fhall endeavour to
confider them here, that the reader may judge, whether I
have already, as well as whether I fhall hereafter proceed
rightly, in not being determined by them. The first of them
which I fhall mention is the aftronomical argument for fix-
ing the time of the Argonautic expedition, formed from the
conftellations of Chiron. This feenis to be demonſtration,
and to prove inconteftably, that the ancient profane hiftory
is generally carried about 300 years higher backward than
the
222
PREFACE.
the truth the full force of this argument is clearly expreffed
in the Short Chronicle as follows.
a
I. “Chiron formed the conſtellations for the uſe of the
"Argonauts, and placed the Solftitial and Equinoctial points
"in the fifteenth degrees or middles of the conftellations of
"Cancer, Chelæ, Capricorn, and Aries. Meton, in the year
"of Nabonaffar 316, obferved the Summer Solstice in the
"eighth degree of Cancer, and therefore the Solstice had
"then gone back feven degrees. It goes back one degree
"in about 72 years, and feven degrees in about 504 years:
"count thefe years back from the
back from the year of Nabonaffar 316,
"and they will place the Argonautic expedition 936 years
"before Chriſt." The Greeks (fays our great and learned
author) placed it 300 years earlier. The reader will eafily
fee the whole force of this argument. Meton, anno Nabo-
naff. 316, found that the Solftices were in the eighth degrees
of the conſtellations: Chiron, at the time of the Argonautic
expedition, placed them in the fifteenth degrees: the Solftice
goes back feven degrees in 504 years; from whence it follows,
that the time when Chiron placed the Solſtices in the fifteenth
degrees was 504 years before anno Nabonaff. 316, when
Meton found that they were in the eighth degrees.
The fallacy of this argument cannot but appear very
evident to any one that attends to it; for ſuppoſe we allow
that Chiron did really place the Solftices as Sir Ifaac Newton
repreſents, (though I think it moft probable that he did not
fo place them,) yet it must be undeniably plain, that nothing
can be certainly eſtabliſhed from Chiron's pofition of them,
unleſs it appears that Chiron knew how to give them their
true place. It was eafy for ſo great a mafter of aftronomy as
Sir Ifaac Newton to calculate where the Solftices ought to
be placed in the year of our Lord 1689, and to know how
many years have paffed fince they were in the fifteenth de-
grees of the conftellations: but though we ſhould allow, that
Chiron imagined them, in his time, to be in this poſition,
yet, if he really was miftaken in his imagination, no argu-
ment can be formed from Chiron's pofition of them; for fup-
pofing the true place of the Solftices, in the days of Chiron,
to be in the nineteenth degrees of the conftellations, it will
be evident, from what was the true place of them in the year
of our Lord 1689, as well as from what was the place of
them anno Nabonaff. 316, that the time of Chiron's making
his ſcheme of the heavens was about 300 years earlier than
a See Short Chronicle, p. 25. Lond.
1728. The argument is offered at
large in Chronology of the Greeks,
p. 83. Lond. 1728.
b Chronology of the Greeks, p. 94.
c Ibid. p. 86.
Our
PREFACE.
223
our great and learned author fuppofes, though Chiron erro-
neouſly placed the Solftices at that time in the fifteenth de-
grees of the conftellations, inftead of the nineteenth; and
whether Chiron might not miſtake four or five degrees this
way or that way, we may judge from what follows.
Chiron's ſkill in aftronomy was fo imperfect, that we can-
not imagine he could find the true place of the Solftices with
any tolerable exactnefs. The Egyptians were the firſt that
found out, that the year confifted of more than 360 days.
Strabo informs us, that the Theban prieſts were the moſt
eminent philofophers and aftronomers, and that they num-
bered the days of the year, not by the courſe of the moon,
but by that of the fun; and that to twelve months, confifting
each of thirty days, they added five days every year. Hero-
dotus teftifies the fame thing "The Egyptians (fays he)
"were the firſt that found out the length of the year." And
he tells us particularly what they determined to be the true
length of it, namely," twelve months of thirty days each,
"and five days added befides them." Diodorus Siculus
fays, "The Thebans (i. e. the prieſts of Thebes in Egypt)
were the firſt that brought philofophy and aftrology to an
"exactneſs ;" and he adds, "they determined the year to
"confift of twelve months, each of thirty days; and added
"five days to twelve fuch months, as being the full meaſure
"of the fun's annual revolution f." And thus, until the
Egyptians found out the miſtake, all aftronomers were in a
very great error, imagining the fun's annual motion to be
performed in 360 days.
66
It may perhaps be here faid, that the Egyptians had im-
proved their aftronomy before Chiron's days, and that Chiron
may be ſuppoſed to have been inftructed by them, and ſo to
have been a pretty good aftronomer. To this I anſwer:
If the Egyptians had improved their aftronomy before
Chiron's time, yet the Greeks were ignorant of this meaſure
of the year, until Thales went to Egypt, and converfed with
the priests of that nation: Thales, fays Laertius %, was the
first who corrected the Greek year. And this opinion of
Laertius is confirmed by Herodotus, who reprefents Solon, a
cotemporary of Thales, in his conference with Crofus very
remarkably miſtaking the true meaſure of the year. Thales
d Strabo. Geogr. lib. xvii. p. 816.
Ed. Par.
e Herodot. lib. ii. cap. 4.
f Diodor. Sic. Hift. lib. i. §. 50. p.
32.
Diodorus indeed mentions the
Tiragrov, or fix hours, which were
added afterwards; but thefe were not
accounted to belong to the year fo
early as the five days.
g Laert. in vita Thaletis, lib. i.
§. 22.
had
224
PREFACE.
had found out, that the year confifted of 365 days; but the
exact particulars of what he had learned in this point were
not immediately known all over Greece, and fo Solon repre-
fents to Crœfus, that the year confifted of 375 days; for
he repreſents it as neceffary to add a whole month, i. e. thirty
days, every other year, to adjuſt the year then in uſe to its
true meaſure : the notion therefore of the received computed
year's being too fhort was new in Solon's time: he was ap-
priſed that it was fo; but what Thales brought from Egypt
upon the ſubject was not yet generally known or understood,
and fo Solon made mistakes in his gueffes about it. Thales,
according to the vulgar account, lived above 600 years after
Chiron, and above 300 years after him according to Sir Ifaac
Newton; and therefore Chiron was entirely ignorant of all
this improvement in aftronomy. Chiron imagined 360 days
to be a year; and if he knew no better how to eſtimate the
fun's annual motion, his quara ixúμrs, his draughts of the
conftellations, muft be very inaccurate; he could never place
the Solſtices with any tolerable exactnefs, but might eafily
err four or five degrees in his pofition of them; and if we
had before us the beſt ſcheme that he could draw, I dare ſay,
we ſhould be able to demonftrate nothing from it, but the
great imperfection of the ancient aftronomy. "If indeed it
"could be known what was the true place of the Solftitial
"points in Chiron's time, it might be known, by taking the
"diſtance of that place from the prefent pofition of them,
"how much time has elapfed from Chiron to our days:"
but I anſwer, it cannot be accurately known from any ſchemes
of Chiron's, what was the true place of the Solfices in his
days; becauſe, though it is faid, that he calculated the then
pofition of them, yet he was fo inaccurate an aſtronomer,
that his calculation might err four or five degrees from their
true pofition.
Our great and learned author mentions Thales and Meton,
as if the obfervations of both theſe aftronomers might con-
firm his hypothefis. He fays, "Thales wrote a book of the
"Tropics and Equinoxes, and predicted the Eclipfes. And
"Pliny tells us, that he determined the occafus matutinus of
"the Pleiades to be upon the 25th day after the Autumnal
Equinox." And from hence he argues, 1. That the Sol-
ftices were in Thales's days in the middle of the eleventh
degrees of the figns. 2. That the Equinoxes had therefore
moved backwards from their place in Chiron's time, to this
their poſition in Thales's days, as much as anfwers to 320
<6
h Herodot. 1. i. c. 32.
years;
PREFACE.
225
years; and therefore, 3. that Chiron made his fcheme, and
confequently the Argonautic expedition was undertaken not
more than fo many years before the days of Thales. But
here it cannot but be remarked, that the chief force of this
argument depends upon Chiron's having rightly placed the
Solftices in his times; fo that what has been faid of Chiron's
inaccuracy muſt fully anfwer it. If Chiron erred in placing
the Solftices; if their true place in his time might be in the
nineteenth or twentieth degrees, and not (as he is faid to
fuppofe) in the fifteenth; then, however true it be that they
were in the eleventh degrees in Thales's time, yet it will not
follow that Chiron lived but 320 years before Thales. If
Chiron could have been exact, there had been a foundation
for the argument; but if Chiron was miſtaken, nothing but
miſtake can be built upon his uncorrected computation.
But if Chiron was not concerned in this argument, if it de-
pended folely upon the ſkill of Thales, I fhould ſtill ſuſpect
that there might be, though not fo much, yet fome error in
it: Thales, though a famous aftronomer for the age he lived
in, yet was not ſkilful enough to determine with a true
exactneſs the time of the fetting of the Pleiades, or to fix ac-
curately the Autumnal Equinox; and therefore no great ſtreſs
could have been laid upon any gueffes which he might have
been reported to make in theſe matters.
Thales, as I before hinted, was the firft of the Grecians
who learned that the year confifted of more than three hun-
dred fixty days; but though he had learned this, yet he was
ignorant of another material point, namely, that it confifted
of almoft fix hours over and above the five additional days
before mentioned. When the Egyptians firſt found this out
is uncertain; but their difcovery of it was not fo early as the
time of their coming to the knowledge of the other point,
as is evident from the fable in which their mythologic writ-
ers dreffed up the doctrine of the year's confifting of three
hundred fixty-five days¹; for, according to that fable, five days
were the exact feventy-fecond part of the whole year, and
five is fo of three hundred fixty; and therefore, when the
'five days were first added, the year was thought to confift of
three hundred fixty-five days only: it is hard to fay when
the Egyptians made this further improvement of their aftro-
nomy; but whenever they did, it is certain that Thales knew
nothing of it, for Sir John Marſham rightly obferves, that
Herodotus takes no notice of the quarter part of a day,
which ſhould be added to the year over and above the five
VOL. I.
See the fable, note in Pref. to Vol. I.
Q
additional
226
PREFACE.
ན
additional days, and adds *, that Eudoxus firſt learned from
the Egyptian prieſts, that ſuch farther addition ought to be
made to the meaſure of the year, and he cites Strabo's exprefs
words to confirm his obfervation: now Eudoxus lived about
three hundred years after Thales, and therefore Thales was
entirely ignorant, both of this, and, according to Strabo, of
many other very material points in aftronomy, which Eu-
doxus learned in Egypt.
age
Thales is indeed faid to have foretold an eclipſe, i. e. I
fuppofe he was able to foreſee that there would be one, not
that he could calculate exactly the time when; perhaps he
might guefs within two or three weeks, and perhaps he
might err twice the number, and yet be thought in his
a very great aftronomer. Sir Ifaac Newton fays, that he
wrote a book of the Tropics and Equinoxes; undoubtedly it
was a very forry one: I cannot apprehend that Thales could
fettle the Equinoxes with fo much exactnefs, as that any
great ftrefs could have been laid even upon his account of
the Pleiades fetting twenty-five days after the Autumnal
Equinox: he might or might not happen to err a day or two
about the time of the Equinox, and as much about the ſetting
of the Pleiades.
Sir Ifaac Newton obferves, that Meton, in order to publiſh
his Lunar cycle of nineteen years, obferved the Summer Sol-
ftice in the year of Nabonaffar 316; and Columella (he fays)
tells us, that he placed it in the eighth degree of Cancer;
from whence he argues, that the Solftice had gone back
from Chiron's days to Meton's at leaft feven degrees, and
therefore Meton was but 504 years after Chiron " but here
again the argument depends upon Chiron's having accurately
fettled the Equinoxes in his time, and therefore the anſwer
I have before given will be here fufficient: as to Meton;
from this account of his fettling the Equinoxes, and from
Dean Prideaux's of his nineteen years cycle ", it would feem
probable that he was a very exact aftronomer: but I muſt
confefs, there appear to me to be confiderable reaſons againſt
admitting this opinion of him; for how could Meton be fo
exact an aſtronomer, when Hipparchus, who lived almoſt 300
years after Meton, was the firft who found out, that the
Equinox had a motion backwards; and even he was fo far
* Marfham, Can. Chron. p. 236.
1 Strabo fays, that Eudoxus and
Plato learned from the Egyptian
priefts, τὰ ἐπιτρέχοντα τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ τῆς
νυκτός μόρια ταῖς τριακοσίαις εξήκοντα πέντε
ἡμέραις εἰς τὴν ἐκπλήρωσιν τῷ ἐνιαυσία
χρόνε: and he adds, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγνοεῖτο τέως ὁ
ἐνιαυτὸς παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ὡς καὶ ἄλλα
wasiw. Strabo. Geog. 1. xvii. p. 806.
ed. Par.
m Chronology of the Greeks, p. 93.
n Prideaux, Connect. P. II. B. iv. p.
181.
Newton's Chronology, p. 94.
from
PREFACE.
227
from being accurate, that he miſcounted 28 years in 100 in
calculating that motion P? Meton might not be fo exact an
aftronomer as he is reprefented. The cycle that goes under
his name might be first projected by him; but he perhaps did
not give it that perfection which it afterwards received.
Columella lived in the times of the Emperor Claudius, and
he might eafily afcribe more to Meton than belonged to him,
living fo many ages after him. Later authors perfected
Meton's rude draughts of aftronomy, and Columella might
imagine the corrections made in his originals by later hands
to be Meton's. We now call the nineteen years cycle by his
name; but I cannot imagine that any more of it belongs to
him, than an original defign of fomething like it, which the
aftronomers of after-ages added to and completed by de-
grees.
Before I leave the aftronomical argument of our truly great
author, I would add the very celebrated Dr. Halley's account
of the astronomy of the ancients; which he communicated.
fome years ago to the author of Reflections upon Ancient and
Modern Learning. His words are 9,
66
"As for the aftronomy of the ancients, this is ufually
"reckoned for one of thoſe ſciences wherein confifted the
learning of the Egyptians; and Strabo exprefsly declares,
"that there were in Babylonia feveral Univerfities, wherein
"aftronomy was chiefly profeffed; and Pliny tells us much
"the fame thing: fo that it might well be expected, that
"where ſuch a fcience was fo much ſtudied, it ought to have
"been proportionably cultivated. Notwithſtanding all which,
"it does appear, that there was nothing done by the Chal-
"dæans older than about 400 years before Alexander's con-
"queft, that could be ferviceable either to Hipparchus or
"Ptolomy in their determination of the celeſtial motions;
"for had there been any obfervations older than thoſe we
"have, it cannot be doubted but the victorious Greeks muſt
"have procured them, as well as thoſe they did, they being
"ftill more valuable for their antiquity. All we have of
"them is only feven eclipfes of the moon preferved in
"Ptolomy's Syntaxis, and even thofe but very coarfely fet
"down, and the oldeft not much above 700 years before
"Chrift; ſo that after all the fame of thefe Chaldæans, we
"may be fure that they had not gone far in this fcience:
"and though Callifthenes be faid by Porphyry to have
"brought from Babylon to Greece obfervations above 1900
P Newton's Chronology, p. 94.
9 See Wotton's Reflections upon An-
cient and Modern Learning, ch. xxiv.
P. 320. Lond. 1697.
Q 2
(C
years
228
PREFACE.
66
years older than Alexander, yet the proper authors making
110 mention or uſe of any fuch, renders it juſtly fufpected
"for a fable'. What the Egyptians did in this matter is
"leſs evident, no one obfervation made by them being to be
"found in their countryman Ptolomy, excepting what was
"done by the Greeks of Alexandria under 300 years before
"Chrift; ſo that whatever was the learning of theſe two
"ancient nations, as to the motions of the ftars, it ſeems to
"have been chiefly theoretical; and I will not deny, but
"fome of them might very long fince be appriſed of the fun's
"being the centre of our fyftem, for fuch was the doctrine of
"Pythagoras and Philolaus, and fome others, who were faid
"to have travelled into theſe parts.
66
"From hence it may appear, that the Greeks were the
"first practical aftronomers, who endeavoured in earnest to
"make themfelves mafters of the ſcience, and to whom we
"owe all the old obſervations of the Planets, and of the
Equinoxes and Tropics: Thales was the firft that could
predict an eclipfe in Greece not 600 years before Chrift,
"and without doubt it was but a rude account he had of the
"motions; and it was Hipparchus who made the firſt cata-
logue of the fixed ſtars not above 150 years before Chriſt
"without which catalogue there could be fcarce fuch a
"ſcience as aftronomy; and it is to the fubtilty and dili-
66
cr
gence of that great author, that the world was beholden
"for all its aftronomy for above 1500 years. All that Pto-
"lomy did in his Syntaxis, was no more but a bare tranfcrip-
"tion of the theories of Hipparchus, with fome little emen-
"dation of the periodical motions, after about 300 years in-
"terval; and this book of Ptolomy's was, without diſpute,
"the utmoſt perfection of the ancient aftronomy, nor was
"there any thing in any nation before it comparable there-
"to; for which reafon, all the other authors thereof were
"difregarded and loft, and among them Hipparchus himſelf.
"Nor did pofterity dare to alter the theories delivered by
"Ptolomy, though fucceffively Albategnius and the Arabs,
"and after them the Spanish aftronomers under Alphonfus
endeavoured to mend the errors they obferved in their
"computations. But their labours were fruitlefs, whilft
"from the defects of their principles it was impoffible to re-
"concile the moon's motion within a degree, nor the planets
"Mars and Mercury to a much greater fpace."
66
Thus we fee the opinion of this learned and judicious
r Callifthenes's account may not be
a fable: the fubfequent authors neither
mentioned nor uſed theſe obſervations,
becauſe they were in truth fuch forry
ones, that no ufe could be made of
them.
aftronomer.
PREFACE.
229
aftronomer. He very juftly fays, that Thales could give but
a rude account of the motions, and that before Hipparchus,
there could be ſcarce ſuch a ſcience as aftronomy; moſt cer-
tainly therefore no fuch a nice argumentation as our great
author offers can be well grounded, upon (as he himſelf calls
them) the coarſe, I might fay, the conjectural and unaccount-
able aftronomy of the ancients.
II. Another argument which Sir Ifaac Newton offers, in
order to fhew that the ancient profane hiſtory is carried up
higher than it ought to be, is taken from the lengths of the
reigns of the ancient kings. He remarks, that "the Egyp-
"tians, Greeks, and Latins, reckoned the reigns of kings
"equipollent to generations of men, and three generations
"to an hundred years, and accordingly they made their
"kings reign one with another thirty and three years apiece,
"and above." He would have theſe reckonings reduced to
the courſe of nature, and the reigns of the ancient kings put
one with another at about eighteen or twenty years apiece t;
and this, he reprefents, would correct the error of carrying
the profane hiftory too far backward, and would fix the
feveral epochs of it more agreeable to true chronology.
In anſwer to this I would obſerve, 1. The word yeved,
generation, may either fignify a defcent; thus Jacob was two
generations after Abrahant, i. e. he was his grandfon; or it
may fignify an age, i. e. the ſpace of time in which all thoſe
who are of the fame defcent may be fuppofed to finish their
lives. Thus we read that Jofeph died, and all his brethren,
and all that generation": in this fenfe the generation did not
end at Jofeph's death, nor at the death of the youngeſt of
his brethren, nor until all the perfons who were in the fame
line of deſcent with them were gone off the ftage. A gene-
ration in this latter fenfe muft be a much longer fpace of
time than a generation in the former fenfe: Manaffeh and
Ephraim the fons of Jofeph were two generations or deſcents
after Jacob, for they were his grandchildren; and yet they
were born in the fame age or generation in which Jacob was
born; for they were born before he died. But I confefs the
word yeved, or generation, is more frequently uſed to ſignify a
defcent in this fenfe it is commonly found in Herodotus,
Diodorus Siculus, Paufanias, in the profane as well as in the
facred writers. But I muſt remark, 2. That reigns and theſe
generations are equipollent, when the fon fucceeds at his
father's death to his kingdom. Thus, if a crown defcends
from father to fon, for feven, or more, or not fo many fuc-
ceffions, it is evident that as many fucceffions as there are,
s Newton's Chronology, P. 51.
· P. 54.
@ 3
u Exodus i. 6,
we
230
PREFACE.
we may count fo many either reigns, or deſcents, or gene-
rations; a reign and a defcent here are manifeftly equipollent,
for they are one and the fame thing. But, 3. when it has hap-
pened in a catalogue of kings, that fometimes fons ſucceeded
their fathers, at other times brothers their brothers, and
fometimes perfons of different families obtained the crown,
then the reigns will not be found to be equipollent to the
generations; for in fuch a catalogue feveral of the kings will
have been of the fame deſcent with others of them, and fo
there will be not fo many defcents as reigns, and confequently
the reigns are not one with another equipollent to the gene-
rations and this being the cafe in almoſt all, if not in every
ſeries of any number of kings that can be produced, it ought
not to be faid that reigns and generations are in the general
equipollent; for a number of reigns will be, generally ſpeak-
ing, for the reafons above mentioned, much fhorter than a
like number of generations or defcents. 4. When deſcents
or generations proceed by the eldeſt fons only, then the ge-
nerations ought to be computed to be one with another
about as many years each, as are at a medium the
years of
the ages of the fathers of fuch generations at the births of
their eldeſt fons. And thus we find from the birth of Ar-
phaxad to the birth of Terah the father of Abraham › are
feven generations, and 219 years, which is 31 years and
above to a generation: and the feven fathers in theſe ge-
nerations had their refpective fons; one of them at about 35
years of
age 7, one at 34ª, one at 32 b, three at 30°, and one
at 29. 5. When deſcents or generations proceed by the
younger or youngeſt fons, the length of fuch generations will
be according to the time of the father's life in which ſuch
younger fons are born, and alfo in proportion to what is the
common length or ſtandard of human life in the age which
they are born in. When men lived to about 200, and had
children after they were an hundred years old, it is evident,
that the younger children might fupervive their parents near
100 years but now, when men rarely live beyond 70 or 80
years, a fon born in the lateſt years of his father's life cannot
be ſuppoſed, in the common courfe of things, to be alive near
fo long after his father's death, and confequently deſcents or
generations by the younger fons must have been far longer
4
X
× Gen. xi. 11.
y Gen. xi. 26.
z Salah was born when Arphaxad
was 35. ver. 12.
a Peleg was born when Eber was
34. ver. 16.
Serug was born when Reu was
32. ver. 20.
c Eber was born when Salah was
30. ver. 14. Reu when Peleg was 30.
ver. 18. Nahor when Serug was 30.
ver. 22.
d Terah was born when Nahor was
29. ver. 24.
in
PREFACE.
231
in the ages of the ancient longevity, than they can now be:
and therefore, 6. Since in the genealogies of all families, and
in the catalogues of kings in all kingdoms, the deſcents and
fucceffions are found to proceed, not always by the eldeſt
fons, but through frequent accidents many times by the
younger children, it is evident, that the difference there has
been in the common length of human life in the different
ages of the world, muſt have had a confiderable effect upon
the length of both reigns and generations, both which muft
be longer or ſhorter in this or that age in fome meaſure, ac-
cording to what is the common ftandard of the length of
men's lives in the age they belong to. 7. Reigns, as has
been ſaid, are in general not fo long as generations: but
from hiſtorical obſervations a calculation may be formed at a
medium, how often, one time with another, fuch failures of
deſcent happen as make the difference, and the lengths of
reigns may be calculated in a proportion to the lengths of
generations according to it. Sir Ifaac Newton computes the
lengths of reigns to be to the lengths of generations, one with
another, as 18 or 20, to 33 or 34. Thefe particulars ought
to be duly confidered, in order to judge of our learned au-
thor's argument from the length of reigns and generations,
For,
1. The catalogues of kings, which our great and learned
author produces to confirm his opinion, are all of later date,
fome of them many ages later than the times of David. He
fays, the eighteen kings of Judah, who fucceeded Solomon,
reigned one with another 22 years apiece. The fifteen kings
of Ifrael after Solomon reigned 17 years apiece. The
eighteen kings of Babylon from Nabonaffar reigned 113
years apiece. The ten kings of Perfia from Cyrus reigned 21
years apiece. The fixteen fucceffors of Alexander the Great
and of his brother and fon in Syria reigned 15 years apiece.
The eleven kings of Egypt from Ptolomæus Lagi reigned 25
years apiece. The eight in Macedonia from Caffander
reigned 17 years apiece. The thirty kings of England from,
William the Conqueror reigned 21 years apiece. The firſt
twenty-four kings of France from Pharamond reigned 19
years apiece. The next twenty-four kings of France from
Ludovicus Balbus reigned 183 apiece. The next fifteen
from Philip Valefius 21 years apiece; and all the fixty-three
kings of France one with another reigned 19 years apiece.
Theſe are the feveral catalogues which our great and learned
author has produced: they are of various dates down from
* See Newton's Chronol, of the Greeks, p. 53, 54.
Q 4
f Id. ibid.
Solomon
232
PREFACE.
Solomon to the prefent times; but as none of them rife fo
high as the times of king David, all that can be proved from
them is, that the obfervation of David, who remarked that
the length of human life was in his times reduced to what
has ever fince been the ftandard of it, was exceedingly juft;
for from Solomon's time to the prefent days it appears, that
the lengths of kings' reigns in different ages, and in different.
countries, have been much the fame, and therefore during
this whole period the common length of human life has
been what it now is, and agreeable to what David ſtated it.
But,
2. It cannot be inferred from thefe reigns of kings, men-
tioned by Sir Ifaac Newton, that kings did not reign one
with another a much longer ſpace of time in the ages which
I am concerned with, in which men generally lived to a
much greater age, than in the times out of which Sir Ifaac
Newton has taken the catalogue of kings which he has pro-
duced. From Abraham down to almoft David men lived,
according to the Scripture accounts of the lengths of their
lives, to, I think, at a medium, above 100 years, exceeding
that term very much in the times near Abraham, and ſeldom
falling short of it until within a generation or two of David:
but in David's time the length of human life was at a
medium but feventy years : now any one that confiders this
difference muft fee, that the lengths of kings' reigns, as well
as of generations, must be confiderably affected by it. Suc-
ceffions in both must come on flower in the early ages, ac-
cording to the greater length of men's lives. I am fenfible
I could produce many catalogues of fucceffions from father
to fon, to confirm what I have offered; but fince there is one
which takes in almoft the whole compafs of the times which
I am concerned in, and which has all the weight that the
authority of the facred writers can give it, and which will
bring the point in queftion to a clear and indifputable con-
clufion, I fhall for brevity's fake omit all others, and offer
only that to the reader's farther examination. From Abra-
ham to David (including both Abraham and David) were
fourteen generations : now from Abraham's birth A. M.
2008, to David's death about A. M. 2986, are 978 years; fo
g Pfalm xc. ver. 10.
h Ibid.
i Matt. i. 17.
k Uther's Annals. It may perhaps
be thought that I ought not to com-
pute theſe fourteen gencrations from
the birth of Abraham, but from the
death of Terah the father of Abraham,
who died when Abraham was 75. If
we compute from hence, the fourteen
generations take up but 903 years,
which allows but 64 years and half to
a generation, this is but almoſt double
the length of Sir Ifaac Newton's gene-
rations.
that
PREFACE.
233
1
that generations in theſe times took up, one with another,
near 70 years apiece, i. e. they were above double the length
which Sir Ifaac Newton computes them; and which they
were, I believe, after the times of David: we muſt therefore
ſuppoſe the reigns of kings in theſe ancient times to be
longer than his computation in the fame proportion; and if
fo, we muſt calculate them at above 40 years apiece, one with
another; and fo the profane hiftorians have recorded them to
be; for according to the lifts which we have from Caſtor ¹ of
the ancient kings of Sicyon and Argos, the firſt twelve kings
of Sicyon reigned more than 44 years apiece, one with an-
other, and the firft eight kings of Argos fomething above 46,
as our great author has remarked "; but the reigns of the firft
twelve kings of Sicyon extended from A. M. 1920 to A. M.
2450"; fo that they began 88 years before the birth of Abra-
ham, and ended in the times of Mofes, and the reigns of the
firft eight kings of Argos began A. M. 2154°, and ended
A. M. 2525; fo that they reached from the latter end of
Abraham's life, to a few years after the exit of the Ifraelites
out of Egypt; and let any one form a juft computation of the
length of men's lives in thefe times, and it will in no wife
appear unreaſonable to imagine, that the reigns of kings were
of this length in thefe days. I might obferve, that the an-
cient accounts of the kings of different kingdoms in theſe
times agree to one another, as well as our great author's more
modern catalogues. The twelve firft kings of Affyria, ac-
cording to the writers who have given us accounts of them P,
reigned, one with another, about 40 years apiece. The firft
twelve kings of the Egyptian kingdoms, according to Sir
John Marſham's tables, did not reign full fo long; but it muft
be remembered, that in the firft times, the kings of Egypt
were frequently elected, and fo, many times, fons did not
fucceed their fathers 9.
Our great and learned author remarks, that the feven
kings of Rome who preceded the confuls reigned, one with
another, 35 years apiece. I am fenfible it may be obferved,
that (the reigns of thefe kings not falling within the times
I am to treat of) I am not concerned to vindicate the accounts
that are given of them: but I would not entirely omit men-
tioning them, becauſe the lengths of their reigns may be
thought an undeniable inftance of the inaccuracy of the
ancient computations, more eſpecially becauſe theſe kings
1 Eufeb. in Chron. p. 19.
m Newton. Chron. p. 51.
n See hereafter Book VI.
• See Book VI.
P Eufeb. in Chron. p. 18. 21. &c.
9 See hereafter in Book VI.
Newton's Chronol. p. 51.
were
234
PREFACE.
}
were all more modern than the times of David; for fuppofing
Rome to be built by Romulus, A. M. 3256³, we must begin
Romulus's reign almoft 300 years after the death of David,
and the lives of men in thefe times being reduced to what
has been eſteemed the common ftandard ever fince, it may
perhaps be expected, that the reigns of thefe kings fhould not
be longer, one with another, than the reigns of our kings of
England, from William the Conqueror; or of the kings of
France, from Pharamond; or of any other feries of kings
mentioned by our illuftrious author: but here I would ob-
ſerve, that theſe ſeven kings of Rome were not deſcendants
of one another. Plutarch remarks of theſe kings, that not
one of them left his crown to his fon. Two of them,
namely, Ancus Martius and Tarquinius Superbus, were in-
deed defcendants from the fons of former kings, but the other
five were of different families: the fucceffors of Romulus
were elected to the crown, and the Roman people did not
confine their choice even to their own country, but chofe
fuch as were most likely to promote the public good". It is
evident therefore, that the lengths of thefe kings' reigns ought
not to be eſtimated according to the common meaſure of fuc-
ceffive monarchs; for had thefe Roman kings been very old
men when advanced to the throne, their feveral reigns would
have been very fhort; and the reaſon why they are fo much
longer than it may be thought they ought to be, may be,
becauſe, as the affairs of the infant ftate of Rome required
that the city ſhould be in the hands of the moſt able war-
riors, as well as ſkilful counſellors, fo they choſe to the crown
none but perfons in their prime of life; as well to have a
king of fufficient ability to lead their armies, as that they
might not have frequent vacancies of the throne to fhake
and unfettle the frame of their government, not as yet firmly
enough compacted to bear too many ftate convulfions.
Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus has been very particular in in-
forming us of the age of moſt of thefe kings, when they be-
gan to reign, how many years each of them reigned, and at
what age most of them died: he ſuppoſes the oldeft man of
them all not to have lived to above eighty-three, for that
was Numa's age when he died; and he reprefents L. Tar-
quinius as quite worn out at eighty 2; fo that none of them
are fuppofed to have lived to an extravagant term of life.
s Ufher's Annals.
* Τὰς τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὅρα βασιλεῖς, ὧν
ἐδεὶς υἱῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπέλιπε.
animi tranquillitat. p. 467.
Plut. de
u See Dionyf. Halicar. Antiq. Rom.
Livii Hift. Flor. Hift.
x In lib. ii, iii, iv.
y Lib. ii. ad fin.
z L. iii. c. 72.
But
PREFACE.
235
b.
But if, after what I have offered, it ſhould be ftill thought
that their reigns, one with another, are too long to be ad-
mitted; I might remark farther, that there were interregna
between the reigns of feveral of them. There was an inter-
regnum between Romulus and Numa 2; another between
Numa and Tullus Hoftilius ; another between T. Hoftilius
and Ancus Martius ; another between A. Martius and L.
Tarquinius d. Each of theſe interregna might perhaps take
up fome years. The hiftorians allot no ſpace of time to theſe
interregna; but it is known to be no unuſual thing for writ-
ers to begin the reign of a fucceeding king from the death
of his predeceffor, though he did not immediately fucceed to
his crown. Numa was not elected king, until the people
found by experience that the interregal government was full
of inconveniences, and fome years adminiftration might
make them fufficiently fenfible of it. When Tullus Hoftilius
was called to the crown, the poorer citizens were in a ſtate
of want, which could no way be relieved but by electing
fome very wealthy perfon to be king, who could afford to
divide the crown-lands amongſt them. Ancus Martius was
made king at a time when the Roman affairs were in a very
bad ſtate, through the neglect of the public religion, and of
agriculture. And L. Tarquinius was elected upon the ne-
ceffity of a war with the Apiolani : and thus theſe kings ap-
pear not to be called to the crown until fome public exigen-
cies made it neceffary to have a king. They feem to have
fucceeded one another like the judges of Ifrael; the fuccef-
for did not come to the crown immediately upon the demiſe
of his predeceffor; but when a king died, the interreges took
the government, and adminiſtered the public affairs, until
fome crifis demanded a new king. If this was the fact, there
can be no appearance of an objection against the lengths of
the reigns of theſe kings; for the reigns of the kings were
not really ſo long, but the reigns, and the intervening inter-
regna, put together; and the more I confider the ftate of the
Roman affairs as reprefented by Dionyfius, the more I am
inclined to fufpect that their kings fucceeded in this manner.
III. Sir Ifaac Newton contends ¹, that there were no ſuch
kings of Affyria, as all the ancient writers have recorded to
have reigned there from Ninus to Sardanapalus, and to have
governed a great part of Afia for about 1300 years. Our
a Lib. ii. c. 57.
b Id. lib. iii. c. I.
c Id. ibid. c. 36.
a Id. ibid. c. 46.
i
f Id. iii. c. I.
g Id. ibid. c. 36.
h Id. ibid. c. 49.
• Newton's Chron. chap. iii. p. 265.
C
e Dionyf. Halic. 1. ii. c. 57.
great
236
PREFACE.
great and learned author follows Sir John Marfham in this
particular; for Sir John Marſham firft raiſed doubts about
thefe kings *; and indeed that learned gentleman hinted a
great part of what is now offered upon this fubject. I have
formerly endeavoured to anſwer Sir John Marfham's objec-
tions, as far as I could then apprehend it to be neceſſary to
reply to them': but fince Sir Ifaac Newton has thought fit
to make uſe of ſome of them, and has added others of his
own to them, it will be proper for me to mention all the fe-
veral arguments which are now offered against thefe Affyrian
kings, and to lay before the reader what I apprehend may
be replied to them.
And, 1. It is remarked ", that "the names of theſe pre-
"tended kings of Affyria, except two or three, have no af-
"finity with the Affyrian names." To this I anfwer; Ctefias,
from whom we are faid to have had the names of theſe
kings, was not an Affyrian: he was of Cnidus, a city of Caria
in the Leffer Afia; and he wrote his Perfian or Affyrian
hiſtory (I think) in the Greek tongue". The royal records.
of Perfia fupplied him with materials; and it is moſt reaſon-
able to think, that the Affyrian kings were not regiſtered by
their Affyrian names, in the Perfian chronicles; or if they
were, that Ctefias, in his hiftory, did not uſe the names
which he found there, but made others, which he thought
equivalent to them. Diodorus Siculus did not give the
Egyptian heroes whom he mentioned their true Egyptian
names, but invented for them ſuch as he thought, if duly ex-
plained, were fynonymous to them P. The true name of Mi-
tradates's fellow-fervant was Spaco; but the Greeks called
her Cyno, apprehending Cyno in Greek to be of the fame
import as Spaco in the Mede tongue. This was the common
practice of the ancient writers; and fome of the moderns have
imitated it, of which inftances might be given in ſeveral of
the names in Thuanus's hiſtory of his own times; but cer-
tainly I need not go on farther in my reply to this objection.
If Ctefias named theſe kings according to his own fancy, and
really mifnamed them, it can in no wife prove that the per-
fons fo mifnamed never were in being.
T
2. It is argued, that Herodotus did not think Semiramis
fo ancient as the writers who follow Ctefias imagined : I
anſwer; by Herodotus's accounts, the Affyrian empire began
k See Marfham's Can. Chron. p.
485.
Pref. to Vol. I.
m Newton's Chron. chap. iii.
n See Diodor. Hift. 1. ii. §. 32.
p. 84.
old. ibid.
P Id. l. i. §. 12. p. 8.
9 Herodot. Hift. lib. i. c. 110.
I Newton's Chron. p. 266. 278.
at
PREFACE.
237
at lateſt A. M. 2700; for Cyrus began his reign at the death
of Aftyages, about A. M. 3444. Aftyages, according to
Herodotus, reigned 35 years, and therefore began his reign
A. M. 3409; he fucceeded Cyaxares". Cyaxares reigned
40 years*, and therefore began his reign A. M. 3369. Phra-
ortes was the predeceffor of Cyaxares, and reigned 22 years,
and fo began his reign A. M. 3347. Deioces preceded Phra-
ortes, and reigned 53 years, and therefore began to reign
A. M. 3294. Herodotus fuppofes the Medes to have lived
for fome time after their revolt from the Affyrians without a
king, we cannot ſuppoſe leſs than two or three years; and
he remarks, that the Affyrians had governed Afia 520 years
before the revolt of the Medes; fo that according to his com-
putations the Affyrian empire began about A. M. 2771,
which is about the time of Abimelech ". Sir Ifaac Newton
begins the Affyrian empire in the days of Pul, who was co-
temporary with Menahem, in the year before our Saviour
790, i. e. A. M. 3212; fo that Herodotus, however cited in
favour of our learned author's ſcheme, does, in reality, differ
near 450 years from it. But to come to the particular for
which our learned author cites Herodotus: he ſays, that He-
rodotus tells us, that Semiramis was five generations older
than Nitocris the mother of Labynitus, or Nabonnedus, the
laft king of Babylon; and therefore (he adds) fhe flouriſhed
four generations, or about 134 years before Nebuchadnezzar.
I anfwer; if Herodotus intended to reprefent, that Semiramis,
lived but 134 years before Nebuchadnezzar, when, accord-
ing to his own computations, the Affyrian empire began as
above, A. M. 2771, he was abfurd indeed; for all writers
have unanimouſly agreed to place Semiramis near the begin-
ning of the empire; but this would be to fuppofe her in the
later ages of it. Sir Ifaac Newton himſelf, who begins the
empire with Pul, places Semiramis in the reign of Tiglath-
Pilefer, whom he fuppofes to be Pul's fucceffor ; and cer-
tainly Herodotus muſt likewife intend to place her near the
times where he begins the empire, as all other writers ever
did; and, indeed, the works he afcribes to her feem to in-
timate that he did fo too f; fo that I cannot but fufpect a
miſrepreſentation of Herodotus's meaning. Herodotus does
s Ufher's Chron. Prideaux, Connect.
t L. i. c. 130.
u Ibid. c. 107.
x Ibid. c. 106.
y Ibid. c. 102.
z Ibid.
a Ibid. c. 96.
Judges ix. Ufher's Chron.
c Chron. p. 268.
d See the Short Chron.
e Newton's Chronol. p. 278.
↑ Herodot, 1. i. c. 184.
A
indeed
238
PREFACE.
indeed fay, that Semiramis was Tévтe yeveğσ before Nitocriss;
but the word yeved has a double acceptation. It is fometimes
uſed to fignify a generation or defcent; and I am fenfible that
Herodotus has more than once uſed it in this fenfe: but it
fometimes fignifies what the Latins call atas, or ævum; or
we in Engliſh, an age; and if Herodotus uſed it in this fenfe
here, then he meant that Semiramis was Tévre Yeveñoɩ, quinque
atatibus, [fays the Latin tranflator,] before Nitocris; not five
generations, or defcents, but five ages, before her. The an-
cient writers both before and after Herodotus computed a
generation or age of thoſe who lived in the early times to
be an hundred years. Thus they reckoned Neftor, [of whom
Tully fays, tertiam ætatem hominum vivebat; Horace, that he
was ter avo functus¹,] becauſe it was reported that he had
lived three generations or ages, to have lived about 300
years; Ovid, well expreffing the common opinion, makes him
fay,
vixi
Annos bis centum, nunc tertia vivitur ætas *.
The two ages or generations which he had lived were com-
puted to be 200 years; and he was thought to be going on
for the third century. And now, if Herodotus in the place
before us uſed the word ysvsà in this fenfe, then by Semiramis
being five ages or generations before Nitocris, he meant no-
thing like what our learned author infers from him, but that
ſhe was about 500 years before her: I might add, this feems
moft probably to be his meaning; becauſe, if we take him in
this fenfe, he will, as all other writers have ever done, place
Semiramis near the times where he begins the Affyrian em-
pire. I have formerly confidered Herodotus's opinion, about
the rife of this empire, as to the truth of it', and I may here
from the moſt learned Dean Prideaux add to it ", that, "He-
"rodotus having travelled through Egypt, Syria, and ſeveral
"other countries, in order to the writing of his hiſtory, did
"as travellers uſe to do, that is, put down all relations upon
"truft, as he met with them; and no doubt he was impoſed
on in many of them," and particularly in the inftance be-
fore us; but Ctefias living in the court of Perfia, and ſearch-
ing the public regifters, was able to give a better account
than Herodotus of the Affyrian kings. But be Herodotus's
account true or falfe, the whole of it, I am fure, does not
g Herodot. 1. i. c. 184.
h Lib. de Senectute.
i Lib. ii. Ode 9.
k Metamorph. lib. xii.
1 Pref. to Vol. I.
m Connect. Vol. I. B. ii. p. 156.
favour
PREFACE.
239
favour our learned author's hypothefis; nor, as I apprehend,
does the particular cited about Semiramis, if we take the
words of Herodotus according to his own meaning.
66
66
3. Sir Ifaac Newton cites Nehemiah, chap. ix. ver. 32".
The words are: Now therefore, our God, let not all the
trouble feem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our
kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets,
and on our fathers, and on all thy people, fince the time of the
kings of Affyria unto this day. Our learned author fays, fince
the time of the kings of Affyria; "that is, fince the time of the
kingdom of Affyria, or fince the rife of that empire; and
"therefore the Affyrian empire aroſe, when the kings of
Affyria began to afflict the Jews." In anſwer to this ob-
jection, I would obferve, that the expreffion, fince the time of
the kings of Affyria, or, to render it more ftrictly, according
to the Hebrew words, from the days of the kings of Affyria, is
very general, and may fignify a time commencing from any
part of their times, and therefore it is reftraining the expref-
fion purely to ferve an hypothefis, to ſuppoſe the words to
mean, not from their times in general, but from the very
rife or beginning of their times. The heathen writers fre-
quently uſed a like general expreffion, the Trojan times; gò
Twv Tpwixwv, before the Trojan times, is an expreffion both of
Thucydides and Diodorus Siculus °; but neither of them
meant by it, before the rife of the Trojan people, but before
the Trojan war, with which the Trojans and their times.
ended. But as to the expreffion before us, we fhall more
clearly ſee what was defigned by it, if we confider, 1. That
the facred writers reprefent the Jews as fuffering in and after
theſe times from the kings of two countries, from the kings
of Affyria, and from the kings of Babylon. Ifrael was a feat-
tered beep; the lions bad drove him away: first, the king of
Affyria devoured bim; and laft, the king of Babylon brake bis
bones P. 2. The kings of Affyria, who began the troubles
that were brought upon the Ifraelites, were the kings who
reigned at Nineveh, from Pul, before Tiglath-Pilefer 4, to
Nabopolaffar, who deftroyed Nineveh, and made Babylon the
fole metropolis of the empire: Pul firft began to afflict them;
his fucceffors, at divers times, and in different manners, dif-
treffed them; Nebuchadnezzar completed their miferies in
the captivity. But, 3. The facred writers, in the titles
which they give to theſe kings, did not defign to hint either
n Newton's Chron. p. 267.
• Thucyd. 1. i. p. 3. Diodor. l. i. p.
4. and the fame author uſes åxò tür
Teaixay in the fame ſenſe. Ibid.
P Jerem. l. 17.
q 1 Chron. v. 26. 2 Kings xv. 19.
Ufher. Chronol.
See Prideaux, Connect. Vol. I. B. i.
s Id. ibid.
the
240
PREFACE.
y
the extent of their empire, or the hiftory of their fucceffion,
but commonly call them kings of the country or city where
they refided, whatever other dominions they were maſters of,
and without any regard to the particulars of their actions or
families, of the rife of one family, or fall of another: Pul
feems to have been the father of Sardanapalus': Tiglath-Pi-
lefer was Arbaces, who, in confederacy with Belefis, over-
threw the empire of Pul, in the days of his fon Sardanapalus";
and Tiglath-Pilefer was not king of fuch large dominions as
Pul and Sardanapalus commanded; but the facred writers
take no notice of theſe revolutions. Pul had his refidence at
Nineveh in Affyria, and Tiglath-Pilefer made that city his
royal feat *; and for this reaſon they are both called in Scrip-
ture, kings of Affyria; and upon the fame account, the fuc-
ceffors of Tiglath-Pilefer have the fame title, until the empire
was removed to Babylon. Salmanezer, the fon of Tiglath-
Pilefer, is called king of Affyria ; and fo is Sargon, or Sen-
nacherib: Efarhaddon, though he was king of Babylon, as
well as of Affyria ª, is called in Scripture king of Affyria, for
in that country was his feat of refidence ; but after Nabopo-
laffar deftroyed Nineveh, and removed the empire to Babylon,
the kings of it are called in Scripture kings of Babylon, and
not kings of Affyria, though Affyria was part of their do-
minions, as Babylon and the adjacent country had been of
many of the Affyrian kings. There were great turns and
revolutions in the kingdoms of theſe countries, from the death
of Sardanapalus, to the establishment of Nebuchadnezzar's
empire; but the facred hiſtory does not purfue a narration of
theſe matters; but as the writers of it called the kings of the
ancient Affyrian empire kings of Elam, when they refided.
there, kings of Nineveh or of Affyria, when they lived in
that city or country ; fo they call the feveral kings, which
arofe after the fall of Sardanapalus's empire, kings of the
countries where they held their refidence; and all that can
fairly be deduced from the words of Nehemiah is, that the
troubles of the Jews began whilft there were kings reigning
in Affyria, that is, before the empire of theſe countries was
removed to Babylon.
55
d
4. "Sefac and Memnon (fays our learned author) were
great conquerors, and reigned over Chaldæa, Affyria, and
"Perfia; but in their hiftories there is not a word of any
↑ See Ufher's Chronol.
" Prideaux, Connect. ub. fup.
* Ibid. Vol. 1. B. i.
y 2 Kings xvii. 3.
z Ifaiah xx. I.
a See Prideaux, Connect. Vol. I.
B. i. Not. ad Ann. 680.
b Ezra iv. 2.
c Gen. xiv. 1.
d Jonah iii. 6.
I Chron. v. 26.
" oppofition
PREFACE.
241
h
"oppofition made to them by an Affyrian empire then
"ftanding on the contrary, Sufiana, Media, Perfia, Bactria,
"Armenia, Cappadocia, &c. were conquered by them, and
"continued fubject to the kings of Egypt till after the long
"reign of Ramefes the fon of Memnon." This objection
in its full ftrength is this: the Egyptians conquered and
poffeffed the very countries, which were in the heart of the
fuppofed Affyrian empire, in the times when that empire is
imagined to have flouriſhed, and therefore certainly there
was in thoſe days no fuch empire. I anfwer, 1. The Egyp-
tians made no great conquefts until the times of Sefac in
the reign of Rehoboam about A. M. 3033, about 200 years
before Sardanapalus. This Sefac was their famous Sefof-
tris. I am fenfible, that there have been many very
learned writers who have thought otherwife. Agathias
imagined Sefoftris to be long before Ninus and Semiramis %,
and the Scholiaft upon Apollonius fets him 2900 years
before the first Olympiad; but the current opinion of the
learned has not gone into this fabulous antiquity. Ariftotle
thought him long before the times of Minos; Strabo, He-
rodotus, and Diodorus Siculus, all reprefent him to have
lived before the Trojan war; and Eufebius and Theophilus,
from an hint of Manetho's in Jofephus *, imagined him to
be the brother of Armais or Danaus, quàm verè nefcio, fays
the moſt learned Dean Prideaux'; and indeed there are no
prevalent reafens to admit of this relation: however, the
fentiments of all theſe writers may not differ from one ano-
ther, but Sefoftris may confiftently with all of them be ima-
gined to have lived about the times that Mofes led the
Ifraelites out of Egypt, and this I think has been the com-
mon opinion about him. But if we look into the Egyptian
antiquities, and examine the particulars of them as col-
lected by Diodorus, we fhall find great reafon not to think
him thus early. Diodorus Siculus informs us, that there
were fifty-two fucceffive kings after Menes or Mizraim
before Bufiris came to the crown": Bufiris had eight fuc-
ceffors, the laſt of which was Bufiris the Second": twelve
generations or deſcents after him reigned Myris°, and feven
after Myris, Sefoftris P; fo that, according to this computa-
tion, Sefoftris was about eighty fucceffions after Menes or
f Marſham. Can. Chron. p. 358.
g Lib. ii. p. 55. See Prideaux, Not.
Hiftor. in Chron. Marm. Ep. 9.
h Id. ibid.
i Politic. lib. vii. c. 10.
k Lib. i. contr. Apion. §. 15.
VOL. I.
R
1 Ubi fup.
m Diodor. lib. i. p. 29. §. 45-
n Id. ibid.
• Id. p. 33. §. 51.
P Id. p. 34. §. 53.
Mizraim.
242
PREFACE.
Mizraim. Diodorus muft indeed have made a mistake in
this computation; for from the death of Menes, A. M. 1943,
to Sefac, about A. M. 3033, are but 1090 years, and fifty-five
fucceffions may very well carry us down thus far, as may
appear from Sir John Marfham's tables of the kings of
Egypt. The ancient Egyptian writers are known to have
lengthened their antiquities, by fuppofing all their kings
to have reigned fucceffively, when many of them were co-
temporaries, and reigned over different parts of the country
in the fame age; and undoubtedly Diodorus Siculus was
impoſed upon by fome accounts of this fort; and there were
not really fo many fucceffions, as he imagined, between
Mizraim and Sefoftris. But then there is a particular fug-
gefted by him, which muft fully convince us, that his com-
putation cannot be fo reduced as to place Seſoftris about
the times of Moſes. He obſerves, that, after the times of
Menes, 1400 years paffed before the Egyptians performed
any confiderable actions worth recording. The number
1400 is indeed thought to be a mistake. Rhodomanus
corrects it in the margin, and writes 1040. We will take
this number: from the death of Mizraim 1040 years will
carry us down very near to the times of Sefac: for fifty
years after it Sefac came againſt Jerufalem: and thus ac-
cording to this account they had no famous warrior until
about the times of Sefac, and therefore Sefoftris did not live
earlier. I might confirm this account from another very
remarkable particular in Diodorus Siculus. He tells us of
a moſt excellent king of Egypt, begat by the river Nile in
the fhape of a bull: I may venture to reject the fable of
the river and the bull, and fuppofe this perſon to be the fon
of Phruron or Nilus; his father's name being Nilus might
occafion the mythologifts to fay, that he was begot by the
river: now Dicæarchus informs us, that this Nilus reigned
about 436 years before the firſt Olympiad, i. e. about A. M.
2792 t, and about this time Sir John Martham places him":
according to Diodorus, Sefoftris was twenty fucceffions after
this Nilus, and Sir John Marſham makes his Sefac to be
nineteen; ſo that in all probability they were one and the
fame perfon. And thus a ftrict view of the Egyptian an-
tiquities will from feveral concurrent hints oblige us to
think Seſoftris to be not earlier than the times of, and con-
fequently to be, the Sefac mentioned in the Scripture. I
might add to all this, that the facred writers, who fre-
9 See Vol. I. B. iv. p. 126.
r Diodor. p. 29. §. 45.
s Diodor. p. 33. §. 51.
t Vid. Vol. I. B. iv. p. 125.
u Vid. ibid.
quently
PREFACE.
243
quently mention the Egyptians from Abraham's time down
to the times of this Sefac, do give us great reaſon to think
that the Egyptians had no fuch famous conqueror as Se-
foftris before Sefac, by giving as great a proof as we can
expect of a negative, that they made no conquefts in
Afia before his days. In Abraham's time, in Jacob's,
in Joſeph's, we have no appearance of any thing but
peace between Egypt and its Afiatic neighbours. Egypt
was conquered by the Paftors who came out of Afia a little
before the birth of Mofes, when the new king arofe who
knew not Jofeph. Whatever power and ftrength thefe new
kings might be grown to at the exit of the Ifraelites, muft
be fuppofed to be greatly broken by the overthrow of Pha-
raoh and his hoft in the Red Sea. The Egyptians had no
part in the wars of the Canaanites with Jofhua, nor in thoſe
of the Philistines, Midianites, Moabites, Ammonites, and
Amalekites againſt Ifrael in the times of the Judges, or of
Saul, or of king David: Solomon reigned over all the kings
from the river, [i. e. from the Euphrates] unto the land of the
Philistines, and to the border of Egypt; fo that no Egyptian
conqueror came this way until after his death. In the fifth
year of Rehoboam, Shifhak king of Egypt came up against Jeru-
falem, with twelve hundred chariots, and threefcore thouſand
horfemen; and he took the fenced cities which pertained to Ju-
dab, and came to Jerufalem, and the Ifraelites were obliged
to become his fervants; and Sefac conquered not only them,
but the neighbouring nations; for the Jews in ferving him
felt only the fervice of the kingdoms of the countries round
about them; that is, all the neighbouring nations under-
went the fame. This therefore was the firft Egyptian con-
queror who came into Afia; and we muft either think this
Sefac and Sefoftris to have been the fame perfon, or, which
was perhaps the opinion of Jofephus a, fay, that Sefoftris was
no conqueror; but that Herodotus and the other hiftorians,
through miſtake, afcribed to him what they found recorded
of Sefac. Jofephus reprefents Herodotus to have made
two miſtakes about this Egyptian conqueror, one in mif-
naming him, calling him Sefoftris, when his real name was
Sefac; the other, in thinking him a greater conqueror
X
2 Chron. ix. 26.
y 2 Chron. xii. 2, 3, 4.
Z
24 Chron. xii. 8.
b
a Antiq. Jud. lib. viii. c. 10. §. 2.
Ο Σάσακον περὶ δ πλανηθεὶς Ηρόδος (
τὰς πράξεις αὐτα Σεσώσρει προσάπτει,
Id. ibid.
R 2
C
Z
• Μέμνηται δὲ ταύτης τῆς τρατείας
καὶ ὁ Αλικαρνασσεύς Ηρόδοτο, περί
μόνον τὸ τῇ βασιλέως πλανηθείς ὄνομα,
καὶ ὅτι ἄλλοις τε πολλοῖς ἐπῆλθε ἔθνεσι,
καὶ τὴν Παλαισίνης Συρίας έδελώσατο.
Id. ibid. §. 3.
than
244
PREFACE.
than he really was: and this miſtake many of the heathen
hiftorians have indeed made in the accounts they give of
him. For, 2. neither Sefoftris nor Sefac did ever conquer
fo many nations as the hiftorians reprefent, nor were they
ever mafters of any of the countries that were a part of the
Affyrian empire. Diodorus Siculus indeed fuppofes, that
Sefoftris conquered all Afia, not only all the nations which
Alexander afterwards fubdued, but even many kingdoms.
that he never attempted; that he paffed the Ganges, and
conquered all India; that he ſubjugated the Scythians, and
extended his conquefts into Europe; and Strabo agrees to
Diodorus's account of him: what authorities thefe great
writers found for their opinion, I cannot fay; but I find the
learned annotator upon Tacitus did not believe any fuch
accounts to be well grounded. In his note upon Germa-
nicus's relation of the Egyptian conquefts he fays, De bac
tanta potentia Ægyptiorum nihil legi, nec facile credam; and
indeed there is nothing to be read, that can feem well fup-
ported, nothing that is confiftent with the allowed hiſtory
of other nations, to reprefent the Egyptians to have ever
obtained fuch extenfive conquefts. Herodotus confines the
expedition of Sefoftris to the nations upon the Afiatic coafts
of the Red Sea, and after his return from fubduing them,
to the weſtern parts of the continent of Afia: he repreſents
him to have ſubdued Paleſtine and Phoenicia, and the king-
doms up to Europe; thence to have paffed over to the
Thracians; and from them to the Scythians, and to have
come to the river Phafis: here he fuppofes him to have
ftopped his progrefs, and to have returned back from hence
to Egypt f. Herodotus appears to have examined the cx-
pedition of Sefoftris with far more exactneſs than Strabo or
Diodorus: he enquired after the monuments or pillars
which Sefoftris fet up in the nations he fubdued & ; but it
no way appears from his accounts that this mighty con-
queror attacked any one nation that was really a part of
the Affyrian empire; but rather the courfe of his enter-
prifes led him quite away from the Affyrian dominions.
Sefoftris did great things, but they have been greatly mag-
nified. The ancient writers were very apt to record a per-
ſon to have travelled over the whole world, if he had been
in a few different nations. Abraham travelled from Chaldæa
into Mefopotamia, into Canaan, Philiftia, and Egypt; the
profane writers, ſpeaking of him under the name of Chronus,
d Diodor. Sic. lib. i. p. 35. §. 55.
• Lipfii Comment. ad Tacit. Annal.
lib. ii. n. 137.
f Herodot, lib. ii. c. 102, 103.
g Id. ibid.
Lay
PREFACE.
245
fay he travelled over the whole world: thus the Egyptians
might record of Sefoftris, that he conquered the whole
world; and the hiftorians, that took the hints of what they
wrote from them, might, to embellish their hiftory, give us
what they thought the moſt confiderable parts of the world,
and thereby magnify the conquefts of Sefoftris far above
the truth: but Herodotus feems in this point to have been
more careful: he examined particulars, and, according to the
utmoſt of what he could find, none of the victories of this
Egyptian conqueror reached to any of the nations ſubject
to the Affyrians. But Sir Ifaac Newton mentions Memnon
as another Egyptian conqueror, who poffeffed Chaldæa,
Affyria, Media, Perfia, and Bactria, &c. fo that it may be
thought that fome fucceffor of Sefoftris (for before him the
Egyptians had no conquerors) fubdued and reigned over
thefe countries. I fhall therefore, 3. give a fhort abftract of
the Egyptian affairs from Sefac, until Nebuchadnezzar took
entirely away from them all their acquifitions in Afia. At
the death of Sefac the Egyptian power funk at once, and
they loft all the foreign nations which Sefac had conquered.
Herodotus informs us, that Sefoftris was the only king of
Egypt that reigned over the Ethiopians; and agreeably
hereto we find, that when Afa was king of Judah, about
A. M. 3063, about thirty years after Sefoftris or Sefac's
conquefts, the Ethiopians were not only free from their
fubjection to the Egyptians, but were grown up into a
ftate of great power, for Zerah their king invaded Judæa
with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred cha-
riots. Our great author fays, that Ethiopia ferved Egypt
until the death of Sefoftris, and no longer; that at the death
of Sefoftris, Egypt fell into civil wars, and was invaded by
the Libyans, and defended by the Ethiopians for fome time,
but that in about ten years the Ethiopians invaded the
Egyptians, flew their king, and feized his kingdom ". It is
certain, that the Egyptian empire was at this time demo-
lifhed the Ethiopians were free from it; and if we look
into Paleſtine, we fhall not find reafon to imagine that the
Egyptians had the fervice of any nation there, from this
time for many years. Afa king of Judah and Baafha king
of Ifrael had neither of them any dependence upon Egypt,
when they warred againſt one another; and Syria was in a
6. 10.
1
·
See Eufeb. Præp. Evang. lib. i. fhould have been tranflated the Ara-
i Herodot. lib. ii. c. 110.
* Uſher's Chronol.
bians.
See Vol. I. B. iii. p. 99.
n Newton's Chron. p. 236. ed. 1728.
m
2 Chron. xiv. 9.
• 1 Kings XV. 16.
R 3
1 Hebrew word is the Cufhites; it
flouriſhing
246
PREFACE.
flouriſhing and independent ftate, when Afa fought an alli-
ance with Benhadad. About A. M. 3116, about 83 years
after Sefac, we find Egypt ftill in a low ftate; the Philistines
were independent of them; for they joined with the Ara-
bians, and diftreffed Jehoram P. About 117 years after
Sefac, when the Syrians befieged Samaria 9, it may be
thought that the Egyptians were growing powerful again;
for the Syrians raiſed their fiege, upon a rumour that the
king of Ifrael had hired the kings of the Hittites and of
the Egyptians to come upon them. The Egyptians were
perhaps by this time getting out of their difficulties; but
they were not yet grown very formidable, for the Syrians.
were not terrified at the apprehenfion of the Egyptian power,
but of the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians joined
together. From this time the Egyptians began to rife
again; and when Sennacherib ſent Rabfhakeh againſt Jeru-
falem, about A. M. 3292, the king of Ifrael thought an
alliance with Egypt might have been fufficient to protect
him againſt the Affyrian invafions; but the king of Affy-
ria made war upon the Egyptians, and rendered them a
bruiſed reed, not able to affift their allies, and greatly brake
and reduced their power; fo that whatever the empire of
Egypt was in thoſe days, there was an Affyrian empire now
ſtanding able to check it. In the days of Jofiah, about
A. M. 3394, the Egyptian empire was revived again. Ne-
cho king of Egypt went and fought againſt Carchemiſh by
Euphrates, and in his return to Egypt put down Jehoahaz,
who was made king in Jerufalem upon Jofiah's death, and
condemned the land of the Jews to pay him a tribute, and
carried Jehoahaz captive into Egypt, and made Eliakim,
whom he named Jehoiakim, king over Judah and Jerufa-
lem. But here we meet a final period put to all the
Egyptian victories; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came up against Jehoiakim, and bound him in fetters, and
carried him to Babylon, and made Zedekiah his brother
king over Judah and Jerufalem; and the king of Babylon
took from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all
that pertained to the king of Egypt, and the king of Egypt
came not again any more out of his own land þ. Whatever
the empire of Egypt over any parts of Afia had been, here
P 2 Chron. xxi. 16,
4 2 Kings vi. 24.
2 Kings vii. 6.
2 Kings xviii. 17.
t Prideaux, Connect. Vol. I. An, 710.
u
2 Kings xviii. 21.
20.
x Prideaux ubi fup.
y 2 Kings xxiii. 29. 2 Chron. XXXV.
z 2 Chron. xxxvi. 3, 4.
a
Chron. xxxvi. 10.
b 2 Kings xxiv. 7.
PREFACE.
247
it ended, about A. M. 3399, about 366 years after its firſt
rife under Sefac: its neareſt approach upon the dominions
of Affyria appears to have been the taking of Carchemiſh,
but even here it went not over the Euphrates; however,
upon this approach, Nebuchadnezzar faw the neceffity of
reducing it, and in a few years war ftripped it entirely of all
its acquifitions. This is the hiftory of the empire of the
Egyptians; and I fubmit it to the reader, whether any ar-
gument can be formed from it againſt the being of the
ancient empire of the Affyrians.
5. Sir Ifaac Newton contends, that there was no ancient
Affyrian empire, becauſe the kingdoms of Ifrael, Moab,
Ammon, Edom, Philiftia, Zidon, Damafcus, and Hamath,
were not any of them ſubject to the Affyrians until the days
of Puld. I anſwer: The profane hiftorians have indeed re-
prefented this Affyrian empire to be of far larger extent
than it really was. They fay that Ninus conquered Afia;
which might more eafily be admitted, if they would take
care to defcribe Afia fuch as it was, when he conquered it.
It does not appear that he conquered all this quarter of the
world; however, as he fubdued moft of the kingdoms that
were then in it, he might in the general be faid to have
conquered Afia. All the writers that have contended for
this empire agree, that Ninus and Semiramis were the
founders of it; and they are farther unanimous, that the
fucceffors of Semiramis did not make any confiderable at-
tempts to enlarge the empire, beyond what the and Ninus
had made it ; Semiramis employed her armies in the
eaſtern countries %, fo that we have no reaſon to think that
this empire extended weftward any, or but little, farther
than Ninus carried it. We read indeed that the king of
Elam had the five cities on the borders of Canaan fubject to
himh; but upon Abraham's defeating his army, he loft
them, and never recovered them again: but I would ob-
ferve, that even whilft he had the dominion of thefe cities
in the full ſtretch of his empire, it did not reach to the king-
doms of Ifrael, or which then were the kingdoms of Ca-
naan; for he never came any farther than to the five cities;
neither was he maſter of Philiftia, for that was farther weft-
ward; nor does he appear to have come near to Sidon. As
to the other kingdoms, mentioned by our learned author,
c Ufher's Annal.
f
d Newton's Chronol. p. 269.
• Diodor. Sic. lib. ii. ad in. Juftin.
lib. i. §. 1.
f Id. ibid. What Juftin fays of Ni-
nyas may be applied to his fucceffors
for many generations: contenti a paren-
tibus elaborato imperio belli ftudia depo-
fuerunt. §. 2.
g Id. ibid.
h Gen. xiv.
R 4
namely,
248
PREFACE.
P
namely, the kingdoms of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damafcus,
and Hamath, they were not in being in theſe times. Moab
and Ammon were the fons of Lot, and they were not born
until after the deftruction of Sodom and Gomorrah '; and
the countries which were planted by them and their de-
fcendants could not be planted by them until many years.
after this time. The Emims dwelt in thefe countries in
theſe days, and Chedorlaomer fubdued them'; but as he
loft all theſe countries upon Abraham's routing his forces,
fo I do not apprehend that he ever recovered them again:
the Emims after this lived unmoleſted, until in after-times
the children of Lot conquered them, and got the poffeffion
of their country in; and at that time the Affyrians had no-
thing to do in theſe parts. The fame is to be faid of Edom :
the Horites were the ancient inhabitants of this land", and
Chedorlaomer fmote them in their mount Seir º
°; but as he
loft his dominion over thefe nations, fo the Horites or Ho-
rims grew ftrong again, until the children of Eſau con-
quered them ; and the Affyrians were not mafters of this
country until later ages. As to Damafcus, the heathen.
writers thought that Abraham firft made a plantation there ?;
probably it was planted in his times. The Syrians were
grown up to two nations in David's time, and were con-
quered by him: in the decline of Solomon's reign, Rezon
made Syria an independent kingdom again, and Damafcus
became its capital city; and in Ahab's time it was grown
fo powerful, that Benhadad the king of it had thirty and
two kings in his army "; but all this time Syria and all its
dependants were not fubject to the kings of Affyria in the
times of Ahaz, when Rezin was king, Tiglath-Pilefer con-
quered him, took Damafcus, captivated the inhabitants of it,
and put an end to the kingdom of Syria; but before this,
neither he nor his predeceffors appear to have had any com-
mand in theſe countries. God gave by promiſe to the feed
of Abraham all the land from the river of Egypt to the
river Euphrates, and Solomon came into the full poffeffion
of it; but neither he nor his fathers had any wars with
the kings of Affyria; fo that we muſt conclude that the
king of Affyria's dominions reached no farther than to that
i Gen. xix. 37, 38.
k Deut. ii. 10.
1 Gen. xiv. 5.
m Deut. ii. 9. Gen. xix. 37, 38,
П Deut. ii. 12.
• Gen. xiv. 6.
P Deut. ii. 12.
9 Damafcenus apud Jofeph. Antiq.
lib. i. cap. 8.
r
2 Samuel viii. 6, 13.
1 Kings xi. 23, 24, 25.
t Ibid. Ifaiah vii. 8.
u
1 Kings xx. 1
X
•
2 Kings xvi. 5, &c.
y Gen. xv. 18, &c.
z 2 Chron. ix. 26,
:
river.
PREFACE.
249
river. When Chedorlaomer invaded Canaan, the world
was thin of people, and the nations planted in it were, com-
paratively ſpeaking, but few; and all the large tract between
the nations which he came to conquer, and the Euphrates,
was not inhabited; for we find that his auxiliaries that came
with him lived all in and near the land of Shinaar; fo that
there were no intermediate nations; for if there had been
auy, he would have brought their united ſtrength along with
him and this agrees with the defcription of the land be-
tween the river of Egypt and Euphrates in the promiſe to
Abraham; the nations inhabiting in and near Čanaan are
enumerated, but befides them there were no other; and
agreeably hereto, when Jacob travelled from Canaan to the
land of Haran ", and afterwards when he returned with a
large family from Laban into Canaan, we do not read that
he paffed through many nations, but rather over uninhabited
countries; fo that the kingdoms near Canaan which ſerved
Chedorlaomer were in his times the next to the kingdoms
on or near the Euphrates, and therefore when he loft the
ſervice of theſe nations, his empire extended no farther than
that river; and his fucceffors not enlarging their empire, all
the country between Paleſtine and Euphrates, though after
thefe days many nations were planted in it, was not a part
of the Affyrian empire, until in after-times the Affyrian, and
after them the Babylonian kings by new conquefts extended
their empire farther than ever their predeceffors had done.
When the ancient Affyrian empire was diffolved on the
death of Sardanapalus, the dominions belonging to it were
divided between the two commanders, who fubverted it;
Arbaces the governor of Media, and Belefis governor of
Babylon. Belefis had Babylon and Chaldæa, and Arbaces.
had all the reftd. Arbaces is in Scripture called Tiglath-
Pilefer, and the nations he became mafter of were Affyria
and the eaſtern provinces, the kingdoms of Elam and Me-
dia; for hither he fent his captives when he conquered
Syria; and therefore theſe countries thus divided were the
whole of the ancient empire of the Affyrians. And thus our
learned author's argument does in no wife prove that there
was no ancient Affyrian empire; it only intimates, what
may be abundantly proved to be true, that the profane hif-
torians fuppofed many countries to be a part of it, which
really were not fo: they were not accurate in the particu-
lars of their hiftory: they reported the armies of Semiramis
a Gen. xv. 18—21.
b Gen. xxviii. xxix.
• Gen. xxxi.
d Prideaux, Conne&t. Vol. I. B. i.
ad in.
efd. ibid. 2 Kings xvii. 6.
1
to
250
PREFACE.
to be vastly more numerous than they really were ;
but we
muſt not thence infer, that ſhe raiſed no armies at all: they
took their dimenfions of the Affyrian empire from what
was afterwards the extent of the Babylonian or Perfian; but
though they thus furprisingly magnified it, yet we cannot
conclude that there was no fuch empire, from their having
mifrepreſented the grandeur and extent of it.
There are fome particulars fuggefted by our great and
learned author, which, though they do not directly fall under
the argument which I have confidered, may yet be here
mentioned. Sir Ifaac Newton remarks, 1. that "the land
"of Haran mentioned Gen. xi. was not under the Affſy-
"rian f." I answer; When the Chaldæans expelled Terah and
his family their land for not ferving their gods, they re-
moved about 100 miles up the country, towards the north-
weft; and the earth was not then fo full of inhabitants, but
that they here found a tract of land diſtant from all other
plantations; and living here within themfelves upon their
pafturage and tillage, and having no bufinefs with diftant
nations, no one interrupted their quiet. The territories of
the Chaldees reached moſt probably but a little way from
Ur, for kingdoms were but ſmall in thefe times: Terah's
family lived far from their borders and plantations, and
that gave them the peace they enjoyed. But, 2. "In the
"time of the Judges of Ifrael, Mefopotamia was under its
"own king." I answer; So was Sodom, Gomorrah, Ad-
mah, Zeboim, and Zoar, in the days of Abraham, and yet
all the kings of theſe cities had ferved Chedorlaomer king
of Elam twelve years. But it may be faid, Chufhan-rifhi-
thaim the king of Mefopotamia warred againftk and en-
flaved the Ifraelites, and therefore does not ſeem to have
been himſelf ſubject to a foreign power. But to this it may
be replied: The princes that were fubject to the Affyrian
empire were altogether kings in their own countries; they
made war and peace with other nations not under the pro-
tection of the Affyrians, as they pleafed, and were not con-
trolled if they paid the annual tribute or fervice required
from them. But, 3. "When Jonah prophefied, Nineveh
"contained but about 120000 perfons." I answer; When
Jonah prophefied, Nineveh contained more than 120000
perfons, that could not difcern between their right hand and
their left: thus many were the children not grown up to
f Newton's Chronol. p. 269. ed. 1728.
Judith v. 8.
Newton, p. 269.
i Gen. xiv. 4.
I
k Judges iii. 8.
1 Iſaiah x. 8.
m Jonah iv. II,
years
PREFACE.
251
66
66
years of diſcretion; how far more numerous were all the
perfons in it? A city fo exceeding populous muft furely be
the head of a very large empire in thefe days. But, "the
"king of Nineveh was not yet called king of Affyria, but
"king of Nineveh only." I anfwer; Chedorlaomer is called
in Scripture only king of Elam", though nations about 900
miles diſtant from that city were ſubject to him; for ſo far
we muſt compute from Elam to Canaan. But," the faft
kept to avert the threatenings of the Prophet was not
publiſhed in feveral nations, nor in all Affyria, but only in
"Nineveh." I anfwer; The Ninevites and their king
only fafted, becauſe the threatenings of Jonah were not
againſt Affyria, nor againſt the nations that ferved the king
of Nineveh, but against the city of Nineveh only P. But, 4.
"Homer does not mention, and therefore knew nothing of
"an Affyrian empire 9." If I were to confider at large how
little the Affyrian empire extended towards the nations
which Homer was concerned with, it would be no wonder
that he did not mention this empire in his account of the
Trojan war, or travels of Ulyffes; but fince it can in no wife
be concluded, that Homer knew of no kingdoms in the
world but what he mentioned in his poems, I think I need
not enlarge fo much in anſwer to this objection.
There is one objection more of our learned author's, which
ought more carefully to be examined; for,
66
66
66
Γ
6. He contends, that "the Affyrians were a people no
ways confiderable, when Amos prophefied in the reign of
"Jeroboam the fon of Joafh, about ten or twenty years be-
"fore the reign of Pul; for God then threatened to raiſe up
a nation againſt Ifrael. The nation here intended was the
Affyrian, but it is not once named in all the book of
"Amos. In the prophecies of Ifaiah, Jeremiah, Hofea,
"Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Zechariah, after the empire
"was grown up, it is openly named upon all occafions; but
66 as Amos names not the Affyrians in all his prophecy, fo
"it feems moft probable, that the Affyrians made no great
figure in his days; they were to be raiſed up againſt Ifrael
"after he prophefied. The true import of the Hebrew
"word, which we tranflate raife up, expreffes, that God
"would raiſe up the Affyrians from a condition lower than
"the Ifraelites, to a ftate of power fuperior to them: but
"fince the Affyrians were not in this fuperior ftate when
"Amos prophefied, it muſt be allowed, that the Affyrian
66
n Gen. xiv. I.
• Newton's Chron. p. 270
P Jonah iii.
9 Newton's Chron. p. 270,
s P. 271.
"empire
252
PREFACE.
"empire began and grew up after the days of Amos.'
This is the argument in its full ftrength: my anfwer to it is;
the nation intended in the prophecy of Amos was not the
then Affyrian, I mean, not the Affyrian which flouriſhed
and was powerful in the days of Anios. Sir Ifaac Newton
fays, that Amos prophefied ten years before the reign of Pul.
Pul was the father of Sardanapalus, and therefore the Affy-
rian king in whofe reign Amos prophefied was probably Sar-
danapalus's grandfather; but it was not any of the deſcend-
ants of theſe kings, nor any of the poffeffors of their empire,
which were to afflict the Jews. Their empire was to be
diffolved; and we find it was fo on the death of Sardanapa-
lus, and a new empire was to be raiſed on the ruins of it,
which was to grow from fmall beginnings to great power.
Tiglath-Pilefer, who had been Sardanapalus's deputy-go-
vernor of Media, was raiſed firft to be king of part of the
dominions which had belonged to the Affyrian empire, and
fome time after this his rife, he conquered Syria, took Da-
mafcus, and reduced all that kingdom under his dominion,
and fo began to fulfil the prophecy of Amos, and to afflict
the Jews from the entering in of Hamath; for Hamath was
a country near to Damafcus, and here he began his in-
vafions of their land": fome time after this he feized all that
belonged to Ifrael beyond Jordan, and went forwards towards
Jerufalem, and brought Ahaz under tribute. After the
death of Tiglath-Pilefer, his fon Salmanezer conquered Sa-
maria, and after him Sennacherib took feveral of the fenced
cities of Judah, laid fiege to Lachifh, threatened Jerufalem,
and reduced Hezekiah to pay him tribute, and marched
through the land againſt Egypt, and under him the pro-
phecy of Amos may be faid to have been completed, and the
affliction of the Ifraelites carried on to the river of the wilder-
neſs *, i. e. to the river Sihor at the entrance of Egypt on the
wilderneſs of Etham: thus the Ifraelites were indeed greatly
afflicted by the kings of the Affyrian empire; but not by
the kings of that Affyrian empire which flouriſhed in the
days of Amos, but of another empire of Affyria, which was
raiſed up after his days upon the ruins and diffolution of the
former. The whole ftrength of our great author's argu-
ment lies in this fallacy: he fuppofes what is the point to be
proved; namely, that there was but one Affyrian empire;
and fo concludes, from Amos's having intimated that an
Affyrian empire fhould be raiſed after his times, that there
• Uſher's Chronol. An. 3943.
1 Amos vi. 14.
u See Prideaux, Connect. Vol. I.
B. i. ad in.
* Amos ubi fup.
was
PREFACE.
253
was no Affyrian empire in and before his times; whereas
the truth is, there were two Affyrian empires, different
from each other, not only in the times of their rife and con-
tinuance, but in the extent of their dominions, and the coun-
tries that were ſubject to them. The former began at Ni-
nus, and ended at the death of Sardanapalus; the latter be-
gan at Tiglath-Pilefer, and ended about 135 years after, at
the deſtruction of Nineveh by Nabopolaffar: the former
empire commanded Affyria, Babylonia, Perfia, Media, and
the eaſtern nations toward India; the latter empire began at
Nineveh, reduced Affyria, and extended itſelf into Media and
Perfia, then conquered Samaria, Syria, and Paleſtine, and af-
terwards fubdued Babylon alſo, and the kingdoms belong-
ing to it ².
Our learned author has obferved the conquefts obtained
over diverſe nations by the kings of Affyria. He remarks
from Sennacherib's boaft to the Jews, that theſe conquefts
were obtained by Sennacherib and his fathers: he repre-
fents Sennacherib's fathers to have been Pul, Tiglath-Pilefer,
and Shalmanezer, and fays, that thefe kings were great con-
querors, and with a current of victories had newly over-
flowed all nations round about Affyria, and thereby fet up
this monarchy. I anfwer; Pul was not an ancestor of Sen-
nacherib: Pul was of another family; king of a different
empire from that which the fathers of Sennacherib erected:
Pul was the father of Sardanapalus: Tiglath-Pilefer the
grandfather of Sennacherib ruined Sardanapalus the fon of
Pul, got poffeffion of his royal city, and part of his domi-
nions; and he and his pofterity erected, upon this founda-
tion, a far greater empire than Pul had ever been in poſſeſ-
fion of. 2. Pul conquered none of the countries mentioned
by Sennacherib to have been fubdued by him and his fa-
thers: Pul is, I think, mentioned but twice by the facred
hiftorians. We are told that God ftirred up the Spirit of Pul
king of Affyria, and we are informed what Pul did. He
came against the land of Ifrael when Menahem the ſon of
Gadi had gotten the kingdom, and Menahem gave him a
thouſand talents of filver; fo Pul turned back, and itayed not
in the land. Our great and learned author fays, that Pul
was a great warrior, and feems to have conquered Haran,
and Carchemifh, and Refeph, and Calneh, and Thelafar, and
y Prideaux, Connect. Vol. I. B. i.
ad An. 626.
z Prideaux ubi fup.
2
* 2 Kings xix. 11.
c Ufher's Chron. An. 3943.
di Chron. v. 26.
• 2 Kings XV. 19.
f Ver. 20.
Newton, p. 273-277.
might
254
PREFACE.
might found or enlarge the city of Babylon, and build the
old palace. I anfwer; Pul made the expedition above
mentioned, but he was bought off from profecuting it, and
we have no one proof that he conquered any one kingdom
upon the face of the earth: he enjoyed the dominions his
anceſtors had left him, and tranfmitted them to his fon or
fucceffor Sardanapalus; and therefore, 3. all the fresh vic-
tories obtained by the kings of Affyria, by which they ap-
pear after theſe times to have conquered fo many lands, be-
gan at Tiglath-Pilefer, and were obtained by him and his
fucceffors, after the diffolution of the ancient empire of the
Affyrians; and the hints we have of them do indeed prove,
that a great monarchy was raiſed in theſe days by the kings of
Affyria; but they do not prove that there had been no Affy-
rian empire before: the ancient Affyrian empire was broken
down about this time, and its dominions divided amongſt
thoſe who had confpired against the kings of it. Tiglath-
Pilefer gat Nineveh, and he and his fucceffors by ſteps and
degrees, by a current of new victories, fubdued kingdom
after kingdom, and in time raiſed a more extenfive Affyrian
empire than the former had been.
From a general view of what both Sir Ifaac Newton and
Sir John Marſham have offered about the Affyrian monar-
chy, it may be thought, that the facred and profane hiſtory
differ irreconcileably about it; but certainly the facred
writers did not defign to enter fo far into the hiftory of the
Affyrian empire, its rife or dominions, as theſe great and
moft learned authors are willing to reprefent. The books.
of the Old Teftament are chiefly confined to the Jews and
their affairs, and we have little mention in them of other
nations, any farther than the Jews happened to be concerned
with them; but the little we have is, if duly confidered, ca-
pable of being brought to a ſtrict agreement and clear con-
nection with the accounts of the profane hiftorians, except
in points wherein theſe have apparently exceeded or deviated
from the truth. A romantic humour of magnifying an-
cient facts, buildings, wars, armies, and kingdoms, is what
we muſt expect in their accounts, and we muſt make a due
allowance for it; and if we do fo, we fhall find in many
points a greater coincidence of what they write, with what
is hinted in Scripture, than one who has not examined
would expect. The facred hiftory fays, that Nimrod began
a kingdom at Babel", and the time of his beginning it muſt
be computed to be about A. M. 1757'; and to this agrees in
Newton, p. 278.
h Gen. x. 10.
S
î See Vol. I. B. iv. p. 113.
a re-
PREFACE.
255
a remarkable manner the account which Callifthenes formed
of the aſtronomical obfervations that had been made at Ba-
bylon before Alexander took that city; he ſuppoſed them to
reach 1903 years backward from Alexander's coming thi-
ther; fo that they began at A. M. 1771k, about 14 years
after the riſe of Nimrod's kingdom. I have already re-
marked, that the writers who deny the Babylonian antiqui-
ties, endeavour, as their hypothefis requires they ſhould, to
fet afide this account of Callifthenes: Sir John Marham
would prefer the accounts of Berofus or Epigenes before it';
but to them I have already anſweredm. Our illuftrious au-
thor ſeems beſt pleaſed with what Diodorus Siculus relates",
that "when Alexander the Great was in Afia, the Chal-
"dæans reckoned 473000 years, fince they first began to ob-
"ſerve the ſtars." This I allow might be the boaſt of the
Chaldæans; but I would obferve from what Callifthenes re-
ported, that a ſtranger, when admitted accurately to examine
their accounts, could find no fuch thing. The ancients, be-
fore they computed the year by the fun's motion, had
years
of various lengths calculated from diverſe eſtimates, and
amongst the reft the Chaldæans are remarkable for having
had years ſo ſhort, that they imagined their ancient kings to
have lived or reigned above 6, 7, or 10 thoufand of themP:
fomething of a like nature might be the 473000 years
afcribed to their aftronomy; and Callifthenes, upon a reduc-
tion of them to folar years, might judge them to contain
but 1903 real years, and fo conclude their obfervations to
reach no farther backward: this feems to be the moſt pro-
bable account of thoſe obſervations; and I cannot but think,
that our great author's inclination to his hypothefis was the
only reaſon that induced him to produce the 473000 years
of the Chaldæans, and to feem to intimate that Callifthenes's
report of 1903 reached only to a part of them, the larger
number being moft likely to make the Affyrian antiquities
appear extravagant. The profane hiftorians generally carry
up their kingdom of Affyria to Ninus', and Ninus reigned
when Abraham was born; and we are well affured from
the Scriptures, that the Affyrian antiquities are not hereby
carried up too high; for in the time of Nimrod, Afhur
erected a kingdom, and built feveral cities in this country'.
* See Vol. I. B. iv. p. 114.
Marſham. Can. Chron. p. 474.
See Pref. to Vol. 1.
n Lib. ii. §. 31. p. 83.
• Newton's Chron. p. 265.
P See Pref. to Vol. I. Eufeb. in
Chron. p. 8. Ed. 1658.
Newton's Chron. p. 44.
r See Diodor. Sic. 1. ii. ad in. Juftia,
1. i. §. 1. Eufeb. Chron. p. 18.
$
S Пgoo. Eufeb.
t Gen. x. II.
The
256
PREFACE.
The profane hiftorians reprefent Ninus to have been a very
great conqueror, and relate, that he fubjected the Afiatic
nations to his empire; and the facred hiftory confirms this
particular very remarkably; for it informs us, that the king
of Elam in the days of Abraham had nations fubject to his
fervice, about 8 or 900 miles diftant from the city of his re-
fidence; for fo far we must compute from Elam to the five
cities, which ferved Chedorlaomer twelve years". We find
from Scripture, that Chedorlaomer loft the obedience of
thefe countries; and after Abraham's defeating his armies,
until Tiglath-Pilefer, the Affyrian kings appear not to have
had any dominion over the nations between the Mediter-
ranean and the Euphrates: this indeed feems to confine
the Affyrian empire within narrower bounds than can well
agree with the accounts which the heathen writers give of
it; but then it is remarkable, that thefe enlarged accounts
come from hands comparatively modern: Diodorus informs
us, that he took his from Ctefias*: Ctefias might have the
number of his ancient Affyrian kings, and the times or
lengths of their reigns, from the Perfian chronicles': but as
all writers have agreed to afcribe no great actions to any of
them from after Ninus to Sardanapalus; fo it appears moft
reaſonable to imagine, that the Perfian regiſtries made but a
very ſhort mention of them; for ancient regiftries afforded
but little hiftory2, and therefore I fufpect that Ctefias's efti-
mate of the ancient Affyrian grandeur was rather formed
from what he knew to be true of the Perfian empire, than
taken from any authentic accounts of the ancient Affyrian.
The profane hiftorians relate, that the Affyrian empire was
broken down at the death of Sardanapalus; but the Jews
having at this time no concern with the Affyrians, the ſacred
writers do not mention this great revolution; however, all
the accounts in Scripture of the kings of Affyria, and of the
kings of Babylon, which are ſubſequent to the times of Sar-
danapalus, will appear to be reconcileable to the fuppofal of
fuch a fubverfion of this ancient empire, to any one that
reads the first book of the moſt learned Dean Prideaux's
Connection of the Hiftory of the Old and New Teftament.
I have now gone through what I propoſed to offer at this
time againſt Sir Ifaac Newton's Chronology: I hope I fhall
not appear to have felected two or three particulars out of
many, fuch as I might eafily reply to, omitting others more
weighty and material; for I have confidered the very points,
" Gen. xiv.
* Lib. ii. §. 2.
y Id. ibid.
* See Gen. v. x. xi. xxxvi. &c.
which
PREFACE.
257
which are the foundation of this new ſcheme, and which, if I
have fufficiently anfwered, will leave me no very difficult taſk
to defend my adhering to the received chronology. If the ar-
gument formed from Chiron's conftellations were ſtripped of
its aftronomical drefs, a common reader might be able to
judge, that it cannot ferve the purpoſe it is alleged for: if
(as the moft celebrated Dr. Halley reprefents) the ancient.
aftronomers had done nothing that could be ferviceable to
either Hipparchus or Ptolemy in their determination of the
celeftial motions; if even Thales could give but a rude ac-
count of the motions; if before Hipparchus there could
ſcarce be ſaid to be ſuch a ſcience as aftronomy; how can it
be imagined that Chiron, who moft probably lived 1100
years before Hipparchus, and almoft 3000 years ago, fhould
have really left a moft difficult point of aftronomy ſo exactly
calculated and adjuſted, as to be a foundation for us now to
overturn by it all the hitherto received chronology? If Chi-
ron and all the Greeks before and for 600 years after his
time put together, could not tell when the year began, and
when it ended, without miſtaking above five days and almoſt
a quarter of a day in every year's computation; can it be
poffible for Chiron to have fettled the exact time of midfum-
mer and midwinter, of equal day and night in fpring and
autumn, with fuch a mathematical exactnefs, as that at this
day we can depend upon a fuppofed calculation of his, to
reject all that has hitherto been thought the true chrono-
logy? As to our illuftrious author's argument from the
lengths of reigns, I might have obferved, that it is intro-
duced upon a fuppofition which can never be allowed,
namely, that the ancient chronologers did not give us the
ſeveral reigns of their kings, as they took them from authen-
tic records, but that they made the lengths of them by
artificial computations, calculated according to what they
thought the reigns of fuch a number of kings, as they had
to fet down, would at a medium one with another amount to:
this certainly never was fact; but as Acufilaus, a moſt an-
cient hiftorian mentioned by our moft illuftrious author,
wrote his genealogies out of tables of braſs; fo it is by far
moſt probable, that all the other genealogifts, who have
given us the lengths of the lives or reigns of their kings or
heroes, took their accounts either from monuments, ftone
pillars, or ancient infcriptions, or from other antiquaries of
unfufpected fidelity, who had faithfully examined ſuch ori-
ginals: but as I had no occafion to purfue this fact, fo I
omitted the mentioning of it, thinking it would be fufficient
VOL. II.
a
a Chronol. p. 46.
S
to
258
PREFACE.
to defend myſelf againſt our learned author's fcheme, to
fhew, that the lengths of the kings' reigns, which he fup-
poſed ſo much to exceed the courſe of nature, would not
really appear to do fo, if we confider what the Scriptures re-
prefent to be the lengths of men's lives and of generations in
thofe ages which theſe reigns belong to. As to the ancient
empire of Affyria, I fubmit what I have offered about it to
the reader.
After fo large digreffions upon theſe ſubjects, I cannot find
room to enter upon the particulars which are contained in
the following fheets. I wiſh none of them may want a large
apology; but that what I now offer the public may meet
with the fame favour as my former volume, which, if it does,
I fhall endeavour, as faft as the opportunities I have will en-
able me,
and my other engagements permit, in two volumes
more to finiſh the remaining parts of this undertaking.
Shelton, Norf.
Dec. 10, 1729.
1
THE
THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
co
CONNECTED.
BOOK VI.
a
WHEN Abram was upon his entrance into Egypt, he
was full of thoughts of the evils that might befall him in a
ftrange land; and confidering the beauty of his wife, he was
afraid that the king, or fome powerful perfon of the country,
might fall in love with her, and kill him in order to marry
her he therefore defired her to call him brother. They
had not been long in Egypt, before the beauty of Sarai was
much talked of, and fhe was had to court, and the king of
Egypt had thoughts of marrying her; but in fome time he
found out that ſhe was Abram's wife: hereupon he ſent for
him, and expoftulated with him the ill confequences that
might have happened from the method he had taken, and
in a very generous manner he reſtored Sarai, and ſuffered
Abram to leave his country, and to carry with him all that
belonged to him. Abram's ftay in Egypt was about three
months: the part of Egypt he travelled into was the land
of Tanis, or lower Egypt, for this bordered on Arabia and
■ Gen. xii. II.
S 2
Philiſtia,
260
Connection of the Sacred
Book VI.
Philiftia, from whence Abram journeyed, and his coming
hither was about the tenth year of the fifth king of this
country; for Menes or Mizraim being, as has been before
faid, king of all Egypt until A. M. 1943, and the reigns of
the three next kings of lower Egypt taking up (according to
Sir John Marfham's tables of them) 133 years, the tenth
year of their fucceffor will carry us to A. M. 2086, which
was the year in which Abram came to Egypt.
After Abram came out of Egypt, he returned into Ca-
naan, and came to the place where he formerly made his
firſt ſtop between Bethel and Hai; and here he offered a
facrifice of thankſgiving for the happy events of his travels.
d
Lot and Abram had hitherto lived together; but by this
time their fubftance was fo much increafed, that they found
it inconvenient to be near to one another: their cattle min-
gled, and their herdsmen quarrelled, and the land was not
able to bear them; their ſtocks, when together, required a
larger tract of ground to feed and ſupport them, than they
could take up, without interfering with the property of the
inhabitants of the land in which they fojourned. They
agreed therefore to ſeparate: the land of Canaan had ſpare
room fufficient for Abram, and the plains of Jordan for Lot,
and fo upon Lot's choofing to remove towards Jordan,
Abram agreed to continue where he was, and thus they
parted. After Lot was gone from him, God commanded
Abram to lift up his eyes and view the country of Canaan,
and promiſed that the whole of it ſhould be given to his feed
for ever, and that his defcendants fhould exceedingly flouriſh
and multiply in it: foon after this Abram removed his
tent, and dwelt in the plain of Mainre in Hebron, and there
he built an altar to the Lord. His fettling at Mamre might
be about A. M. 2091.
f
About this time Abram became an inftrument of great fer-
vice to the king in whoſe dominions he fojourned. The Aſ-
fyrian empire, as we have obferved, had in theſe times ex-
tended itſelf over the adjacent and remote countries, and
b See Vol. I. B. v. p. 165.
c Gen. xiii. 3.
d Yer. 7.
e Ver. 14.
f Ver. 18.
brought
Book VI.
261
and Profane Hiftory.
brought the little nations in Afia under tribute and ſubjec-
tion. The feat of this empire was at this time at Elam in
Perfia, and Chedorlaomer was king of it; for to him the
kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of the three other na-
tions mentioned by Mofess, had been in ſubjection: they
had ferved him twelve years, but in the thirteenth they re-
belled. We meet no where in profane hiftory the name
Chedorlaomer, nor any of Mofes's names of the kings that
were confederate with him; but I have formerly obferved
how this might be occafioned. Ctefias, from whom the pro-
fane hiftorians took the names of theſe kings, did not uſe
their original Affyrian names in his hiſtory; but rather fuch
as he found in the Perfian records, or as the Greek language
offered inſtead of them.
If we confider about what time of Abram's life this affair
happened, (and we must place it about his eighty-fourth
or eighty-fifth year i, i. e. A. M. 2093,) it will be eaſy to ſee
who was the fupreme king of the Affyrian empire at the
time here ſpoken of. Ninyas the fon of Ninus and Semira-
mis began his reign A. M. 2059*, and he reigned thirty-
eight years', fo that the year of this tranfaction falls four years
before his death. Ninyas therefore was the Chedorlaomer
of Mofes, head of the Affyrian empire, and Amraphel was
his deputy at Babylon in Shinaar, and Arioch and Tidal his
deputies over fome other adjacent countries. It is remarka-
ble, that Ninyas firft appointed under him fuch deputies",
and no abſurdity in Mofes to call them kings; for it is ab-
fervable from what Ifaiah hinted afterwards", that the Affy-
rian boaſted his deputy princes to be equal to royal go-
vernors; Åre not my princes altogether kings? The great care
of kings in theſe ages was to build cities; and thus we find
almoſt every new king erecting a new feat of his empire;
Ninus fixed at Nineveh, Semiramis at Babylon, and Ninyas
at Elam; and from hence it happened in after-ages, that
g Gen. xiv. 4.
h Ibid.
ii. e. about a year or two before the
birth of Ishmael, who was born when
Abram was eighty-fix. Gen. xvi. 16.
s 3
* See Vol. I. B. iv. p. 112.
1 Eufeb. in Chron. p. 18.
m Diodor. Sic. 1. ii. §. 21.
n Ifaiah x. 8.
Ctefias,
262
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
Ctefias, when he came to write the Affyrian antiquities,
found the names of their ancient kings amongst the royal re-
cords of Perfia, which he would hardly have done, if ſome of their
early monarchs had not had their refidence in this country.
Ninyas therefore was the Chedorlaomer of Mofes, and theſe
kings of Canaan had been fubject to him for twelve years:
in the thirteenth year they endeavoured to recover their li-
berty; but within a year after their attempting it, (which is
a ſpace of time that muft neceffarily be fuppoſed, before
Chedorlaomer could hear at Elam of their revolt, and fum-
mon his deputies with an army to attend him,) in the four-
teenth year, the king of Elam with his deputy princes, the
governor of Shinaar, and of Ellafar, and of the other nations
ſubject to him, brought an army, and overran the kingdoms
in and round about the land of Canaan. He fubdued the
Rephaims, who inhabited the land afterwards called the
kingdom of Baſhan, fituated between Gilead and Hermon,
the Uzzims between Arnon and Damafcus, the Emmims
who inhabited what was afterwards called the land of Am-
mon, the Horites from mount Seir to El-paran, and then he
fubdued the Amalekites and the Amorites, and laft of all
came to battle with the king of Sodom, and the king of
Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Ze-
boim, and the king of Bela or Zoar in the valley of Sid-
dim, and obtained a complete and entire conqueft over
them. Lot, who at this time dwelt in Sodom, fuffered in
this action; for he and all his family and ſubſtance was
taken by the enemy, and in great danger of being carried
away into captivity, had not Abram very fortunately ref
cued him. The force that Abram could raiſe was but ſmall :
three hundred and eighteen trained fervants were his whole
retinue, and with theſe he purſued the enemy unto Dan. We
do not read that Abram attacked the whole Affyrian army;
without doubt that would have been an attempt too great
for the little company which he commanded; but coming
up with them in the night, he artfully divided his attend-
ants into two companies, with one of which moft probably
• Gen. xiv. 15,
he
Book VI.
263
and Profane Hiftory.
he attacked thofe that were appointed to guard the captives
and ſpoil, and with the other made the appearance of a force
ready to attempt the whole body of the enemy. The Affy-
rians, furpriſed at finding a new enemy, and pretty much
haraffed with obtaining their numerous victories, and fa-
tigued in their late battle, not knowing the ſtrength that
now attacked them, retired and fled before them: Abram
purſued them unto Hobah on the left hand of Damafcus,
and being by that time mafter of the prifoners and ſpoil, he
did not think fit to prefs on any further, or to follow the
enemy until the day-light might difcover the weakneſs of his
forces, and fo he returned back, having refcued his brother
Lot, and bis goods, and the women, and the people, that were
taken captive. We hear no more of the Affyrian army;
moſt probably they returned home, with defigns to be fo
reinforced, as to come another year fufficiently prepared to
make a more complete conqueft of the kingdoms of Canaan;
but Ninyas or Chedorlaomer dying foon after this, the new
king might have other defigns upon his hands, and fo this
might be laid aſide and neglected. When Abram returned
with the captives and the ſpoil, the king of Sodom and the
king of Salem' went out to meet him with great ceremony:
Melchifedec king of Salem was the priest of the moſt bigh God³,
and for that reafon Abram gave him the tenth of the ſpoil:
the remainder he returned to the king of Sodom, refufing
to be himſelf a gainer, by receiving any part of what this
victorious enterprife had gotten him.
God Almighty continued his favour to Abram, and in di-
verſe and fundry manners, fometimes by the appearance of
angels, at other times by audible voices, or by remarkable
dreams, declared to him in what manner he defigned to blefs
his poſterity, and to raiſe them in the world. Abram at this
time had no fon; but upon his defiring one, he received not
only a promiſe of a fon, but was informed, that his poſterity
fhould be fo numerous, as to be compared to the very ftars
of heaven. Abram was fo fincerely difpofed to believe all
P Gen. xiv. 15.
9 Ver. 16.
r Ver. 17.
s Ver. 18.
t Gen. xv. 5.
the
$ 4
264
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
the intimations and promiſes which God thought fit to give
him, that it was counted to him for righteousness", that be ob-
tained by it great favour and acceptance with God; fo that
God was pleaſed to give him a ftill further difcovery of what
fhould befall him and his defcendants: he was ordered to
offer a folemn facrifice, and at the going down of the fun a
deep fleep fell upon him, and it was revealed to him in a
dream, that he himſelf ſhould die in peace in a good old
age; but that his defcendants ſhould for four hundred years
be but ftrangers in a land not their own, and ſhould ſuffer
hardſhips, even bondage; but that after this the nation that
had oppreffed them ſhould be ſeverely puniſhed, and that
they ſhould be brought out of all their difficulties in a very
rich and flouriſhing condition, and that in the fourth gene-
ration they ſhould return again into Canaan, and take pof-
feffion of it; that they could not have it fooner, becauſe the
iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full. God Almighty
could forefee, that the Amorites would by that time have
ran into ſuch an exceſs of fin, as to deſerve the fevere expul-
fion from the land of Canaan, which was afterwards ap-
pointed for them; but he would in no wife order their pu-
niſhment, until they fhould have filled up the meaſure of
their iniquities fo as to deferve it. After Abram awoke
from this dream, a fire kindled miraculouſly and confumed
his facrifice, and God covenanted with him to give to his
feed all the land of Canaan, from the river of Egypt to the
Euphrates.
Ten years after Abram's return into Canaan, in the
eighty-fixth year of his life, A. M. 2094', he had a ſon by
Hagar the Egyptian, Sarai's maid. Sarai herſelf had no
children, and, expecting never to have any, had given her
maid to Abram to be his wife, to prevent his dying child-
leſs. Abram was exceedingly rejoiced at the birth of his
fon, and looked upon him as the heir promiſed him by God,
who was to be the father of the numerous people that were
u Gen. xv. 6.
x Ver. 9.
y Ver. 12.
z Ver. 16.
a Ver. 17. See Vol. I. p. 179.
b Ver. 18.
c Gen. xvi. 3.
d Ver. 16.
e Ver. 3.
to
Book VI.
265
and Profane Hiſtory.
h
to deſcend from him; but about thirteen years after Iſh-
mael's birth, (for fo was the child named,) God appeared unto
Abram'. The perſon who appeared to him called himſelf
the Almighty Gods, and can be conceived to be no other
perſon than our bleſſed Saviour as he afterwards thought
fit to take upon him our fleſh, and to dwell amongſt the Jews',
in the manner related in the Gofpels; fo he appeared to
their fathers in the form of angels in the firft ages of the
world, to reveal his will to them, as far as he then thought
fit to have it imparted. In the firſt and moſt early days, he
took the name of God Almighty; by this name he was
known to Abraham, to Ifaac, and to Jacob k; afterwards he
called himſelf by a name more fully expreffing his ef
fence and deity, and was known to Mofes by the name
JEHOVAH'.
God Almighty at this appearance unto Abram entered
into covenant with him, promiſed him a fon to be born of
Sarai, repeated to him the promiſe of Canaan before made to
him, and gave him freſh affurances of the favours and blef-
fings defigned him and his pofterity; but withal acquainted
him, that the defcendants of the fon whom Sarai fhould
bear ſhould be heirs of the bleffings promifed to him; that
Ithmael fhould indeed be a flouriſhing and happy man, that
twelve princes ſhould defcend from him; but that the cove-
nant made at this time fhould be eſtabliſhed with Ifaac,
whom Sarai fhould bear about a year after the time of this
promife. Abram's name was now changed into Abraham,
and Sarai's into Sarah, and circumcifion was enjoined him
and his family ".
The fame divine appearance, for Abraham called him the
Judge of all the earth, accompanied with two angels, was
fome little time after this feen again by him in the plains of
Mamre, as he fat in his tent door in the heat of the day.
They came into Abraham's tent, and were entertained by
f Gen. xvii. 1.
g Ibid.
h See Vol. I. B. v. p. 175.
i John i. 14.
k Gen. xvii. 1. xxviii. 3. XXXV. II,
xlviii. 3. xlix. 25. Exodus vi. 3.
1 Exodus vi. 3. and iii. 14.
m Gen. xvii. 10.
a Gen. xviii. 25.
him,
266
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
:
him, and eat with him, and confirmed to him again the
promiſe that had been made him of a fon by Sarah; and
after having ſpent fome time with him, the two angels
went towards Sodom P; but the Lord continued with Abra-
ham, and told him how he defigned to deftroy in a moft
terrible manner that unrighteous city. Abraham was here
fo highly favoured as to have leave to commune with God,
and was permitted to intercede for the men of Sodom 1. As
foon as the Lord had left communing with Abraham, he
went his way, and Abraham returned to his place the
two angels before mentioned came to Sodom at even, made
a viſit to Lot, and ſtayed in his houſe all night; they were
offered a monftrous violence by the wicked inhabitants of
Sodom, upon which they acquainted Lot upon what ac-
count they were fent thither; and after they had ordered
him, his wife and children and all his family, to leave the
place, about the time of the fun rifing, or a little after', the
Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and upon fome other
cities in the plain, fire and brimflone from the Lord out of
heaven", and wholly deftroyed all the inhabitants of them.
Lot's wife was unhappily loſt in this calamity; whether ſhe
only looked back, which was contrary to the exprefs com-
mand of the angel to them, or whether it may be inferred
from our Saviour's mention of her, that the actually turned
back, being unwilling to leave Sodom, and to go and live at
Zoar, God was pleafed to make her a monument of his
vengeance for her diſobedience, ſhe was turned into a pillar
of falt. Lot's fons in law, who had married his daughters,
refuſed to go along with him out of Sodoma, fo that they
and their wives periſhed in the city: two of his daughters,
who lived with him and were unmarried, went to Zoar,
and were preſerved: Lot lived at Zoar but a little while
for he was afraid that Zoar might fome time or other be
• Gen. xviii. 8,
P Ver. 16.
9 Ver. 23, &c.
r Ver. 33.
• Gen. xix.
t Ver. 23.
u Ver. 24.
b
x Ver. 17.
y Luke xvii. 32.
z Gen. xix. 26.
a Ver. 14.
b Ver. 15.
© Ver. 8.
deſtroyed
Book VI.
267
and Profane Hiftory.
deſtroyed alfod, and therefore he retired with his two
daughters, and lived in a cave upon a mountain, at a diſtance
from all converſe with the world. His daughters grew un-
eaſy at this ſtrange retirement, and thinking that they
fhould both die unmarried, from their father's continuing
refolved to go on in this courfe of life, and fo their father's
name and family become extinct, they intrigued together,
and impofing wine upon their father, they went to bed to
him', and were with child by him, and had each of them a
fon, Moab and Ammon. The two children grew up, and in
time came to have families, and from theſe two fons of Lot
the Moabites and the Ammonites were defcended.
About this time Abraham removed fouthward, and fo-
journed between Cadeſh and Shur at Gerar, a city of the
Philiftines here he pretended Sarah to be his fifters, as he
had done formerly in Egypt; for he thought the Philiftines
to be a wicked people. Abimelech the king of Philiftia in-
tended to take Sarah to be his wife; but it pleaſed God to
inform him in a dream, that the belonged to Abraham.
Abimelech appears to have been a man of eminent virtue,
and the deftruction of Sodom and Gomorrah had made a
deep impreffion in him: he appealed to God for the inte-
grity of his heart, and the innocency of his intentions: he
reftored Sarah to her huſband, and gave him theep, oxen,
men-fervants and women-fervants, and a thouſand pieces of
filver, and free liberty to live where he would in his king-
dom, and he reproved Sarah for concealing her being mar-
ried; obferving to her, that if fhe had not difowned her
huſband, ſhe had been protected from any other perfon's
fixing his eyes upon her to defire her: He is to thee, ſaid he,
a covering of the eyes to or of all that are with thee, and with
all others; i. e. he fhall cover or protect thee, from any of
thoſe that are of thy family or acquaintance, or that are
not, from looking at thee to defire thee for their wife.
A year was now accomplished, and, A. M. 2108, a fon
d Gen. xix. 30.
e Ver. 31, 32.
f Ver. 33, 34, 35,
g Gen. xx, 2,
h Ver. 16.
was
268
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
was born of Sarah, and was circumcifed on the eighth day,
and named Ifaac. When he grew old enough to be weaned,
Abraham made a very extraordinary feaft: Ishmael laughed
at feeing fuch a ftir made about this infant': Sarah was fo
provoked at it, that fhe would have both him and his mo-
ther turned out of doors. Abraham had the tenderneſs of a
father to his child"; he loved Ishmael, and was loth to part
with him, and therefore applied himſelf to God for direc-
tion: God was pleaſed to affure him, that he would take
care of Ishmael, and ordered him not to let his affection for
either Hagar or her fon prevent his doing what Sarah re-
queſted, intimating to him that Ifhmael fhould for his fake
be the parent of a nation of people; but that his portion and
inheritance was not to be in that land, which was to be
given to the defcendants of Ifaac", and that therefore it was
proper for him to be fent away, to receive the bleffings de-
figned him in another place. Abraham hereupon called
Hagar, and gave her water and other neceffary provifions,
and ordered her to go away into the world from him, and
to take her fon along with her: hereupon fhe went away,
and wandered in the wilderneſs of Beerfheba°.
Some of the commentators are in pain about Abraham's
character P, for his feverity to Hagar and Ifhmael in the
cafe before us. And it may perhaps be thought, that the
direction, which God is faid to have given in this particular,
may rather filence the objection, than anfwer the difficulties.
of it; but a little confideration will be fufficient to clear it.
It would indeed, as the circumftances of the world now are,
ſeem a very rigorous proceeding to fend a woman into the
wide world with a little child in her arms, with only a bottle
of water, and ſuch a quantity of bread as ſhe could carry out
of a family, where he had been long maintained in plenty,
not to mention her having been a wife to the maſter of it:
but it muſt be remarked, that though the ambiguity of our
Engliſh tranſlation, which feems to intimate, that Hagar,
when ſhe went from Abraham, took the child upon her foul-
* Gen. xxi. 2.
! Ver. 9.
m Ver. 11.
n Ver. 12, 13.
o Ver. 14.
P Pool's Synopfis in loc.
der,
2
Book VI.
269
and Profane Hiftory.
4+
der, and afterwards that he caft the child under one of the
fhrubs', does indeed reprefent Hagar's circumftances as
very calamitous; yet it is evident, that they were far from
being fo full of diftrefs, as this reprefentation makes them.
For, 1. Ifhmael was not an infant at the time of their going
from Abraham, but at least fifteen or fixteen years old. Ifh-
mael was born when Abraham was eighty- fix, Ifaac when he
was an hundred'; fo that Ifhmael was fourteen at the birth
of Ifaac, and Ifaac was perhaps two years old when Sarah
weaned him, and fo Ifhmael might be fixteen when Abraham
fent away him and his mother. Hagar therefore had not a
little child to provide for, but a youth capable of being a
comfort and affiftant to her. 2. The circumftances of the
world were fuch at this time, that it was eafy for any perfon
to find a fufficient and comfortable livelihood in it. Man-
kind were fo few, that there was in every country ground to
ſpare; fo that any one, that had flocks and a family, might
be permitted to fettle any where, and feed and maintain
them, and in a little time to grow and increaſe and become
very wealthy or the creatures of the world were fo nu-
merous, that a perfon that had no flocks or herds might in
the wilderneffes, and uncultivated grounds, kill enough of
all forts for maintenance, without injuring any one, or being
molefted for fo doing: and thus Ifhmael dwelt in the wil-
dernefs, and became an archer". Or they might let them-
felves for hire to thoſe who had great flocks of cattle to look
after, and find an eaſy and fufficient maintenance in their
fervice; as good as Hagar and Ishmael had had even with
Abraham. We ſee no reaſon to think that Hagar met with
many difficulties in providing for herſelf, or her fon: the in
a few years faw him in fo comfortable a way of living, as to
get him a wife out of another country to come and live with
him: She took him a wife out of the land of Egypt. 3. Ifh-
mael, and confequently Hagar with him, fared no worſe,
than the younger children uſed to fare in thoſe days, when
they were difiniffed in order to their fettling in the world;
q Gen. xxi. 14.
· Ver. 15.
Gen. xvi. 16.
↑ Gen. xxi. 5.
u Ver. 20.
x Ver. 21.
for
270
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
for we find that in this manner the children which Abraham
had by Keturah were dealt by: Abraham gave all that he
bad unto Ifaac; but unto the fons of the concubines, which Abra-
ham had, Abraham gave gifts, and fent them away from Ifaac
his fon, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the eaſt country :
and much in this manner even Jacob, who was to be heir
of the bleffing, was fent away from his father. Efau was the
eldeſt fon, and as fuch was to inherit his father's fubftance;
and accordingly, when his father died, he came from Seir to
take what was gotten for him by his father in the land of
Canaan²; for we have no reaſon to imagine that Jacob re-
ceived any thing at Ifaac's death; his brother left him only
his own ſubſtance to increaſe within the land; and yet we
find he had enough to maintain his wives, and a numerous
family, and all this the mere product of his own induſtry :
when he first went from his father, he was fent a long jour-
ney to Padan-aram; we read of no fervants nor equipage
going with him, nor any accommodations prepared him for
his journey; he was fent, as we now-a-days might ſay, to ſeek
his fortune, only inftructed to feek it amongſt his kinsfolk
and relations; and he went to feek it upon fo uncertain a
foundation, that we find him moft earnestly praying to God
to be with him in the way that he was to go, and not to ſuf-
fer him to want the neceffaries of life to ſupport him, but to
give him bread to eat, and raiment to put on; and yet we ſee,
by letting himſelf for hire to Laban, he both married his
daughters, and in a few years became the maſter of a very
confiderable ſubſtance. 4. We miſtake therefore, not duly
confidering the circumftances of theſe times, in imagining
Hagar and Ishmael to have been fuch fufferers in Abraham's
difmiffing them. At firſt it might perhaps be diſputed,
whether Ishmael the firft-born, or Ifaac the fon of his wife,
ſhould be Abraham's heir; but after this point was deter-
mined, and God himſelf had declared that in Ifaac Abra-
ham's feed was to be called, a provifion was to be made, that
Ishmael fhould go and plant a family of his own, or he muſt
y Gen. xxv. 6.
z Chap. xxxvi. 6.
a Chap. xxviii, 2.
Ver. 20.
c Gen. xxx. 43.
d Gen. xxi. 12.
have
Book VI.
271
and Profane Hiflory.
have been Ifaac's bondman or fervant, if he had continued
in Abraham's family; fo that here was only that proviſion
made for him, which the then circumstances of the world
directed fathers to make for their younger children, and not
any hardſhip put upon either Hagar or her fon; and though
their wandering in the wilderneſs until they wanted water
had almoſt deſtroyed them, yet that was an accident only,
and no fault of Abraham's; and after it pleaſed God to ex-
tricate them out of this difficulty, we have no reaſon to ima-
gine that they met with any further hardships; but being
freed from fervitude, they eafily, by taking wild beaſts and
taming them, and by fowing corn, gat a ſtock, and became
in a few years a very flouriſhing family.
Abimelech faw the increaſing proſperity of Abraham, and
fearing that he would in time grow too powerful a ſubject,
made him fwear, that he would never injure him or his
people. Some little difputes had arifen between Abime-
lech's fervants and Abraham's about a well, which Abra-
ham's fervants had digged; but Abimelech and Abraham,
after a little expoftulation, quickly came to a good under-
ſtanding, and both of them made a covenant, and ſware
unto each other. Abraham continued ftill to flouriſh: his
fon Iſaac was now near a man, when it pleaſed God to make
a very remarkable trial of Abraham's fidelity: he required
him to offer his fon Iſaac for a burnt-offering: this, without
doubt, muſt at firft be a great ſhock to him: he had before
been directed to fend away Ifhmael, and had been affured
that the bleffings promiſed to his poſterity were not to take
place in any part of that branch of his family; but that
Ifaac fhould be the ſon of the promiſe, and that his deſcend-
ants ſhould be the heirs of the happineſs and profperity that
God had promiſed to him: and now God was pleaſed to re-
quire him with his own hands to deftroy this bis fon, bis
only fon, Ifaac. How could theſe things be? What would
become of God's promifes, if this child, to whom they were
appropriated, were thus to periſh? The writer of the Epiſtle
to the Hebrews gives a very elegant account of the method
← Gen. xxi. 22, &c.
f Gen. xxii.
by
272
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
by which Abraham made himſelf eaſy in this particular
By faith, fays he, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up
Ifaac: and he that had received the promifes offered up his
only begotten fon; of whom it was faid, that in Ifaac ſhall thy
feed be called: accounting that God was able to raiſe him up
even from the dead, from whence alfo he received him in a fi-
gure. He confidered, that God had given him this ſon in a
very extraordinary manner; his wife, who bare him, being
paſt the uſual time of having children; and that the thus
giving him a fon was in a manner raifing him one from the
dead; for it was caufing a mother to have one, who was
naturally ſpeaking dead in this reſpect, and not to be con-
ceived capable of bearing; that God Almighty could as
certainly raiſe him really from the dead, as at firſt cauſe him
to be born of ſo aged a parent: by this way of thinking he
convinced himſelf, that his faith was not unreaſonable, and
then fully determined to act according to it, and ſo took his
fon, and went to the place appointed, built the altar, and laid
his fon upon the wood, and took the knife, with a full re-
folution to kill the victim; but here his hand was ſtopped
by a diſtinct and audible voice from heaven: the angel of
the Lord called to him out of heaven, and faid, Abraham,
Abraham! And he faid, Here am I. And he faid, Lay not
thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him : for
now I know that thou fearest God, ſeeing thou hast not withheld
thy fon, thine only fon, from me¹. Abraham hereupon looked
about, and ſeeing a ram caught in a thicket, he took it, and
offered that inſtead of his fon*: God was pleafed in an ex-
traordinary manner to approve of his doing fo, and, by an-
other voice from heaven, confirmed to him the promiſes,
which had been before made him'. Abraham being deeply
affected with this furprifing incident, called the place Je-
hovah-jireb in remembrance of it; and there was a place in
the mountain called by that name many ages after ".
Abra-
ham foon after this went to live at Beersheba.
g Heb. xi. 17, 18, 19.
h Ver. 11.
1 Gen. xxii. 11, 12.
k Ver. 13.
1 Ver. 16, 17, 18.
m Our English tranflation of the
fourteenth verfe is very obfcure. As it is
faid to this day; In the mount of the Lord
it
Book VI.
273
and Profane Hiſtory.
There are fome writers, who remark upon this intended
facrifice of Abraham's in the following manner. They hint;
that he was under no ſurpriſe at receiving an order to per-
form it", nor do they think that we have any reafon to extol
him for this particular, as if he had hereby fhewn an uncom-
mon readineſs and devotion for God's fervice: for they fay,
that if he had really facrificed his fon, he would have done
only a thing very common in the times which he lived in;
for that it was cuftomary, as Philo repreſents °, for private
perfons, kings, and nations to offer thefe facrifices. The
barbarous nations, we are told, for a long time thought it an
act of religion, and a thing acceptable to the gods, to facri-
fice their children. And Philo Biblius informs us, that in
ancient times it was cuftomary for kings of cities, and heads
of nations, upon imminent dangers, to offer the fon, whom
they most loved, a facrifice for the public calamity, to ap-
peaſe the anger of the gods. And it is remarked from
Porphyry, that the Phoenicians, when in danger of war,
famine, or peftilence, ufed to chooſe by public fuffrage ſome
one perfon, whom they moft loved, and facrifice him to Sa-
turn: and Sanchoniathon's Phoenician hiftory, which Philo
Biblius tranſlated into Greek, is, he fays, full of theſe facri-
fices. Now from this feeming citation of diverfe writers,
one would expect a variety of inftances of theſe facrifices
before Abraham's days; but, after all the forwardneſs of
theſe writers in their affertions upon this point, they pro-
duce but one particular inftance, and that one moſt probably
a mifrepreſentation of Abraham's intended facrifice, and not
a true account of any facrifice really performed by any per-
fon that ever lived in the world: or if this may be contro-
it ſhall be ſeen. If we take the word
DN to be a future tenfe, the whole
verfe may be tranflated thus: And
Abraham called the name of the place
Jehovah-jireh; because it will be faid,
[or told hereafter, that] This day the
Lord was feen in the mountain. The
LXX. favour this tranflation. They
render the place, & ixáλov 'Abquùu
τὸ ὄνομα τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνο, Κύριος εἶδεν ἵνα
εἴπωσι σήμερον, ἐν τῷ ὄρει Κύριος ὤφθη
Or the Hebrew words may be Eng-
VOL. I.
મન
lifhed verbatim thus: And Abraham
called the name of that place Jehovak-
jireh, which (i. e. place] in the moun-
tain is called at this day Jehovah-jireh.
T
n Lord Shaftesbury's Characteriſt.
vol. iii. Mifc. 2. Sir John Marſham,
Can. Chron. p. 16.
• Philo Judæus Lib. de Abraham,
p. 293. ed. Sigif. Gelen. 1613.
P Id. ibid.
9 See Eufeb. Præp. Evang, lib. iv.
c. 16.
verted,
274
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
1
verted, and it may be thought, that the perſon they men-
tion did really offer the facrifice they give account of; yet
it muſt appear from the hiftorian from whom they have it,
that he did not live earlier, nor fo early as Abraham, and
therefore his facrifice might be defigned in imitation of
Abraham's, and not Abraham's in conformity to any known
practice of the nations he lived in.
The inftance they offer is this. They fay, that Chronus,
whom the Phoenicians call Ifrael', and who after his death
was deified, and became the ftar called Saturn, when he
reigned in that country, had an only fon by the nymph
Anobret, a native of the land, whom he called Jeud, (that
word fignifying in the Phoenician language only-begotten,)
and that, when he was in extreme peril of war, he adorned
his fon in the royal apparel, and built an altar with his own
hands, and facrificed him. Philo Biblius from Sanchonia-
thon in another place repreſents it thus: that Chronus, upon
the raging of a famine and peftilence, offered his only fon
for a burnt-offering to his father Ouranus: now upon this
fact we may obſerve,
I. That the Chronus here mentioned was not more an-
cient than the times of Abraham; for if any one confults
Sanchoniathon's account given us by Philo ", he will find,
that after Sanchoniathon has brought down his genealogy
to Miſor, i. e. to the Mizraim of Mofes *, to whom he
makes Sydec cotemporary, he then informs us, that Sydec
was father of the Dioſcuri, Cabiri, or Corybantes; and that
xarà TáT85, or in their life-time, Eliun was born: Ouranus
was fon of Eliun: Ilus or Chronus was fon of Ouranus:
and thus, fuppofing this Chronus to be the perſon who facri-
ficed his only fon, it will be evident, that the grandfather
of this perſon was born in the life-time of the fons of Miz-
raim, the grandſon of Noah, by his ſon Ham; and parallel
Sir John Marfham writes it 12,
and tranflates it Ilus; but Eufebius
writes it 'lagana. Can. Chron. p. 77.
s Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. iv. c. 16.
t Id. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
"In Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
* See Vol. I. B. i.
y This expreffion xarà rérus im-
plies Eliun to be younger than the
Corybantes. Abraham was born in
the forty-third year of the reign of
Ninus, and fo Eufebius fays he was
born xarà Trov. Præf. ad Chronic.
to
Book VI.
275
and Profane Hiftory.
to this, Nahor the grandfather of Abraham was born three
hundred and forty-two years before the death of Salah the
fon of Arphaxad, who was Noah's grandfon by his fon Shem".
Or we may compute this matter another way: Mizraim
died A. M. 1943; his fon Taautus lived forty-nine years
after Mizraim's death, i. e. to A. M. 1992. Taautus was co-
temporary with the Diofcuri; for they were faid to be
fons of one cotemporary with Taautus's father. Abraham
was born A. M. 2008, i. e. only fixteen years after Taautus's
death, ſo that Abraham's grandfather muſt have been long
before the deaths of theſe men: and thus by both theſe ac-
counts Ilus or Chronus cannot be more ancient than Abra-
ham, rather Abraham appears to have been more ancient
than he. And this must be allowed to be more evidently
true, if we confider that it was not Ilus or Chronus, the
fon of Ouranus, who made this facrifice of his only fon, but
rather Chronus, who was called Ifrael, and was the ſon of
Chronus, called Ilus, and therefore ftill later by one genera-
tion. Philo Biblius in Eufebius does indeed hint, that
Chronus offered his fon to his father Ouranus; from whence
it may be inferred, that the elder Chronus or fon of Oura-
nus was the ſacrificer: but we muſt not take the word fa-
ther in this ftrict fenfe; for both facred and profane writers
often mean by that word, not the immediate father, but the
head of any family, though the grandfather, or a ſtill more
remote anceſtor. Sir John Marſham afferts, that no one but
Eufebius called this facrificer Ifrael; that Philo wrote it Il,
meaning Ilus, not Iſrael; and that Eufebius miftook in think-
ing Il to be a ſhort way of writing Ifrael: but to this it
may be anſwered, that Ilus could not be the perſon that
offered his only fon, becauſe Ilus had more fons than one,
for he had three fons, Chronus, Belus, and Apollo". His
fon Chronus had but one only begotten fon by Anobret,
and this Chronus therefore was the perfon who facrificed
his only fon, as he was likewife the perfon who circumcifed
z This may easily be collected from
Mofes's account of the births and
deaths of the poſtdiluvians. Gen. xi.
T 2
• See Vol. I. B. iv.
Eufebius, Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
p. 38. ed. Par. 1628.
himſelf
275
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
himſelf and family. And thus Eufebius, in calling this
Chronus Ifrael, only diſtinguiſhes him from his father, who
was called Ilus; and if Philo did indeed write him Il, he
could not mean Ilus, becauſe, by his own account of Ilus's
children, he was not the perſon that offered his only fon.
The perſon therefore, whom theſe writers mention upon
this occafion, can in no wiſe ſerve their purpoſe; for if they
will credit their hiftorian, he muſt be later than the days of
Abraham, and what he did, and what can be faid about
him, will not prove theſe facrifices to have been cuſtomary
in the days of Abraham; but rather that the heathen na-
tions, having a great opinion of Abraham and his religion,
fell into this barbarous practice of facrificing their children,
upon an imagination, that he had facrificed Ifaac, and fet
them an example. I need offer nothing further about San-
choniathon's Chronus; what is already ſaid will indiſputably
prove him too modern to furniſh objections and cavils againſt
Abraham's religion; however I cannot but think,
II. That this account of Sanchoniathon's is really a rela-
tion of Abraham's intended facrifice of Iſaac, with only ſome
additions and miſtakes, which the heathen writers fre-
quently made in all their relations. Sanchoniathon's hiftory
is long ago loft, and the fragments of it, which are pre-
ferved in other writers, are not entire as he wrote them, but
have many mixtures of falfe hiftory, allegory, and philofo-
phy, fuch as the ſon of Thabio and other commentators
upon his work had a fancy to add to him; and very proba-
bly, if we had Sanchoniathon himſelf, we ſhould not find him
exact in chronology, or in the facts which he related, fo that
we muſt not examine his remains with too great a ſtrictneſs;
but if we throw away what ſeems the product of allegory,
philoſophy, and miſtaken hiſtory in his remains, we may
collect from him the following particulars about Chronus,
whom the Phoenicians called Ifrael. 1. He was the fon of a
father, who had three children, and fo was Abraham,
2. Chronus had one only fon by his wife', and fo had Abra-
c Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
p. 38. ed. Par. 1628.
Ibid. p. 39.
• Ibid. p. 38.
Ibid. p. 40,
ham.
Book VI.
277
and Profane Hiftory.
ham. 3. He had another fon by another perſon³, ſo had
Abraham. 4. This Chronus circumcifed himfelf and fa-
mily, ſo did Abraham. 5. Chronus facrificed his only fon¹, fo
was Abraham reported to have done, by fome of the heathen
hiftorians. 6. Chronus's fon who was facrificed was named
Jehud, and thus Ifaac is called by Mofes'. 7. Chronus
was by the Phoenicians called Ifraelm: here indeed is a
ſmall miſtake; Ifrael was the name of Abraham's grand-
fon; but the heathen writers commit greater errors in all
their accounts of the Jewish affairs. They had a general
notion, that Ifrael was the name of fome one famous anceſ-
tor of the Ifraelites, but were not exact in fixing it upon the
right perfon. Juftin", after Trogus Pompeius, comes nearer
the truth than Sanchoniathon, but he mistakes one genera-
tion, and gives the name of Ifrael to the fon of Abraham.
Sir John Marſham hints fome little objections againſt tak-
ing Chronus here ſpoken of to be Abraham; but I cannot
think that, after what has been offered, they can want an
anfwer. The hiftory of Sanchoniathon's Chronus, and
Mofes's Abraham, do evidently agree in fo many particu-
lars, that there appears a far greater probability of their
being one and the fame perſon, than there does of the truth
of any circumſtances hinted by Sanchoniathon, which may
feem to make them differ one from the other.
Sarah was now one hundred and twenty-feven years old,
and died in Kirjath-arba in Hebron. Abraham hereupon
bought a field, which had a cave in it, of the fons of Heth P,
and therein depofited the remains of his wife. He began
now to defire to fee his fon Ifaac married, and therefore
fent the head-fervant of his houſe into Padan-Aram, or Me-
fopotamia, to chooſe a wife for his fon from amongst his re-
lations there. The fervant went with a train and equipage,
* Eufeb. Præp. Evang. lib. i. c. 10.
p. 38.
h Ibid.
i Ibid, et lib. iv. c. 16. p. 155.
k Ibid. p. 40.
1 Gen. xxii. 2. God faid to Abra-
ham, Take now thy fon, Jehud ka, i. e.
thine only fon.
m Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
p. 40. l. iv. c. 16. p. 155.
P.
Juftin. 1. xxxvi. c. 2.
• Can. Chron. p. 77.
P Gen. xxiii. 16.
9 Gen. xxiv.
T3
and
278
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
and carried prefents fuitable to the wealth and circumſtances
of his maſter', and obtained for Ifaac Rebekah the daughter
of Bethuel, the fon of Nahor, Abraham's brother. Ifaac
was forty years old when he married, and therefore married
A. M. 2148.
After Abraham had thus married his fon to his fatisfac-
tion, he took himſelf another wife; her name was Ketu-
rah; he had feveral children by her: Zimran, Jokfhan,
Medan, Midian, Ifhbak, and Shuah: he took care in his
-life-time to fend thefe children into the world; he gave
them gifts, and fent them away, while he yet lived, from Ifaac
his ſon, eaſtward, unto the east country: and this is the fub-
ftance of what Moſes has given us of the life of Abraham.
It is very remarkable, that the profane writers give us
much the fame accounts of him. Berofus indeed does not
call him by his name, but deſcribes a perſon of his cha-
racter to be ten generations after the flood", and fo Mofes
makes Abraham, computing him to be the tenth from Noah.
Nicolaus Damafcenus calls him by name, and fays, that he
came out of the country of the Chaldees, fettled in Canaan,
and upon account of a famine went into Egypt. Eupole-
mus agrees that Abraham was born at Uria (or Ur) of the
Chaldees; that he came to live in Phoenicia²; that fome time
after his fettling here, the Armenians (or rather the Affy-
rians) overcame the Phoenicians, and took captive Abra-
ham's nephew; that Abraham armed his fervants, and ref-
cued him; that he was entertained in the facred city of
Argarize by Melchifedec prieſt of God, who was king there;
that fome time after, on account of a famine, he went into
Egypt with his whole family, and, fixing there, he called his
wife his fifter; that the king of Egypt married her, but that
he was forced by a plague to confult his priests, and, find-
ing her to be Abraham's wife, he reſtored her, Artapanus,
• Gen. xxiv. 10.
s Gen. xxv.
t Ver. 6.
"Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. ix. c. 16.
p. 417. Berofus's words are, Mɛrà Tòv
κατακλυσμὸν δεκάτῃ γενεᾷ παρὰ Καλ.
δαίοις τίς ἦν δίκαιος ἀνὴς καὶ μέγας καὶ τὰ
ἐράνια ἔμπειρος.
* Jofeph. Antiquitat. 1. i. c. 8. Eu-
feb. Præpar. Evang. ut fup.
y Ibid. c. 17. p. 418.
z The ancient heathen writers often
call Syria, Canaan, and Phoenicia, by
the fame name.
another
Book VI.
279
and Profane Hiftory.
another of the heathen writers, does but juſt mention him ;
he fays the Jews were at firft called Hermiuth, afterwards
Hebrews by Abraham, and that Abraham went into Egypt,
and afterwards returned into Syria again: but Melo, who
wrote a book againſt the Jews, and therefore was not likely
to admit any part of their hiſtory that could poffibly be
called in queſtion, gives a very large account of Abraham.
He relates, that his anceſtors were driven from their native
country; that Abraham married two wives, one of them of
his own country and kindred, the other an Egyptian, who
had been a bond-woman; that of the Egyptian he had
twelve fons, who became twelve Arabian kings; that of
his wife he had one fon only, whofe name in Greek is Ge-
los, (which anſwers exactly to the Hebrew word Iſaac :) after
other things interfperfed, he adds, that Abraham was com-
manded by God to facrifice Iſaac; but juſt when he was
going to kill him, he was ftopped by an angel, and offered a
ram inſtead of him. And as theſe writers agree with Moſes
in their accounts of the tranfactions of Abraham's life, ſo
alfo it is remarkable that they give much the fame cha-
racter of him; all of them allowing him to be eminent for
his virtue and religion; and they add moreover, that he was
a perſon of the most extraordinary learning and wiſdom: he
was δίκαιος και μέγας ἢ τὰ ἐράνια ἔμπειρος, fays Berofus . Nico-
laus Damafcenus fays, that his name was famous all over
Syria, and that he increaſed the fame and reputation which
he had acquired, by converfing with the moft learned (λo-
YIWTάTOIs) of the Egyptian priefts, confuting their errors, and
perfuading them of the truths of his own religion, ſo that he
was admired amongſt them as a perfon of the greateſt wit
and genius, not only readily underſtanding a thing himſelf,
but very happy in an ability of convincing and perfuading
others of the truth of what he attempted to teach them. Eu-
Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. ix. c. 18.
p. 420.
b Id. ibid. c. 19.
< This is but a fmall miftake; the
defcendants of Ifhmael were twelve
kings, Gen. xvii. 20. and fettled near
Arabia.
T 4
d
Eufeb. Præp. Evan. lib. ix. c. 16.
P. 417. ed. Par. 1628.
Θαυμασθεὶς ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐν ταῖς συνδ
σίαις ὡς συνετώτατος καὶ δεινὸς ἀνὴρ, ἐ
νοῆσαι μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ πεῖσαι λέγων, περὶ
ὧν ἂν ἐπιχειρήσεις διδάσκειν. Εufeb. in
loc. fup. cit.
polemus
280.
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
polemus fays, that in eminence and wifdom he excelled all
others, and that by his extraordinary piety, or ſtrict ad-
herence to his religion, (ἐπὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν ὁρμήσαντα,) he ob-
tained the favour of the Deity, (εὐαρεσῆσαι τῷ Θεῷ are his
words). Both Melo and Artapanus agree likewife in tefti-
fying Abraham to have been eminent for his wiſdom and
religion. There are feveral particulars of no great moment,
in which theſe writers either differ from Mofes, or relate
circumſtances which he has omitted. Nicolaus Damaſce-
nus relates, that Abraham came with an army out of the
country of the Chaldees; that he reigned for fome time a
king at Damafcus; that afterwards he removed into Canaan :
the little difference between this account and Mofes's may
eafily be adjusted. Abraham was indeed no king, but
Mofes obferves, that his family and appearance and pro-
ſperity in the world was fuch, that the nations he con-
verfed with treated him and fpake of him as of a mighty
prince. And when his family came firſt from Ur, and con-
fifted both of thoſe that ſettled at Haran, and thoſe that re-
moved with him into Canaan, he might well be reported, as
the circumſtances of the world then were, to be the leader
of an army; for very probably few armies were at that time
more numerous than his followers. As to his reigning king
at Damafcus, it is eaſy to fee how he made this miſtake:
the land of Haran, where Abraham made his firft fettlement,
was a part of Syria, of which Damafcus was afterwards the
head city; and hence it might happen, that the heathen
writers, finding that he made a fettlement in this country,
were not fo exact about the place of it as they might have
been, but readily took the capital city to have been inha-
bited by him. Damafcenus relates further, that when Abra-
ham went to Egypt, he went thither partly upon account of
the famine in Canaan, and partly to confer with the Egyp-
tian prieſts about the nature of the gods, defigning to go
over to them, if their notions were better than his own, or to
bring them over to him, if his own fentiments fhould be
f Eufeb. fup. citat. This was the character which Enoch obtained by his faith.
Heb. xi. 5.
found
Book VI.
281
and Profane Hiftory.
found to be the beſt grounded; and that he hereupon con-
verfed with the moſt learned men amongſt them. Mofes
relates nothing of this matter; but what we meet with
about Syphis, a king of Egypt, who reigned a little after
Abraham's time, and was very famous for religious ſpecula-
tions, makes it exceeding probable, that Abraham might be
very much celebrated in Egypt for his religion; and that
his converſation there might occafion the kings of Egypt to
ſtudy with a more than ordinary care thefe fubjects. One
thing I would remark before I leave theſe writers, namely,
the life of Abraham was fuch, that even the profane writers
found fufficient reaſon to think him not only famous for his
piety, and adherence to the true religion, but very confpi-
cuous alfo for his learning and good ſenſe, far above and
beyond his cotemporaries: he was accounted not a man of
low and puerile conceptions, nor a bigoted enthuſiaſt; but
one of temper proper to converfe with thofe that differed
from him, and able to confute the moſt learned oppofers; he
had a reaſon for his faith, and was able to give an anſwer to
all objections, which the moſt learned could make to it:
and not Damafcenus only, but all the other writers I have
mentioned, lay a foundation for this character. They all
ſuppoſe him a great maſter of the learning that then pre-
vailed in the world, abundantly able to teach and inftruct the
wiſeſt men of the ſeveral nations he converſed with. This is
the ſubſtance of what theſe writers offer about Abraham, and
in all this they fo agree with Mofes, as to confirm the truth
of his hiſtory; and the more fo, becauſe in ſmall matters.
they fo differ from him as to evidence, that they did not
blindly copy after him, but fearched for themſelves; and at
laft could find no reaſon in matters of moment to vary from
him. Abraham lived to be an hundred threeſcore and fif-
teen years old, and died A. M. 2183.
If we look back, it will be eaſy to fee who were Abra-
ham's cotemporaries in all the feveral parts of his life. He
See Vol. I. p. 191. Eufeb. in loc.
fup. citat.
h See Damafcenus's account of him,
in Eufeb. loc. fup, citat.
was
282
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
was born, according to Eufebius, in the forty-third year of
Ninus's reign, and Ninus reigning fifty-two years, died
when Abraham was nine years old. The five next fucceed-
ing heads of the Affyrian empire were, Semiramis, who
governed forty-two years; Ninyas, who reigned thirty-
eight; Arius, who reigned thirty; Aralius, who reigned
forty; and Xerxes, who reigned thirty years; and Abra-
ham was cotemporary with all thefe; for the years of all
their reigns put together amount to but one hundred and
eighty, and Abraham lived one hundred and ſeventy-five;
and therefore having ſpent but nine of them at the death of
Ninus, his life will extend to the fixteenth year of the reign
of Xerxes. And if we go into Egypt, and allow, as I have
before computed, that Menes or Mizraim began to reign
there A. M. 1772, and that he reigned there until A. M.
1943; it will follow that Abraham was born in the reigns
of Athothes, Cencenes, and Mefochris, kings of Egypt, that
kingdom being at this time parted into ſeveral ſovereignties;
and he lived long enough to fee three or four fucceffions in
each of their kingdoms, as will appear to any one that con-
fults Sir John Marſham's tables of theſe kings, making due
allowance for the difference between my account and his of
the reign of Menes. Abraham was born, according to Caſtor
in Eufebius, in the thirty-fixth year of Europs the ſecond
king of Sicyon; for, according to that writer', Ægialeus
the firſt king of Sicyon began his reign in the fifteenth year
of Belus king of Affyria, i. e. A. M. 1920. Ægialeus reigned
fifty-two years; ſo that Europs fucceeded him A. M. 1972,
and the thirty-fixth year of Europs will be A. M. 2008,
which is the year in which Abraham was born. Europs
reigned forty-five years, and Abraham lived to fee five of
his fucceffors, and died ten years before Thurimachus the
ſeventh king of Sicyon. Cres is ſaid to have been king of
Crete about the fifty-fixth year of Abraham, and about
twenty-nine years before Abraham's death. Inachus reigned
firft king of Argos about A. M. 2154.
1658.
In Chronic. p. 18. ed. Amft.
* Eufeb. in Chronic.
J
1 Ibid. p. 19.
I am
Book VI.
283
and Profane Hiftory.
I am ſenſible, that fome writers do not think the kings of
Greece, which I have mentioned, to be thus early. As to
the first king of Crete, there can be but little offered, for we
have nothing of the Cretan hiſtory that can be depended
upon before Minos. Eufebius indeed places Cres in the
fourth or fifth year of Ninyas; but afterwards he ſeems in
ſome doubt whether there really was fuch a perfon, and
remarks", that fome writers affirmed Cres to be the firſt king
of Crete, others that one of the Curetes governed there about
the time at which he imagined Cres to begin his reign; fo
that he found more reaſon to think that there was a king in
Crete at this time, than to determine what particular perſon
governed it. We meet the names of three other kings of
Crete in Eufebius; Cydon, Apteras, and Lapes; but we
have little proof of the times of their reigns. There is a large
account of the first inhabitants of Crete in Diodorus°: the
hiſtory is indeed in many things fabulous, and too confufed
to be reduced into fuch order as might enable us to draw
any confiftent conclufions from it; but there feem to be
hints of generations enough before Minos, to induce us to
think that they might have a king as early as Eufebius fup-
poſes; but whether their first king was called Cres, or who
he was, we cannot conjecture. Inachus is faid to be the
first king of Argos. He fcarce indeed deferves the name of
king; for in his days the Argives lived up and down the
country in companies: Phoroneus the fon of Inachus ga-
thered the people together, and formed them into a com-
munity: very probably Inachus might be a very wife and
judicious man, who inftructed his countrymen in many
uſeful arts of living, and he might go frequently amongſt
them, and head their companies in feveral parts of the
country, teaching them to kill or take, and tame the wild
beafts for their fervice, and inftructing them in the beſt
manner of gathering and preferving the fruits of the earth
for their occafions. In this manner he might take the firſt
ſteps towards forming them for fociety; and having been a
m Chronic. p. 91. Num. 56. p. 16.
Joſeph Scal. animad.
P. 94. ad num. 129.
o Lib. v.
P Paufanias in Corinthiacis, p. 112.
ed, Han. 1513.
leader
284
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
leader and director of many companies of them, as he hap-
pened to fall in amongſt them, he might be afterwards com-
memorated as their king, though ſtrictly ſpeaking it was his
fon that completed his defigns, and brought the people to
unite in forming a regular fociety, under the direction of one
to govern them for the public good. Some writers think,
that there was no fuch perfon as Inachus: Inachus is the
name not of a king, but of a river, fays Sir John Marſham¹ :
but here I think that learned gentleman miftaken. Inachus
being the name of a river, may be offered as an argument,
that there had been fome very eminent perfon fo called be-
fore the naming the river from him; for thus the ancients
endeavoured to perpetuate the memories of their anceſtors,
they gave their names to countries, cities, mountains, and
to rivers: Haran being the name of a country', and Nahor
the name of a city³, is no proof that there were no men thus
called, but rather the contrary; and abundance of like in-
ſtances might be offered from the profane hiftorians: other
writers allow, that there was fuch a perfon as Inachus, but
they do not think him near fo ancient as we here ſuppoſe
him. Clemens Alexandrinus places him about the time of
the children of Ifrael's going out of Egypt'; and this was
the opinion of Africanus, and of Jofephus or Jofippus, and of
Juftus, who wrote an hiftory of the Jews"; and it was
efpouſed by Clemens, and by Tatian alſo, moſt probably out
of a zeal to raiſe the antiquity of Mofes as high as any thing
the heathens could pretend to offer. Porphyry took advan-
tage of this miſtake, and was willing to improve it: he not
only allowed Mofes to be as ancient as Inachus, but placed
him even before Semiramis; and this Eufebius hints him to
have endeavoured out of zeal againſt the ſacred writers *.
And thus no endeavours have been wanting to puzzle and
perplex the accounts of the facred hiſtory: at firft the hea-
then writers endeavoured to pretend to antiquities beyond
what the facred writers could be thought to aim at; but
when the falfity of this pretence was abundantly detected,
q Canon. Chronic. p. 15.
•
Gen. xi. 31.
Gen. xxiv. 10.
Strom. 1. i. §. 21.
"See Prooem. ad Eufeb. Chron.
× Ibid.
then
Book VI.
285
and Profane Hiftory.
:
2
then Porphyry thought he could compaſs the end aimed at
by another way; he endeavoured to fhew, that the heathen
hiſtory did not reach near ſo far back as had been imagined;
but that the times which Mofes treated of were really fo
much prior to the firſt riſe of the most ancient kingdoms,
that all poffible accounts of them can at beſt be but fiction
and fancy and this put Eufebius upon a ftrict and careful
review of the ancient hiſtory; and, in order hereto, he firſt
collected the particulars of the ancient hiftories of all na-
tions that had made any figure in the world, and then he
endeavoured to range them with one another. And if any
one will take the pains to look over the materials which Eu-
febius collected, he will fee that the firſt year of Inachus's
reign muſt be placed about the time where I have above
fixed it. The writers, who had treated of the Argive ac-
counts before Caftor, could not find what to ſynchronize
the first year of Inachus with, and therefore could at beft but
guefs where to fix it: but Caftor has informed us, that Ina-
chus began to reign about the time of Thurimachus, the ſe-
venth king of Sicyon ", I fuppofe about his fixth year, as
Eufebius computes; and this will place him in the year
above mentioned; for Ægialeus, the firſt king of Sicyon, be-
gan his reign A. M. 1920; and from the first year of Ægia-
leus to the first year of Thurimachus are two hundred and
twenty-eight years; carry this account forward to the
fixth year of Thurimachus's reign, and you will place the
first year of Inachus A. M. 2154, as above; and this ſeems
to be a very juſt and reaſonable pofition of it. All writers
agree in making Danaus the tenth king of Argos; and Pau-
fanias has given a very clear account of the feveral kings
from Inachus to Danaus, fo as to leave no room to doubt but
that there really were fo many; and the time of Danaus
γ. Εγὼ δὲ περὶ πολλὰ τὸν ἀληθῆ λόγον
τιμώμενος καὶ τὸ ἀκριβὲς ἀνιχνεῦσαι διά
☛rudñs aguðiµnv. Eufeb. Prooem.
z Chron. λογ. πρωτ. ἐν Ρ. I.
2 Ο χρόνος αὐτῇ βασιλείας ἀσύμφωνος
φέρεται παρἝλλησι διὰ τὴν ἀρχαιότητα,
Chron. p. 23.
b Chron. p. 24.
c Ad Num. Eufeb. 161. p. 96.
• This will appear by putting toge
ther the years of the reigns of the
kings of Sicyon, from Ægialeus to
Thurimachus.
e Tatian. Orat. ad Græc. §. 59. p.
131. ed. Oxon. 1700. Eufeb. in Chron.
p. 24. Paufanias in Corinthiacis, p.
I12.
f Paufan, ibid.
coming
286
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
coming into Greece, being near the time that Moſes vifited
the Ifraelites, A. M. 2494, Inachus muft evidently be long
before Mofes, and most probably not earlier than the latter
end of Abraham's life. Mofes was the fixth in deſcent
from Abraham, being the third from Levi, and Moſes was
cotemporary with Danaus; and it is no improbable ſuppo-
fition to imagine ten fucceffions of kings in any country
within the compafs of the generations between Abraham
and Mofes. In like manner the accounts we have of the
kings of Sicyon have no appearing inconfiftency or impro-
bability, to give any feeming colour of prejudice againſt
them. Ægialeus, the first king of Sicyon, according to
Caftor, began to reign A. M. 1920, that is, two hundred and
thirty-four years before Inachus at Argos; and according
to the fame writer, the Sicyonians had had fix kings in that
ſpace of time, and the ſeventh had reigned a few years; ſo
that theſe firſt kings of Sicyon muſt have reigned thirty-
eight years apiece one with another; but this is no extrava-
gant length of time for their reigns, confidering the length
of men's lives in theſe ages. Mofes gives an account of
eight fucceffive kings of Edom, who reigned one with an-
other much longer. Sir John Marfham endeavours to fet
afide theſe ancient kings of Sicyon; but his arguments are
very infufficient: his inference, that there could be no kings
of Sicyon before Phoroneus reigned at Argos, becauſe Acu-
filaus, Plato, or Syncellus, have occafionally ſpoke at large
of the antiquity of Phoroneus, calling him the first man, or,
in the words of the poet cited by Clemens Alexandrinus,
the father of mortal men', can require no refutation: for theſe
writers meant not to affert that there were no men before
Phoroneus, but only that he was of great antiquity. Sir
John Marſham, from the following verfe of Homer,
k
Καὶ Σικύων, ὅθ᾽ ἄρ᾽ Αδραςος πρῶτ᾽ ἐμβασίλευεν,
8 See Vol. I. B., v. and hereafter
B. viii.
h
1 Chron. vi. 1-3.
i Gen. xxxvi. 31-39. and ſec here-
after B. vii.
* Can. Chron. p. 16.
1 Ακυσίλαος Φωρονέα πρῶτον ἄνθρω
που γενέσθαι λέγει, ὅθεν ὁ τῆς Φορωνίδος
ποιητὴς εἶναι αὐτὸν ἔφη Πατέρα θνητῶν
avgáπwv. Clem. Alexand. Stromat.
lib. i. §. 21.
m 11. ii. ver. 572.
would
Book VI.
287
and Profane Hiſtory.
would infinuate, that Adraftus was the firſt king of Sicyon.
Scaliger had obviated this interpretation of Homer's ex-
preffion, but our learned author rejects what Scaliger offers
upon it; but certainly no one can infer what he would have
inferred from it. Had Homer ufed gros inftead of pr',
there would have feemed more colour for his interpretation;
but лρτ', which is the fame as rà πрaτа, can fignify no more
than formerly, beretofore, or in the firft or ancient days. Adraf
tus was, according to Paufanias", (for Caftor has miſplaced
him,) the eighteenth king of Sicyon; and Homer meant not
to affert that he was the firft king that ever reigned there,
but only that Sicyon was a country of which Adraftus had
anciently been king; and thus our Engliſh poet expreffes
Homer's meaning, calling Sicyon
Adraftus' ancient reign°.
Our learned writer makes objections againſt fome particular
kings in the Sicyonian roll: but it is obfervable, that
Caftor and Paufanias differ in fome particular names; and if
we ſuppoſe that both of them gave true accounts in the ge-
neral, but that each of them might make fome ſmall miſ-
takes, mifnaming or misplacing a king or two, his objec-
tions will all vanish; for they do not happen to lie againſt
the particular names which Caftor and Paufanias agree in.
I was willing to mention the objections of this learned
writer, becauſe he himſelf ſeems to lay fome ſtreſs upon
them, though certainly it muft appear unneceſſary to con-
fute objections of this nature. And it is furpriſingly ſtrange
to fee what mere fhadows of argumentation even great
and learned men will embrace, if they feem to favour any
notions they are fond of. Caftor's account of the Sicyonian
kings will appear, when I fhall hereafter further examine it,
to be put together with good judgment and exactneſs: it
has fome faults, but is not therefore all error and miſtake.
When we fhall come down to the Trojan war, and have
feen how far he and Paufanias agree, and where they differ,
and fhall confider from them both, and from other writers,
In Corinthiacis, p. 96.
• Pope's Homer.
what
288
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
what kings of Sicyon we have reafon to admit of, before
that country became fubject to Agamemnon; we fhall find
abundant reafon to extend their history thus far backwards,
and to believe that Egialeus reigned as early as Caftor
fuppofes.
The ages in which theſe ancients lived were full of
action. If we look into the ſeveral parts of the world, we
find in all of them men of genius and contrivance, forming
companies, and laying fchemes to erect focieties, and to get
into the beſt way and method of teaching a multitude to
live together in a community, ſo as to reap the benefits of a
focial life. Nimrod formed a kingdom at Babel, and ſoon
after him Afhur formed one in Affyria, Mizraim in Egypt,
and there were kingdoms in Canaan, Philiſtia, and in diverſe
other places. Abraham was under the direction of an ex-
traordinary providence, which led him not to be king of
any country; but we find that he had got together under
his direction a numerous family; fo that he could at any
time form a force of three or four hundred men, to defend
himſelf, or offend his enemies. Ægialeus raiſed a kingdom
at Sicyon, Inachus at Argos, and diverfe other perfons in
other different parts of the world; but the moſt ancient po-
lity was that which was eſtabliſhed by Noah, in the coun-
tries near to which he lived, and which his children planted
about the time or before the men that travelled to Shinaar
left him.
Noah, as has been faid, came out of the ark in the parts
near to India; and the profane hiftorians inform us, that a
perſon, whom they call Bacchus, was the founder of the po-
lity of theſe nations. He came, they fay, into India, before
there were any cities built in that country, or any armies or
bodies of men fufficient to oppofe him; a circumftance,
which, duly confidered, will prove to us, that whoever this
perſon was, he came into India before the days of Ninus :
for when Ninus, and after him Semiramis, made attempts
upon theſe countries, they found them fo well difciplined
P Vol. I. B. ii.
9 Diodor. Sic. lib. ii. §. 38.
♪ Id. ibid. p. 123. edit. Rhodoman.
and
Book VI.
and Profane History:
289
and ſettled, as to be abundantly able to defend themſelves,
and to repel all attacks that could be made upon them.
I am fenfible, that fome writers have imagined the time of
Bacchus's coming to India to be much later than Ninus;
but then it muſt be obſerved, that they cannot mean by their
Bacchus the perfon here ſpoken of, who came into India
before there were any cities built, or kingdoms eſtabliſhed
in it; becauſe from the time of Ninus downwards, all writers
agree, that the Indians were in a well ordered ſtate and
condition, and did not want to be taught the arts, which
this Bacchus is ſaid to have ſpread amongſt them; nor were
they liable to be overrun by an army, in the way and man-
ner in which he is faid to have fubdued all before him.
And further; if we look over all the famous kings and
heroes celebrated by the heathen hiftorians, we can find no
one between the times of Ninus and Sefoftris, who can with
any fhew of reafon be imagined to have travelled into thefe
eaſtern nations, and performed any very remarkable actions
in them. Ninus, and after him Semiramis, attempted to
penetrate theſe countries, but they met with great repulfes
and obftructions; and we do not read, that the Affyrian or
Perſian empires were ever extended farther eaſt than Bactria;
fo that none of the kings of this empire can be the Bacchus.
fo famous in thefe eaftern kingdoms. If we look into Egypt,
they had no famous warriors before Sefoftris. Mizraim
and his fons peopled Egypt, Libya, Philiftia, and the bor-
dering countries, and they might probably be known in
Canaan and Phoenicia; but we have no reaſon to imagine,
that any of them made any expedition into India. The
Affyrian empire lay a barrier between Egypt and India;
and we have no hints either that the Affyrians conquered
India, or that the Egyptians before Sefoftris made any con-
queſts in Afia, or paffed through Affyria into the more eaſt-
ern nations.
It may perhaps be here faid, that Sefoftris was Bacchus,
who conquered the Eaft, and founded the Indian polity :
but to this I anfwer; 1. India was not in fo low and un-
$ See Vol. 1. Book iv. Diodor. Sic.
b. ii. §. 6, 7, &c. Juftin. lib. i.
VOL. I.
• Diodor. lib. i. §. 52, 53.
T-T
fettled
290
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
ſettled a ſtate in the time of Seſoftris, as it is deſcribed to have
been in when this Bacchus came into it; for, as I before
remarked, theſe nations were powerful in the days of Ninus,
and fo they continued until Alexander the Great; and it is
remarkable, that even he met a more confiderable oppoſition
from Porus a king of this country, than any that had been
made to his victorious arms by the whole Perſian empire.
2. All the writers, that have offered any thing about Bac-
chus and Sefoftris, are expreſs in fuppofing then to be dif-
ferent perfons. Diodorus Siculus " refutes at large a miſtake
of the Greeks, who imagined the famous Bacchus to be the
fon of Jupiter and Semele; and intimates how and upon
what foundation Orpheus and the poets that followed him
led them into this error. And though there were perfons
in after-ages called Bacchus, Hercules, and by other cele-
brated names, he juſtly obſerves, that the heroes firſt called
fo lived in the firft ages of the world. As to Sefoftris, the
ſame writer, after he has brought down the hiftory of Egypt
from Menes to Myris, then he fuppofes Sefoftris to be
ſeven generations later than Myris, which makes him by far
too modern to be conceived to be the Bacchus, who lived,
according to his opinion, in the firft ages of the world. But,
3. Sefoftris cannot be the Indian Bacchus, becauſe Seſoftris
never came into India at all. Diodorus indeed fays, that
Sefoftris paffed over the Ganges, and conquered all India as
far as to the ocean; but he muſt have been miſtaken in this
particular. Herodotus has given a very particular account
of Seſoftris's expeditions 2, and it does not appear from him
that he went further eaſt than Bactria; there he turned afide
to the Scythians, and, extending his conquefts over their do-
minions, he returned into Afia at the river Phafis, a river
which runs into the Euxine fea. And this account agrees
perfectly well with the reafon which the prieſt of Vulcan
gave for not admitting the ftatue of Darius to take place of
the ſtatue of Sefoftris; becaufe, he faid, Sefoftris had been
u Lib. i. §. 23. p. 20. edit. Rhodo-
man.
* Κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς γένεσιν ἀνθρώ
Id. ibid. §. 24.
πων.
y Id. p. 35. §. 55-
z Id. p. 35.
a Lib. ii. c. 103.
b Herodot, lib. ii. c. 110.
maſter
Book VI.
291
and Profane Hiftory.
maſter of more nations than Darius, having fubdued not
only all the kingdoms ſubject to Darius, but the Scythians
befides. India was no part of the Perfian empire; and there-
fore, had Seſoſtris conquered India, here would have been
another confiderable addition to his glory, and the prieſt of
Vulcan would have mentioned this, as well as Scythia, as an
inftance of his exceeding the power and dominion of Darius;
but the truth was, neither Darius nor Sefoftris had ever ſub-
jugated India; for, as Juftin remarks, Semiramis and Alex-
ander the Great were the only two perfons that entered this
country. The accounts of the victories of Sefoftris given
by Manetho, both in the Chronicon of Eufebius, and in
Jofephus, agree very well with Herodotus, and confine hist
expeditions to Europe and Afia, and make no mention of his
entering India; and to this agree all the accounts we have
of the feveral pillars erected by him in memory of his con-
queſts; they were found in every country where he had
been f; but we have no account of any fuch monuments of
him in India. Ctefias perhaps might imagine he had been
in this country, and from him Diodorus might have it; but
though Ctefias's Affyrian hiſtory has by the beſt writers been
thought worthy of credit, yet his accounts of India were
not fo well wrote, but were full of fiction and miſtakes 5.
It appears from what all other writers have offered about
Sefoftris ", that he never was in India, and therefore he can-
not be the perſon that firſt ſettled the polity of theſe king-
doms.
It may perhaps be thought more difficult to fay who this
Indian Bacchus was, than to prove that Seſoftris was not the
perfon. The ancient writers have made almoſt an endleſs
confufion, by the variety of names which they fometimes.
give to one perfon, and by fometimes calling various perfons.
by one and the fame name.
c Juftin. lib. i. c. z. Indiæ bellum
intulit; quo præter illam et Alexan-
drum nemo intravit.
d Chronic. p. 15.
e Contra Apion. 1. i. §. 15.
f Herodot. ubi fup.
Hen. Steph. de Ctefia Difquifit.
Diodorus Siculus was fenfible
h I have followed the common ac-
counts that are given of Sefoftris,
though I fhall have occafion here-
after to remark how far they go be-
yond what is true: Sefoftris was not
fo great a conqueror as he is repre-
fented.
น 2
of
292
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
of the many difficulties occafioned hereby, when he was to
treat of the Egyptian gods. There have been ſeveral per-
fons called by the name of Bacchus, at leaſt one in India,
one in Egypt, and one in Greece; but we muſt not confound
them one with the other, eſpecially when we have remark-
able hints by which we may fufficiently diftinguiſh them.
For, 1. The Indian Bacchus was the firſt and moſt ancient of
all that bore that name *. 2. He was the firſt that preffed
the grape, and made wine. 3. He lived in theſe parts be-
fore there were any cities in India". 4. They fay he was
twice born, and that he was nouriſhed in the thigh of Jupiter.
Theſe are the particulars which the heathen writers give us
of the Indian Bacchus, and from all thefe hints it muft un-
queſtionably appear that he was Noah, and no other. Noah,
being the first man in the poſtdiluvian world, lived early
enough to be the most ancient Bacchus; and Noah, accord-
ing to Mofes ", was the firft that made wine. Noah lived
in theſe parts as foon as he came out of the ark, earlier than
there were any cities built in India; and as to the laſt cir-
cumſtance of Bacchus being twice born, and brought forth
out of the thigh of Jupiter, Diodorus gives us an unexpected
light into the true meaning of this tradition; he ſays,
"That Bacchus was faid to be twice born, becauſe in Deu-
"calion's flood he was thought to have perifhed with the
"reft of the world; but God brought him again, as by a fe-
"cond nativity, into the fight of men, and they ſay mytho-
"logically, that he came out of the thigh of Jupiter."
This feems very probable to have been the ancient Indian
tradition, in order to perpetuate the memory of Noah's pre-
fervation; and Diodorus, or the writers he took it from,
have corrupted it but very little. Deucalion's flood is a weſt-
ern expreffion; the Greeks indeed called the ancient flood, of
1 Lib. i. §. 24. p. 21.
k Id. lib. iii. §. 63. p. 197. edit.
Rhodoman.
1 Id. lib. iv. §. 4.
m Id. lib. ii. §. 37.
n Gen. ix. 20.
* Δίς δ᾽ αὐτῷ τὴν γένεσιν ἐκ Διὸς παρα
διδόσθαι, διὰ τὸ δοκῶν μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων
ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὸν Δευκαλίωνα κατακλυσμῷ
φθαρῆναι καὶ τότες τὰς καρπὸς, καὶ μετὰ
τὴν ἐπομβρίαν πάλιν ἀναφθέντας, ώσπερε
δευτέραν ἐπιφάνειαν ταύτην ὑπάρξαι το
Θες παρ' ἀνθρώποις, καθ᾽ ἣν ἐκ τῶ Διὸς
μηρᾶ γενέσθαι πάλιν τὸν Θεὸν τὸ τον με
Dokoyari. Diodor. 1. iii. §. 62. p. 196.
which
Book VI.
293
and Profane Hiſtory.
f
which they had ſome imperfect traditions, fometimes Ogyges's
flood, and ſometimes Deucalion's; but I cannot think that
the name of Deucalion was ever in the ancient Indian an-
tiquities; and the tradition itſelf, not being underſtood by
the Greeks, is applied to Bacchus's vine, inftead of to him-
ſelf for it was not the vine more than any other tree, but
the vine-planter, who was fo wonderfully preſerved, as is
hinted by this mythological tradition. I dare fay I need
offer no more upon this particular; any one, that impartially
weighs what I have already put together, will admit that
Noah was the Indian Bacchus ; and that the heathen
writers had at firft fhort hints or memoirs, that after the de-
luge he came out of the ark in the place I have formerly
hinted near to India; that he lived and died in theſe countries,
and that his name was famous amongſt his pofterity, for the
miany uſeful arts he taught them, and inftructions he gave
them, for their providing and ufing the conveniences of life;
though we now have in the remains of theſe writers little
more than this and a few other fabulous relations about him.
As to the particular which Diodorus mentions, that Bacchus
went out of the Weft into India with an army, this is a fic-
tion of fome weſtern writer: no weſtern king or army ever
conquered India before Alexander the Great; Semiramis
only made fome unfuccefsful attempts towards it. And it
is remarkable, that Diodorus himſelf was not affured of the
truth of this fact; for he exprefsly informs us, that though
the Egyptians contended that this Bacchus was a native of
their country, yet the Indians, who ought to be allowed to
know their own hiftory beft, denied it, and afferted as pofi-
tively, that Bacchus was originally of their country; and
that having invented and contrived the culture of the vine,
he communicated the knowledge of the ufe of wine to the
inhabitants of the other parts of the world.
Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood,
and died about the time that Abraham was born. He began
to be an huſbandman and planted a vineyard foon after the
flood; he was the firft that obtained men leave to eat the
P Diodorus, lib. iv. §. 1. p. 210.
9 Gen. ix. 29.
U 3
r Ver. 20.
living
294
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
living creatures; and by teaching this, and putting his chil-
dren upon the ſtudy and practice of planting and agriculture,
he laid the firft foundations for raising a plentiful main-
tenance for great numbers of people in the ſeveral parts of
the world. It is very probable that men, whilft they were
but few, lived a ranging and unfettled life, moving up and
down, killing fuch of the wild beafts of the field, or fowls of
the air, as they had a mind to for food, or as came in their
way; and gathering fuch fruits of the earth, as the wild
trees or uncultivated fields fpontaneouſly offered them'.
But when mankind came to multiply, this courſe of life muft
grow very inconvenient; and therefore Noah, as his chil-
dren increaſed, taught them how to live a fettled life, and,
by tilling the ground, increaſe the quantity of provifion,
which the earth was capable of producing, and hereby to be
able to live comfortably, and without breaking in upon one
another's plenty. At what particular time Noah put his
children upon forming civil focieties, we cannot certainly
fay; but I ſhould imagine that it might be about the time
that the perfons who travelled to Shinaar" left him; and
that they left him, becauſe they were not willing to
come into the meaſures, and fubmit to the appointments,
which he made for thofe who remained with him. Thefe
men perhaps thought, that the neceffity of tilling the ground
was occafioned only by their living too many too near to one
another; and that, if they ſeparated and travelled, the earth
was ſtill capable of affording them fufficient nourishment,
without the labour of tilth and culture; and this notion
very probably brought them to Shinaar.
Diodorus Siculus has given us ſuch an account of the an-
cient Indian polity, as may lead us to conjecture what ſteps
Noah directed his children to take, in order to form nations
and kingdoms *; and the Chineſe kingdom feems to ſtand
upon theſe foundations even to this day, being, as they
Gen. ix. See Vol. 1. B. ii.
↑ See Ovid. Metam. fab. 3.
Contentique cibis nullo cogente cre-
atis,
Arbuteos fœtus, montanaque fraga le-
gebant,
Cornaque et in duris hærentia mora
rubetis;
Et quæ deciderant patula Jovis arbore
glandes.
u See B. ii.
x Lib. ii.
themſelves
Book VI.
295
and Profane Hiftory.
themſelves report, little different now from what it was
wher. framed by their legiſlators, as they compute, above four
thouſand years ago. The ancient writers called all the moſt
eaſtern nations by the name of India: they reputed India to
be the largeſt of all the nations in the world, nay as large
as all Afia befides 2; fo that they took under that name a
much larger tract than what is now called India, moſt pro-
bably all India, and what we now call China; for they
extended it eaſtward to the Eaſtern Sea³, not meaning hereby
what modern geographers call the Eaſtern Indian Ocean, but
rather the great Indian Ocean, which waſhes upon the Phi-
lippine ifles. The ancients had no exact knowledge of theſe
parts of the world, but imagined the land to run in fome
parts further eaſt than it is now ſuppoſed to do, and in others
not ſo far; but ftill as they all agreed to bound the earth
every where with waters, according to Ovid,
Circumfluus humor
Ultima poffedit, folidumque coercuit orbem,
fo their Mare Eoum, or Eaſtern Sea, was that which termi-
nated the extreme eaftern countries, however imperfect a
notion they had of their true fituation; and all the countries
from Bactria up to this Eaſtern Ocean were their India. And
though the ancient antiquities of the countries we now call
India are quite loft or defaced, yet it is remarkable, that if
we go further eaft into China, to which fo many incurfions
of the more weſtern kingdoms and conquerors have not fo
frequently reached, or ſo much affected, we find great re-
mains of what Diodorus calls the ancient Indian polity, and
which ſeems very likely to have been derived from the ap-
pointments of Noah to his children: but let us enquire
what is moſt probable theſe appointments were. And
The Indians are divided into feven different orders or forts
of men: their firft legiflator confidered what employments
were neceffary to be undertaken and cultivated for the pub-
lic welfare, and he appointed feveral fets or orders of men,
that each art or employment might be duly taken care of,
y Strabo, lib. ii.
2 Strabo, lib. xv.
U 4
a Id. lib. ii. ubi ſup.
by
296
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
by thoſe whofe proper bufinefs it was to employ themſelves
in it. And, I. Some were appointed to be philofophers, and
to ſtudy aftronomy. In the ancient times, men had no way
of knowing when to fow or till their grounds, but by ob-
ferving the riſing and ſetting of particular ſtars; for they had
no calendar for many ages, nor had they divided the year
into a fet of months; but the lights of heaven were, as Mofes
fpeaks, forfigns to them, and for ſeaſons, and for days, and for
years. They by degrees found by experience, that when
fuch or fuch ſtars appeared, then the feafons for the ſeveral
parts of tillage were come, and therefore found it very ne-
ceſſary to make the beſt obſervations they could of the hea-
vens, in order to cultivate the earth, fo as that they might
expect the fruits of it in due feaſon. That this was indeed
the way which the ancients took to find out the proper fea-
fons for the feveral parts of the huſbandman's employments,
is evident both from Hefiod and Virgil. The ſeaſons of the
year were pretty well fettled before Hefiod's time, much
better before Virgil's, as may appear from Hefiod's mention-
ing the ſeveral ſeaſons of ſpring, fummer, and winter, and
the names of fome particular months; but both theſe poets
have given feveral ſpecimens of the ancient directions for
fowing and tillage, which men at firft were not directed to
perform in this or that month, or ſeaſon of the year; for
theſe were not fo early obferved or fettled, but upon the
rifing or ſetting of particular ſtars. Thus Hefiod adviſes to
reap and plough by the rifing and ſetting of the Pleiades, to
cut wood by the Dog-ſtard, and to prune vines by the rifing of
Arcturus. And thus Virgil lays it down for a general rule,
that it was as neceffary for the countryman to obferve the ſtars,
as for the failor, and gives various directions for huſbandry
and tillage in the ancient way, forming rules for the times of
performing the feveral parts of huſbandry from the lights of
heaven. Men could have but little notion of the ſeaſons of
the year, whilft they did not know what the true length of
the year was; or at least, they muſt after a few years revo-
Gen. i.
• Hetiod. "Egywv xaì 'Hµspãv lib. ii.
d Id. ibid.
© Virgil. Georgic. lib. i.
lutions
Book VI.
297
and Profane Hiflory.
f
Jutions be led into great miftakes about them. About a
thousand years paffed after the flood, before the moſt accu-
rate obſervers of the ſtars in any nation came to be able to
guefs at the true length of the year, without miſtaking
above five days in the length of it; and in fome nations
they mistook more, and found out their miſtake later. And
it is eaſy to ſee what fatal mifmanagements ſuch an igno-
rance as this would in fix or eight years time introduce into
our agriculture, if we really thought fummer and winter to
come about five or fix days ſooner every year than their real
revolutions. And I cannot but think, that the firſt at-
tempters to till the ground muſt make their attempts with
great uncertainties, and perhaps occafion many of the fa-
mines which we read were fo frequent in the ancient times,
by their being not well appriſed of the true courſe of the
ſeaſons, and therefore tilling and ſowing in unſeaſonable
times, and in an improper manner. They in a little time
obferved, that the ftars appeared to them to be in different
pofitions at different times; and, by trying experiments, they
came to guefs under what ftar, as I might ſpeak it, this or
that grain was to be fown and reaped; and fo by degrees fixed
good rules for their Geoponics, before they attained a juſt
and adequate notion of the revolution of the year but then
it is obvious to be remarked, that any one that could give
inftructions in this matter muſt be highly eſteemed, being
moſt importantly uſeful in every kingdom. And fince no
one could be able to give theſe inftructions, unleſs he ſpent
much time in carefully making all forts of obſervations; the
beſt that could be made at firſt being but very imperfect; it
ſeems highly reaſonable that every king ſhould ſet apart and
encourage a number of diligent ftudents, to cultivate thefe
ſtudies with all poffible induftry; and, agreeably hereto,
they paid great honours to theſe aftronomers in Egypt, and
at Babylon, and in every other country where tillage was
attempted with any prudence or fuccefs. Noah muft be
well appriſed of the uſefulneſs of this ſtudy, having lived fix
hundred years before the flood, and he was, without doubt,
f Pref. to Vol. I.
well
298
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
well acquainted with all the arts of life that had been in-
vented in the firft world, and this of obferving the ftars had
been one of them; fo that he could not only apprife his chil-
dren of the neceffity of, but alſo put them into ſome me-
thod of profecuting, theſe ſtudies.
Another fet of men were to make it their whole buſineſs
to till the ground; and a third fort to keep and order the
cattle, to chafe and kill fuch of the beafts as would be
noxious to mankind, or deſtroy the tillage, and incommode
the huſbandman; and to take, and tame, and paſture fuch
as might be proper for food or fervice. A fourth fet of
men were appointed to be artificers, to employ themſelves in
making all forts of weapons for war, and inftruments for the
tillage, and to ſupply the whole community in general with
all utenfils and furniture. A fifth fet were appointed for the
art of war, to exercife themſelves in armis, to be always
ready to ſuppreſs inteftine tumults and diſorders, or to repel
foreign invafions and attacks, whenever ordered for either
fervice; and this their ftanding force was very numerous,
for it was almoſt equal to the number of the tillers of the
ground. A fixth fort were the Ephori, or overſeers of the
kingdom, a ſet of perfons employed to go over every part of
the king's dominions, examining the affairs and manage-
ment of the ſubjects, in order to report what might be amifs,
that proper meafures might be taken to correct and amend
it. And lastly, they had a fet of the wiſeſt perſons to affiſt
the king as his council, and to be employed either as ma-
giſtrates or officers to command his armies, or in governing
and diftributing juftice amongst his people. The ancient
Indians were, as Diodorus tells us, divided into thefe feven
different orders or ſorts of men; and the Chineſe polity, ac-
cording to the beſt accounts we have of it, varies but little
in ſubſtance from theſe inſtitutions; and, according to Le
Compte, it was much the fame when firft fettled as it is now,
and therefore very probably Noah formed fuch a plan as this
for the first kingdoms. The Chineſe fay, that Fohi their firft
king reigned over them one hundred and fifteen years; fo
that fuppofing Noah to be this Fohi, Noah began to reign
3 See Vol. I. B. ii.
in
Book VI.
299
and Profane Hiftory.
in China one hundred and fifteen years before his death, i. e.
A. M. 1891, for Noah was born A. M. 1056¹, and he lived
nine hundred and fifty years; fo that, according to this ac-
count, we may well allow the truth of what they fay, that
their government was firſt ſettled about four thousand years
ago. If we begin the Chriftian æra with Archbishop Ufher,
A. M. 4004, this prefent year 1727 will be A. M. 5731;
and the interval between this year and that in which Noah
first reigned in China is three thoufand eight hundred and
forty years but we are not to fuppofe that Noah began the
firft kingdom which he erected in China. He came out of
the ark three hundred and fifty years before his death *; he
fettled in China but one hundred and fifteen, and it is moſt
probable to imagine, that he did in theſe countries as Miz-
raim in Egypt. He directed his children in forming fo-
cieties, firſt in one place, and then in another; and he might
begin in countries not fo far eaſt as China, about the time
that part of his defcendants removed weftward towards Shi-
naar, about A. M. 1736. And if we date the rife of the
kingdoms founded by Noah about this time, it will in truth
be very near four thouſand years ago; fo that there ſeems to
be in the main but very little miſtake in the Chineſe ac-
counts; they only report things done by Noah before he
was, ſtrictly ſpeaking, their king, but hardly before he had
performed thoſe very things in places adjacent and bordering
upon them. There are fome remarks that ſhould be added,
before I difmifs this account of the plan, upon which it
ſeems ſo probable, that Noah erected the firſt kingdoms.
And,
m
1. The king in theſe nations had the fole property of all
the lands in the kingdom. All the land, fays Diodorus ™,
was the king's, and the huſbandmen paid rent for their lands
to the king, της χώρας μισθὲς τελᾶσι τῷ βασιλε; and he adds fur-
ther, that no private perſon could be the owner of any land ;
and even fill the lands in China" are held by foccage, and
h Vol. I. B. i.
Gen. ix. 29.
k Ib. ver. 28.
1 See Vol. I. B. ii.
m Lib. ii. §. 39. p. 88. ed. Rhodo-
man.
n Le Compte, p. 248. ed. 1697.
the
300
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
:
}
the perfons that have the uſe of them pay duties and con-
tributions for them; and thefe began very early, or rather
were at first appointed: for, 2. According to Diodorus, over
and above the rent, the ancient Indians paid a fourth part of
the product of their grounds to the king, and with the in-
come arifing hence, the king maintained the foldiers, the ma-
giftrates, the officers, the ftudents of aftronomy, and the arti-
ficers that were employed for the public°: the ground-rent, as
I might call it, of the lands, feems to have been the king's
patrimony, the additional or tax-income was appointed for
the public fervice. 3. They had a law againſt flavery P;
no perſon amongst them could abfolutely loſe his freedom, and
become a bondínan. Many of the heathen writers thought,
that this was an original inftitution in the firſt laws of man-
kind. Lucian fays, that there was fuch an appointment in
the days of Saturn, i. e. in the first ages; and Athenæus
obferves, that the Babylonians, Perfians, as well as the
Greeks, and diverfe other nations, celebrated annually a
fort of Saturnalia, or feafts inftituted most probably in com-
memoration of the original ſtate of freedom which men lived
in before fervitude was introduced; and as Mofes revived
feveral of Noah's inftitutions, fo there are appointments in
the law to preferve the freedom of the Ifraelites . 4. We
do not find any national prieſts appointed in the original in-
ftitutions of thefe nations. This I think a very remarkable
particular; becauſe we have early mention of the prieſts in
the accounts we have of many other nations. In Egypt they
were an order of the firft rank, and had a confiderable ſhare
of the lands in the time of Jofeph; according to Diodorus,
they had the third part of the whole land of Egypt fettled
upon them'. Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus has given us the
inftitutions of Romulus and of Numa, for the eſtabliſhing
the Roman pricfthood"; and in the times of Plato and Ari-
ftotle, though the political writers were not unanimous
• Diodor. Sic. ubi fup.
P Diod. lib. ii. §. 39. p. 88. ed. Rhod.
Νενομοθέτηται παρ' αὐτοῖς δῆλον μηδένα τὸ
παράπαν εἶναι.
q Lucian. in Saturnal.
Athenæus Deipnof. 1. xiv. p. 639.
ed. Dalechamp. 1612.
• Leviticus xxv. et in loc. al.
t Diodor. Sic. lib. i. §. 73. p. 47. ed.
Rhod.
"Lib. ii. Rom. Antiq.
* De Repub. 1. vii. c. 8. ed. If.
Cauf. Lugd. 1590.
how
Book VI.
301
and Profane Hiflory.
how they were to be created, yet they were agreed, that an
eſtabliſhed priesthood was neceſſary in every ftate or king-
dom but the ancient Indians, according to Diodorus, had
originally no fuch order. Diodorus does indeed fay, that
the philofophers were fent for by private perfons of their
acquaintance to their facrifices and funerals, being eſteem-
ed as perfons much in the favour of the gods, and of great
ſkill in the ceremonies to be performed on fuch occafions':
but it is to be obferved, that they were fent for, not as
prieits to facrifice, but as learned and good men, able to in-
ſtruct the common unlearned people how to pay their wor-
fhip to the Deity in the beft manner; and therefore Diodorus
justly diftinguiſhes and calls the part they performed on theſe
occafions, not λarepyía, which would have been the proper
term had they been priefts for the people, but inɛpyiz, be-
cauſe they only affifted them on theſe occafions 2. It will
be aſked, how came thefe nations to have no national priefts
appointed, as there were in fome other kingdoms? I anſwer;
God originally appointed who fhould be the prieſt to every
family, or to any number of families when aſſembled together,
namely, the firſt-born or eldeſt ª; and as no man could juftly
take this honour to himself, but he that was called of or appoint-
ed by God to it; and as God gave no further directions in
this matter, until he appointed the priesthood of Aaron for
the children of Ifrael; fo Noah had no authority to make
conſtitutions in this matter, but was himſelf the prieſt to all
his children, and each of his fons to their refpective families.
in the fame manner as before civil focieties were erected;
and this, I think, muft have been the true reafon for their
having no eſtabliſhed priests originally in theſe nations: and
from this circumftance, as well as from thoſe before men-
tioned, I ſhould imagine, 5. That civil government was in
theſe kingdoms built upon the foundation of paternal autho-
rity. Noah was the father, the prieſt, and became the king
of all his people; an eafy tranfition; for who could poffibly
y Lib. ii. §. 39. p. 125. His words
are, οἱ φιλόσοφοι παραλαμβάνονται ὑπὸ
τῶν ἰδίων εἰς τε τὰς ἐν τῷ βίω θυσίας καὶ
εἰς τὰς τῶν τετελευτηκότων ἐπιμελείως,
Ág. Qera J Sycóres mporfikisama., xai Tişi
ว
τῶν ἐν῎Α δε μάλιτα ἐμπείρως ἔχοντες,
2 Diodor. Sic, ibid.
• See Vol. I. B. v. p. 177.
• Hebrews v. 4.
have
302
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
have authority to fet up against him? nor is it likely that
his children who continued with him ſhould not readily
obey his orders, and fort themſelves into the political life
according to his appointments. At his death the priesthood
defcended to the eldeft fon, and the rule and authority of
civil governor came along with it; for how fhould it well be
otherwife? Something extraordinary muft happen before any
particular perfon would attempt to fet himſelf above one, to
whom his religion had in ſome meaſure ſubjected him; and
therefore the eldeſt ſon at the father's death being the only
perſon that could of right be prieſt to his brethren and their
children, unto him only must be their defire; and he muſt be
the only perſon that could without difficulties and oppofitions
rule over them. This method of erecting governments is fo
eaſy and natural, that fome very learned writers have not
been able to conceive that civil government could poffibly
be raiſed upon any other foundation; but there will appear
the moſt convincing evidences againſt their opinion, when
we come to examine the kingdoms erected by the men who
lived at, and diſperſed from, the land of Shinaar. It is na-
tural to think, that Noah formed his children that lived
under him in this method. And if Noah had indeed divided
the world to his three fons, as fome writers have without
any reaſon imagined, giving Afric to Ham, Europe to Japhet,
and placing Shem in Afia, no doubt but he would have in-
ftructed them to have kept to this method all the world
over. But how can we imagine that Noah ever thought of
making any other diviſion of the world, than only to direct
his children to remove and ſeparate from one another, when
they found living together grew inconvenient? He fhewed
them a method by which many families might join, and make
their numbers of uſe and ſervice to the whole community; but
fuch as would not come into his directions took their way,
and travelled to a place far diftant, and afterward came to
fettlements upon different maxims, and at different times,
as accidental circumftances directed and contributed to it.
But, 6. The fuppofing Noah to have founded the eaſtern
kingdoms of India and China upon the model I have men-
tioned, gives a full and clear account, how theſe nations.
came
+
Book VI.
303
and Profane Hiftory.
came to be fo potent, and able to refift all attacks that could
be made upon them, as Ninus and Semiramis experienced,
when they attempted to invade and overrun them. If
Noah appointed a foldiery in each of theſe kingdoms almoſt
as numerous as their huſbandmen, and they began to form
and exerciſe themſelves fo early as about A. M. 1736; fince
it appears that Ninus did not invade Bactria and India until
almoſt three hundred years after this time, theſe nations muſt,
before he invaded them, have become very confiderable for
their military ſtrength, far ſuperior to any armies that could
come from Shinaar. 7. The ſuppoſing theſe kingdoms to
differ at preſent in their conftitution but very little from
what they were at their firft fettlement, is very confiftent
with the accounts we have of their preſent letters and lan-
guage. In both theſe they ſeem to have made very little or
no improvement, but have adhered very ſtrictly to their
firſt rudiments; and why may they not very juſtly be ſup-
poſed to have been equally tenacious of their original fettle-
ment and conftitution? But let us now come to the nations
and governors which arofe from and in the land of Shi-
naar.
Nimrod was the firft of them. Polybius has conjectured,
that the first kings in the world obtained their dominion by
their being fuperior to all others in ftrength and courage;
and this very evidently appears to have been the foundation
of Nimrod's authority. He was a mighty hunter, and from
hence he began to be a mighty one in the earth. When the
confufion of tongues had determined the builders of Babel
to ſeparate, they muſt have known it to be neceffary for them
not to break into too little companies, for if they had, the
wild beafts would have been too hard for them. Plato ima-
gines, that mankind in the firft ages lived up and down, one
here and another there, until the fear of the wild beaſts
compelled them to unite in bodies for their preſervation
• See Vol. I. B. iv.
d See Vol. I. B. ii. p. 73. B. iv.
P. 144, 145.
Polybius, lib. vi. §. 3.
f Gen. x. 8, 9.
8 Οὕτω δὲ παρεσκευασμένοι οἱ κατ' άρ
་
χὰς ἄνθρωποι, ᾤκων σποράδην, πόλεις δὲ
ἐκ ἦσαν ἀπώλλυντο ἦν ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων
διὰ τὸ πανταχῆ αὐτῶν ἀσθενέτεροι εἶναι ἡ
δημιεργική τέχνη αὐτοῖς πρὸς μὲν τροφὴν
ἱκανὴ βοηθὸς ἦν, πρὸς δὲ τὸν τῶν θηρίων
Tóλsμer i›dsns. Plato. in Protag. p. 224.
This
304
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
This does not ſeem to have been true in fact; for mankind
always from the beginning lived in fome fort of companies;
and the beafts, which in time became wild and ravenous, do
not appear at firſt to have been fo; or at leaſt not knowing
the ſtrength of man, they were not fo ready to affault him:
but the fear of man, and the dread of man was upon them þ.
And mankind, in the ages before the flood, tamed them, or
reduced them to a great degree, as is evident both from
Noah's being able to get of all forts of living creatures into
his ark, and from his ark's being capable of containing fome
of every kind and fpecies of them. But after the flood,
near an hundred years had paffed before any human inha-
bitant had come to dwell in theſe countries, and the beaſts
that might have roved hither had had time to multiply to
great numbers, and to contract a wild and favage nature, and
prodigious fiercenefs; fo that it could not be fafe for fingle
individuals, or very fmall companies of men, to hazard them-
felves amongst them. But Nimrod fhewed his followers
how they might attempt to conquer and reduce them; and
being a man of ſuperior ſtrength as well as courage, it was
as natural for the reſt of the company to follow him as their
captain or leader, as it is, to uſe Polybius's compariſon, for
the herds of cattle to follow the ftouteft and ſtrongeſt in
the herd. And when Nimrod was thus become their cap-
tain, he quickly became their judge in all debates which
might ariſe, and their ruler and director in all the affairs and
offices of civil life *. Nimrod in a little time turned his
thoughts from hunting to building cities, and endeavoured
to inſtruct thoſe, who had put themſelves under him, in the
beſt and moſt commodious ways of living: but whoever
confiders what age he could be of when he began to be a
ruler m, and the hint which Mofes gives of his hunting, muft
think it most reaſonable to found his dominion upon his
ſtrength and valour, which certainly gave the firſt riſe to it.
h Gen. ix. 2.
i Lib, vi. §. 3.
κι Ὅταν ὁ προεσὼς καὶ τὴν μεγίσην δύο
ναμιν ἔχων ἀεὶ συνεπισχύη τοῖς προειρη
μένοις κατὰ τὰς τῶν πολλῶν διαλέξεις, καὶ
δόξῃ τοῖς ὑποταττομένοις διανεμητικός είναι
τα κατ᾽ ἀξίαν ἑκάσοις· ἐκ ἔτι τὴν βίαν διο
διότες, τῇ δὲ γνώμῃ εὐδοκῶντες ὑποτάτον
ται, καὶ συσσώζεσι τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτῇ.
Polyb. Hiftor. 1. vi. §. 4.
1 See Vol. I. B. iv.
m Ibid. p. 113.
In
Book VI.
305
and Profane Hiftory.
In the early ages largeneſs of ſtature and prodigious ſtrength
were the moſt engaging qualifications to raiſe men to be
kings and commanders. We read in Ariftotle", that the Ethi-
opians anciently choſe perſons of the largeſt ſtature to be their
kings; and though Saul was made king of Ifrael by the
fpecial appointment of God, yet it appears to have been a
circumftance not inconfiderable in the eyes of his people,
that he was a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was
not among the children of Ifrael a goodlier perſon than be: from
his ſhoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
Polybius remarks, that whenever experience convinced them
that other qualifications befides ftrength and a warlike dif-
pofition were neceffary for the people's happineſs, then they
choſe perſons of the greateſt prudence and wiſdom for their
governors P; and this feems to have been fact in the land of
Shinaar, when Nimrod died, and Belus was made king after
his deceaſe 9,
All the kingdoms that were raiſed by the men of Shinaar
were not built upon this foundation. Nimrod began as a
captain, and his fubjects were at firft only foldiers under
him; but it is probable, that ſome other focieties began in
the order of maſters and fervants. Some wife and under-
ſtanding men, who knew how to contrive methods to till
and cultivate the ground, to manage cattle, and to prune
and plant fruit-trees, and preſerve and uſe the fruits, took
into their families and promiſed to provide for ſuch as would
become their fervants, and be fubject to their directions.
Servitude is very juftly defined by the Civilians to be a ſtate
of ſubjection contra naturam', very different from and con-
trary to the natural rights of mankind; and they endeavour
to qualify the affertion of Ariſtotle, who thought that ſome
perfons were by nature defigned for fervitude. The eſtabliſhed
politics of all nations that Ariftotle was acquainted with
could hardly fail of biaffing him into this opinion. We have
now a truer ſenſe of things than to think that God has made
n Ariftot. de Repub. 1. iv. c. 4-
1 Sam. ix. 2.
P Polyb. lib. vi. c. 5.
VOL. I.
X
9 See Vol. I. Book iv. p. 116.
↑ Juftinian. Inftitut. lib. i. tit. 3.
Politic. lib. i. c. 5.
fome
306
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
ſome perfons to be the flaves and mere property of others.
God has indeed given to different men different abilities
both of mind and of body. Some are beft able by their
powers of mind to invent and contrive, and others more fit
to execute with ftrength thoſe defigns, which the directions.
of other people mark out and contrive for them. In this way
all mankind are made to be ferviceable to one another, and
that without abfolute dominion in fome, or ſlavery in others,
as is fully experienced in Chriſtian kingdoms. Buſbequius',
a very ingenious writer, queries much, whether the aboliſhing
fervitude has been advantageous to the public; but I cannot
think what he has faid for his opinion is at all conclufive.
The grandeur of particular perfons may be greater, where
they are ſurrounded with multitudes of flaves; but a com-
munity, which confifts of none but citizens, is in a better
capacity to procure and improve the advantages which ariſe
from government and fociety; fuch a body is, as I might
fay, politically alive in all its parts and members, and every
individual has a real intereſt of its own depending in the
public good as to all the inconveniences arising from, or
miſcarriages of, the low and vulgar people, not their liberty,
but an abuſe of it, is the cauſe of them, and they may be as
eafily taught to be good citizens in their ftations, as good
fervants. And this fenfe of things prevailed in the parts
where Noah fettled "; but his children, who left him and
travelled to Shinaar, quickly fell into other politics. At the
time of the confufion of tongues, they had practiſed or cul-
tivated but few of the arts of providing for the neceffaries of
life; they had travelled from Ararat to Shinaar, and en-
gaged in a wild project to but little purpoſe, of building a
tower, but not laid any wife fchemes for a fettled life; but
when they came to determine to till the earth, it naturally
offered, that thoſe who knew how to manage and direct in
ordering the ground, ſhould take under their care thoſe who
were not ſo ſkilful, and provide for them, employing them
t Epift. iii.
u Diodorus Siculus fays of the au-
cient Indians, that they every one took
care, ἐλεύθερον ὑπάρχοντα τὴν ἰσότητα
τιμᾶν ἐν πᾶσι τὸς γὰρ μαθόντας μήθ'
ὑπερέχειν μήθ' ὑποπίττειν ἄλλοις, κράτ
τισον ἕξειν βίον πρὸς ἁπάσας τὰς περισά
oes. Lib. ii. §. 39.
to
Book VI.
and Profane Hiftory.
307
to work under their directions. Hufbandry, in the early
days, before the ſeaſons were known, was, as I have faid,
very imperfect, and there were but few that can be fuppofed
to have had much fkill in it; fo that thofe who had, muft
every where have as many hands at their difpofal as they
knew how to employ, and quickly come to be attended
with a great number of fervants. It is very evident, that
the heads of Abraham's family acquired fervants in this
manner very early; for Abraham himſelf, though perhaps
the greateſt part of his father's houſe remained at Haran *,
and fome part were gone with Lot, before he had lived
half his life, was maſter of three hundred eighteen fer-
vants, nay they were [Chanikci]² trained ſervants, or brought
up to be warriors; probably he had many others befides
theſe, and all theſe were born in his houſe ª, and he had
others bought with his money; and thus it appears plainly
The
that fervitude arofe very early amongſt theſe men.
confufion of tongues broke all their meaſures of living to-
gether, and they had lived a wandering life, without cul-
tivating any uſeful arts to provide themfelves a livelihood;
and when they came to ſettle, the unfkilful multitude found
it their beſt way to take the courfe which Pofidonius the
Stoic mentions, to become voluntarily fervants to others,
obliging themſelves to be at their command, bargaining to
receive the neceffaries of life for it, ἔθελον δ' ἄνευ μισα παρ αὐτ
toîs nataµévav ènì σiríos, fays Eubulus; they knew not how
to provide themfelves food and raiment, and were therefore
defirous to ſubmit to maſters who could provide theſe things
for them. It was no eafy thing for men of little genius and
low parts to live independent in thoſe early days; and there-
fore multitudes of people thought it fafer to live under the
care and provifion of thoſe who knew how to manage, than
to fet up for themſelves; they thought like Chalinus in
Plautus, who would not part with the perfon promiſed him
in marriage, though he might have had his liberty for her;
x Gen. xi. 31.
y Gen. xiii,
2 Gen. xiv. 14.
a Ibid.
↳ Gen. xvii. 27.
c Grotius de Jure Belli et Pacis, lib.
ii. c. 5. §. 27
X 2
•
but
308
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
but replied to his mafter, Liber fi fim, meo periculo vivam,
nunc vivo tuo³: he was well contented with his condition;
a fecurity of having neceffaries was, in his opinion, a full re-
compence for all the inconveniences of a fervile ſtate. Many
families were raifed in this manner perhaps amongſt Nim-
rod's fubjects; and ſome of them, when they thought them-
felves in a condition for it, removed from under him, and
planted kingdoms in countries at a diſtance from him. Thus
Afhur went out of his land into Affyria, and with his fol-
lowers built cities there; and many other leading men, that
had never lived fubject to him, formed companies in this
manner, and planted them in places which they chofe to
fettle in. Abraham had a very numerous company before he
had a paternal right to govern any one perfon; for he was not
the eldeſt ſon of his father, nor was he the father of one
child, when he led his men to fight with the king of Elanr
and his confederates. And thus Efau, who had but five fons.
by his three wives, beſides fome daughters", though he did
not marry, nor attempt to fettle in the world until he was
forty years old, had, before he was an hundred, when he
went to meet Jacob in his return from Laban, a family fo
numerous, as to afford him four hundred men to attend him
upon any expedition; and with theſe and the increaſe of them
his children made themſelves dukes, and in time kings of
Edom*. And thus it is certain, that kingdoms were raiſed
from men of prudence and fagacity, taking and providing for
a number of fervants: fometimes a very potent kingdom, from
ſeveral of theſe families agreeing to fettle in it, under the di-
rection of him who had the fuperior family at the time of
their ſettlement, or was beft able to manage for the public
welfare; at other times one family became a kingdom, nay,
and ſometimes one family branched and divided itſelf into
ſeveral little nations; for thus there were twelve princes de-
fcended from Ishmael'. In all thefe cafes, the first mafters of
d Plautus Cafina, Act. ¡¡. Scen. 4.
Gen. x. II.
f Vol. I. B. v. p. 165.
* Gen. xiv.
Gen. xxxvi.
Gen. xxxiii. 1.
k Gen. xxxvi.
1 Gen. xvii. 2c. xxv. 16.
the
Book VI.
309
and Profane Hiftory.
the families began with a few fervants, increaſed them by
degrees, and in time their fervants grew too numerous to
be contained in one and the fame family with their maſters;
and when they did fo, their maſters appointed them a way
of
living, that ſhould not entirely free them from ſubjection, but
yet give them fome liberty and property of their own. Eu-
mæus in Homer, the keeper of Ulyffes's cattle, had a little
houſe, a wife and family, and perquifites, fo as to have where-
with to entertain a ftranger in a manner fuitable to the con-
dition of a fervant", whofe bufinefs was to manage his maf-
ter's cattle, and to fupply his table from the produce of them.
Tacitus" informs us, that the fervants of the ancient Germans
lived in this manner; they were not employed in domeftic
attendance, but had their feveral houfes and families, and the
owner of the ſubſtance committed to their care required from
them a quantity of corn, a number of cattle, or fuch clothing
or commodities as he had occafion for. At firſt a family
could wander like that of Abraham; but by degrees it muft
multiply to too great a bulk to be fo moveable or manage-
able, and then the mafter or head of it fuffered little families
to grow up within him, planting them here and there within
the extent of his poffeffions, and reaping from their labours
a large and plentiful provifion for his own domeſtics. In
time, when the number of theſe families increaſed, he would
want inſpectors or overfeers of his fervants in their feveral
employments, and by degrees the grandeur and wealth of
the mafter increaſed, and the privileges of the fervants grew
with it. Heads of families became kings, and their houfes,
together with the near habitations of their domeftics, became
cities; and their fervants, in their feveral occupations and
employments, became wealthy and confiderable fubjects; and
the inſpectors or overfeers of them became miniſters of ſtate,
and managers of the public affairs of kingdoms. If we con-
fider the ancient tenures of land in many nations, we ſhall
find abundant reaſon to imagine, that the property of ſub-
jects in diverſe kingdoms began from this original. Kings,
or planters of countries, employed their fervants to till the
n Lib. de moribus Germanorum.
m Odyff. I. xiv.
X 3
ground,
310
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
ground, and in time both the mafters and the fervants grew
rich and increaſed; the mafters gave away their lands to
their fervants, referving only to themfelves portions of the
product, or fome fervices of thofe that had the occupation;
and thus fervants became tenants, and tenants in time be-
came owners, and owners held their lands under various te-
nures, daily emerging into more and more liberty, and in
length of time getting quit of all the burthen, and even al-
most of the very marks of fervitude, which eftates were at
firft incumbered with. There may, I think, be many rea-
ſons offered, for thinking that the kingdom of Aſſyria, firſt
founded by Afhur, the kingdom of the Medes, and parti-
cularly that of Perfia, as well as other kingdoms, remarkably
fubject by their moft ancient conftitutions to defpotic autho-
rity, were at firſt raiſed upon theſe foundations. And per-
haps the kingdom of the Philiſtines, governed by Abimelech
in Abraham's time, was of the fame fort; for that king
ſeems to have had the property of all the land of Philiſtia,
when he gave Abraham leave to live where he would, and
Abimelech's fubjects feem every where to be called his fer-
vants P; and Abimelech's fear and concern about Abraham
was not upon account of his people, but of himſelf, and of
his fon, and of his fon's fon. In the days of Ifaac, when he
went into the land of the Philiftines to fojourn, about an hun-
dred years after the time that Abraham lived there, the Phi-
liftines feem from fervants to have become fubjects, in the
way I have before mentioned, and accordingly Mofes's ſtyle
of them is altered. The perfons, who in Abraham's time
were called Abimelech's fervants', were in Ifaac's time
called Abimelech's people', or the men of Gerar¹, or the
Philistines", or the herdsmen of Gerar*. In Abraham's time
the kingdom of Philiftia was in its infancy; in Iſaac's days
the king and his fervants with him were in a better condi-
tion y..
• Gen. xx. 15.
P Gen. xx. 8. and xxi. 25.
q Gen. xxi. 23.
r Gen. xx. 8. and xxi. 25.
s Gen. xxvi. 11.
t Gen. xxvi. 7.
u Ver. 14.
x Ver. 20.
y I need not obſerve, that Abime-
lech ſeems to be a proper name for the
kings
Book VI.
and Profane Hiftory.
311
Moſt of the kingdoms in and near Canaan feem to have
been originally fo conftituted, that the people in them had
great liberties and power. One would almoft think the chil-
dren of Heth had no king, when Abraham petitioned them for
a burying-place²; for he did not make his addreſs to a parti-
cular perfon, but be ſtood up, and bowed himſelf to the people of
the land, even to the children of Hetha. And when Ephron
and he bargained, their agreement was ratified by a popular
council". If Heth was king of this country, his people had
a great ſhare in the adminiftration: thus it was at Shechem,
where Hamor was king; the prince determined nothing
wherein the public was concerned, without communing with
the men of his city about it. The kingdom of Egypt was not at
firſt founded upon defpotic authority: the king had his eſtates
or patrimony, the prieſts had their lands, and the common
people had their patrimony independent of them both. Thus
we read of the land of Ramefes; that was the king's land,
ſo called from a king of that name: the prieſts had their
lands, which they did not fell to Jofeph; and that the peo-
ple had lands independent of the crown, is evident from the
purchaſes which Jofeph made; and we may conclude from
theſe purchaſes, that Pharaoh had no power to raiſe taxes
upon his fubjects to increaſe his own revenue, until he had
bought the original right, which each private perſon had in
his poffeffions, for this Jofeph did for him; and after this was
done, then Joſeph raiſed the crown a very ample revenue,
by regranting all the lands, referving a fifth part of the pro-
duct to be paid to the king; and it is obfervable, that the
people of Egypt well underſtood the diſtinction between ſub-
jects and ſervants, for when they came to fell their land, they
offered to fell themſelves too; and defired Joſeph, buy us and
our land, and we and our land will be fervants unto Pharaohi.
Diodorus Siculus has given a full and true account of the
kings of Philiftia, as Pharaoh was for
thofe of Egypt. And Phicol was fo
likewiſe for one employed in the poft
which the perfons fo named enjoyed.
z Gen. xxiii.
a Ver. 7.
b Ver. 10, 13.
Gen. xlvii. 11.
Rameſes was the eighteenth king
of Lower Egypt, according to Sir J.
Marſham, from Syncellus, p. 20.
c Gen. xxxiv. 20, 24.
X 4
f Gen. xlvii. 22, 26.
g Vel. 19, 20.
n Ver. 24.
i Ver. 19.
ancient
:
;
312
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
ancient Egyptian conftitution: he fays the land was di-
vided into three parts. 1. One part was the prieſts, with
which they provided all facrifices, and maintained all the
miniſters of religion. 2. A fecond part was the king's, to
fupport his court and family, and ſupply expences for wars
if they fhould happen; and he remarks, that the king hav-
ing fo ample an eftate, raiſed no taxes upon his fubjects. 3.
The remainder of the land was divided amongst the fub-
jects: Diodorus calls them the foldiers, not making a dif-
tinction, becauſe foldiers and fubjects in moft nations were
the ſame, it being the ancient practice for all that held lands
in a kingdom, to go to war when occafion required; and he
fays, there were three other orders of men in the kingdom,
huſbandmen, fhepherds, and artificers, but theſe were not,
ftrictly speaking, citizens of the kingdom, but fervants or te-
nants, or workmen to thoſe who were the owners of the
lands and cattle. When Mizraim led his followers into
Egypt, it is moſt probable that many confiderable perſons
joined their families and went with him, and theſe families
being independent, until they agreed upon a coalition for
their common advantage, it is natural to think, that they
agreed upon a plan which might gratify every family, and
the defcendants of each of them, with a fuitable property,
which they might improve as their own. Herodotus gives
an account of the Egyptian polity'. He fays, that the Egyp-
tians were divided into feven orders of men; but he takes
in the tillers of the ground or huſbandmen, the artificers, and
the ſhepherds, who were at firſt only fervants employed by
the maſters of the families they belonged to, and not free
ſubjects of the kingdom; and he adds an order of ſeamen,
which must be of later date. Herodotus's account might
perhaps be true of their conftitution in times much later
than thoſe I am treating of. There is one thing very re-
markable in the firſt polities of kingdoms, namely, that the
legiſlators paid a ſurpriſing deference to the paternal autho-
rity or juriſdiction which fathers were thought to have over
their children, and were extremely cautious how they made
k Diodor. Sic. lib. i. §. 72, 73, &c. p. 66.
1 Lib. ii. c. 163, &c.
any
Book VI.
313
and Profane Hiftory.
any ſtate-laws that might affect it. When Romulus had
framed the Roman conftitution, he did not attempt to limit
the powers which parents were thought to have over their
children; ſo that, as Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus obſerves, a
father had full power either to impriſon, or enflave, or to
fell, or to inflict the ſevereſt corporal puniſhments upon, or to
kill, his fon, even though the fon at that very time was in the
higheſt employments of the ftate, and bore his office with
the greateſt public applaufe"; and when Numa attempted
to limit this extravagant power, he carried his limitation no
further than to appoint, that a ſon, if married with his fa-
ther's confent, ſhould in ſome meaſure be freed from ſo un-
limited a fubjection.
The first legiflators cannot be imagined to have attempted
any other improvements of their country, than what would
naturally arife from agriculture, pafturage, and planting:
traffic began in after-ages: and hence it foon appeared, that
in fertile and open countries, they had abundance of peo-
ple more than they could employ: for few hands would
quickly learn to produce a maintenance for more than were
neceſſary for the tillage of the ground, or the care of the cat-
tle; but in mountainous and woody countries, where fruit-
ful and open plains were rarely met with, men multiplied
faſter than they could be maintained: and hence it came to
paſs, that theſe countries commonly fent forth frequent colo-
nies and plantations, when their inhabitants were ſo nume-
rous, that their land could not bear them, i. e. could not pro-
duce a fufficient maintenance for them: but in the more
fruitful nations, where greater multitudes could be fup-
ported, the kings had at their command great bodies of men,
and employed them either in raiſing prodigious buildings, or
formed them into powerful armies; and thus in Egypt they
built pyramids, at Babylon they encompaffed the city with
walls of an incredible height and thickneſs; and they con-
quered and brought into fubjection all the nations round
about them.
The first kings laid no fort of tax upon their fubjects, for
Dionyf. Halicar. lib. ii. c. 26, 27.
the
314
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
the maintenance of either their foldiers or fervants; but all
the tribute they took was from ſtrangers, and their own peo-
ple were free; but they had in every country larger portions
of land than their fubjects, and whenever they conquered fo-
reign kingdoms, they increaſed their revenue by laying an
annual tribute or tax upon them. Ninus was the firſt king
that took this courfe"; he overran all his neighbours with
his armies, and obliged them to buy their peace by paying
yearly ſuch tribute as he thought fit to exact from them. The
conquered nations, however free the fubjects of them were
at home, with regard to their own king, were yet juſtly ſaid
to be under the yoke of a foreign fervitude, and were looked
upon by the king that had conquered them as larger farms,
to yield him fuch an annual product as he thought fit to fet
upon them; and the king and all the people of them, though
they were commonly permitted to live according to their
own laws, were yet reputed the conqueror's fervants. Thus
the kings of Canaan, when they became tributary, were ſaid
to ferve Chedorlaomer; and thus Xerxes, when Pythius the
Lydian, prefuming upon his being in great favour with the
king, ventured to petition to have one of his fons excufed
following the army, remonftrated to him, that he was bis fer-
vant. The Perfians are frequently called by Cyrus in Xe-
nophon, opes Пépσai, or men of Perfia, or pixo, the king's
friends; and Xerxes keeps up in his anſwer to Pythius the
fame diftinction; he mentions, that his children, his relations,
his domeftics, and then his natural fubjects, whom he calls.
his pixous, went with him to the war: And dare you, fays he,
who are my fervant, uòs douλos, talk of your fon? Lydia was
a conquered kingdom, and fo Pythius and all the Lydians
were the king's property, to do with them as he thought fit.
And they fometimes uſed thoſe they had conquered accord-
ingly, removing them out of one nation into another as
they pleafed. But I fhould think the extravagances of am-
bitious conquerors not fo much to be wondered at, as the
politics of Ariſtotle, who has laid down ſuch principles, as, if
true, would juftify all the wars and bloodthed that an ambi-
Juftin. lib. i. c. I.
• Gen. xiv. 4.
Herodot. lib. vii. c. 39.
tious
Book VI.
315
and Profane Hiſtory.
tious prince can be guilty of. He mentions war as one of
the natural ways of getting an eftate; for he ſays, "It is a
"fort of hunting, which is to be made uſe of againſt the wild
"beafts, and against thoſe men, who, born by nature to fer-
❝vitude, will not ſubmit to it; ſo that a war upon theſe is
"naturally juft.”
Diodorus Siculus remarks', that it was not the ancient
cuſtom for fons to fucceed their fathers, and inherit their
crowns. This obfervation was fact in many kingdoms;
but then it could be only where kingdoms were not raiſed
upon paternal or defpotic authority: where paternal autho-
rity took place, the kingdom would of courſe deſcend as
that did, and the eldeſt fon become at his father's death the
ruler over his father's children: and where kingdoms arofe
from mafters and their fervants, the right heir of the ſub-
ſtance would be the right heir to the crown: and this we
find was the Perfian conftitution. The fubjects having
originally been fervants, did not apprehend themſelves to
have any right or pretence ever to become kings; but the
crown was always to be given to one of royal blood
But in kingdoms, which were founded by a number of fa-
milies uniting together by agreement to form a civil fociety,
the fubjects upon every vacancy chofe a king as they
thought fit, and the perfonal qualifications of the perſon to
be elected, and not his birth, procured his election: many
inftances of this might be produced from the ancient king-
doms of Greece, and very convincing ones from the firft
Roman kings, of whom Plutarch obferves, that none of
them was fucceeded in his kingdom by his fon'; and Florus
has remarked of each of them ſeverally, what their qualifi-
cations were which recommended them to the choice of the
people ". That Egypt was anciently an elective kingdom, is
evident from Plutarch, who remarks, that their kings were
taken either from amongſt their foldiers or their priests, as
9 Ariftot. Politic. 1. i. c. 8.
• Hift. lib. i. p. 28.
s Briffonius de Regno Perfarum, 1. i.
p. 5. ed. 1595.
Plutarch. lib. de Animi Tranquil-
litate, p. 467. ed. Xyland. Par. 1624.
u L. Flor. Hift. lib. i. c. 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7. See alſo Dionyf. Halicarnaff. 1. i.
* Οἱ δὲ βασιλεῖς ἀπεδείκνυντο μὲν ἐκ
τῶν ἱερέων ἢ τῶν μαχίμων, τῷ μὲν δι᾽ ἀν-
δρίαν, τὸ δὲ διὰ σοφίαν γένος ἀξίωμα καὶ
τιμὴν ἔχοντος.
they
316
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
1
they had occafion for a prince of great wifdom or valour.
But whatever were the original conftitutions of kingdoms, it
is certain, that power has always in all nations been more
or lefs fluctuating between the prince and the people, and
many ſtates have from arbitrary kingdoms become in time
republics, and from republics become in length of time ar-
bitrary kingdoms again, from various accidents and revolu-
tions, as Polybius has obſerved at large'.
It has been an ancient opinion, that kings had their right
to their crowns by a fpecial appointment from heaven:
Homer is every where full of it: the fceptres of his kings
were commonly given either to them or fome of their
anceſtors by Jupiter; thus Agamemnon's fceptre was made
by Vulcan, and by Vulcan given to Jupiter, by Jupiter to
Mercury, by Mercury to Pelops, by Pelops to Atreus, by
Atreus to Thyeftes, by Thyeftes to Agamemnon: and this
account came to be fo firmly believed, that the men of
Charonea paid divine worſhip to a ſpear, which they ſaid
was this celeftial fceptre of Agamemnona: Homer places
the authority of all his kings upon this foundation, and he
gives us his opinion at large in the cafe of Telemachus "
He introduces Antinous, one of the fuitors, as alarmed at the
threatenings of Telemachus; and therefore, though he ac-
knowledged his paternal right to the crown of Ithaca when
Ulyffes fhould be dead, yet he wiſhed that there might not
be a vacancy for him for many years. Telemachus in his
reply is made to fpeak as if he depended but little upon an
hereditary right; and fays, that he ſhould willingly accept
the crown, if Jupiter fhould give him it; but that there
y Hiftoriar. lib. vi. c. 5, 6, &c.
z Il. ii. ver. 101.
a Paufanias in Booticis, p. 795. ed.
Kuhn. Lipf. 1696.
b Odyff.i. ver. 388.
Τὸν δ᾽ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνύμενος ἀντίον
ηύδα
Καί κεν τοῦτ' ἐθέλοιμι Διός γε διδόντος
ἀρέσθαι.
᾿Αλλ' ήτοι βασιλήες Αχαιῶν εἰσι καὶ ἄλ
201
Πολλοὶ ἐν ἀμφιάλω Ιθάκη, νέοι ἠδὲ
παλαιοί
b
Τῶν κέν τις τόδ' ἔχῃσιν, ἐπεὶ θάνε διο;
Οδυσσεύς
Αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν οἴκοιο ἄναξ ἔσομ᾽ ἡμετέ
Colo
Καὶ δμώων· οὓς μοι ληίσσατο διος Οδυσ-
σεύς.
Τὸν δ᾽ αὖ Ευρύμαχος Πολύβε παῖς ἄνα
·
τιν ηύδα·
Τηλέμαχ', ἤτοι ταῦτα θεῶν ἐν γάνασι
κείται,
Ὅτις ἐν ἀμφιάλω Ιθάκη βασιλεύσει
Αχαιών.
wer
Book VI.
:
and Profane Hiftory.
317
were kings of Greece, and many perfons of Ithaca, both
young and old, who perhaps might have it at the death of
Ulyffes; but that he would be maſter of his father's houſe,
fervants, and ſubftance: Eurymachus replies, and confirms
what Telemachus had faid, afferting, that Telemachus fhould
certainly poffefs his father's houſe, fervants, and ſubſtance;
but that as to who fhould be king of Ithaca, it must be left
to the gods. Romulus endeavoured to build his authority
upon the fame foundation; and therefore when the people
were diſpoſed to have him for their king, he refuſed to
take the honour, until the gods fhould give fome ſign to
confirm it to him and fo upon an appointed day, after due
facrifices and prayers offered to the gods, he was conſecrated
king by an aufpicious thunder. At what time the heathen
nations embraced theſe fentiments, I cannot certainly fay,
but I imagine not before God had appointed the Ifraelites a
king for the ancient writers ſpeak of the kings that
reigned before that time in no ſuch ſtrain, as may be ſeen
from Paufanias's accounts of the firft kings of Greece, as
well as from other writers; but when God had by ſpecial
appointment given the Ifraelites a king, the kings of other
nations were fond of claiming to themfelves fuch a defigna-
tion from heaven, left they fhould feem to fall fhort in ho-
nour and glory of the Jewish governors; and Homer, who,
according to Herodotus, introduced a new theology d, intro-
duced alfo this account of the original of the authority of
their kings into Greece. Virgil embraced this ſcheme of
Homer's, and, in compliment to Auguftus, the Roman re-
public being overthrown, laid the foundation of Æneas's
right to govern the Trojans, who fled with him from the
ruins of their city, upon a divine defignation of him to be
their king, revealed to him by the apparition of Hector,
and confirmed by Pantheus the priest of Apollo, who
brought and delivered to him the facra and facred images',
which Hector had declared him the guardian and pro-
tector of.
Dionyf. Halicarn. 1. ii. c. 5.
• Herodot. lib. ii. c. 53.
← Virgil. En. ii. ver. 268.
f Ibid. ver. 321, &c.
It
318
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
It has been the opinion of fome modern writers, that
theſe ancients were very weak politicians in matters of re-
ligion, and were an eaſy prey to prieſtcraft. The Earì of
Shafteſbury is very copious upon this topic, and his fol-
lowers do commonly think his argumentations of this fort
conclufive: let us therefore examine how well they are
grounded.
3.
We have as full and large an account of the firſt ſettle-
ment of the Roman priesthood as of any, fo that I fhall
examine this firſt, and then add what may be offered about
the eſtabliſhed priesthood of other nations. And firſt of all,
Romulus appointed, that the king ſhould be the head and
controller of all the facra and facrifices ¹, and under himſelf
he appointed proper perfons for the due performance of the
offices of religion, having firft made a general law, that none
but the nobility ſhould be employed either in offices of the
ſtate, or of religion i; and the particular qualifications of the
prieſts were, 1. They were to be of the beſt families.
2. They were to be men of the moſt eminent virtue.
They were to be perfons who had an eſtate ſufficient to live
on. And, 4. Without any bodily blemish or imperfection.
5. They were to be above fifty years of age: theſe were the
qualifications requifite for their being admitted into the
religious order. Let us now fee what they were to get by
it; and, 1. They were put to no expence in the performance
of their miniftrations; for as the king had in his hands
lands fet apart on purpoſe for the providing the public facri-
fices, building and repairing temples, altars, and bearing all
the expences of religion, fo a fet fum was paid to the prieſts
of each diviſion, to bear the expences of their facrifices.
2. They themſelves were exempted from the fatigue of
going to war, and from bearing city offices. 3. Befides
theſe flender privileges, I do not find they received any
profits from their office; for it is evident they had no fti-
Charact. Vol. III. Mifcel. 2.
Η Βασιλεῖ μὲν ἦν ἐξήρητο τάδε τὰ γέρα
πρῶτον μὲν ἱερῶν καὶ θυσιῶν ἡγεμονίαν
ἔχειν, καὶ πάντα δι' ἐκείνα πράτεσθαι τὰ
agos Tous Decùs oia. Dionyf. Halicar.
Antiq. Rom. 1. ii. c. 14.
· Διέταξεν τοὺς μὲν εὐπατρίδας ἱερᾶ
σθαί τε, καὶ ἄρχειν καὶ δικάζειν, καὶ μεθ'
αὑτῶ τὰ κοινὰ πράττειν. Id. ibid. c. 9.
k Id. ibid. C. 21.
pend
Book VI.
319
and Profane Hiftory.
pend nor falaries; for minifters of ſtate, and miniſters of re-
ligion alſo, had no advantages of this fort in the early
times', as is abundantly evident from one of the reaſons
given for chooſing the nobility only to theſe employments,
namely, becauſe the plebeians or common people could not
afford to give away their time in attending upon them: as
to the number of them, which Lord Shaftesbury thinks was
without end or meaſure, Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus tells us,
that no city ever had fo many originally as Rome; and he ob-
ferves, that Romulus appointed fixty"; telling us withal elfe-
where, that his people were, when he firſt ſettled the com-
monwealth, two thoufand three hundred men, befides women
and children; and when he died, they were above forty
thouſand". There were indeed, over and befides theſe, three
Augurs, or ¡epoσxóлos, appointed by Romulus, and there were
afterwards three Flamens, who, I think, were firft inftituted
by Numa; as were the Veſtal virgins, who were in number
four, and the Salii, who were in number twelve P: he in-
ftituted alfo the college of the Feciales, who were in num-
ber twenty; but theſe were chiefly employed in civil
affairs; for they were the arbitrators of all controverfies re-
lating to war or peace, and heralds and ambaſſadors to fo-
reign ſtates: laftly, Numa appointed the Pontifices Maximi,
being four in number, of which himſelf was the firſt, and
theſe perſons were the fupreme judges of all matters, civil or
religious; but all thefe officers were chofen out of the no-
bleft and wealthieft families, and they brought wealth
into and added luftre to the offices they bore, inftead of
coming into them for the fake of lucre and advantage. If we
were to look further into the Roman ftate, we fhould find
fome additions made to the number of the minifters of re-
ligion, as the city grew in wealth and power; for when the
plebeians grew wealthy, and were able to bear them, they
would not be excluded from religious offices; and fo there
1 Dionyf. Halicarn. Antiq. Rom. 1.
ii. c. 9.
m Id. ibid. c. 21.
n Id. c. 16.
Dionyf. Halicarn. 1. ii. c. 67.
P Id. ibid. c. 70.
9 Id. ibid. c. 72. Plutarch. in Numa.
↑ Dionyf. Halicarn. 1. ii. ibid.
s Id. ibid. Plut, ia Numa,
were
320
Connection of the Sacred
Book VI.
were in time twelve Flamens elected from the commons,
and there were twelve Salii added to Numa's twelve by
Tullus Hoftilius. Tarquinius Superbus appointed two of
ficers to be the keepers of the Sibylline oracles, and their
number was afterwards increafed to ten, and by Sylla to
fifteen, and in later ages they had particular Flamens for
particular deities: but take an eſtimate of the Roman re-
ligion, when their priests were moſt numerous, at any time
from the building of the city to Julius Cæfar, and it will ap-
pear that ancient Rome was not overburdened with either
the number or expence of the religious orders. But let us
in the next place look into Greece.
Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus frequently remarks of Ro-
mulus's religious inftitutions, that they were formed accord-
ing to the Greek plans; fo that we may guefs in general,
that the Greeks were not more burdened in theſe matters,
than he burdened the Romans; efpecially if we confider
what he remarks upon Numa's inftitutions, that no foreign
city whatever, whether Grecian, or of any other country,
had ſo many religious inſtitutions as the Romans', a re-
mark he had before made, even when Romulus fettled
the first orders". The writers of the Greek antiquities
are pretty much at a lofs to enumerate the feveral orders
of their priests; and they name but few, and theſe ra-
ther the affiſtants, than the prieſts that offered the ſacrifices,
And I imagine, the true reaſon that we have no larger ac-
count of them is, becauſe there were in the moſt ancient
times no particular perfons fet apart for theſe offices in the
Grecian ſtates; but the kings and rulers performed the pub-
lic offices of religion for their people, and every maſter of a
family facrificed in private for himſelf, his children and fer-
If we look over Homer's poems, we ſhall find this
obfervation verified by many inftances. After Agamemnon
was conſtituted the head of the Grecian army, we find him
every where at the public facrifices performing the prieſt's
office, and the other Grecian kings and heroes had their
vants.
t Dionyf. Halicarn. lib. ii. §. 63.
u Id. ibid. §. 21.
* See Potter's Antiquities, B. ii. c. 3.
▾ Iliad. y. Iliad. n. et in al, loc.
parts
Book VI.
321
and Profane Hiftory.
parts under him in the miniftration; and thus Peleus the fa-
ther of Achilles performed the office of priest in his own
·kingdom, when Neftor and Ulyffes went to ſee him, and Pa-
troclus, Achilles, and Mencetius miniftered; and Achilles
offered the facrifices, and performed the funeral rites for Pa-
troclus; and thus again in the Odyſſey, when Neftor made
a facrifice to Minerva, Stratius and the noble Echephron led
the bull to the altar, Aretus brought the water, and can-
nifters of corn, Perfeus brought the veffel to receive the
blood, but Neftor himfelf made the libations, and began the
ceremony with prayers; the magnanimous Thrafymedes fon
of Neftor knocked down the ox; then the wife of Neftor, his
daughters, and his fons' wives offered their prayers; then
Pififtratus, pauos avopov, perhaps the captain of his hoft, an
officer in fuch a poft as Phicol under Abimelech, ſtabbed the
beaſt: then they all joined in cutting it in pieces, and dif-
pofing it upon the altar, and after all was ready,
"
Καῖε δ' ἐπὶ σχίζῃς ὁ γέρων, ἐπὶ δ' αἴθοπα οἶνον
Λεβε
Neftor himſelf was the priest, and offered the facrifice.
Many inftances of this fort might be brought from both Iliad
and Odyffey. If we examine the accounts which the beſt
hiftorians give us, they all tend to confirm this point: Lycur-
gus was remarkably frugal in the facrifices he appointed ª,
and the Lacedæmonians had no public priefts in his days,
nor for fome time after, but their kings: Plutarch tells us,
that when they went to battle, the king performed the facri-
fice; and Xenophon fays, that the king performed the public
facrifices before the city', and that in the army his chief bu-
ſineſs was to have the fupreme command of the forces, and
to be their prieſt in the offices of religion ; and this was the
practice when Agefilaus was chofen king of Sparta; for
after he was made king, he offered the ufual facrifices for
the city. And in his expedition againſt the Perfians, he
z II. 2.
a II. 4.
b Gen. xxvi. 26.
© Odyff. y. ver. 460, &c.
d Plutarch. in Lycurgo, p. 52. ed.
Xyland. Par. 1624.
VOL. I.
Τ
e Ibid. p. 53.
f
Xenoph. Lib. de Repub. Lacedæm.
p. 688. ed. Leuncl. Francf. 1596.
• Id. ibid.
h
ʼn Xenoph. Hellenic. lib. iii. p. 496.
would
322
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
A
would have facrificed at Aulis, a town of Boeotia, as Aga-
memnon did upon undertaking the Trojan war; but the The-
bans, not being well affected to him or to the Lacedæmoni-
ans, would not permit him. In a word, we have no reaſon
to think, from any thing we can find in the Greek hiſtory,
that the ancient Greeks, until fome ages after Homer, had
any other public minifters of religion, than thoſe who were
the kings and governors of the ftate. Fathers of families
(even though they were in reality but fervants) were prieſts
to thoſe who lived under their direction, and offered all forts
of facrifices for them, and performed all the miniſtrations of
religion at their domeftic altars; and thus the practice of re-
ligious offices was performed in the feveral parts of every
kingdom amongst the feveral families that inhabited it: the
public or national religion appeared at the head of their cr-
mies, or at the court only, where the king was perfonally
prefent, and performed the offices of it for himſelf and all
his people.
There are ſome perfons mentioned by Homer, and called
iEpées, or priefts, and they offered the facrifices even when
kings and the greateft commanders attended at the altars.
Thus Chryfes, the prieſt of Apollo, burnt the facrifice which
Ulyffes and his companions went to offer at Chryfa,when they
reſtored Brifeis to her father; but this is fo far from con-
tradicting what I have offered, that it entirely coincides with
and confirms it: Chryfa was a little ifle in the Ægean fea,
of which Chryfes was prieft and governor; and when Ulyffes
was come into his dominions, it was Chryfes's place to offer
the ſacrifice, and not Ulyffes's. There were in the ancient
times many
little iſlands, and ſmall tracts of land, where civil
government was not fet up in form, but the inhabitants lived
together in peace and quiet, by and under the direction of
fome very eminent perfon, who ruled them by wife admoni-
tions, and by teaching them religion; and the governors of
thefe countries affected rather the name of prieſts than kings;
thus Jethro is called by Moſes not the king, but the prieſt of
Midian; and thus Chryfes is called the prieſt of Apollo at
Chryfa, and not the king of Chryſa; though both he and
Xenoph. Hellenic. lib. iii. p. 496.
k Homer Il. i.
Jethro
Book VI.
323
and Profane Hiſtory.
Jethro were the governors of the countries they lived in. If at
any time they and their people came to form a political fociety
upon more exprefs terms and conditions, then we find theſe fort
of perfons called both prieſts and kings; and in this manner
Melchizedec was king of Salem, and prieſt of the moſt high
God', and Anius was king of Delos, and priest of Apollo ".
Theſe ſmall ſtates could have but little power to ſupport
themſelves againſt the encroachments of their neighbours:
their religion was their greateſt ſtrength; and it was their
happiest circumſtance, that their kings or governors were
confpicuous for their religion, and thought facred by their
neighbours, being reputed in an eminent ſenſe to be high in
the favour of the god whom they particularly worſhipped;
fo as to render it dangerous for any to violate their rights,
or to injure the people under their protection, as the Gre-
cians are faid to have experienced, when they refuſed to re-
ftore Brifeis to her father.
It is thought by fome very judicious writers, that the
word speùs is fometimes uſed for a perfon, who was not
ftrictly ſpeaking a prieſt, but a diviner from the entrails of
victims thus Achilles in Homer", when the peftilence
raged in the Grecian camp, adviſed
τινα μάντιν ἐρείομεν, ἢ ἱερῆα
Ἢ καὶ ὀνειροπόλον
to fend for either a μávris, or prophet, or an isgeùs, or an over-
poróλos, a diviner by dreams, to inform them how to appeaſe
Apollo; but I imagine the speùs here mentioned was fome
one of theſe inſular prieſts or kings, of whom all their neigh-
bours had an high opinion for their great ſkill in matters of
religion, upon which account they uſed to be frequently fent
to, or ſent for, as the occafions of their neighbour-ſtates re-
quired the affiſtance of their advice and direction. Such a
king and priest was Rhamnes in Virgil,
Rex idem, et regi Turno gratiffimus augur.
Amongſt the true worshippers of God, fome perfons were
very fignally diftinguiſhed from others by extraordinary reve-
¹ Gen. xiv. 18.
n Homer Il. i.
m Virgil. Æn. iii. ver. 80.
• Æn. ix. ver. 327.
Σ 2
lations
324
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
lations of God's will made to them. Abraham was received
by Abimelech as a prophet P ; and God was pleaſed to make
his will known to thefe perfons by vifions or by dreams, and
fometimes by audible voices and divine appearances: and
when any perfons were known to be thus highly favoured of
God, kings and great men paid a regard to them, and were
willing to confult them upon difficulties and emergent occa-
fions, and were glad to have them, not to facrifice for them,
which there was no occafion they fhould do, but to pray for
them; for their prayers were thought more than ordinarily
available with God'; and this order of men, namely, the
prophets, are frequently mentioned in Scripture : and as God
was pleaſed to diſtinguiſh his true fervants by the gifts of
prophecy; fo in all the heathen nations diverſe perſons imi-
tated theſe powers, and made it their buſineſs in various man-
ners by art and ſtudy to qualify themſelves to know the
will of their gods, and to difcover it to men; and perſons
thought to be thus qualified were in every kingdom re-
tained by kings and rulers, or if they had them not at hand,
they fent for them upon occafion to direct in emergent af-
fairs and difficult circumftances. Balaam the fon of Beor had
the character of a prophet in the nations round about the
place where he lived, and therefore Balak in his diſtreſs
about the Ifraelites fent for him to Pethor, which is by the ri-
ver of the land of the children of his people; and when Balaam
was come to Balak, Balak was ordinarily the facrificer, and
Balaam's employment was, to report to him any revelations.
it ſhould pleaſe God to make him about the Ifraelites and
thus when the chiefs of Greece offered their facrifices, Cal-
chas attended, and explained an omen, which put them in
great furpriſe". In length of time, the number of the heathen
prophets increaſed greatly; there were many of them in
Egypt in the days of Mofes, and of feveral orders, and there
were four orders of them at Babylon in the time of Daniel,
namely, the Chartummim or Magicians, the Afhapim or
P Gen. xx. 7.
• Numb. xii. 6.
• Gen. xx. 7.
• Numb. xxii. 5.
+ Numb. xxiii. 30.
u Il. ii.
x Exod. vii. 11.
:
Aftrologers,
Book VI.
325
and Profane Hiſtory.
Aftrologers, the Chaſdim or Chaldæans, and the Mechaſepim
or Sorcerers': but they were not numerous in Greece until
after the times which I am to treat of; for when Agefilaus
was made king of Sparta, about A. M. 3600, which is above
300 years after the building of Rome, and near as much
later than the time where I am to end this undertaking, when
Agefilaus was to offer the ſacrifices for the city, he had only
one μávris or prophet attending to inform him of what might
be revealed to him at the time of his facrifices, as Agamem-
non in Homer is defcribed to have had at the Trojan war.
There were another fort of officers attending upon the facri-
fices, called the xýpuxes, or in Latin præcones, and their bufi-
neſs was to call together the people, when aſſemblies were
appointed, and they were frequently fent ambaffadors, or
rather as heralds, from ſtate to ſtate, and they affiſted at ſacri-
fices in dividing the victims, and difpofing the ſeveral parts
of the offering in due form upon the altar, before the prieſts
kindled the fire to burn it; but I cannot find any reaſon to
think that the Greeks had, at the time that Rome was built,
fo many perfons fet apart to attend upon the religious offices,
as even Romulus appointed at the firft building of his city.
If we go into Afia: as men were planted there, and cities
built, and governments eſtabliſhed earlier than in Greece;
fo we find, as I juft now hinted, that the wife men of Babylon
were numerous in the days of Daniel: when they began
there, I cannot ſay, but I am apt to think their firſt riſe was
from Belus the Egyptian, the fon of Neptune and Libya,
who travelled from Egypt, and carried with him a number
of Egyptian prieſts, and obtained leave to fit down at Baby-
lon, where the king, who then ruled there, gave them great
encouragement upon account of their ſkill in aftronomy.
Of this Belus I fhall fpeak more hereafter. His coming to
Babylon was about the time of Mofes a; but I would obferve,
that the kings of thefe nations had not parted with their
prieſthood in the days of Cyrus; for Xenophon is very ex-
y Dan. ik 2.
z Homer. Il. in loc. var.
Y 3
a See Book viii.
prefs
326
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
prefs in his accounts of that prince's performing the public
facrifices in many places.
66
Egypt was the parent of almoſt all the fuperftitions that
overflowed the world; and it is particularly remarked, that
the prieſts in the most ancient times were more numerous
here, and far more magnificently provided for, than in other
nations. They had lands fettled upon them in the time of
Jofeph, and, according to Diodorus Siculus, a third part of
the whole land of Egypt was theirs": and Lord Shaftesbury's
triumphs here run very high againſt the church lands, and
the landed clergy, as he is pleafed to call the Egyptian prieſts
of theſe times. This right honourable writer afferts, “That
"the magiftrate, according to the Egyptian regulation, had
"refigned his title or fhare of right in facred things, and
"could not govern as he pleaſed, nor check the grow-
❝ing number of theſe profeffors. And that in this mother
"land of fuperftition the fons of these artiſts were by law
obliged always to follow the fame calling with their fa-
"thers. Thus the fon of a prieft was always a priest by
"birth, as was the whole lineage after him without inter-
"ruption." There are a great many other particulars en-
larged upon by this author, which I chooſe to pafs over. If
I give an account of the Egyptian priesthood from what the
ancient writers hint about it, that alone will fhew how
widely fome writers err in their accounts of ancient facts,
out of humour and inclination to reflect upon the church and
clergy. Religion was in the early times looked upon by all
the nations in the world as a pofitive inftitution of God, and
it was as firmly believed, that none could be the minifters of
it, but thoſe perſons whom God himſelf had appointed to per-
form the offices of it. Ariſtotle indeed, who threw off tra-
dition, and founded his opinions upon what he thought to
be the dictates of right reafon, feems to give every ſtate or
community a power of appointing their minifters of religion,
hinting at the fame time, that the citizens of an advanced
&c.
b Lib. de Cyropæd. lib. ii. iii. viii.
c Gen xlvii.
d Diodor. Sic. I. i. §. 72, 73, &c.
• Mifcellaneous Reflect. Character-
iftics, vol. iii. Mif. ii. p. 42.
*
age,
Book VI.
327
and Profane Hiftory.
age, who were paft engaging in laborious employments for
the fervice of the public, were the proper perfons to be ap-
pointed to the facred offices: but Plato, who had a greater
regard to the ancient cuftoms and traditions, makes a divine
deſignation abſolutely neceffary for the rightly authoriz-
ing any perſon to perform the offices of religion: he adviſes
the founders of cities, if they could find any priests, who had
received their office from their fathers, in a long fucceffion
backward, to make uſe of them; but that if ſuch could not
be had, but that ſome muſt be created, that they would leave
the choice to the gods, appointing proper candidates, and
choofing out of them by lot fuch as the deity ſhould cauſe
the lot to fall to; and that they ſhould fend to the oracle
at Delphos to be directed what rites, ceremonies, and laws
of religion they ſhould eſtabliſh: this was the ancient uni-
verſal ſenſe of all nations; and we may obferve, that both
Romulus and Numa took care at leaſt to ſeem to act accord-
ing to theſe maxims. Romulus built his city by confulta-
tion with the Etrufcan Harufpices, and upon his appointing
new orders of priests, he made a law to devolve the confirm-
ing them to the Vates or Augurs, who were to declare to the
people the will of the gods about them: and Numa was
thought to do nothing but by inſpiration, pretending the di-
rections of the goddeſs Egeria for all his inftitutions. The
moſt ancient priesthood was that which fathers or heads of
families exerciſed in and for their own families and kindred:
and the divine inſtitution of this was what all nations were
fo fully convinced of, that the public and eſtabliſhed reli-
gions did not fuperfede it, but left it as they found it; fo
that though private perſons, who were not publicly called to
that office, might not offer ſacrifices on the public altars, yet
each head of a family was prieft for his own family at his
private focus, or domeſtic altar; and theſe private or family
prieſts, I imagine, were the perfons whom Dionyfius of Hali-
carnaffus fpeaks of, as having τὰς συγγενικὰς ἱερωσύνας, or a
priesthood over thoſe of the fame lineage with themſelves';
i
f Ariftot. de Repub. lib. vii. cap. 9.
g Platon. de Legibus, 1. vi. p. 860.
h Plutarch. in Vita Romuli, p. 22.
Dionyf. Halicar. Antiq. Rom. 1. ii.
Y 4
C. 12.
k Id. ib. c. 60. Plutarch, in Vit.
Numæ. Florus, l. i. c. 2.
I Dionyf. Antiq. Rom. 1. ii. c. 21.
and
328
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
I
and what reverence and regard was paid them may be gueffed
by the obſervation of Athenæus, who remarks, that of all fa-
crifices thoſe were eſteemed the most facred, which a man
offered for his own domefticsm; and indeed they might well
be fo accounted, the perfons that offered them being perhaps
the only perfons in the heathen nations who had a juſt right
to offer any facrifices.
As this ſenſe of things appears not to have been extin-
guiſhed even in the times of Romulus, nay even ages after
him; fo it is moſt probable, that men kept very ſtrict to it
in the firſt times: and we muſt not ſuppoſe, that, at the firſt
erecting kingdoms and civil focieties, the feveral bodies of
men appointed whom they would to be their prieſts: it is
more likely, that they thought, as Plato the great maſter of
the ancient cuftoms and traditions of all nations did, that the
priesthood which had defcended from father to fon was ftill
to be retained"; and accordingly, where kingdoms were
originally planted by but one fingle family, the king or head
of that one family might be the fole public miniſter of re-
ligion to all his people; but where kingdoms were origi-
nally peopled by many families independent of each other,
they might agree to inftitute, that the perfons who in pri-
vate life had been prieſts of the feveral families of which the
body politic was conſtituted, ſhould become jointly the na-
tional prieſts to all the land: and thus the Egyptian prieſts
might be originally the heads of the feveral families that con-
ftituted the kingdom. That this conjecture does not err
much, if any thing, from the truth, will appear to any one
that confiders duly the ancient Egyptian polity: for, 1. They
thought their prieſts almoſt equal in dignity to their kings;
and the prieſts had a great ſhare in the adminiſtration of af-
fairs; for they continually attended to advife, direct, and
affift in the weighty affairs of the kingdom. 2. They
thought it an irregularity to have any one made their king,
m
τη Οσιωτάτη γὰρ ἡ θυσία θεοῖς καὶ
προσφιλεσέρα ἡ διὰ τῶν οἰκείων. Athe
næus Deipnofoph. 1. i. c. 8.
ན་
Ἱερῶν δὲ ἱερέας οἷς μέν εἰσι πάτρια
Segwσúval μn MVETY. Plat. de Legibus,
lib. vi. p. 860.
ο Καθόλου γὰρ περὶ τῶν μεγίσων στοι
προβουλευόμενοι συνδιατρίβουσι τῷ βασιλεῖ,
τῶν μὲν συνεργοί, τῶν δὲ εἰσηγηταὶ καὶ δι-
dúoxazos yivóμevo. Diodor. Sic. lib. i.
§. 73. p. 66.
who
Book VI.
329
and Profane Hiſtory.
who was not one of their priests; but if it did ſo happen, as
in length of time it fometimes did, the perſon who was to
be king was obliged to be firſt received into the order of
priefts, and then was capable of the crown. 3. Whenever a
prieſt died, his fon was made priest in his room. I am
fenfible, that the very particulars I have produced are fre-
quently made uſe of to hint the great afcendant, which
prieſtcraft and religion gained over king and people in the
land of Egypt; but no one truly verſed in antiquity can uſe
them to this purpoſe: it was not the priesthood that by re-
ligious craft raifed the poffeffors of it in ancient times to the
higheſt ſtations and dignity; but rather, none but perſons of
the higheſt ſtations and dignity were thought capable of be-
ing prieſts, and fo of confequence the men of this order
could not but fhine with double luftre: they were as great
as the civil ſtate could make them, before they entered upon
religious miniftrations, for it was reckoned a monftrous thing
to make prieſts of the meaneft of the people; and accord-
ingly Romulus appointed the nobleft and the wealthieft of
the fenators for thefe offices; and Jofephus was fenfible that
this was the univerſal practice of all the heathen nations, and
therefore remarks how equitably the Jewish priesthood was
at firſt founded, that great wealth and poffeffions were not
the requifites to qualify the perfons who were put into it for
their admiffion into the facred order', which he must know
to be required in all heathen nations, or his argument had
been of little force. Divine appointment placed the prieſt-
hood at firſt in the head of every family, and men did not for
many ages
take upon them to make alterations in this mat-
ter. When Mizraim and his followers fat down in Egypt,
Mizraim was the priest and governor of his own family;
and the leading men that followed him were, by the fame
right, each head of a family, prieft and governor of thoſe
that belonged to him; and what coalition could be more
eafy, or what civil government or religious hierarchy better
P Plato in Politico, p. 550. Plutarch.
Lib. de Ifide et Ofiride, p. 354.
4 Herodot, lib. it. c. 37.
■ 1 Kings xiii. 33.
s Dionyf. Halicarnaff. 1. ii. c. 18.
Jofephus contra Apion. 1. ii. §. 21,
22. p. 1379, cd. Hudf, Ox. 1720.
grounded,
330
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
:
grounded, unleſs they had had a ſpecial direction for their
polity from heaven, as the Ifraelites afterwards had, than for
Mizraim and his followers to agree, that one of them ſhould
have the prefidence or fuperiority, and that they ſhould all
unite to promote religion, order, and government, amongſt
their children and their deſcendants? And this was the
firſt polity in Egypt; which, if duly confidered, will give a
clear account of what I obferved of the honour paid to the
Egyptian prieſts. 1. Their prieſts were thought almoſt equal
in dignity to their kings, and were joined with them in the
public counfels and adminiftrations and furely it cannot
be thought a great ufurpation for them to claim this ho-
nour they were, every one, heads of families, as the king
himſelf was, and fubordinate to him only for the purpoſes of
civil life. 2. The kings were commonly choſen out of the
prieſts, or if any other perfon became king, he was obliged
to be admitted into the prieſt's order before he received the
crown; an appointment not improper, if we confider, that,
according to this conflitution of the Egyptian government,
all but the prieſts were by nature fubject to fome or other of
the prieſts, and they only were the perfons who could have a
paternal right to govern, and every other order of men in
Egypt owed to them a filial duty and obedience. 3. When-
ever a prieſt died, his fon was appointed prieſt in his room;
Herodotus fays, ἐπεὰν δέ τις ἀποθάνῃ, τούτε ὁ παῖς ἀντικατίςα-
Ta"; not, as Lord Shaftesbury reprefents it, that all the chil-
dren of the prieſts were obliged by law to follow the calling
of their fathers; but the i waîs, not waïdes, not the fons, but
the eldeſt ſon, was appointed prieſt in his room; ſo that they
only endeavoured to preſerve that order, which God himſelf
originally appointed, and their priesthood could not hereby
become more numerous, than the original families that firſt
planted the land. It is remarkable, that the fervice of the
altar would naturally have defcended much in this manner
amongſt the Ifraelites, if God had not thought fit by a new
inſtitution to have the whole tribe of Levi ſet apart for the
miniſtry, inſtead of the firstborn of their feveral families.
u Hero lot. lib. ii. c. 37.
The
Book VI.
331
and Profane Hiftory.
The Egyptian prieſthood thus conſidered, will not appear ſo
extravagant as fome writers have imagined; nor will the di-
vifion of the land, fuppofing that even a third part of it was
the prieſts, be liable to fo much cenfure and odium, as theſe
authors delight to throw upon it; for the perfons, who as prieſts
ſeem to have had too much, were in truth the whole body of
the nobility of the land, and the Egyptian polity was really
this, and no other: the king had a third part of the land for
his ſhare as king, to enable him to defray his public expences
without tax or burthen to his ſubjects: the nobility or heads
of the ſeveral families had a third part, and they were to fur-
niſh all the expences for religion, and to perform all the of-
fices of it, without any charge to the people: the common
fubjects had the remaining third part, not encumbered with
either any tax to the king, or expence upon account of re-
ligion and I imagine that the commons or plebeians have
in few kingdoms had a larger property in land than this is.
The Afiatic prieſthoods are in general ſaid to have had a
very exorbitant power over the ſtate. I wish the authors of
this opinion were particular in pointing out the times and
places when and where. I cannot apprehend, that the re-
ligious orders had fo overbearing either influence or intereſt
at Babylon in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, when he threat-
ened to cut them all in pieces, and to make their houſes a
dunghill *, and gave orders to deſtroy them all, for their not
anſwering him in a point, in which it was impoffible they
fhould anſwer him ; for, as Daniel obferved, the fecret was
not revealed to him for any wiſdom, that he had more than any
living; and he remarked, that the wife men of Babylon
could not poffibly diſcover it. A fair and juſt repreſentation
of the ancient heathen religions would fhew that it was not
prieſtcraft that ruled the heathen world; but that kings and
great men having had originally in their hands the offices of
religion, turned the whole into ſtate-policy, and made it a
mere art to govern their kingdoms by, and to carry forward
their defigns: theſe were Plutarch's thoughts upon this fub-
x Dan. ii. 5.
y Ver. 10, 11, 27, 28, 30.
z Ver. 30.
a Ver. 27.
ject,
332
Book VI.
F
Connection of the Sacred
ject, when he imagined all the arts of divination from
dreams, prodigies, omens, &c. to be of fervice [not to the
religious orders, but] to ſtateſmen, in order to their ma-
naging the populace, as the public affairs ſhould require:
and to this ufe kings and rulers did in thefe times put all
their power and prefidency in the offices of religion, until
they had vitiated and corrupted every part and branch of it.
It is indeed true, that God in the firft ages made fo many re-
velations of his will to particular perfons, as might, one
would think, have checked the career of idolatry and fuper-
ftition; but we do not find, that the rulers of nations were
often willing to allow an order of prophets in their king-
doms to be employed purely to find out and publiſh to them
the will of heaven, any further than their political views
might be ferved by it. When Balak the fon of Zippor fent
for Balaam, the employment he had for him was to curſe the
Ifraelites, in order to put life and courage into his people,
whofe fpirits were funk by the conquefts which Iſrael had
obtained over the Amorites; and we ſee in him an early
inſtance what an eftimate the heathen kings had formed of
prophets and their infpiration: when Balak thought that
Balaam might have been won to ferve his purpoſe, then he
complimented him, with pretending to believe, that be
whom be blessed was bleffed, and be whom he curfed was
curfed ; but when Balaam did not anſwer his expectation,
he paid no regard to him, but difmiffed him in anger; There-
fore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee to
great honour; but lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honoure.
Thus their priests or prophets were promoted to very great
honours, if they could ferve political views and deſigns; but
if they really would not go beyond the commandment of the
Lord, to do either good or bad of their own mind; but what the
Lord faid, that they would speak'; then they were neglected,
and Anti-prophets, Magicians, Chaldæans, or other artificers,
b
a
Ονείρατα καὶ φάσματα, καὶ τοῦ του
ἄλλον όγκον —ὃ πολιτικοῖς μὲν ἀνδρά
σι, καὶ πρὸς αὐθάδη καὶ ἀκόλασον ὄχλον
Αναγκασμένοις ζῆν, ἐκ άχρησον ἴσως ἐςὶν,
ὥσπερ ἐκ χαλινοῦ τῆς δεισιδαιμονίας πρὸς
τὸ συμφέρον ἀντισπάσαι καὶ μεταφῆσαι
Tous woλλous. Plutarch. lib. de Genio
Socratis, p. 580.
c Numb. xxii. 3, 4, 5.
d Ver. 6.
Chap. xxiv. 10, 11.
f Ver. 13.
were
Book VI.
333
and Profane Hiſtory.
were oppoſed to them, to take off all impreffions they might
make upon the people, contrary to the public views and in-
tereft: thus the Magicians of Egypt were employed againſt
Mofes, when Pharaoh was not willing to part with ſo great
a number of ſlaves as the Ifraelites. And by theſe means,
religion and the offices of it were much perverted, before the
time that God thought fit to make a change in the prieſt-
hood, and to have a particular order of men fet apart for the
ſervice of the altar 5. In the later ages, the heathen nations
copied after this pattern, and temples were built, and orders
of priests appointed for the fervice in them in every country;
and the annual revenues fettled, together with the numerous
preſents of votaries, raiſed immenſe wealth to the religious
orders; but I do not apprehend, that the affairs of kingdoms
were made ſubject to their arbitrament and diſpoſal, or that
kings and ſtateſmen in the later times of the heathen ſuper-
ftitions paid more deference or regard to them, than what
they thought was requifite for the public good.
It has indeed been thought in all ages to be both the duty
and intereſt of magiftrates to eſtabliſh the worſhip of a Deity
amongſt their people. And it is certainly their duty to do it
as men, who are bound to promote the glory of God; and
there is more found of words than force of argument in the
pretence of fome writers, that the magiftrate, as magiftrate,
has nothing to do in this matter; for if it be undeniably
certain, that every man is obliged to promote the glory of
God, it will follow, that the magiſtrate is not exempted,
but moves in a ſtation of greater influence, and has therefore
ability to perform this, which is a duty univerfally incum-
bent upon all men, in a more effectual manner. If theſe
writers would gain their point, they must prove, that the
being a magiſtrate cancels that duty which the magiſtrate,
as a man, owes to God, and which is part of his reaſonable
ſervice of the Deity; and which he is indifpenfably obliged
to perform in the beſt manner he can, only taking a due
care, that a zeal for his duty does not lead him into unjuſt
or wicked meaſures about it: but it is the intereft of the ma-
giſtrate to eſtabliſh religion; for it is the fureft way to obtain
* Exodus xxviii. Numbers iii.
the
334
Book VI.
Connection of the Sacred
h
the protection of God's providence ", without which no wife
and prudent writer ever reputed the public affairs of king-
doms to be in a ſafe and flouriſhing condition: and it is the
only, or by far the beſt way to cultivate thoſe moral princi-
ples of duty amongſt a people, without which no commu-
nity can be either happy or fecure: thus Tully thought
upon this ſubject, concluding the happineſs of a community
to be founded upon religion, and very judiciouſly querying
whether [pietate adverfus Deos fublata] if a general neglect
of religion were introduced, a looſeneſs of principle deſtruc-
tive of all fociety would not quickly follow, an evil which if
the magiſtrate does not prevent, he can do nothing very ef-
fectual to the public welfare. This all the heathen magiſ-
trates have ever been appriſed of; and therefore never were
fo wild as to attempt to diſcharge themſelves of the care of
it: their only fault was, that their care of it was too poli-
tical when they themſelves were the miniſters of religion,
they ſet up their fancies inſtead of religion, as their ſpecu-
lations led them, or their interefts directed; and afterwards,
when they appointed other perfons to the miniſtrations,
they fo managed as to have them at their direction for the
ſame purpoſes; as will appear to any one that will fairly ex-
amine this fubject.
:
There ſhould be ſomething faid, before I cloſe this book,
about the right which female heirs may be ſuppoſed to have
been thought by theſe ancients to have to crowns and king-
doms. Semiramis was the firft queen that we read of in any
nation, and Juſtin fuppofes her to have obtained the crown
hx Sam. ii. 30. Tiêu Tá Hồn giữ ản
ταύτά τε δή τα άνω
δρὸς ἄγαμαι, καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τέτοις ἃ μέλλω
ä
λέγειν, ὅτι τῇ καλῶς οἰκεῖσθαι τας πό
λεις αἰτίας ὑπολαβὼν, ἃς θρυλλοῦσι μὲν
ἅπαντες οἱ πολιτικοί, κατασκευάζουσι δ'
ὀλίγοι· πρώτη μὲν παρὰ τῶν θεῶν εὔνοι-
αν, ἧς παρούσης ἅπαντα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις
ἐπὶ τὰ κρείττω συμφέρεται. Dionyf. Ha-
licarn. Antiquit. Rom. 1. ii. c. 18.-
Diis deabufque immortalibus, quorum
ope et auxilio, multo magis hæc ref-
publica, quam ratione hominum et
confilio gubernatur. Cicero Orat. pro
C. Rabirio. Etenim quis eft tam ve-
cors, qui cum deos effe intellex-
erit, non intelligat eorum Numine hoc
tantum imperium effe natum et auc-
tum, et retentum? Quam volumus
licet, P. C. ipfi nos amemus, tamen
nec numero Hifpanos, nec robore Gal-
los, nec calliditate Pœnos, nec artibus
Græcos, nec denique hoc ipfo hujus
gentis ac terræ domeftico nativoque
fenfu Italos ipfos ac Latinos, fed pietatę
ac religione, atque hac una ſapientia,
quod deorum immortalium numine
omnia regi gubernarique perſpeximus,
omnes gentes nationefque fuperavimus.
Cicero Oiat. de Harufpicum Refponfis.
i Cic. de Nat. Deorum, lib. i. c. 2. et
in al. loc. innum.
by
Book VI.
·335
and Profane History.
by a deceit upon her people, by her being miftaken for her
fon Ninyas: but Diodorus gives a much better and more
probable account of her advancement; he fays, that Ninus
appointed her to be queen at his death'. It is indeed true,
that the original conftitutions of fome kingdoms, if they
were founded upon the maxims, which I have fuppofed, do
not ſeem to admit of any female governors: thus in Egypt
they did not think of having queens at the forming their
firſt ſettlement; and for that reafon, in order to make a way
for them, there was a law made when Binothris was king of
This ", i. e. about A. M. 2232, that they ſhould not be ex-
cluded. In nations, where civil government began from
defpotic authority, queens may be ſuppoſed to have ſuc-
ceeded naturally upon defect of male heirs; and they have
been commonly excluded in elective kingdoms. Two things
are remarkable: 1. That in the ancient times, whenever
queens reigned, they prefided in religion, and were prieſteſſes
to their people, as kings were prieſts; and thus Dido in Vir-
gil made the libation at the entertainment of Æneas and
his companions, as the kings of Greece in Homer did upon
like occafions. 2. The divine Providence has generally dif-
tinguiſhed the reigns of queens with uncommon glory to
themſelves, and happineſs to their people, of which both our
own, and the hiſtory of other nations, afford almoſt as many
inftances, as there have been queens upon their thrones.
n
* Juftin. lib. i. c. 2.
Diodor. Sic. lib. ii. §. 7.
m Syncellus, p. 54.
n Encid. i. ver. 740.
THE
1
1
THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
CONNECTED.
BOOK VII.
ISAAC, after Abraham was buried, continued to live where
his father left him: Rebekah for fome years had no chil-
dren about twenty years after her marriage with Ifaac,
A. M. 2168, fhe had two fons, Efau and Jacob ª. The two
children grew up to men; were of a very different genius and
temper; Jacob was very ftudious, and much verfed in re-
ligious contemplations; Efau had but little thought or care
about them. Jacob, upon feeing Efau in fome abſence of his
father officiate at the facrifice, was very defirous to obtain
himſelf an employment, which he thought fo honourable;
Efau on the other hand had no value at all for it; and fo
they bargained together, and, for a ſmall refreſhment, Eſau
fold Jacob all his right and title to it . Efau is for this ac
tion called the profane Efau, becauſe he deſpiſed his birth-
right, by parting with it for a trifling confideration. Some
writers imagine, that the birthright, which Efau here fold,
a
• Gen. xxv. 24. Ifaac was forty
years old when he married, and he
was fixty when Jacob and Efau were
VOL. I.
2
א
born. ver. 26.
b Gen. xxv. 33.
< Heb. xii. 16.
was
338
Connection of the Sacred
Book VII.
was his right to be the heir of his father's ſubſtance: if this
were true, and he fold that only, he might indeed be called
a fooliſh and inconfiderate perfon to make fo unwife a bargain;
but why profane? It is evident, that this could not be the
fact; for when Ifaac died, and Efau came from mount Seir,
where he lived, to join with Jacob in affiſting at his father's
funeral; at his going away from his brother, he carried with
him not only his wives, and his fons, and his daughters,
and his cattle, and all his beafts; but, befides all thefe, all
bis fubftance which he had got in the land of Canaan: Efau
had no fubftance in the land of Canaan of his own getting;
for he lived at Seir, in the land of Edom, beyond the bor-
dersof Canaan; the fubftance therefore, which was gotten in
the land of Canaan, must be the fubftance which Ifaac died
poffeffed of, and which as heir Efau took along with him; fo
that after his birthright was fold, he was ftill heir to his fa-
ther's fubftance, and as heir had it delivered to him, and
therefore his right to this was not what Jacob had bought
of him. Others think, that the birthright was the bleffing
promifed to the feed of Abraham; and the words of the
writer of the Epiftle to the Hebrews feem very much to fa-
vour this opinion: Left there be any fornicator, or profane per-
fon, as Efau, who for one morfel of meat fold his birthright : for
ye know how that afterwards, when he would have inherited
the bleffing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance,
though he fought it carefully with tears. In thefe words, the
not inheriting the blefling ſeems to be connected with his
having fold his birthright, as if, having parted with the one,
he could not poffibly obtain the other: but I am in great
doubt whether this be the true meaning of theſe words.
Efau himſelf, when he had fold his birthright, did not ima-
gine that he had fold his right to the bleffing along with it ;
for when his father told him, that his brother had come with
fubtilty, and taken away his bleffing, Eſau anſwered, Is be
not rightly named Jacob? for he hath ſupplunted me theſe two
times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now be bath
d Gen. xxxii. 3.
* Gen. xxxvi. 6.
f
f Hebrews xii. 16, 17.
g Gen. xxvii. 35, 36.
taken
Book VII.
339
and Profane Hiflory.
+
taken away my bleſſing: if Efau had apprehended the bleſ-
fing and the birthright to have been infeparable, having fold
the one, he would not have expected or pretended to the
other; but he makes the getting from him the bleffing a fe-
cond hardſhip put upon him, diſtinct from, and independent
of, the former. St. Paul, I think, reprefents the caſe of Efau
in the loſs of the bleffing in the fame manner; he does not
fuppofe it owing to any thing that Eſau had done ¹, but repre-
fents it as a defign of God, determined before Jacob and Eſau
were born; and a defign determined purely by the good
will and pleaſure of God, without any view to, or regard of,
any thing that Jacob or Efau fhould do. God made the
promiſe at firſt to Abraham, not to Lot, and afterwards de-
termined, that Abraham's feed ſhould be called in Iſaac, not
in Ishmael; and in the next generation in Jacob, not in
Efau; and afterwards he divided the bleffing amongst the
fons of Jacob. The Meffiah was to be born of Judah, and
each of them in their pofterity had a fhare of the land of
Canaan. The author of the Book of Ecclefiafticus fets this
matter in the cleareſt light, by diſtinguiſhing the bleffing
into two parts; one he calls the bleffing of all men, alluding
to the promiſe made to Abraham, that in his feed all the na-
tions of the earth fhould be bleffed; the other he calls the cove-
nant, intimating hereby the covenant made with him about
the land of Canaan; and both thefe parts of the bleffing
were given to Ifaac, for Abraham's fake: With Ifaac did he
eſtabliſh likewife, for Abraham his father's fake, the bleſſing of
all men, and the covenant", and be made it reft upon the head
of Jacob. He gave the whole bleffing entire to Jacob alſo,
but afterwards amongst the twelve tribes did he part them ".
When the bleffing came to defcend to Jacob's children, it did
not go entire according to birthright, nor to any one perfon
who had deferved it better than all the reft; but as God at
b Rom. ix.
i Ver. 11.
* Ibid.
1 Ibid.
m Ecclefiafticus xliv. 22, 23.
n The words are, διέσειλε μερίδας αὐ
τοῦ, ἐν φύλαις ἐμέρισεν δεκαδύο. 1. e. He
jeparated the parts of it, [i. e. of the
Z 24.
bleffing, he parted them amongst the
twelve tribes. Abraham is reprefented
in Gen. xii. to have received only
a promife of the bleffing of all men;
but God is faid to make a covenant
with him to give him Canaan, Gen.
XV. 18.
firft
340
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
firft made the promife and covenant to Abraham, not to Lot,
and gave the title to it afterwards to Ifaac, not to Ifhmael,
then to Jacob, not to Efau ; fo in the next generation, he con-
veyed it entire to no one fingle perſon, but divided it, and
give the bleſſing of all men to Judah, who was Jacob's fourth
fon, and parted the covenant about Canaan amongst all of
them, giving to Joſeph, in his two fons, Ephraim and Manaſ-
feh, two parts of it.
There is a paffage in the Book of Chronicles, which may
ſeem to contradict the account I am endeavouring to give
of Jacob's or Efau's birthright. The fons of Reuben the firstborn
of Ifrael; for he was (fays the hiftorian) the firstborn; but, for-
afmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given
unto the fons of Joſeph: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned
after the birthright; for Judah prevailed above his brethren, and
of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Jofeph's°.
In this paffage the infpired writer may be thought to hint,
that there was a birthright to be obſerved in the divifion of
Canaan; and that, when God ordered the bleffing to be
parted, he had a reſpect to ſuch birthright in the diviſion of
it; though he did not think fit to give it to a perſon, who
by his demerits had forfeited it: and it may be aſked, if
Jacob's children had a birthright in this matter, why ſhould
we ſuppoſe that Ifaac's had not? To this I anfwer: the paf-
fage I have mentioned does not in the leaft refer to any
birthright, which was eſteemed to be fuch in the days of
Jacob and Efau. For, 1. If the inheritance of the father's
eftate was at that time part of the birthright, yet it is evident,
that it was not ſo in the proportion here mentioned: for not
a double portion only did peculiarly belong to the eldeſt fon
in thefe times, but the whole. Thus Abraham gave all
that he had unto Ifaac; but unto the children, which he had
by Keturah, his fecond wife, he gave gifts, and ſent them away
caftward, while he yet lived, from Iſaac bis fon. If, therefore,
the inheritance of Canaan had been given according to the
birthright in theſe days, one of Jacob's fons fhould have had
the whole, and all the reft have been fent to live in fome
•
• I Chron. v. I, 2.
other
Book VII.
341
and Profane Hiſtory.
other country.
2. The right of the firstborn was ſettled
upon another foot by the law of Mofes: the priesthood was
ſeparated from it, and fettled upon the tribe of Levi, and a
double portion of the father's eftate and ſubſtance declared to
belong to the firstborn. 3. Efau, when he fold his birth-
right, did not fell his right of inheriting his father's fub-
ftance, for he had that inheritance at his father's death.
4. Jacob had prophefied, that Joſeph ſhould have one por-
tion of the land of Canaan above his brethren, but does not
any where hint any one of his fons to have a birthright to
any one part of it more than the reft; nor can we ſay, but
that as the whole bleffing was made to rest upon the head
of Jacob, without Efau's having any part of it, ſo it might
likewiſe have defcended to any one of Jacob's fons; and it
could have deſcended to but one of them, if it had been a
birthright, and had not by the good will and pleaſure of
God been defigned to be parted amongſt the twelve tribes,
to every one fuch a portion of it, as God was pleaſed to ap-
point, and that part of it which contained the bleſſing of all
men to Judah only. For thefe reafons I conclude, 5. That the
author of the Book of Chronicles, writing after that the law
of Mofes had altered the priesthood, and appointed two por
tions of the inheritance to the eldeſt fon, remarks Jofeph to
have had the birthright given to him, meaning to refer
to what was then called the birthright, but not to what was
the birthright in Jacob and Efau's days, which was long
prior to, and very different from, this eſtabliſhment.
The Jews, at the time that the Apoftles preached the Gof-
pel, ſeem to have been of opinion, that the whole body of their
nation had a birthright and unalienable title to the bleffings of
the Meffiah: this was the hope of the promiſe made of God unto
their fathers; unto which promiſe their twelve tribes, inſtantly
ferving God day and night, hoped to come. After the blef
fing, which had been made to reft upon the head of Jacob,
had been parted amongſt the twelve tribes, they apprehended
that this was to be the laft diftribution of it, and that the
P Exod. xxviii. Numb. iii. 6-12.
Deut. xxi. 17.
9 Gen. xlviii. 22.
TAЯs xxvi. 7.
z3
whole
342
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
whole Jewiſh nation, or twelve tribes jointly as a people,
were to enjoy the bleffing for ever: but St. Paul endeavours
in feveral places to correct this mistake, and argues very
clearly, that the bleffing was never appointed to deſcend ac-
cording to birthright or inheritance; for that, not the chil-
dren of the fleſh, but the children of the promiſe, are to be
counted for the feed of Abraham, who have a title to it; i. e. not
thoſe who by natural defcent may feem to have a right, but
thoſe to whom God by fpecial defign and promife had di-
rected its. And this he proves by inftance from Jacob and
Efau, that, when Rebekah had conceived them, before the
children were born, or bad done good or evil, that it might not
be faid to be owing to any thing they had done, but to the
mere determination of God's good will and pleaſure, it was
ſaid unto her, That the elder ſhould ſerve the younger': thus
Efau was the fon, who by defcent might feem to have the
right, but Jacob had it by promife. In the fame manner,
when Chrift the promiſed feed of Abraham was come, the
twelve tribes thought themſelves to be heirs of the bleffings
to be received from him; but in this they erred, not rightly
underſtanding the promife. He was to be the bleffing of all
men, or, according to the words of the promiſe, in him all
the families of the earth", or all the nations of the earth, were to
be bleſſed. And in order to this, God had determined to
call them his people which were not his people, and her beloved
which was not beloved y, and to receive the Gentiles into the
bleffings of the promife. Nor could the Jews juftly fay, be-
cauſe the greateſt part of their nation was rejected, that
therefore the promiſe to Abraham was broken, or had taken
none effect: for they are not all Ifrael which are of Ifrael, nei-
ther, because they are the feed of Abraham, are they all children;
but as Efau received not the bleffing, though he was the fon
of Ifaac, fo the Jews who fell fhort through unbelief were
rejected, and yet the promiſe was made good to the ſons of
Abraham, becaufe a remnant was received", and fome of
them with the Gentiles made partakers of it; God having
• Rom. ix. 8.
t Rom. ix. 12.
u Gen. xii. 3. xviii. 18.
X Gen. xxii. 18. xxvi. 4.
y Rom. ix. 25.
z Ver. 6, 7.
a Ver. 27.
not
Book VII.
343
and Profane Hiſtory.
not promiſed that all Abraham's fons fhould be his children,
but only fuch of them as he fhould think fit to chooſe. I
think, if the whole of what I have offered be duly con-
fidered, it will appear that the bleffing never was annexed
to the birthright at all, nor did it ever defcend as the birth-
right did; but was always diſpoſed of, either in the whole
or in part, juſt as it pleaſed God to think fit to diſpoſe of it
of his own good will and pleaſure. Efau by being eldeſt
fon had the birthright, but he never had any title to the
bleffing; for before he was born, God was pleafed to declare
that it ſhould belong to Jacob; and therefore Efau in
felling his birthright does not ſeem to have parted with any
right to the bleffing, for they were two different and diftinct
things. Efau's birthright therefore muſt be his right of
being prieſt or facrificer for his brethren; and he is juftly
termed profane for felling it, becauſe he hereby fhewed
himſelf not to have a due value and efteem for a religious
employment, which belonged to him.
There was a famine about this time in the land of Canaan,
where Ifaac fojourned, and he removed on account of it, as
his father had done, and went into the land of the Phi-
liftines, and lived at Gerar. Here he denied his wife, pre-
tending her to be his fifter, as Abraham did formerly; but
the king of the country accidentally feeing fome familiarities
paſs between them, fharply reproved him; appriſed his fub-
jects that he was his wife, and declared that he would
punish any man with death that fhould offer violence to
either of them. Ifaac continued for fome years in the land
of the Philiſtines, fowing fome fields, and reaping prodigious
crops from his tillage. He was very profperous in all his
undertakings, and increaſed his ſtock, and grew very great,
until the Philistines envied him, and endeavoured to quarrel
with him, and applied to the king to have him baniſhed
their land. Abimelech hereupon ordered Ifaac to go from
them; for, faid he, thou art much mightier than weª: Abi-
melech could not mean by theſe words, that Ifaac was
Gen. xxv. 23. Rom. ix. 11, 12.
• Gen. xxvì.
d Gen. xxvi. 16.
24
really
干
​344
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
really more potent than the whole Philiftian people; for we
cannot imagine that poffible: he might have as large a
family and as numerous an attendance as the king of Phi-
liftia himſelf had, and might therefore, if he had a mind, have
been able to disturb his government. But the words of
Abimelech above mentioned do not fuggeſt even this to us;
for our Engliſh tranſlation of this paffage is very faulty; the
Hebrew words are cignatzampta mimmennu, not becauſe thou
art mightier than we, but becauſe thou art increaſed or multiplied
from or by us; thou hast got a great deal from us, or by us,
and we do not care to let thee get any more. The caſe
was, not that the Philiftines feared him, but they envied
him; they grudged that he ſhould get fo much amongst
'them, and were therefore defirous to check him. Abimelech
ordered Ifaac to leave Gerar, upon which he departed, and
pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there f.
After Ifaac was removed from Gerar, the Philiftines thought
him too well accommodated whilft he lived in the valley,
and their envy and malice ftill purfued him. The herdſmen
of Gerar quarrelled with Ifaac's herdfmen, took away their
wells, and put them to many inconveniences; fo that Ifaac,
quite tired with their repeated infults, removed farther from
them, and went and lived in the most remote part of their
country towards Egypt, at Beersheba 3: here he hoped to
find a place of peace and quiet. He built an altar, and im-
plored the divine favour and protection, and had the comfort
to be affured, that he and his fhould be defended from all
future evils and foon after he was fettled here, Abimelech,
fenfible of the ill ufage he had met with from his people,
and reflecting upon the extraordinary manner in which God
had bleſſed him, and confidering that perhaps in time he
might revenge the injuries they had done him, came with
his officers, and made an alliance with him . Efau was
about forty years old, and had married two Hittite women,
very much to the affliction of his parents. The Hittites
bordered upon the Philiftines near to Gerar, ſo that Efau
e Gen. xxvi. 14.
↑ Ver. 17.
% Ver. 23.
h Ver. 26-30.
i Ver. 34, 35.
1
moft
Book VII.
345
and Profane Hiftory.
moſt probably married whilft his father fojourned there.
Efau was forty years old, A. M. 2208, and therefore about
that time Ifaac lived at Gerar.
About nineteen years after this died Syphis, the firſt of
that name, a very famous king of Egypt. He was the tenth
king of Memphis, after Menes or Mizraim, according to
Sir John Marſham's tables, who fuppofes him to begin his
reign about two hundred and twenty-two years after the
death of Mizraim, who died, according to what I have for-
merly offered, A. M. 1943, and therefore Syphis began his
reign A. M. 2164. Syphis, according to Sir John Marſham
from Manetho, reigned fixty-three years, and therefore died
A. M. 2227, and upon this computation I have ſuppoſed
Syphis to begin his reign about eighty years after Abraham's
coming into Egypt, and to die above forty years after Abra-
ham'; for Abraham came into Egypt A. M. 2085 or 2086™,
and died A. M. 2183". Syphis was the first of the Egyp-
tians who fpeculated upon religious fubjects. According to
Damafcenus in Eufebius, Abraham and the Egyptian prieſts.
had many diſputes and conferences about religion . It may
be aſked, what diſputes could they have upon this fubject, if
the Egyptians were not at this time become idolaters, as
I apprehend they were not? To this I anfwer, the re-
ligion of Abraham, as it differed from that of Noah and his
defcendants in fome points, which depended upon ſpecial
revelations made to Abraham, muſt lay a foundation for his
having conferences and difputes with the profeſſors of re-
ligion in all countries into which he travelled. They knew
nothing of the promiſe made to him, that in his feed all the
nations of the earth ſhould be bleſſed, nor were they appriſed,
that they ought to worship him whom Abraham worſhipped,
namely, the Lord, who appeared to him; and agreeably
hereto we find an expreffion in the accounts we have of the
worſhip of Abraham and his defcendants, which we do not
meet with any where in the worſhip of Lot, of Job, or of
k Vol. I. B. iv.
1 Vol. I. B. v.
m Vol. I. B. v. p. 165.
See Book vi.
P.
• Marſham, Can. Chron. p. 54.
Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. ix. c. 17.
q See Vol. I. B. v.
* Gen. xii. 7.
any
345
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
any other perfon, who had not received thofe revelations,
which had been made to Abraham, and to his children.
Jikra be Shem Jehovah, not called upon the name of the Lord,
as we falfely tranflate the place, but invoked, i. e. God, in
the name of the Lord, whom he worshipped, and who ap-
peared to him. And this perſon I take to be the God whom
Jacob prayed to, and whom he refolved to worſhip, when
he vowed that the Lord should be his God; by which ex-
preffion may be meant, not that the true God fhould be his
God in oppofition to falfe Gods, for that had been no very
remarkable reſolution; no wife man ever worshipping falfe
Gods, that really knows them to be ſuch; but the Lord,
who appeared to Abraham, was to be his God, in diſtinction
from thoſe who worshipped the true God of beaven, without
any notion of this Lord at all. In the fame manner we find
that this perſon was worshipped by Ifaac, and he is fome-
times called the fear of Ifaac, and ſometimes the God of Abra-
bam, and God of Ifaac"; and Ifaac invoked God as Abraham
did, in the name of this Lord. The feveral expreffions de-
noting the worſhip which different perfons paid the Deity
are very remarkable in the Old Teftament. Many perſons
are faid Kara Jehovah, to invoke God, or Kara el Jehovah, to
cry unto God; or their worthip is defcribed in expreflions of
much the fame import; but Kara be Shem Jehovah ' is never
uſed in a religious fenfe but of Abraham and his deſcend-
ants, who invoked in the name of the true Mediator. This
was the difference between their religion and that of the
reft of mankind. Other nations, before idolatry was in-
troduced, worshipped the true God, but not be Shem Je-
bovah, in the name of the Lord, who had appeared to Abraham.
And this I take to be the point which Abraham diſputed
with the Egyptian prieſts, whether God was to be worſhip-
ped as they worshipped him or whether he was to be in-
voked in the name of Abraham's God and Lord. Damaf-
s Gen. xii. 8. as rendered in our
Engliſh verfion.
Gen. xxviii. 21.
u Gen. xxxi. 42, 53. et in al. loc.
x Gen. xxvi. 25.
y The expreffion Kara be Shem is
ufed Gen. iv. but from the perfons
there ſpoken of being called by the
name of the fons of God, Gen. vi. I
imagine the words in that place to fig-
nify to call by the name. See Vol. I. B. i.
cenus
Book VII.
347
and Profane Hiftory.
upon
cenus remarks², that the Egyptians admired Abraham as a
very great genius, able to convince and perfuade men into
his opinions; and we find from Scripture, that the eminence
both of Abraham and his defcendants made great impreffions
all nations they converfed with. The king of Salem
acknowledged Abraham to be an eminent fervant of the
moft high God; Abimelech was convinced that God was
with him in all he did. And the fame confeffion was made
of Ifaac in the fame country; and Abraham's converſation
raiſed him a great character and reputation in Egypt; for
after he was gone from thence, the Egyptians copied after
him in the point of circumcifion, and introduced human
facrifices, and imitated many rites which they heard that he
practifed in his religion; but it does not appear, that he
entirely perfuaded them to acknowledge his God to be their
God. Syphis, a king of the next adjacent country to that
in which Abraham had fojourned, in a little time turned their
thoughts quite another way: he took up the fubjects which
Abraham had been famous for, and wrote a book about re-
ligion, which carried away his own people and the neigh-
bouring nations into idolatry . And probably he did not
oppoſe the doctrine of Abraham, that God was to be in-
voked in the name of a mediator, but he fet up falſe me-
diators inftead of the true one. For I conclude from the
manner of the worshipping Baal in Elijah's time, that men
did not at firſt wander away from the true God, but they
fet
up Lords many, or falſe mediators, in whoſe names they
worshipped; and in time they went further, and loft all
notion of the true God. Syphis, inftead of teaching to in-
voke God in the name of the Lord, who appeared to Abra-
ham, fet up the worthip of the fun, moon, and ſtars, and
taught the Egyptians to invoke in their names; ſo that
they had not one God, and one Lord, which was the ancient
true religion, but one God, and Lords many, and in time they
had Gods many too. Baal was a falfe lord of this fort, and
z Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. ix. c. 17.
a Gen. xiv. 19.
Gen. xxi, 22.
c Gen. xxvi. 28.
d Martham, Can. Chron. p. 54.
1 Kings xviii.
the
348
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
the worshippers of Baal invoked in his name. Elijah called
upon the God of Abraham, Ifaac, and of Ifrael', invoking
God in or by his names. The worshippers of Baal, in op-
pofition to him, invoked in the name of Baal, [Jikreau be
Shem ba Baal,] they called or invoked, not upon the name, for
the words are not to be fo tranflated, but by or in the name
of Baal. If Syphis was the builder of the largeſt Egyptian
pyramid, which, according to the beſt accounts we have of
it, is fo large at the bottom as to cover above eleven acres of
ground, and five hundred feet high, and Manetho expreſsly
fays that he built it; he muſt have been a prince of great
figure in the age he lived in; and no wonder if his own
and the neighbour nations embraced his religious infti-
tutions.
About the times of this Syphis, or rather ſomething later,
lived Job the Arabian: the LXX. in their tranſlation fay
that he lived in all 240 or 248 years: if he did really live
fo long, we ought to fuppofe him earlier than Syphis;
nay, much earlier than Abraham, for the lives of mankind
were fo much fhortened ere the days of Abraham, that
though he lived but 175 years*, yet he is faid to have died in
a good old age, an old man, and full of years'. Peleg, who
was five generations before Abraham, lived 239 years m.
Reu the ſon of Peleg lived as many ". Serug the ſon of Reu
lived 230°; but the lives of their deſcendants were not ſo
long: Nahor the grandfather of Abraham lived but 148
years P. Terah, Abraham's father, lived 205. Abraham
lived 175, Ifaac lived 180', and the lives of their children
were ſhorter: if therefore Job lived 240 or 248 years, he
muſt have been cotemporary with Peleg, Reu, or Serug; for
men's lives were not extended to fo great a length after their
days. The LXX. have ſome remarkable additions to the
Book of Job, which are not found in the Hebrew, Chaldee,
f
1 Kings xviii. 36.
* Ver. 24. and 32.
h Eufeb. Chron. Log. rewr. p. 14.
i
See cap. ult. Lib. Job. Verf. LXX.
ver. 16.
Gen. xxv. 7.
1 Ver. 8.
m Gen. xi. 18, 19.
Ver. 20, 21.
o Ver. 22, 23.
P Ver. 24, 25.
9 Ver. 32.
r Gen. xxxv. 28.
Syriac,
Book VII.
349
and Profane Hiftory.
:
Syriac, or Arabic copies, and this account of the length of
Job's life is one of them; but this is in no wife reconcile-
able with what follows, and is faid to have been tranflated
from the Syriac verfion, namely, that Job's original name
was Jobab; that his father's name was Zare, of the children
of Efau; that he was the fifth in deſcent from Abraham ;
that he was the fecond king of Edom, next after Bela the
fon of Beor this account will place Job even later than
Moſes; for Bela the first king of Edom was Mofes's cotem-
porary, and if we place him thus late, he could not live 240
years: men lived in Moſes's time about 130. But this ac-
count is not confiftent with itſelf; for if Job was the fifth in
deſcent from Abraham, he muſt be prior to Mofes, Mofes
being ſeven deſcents later than Abraham: theſe additions,
which we now find in the laft chapter of the LXX. verfion
of the Book of Job, will therefore fo ill bear a ftrict exami-
nation, that I cannot think the tranſlators themſelves did at
first put them there; but rather that they were the work of
fome later hand, added by fome tranſcriber, who thought
Jobab (mentioned Gen. xxxvi. 33.) and Job to be the fame
perfon. There are ſome circumftances in the hiftory of Job,
which may lead us to gueſs pretty well at the times he lived in.
1. He lived above 180 years, for he lived 140 years after his
afflictions', and he must be more than 40 at the beginning of
them; for he had ſeven ſons and three daughters, and all
his children feem to have been grown up before the begin-
ning of his misfortunes"; he could not therefore but live to
be near 200 years old. 2. The idolatry practiſed in the coun-
tries he lived in, in his days,was the worſhip of the hoſt of hea-
ven. 3. The preſents uſual in Job's days were earrings of
gold, and pieces of money called Kefbitah. Now from theſe
circumſtances it ſeems most probable, 1. That he could not
be much later than the times of Ifaac, for if he had, his life
would not have been fo long as it appears to have been.
2. He muſt have been fomething younger than Syphis, for
• Mofes was in the third generation
from Levi, Chron. vi. 1, 2, 3. Levi
was ſon of Jacob, fon of Ifaac, fon of
Abraham.
Job xlii. 16.
↳ Job i. 2—4.
* Job xxxi. 26, 27.
y Job xlii. 11.
Syphis
350
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
2
Syphis firſt inſtituted the worſhip of the host of heaven in
Egypt, which idolatry ſpread thence into and began to
flouriſh in Arabia in Job's time. 3. Earrings of gold were
in Abraham's days, and they were part of the women's
dreſs in the days of Jacob; but the piece of money called
Kefbitab feems not to have been in ufe until after Abraham :
when Abraham bought the field of Ephron, he paid the
price in filver, not by number of pieces, but by weight ©;
but when Jacob bought a parcel of a field of the children
of Hamor, he paid for it not by weight, but he gave an
hundred Keſhitabs d, or pieces of money, for it; ſo that the
Keſhitah, or piece of money, which Job's friends gave him,
was not in uſe in Abraham's time, but was in uſe in Jacob's,
and therefore Job was not fo ancient as Abraham, though
the length of his life will not permit us to ſuppoſe him
altogether fo young as Jacob. Job's friends who vifited
him were Eliphaz ha-Temani, perhaps the fon of Tema;
now Tema was the fon of Ifhmael; and Bildad ha-Shuachi,
¿. e. the ſon of Shuach; now Shuach was ſon of Abraham by
Keturah ; and Zophar ha-Naamathi; and Elihu the fon of
Barachel ha-Buzi converſed with them s; now Buz was the
ſon of Nahor, Abraham's brother ; Barachel might be his
fon or grandſon, and Elihu his fon be cotemporary with Ifaac,
for Nahor being born when his father Terah was little more
than 70, must have been above 50 years older than Abra-
ham; and agreeably hereto Abraham's fon Ifaac married
Nahor's grand-daughter. And thus all the perfons con-
verfant with Job may reafonably be fuppofed to have lived
about Ifaac's time, and therefore we need not upon account
of their names place Job later. There are fome learned
writers that are very pofitive that Job lived about the time
of Moſes; Grotius was of this opinion; others place him a
generation later than Efau, imagining Eliphaz the Temanite,
who was one of his friends, to have been Eliphaz the ſon of
£
2 See Vol. I. Book v.
2 Gen. xxiv. 22.
b Gen. xxXV. 4.
c Gen. xxiii. 16.
d Gen. xxxiii. 19.
h
e Gen. xxv. 15.
f Ver. 2.
g Job xxxii. 2.
h Gen. xxii. 21.
¡Gen. xxiv. 24.
Efau,
Book VII.
351
and Profane Hiftory.
:
Efau, and father of Teman; but I ſhould think the length
of Job's life to be an unanswerable objection againſt ſup-
pofing him to be thus late. Job lived in the land of Uz k
according to the prophet Jeremiah this country was adjacent
to the land of Edom: the Sabæans robbed Job ", and the
Sabæans lived at the entrance of Arabia Felix ". The Chal-
dæans alſo made three bands, and fell upon his camels, and
carried them away°: the Chaldæans were at firſt a wander-
ing people, inhabitants of the wildernefs, until Afhur built
them a city; then they lived at Ur in Mefopotamia, for they
expelled Abraham their land; but it is moft probable, that,
like the ancient Scythians, they wandered often from their
country in bands for the fake of robbing, many generations
after their firſt ſettlement, this being no unuſual practice in
the early times, and three companies of them might make
an expedition, and fall upon Job's cattle; fo that we need not
fuppofe Job to live very near to Ur of the Chaldees, though
he was robbed by theſe men. If we fuppofe his land to be
adjacent to Edom, as Jeremiah hints it, he was nigh enough
to both Sabæans and Chaldæans to fuffer from each of them.
Some writers have imagined, that there never was any fuch
perfon as Job, and that his hiftory is only an inftructive
fable; but nothing can be more wild than this opinion,
which has no colour of argument to fupport it. The pro-
phet Ezekiel ſuppoſes Job to have been as real a perſon as
either Noah or Daniel, and St. James mentions him as
having been a true example of patiences. We may at
this rate raiſe doubts of any ancient fact and hiſtory.
About the hundredth year of Ifaac's life there happened
a very remarkable accident in his family; Ifaac and Re-
bekah feem to have had a very different opinion concerning
their two fons, Jacob and Efau Ifaac was a very good
man; but he did not form a true judgment of his children:
he was remarkably fond of Efau, more than he was of
k Job i. I.
1 Lam. iv. al.
m Job i. 15.
n See Vol. I. B. iii.
• Job i. 17.
P Iſaiah xxiii. 13.
9 Judith v. 8.
Ezek. xiv. 14—16.
• James v. 11.
Jacob;
352
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
Jacob; but his affection was but poorly grounded, he loved
Efau becauſe be did eat of bis venifon; but Rebekah loved Jacob;
and it is remarkable, that, before the placed her affection
upon either of them, the enquired of God concerning them,
and received for anſwer, that the younger fhould be diſtin-
guiſhed by the bleffings of heaven "; this fhe treaſured up
in her mind, and her opinion of them was according to it.
From the time that God made the covenant with Abraham,
and promifed the extraordinary bleffings to his feed, which
have been before mentioned, it was requifite for the father
of each family fome time before he died to call together his
children, and to inform them, according to the knowledge
which it pleaſed God to give him, how and in what manner
the bleffing of Abraham was to defcend amongst them.
Abraham had no occafion to do this; for God having deter-
mined and declared that in Iſaac his feed ſhould be called *,
none of Abraham's other children could have any pretence
to expect the particular bleffings which God had promiſed
to the feed of Abraham. Ifaac had two fons, and either of
theſe might be defigned by God to be the heir of the pro-
mife, Ifaac being now in the decline of life; he was old, and
bis eyes were dim that he could not fee, and, not knowing how
foon he might be taken from them, was willing to deter-
mine this point, by bleffing them before he died. If we
compare this place with that where Jacob afterwards called
his children together, we may obſerve a remarkable dif-
ference between them: Jacob called his fons, and faid,
Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befal
you in the last days, or rather it ſhould be tranſlated, in the
times to come, or in the days of your pofterity. God had given
Jacob a prophetic view of his intended difpenfations to his
defcendants and their children, and he called his fons to-
gether to relate to them what God had thus revealed to
him but Ifaac in the place before us feems to have called
Efau, without having received any particular revelation about
him; nay, it is evident he had received none; for he de-
* Gen. xxv. 27, 28.
u Ver. 23.
x Gen. xvii. 19—21.
y Gen. xxvii. 1.
* Gen. xlix. 1.
figned
Book VII.
.353
and Profane Hiftory.
figned to tell him, what God never intended ſhould belong
to him. Ifaac called Efau, and not Jacob, becauſe he loved
him more than he loved Jacob; and he loved him more,
becauſe Efau gat him venifon; but Jacob's courſe of life lay
another way Rebekah faw the low fprings of her huf-
band's affection to his children, and that he was going to
promiſe the bleffing of Abraham where his affection led him
to wiſh it, and not where, by having made enquiry, ſhe knew
that God defigned to beftow it: hereupon the reſolved, if
poffible, to prevent him, and therefore fent for Jacob, and
propoſed to him a fcheme for his obtaining the bleffing
which his father defigned to give to Efau. Jacob was
at firſt in great perplexity about it; was afraid his father
fhould find out the deceit, and, inſtead of bleffing him, be
provoked to curfe him for endeavouring to impoſe upon
him; but Rebekah was fo well affured that God defigned
to bleſs Jacob, and that her whole crime in this attempt
was only an endeavour to deceive Ifaac into an action,
which he ought to have duly informed himſelf of, and to
have done deſignedly, that fhe took the curfe wholly upon
herſelf, and perfuaded Jacob to come into her meaſures.
One thing is remarkable, that, when the artifice had fuc-
ceeded, and Jacob was bleffed, Ifaac let it go, nay, he con-
firmed the bleffing, Yea, fays he, and be ſhall be bleſſed.
We do not find that he was either diſpleaſed with his wife,
or angry with Jacob for impofing upon him; but though
he had before appeared full of fears and cares left Eſau
ſhould be defeated, yet now he expreffed himſelf fully
fatisfied with what he had done. I cannot but think, that
it pleaſed God at this time to open his underſtanding, and
to convince him, that he had given the bleffing to the right
perfon. Before this time he faid nothing but what any
uninſpired perſon might have faid: he wifhed his fon of
the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of
corn and wine, adding fuch other circumftances of profperity
as his affection dictated; but faying nothing that can in-
timate him to have had any particular view of any thing
a Gen. xxvii.
VOL. I.
▷ Ver. 18, 21, 24.
A 3
© Ver. 27-29.
that
354
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
that was to happen to him: but now he began to fpeak
with a better ſenſe of things, he ſtill wiſhed Efau all poffible
happineſs, the fatness of the earth, and the dew of heaven; but
he knew, that the particular bleffings promiſed to Abraham
and his feed did not belong to him; he could now enter
into his future life, and tell the circumftances of his pof-
terity, and relate to him what ſhould happen in after-days;
defcribe how he and his defcendants fhould live; acquaint
him, that his brother's children ſhould indeed be their go-
vernors; but that there should come a time, when his chil-
dren ſhould get the dominion, and break his brother's yoke
from off their necks; a particular accompliſhed not until
almoſt nine hundred years after this prediction of it; for
this prophefy was fulfilled, when the land of Edom, peopled
by the children of Efau, who had been brought into ſub-
jection to the feed of Jacob by king David', revolted in
the days of Jehoram, and fet up a king of their own,
and brake the yoke of Jacob off their neck, being never
after that time any more fubject to any of the kings of
Judahh.
Efau was exceedingly provoked at his brother's thus ob-
taining the blefling from him, and determined, as ſoon as
his father fhould be dead, to kill him. Rebekah heard of
his intentions, and thought the moſt likely way to prevent
miſchief, would be to fend Jacob out of the way. She ap-
plied herſelf therefore to Ifaac, mentioned to him the mif-
fortune of Efau's marriages, and the comfort they might
have of Jacob, if he would take care to diſpoſe of himſelf
better; ſo that Ifaac fent for Jacob, and charged him not to
take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, but ordered him to
go into Mefopotamia, and enquire for the family of Bethuel,
his mother's father, and get one of Laban's daughters for a
wife, and that if he did fo, God would certainly bleſs him *,
and give him the bleffing of Abraham, and the land of Ca-
◄ Gen. xxvii. 39.
f
e Ver. 40.
2 Sam. viii. 14.
3 2 Kings viii. 20-22.
h See Archbishop Ufher's Annals,
an. 885. Prideaux, Connect. vol. i.
p. 6. ed. 1718.
Gen. xxvii. 41.
k Gen. xxviii. the Hebrew words,
ver. 3. are, God Almighty will bless
thee, &c.
naan
Book VII.
355
and Profane Hiftory.
naan to his poſterity. Jacob did as his father had directed
him, and ſet out for Mefopotamia: he was at firft a little caft
down at the length of the way, and the hazard of fuccefs in
his journey, and when at night he went to fleep, with an
head and heart full of cares, the God of Abraham and of
Ifaac¹ appeared to him in a dream, and aſſured him, that he
would preferve and protect him in his journey, and bring
him fafe back into Canaan again; that he would make him
happy in a numerous progeny, and in time multiply them
exceedingly, and give them the land for an inheritance
which he had promiſed to Abraham; and moreover, that in
him, i. e. in his feed, all the families of the earth fhould be
bleſſed: and thus at this time God exprefsly promiſed to him
that particular bleffing of Abraham, with the covenanted
mercies that belonged to it, which Ifaac had before given
him reaſon to hope for. Jacob was furpriſed at this extra-
ordinary vifion, and took the ſtones upon which he had laid
his head, and reared them up into a pillar, and poured oil
upon the top of it, and made a vow, that if the God that
thus appeared to him ſhould bleſs and preſerve him, protect
him in his journey, and bring him back in ſafety, that then
the Lord fhould be his God", and that he would worship him
in the place where he had now erected the pillar, and that
he would dedicate to his fervice the tenth of all the fub-
ftance he ſhould have.
Jacob purſued his journey, and came to Haran in Mefopo-
tamia, and found Laban and his relations, and was received
by them with great joy and welcome "; but as he was not
the only fon of his father, nor the elder fon; not the heir of
his father's ſubſtance; ſo he did not pretend to expect a
wife in fo pompous a way as his father had formerly º.
Laban had two daughters, Leah and Rachel: Jacob fancied
the younger, and propoſed to his uncle Laban, that he
would ſtay with him ſeven years as his fervant to take care
of his flocks, if he would give him Rachel to wife: Laban
agreed to his propofal, but at the end of the ſeven years de-
Gen. xxviii. 13.
Ver. 21. See above, p. 346, 347,
n Gen. xxix.
• Gen. xxiv.
A a 2
ceived
356
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
:
ceived him, and married him not to Rachel, but to Leah :
Jacob expreffing fome diffatisfaction at it, Laban told him,
that he could not break through the cuſtom of their coun-
try, to marry his younger daughter before his elder; but
that, if he defired it, he would give him Rachel too, and he
ſhould ſerve him ſeven years more for her, after he had mar-
ried her Jacob agreed to this, and when the week was
over for the celebration of Leah's nuptials, he married Ra-
chel, and continued with Laban, and kept his flocks feven
years more. At the expiration of theſe feven years, Jacob
had a family of twelve children; he had fix fons and a
daughter by Leah P; two fons by Zilpah, Leah's maid ª; a
fon by Rachel'; and two fons by Bilhah, Rachel's maid.
He began to think it time to get into a way of making fome
provifion for them, and therefore defired Laban to difmifs
him, and to let him return to his father with his wives and
children'. Laban had found by experience, that his fub-
ſtance proſpered under Jacob's care, and was loth to part
with him, and therefore agreed with him to ftay upon fuch
terms", that Jacob in a few years grew rich under him, and
was maſter of very confiderable flocks of his own. Laban
by degrees grew uneafy at ſeeing him increaſe ſo faſt; ſo
that Jacob perceived that his countenance
wards him as before; that he was not fo much in his
favour as he uſed to be, and hereupon he refolved to leave
him.
was not to-
There is a very obvious remark to be made upon Jacob's
bargain with Laban, when he agreed to flay with him, and
upon his behaviour conſequent upon it: he bargained with
Laban to ſerve him, upon condition that he might take for
wages all the ſpeckled and ſpotted cattle, and this with an
air of integrity, to prevent miftakes about his hire ; ſo ſhall
my righteoufnefs, fays he, anfwer for me in time to come, auben
it shall come for my hire before thy face: Jacob ſeemed to
deſire to make a clear and expreſs bargain, about which they
21.
P Gen. xxix. 32-35. xxx. 17, 19,
4 Gen. xxx. 9, 12.
r Ver. 23.
s Ver. 4, 7.
• Ver. 25, 26.
"Ver. 28-43.
* Ver. 31-33-
might
Book VII.
357
and Profane Hiftory.
might have no difputes: if they had agreed for a particular
number of cattle every year, there might have been room for
cavil and fufpicions: if any of the flock had by accident.
been loft, they might have differed, whether Jacob's or La-
ban's were the loft cattle; but to prevent all poffible dif-
putes, Let me, fays Jacob, have all the fpeckled and ſpotted
cattle, and then, whenever you fhall have a mind to look
into my ſtock, my integrity will at firft fight come before
your face, or be confpicuous; for you will immediately ſee
whether I have any cattle beſides what belong to me. And
yet we find, that, after all this feeming fairneſs, Jacob very
artfully over-reached Laban, by ufing means to have the beſt
cattle always bring forth fuch as he was to take, and he ſo
ordered it, as to get away all the beſt of the cattle, ſo that
the feebler only were Laban's, and the ſtronger Jacob's ';
an artifice which ſeems to argue him to have been a man of
very little honefty. But to this it may be anſwered; 1.
Though Ariſtotle and Pliny, and ſeveral other writers, who
are commonly cited by the remarkers upon this fact, and
who all lived many ages later than Jacob, have been of
opinion, that impreffions made upon the imagination of the
dam at the time of conception, may have a great effect upon
the form and ſhape and colour of the young; and though it
may hence be inferred, that fuch a method as Jacob took
might poffibly produce the effect, which it had upon Laban's
cattle; yet I cannot think Jacob himſelf knew any thing of
it: men had not thus early enquired far into the powers of
nature; philoſophy was as yet very low and vulgar, and
obfervations of this fort were not thought of or fought
after religion and the worship of God was in theſe days
the wiſdom of the world, and a fimplicity of manners and
integrity of life was more ſtudied, than curious and philo-
fophical enquiries. If ftudy and philoſophy had helped men
to theſe arts, how came Laban and his fons to know ſo very
little? They furely muſt have apprehended, that Jacob might
by art variegate the cattle as he pleaſed, and would not have
made fo weak a bargain with him; but they certainly had
:
y Gen. xxx. 42.
A a 3
no
358
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
ነ
no notion that any fuch thing could be done, nor had Jacob
any thought of it, when he bargained with Laban; but he
chofe the fpeckled cattle only to put an end to all cavils.
about his wages, not doubting but God would fo order it,
that he ſhould have enough, and being determined to be
contented with what God's providence fhould think fit to
give him. It will here be aſked, how came Jacob to make
ufe of the pilled rods, if he did not think this an artful way
to cauſe the cattle to bring forth ringftraked, fpeckled, and
ſpotted young ones? To this I anfwer, 2. That we read,
that the angel of God ſpake unto him about this matter ².
God ſaw the injuſtice of Laban's dealings with him, and the
honesty and fidelity of Jacob in his fervice, and he deter-
mined to reward Jacob, and to puniſh Laban. We are told,
that God revealed to Jacob in a dream, that the cattle fhould
be thus fpotted, and very probably in the fame dream God
ordered him to make uſe of pilled rods in the manner he
uſed them, and affured him, that, if he did ſo, the favour
which he had promiſed him of increafing his wages fhould
follow. We have frequent inftances in Scripture of God's
appointing perſons to perform ſome actions in order to re-
ceive his bleffings; and that in one of theſe two ways:
fometimes they are directed to do fome action, upon which
they ſhould receive fome fign or token, that what was pro-
miſed them ſhould be performed: thus Abraham was to
take an heifer of three years old, and a fhe-goat, and a ram,
▾ Here ſeems to be a defect of two
or three verſes in our preſent copies of
the Bible. Jacob tells his wives, (Gen.
xxxi. 11.) that the angel of the Lord
had ſpoken to him in a dream, upon
Laban's ill ufage'; but we have no ac-
count of any angel's fpeaking to him.
in chap. xxxi. before his ufing the
pilled rods, in any of our copies: but
the Samaritan Verfion gives us very
great reaſon to think that there was
originally a full account of this mat-
ter.
After ver. 36. of chap. xxxi. the
Samaritan Verfion inferts as follows:
"And the angel of the Lord called
"unto Jacob in a dream, and ſaid,
"Jacob; and he anſwered, Here am I.
"And he faid, Lift up now thine eyes,
"behold the rams leaping upon the
"cattle ringftraked, fpeckled, and
"grifled; for I have feen all that La-
"ban hath done to thee: I am the
"God of Bethel, to whom thou a-
"nointedft a pillar there, and to whom
"thou vowedſt a vow there but do
"thóu arife now, and go out of this
"land, and return into the land of
"thy father, and I will bless thee."
Then follows: "And Jacob took green
(6
poplar rods," &c. The early tran-
fcribers, through whofe hands we have
received our prefent copies of the
Bible, may have dropped fome fuch
paffage as this, which very fully an-
ſwers to what Jacob afterwards told
his wives.
and
Book VII.
359
and Profane Hiftory.
:
a
and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon, and to lay them in
order for a facrifice, and then he was to receive an affurance,
that he ſhould inherit Canaan : at other times they are
commanded to perform fome action which might teftify
their believing in God, and depending upon his promiſe,
and upon doing fuch action, the favour promiſed was to fol-
low thus Naaman the Syrian, when he came to beg of
God a cure of his leprofy, was directed to waſh ſeven times.
in Jordan; his wafhing in Jordan was to be an evidence of
his believing that God would heal him, and upon giving this
evidence of his belief, he was to be cured: and this was the
cafe of Jacob here before us: God had told him, that he
bad feen all that Laban bad done to him; but that he would
take care that he ſhould not hurt him, and that he defigned to
turn all Laban's contrivances to defraud him of his wages fo
much to his advantage, as that they ſhould tend to the increaſe
of his profperity; and then God commanded him, in token of
his belief and dependence upon him, to take the pilled rods,
and uſe them as he directed him. Jacob believed, and did
as he was commanded; no more thinking, that the pilling
white ftrakes in green boughs, and laying them in the
troughs where the flocks were to drink, was a natural way
to cauſe them to bring forth fpeckled and ringftraked cat-
tle, than Naaman did, that waſhing in a river was a cure for
the leprofy; but in both cafes the favour expected depend-
ing upon the ſpecial providence of God, the particular direc-
tions of God were to be performed in order to obtain it.
But, 3. I do not think it can be proved, that the method
which Jacob ufed is a natural and effectual way of caufing
cattle to bring forth fpeckled and ringſtraked young. As
almoſt all the conjectures of the ancient heathen writers
upon the powers of nature had their firft rife from fome
hints or facts in the Hebrew writings; fo perhaps what is
offered by Ariftotle, and other ancient writers, about the
effects which impreffions made upon the imagination of the
dam may have upon their young, might be firft occafioned
by this fact thus recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, or by
• Gen. XV. 9.
A a 4
b 2 Kings v. 10.
fome
360
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
A
fome remarks of ancient writers made from it: but it is ob-
fervable, that the ancient naturalifts carried their thoughts
upon theſe ſubjects much further than they would bear;
and we, who live in an age of far better philofophy, do not
find, that we know fo much as Ariftotle thought he did upon
theſe ſubjects. The effects of impreffions upon the ima-
gination muſt be very accidental, becauſe the objects that
ſhould cauſe them may or may not be taken notice of, as
any one would find, that ſhould try Jacob's pilled rods to
variegate his cattle with. The waters of Jordan may cure
a leprofy, or Jacob's pilled rods produce fpotted cattle;
either of theſe means may have the defired effect, if a par-
ticular providence directs them, but without fuch providence
neither of theſe means may have any effect at all. I might
add farther, 4. That if we ſhould allow that the pilled rods,
as Jacob uſed them, might naturally produce the effect upon
Laban's cattle which followed; yet fince, as I before hinted,
we have no reaſon to think Jacob remarkably learned be-
yond Laban and all his children, fince it is not probable that
he alone ſhould know this grand fecret, and all other per-
fons have not the leaſt fufpicion of it; we can at moſt only
fuppofe that God directed him to what he did in this matter.
In Hezekiah's fickneſs, the prophet directed an application
of figs in order to his recovery, and Hezekiah recovered
upon the application of them; but fince this application was
made, not by any rules of phyfic then known, but by a
divine direction, we cannot but aſcribe the cure immediately
to God himſelf, even though it may poffibly be argued that
figs were a proper medicine for Hezekiah's distemper:
they were not then known or thought to be fo, and there-
fore human ſkill or preſcription had no part in the cure.
And thus in Jacob's cafe; if it can be fuppof that pilled
rods may be naturally a means to variegate young cattle,
yet, unless we can think that he knew that the uſe of them
would naturally have this effect, and that he uſed them, not
in obedience to a ſpecial direction from God, but merely as
an art to get Laban's cattle, we cannot lay any blame upon
c Ifaiah xxxviii. 21.
him;
Book VII.
361
and Profane Hiftory.
him; it cannot, I think, be fuppofed that Jacob had any
fuch knowledge. God Almighty determined to puniſh La-
ban for his injuftice, and to reward Jacob for his fidelity;
and he revealed to Jacob the manner in which he defigned
to bless him, and ordered him to do an action as a token
that he embraced God's promife, and expected the perform-
ance of it. Jacob faithfully obferved the orders that were
given him, and God bleſſed him according to his promiſe.
And there is no reaſon for us to think, that Jacob knew of
or uſed any art to over-reach Laban, and get away his cat-
tle; but the true conclufion is that which Jacob himſelf
expreffed in his fpeech to his wives: Ye know, that with all
my power I have ferved your father; and your father bath
deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God fuffered
bim not to hurt me. If he faid thus, The Speckled fhall be thy
wages; then all the cattle bare fpeckled: and if he ſaid thus,
The ringstraked ſhall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ring-
Straked. Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father,
and given them unto med.
Jacob finding Laban and his fons every day more and
more indiſpoſed towards him, took an opportunity, and con-
trived matters with his wives, and feparated his own from
his father-in-law's cattle, and retired in a private manner,
and paffed over Euphrates, and made for mount Gilead e.
He was gone three days before Laban heard of it: as foon
as it was told him, he gathered his family together, and
purſued him for feven days, and overtook him at Gilead.
From Haran to mount Gilead muſt be above 250 miles, fo that
Jacob made hafte to travel thither in ten days, going about
25 miles each day; and Laban's purſuit of him was very
eager, for he marched about 37 miles a day for ſeven days
together but he was refolved to overtake him. And when
he came up with him, he purpoſed in his heart to revenge
himfelf upon him; but here God was pleaſed to interpoſe,
and warn Laban not to offer Jacob any evil. Hereupon,
when he came up to him, he only expoftulated with him
his manner of leaving him, and complained that he had
• Gen. xxxi. 6—9.
© Ver. 17.
f Ver. 24.
ftolen
362
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
ftolen his teraphim, which Rachel, fond of the memory of
her anceſtors, had, without Jacob's knowledge, taken away
with hers; but upon Jacob's offering all his company
to be fearched, Laban not being able to find where Ra-
chel had hid them, they grew friends, made a folemn en-
gagement to each other, and then parted. Laban returned
home, and Jacob went on towards the place where he had
left his father.
Jacob was now returning into Canaan in great proſperity;
he was a few years before very low in the world, but now
he had wives, and children, and fervants, and a fubftance.
abundantly fufficient to maintain them. When he went
over Jordan to go to Haran, his ſtaff or walking-flick was
all his fubftance; but now he came to repafs it, in order
to return into Canaan, he found himſelf maſter of ſo large a
family, as to make up two bands or companies; and all
this increaſe ſo juftly acquired, that he could with an af
fured heart look up to God, and acknowledge his having
truly bleſſed him, according to the promiſe which he had
made him.
After Jacob had parted from Laban, he began to think of
the danger that might befall him at his return home. The
diſpleaſure of his brother Efau came freſh into his mind, and
he was fenfible he could have no fecurity, if he did not
make his peace with him. Efau, when Jacob went to Haran,
obſerving how ſtrictly his father charged him not to marry
a Canaanite, began to be diffatisfied with his own mar-
riages, and went hereupon to Ifhmael, and married one of
his daughters, and went and lived in mount Seir, in the land
of Edom. And Jacob, finding by enquiry that he was ſettled
here, thought it neceffary to fend to him in order to appeaſe
him, that he might be fecure of living without moleſtation
from him.
Some writers have queftioned why or how Jacob fhould
fend this meſſage to his brother: Jacob was in Gilead, and
Efau in mount Seir, 120 miles at leaſt diſtant from one
Gen. xxxi. 30. See Vol. I. B. v.
b Gen. xxxii. 10.
p. 208.
i Gen. xxxi. 9. and xxxii. 12.
k Gen. xxviii. 6—9.
another.
Book VII.
363
and Profane Hiſtory.
another. Jacob went down Gilead to the brook Jab-
bok', and his way thence lay over Jordan into Canaan,
without coming any nearer to Efau; why therefore ſhould
he ſend to him? or, having himſelf lived ſo long at ſuch a
diſtance, how fhould he know where he was ſettled, or
what was become of him? Theſe objections have been
thought confiderable by fome very good writers, and Adri-
chomius conceived it neceffary to deſcribe Seir in a different
fituation from that in which the common maps of Canaan
place it. He imagined, that there were two diftinct coun-
tries called by the name of the land of Edom, and in each of
them a mountain called Seir, and that one of them, namely,
that in which Efau lived at this time, lay near to mount
Gilead; and Brocard and Torniellus m are faid to have been
of the fame opinion. They fay, the children of Efau re-
moved hence in time into the other Edom or Idumæa, when
they grew ftrong enough to expel the Horites out of it";
but that they did not live in this Edom, which was the land
of the Horites, in Jacob's days. But as there are no ac-
counts of Canaan which can favour this opinion, fo I can-
not fee how this fituation of Edom can be admitted. They
make and invent names and places, which no writers but
themſelves ever knew of, and fo create real difficulties in
geography, to folve imaginary ones in hiftory. The Horites
were indeed the firft inhabitants of Seir, and the land of
Edom, and were in poffeffion of it in Efau's days; for he
married one of their daughters, namely, Aholibamah the
grand-daughter of Zibeon, and daughter of Anah; and
this Zibeon was the ſon of Seir the Horite P, and Anah was
Seir's grandfon, and both of them were in their turns
dukes or princes in the land'. Efau therefore lived and
married in this country; for here only we find the perfons
whoſe daughter he took to wife, and he lived here a ſojourner
in the kingdoms of other men, until after fome generations
God gave this country to his children, who deftroyed the
1 Gen. xxxii. 22.
m Pool's Syn. in Gen. xxxii. 2.
n Deut. ii. Iz.
• Gen. xxxvi. 2.
P Ver. 20.
9 Ibid.
r Ver. 29.
Horims,
364
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
Horims, and took poffeffion of their country, as Ifrael did of
the land of bis poffeffion, which the Lord gave unto them". As
to mount Seir's being very diftant from Gilead, where Jacob
ſtopped, and fent meffengers to Efau, it is certain it was fo;
fo far diftant, that, after Jacob and Efau had met, Jacob re-
preſented it as too long a journey for his children to take, or
his cattle to be driven, but by eaſy advances t. It is eaſy to
fay, how Jacob could tell where Efau lived, and why he
thought fit to ſend to him. It is not to be imagined, that
Jacob could be fo imprudent as to carry his wives, children,
and fubftance into Canaan, without knowing whether he
might ſafely venture thither; and therefore very probably,
when he reſted at Gilead, he fent meffengers to enquire
whether his father was alive; what condition he was in, and
what temper the inhabitants of the land fhewed him, and
whether he might fafely come and live near him and when
he found that he ſhould meet with no obftruction, if he could
but reconcile Efau to him, he very prudently fent to him
alſo, intending, if he ſhould find Efau averſe to him, to bend
his courſe fome other way ". And thus Jacob's meffage to
Efau may be beſt accounted for, by fuppofing Efau's habita-
tion in the land of Edom to be according to the com-
mon and known geography of that country; and Adri-
chomius's ſcheme of two Edoms being a mere fiction,
purely to folve a feeming difficulty, ought juftly to be
rejected.
Jacob was in more than ordinary fears of his brother
Efau, and his meffengers at their return furpriſed him ftill
s Deut. ii. 12.
Gen. xxxiii. 13, 14.
u If we confider what had paffed
between Efau and Jacob, before Jacob
went from l'ome, it will appear very
proper that Jacob fhould fend to him,
before he ventured to come and fit
down with his fubftance near his fa-
ther. Efau ftill expected to be his
father's heir; and if Jacob had re-
turned home without Efau's know-
ledge, it would have laid a foundation
for a greater miſunderſtanding at Ifaac's
death, than any that had as yet been
between them. Efau would have
thought, that Jacob had got the great-
eft part of his fubftance from his fa-
ther; and when he came, at Ifaac's
death, to take away with him into
Edom what his father had to leave
him, he would have looked upon Ja-
cob, as having for many years been
contriving to get from him all he
could. It was therefore Jacob's in-
tereft to have Efau fully fatisfied in
this point, and for this reafon, as
well as others, he fent to him, to ap-
priſe him, that he brought his fub-
ſtance with him from Haran, and that
he was not going into Canaan to do
him any injury,
more,
Book VII.
365
and Profane Hiſtory.
more, by informing him, that Efau was coming after them
attended by 400 men *.
He concluded now that his bro-
ther had a deſign to take his full revenge, and deſtroy him
and all that belonged to him. In his diſtreſs he cried unto
God, and after that applied himſelf to contrive the moſt
likely expedients for his fafety. First of all he divided his
company into two parts, that if Efau ſhould fall upon one
part, he might have a poffibility of eſcaping with the other.
In the next place, he ordered a very extraordinary preſent of
the choice of his flocks and herds, divided into feveral droves,
and theſe he ſent before him: after this he fent his wives
and children, and all his ſubſtance, over the brook Jabbok,
ſtaying himſelf alone fome time behind them. And here
God was pleaſed to put an end to his fears, by giving him
an extraordinary fign or token, to affure him that he ſhould
get through all the difficulties that ſeemed to threaten him.
There came an angel in the ſhape and appearance of a man,
and wreſtled with him. It was the fame divine perfon,
according to Hofea", that appeared to him at Bethel. They
ftruggled together, but the angel did not overcome him; and
at parting, when the angel bleffed him, he told him the
deſign of his conteft with him; that it was to inftruct him,
that as he had not been conquered in this conteft, fo neither
ſhould he be overcome by the difficulties that threatened
him. The angel faid to him, Thy name fhall be called no
more Jacob, but Ifrael; for as a prince hast thou power with
God and with men, and haft prevailed; or rather the latter
part of the verfe fhould be thus tranflated, for thou hast been
a prevailer with God, and with men thou shalt also powerfully
prevail. This is the true verbal tranflation of the Hebrew
words; and the Vulgar Latin, the LXX. and Onkelos in
his Targum, have very juftly expreffed the true ſenſe of the
place; but our Engliſh verfion is too obſcure.
x Gen. xxxii. 6.
y Ver. 22, 23.
z Hofea xii. 4.
a Gen. xxxii. 28.
b
כי שרית b The Hebrew words are
עם אלהיכם ועם אנשכים ותדכל
Quoniam prævaluifti cum Deo, et cum
hominibus etiam prævalebis.
The Vulgar Latin tranflates the place,
Quoniam fi contra Deum fortis fuifti,
quanto magis contra homines prævalebis.
The LXX. render the place, “Ori iví-
σχύσας μετὰ Θε8, & μετὰ ἀνθρώπων δυο
varòs on. Onkelos has it, Quoniam
princeps es tu coram Deo, et cum ho-
minibus prævalebis.
Jacob,
366
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
Jacob, full of the affurance which the angel had given
him, prepared his wives and children to meet Efau; and in-
ftructed them, when they fhould come up to him, to pay
him all poffible refpect, by bowing down to him: he himſelf
came up laſt, and when he met Efau, he bowed himſelf to
the ground feven times. Whatever apprehenfions Jacob
had entertained of Efau's refentments, he had the happineſs
to find him in a much better temper than he expected:
Efau was full of all poffible affection towards him, he ran at
fight to meet him, he embraced him with the greateſt ten-
derneſs, and wept over him with tears of joy. As to the
prefent of the cattle, Efau would not have taken it, for he
faid he had enough; but Jacob preffed him to accept it.
Efau invited Jacob to Seir, and offered to conduct him
thither; but Jacob had no defign to accept the invitation,
and yet was afraid directly to refuſe it. He defigned to keep
at a convenient diſtance, and not to live too near, for fear of
future inconveniences. He therefore reprefented the ten-
derneſs of his children and flock, that they could not travel
with expedition; he begged they might not confine him
to their flow movements, but that he would return home
his own pace, and that they would follow as faft as they
could conveniently. Efau then offered him fome of his fer-
vants to fhew him the way; but Jacob evaded this offer
alſo, and ſo they parted. Efau went to Seir, expecting his
brother ſhould follow him; but Jacob turned another way,
went to Succoth, and built himſelf an houſe, and lived there
fome time; and afterwards removed to Salem, a city of the
Shechemites, and bought fome ground of the children of
Hamor, and there ſettled'.
Soon after Jacob was fixed at Shechem, there happened a
misfortune, which unfettled him again. His daughter
Dinah vifited the Shechemites, and Shechem the prince
of the country fell in love with her, and lay with her.
Her father and brothers reſenting the injury and ſcandal
of fo bafe an action, could not bear the thoughts of
being reconciled to him, though he all along had a moſt
Gen. xxxiii. 4.
d Ver. 19.
• Gen. xxxiv.
paffionate
Book VII.
367
and Profane Hiftory.
paffionate defire to marry Dinah: he had defired his father
Hamor to treat with Jacob about it, and Hamor defired
Jacob's confent to it upon any terms; but in their treating
about it, the fons of Jacob anfwered Hamor and Shechem de-
ceitfully, and pretended that they could make no marriages
with an uncircumcifed people. Hereupon Hamor and She-
chem perfuaded all their people to be circumcifed, in order
to incorporate with Jacob's family: but when this was done,
three days after the operation, when the Shechemites were
not fit for war, two of Jacob's fons, Simeon and Levi, took
each man his favord, and came upon the city boldly, and flew all
the males; and they killed Hamor and Shechem, and took
away Dinah out of the houfe f. And as foon as Simeon and
Levi had thus executed the part of the revenge, which they
had taken upon themſelves to perform for the abuſe of their
fifter, the other fons of Jacobs, who had very probably
armed their fervants, and were ready to have affifted Simeon
and Levi, if they had wanted it, came upon the ſlain, and
ſpoiled the city; they feized upon the cattle and wealth of
the Shechemites, and took their wives and their little ones.
captive. Jacob was much concerned at theſe furious pro-
ceedings of his fons, and apprehended that the inhabitants
of the land would unite againſt him for this violent outrage;
but his fons Simeon and Levi were fo warmed with the
thoughts of the diſhonour done their fifter and family, that
they did not think they had carried their refentments too
far for ſo baſe an injury ¹. However, Jacob thought he
fhould be more fecure, if he removed his habitation to
fome other part of the country; and upon receiving a
particular direction from God where to go, he removed to
Bethel i.
h
Upon Jacob's deſigning to go to Bethel, he found it ne-
ceffary to make a reformation in his family, and ſaid unto
his houſehold, and to all that were with him, Put away the
Strange gods that are among you; fo that one would guefs
f Gen. xxxiv. 25, 26.
8 Ver. 27. Quibus egreffis irruerunt
fuper occifos cæteri filii Jacob. Verf.
vulg. Lat.
▲ Gen. xxxiv. 31.
i Gen. xxxv. 1, 6.
k Ver. 2.
from
368
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
from theſe words, that idols and idolatry were crept into his
family; and fome writers imagine, that Rachel his wife in-
troduced them, by bringing out of Haran her father's tera-
phim, which ſhe ſtole at her coming away from him. But it is
remarkable, that Jacob had now with him more perfons than
his own houſehold; for, over and above thefe, he spake unto
all that were with him. The captives of Shechem, which
his fons had taken, were now to be incorporated into his fa-
mily, and he had to reduce them into new order; to ab-
rogate any habits of their drefs or ornaments, or any rites or
ufages in religion, which they might have uſed at Shechem,
if he judged them unſuitable to his religion, or to the order
in which he defired to keep his family; and agreeably
hereto, the gods he took care to put away were not the
teraphim, or little pillars or ftatues which Rachel brought
from Haran', but the elobei ban-necar, gods of the ſtranger,
that was in the midſt of them, or amongſt them, i. e. of the
Shechemites, whom they had taken captive, and brought
into his family. The Hebrew words are remarkably dif-
ferent from our Engliſh tranſlation: the word flrange in the
Hebrew does not refer to gcds, as our tranflators took it,
and therefore rendered the place ſtrange gods; but the He-
brew words are as I have tranflated them, the gods of the
Stranger, &c. and thefe, together with the fuperfluous orna-
ments of drefs which the Shechemitifh women had uſed,
were what he took away, and buried under an oak in She-
chem ", in order to preſerve in his family that purity of wor-
ſhip, and fimplicity of life and manners, which he defigned
to keep up amongst them. After he had done this, he re-
moved for Bethel, and gat fafe thither: the inhabitants of
the feveral cities round about him were fo far from any
thoughts of attacking him, that they looked upon him as a
perfon powerful enough to engage with any of them, and
were very much afraid of him ". After Jacob came to
Bethel, God appeared to him, and confirmed the change of
his name, which had been made at Jabbok, and gave him
freſh affurance of his defign of bleffing and multiplying his
¹ See Vol. I. B. v. p. 208.
m Gen. xxxv, 4.
л Ver. 5.
pofterity,
Book VII.
369
and Profane Hiftory.
pofterity, and of giving them the inheritance of the land
of Canaan. Some time after this, Jacob journeyed from
Bethel, and near Ephrath his wife Rachel died in labour
of Benjamin, and Jacob buried her near Ephrath or Beth-
lehem. From hence Jacob removed, and ſpread his tent
beyond the tower of Edar; and foon after he removed
hence, and came to the plain of Mamre, unto the city of
Arbah or Hebron, unto his father Ifaac, who at that time
lived here'. He had met with feveral misfortunes from the
time that he removed from Bethel; the death of his wife
at Ephrath, and his fon Reuben's baſeneſs in lying with
his concubine Bilhah at Edar; and beſides thefe, there was
a difference amongſt his children, which in a little time
ended in the loſs of his fon Jofeph.
Jofeph was his beloved child, a circumftance which drew
upon him the envy of his brethren, which increaſed to a
perfect hatred, upon his telling them fome dreams, which
ſeemed to imply that he ſhould be advanced in the world
far above any of them. They told Jacob of Joſeph's dreams,
and Jacob thought it proper to diſcountenance the afpiring
thoughts which he imagined they would too naturally lead
him to; however, he could not but think in his heart, that
there was fomething more than ordinary in them'. Some
time after, Jacob fent Jofeph from Hebron to Dothan,
where his other fons were taking care of the flocks. As foon
as Jofeph came in fight of them, they called to mind his
dreams, and were in a great heat about him, and deſigned
to kill him; but Reuben endeavoured to prevent his being
murdered, and perfuaded them to throw him into a pit, and
there to leave him, intending when they were all gone to
come back to the place and help him out, and ſo to ſend
him home to his father": but whilſt they were in theſe de-
bates, there happened to come fome Ithmaelites, who were
travelling from mount Gilead to Egypt with fpicery, and
upon fight of them they determined to fell him. They
• Gen. xxxv. 9-12.
P Ver. 16-18.
q Ver. 19.
r Ver. 21, 27.
VOL. I.
s Ver. 22. and chap. xxxvii.
t Gen. xxxvii. 3—11.
u Ver. 21, 22.
x Ver. 25-28.
B b
fold
370
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
fold him, and the Ishmaelites carried him to Egypt, and
there fold him again to Potiphar, the captain of the king's
guard. Jacob's fons killed a kid, and dipped Jofeph's
coat in the blood of it, and, at their coming home, told their
father that they found it in that condition; fo that Jacob
thought ſome wild beast had killed him, and he mourned
exceedingly for him. Joſeph was more than feventeen
years old when his brethren fold him into Egypt, and
about eight or nine years after he was fold thither, Ifaac,
being one hundred and eighty years old, died, A. M.
2288 b.
Ifaac's death brought Efau and Jacob to another meet-
ing; for Efau came from Seir to Mamre to affift at his
father's funeral, and to receive as heir his father's fubftance.
Jacob, though he came to Mamre to live near his father
fome years before Ifaac died, had yet been exceeding careful
of laying any foundation for a miſunderſtanding with his
brother, and therefore had not brought his flocks and fub-
ftance into that part of the country: for we find that when
he lived at Hebron, his fons were fent to take care of the
flocks to Shechem and Dothan; fo that he had carefully
kept his ſubſtance at a diſtance, aud given Eſau no reaſon
to fufpect that he had any ways intermixed what he had
gotten with what was his father's, or taken any oppor-
tunity to get away any thing from his father to Efau's
hindrance. After Ifaac was buried, Efau had no mind to
live at Mamre; for he confidered, that what he had at Seir,
and what he had now got at Canaan by his father's death,
would be fo great a ſtock, that it would be difficult to find
fufficient room for him to live in Canaan, eſpecially if his
brother Jacob fhould fettle there near him; and therefore
he took what he had in Canaan, and carried it with him
into Seir.
The land of Seir was at this time poffeffed by the Horites
or Horims, and theſe were the inhabitants of it in the days
y Gen. xxxvii. 36.
z Ver. 31-35.
2 For he was feventeen when Ja-
cob lived at Edar, ver. 2.
b Gen. xxxv. 28, 29.
c Gen. xxxvii. 13. and 17.
d Gen. xxxvi. 6.
e Deut. ii. 12.
of
Book VII.
371
and Profane Hiftory.
of Abraham; for Chedorlaomer, out of whofe hand Abra-
ham reſcued Lot, found them here when he brought his
armies to fubdue the nations of Canaan f. Seir the Horite
was cotemporary with Abraham and Chedorlaomer, though
probably ſomething older than Abraham; for Efau, Abra-
ham's grandſon, married Aholibamah the daughter of Seir's
grandfon. If Seir was king of the Horites, he might fall
in battle; for Chedorlaomer Smote the Horites in their mount
Seir, unto El-paran. Under the fons of Seir, the Horites
gathered ſome ſtrength again, and were governed by Seir's
fons, who became dukes of the land, either ruling jointly,
or ſetting up ſeveral little ſovereignties; and in the time of
theſe dukes, Efau came to live at Seir. His full determi-
nation of fettling there was at Ifaac's death, towards the
decline of Efau's life; for Ifaac was fixty years old when
Efau was born', and he lived to be one hundred and
eighty", fo that Efau at his death was one hundred and
twenty; and this must be in the time of the third generation
from Seir, when the children of Lotan, and of Zibeon, and
of Shobal, and of Anah, the fons of Seir, ruled the land;
and agreeably hereto Efau married a daughter of the men
of this generation, Aholibamah the daughter of Anah;
which Anah was not Anah the fon of Seir, but Anah the
ſon of Zibeon, and grandſon of Seir"; this was that Anah
who found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the affes of Zi-
beon his father, for he is by this action diftinguiſhed from
the other Anah. The fons of Seir did not keep the domi-
nion of thefe countries long, for the children of Elau got it
from them. The children of Efau deftroyed the Horites, and
dwelt in their fiead, as Ifrael did in the land of his poſſeſſion,
which the Lord gave unto him P; and this conqueſt of the
Horites happened not in Efau's days, nor in his children's
or grand-children's days, but in the days of his grand-chil-
dren's children; for the defcendants of Efau, who became
f Gen. xiv. 6.
• Gen. xxxvi. 2. and 25.
h Gen. xiv. 6.
¡ Gen. xxxvi. 21.
k Ver. 6.
1 Gen. xxv. 26.
m Gen. xxxv. 28.
n Gen. xxxvi. 2. 20. 24.
• Gen. xxxvi. 24.
P Deut. ii. 12.
B b 2
dukes
372
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
dukes of Edom, were Timna, Alia, Jetheth, Aholibamah,
Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, Iram, as the
writer of the Book of Chronicles has exprefsly remarked 9,
Theſe were the dukes of Edom: Efau, and the children of
Efau, and their children, are all enumerated, but they are
not faid to have been dukes of Edom; but the perfons above
mentioned only'. I am fenfible, that what I have here
offered may be thought not entirely to agree with what we
find in the thirty-fixth chapter of Genefis. In that chapter
ſome of the fons of Efau are faid to have been dukes, and
moft of his grand-children are likewife faid to have arrived
at this dignity'. But, in anfwer to this, it fhould be re-
marked, that the verſes from ver. 15. to ver. 20. do not ſay
that the fons or grandfons of Efau there mentioned were
dukes of Edom, but only that they were dukes in the land of
Edom: and this is a diftinction that ſhould carefully be ob-
ſerved; for the true matter of fact was this; the children of
Efau, in the days of Efau's fons and grandſons, ſet up a
form of government amongst themſelves, and over their own
families, and the perfons that ruled them were dukes; not
over the land of Edom, for the inhabitants of the land were
not yet ſubject to them, but they were dukes in the land, and
ruled the children of Efau, and fo were, as they are called,
[alepbaiv] their dukes". Their children afterwards con-
quered the Horites, and took poffeffion of the whole land,
and ſo became dukes of Edom; and the perfons that at-
tained this larger dignity were the perfons mentioned ver.
40, 41, 42, 43. theſe be the dukes of Edom. And thus the
ſeveral parts of this chapter may be reconciled to one an-
other, and this chapter made entirely agreeable to the firſt
chapter of 1 Chronicles. If the dukes that came of Efau
had been all alike dukes of Edom, they would have been
placed all together; but ſome of them being only the rulers
of their own children, and the others the governors of the
whole land, the writer of the Book of Genefis ſeparates and
diſtinguiſhes the one from the other; and the writer of the
11 Chron. i. 51, ad fin.
r Ver. 35-37.
s Gen. xxxvi. 18.
t
Ver. 15, 16, 17.
u Ver. 19.
Book
Book VII.
373
and Profane Hiflory.
Book of Chronicles does not mention the one order to have
been dukes at all, determining to give the title to thoſe
only who had governed the whole country. The children
of Efau, when they had made themſelves dukes of Edom,
continued this form of government but a little while, for
they foon after ſet up a king. The time when they ſet up a
king may be determined from Moſes: they were governed
by dukes when the Ifraelites went out of Egypt*, and they
had a king when Mofes would have paffed through their
land to Canaany; fo that their firft king was cotemporary
with Mofes, and began his reign a little after the Ifraelites
came out of Egypt, i. e. about A. M. 25152: and his reign-
ing at this time is very confiftent with his ſucceeding Eſau's
grand-children's children; for Mofes was the fifth in defcent
from Jacob, as this firft king of Edom was from Efau ; for
the father of Mofes was Amram, his father Cohath, Levi
was the father of Cohath, and fon of Jacob; fo that the
deſcents or generations in each family correſpond very
exactly: the firſt king of Edom was Bela the fon of Beor",
and he was the brother of Balaam, whom Balak fent for
about this time to curfe Ifrael; for Beor was Balaam's fa-
ther. The Edomites had eight fucceffive kings before
there reigned any king over the children of Ifrael; and fo
they might very well have; for, from the beginning of
Bela's reign, to the time that Saul was anointed king over
Ifrael, A. M. 2909, is three hundred and ninety-nine
years; fo that thefe eight kings of Edom muft be fuppoſed
one with another to reign fomething above forty-eight
years apiece, which fuits very well with the length of men's
lives in theſe times. And thus I have gone through the
account we have of Efau's family, from Efau to the time
that Saul reigned over Ifrael; and, I think, from what has
been faid, it will eafily appear, that the feveral parts of the
thirty-fixth chapter of Genefis are entirely conſiſtent with
one another, and the whole agreeable to the account we
x Exod. xv. 15.
y Numb. xx. 14.
z Archbishop Ufher's Chronology.
a 1 Chron. vi. 1, 2, 3.
Bb 3
b Gen. xxxvi. 32.
c Numb. xxii. 5.
d Gen. xxxvi. 31. 1 Chron. i. 43.
Archbishop Uther's Chron.
have
374
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
have of the fame family in the Book of Chronicles. Some
learned writers have made great difficulties in their expli-
cations of Mofes's account of this family, and have been in
great doubt, whether the kings mentioned from ver. 31. to
40. were fons of Efau, or Horites, and when they reigned :
but I think their reigns do fall ſo naturally into the compaſs
of time in which I have placed them, that there can be
little reafon to imagine, that this is not the true place of
them; and none, if Beor the father of Balaam was the fa-
ther of Bela, the firſt of theſe kings, which ſeems very pro-
bable; for if Beor, mentioned Gen. xxxvi. 32. had not been
the fame perfon with the father of Balaam ', Mofes would
either not have mentioned the name at all, or have diftin-
guiſhed the one perfon from the other. The dukes of Edom
being placed after the lift of the kings, hath occafioned
fome learned writers to imagine that they fucceeded them,
and the Latin verfion in the firft chapter of the firft Book
of Chronicles favours their opinion very much ³, but the
Hebrew words do not at all countenance fuch a verſion ;
and we find from Saul's time, wherever the Edomites are
fpoken of, they were governed by a king, and not by dukes.
It is faid, that if the dukes at the end of the chapter were
before the kings, then the order of the narration is very unna-
tural: I anſwer, not very unnatural, if rightly confidered, for it
is only thus; 1. We have an account of Efau's family from
verfe 9. to verfe 15. and this family being very numerous, for
we read that Efau had an attendance of four hundred men, it
is remarked, that they fet up a civil government amongſt
themſelves, and we are told who the perfons were that bore
rule amongst them, from verfe 15. to verſe 20. 2. Then fol-
lows an account of the Horites, in whofe land Efau and his
children dwelt, from verfe 20. to verfe 30. 3. In the next place
we have an account of the kings which the children of Eſau
were governed by after they had expelled the Horites, and be-
fore the time that the Ifraelites had a king, from verfe 31. to
verfe 39. 4. It is remarked, that kings were not the first
f Numb. xxii. 5.
* 1 Chron. i. 51. is tranflated thus:
Mortuo autem Adad, duces pro regibus
effe cœperunt.
rulers
Book VII.
375
and Profane History.
(6
rulers of the land of Edom which the fons of Eſau ſet up,
for they had one generation of dukes of Edom, verſe 40. to
the end. The moft learned Dean Prideaux very justly ob-
ferves, that "the words in the 31ft verfe of this chapter,
"And theſe are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom,
before there reigned any king over the land of Ifrael, could
"not have been faid, till after there had been a king
"in Ifrael, and therefore cannot be Mofes's words, but
"muft have been interpolated afterwards;" and it is hard
to conceive, that the lift of kings there mentioned could be
inferted by him, when all, except the firſt, reigned after
Mofes was dead. If this be the cafe, if I could have the
authority of any learned writer to ſuppoſe that Ezra, or
whoever was the inſpired writer that inferted them¹, might
at firſt inſert theſe kings after the dukes at the end of the
chapter, but that fome careleſs tranſcribers have mifplaced
them, I ſhould readily embrace it.
We meet with no further mention of Efau's life, death,
or actions, in Mofes's hiſtory; but it may not be amifs,
before we leave him, to take a fhort view of his character.
Efau was a plain, generous, and honeft man: for we have
no reafon, from any thing that appears in his life or actions,
to think him wicked beyond other men of his age and
times; and his generous and good temper appears from all
his behaviour towards his brother. The artifice uſed to de-
prive him of the bleffing did at the time abundantly enrage
him, and, in the heat of paffion, he thought when Ifaac
fhould be dead to take a full revenge, and kill his brother
for fupplanting him; but a little time reduced him to be
calm again, and he never took one ſtep to Jacob's injury.
When they first met, he was all humanity and affection *
and he had no uneafineſs, when he found that Jacob fol-
lowed him not to Seir, but went to live near his father: and
at Ifaac's death, we do not find he made any difficulty of
quitting Canaan, which was the very point which, if he had
ǹ Connect. Part I. Book v. 492. ed.
8vo. 1725.
i The moft learned Dean intimates
Ezra to be undoubtedly the author
;
of this and the other interpolations
which he mentions, pag. 493.
k Gen. xxxiii. 4.
B b 4
harboured
376
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
1
harboured any latent intentions, would have revived all his
reſentments. He is indeed called in Scripture the profane
Efau, and he is faid to have been hated of God; the chil-
dren, fays St. Paul", being not yet born, neither having done
any good or evil, that the purpoſe of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; it was faid
unto her, The elder fhall ferve the younger. And it is written,
Jacob have I loved, and Ejau have I bated". There is, I think,
no reaſon to infer from any of thefe expreffions, that Efau
was a very wicked man, or that God hated and puniſhed
him for an immoral life. For, 1. The fentence here againſt
him is faid expreſsly to be founded not upon his actions,
for it was determined before the children had done good or
evil. 2. God's hatred of Efau, here fpoken of by St. Paul,
was not an hatred, which induced him to puniſh him with
any evil; for Eſau was as happy in all the bleffings of this
life as either Abraham, or Iſaac, or Jacob, and his poſterity
had a land deſigned by God to be their poffeffion as well as
the children of Jacob; and they were enabled to drive out
and difpoffefs the inhabitants of it, as Ifrael did to the land
of his poffeffion ; and they were put in poffeffion of it much
fooner than the Ifraelites; and God was pleaſed to protect
them in the enjoyment of it, and to caution the Ifraelites
againſt invading them with a remarkable ſtrictneſs P, as he
alſo cautioned them againſt invading the land which he de-
figned to give to the children of Lot. And as God was
pleaſed thus to blefs Efau and his children in the bleffings
of this life, even as much as he bleffed Abraham, or Ifaac,
or Jacob, if not more; fo why may we not hope to find
him with them at the laſt day, as well as Job, or Lot, or any
other good and virtuous man, who was not defigned to be a
partaker of the bleffing given unto Abraham? For, 3. All
the puniſhment that was inflicted on Efau was an excluſion
from being heir of the bleſſing promiſed to Abraham and to
his feed, which was a favour not granted to Lot, to Job, to
feveral other very virtuous and good men. 4. St. Paul, in
1 Heb. xii. 16.
m Rom. ix. II, 12.
r Ver. 13.
Deut. ii. 5. and 12.
P Ver. 4, 5.
9 Ver. 9.
the
Book VII.
377
and Profane Hiftory.
!
the paffage before cited, does not intend to repreſent Efau
as a perſon that had particularly merited God's diſpleaſure,
but to fhew the Jews that God had all along given the fa-
vours that led to the Meffiah where he pleaſed; to Abra-
ham, not to Lot; to Jacob, not to Efau ; as, at the time
St. Paul wrote, the Gentiles were made the people of God,
and not the Jews. 5. Efau is indeed called profane,
[Bébŋλos]; but I think that word does not mean wicked or
immoral, [ἀσεβὴς οι ἁμαρτωλὸς]'; he was called fo for not
or
having that due value for the prieſt's office which he ought
to have had. In this point there feems to have been a de-
fect in his character; hunting and fuch diverfions of life
were more pleafing to him, than the views and proſpects
which the promiſes of God had opened to his family, and
which his brother Jacob was more thoughtful about than
he. And therefore, though I think it does not appear that
he was cut off from being the heir of them by any parti-
cular action in his life, yet his temper and thoughts do ap-
pear to be fuch, as to evidence, that God's purpoſe towards
Jacob was founded upon the trueſt wiſdom; Jacob being
in himſelf the fitteſt perſon to be the heir of the mercies
which God defigned him.
When Joſeph was fold into the family of Potiphar, he
foon obtained himfelf a ftation, in which he might have
lived with great comfort. His mafter faw that he was a
youth of great wit and diligence, and very profperous in
his undertakings, and in a little time he made him his
fteward', and put all his affairs under his management.
When he was thus in a condition of life, in which he might
have been very happy, his miſtreſs fell in love with him ;
but in the integrity of his heart he refuſed to comply with
her defires, and took the liberty to reprove her for them,
and fhunned all opportunities of being at any time alone.
with her. Whether the feared by his manner and beha-
viour that he might accufe her to her huſband, or whether
ſhe was enraged at the flight the thought hereby offered.
T 1 Tim. i. 9.
9 Gen. xxxix. 4.
t Ver. 8, 9, 10.
her,
378
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
her, upon his peremptorily refufing to comply with her,
ſhe accuſed him to Potiphar of a deſign to raviſh her, and
had him laid in prifon. Jofeph was kept in priſon above
two years, but he got into favour with the keeper of the
prifon, and was entrusted by him with the management of
all the affairs belonging to the priſon, and with the cuſtody
of the prifoners". Two years and fomething more after
Joſeph's impriſonment*, the king of Egypt dreamed two
very remarkable dreams, both which feemed to be of much
the fame import: the king had a great uneafineſs about
them, and the more, becauſe none of his Magi could inter-
pret or tell him the meaning of them. In the midst of
his perplexity his chief butler or cup-bearer called to mind,
that himſelf had been fome time before under the king's
diſpleaſure, and in priſon with Joſeph, and that Joſeph had
very punctually interpreted a dream of his, and another of
the king's baker, who was in prifon with him': he gave
the king an account of it, which occafioned Joſeph to be
fent for. Jofeph came, and heard the king's dreams, and
told him the meaning of them was, that there would be all
over Egypt firft of all feven years plenty, and then a fevere
famine for ſeven years; and added, that ſince it had pleaſed
God thus to inform the king what feaſons he intended, he
hoped he would make a right uſe of the information, and
appoint ſome diſcreet and wife perſon, with proper officers
under him, to gather a fifth part of each plenteous year's
product, and to lay it up in ftore againſt the time of ſcarcity.
The king conceived a very great opinion of Joſeph, both
from his interpretation of the dreams, and from the advice
he gave upon them, and thought no one could be fo fit to
manage the office of gathering the corn in the years of
plenty, as he who had fo wifely thought of a ſcheme ſo be-
neficial, and therefore he immediately made him his deputy
over the land of Egypt. Jofeph was, I think, above
twenty years old when his brethren fold him, and he was
thirty when Pharaoh thus advanced him; ſo that it pleaſed
u Gen. xxxix. 22, 23.
x Gen. xli. 1.
y Ver. 9.
z Ver. 38-41.
a Ver. 46.
God
Book VII.
379
and Profane Hiftory.
God in less than ten years to promote him, from a lad, the
younger ſon of a private traveller, through various changes
and accidents of life, by feveral ſteps, and not without a
mixture of fome fevere misfortunes, to be the head of a very
potent kingdom, inferior only to him who wore the crown.
He wore the king's ring, had all the marks and diftinétions
that belong to the higheſt rank of life; rode in Pharaoh's
ſecond chariot; and wherever he paffed, the officers ap-
pointed cried before him, Bow the knee. Pharaoh called
Jofeph Zapbnathpaaneah, and married him to the prieſt of
On's daughter: he had two fons by her, Manaſſeh and
Ephraim ".
In the years of plenty Joſeph had gathered a fufficient
ſtock of corn, not for Egypt only, but to ſupply the neigh-
bouring countries: and in the years of famine, when he
opened his ftores and fold out his provifion, he acquired for
the king immenfe riches. The Egyptians bought his corn
with money, until all the money of the land of Egypt, and
all that could be procured out of the land of Canaan, was
in Pharaoh's treatury; then they exchanged their cattle for
corn, until Pharaoh had purchafed all them alfo; in the
laft place, they fold their lands and poffeffions, to that by
Jofeph's conduct, Pharaoh was become fole proprietor of all
the money, cattle, and lands of all Egypt. There are two or
three particulars very remarkable in Joſeph's management
of this affair. 1. When the Egyptians had parted with all
their money, cattle, and lands, and ftill wanted ſuſtenance,
they offered to become Pharaoh's fervants f; but Jofeph re-
fuſed to accept of this offer. He ſeems to have had a great
and true infight into things, and could not think that he
ſhould really advance his mafier's intereft by keeping his
b Gen. xli. 41-44. The best expo-
fitors do not take the word Abrek, to
fignify bow the knee, as our tranfla-
tion renders it; but they fuppoſe it to
be a name of honour, which Pharaoh
cauſed to be proclaimed before Jofeph.
See Verf. LXX. Targum Onkelos.
Verf. Samaritan. Verf. Syriac. Verf.
Arab. et Caftelli Lexicon Heptaglot-
ton, in Verb. 773. Abrek, Vox Æ-
gyptia eft Пaavioμòs quidam. See
Pool. Synopfis in loc.
The name which Pharaoh gave
Jofeph is an Egyptian name, and fig-
nifies a diſcoverer of things hidden.
Gen. xli. 50.
e Gen. xlvii. 18.
f Ver. 19.
fubjects
380
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
fubjects in poverty and flavery. He was defirous to eſtabliſh
a fufficient revenue for the occafions of the crown, and at
the fame time to give the fubject a property of their own,
as well to excite their induftry to improve it, as to raiſe in
them a fenfe of duty and affection to the government that
protected them in the fecure enjoyment of it. For this
reafon Jofeph returned back poffeffions to all the people,
upon condition of paying yearly the fifth part of the pro-
duct of their lands to the king for ever.
2. When he re-
turned the lands back again to the people, he did not put
them in poffeffion each man of what was his own before,
but he removed them from one end of Egypt to the other";
wifely foreſeeing, that few men would have fo eafy ſenſe of
their condition in the enjoyment of what had formerly been
their own without tax or burthen, but now received upon
terms of diſadvantage, as they would have in the poffeffion
of what never was their own, though they held it upon the
fame conditions. 3. When Jofeph bought in the lands of
Egypt for Pharaoh, he bought not the prieſts' lands, for they
did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them, and there-
fore fold not their lands; and fo, when afterwards the whole
kingdom came to be taxed the fifth part, the prieſts' lands
were excepted, becauſe they became not Pharaoh's. A
right honourable writer makes the following remark upon
this favour fhewn the priests: "To what height of power
"the eſtabliſhed priesthood was arrived even at that time,
"may be conjectured hence; that the crown (to ſpeak in a
"modern ſtyle) offered not to meddle with the church lands;
"and that, in this great revolution, nothing was attempted
"fo much as by way of purchaſe or exchange in prejudice
"of this landed clergy; the prime minifter himſelf having
"joined his intereft with theirs, and entered by marriage
"into this alliance k." To this I anſwer: 1. I have al-
ready fhewn, that the prieſts of Egypt were the heads of
all the families of the land, not raiſed to be ſo by their
prieſthood, but they became the prieſts, becauſe they were
g Gen. xlvii. 24. 26.
A Ver. 21.
› Ver. 22. and 26.
k Lord Shaftesbury's Characteriſt.
Vol. III. Mifcel. 2.
originally
Book VII,
381
and Profane Hiftory.
:
originally perfons of the higheſt rank: they were reputed
almoſt equal to the kings, confulted upon all public affairs
of conſequence, and ſome of them generally upon a vacancy
fucceeded to the crown; and, if this be true, it does not
feem likely that they ſhould want Jofeph's alliance to
ftrengthen their intereft, or to obtain them any favour.
2. Whatever favour was fhewn them, Mofes repreſents it
as proceeding from the king, and not from Jofeph the
land of the prieſts bought he not, [ci chock le cohanim meeth
Pharaoh,] because there was a decree for (in favour of) the
priests from even Pharaoh', i. e. becauſe Pharaoh had made.
a decree exprefsly against it; or we may tranflate the
words agreeably to our Engliſh verfion, becauſe there was an
appointment for the priests from even Pharaoh, and they did
eat their appointed or affigned portion, which Pharaoh gave
them, wherefore they fold not their lands: take the words
either way, the favour to the prieſts proceeded from Pha-
raoh. It may perhaps be here aſked, why Pharaoh, when
he thought fit to leffen the property of his common ſub-
jects, did not alfo attempt to reduce in fome meaſure the
exorbitant wealth of the prieſts, who, according to Diodorus
Siculus, were poffeffed of a third part of the whole land.
To this we may anſwer: the Egyptian prieſts were obliged
to provide all facrifices, and to bear all the charges of the
national religion; and religion was in theſe days a matter
of very great expence to them, who were to fupply what
was requifite for the performance of the offices of it. The
numerous facrifices, that were appointed to be offered in
theſe times, could not be provided, nor the preparations
and ceremonies in offering them performed, but at a very
great charge; at fo great an one, that we find in countries
where the foil was not fruitful, and confequently the people
poor, they did not well know how to bear the burthen of
religion; and therefore Lycurgus, when he reformed the
Lacedæmonian ſtate, inftituted facrifices the meanest and
cheapeſt he could think of, that he might not make reli-
Gen. xlvii. 22.
m Diodor. Sic. 1. i. §. 73.
gion
382
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
gion too expenfive for his people". Egypt was a fertile
and rich country, and moſt probably both king and people
were defirous of having the public religion appear with a
fuitable fplendor: and I do not find that even Ariſtotle
could compute, that lefs than a fourth part of the lands of
his republic could fuffice for theſe uſes; and ſuppoſe we
fhould allow them no more in Egypt, yet there would
ftill remain a difficulty; for the prieſts of Egypt were the
whole body of the nobility of the land. They were the
king's counſellors and affiftants in all affairs that concerned
the public; they were joint agents with him [Guvepyol P] in
fome things; in fome others the king himſelf was to be
directed and inftructed by them, in theſe they are ſaid to be
his εἰσηγηταὶ καὶ διδάσκαλοι 9. They were the profefors and
cultivators of aftronomy, an uſeful fcience at this time,
without which even agriculture itfelf could not have pro-
ceeded. They were the keepers of the public regiſters,
memoirs, and chronicles of the kingdom; in a word, under
the king, they were the magiftrates, and filled all the
prime offices: and if we confider them in fome or other
of theſe views, we may poffibly allow, that Pharaoh might
think that they had not too much to fupport the ſtations.
they were to act in, and for that reafon he ordered that no
tax ſhould be raiſed upon them.
As there came many perſons of the neighbouring na-
tions to Egypt to buy corn; fo amongst others Jacob was
obliged to fend his fons from Canaan. Jofeph, as ſoon as
he ſaw them, knew them, and upon their bowing down
before him, he remembered his former dreams. He for
ſome time kept himſelf very reſerved, pretended to ſuſpect
them for fpies, and ſeveral ways feemed to uſe them with
an exceeding ftrictnefs, fo as to make them think them-
felves in great extremities: at laſt he diſcovered himſelf to
them, fent for his father down to Egypt, and obtained for
n Plutarch, in vit. Lycurgi.
• Ariftot. de republic. 1. vii. c. 10.
P Diodor. Sic. ubi fup.
• Ibid.
r
- Δευτερεύοντες μετὰ βασιλέα ταῖστε
δόξαις καὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις. Id. ibid.
s Gen. xlii.
him
Book VII.
383
and Profane Hiſtory.
him and his family a refidence in the land of Goſhen. Here
they lived and flouriſhed in favour with the king, and with
the Egyptians, for Joſeph's fake'.
Y
Jacob came into Egypt A. M. 2298, for he was 130 years
old when he came into Pharaoh's prefence"; and he was
born A. M. 2168; fo that counting 130 years from the
year of his birth, we fhall come to the year above men-
tioned. I may here take occafion to fix the chronology of
the ſeveral tranſactions we have paffed over. 1. Joſeph was
about 38 years old in the beginning of the famine; for he
was 30 when he was firft brought into Pharaoh's prefence,
juſt at the beginning of the feven years of plenty : he was
38 two or three years before his father came into Egypt;
for he revealed himſelf to his brethren, and fent for his fa-
ther at the end of the fecond year's famine; fo that he was
38 about A. M. 2295, and confequently Jofeph was born
A. M. 2257.
2. Joſeph's birth was fix years before Jacob
left Laban; for Jacob ferved Laban in all twenty years',
and fourteen of the twenty years were over at Jofeph's
birth, the time being then expired which Jacob was to
ferve Laban for his wives; fo that Jacob left Laban
A. M. 2263, and Jacob came to Laban A. M. 2243.
3. Jacob married ſeven years after he came to Laban',
i. e. A. M. 2250; and thus Jacob being born A. M.
2168, was about 75 years old when he first came to La-
ban, and 89 at Jofeph's birth. We are not exactly in-
formed when Benjamin was born, when Rachel died, or
when Joſeph was fold into Egypt; but we may conjecture
very nearly; for Joſeph was 17 years old when he was
feeding his father's flock with the fons of Bilhah: Benja-
min was not then born; for Jofeph was at that time the
fon of his father's old age, or youngest fon; and Rachel,
who died in labour of Benjamin, was alive when Jofeph
dreamed his dreams, for which his brethren hated him.
↑ Gen. xlii, xliii, xliv, xlv, xlvi,
xlvii.
u Gen. xlvii. 9.
* See p. 337.
y Gen. xli. 46.
z Gen. xlv. 6.
↑ Gen. xxxi. 38.
b Gen. xxx. 25, 26.
c Gen. xxix. 20, 21.
d Gen. xxxvii. 2.
e Ver. 3.
f Ver. 10.
Rachel
384
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
Rachel died and Benjamin was born near Ephrath %, before
Jacob came to Ifaac at Hebron: Jacob did not go directly
to Hebron as foon as Rachel was buried, but made fome
ftop at Edar¹: Jacob was come to Hebron, and ſent Jo-
ſeph thence back to his brethren, when they took him, and
fold him into Egypt'. From theſe feveral particulars it
ſeems most probable, that Benjamin was born, and Rachel
died, when Joſeph was about 16, A. M. 2273, for he was
but 17 when he told his father of the evil actions of his
brothers at Edar *, where Jacob lived after Rachel died '.
Jacob might come to Hebron in about five or fix years after
this, and foon after his coming thither Jofeph was fold into
Egypt, i. e. when he was about 22 years old, about nine
years before the death of Ifaac, A. M. 2279.
m
Seventeen years after Jacob came into Egypt, he fell fick
and died. Jacob was a perfon in every refpect very con-
fiderable his capacity was great, his natural parts quick
and ready, and the revelations which God was pleaſed to
make him were very many, and very remarkable: it was
an argument of his being a perſon of great prudence and
ſagacity, that he ſo much prized the privileges of Efau's
birthright and in every turn of his life, (in his conduct
with Laban; in his addrefs to his brother Efau; in his
ſenſe of his fons' revenge upon the Shechemites,) he ex-
preffed himſelf a man of a quick and ready apprehenfion, to
foreſee the evils that might befall him, and of great courage
and prudence to ſhape himſelf the beſt way through them.
The life of Ifaac feems to have been the life of a plain
and virtuous honeft man, without any great variety or very
extraordinary turns in it: he had a vaft fubftance left him.
by his father Abraham to carry him through the world, and
• Gen. xxxv. 16-19.
h Ver. 21, 22.
i Gen. xxxvii. 14.
k Ver. 2.
1 Demetrius in Eufeb. Præp. E-
vang. lib. ix. c. 21. fays, that Rachel
died when ſhe had lived with Jacob
twenty-three years: Jacob married
Rachel when he had been with La-
ban a week more than feven years,
i. e. A. M. 2250. According to our
computation Rachel died twenty-
three years after this, fo that we agree
exactly with Demetrius.
m Gen. xlvii. 28.
he
Book VII.
385
and Profane Hiftory.
he lived upon it all his life almoſt always in or near the
fame place: Abraham died at Mamre, and there Ifaac lived
and died, and we do not find he lived any where elſe, ex-
cept only when a famine obliged him to remove to Gerar";
and Gerar was fo near to Mamre, that we may affirm, that
he ſpent his whole life within about the compaſs of a hun-
dred or a hundred and twenty miles: but Jacob was born
to greater things, and defigned to be more known to the
world: he had no great fubftance left him from his father,
but was to rife by his own induſtry and God's bleffing: he
was fent into Padan-Aram to obtain himſelf a wife, and by
his diligence to make a proviſion for his family, which he
was enabled to do in twenty years in fo ample a manner, as
to live afterwards in credit and reputation with the princes.
of his age; nay, and to have even thoſe of his rank ſtand
in fear of attempting to offer him any injury. Towards the
clofe of his life God was pleaſed to ſtrip him of what I
might call all his adventitious happineſs, and to leave him
only his children and a few neceffaries; for we find the
preffure of the famine had difperfed his numerous family;
for he did not go down to Egypt mafter of two bands of
followers, nor poffeffed of his Shechemitifh captives, but he
brought thither with him, befides his fons' wives, only fixty-
fix perfons, being his children and grandchildren, with the
cattle and goods which he then had; but even then, by
the influence of his fon Joſeph, he was received in Egypt
with credit and refpect, and admitted into the king's pre-
fence as a perſon of great worth and eminence; for it is par-
ticularly remarked, that he bleffed Pharaoh. As the turns
of Jacob's life were thus great and many, fo he had
very frequent and remarkable revelations to fupport and
guide him in his paffage through them: we have no
mention of any revelations to Ifaac above twice or thrice
in his whole life, and, indeed, the circumſtances of his life
required no more; but with Jacob God was pleaſed to con-
verfe more frequently, and to give him a fuller knowledge
n Gen. xxvi.
• Gen. xxxiii. xxxiv. xXXV. 5.
P So numerous was his family when
VOL. I.
he left Haran. Gen. xxxii. 7.
CC
9 Gen. xlvi. 26.
r Gen. xlvii. 10.
of
A
386
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
!
of the manner in which he defigned to deal with his pof-
terity. When Ifaac purpoſed to diſpoſe of the bleffing pro-
miſed to Abraham, it is very evident that he did not know
how God intended it fhould be given; for he purpofed to
have diſpoſed of it to the perſon who was not to be the heir
of it: he did indeed by the contrivance of Rebekah hap-
pen to give it right; and when he had given it, God was
pleaſed to enlighten his underſtanding, and in ſome ſmall
meaſure to inform him what fhould be the circumſtances
of his fons and their pofterity: but Jacob, when he came to
draw towards his end, had a much greater ſhare of this
prophetical knowledge imparted to him: he was enabled.
with great exactnefs to enter into the circumftauces of the
lives of Jofeph's fons; and when he came to tell his chil-
dren what fhould befall them in the latter days", he could
offer the hints of many things that belonged particularly to
the families of each of his children; as may be beſt ſeen here-
after, when we fhall remark, in their proper places, how
the things foretold by him were fulfilled to their poſterity.
As the life of Jacob was more remarkable and various than
the life of his father Ifaac, fo we find larger accounts of it
amongst the heathen writers. We find but little mention.
of Ifaac any where but in the facred writings; fo little, that
fome of the heathen hiftorians, who enquired after the ac-
counts of Abraham's family, did not know there was fuch a
perfon as Ifaac; but took Jacob or Ifrael to be the fon of
Abraham; but Jacob's life was celebrated by many of
their ancient writers: Eufebius gives a large account of
the life of Jacob, which he took from Demetrius, and De-
metrius had it from the annals of Alexander Polyhiſtor²:
the account agrees in the main with that of Mofes; but in
little particulars differs remarkably from it: Demetrius
fixes the dates and times of many tranfactions in Jacob's
life, which Mofes has not determined, and he fixes fome in
a manner which will not exactly agree with ſome other of
Mofes's computations; which ſeems to me to evidence, that
• Gen. xxvii.
↑ Gen. xlviii. 10—22.
" Gen. xlix.
x Juftin from Trogus Pompeius, lib.
xxxvi. c. 2.
y Præp. Evang. lib. ix. c. 21.
a Id. ibid. ad fin. cap.
he
Book VII.
387
and Profane Hiftory.
he did not copy from Mofes, as indeed there was no need
he ſhould; for the ancient hiſtory even of theſe early times
was written by various writers, who differed in fome cir-
cumſtances from one another, and therefore took their hints.
from different originals; and amongſt the reſt a very large
mention was made of Jacob by Theodotus, a very ancient
hiftorian, who wrote the Phoenician antiquities, and whofe
works Chatus tranflated into Greek, a part of which tranſla-
tion relating to Jacob is preferved in Eufebius: Jacob was
a hundred and forty-feven years old when he died, and ſo
died A. M. 2315.
When Jacob was dead, Jofeph ordered the phyficians of
Egypt to embalm him, the performance of which ceremony,
with the circumſtances belonging to it, took up forty days ª,
and the Egyptians had a folemn or public mourning for him
for ſeventy days; a circumftance expreffing the greateſt ho-
nour they could poffibly pay to Joſeph and his family, for they
performed but ſeventy-two days mourning for their kings f.
After the time of this mourning was over, Jofeph obtained
leave of Pharaoh to go into Canaan to bury his father, and
the prime officers of the court of Egypt went with him to
attend the funeral; fo that there went out of Egypt the
houfe of Jofeph and his brethren, and his father's houſe, the
fervants of Pharaoh, and the elders of his houſe, and all
the elders of the land of Egypt, both chariots and horſemen
a very great company s; the proceffion was ſo great, and the
folemn ftop they made for feven days upon the borders of
Canaan was fo remarkable, that the Canaanites ever after
called the place they stopped at Abel-mizraim, or the
mourning place of the Egyptians. Jacob was buried in the
cave of Machpelah by Abraham and Sarah, and Joſeph and
his brethren and the Egyptians returned back again to
Egypt.
After Jacob was buried, Jofeph's brethren began to re-
flect upon the ill treatment which Jofeph had formerly re-
Jofephus cont. Apion. 1. i. p. 1350.
b Tatian. Orat. ad Græc. p. 128. et
Jofeph. ubi fup.
Præp. Evang. lib. ix. c. 22.
d Gen. 1. 3.
e Ibid.
f Diodor. Sicul. lib. i. §. 7. P. 46.
g Gen. 1. 8, 9.
CC 2
ceived
388
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
ceived from them, and to fear that now their father was
gone, he would remember and revenge it: they came to
him in the moſt fubmiffive manner, acknowledged all their
former unkindneſs to him, begged he would paſs it over
and forgive it, and offered themſelves and children at his
feet to be his fervants; and not thinking all this enough,
they were willing to add weight to their entreaties by tell-
ing him, that their father before he died required them
thus to ask him pardon and forgiveneſs. Joſeph could
not keep from tears at their behaviour: he made a kind
and tender apology for them, obſerved to them how much
happineſs God had produced from their little animofities,
and promiſed them his favour and protection as long as he
fhould live h.
We meet with nothing more of Jofeph or his manage-
ment: the king that advanced him was, I think, Thufi-
mares, who was the twentieth king of Tanis, or lower
Egypt, according to Sir John Marſham, and Joſeph was
advanced in the thirteenth year of Thufimares's reign. Sir
John Marfham places the advancement of Joſeph in the
time of Rameffe-Tubaete, the twenty-third king of Tanis;
but this poſition of him will appear to be too late: Jofeph
was fold into Egypt A. M. 2279, and if we compute the
reigns of Sir John Marfham's kings of Egypt, fuppofing
Mizraim firſt to reign there A. M. 1772, and to die A. M.
1943, we muſt place Jofeph about the time of the twelfth
king of Tanis, in Achoreus's reign; but this will be much
too high, and there are certainly miftakes in this part of
Sir John Marſham's tables. Mofes hints to us, that Joſeph
placed his brethren in the land of Ramefes*; the land could
not be ſo called, until there had been fuch a perſon as Ra-
mefes; for the ancient practice was, after kings or famous
men were dead, to call the lands after their names'. Thus
the land of Haran was not fo named until after Haran was
dead". Ramefes therefore, who, according to Sir John Mar-
fham, was the eighteenth king of Tanis, and began to reign
h Gen. 1. 15-21.
i See Vol. 1. Book iv.
* Gen. xlvii. 11.
1 Pfalm xlix. II.
m Gen. xi. 31.
a hun-
Book VII.
389
and Profane Hiſtory.
a hundred and forty-five years after Achoreus was dead, and
fome part of the land of Gofhen, where Jofeph placed his
brethren, was called after his name, before Joſeph brought his
brethren into Egypt; and this will well agree to my placing
Joſeph in the reign of Thufimares, who was the ſecond king
after Rameſes". Thufimares reigned thirty-one years °, and
if Joſeph was advanced in the thirteenth year of his reign,
Thufimares died fixty-two years before Joſeph; for Joſeph
was thirty years old when Pharaoh advanced him P, and he
lived to be a hundred and ten years old, fo that he lived
eighty years after his advancement. And, according to Sir
John Marfham's account of the lengths of the reigns of
Thufimares's fucceffors, Jofeph lived to ſerve three of them,
and died in the twentieth year of the reign of Rameffe-
Tubaete. So that he ſupported his credit with four kings;
an inſtance of the ſtability of courts in theſe times.
He was
highly eſteemed by the princes, and univerfally beloved by
all the people he had advanced the crown of Egypt to a
ſtate of wealth and grandeur, which until his time it had
been a ſtranger to, and had acquired the king a property
greater perhaps than any king in the world at that time en-
joyed, and eſtabliſhed upon a better foundation; for he had
obliged the ſubjects of the land, in the manner by which he
acquired it, as much as he had advanced Pharaoh by the
acquiſition of it, and was in truth what he ftyled himſelf, a
father not only to Pharaoh', but to every one of his fubjects
alfo; for by his care and proviſion the whole land was pre-
ſerved from becoming defolate, and every one of the inha-
bitants preſerved from perishing. Jofeph lived to ſee his
grandchildren grown up to be men, and then he called
his brethren together, and affured them, that God would in
due time bring them out of Egypt into the poffeffion of the
land of Canaan; and made them fwear to him, that when
they ſhould go out of Egypt, they would carry away his
bones with them. Jofeph died fifty-two years after his
father, A. M. 2367.
See Sir J. Martham, Can. Chron.
• Id. ibid.
P Gen. xli. 46.
9 Gen. 1. 22.
Gen. xlv. S.
s Gen. 1. 22, 23.
c c 3
The
390
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
The children of Ifrael, or family of Jacob, when they
came into Egypt, were about feventy perfons: Jacob and
his children that came with him were in number fixty-
feven, and Jofeph and his two fons make up the number
feventy; but befides thefe, Jacob's fons' wives came alſo
with them. There are fome difficulties in Mofes's cata-
logues of Jacob's children. We have one catalogue in
chap. xxxv. and another in chap. xlvi. In the 35th chapter
we are told the fons of Jacob were twelve, and after a parti-
cular enumeration of them it is faid, Thefe are the fons of Ja-
cob, which were born to him in Padan-Aram. Now it is evi-
dent that all thefe fons were not born in Padan-Aram, for
Benjamin was born near Ephrath in Canaan". Some
writers have remarked, that the expreffion of the He-
brew is, which were begat by him in Padan-Aram, and they
imagine that Rachel was with child of Benjamin when
Jacob left Laban, and that this was what Mofes intended in
this paffage: but this cannot be allowed; for if the He-
brew words may poffibly bear that fenfe, yet Jacob after
he came from Haran lived at Shechem, and bought land
there, and afterwards lived at Bethel, and removed thence
before Benjamin was born; fo that feveral years paſſed be-
tween Jacob's leaving Padan-Aram, and the birth of Benja-
min: I have computed at leaft ten years, fo that Rachel
could not be with child of him in Padan-Aram. Other
commentators think the paffage to be a fynecdoche; but
furely this pretence is very idle: we must have an odd no-
tion of Mofes's eloquence to imagine that he had a mind to
diſplay it in giving us the names of Jacob's twelve fons,
and a ſtill more furprifing notion of rhetoric, to make fuch.
a paffage as this a figure of fpeech, which looks ten times.
more like a miftake than a fynecdoche. I fhould think it
certain that Mofes did not write the words in Padan-Aram
in this place; but that he ended his period with the words
which were born to him; but that fome careleſs or injudi-
cious tranfcriber, finding the words in Padan- Aram in Gen.
t Gen. xlvi. 26.
Z
" Gen. xxxv. 16—18.
*
The
Hebrew words
בני יעקב אשר ילד לו בפדן ארם
אלה are
are
y See. p. 384.
z Vid. Pool, Synop. in loc.
xlvi.
Book VII.
39T
and Profane Hiftory.
xlvi. 15. might add them here alfo, and be led into the miſ-
take by confidering that he had twelve children born
there, which is indeed true, but eleven of them only were
fons; one of his children born in Padan-Aram, namely Di-
nah, was a daughter. In the catalogue in Genefis xlvi.
there feems to be a deficiency: Mofes begins it, Theſe are
the names of the children of Ifrael, which came into Egypt,
Jacob and his fons: Reuben bis firſt-borna; but then he does
not add the names of Jacob's other fons which he had by
Leah and Zilpah, nor of thoſe which he had by Bilhah;
and if we caft up the number of names which are now
given us, they will fall fhort of the number which Mofes
computes them to be", by all the names thus omitted: I
cannot but think therefore, that all theſe names of Jacob's
fons were inferted by Mofes; but have been dropped by
the careleffneſs of tranfcribers: the accounts of each family
might be begun by Mofes as the firft is. Reuben, Jacob's
firſt-born, and the jons of Reuben: fo Mofes moſt probably
wrote: Simeon, and the fons of Simeon; Levi, and the
fons of Levi; Judah, and the fons of Judah e; and fo in
the accounts of all the reft; and the fame word being re-
peated might be eaſily dropped by an hafty writer: and it
is very evident, that the tranfcribers have been careleſs in
theſe catalogues; for the children of Leah are ſaid by mif-
take to be thirty-three, whereas there are but thirty-two,
and, without doubt, Mofes computed them no more than
thirty-two; for he makes the whole number of the chil-
dren of Jacob that came with him into Egypt to be fixty-
fix ; and thirty-two children of Leah, fixteen of Zilpah,
eleven of Rachel, (without Jofeph and his two fons,) and
feven by Bilhah, make up exactly the number. If the chil-
dren of Leah had been thirty-three, the number that came
with Jacob into Egypt muft have been fixty-feven, as may
be ſeen by any one that will put together the ſeveral perfons
named in the catalogue. All the fouls of the house of Jacob,
© Ver. 12.
a Gen xlvi. 8.
b Ver. 26.
© Ver. 10.
d Ver. 11.
cc 4
f Ver. 15.
g Ver. 26.
which
392
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
which came into Egypt, were threefcore and ten; i. e. fixty-
fix as above mentioned, and Jacob himſelf, and Joſeph, and
Joſeph's two fons, Ephraim and Manaffeh; and thus many
they are always computed to be in all places where they
are mentioned in Scripture. The LXX. indeed ſuppoſe,
that there were feventy-five of Jacob's family in Egypt,
when he was come thither. They render the latter part of
the 27th verſe, All the fouls of the houſe of Jacob, which came
into Egypt, were doµýxovтa Tévre, i. e. feventy-five. And
thus they number them, Exodus chap. i. ver. 5. and the
number is the fame in St. Stephen's fpeech, where they
are ſaid to be threescore and fifteen fouls. As to the Septua-
gint, it is evident how we come to find the number ſeventy-
five inſtead of ſeventy in Gen. xlvi. 27; for, 1. in our pre-
fent copies of the Septuagint there is a very large interpo-
lation, of which not one word is to be found in any He-
brew copy. The LXX. give us the 20th verfe of this
chapter thus: And there were fons born unto Joſeph in the
land of Egypt, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah
priest of Heliopolis bare unto him, Manaffeh and Ephraim.
After theſe words they add, And there were born fons unto
Manaffeb, which Syra his concubine bare unto him, Machir,
and Machir begat Galaad; and the fons of Ephraim the bro-
ther of Manaffeb were Sutalam and Taam, and the fons of
Sutalam were Edom: and thus our prefent editions of the
Septuagint compute ſeventy-five perfons inſtead of ſeventy,
by taking into the account five fons and grandfons of
Ephraim and Manaffeh, which are not in the Hebrew.
But, 2. theſe five perfons were evidently not put into this
catalogue by Mofes; for the defign of this catalogue was
to give the names of the perfons of Jacob's family who
came with him into Egypt, or who were there at the time
when he came thither; but Ephraim and Manaffeh could
have no children born at this time, and therefore their
children's names cannot be ſuppoſed to be inferted by
Mofes in this place. Jofeph was about thirty years old
when he married', and he was about forty or forty-one
h Gen. xlvi. 27.
i Exodusi. 5. Deut. x, 22.
k Acts vii. 14.
1 Gen. xli. 45, 46.
when
Book VII.
393
and Profane Hiftory.
when Jacob came into Egypt; fo that Manaffeh, who was
his elder fon, could not be much above ten years old, and
therefore it is an evident miſtake in our preſent Septuagint
copies to infert Jofeph's grandchildren, and their children,
in this place. 3. It is not very difficult to guefs how theſe
additions were made to the LXX. I call them additions,
for no one can imagine, that the firft tranflators of the He-
brew Bible into Greek could fo palpably and erroneously
deviate from the original. The owners of ancient manu-
fcripts ufed frequently to make marginal references, obfer-
vations, or notes in their manuſcripts, and very probably
fome learned perfon might collect from Numbers xxvi. and
1 Chron. vii. that Manaffeh and Ephraim had theſe fons
and grandfons, and remark it in the margin of his manu-
fcript Septuagint, and fome tranſcribers from that manu-
fcript might miſtake the defign; think it put there as an
omiffion of the copyift, and fo take it into the text; and, by
degrees, this accident happening very early when there
were but few copies of the LXX. taken, all fubfequent
tranſcripts came to be corrupted by it. 4. As to the 14th verfe
of chap. vii. of the Acts, I cannot conceive that St. Luke
wrote threescore and fifteen fouls; but it being pretty certain,
that tranſcribers in the firſt ages of Chriſtianity did ſome-
times make fuch ſmall alterations as thefe, to make the
New Teftament accord with the copies they then had of
the LXX. Bible, (the LXX. being more read by the Chriſ-
tians of the firft ages than the Hebrew Scriptures,) it ſeems
moſt reaſonable to fuppofe, that they finding 75, and not 70,
in the 46th chapter of Genefis, and Exodus i. might alter
the ancient reading of this paffage in St. Stephen's ſpeech,
to make it accord with the LXX. in the places referred to.
5. That the number 75, inſtead of 70, came into the Septua-
gint copies in the manner above mentioned, might be con-
firmed from Jofephus, who computes but 70 of Jacob's fa-
mily in Egypt at this time, agreeing with the Hebrew ",
and perhaps even from the LXX. tranflation itſelf; for that
m Jofeph Antiq. Jud. 1. ii. c. 7.
Ita in omnibus Jofephi exemplaribus
tum hic, tum c. ix. §. 3. nec aliter
ejus Exfcriptores, P. Comeftor, Epito-
mator Cantuar. aliique. Hudfon. not.
in loc.
very
394
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
very tranſlation fays in another place exprefsly, that they
were but 70 perfons", agreeing fully with the Hebrew,
which may hint to us, that the true ancient reading of the
LXX. itſelf was 70, and not 75. There is one difficulty
more, which ought not to be paffed over: in Genefis xlvi.
12. we are told, that Er and Onan, the fons of Judah, died
in the land of Canaan, and Hezron and Hamul, fons of
Pharez, are inferted in the catalogue of Jacob's family that
came with him into Egypt. Jacob married about A. M.
2250. Judah was Jacob's fourth fon, and might be born
about A. M. 2254. Jacob came into Egypt A. M. 2298, fo
that Judah was at this time about forty-four years of age;
but if he was no older, how could Hezron and Hamul, Ju-
dah's grandchildren by his fon Pharez, be born at this
time? We cannot fuppofe that Judah married Shuah before
he was twenty; we cannot well fuppofe it fo early; he muft
be at leaſt twenty-one when his fon Er was born, about
twenty-two at Onan's birth, and twenty-three at the birth
of Shelah ; and if he took a wife for his fon Er when Er
was ſeventeen, then Judah was thirty-eight when Er mar-
ried. Er died foon after he married, and Onan took his
wife; and Onan died alfo, and Judah defired Tamar his
daughter-in-law to remain a widow until Shelah his fon
fhould be grown: Tamar did fo; but when Shelah was
grown, and ſhe was not given unto him to wife, Tamar
dreſſed herſelf like an harlot, and Judah, not knowing her to
be his daughter-in-law, lay with her, and fhe had two chil-
dren by him, Pharez and Zarah'. Judah could not be
lefs than forty-one or forty-two when he lay with Tamar,
and Pharez could not be above two or three years old when
Jacob came into Egypt; fo that it is impoffible that Pharez
fhould have any children born at this time. The moft
learned Archbishop Ufher feems to think that Jacob mar-
ried, and confequently that Judah was born, earlier than I
P
n Deut. x. 22. It must be acknow-
ledged, that the Alexandrian manu-
fcript has in this place έβδομήκοντα
τέντε. The word πέντε might be in-
ferted to correct a fuppofed fault of
other manuſcripts.
• Gen. xxxviii. 2.
P Ver. 3, 4, 5.
9 Ver. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
r Ver. 14―30.
have
Book VII.
395
and Profane Hiftory.
s
have fuppofed. He intimates from Gen. xxix. 21. that
Jacob might perhaps marry foon after he came to Laban:
but the place cited does furely prove that he ſerved Laban
feven years, and then faid, Give me my wife, for my days are
fulfilled, i. e. the time is now expired which I agreed to
ferve for her but if we ſhould even fuppofe that Jacob
married when he firſt entered Laban's fervice, this will help
us but to ſeven years, and can make Pharez not above ten
years old when Jacob came into Egypt, fo that Pharez ſtill
could have no children at this time. It must be confeffed
that all the verfions agree exactly in this verfe, and it ap-
pears to be fact that Er and Onan died in Canaan. Mif-
takes in numbers are easily made by even careful tran-
fcribers: I am not fenfible that it is of any moment to ſup-
poſe, that Jacob and his defcendants when they came into
Egypt were exactly feventy; why may we not ſuppoſe that
Mofes computed them but threefcore and eight, and that
the number ten is a corruption of the text, and the names
Hezron and Hamul, the fons of Pharez, an interpolation? If
I may not take the liberty to make this correction of the
text, I must freely acknowledge that I do not fee how to
clear the difficulty I have mentioned; but muft leave it to
the learned ", as I do entirely ſubmit to them what I have
attempted to conjecture about it. The children of Ifrael
flourished in Egypt, and were protected and favoured by the
kings of it for Joſeph's fake, until the government of Egypt
was overthrown in the following manner.
s Gen. xxix.
See ver. 20, 21.
t Gen. xxxviii. 7, 10.
" I ought not to omit taking no-
tice, that the moſt learned Archbiſhop
Ufher has left fomething in a pofthu-
mous work of his, which may perhaps
be thought to folve this difficulty.
This moſt learned writer fuppoſes Ju-
dah to have been born A. M. 2247, to
have married when nineteen years old,
A. M. 2266, that his fon Er was born
within that year, that Onan was born
A. M. 2267, Shelah 2268, that Er
married when he was fifteen, i. e.
A. M. 2281, that Onan married within
the fame year, that Shelah was grown,
i. e. was about fifteen, A. M. 2282;
that Judah lay with Tamar, 2283;
that Pharez and Zara were born at the
end of this year; that Pharez was
fifteen, and married, and had twins,
Hezron and Hamul at a time, and in
the year 2298, to have the children
carried with Jacob into Egypt in that
year. Here is certainly every thing
offered that can poffibly be ſuppoſed,
and whether nothing more that can
reaſonably be allowed, I muft refer to
the reader's confideration. See Ufher's
Chronol. Sacra, c. x. p. 170. ed. Oxon.
1660.
In
396
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
In the fifth year of Concharis, whom Jofephus from Ma-
netho calls Timæus, and who, according to Syncellus, was
the twenty-fifth king of the land of Tanis, or lower Egypt,
there came a numerous army of unknown people, and in-
vaded Egypt on a fudden; they overran both the upper and
the lower Egypt, fired houſes and cities, killed the inhabit-
ants, and made a terrible devaſtation all the land over, and
having in a little time fubdued all before them, they made
one of their leaders their king, whofe name was Salatis:
Salatis being made king, laid the land under tribute, made
the ancient inhabitants of Egypt his flaves, garrifoned fuch
towns as he thought proper all over the country, and eſta-
bliſhed himſelf upon the throne, and fettled his people in
the land. Whence Salatis and his followers came is only to
be conjectured: they called themſelves the Paftors or Shep-
herds; they took particular care to fortify the eaſtern parts
of Egypt, and feemed moft afraid of a diſturbance from that
quarter. The government of Egypt being thus fubverted,
the protection and happineſs which the Ifraelites enjoyed
periſhed with it: Salatis knew nothing of Jofeph, nor did
he regard any eſtabliſhment which Jofeph had fettled: he
made his way into Egypt with his ſword, and he brought
his people into the land by conqueſt, in ſuch a manner and
upon fuch terms as he thought fit; and the Ifraelites were a
rich and increasing people, inhabiting the very parts which
he thought proper to take the greateſt care of; and he readily
fufpected, that if any invaſion ſhould happen from the eaſt,
they would join againſt them. He therefore took a par-
ticular care to keep them low.
That this king who oppreffed the Ifraelites was not an
Egyptian, but fome foreigner, who with his forces had
overrun the country, feems very evident from the appel-
lations which Mofes gives him. He was a new king, and
knew not Jofeph, both which hints ftrongly intimate him
to be a foreigner; the word new is frequently uſed in this
fenſe; new gods are frange or foreign gods; and had he
a
Jofephus contra Apion. 1. i. §. 14.
✓ Exodus i. 10.
z Ver. 8.
Deut. xxxii. 16, 17. Judges v. 8.
been
Book VII.
397
and Profane Hiftory.
been an Egyptian, he muſt have known Jofeph, for he came
to reign not long after Jofeph was dead, and his brethren,
and all that generation; and it is impoffible that the kings
of Egypt could in ſo ſhort a time have forgot Joſeph. Some
writers have endeavoured to determine whence this new
king and people came. Cardinal Cajetan fays they were
Affyrians, which he collects from Ifaiah: the words of the
prophet are, Thus faith the Lord, My people went down afore-
time into Egypt to ſojourn there, and the Affyrian oppreſſed them
without caufe. If the Hebrew words had been put in ſuch
order, as that the word and in this verfe might be read be-
fore there, and there the Affyrian oppreſſed them without caufe,
the Cardinal's opinion founded upon this paffage would be
unqueſtionable: but as the verſe is worded, the two parts of
it feem to be two diftinct fentences, and the deſign of it was
to comfort the Jews againſt the profpect of the Babylonian
captivity, by hinting to them their former deliverance out
of the Egyptian bondage. My people went down aforetime
into Egypt to fojourn there; and now the Affyrian is about
oppreffing them without caufe: Now therefore [as it follows]
what have I bere, faith the Lord, that my people is taken away
for nought?-Therefore my people fball know my name-ben
the Lord fhall bring again Zion. The whole defign of this
paffage, with what follows, was intended to hint to the
Ifraelites, that God would certainly bring them out of the
Babylonian captivity, and the Cardinal's conjecture cannot
be at all ſupported by it. Africanus fays, that theſe Paſtors
that overran Egypt were Phoenicians, but hints, that fome
other writers thought them to be Arabians: theſe two opi-
nions are not fo widely different as they feem to be, for
Africanus hints, that his Phoenicians came out of the eaſtern
parts, [ἐκ τῶν πρὸς ἀνατολὴν μερῶν]; and the ancients did not
accurately diftinguish, but often called the whole land of
Canaan with the countries adjacent by the name of Phoe-
nicia. It is indeed true that the Arabians are fituate rather
fouthward than eastward, and I fhould not think thefe
b Exod. i. 6.
Ifaiah lii.
J Ver. 5-8.
* See Pool's Synopfis in loc.
f Syncell. Chronograph. p. 61. ed.
Par. 1652.
Paftors
398
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
Paftors came out of that country: the most probable con-
jecture that I can make about them is, that they were the
Horites, whom the children of Efau drove out of their own
land 5. Theſe Horites were a people that lived by pafturage,
and they were expelled their country much about this time:
their paffage into Egypt was almoſt directly from the eaſt,
and they had great reaſon to fortify the eaftern parts of
Egypt, very probably apprehending that the enemy that had
diſpoffeffed them of their own country might take occa-
fion to follow them thither. It may feem unaccountable,
that a number of unfettled people ſhould be able to ſeize
upon and overturn the government of a large, a wife, and
well-eſtabliſhed kingdom: but this will not appear ſo ſur-
prifing, if we confider the ſtate of kingdoms in theſe ages.
Thucydides's obfervation of the ancient ftates of Greece
might be applied to all the kingdoms of the world in the
early ages". Kings had not fo firm and fecure a poffeffion
of their thrones, nor yet the people of the countries they
inhabited, as we are apt to think from a judgment formed
from the preſent ſtate of the world: as there was but little
traffic ftirring in theſe times, fo diftant kingdoms had little
or no acquaintance with one another, nor did they know of
defigns formed againſt themſelves until they came to feel
them. When the Ifraelites went out of Egypt, and were
come into the wildernefs, they exercifed and formed their
difcipline and government for forty years together; and
though they were exceedingly numerous, yet no great no-
tice was taken of them by any of the nations that lay near
them, until they were ready to attack them: where could
fuch a body of people get together now in the world, and not
have an alliance of all the neighbour kingdoms ready to re-
quire an account of their defigus? But in theſe early days
Mollia jecuræ peragebant otia gentes. Ovid.
kings apprehended no foreign attacks until the armies, that
came to conquer them, were at their doors, and fo their
kingdoms were more eafily overrun by them. Egypt was
& Deut. ii. 12, 22.
h Thucydid. 1. 1.
a very
Book VII.
399
and Profane Hiſtory.
a very flouriſhing kingdom, but not famous for war: we do
not read of any exerciſe this way, or any trial of their arms
from the days of their first king to this time; fo that theſe
Horites (if they were indeed the Horites) might eaſily con-
quer them, and gain themſelves a fettlement in their king-
dom; as the Arcadians did in Thrace; the Pelaſgi, and af-
terwards the Trojans, did in Italy; nay, and in much later
days, the Franconians iffued out of their own country in
this manner in armed multitudes, and conquered France, and
fet up there that government which that kingdom is now
fubject to. The time when theſe Paftors thus overran
Egypt may be pretty well determined in the following
manner. 1. It was before Mofes was born; for the new
king of Egypt had taken feveral meafures to opprefs the
Ifraelites before the time of Mofes's birth, and Mofes was
born A. M. 2433.
2. It was after Levi's death, for Jofeph
died and all his brethren before this new king aroſe that
knew not Jofeph'; and Levi lived to be 137 years old ",
and fo being born about A. M. 2253 ", he died A. M. 2390.
3. It was fome years after Levi's death, for not only Jofeph
and his brethren were dead, but all that generation. Ben-
jamin was born twenty years after Levi, and therefore we
may ſuppoſe that he, or at leaſt ſome of that generation,
lived fo long after Levi's death, i. e. to A. M. 2410, fo that
it was after that year, and before the year of Moſes's birth
2435, perhaps about the year 2420; and this account will
place it much about the fame time that the Horites were
expelled Seir by the children of Efau; for they were ex-
pelled by Efau's grandchildren, of the families of his
younger fons Reuel and Aliphaz, and thefe Paftors came to
Egypt in the time of Jacob's grandchildren by his younger
fons, their fathers being all dead. If we determine the
Paſtors coming into Egypt about the year 2420 above men-
tioned, and in the fifth year of the reign of Concharis, we
may count backwards 133 years in Sir John Marfham's lift
i Davila's Hiftory of the Civil
Wars of France, Book 1.
k Exod. i.
1 Ver. 6.
Exod. vi. 16.
n Levi was Jacob's third fon. Jacob
married A. M. 2250. Levi might be
born about three years after Jacob
married.
of
400
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
of the kings of Tanis, for fo many years paffed between Jo-
ſeph's advancement and A. M. 2420, and ſo determine who
the king was, and in what year of his reign he advanced
Jofeph; and, according to this account, Jofeph was ad-
vanced by Thufimares, the twentieth king of Tanis, and in
the thirteenth year of Thufimares's reign, as I have before
ſuppoſed.
The Paſtors and their king took particular care to keep
the Ifraelites low. He made them his flaves, employed
them in building him ftorehoufes and walls for Abaris,
which was afterwards called Pelufium, or, according to
Moſes, Pithom, and for Raamfes P, and in making brick,
and in other laborious fervices; and, confidering that they
increaſed exceedingly in numbers, he ordered the midwives
to kill every male child that fhould be born of any of
them. The midwives did not execute his orders; fo he
thought of another way to deſtroy them, and charged all his
people to have every male child, that was born to the Ifrael-
ites, thrown into the river'.
There is a difficulty in the account which Mofes gives
in this place of the midwives; It came to pafs, because the mid-
wives feared God, that he made them houses. Can we fup-
poſe that God raiſed houſes for the midwives miraculouſly?
or could the Ifraelites, oppreffed in flavery, fhew fo great a
gratitude as to build them any? or, if they could, dare they
venture to requite them fo publicly, for refuſing to act as
the king ordered them? If I may take a liberty of gueffing,
I ſhould think that Mofes did not mean in this place that
houſes were built for the midwives, but for the Ifraelites.
It will be queried who was the builder? Why fhould God
upon the cafe here before us build the Ifraelites houfes? I
anfwer; it was not God built the houſes here ſpoken of,
but Pharaoh : the cafe was this: Pharaoh had charged the
midwives to kill the male children that were born of the
Hebrew women; the midwives feared God, and omitted to
• Marſham, Can. Chron. p. 105.
§. 8. Jofephus cont. Apion. 1. i. §. x4.
Eufebius, Præp. Evang. 1. x. c. 12.
P Exod. i. II.
4 Exod. i. 16.
r Ver. 22.
s Ver. 21.
do
Book VII.
401
and Profane Hiftory.
do as the king had commanded them, pretending in excuſe
for their omiffion, that the Hebrew women were generally
delivered before they could get to them: Pharaoh here-
upon refolving to prevent their increafe, gave a charge to
his people to have all the male children of the Hebrews
thrown into the river; but this command could not be
ftrictly executed, whilft the Ifraelites lived up and down in
the fields in tents, which was their ancient and cuftomary
way of living, for they would fhift here and there, and
lodge the women in childbed out of the way, to fave their
children; Pharaoh therefore built them houſes, and obliged
them to a more fettled habitation, that the people he had
fet over them might know where to find every family, and
take account of all the children that fhould be born: fo that
this was a very cunning contrivance of Pharaoh, in order to
have his charge more strictly and effectually executed than
it could otherwiſe have been, and was a remarkable parti-
cular not to be omitted in Mofes's account of this affair:
but as to houſes built for the midwives, it feems impof-
fible to give any account why they ſhould be built, or how,
or by whom. It will here be afked, but how can the words
of Mofes be reconciled to what I have offered? I anfwer:
if they be faithfully tranflated, they can bear no other
meaning whatſoever; which will be very evident from the
following tranflation of the place, which is word for word
agreeable to the Hebrew, and which I have diſtinguiſhed
into verfes, as I think the paffage ought really to have been
diſtinguiſhed.
Verſe 18. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives,
and faid unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and Javed
alive the children?
Verfe 19. And the midwives faid unto Pharaoh, Becauſe
the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they
are lively, and are delivered before the midwife comes to them.
Verſe 20. And God dealt well with the midwives: and
the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty: [ vejehi,
i. e.] and this happened, (or was fo, or came to paſs,) becauſe
the midwives feared God.
VOL. I.
t Exodus i. 19.
D d
And
402
Book VII.
Connection of the Sacred
" And Pharaoh built them [i. e. the Ifraelites] houſes, and
charged all his people, faying, Every ſon that is born ye ſhall
caft into the river, and every daughter ye fhall fave alive.
And thus, if I may take the liberty to ſuppoſe the paſſage
not rightly pointed as to the ſtops, which were the ancient
marks at the end of verſes *, the words may well be ren-
dered as I would take them. The divifion of the Hebrew
Bible into verfes is certainly very ancient, but not earlier
than the captivity ; and I do not find that the beſt writers
imagine the ſections made by an unerring hand. I fhould
think the verſes which I am treating of to have been di-
vided as they now are injudiciouſly by fome careleſs tran-
fcriber; but it is evident, that they were thus parted be-
fore the LXX. tranflation was made, for the LXX. render
the gift verfe thus ; Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐφοβοῦντο αἱ μαῖαι τὸν Θεὸν, ἐποίη
σαν ἑαυταῖς οἰκίας And becaufe the midwives feared God, they
made themſelves houfes. And hence it is evident, that the
LXX. found a difficulty in the verfe, and thought it abfurd
to ſay that God built the midwives houſes, and fo turned
the expreffion another way: but their verfion cannot be
right, for the Hebrew words are not they, but he built, and
in the original, la hem fignifies for them, and not for them-
felves: and I do not at preſent ſee any way to give a clear
account of the place fo eaſy, as to fuppofe the punctuation
wrong, as I have imagined. Some of the commentators
have indeed offered a conjecture, at firſt fight very promifing,
to explain the expreffion as it now ftands: they would take the
words, made them houſes, metaphorically, and ſay that they
mean either that God gave the midwives many children, or
that he made them profperous in their affairs: the former
of theſe interpretations is St. Ambrofe's, and it is faid, that
the expreffion is thus ufed Gen. xvi. 2. xxx. iii. Deut. xxv.
9. Ruth iv. 11. but in this point theſe interpreters make a
The words are
פרעה לכל עמו
ויצו
ויעש להם בתים
fuo populo omni Pharaoh præcepit et domos illis fecit E.
Our English tranflators fhould have
confidered that the nominative cafe to
two verbs is commonly put after the
fecond verb in other languages,
though our Engliſh will not admit
of it.
* See Prideaux, Connect. B. V. p.
263. ed. fol. 1718. p. 479. 8vo. 1725.
y Id. ibid.
great
2
Book VII.
403
and Profane Hiftory.
great miſtake
miſtake; the expreffion before us is Naſhah Beith; but
the expreffion in the paffages cited is a very different one,
it is Banah Beith, and not Nafbab: had the expreffion here
before us been Banah Beithim labem, it might have figni-
fied, God built up their houfes or families, by making them nu-
merous; but Naſhab Beithim labem are words of a very dif-
ferent meaning. But in the ſecond place it is faid, that
Nafbah Beithim fignifies, that God profpered them, or pro-
vided for them, and Gen. xxx. 30. is cited to justify this in-
terpretation. The words in that paffage are, And now, when
Shall I [make or] provide for my own house alfo? But here
again the inftance fails: the expreffion cited is not Nahah
Beith, but it is Nafhab le Beith; not, when ſhall I make my
houſe? but, when ſhall I make for my house? or, when ſhall I
do for my boufe? between which two expreffions there is
evidently a difference.
Dd 2
THE
.
}
、,、ཎ、 「
THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
CONNECTED.
BOOK VIII.
SALATIS, the new king of Egypt, not only oppreffed
the Ifraelites, but, by the violence of his conquefts, fo
terrified the ancient inhabitants of the land, that many per-
fons of the first figure thought it better to leave their native
country, than to endeavour to fit down under the calamities
which they feared might be brought upon them; and from
hence it happened, that ſeveral companies made the beſt
way they could out of Egypt, in hopes of gaining them-
felves an happier fettlement in fome foreign country. Ifter,
a writer cited by Eufebius b, and by Clemens Alexandri-
nus, and who lived in the time of Ptolemy Euergetes &,
wrote a particular account of the colonies that removed
out of Egypt into other nations: his work would perhaps
have been very ſerviceable in this place; but this and
other performances of Ifter are long fince loft: however,
Diodorus Siculus has particularly remarked, that Egypt
a Jofephus cont. Apion, 1. i. §. 14.
P. 1337. ed. Hudf.
C
© Stromat. 1. ì. §. 21. and 1. iii.
§. 6.
Præp. Evang. lib. iv. c. 16.
D d 3
d Marfham. Can. Chron. p. 107.
has
406
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
has fent many colonies into diverſe parts of the world ; and
we may collect from him, and from hints of other ancient
writers, that Cecrops, Erichthonius, and the father of Cad-
mus, left Egypt about the times we are treating of; and
Danaus and Belus followed them not long after.
:
Belus was the ſon of Neptune who this Neptune was
we are not informed, but it ſeems to be an Egyptian name;
for the Egyptians called the fhores which the fea-waves
beat upon, Nepthun f; and most probably the perſon called
by this name was an inventor of fhipping, and from thence
came to be called the God of the fea; and this tradition
of him was embraced by the Cretans. Herodotus ob-
ferves, that he had divine honours paid him in a country
next adjacent to Egypt, where his wife feems to have
lived, and where perhaps he might go to live, when his
fon Belus left Egypt; but either becauſe he died not in
Egypt, or becauſe he lived in theſe troubleſome times, when
the natives of Egypt were under a foreign power that had
invaded them, his name was not recorded amongst the great
and eminent Egyptian ancients; and fo, though in after-
ages he was worshipped in many foreign countries, yet he
never was reputed a deity by the Egyptians *. His fon
Belus went to Babylon, and carried with him fome of the
Egyptian priefts, and obtained them leave to fettle and cul-
tivate their ftudies there, in the fame manner, and with the
encouragement and protection which they had been fa-
voured with in their own country: if we confider the ſtu-
dies which thefe Egyptians were engaged in, it will be
eafy to account for their meeting with fo favourable a re-
ception at Babylon. They employed themſelves in aftro-
nomy, and making obfervations on the ftars", and the Ba-
bylonians had been promoters and encouragers of this ftudy
above ſeven hundred years before theſe men came amongſt
them, and continued to cultivate and cherish thefe arts for
e Lib. i. §. 28. p. 24.
f Plutarch, in Ifide et Oride, p.
366. ed. Xyl, 1624.
• Diodor. Sic. lib. v. §. 69. P.
337·
★ Lib. i. c. 59.
i His wife was called A, Dio-
dor. 1. i. §. 28, p. 24.
* Herodotus, lib. ii. c. 50.
1 Diodor. lib. i. §. 70. p. 24.
m Id. ibid.
above
Book VIII.
407
and Profane Hiftory.
above eleven hundred years after". Thefe Egyptians were
probably very able to put the Babylonians into a better me-
thod of profecuting theſe ſtudies, than they were before
mafters of; for though the Babylonians began to make
aſtronomical obfervations fooner than any other nation in
the world, yet the Egyptians ſeem to have been more happy
in theſe ſtudies than they; for the firft correction in the
length of the year was made in Egypt, and before the Ba-
bylonians were able to attempt it. We may make a con-
jecture not improbable, of what this Belus might teach the
Babylonians, in order to improve their aftronomical obfer-
vations. The chief aim of the ancient aftronomers was to
obſerve the times of the rifing and fetting of the ſtars; and
the firſt and moſt proper places they could think of to make
their obſervations in were very large and open plains,
where they could have an extenfive view of the horizon.
without interruption; and fuch plains as theſe were their
obfervatories for many generations. But the Egyptians
had, about three hundred years before the time of this
Belus, thought of a method to improve theſe views,
namely, by building their pyramids, on the tops of which
they might take their profpects with ſtill greater advantage:
and Belus taught the Babylonians the uſe of theſe ftruc-
tures, and perhaps projected for them that lofty tower,
which conveyed the name of Belus down to future ages.
The moſt learned Dean Prideaux remarks of this tower, that
it was more ancient than the temple which was afterwards
built round it, and that it was certainly built many ages"
before Nebuchadnezzar; and, according to this account of
it, it will be more ancient than his reign by almoſt a thou-
fand years. Bochart afferts it to have been the very fame
tower which was built in this country at the confufion of
tongues; but it cannot well be imagined to be fo, for that
certainly was a mountainous heap raifed with no great art,
See Vol. I. B. iv. p. 114.
• Pref. Vol. I.
P της χώρας αυτής συνεργάτες πρὸς τὸ
PRλZvyiszor öṣži màs szimodà; à duras
Ta spa. Diodor. lib. i. §. §. p. 45.
The largeft pyramid was built by
Syphis. See Vol. I. B. v. p. 191.
Connect. Vol. I. B. ii. An. 170.
Phaleg. Part. I. 1. i. c. g.
pd4
by
408
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
t
by a multitude of untaught and unexperienced builders,
who had no further aim than to raiſe a monument of their
vanity ; but this was a nice piece of workmanſhip, more
like the production of a more improved age, and it was a
building well contrived and fitted for various uſes. I might
add further, that this tower was finifhed, but the former
never was; fo that at moft this could only be raiſed upon
the ruins and foundations of that, and muft have been the
work of later builders. The tower of Belus feems to have
been a great improvement of the Egyptian pyramids; for
the tower was contrived to anſwer all the uſeful purpoſes of
the largeſt pyramid, and in a better manner. It was raiſed
to a much greater height", and had a more commodious
ſpace at top, and more uſeful and larger apartments within,
and yet was a lefs bulky building, and raiſed upon far nar-
rower foundations. In its outward form it looked fo like
a pyramid to them that viewed it at a little diftance, that it
has been mistaken for one; and Strabo exprefsly calls it a
pyramid in the account he gives of it. And upon thefe
accounts I fhould imagine it was projected by one well ac-
quainted with the Egyptian pyramid and its defects, and
therefore able to deſign a ſtructure that might exceed it;
and I cannot fay to whom we can aſcribe it with fo great a
fhew of probability as to the Belus we are ſpeaking of. It
is not probable that the Egyptian name of this man was
Belus, for Bel or Belus is an Affyrian, and not an Egyptian
name; but it is remarkable that all forts of perfons had
new names given them, whenever they were well received
in foreign countries. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, called Joſeph
Zaphnah-Paaneah ; and the prince of the eunuchs gave
new names to Daniel and his companions, when they were
appointed to be taken care of, and prepared for public em-
ployments in the court of Babylon ; and what name more
proper or more honorary than this could they give this
Egyptian, who was eminent in a fcience which one of
›
t See Vol. I. B. ii. p. 64.
Dr. Prideaux ubi fup.
× L. xvi. ad in. 508. ed. Cauf. 1587.
Z
y Gen. xli. 45.
2 Dan. i. 7.
And
their
Book VIII.
4:09
and Profane Hiftory.
their firſt kings of this name was the famous and firſt pro-
feffor of? It is even now a known figure of fpeech to call
an excellent orator a Cicero, a poet an Homer, an eminent
and virtuous legiflator Lycurgus, a foldier Achilles or
Hector. With the ancients in the firſt times it was their
common ufage; and thus
and thus Agathodæmon a was called
Thyoth or Thoth in Egypt, becauſe he was the reviver or
reftorer of thoſe parts of learning which a fon of Mizraim
of that name firſt planted there, many ages before this ſe-
cond Thyoth was born. And thus the Babylonians named
the perſon we are ſpeaking of Belus, becauſe he was a great
and remarkable improver of that aftronomy which Belus,
the fecond king of Babylon, was the celebrated author of.
Sir John Marſham feems to think the Belus we are ſpeak-
ing of, and the king of Babylon of that name, to be but
one and the fame perfon; and he imagines him to be
Arius the fourth king after Ninus; and he endeavours to
ſupport his opinion by a paffage from Cedrenus c, who ſays,
"that after Ninus, Thurus reigned over the Affyrians; that
"his father Zames called him Ares; that the Affyrians fet
"up the first pillar to this Ares, and worshipped him as a
<<
god, naming him Baal." In which opinion of Cedrenus
there are theſe mistakes: 1. Ares here fpoken of, to whom
the Affyrians fet up the firſt pillar, was not a deified king or
hero, but a name of the ftar Mars; for the Babylonians
worſhipped in the first days of their idolatry the luminaries
of heaven, and did indeed fet up a pillar to that particular
planet. 2. They did not call this particular deity Baal,
but Adar or Azar . Baal was their name for the fun. 3. It
was not until many ages after that they worshipped their
kings. Gefner very judiciouſly remarks, that the Affyrians
deified Belus, i. e. the king of that name, about A. M.
3185, and they cannot be fuppofed to have deified him
fooner; for they were not defcended fo low in their ido-
a See Vol. I. B. i. p. 28. Sir John
Marſham, Can. Chron. p. 231. Eufeb.
in Chron.
↳ Can. Chron. p. 32. 107.
c Cedrenus, p. 16. Marsham, Can.
Chron. p. 32.
4 See Vol. I. B. v. p. 196.
e See Vol. 1. B. v. p. 198.
Not. ad Tatian. ed. Worth. Oxon.
P. 126.
latry
410
Connection of the Sacred
भ
«
Book VIII.
latry as to worſhip images, until after A. M. 3274, which is
the twelfth or thirteenth year of Ahaz, and about the time
that the men of Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim
were brought to live in Samaria ; and it is very probable,
that when they had deified their kings and heroes, image-
worship was introduced foon after. Thefe miftakes of
Cedrenus were most probably occafioned by the planet
Mars and the king Ares bearing the fame name: but
omitting to remark, that the names we now have of theſe
early Affyrian kings are exotic names, and not Affyrian;
and that the perfons intended by them were not fo called
in their own countries, nor until they came to be written of
in foreign languages, out of which moſt of theſe names are
evidently taken; and ſuppoſing that this Arius had an Afſy-
rian name, as agreeable to the Affyrian name for Mars, as
Arius or Ares is to "Apns the Greek one; yet the time he
lived in ſhould have been confidered, and the cuftoms of it.
The Affyrians worshipped in theſe days the luminaries of
heaven; but, in order to do their kings honour, they called
them by the names of their gods; and they called one of
them Bel, Baal, or Belus, another perhaps Adar, another
Nebo, another Gad, and in time they put two or three of
theſe names together; and this was their way of putting
the names of their gods upon themi: but it cannot be con-
cluded from their kings bearing thefe names, that they
worshipped their kings; rather thefe names of their kings.
lead us to the knowledge of the gods which they ferved.
Sir John Marſham obferves, that Paufanias hints, that the
Babylonian Belus had his name from an Egyptian ſo called:
the paffage in Paufanias is this; he relates that " Manticlus
"built a temple for the Meffenians, which he dedicated to
“Hercules, and that they called the god Hercules Manti-
❝clus, as they called the African deity Ammon, and the
"Babylonian Belus; the one being named from Belus.
"an Egyptian, the fon of Libya, the other from a fhepherd,
"who founded the temple." Now, from this paffage of
& Vol. I. B. v. p. 207. Archbishop
Ufher's Annals.
b Vol. I. Book v. p. 197.
iNum. vi. 27.
* In Meffèniac. c. 23.
Paufanias,
Book VIII.
411
and Profane Hiftory.
Paufanias, it can in no wife be concluded, that the Babylo-
nians had had no king named Belus, until this Egyptian
Belus came amongst them: but the true inferences from it
are theſe: 1. That deities had commonly a cognomen or ad-
ditional name from the founders of their temples. 2. That
the Egyptian Belus founded the temple of Belus at Babylon.
This laft propofition is indeed not true; for there were no
temples in the world fo early as the days even of this ſecond
Belus; men at this time worshipping either in groves, or at
their altars in the open air. However, Paufanias might
find reaſon to think this Belus built the tower which was
called by his name, and he might not feparate the tower
from the temple, which, the moft learned Dean Prideaux
obferves', was not built at the fame time; fo that all that
can be concluded from Paufanias is, that an Egyptian built
the tower of Belus at Babylon; and this I believe is true:
but this Belus was not fo called when he lived in Egypt,
but had the honour of that name given him by the Affy-
rians, in memory of a celebrated king fo called by them,
who was famous for the aftronomical learning, which this
Egyptian profeffed. Upon the whole; that the fucceffor
of Nimrod, and predeceffor of Ninus the fecond king of
Babylon, was called Bel or Belus, we are affured by Africa-
nus and Eufebius "; and Africanus remarks, that the moſt
celebrated hiftorians concurred in it. That there was an
Egyptian who led a colony to Babylon, and was there
called Belus, we are affured by Diodorus, and it is alfo
hinted by Paufanias in the paffage above cited. That this
Belus did not come to Babylon before the times we are treat-
ing of, feems probable, becauſe we have no reaſon to think
that Egypt fent out any colonies until thefe days; and fur-
ther, from his being faid to build the tower of Belus, which
cannot well be fuppofed to have been built until after the
largeſt Egyptian pyramid; and that he came to Babylon
about theſe times, feems further probable from his living
about the time that ſhips were invented: for it is faid his
father Neptune was the inventor of fhips; and that they
1 Ubi fup.
m In Chronic. Eufeb.
Diedo, fup. cit.
were
412
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
were invented about thefe times, appears from what is re-
corded of Danaus, who was cotemporary with this Belus,
that he made the firſt ſhip, and fled with it from Egypt °;
his ſhip, ſays Pliny P, was called the firſt ſhip, becauſe until
his times men ufed only fmaller boats or veffels. Such
ſhips as Danaus's were a new thing in theſe days, and
therefore Nepthun the Egyptian was the inventor of them,
and confequently his fon Belus lived about this time. And
thus I have endeavoured to clear the hiftory of thefe two
Belus's, which fome learned writers have been fond of per-
plexing. Belus was the father of Danaus ; and as it will
appear that Danaus came to Greece A. M. 2494, fo it is pro-
bable that Belus went to Babylon about the fame time.
Cecrops left Egypt many years fooner than the time
when Belus went to Babylon, and after fome years travels.
he came to Grecce, and lived in Attica. He was well re-
ceived there by Actæus, who was at that time king of the
country, and from whom the country was named Actica ';
and fome time after he married Actæus's daughter; and
when Actæus died, fucceeded him in his kingdom. The
time when Cecrops became king of Attica may be deter-
mined from the Parian Chronicon, which records that Ce-
crops reigned at Athens 1318 years before that Chronicle
was compofed. Now fuppofing the Chronicon compofed
A. M. 3741", it will fix the beginning of Cecrops's reign to
A. M. 2423. Eufebius is thought to differ from this ac-
count*, 26 years fays Selden, and Lydiat from him': I think
he feems to differ 44; for Eufebius's Chronicon begins the
reign of Cecrops 99 or 100 years after the death of Joſeph,
and confequently muft begin it about A. M. 2467ª. Lydiat
has attempted to reconcile this difference, but I doubt the
reader will find what he has offered but little to his fatif-
G
Apollodor. 1. ii. c. 4. Prid. in
Marm. Arundel. Ep. 9.
P Lib. vii. c. 56.
4 Prideaux, Annotat. ad Chron.
Marm. p. 156. ed. 1676.
Marm. Arundel. Ep. 1. Sce Pri-
deaux, Annotat, in Chron. Marm. p.
91. ed. 1656.
s Paufanias in Atticis, c. 2.
Prid. Ep. Marm. 1.
"Archbishop Ufher's Chron.
x Chronic.
y Lydiat. Annotat. ad Chron. Marm.
P. 13.
2 Num. Eufeb. in Chronic. 460.
2 Book VII.
faction.
Book VIII.
413
and Profane Hiflory.
¡
faction. I fhould hope, that we may have liberty to cut
knots of this fort, inſtead of trying to untie them: how-
ever, fince all the ancient Greek chronology muft depend
upon our fixing this period, I will endeavour to lay before
the reader the whole of what the ancient writers offer about
it, and then he may the better form a judgment of it. And,
1. Caftor endeavours to fix the time of Cecrops's reign, in
his lift or account of the kings of Sicyon. He tells us that
Egialeus was the firſt king of Sicyon, that he reigned 52
years, and began his reign about the 15th year of Belus the
firft king of Babylon; fo that we may fix the firſt year of
Ægialeus to A. M. 1920, Belus beginning his reign A. M.
1905. Caftor proceeds, and gives us the reigns of twelve
kings that fucceeded Ægialeus, with the particular lengths
of each of their reigns; and all of them together, including
the reign of Egialeus with them, amount to 560 years,
ending at the death of Marathonius, and will bring us to
A. M. 2480. Caftor remarks after Marathonius's name,
Κατὰ τῦτον πρῶτος ἐβασίλευσε τῆς ᾿Αττικής Κέκροψ ὁ διφυής, that in
his time Cecrops began to reign in Attica: now Maratho-
nius reigned but 30 years, fo that placing the firſt year of
Cecrops very early in his reign, (Eufebius places it in the
third year¹,) we muft fix the firſt year of Cecrops, according
to this account, about A. M. 2450, or 2453. I would do
Caftor the juftice to remark, that his account of thefe times
feems well adjuſted in another particular. After Meſſapus
he remarks, that in his time Jofeph was made governor of
Egypt; and Meflapus, according to his account, began to
reign A. M. 2246, and he reigned 47 years; and Joſeph
was advanced A. M. 2287, i. c. in the 41ft year of Mef-
fapus.
2. We may collect the time of Cecrops from another ac-
count of the fame chronologer. We have his lift of the Ar-
give kings, from Inachus the first king of that country f;
he fays, that Inachus began his reign about the time of
b Eufebii Xgovix. nóv. gwт. ed.
Scal. 1658. p. 19.
• See Vol. I. B. iv. p. 109.
In Sgovx. Kav. Eufeb. ed. Scal.
1638. p. 110.
See Book VII.
f Eufeb. Xpoux. λóy. zguz. p. 24.
ed. Scal. 1658.
Thuri-
414
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
Thurimachus, the ſeventh king of Sicyon. Now if we cal-
culate, we ſhall find that Thurimachus began his reign
about A. M. 2148; for Caftor places him 228 years later
than the firſt year of Ægialeus. And fuppofing Inachus to
begin his reign near as foon as Thurimachus, in Thurima-
chus's fixth year, according to Eufebius, we fhall begin
Inachus's reign A. M. 2154. From the first year of Ina-
chus to the beginning of Triopas's reign, who was the
ſeventh king of Argos, Caftor computes 304 years; fo that
Triopas began to reign A. M. 2458; and Tatian and Cle-
mens Alexandrinus both agree, that Cecrops reigned about
the time of Triopas"; and Eufebius, after examining fur-
ther, was of the fame opinion. And thus, from both theſe
accounts of Caftor, we muſt begin Cecrops's reign later than
A. M. 2450.
k
3. We have in the next place a computation, which Sca-
liger intended to have pafs for Eufebius's, and this will
bring us to about the fame year. It is computed that
Ogyges firft reigned over the Athenians, and that he was
cotemporary with Phoroneus king of Argos *: Caftor was
of the fame opinion. It is faid further, that Ogyges lived
about the times of Meffapus the ninth king of Sicyon, and
that he was later than Belochus the ninth king of Aſſyria.
Now if any one will make a table of the kings of Affyria,
beginning Belus's reign where I have placed it, he will find
that Belochus died A. M. 2263; and from Caftor's table of
the kings of Sicyon, it may be computed, that Meffapus
began his reign A. M. 2246, and ended it A. M. 2293; ſo
that if we place Ogyges the year after Belochus died, we
fhall place him in the 18th year of Meffapus, and A. M.
2264; and from Ogyges to Cecrops, we are told, are 190
years, fo that this account will place Cecrops A. M. 2454.
4. Porphyry's account places Cecrops ftill later. He fays,
that Mofes led the Ifraelites out of Egypt in the 45th year
of Cecrops m. Now Mofes led the Ifraelites out of Egypt
In Xeovix. Kav. p. 96.
h Clem. Stromat. 1. i. p. 380. edit.
Oxon. c. 21. Tatian. Orat. ad Græcos,
p. 132. §. 60. ed. Oxon. 1700.
i Præp. Evang. lib. x, c. 9.
k Eufeb. Χρονικ. λογ. πρωτ. Ρ. 27.
ed. Scal. 1658.
1 Ibid. p. 24.
m Ibid. p. 29.
A. M.
Book VIII.
415
and Profane Hiftory.
A. M. 2513, and therefore, if Cecrops began his reign but
45 years before this time, we muft place him A. M. 2468.
Theſe are the feveral computations of the ancient writers
which are now extant; but I would in the next place ob-
ferve, that Eufebius did not intend to agree with any of
theſe computations.
We have a general but a full account of what Eufebius,
after the beſt examination he could make, found to be true,
both in his Præparatio Evangelica, and in his Prooemium to
his Greek Canon Chronicus"; and the particulars are,
1. That Cecrops and Mofes were cotemporaries. 2. That
they lived 400 years before the taking of Troy; or rather,
as he expreffes it in another place, almoſt 400 years before
the taking of Troy. 3. That from Mofes backwards to the
birth of Abraham are 405 years, and ſo many likewiſe from
Ninus to Cecrops. 4. From Semiramis to Cecrops are
more than 400 years. Theſe are the particulars which Eufe-
bius thought himſelf well affured of, and from theſe particu-
lars it will fully appear, that Eufebius's computations did
not really differ from our epocha on the marble. For, 1. If
by Cecrops and Mofes being cotemporaries be meant, that
Mofes was born after Cecrops was king at Athens, and this
ſeems to be Eufebius's meaning; (he fays, Mauréa yevéσ Jaι
κατὰ Κέκροπα, which expreffion is beft explained by what
he fays of Ninus in the fame place, that 'Apaൠsivaι xat'
autòv, and he ſuppoſes Abraham born towards the latter end
of Ninus's reign, in his 43d year; and this is evidently the
meaning of the expreffion feveral times ufed in Caftor's lifts
before mentioned P always in this fenfe :) if, I ſay, we are to
underſtand by this expreffion, that Mofes was born after
Cecrops began his reign at Athens, there is no difference in
this particular between Eufebius and the marble. For
Mofes was born A. M. 2433, and, according to the marble,
Cecrops began to reign A. M. 2423. 2. Mofes and Ce-
crops were 400 years before the taking of Troy, not quite
n See Præp. Evang. 1. x. c. 9.
Προοιμο
A
Пgooμ. ut fup.
P Both of the Sicyonian and Argive
kings. Χρονικ. λογ. πρωτ. β. 19, 24.
ed. 1658.
9 Archbishop Ufher.
fo
416
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
t
fo much, but almoft. Now if we fuppofe Troy was taken
A. M. 2820, according to Archbishop Ufher, the year in
which the marble begins Cecrops's reign is 397 years before
the taking of Troy; or rather, if we fix the taking of Troy
according to the marble to A. M. 2796, we begin Cecrops's
reign 373 years before the taking of Troy, and place Mofes's
birth before that period 383 years, making it fall ſhort 17
only of 400. 3. From Mofes backwards to the birth of
Abraham are 505 years, and from Cecrops to Ninus are the
fame number. Now Mofes was born A. M. 2433, Abra-
ham was born 2008, fo that here evidently wants 80 years.
of the computation: but Euſebius tells us expreſsly, that
he defigned this account fhould begin not at Mofes's birth,
but at the 80th year of his life; how this came to be
omitted in his Præparatio Evangelica I cannot tell. And
now, if in like manner we compute backwards from the
80th year after the beginning of Cecrops's reign", we ſhall
come to Ninus. Ninus died A. M. 2017. The 80th year
after the firft of Cecrops is, according to the marble, 2503;
deduct out of it 505 years, and the year you will come back
to is A. M. 1998, which falls within Ninus's reign, and is
the 33d year of his reign. 4. From Semiramis to Cecrops
are more than 400 years. Semiramis began her reign A. M.
2017*. Cecrops, according to the marble, began his 2423,
i. c. 406 years after Semiramis. Thus, according to the
particulars upon which Eufebius calculated the time of Ce-
crops, we cannot conclude but that his computation agreed
perfectly well with that of the marble, varying very little,
if any thing at all, from it; and from all theſe particulars
duly confidered, it appears very plainly, that Cecrops is
not placed in the Canon Chronicus which we now have of
Eufebius, where Eufebius did, in all probability, really
place him. For, 1. Cecrops is there placed 35 years after
the birth of Moſes; ſo that Mofes ought not to have been
r Lin. 39. Epocha 25.
5 Από τα π. Μωσέως, &c. Προοίμ. ut
fup.
Præp. Evang. lib. x. c. 9. p. 484.
Par. 1628.
υ ᾿Απὸ δηλωθέντος ἔτος τῆς Κέκροπος
βασιλείας, are the words of both in
c. 9. 1. x. Præp. Evang. et in Proom.
And Vigerius the Latin tranflator ren-
ders it, Ab illo Cecropis regni anno.
* See Vol. I. B. iv. p. 110.
faid
Book VIII.
417
and Profane Hiftory.
faid to be xarà Kéxpona, or born in the times of Cecrops,
but Cecrops to have been κατὰ Μωυσέα, and fo Eufebius
would have expreffed it, if this had been his meaning.
2. According to this Canon, Mofes is not born almoſt 400
years before the taking of Troy. 3. Cecrops is here made
to be 450 years later than Semiramis, which cannot well be
reconciled with Eufebius. 4. 505 years computed back-
wards from the 80th year of Cecrops will not bring us
back to Ninus; for, according to this Canon, Cecrops's firſt
year is 450 years after the laſt year of Ninus, fo that the
pofition of Cecrops in the prefent Canon of Eufebius does
but ill agree with two of Eufebius's four marks of Cecrops's
time, and evidently differs from the other two; whereas the
true time of Cecrops, as fixed by the marble, agrees per-
fectly with all the four. But the learned know that the
Chronicon of Eufebius, which he himſelf compoſed, is long
ago loft, and that the work we now have of that name was
compoſed by Scaliger, from fuch fragments as he could
find of Eufebius in other writers; and he has in fome things
given us his own fentiments inftead of Eufebius's chrono-
logy, of which we have an evident inſtance in this particu-
lar; which, with feveral others, ought carefully to be dif-
tinguiſhed by thofe who would build upon the authority
of Eufebius's Chronicon. And thus at laft it appears, that
the marble differs from Scaliger only, and not from Euſe-
bius: Scaliger was probably led into this miftake by
Caftor's computations, not attending to what Eufebius has
faid upon the ſubject in his other works, and in his preface
to this.
I might offer fomething further to fhew how Caftor was
led into his miſtake in this point; but I fear the reader is
already tired with too long a digreflion; however, I will
fuggeft an hint, which the reader may think further of if he
pleafes. It is agreed by all the best writers, that Cecrops
lived about the time of Triopas king of Argos, and, according
to Caftor's computations, Triopas began to reign A. M.
2458 but it is remarkable, that Caftor fets Triopas lower in
the Argive lift than he ought to have done; for he has in-
ferted a king as his predeceffor, who never reigned there.
VOL. I.
Ee
He
¡
Book VIII.
418
Connection of the Sacred
}
He makes Apis the third king of Argos, and ſays he reigned
35 years; but we find from Æſchylus, that Apis was not a
king of Argos, but a foreigner, who came from Ætolia, and
did indeed do the Sicyonians a public fervice, and fo might
poffibly have his name recorded in their regiſtries. Paufanias
confirms this point, for he does not infert Apis amongſt the
kings of Argos ², but places Argus or Criafus next to Pho-
roneus, omitting Apis. Now if we ftrike Apis out of the
roll, and deduct the years of his reign, we ſhall bring
Caftor's opinion 35 years nearer to the marble, and leave
but a fmall difference between them. Upon the whole,
Africanus obferved, that the ancient writers differed in their
fentiments about the times of Cecrops; fome, he ſays, fup-
poſed him cotemporary with Prometheus, Atlas, and Epi-
metheus; others placed him 60, and others 90 years after
them. Clemens Alexandrinus places Prometheus, Atlas,
Epimetheus, and Cecrops, together in the time of Triopas ";
and fo does Tatian: but Eufebius feems to differ from them
in this particular, and to think Atlas, Prometheus, and Epi-
metheus, before Cecrops; how long he has not told us,
nor can we poffibly guefs from Scaliger's Eufebius's Canon ;
for he has inferted Atlas twice; 82 years before Cecrops in
one place, and again with Prometheus and Epimetheus.
31 years before him in the other: moft probably Eufebius.
thought that Clemens and Tatian placed him too early, by
making him cotemporary with Atlas, and yet found that
fixty or ninety years after him would be too late, and ſo
choſe a medium; and we find he was far from being fingu-
lar in his opinion; for the Parian Chronicon agrees very
nigh, if not exactly with him; ſo that here are two authori-
ties concurring, which is more than can be found in favour
of any of the other computations.
y
After Cecrops was made king of Attica, he endeavoured
fchyl. in Supplic. v. 264.
z In Corinthiacis, §. Argol.
a Xonix. Loy. gr. p. 26. ed. Scal.
1658.
Stromat. 1. i. c. 21.
© Orat. ad Græcos, §. 60. p. 132.
ed. Oxon. 1700.
d See Præp. Evang. 1. x. c. 9. p.
486. Par. 1628.
e Scal. Num. Euſeb. 379.
f Num. 439.
to
Book VIII.
419
and Profane Hiftory.
to form the people: they were before his time but un-
fettled and wandering peaſants, that lived up and down the
country, and reaped the fruits of the earth, and took the
cattle for their ufe when and where they could find them;
for this was the wild and diſorderly manner in which the
ancient inhabitants of Greece lived: but Cecrops inftructed
his people, and gave them laws for fociety, and taught
them how to be of help and comfort and advantage to one
another; and, in order to teach them this more fully, he en-
deavoured to draw them together, and to have them live in
a fettled habitation, within the reach of his influence and
infpection, and therefore taught them to build houfes, and
make a town or city, which he called Cecropia, from his own.
name. Strabo from Philochorus fays, that Cecrops in-
ſtructed his people to build twelve cities; but if fuch a
number of cities were really built by a prince of this name,
I fhould think, according to what the moft learned Dr.
Potter, the prefent Lord Bishop of Oxford, has remarked,
that theſe twelve cities were built by Cecrops, the ſecond of
that name, and ſeventh king of Attica, and not by this first
Cecrops. Twelve cities were not to be attempted at
once; it was a great thing to raiſe one from ſo unculti-
vated a people. The Scholiaft upon Pindar reports from
Philochorus, that Cecrops inftituted a poll to fee how many
fubjects he had to begin with, caufing every man to caſt a
ftone into a place appointed; and that upon computation
he found them to be in number twenty thouſand: but why
may we not think this particular to belong to the ſecond
Cecrops alfo, and not to the firft? I cannot well imagine
how Cecrops could at firſt get together twenty thousand of
theſe untaught people; or if he could have got them toge-
ther, how he could well have managed them: it is more
likely he would have choſen to begin with a lefs company :
but certainly the country itſelf could not at this time fupply
him with fo many men; for if we look to the Trojan war,
though the Athenians had been a growing people all along
3 Thucyd. Hift. 1. i. c. 2.
h Lib. ix. p. 407. ed. Par. 1620.
k
i Archæologia Græca, c. 2. p. 9.
vol. i.
k Olympion, od. ix. lin. 68,
E e 2
until
420
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
until that time; and though Thefeus vaftly augmented
their numbers by inviting all foreigners that could be got
into his city; yet we find the Athenians fent but twenty
ſhips to Troy, in each of which if we ſuppoſe with Plutarch
a hundred and twenty men, or which, from the calculation
of our English Homer", looks more probable, eighty-five
men only in each veffel, it will appear, that Athens could
then furniſh out at moft but 6000, or rather 4250 men, and
therefore could not begin with 20000; for, confidering how
numerous they made their armies in theſe early days, in
proportion to the numbers of their people, twenty thouſand
men in the days of the firft Cecrops muſt have made Athens
able to have furniſhed out a greater number of foldiers for an
expedition, in which all Greece was forward to engage with
its utmost ftrength: Cecrops therefore began his kingdom,
like other legiflators, with a far leffer number of fubjects
than the Scholiaft repreſented. Romulus at firſt had but
few inhabitants for his city, which became afterwards the
miſtreſs of the world: when he wanted women to be wives
for his ſubjects, fix hundred and eighty-three Sabines were a
great fupply; and after that, when he had incorporated
the people of two nations with his own, the bulk of his
ſubjects even then amounted to but fix thouſand men.
Theſe were the ſmall beginnings of all nations in the world,
and Cecrops must be thought to begin his in like manner.
One of the affairs which he took the greateſt care of was to
inftruct the people in religion; for all authors that ſpeak of
him are expreſs and more particular in this point than one
would expect ³, ſo that we may gueſs he was remarkably di-
ligent in this matter. He divided them into four tribes,
orders, ranks, or fraternities, in order to their being capable
of performing, each fort of men in their rank and order, the
1 Plutarch. in Thefeo.
m Pope's Notes upon Homer's ca-
talogue of ſhips, Il. ii. See Thucyd.
Hift. l. i. c. 9.
n Dionyf. Halicarnaff. 1. ii. c. 30.
F. 97. ed. Oxon. 1704. All his num-
ber were 2300. Ibid. p. 86. Some fay
the Sabine virgins taken were but
thirty. Valerius Antias makes them
527; Juba 683. Plut. in Rom.
o Id. 1. ii. c. 35. p. 100.
P Eufeb. in Chronic. Id. Præp.
Evang. 1. x. c. 9. Syncellus, p. 153.
ed. Par. 1652. Macrob. Saturnal. 1. i.
C. 10.
feveral
Book VIII.
421
and Profane Hiftory.
#
ſeveral offices of civil life, and he taught them all the arts
of living, which he muſt have been well inftructed in, by
having lived in fo flouriſhing a kingdom as Egypt had been ;
and he applied himſelf daily to the giving them laws and
rules.for their actions, and in hearing and deciding all caufes
of difference that might ariſe amongſt them, and in encou-
raging every thing that might tend to their living in peace
and good order, and fuppreffing and diffuading them from
all actions that might interrupt their happineſs. Before his
time the people of Attica made no marriages, but had their
women in common; but he reduced them from this wild
and brutiſh extravagance, and taught them each man to
marry one wife9; and, for this reafon, Athenæus and Juftin
fay he was called Aqurs, or one born of two parents. Other
writers give other reafons for his having this appellation;
but this feems by far the beft: the Athenians themſelves
have given diverfe accounts of his having this name; but
they were fo different, and many of them fo frivolous, that
Diodorus Siculus concluded that they had loft the true ac-
count of it. Cecrops governed Attica fifty years'. He had
a fon and three daughters; his fon's name was Eryfichthon;
his daughters were Hirce, Aglauros, and Pandrofos. Ery-
fichthon died before his father, and was buried at Prafiæ, a
city of Attica". Cecrops died A. M. 2473.
$
г
When Cecrops died, Cranaus, a very potent and wealthy
Attican, was made king. He had feveral daughters, one
of which married to Amphictyon, who expelled his father-
in-law Cranaus the kingdom, and made himſelf king; but
in a little time Erichthonius made a party and depoſed Am-
phictyon; and all this happened in about twenty years after
the death of Cecrops; for, according to the marble, Am-
phictyon was king within ten years after Cecrops's death,
and Erichthonius within ten more 2. Erichthonius was an
9 Suidas in Ipound.
Athenæus Deipnofoph. 1. xiii. ad
in. p. 555. ed. Lugd. 1612. Juſtin. 1. iì.
c. 6.
s Diodor. Sic. 1. i.
Eufeb. in Chron.
u Paufan. in Atticis, lib. i. c. 2.
Ibid. c. 31.
x Caftor in Eufeb. Chron. Paufan.
in Atticis, c. 3.
Ee 3
y Epoch. v. et vii.
z Epoch. ix.
Egyptian,
422
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
Egyptian, and very probably came with Cecrops into
Greece, Diodorus ſays, that Erechtheus came from Egypt,
and was made king of Athens: here is only a ſmall mif-
take of the name, made either by Diodorus, or ſome tran-
fcriber. Erechtheus was the fon of Pandion, and grandfon
of Erichthonius", and Erichthonius was the perfon that
came from Egypt: and agrecable thereto is the account
which the Greeks give of him. They fay he had no mortal
father, but was defcended from Vulcan and the earth; i. e.
he was not a native of their country, for they had no ac-
count to give of his family or anceſtors, and fo in time they
made a fable inftead of a genealogy. Attica was a barren
country, but Erichthonius taught his people to bring corn
from Egypt.
About fixty-three years after Cecrops began his reign at
Athens, and about thirteen years after Cecrops's death,
Cadmus came into Boeotia, and built Thebes, A. M. 2486:
Tatian and Clemens Alexandrinus thought him much later f;
but as they offer no reaſons for their opinions, fo certainly
they were much miſtaken in this, as they are confeffed to be
in fome other points, which Eufebius wrote after them on
purpoſe to corrects. Eufebius himſelf, if Scaliger had in-
deed placed Cadmus according to Eufebius's meaning, has
miſtaken this point; for Cadmus ftands in the Chronicon h
above a hundred years lower than his true place, which the
marble feems very juſtly to have fixed for us, as may clearly
appear by confidering what Paufanias has given of Cadmus's
family, and comparing that and what Paufanias further
offers with Caftor's account of the Sicyon kings. Labdacus,
Paufanias tells us, was the grandfon of Cadmus, and being a
minor when his father died, he was committed to the care
of Nycteus, who was appointed to be his guardian and re-
gent of his kingdom; now Nycteus was wounded in a
battle with Epopeus. Epopeus was the feventeenth king
a Lib. i. c. 29.
b Caſtor in Euſeb. Pauſan. ubi ſup.
Paufan. ibid.
¿ Diodorus Sic. 1. i.
e Marmor. Arund. Ep. vii.
f Tatian. Orat. ad Græcos, c. 61.
Clem. Alexand. Stromat. 1. i. c. 21.
8 See Eufeb. IIgoo.
Προοιμο
h Eufeb. Num. 587.
i Paufan. in Boeoticis, c. 5.
* Paufan. in Corinthiacis, c. 6, .
of
Book VIII.
423
and Profane Hiftory.
of Sicyon ', and was cotemporary with the guardian of Lab-
dacus, Cadmus's grandfon. Epopeus reigned but thirty-
five years; we may therefore fuppofe Polydorus, the father
of Labdacus, fon of Cadmus, cotemporary with Corax the
predeceffor of Epopeus; and Cadmus, the father of Poly-
dorus, might begin his reign in the time of Echureus, the
predeceffor of Corax ; and from the third year of Maratho-
nius, in whoſe time (according to Caftor) Cecrops reigned
at Athens, to the beginning of Echureus's reign, are but
thirty-five years": fo that fuppofing Cadmus to come to
Thebes, according to the marble, fixty-three years after Ce-
crops began his reign at Athens, we muft date Cadmus's
coming to Thebes in the twenty-eighth year of Echureus,
and thereabouts we muft place Cadmus; becauſe the grand-
fon of Cadmus was a minor and had a guardian in the reign
of Epopeus, 'who was the fecond king next after Echureus,
in whoſe time we fuppofe Cadmus. I might offer another
argument to prove that Cadmus cannot be later than the
marble ſuppoſes him. Oenotrus, the youngeſt ſon of Ly-
caon, led a colony of the Pelafgi into Italy. Theſe Pelafgi
did not go into Italy until after Cadmus had taught the
Greeks the uſe of letters; for they conveyed into Italy the
knowledge of the letters which Cadmus had taught the
Greeks P. Lycaon, the father of Oenotrus, reigned in Ar-
cadia at the fame time that Cecrops reigned at Athens.
The marble fuppofes that Cadmus came into Greece about
fixty-three years after Cecrops began his reign at Athens,
and we cannot imagine him later; for, if he was later, how
could the fon of Lycaon, when Lycaon was cotemporary
with Cecrops, learn Cadmus's letters time enough to con-
vey the knowledge of them into a foreign country?
The reader may perhaps meet with an account of Cad-
mus's anceſtors, taken in part from Apollodorus and other
ancient writers', which may feem to argue Cadmus to have
1 Caftor in Chron. Eufeb. p. 19.
ed. Scal. 1658.
m Id. ibid.
n Id. ibid.
P Vol. I. B. iv.
4 Paufan. in Arcad. c. 2.
See Prideaux, Not. Hiftoric. ad
Chronic. Marmor. Ep. vii.
• Paufan. in Arcad. c. 3.
E e 4
lived
424
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
lived much later than we fuppofe him. It is faid that Cad-
mus was the fon of Agenor, Agenor fon of Libya daughter
of Epaphus, Epaphus fon of Io daughter of Iafus, who was
fon of Triopas king, of Argos. Io was carried into Egypt,
and married there. By this account Cadmus will be fix
deſcents lower than Triopas, and confequently as much later
than Cecrops, for all writers agree that Cecrops and Triopas
were cotemporaries; but from the former arguments and
computations we ſuppoſe Cadmus to be about fixty-three
years only later than Cecrops. But there is an evident
miſtake in this genealogy; there were two Grecian Io's,
and both of them went into and lived in Egypt; the former
was Io the daughter of Inachus, the latter Io was the
daughter of Iafus; and Cadmus was defcended from the
former, and not from the latter. If we compute from
Caftor's table of the Argive kings, comparing and cor-
recting it in refpect of Apis, whom Caftor has erroneouſly
inferted, by Paufanias's account of them', we ſhall find that
Io daughter of Inachus is exactly fix defcents higher than
Io the daughter of Iafus; fo that if the computing Cad-
mus's genealogy from the latter Io fets him almoft fix de-
ſcents too low, as I juſt now remarked, the computing from
the former lo exactly anſwers and corrects this miſtake.
That the former Io went to live in Egypt is evident from
Eufebius", as it is from Paufanias that the latter did fo*;
and further, it is exprefsly remarked by Eufebius, that Io
the daughter of Inachus was the mother of Epaphus ; and
therefore this Io, and not the daughter of Iafus, was the
ancestor of Cadmus.
It is much difputed by the learned whether Cadmus was
a Phoenician or an Egyptian, and there are arguments not
inconfiderable offered on both fides: but the true account of
him is, that he was born in Phoenicia; his father was an
Egyptian, and left Egypt about the time that Cecrops came
from thence, and he obtained a kingdom in Phoenicia as
• Eufeb. in Chronic. p. 24. ed. Scal.
1658.
Paufanias in Corinthiacis, c. 15,
16.
u Chronic. Can. Num. 160. et 481.
x Paufan. ubi ſup.
y Eufeb. Num. 481.
Cecrops
Book VIII.
425
and Profane Hiftory.
Cecrops did in Attica, and his fons Phoenix and Cadmus
were born after his fettling in this country; and hence it
came to paſs, that Cadmus, having had an Egyptian father,
was brought up in the Egyptian religion, and not a ſtranger
to the hiftory of Egypt, which occafioned many circumſtances
in his life, which induced after-writers to think him an
Egyptian; and at the fame time being born and educated
in Phoenicia, he learnt the Phoenician language and letters,
and had a Phoenician name, and from hence has occafioned
moft that have wrote of him with good reafon to conclude
him a Phoenician. Diodorus Siculus 2, Clemens Alexandri-
nus, Paufanias ", and from them Bochart, conclude him
to be a Phoenician. Sir John Marſham and Dean Prideaux d
thought him an Egyptian.
Sir John Marſham offers one argument for his being an
Egyptian from an inſcription found in the tomb of Alcmena,
which though it does not ſeem to prove Cadmus an Egyp-
tian, nor hardly any thing relating to him, yet I would
willingly mention it, in order to take an opportunity of
remarking how artfully the governors of kingdoms in theſe
days made uſe of oracles and prodigies merely as engines of
ſtate, to ſerve their political views and defigns. The tomb
of Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon and mother of Hercules,
was at Haliartus, a city of Boeotia, and being opened in the
time of Agefilaus, king of Sparta, there were found in it a
braſs bracelet, two earthen pots, which contained the aſhes
of the dead, and a plate of brafs, upon which were inſcribed
many very odd and antique letters, too old and unuſual to
be read by the Grecian antiquaries: the letters were
thought to be Egyptian, and therefore Agefilaus fent Age-
toridas into Egypt, to the prieſts there, defiring them, if
they could, to decypher them. Chronuphis, an Egyptian
prieft, after three days examining all the ancient books and
forms of their letters, wrote the king word, that the cha-
racters were the fame that were uſed in Egypt in the time
z Lib. iv. c. z.
a Stromat. lib. i. c. 16.
b In Booticis, c. 12.
In Præfat. ad Canaan.
d Marſham, Can. Chron. p. 118. ed.
1672. Prideaux, Not. Hiftor. ad Chron.
Marm. Ep. vii. p. 155. ed. 1676.
of
426
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
of king Proteus, and which Hercules the ſon of Amphitryon
had learnt, and that the infcription was an admonition to
the Greeks to leave off the wars and contefts with one
another, and to cultivate a life of peace, and the ſtudy of
arts and philofophy. The meifengers that were ſent thought
Chronuphis's advice very feafonable, and they were more
confirmed in their opinion, in their return home, by Plato's
afking the prieſts at Delos for fome advice from their oracle,
and receiving an anſwer, which, as Plato interpreted it, inti-
mated that the Greeks fhould be happy, if they would leave
off their inteftine wars, and employ themſelves in cultivating
the ſtudy of the arts and fciences. This is the ſubſtance of
Plutarch's account of this whole affair; and I cannot fee
that we have any light about the infcription in the tomb,
nor that we are told to any purpoſe, what the letters were,
or by whom written. The difcovery of them happened
about the end of the war between the Lacedemonians and
the Theban's, when the Thebans loft their general Epami-
nondas'. At that time Agefilaus had a ſcheme of being
hired to command the Egyptian armies againſt the Perfians,
and the Egyptians were fond of having him ; but he could
not think it fafe to go out of Greece, unleſs he could be
fure of fettling a firm and laſting peace amongſt the ſeveral
ſtates of it; in order to which he laid hold of this accident
of the antique infcription in the tomb of Alcmena, and he,
and his meſſengers, and Chronuphis, joined all together to
frame fuch an interpretation of it, and to confirm it by a
like order from Delos, as might bind the Greeks to a reli-
gious obſervance of the general peace which was at that
time juſt concluded amongſt them. Had the braſs table
been truly decyphered, without doubt it contained nothing
elſe but an account of the perfons whoſe aſhes were repofited
in the tomb it was found in, and moſt probably the letters
were fuch as Amphitryon infcribed upon his tripod at
Thebes but it came up luckily to ferve the political views
of Agefilaus and the Egyptians, and fo the Egyptians con-
b.
e Plut. de Genio Socratis, p. 579.
ed. Par. 1624.
f Prideaux, Connect. Vol. I. B. vii.
p. 661. anno 363.
g Ibid.
Herodot, in Terpfichor. c. 59.
trived
Book VIII.
427
and Profane Hiftory.
trived ſuch an account of it as might render it effectual for
that purpoſe. What became of the original we are not in-
formed; probably the Egyptians did not fend it back to
have it further examined. But to return to Cadmus.
:
k
When Cadmus came into Greece, he was accompanied
by a number of followers, whom Herodotus calls the Ge-
phyræi they were natives of Phoenicia, and went under
his direction to ſeek a new habitation; a cuſtom not very
unuſual in theſe days. When they came into Greece, they
were at first oppoſed by the inhabitants of the country; but
being better foldiers than the raw and ignorant Bœotians,
they easily conquered them. Boeotia was inhabited at the
time of Cadmus's coming into it by the Hyantes and the
Aones: one of thefe, the Hyantes, Cadmus entirely routed,
and compelled them to flee out of the country; but he
came to terms of accommodation with the Aones *; and
having bought a cow, and marked her according to the ſu-
perftitious ceremonies of the Egyptian religion', he pre-
tended he had a ſpecial command from the gods, to build a
city where the cow, which he ordered his companions to
drive gently into the country, ſhould lie down when weary;
and fo where the cow lay down he built a city, and called it
Cadmea, and here he fettled with his companions; giving
the Aones free liberty, either to come and live in his city,
and incorporate with his people, or to live in the little vil-
lages and focieties which they had formed, in the manner
they had been uſed to before he came into their country",
It is commonly faid that Cadmus began his travels by his
father's order, in fearch of his fifter Europa": but fome
confiderable writers think this a fiction º, and Paufanias hints
Europa not to have been the daughter of Agenor, but of
Phoenix P. Ovid relates at large an account of Cadmus's
followers being devoured by a ferpent; that Cadmus killed
the ſerpent, and fowed his teeth in the ground; and that
i Herodot. lib. v. c. 58.
k Paufan. in Boeoticis, c. 5.
1 Id. ibid. c. 12. See Prideaux, Not.
ad Chronic. Marmor. Ep. vii.
m Paufanias in Boeoticis, c. 5.
n Diodorus Sic. 1. iv. c. 2.
• See Prideaux, Not. ad Chron, Mar-
mor. Epoch. vii.
P In Achaicis, c. 4.
there
428
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
there fprang from this ferpent's teeth a number of armed
men, who, as foon as they were grown up out of the ground,
fell to fighting one another, and were all killed except five;
and that theſe five, who furvived the conflict, went with
Cadmus, and affifted him in building Thebes. I am fen-
fible that the men that ever believed this ſtrange ſtory may
be justly thought as weak as the fiction is marvellous; but
there are hints of it in writers not fo poetically inclined as
Ovid, and there is room to conjecture what might give the
firſt riſe to fo wild and extravagant a fable. When Cadmus
was come into Boeotia, and had conquered the inhabitants
of it, it might be recorded of him, in the Phoenician or
Hebrew language, which anciently were the fame, that he
-nabab cbait cha עשה חיל חמש אנשים נושקים בשני נחש
:
mesh anoshim, nofhekim be ſhenei nachash. Theſe words
might begin the account, and in thefe words there are the
following ambiguities. Chamefb fignifies warlike, or pre-
pared for war, and a word of the fame letters' may be tranſ-
lated five. Shenei may fignify Spears, or it may be rendered
teeth. Nachah is the Hebrew word for a ferpent, or for
brass and theſe words being thus capable of denoting very
different things, a fabulous tranſlator might ſay, he raiſed
a force of five men armed from the teeth of a ferpent, when the
words ought to have been tranſlated, be raiſed a warlike
force of men, [or an army] armed with fpears of brass. The
Greeks in the mythological times were particularly fond of
difguiling all their ancient accounts with fable and allegory;
and it is no wonder that they gave the hiſtory of Cadmus
this turn, when the words in which his actions were re-
corded gave them fo fair an opportunity. Cadmus is faid
to have found out the art of working metals and making
armour '; and I imagine that fome of his companions were
the Idæi Dactyli mentioned by Paufanias, Diodorus, Strabo,
Metamorph. lib. iii. fab. 1.
r We may easily apprehend, that in
a language where the vowels were
originally not written, many words of
exactly the fame letters muft have a
very different fignification. If we were
to write our Engliſh words in confo-
nants only, leaving the reader to fup-
ply the vowels, as the Hebrew was
anciently written, our own tongue
would afford many inſtances.
s See Bocharti Canaan, 1. i. c. 19.
t Plin. lib. vii. c. 56.
and
Book VIII.
429
and Profane Hiftory.
and other writers; for thefe Idæi Dactyli made their firſt
appearance near mount Ida in Phrygia ", and Cadmus tra-
velled this way from Phoenicia into Greece, going out of
Afia into Thrace, and from thence into Greece. Cadmus
and his companions introduced the uſe of the Phoenician
letters into Greece, their alphabet confifting of fixteen letters
only x
X
Danaus was another confiderable perfon, who travelled
about this time from Egypt into Greece; and the ancient
writers agree pretty well in their accounts of him. Chemnis,
ſays Herodotus', is a large city near Nea, in Thebais; and
the Egyptians ſay, that Danaus and Lynceus were of Chem-
nis, and that they failed into Greece. Apollodorus, agree-
ing with the Parian marble, fays, that Danaus built a fhip,
and fled with it from Egypt. Diodorus gives a larger ac-
count of him, that he came from Egypt to Rhodes with
his daughters, that three of his daughters died at Rhodes,
that the rest went with him to Argos. Paufanias relates,
that Danaus came from Egypt, and obtained the kingdom
of Argos from Gelanor the fon of Sthenelus. Danaus was
himſelf defcended from a Grecian anceftor. Io the daugh-
ter of Iafus king of Argos married into Egypt, and when
Iafus died, his brother's children came to the crown, Iafus
having no other child but Io, and fhe being abſent and mar-
ried into a foreign country. Gelanor was a defcendant of
Iafus's brother, Danaus of Iafus by Io his daughter, and
this must be the plea which he had to offer the Argives to
induce them to accept him for their king. The diſpute be-
tween him and Gelanor before the people of Argos, upon
this point, was argued at large on both fides for a whole
day, and Gelanor was thought to have offered as weighty
and ſtrong arguments for his own right, as Danaus could
offer for his; and the next day was appointed for the further
hearing and determining their claims, when an accident
put an end to the difpute, and obtained Danaus the crown.
"Diodor. Sic. 1. xvii, c. 7.
x See Vol. I. B. IV.
y Lib. ii. c. 1.
c.gr.
z Lib. ii. §. 4.
a Hift. l. v. c. 58.
↳ Paufan. in Corinthiacis, c. 16. 19.
There
430
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
There happened a fight between a wolf and a bull near the
place where the people were affembled, and the wolf con-
quering the bull, the crown was hereupon adjudged to
Danaus. The combat was thought ominous, and the wolf
being a creature they were lefs acquainted with than the
bull, it was thought to be the will of the gods, declared by
the event of this accidental combat, that the ftranger
fhould rule over them. And thus their fuperftition made
them unanimous in a point of the greateſt moment, which
perhaps they would not elſe have determined without creat-
ing great factions among themſelves: a cafe fomewhat like
what happened in Perfia, when Darius the ſon of Hyftafpes
was made king. His horfe being the firſt that neighed,
ſeemed unquestionably to give him, in the eyes of his ſuper-
ftitious ſubjects, a better title to the throne, and perhaps a
ſecurer poffeffion of it, than any other agreement which he
and his princes could have made, that had not had ſo
pearing a countenance from religion . Danaus came into
Greece, when Erichthonius was king of Athens, 1247 years
before the Parian Chronicon was compoſed, i. e. A. M.
2494, about eight years after Cadmus came into Boeotia..
Caftor's account of Danaus's coming to Argos, if we take
out of it the years affigned to Apis's reign, agrees well
with this computation from the Parian Chronicon. He
computed that Inachus began to reign at Argos when Thu-
rimachus was king of Sicyon, i. e. about A. M. 2154'; from
the firſt year of Inachus (including the reign of Apis) he
reckons 382 years to the death of Sthenelus, which would
place Danaus A. M. 2536: but if we deduct thirty-five
years for the infertion of Apis's reign, it will place him
A. M. 2501, feven years only later than the marble.
ap-
There can be but very little offered about the affairs of
Greece, before the times that theſe men came to ſettle in
it; though it is certain that Greece was inhabited long
before theſe days, and that in fome parts of it kingdoms.
were erected, and men of great figure and eminence lived in
c Herodot. 1. ii. c. 85, 86. Juſtin.
I. i. c. 10. Prideaux, Connect. Vol. I.
B. iii. an. 521.
d Epoch. Marmor. ix.
e Vid. quæ fupra.
f Vide quæ fupra.
them.
Book VIII.
43I
and Profane Hiftory.
them. Ægialeus began a kingdom at Sicyon A. M. 1920 %,
above 500 years before Cecrops came to Athens, during
which interval they had thirteen kings according to Caf-
tor h, and Paufanias found memoirs of the lives and families
of twelve of them. Inachus erected a kingdom at Argos
A. M. 2154, 269 years before Cecrops, and they had fix
kings in this interval; and theſe accounts are in all re-
fpects fo reaſonable in themſelves, and do fo well fuit with
every fragment of ancient hiftory, that no one can fairly
reject them, unleſs antiquity alone be a fufficient reaſon for
not admitting annals of fo long ftanding. Kingdoms did
not begin fo early in other parts of Greece, but we find
Theffalus a king of Theffaly A. M. 2332; his father's name
was Graicus: Deucalion reigned king there A. M.
2431, i. e. eight years after Cecrops came to Athens";
Ogyges reigned in Attica about A. M. 2244°; and the de-
fcendants of Telchin, third king of Sicyon, went and fettled
in the iſland Rhodes A. M. 2284 P. Prometheus lived about
A. M. 2340. He was fabulously reported to have made
men, becauſe he was a very wife man, and new formed the
ignorant by his precepts and inftructions: we have no
certain account in what part of Greece he lived. Callithyia
was the firſt prieſteſs of Juno at Argos, A. M. 2381'. Atlas
lived about A. M. 2385; he was a moſt excellent aſtrono-
mer for the times he lived in, and his great ſkill this way
occafioned it to be faid of him in after-ages, that he fup-
ported the heavens. He lived near Tanagra, a city upon the
river Ifmenus in Boeotia ; and near to this place his pofte-
rity were faid to be found by the writers of after-ages.
Homer ſuppoſes Calypfo a defcendant of this Atlas, who
detained Ulyffes, to be queen of an iſland",
- Ότι τ᾽ ὀμφαλός ἐςι θαλάσσης
Νήσος δενδρήεσσα
See above, Book VI.
h In Chronic. Eufeb. part. i. p. 19.
ed. Scal. 1658.
i In Corinthiacis, c. 5.
k See Book VI.
1 Caftor et Paufan.
m Eufeb. Chron. Num. 224.
› Marm. Arundel. Epoch. iv.
• Eufeb. Chron. Num. 236.
P Id. Num. 276.
9 Id. Num. 332.
r Id. Num. 375.
sld. Num. 379.
Paufan. in Boeoticis, c. 20.
■ Odyff, i. ver. 50.
i. e.
432
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
1
2. e. of the iſland Atalanta near the Sinus Meliacus in the
Euripus ", over-againſt Opus *, a city of Boeotia.
a
The feveral kingdoms that were raiſed in the other parts
of Greece began not much before or after Cecrops came to
Attica. Pelafgus was the firft king of Arcadia, and his fon
Lycaon was cotemporary with Cecrops. A&tæus, whom
Cecrops fucceeded, was the firſt king of Attica. Athlius
was the first king of Elis; he was the grandſon of Deucalion,
and therefore later than Cecrops 2. Ephyre, daughter of
Oceanus, is faid to have firft governed the Corinthians "; but-
we know nothing more of her than her name. The Corin-
thian history muft begin from Marathon, who was the fon of
Epopeus, and planted a colony in this country. Epopeus
lived about the times of Cadmus; for he fought with and
wounded Nycteus, who was guardian to Labdacus, the grand-
fon of Cadmus ; and therefore Marathon, the fon of Epopeus,
muft come to Corinth many years later than Cadmus came
into Greece. Phocus was the first king of Phocis, and he
was five deſcents younger than Marathon; for Ornytion was
father of Phocus, Sifyphus was father of Ornytion; Sify-
phus fucceeded Jafon and Medea in the kingdom of Corinth,
and Jaſon and Medea fucceeded Corinthus the fon of Mara-
thon, fo that the inhabitants of Phocis became a people
feveral generations later than Cadmus. Lelex formed the
Lacedæmonians much earlier; for Menelaus, who warred at
Troy, was their eleventh king, fo that Lelex reigned about
the times of Cecrops". The Meffenians lived at firſt in little
neighbourhoods; but at the death of Lelex the firſt king of
u Wells's map of the mid parts of
ancient Greece.
* See Strabo, Geograph. 1. i. c. 9.
The reader will, I am fentible, find but
little certainty of the fituation of Ca-
lypto's inland: Solon gave an account,
that there was really fuch a place when
Homer wrote, but that it is fince his
time funk in the fea, i. e. he could
not tell where to find it. Some writers
place it near to Egypt. All can offer
for my fuppofed fituation of it, is, the
iſland Atalanta in the Euripus hits
Homer's defcription exactly, dupaλós
ἐσι θαλάσσης, better than any other
iſland ſuppoſed to be the place, and it
lies near the country where Paufanias
informs us that Atlas the father of Ca-
lypfo lived; and Ulyffes's voyages, as
defcribed by Homer, may be well re-
conciled with this pofition of it.
y Paufanias in Arcadicis, c. 2.
z Id. in: Atticis, c. 2.
a Id. in Eliacis, c. I.
b Id. in Corinthiacis, c. I.
c Id. ibid. c. 6.
d Id. in Phocicis, c. I.
e Id. in Corinthiacis, c. 4.
f Id. ibid.
g Id. ibid. c. 3.
Id. in Laconicis, c. I.
Sparta,
Book VIII.
433
and Profane Hiſtory.
i
Sparta, Polycaon, one of his fons, became king of this coun-
try. Theſe were the first beginnings of the feveral kingdoms
of Greece; and before the perfons I have mentioned formed
them for fociety, the inhabitants of the ſeveral parts of it
lived a wandering life, reaping fuch fruits of the earth as grew
ſpontaneouſly, each father managing his own family or little
company, and having little or no acquaintance with one
another, like the Cyclops in Homer *; or, where moſt civil-
ized, like the men of Laith, they dwelt careless after the man-
ner of the Zidonians, quiet and fecure; and there was no magif-
trate in the land that might put them to fhame in any thing; and
they had no business with any man.
k.
Moft writers, that have mentioned either Ogyges or Deu-
calion, have recorded a deluge to have happened in each of
their kingdoms; Attica, they ſay, was overflowed in the
reign of Ogyges, and Theffaly in the reign of Deucalion; but
it is moſt reaſonable to think, that there were no extraordi-
nary floods in either of theſe countries in the times of Deu-
calion or Ogyges, but that what the Heathen writers offer
about theſe ſuppoſed deluges were only fuch hints as came
down to their hands of the univerfal deluge in the days of
Noah. Attica, in which Ogyges's flood is fuppofed to have
happened, is ſo high ſituated, that it is hard to imagine any
inundation of waters here, unleſs the greateſt part of the
world were drowned at the fame time; its rivers are but few,
and even the largeſt of them almoft without water in fum-
mer time'; and its hills are fo many, that it cannot well be
conceived how its inhabitants fhould perish in a deluge par-
ticularly confined to this country. Hieronymus, in his Latin
verfion of Eufebius's Chronicon, feems to have been fenfible
that no fuch flood could be well fuppofed to have happened
in Attica, and therefore he removes the ftory into Egypt ",
fuppofing Egypt to have fuffered a deluge in the time of
i Id. in Meffeniacis, c. 1.
k Homer, Odyff. ix. v. 108.
Οὔτε φυτεύεσιν χερσὶν φυτὸν, ἔτ᾽ ἀρόωσιν·
Αλλ' οἵγ' ὑψηλῶν ὀρέων ναίεσι κάρηνα
Εν σπέσσι γλαφυροῖσι θεμισεύει δε έκατος
Παίδων ἠδ᾽ ἀλόγων· ἐδ' ἀλλήλων ἀλέγεσι.
VOL. I.
di
1 Strabo, Geogr. 1. ix. p. 400. ed.
Par. 1620.
-
"His words are, Diluvium Egypti
hoc tempore fuit, quod fa&tum eft fub
Ogyge.
F f
Ogyges's
434
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
Ogyges's reign: but the moſt learned Dean Prideaux " re-
marks from Suidas °, and Heſychius P, that the Greeks ufed
the word 'Nyúysov, Ogygian, proverbially, to fignify any
thing which happened in the moſt ancient times; and there-
fore by the flood of Ogyges they meant, not any particular
deluge, which overflowed his or any other fingle country,
but only fome very ancient flood, which happened in the
moft early times; and fuch was the flood of Noah. The
Greek chronology of the early ages was very imperfect;
they had ſome hints that there had been an univerſal deluge;
they apprehended nothing to be more ancient than the
times of Ogyges, and therefore they called this deluge by
his name, not intending hereby to hint that it happened
preciſely in his days, but only intimating it to have been in
the moſt early times. As to Deucalion's flood, Cedrenus
and Johannes Antiochenus were of opinion that Deucalion
left his people a written hiftory of the univerfal deluge, and
that their poſterity many ages after his death imagined his
account to be a relation of what happened in the times he
lived in, and fo called the flood, which he treated of, by
his name but to this it is very juftly objected, that
letters were not in ufe in Greece fo early as Deucalion's
days; fo that it is not to be fuppofed that he could leave
any memoirs or infcriptions of what had happened before
his time; but then a fmall correction of what is hinted
from Cedrenus and Antiochenus will fet this matter in its
true light. Deucalion taught the Greeks religion; and the
great argument, which he uſed to perſuade his people to the
fear of the Deity, was taken from the accounts which he had
received of the univerfal deluge; fome hints of which were
handed down into all nations. But as the Greeks were in theſe
times not ſkilled in writing, fo it is eaſy to imagine, that Deu-
calion and the deluge might, by tradition, be mentioned toge-
ther, longer than it could be remembered whether he only dif-
courfed of it to his people, or was himſelf a perfon concerned
in it. It is remarkable, that whenever the profane writers
n Not. Hiftoric. ad Chronic. Marm.
Ep. i.
Suidas in voc. 'Nybyior.
P Hefych. in 'Ωγύγιον.
4 Prideaux, in Notis Hiftoricis ad
Chron. Marm. Ep. i.
give
Book VIII.
435
and Profane Hiftory.
a
give us any particulars of either the flood of Ogyges, or of
that of Deucalion, they are much the fame with what is
recorded of Noah's deluge. Solinus and Apollonius hint,
that the flood of Ogyges lafted about nine months', and
ſuch a ſpace of time Mofes allots to the deluge. Deuca-
lion is repreſented to have been a juſt and virtuous man,
and for that reaſon to have been faved from periſhing, when
the reſt of mankind were deftroyed for their wickedneſs';
and this agrees to what Mofes fays of Noah ". Deucalion
preſerved only himſelf, his wife, and his children ; and
*;
theſe were the perfons faved by Noah . Deucalion built
an ark, being forewarned of the deſtruction that was coming
upon mankind; and this Mofes relates of Noah 2. The tak-
ing two of every kind of the living creatures into the ark";
the ark's refting upon a mountain when the waters abated;
the fending a dove out of the ark, to try whether the waters
were abated or no; all theſe circumftances are related
of Deucalion, by the Heathen writers, almoſt exactly as
Mofes remarks them in his account of Noah: and, as
Mofes relates, that Noah, as foon as the flood was over,
built an altar, and offered facrifices, fo thefe writers fay like-
wife of Deucalion ; affirming, that he built rò àgxaïov iegòv,
or an altar, (for theſe were the moſt ancient places of wor-
ſhip,) to the Olympian Jupiter. Upon the whole, the cir-
cumſtances related of Noah's flood, and of Deucalion's, do
fo far agree, that our learned countryman Sir W. Raleigh
profeffed, that he bould verily believe, that the ftory of Deu-
calion's flood was only an imitation of Noah's flood deviſed by
the Greeks, did not the times fo much differ, and St. Auguſtin,
with others of the fathers and reverend writers, approve the
Story of Deucalion. As to the difference of the times, cer-
* See Prideaux, Not. Hift. ad Chron.
Marm. Ep. i.
s Gen. vii. viii. See Vol. I. B. i.
and ii,
t Lucian. de Dea Syria. Ovid. Me-
tam. l. i.
u Gen. vi. 5. 9.
* Ovid. ubi fup. Lucian. de Dea
Syria.
•
y Gen. vii. 7.
Z Apollodorus 1. i. c. 7. Lucian, de
Dea Syria.
* Gen. vi. 13, 14.
b Lucian, de Dea Syria.
C
© Stephanus Etymolog. in Пágvær-
Suidas in voc. ead. Ovid. Me-
tam. l. i.
ac.
d Plut. in lib. de Solertia Anima-
lium.
* Paufan, in Atticis, c. 18.
F f 2
tainly
436
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
tainly no great ſtreſs can be laid upon it: the Greeks were
fo inaccurate in their chronology of what happened fo
early as Deucalion, that it is no wonder if they were im-
poſed upon, and afcribed to his days things done above
feven hundred years before him; and I cannot but think
that St. Auftin, and the other learned writers that have
mentioned either the flood of Ogyges or of Deucalion,
would have taken both of them to have been only different
repreſentations of the deluge; if, befides what has been
offered, they had confidered, that we read but of one fuch
flood as theſe having ever happened in either Deucalion's or
Ogyges's country. If the floods called by their names
were not the one univerſal deluge brought upon the ancient
world for the wickednefs of its inhabitants, then they muſt
have proceeded from fome caufes, which both before and
fince might, and would in a ſeries of fome thouſands of
years, have fubjected thefe countries to fuch inundations:
but we have no accounts of any that have ever happened here,
except theſe two only, in each country one, and no more;
ſo that it is moſt probable that in Attica, and in Theffaly,
they had a tradition that there had anciently been a deluge;
their want of chronology had rendered the time when
extremely uncertain, and fome circumftances not duly
weighed, or not perfectly underſtood, determined their
writers in after-ages to call this deluge in the one country
the flood of Ogyges, in the other the flood of Deucalion.
According to the Parian Chronicon, a perfon named
Mars was tried at Athens for the murder of Halirrothius the
fon of Neptune, in the reign of Cranaus the fucceffor of Ce-
crops, about A. M. 2473; and it is remarked, that the
place of trial was named Arius Pagus, and this was the
beginning of the fenate or court of Areopagus at Athens,
which was inftituted, according to this account, ſoon after
Cecrops's death, in the very firft year of his fucceffor.
Æfchylus had a very different opinion of the origin of the
name and time of erecting this court. He fays, the place
was named Areopagus from the Amazons offering facrifices
f Epift. iii.
there
Book VIII.
437
and Profane Hiftory.
there to "Apns, or Mars, and he fuppofes Oreftes to have been
the firſt perſon tried before the court erected there ; but it
is evident from Apollodorus ", that Cephalus was tried here
for the death of Procris, and Procris was the daughter of
Erechtheus the fixth king of Athens. And the fame
author fays, that Dædalus was alfo tried here for the death
of Talus, and Dædalus lived about the time of Minos
king of Crete; fo that both thefe inftances fhew, that Ef
chylus was much miſtaken about the antiquity of the court
of Areopagus, and he may therefore well be conceived to be
ill informed of the true origin of its name.
Cicero hints,
that Solon firſt erected this court "; and Plutarch was fond
of the fame opinion ", even though he could not but con-
fefs, that there were arguments against it, which, I think,
muft appear unanfwerable: for he himself cites a law of So-
lon, in which the court of Areopagus is exprefsly named in
ſuch a manner as to evidence that perfons had been con-
vened before it before Solon's days. Solon did indeed,
by his authority, make fome alterations in the ancient con-
ſtitution of this court, both as to the number and quality of
thoſe who were to be the judges in it, and as to the man-
ner of electing them and all this Ariftotle remarks of
him expreſsly; faying at the fame time, that Solon neither
erected nor diffolved this court, but only gave fome new
laws for the regulating it. Æfchylus thought this court
more ancient than the times of Solon; but Apollodorus car-
ries up the accounts of it much higher than Æſchylus, to
Minos's times, and to Erechtheus, who reigned about one
hundred years after the times when the marble fuppofes the
• Eumenid. v. 690.
h L. iii. c. 14.
i Paufanias in Booticis, c. 19.
* Apollodorus, l. iii. c. 14. §. 9.
1 Paufanias in Achaicis, c. 4.
m De Offic. I. i. c. 22.
" In vit. Solon. p. 88.
• Plut. in Solon. His words are, Ὁ δὲ
τρισκαιδέκατος ἄξων τῇ Σόλωνος τὸν ὄγο
δοον ἔχει τὸν νόμον οὕτως αὐτοῖς ὀνόμασι
γεγραμμένον· Ατίμων ὅσοι ἀτιμοι ἦταν
πρὶν ἢ Σόλωνα ἄρξαι, ἐπιτίμως εἶναι, πλὴν
ὅσοι ἐξ ᾿Αρείω πάγω καταδικασθέντες
puyor. N. B. The party accuſed in
the court of Areopagus had leave to
fecure himſelf by flight, and go into
voluntary banishment, if he fufpected
judgment would be given against him,
provided he made uſe of this liberty
before the court entered into the proofs
of the merits of his caufe; and by So-
lon's law, a perfon who had claimed
this privilege was to be for ever in-
famous.
F f 3
P Ariftot. Polit. 1. ii. c. 12.
trial
438
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
t
:
trial of Mars, and the trial of Mars there for the death of
Halirrothius is reported by many of the beſt ancient
writers. The number of the judges of this court at its
firſt origin were twelve', and the king was always one of
them; their authority was fo great, and by their upright
determinations they acquired themſelves fo great a reputa-
tion, that their pofterity called them gods; and thus Apol-
lodorus fays, that Mars was acquitted by the twelve gods³.
The number of theſe judges varied according to the differ-
ent circumſtances of the Athenian government; fometimes
they were but nine, at other times thirty-one; and fifty-
one. When Socrates was condemned, they were two hun-
dred eighty-one; and when Rufus Feftus, the Proconful of
Greece, was honoured with a pillar erected at Athens, it
was hinted on that pillar, that the ſenate of Areopagus con-
fifted of three hundred and from hence it is very probable,
that the firſt conſtitution of the city directed them to ap-
point twelve judges of this court. Perhaps Cecrops divided
his people into twelve wards or diftricts, appointing a prefi-
dent over each ward, and theſe governors of the feveral dif-
tricts of the city were the first judges of the court of Areopa-
gus. That Cecrops divided his people into twelve diftricts
feems very probable, from its being faid of him, that he
built twelve cities ": for they fay alſo, that all the twelve
united at laſt into one; fo that it looks moſt probable, that
Cecrops only parted the people in order to manage them the
more eaſily, appointing fome to live under the direction of
one perfon, whom he appointed to rule for him, and fome
under another, taking the largest number under his own
immediate care, and himſelf infpecting the management of
the reft and thefe deputy-governors, together with the
king, were by Cranaus formed into a court for the joint go-
vernment of the whole people. And as the government
came into more hands, or was put into fewer, the number of
the Areopagite judges leffened or increaſed. This court had
9 Paufan. in Atticis. Stephanus,
Suidas, et Phavorinus in "Agelos ITα-
yos.
s Ibid.
t Potter's Antiquities.
" Strabo, l. ix.
г
Apollodor. 1. iii. c. 13. §. 2.
the
Book VIII.
439
and Profane Hiftory.
the cognizance of all cauſes that more particularly con-
cerned the welfare of the ſtate; and under this head all in-
novations in religion were in time brought before the judges
of it. Socrates was condemned by them for holding opi-
nions contrary to the religion of his country; and St. Paul
ſeems to have been queftioned before them about his doc-
trines *, being thought by them to be a fetter forth of ſtrange
gods. Many learned writers have given large accounts of
the conftitution and proceedings of this court, which ob-
tained the higheſt reputation in all countries where the
Athenians were known. Cicero ſays, that the world may
as well be faid to be governed without the providence of
the gods, as the Athenian republic without the deciſions of
the court of Areopagus; and their determinations were
reputed to be fo upright, that Paufanias informs us, that even
foreign ftates voluntarily fubmitted their controverfies to
thefe judges. And Demofthenes fays of this court, that to
his time no one had ever complained of any unjuſt fentence
given by the judges of it. But it belongs to my deſign
only to endeavour to fix the time of its firſt riſe, and not
to purſue at large the accounts which are given of the pro-
ceedings of it.
The council of the Amphictyones was firſt inſtituted by
Amphictyon the fon of Deucalion, about A. M. 2483.
Deucalion was king of Theffaly, and his fon Amphictyon
fucceeded him in his kingdom. Amphictyon, when he
came to reign, fummoned all the people together, who lived
round about him, in order to confult with them for the pub-
lic welfare; they met at the Pyle or Thermopylæ, for by either
of thefe names they called the ftreights of mount Eta in
Theffaly; for through this narrow paffage was the only en-
trance into this country from Greece, and therefore they
were called Пúλai, Pyle, or the gates or doors, that being
the fignification of the word; and Thermopylae, becauſe
there were many ſprings of hot waters in theſe paffages, the
x Acts xvii. 19.
See Bishop Potter's Antiquities of
Greece.
z De Nat. Deorum, lib. ii. c. 29.
a In Meffeniac. c. 5.
b In Ariftocrat.
c Marmor. Arundel. Ep. 5.
Strabo, 1. ix. p. 428. ed. Par.
1620.
F f 4
Greek
440
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
Greek word Jeppòs fignifying hot; and here Amphictyon
met his people twice a year, to confult with them, to re-
dreſs any grievances they might labour under, and to form
ſchemes for the public good. This feems to have been the
firſt deſign of the council of the Amphictyones, ſo called
from Amphictyon, the perfon who firft appointed it; or
fome writers imagine, that the coaffeffors in this council
were called 'Aupixтúoves, becauſe they came out of ſeveral
parts of the circumjacent countries. This was the opinion
of Androtion in Paufanias f; but the beſt writers generally
embrace the former account of the name of this council, and it
feems to be the moft natural. Though Amphictyon firſt formed
this council out of the people that lived under his govern-
ment, and for the public good of his own kingdom, yet in
time it was compofed of the members of different nations,
and they met with larger and more extenſive views, than to
fettle the affairs of one kingdom. Dionyfius of Halicarnaf-
fus fays, that the defign of it was to cultivate an alliance of
the Grecian ſtates with one another, in order to render
them more able to engage with any foreign enemy .
When the deſign was thus enlarged, the deputies of ſeveral
cities were appointed to meet twice a year, at Spring,
and at Autumn. Strabo agrees with Æſchines and Suidas,
and computes the cities that fent deputies to this meeting to
be twelve; but Paufanias enumerates ten only. It is moſt
probable, that the ftates that agreed to meet in this council
were at firſt but few, only thoſe who lived near to Thermo-
pylæ in time more nations joined in alliance with them,
and ſent their agents to this meeting, and they might be
but ten when the accounts were taken from which Paufa-
nias wrote; and they might be twelve, when the hints.
from which Strabo, Suidas, and the writers that agree with
them wrote, were given. Acrifius king of Argos, who
reigned above two hundred years later than Amphictyon,
compoſed ſome laws or orders for the better regulating this
e Id. lib. eod. p. cad.
Lib. x. c. 8.
Dionyf. Halicarn. Antiq. Rom.
1. iv. c. 25.
8.
h #fchinis Orat. περὶ παραπρεσβείας.
Suidas in voc. ᾿Αμφικτύονες.
i In Phocicis, c. 8.
council,
Book VIII.
44t
and Profane Hiftory.
council, and for the diſpatch of the affairs that were laid
before the members of it; and what he did of this fort occa-
fioned fome writers to imagine, that he might poffibly be
the firſt inftitutor of this council: but Strabo juftly hints,
that he was thought fo only for want of fufficient memoirs
of what had been appointed before his times'. Acrifius did
indeed, in many refpects, new regulate this meeting: he fet-
tled a number of written laws for the calling and manage-
ment of it; he determined what cities fhould fend deputies
to it, and how many each city, and what affairs ſhould be
laid before the council m; and it is eaſy to conceive, that his
having made theſe regulations might occafion him to be
thought in after-ages the firſt inftitutor of the affembly.
The regulations made by Acrifius were punctually obferved,
and the feveral cities who had votes according to his con-
ftitutions continued to meet without any obſtruction, until
the time of Philip king of Macedon, the father of Alexander
the Great, each city having two votes in the council, and no
more"; but in Philip's reign the Phocians and Dorians were
excluded the council for plundering the temple of Apollo at
Delphos, and the two votes belonging to the Dorians were
given to the Macedonians, who were then taken into the num-
ber of the Amphictyones. About fixty-feven years after this,
the Phocians defended the temple at Delphos with fo much.
bravery againſt the Gauls, that they were .reftored to their
votes again: and the Dolopians at this time being in ſubjec-
tion to the Macedonians, were reckoned but as a part of the
kingdom of Macedon, and the Macedonian deputies were
ſaid to be their reprefentatives; and the votes, which they
had in the council before their incorporating with the
Macedonians, were now taken from them, and given to the
Phocians P. The Perrhæbians likewiſe about the fame time
became fubject to the Macedonians, and fo loft their right of
fending their reprefentatives to the council; and the Del-
* Strabo, 1. ix. p. 420. ed. Par.
1620.
1 Id. ibid. τὰ πάλαι μὲν ἦν ἀγνοεῖται.
m Prideaux, Not. Hiftor. ad Chron.
Marm. Ep. 5.
* Efchines in Orat. òi rapper
βείας.
• Diodor. Sic. 1. xv. Paufan. in Pho-
cicis, c. 8.
P Paufan, in Phocicis, c. 8. Strabo,
1. ix.
phians,
442
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
phians, who had before been reprefented by the Phocians,
were now confidered as a diſtinct and independent city, and
were allowed to fend their deputies to the council 9. In the
reign of Auguſtus Cæfar, after his building the city of Nico-
polis, he made feveral alterations in the conftitution of this
council'. He ordered feveral of the ſtates of Greece, which
in former times had been independent, and had ſent diſtinct
repreſentatives, to be incorporated into one body, and to
fend the fame reprefentatives; and he gave his new city at
right of fending fix or eight. Strabo thought that this
council was entirely diffolved in his time; but Paufanias,
who lived in the time of Antoninus Pius, informs us, that
the Amphictyones held their meetings in his time, and that
their number of delegates were then thirty. But it is re-
markable, that the ancient conftitution of the affembly was
entirely broken; many cities fent but one deputy, and fome
of the ancient cities had only turns in fending; they were
not fuffered to fend all of them to one and the fame council,
but it was appointed that ſome ſhould ſend their deputies to
the vernal meeting, and fome to the autumnal. I imagine,
that when Greece was become fubject to the Roman ftate,
Auguftus thought it proper to leffen the power and autho-
rity of the council of the Amphictyones, that they might
not be able to debate upon, or concert meaſures to diſturb
the Romans, or recover the ancient liberties of Greece; it
might not perhaps be proper to fupprefs their meeting, but
he took care to have ſo many new votes in the Roman in-
tereſt introduced, and the number of the ancient members,
who might have the Grecian affairs at heart, ſo leſſened, that
nothing could be attempted here to the prejudice of the
Romans; and perhaps this was all that Strabo meant by
hinting that Auguftus diffolved this council. He did not
deprive the Grecians of a council which bore this name,
but he fo far new-modelled it, that it was far from being in
reality what it appeared to be; being in truth, after Au-
guftus's time, rather a Roman faction, than a Grecian af
4 Afchines in Orat. περὶ παραπρεσ
βείας.
r Paufan. in Phocicis, c. 8.
s Id. ibid.
fembly
Book VIII.
443
and Profane Hiftory.
fembly meeting for the benefit of the Grecian ſtates. And
in a little time the Amphictyones were not permitted to in-
termeddle with affairs of ftate at all, but reduced to have
only fome fmall infpection over the rites and ceremonies of
religion practiſed in the temples, under their cognizance;
and fo, upon abolishing the Heathen fuperftitions by Conftan-
tine, this affembly fell on courfe. The ancient writers are not
unanimouſly agreed about the place where the Amphictyones
held their meeting; that they met at firft at Thermopyla
is undeniable, and in later ages a temple was built there
to Ceres Amphictyoneis ', in which they held their af-
femblies; but after that the temple of Delphos was taken
into their protection, it is thought by fome writers, that the
Amphictyones met alternately one time at Thermopylæ, the
next time at Delphos, then at Thermopylæ, &c. Sir John
Marſham endeavours to argue from Paufanias", that the Am-
phictyones, who met at Delphos, were a different council
from that of the fame name which met at Thermopylæ;
but the learned Dean Prideaux has fhewn this to be a mif-
take, Paufanias's words not neceffarily inferring the two
councils to be different; and many other good writers at-
teſting them to be the fame, and that the Amphictyones did
meet at Delphos one time, and at Thermopyla another *.
Strabo mentions a meeting held in the temple of Neptune,
in the iſland Calauria, to which feven neighbouring cities.
fent their deputies; this meeting was called by the name
Amphictyonia, moſt probably becauſe it was inſtituted in
imitation of the famous council fo called; but this meet-
ing, and that council, were never taken to be the ſame.
Hellen the fon of Deucalion reigned at Phthia, a city of
Theffaly, about A. M. 2484, and his people were called
Hellenes from his name; before his times they were called
Græci, or Grecians, moſt probably from Graicus the father
of Theffalus. Many of the ancient writers agree with the
Herodotus, lib. vii. c. 200. Pau-
fan. in Phocicis.
u Marfham, Can. Chron. p. 116.
ed. 1672. Paufan. in Achaicis, c. 24.
x Prideaux, Not. Hiftoric, ad Chron.
Marmor. Ep. v.
y Strabo, lib. viii. p. 374. ed. Par.
1620.
z Marmor. Arundel. Ep. vi.
marble
A
444
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
marble in this remark; Apollodorus, Ariſtotle ", and Pliny,
and the Scholiaft upon Lycophron; but it ſhould be ob-
ferved from all of them, that neither Hellenes nor Græci
were at firſt the names of the inhabitants of the whole
country called Greece in after-ages, but only of a part of it.
The ancient Græci were thoſe whom Hellen called after
his name, and Hellen was a king of part of Theffaly, and
only his people were the ancient Hellenes. And thus Pau-
fanias remarks, that Hellas, which in later ages was the
name of all Greece, was at firft only a part of Theffaly ;
namely, that part where Hellen reigned. In Homer's time,
Hellas was the name of the country near to Phthia, and it
was then uſed in fo extended a fenfe, as to comprehend all
Achilles's fubjects, who were two ſmall nations befides the
Hellenes, namely, the Myrmidons, and the Pelafgian
Achæans; nay, it took in the country round about the
Pelafgian Argos; for Homer places this Argos in the
middle of it,
1
᾿Ανδρὸς, τοῦ κλέος εὐρὺ καθ᾽ Ἑλλάδα καὶ μέσον "Αργος.
d
But it is remarkable, that Homer never calls all Greece by
the name of Hellas, nor the Grecians in general Hellenes;
becauſe, according to Thucydides's obfervation, none but
Achilles's fubjects had this name in Homer's days 5. Strabo
indeed oppoſes this remark of Thucydides, and cites Archi-
lochus and Hefiod to prove, that the inhabitants of all
Greece were called Hellenes before the times of Homer h
but Archilochus was much later than Homer, and the
verſe cited from Hefiod falls fhort of proving what Strabo
infers from it¹. The defcendants of Hellen were the
founders of many very flouriſhing families, who in time,
and by degrees, fpread into all the countries of Greece, and
in length of time came to have fo great an intereft, as to
have an order made, that none could be admitted as a can-
a Lib. i. c. 7. §. 2.
b De Meteoris, lib. i.
• Lib. iv. c. 7.
d Paufan. in Laconicis, c. 20.
e Il. ii. v. 190.
¤ Odyff. i. v. 344.
8 Thucyd. Hiſt. 1. i,
1620.
Strabo, 1. viii. p. 370. ed. Par.
iSec Prideaux, Not. Hift. ad Chron.
Marm. Ep. vi.
didate
Book VIII.
445
and Profane History.
didate at the Olympic games who was not deſcended from
them; fo that Alexander the Great, according to Herodo-
tus *, was obliged to prove himſelf to be an Hellen before
he could be admitted to contend for any prize in theſe
games: and, from the time of making this order, every
kingdom was fond of deriving their genealogy from this
family, until all the Greeks were reputed to be Hellenes,
and fo the name became univerfally applied to all the feveral
nations of the country. The marble hints, that Hellen, the
father of this family, firſt inſtituted the Panathenæan games;
not meaning, I fuppofe, that Hellen called them by that
name, but that he inftituted games of the fame fort with
the Panathenæan. Erichthonius was the firft in Greece
who taught to draw chariots with horfes, and he inftituted
the chariot-race about A. M. 2499 ", in order to encourage
his people to learn to manage horfes this way with the
greater dexterity. And we are told, that in his days there
was found in fome mountains of Phrygia the image of the
mother of the gods, and that Hyagnis made great improve-
ments in the art of mufic, inventing new inftruments, and
introducing them into the worſhip of Cybele, Dionyfius,
Pan, and of the other deities and hero-gods of his country ".
Chariots may very probably be ſuppoſed to have been intro-
duced into Greece by Erichthonius; for he was an Egyp-
tian; and chariots were uſed in Egypt in the days of Jo-
feph: but as to Cybele's image, we cannot reaſonably
ſuppoſe it thus early, and the heathen mufic cannot be
thought to have been much improved until after theſe
times. If Hyagnis invented the pipe or tibia, we muſt ſay
of his pipe in the words of Horace,
Tibia non ut nunc orichalco vincta, tubæque
Æmula; fed tenuis fimplexque foramine pauco,
k Herodot. 1. v. c. 22.
1 Virgil. Georg. iii. Eufeb. Chron.
Num. 543.
m Chron. Marmor. Ep. x.
n Ibid.
Gen. 1. 9. In the Latin verfion of
Eufebius's Chronicon, Trochilus is
ſaid to have invented the chariot,
Num. CCCCXLVII; but it muſt appear,
by what we have in the fame verſion,
Num. DXLIII, where Erichthonius is
mentioned, that either Trochilus was
a foreigner, and did not live in Greece,
or what is faid of him is a miſtake.
Afpirare,
446
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
Afpirare, et adeffe choris erat utilis, atque
Nondum fpiffa nimis complere fedilia flatu.
De Arte Poetica.
His pipe was a mean and fimple inftrument, of lefs compafs
even than the trumpet, and mufic was advanced to no re-
markable perfection in his days.
It is generally faid, that the religion of Greece was an-
ciently what theſe Egyptians, Cecrops, Danaus, Cadmus,
and Erichthonius introduced; fo that it may not be amifs,
before we go further, to examine what the ancient Egyp-
tian religion was in their times; how far it might be cor-
rupted, when they left Egypt; and this will fhew us what
religion thefe Egyptians carried into the countries which
they removed into. I have already confidered, that the
moſt ancient deities of the Egyptians, and of all other na-
tions, when they firſt deviated from the worſhip of the true
God, were the luminaries of heaven ; and if we carry on
the enquiry, and examine what further ſteps they took in
the progreſs of their idolatry, we ſhall find that the Egyp-
tians in a little time confecrated particular living creatures
in honour of their fidereal deities; and fome ages after they
took up an opinion, that their ancient heroes were become
gods; which opinion aroſe from a belief, that the fouls of
fuch heroes were tranſlated into ſome ſtar, and ſo had a very
powerful influence over them and their affairs.
P
I. The firſt ſtep they took, after they worshipped the
luminaries of heaven, was to dedicate to each particular
deity fome living creature, and to pay their religious wor-
ſhip of the deity before fuch creature, or the image of it :
this was practiſed in Egypt very early, evidently before the
Ifraelites left that country; for the Ifraelites had learned
from the Egyptians to make the figure of a calf for the di-
rection of their worship; for the moſt learned, who were
able to give the moſt plaufible accounts of their ſuperſtition,
did not allow, that they really worshipped their facred
animals, but only that they uſed them as the moſt powerful
mediums, to raiſe in their hearts a religious fenfe of the deity
P See Book V. Vol. I.
1 Exodus xxxii.
to
Book VIII.
447
and Profane Hiftory.
s
to which they were confecrated'. It may be aſked, how
they could fall into this practice, which to us feems odd
and humourfome; for of what ufe can the figure of a beaft
be, to raiſe in men's minds ideas of even the fidereal deities?
To this I anſwer, their ſpeculation and philoſophy led them
into this practice. When men had deviated from that reve-
lation which was to have been their only guide in points of
religion, they quickly fell from one fancy to another; and
after they came to think the lights of heaven to be the gods
that governed the world, they in a little time apprehended
theſe gods to have made the living creatures of the earth
more or leſs partakers of their divinity and perfections, that
they might be the inftruments of conveying a knowledge of
them to men and men of the niceft enquiry and fpecu-
lation made many curious obfervations upon them, which
feemed highly to favour their religious philofophy. After
the worſhip of the moon was eſtabliſhed, and the increaſe
and decreaſe of it fuperftitiously confidered by men who had
no true philofophy, the dilatation and contraction of the
pupilla of a cat's eye feemed very extraordinary. Plutarch
gives us feveral reafons why the Egyptians reputed a cat
to be a facred animal; but that formed from the contrac-
tion and dilatation of the pupil of its eye feems to have
been the firſt and moſt remarkable: this property of that
creature was thought ftrongly to intimate to them, that it
had a more than ordinary participation of the influence of
the lunar deity, and was by nature made capable of exhibit-
ing lively repreſentations of its divinity unto men, and was
therefore confecrated and fet apart for that purpoſe. The
᾿Αγαπητέον ὧν ἐ ταῦτα τιμῶντας,
ἀλλὰ διὰ τέτων τὸ θεῖον, ὡς ἐναργεστέρων
ἐσόπτρων καὶ φύσει γεγονότων. Plutarch.
de fide et Ofiride, p. 382. ed. Xyl.
1624. In which words the learned
Heathen gives a more refined and phi-
lofophical reafon for the Egyptian
image-worship, than the Fapifts can
poffibly give of theirs.
5 Ἡ δὲ ζῶσα και βλέπεσα εν κινήσεως
ἀρχὴν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἔχεσα, κ γνῶσιν οἰκείων
καὶ ἀλλοτρίων φύσις, ἔσπασεν ἀποῤῥοὴν
μοῖραν ἐκ τῶ φρονῶντος, ὅπως κυβερνᾶται
τό, το σύμπαν, ὅθεν ο χεῖρον ἐν τέτοις είν
κάζεται τὸ θεῖον ἢ χαλκείοις καὶ λιθίνοις
δημιοργήμασιν — περὶ μὲν ἐν τῶν τιμών
μένων ζώων ταῦτα δοκιμάζω μάλισα τῶν
λtyóμsvær. Id. ibid.
· Αἱ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ὄμμασιν αὐτῷ κόραι
πληρῆσθαι μὲν καὶ πλατύνεσθαι δοκε
σιν ἐν πανσελήνῳ, λεπτύνεσθαι δὲ καὶ μας
ραυγεῖν ἐν ταῖς μειώσεσι τὸ ἄφρε. τῷ δὲ
ἀνθρωπομόρφῳ τὸ αἰλύρα τὸ νερὸν καὶ λογι
κὸν ἐμφαίνεται τῶν περὶ τὴν Σελήνην
caboλāv. Id. ibid. p. 376.
alp
448
Book VIII
Connection of the Sacred
1
afp and the beetle became facred upon the fame account :
they thought they faw in them fome faint images of the
divine perfections, and therefore confecrated them to the
particular deities, whofe qualities they were thought to ex-
hibit". And this practice of reputing fome animals facred
to particular gods was the firſt addition made to their idola-
try; and the reafon I have given feems to have been the
first inducement that led them into it. In later ages more
animals became facred than were at firft thought fo, and
they paid a more religious regard to them, and gave more
in number, and more frivolous reafons for it; but this was
the riſe and beginning of this error.
II. Some ages after they defcended to worſhip heroes or
dead men, whom they canonized: that they acknowledged
many of their gods to be of this fort, is very evident from
the exprefs declaration of their priests, who affirmed, that
they had the bodies of theſe gods embalmed and depofited
in their fepulchres. The most celebrated deities they had
of this fort were Chronus, Rhea, Ofiris, Orus, Typhon,
Ifis, and Nephthe; and theſe perfons were faid to be deified
upon an opinion, that at their deaths their fouls migrated
into fome ftar, and became the animating fpirit of fome lu-
minous and heavenly body: this the Egyptian prieſts ex-
prefsly afferted, and this account almoſt all the ancient
writers give of theſe gods; thus it was recorded in the
Phoenician antiquities, that Chronus or Saturnus was after
his death made a god, by becoming the ftar of that name;
and this opinion was communicated from nation to nation,
and prevailed in all parts of the Heathen world, and was evi-
dently received at Rome at Julius Cæfar's death, who was
canonized upon the account of the appearance of a comet,
or a luminous body, for ſeven days together, at the time
that Auguſtus appointed the cuſtomary games in honour of
him the phenomenon which then appeared was thought
a
* "Ασπίδα δὲ καὶ γαλῆν καὶ κάνθαρον,
εἰκόνας τινὰς ἑαυτοῖς ἀμαυρὰς ὥσπερ ἐν
σαγόσιν ἡλία τῆς τῶν θεῶν δυνάμεως και
idóvres. Plut. de Ifide et Ofiride.
* Οὐ μόνον δὲ τέτων οἱ ἱερεῖς λέγεσιν,
ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν, ὅσοι μὴ ἀγεν
νητοὶ μηδὲ ἄφθαρτοι, τα μεν σώματα
παρ' αὐτοῖς κεῖσθαι καμόντα & θεραπεύο
soda. Plut. de Ifide et Ofiride.
γ. Τὰς δὲ ψυχὰς λάμπειν ἄτρα. Ibid.
z Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
2 Suetonius, Hift. Cæfar. Jul. §. 88.
to
{
Book VIII.
449
and Profane Hiftory.
to be the ſtar which he paffed into at his leaving this world,
and was accordingly called by Virgil Dionai Cæfaris Af-
trum, and by Horace Julium Sidus. And an opinion of
this fort appears to have prevailed amongst the Arabians at
the time of our Saviour's birth, when the eaſtern Magi came
to worſhip him, convinced of his divinity by an evidence of
it, which God was pleaſed to give them in their own way,
from their having feen bis ftar in the caft. Let us now fee,
eaſt
III. When the Egyptians firft confecrated theſe hero-
gods, or deified mortals. To this I anſwer, not before they
took notice of the appearances of the particular ſtars which
they appropriated to them. Julius Cæfar was not ca-
nonized until the appearance of the Julium Sidus; nor
could the Phoenicians have any notion of the divinity of
Chronus, until they made fome obfervations of the ftar,
which they imagined he was removed into: and this will
at leaſt inform us when five of the ſeven ancient hero-gods
of the Egyptians received their apotheofis. The Egyptians
relate a very remarkable fable of the birth of theſe five
gods. They ſay that Rhea lay privately with Saturn, and
was with child by him; that the Sun, upon finding out her
baſeneſs, laid a curfe upon her, that ſhe ſhould not be de-
livered in any month or year; that Mercury being in love
with the goddeſs lay with her alfo, and then played at dice
with the moon, and won from her the feventy-ſecond part
of each day, and made up of thefe winnings five days,
which he added to the year, making the year to confift of
365 days, which before confifted of 360 days only; and that
in theſe days Rhea brought forth five children, Ofiris, Orus,
Typho, Ifis, and Nephthe. We need not enquire into the
mythology of this fable; what I remark from it is this, that
the fable could not be invented before the Egyptians had
found out that the year confifted of 365 days, and confe-
quently, that by their own accounts the five deities ſaid to
be born on the five mayusvai, or additional days, were not
deified before they knew that the year had theſe five days
b Eclog. ix. ver. 47.
• Od. xii. lib, i.
VOL. I.
G g
d Matth. ii. 2.
e Plutarch. de Ifide et Ofiride.
added
450
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
-
added to it; and this addition to the year was firſt made
about the time of Affis, who was the fixth of the Paftor-
kings which reigned in Egypt, and it was towards the end
of his reign f, i. e. about A. M. 2665, a little after the death
of Joshua. Had Ofiris, Orus, Typho, lfis, and Nephthe
been eſteemed deities before this additional length of the
year was apprehended, we fhould not have had this, but
fome other fabulous account of their birth tranfmitted to
us; but from this account one would think that the Egyp-
tian aftronomers had about this time remarked the a
pearance of five new ftars in their horizon, which their pre-
deceffors had taken no notice of; and as Julius Cæfar was
reported a god from the appearance of the Julium Sidus,
fo thefe five perfons, being the higheſt in eſteem amongſt
the Egyptians of all their famous anceſtors, might be dei-
fied, and the five new appearing ftars be called by their
names: and the obfervation of theſe ſtars being firſt made
about the time when the length of the year was corrected,
this piece of mythology took its rife from them. It is in-
deed afferted in the fable, that thefe five deities were born.
at this time; but we muft remember the relation to be a
fable; and Plutarch well remarks, juſt upon his giving us
this ftory, that we must not take the Egyptian fables about
their gods to relate matters of fact really performed, for
that was not the defign of them: all that this fable can
reaſonably be ſuppoſed to hint to us is, that the five ftars
called by theſe names were firft obferved by their aftrono-
mers about the time that the addition of five days was
made to the year, and confequently that the heroes and
heroines, whoſe names were given to theſe ſtars, were firſt
worshipped as deities about this time; and we are no more
to infer hence, that theſe perfons were born of Rhea as the
fable relates, than that Mercury and Luna really played at
dice, as is fabulously reported. Ifis feems at firft to have
been reputed to be the ftar which the Greeks called the
f
Syncell. p. 123. ed. Par. 1652.
Marſham, Can. Chron. p. 235. ed.
3672.
και Ὅταν ἂν ἡ μυθολογεσιν Αἰγύπτιοι
περὶ τῶν θεῶν ἀκάσῃ;, δεῖ τῶν προειρημέ
νων μνημονεύειν, μηδὲν οἴεσθαι τάτων
λέγεσθαι γεγονὸς ὅτω & πεπραγμένον.
Plut. de Ifide et Ofiride.
Dog-
Book VIII.
451.
and Profane Hiftory. ›
Dog-ſtar, the Egyptians Sothis", and this they expreffed on
Orus was the ftar called Orion,
Afterwards the names both of
were very variouſly uſed, and
a pillar erected to heri.
and Typho the Bear-ftar *.
theſe and their other gods
applied to very different powers and beings.
The Egyptians had other hero-gods befides theſe five;
they had eight perfons whom their chronology called demi-
gods; Diodorus gives them thefe names, Sol, Saturnus,
Rhea, Jupiter, Juno, Vulcanus, Vefta, Mercurius; and
their hiſtorical memoirs affirm theſe perſons to have reigned
in Egypt before Menes or Mizraim, and before their heroes;
fo that they certainly lived before the flood: and they
had after theſe a race of heroes, fifteen in number, and the
perfons I have been ſpeaking of are five of them ", and
thefe muft likewife have been antediluvians; but I do
not imagine they were deified until about this time of the
correcting of the year; for, when this humour first began, it
is not likely that they made gods of men but juſt dead,
of whoſe infirmities and imperfections many perfons might
be living witneſſes; but they took the names of their firſt
anceſtors, whom they had been taught to honour for ages,
and whoſe fame had been growing by the increaſe of tradi-
tion, and all whoſe imperfections had been ſo long buried,
that it might be thought they never had any. It has al-
ways been the humour of men to look for truly great and
unexceptionable characters in ancient times; Neftor fre-
quently tells the Greeks in Homer what fort of perfons
lived when he was a boy, and they were eafily admitted to
be far fuperior to the greateſt and moſt excellent then alive;
and had he been three times as old as he was, he might
have almoſt deified his heroes; but it is hard to be con-
ceived, that a fet of men could ever be chofen by their co-
temporaries to have divine honours paid them, whilft nu-
merous perfons were alive who knew their imperfections,
h Plutarch. lib. de Ifide et Ofiride.
Diodor. Sic. 1. i. Part of the in-
fcription on the pillar is, 'Εγώ εἰμι ἡ
ἐν τῷ ᾿Ατρῳ τῷ κυνὶ ἐπιτέλλεσα,
k Plut. ubi fup.
1 Lib. i. §. 13.
m See Vol. I. Book i. p. 12, 13.
n Diodorus Sic. 1. i.
• See Vol. I. Book i. p. 13, 14, 15.
Gg 2
and
452
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
and who themſelves, or their immediate anceſtors, might
have as fair a pretence, and come in competition with
them: Alexander the Great had but ill fuccefs in his at-
tempt to make the world believe him the fon of Jupiter
Ammon; nor could Numa Pompilius, the fecond king of
Rome, make Romulus's tranflation to heaven fo firmly be-
lieved, as not to leave room for fubfequent hiftorians to re-
port him killed by his fubjects; nor can I conceive that
Julius Cæfar's canonization, though it was contrived more
politicly, and fupported with more fpecious and popular
appearances, would ever have ftood long indifputable, if
the light of Chriftianity had not appeared fo foon after this
time as it did, and impaired the credit of the heathen fu-
perſtitions. The fame of deceafed perfons must have ages
to grow up to heaven; and divine honours cannot be given
with any fhew of decency, but by a late pofterity. Plu-
tarch a obferves, that none of the Egyptian deities were
perfons fo modern as Semiramis; for that neither fhe
amongst the Affyrians, nor Sefoftris in Egypt, nor any of
the ancient Phrygian kings, nor Cyrus amongſt the Per-
fians, nor Alexander the Great, were able, though they
performed the greateſt actions, to raiſe themſelves to higher
glory than that of being famous and illuftrious princes and
commanders; and he remarks from Plato, that whenever
any of them affected divinity, they funk inftead of raiſed
their character by it: their ftory was too modern to permit
them to be gods. Euemerus Meffenius in Plutarch is re-
ported to have wrote a book to prove the ancient gods of
the heathen world to have been only their ancient kings
and commanders; but Plutarch thought he might be ſuffi-
ciently refuted by reviewing all the ancient hiftory, and
remarking, that the moft early kings, though of moſt cele-
brated memory, had not ever attained divine honours. Plu-
tarch himſelf thought theſe gods to have been Genii, of a
power and nature more than mortal. The truth feems to
have been this; they were their antediluvian anceſtors, of
whom they had had fo little true hiftory, and fuch enlarged
P Dionyf. Halicar. lib. ii. c. 56.
• Lib. de Ifide et Ofiride.
traditions
Book VIII.
453
and Profane Hiftory.
traditions and broken ftories, that they thought them far
ſuperior to their greateſt kings, whoſe lives and actions they
had more exact accounts of.
It may perhaps be faid, that if theſe hero-gods lived fo
many ages earlier than this ſuppoſed time of their being
canonized, why fhould we not imagine that they were dei-
fied fooner? or fince eight of them, namely the demi-gods,
are thought more ancient than the reft, and Chronus and
Rhea, two of them, are fabled to be parents of fome of the
others, why ſhould they be imagined to be all deified at
this one particular time, and not rather fome in one age,
and fome in another? All I can offer towards anſwering
theſe queries is, 1. I conclude from the fable related by
Plutarch, that Ofiris, Orus, Ifis, Typho, and Nephthe,
mentioned in it, were not deified before the addition of the
five days to the ancient year; becauſe the whole fable, and
the birth of theſe deities, is founded upon the addition of
thoſe days. 2. We fhall fee reafon hereafter to conclude,
that no nation but the Egyptians, not even thoſe who re-
ceived their religion from Egypt, worshipped hero-gods
even fo early as thefe days. 3. We have no reaſon to think
the number of their gods of this fort was very great; I can-
not ſee reaſon to think they had any more befides what I
have mentioned, except Anubis, who was cotemporary with
Ofiris ; fo that they had but fourteen demi-gods and hero-
gods, taking the number of both together, and thus many
they might well deify at one time: if theſe gods had been
canonized at different times and in different ages, there
would have been a greater number of them; but all that
the ingenuity of fucceeding ages performed, was only to
give theſe gods new names. Thus Ofiris, and ſometimes
Typhon, and fometimes the Sun, was called in after-ages
Serapis; and Orus was called Apollo, and Harpocrates.
4. Ofiris, faid to be born when the five days were added to
the year, is reputed to be one of the most ancient of the
Egyptian gods, and therefore fometimes taken for the Sun;
ſo that this hero feems to have been deified as early as any *,
r
• Ibid. §. 17.
r Diodor. lib. i. §. 18.
and
Gg3
434
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
and therefore moft probably he and all the reft about the
time I have mentioned. 5. About this time lived the fe-
cond Mercury; he was the thirty-fifth king of Thebes,
called Siphoas and Hermes for his great learning, and for
being the reſtorer and improver of the arts and ſciences firft
taught by the ancient Hermes or Thyoth. It was perhaps
he who found out the defect in their ancient computations.
of the year. Strabo fays, this was first found out by the
Theban priefts; and he adds, that they make Mercury
(meaning undoubtedly this fecond Mercury) the author of
this knowledge"; for the firſt Mercury lived ages before
the length of the year was fo far apprehended: and I think
we cannot conjecture any thing more probable, than that as
Syphis, foon after Abraham's time, built the errors of the
Egyptian religion upon his aſtronomy; fo this prince, upon
his thus greatly improving that ſcience, introduced new
errors in theology by this fame learning. The one taught
to worship the luminaries of heaven, thinking them inftinct
with a glorious and divine fpirit; the other carried his
aftronomy to a greater height than his predeceffors had
done: he apprehended ſome ſtars to be of a more benign
influence to his country than others, and taught that the
fouls of fome of their moſt famous ancestors lived and go-
verned in them; and from hence aroſe the opinion of Indi-
getes, Sεol Taтρo, or deities peculiarly propitious to parti-
cular countries, of which we have frequent mention in an-
cient writers, and which ſpread univerſally by degrees into
all the heathen nations. Philo Biblius mentions Taautus as
a perſon who framed a great part of the Egyptian religion *;
and moſt probably what he hints at was done by this ſe-
cond Taautus, Thoth, or Hermes; and the additions he
made to the religion of his anceſtors feem from Philo to
relate to what I have afcribed to him. Herodotus y feems
to hint, that the Egyptians had at firſt eight of theſe gods
only; that in time they made them up twelve, and after-
Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 816. ed. Par.
1620.
uld. ibid.
X
x Eufebius, Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
y Lib. ii. c. 145.
wards
Book VIII.
455
and Profane Hiftory.
wards imagined theſe twelve to have been the parents of
other gods. If any one thinks it moſt probable that Sol,
Saturnus, Rhea, Jupiter, Juno, Vulcanus, Veſta, Mercurius,
(theſe being the eight terreftrial deities which Diodorus Si-
culus mentions to have been the firſt hero-gods which the
Egyptians worshipped,) I fay, if any one thinks it moft pro-
bable that Siphoas canonized theſe, and that the five deities
faid to be born of Rhea were deified later; and that a ftory
was made upon the five additional days, not at the time of
their being first found out, but many years after, and that
afterwards they ſtill added to the number of their gods;
I cannot pretend to affirm that this opinion is to be rejected :
for I muſt confefs, that all that we can be certain of in this
matter is only this, that the Egyptians did not worſhip
hero-gods before the times of the fecond Mercury, and
that Ofiris, Ifis, Orus, Typho, and Nephthe, were not deified
before the five days were added to the Egyptian accounts of
the year; though I think it moſt probable from what is hinted
about the inventions of Siphoas or the fecond Mercury, that
he began and completed the whole fyftem of this theology;
perhaps he did not begin and perfect it at once, he might
be fome years about it, and thereby occafion fome of thefe
gods to be deified fooner than others.
IV. After the hero-deities were received, a new ſet of
living animals were confecrated to them, and cyphers and
hieroglyphic characters were invented to exprefs their divi-
nity and worſhip. The bull called Apis was made facred to
Ofiris, and likewife the hawk: the afs, crocodile, and fea-
horſe were facred to Typho: Anubis was faid to be the
Dog-ſtar, and the dog was facred to him ; and a very reli-
gious regard was had to this animal, until Cambyfes killed
the Apis : after that, fome of the fleth of Apis being
thrown to the dogs, and they readily attempting to eat it,
they fell under great cenfure, for defiring to profane then-
felves by eating the fleth of fo facred an animale; but this
d
z Plutarch, de Ifide et Oliride.
a Id. ibid.
bld. ibid.
c Id. ibid.
d See Prideaux, Connect. Vol. I.
B. iii. An. 524.
e Plutarch, ubi ſup.
Gg 4
accident
456
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
accident did not happen until about A. M. 3480. The fer-
pent or dragon was confecrated to Nephthe ', and other
fuitable animals to other gods; and all this ſeems to have
been the invention of Taautus; for fo Philo reprefents it,
making him the author of the divinity of the ſerpent ³, or
dragon, which was facred to Nephthe; and alſo hinting,
that he invented the hieroglyphic characters, which the
Egyptians were ſo famous for ", taking his patterns from the
animals, which had been confecrated to the luminaries of
heaven. Philo does not fufficiently diſtinguiſh the firſt Her-
mes or Taautus from the fecond, but aſcribes fome parti-
culars, that were true of the firſt Mercury only, to the per-
fon he ſpeaks of; but what he hints about the facred ani-
mals and hieroglyphics muſt be aſcribed to the fecond Mer-
cury; for if, as I have formerly obferved, the religion
of the Egyptians was not corrupted in the days of Abraham,
the firſt Taautus muſt be dead long before the facred animals
were appointed, and I may here add, that hieroglyphics
were not in uſe in his days; for the pillars upon which he
left his memoirs were infcribed not in hieroglyphics, but
ἱερογραφικοῖς γράμμασι, in the facred letters, in letters which
were capable of being made ufe of by a tranflator, who
turned what was written in theſe letters out of one language
into another *. The hieroglyphical inſcriptions of the Egyp-
tians are pretty full of the figures of birds, fishes, beaſts, and
men, with a few letters fometimes between them; and this
alone is fufficient to hint to us, that they could not come
into ufe before the animals reprefented in infcriptions of
this fort were become by allegory and mythology capable
of expreffing various things, by their having been variouſly
uſed in the ceremonies of their religion.
It may perhaps be ſaid, that the Egyptians had two forts
of hieroglyphics, as Porphyry' has accurately obſerved, call-
ing the one fort, ἱερογλυφικά κοινολογούμενα κατὰ μίμησιν, i. e.
f Plutarch, de Ifide et Ofiride.
8 Τὴν μὲν ἐν δράκοντος φύσιν καὶ τὴν
&
ὄψεων αὐτὸς ἐξεθείασεν ὁ Τάαυτος, κ μετ'
αὐτὸν Φοίνικες τε καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι. Eufeb.
Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
Η Τάαυτος μιμησάμενος τον Οὔρανον,
τῶν θεῶν ὄψεις, Κρόνος τε καὶ Δαγώνος
τῶν λοιπῶν διετύπωσεν καὶ τὰς ἱερὲς τῶν
τοιχείων χαρακτῆρας. Id. ibid.
Vol. I. B. v.
k See Vol. I. B. iv. p. 146.
1 In lib. de Vit. Pythag. §. 12.
hieroglyphics
Book VIII.
457
and Profane Hiftory.
hieroglyphics communicating their meaning to us by an
imitation of the thing defigned; and the other fort, ovµboλınà
αλληγορούμενα κατά τινας αἰνιγμούς, i. e. figures conveying their
meaning by alluding " to fome intricate mythologies; and
perhaps it may be thought, that this latter fort of hierogly-
phics were probably invented about the times I am treating
of; but that the former were in ufe long before, and being
nothing elſe but a ſimple repreſentation of things by making
their pictures or imitations, might be perhaps the first let-
ters uſed by men. But to this I anfwer, 1. We have no
reaſon to think that theſe hieroglyphics were fo ancient as
the first letters. 2. They would be but a very imperfect
character ; many, nay moſt occurrences could be repre-
fented by them but by halves: the Egyptians intermingled
letters with their hieroglyphics to fill up and connect fen-
tences, and to expreſs actions; and the firft men must have
had letters as well as pictures, or their pictures could have
hinted only the ideas of viſible objects; but there would
have been much wanting in all inſcriptions to give their full
and true meaning. 3. This picture-character would have
been unintelligible, unleſs men could be fuppofed to deli-
neate the forms or pictures of things more accurately than
can well be imagined: the firft painters and figure-drawers
performed very rudely, and were frequently obliged to
write underneath what their figures and pictures were, to
enable thoſe that faw them to know what was defigned to
be repreſented by them: the Egyptians drew the forms of
their facred animals but imperfectly even in later ages, and I
cannot doubt, but if we could fee what they at first deli-
neated for a bull, a dog, a cat, or a monkey, it would be
difficult to tell which figure might be this or that, or whether
any of their figures were any of them; and therefore to
help the reader they ufually marked the fun and moon, or
fome other characters, to denote what god the animal de-
figned was facred to, and then it was eaſier to gueſs with-
m Theſe hieroglyphics were fome-
thing like Pythagoras's precepts; they
expreffed one thing, but meant another.
Plut. lib. de Ifide et Ofiride, p. 354.
ed. Xyl. 1624.
out
458
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
out miſtake what the picture was, and what might be in-
tended by it. And ſomething like this the men of the moſt
ancient times muft have done; for they cannot be imagined
to be able to picture well enough to make draughts expref-
five of their meaning: they might invent and learn a rude
character much fooner than they could acquire art enough
to draw pictures, and therefore it is moſt probable that ſuch
a character was firſt invented and made uſe of. But, 4. Por-
phyry did not mean by the expreffion κοινολογούμενα κατὰ μία
now, that the characters he spoke of imitated the forms or
figures of the things intended by them; for that was not
the plunos, which the ancient writers afcribed to letters.
Socrates gives us the opinion of the ancients upon this
point, namely, that letters were like the fyllables of which
words were compounded, and expreffed an imitation, for
he uſes that word, [not of the figure or picture, but] of
the ouola, or ſubſtance, power, or meaning of the thing de-
figned by them"; thus he makes letters no more the pic-
tures of things than the fyllables of words are. The ancients
were exceedingly philofophical in their accounts of both
words and letters: when a word or a found was thought
fully to expreſs, according to their notions, the thing which
it was defigned to be the name of, then they called it the
eixav, or picture of that thing; and they apprehended that a
word could not be completely expreffive, unless it was com-
pounded of letters well chofen to give it a ſound ſuitable to
the nature of the thing defigned to be expreffed by it; and
when a word hit their fancy entirely in theſe reſpects, then
they thought the found and letters of it to exprefs, imitate,
or reſemble the true image of the thing it ftood for. All
this may be collected from ſeveral paffages of Plato upon
this ſubject; and in this fenfe we must take Porphyry's ex-
η Ὁ διὰ τῶν συλλαβῶν τε κ γραμμά
των τὴν ἐσίαν τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπομιμά
μενος—τᾶτο δ᾽ ἐσὶν ὄνομα. Plato in Cra-
tylo, ed. Ficin. Francof. 1602. p. 295.
Or in other words he fays, Δήλωμα
συλλαβαῖς καὶ γράμμασι ὄνομά ἐσι. Ibid.
• Οὐκῶν ὁ μὲν ἀποδιδὲς πάντα καλὰ
τὰ γράμματα-ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς ζωγραφή
μασι τὰς εἰκόνας ἀποδίδωσιν δ δὲ
ار
ἢ προτιθεὶς ἢ ἀφαιρῶν γράμματα, εἰκόνα;
μὲν ἐργάζεται καὶ ἔτος, ἀλλὰ πονηράς
ὥσπερ καὶ δέκα, ἢ ὅςις βάλει ἄλλος άριθε
μὸς, ἐὰν ἀφέλης τὶ ἢ προσθῆς, ἕτερος εὐ-
θὺς γέγονε. Εἰ μέλλει καλῶς κεῖσθαι
τὸ ὄνομα, τὰ προσήκοντα δεῖ αὐτῷ γράμ
μara x. See Plat. Cratyl. edit.
Ficini, Francof. 1602. p. 295, 296,
297, &c.
preffion :
Book VIII.
459
and Profane Hiſtory.
preffion and this will lead us to think the letters he treats of
to be the Egyptian facred letters, as I have formerly hinted
from this very defcription of them P. When language con-
fifted of monofyllables only, a fingle ftroke, daſh, or letter,
might be thought as expreffive of a fingle found, as various
letters were afterwards thought of various and compounded
words, or of polyfyllables; and fince the uíunois, or imitation,
which the ancients afcribed to their letters, was an imita-
tion relating to the expreffing well the word they ſtood for,
and not an imitation of the form or fhape of the thing, we
muft err widely from their meaning to imagine their letters
to have been pictures or hieroglyphics, becauſe they afcribe
fuch a mimeſis to them.
V. It was cuftomary in Egypt, in the very ancient times,
to call eminent and famous men by the names of their gods;
this Diodorus Siculus informs us of: after his account of the
celeſtial deities, he adds, that they had men of great emi-
nence, fome of whom were kings of their country, and all
of them benefactors to the public by their uſeful inventions,
and ſome of theſe they called by the name of their celeſtial
deities; and of this number he reckons the perfons called
Sol, Saturnus, Rhea, Jupiter, Juno, Vulcanus, Vefta, Mer-
curius; intimating indeed that theſe were not their Egyp-
tian names, but only equivalent to them. The Egyptians in
the beginning of their idolatry worshipped the fun and
moon, and in a little time the elements, the vis vivifica of
living creatures, the fire, air, earth, and water ; and per-
haps the wind might be the eighth deity, for they diftin-
guiſhed the wind and air from one another, and took them
to be two different things; and as the Affyrians called
their kings and great men Bel, Nebo, Gad, Azar, after the
names of their gods, fo did the Egyptians; and whilft they
worshipped only theſe deities, they had only the names and
titles of theſe to dignify illuftrious men with: but in after-
times, when the men, who were at firft called by the names of
their gods, came to be deified, then the names of theſe men
P See Vol. I. Book iv. p. 146,
• Diodor. l. i. §. 13.
Diodor. Sic. 1. i. §. 10.
* Wifdom, chap. xiii. ver. 2.
were
460
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
were thought honorary titles for thoſe who lived after them.
Thus as Oliris was called Sol, or Ifis Lunat, by thoſe who
had a defire to give them the moft illuftrious titles and ap-
pellations; fo when Ofiris and Ifis were reputed deities, a
later pofterity gave their names to famous men, who had
lived later than they did. And thus the brother of Cnan or Ca-
naan, i. e. Mizraim, was called Ofiris". I might add further:
as the Affyrians called their kings fometimes by the names
of two or three of their gods put together, as Nabonaffar,
Nebuchadnezzar *; fo the Egyptians many times gave one
and the fame perfon the names of feveral gods, accord-
ing as the circumftances of their lives gave occaſion; and
thus Diodorus remarks, that the fame perſon that was
called Ifis, was fometimes called Juno, fometimes Ceres, and
ſometimes Luna; and Ofiris was at one time called Serapis,
at another Dionyfius, at another Pluto, Ammon, Jupiter, and
Pan: and as one and the ſame perſon was ſometimes called
by different names, fo one and the fame name was frequently
given to many different perfons, who lived in different ages.
Ofiris was not the name of one perfon only, but Mizraim
was called by this name, and ſo were diverſe kings that
lived later than he did, amongſt the number of whom we
may, I believe, infert Sefoftris. But we may ſee the appli-
cation of theſe ancient names abundantly in one particular
name, which I chooſe to inftance in, becauſe I have fre-
quent occafion to mention it: the reader will find other
names as variouſly given to different perfons in all parts of
the ancient hiftory. Chronus was the name of the ſtar
called Saturn, and moſt probably fome antediluvian was firft
called by this name; afterwards the father of Belus, Canaan,
Cufh, and Mizraim, i. e. Mofes's Ham the fon of Noah,
was called by this name ª. The fon of this Ham, and father
of Taautus, i. e. Mizraim himfelf, was called Chronus ».
The father of Abraham was called Chronus, and Abraham
himſelf was alſo thus called. I might obferve the ſame of
t Diodor. Sic. 1. i. §. 11, 12.
" Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
x Vol. I. B. v.
Diodor. Sic. 1. i. §. 11, 12.
See Vol. I. B. iv.
2 See Vol. I. 3. iv. p. 121.
b Ibid.
c See B. vi. Eufeb. Præp. Evang.
1. i. c. 10.
d lbid.
Belus,
Book VIII.
461
and Profane Hiftory.
Belus, Bacchus, Pan, and of almoſt every other name; but
abundance of inftances will occur to every one that reads
any of the ancient writers.
VI. The Egyptians having firſt called their heroes by
the names of their fidereal and elementary deities, added in
time to the hiftory of the life and actions of fuch heroes a
mythological account of their philoſophical opinions con-
cerning the gods, whofe names had been given to fuch he-
roes; and this might be first done by the ſecond Thyoth or
Hermes, and to him muft belong what Philo in Eufebiuse
relates of the perfon of his name; that being famous for
his great parts and learning, he raiſed the ſtyle (as I might
fay) that had been uſed in fubjects of religion, and inſtead of
a plain way of treating theſe points, accommodated to the
capacity of the low and vulgar people, he introduced a me-
thod more fuitable to the learning that was then in eſteem
and reputation; moſt probably he did what the fame author
mentions the ſon of Thabion to have practifed upon San-
choniatho. To plain narrations of fact and hiftory, he
added mythology and philofophy. He put into a ſyſtem
the philofophy then in repute concerning the ſtars and ele-
ments; and, by inventing fuch fables as he thought ex-
preffive, he made an hiſtory of his fyftem, by inferting the
ſeveral parts of it amongst the actions of ſuch perſons as
had borne the names of the fidereal or elementary deities, to
whom the reſpective parts of his fyftem might be applied.
I might confirm all this from numerous explications of the
Egyptian fables, which Plutarch has given us in his treatiſe.
upon Iſis and Ofiris. The ancient hiftory of theſe two per-
ſons was most probably no more than this, which may be
collected from Diodorus's account of them . Ofiris married
Ifis, taught men to live fociably, to plant trees, and to ſow
corn; and he not only taught one fet or company of men
e Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10.
The words are, Τάαυτος ἓν Αἰγύπτιο
Θάλ προσαγορεύωσι, σοφία διενεγκών
πρῶτος τὰ κατὰ τὴν θεοσέβειαν ἐκ τῆς
τῶν χυδαίων ἀπειρίας εἰς ἐπιτημονικής έμ
πειρίαν διέταξεν.
f Id. ibid. p. 39. ed. Par. 1628.
The words are, Ταῦτα πάντα ὁ Θαβία
νος παῖς, πρώτος τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος γεγονό
των Φοινίκων ἱεροφάντης, ἀλληγορήσας,
τοῖς τε φυσικοῖς καὶ κοσμικοῖς ανάθεση
αναμίξας, τας έδωκε τοῖς ὀργῶσι.
• Hift. l. i. §. 13, 14, &C.
theſe
464
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
for it was accounted no ſmall attainment for a perſon to be
learned in the learning of the Egyptians; and I might add,
upon what Plato and Plutarch have offered in favour and
defence of the Egyptian fuperftitions, that if we confult
hiſtory, we ſhall find, that there is nothing fo weak, extra-
vagant, or ridiculous, but that men even of the firſt parts,
and eminent for their natural ftrength of underſtanding,
have been deceived to embrace and defend it; and from
Plutarch it may be abundantly evidenced, that they fell
into theſe errors, not by paying too great a deference to tra-
dition and pretended revelation, but even by attempting to
fet up what they thought a reaſonable ſcheme of religion,
diſtinct from, or in oppofition to, what tradition had handed
down to them. If we look back and make a fair enquiry,
we muſt certainly allow, that reafon in theſe early times,
without the affiftance of revelation, was not likely to offer
any thing but fuperftitious trifles; for the frame and courfe
of nature was not fufficiently understood to make men
mafters of true philofophy. It ſeems eaſy to us to demon-
ftrate the being and attributes of God by reaſon, from the
works of his creation; but we underſtand all the hints.
given by the infpired writers of the Old Teftament, which
are proper to lead us to a right ſenſe of theſe things, much
better than any of them were underſtood by the ancient
philofophers of the heathen world; and by improving
upon theſe hints, we are arrived at truer notions of the
works of God's hands than they were mafters of: but un-
til men were arrived at fuch a true philofophy, the only cer-
tain way they had to know the invifible things of God, even
bis eternal power and godhead, in all ages from the creation of
the world, was toïg Toihμaoi, i. e. by the things which he had
donem; and the heathen nations were without excuſe, be-
cauſe God had fufficiently manifefted himſelf this way, if,
inſtead of feeking after falfe philofophy, they would have
attended to what he had revealed to them; they might
have known by faith, that the worlds were framed by the word
of God; fo that the things which are feen were not made by
1
c Rom. i. 20.
those
Book VIII.
465
and Profane History.
thofe things which do appear "; i. e. they were the works not
of vifible cauſes, but of an invifible agent. But when, in-
ftead of adhering to what had been revealed about theſe
matters, they imagined they might profeſs themſelves wife
enough to find out theſe truths in a better manner, by rea-
fon and philoſophy, they became fools, and changed the glory
of the incorruptible God into an image made like to.corruptible
man, and to birds, and four-footed beafts, and creeping things °:
they took the lights of heaven to be the gods which govern the
world, and believed them animated by the fpirits of fa-
mous men, and confecrated birds and beafts and reptiles to
them, and amaffed together heaps of mythology; concern-
ing which, when I confider fo great a genius as Plutarch
gravely pronouncing, that there is nothing in them unrea-
fonable, idle, and fuperftitious, but that a good and moral,
or hiſtorical, or philofophical reafon may be given for every
part of every fable; I cannot but fee plainly, that if God
had not been pleaſed to have revealed himſelf to men in the
firſt ages, many thouſand of years would have paſſed before
men could have acquired by reaſon ſuch a knowledge of
the works of God, as to have obtained any juft fentiments
of his being or worſhip.
The writers of antiquities have made collections of images
and pictures of the Egyptian gods, in order to get the beſt
light they could into the ancient religion of this people, and
F. Montfaucon has taken great pains this way but if I
may have leave to conjecture, (and more than that no one
can do on this dark and intricate fubject,) I fhould fufpect,
that moſt of the figures exhibited by the learned antiquaries
for Egyptian deities, were not defigned for fuch by thoſe
who made them; moft of thoſe that were defigned for gods.
are commonly but ill or falfely explained; and few, very few
of them of great antiquity, the greateſt part being evidently
made after the Greeks and Romans had broke in upon the
Egyptians. It is indeed true, that the fculpture in moft of
the figures in Montfaucon's collection feems fo rude and
n Hebrews xi. 3.
• Rom. i. 22, 23.
P Wiſdom xiii. 1, 2, 3, 4
VOL. I.
9 Plutarch. lib. de Ifide et Ofiride,
P. 353.
нh
vulgar,
466
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
vulgar, as to intimate them to have been made in the firſt
and moſt early times of carving, before that art was brought
to any neatneſs or appearance of perfection: but the rude-
neſs of the ſculpture is no proof of the antiquity of Egyptian
images; for Plato exprefsly tells us, that it was a rule
amongſt their ſtatuaries, to imitate the antique ſhapes of the
ancient patterns, and that the carvers were by law reſtrained
from all attempts that looked like innovation; fo that the
art of carving being thus limited was never carried to any
perfection; but, as the fame author remarks, their moſt mo-
dern ſtatues were as ill ſhaped, as poorly carved, and as un-
couth in figure, as thoſe of the greateſt antiquity'. But the
chief reaſon we have to think the relics that are now de-
fcribed for gods of Egypt to be modern is, that they are
moft of them of human fhape; and we find by an univerfal
confent of all good writers, that the ancient Egyptian
images were not of this fort: as they had facred animals
dedicated to their feveral gods, fo the images of theſe were
their idols. An hawk was their ancient image for Ofiris, a
fea-horſe for Typho, a dog for Mercury, a cat for the Moon,
and in the fame manner other images of animals for other
deities; and this introduced a practice analogous to it, even
in their pictures and ftatues of men. As they repreſented
their deities by the figures of fuch animals as they imagined
to exhibit ſome ſhadows of their divine qualities or opera-
tions; the Moon by a cat, becauſe a cat varies its eye, in
their opinion, according to the various phaſes of the Moon
fo they pictured or carved men in figures that might repre-
fent not their viſage, fhape, or outward form, but rather
their qualities or peculiar actions. Thus a fword was the
known repreſentation of Ochus, a Scarabæus was the
picture of a courageous warrior"; and we may obſerve, that
the prieſts of Egypt in Ptolemy Soter's time *, about A. M.
3700, were fo little acquainted with fculptures of human
r Plato de Legibus, 1. ii. p. 789. ed.
Ficin. Francof. 1602.
s Plutarch. de Ifide et Ofiride.
· Οὕτως ἐν τῷ καταλόγῳ τῶν βασι
λέων ἢ κυρίως δήπε τὴν ἐσίαν αὐτῷ της
μαίνοντες, ἀλλὰ τὰ τρόπο την σκληρότητα
καὶ κακίαν ὀργάνῳ φονικῷ παρεικάζοντες.
Id. ibid.
u Id. ibid.
* Id. ibid.
;
form,
Book VIII.
467
and Profane Hiftory.
form, that they could make no conjectures about the Co-
Joffus which was brought from Sinope, but by confidering
the figures of the animals that were annexed to it. Strabo
exprefsly tells us, that the Egyptian temples had no images,
or none of human form, but the image of fome animal,
which repreſented the object of their worſhip; and he re-
counts the ſeveral animals, whoſe figures were the reſpec-
tive idols of particular cities; for fome cities paid their
worſhip before the images of fome animals, and ſome before
thoſe of others. Paufanias fays, that Danaus dedicated
Λύκιον ᾿Απόλλωνα, perhaps an image to Apollo in the thape
of a wolf". He remarks, that the ſtatue which was in
the temple of this deity when he wrote was not that which
Danaus had made, but was the workmanship of a more
modern hand, namely, of Attalus the Athenian. In Attalus's
days, the images of the gods might be made in the human
form; but it is more agreeable to Strabo's obfervation to
think, that the moſt ancient delubra had either no image at
all, or the image of fome beaft, for the object of worſhip a.
The Ifraelites, about Danaus's time, ſet up a calf in the wil-
derneſs, and of this fort was moft probably the wooden ſtatue
which Danaus erected to Apollo; and perhaps from a ſtatue
of this fort the ancient Argives ftamped their coin with a
wolf's head". F. Montfaucon has given the figures of
feveral fmall Egyptian ftatues fwathed from head to foot
like mummies, which difcover nothing but their faces, and
fometimes their hands: thefe, I think, can never be taken
for Egyptian deities. Plutarch informs us, that they pic-
tured their judges and magiftrates in this dreſs ª, ſo that
theſe were probably the images of deceaſed perſons, that
had borne thofe offices. We have feveral repreſentations in
the draughts of the fame learned antiquary, which are faid.
to be Ifis holding or giving fuck to the boy Orus: but
y Strabo, Geograph. 1. xvii.
2 Paufan, in Corinth. 1. ii. c. 19.
a Strabo, 1. xvii. p. 805. ed. Par.
1620.
Marfham, Can. p. 125. ed. 1672.
c See Montfaucon, Antiq. Vol. II.
Part ii. B. i. plate xxxvii. fig. 15, 16,
17, 18, 19, 20. plate xxxviii. fig. 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6.
d Lib. de Ifide et Ofiride, P. 355.
ed. Xyl. 1624.
e Montf. ubi fup. plate xxxvi.
fig. 3. plate xxxvii. fig. 11. plate
xxxviii. fig. 9, 10, 11.
Hh 2
it
468
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
it ſhould be remarked, that Orus was not repreſented by
the Egyptians by the figure of a new-born child: for Plu-
tarch exprefsly tells us, that a new-born child was the
Egyptian picture of the fun's-rifing; and if fo, why may
we not imagine, that theſe figures were the monuments of
fome eminent aftronomers? They might be repreſented
with the faces and breafts of women, to fignify, that the
obfervations which they had made had been the cauſe of
great plenty. They have commonly fome plant ſprouting
and flouriſhing upon their heads, which probably, if well
explained, would inftruct us what part of agriculture or
planting was improved by the benefit of their learned ob-
ſervations. One of them has the head of a cow, and a bird's
head upon that; but I ſhould imagine, that we are not to
gueſs from hence, that the Egyptians had received the
Greek fable about lo, as the learned antiquary ſuggeſts;
but that the perſon hereby figured was fo eminent, as that
he had the names of two deities given to him. As Daniel
obtained fuch a reputation in the court of Babylon, as to
have a name given him, compounded of the names of two
of their deities, namely Belteſhazzar¹; fo this perſon, who-
ever he was, was fo eminent in Egypt, as to be called by
the names of the two deities put together; the heads of
whoſe facred animals were for that reafon put upon his
ſtatue. We meet with ſeveral figures, faid to be defigned
for Harpocrates. All theſe figures are repreſentations of
young men with their finger upon their mouth, as a token
of their filence: but why may we not ſuppoſe theſe to be
monuments of young Egyptian ftudents, who died in their
novitiate, or firſt years, whilft filence, according to the an-
cient diſcipline, was enjoined them? There are a variety of
figures of this fort in various dreſſes, and with various fym-
bols, all which, I imagine, might exprefs the different at-
f Lib. de Ifide et Ofiride, p. 355.
Orus, when in later times images of
an human form were introduced,
was reprefented by a quite different
figure. Εν Κόπτῳ τὸ ἄγαλμα το
Ωρε λέγεσιν ἐν τῇ ἑτέρᾳ χειρὶ Τυφῶνος
aidõîa xarixev. Plut. lib. de Ifide et
Ofiride, p. 373.
g Montf. ubi fup. plate xxxvi.
fig. 3.
h Dan. i. 7. See Vol. I. B. v. p.
198.
i Montfaucon, plate xl. fig. 17, 18,
19, 20, 21, 22, 23. In plate xli. thefe
figures are numerous.
tainments
1
Book VIII.
469
and Profane Hiſtory.
tainments and ſtudies of the perfons repreſented by them.
Jamblichus remarks, that Pythagoras, when he rejected any
of his ſcholars, and after the five years filence, turned them
out of his ſchool for their defects and infufficiency, uſed to
have ftatues made for them as if they were dead *. This
perhaps might be the ancient practice in Egypt, where Py-
thagoras long ftudied; and fome of the images, which go
for Harpocrates, might be Egyptian ftudents thus difmiffed
their ſchools; and the defect of fymbols and want of orna-
ment in ſome of them may perhaps diftinguish thoſe of this
fort from the other. Plutarch does indeed hint, that in
his times they had human reprefentations of Ofiris in every
city'; and Montfaucon gives us a figure in fome reſpects
well anfwering to Plutarch's defcription of the ftatues of
Ofiris; but if that be a ſtatue of Ofiris, it muſt be a mo-
dern one. The ancient image of Ofiris was that of an
hawk", or he was fometimes repreſented by the picture of
an eye and a ſceptre°; and until later times, images and
repreſentations of him were very rare, and feldom to be met
with P; but when he came to be reprefented in the human
form, fculptures of him were common. Montfaucon gives
us the figure of an animal without ears, which he calls a
Cynocephalus', and ſuppoſes to be a repreſentation of Ifis.
Plutarch tells us, that the Cretans anciently pictured
Jupiter in this manner; and may we not imagine that this
figure was an ancient Egyptian Jupiter, and that the Cre-
tans copied after them? I might enlarge upon this ſubject,
for I cannot help thinking, that even the animal figures,
like this inftance I have mentioned, are commonly deci-
phered amifs; and that if the learned would review their
accounts and collections, and take the human figures for
monuments of famous men, made after the old Egyptian
cuftom, which, according to Plutarch, was to picture not
S
k Jamblichus de Vita Pythag. c. 17.
1 Lib. de Ifide et Ofiride, p. 371.
m Plutarch's words are, Пarrax
δὲ καὶ ἀνθρωπομορφὸν Οσίριδος ἄγαλμα
δεικνύεσιν ἐξορθιάζον τῷ αἰδοίῳ.
Id. ibid.
old. ibid.
иh 3
P Id. p. 382.
4 Πανταχο δεικνύεσιν, &c.
Antiq. Vol. II. Part ii. plate xlii.
fig. 14. See chap. xvi. §. 5.
> Εν Κρήτῃ Διὸς ἦν ἄγαλμα μὴ ἔχον
ὦτα.
Ta. Lib. de Ifide et Ofiride, p. 381.
the
470
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
the man,
but his manners; not his perfon, but his chara&er,
ftation, and honours, which he attained to: if the animal
figures were reviewed, if the Egyptian aftronomy could be
examined, and it could be determined what particular ſtars
they worthipped, and what birds, beafts, or reptiles, were
dedicated to them, I fhould imagine, that we might obtain
accounts more ferviceable towards illuftrating their ancient.
hiftory, politics, and religion, than any yet extant. Eufebius
gives us hints of fome ancient reprefentations'; but we find, I
think, none that much refemble them in the collections of
our prefent antiquaries; and yet the heretics who lived about
Plutarch's time, in the fecond century, namely, Bafilides,
Saturninus, and Carpocras, who introduced the Egyptian
fymbols and figures into their religion, formed many, much
like thoſe mentioned by Eufebius, as may be ſeen by con-
fulting Montfaucon's plates of the gems called Abraxas.
Whether we have now any copies, or but very few, of the
truly ancient Egyptian idols, whether the greateſt part of
what are offered to us be not copies taken from ſchemes
and forms more recent, than even the times of Plutarch, or
of Eufebius, I entirely fubmit to the opinion of the learned.
F. Montfaucon has given a draught of a very celebrated
piece of antiquity called the table of Ifis, which was a table
made of braſs, almoſt four foot long, and of pretty near the
fame breadth. The ground-work was a black enamel, and
it was curiouſly filled with filver plates inlaid, which repre-
fented figures of various forts, diftinguiſhed into ſeveral
claffes and copartments, and deciphered by various hiero-
glyphics interfperfed. This table fell into the hands of a
common artificer, when the city of Rome was taken and
plundered by the army of Charles V. about the year 1527;
ως
ι Επενόησε τῷ Κρόνῳ παράσημα βασι-
λείας, ὄμματα τέσσαρα· ἐκ τῶν ἐμπροστ
θίων καὶ τῶν ὀπισθίων μερῶν δύο δὲ
ἡσυχῇ μύοντα, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων πτερά
τέσσαρα, δύο μὲν ὡς ἱπτάμενα, δύο δὲ ὡς
ὑφειμένα·τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς θεοῖς, δύο ἑκά-
τῳ πτερώματα ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων—Κρόνω δὲ
πάλιν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς πτερὰ δύο.Αι.
γύπτιοι Κνήφ επονομάζεσι, προσιθέασι
αὐτῷ ἱέρακος κεφαλήν τὸ πρῶτον ὂν
31
θειότατόν [ἐςιν] ὄφις ιέρακος ἔχων μορο
φήν-Οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι τὸν κόσμον γράφοντες
περιφερῆ κύκλον ἀεροειδῆ καὶ πυρωπόν και
ράσσεσι καὶ μέσον τεταμένον ὄφιν ἱερα
κόμορφον καὶ τὸ πᾶν σχῆμα ὡς τὸ παρ'
ἡμῖν Θήτα· τὸν μὲν κύκλον κόσμον μη-
νύοντες, τὸν δὲ μέσον ὄφιν συνεκτικὸν τῶ τον
ἀγαθὸν Δαίμονα σημαίνοντες.
Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 1o.
Eufeb.
and
Book VIII.
471
and Profane Hiftory.
and it was fold by him to Cardinal Bembo, at whoſe death
it came to the Duke of Mantua, and was kept as a valuable
rarity by the princes of that houſe, until the year 1630,
when the town and palace of Mantua were plundered by the
Emperor's general, who carried off an immenfe treaſure of
curiofities, which the princes of this houfe had collected ;
and amongſt the reſt this table of Ifis, the original of which
having never been found fince this time, is fuppofed to have
been broken in pieces by fome perfon into whoſe hands it
might fall; who, not underſtanding what it was, might
think the filver plates that were inlaid to be the only valua-
ble parts of it, and therefore brake it for the fake of them.
Pignorius gave the world a draught, and an account of this
table, in a book by him publifhed at Amfterdam, A. D. 1670;
and from his draught Montfaucon has taken the copy which
he has given us. The table of Ifis is faid to be fo called, be-
cauſe it repreſents the form and myfteries of the goddeſs
Ifis" but it is remarkable, that the very writers who ex-
prefs the greateſt inclination to reprefent Ifis as the chief
and principal goddeſs, upon account of reprefenting whom
the whole table was compofed, cannot but acknowledge it
to contain "all the divinities of Egypt of every kind,
"and that it might properly be called a general table of
"the religion and fuperftitions of Egypt." F. Montfaucon
acknowledges, that no one can determine whether this table
repreſents fome hiftory of the Egyptian gods, or fome ob-
fcure ſyſtem of the religion of that country, or of the cere-
monies of that religion, or ſome moral inſtruction, or many
of theſe together. And Pignorius was fo far from being
confident that he could fufficiently explain this table, that
he confeffed that he did not fully comprehend the defign
of it, nor know the certain fignification of its feveral parts;
that he only pretended to venture to make fome conjectures
about it, but that he could not fay that he had hit the
defign of the compofer; that both theſe learned men leave
room for any one to conjecture about it as they did, without
incurring cenfure for differing from them. And, if I
" Montfaucon, Antiq. Vol. I. Part ii. B. ii. c. i.
Hh
нh 4
x Id. ibid.
may
take
472
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
:
take this liberty, I ſhould imagine, 1. That this table was
not made until after genuflexion was uſed in the worſhip of
the heathen deities. This cuſtom began pretty early; the
worshippers of Baal, in the time of Ahab, bowed the knees
to Baal'; and this practice of kneeling was uſed before this
time by the true worshippers of God. Solomon kneeled
down upon his knees when he prayed at the dedication of
the temple; and this pofture of worſhip is mentioned
Pfalm xcva. At what time it was first introduced into the
heathen worſhip I cannot fay; but we find in the border
round the table of Ifis no lefs than nineteen perfons in
this poſture of adoration. 2. We find no one perſon in this
poſture in the table itſelf all the figures in the table are
either ftanding, or fitting, or in a moving pofture. 3. In
the border, all the images that kneel are repreſented as
paying their worship to fome animal figure: there is not
one inſtance or repreſentation of this worſhip paid to an
image of human form, either on the border, or in the table.
4. The ſeveral animals repreſented in the border, as receiv-
ing worship from their adorers, agree very nearly, both in
number and ſhape, with the feveral animals deſcribed by
Strabo, Plutarch, Eufebius, and other writers, to be the ob-
jects of worſhip in the ſeveral cities of Egypt. 5. The
human figures in the table are diſtinguiſhed by the animal
repreſentation of fome deity annexed to, or put over or
under them. 6. There are five figures in the table of an
human form defcribed in a fitting pofture, and two of them
very remarkable, one of which has the head of an ibis, and
the other of an hawk; but figures of the fame form are re-
preſented in the border of the table on their knees, as wor-
ſhipping ſome animal figure placed before them. The hu-
man picture with the hawk's head is repreſented to worſhip
a fort of ſcarabæus, that, with the head of the ibis, is pic-
tured as worshipping the Apis, or bull. Theſe are the feveral
obfervations which muft occur to any one who carefully
views and compares the feveral parts of this table; and from
y 1 Kings xix. 18.
ช
1 Kings viii. 54. 2 Chron. vi. 13.
a Ver. 6.
b Strabo, 1. xvii. Plut. lib. de Ifide
et Ofiride. Eufeb. de Præp. Evang, in
var. loc. Herodot, 1. ii. &c.
thefe
Book VIII.
473
and Profane Hiftory.
theſe obſervations it appears moſt probable, 1. That the
border round about the table exhibits the feveral facred
animals worſhipped in Egypt when this table was made,
with their reſpective priests paying worship to them.
2. The table itſelf repreſents the feveral prieſts of ſome of
theſe deities in their ſeveral habits, performing not actual
worſhip, but ſome other offices of their miniftrations. The
animal figures annexed to them point out what particular
gods they were refpectively the prieſts of; and moſt pro-
bably the hieroglyphics and facred letters inſcribed to each
of them would tell us, if we could read them, what parti-
cular office of their miniftration they are deſcribed as per-
forming. 3. The figures delineated in the fitting pofture,
(like figures to which are in the border reprefented in pof-
tures of worſhip to particular animals,) feem to me to be de-
figned for monuments of fome eminent priefts, who had
images made in honour of their memory when dead; which
images might perhaps upon fome occafions be carried in
proceffions, and are therefore here delineated. The ibis and
hawk's head, fixed upon the fhoulders of two of them,
was, according to the ancient ufage of picturing, not the
perſon of the men, but the dignity or honours they at-
tained to. Theſe two perſons were honoured with the
names of the gods, whofe facred ſymbols, or animal figures,
were for that reafon put upon them. 4. F. Montfaucon
wanders unaccountably from the apparent meaning of this
table, in fuppofing many of the human figures to be Ifis
and Ofiris preſenting goblets and birds and ſtaves to one an-
other, when no ancient writers hint any fort of accounts,
that they were ever repreſented as engaged in fuch trifling
intercourſes, and when all thofe figures may better be fup-
poſed to be different prieſts, employed in different offices
and miniſtrations of their religion. 5. It does not appear
from this table, that the Egyptians worshipped any idols of
human fhape at the time when this table was compofed;
but rather, on the contrary, all the images herein repre-
fented, before which any perfons are deſcribed in poſtures
of adoration, being the figures of birds, beafts, or fifhes,
this table ſeems to have been delineated before the Egyptians
worſhipped
474
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
worshipped the images of men and women, which was the
laſt and loweſt ſtep of their idolatry.
From what I have offered about the feveral fteps which
the Egyptians took in the progreſs of their fuperftitions and
idolatry, it will be eaſy to determine what their religion
was when Cecrops, Cadmus, or Danaus left Egypt; and
confequently what religion or deities theſe men may be
ſuppoſed to have introduced into Greece. The Egyptians
had dedicated facred animals to their fidereal deities before
theſe men left them: all their other innovations were more
modern, and confequently this practice theſe men carried
with them into foreign countries. The Greeks, in the firſt
days of their idolatry, worshipped, as the Egyptians did, the
fun, moon and ftars, and elements. In after-ages they
worshipped hero-gods; but thefe not until about the time of
Homer. Herodotus ſays expreſsly, that Hefiod and Homer
introduced theſe deities; I fhould think them ſomething
earlier, but not much. The Greeks worſhipped their gods
without any images of any fort, until after Oenotrus the fon
of Lycaon led his colony into Italy; and agreeably hereto,
Paufanias remarks of fome very ancient delubra, which he
faw at Haliartus, a city of Boeotia, that they had no fort of
images. Lycaon, the father of Oenotrus, was cotemporary
with Cecrops, the firſt of the travellers who came to Greece
from Egypt; and moſt probably Danaus, the laſt of them,
introduced the image of a wolf, for the direction of his wor-
fhip to Apollo Lycius"; fo that from all theſe circumſtances
it is very plain, that the images of animals were at firſt ſet
up as idols in Greece, much about the time of, and by the
direction of theſe men. As the Ifraelites made a calf in
Horeb after their patterns, foon after Mofes had led them
out of Egypt, about A. M. 2513; fo much about this
time the Greeks were led into the fame fort of idolatry by
the Egyptian travellers, who came to live amongst them.
Danaus taught them to worſhip Apollo, i. e. the fun,
in the form of a wolf; and it is very probable that he gave
c Plato in Cratylo.
d Herodot. lib. ii. c. 53.
e See Vol. I. Book. v.
f Paufan. in Boeoticis, c. 33.
8 Id. in Arcadicis, c. 2.
" Id. in Corinthiacis, c. 19.
them
Book VIII.
475
and Profane Hiftory.
them the images of other animals for the worſhip of other
deities. Plutarch tells us, that the Greeks anciently made
a bull for the image of Bacchus i; and the modern images
of their gods, made after their heroes were deified, and hu-
man forms introduced, have commonly fuch fymbols of
birds, beaſts, or fiſhes annexed, as to hint to us what their
facred animals were, whofe figures were made uſe of in
their worship, before they came to be repreſented by hu-
man images. The eagle was the bird of the Grecian Ju-
piter, the peacock of Juno, the owl of Minerva, the dolphin
or fea-horſe was facred to Neptune, the ram, the cock,
and other animals to Mercury; and the images of theſe and
other animals were undoubtedly made uſe of at firſt as idols
in the worſhip of the refpective deities they belonged to,
inſtead of images of thofe deities. In later ages, when the
images of their gods were made in human fhapes, then
the figures of their facred animals were annexed as fym-
bols; and fo we commonly now find them in the ſtatues or
draughts we have of theſe deities. As true religion was at
first one and the fame to all the world, which it certainly
would not have been, had it not been at first appointed by
pofitive directions from God, and exprefs revelation; fo
men in all nations upon earth defaced and corrupted this
univerſal religion, by ſteps and degrees very much the ſame.
Animal figures were introduced into the idolatry of moſt
nations, and I might add inanimate ones too. The Egyp-
tians pictured Ofiris by a fceptre, the Greeks anciently
reprefented Juno by the trunk of a tree, and Caftor and
Pollux by two croſs-beams; and Clemens Alexandrinus re-
marks from Varro, that the ancient Romans, before they
had learned to give to their gods human ſhapes, worſhipped
a ſpear inſtead of an image of Mars¹.
It is generally reprefented, that Cecrops, Cadmus, and
Danaus, built temples in the ſeveral countries that they tra-
velled to: but this is a miftake, arifing from a careleſs read-
ing of what the ancient writers remark of them. The Latin
Plutarch. in lib. de Ifid. et Ofirid.
p. 364. ed. Par. 1624.
k See Vol. I. Book v. p. 208.
1 Clem. Alex. Cohortat, ad Gentes,
c. iv. p. 41. ed. Oxon. 1715.
tranflator
476
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
tranflator of Diodorus Siculus fays, that Danaus built a
temple to Minerva at Rhodes, and that Cadmus obliged
himſelf by vow to build a temple to Neptune: but Diodorus
himſelf fays no fuch thing; his expreffion is, that they
idpúσavto iegòv, not built a temple, but appointed or dedicated
a place of worſhip: and thus the author himſelf explains it,
by telling us how Cadmus performed his vow, diaowdels
¡dpúσato téμevos™, upon his being preſerved, he ſet out a piece
of ground for the place of the worthip of the God who had
preferved him". He did fomething like to what Jacob did
at Bethel, when he fet up the pillar, and poured oil upon
the top of it, and made a vow, that that place ſhould be
God's houfe: Jacob did not deſign to erect any building in
that place, but only meant that he would come to worſhip
there; which the ancients in theſe days did, not in tem-
ples, but in groves, or at altars erected in the open air, or in
ſpaces of ground marked out and incloſed for that purpoſe;
and of this fort were the ancient reμévn of the heathens.
Temples were far more modern than the days of Cecrops,
Cadmus, or Danaus. Mofes obferves, that Abraham, Ifaac,
and Jacob, frequently built altars wherever they fixed their
habitations; and, agreeable to this ancient practice, Eufe-
bius fays of Cecrops, that he raiſed an altar at Athens P;
and we meet with this practice amongſt the firſt inhabitants
of Greece: they are faid to have erected theſe ßūpos, i. e.
altars, in all parts of their country, as is remarked by Pau-
fanias; and I believe I may add, that we have not any
one paffage in any good writer of fufficient authority to
induce us to think that there were any temples in the
world before the Jewiſh tabernacle was erected, or before
it was known that the Jews were directed to build a temple,
when they ſhould be fettled in the land of Canaan, in the
place which the Lord their God fhould choose to caufe his
näme to dwell there. We may indeed meet with the
word vaòs in Paufanias, and in Homer, and in diverfe other
m Diodor. Sic. lib. v. c. 58.
n The ftrict and proper fignification
of the word τέμενος, derived from τέμ-
vo, is, a part or portion of land fepa-
rated or fet apart for ſome facred uſe.
• Gen. xxviii. 18.
P Præp. Evang. 1. x. c. 9.
9 Deut. xii. 11.
writers ;
Book VIII.
477
and Profane Hiftory.
writers; and if we always tranflate that word temple, as we
commonly do, it may miſlead us to think temples much
more ancient than they really were: but we may remark
from Paufanias, that the word vads was at firſt uſed as the
word beth, or houſe, in Hebrew, and did not always fignify
a ftructure or a temple, but only a place fet apart for God's
worſhip. Thus Jacob called the place where he lay down
to ſleep Beth-el, or the houſe of God; and thus the temples,
or vao, at Haliartus, mentioned by Paufanias, were open
to the air; they were only incloſures fet apart for the
worſhip of their gods, but they were not covered buildings
or temples. When the heathen nations first built temples,
they were but ſmall and of mean figure, probably deſigned
only to defend the image of their idol from the weather,
and to lay up the inftruments that were uſed in the per-
formance of their facrifices: the houfe of Dagon amongſt
the Philistines was, I believe, of this fort'; and thus we are
told, that there was a ſmall temple at Rome made in the
early ages for the reception of the Trojan Penates": and
certainly temples made no great figure in Homer's time;
for if they had, he would have given us at leaſt one defcrip-
tion of a temple, in ſome part either of the Iliad or Odyſſey.
Before Virgil's time they were built with great pomp and
magnificence, and accordingly he has deſcribed Dido's
building a temple * to Juno at Carthage with all imaginable
elegance. Homer would not have loft an opportunity of
exerting his great genius upon fo grand a ſubject, if temples
had in his days made a figure that could poffibly have
fhined in his poem: the true worſhippers of God did at
firſt worſhip in the open fields, and fo did the ancient and
firſt idolaters: Abraham fet apart a place for his private
addreffes; be planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on
the name of the Lord, the everlafling God; and after this
pattern groves were much in ufe in all the idolatrous na-
tions, and Tsuén, allotments of ground, or facred fields, or
r Gen. xxviii. 22.
s Paufan. in Baoticis, c. 33.
f
1 Sam. v. 2.
" Dionyf. Halicarnaff. Antiq. Rom.
lib. i. c. 68.
x Æneid. i.
y Gen. xxi. 33.
incloſures,
478
Book VIII.
Connection of the Sacred
incloſures, in every country for the worſhip of their ſe-
veral gods. When the Jews were gone out of Egypt, and
God had appointed them a moveable temple or tabernacle,
the heathen nations imitated this too; and thus we read of
a portable temple or tabernacle made to Moloch; and
when it came to be known that the Ifraelites were to build
an houſe to their God, when they ſhould be fettled in their
land, then the heathen nations began to build houfes to
their deities; and Dagon, the god of the Philiftines, had an
houfe, into which the ark of God, when it was taken in
battle, was carried in the days of Elia; but theſe houſes
of their gods were not large until after Solomon's time.
After he had built the temple of Jerufalem, according to
the pattern which David had given him ', foreign kings by
degrees began to copy after him, and endeavoured to build
temples with great fplendor and magnificence; but when
Solomon was to build his temple, it is evident from his own
words that the heathen temples were not near fo large and
magnificent as his defign. The houſe which I build, ſaid he,
is great; for great is our God above all gods. His defign
exceeded all other plans, as the God he worshipped was
fuperior to the heathen idols.
I am fenfible that Dr. Spencer has endeavoured to prove,
that both the Jewiſh tabernacle and temples were erected
in imitation of the places of worſhip made uſe of by the
heathen nations: but whoever ſhall take the pains to con-
fider what this learned writer has offered upon this ſubject,
will be ſurpriſed that he could be fatisfied with ſuch ſlender
proofs in favour of his opinion: but Dr. Spencer's darling
hypothefis, of which what he offers about temples is only
a part, is an unaccountable miſtake for a writer of ſo great
learning to fall into; and what he has produced in the
feveral parts of his laborious work will abundantly prove to
every one, that will take the pains duly to weigh and con-
fider the ſeveral texts of Scripture and authorities cited by
him, that no learning can be fufficient to evince, that the
z Acts vii. 43.
2
1 Sam. v. 2.
b 1 Chronic. xxviii. 11, 12.
C
2 Chron. ii. 5.
Jewish
Book VIII.
479
and Profane Hiftory.
Jewish religion was derived from the cuſtoms and practices
of the heathen nations; but that, on the contrary, moſt of
the citations upon this fubject will evidence, in a much
clearer manner, that a great part of the heathen ceremonies
and practices was introduced into their worſhip and religion,
in imitation of what God had by revelation appointed to his
fervants.
THE
་
>
THE
SACRED AND PROFANE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
CONNECTED.
BOOK IX.
WE left the children of Ifrael under difficulties in Egypt,
diftreffed by all poffible meaſures the king could take to
keep them low. In the time of this affliction Mofes was
born: his mother hid him for three months ; and when ſhe
could not hide him any longer, nor bear the thoughts of
having him thrown into the river, ſhe made a ſort of cheft,
or baſket, put the infant into it, and ſet it amongſt the bul-
ruſhes near the bank of the river, and there left it to God's
providence. The king's daughter came to the river, heard
the child cry, and examined the baſket, and was ftruck
with the fight of the weeping infant, and determined to
preferve it. Mofes's fifter ſtood at fome diſtance to ſee
what would become of him; and upon the princess's being
inclined to take care of him, the mixed with her attendants,
and offered to procure a fit nurſe for the child. The princeſs
liked the propoſal, and the girl hereupon called Mofes's own
mother, and the princeſs put him out to nurſe to her. And
VOL. I.
a Exodus ii. 2
→
thus,
482
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
*
thus, by a wonderful providence, Mofes was preſerved, and
nurfed by his own mother for a time, but afterwards taken
to court, and educated there by the favour of the princeſs.
as her own fon; inftructed in all the learning of the Egyp-
tians, and became a man of great eminence amongſt them;
was made general and leader of their armies, and fought
ſome battles with great conduct and fuccefs. The princeſs
had no children, nor the king her father any male heir;
and it is thought that the adopted Mofes for her fon, and
that her father defigned him to be king of Egypt"; but
Mofes declined this advancement, as a fcheme that would
deprive him and his pofterity of the bleffings which God
had promiſed to the Hebrew nation, who were to be but
ftrangers in Egypt for a time. He had a full belief that
God would make good his promifes to them, and by faith he
refuſed to be called the fon of Pharaoh's daughter. Under a
full perfuafion of the certainty of thoſe things which God
had promiſed, he turned his eye and heart from the crown
of Egypt, to the afflictions of his brethren, and rather
wiſhed that it would pleafe God to have him lead them out
of Egypt to the promiſed land, than to fway the Egyptian
fceptre. He went amongst them daily, and viewed their
condition, and upon feeing an Egyptian fevere with one of
them, he killed him. The next day he found two He-
brews in conteft with one another: he admonished them to
confider that they were brethren, and would have decided
their quarrel; thinking, that they would confider him as a
perfon likely to deliver them out of their bondage, and
b Acts vii. 27.
Jofephus Antiq. Jud. 1. ii. c. 10.
d Jofephus relates, that the princeſs
having no child adopted Mofes, and
brought him whilſt a child to her fa-
ther, and, admiring both the beauty
of his perfon, and the promifing ap-
pearance of a genius in him, wifhed
he would appoint him to be his fuc-
ceffor, if the fhould have no children:
that the king hereupon in a pleaſant
humour put his crown upon the
child's head; and that Mofes took it
off, and laid it upon the ground, and
there played with it, and turned it
about with his feet. One of the
priefts that attended thought his ac-
tions ominous, and was earneſt to
have him killed, as a perſon that
would be fatally mifchievous to the
Egyptian crown: but the princeſs
here again faved him from deftruc-
tion, &c. See Jofephus Antiq. 1. ii. c. 9.
e Gen. xv. 13. xlvi. 4. and 1. 24.
f Hebrews xi. 24.
g Exodus ii. 11, 12. Acts vii. 24.
n Acts vii. 25.
that
Book IX.
483
and Profane Hiftory.
that they would have fubmitted their difference to him:
but they had no fuch thoughts about him; his arbitration
was rejected with contempt, and one of them upbraided
him with his killing the Egyptian. And thus he faw
that the people were not likely to follow his directions if
he fhould attempt to contrive their leaving Egypt: and he
imagined, that his violence to the Egyptian might be
known to Pharaoh; and he found, that his ſpending ſo
much of his time amongst the Hebrews had made his
conduct much fufpected, and that the king had determined
to put him to death; ſo that he thought it prudent to
leave Egypt, and therefore went to Midian to Jethro, the
prieſt and chief inhabitant of that country, and lived with
him as keeper of his flocks, and married one of his daugh-
ters. He continued here forty years. Jethro was per-
haps deſcended from Abraham by Keturah his fecond wife ¹.
Moſes was forty years old when he firſt thought of relieving
the Ifraelites ", and he was forty years in Midian", being
eighty years old when he led the Ifraelites out of Egypt
and the exit of the children of Ifrael out of Egypt will
appear hereafter to be A. M. 2513; fo that Mofes was born
A. M. 2433.
m
Jofephus relates feveral particulars of Mofes, which we
find no hints of in the books of Scripture: he has a large
account of a war with the Ethiopians, in which Moſes was
commander of the Egyptian armies. He reports him to
have befieged Saba, the capital city of Ethiopia, and to
have taken the city, and married Tharbis the king of
Ethiopia's daughter P; and very probably this account of
Jofephus might be one inducement to our Engliſh tranſ-
lators of the Bible to render Numbers xii. 1. And Miriam
and Aaron Spake againſt Mofes, becauſe of the Ethiopian wo-
man whom be bad married; for he had married an Ethiopian
woman. Eufebius gives an hint about the Ethiopians,
which favours this Egyptian war with them, mentioned
i Exodus ii. 14. A&ts vii. 27, 28.
* Exodus ii. 21.
1 Jofephus Antiq. l. ii. c. 11.
n Acts vii. 30.
• Exodus vii. 7.
P Jofephus Antiq. 1. ii. c. 10.
mn Acts vii, 23.
1i2
by
484
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
by Jofephus. He fays, the Ethiopians came and ſettled in
Egypt in the time of Amenophis, and he places Ameno-
phis's reign ſo as to end it about 431 years after Abraham's
birth, i. e. A. M. 2439; fo that, according to this account,
the Ethiopians were a new ſet of people, who planted them-
felves in the parts adjacent to Egypt much about Mofes's
time; and perhaps they might invade fome part of Egypt,
or incommode fome of the inhabitants of it, and fo occafion
the war upon them which Jofephus mentions. According to
Philoftratus, there was no fuch country as Ethiopia beyond
Egypt until this migration; thefe people came, according
to Eufebius, from the river Indus, and planted themſelves
in the parts beyond Egypt fouthward, and fo began the
kingdom, called afterwards the Ethiopian. There are many
hints in feveral ancient writers, which agree to this opinion.
of the Ethiopians near to Egypt being derived from a peo-
ple of that name in the eaſtern countries. Homer mentions
two Ethiopian nations, one placed in the weſtern parts, an-
other in the eaſtern.
Αἰθίοπάς τ' οἳ διχθὰ δεδαίαται, ἔχατοι ἀνδρῶν,
Οἱ μὲν δυσσομένε Ὑπερίονος, οἱ δ᾽ ἀνιόντος. Οdyf. 1. i. 23.
Strabo indeed endeavours to fhew, that the true meaning of
this paffage is generally miftaken, and that Homer did not
intend by it that there were two Ethiopian nations in parts
of the world fo diftant as Egypt and India': but the re-
marks of other writers do, I think, determine Homer's
words to this fenfe more clearly than Strabo's arguments
refute it. Herodotus fays, that there were two Ethiopian
nations, and he places one of them in the eaſtern parts of the
world, and reckons them amongst the Indians, and the
other in the parts near Egypt"; and Apollonius was of
the fame opinion, and fays, that the African Ethiopians
came from India, and he ſuppoſes them to be mafters of
the ancient Indian learning, brought by their forefathers
C. 20.
Eufeb. in Chron. ad Num. 402.
In vit. Apollon. Tyanei, 1. iii.
• In Chron. ubi fup.
t See Strabo, Geog. 1. i. p. 29. ed.
Par. 1620. l. ii. p. 103.
u Herodot. 1. vii. c. 70.
x Argonaut, 1. vi. c. 1, 4, 6.
from
Book IX.
485
and Profane Hiftory.
from India to Ethiopia". Euftathius hints, that the Ethio-
pians came from India. Thus the Ethiopians were a peo-
ple who wandered from their ancient habitations, and ſet-
tled in the parts near Egypt, about the time in which Mofes
lived, and very probably they and the Egyptians might
have ſome contefts about fettling the bounds of their coun-
try, fo as that Egypt might not be invaded by them; and
perhaps Jofephus might have reafon, from ancient remains,
to relate that Mofes was engaged in accommodating this
affair, though it is evident that Jofephus has added to the
account ſome particulars not true. Saba, which Jofephus
ſuppoſes to be the capital city of Ethiopia, was a city of
Arabia, and Mofes did not marry the king of Ethiopia's
daughter, as Jofephus ſuppoſes; but it is eaſy to conjecture
how Jofephus was led into theſe miſtakes. The LXX. in
their tranſlation, which Jofephus was very fond of, render
the land of Cuſh, as our Engliſh tranſlators have done, the
land of Ethiopia; and Jofephus finding that Saba was an
head city in the land of Cuſh or Arabia, taking Cuſh, ac-
cording to the LXX. to be Ethiopia, he ſuppoſed Sãda to
be the capital city of that country; and, perhaps, finding
alſo that Mofes married a Cufhite woman, (which was in-
deed true, for he married the daughter of Jethro the Ara
bian,) here he mistook again, and tranflating Cufh Ethio-
pia, he married Mofes to Tarbis, the king of Ethiopia's
daughter.
:
Whilft Mofes lived in Midian, he is fuppofed to have uſed
the leiſure which he enjoyed there, in writing his Book of
Genefis, and fome writers fay the Book of Job alfo. The
matters treated in both thefe Books were indeed extremely
proper to be laid before the Ifraelites for in one of them
they might have a full and clear view of the hiſtory of
the world, fo far as they were concerned in it; of the crea-
tion of mankind; of their own origin; of the promifes
which God had made to their fathers; fo that it would
give them the beſt account of their condition and expecta-
tions; and in the other, they might fee a very inftructive
z In Dionyf. p. 35.
pattern
y Argonaut. 1. vi. c. 8.
лі 3
486.
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
*
:
pattern of patience and refignation to the will of God, in
the life of a virtuous perfon, led from a great ſhare of
worldly profperity, into the most afflicting circumftances;
and, after a due time of trial, brought back again to
greater proſperity than ever: a ſubject very fit to be repre-
fented to them, when the Egyptian bondage preffed hard
upon them, and they might want, not only to know the
good things which God defigned to give them, but to
have alfo fome fuch particular example as that of Job, to
remind them to poffefs their fouls in patience, until the
time fhould come, that God fhould think fit to end their
troubles. But though the fubject matters contained in
theſe books may very juftly be repreſented to be very
fuitable to the circumstances of the Ifraelites in this junc-
ture, yet I cannot find any other reaſon to think that Moſes
wrote the Book of Job at all, or that he compoſed that of
Genefis at this time. Some authors have imagined, that
the Book of Genefis was compofed laſt of all the five Books
of Mofes but as this opinion is mere conjecture, fo, it
muſt be confeffed, is all that can be faid about the precife
time of his writing any of them. As to the Book of Job,
there are many opinions amongst the learned about the
writer of it; but none of them fo well fupported with ar-
guments, as to leave no room to doubt in our admitting it.
What ſeems most probable is, that Job himſelf, who could
beſt tell all the circumſtances of his condition, and of what
paffed in the conferences which he had with his friends,
did, fome time before he died, leave a written account of it;
but that the Book of Job, which we now have, is not the
very account which was written by Job, but that fome in-
fpired writer, who lived later than his days, compoſed it
from the memoirs left by him. The prefent Book of Job
is, the greateſt part of it, written in verfe; and I fuppofe no
one will imagine, that poetry was attempted fo early as the
days of Job. Some later hand muft put what Job left
into the meaſure, which was thought fuitable to fuch a
ſubject; but whether this was done by the hand of Moſes,
or Solomon, or fome other of the infpired writers of the
Old Teftament, no one can determine; though I fhould
think
Book IX.
487
and Profane Hiftory.
think it ſeems most probable, that it was not done fo early
as the days of Moſes.
St. Jerome informs us 2, that the verfe of the Book of
Job is heroic. From the beginning of the Book to the
third chapter, he fays, is profe; but from Job's words, Let
the day perifh wherein I was born", &c. unto theſe words,
Wherefore I abbor myſelf, and repent in duft and afbes, are
hexameter verſes, confifting of dactyls and ſpondees, like
the Greek verſes of Homer, or the Latin of Virgil. Maria-
nus Victorius, in his note upon this paffage of St. Jerome,
fays, that he has examined the Book of Job, and finds St.
Jerome's obfervation to be true. I have endeavoured myſelf
to make trial, but cannot fay that I find the experiment to
anſwer exactly to their account. I cannot make the words
run into hexameter verfes only, but fhould rather think
every other line to be a pentameter. If the reader will
put the Hebrew words into Latin characters, making due
allowance for the difficulty of expreffing the Hebrew founds
in our letters, he may perhaps admit, that the third, fourth,
and part of the fifth verſe of the third chapter of Job, to
the end of theſe words, Let darkneſs and the fbador of death
ftain it, runs, in the following words, according to the mea-
fure fubjoined under them.
Jobad Jom ivvalæd bo ve ba Lailah Amar
Carah gaber baijom babua jebi chofbek
Al jidrefbu eloab Mimnal ve al topan alaiv
Nabrab jegalbu chofbek vetzlemaveb tefbecon
I cannot be pofitive, that I have exactly hit the true ſpelling
of the Hebrew words, but I cannot be far from it; and I
think that I could ſo write what follows in the Book of Job,
as to make it fall into this fort of verfe and meafure; and
the experiment would, I believe, fucceed always in like
manner, if tried any where with the words in this Book,
a Præfat. in Lib. Job.
b Job iii. 3.
114
c Job xlii. 6.
beginning
488
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
beginning with chap. iii. 3. and ending at chap. xlii. 7.
only the ſeveral fentences, which direct us to the ſeveral
ſpeakers, fuch as thefe; Moreover the Lord anfwered Job,
and faid, chap. xl. 1. Elihu alfo proceeded, and faid, chap.
xxxvi. 1. Elibu pake moreover, and faid, chap. xxxv. 1.
Then Job anfwered, and faid, chap. xxiii. 1. all theſe, and
fuch other ſentences as theſe, which occur in many places,
to inform us who is the ſpeaker, or to connect different
ſpeeches and argumentations, are in profe, and not in verſe.
At what time this fort of verfe began is very uncertain, but
perhaps not altogether fo early as the days of Moſes.
Heroic verſe was wrote with great exactneſs in the times
of Homer, and the meaſure was then adjusted to a greater
ſtrictneſs, than obtained when this Book of Job was com-
poſed for St. Jerome very justly remarks, that the verſes
in the Book of Job do not always confift of dactyls and
ſpondees, but that other feet frequently occur inſtead of
them; and that we often meet in them a word of four fylla-
bles ª, inſtead of a dactyl or ſpondee, and that the meaſure
of the verſes frequently differs in the number of the fyllables
of the feveral feet; but allowing two fhort fyllables to be
equal to one long one, the fums of the meaſure of the
verſes are always the fame. This incorrectneſs of meaſure
evidently hints this poem to be much more ancient than
Homer; for before his times this liberty was laid afide.
The mixture of the fhort verſes agrees very well to Horace's
obfervation,
d
Verfibus impariter junctis querimonia primume.
Melancholy accidents and unfortunate calamities were at
firſt the peculiar fubjects treated of in this fort of verſe :
d Propter linguæ idioma crebro re-
cipiunt alios pedes, non earundem
fyllabarum, fed eorundem temporum.
Hieron. Præfat. in Lib. Job. Ego in-
veni-effe in Job hexametros verſus ex
fpondeo, dactylo et aliis pedibus, ut
trochæo, iambo, et proceleufmatico
currentes: non enim fyllabarum, fed
temporum in iis habetur ratio, ut,
fcilicet, duæ breves pro una fyllaba
longa ponantur; nam et proceleuf-
maticum, hoc eft, quatuor breves pro
dactylo, qui ex una longa et duabus
brevibus conftat, poni omnes fciunt,
quod eadem ratione in fpondæo etiam
fit apud Job. Marian. Victor. Not. in
Præfat. Hieron, in Lib. Job.
c Horat. Lib. de Arte Poetica, v. 75.
but
Book IX.
489
and Profane Hiftory.
but as we know not who was the inventor of elegiac verſe,
ſo we cannot gueſs from hence at what time to fix the com-
pofing this elegiac poem.
It will perhaps be faid, that we are fo uncertain about
the true pronunciation of the Hebrew tongue, and that the
fame Hebrew word may be fo differently written in our
modern letters, according to the fancy of the writer, that it
is pretty eaſy to make an Hebrew fentence fall into any
meaſure, and bear the reſemblance of any fort of verſe,
which we have a mind to call it. But to this I anſwer, any
one that makes the experiment will not find this to be
true: let any one try to reduce the words of the fong of
Mofes & to this meaſure of the verſe in Job, or let him try
to reduce the fong of Deborah and Barak ", and any part of
Job, to one and the fame meaſure, and he will preſently
fee an irreconcileable difference in the ftructure of the words
and fyllables, fufficient to convince him, that any Hebrew ſen-
tence cannot be made appear to be any verſe, according to
the fancy of the reader. Upon the whole, in the Book of
Job, the words do fo naturally fall into the meaſures I have
hinted, and the ſhort verfe does fo commonly end a period
in ſenſe, that, though I cannot deny but that any other
perfon, who might take a fancy to write over any number
of the verſes in Job in our letters, might probably ſpell the
words differently, nay, and perhaps fometimes meaſure the
particular feet of fome verfes differently from me; yet ftill
I am apt to think that no one could bring the whole, or a
confiderable part of the Book, to bear ſo remarkable an ap-
pearance of this meaſure, as it evidently may be made to
exhibit, if it really was not a poem of this fort; eſpecially
when other parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, which are not
of this compofure, can by no way of writing be reduced to
ſeem to have fuch a refemblance. But however, I can by
no means pretend to any thing more than conjecture upon
fo nice a fubje&t. St. Jerome has given an hint; I have
endeavoured to examine how far it may be true. I acknow-
f Quis tamen exiguos elegos emiferit
au&or
Grammatici certant, et adhuc fub judice
lis eft. Hor. de Art. Poet. v. 77.
g Exodus xv.
b Judges v.
ledge,
490
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
ledge, that many writers have been of opinion, that the
Book of Job is not compoſed in this fort of meaſure, and I
muſt entirely ſubmit their opinion, St. Jerome's, and what
I have ventured to offer, to the judgment of the reader.
Mofes is by St. Stephen faid to have been learned in all
the learning of the Egyptians. The facred writings bear
abundant teſtimony to the Egyptian learning, both in theſe
and in fucceeding ages. As St. Stephen thought it re-
markable in Mofes's times; fo we find it was as famous in
the days of Solomon, of whom it was faid, that his wisdom
excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and
all the wifdom of Egypt. Agreeably to which fentiment
of the eaſtern and Egyptian learning, all the ancient pro-
fane writers ſuppoſe theſe countries to have been the ſeats
of learning in the early ages. It may not be improper to
enquire what the Egyptian learning in the days of Mofes
might be. Sir John Marſham puts the queſtion thus; what
was this learning of the Egyptians, when the ſecond Mer-
cury had not deciphered the remains of Thyoth? By this
query, this learned gentleman feems to have been of opi-
nion, that the Egyptian learning was but in a low ſtate in
theſe days; and it may be thought very reaſonable to ima-
gine, that when the Paſtor kings broke in upon Egypt, and,
having enflaved the country, forced the priests to fly into
other nations, as has been faid, ſuch a revolution might
probably put a ſtop to the progreſs of their arts and learn-
ing; but it is not likely that it fhould altogether fupprefs
and extirpate them. The tillage of the ground made the
ſtudy of aſtronomy abſolutely neceffary, in order for their
knowing from the lights of heaven the times and ſeaſons
for the feveral parts of agriculture; and the nature of their
country, overflowed yearly by the Nile, made it of continual
uſe to them to ftudy land-meaſuring and geometry ™. And
though feveral of the priests might fly from the Paftors,
iActs vii. 22.
k 1 Kings iv. 30.
1 Marfham, Can. Chron. p. 137. ed.
.1672.
1η Γεωμετρίαν δὲ καὶ τὴν ᾿Αριθμητικὴν ἐπὶ
πλεῖον ἐκπονᾶσιν· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ποταμὸς καὶ
ἐνιαυτὸν ποικίλως μετασχηματίζων τὴν
χώραν, πολλὰς καὶ παντοίας ἀμφισβητήσεις
ποιεῖ περὶ τῶν ὅρων τοῖς γειτνιῶσι, Diodor.
Sic. 1. i. §. 80.
upon
Book IX.
491
and Profane Hiftory.
upon their invading the land, yet doubtlefs they muſt en-
courage a great many to ſtay amongst them for the public
good, and to cultivate and carry on the Egyptian ſtudies,
which foreign nations had fo high an opinion of, and moſt
probably were not entirely ftrangers to. It is not indeed to
be fuppofed, that the Egyptians had thus early carried the
ſtudy of aſtronomy or geometry to a great height: they
had obferved, as well as they could, the times of the rifing
and ſetting of fome particular ſtars, and they had acquired
fuch a knowledge of geometry, as gave them the reputa-
tion of being very learned, in compariſon of other nations
who had not proceeded fo far as the Egyptians in theſe
ſtudies: but if we confider that the Egyptians did not as
yet apprehend the year to confift of more than 360 days,
and that Thales was the firft who attempted to foretel an
eclipfe", and that both Thales and Pythagoras, many ages
after thefe times, were thought to have made vaft improve-
ments in geometry, beyond all that they had learned in
Egypt; the one by his invention of the forty-feventh pro-
pofition of the firſt Book of Euclid; the other, by his finding
out how to infcribe a rectangled triangle within a circle;
we muſt think, that neither aftronomy nor geometry were
as yet carried to any great perfection. The diftinction
which Plato made between ᾿Αγρονόμος and 'Αςρονομῶντας P,
may not be improper to be had in mind, when we treat of
theſe early aſtronomers or geometricians. They compiled
regiſters of the appearances of the ſtars and lights of heaven,
took accounts of the weather and feafons that followed their
feveral obfervations, recorded the beft times of fowing or
reaping this or that grain; and, by the experimental learn-
ing and obfervation of many years, became able prognofti-
cators of the weather, of the ſeaſons, and good directors for
the tillage of the ground; and in geometry they found
out methods of marking out and defcribing the feveral parts
of their country, and probably were exceeding careful in
making draughts of the flow and ebb of the river Nile every
A Laert. in vit, Thalet. Seg. 23. Cic.
de Divin. l. i. Plin. l. iì, c. 12.
Laert. ubi fup.
P Plat. in Epinomide.
9 Diodor. Sic. 1. i. §. 8o.
year;
492
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
year; for they formed many theories and ſpeculations from
their obfervations made upon it'. We may fay of their
ſkill in theſe ſciences, what Plutarch faid of Numa's aftro-
nomy; it was not fuch as would have been extolled in
ages of greater learning, but it was confiderable for the
times which they lived in. One part of the Egyptian learn-
ing undoubtedly confifted in phyfiology, or in the ſtudy of
the traditions, which their learned men had amaffed toge-
ther, about the creation of the world. Of thefe I fhould
imagine the Egyptians had a very rich ftore'; and the
commenting upon theſe, and forming notions of the natural
powers of the feveral parts of the univerfe, according to
their maxims, and way of thinking, was undoubtedly one
great part of that philofophy, in which their men of learning
exerciſed themfelves ". Before Mofes's time the Egyptian
aftronomy had led them into idolatry: Syphis, of whom I
have formerly treated, had taught them to worſhip the lu-
minaries of heaven; and, from his times, a great part of the
Egyptian learning confifted in finding out the influence
which theſe bodies had upon the world. They turned their
learning this way, and formed and faſhioned their religion
according to it. Herodotus tells us, that the Egyptians firſt
found out what deity prefided over each day of the week,
and every month of the year*. Clemens Alexandrinus ſays,
that they introduced the ufe of aftrology; Dion Caffius,
that they fuppofed the feven planets to govern the ſeven
days of the week; and Cicero, that by the obfervation of
the motion of the ſtars, through a ſeries of a prodigious
number of years, they had got the art of foretelling things
to come, and knowing what fate any perſon was born to ª.
Philaftrius Brixienfis ſuppoſes this particular ſcience to be
the invention of the Egyptians, and intimates it to have
been begun very early, by his fuppofing Hermes to be the
• See Plut. de Ifide et Ofiride.
3 Ἥψατο δὲ καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸν ἐρανὸν πραγ
ματείας, ἔτε ἀκριβῶς ἔτε παντάπασιν
aDewgrws. Plut. in Numa, p. 71. ed.
Par. 1624.
* See Diod. Sic. 1. i. Pref. to Vol. I.
"Strabo, 1. xvii.
x Herodot. 1. ii. c. 82.
y Stromat. 1. i. c. 16.
z Dion Caffius, lib. xxxvi. p. 37.
ed. Leuncl. Hanov. 1606.
a Cic. de Divinat. l. i. c. 1.
author
Book IX.
493
and Profane Hiftory.
A
e
author of it; for the invention of all arts and fciences,
which were reputed truly ancient, was afcribed to Her-
mes. Necepfos, who, according to Eufebius, reigned in
Egypt about the time that Tullus Hoftilius governed Rome,
was a great improver of the ancient Egyptian magic d; but
it is evident, that the ftudy and practice of it began before
Mofes's time, both in Egypt, and in the neighbouring na-
tions. The caution which Mofes gave the Ifraelites fhews
evidently, that the idolatrous nations then had their pro-
feffors of theſe arts, known by various denominations. They
had diviners, obfervers of times, enchanters, witches, charm-
ers, confulters with familiar fpirits, wizards, necromancers ';
and Balaam was ſkilful in enchantments, and may probably be
ſuppoſed to have built ſeven altars according to the Egyp-
tian fyftem, which fuppofed the feven planets to prefide
over the ſeven days of the week §. Seven bullocks and
ſeven rams might be a proper offering in his days to be
made to the true God; but the dividing it upon ſeven al-
tars implies an offering to more divinities than one, and
feems to have been one of the practices by which he went
to feek for enchantments. We may come up higher, and
find earlier mention of thefe artificers. Pharaoh had his
wife men, forcerers, and magicians of Egypt, who pre-
tended to work wonders with their enchantments k; and
divination was reputed an art, and a cup uſed in the exer-
ciſe of it in the days of Joſeph'; and, in his time, the kings
of Egypt had their magicians to interpret dreams m. All
theſe were arts that, in thefe days, were ftudied with great
application in the idolatrous nations; and without doubt
a great part of the learning of the Egyptians confifted in
the ftudy of them and I cannot fee why we may not ſup-
poſe, that Moſes, as he had an Egyptian education, was ac-
cording to their courfe of difcipline inftructed in them.
Philo indeed obſerves of him, that in all his ftudies he kept
:
b Hæref, n. x. See Marfham, Can.
Chron. p. 448.
• Jamblichus de Myfter. Egypt.
d Aufonius, Ep. 19.
e Deut. xviii, 10, 11-
£ Ibid.
€ Numbers xxiii. 1.
h Job xlii. 8.
i Numbers xxiv. 1.
k Exodus vii. viii.
1 Gen. xliv. 5.
m Gen. xli. 8.
his
494
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
his mind free from every falſe bias, and fincerely endea-
voured to find out the truth in all his enquiries". A happy
difpofition this, which the moft learned are often very great
ftrangers to for it is not abundance of literature which
gives this temper; but it rather arifes from a virtuous and
undefigning heart.
Many writers have imagined the magic of the heathen
world, their oracles, interpretations of dreams, prodigies,
omens, and divinations, to have been cauſed by a commu-
nication of their prophets, priefts, and diviners, with evil
ſpirits. They fuppofe, that as God was pleaſed to inſpire
his true prophets; to give figns and work wonders for his
fervants; to warn them by dreams, or to reveal to them
his will: fo the Devil and his angels affected to imitate
theſe particular favours, vouchſafed to good and virtuous
men, and gave oracles, omens, figns, dreams, and vifions, to
delude their fuperftitious votaries. When the heathens
came to worſhip hero-gods, and to ſuppoſe the world to be
governed by genii, or ſpirits of an higher nature than men,
but inferior to the Deity; then indeed they aſcribed oracles,
omens, figns, dreams, and vifions to the miniſtry of ſuch
fpirits, entrusted with the government of this lower world.
This opinion is well expreffed by one of Plutarch's dif-
putants; and it was eſteemed to be true by Plato and his
followers ; and many of the Fathers of the Chriftian
Church afcribed the divination of the heathens to the
affiftance of their dæmons: but we have no reaſon to think
any opinion of this fort to have obtained in the firſt ages of
idolatry, or to have appeared fo early as the times of Moſes.
We meet with no names of any heathen diviners, men-
tioned in the facred writings in thefe early days, which
imply any converſe with fuch fpirits. There are indeed
two which may feem to imply it; but if we rightly tranflate
P
η Αφιλονείκως τὰς ἔριδας ὑπερβὰς, τὴν
ἀλήθειαν ἐπεζήτει, μηδὲν ψεῦδος της δια
νοίας αὐτὰ παραδέχεσθαι δυναμένης, ὡς ἔθος
Tois aigeσioμáxois. Philo Jud. lib. i. de
Vita Mofis, p. 606. ed. Par. 1640.
• Τὸ μὲν ἐφεσᾶναι τοῖς χρησηρίοις μὴ
θεός, οἷς ἀπηλάχθαι τῶν περὶ γῆν προσ-
ἧκόν έσιν, ἀλλὰ δαίμονας ὑπηρέτας θεῶν,
& donei poi nanãs äğısoda. Plut. de
Orac. Defectu, p. 418. ed. Xyl. Par.
1624.
P Plato in Sympof. in Epinomide;
in Timæo; in Phædro; in Ione ; &c.
the
Book IX.
495*
and Profane Hiftory.
the original words for them, we fhall fee that they have no
fuch meaning we mention confulters with familiar fpirits,
and necromancers, amongst the heathen diviners, againſt
whom Mofes cautioned the Ifraelites 9. Our Engliſh ex-
preffion, confulter with familiar Spirits, ſeems to fignify one
that divined by the help of fuch ſpirit; but the Hebrew
words [18] Shoel Aobv, are two perfons; Shoel is the
confulter, Aobʊ is the diviner. Our Engliſh tranſlators
have generally miffed the true fenfe of this expreffion. We
tranſlate, A man or a woman that bath a familiar fpirit, or
that is a wizard, fhall furely be put to death: by this tranf-
lation, a man or woman that bad a familiar fpirit, ſeems to
be one fort of diviner, as a wizard is another; but the true
tranflation of the Hebrew words is as follows. A man or a
woman, if there shall have been with them [i. e. if they fhall
have confulted] an Aobv or an Tiddnoni, [i. e. a python, or a
wizard,] fhall be put to death: here the Aobu is the diviner,
and does not fignify a familiar ſpirit in a perfon, poffeffing
him, as our Engliſh tranſlation feems to intimate: and that
the word Aoby is to be taken in this fenfe, is abundantly
evident from another paffage in this Book of Leviticus; the
words are, Al tipbnu el ba Aobvotb, veel ka liddnonim: al te-
bakkeſhu letameah babem. i. e. Ye fhall not have regard to
the pythons, or to the wizards: ye shall not make enquiries to the
polluting of yourſelves by them. Here it is very plain, that
Aoby does not fignify a spirit in a perfon, but is one fort of
diviner, of whom the Ifraelites were not to enquire; as
Iddnoni, the word tranſlated wizard, is another: and who-
ever compares our English verfion of this verfe with the
Hebrew words, muft fee that our tranflators wandered from
the ftrict fenfe of the original text, to exprefs their notion.
of familiar fpirits. I have tranflated the Hebrew word Aobv,
python; if it was a woman diviner it ſhould be pythoniſſa;
the Greek word is éyyasgíμudos"; and that the diviners of
q Deut. xviii. 10, 11.
r Leviticus xx. 27.
אל-האבת ואל- s אל תפנו
הידענים אל תבקשו לטמאה בהם
Levit. xix. 31.
The vulgar Latin, the LXX. the
Targum of Onkelos, the Samaritan,
Syriac, and Arabic verfions, render
the paffage as I have, and the Hebrew
words cannot fairly bear a different
tranfiation.
• Verf. LXX.
this
496
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
this fort were anciently thought to anſwer thoſe that con-
ſulted them, without the affiſtance of any dæmon, or familiar
fpirit, is evident from Plutarch. Our Engliſh tranſlators
render Dorefb el ba methim, necromancers; the vulgar Latin
tranflates it quærens a mortuis, the LXX. TEρTY Tès Vexpás.
I muſt acknowledge, that all the tranſlations, and the Tar-
gum of Onkelos, take the words in the ſame ſenſe, and in-
terpret them to fignify confulters of departed fpirits; and
by the marginal reference in our Engliſh Bibles we are di-
rected at this word to 1 Sam. xxviii. 7. as if the woman
at Endor, to whom Saul went to raife Samuel, were a Dorefb
et bamethim, though ſhe is there faid to be a pythoniſſa; and
the python, or pythoniſſa, is here in Deuteronomy mentioned
as a diviner of a different fort from the Dores el hamethim;
or, as we render it, necromancer. The feveral tranſlations
which we have of the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as the
Targum of Onkelos, were all made much later than the
time of deifying the fouls of heroes; and very probably
the prevailing opinion amongſt the heathens, at the time of
making theſe tranſlations, being, that fuch departed fpirits
were in this manner propitious unto men, this might occa-
fion the tranflators to think, that the words might be ren-
dered as they have tranflated them: but it ſhould have
been confidered, that the notion of hero-gods aroſe later
than the times of Mofes, and the words Doreſb el hamethim
may rather fignify one that enquires of the dead idols, which
the heathens had fet up in the nations round about the
Ifraelites, in oppofition to thofe who fought only to the
living God. As in after-ages, the heathens believed the
world to be governed by genii, hero-ſpirits, or dæmons, by
the appointment of the Deity; fo in theſe earlier and firſt
ages of idolatry, they worshipped only the lights of heaven,
and the elements; allowing indeed a fupreme Deity, but
thinking theſe all to have intelligence, and to be appointed
* Εὐηθὲς γάρ ἐσι και παιδικὸν κομιδῆ τὸ
οἴεσθαι τὸν Θεὸν αὐτὸν, ὥσπερ τὰς ἐγε
γατριμύθες, Εὐροκλέας πάλαι νυνὶ Πύ
θωνας προσαγορευομένας, ἐνδυόμενον εἰς τὰ
σώματα προφητῶν ὑποφθέγγεσθαι, &ς.
Plut. de Defectu Orac. p. 414. ed. Xyl,
Par. 1624. Vid. Cic. de Divin. 1. i.
c. 19.
y Deut. xviii. 11.
by
Book IX.
497
and Profane Hiftory.
by him to govern the world 2. And as, when the opinion
of dæmons and hero-fpirits prevailed, all prophecy, dreams,
prodigies, and divinations of all forts, were referred to them ;
ſo, in theſe earlier times, before men had proceeded to fet
up hero-deities, and to worship dæmons, when the lights of
heaven and elements were the objects of their worſhip, it
was thought reaſonable to imagine, that the fun, moon,
and ſtars, by their natural influence upon the air, earth, and
water, did frequently cauſe vapours and influences, which
might affect the minds of perfons, who by due art and pre-
paration were fit for divination, fo as to enable them to
foretel things to come, to deliver oracles; nay, and they
thought a proper difcipline might make them capable of
working wonders, or procuring prodigies; and all theſe
things they conceived might be done without the Deity
being at all concerned in them. They did not indeed
deny that God fometimes interpofed; they acknowledged
him to be the great Author of all miracles, figns, wonders,
dreams, prophecies, and vifions, whenever he thought fit:
but they believed alſo that they might and would be ef-
fected without his interpofition; either from fate, mean-
ing hereby the natural courſe of things, which God had
pointed to proceed in the univerſe; that is, they thought
that God had fo framed the feveral parts of the mundane
fyftem, that from the revolution of the heavenly bodies,
and the temperament and fituation of the earth, air, and
water; or, in general, from the difpofition of the feveral
z Mundum-habere mentem, quæ
fe et ipfum fabricatum fit, et omnia
moderetur, moveat, regat: erit perfua-
fum etiam folem, lunam, ftellas om-
nes, terram, mare, Deos effe, quod
quædam animalis intelligentia per om-
nia ea permeet et tranfeat. Cic. Acad.
Qu. 1. iv. c. 37. Confentaneum eft in
iis fenfum ineffe et intelligentiam, ex
quo efficitur in Deorum numero aſtra
effe ducenda. Id. de Nat. Deorum, 1. ii.
c. 15.
a Plutarch. lib. de Defectu Oracu-
lorum.
b Cumque magna vis videretur in
monftris procurandis in harufpicum
VOL. I.
ap-
difciplina. Cic. de Divinat. 1. i. c. 2.
Natura fignificari futura fine Deo
poffunt. Id. ibid. c. 6.
d Primum, ut mihi videtur, a Deo,
deinde a fato, deinde a natura vis om-
nis divinandi, ratioque repetenda eft.
Id. ibid. c. 55.
e Fatum eft non id quod fuperſti-
tiofe, fed quod phyfice dicitur caufa
æterna rerum. Id. ibid. Deum-inter-
dum neceffitatem appellant, quia nihil
aliter poffit, atque ab eo conſtitutum
fit. 12. Acad. Quæft. 1. iv. c. 44. Tí
πωλύσει της το Διός ΕΙΜΑΡΜΕΝΗΣ καὶ
προνοίας ὑπηκίες πάντας εἶναι ; Plutarch.
1. de Defect. Orac. p. 426.
Kk
parts
498
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
parts of the univerſe to, and influence upon, one another,
prodigies, omens, figns, dreams, vifions, and oracles, would
conſtantly, at the proper places and feafons, be given as
neceffarily as the heavenly bodies performed their revo-
lutions; and that men might, by long obfervation and ex-
perience, form rules for the rightly interpreting and under-
ſtanding of what the Deity had thus appointed to be difco-
vered to them f; or, they ſaid, that theſe things might be
effected in a natural way, i. e. by the uſe of natural means
proper to produce them. We are told by one of Plutarch's
diſputants, that the earth emits vapours and powerful effluvia
of ſeveral forts, and fome of fuch a nature as to cauſe men
to divine, if they be in a proper temper of mind to be af-
fected by them; and the Pythia at Delphos is ſuppoſed,
in Cicero, to have been inſpired from ſuch an influence of
the earth affecting her. In Plutarch it is remarked, that
ſometimes the natural temper of the air did cauſe in the pro-
phet the proper difpofition to receive the vaticinal influence;
at other times, that the vates did diſpoſe themſelves for it,
by drinks and inebriations. When the vaticinal influence
operated upon the mind, by the conveyance of the air,
without any artificial affiftance, then they faid the vatici-
nation proceeded from fate, becauſe it proceeded from the
natural courſe of things, or order of nature, which God
had appointed to go on in the univerfe; but if a drink, or
any other artificial means, were uſed, then they ſaid the va-
ticination came a natura, or from the uſe of means which
f Principio Affyrii-trajectiones mo-
tufque ftellarum obfervaverunt, qui-
bus notatis, quid cuique fignificaretur
memoriæ prodiderunt-Chaldæi-diu-
turna obfervatione fiderum, fcientiam
putantur effeciffe, ut prædici poffet
quid cuique eventurum, et quo quif-
que fato natus effet. Eandem artem
etiam Ægyptii longinquitate tempo-
rum innumerabilibus pæne feculis
confecuti putantur. Cic. de Divin. 1. i.
c. i. Atque hæc, ut ego arbitror, re-
rum magis eventis moniti quam ra-
tione docti probaverunt. Ibid, c. 3. Ob-
fervata funt hæc tempore immenſo, et
in fignificatione eventus animadverſa
et notata; nihil eft autem, quod non
longinquitas temporum, excipiente me-
moria, prodendifque monumentis, effi-
cere atque affequi poffit. Ibid. c. 7.
Affert autem vetuftas omnibus in re-
bus longinqua obfervatione incredibi-
lem fcientiam; quæ poteft effe etiam
fine motu atque impulfu Deorum,
cum quid ex quoque eveniat, et quid
quamque rem fignificet, crebra ani-
madverfione perfpectum fit. Ibid. c. 49.
g Plutarch. de Def. Oracul. p. 432.
ed. Xyl. Par. 1624.
h De Divinat. 1. i. c. 19.
i Plutarch. ubi fup.
were
Book IX.
499
and Profane Hiftory.
were thought to have a natural power to produce it. Thefe
were the notions which learning and fcience, falfely fo called,
introduced into the heathen world. Their kings and learned
men did indeed know God, but they did not retain him fo
ftrictly in their knowledge as they ought to have done, but
fet up other deities befides and inſtead of him. They
thought, that the fun, moon, ſtars, and elements were ap-
pointed to govern the world; and though they acknow-
ledged that God might', upon extraordinary occafions,
work miracles, reveal his will by audible voices, divine ap-
pearances, dreams, or prophecies; yet they thought alſo,
that, generally ſpeaking, oracles were given, prodigies
caufed, dreams of things to come occafioned, in a natural
way, by the influence or obfervation of the courfes of the
heavenly bodies, and by the operations of the powers of
nature. And they conceived that their learned profeffors,
by a deep ftudy of, and profound enquiry into, natural
knowledge, could make themſelves able to work wonders,
obtain oracles and omens, and interpret dreams; and in all
theſe particulars they thought the Deity not concerned,
but that they were mere natural effects of the influence of
the elements and planets, feeming ftrange and unaccount-
able to the vulgar and unlearned, but fully understood by
perfons of ſcience and philofophy.
That this was Pharaoh's fenfe of things, when Mofes
wrought his wonders in Egypt, is remarkably evident from
the uſe he made of his magicians upon the occafion: when
Mofes and Aaron came to him, to require him in the name
of their God to let the Ifraelites go, he aſked them to fhew
a miracle, that he might know that they were really fent
upon a divine miffion": here he acknowledged, according
to what I remarked from Tully, that God by an extraor-
dinary interpofition could work miracles"; but when Aa-
ron's rod was turned into a ferpent, he fent for his forcerers
and magicians, to fee if they could with their enchantments
cauſe ſuch a tranfmutation; and, upon finding that they
k Cic. Acad. Quæft. 1. iv. C. 34.
1 Id. de Divinat. 1. i. c. 55.
m Exodus vii. 9, 10.
n Primum a Deo vis omnis et divi-
nandi repetenda eft ratio. Cic. ubi
Sup.
Kk 2
could,
500
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
:
could, he thought it no real miracle, and refuſed to let
the people go in the ſame manner the magicians brought
up frogs; and from hence Pharaoh concluded, that the
plague of frogs did not ariſe from any extraordinary divine
interpofition. The fame obfervation may be made upon the
river's being turned into blood; but when the magicians.
tried, and could not produce lice, then they concluded that
this was the finger of God P. Thus the trial of the magicians'
ſkill was to bring Mofes's wonders to the teft, in order to
diſcover whether they were effected by human art, or by
the divine affiſtance; and fhews evidently, that the prevailing
opinion amongſt the learned at this time was, that wonders,
prodigies, divinations, &c. might be procured, as I have
remarked, fine Deo, without the Deity's being concerned
in caufing them, and that either a fato, or a natura; by
the uſe of natural means or enchantments to cauſe them,
which artifices Pharaoh's magicians uſed to this purpoſe ;
or from the planetary or elementary powers at ſet times and
critical junctures of their influence: and I might, I think,
add, that when Pharaoh was convinced that Mofes's mira-
cles were not wrought by any magical arts or incantations,
he ſtill heſitated, whether they might not happen from
fome influence of the planets or elements, which Mofes, as
a mafter of their learning, might well know the times of,
and thereby be able to denounce what would come in its
place and feaſon; and, in order to take away all poffibility
of fuch fufpicion, Mofes feveral times gave Pharaoh liberty
to chooſe what time he would have the plagues removed
when he defired it, that he might know that God alone
was the author of them, and that they were brought, and by
his power might be removed, in any hour, and at any ſeaſon,
• See Philo Jud. de vita Mofis, 1. i.
We may apply here what is ſaid of
Pharaoh upon the river's being turned
into blood; when he faw the ma-
gicians do fo with their enchantments,
he did not fet his heart to this mira-
cle, i. e. he did not regard it. Exodus
vii. 23.
P Exodus viii. 19.
Cic. ubi fup.
r Cic. ubi fup.
s I fhould imagine, that the divi-
nation by drinking out of a cup, hinted
at Gen. xliv. 5. was of the fame fort
with the fuppofed natural way of di-
vining by drinking, which is fug-
gefted in Plutarch, lib. de Defect.
Orac. ubi fup.
Exodus viii. 9, 10. ix. 5, 18.
without
Book IX
501
and Profane Hiftory.
without regard to the ftars or elements, their temper, in-
fluence, or fituation. Thefe, I think, were the arts in which
the learned men of Egypt chiefly exerciſed themſelves; and
undoubtedly Mofes had a full inftruction in all parts of their
learning, though, as Philo remarks of him, he preſerved
himſelf from being impofed upon by their errors and idola-
try; he made himſelf a complete maſter of every thing ex-
cellent in their difcipline, and rejected what would have
corrupted his religion, under a falfe fhew of improving his
underſtanding.
y
There are other ſciences generally eſteemed to have been
parts of the Egyptian learning: one of their moſt early kings
is ſuppoſed to have been very famous for his ſkill in phyſic,
and to have left confiderable memoirs of his art for the in-
ftruction of future ages; and his remains upon this fubject
were carefully preferved along with their most valuable mo-
numents, and were with the greateſt diligence ſtudied by
poſterity": we read of the Egyptian phyſicians in the days
of Joſeph *; and Diodorus repreſents them as an order of
men not only very ancient in Egypt, but as having a full
employment, in continually giving phyfic to the people,
not to cure, but to prevent their falling into distempers :
Herodotus fays much the fame thing, and repreſents the
ancient Egyptians as living under a continual courfe of
phyfic, undergoing ſo rough a regimen for three days toge-
ther every month, that I cannot but fufpect fome miſtake
both in his and Diodorus's account of them in this parti-
cular: Herodotus allows them to have lived in a favourable
climate, and to have been a healthy people 2, which feems
hardly confiftent with fo much medicinal difcipline as he
imagined them to go through almoſt without interruption.
The first mention we have of phyficians in the facred pages
fhews indeed that there was fuch a profeffion in Egypt in
u See Vol. I. B. iv. Syncell. p. 54.
ed. Par. 1652. Clem. Alex. Strom. 1.
vi. c. 4.
x Gen. 1. 2.
γ Τὰς νόσος προκαταλαμβανόμενοι θεο
ραπεύεσι τὰ σώματα κλυσμοῖς, καὶ ποτίμοις
εισὶ καθαρτηρίοις * νησείαις καὶ ἐμέτοις,
ἐνίοτε μὲν καθ' ἑκάσην ἡμέραν, ἐνίοτε δὲ
τρεῖς ἢ τέτταρας ἡμέρας διαλείποντες.
Diodor. 1. i. c. 82.
Συρμαΐζεσι τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἐφεξῆς μέλο
νὸς ἑκάτε, ἐμέτοισι θηρώμενοι τὴν ὑγιείην.
Herodot, l. ii. c. 77.
K k 3
a Id. ibid.
Joſeph's
502
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
Joſeph's time, and Jacob was their patient: but their em-
ployment was to embalm him after he was dead; we do
not read, that any care was taken to give him phyfic whilft
alive; which inclines me to ſuſpect, that the Egyptians
had no practice for the cure of the diſeaſes of a fick bed in
theſe days. We read of no fick perfons in the early ages:
the diſeaſes of Egypt, which the Ifraelites had been afraid
ofc, (if by theſe Mofes meant any other diſeaſes, than the
boils inflicted upon Pharaoh and his people,) were fuch as
they had no cure for ; and any other fickneffes were then
ſo little known, that they had no names for them f. Men
lived temperately in the early times, their conftitutions were
ſtrong and good, and they were rarely fick until nature was
worn out; and age and mortality could have no cure: an
early death was fo unuſual, that it was generally remarked
to be a puniſhment for fome extraordinary wickedneſs ; and
diſeaſes were thought not to come in the ordinary courſe of
nature, but to be inflicted by the Deity for the correction
of fome particular crimes. It is remarkable, that the an-
cient books of the Egyptian phyfic were efteemed a part of
their facred records, and were always carried about in ¹
their proceffions by the Paftophori, who were an order of
their priests; and the Egyptians ſtudied phyfic, not as an
art by itſelf, but their aftronomy, phyfic, and myfteries,
were put all together, as making up but one ſcience, being
feparately only parts of their theology; for which reafons
I ſhould imagine, that their ancient preſcriptions, which
Diodorus and Herodotus fuppofe them ſo punctual in ob-
ſerving, were not medicinal, but religious purifications.
The diftinction of clean and unclean beafts was before the
flood'; and when men had leave to eat flesh, they moft
probably obſerved that diftinction in their diet, eating the
b Gen. 1. 2.
c Deut. xxviii. 60.
Exod. ix.
c Deut. xxviii. 27.
f Ver. 61.
g Gen. xxxviii. 8, 10.
h Clem. Alexandrin. Stromat. 1. vi.
c. 4.
i Chæremon. apud Porphyr. 1. iv.
de Abftinen. §. 8.
κ Οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι ἐκ ἰδίᾳ μὲν τὰ ία·
τρικὰ, ἰδίᾳ δὲ τὰ ἀτρολογικὰ, καὶ τὰ τε
λεςικὰ, ἀλλὰ ἅμα πάντα συνέγραψαν.
Scholiaft. in Ptol. Tetrabib. vid. Mar-
fham, Can. Chron. p. 41.
1 Vol. I. B. ii.
fleſh
Book IX.
503
and Profane Hiftory.
1
fleſh of no other living creatures than what they offered in
facrifice, which were the clean beafts and clean fowls only":
and when the heathen nations turned afide to idolatry, as
they altered and corrupted the ancient rites of facrificing
and facrifices, and invented many new ones; fo they inno-
vated in their diet with it: many new rites and facrifices
being introduced into their religions, new abftinences and
purifications, new meats and drinks came along with them,
and, it was the phyfician's buſineſs (he being the religious
minifter prefiding in theſe points) to prefcribe upon every
occafion, according to the rules contained in their facred
books ".
The Egyptians were very exact in theſe points:
Herodotus informs us, that they eat no fish ; but, if we
take either the reafons hinted from Julian by Sir John
Marſham, or the general one affigned by Plutarch, their
refufing this diet was not upon account of health, but of
religion. In like manner they eat no beans, for they
thought them a pollution: and their rites in diet were ſo
different from the Hebrew. cuftoms, that the Egyptians might
not eat bread with the Hebrews in the days of Jofeph, for
that was an abomination to them. It would be endleſs to
recount the many figments which theſe men brought into
religion the aftronomers formed abundance, as I have
hinted already, from the advances made in their ſcience;
and it is eaſy to conceive, that in ftudying the nature of the
living creatures, fruits, and plants in the world, they might
invent as great a variety of abſtinences and religious diets
and purifications from this branch of knowledge, as they
did deities from the other, and fill their facred pharmaceutic
books, not with recipes for fickneffes and diftempers, but
with meats and drinks, unguents, lotions, and purgations,
proper to be uſed in the feveral fervices of every deity, and
upon all the occafions of religion; and their monthly pre-
ſcriptions might vary as the ftars took their courſes, and as
:
m Vol. I. Book v.
Η Κατὰ νόμον ἔγγραφον. Diodor. Sic.
lib. i.
o Lib. ii. c. 37.
▸ Marſham, Can. Chron. p. 212.
9 Plutarch. Sympof. 1. vii. p. 730.
ed. Xyl. Par. 1624. His words are,
Αγνείας μέρος ἀποχὴ ἰχθύων.
Herodot. lib. ii. c. 37.
s Gen. xliii. 32.
Kk 4
different
504
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
different deities in their turns called for the obfervance of
different rituals to obtain their favours. Pythagoras was
duly prepared with this fort of phyfic, before he could be
inftructed in the Egyptian myfteries; and though without
doubt he, or the writers of his life, refined a little upon the
Egyptian doctrines, yet he introduced fome fhare of this
pharmacy into his own ſchool, and difpofed the minds of his
ſcholars for his inftructions by many myfteries in eating,
drinking, and faſting; and he had particular preparations
of diet upon extraordinary acts of worship", and had his re-
cipes to caufe divination by both dreams and vaticination *;
fo that we may guefs from him in part what the Egyptian
preſcriptions in theſe points were. And as the Egyptian
phyficians preſcribed the true ritual way of living, fo an-
other branch of their profeffion was to embalm the bodies
of the dead: all nations had their rites for funerals, and the
perſons that directed in theſe were commonly either fome
of the prieſts, or at leaſt perſons well ſkilled in matters of
religion': the Egyptian rites in this matter were very nu-
merous, and required many hands to perform them². Mofes
informs us, that the phyficians embalmed Jacob ³: many of
them were employed in the office, and many days' time was
neceffary for the performance, and different perfons per-
t Jamblichus de vita Pythag. c. 24.
Porphyr. de ead. 42, 43, 44, 45.
u Id. de ead. c. 34·
x Jamblich. ubi fup.
y Diodorus, 1. ii. c. 40.
z Id. l. i. c. 91.
a Mofes's words are, that Joſeph
commanded his fervants the phyf-
cians. It may be very needleſs to re-
mark, that theſe words cannot imply
that the fervants of great men were
their phyficians in thefe days; for
phyficians were always highly ho-
noured in all civilized ftates, either
confidered as an order of the minifters
of religion, as I think they were in
theſe days, or when they were after-
wards concerned in the cure of thoſe
who wanted their affiftance. The
word fervant in Scripture is often uſed
as we uſe it in Engliſh, not always in
the literal fenfe: thus Naaman called
i
himſelf the fervant of Elifha, 2 Kings
v. and many other inftances might be
produced. Perhaps Jofeph, in the
high dignity which he was advanced
to, might, though in a leffer number,
have officers of ſtate, elders of his
houſe, as the king of Egypt himſelf
had ; and perſons of the firft rank
might not refufe to be his fervants in
honourable pofts of this fort, and he
might appoint the embalming his fa-
ther to thoſe of his own houſe only,
defigning it purely to preferve his
body, in order to carry it into Ca-
naan, and not as a religious cere-
mony; for which reafon he might de-
fire not to have it publicly embalmed
by the whole body of the Egyptian
phyficians, with all the rites of their
religion to be uſed in public perform-
ances of this nature.
b Gen. 1. 3.
formed
Book IX.
505
and Profane Hiftory.
formed different parts of it, fome being concerned in the
care of one part of the body, and fome of another; and I
imagine this manner of practice occafioned Herodotus to
hint, that the Egyptians had a different phyſician for every
diſtemper, or rather, as his ſubſequent words expreſs, for
each different part of the body e; for fo indeed they had, not
to cure the diſeaſes of it, but to embalm it when dead.
Theſe I imagine were the offices of the Egyptian phyficians
in the early days. They were an order of the miniſters of
religion: the art of curing diftempers or diſeaſes was not
yet attempted. When phyficians first began to practiſe
the arts of healing, cannot certainly be determined; but
this, I think, we may be fure of, that they practiſed only
furgery until after David's time, if we confult the Scripture;
and until after Homer's time, if we confult the profane
writers. In Scripture we have mention of many perfons,
that went to proper places to be cured of their wounds, in
the Books of the Kings and Chronicles; and in like manner
we read in Homer of Machaon and other phyficians; but
their whole art confifted in Iές τ' ἐκτάμνειν, ἔπι τ᾽ ἤπια φάρμακα
Táoσavf, extracting arrows, healing wounds, and preparing
anodynes; and therefore Pliny fays exprefsly, that the art
of phyfic in the Trojan times was only furgery. In cafes
of fickneſs, not the phyficians, but the prieſts, the prophets,
or the augurs, were thought the proper perfons to be con-
fulted in theſe days"; for, as Diodorus remarks, it was the
ancient cuſtom for fick perfons to obtain health from the
profeffors of vaticination by their art, and not by phyfic.
And this we find was the ancient practice mentioned in the
Scriptures: Jeroboam fent his wife to the prophet, when
his fon Ahijah was fick *. Ahaziah, when fick, fent to
Baal-zebub the god of Ekron'. The king of Syria fent to
c Diodor. 1. i. c. 91.
d Herodot. 1. ii. c. 84.
i
• Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὀφθαλμῶν ἰατροὶ κατε-
τέασι, οἱ δὲ κεφαλῆς, οἱ δὲ ὀδόντων, &c.
Id. ibid.
f Iliad. xi. 515.
8
& Medicina-Trojanis temporibus
clara-vulnerum tamen duntaxat re-
mediis. Plin. Nat. Hift. 1. xxix. c. 1.
h Homer. Iliad. i. 62.
1 Ἰατρικὴν ἐπισήμην, διὰ τῆς μαντικῆς
τέχνης γινομένην, δι' ἧς τὸ παλαιὸν συνέ
βαινε θεραπείας τυγχάνειν τοὺς ἀῤῥως ν
Tas. Diodorus, 1. v. c. 20.
k 1 Kings xiv.
1 2 Kings i. 2.
Elisha.
506
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
#
Eliſha m Afa indeed about A. M. 3087" fought, when
fick, to the phyficians; but it was certainly even then a
very novel practice, and ſtands condemned as an impiety º.
In the days of Pythagoras, the learned began to form rules
of diet for the preſervation of health ³, and to preſcribe in
this point to fick perfons, in order to affift towards their re-
covery; and in this, Strabo tells us, confifted the practice
of the ancient Indian phyficians; they endeavoured to cure
distempers by a diet-regimen, but they gave no phyfic.
Hippocrates, who, according to Dean Prideaux, lived about
the time of the Peloponnefian war', i. e. about A. M.
3570˚, raiſed the art of phyfic to a greater height than his
predeceffors could venture to attempt. He firſt began the
practice of vifiting fick-bed patients, and preſcribing medi-
cines with fuccefs for their diftempers. This, I think,
was the progreſs of phyfic down to times much later than
where I am to end my undertaking; and it muſt evidently
appear from it, that the Egyptians could have no fuch phy-
ficians in the days of Mofes, as Diodorus and Herodotus
ſeem to fuppofe: it is much more probable, that, ages after
thefe times, they were like the Babylonians, entirely defti-
tute of perſons ſkilful in curing any diſeaſes that might
happen amongſt them", and that the beſt method they
could think of, after confulting their oracles, was, when
any one was fick, they took care to have as many perfons fee
and fpeak to him as poffibly could, that if any one who
ſaw the fick perſon had had the like diftemper, he might
ſay what was proper to be done for one in that condition:
and Strabo exprefsly tells us, that this was the ancient
practice of the Egyptians *.
Mufic is by fome thought to be another of the Egyptian
ſciences, and their famous Mercury is faid to have invented
it. Diodorus hints, that he made the lyre of three ftrings
m 2 Kings viii. 8.
" Ufher's Annals.
2 Chron. xvi. 12.
P Jamblicus de vita Pythag. c. 34.
9 Strabo, Geog. 1. xv. p. 713. ed.
Par. 1620.
Prideaux, Connect. Vel. I. An. 431.
$ Ufher's Annals.
t Plinii Nat. Hift. 1. xxix. c. I.
u Herodot. 1. i. c. 197.
x Strabo, Geog. 1. iii. p. 155. ed.
Par. 1620.
in
Book IX.
507
and Profane Hiftory.
in allufion to the three feafons of the year; though I
ſhould think that the year was hardly as yet ſo well calcu-
lated as to be divided into feafons: however, it is probable
that the Egyptians had, ere theſe days, fome rude way of
finging hymns to their gods, though mufic was not as yet
brought to any remarkable perfection. Men have naturally
a difference in the tone and pitch of their voices, and this
might lead them to think of an inftrument of more ſtrings
than one perhaps all the mufic as yet aimed at in finging
hymns to the gods was no more than this, that ſome of the
people recited the words in an high tone, others in a low,
and others in a tone or note between both, according to the
different pitch of the feveral voices of the fingers, it being
poffible to reduce the voices of all to one or other of theſe
three, and the three-chorded lyre might be formed
adeffe Choris. Hor.
to ſtrengthen the ſeveral ſounds of the reciters' voices, with-
out their attempting to make more than one note from each
ftring. A trumpet made of a ram's horn could be but a
mean inftrument, and this was a mufical inftrument in the
days of Joſhua ; it could be defigned to found but fome
one note, and three fuch trumpets of different lengths
might ferve as the ancient tibia defcribed in Horace did,
and perform by blafts what Mercury's three-chorded lyre
was defigned to do by ftrings, namely, to direct the feveral
pitches of the reciters' voices, and to join and add to the
found of them; and I imagine mufic was not carried higher
than this in theſe days.
Philo fuggefts Mofes to have learned in Egypt the art of
writing, both in profe, and in all forts of meaſure or verſe b:
the best and moft judicious heathen writers did indeed judge
him to be very ſkilful in ſtyle and language: Longinus gives
him an extraordinary character, and thought him a great
maſter of the ſublime, from his account of the creation; an
obfervation fo juft, that one cannot but remark with fome
y Diodor. Sic. 1. i.
7. See Book vi.
a Jofhua vi
b Phil. Jud. de vita Mofis, 1. i.
c Ὁ τῶν Ἰσδαίων θεσμοθέτης ἐχ᾽ ὁ συ
Xav avg. Longin. de Sublim. c. 9.
furpriſe,
508
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
furpriſe, how much prejudice may vitiate the taſte and
judgment of a writer of confiderable abilities, of which
Lucian is an inftance, who ſeems to ridicule this very paf-
fage, fo judiciouſly admired by Longinus . No underſtand-
ing reader of Mofes's writings can be infenfible that he was
in truth, what St. Stephen ftyles him, mighty in words,
even in Longinus's fenfe; for numerous inftances may be
given of it; but perhaps no one more fenfibly affecting than
his account of Joſeph's revealing himſelf to his brethren,
where the narration, as he has given us it, ſtrikes the reader
with the warmest pathos which words can give. There
was certainly great force and life in the pen of this writer;
but I am not apt to think that he acquired theſe abilities
merely from his Egyptian education, any more than that
made him mighty in deeds alfo, which St. Stephen joins to
his power in words, and in which he was undoubtedly
affifted in an extraordinary manner by the Deity.
f
As to Moſes writing ſometimes in verſe, Jofephus fays,
that his fong, after the deliverance from the Egyptians,
was compofed ἐν ἑξαμέτρῳ τόνῳ ', i. e. fay fome interpreters,
in what we now call heroic, or hexameter verſe; but I
fhould think this was not Jofephus's meaning; he might
perhaps call any verfe hexameter, which confifted of fix feet,
or twelve fyllables, and give it that name,
cum fenos redderet ictus. Hor. g
If we may take Jofephus in this fenfe, there is little or no
difference between his opinion and Scaliger's ", about the
verſe or meaſure of this hymn. As to the lines of it being
heroic verfe, I think any one, upon making trial of the
words, may be fure that they are not. Whether they
may not be, as Scaliger conjectured, a fort of iambics, the
fong beginning in words of this meaſure,
ὁ Λύει τὸ σκότος, καὶ τὴν ἀκοσμίαν ἀπή-
λασε λόγῳ μόνῳ ῥηθέντι ὑπ᾽ αὐτῷ, ὡς ὁ
βραδύγλωσσος απεγράψατο. Lucian.
Philopat. §. 13.
e Acts vii. 22.
f Exodus xv.
g Lib. de Arte Poetica.
h Vid. Scaligeri Animadverfion. in
Eufeb. Chron. p. 7. ed. Amft. 1658.
Afbirab
Book IX.
509
and Profane Hiftory.
1 2 3
4
5 6 7 8 9 10
II 12
Afbirah la Jehovah ci gaoh gaah
I
2 3 4
5 6
7 8
Sus verokbo ramah bajam.
Whether the firſt verſe may not confift of twelve ſyllables, or
fix feet, and be a fort of the trimeter or fenarian iambic
verfe, and whether the ſecond line may not confift of eight
fyllables, or four feet, and be a fort of dimeter iambic, and
whether the reft of the hymn can be conceived to be of this
fort of compofition, I muft entirely fubmit to the learned.
Verſe in Mofes's time very probably confifted only in a juſt
number of fyllables, without any ſtrict regard to what was
afterwards obferved, the quantity of them: a greater regard
was perhaps had to quantity when the Book of Job was
compoſed, but verfe was not then adjuſted to that ſtrictneſs
which it had in the times of Homer.
From what has been faid of the learning of the Egyptians,
and of Mofes's education and military ſkill, he muſt appear
to have been the moſt proper perfon to lead the Ifraelites
out of Egypt, of any that belonged to them; and as he had
formerly had an inclination to attempt it, and had ſet ſome
ſteps towards it; fo, upon computing the time they were to
be there, and finding it near expired ', he might confider the
wonderful providence of God in his preſervation, and in fo
preferving him as to have him fo educated, as that at this
time his people had one of their number well qualified in
every reſpect to be their leader : however, in all the thoughts
he might have had of this fort, he found himſelf difap-
pointed; the people refuſed to have him to be a judge and
ruler over them; and he ſaw that no fcheme could be con-
trived by human wiſdom that might promiſe him fucceſs in
endeavouring to deliver them; and therefore he left Egypt,
and went and married in another country, and very probably
had given over all thoughts of ever ſeeing or coming any
more to the Ifraelites: but the private affairs of all confi-
derate men do, I believe, afford them many inftances of
i Gen. xv. 13, 14, 15, 16.
8 Exod. i. 14. A&ts vii. 25, 27, 35.
fome
510
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
ſome turn of life brought about by the direction of Provi-
dence in unexpected events, when they could not be com-
paſſed by all the contrived ſchemes they could lay for them:
and thus it happened in Mofes's life in a moft extraordinary
manner. Mofes was taking care of Jethro's flock, and fol-
lowed them as they wandered in their feeding to the bor-
ders of the defert near to mount Horeb, and he faw before
him a buſh on fire, flaming for a confiderable time, but not
in the leaſt confumed or diminiſhed with the fire: he was
very much furpriſed at it, and food ſtill to confider the
meaning of it, and, whilft he did fo, heard a voice, which
declared the defign of God Almighty to deliver the Ifrael-
ites out of Egypt by his hand, and the whole manner and
method by which he would effect it'. Mofes had fo en-
tirely laid afide all thoughts of this enterpriſe, and had ſo
little opinion of his being able to fucceed in it, that, though
he was appointed in an extraordinary manner to undertake
it, he very earnestly refuſed it ", until he had received many
demonſtrations of the miraculous power with which God
defigned to affift him in it. Then indeed he went to Jethro,
and aſked him leave to go from him; and, upon Jethro's
difmiffing him, he took his wife and fons, and fet out for
Egypt. Mofes had, I think, caft away all thoughts of
ever ſeeing his people more; and probably began to think
himſelf to have no part or expectation in the promiſes made
to Ifrael. He had not circumcifed one of his children; for
he did it in this journey ". Aaron, by God's appointment,
met him in the wilderneſs, and from thence they went to-
gether into Egypt, and gathered the elders of the people of
Ifrael, and acquainted them with the buſineſs they came
about, and fhewed them the mighty works which God had
enabled them to perform, as figns that he had fent them ";
upon feeing which the people believed that God did indeed
now defign to viſit them.
And thus Mofes and Aaron undertook their expedition
into Egypt, not rafhly, nor upon any contrived ſcheme of
1 Exodus iii.
Exodus iii. iv.
n Exodus iv. 25, 26.
o Ver. 27.
P Ver. 31.
their
Book IX.
511
and Profane Hiftory.
their own; but at a time when neither of them thought of
being employed in fuch a manner, at a time when Mofes
had a very great difinclination to go at all; he was fettled
in Midian well enough to his fatisfaction; thought he
fhould find the people very obftinate and unmanageable,
not diſpoſed to believe him, or to be directed by him; and
he feems moft earneftly to have wifhed, that it would have
pleafed God to have permitted him to live quiet and retired
in the land of Midian, and to have fent fome other perfon
for the deliverance of his people 9: and when he undertook
to carry the meffage which God had directed him to go
with unto Pharaoh, he had perhaps fome doubts whether
the deliverance of the Ifraelites might not be a work that
would proceed flowly, and require much time to manage;
and therefore, upon his being informed that the men were
dead which fought his life', he took his wife and fons with
him, as if he defigned to go and live in Egypt, and not like
one who expected in a ſhort time to return with the people,
and to ferve God in mount Horebs. Certainly in fome re-
fpects his behaviour was faulty, and as we are informed,
that the anger of the Lord was kindled againſt him, when
he expreffed the many excuſes which he made againſt his
being fent to Egypt; fo we are told after he had began his
journey, that it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the
Lord met him, and fought to kill him". The account here is
exceeding thort, but the circumftances which are hinted are
thought to imply, that God was difpleafed at Mofes's not
having circumciſed his younger fon: that his wife Zipporah
was unwilling to have the child circumcifed*; that as in
the caſe of Balaam, when Balaam went with the princes.
of Moab, according to the command which he had received,
an angel oppofed him in the way, becauſe he went with a
perverſe intention; fo here, though Mofes began his jour-
9 Exod. iv. 13.
r Ver. 19.
s Ver. 12.
t Ver. 14.
" Ver. 24. Our tranſlators have here
ufed a very modern term, in the inn.
The Hebrew word [] malon, fig-
nifies only where they refted all night,
which most probably was in fome
cave, or under fome ſhade of trees.
* Ver. 25, 26. See Pool's Synopf.
Critic. in loc.
y Numb. xxii. 32.
ney,
512
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
ney, yet perhaps he had ſome coldneſs to the undertaking,
or fome thoughts about it, which difpofed him to keep this
child uncircumciſed, not ſuitable to that better ſpirit that
ever after appeared in all his conduct, and gained him the
teſtimony of being faithful to him that appointed him in all bis
bouſe, in every part of his difpenfation. It is generally
thought, that Mofes at this time fent back his wife and chil-
dren to Jethro his father-in-law, and went with Aaron
only into Egypt, according to the directions which he and
Aaron had received.
Mofes, Exodus iii. 13. reprefents, that when he came
unto the Ifraelites, they might ask him what the name of
God was, and defires to be inſtructed what to anſwer to this
queſtion: God had before told him, that he was the God of
bis father; the God of Abraham, the God of Ifaac, and the God
of Jacob; and Mofes acknowledged himſelf inftructed be-
fore he aſked this queſtion, to tell the Ifraelites that the God
of their fathers had fent him ; what need could there pof-
fibly be of his either having or aſking any further informa-
tion? the Ifraelites knew of and acknowledged but one
God. What then could it fignify for them to be told, that
his name was Jehovah, El Shaddai, Elohim, Adonai, or any
other; when, by whatever name he was known, they muſt
confider him as one and the fame, the only God, moſt high
over all the earth? The ancients, both Jews and Heathens,
and afterwards fome of the early and learned writers of the
Chriſtian Church, imagined that the names of perfons and
things were of the greateſt importance to be rightly under-
ftood, in order to lead to the trueſt knowledge that could
be had of their natures: and they frequently ſpeculated
upon this fubject with fo much philofophical fubtlety, that
they built upon it many fooliſh fancies and ridiculous errors.
The Jewiſh Rabbins thought the true knowledge of names
to be a ſcience, preferable to the ftudy of the written law d
and they entertained many ſurpriſing fancies about the word
Jehovah: one of which was, that it was fo wonderfully
z Heb. iii. 2.
a See Exod. xviii. 2, 3, 4, 5.
Exod.iii. 6.
c Exod. iii. 13.
d Ficini Argument. in Cratyl. Pla-
tonis.
compounded,
Book IX.
513
and Profane Hiflery.
compounded, that no one but an inſpired perſon could give
it a true pronunciation: Plotinus and Jamblichus thought
fome names to be of fo celeſtial a compofure, that the
rightly uſing them could not fail of obtaining oracles '; and
Phœbus and Pythagoras are faid to have cured diſeaſes by
the uſe of ſuch names; and fuch opinions as theſe might
have their admirers in the days of Origen, and fome of
them ſeem to have been too eafily admitted by him: when
they began I cannot fay, nor whether I imagine that Naa-
man the Syrian thought the name of the God of Ifrael to be
powerful in this manner¹; but certainly it muſt be a miſtake
to think that Mercury Trifmegiftus was, as Ficinus hints *,
of this opinion; for all thefe opinions took their riſe in after-
ages, and began from falfe notions, which the heathens
took up about the reverence paid to, and the uſe of, the
name Jehovah amongst the ancient Jews; and Mofes can in
no wife be fuppofed to have been fo abfurd, as to have de-
fired to know God's name, as if the uſe of that could have
given any extraordinary powers, other than God might give
him without his knowing it. It is very evident, that
Abraham and his defcendants worthipped not only the
true and living God, but they invoked him in the name of the
Lord', and they worshipped the Lord, in whofe name they
invoked; fo that two perfons were the objects of their wor
fhip, God, and this Lord: and the Scripture has diftinguiſhed
theſe two perfons from one another by this circumftance;
• Ficini Argument. in Cratyl. Pla-
tonis.
f Ibid.
s Ibid.
* Πολλοὶ τῶν ἐπαδόντων δαίμονας χρῶν
ται ἐν τοῖς λόγοις αὐτῶν τῷ ὁ Θεὸς ᾽Αβραὰμ
ἐκ ἐπιςάμενοί τίς ἐςιν ὁ Αβραὰμ-Εβραία
ονόματα πολλαχο τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις ἐπαγε
γελλομένοις ἐνέργειάν τινα ἐνέσπαρται μα
θήμασι ἐὰν τοίνυν δυνηθῶμεν παρατῆσαι
φύσιν ὀνομάτων ἐνεργῶν, ὧν τισι χρῶνται
Αἰγυπτίων οἱ Σοφοί, ἢ τῶν παρὰ Πέρσαις
Μάγων οἱ λόγιοι, ἢ τῶν παρ' ἐνδοῖς φιλο-
σοφόντων Βραχμάνες, ἢ Σαμανῖοι, καὶ
κατασκευάσαι επείτε γενώμεθα, ὅτι καὶ
ἡ καλυμένη μαγεία εχ, ὡς οἴονται οἱ ἀπὸ
Επικέρ καὶ ᾿Αριτοτέλος, πραγμά ἐσιν
κούςατον πάντη, ἀλλ, ὡς οἱ περὶ ταῦτα
VOL. I.
ει
δεινοὶ ἀποδεικνύεσι, συνεσὼς μὲν, λόγες δ'
έχει σφόδρα ολίγοις γινωσκομένες, τότ
ἐρῶμεν, ὅτι τὸ μὲν Σαβαλᾳ ὄνομα, καὶ τὸ
Ἄδοναι, καὶ ἄλλα πας' Εβραίοις μετά
πολλῆς σεμνολογίας παραδιδόμενα, ἐν ἐπὶ
τῶν τυχόντων καὶ γενητῶν κεῖται
πραγ
μάτων, ἀλλ' ἐπί τινος θεολογίας ἀποῤῥήτε,
ἀναφερομένης εἰς τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς
όπως τα σημαινόμενα κατὰ τῶν
8
πραγμάτων, ἀλλ᾽ αἱ τῶν φωνῶν ποιότητες
κ ιδιότητες ἔχεσί τι δυνατὸν ἐν αὐταῖς
πρὸς τάδε τινὰ ή ταδε. Leg. Origen.
cont. Celfun, l. i. p. 17, 18, 19, 20,
ed. Cant. 1677.
i
2 Kings v. 11.
k Ubi fup.
1 See Book vii.
that
514
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
that God no man hath feen at any time, nor can fee m; but the
Lord, whom Abraham and his deſcendants worſhipped, was
the perſon who appeared to them". God did not always
reveal his will by this Lord, but we meet with inftances of
angels commiffioned for this purpoſe; and therefore I
fhould imagine, that Mofes, by aſking in whoſe name he was
to go, might defire to be informed, whether the Lord, who
appeared to Abraham, was to be his mighty affiftant and
protector, or whether ſome angel, fuch as went to Lot, was
to deliver the Ifraelites.
If we take what the ancients offered about the ſcience of
names, rejecting the idle and fanciful fuperftructures which
they built upon it, we may form a further reaſon for
Mofes's defiring to be informed what the name of God was.
Men did not, at this time, know the works of the creation
well enough to demonſtrate from them the attributes of
God; nor could they by fpeculation form proper and juſt
notions of his nature. Some indeed, the philofophers of
thefe times, thought themſelves wife enough to attempt
thefe fubjects; but what was the fuccefs? profeffing them-
felves wife, they became fools, and changed the glory of the un-
corruptible God. There was not a fufficient foundation of
a true knowledge of the heavens, elements, and of the
frame of the univerſe then laid, for men to build upon, ſo
as to attain from the ftudy of them fuitable and proper no-
tions of the Deity: and hence it came to paſs, that the
builders of theſe ages, having bad materials to work with,
compoſed weak and indefenſible ſyſtems of theology. When
they had ſpeculated upon the fire, or the wind, the ſwift air,
or the circle of the stars, the violent water, or the lights of
heaven, not forming true notions of their natures; they were
either delighted with their beauty, or aftonished at their power,
and, framing very high but falſe eſtimates of them, they loft
the knowledge of the workmaſter, and took the parts of his
workmanſhip to be God. And fome error of this fort, or
errors as pernicious as thefe, Mofes himfelf might have
m Exod. xxxiii. 20.
A Gen. xii. 1.
• Gen. xix.
P Rom. i. 22, 23.
fallen
Book IX.
515
and Profane Hiftory.
fallen into, if he had endeavoured to have formed his no-
tions of God either from the Egyptian learning, or from
any learning at this time in the world. Faith, or a belief
of what God had revealed, was the only principle upon
which he could hope rightly to know God; and this was
the principle which Moſes here defired to go upon. For as
the revelation which God had made of himſelf was as yet
but ſhort, ſo Mofes, by defiring to know God's name, de-
fired that he might have ſome revelation of his nature and
attributes made to him. We do not find that the ancients
gave their names arbitrarily, and without reafon; but when
Cain, Seth, Noah, Peieg, or when Jacob's children were to
be named, reaſons were given for the particular names they
were to be called by '; and we find fome names in Scripture
given by God himſelf, and theſe names are always expreffive
of the nature or circumftances of the perfon they belong to;
thus Adam was fo called, becauſe he was taken out of the
ground. God called Abram Abraham, becauſe he defigned
to make him a father of many nations; and men endea-
voured in the naming perfons, even from the beginning, to
give names thus expreffive, as well as human wisdom
would enable them to do it. Thus Adam called his
wife Woman, expreffing thereby her origin, becauſe fhe
was taken out of man', and afterwards he called her Eve, be-
cauſe ſhe was the mother of all living"; and we find that
the Egyptians were curious in attempts to name perfons in
this manner, even before Mofes's days. For we read, that
Pharaoh, upon Joſeph's interpreting his dreams, called him
Zaphnath-paaneab, i. e. a diſcoverer of things hidden*; and
this notion of names was held by the Ifraelites, who thought
a perfon rightly named when his name expreffed his nature;
for thus Abigail fpeaks to David about Nabal her huſband;
As his name is, fo is be; Nabal is his name, and folly is with
him. Plato obferves, that the names of heroes, or famous
men, cannot always be expreffive; but that we may often
9 Heb. xi. 3, 6.
Gen. iv. 1, 25. v. 29. and xxx.
$ Gen. xvii. 5. See Gen. xxxii.
28, &c.
↑ Gen. ii. 23.
u Gen. iii. 20.
x Gen. xli. 45.
y 1 Sam. XXV. 25.
L12
be
516
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
be deceived, if we gueſs at the characters of perſons by their
names, becauſe, he fays, men receive their names according
to thoſe of their anceſtors, or their friends exprefs their
good wiſhes to them in naming them, calling them by ſuch
names as may intimate what the perfons fo named may
prove to be²; ſo that a diffolute and wicked man may be
named Theophilus by his parents, who wish to have another
fort of perſon: a weak and inſufficient prince may be called
Menelaus by thoſe who name him, in hopes that he may
be a great defender of his people, though he does not after-
wards prove to be fo. And he repreſents Socrates in ſome
doubts about the names which were given to their gods;
becauſe, as he expreffes it, they were not the true and real
names of the gods, by which they would call themſelves,
but only ſuch as men had framed from their opinions and
apprehenfions of the deities to whom they gave them ª; and
he adds, that we ſhould pray to the gods to enable us to
call them by their true names, for that without this we
cannot form any well-grounded fpeculations of their na-
tures". This was Plato's opinion, after he had well weighed
all the learning which had been in the world; and I cannot
but think it to agree with Mofes's fentiments upon this
fubject. Mofes thought, that when he was to go to the
Ifraelites, to bring them out of Egypt, and to tell them
that their God had appointed him and them to ſerve him in
mount Horeb, they might afk him, whether he knew what
a being their God was, and how he expected to be ſerved
by them. This question he could not pretend to anſwer,
unleſs God thought fit by revelation to enable him‘; and
therefore he defired to be informed, as far as God might
think fit to diſcover it, what name God would call himſelf
by, knowing that by obtaining this he might form juſt
notions of his nature and worship. That this was Mofes's
z Plato in Cratylo, p. 273. ed.
Francof. 1602.
4 Ὅτι περὶ θεῶν ἐδὲν ἴσμεν, ὅτε περὶ
αὐτῶν, είτε περὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων, ἅττα ποτὲ
ἑαυτὸς καλᾶσι. δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι ἐκεῖνοί γε
t'uandã xuλão. Id. ibid. p. 276.
αληθῆ καλᾶσι.
* Δεύτερος δ' αὖ τρόπος ὀρθότητός ἐσιν
ἡμῖν εὔχεσθαι οἵτινές τε καὶ ὁπόθεν χαίρε
σιν ὀνομαζόμενοι, ταῦτα καὶ ἡμᾶς αὐτὸς και
λεῖν, ὡς ἄλλο μηδὲν εἰδότας. id. ibid.
• See Exodus iii. 13.
defign
Book IX.
517
and Profane Hiftory.
defign in aſking for the name of God, might be confirmed
from ſeveral paffages of Scripture: when Mofes defired to
fee God's glory, he obtained that the name of the Lord
fhould be proclaimed before him, and the proclaiming his
name manifeſted to him that he was Jehovah, El, merciful
and gracious, long-ſuffering, and abundant in goodneſs and
truth; keeping mercy for thouſands, forgiving iniquity and tranſ-
greffion and fin, and that will by no means clear the guilty : vi-
fiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the
children's children, unto the third and fourth generation.
Thus the name, or names, which God thought fit to give
himſelf, were underſtood to be appellations, that might dif-
cover his attributes: and when God was declared to be a
jealous God, his name was faid to be Jealous. In the fame
ſtyle and manner of ſpeaking, Iſaiah, prophefying what the
Meffiah fhould be, declares his name to be 'onderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlaſting Father, The Prince
of Peace. And the name of the fame perfon was Emma-
nuel, becauſe he was God with us, and Jefus, becaufe he
was to fave his people from their fins h. Thus, I think, it
must be plain, that the defign of Mofes, in aſking God's
name, was to obtain himſelf an information, 1. Who the
perfon was that was to be their deliverer; for we find this
he particularly enquired after. And, 2. What the nature
and attributes of that perfon were, in order to know what
duties he would expect from them, and how they were to
ferve him.
In the anſwer, which God thought fit to give to Mofes's
queftion, he declared himſelf to be I AM THAT I AM, and
bad Mofes call his name I AM, and fay, I AM hath fent me
unto you. Moreover he added, that he was the God of
Abraham, the God of Ifaac, and the God of Jacob'. In thoſe
laft words he declares himſelf to be the perfon who had ap-
peared to Abraham, and had made the promiſe to him and
d Exod. xxxiii. 18, 19. xxxiv. 5,
7.
e Ver. 14.
Ifaiah ix. 6.
ɛ Matt. i. 23-
Matt. i. 21.
i Exod. xxxÌÏÏ, 12.
k Exod. iii. 14.
1 Ver. 15.
L 13
his
518
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
m
his feed ; and had made the covenant with him "; and was
worshipped by him and his defcendants Ifaac and Jacob°:
and in the former words he intimates his effential divinity,
expreffing himſelf to be I AM, or I AM THAT I AM ³,
i. e. independent, immutable, felf-existent. That the name
here declared to belong to the God of Abraham is of this
fignification, is inconteftibly proved by the moſt celebrated
writers, to whofe reafonings upon this fubject as I cannot
pretend to add either ſtrength or perfpicuity more than they
have given them, ſo I ſhall only refer the reader to them.
But as there is a paſſage in a moſt excellent heathen writer,
which, though very appoſite, yet, as not offering itſelf in
a controverfy between Chriftian writers, has not, that I
know of, been taken notice of, I would produce that, be-
cauſe it may fhew what an acute and judicious heathen
would have concluded from this name of God here re-
vealed to Mofes. We are informed, that there was an an-
cient infcription in the temple at Delphos, over the place
where the image of Apollo was erected, confifting of theſe
letters, EI. And Plutarch introduces his difputants, que-
rying what might be the true fignification of it: at length
Ammonius, to whom he affigns the whole ftrength of the
argunientation, concludes, that the word EI was the moſt
perfect title they could give the Deity'; that it fignifies
THOU ART, and expreffes the divine effential Being; im-
porting, that though our being is precarious, fluctuating,
dependent, fubje&t to mutation, and temporary; fo that it
would be improper to ſay to any of us, in the ſtrict and ab-
folute fenfe, El, or THOU ART; yet we may with great.
propriety give the Deity this appellation, becauſe God is
m Gen. xii. 7.
n Gen. xiii.
• Gen. xii. 7, 8. xiii. 18. xxvi. 24,
25. and xxxii. 9.
P Exod. iii. 14.
9 See Waterland's Vindication, &c.
Qu. III.
- Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀμειβόμενοι τὸν θεὸν ΕΙ φα-
μὲν, ὡς ἀληθῆ καὶ ἀψευδή και μόνην μόνῳ
προσήκεσαν τὴν τὸ εἶναι προσαγόρευσιν
ἀποδιδόντες· ἡμῖν μὲν γὰρ ὄντως τὸ εἶναι
μέτεσιν ἐδὲν, ἀλλὰ πᾶσα θνητὴ φύσις ἐν
μέσω γενέσεως καὶ φθορᾶς γενομένη φάσμα
παρέχει και δόκησιν ἀμυδρὰν καὶ ἀβέβαιον
αὐτῆς ἀλλ᾽ ἐσὶν ὁ θεὸς χρῆ φᾶναι, καὶ
ἔτι κατ' ἐδένα χρόνον, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν
αἰῶνα, τὸν ἀκίνητον, καὶ ἄχρονον καὶ ἀνέγε
κλητον, κ ὁ πρότερον ἐδέν ἐσιν, ἐδ᾽ ὅτε.
ประ
ρον, ἐδὲ νεώτερον, ἀλλ᾽ εἷς ἐν ἑνὶ τῷ νῦν τὸ
ἀεὶ πεπλήρωκε, καὶ μόνον ἐςὶ τὸ κατὰ
τό το ὄντως ὄν, γεγονὸς, ἐδ᾽ ἐσόμενον, ἐδ᾽
ἀρξάμενον, ἐδὲ παυσόμενον. Vid. Plu-
tarch. Lib. El apud Delphos, p. 392,
393. ed. Xyl, Par. 1624.
"
independent,
Book IX.
519:
and Profane Hiftory.
independent, uncreated, immutable, eternal, always and
every where the fame, and therefore HE only can be faid
abfolutely TO BE. Plutarch would have called this Being
τὸ ὄντως ὂν, Plato would have named him τὸ ὂν, which he
would have explained to fignify oía, implying him to be
effentially or felf-exiſtents.
In the fixth chapter of Exodus, we have a further ac-
count of God's revealing himſelf to Mofes by the name
JEHOVAH, a word of much the fame import with 1 AM,
or I AM THAT I AM; and we are there told, that the
Lord was not known to Abraham, to Ifaac, or to Jacob, by
this name JEHOVAH, but by the name of God Almighty,
or El-Shaddai. This muſt ſeem to be the plain meaning of
the words, and in this fenfe I thought myſelf obliged to
take them", until I fhould come to examine this ſubject
more at large here in its proper place. The name Jehovah
was, I believe, known to be the name of the ſupreme God,
in the early ages, in all nations. The perfon who here.
ſpoke unto Mofes, and declared himſelf to be the perſon who
appeared to Abraham, to Ifaac, and to Jacob, is no where
particularly mentioned in the Book of Genefis before the
flood, or after the flood, before the birth of Abraham. But
though this perfon did reveal himſelf to Abraham, to
Ifaac, and to Jacob, by the name of El-Shaddai, or God
Almighty *; yet it is moſt evident from fome very exprefs
paffages in the Book of Geneſis, that they all knew him by
the name of Jehovah alfo; and therefore if we explain this
paffage in Exodus to fignify that he was not known until
Mofes's time by the name Jehovah, we ſhall make it directly
contradict fome very clear and exprefs paffages of the hiftory
of the precedent times.
I. The name Jehovah was known to be the name
of the fupreme God in all nations in the early times.
Ficinus remarked, that all the feveral nations of the
world had a name for the fupreme. Deity, confifting of
Plat. in Cratyl. p. 289. ed. Fran-
cof. 1602.
.ושמי יהוה לא כודעתי להם :
u Book vi.
x Gen. xvii. 1. See xxviii. 3. and
XXXV. II.
Ver. 3.
L14
four
520
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
four letters only. This I think was true at firft in a dif-
ferent fenfe from that in which Ficinus took it; for I
queftion not but they ufed the very fame word, until the
languages of different nations came to have a more entire
difagreement, than the confufion at Babel at firſt cauſed.
When the corruptions of religion grew to be many, and
very confiderable, men found different names for their gods,
according to their different fancies and imaginations about
them "; but whilft they adhered to the knowledge and
worship of the one true God, who had revealed himſelf
to their fathers, there was no room for them to invent
other names to expreſs his nature or divinity by, than thoſe
by which he had revealed himſelf to them; and accord-
ingly, as we find the word Jehovah uſed in the carlieſt days,
for it occurs above thirty times in the Book of Genefis be-
fore the flood; fo we meet with many inftances of the ſu-
preme God called by this name, in different countries,
where the particular revelations made to Abraham and
his defcendants were not known, or not embraced as part of
their religion. The king of Sodom knew the moſt high
God by the name of Jehovah, for he admitted Abraham's
giving him this appellation ; and Lot knew God by the
name of Jehovah ; and fo, I fhould imagine, did the men of
Sodom; for though they thought Lot's account of God's
defign to deſtroy their city, to be but a romantic imagina-
tion of his, yet they are not repreſented not to know the
Lord, as Pharaoh was afterwards, though they were ex-
ceedingly wicked and abominable in their lives. Abimelech
king of the Philiftines knew Jehovah, and was his fervant
in Abraham's time; for the fear of God was then in that
y Ficini Argument. ad Platon. Cra-
tyl. The word Jehovah, though the
infertion of the vowels in our language
requires it to be written with feven
letters, is wrote in Hebrew with four
only, thus, i. e. Jhoh, and is
therefore called the Tetragrammaton,
or four-lettered name of God.
See Book ii. p. 82. Book iii. p.
88, 89.
4 Plato fuppofes that the Giceks
formed the word sòs from the verb
v, obſerving the ftars and lights of
heaven, which they took to be gods,
to run their feveral courfes, and there-
fore they called them to. See Plat.
in Cratyl. p. 273. ed. Francof. 1602.
b See Book v. p. 172.
c Gen. xiv. 22.
d Gen. xix. 14.
e Exod. v. 2.
f Gen. xx. II, 18.
kingdom,
Book IX.
521
and Profane Hiftory.
i.
kingdom, though Abraham had entertained without juft
grounds a bad opinion of Abimelech and his fubjects; and
we find Jehovah mentioned here by the king in the days
of Ifaacs. God was known by this name in the family of
Bethuel in Mefopotamia, when Abraham fent thither'; and
afterwards in Jacob's days Laban knew God by this
name ; though it is remarkable, that he did not uſe the
word entirely in the ſame ſenſe as Jacob did; for Laban
meant by it the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor,
the God of their father, but Jacob fware by the fear of his
father Ifaack; i. e. Laban meant by Jehovah, the ſupreme
true and living God, which the fathers of Abraham and
Abraham had worshipped, before he received further reve-
lations than were imparted to the reft of mankind, and be-
fore he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
After this, Abraham and his pofterity determined that this
Lord alfo fhould be their God', and they invoked God in
the name of this Lord ". God was known by the name of
Jehovah to Job the Arabian "; but it was not the Lord, who
appeared unto Abraham, whom he knew by this name; but
rather God, whom no man bath feen at any time. Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, in Moſes's time, is faid not to know Jebo-
vab P; and, indeed, corruptions in religion began in Egypt
very early, and were arrived at a very great height ere
theſe days; but ftill it may be queried, whether Pharaoh
was really ignorant that Jehovah was the name of the fu-
preme Deity, or whether he only did not know the God of
the Hebrews by this title. God's judgments were exe-
cuted upon Egypt, not to convince Pharaoh and his people
that Jehovah was the fupreme God, but to make them
know, that the God of the Hebrews was Jehovah'. The
Moabites knew the fupreme God by this name, though
they were greatly corrupted with idolatry t; and we have a
3 Gen. xxvi. 28.
h Gen. xxiv. 31, 50.
i Gen. xxx. 27.
* Gen. xxxi. 53.
1 Gen. xxviii. 21.
in See Vol. I. Book v.
n Job i. 21.
• See Job ix. 11.
P Exodus v. 2.
9 Ver. 1. and 3.
q
Exod. vii. 5. and xiv. 18.
9 Numb. xxiv. 11.
1 Numb. XXV. 2, 3.
3
hint
522
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
hint from Philo-Biblius, which feems to intimate, that the
God of the Phoenicians was anciently called by this name,
if we may ſuppoſe that Jevo or Jao may be a corruption
of it; for it is faid, that Hierombalus, who fupplied San-
choniatho with materials for his Phoenician hiftory, was
prieft of the God Jevo". But we have a very remarkable
inftance of the word Jehovah uſed by an heathen for the
name of the ſupreme Deity, in contradiftinction to the God
of the Hebrews, in times very late, even in the days of
Hezekiah *. Rabſhakeh, who well understood the Hebrew
language, in delivering his mafter the king of Affyria's mef-
fage, which he expreſſed in the Hebrew tongue, profeſſed,
that he was not come up against Jerufalem without the Lord
[i. e. Jehovah] to destroy it, for that the Lord faid unto him,
Go up against this land and deftroy it. That Rabfhakeh, by
the Lord, or Jehovah, here did not mean the God of the Jews,
though at the fame time he knew that they called their
God by this name, is evident, from his very plainly diſtin-
guiſhing them one from the other. He afferts, that he had
an order from Jehovah, (i. e. he meant from the ſupreme
God) to deſtroy Jerufalem; but as to the God whom the
Jews called Jehovah, and whom Rabſhakeh ſtyled the Lord
their God, he obferves, 1. That he would not affift them if
he could, for that Hezekiah had provoked him ¹. 2. That
he could not preferve them if he would; for that none of
the gods of the nations had been able to deliver their fa-
vourites out of his mafter's hand. The gods of Hamath,
of Arpad, and of Sepharvaim, had not been able to deliver
Samaria; and he thought all hopes of prefervation from the
God of the Jews would be alike vain. 3. That Rabihakeh
really thought the God of the Jews to be only an inferior
deity, or god of a country, is evident from the opinion
which the Affyrians had of him: they thought him the
God of the land of the Jews, and appointed a prieſt to teach
the people, which they had planted in Samaria, the manner
" Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 9.
X
x 2 Kings xviii.
y Ver. 26.
z Ver. 25.
a 2 Kings xviii. 22.
Ibid.
© Ver. 33, 34, 35.
d
b
2 Kings xvii. 24-28.
of
Book IX.
523
and Profane Hiftory.
of the God of the land, that he might not flay them with lions.
Thus the Greeks in Homer thought it neceffary to appeaſe
Apollo, that he might not deftroy them with a peftilence;
or rather I might inftance from Xenophon, who repreſents
Cyrus taking particular care to render the soÌ TαTρão, or
gods of the countries which he warred againft, propitious
to him. Such a god as one of theſe Rabſhakeh thought
the God of Ifrael. For, 4. It is plain that he did not think
him to be the Deity, or the Lord, without whom he affirmed
that he was not come up againſt Jerufalem; for Hezekiahı
remonſtrated, that he had reproached the living God', and
prayed that God would fave then; that, fays he, all the
kingdoms of the earth may know, that thou art the Lord God,
even thou only. When Rabſhakeh had profeffed that he
was not come up without the Lord againſt them, and that
the Lord had faid unto him, Go up againſt this land and
deſtroy it; if by the Lord he had here intended the God
of the Jews, what reaſon could there be to accuſe him of
reproaching this God? But Hezekiah's charge againſt him
is well grounded, and pertinent to his whole ſpeech and
behaviour, if we take him by the Lord to mean not the God
of the Jews, but the fupreme Deity in oppofition to him:
for herein confifted his blafphemy, that he thought the God
whom Hezekiah called the Lord, not to be the fupreme Deity,
but only a god of a nation, fuch a deity as the god of Ha-
math, of Arpad, and of Sepharvaim, who in truth were no
gods; and what Hezekiah prayed for was, that the God
of the Jews would, in oppofition to theſe blafphemous fenti-
ments, fhew, that he was the Lord God, even be only, and
that there could not be any divine commiffion to hurt thoſe
who were under his protection. The heathens, even in the
later days of their idolatry, were not fo grofs in their notions,
but that they believed that there was but one fupreme God.
They did indeed worship a multitude of deities, but they
ſuppoſed all but one to be fubordinate divinities. They had
always a notion of one Deity fuperior to all the powers of
heaven, and all the other deities were conceived to have
e Xenoph. Cyropæd. 1. iii.
f 2 Kings xix. 4.
5 Ver. 19.
different
524
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
different offices or miniftrations under him, being appointed
to prefide over elements, over cities, over countries, and to
diſpenſe victory to armies, health, life, and other bleffings, to
their favourites, if permitted by the fupreme power. Hefiod
ſuppoſes one God to be the father of the other deities;
θεῶν πατέρ' ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν
h.
and Homer, in many paffages in the Iliad, reprefents one ſu-
preme Deity prefiding over all the refti; and the moſt cele-
brated of their philofophers always endeavoured to affert
this theology, and this was undoubtedly Rabfhakeh's
opinion; and as the fupreme Deity had in time different
names in different languages, fo Rabſhakeh thought Jehovah
to be the proper Hebrew name for him.
II. We have no reaſon to imagine, that the patriarchs,
who lived before the days of Abraham, knew the Lord who
appeared unto Abraham, and who fpoke unto Mofes, by
the name Jehovah. If we confider the hiſtory of the Bible,
we may find juft reafon to remark of the feveral revelations.
recorded in it, that they all tend, with a furpriſing harmony
and confiſtency, to confirm and illuftrate one uniform ſcheme
of Providence, which was gradually opened through a long
fucceffion of ages, until in the fulness of time Chrift was ma-
nifeſted in the flesh, and the will, counfel, or defign, hidden wif-
dom, or purpoſe of God", which was ordained before the
world", but not fully revealed to the former ages and ge-
nerations, came at length to be made manifeft to thofe who
embraced the Goſpel : but the further we look backwards,
h Hefiod. Theogon.
i Vid. Iliad. vii. ver. 202. viii. ver.
5-28, &c. See Virg. Æn. ii. ver. 777.
-non hac fine NUMINE Divům
Eveniunt; non te hinc comitem afpor-
tare Creйfam
Fas: haud ille finit fuperi regnator
Olympi.
Jupiter is here fuppofed to be the
Numen Divum, and his will to be
the fas, or fate, which no one might
contradi&t: Fatum eft, fays Cicero,
non id quod fuperftitiofe, fed quod phyfice
dicitur caufa æterna rerum. De Divin.
1. i. c. 55. Deum-interdum Neceffita-
tem appellant, quia nihil aliter poffit at-
que ab eo conftitutum fit. Id. Academ.
Quæft. 1. iv. c. +4.
k Cic. in Lib. de Nat. Deorum; in
Acad. Quæft. 1. i. c. 7. Ibid. c. 34.
Plat. de Legib. 1. 10. in Phileb. in Cra-
tyl. &c. Ariftot. 1. de mundo. c. 6.
Plutarch. de Placit. Philof. l. i. Id. in
Lib. de El apud Delphos. p. 392. ed.
Xyl. Par. 1624.
1 Exod. vi. 2, 3.
In Sce Vol. I. Book v. p. 171.
n
I Cor. ii. 7.
• Coloff. i. 26.
we
Book IX.
525
and Profane Hiftory.
we find a leffer diſcovery of this intended ſcheme, though
we have plain intimations of fome part of it in every age
from the foundation of the world. Adam and Eve had a
revelation made to them of a perfon to come for the great.
and univerfal benefit of mankind ", and the whole fyftem
of worſhip by way of facrifice practifed in the very firſt ages
appears moſt reaſonably to have been founded upon the de-
fign of the true propitiation which was to be made by
Chrift for the fins of the world: but we read of no divine
appearance to any perfon before the days of Abraham: he
was the firſt who built an altar to and worſhipped the Lord
who appeared to him. Adam heard the voice of God many
times; God ſpoke to Cain', to Noah", and probably to
many others of the antediluvians; but it is no where inti-
mated, that the Lord appeared unto any one perfon, until we
are told that he appeared unto Abraham *; and then it is ob-
ferved, as what had not been before practifed, that Abrabam
built an altar unto the Lord who appeared to him ; fo that
Abraham ſeems to have been the first perfon who knew or
worshipped this Lord. Mankind, before he had received
fresh and further revelations than had been made to the
world, worshipped Jehovah Elohim, the true and living God;
but they worthipped God whom no man bad ever feen nor
could fee, and whom Job therefore believed to be inviſible";
but the defcendants of Abraham, Ifaac and Jacob, and their
children, worshipped not only the invifible God, but this
Lord alſo, and this Lord appeared to Mofes, and declared
himſelf to be the God of their fathers, who had appeared
unto divers of them, and who purpoſed by his hand to deli-
ver the Ifraelites. This was the perfon who was to be Ja-
cob's God ª, and whom he called the fear of his father Iſaac,
and whom he diftinguiſhed from the God of Abraham, the
God of Nabor, the God of their father, i. e. from the God
3
P See Vol. I. B. v. p. 172.
ч Book ii. p. 84.
r Gen. xii. 7.
s Gen. ii. 16, 18. iii. 8, 9, &c.
↑
Gen. iv. 9. 15.
•
■ Gen. vi, 13. vii. 1. viii. 15. ix. 1,
8, 12, 17.
x Gen. xii. 7.
y Ibid.
z Job ix. II.
* Gen. xxviii. 20.
whom
526
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
b
whom they worſhipped before this Lord had revealed him-
felf to them. In all the feveral paffages where the word
Jehovah occurs before the Lord's appearing unto Abraham ",
which are near forty, I am not fenfible that there are any,
where the word neceffarily refers to the Lord who appeared
to Abraham; and it is evident, that the antediluvians uſed
the words Jehovah or Elohim as equivalent terms, taking
them both for names of the one true and living God. Thus
Eve, when, upon the birth of Cain ſhe ſaid that ſhe had
gotten a man from [Jehovah] the Lord', meant exactly the
fame by the term Jehovab, as fhe did by Elohim, when at
the birth of Seth fhe faid that [Elohim] God had appointed
ber another. And thus likewife it was remarked, that in
Enos's days men were called by the name of [Jehovah] the
Lord; by which expreffion was meant, that they obtained
the name which we find afterwards given them, and were
called the fons [ha Elohim] of God. Elobim and Jehovah
were the names of the God of heaven, and God was ge-
nerally called in the hiftory of theſe times by both theſe
names put together, Jehovah Elobim, or, as we render them
in Engliſh, the LORD GOD §.
III. The Lord, who appeared unto Abraham, unto Iſaac,
and unto Jacob, did indeed many times reveal himſelf to
them by the name of El Shaddai, or, as Mofes expreffes it,
he appeared unto them by the name of God Almighty ; but it
is evident, that by his name Jehovah he was alfo known
unto them. When Abram was ninety years old and nine,
the LORD [Jehovah] appeared to Abram, and ſaid unto
him, I am the Almighty God [El Shaddai]. In this paf-
ſage is related that Jehovah appeared unto Abraham; this
is Mofes's narration of the fact, and it may be obſerved,
that he might here as an hiftorian, knowing the perfon who
appeared to have a right to the name Jehovah, call him
by that name, though it is evident that God who appeared
Gen. xii. 7.
Gen. iv. i.
d Ver. 25.
Ver. 26. See Vol. I. B. i. p. 25.
f Gen. vi. z.
g Gen. ii. 4, 7, 8, 9, 15, &c. iii. 8,
9, 13, 14, 22, &c. and thus ix. 26.
h Exod, vi. 3.
• Gen. xvii. 1.
here
Book IX.
527
and Profane Hiftory.
here did not call himſelf in this place Jehovah, but ſaid to
Abraham, I am [El Shaddai] the Almighty God, and by tha
name only was here known unto him: in the ſame manner if
is remarkable, that this perfon manifefted himſelf to Ifaac and
his defcendants by this particular name of God Almighty.
The God who appeared unto Jacob faid unto him, I am God
Almighty; and this El Shaddai, or God Almighty, was the
perſon whom Jacob prayed to be with his fons when he
fent them to Egypt ¹, and whom he reminded them to have
appeared to him at Luz in Canaan ", and whom he particu-
larly calls the God of Joſeph's father, in his bleffing him at
his death"; ſo that what Mofes records, that this their God
was known to them by his name of God Almighty, is abun-
dantly clear from thefe and many other paffages which
might be cited. But that this Lord was alſo known to
them by the name Jehovah, feems apparent from the fol-
lowing paffages amongſt others. Abraham called the place
where he went to offer Ifaac, Jehovah-jirehᵒ, which I
imagine he would not have done, if he had not known the
Lord by this name of Jehovah at that time: Abraham's fer-
vant called the God of his mafter Abraham, Jehovah ; but
Gen. xxviii. 13. is very full and exprefs. Jacob, in the vifion
there recorded, faw the Lord ftanding before him; and the
Lord faid, I am the Lord God; or rather, I am Jehovah,
the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Ijaac2.
Here the Lord very exprefsly revealed himſelf to Jacob
by his name Jehovah, and, accordingly, Jacob hereupon
refolved, that this Lord fhould be his God; and, in
purſuance of this refolution, he was reminded afterwards.
to build an altar as Abraham had done, not unto God,
whom no man bath feen at any time, nor can fee; but unto
God, who had appeared to him: it is therefore evidently
clear, that God, who ſpoke unto Mofes, and declared him-
felf to have appeared unto Abraham, unto Ifaac, and unto
k Gen. xx XV. II,
1 Gen. xliii. 14
m Gen. xlviii. 3.
» Gen. xlix. 25.
o Gen. xxii. 14.
P Gen. xxiv. 12, 26, 40.
a See Gen. xxxv. 1. where Jacob wAS
directed to God, who appeared to him
at Bethel, i. c. in the place where he
faw this vifion. And Jacob himfelf
fays, that God Almighty appeared
here unto him. See Gen. xlviii. 3.
• Gen. xxviii. 21.
s Gen, xxxv. I.
Jacob,
528
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
Jacob, was known unto them by his name Jehovah; and
therefore our Engliſh tranſlation of the latter part of the 3d
verfe of the fixth chapter of Exodus, in theſe words, but by my
name Jehovah was I not known unto them, is undoubtedly a
faulty tranſlation, not rightly expreffing what Mofes in-
tended in this place. The beſt and moſt accurate writers have
remarked upon this place, that the latter part of the verſe
fhould be read interrogatively, thus; By my name Jehovah
was I not known unto them? If we take the fentence interro-
gatively, every one will fee that it plainly intimates, that
the Lord had revealed himſelf to them by this name, which
is agreeable to Mofes's account of Abraham, Ifaac, and
Jacob's knowledge and worship of the Deity: but to take
the words without the interrogation, and fuppoſe them to
intend, that the Lord who appeared to Abraham was not
known to him, to Ifaac, and to Jacob, by his name Jehovah,
cannot be reconciled to fome very expreſs paffages in the
Book of Genefis.
In the LXX. verfion, the words are agreeable to our
Englim tranflation, καὶ τὸ ὄνομά με Κύριος ἐκ ἐδήλωσα αὐτοῖς·
but it has been obferved by the learned, that fome of the
Greek writers read the words καὶ τὸ ὄνομά με Κύριος ἐδήλωσα
aurois that is, my name Jehovah I made known unto them;
which interpretation is favoured by the Arabic version. The
words of Mofes may indeed be ſuppoſed to hint, that the
Lord, who appeared unto Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, and
to Mofes, was not known by the name Jehovah before
Abraham's days; and this I think agrees with the Book of
Genefis; for we no where find him mentioned before he
appeared unto Abraham, and before Abraham built an altar
unto the LORD, who appeared to him t.
I am fenfible I have been very large in this digreffion
upon the name of God: I was willing to be as particular as
might be, becauſe I would obferve from the whole that
occurs about it, that it is remarkable from the writings of
Mofes, that there were two different and diftin&t perfons
known and worshipped by the faithful from the days of
t Gen. xi'. 7.
Abraham ;
Book IX.
529 *
and Profane Hiftory.
×
per-
Abraham; God, whom no man bath feen at any time, and the
Lord, who at divers times appeared to them. The Lord who
appeared to them is allowed, by the beft and moft judicious
writers ", to have been the fame divine perfon, who after-
wards took upon him the feed of Abraham, and was made man,
and dwelt amongſt the Jews; and accordingly the prophet
Zechariah calls this perſon, whom the Jews were to pierce,
Jehovah ; and therefore, fince, according to Plutarch's
ſenſe and interpretation of the Delphian EI, this divine
fon could not juſtly have been called Jehovah, if he had not
been truly and effentially God; fince, according to Plato's
account of the ancient opinions about names, no perſon
could have a name given from heaven but what truly agreed
to, and expreffed, his nature and perfon '; fince we muſt
conclude from Iſaiah, that God would not give his name and
glory to another; fince, according to what may be inferred
from the words of the infpired writer of the Epiſtle to the
Hebrews, we ought to think this divine perfon fo much better
than the angels, as he hath obtained a more excellent name than
they; it muſt appear (this perfon being many times
called by the name of Jehovah in the Old Teftament) that
we have, if we duly attend to them, great and weighty
proofs of the true and effential deity of our bleffed Saviour
in the Old Teftament, whatever fome very learned and confi-
derable writers have hinted to the contrary. I need not, be-
fore I leave this fubject, remark, that neither Abraham nor
his children ran into the errors of polytheifm; for, though
it appears that they acknowledged more perfons than one to
have a right to the effential name of God, yet their belief
was, that the Lord their God was one [Jehovah] LORD Þ:
God, whom no man bath feen at any time, nor can fee, and the
LORD, who appeared unto Abraham, were not ſuppoſed to
be one and the fame perſon; but as they were called by one
and the fame name, by a name which could not be given.
to another, fo they were believed to be of one nature, they
were one being, in a word, as is expreffed Deuter. vi. 4. they
■ See Vol. I. Book v. p. 176.
* Zech. xii. 10.
y In Cratylo.
YOL. I.
2 Ifaiah xlii. 8.
A Hebrews i. 4.
d Deuter, vi. 4.
м m
were
53°
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
1
were one Jehovah, though revealed to be more perſons than
onec.
When Mofes and Aaron were come to Egypt, after they
had converfed with the elders of the children of Ifrael, they
went to Pharaoh, and delivered their meffage, according to
the orders which God had given them, requiring the king
to give the Ifraelites leave to go three days' journey into the
wilderneſs, to perform a facrifice unto the Lord their God ª.
Pharaoh, as he was fatisfied with the belief of his own reli-
gion, did not fee that there was any neceffity for fuch a
facrifice as they fpake of, and therefore anſwered, that he
knew of no fuch God as the God of Ifrael. He thought
that they might ferve the gods where they were, and re-
ſolved not to ſuffer them to go out of the land. He fufpected
that they had a deſign of revolting from his fervice, and
had been laying fchemes to get out of his dominions; an
argument to him, that they had too much leiſure, and he
thought he ſhould effectually check their indulging them-
felves in contrivances of this fort, if he took care to leave
them fewer vacant hours; and therefore he ordered greater
taſks, and more work to be enjoined them f. He repri-
manded Mofes and Aaron for going amongst the people,
and interrupting them in their employments, and ordered
his taſk-mafters to be more ftrict with them, and to preſs
them to harder labourg; fo that the people began to be
greatly difcouraged, and to wiſh that Mofes and Aaron had
never come among them ¹.
A few days paffed, and Mofes and Aaron came again unto
Pharaoh, and repeated the demand, which they had before
made, for his diſmiffing the Ifraelites. Hereupon Pharaoh
defired them to fhew him fome miracle, to induce him to
believe that they were indeed fent by the God they ſpake
of. Mofes ordered Aaron to caft the rod, which he had in
his hand, upon the ground; Aaron did fo, and the rod was
immediately changed into a ſerpent. Pharaoh was ſurpriſed
< See Dr. Waterland's Defence, &c.
Qu. III.
d Exodus v. 3.
e Ver. 2.
f Exod. v. 6.
g Ver. 17.
Ver. 21.
1 Exod. vii. 10.
at
Book IX.
531
and Profane Hiſtory.
k
at this tranfmutation; but he called together his learned
men, the magicians and forcerers of Egypt, and ordered
them to try if they could not by their arts and ſciences
cauſe ſuch a tranfmutation. They attempted and fucceeded,
changing their rods into ferpents as Aaron had done; fo
that Pharaoh did not think this a true miracle, but only an
effect, which might be produced by a man who had ſtudied
the ſecret powers of nature. As it pleaſed God to permit
the magicians fo far to fucceed as to delude Pharaoh; ſo, at
the fame time, God, who never tempts or enfnares any man
into evil', did by a remarkable circumftance in this miracle
give the king fufficient reafon to have confidered it more
ſeriouſly; Aaron's rod ſwallowed up all the rods of the ma-
gicians but Pharaoh's heart was averfe to the thoughts of
parting with the Ifraelites, and fo he did not let this circum-
ftance make a due impreffion upon his mind.
I have already hinted, that Pharaoh's defign in oppoſing
his magicians to Mofes, was to fee whether the wonders
which Mofes wrought were the effect of the art of man, of
the powers of nature, or the finger of God. Philo Judæus™ and
Jofephus" do both fet this tranfaction in the fame light.
I am fenfible it may feem poffible to reprefent it otherwife:
it may perhaps be ſaid, that Pharaoh never queftioned but
that the wonders which Mofes did were real miracles,
wrought by the power of the God which fent him; and that
he employed his magicians, not in order to judge whether
Mofes's works were real miracles or no, but to fee whether
his own priests could not, by the help and affiftance of the
Egyptian gods, do as great miracles as Mofes did by the
power of the God of Ifrael; that he might know whether
the God of Ifrael could really compel him to difmifs his
people, or whether he might not hope to be protected in
keeping them by the power of his own gods, in oppofition
to the threatenings of the God of Ifrael. But this fup-
pofition is not to be fupported by any true accounts of the
* Exod. vii. 12.
1 James i. 13, 14.
M m
CL...
m Philo de vita Mofis, 1. i. p. 616.
ed. Par. 1640.
"Jofeph. Antiq. Jud. 1. ii. c. 13.
heathen
532
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
heathen theology, nor can it agree with Mofes's repreſen-
tation of the magicians ufing their enchantments, and the
confeffion they made when they could not fucceed in the
ufe of them.
:
O
It cannot be thought, that Pharaoh employed his magi-
cians to vie with Mofes in working miracles, in order to
determine whether the gods of Egypt were as powerful to
protect him, as the God of Ifrael was to afflict him; for it
was not the cuſtom of the heathens to endeavour to ſupport
themſelves by the favour of one god, againſt the expreſs and
known demands of another; but their belief was, that when
the fupreme Deity determined to afflict them, no other god
could help them against his determinations, and that every
or any god had full power to diftrefs them, unleſs they took
care, when required, duly to make atonement for any
trefpaffes or commiffions against him. Rabflakeh believed,
that when he was come up against Jerufalem, not without the
Lord, (non fine Numine Divum, Virgil would have expreffed
it,) that no god could be able to deliver the Jews out of
his hand and thus Homer reprefents Hector delivered up
to the fury of Achilles: when Jupiter determined that he
fhould be killed, then Phoebus left him ; no deity any
longer interpofed in his behalf: and Virgil gives up Turnus
to Æneas in the fame manner 9. And as they thought no
god able to deliver any favourite from the fate appointed
by the fupreme Deity; fo we do not find inſtances which
intimate, that when any god threatened to afflict them,
that they thought they could ſupport themſelves againſt
divine vengeance, by feeking the more immediate favour of
ſome other god. When Calchas had informed the Greeks
that Apollo had fent the peftilence among them for neg-
lecting his prieſt and favourite, the Greeks did not endea-
vour to fly to Jupiter, or to fome other god, to be protected
againſt Apollo's anger; but they immediately took the
beſt care they could to appeaſe Apollo'. And thus, when
the Affyrians thought the people, whom they had planted
2 Kings xviii.
P Iliad. xxii.
9 Eneid, xii.
Homer Il. i.
Р
in
Book IX.
533
and Profane Hiflory.
in Samaria, to have lions fent amongſt them by the god of
the country into which they had removed them, they did
not think it fufficient to endeavour to procure them pro-
tection againſt this ftrange god, whofe manner they did not
know, by fetting up the worſhip of their own gods; but the
king of Affyria thought fit to command, that they ſhould
carry thither one of the prieſts, whom they had brought
from thence, that he might go and dwell there, and teach
the people the manner of the god of the land³. When
Cyrus invaded Affyria, he made libations to render the foil
propitious to him; then he facrificed to the gods and heroes
of the Affyrian nation; then to Jupiter Patrius; and it is
remarked, that if there appeared to him to be any other
god, he took care not to neglect him. This was the
Pagan practice; and it could have been to no purpoſe for
Pharaoh to have employed his magicians to try to work
miracles as Mofes did, if he had thought them affifted by a
divine power in working them; for it had been no detection
of Mofes's not being fent from God, that, when he had
wrought a miracle to confirm his miffion, a perfon, who, by
the fame or a like divine power, could work the ſame mi-
racle, had been oppofed to him. This could not have
proved either of the perfons not to have wrought a true
miracle; for each of them muft have known and confeffed
that they had either of them wrought a true miracle by di-
vine affiftance. It is no where fuggefted, that the gods of
Egypt commanded Pharaoh to keep the Ifraelites; nor can
it be conceived that Pharaoh could defire his priests to try
to work miracles, to know whether this was their will or
no; for, fuppofing him to think that Mofes had been able
by the power of one deity to work a miracle to demand
their difmiffion, it is impoffible to think he or his people
could be fo abfurd as to imagine, that the gods would work
miracles in defiance of, and oppofition to, one another. In
this cafe, had he thought Mofes had wrought a true miracle,
he would have believed that fome deity had really fent
him; and though this deity was not an Egyptian god, yet,
a Kings xvii.
↑ Xenoph. Cyropæd. 1. iii.
M m 3
when
534
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
when convinced that he really was a god; like Cyrus,
when he had appeafed the feveral gods he knew of, if he
found that there was any other deity, which he had hi-
therto been a ſtranger to, he would not have neglected him:
but Pharaoh doubted whether Mofes really wrought a mi-
racle or no. The learned in Egypt thought, that miracles,
prodigies, and omens, were given by the planetary and
elementary influences, and that ftudents, deeply verſed in
the myfteries of nature, could cauſe them by arts and
incantations. Pharaoh thought his magicians to be great.
mafters of theſe arts, and that therefore, if they could
perform what Mofes did, that then Mofes was only fuch
a one as they, and endeavoured to delude him by ar-
tificial wonders, instead of real miracles. And this is
abundantly confirmed to be the fact, by the account which
Mofes gave of the magicians ufing their enchantments, and
of the confeffion extorted from them, when they could not
fucceed in the uſe of them.
When the magicians of Egypt endeavoured with their
enchantments to produce lice, and could not do it, the con-
feffion which they made hereupon was, not that they were
overpowered by the God of Ifrael; not that he affifted his
fervants beyond what their gods did them; but [y
xin Obx] Atſban Elohim Houa; This is the finger of God*.
The Targum of Onkelos renders it, This plague comes from
God. The Arabic verfion expreffes it, A fign of this nature
is of God. So that this appears evidently to have been what
Pharaoh endeavoured fully to convince himſelf of; whether
the works which Mofes performed were artificial, or whe-
ther they were the finger of God; and when the magicians
had anſwered him this queſtion, we find that he made no
further uſe of them: whereas, had the queftion been, whe-
ther the God of Ifrael or the gods of Egypt were the moſt
able to affift their fervants, Pharaoh might have doubted,
whether the want of fuccefs in the experiment was not
more owing to ſome defect in the magicians' enchantments,
than in the power of the gods: he would have thought,
x Exodus viii. 19.
that
Book IX.
535
and Profane Hiftory.
that the magicians had made improper applications to obtain
the favour of the gods, and that, according to the notions
which prevailed when Balaam was defired to curfe the
Ifraelites, though fome enchantments or religious arts of
addreſs might not obtain the divine favour, yet others
might²; and the being diſappointed in one trial would
rather have argued a defect in the prieſt or magician's at-
tempts to make the gods propitious, than want of power
in their gods to affift them. But the enquiry was evidently
not of this nature: all that Pharaoh wanted to be informed
of was, whether Mofes was a magician, or was really fent
by the God which he ſpoke of; and he expected to be
convinced of this, by examining whether his wonders
were fuch as the magicians by their arts could perform
or no.
There are feveral queries which may be very juftly made
upon Pharaoh's employing his magicians to attempt to work
the wonders which Mofes performed. It may be aſked,
was there really any knowledge of the powers of nature, or
arcana of art, by which magicians, without the miraculous
affiſtance of the Deity, could perform fuch operations as
Pharaoh here employed his wife men and forcerers to at-
tempt? Did the Egyptian magicians really perform thofe
wonders, in which they are recorded to have imitated
Mofes? how could Pharaoh think or imagine that they
could poffibly perform them? or how could they themſelves
be fo weak as to attempt them? or how came they to have
fuccefs in fome inftances, wherein they tried and performed
wonders like what Mofes had done? But to all theſe queries
it is not difficult to find a juft and fufficient anſwer.
I. Was there really any knowledge of the powers of
nature, or any fecrets of art, by which magicians might be
able to do fuch wonders as Mofes performed before Pharaoh,
without their having an extraordinary and divine affiſtance?
It is eaſy to return an anſwer to this queftion. The know-
ledge of natural caufes and effects is fo clear in this age,
by the light which has been introduced by experiment and
y Numbers xxiii.
* Numbers xxiv. 1.
M m 4
philoſophy,
536
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
philofophy, that we may pofitively fay, that no effects, like
what theſe men pretended to accomplish by forcery and
enchantment, can be artificially produced by any or all the
powers of nature. No art, no ftudy of occult ſciences, can
enable a man really to change a rod or ſtick of wood into a
living ferpent: there are no enchantments fufficient to en-
able us to make a living frog, or to ftrike our neighbour
with a diſeaſe or boil, or to inflict any vengeance of this
fort upon him. There never were the inftances which are
pretended to of things of this nature effected by arts of
this fort. How the magicians of Egypt performed their
wonders before Pharaoh fhall be by and by mentioned;
and in the fame manner in which we account for them, we
may account for all other wonderful and fupernatural works,
repreſented to have been effected by any heathen magicians
in the facred pages. As to many accounts of ſuch facts
which are mentioned in profane hiſtorians, we may venture
to affert, that they were never really done as they repreſent
them, but that they are generally fome of the Scripture
miracles falſely reported, or attributed to perfons who were
never concerned in them, or accounts of facts which were
never done at all. Julian, the fon of Theurgus, is faid to
have cauſed the heaven to be black with clouds, and a vaſt
fhower. to fall with terrible thunders and lightning, copia
Tivi, by fome magic art; but others think that Arnuphis the
Egyptian philofopher performed this miracle 2. Such as this
are the relations of the heathen wonders: no certainty of
the performer of them, and nothing but a vague and unde-
termined conjecture how they could be performed. This
fact may as well be afcribed to Arnuphis as to Julian, and
was certainly true of neither; being probably the account
of Elijah's obtaining rain in the time of Ahab', falfely
aſcribed to one or other of theſe heathens, in order to raiſe
the credit of the heathen learning. But it will be aſked,
a
II. Did the Egyptian magicians really perform thoſe
wonders which are afcribed to them? Some learned writers
have imagined, that there was not any real tranfmutation,
• Suidas in voc. Ιουλιανός.
1 Kings xviii.
when
Book IX.
537
and Profane Hiftory.
when the rods of the Egyptian magicians were pretended to
be turned into ſerpents; and that they did not really turn
water into blood, or produce frogs, or exhibit any real
miracle in their oppofition to Moſes; but that they either
played their parts as jugglers, pretending to do what they
really did not do; or that fome dæmons affifted them, and,
by their power over the air, enabled them to deceive the
fight of the beholders, and to cauſe phantoms, or deluſive
appearances of what was really not done, though it ſeemed
to be performed in the fight of Pharaoh, and thoſe who
were preſent with him. Many of the Fathers of the Chrif-
tian Church are cited as abettors of this opinion f, and Jo-
ſephus is ſaid to favour it : but certainly we have little
reaſon to admit it. As to the magicians impofing upon
Pharaoh by artifice and pretence, I cannot fee how they
could poffibly do it, without giving Mofes and Aaron an
opportunity of detecting the cheat, and expofing them to
Pharaoh and his people. Elijah found it no great difficulty
to detect the falfe pretences of the priests of Baal, when
they pretended by prayer to bring fire from heaven, but
could not really obtain it. In the fame manner Mofes
would, without doubt, have brought the artifices of the
Egyptian magicians to a trial, which would have detected
the cheat, if the wonders, which they pretended to perform,
had been only pretended, and not really performed by them.
And as to their being able to exhibit appearances of fer-
pents, frogs, and blood, when no fuch things really were in
being, but only appeared to be, by the air being ſo directed
by the agency of beings which had power over it, as to
affect Pharaoh and his fubjects in fuch a manner, as to
cauſe them to think they faw the magicians' rods turned
into ferpents, frogs produced, and water converted into
blood, when none of theſe things were really done: to
this I anſwer, that to argue in this manner, is indeed to be
unwilling to allow the Egyptian magicians to be able to
c Exodus vii.
d Ver. 22.
• Exodus viii. 7.
* See Pool's Synopf. Crit. in loc.
8 Jofeph. Antiq. Jud, 1. ii. c. 13.
1 Kings xviii.
perform
538
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
perform a true miracle, and yet at the fame time it ſuppoſes
them to have performed wonders, of which we can give as
little account as of a miracle. Let any one try to give a
fatisfactory account, how any magician could, by a power
over the air, either by himſelf, or by the affiſtance of a dæ-
mon, repreſent to the naked view of the beholders, in oppo-
fition to a true miracle, ferpents, frogs, and water con-
verted into blood; nay, and fo reprefent them, as that the
fictitious appearances fhould not be diſtinguiſhable from the
real, but ſhould bear to be feen with them at one and the
fame time, in the fame light, in the fame view, (for fo the
rods of the magicians turned into ferpents certainly were,
when Aaron's rod fwallowed up their rods ;) I fay, let any
one try to give a reaſonable account of this fancy, and he
will quickly fee, that he may more reaſonably fuppoſe the
magicians able to perform a true and real tranſmutation,
than to aſcribe to them fuch imaginary powers as this fup-
pofition requires; and which, if they could be conceived,
can tend only to deftroy the certainty of all appearances
whatever. The account which Mofes gave of the miracles
performed by himſelf and Aaron, and of what the magicians
performed by their enchantments, does not hint any dif
ference as to the reality of the performances of either of
them; and undoubtedly the rods of the magicians were
truly and really turned to ferpents, as well as the rod of
Aaron, and were truly and really ſwallowed up by Aaron's
rod. The frogs which the magicians produced were true
real living frogs, as well as thofe produced by Mofes; and
the magicians certainly turned water into blood truly and
really as Mofes himſelf did. There can be nothing offered
from the facred hiftory, to fuppofe the one appearances
more real than the other; and if a believer of revelation
will argue the magicians' performances to be only phantafms,
or deceptions of the fight of the beholders; why may not
an unbeliever with equal affurance argue all that Mofes did
to be of the fame fort? Nothing but the moſt extravagant
fcepticiſm can be built upon fo wild a fuppofition. But,
i Exodus vii. 12.
III.
Book IX.
539
and Profane Hiftory.
III. If there were no fecret arts, no occult ſciences, by
the ſtudy of which the Egyptian magicians might think
themſelves able to perform thefe wonders; how could
Pharaoh imagine that his magicians could perform them,
or how could they themſelves be fo weak, or ſo vain, as to
attempt them? I anfwer: We read of no miracles of this
fort ever performed in the world before this time. God
had diſcovered his will to mankind by revelation in all ages.
In the firſt and moſt early times by voices or dreams: from
Abraham's time the Lord appeared frequently to his fer-
vants. But no fuch wonders as were done in Egypt, in the
fight of Pharaoh, are recorded to have ever been performed
in the world before, ſo that they were a new thing, un-
doubtedly furprising to all that faw them. And accord-
ingly we find, that Mofes, when he faw the buſh on fire,
and not confumed, was amazed, and turned afide to fee this
great fight, why the bush was not burned: and when God
turned his rod into a ferpent, Mofes was terrified, and fled
from it. God had not as yet enabled any perfon to work
wonders as Mofes and Aaron did in Egypt; and therefore
Pharaoh, upon feeing theſe things performed, might well
enquire whether his magicians could do fuch things as
thefe; and the magicians might without abfurdity try
whether they could or no. God had before this time fre-
quently revealed himſelf to his fervants by dreams, by
voices, by fending angels, or by appearing to them. And
the world in general was in thefe days full of belief of the
truth of fuch revelations, until, as human learning increaſed,
the conceit of ſcience falfely fo called feduced the learned
to think themfelves able, by philofophy and fpeculation,
to delineate a religion of nature fufficient to render reve-
lation unneceffary and fuperfluous. The Egyptians began
early, and had proceeded far in this falſe way of thinking:
inſtead of one God, and one Lord, whom Abraham and his
deſcendants worshipped, they corrupted their faith very
near as early as Abraham's days "; and admitted, that there
was indeed a fupreme Deity, prefiding over the univerſe,
k Exodus iii..3.
1 Exodus iv. 3.
See Vol. I. B. v. Vol. II. B. vii,
(for
540
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
Z
(for this I think the heathens never really denied, though
the grofsnefs of polytheifm, which time introduced, greatly
obfcured their knowledge of even this truth,) but they
imagined they had reaſon to think, that the planets and
elements were gods alfo°, and governed the world by their
influence, though fubject to the fate, will, or direction of
the fupreme God. And as to what was generally believed
of dreams, vifions, and revelations, which had been made to
men, the learned in theſe times thought as freely about
them, as our modern querifts. The belief of them was of
ſervice to the legislators, who knew how to make them a
ſtate-engine to govern their people by ; but they thought
themſelves wife enough to know, that they were occafioned
fine Deo, in a natural way, by the planetary and elementary
influences; and that they were made a part of their reli-
gion, only for the utility of their popular influence, and
for reafons of ftate, for the government of kingdoms.
Hitherto the Egyptians had proceeded; and had Mofes
come to them, and could only have affured them, that he
had received a command from God in a dream, or by a
vifion, or by a voice, or any other revelation, neither Pha-
raoh, nor his wife men, would have regarded him at all, but
have concluded, that fome natural prodigy had happened;
for fuch they would moſt probably have imagined the buſh
on fire to be, and have ſuppoſed that Moſes had made a po-
n Mundum-habere mentem, quæ
et fe, et ipfum fabricatum fit, et omnia
moderetur, moveat, regat: erit perfua-
fum etiam folem, lunam, ftellas om-
nes, terram, mare Deos effe. Cic.
ο Τί κωλύσει τῆς τα Διός ΕΙΜΑΡΜΕ
ΝΗΣ ὑπηκίες πάντας εἶναι. Plut. L. de
Defect. Orac. p. 426. ed. Xyl. Par.
1624. Fatum eft non id quod fuper-
ftitiofe fed quod phyfice dicitur cauſa
æterna rerum. Cic. Deum Neceffitatem
appellant, quia nihil aliter poffit atque
ab eo conftitutum fit.
• Ονείρατα και φάσματα, καὶ τοῦτον ἄλ-
λον όγκον προϊςάμενοι πολιτικοῖς μὲν
ἀνδράσι, καὶ πρὸς αὐθάδη καὶ ἀκόλασον
ὄχλον ἠναγκασμένοι; ζῆν, ἐκ ἄχρησον ἴσως
ἐσὶν, ὥσπερ ἐκ χαλινό της δεισιδαιμονίας
πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον ἀντισπάσαι καὶ μεταςῆ-
oni ras wohl. Plut. L. de Socratis
Genio, p. 580.
• Non enim fumus ii nos augures,
qui avium, reliquorumve fignorum
obfervatione futura dicamus:-errabat
enim multis in rebus antiquitas, quam
vel ufu jam vel doctrina vel vetuftate
immutatam videmus; retinetur au-
et ad opinionem vulgi, et ad
magnas utilitates reipublicæ mos, re-
ligio, difciplina, jus augurum, collegii
authoritas. Cicer. de Divinat. I. ii.
tem
c. 33.
Exiftimo jus augurum, etfi divina-
tionis opinione principio conſtitutum
fit, tamen poftea reipublicæ caufa
confervatum ac retentum. Cic. de Di-
vinat. 1. ii. c. 35.
litical
Book IX.
541
and Profane Hiftory.
litical uſe of it; and for this reafon Pharaoh bade him bew
a miracle; knowing, that if the Deity really fent him, he
could give this proof of it. Hereupon God enabled Moſes
to work ſeveral very extraordinary figns and wonders, fuch
as had never been ſeen or heard of in the world before:
upon feeing which, Pharaoh very naturally confulted his
magi, and they tried all the myſtical operations, and ex-
amined all the ſchemes, which their ſyſtems of ſcience fur-
niſhed, to fee whether theſe things could be done or ac-
counted for by any natural influences, or human learning;
and, after ſeveral trials, acknowledged that they could not,
but that they were the effect of an omnipotent hand, the
finger of Gods. But,
IV. If the Egyptian magicians had no myſtical arts, by
the uſe of which they could really turn their rods into fer-
pents, produce frogs, and change water into blood; how
came they to fucceed in theſe attempts which they made in
oppofition to Mofes? We have no reafon to think that the
king knew the works which he employed his magicians to
try to perform, to be within the reach of any art they were
maſters of, becauſe he ordered them to try to perform them;
rather, on the contrary, he ordered them to try to perform
them, that he might know whether art could effect them or
no, or whether they were indeed true miracles. Kings were
wont in all extraordinary cafes, where any thing happened
which was thought ominous or furpriſing, to fend for their
prieſts and learned profeffors, and to order them to anſwer
the difficulties that perplexed them. And though much
was pretended to, yet they had not yet advanced fo far in
the true knowledge of nature, but that kings fometimes
thought they might require of their magi things impoffible.
We have an inſtance of this in the Book of Daniel'. Nebu-
chadnezzar dreamed a dream, and forgot it; and required
his magi not only to tell him the meaning of his dream,
but to find out what his dream was; and though the Chal-
dæans anſwered him, that no man upon earth could do it, and
that no king, lord, or ruler, had ever afked fuch a thing of any
s Exodus viii. 19,
< Daniel ii.
magician,
1
542
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
magician, aftrologer, or Chaldæan; yet the king was ſo reſo-
lutely fet upon compelling them to uſe their utmoſt endea-
vours, that he reſolved and commanded to deſtroy all the magi,
or wife men of Babylon. In theſe caſes the magi might
try all poffible experiments, though they had no reaſon to
hope for fuccefs from them. 2. It does not appear from the
magicians here trying their experiments, and fucceeding in
them, that they thought at firſt that their arts would be
effectual, and that they ſhould be able to perform ſuch
works as Mofes and Aaron had done. The prieſts of Baal,
in the time of Elijah", had no reaſon to think, that the
invocations of their god, or the cutting themſelves with
knives and lancers, would produce the fire from heaven to
confume their facrifice; but yet they tried all the artifices
they could think of from morning until evening. So here
the Egyptians had no reaſon to think their incantations
would produce ferpents; but they would try all experi-
ments, in order to judge further of the matter; and, upon
their attempting, God was pleaſed in ſome caſes to give an
unexpected fuccefs to their endeavours, in order to ferve
and carry on his own purpoſes and defigns by it. For,
3. The fuccefs they had was certainly unexpected, as evi-
dently appears by their not being able to follow Mofes in all
his miracles. They produced ferpents and frogs, and con-
verted water into blood; but when they attempted to produce
the lice, they could not do it. It is here evident, that the
magicians did not know the extent of their powers, if they
can be conceived to have had any; for they attempted to
equal Mofes in all his performances; but upon trial they
found they could do fome, but in others, though not a whit
more difficult, they could not obtain any fuccefs at all. Had
they had any effectual rules of art or ſcience to work by,
they would at firſt, without trial, have known what to at-
tempt, and what not; but, in truth, they had no arts to per-
form any thing of this fort. In fome inftances God was
pleaſed to give a fucceſs, which they little expected, to their
endeavours, and which they were fo far from refting ſatisfied
ม 1 Kings xviii.
with,
Book IX,
543
and Profane Hiſtory.
with, that they took the firſt opportunity that was given
them, when their attempts failed, to acknowledge that
Mofes was certainly affifted by the divine power.
Mofes and Aaron went the third time to Pharaoh, and
urged again the demand they had made for his difmiffing
the Ifraelites; and, as a further fign that God had really
fent them, upon Aaron's ftretching out his hand, and
touching the waters of the river with his rod, all the waters
in the land of Egypt were turned into blood, and continued
ſo for ſeven days, fo that the fiſh died, and the Egyptians
could get no water to drink *; but Pharaoh, finding that his
magicians could turn water into blood, was not convinced
by this miracle, and ſo refuſed to part with the Ifraelites.
Some time after Mofes and Aaron came again to him, re-
quiring the difiniffion of the people, and withal affuring him,
that if he did not grant it, they ſhould bring a great plague
of frogs upon all the land; and, in order hereto, Mofes di-
rected Aaron to ftretch his rod again over the waters, upon
doing which there came up abundance of frogs, ſo as to cover
the land of Egypt, and to fwarm in the houſes, bedcham-
bers, upon the beds, in the ovens, and kneading-troughs of
the Egyptians : but here it alſo happened that the magi-
cians alfo produced frogs, fo that Pharaoh was not much in-
fluenced by this miracle ².
There were ſeveral other miracles wrought by Mofes and
Aaron in Egypt after the fame manner. The ſwarms of
* Exodus vii. 15-25. Pharaoh is
here mentioned to go down in the
morning to the river. It is probable,
that the Egyptians accounted it a ne-
ceſſary part of religion to purify them-
felves every morning, by waſhing in
the river. Virgil reprefents Æneas as
thinking fuch a purification neceffary,
before he might touch the Trojan ſa-
cra, having polluted himſelf in battle;
he fays to his father Anchifes,
Tu, genitor, cape facra manu, patriof-
que penates;
Me, bello e tanto digreffum, et cæde
recenti,
Attre&are nefas, donec me flumine vivo
Abluero. Virg. Æn. ii. 717.
But the Egyptians ufed theſe purifica-
tions twice every day, fays Herodotus,
δὶς τῆς ἡμέρας εκάτης, καὶ δὶς ἑκάστης
vUxrós. Lib. ii. c. 37. Chæremon fays,
thrice every day, [ἀπελύοντο ψυχρῷ ἀπό
σε κοίτης, καὶ πρὸ ἀρίσε, καὶ πρὸς ὕπνον. ap.
Porphyr. se drox. 1. iv. $. 7.] when
they came from bed in the morning,
juft before dinner, and at night when
they went to fleep. Mofes was here
directed to go to Pharaoh in the morn-
ing, at his going out to the water; fo
that Pharaoh was here going to per-
form the morning purification.
y Exodus viii. 3—6.
z Ver. 7.
lice;
544
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
lice ; the murrain upon the Egyptian cattle ; the plague
of the flies; the boils inflicted upon not only the Egyptian
people, but upon the magicians alfo ; the terrible rain and
hail, and fire mingled with hail; the plague of the locuſts f;
and the darkneſs for three days; all theſe things being
caufed at the word of Mofes, exceedingly perplexed the
king. He found that all the powers, art, and learning of
his magicians could not perform theſe miracles; nay, upon
attempting one of them, they themselves confeffed to him,
that it was done by the finger of God; and, in the plague
of the boils, the magicians themfelves were afflicted', and
could not ftand before Mofes, because of the boil; for the boil
was upon the magicians, and all the Egyptians. The king's
heart was ſeveral times almoft overcome: he offered the
Ifraelites leave to facrifice to the Lord their God, provided
they would do it in Egypt*: but to this Mofes anſwered,
that their religion was fo different from the Egyptian, that
were they to perform the offices of it in Egypt, the people
would be ſo offended, as to riſe againſt them and ſtone them'.
Afterwards Pharaoh would have permitted them to go out
of Egypt, provided the adult perfons only would go, and
that they would leave their children behind them as
pledges of their return "; but upon Mofes infifting to have
the people go, with their young and with their old, with
their fons and with their daughters, with their flocks and with
their herds; Pharaoh was incenſed againſt him, and, having
feverely threatened him, ordered him to be turned out of
his preſence". Afterwards, Pharaoh was willing that all the
people ſhould go, only that they fhould let their flocks and
their herds be ſtayed"; very probably knowing, that they
could not go far without fuftenance, and that if they left all
their flocks, and their herds, they muſt ſoon return again;
for what nation would receive or maintain with their own
a Exodus viii. 16.
b Exodus ix. 3, 7.
© Exodus viii. 21.
d Exodus ix. 9-12.
e Ver. 18.
f Exodus x. 4.
* Ver. 21.
m
Exodus viii. 19.
1 Exodus ix. II.
* Exodus viii. 25.
1 Ver. 26.
m Exodus X. II.
n Ibid.
• Ver. 24.
product
Book IX.
545
and Profane Hiftory.
product and provifions fo numerous a people? or how or
where could they fubfift, if their flocks and herds were left.
behind them? So that the leave of departing, which Pha-
raoh offered, would foon have been of no fervice; and there-
fore Moſes rejected it, and required that their cattle alſo
Should go with them, and not an hoof be left behind P: but upon
Mofes's requiring this, Pharaoh grew exceeding angry, and
charged him to get him away, and never attempt to ſee him
more: for that if he did, he would certainly put him to
death 9.
Thus was this unhappy prince, by the obstinacy of his
heart, carried on, through many great misfortunes to himſelf
and people, at length to his ruin. He had all along fuffi-
cient means of conviction. When his magicians' rods were
turned into ferpents, and Aaron's rod fwallowed up their
rods, how would a circumftance, far lefs remarkable and
extraordinary, have moved him, if what Mofes required had
not been diſagreeable to him? In feveral of the plagues,
that were inflicted upon him and his people, Pharaoh was
compelled to make application to Mofes, to entreat the
Lord his God to remove the evil'; and in others, the king
himſelf was nice and exact in enquiring, whether the
Ifraelites did fuffer in them with his people or no; and
found, upon examination, that God had diſtinguiſhed the
Ifraelites from the Egyptians, and that they were not par-
takers in the remarkable calamities inflicted upon the land'.
I might add the particular confeffion of the magicians, that
Mofes's works were the finger of God'; and obferve how
the magicians themſelves fuffered in the plague of the
boils; and how Mofes was able, at any time or hour, to
obtain from God a removal of the plagues, upon Pharaoh's
addrefs for it. How could the king, if he attended at all
to theſe circumſtances, not be entirely convinced by them?
And yet I do not fee that we have any reafon to think that
he fully believed that Mofes was really and truly fent from
P Exodus X. 25.
4 Ver. 28.
Exodus viii. 8, 29. ix. 28. and
x. 17.
$ Exodus viii. 21. ix. 7, 26. and
x. 23.
Exodus viii. 19.
VOL. I.
ND
God
546
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
God to him upon the meffage which he had delivered.
There were many of the fervants of Pharaoh, that regarded
not the word of the Lord, but left their fervants and cattle
in the field, when Mofes had threatened the rain, and fire,
and hail, to deſtroy them". Undoubtedly, after all that
had been done before this, theſe men did not believe that
any fuch ſtorm would happen; and after this, and after
the inflicting another plague, the Egyptians only thought
Mofes to be a fnare to them; a fnare which Pharaoh
feemed to think he might perhaps free his people from, if
he put him to death. All the effect which Mofes's mi-
racles feem to have had was, not that the power of God was
at laſt revered or acknowledged by Pharaoh or his people,
but the man Mofes was very great in the land of Egypt, in the
fight of Pharaoh's fervants, and in the fight of the people²:
they admired the man as far fuperior to their own magi-
cians; but what he had done had no true influence for the
end for which it was intended. For we may reaſonably
fuppofe, that when Pharaoh and his army purfued the Ifrael-
ites to the Red ſea, though they were terribly ſtruck at firſt
at the death of their firstborn, and therefore had difmiffed
them; yet, when they came to confider more at leiſure what
they had done, it is probable they believed at laſt that they
had been impoſed upon more by the art of Moſes, than any
true and real power of God, exerted for the deliverance of
his people; and for that reafon they went after them to re-
take them, or to revenge themſelves upon them. I am fen-
fible it may be aſked, how could men of common ſenſe and
underſtanding be fo wonderfully abfurd? But I anſwer;
ſenſe and underſtanding are not the only requifites to make
men judge rightly of even clear and very evident truths.
The inſpired writer moſt juſtly adviſes, to take heed of an evil
heart of unbeliefa: Out of the heart are the iffues of life. Our
paffions and affections have a very powerful influence over
us; and where they are not carefully managed and go-
u Exodus ix. 21.
* Exodus x. 7.
y Ver. 28.
z Exodus xi. 3.
• Hebrews iii. 12.
b Proverbs iv. 23.
verned,
Book IX.
547
and Profane Hiftory.
verned, it is amazing to ſee how the flighteft evaſions will
paſs for moft weighty and conclufive arguments; and how
the brighteſt and moſt apparent evidences of truths will be
thought to be of little moment even to perſons of the
greateſt ſenſe and fagacity in other matters, where their in-
tereſt or their humours do not contradict the truths which
are offered to them. Pharaoh's fault was in his heart; and
that made him unfortunate in the uſe of his underſtanding.
The Ifraelites were numerous and ferviceable flaves, and it
was a terrible ſhock and diminution to his wealth and gran-
deur to diſmiſs them; and not being able to reconcile his
inclinations to the thoughts of parting with them, the
vague and ill-grounded learning of the times he lived in
was thought to afford arguments fufficient to take off the
force of all the miracles that were offered to induce him to
it. It is no very hard matter to judge of truth, if we
are but fincerely difpofed to embrace it; If any man will do
God's will, he will know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.
A common capacity, and an ordinary ſhare of underſtand-
ing, will afford light enough, if evil paffions do not make
the light that is in us to become darkneſs: but if our heart is
not duly diſpoſed to embrace the truth, neither may we be
perfuaded, by the greateſt arguments and demonftrations
that can be offered for it, even though we have uncommon
abilities to judge of and underſtand the force of what is
repreſented to us.
Some writers have imagined, that the incompliance of Pha-
raoh was an effect of temper produced in him by God him-
felf. They endeavour to ſupport their opinion by the many
expreffions of Mofes, that God hardened Pharaoh's heart &;
and by St. Paul's feeming to reprefent, from what is re-
corded by Mofes, that God raiſed up Pharaoh on purpoſe to
make him a terrible example of his power and vengeance to
the whole world. But, 1. God is faid in Scripture to do
many things, which are permitted by him to come to pafs
in the ordinary and common courſe of things; according to
c John vii. 17.
• Rom. ix. 17.
d Exodus iv. 21. vii. 3. ix. 12. X. I,
20, 17, xi. 10, &c.
Nn 2
which
548
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
which manner of expreffion God may be faid to harden Pha-
raoh's heart, only becauſe he did not interpofe, but fuffered
him to be carried on by the bent of his own paffions to that
inflexible obftinacy which proved his ruin. And in this
fenfe, perhaps, we may interpret the words of St. Paul,
Therefore bath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom
he will be hardeneth. God had not fo much mercy upon
Pharaoh as to prevent his being hardened, and therefore in
this fenſe is ſaid to have hardened him. 2. It is plain, that
Mofes, unto whom God ufed thefe expreffions about Pha-
raoh, underſtood them in this fenfe, from many parts of his
behaviour to him; and eſpecially from his earneſtly entreat-
ing him to be perfuaded, and to let the people go. If Mofes
had known, or thought, that God had doomed Pharaoh to
unavoidable ruin, what room or opportunity could there be
for to endeavour to perfuade him to avoid it? But that
Mofes attempted, with all poffible application, to make an
impreffion upon Pharaoh for his good, is very evident from
the following paffage, which if rightly tranſlated would be
very clear and expreffive. And Mofes faid unto Pharaoh,
Glory over me, when ſhall I entreat for thee and for thy fer-
vants? The tranflating the Hebrew words bithpaar gnalai,
glory over me, makes the ſenſe of the place very obſcure;
the true rendering the words would be, Do me glory or bo-
nour, i. e. believe me, which will be to my honour in the
fight of the people; and the whole of what paffed between
Pharaoh and Mofes at this time, if rightly tranſlated, is to
this purpoſe. "Then Pharaoh called for Mofes and Aaron, and
"faid, Entreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs
“from me—, and I will let the people go, that they may do
"facrifice unto the LORD. And Mofes faid, Do me the
"honour to believe me, when I fhall entreat for thee, and
"for thy fervants.-And Pharaoh faid, To-morrow I will.
"And Mofes faid, Be it according to thy word "." Mofes
here made a very earneſt addreſs to Pharaoh, to induce him
to be perſuaded to part with the people; which he certainly
would not have done, if he had thought that Pharaoh could
f Rom. ix. 18.
Exodus viii. 9.
h Ver. 8, 9, 10,
no
Book IX.
549
and Profane Hiftory.
no ways avoid not being perfuaded, but that God himſelf
prevented his compliance, on purpoſe to bring him to ruin.
But I might obſerve, that Mofes frequently expreffes it, that
Pharaoh hardened his own heart, and not that God hard-
ened it; fo that the two expreffions, God hardened Pha-
raoh's heart, and Pharaoh hardened his own heart, are ſyno-
nymous, and mean the one no more than the other; unleſs
perhaps it may be faid, that as it is agreeable to the Hebrew
idiom to call very high hills, the bills of God, or very flou-
rifhing trees, the trees of the Lord'; fo, in the fame manner of
fpeaking, it might be ſaid, that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's
heart, to expreſs, that it was exceedingly and beyond mea-
fure obdurate. 3. The expreffion cited by St. Paul from
Mofes, For this caufe have I raiſed thee up, that I might fhew
my power in thee, does not fupport the fenfe which theſe
expofitors would put upon it. The Hebrew word Hegne-
madtika, does not fignify,' I have raised thee up, or brought
thee into being, but, I have made thee to ftand or continue.
The LXX. tranſlate the place very justly, evexev této dietypýdns•
τότε διετηρήθης
for this cauſe thou hast been preſerved"; for the words of
Mofes were not defigned to exprefs to Pharaoh, that he was
born or created on purpoſe to be brought to ruin; but the
reaſon for ſaying the words, and the true meaning of them,
is this: Mofes had wrought feveral miracles before Pha-
raoh, but they had had no effect upon him. Hereupon
Mofes delivered to him a feverer meffage, threatening, that
God would fend all his plagues upon his heart, and upon his
fervants, and upon his people, to fmite him with peftilence,'
and to cut him off from the earth; and indeed (continues
he, fpeaking ſtill in the name of God) for this caufe have I
preſerved thee hitherto, to thew in thee my power; i. e. I
had cut thee off fooner for thy obftinacy, but that I intended
to make my power over thee more confpicuous: fo that the
words only fignify, that Pharaoh was hitherto preſerved by
1 Exod. vii. 13, 22. viii. 15, 19, 32.
and ix. 7, 34.
k Pfalm lxviii. 15.
1 Pfalm civ. 16.
Moft of the verfions. expreſs the
Nn3
true meaning of this place better than
our English translation. Onkelos ren-
ders it, Verum propter hac juftinui te.
The Arabic expreffes it, Propter rem
hanc te refèrvavi,
the
550
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
the forbearance of God, to be a more remarkable example;
not that he was born to be brought to ruin.
Mofes, by command from God, went once more to Pharaoh.
The king had charged him never to ſee his face more, upon
pain of death"; and Mofes had purpoſed to have ſo much
regard to his own fafety, as never to attempt it; but upon
God's fpecially commanding him to go, he was not afraid;
knowing, that he that fent him could abundantly protec
him. Mofes now delivered to Pharaoh the fevereft meffage
he had ever brought him ; and reprefented to him, that at
midnight God would ftrike dead the firſt-born of every
family throughout all the land of Egypt; and that there
ſhould hereupon be ſuch a dread and terror upon all the
Egyptians, that they fhould come to him in the moſt fub-
miffive manner, and beg of him to lead the people out of
the land and after that, faid he, I fhall go. Pharaoh was
in a great rage at Moſes ſpeaking thus to him; but Mofes
not defiring to ſtay only to incenſe and provoke him, turned
away and left him.
>>
It is ſurpriſing, that not only our Engliſh, but all the
verfions, repreſent Moſes to be the perſon here ſaid to be in
a great anger. The Vulgar Latin is very faulty; we there
find the place rendered, Exivit a Pharaone iratus nimis; "He
"went out from Pharaoh too much
q
angry
All the other
verfions repreſent him as exceedingly incenfed againſt the
king; but how can we fuppofe this of Mofes, who was very
meek, above all the men, which were upon the face of the
earth. Befides that, it is hard to imagine he ſhould carry
himſelf fo void of that regard and refpect, which he could
n Exod. x. 28.
• Ver. 29.
P This meffage was delivered to
Pharaoh, after the Ifraelites had
made preparations for eating the Paff-
over, fome time in the day before
they left Egypt.
9 The Critics imagine the Latin
word nimis to be fynonymous to valde,
and to fignify very much or exceed-
ingly: but I ſhould think, that, where
it ſeems to be thus ufed, it always im-
plies fome excefs: thus; Non nimis me
dele&tarunt literæ illius. Cic. His let-
ters delighted me not very much. I
ſhould tranflate it, not over much. Fun-
dam tibi nunc nimis vellem dari. Ter.
I would very fain that you had a fling.
I think it might be tranflated, I am
over-earneft in wishing you a fling, i. e.
more earnest than I need to be. For it
was the flatterer's exceſs of care that
wifhed the foldier this inftrument;
and by the word nimis, he ſeems
nicely to hint that his valour did not
need it. See Eunuch. act iv. fcene 7.
not
:
Book IX.
551
and Profane Hiflory.
not but think it his duty to pay, in his behaviour to the
king of Egypt in his own kingdom. Some of the com-
mentators infinuate, that Mofes was thus exceeding angry,
and incenſed againſt Pharaoh, becauſe he was made a god
unto Pharaoh'. But how abfurd muft it be to imagine,
that Mofes ſhould receive any character from the Deity,
that would juftify him in rudeness and miſbehaviour to a
ruler of a kingdom? Certainly it was not Mofes here, but
Pharaoh who was in the paffion. Mofes undoubtedly de-
livered his meffage with all the weight and authority which
the divine commiffion he had received required; and yet at
the fame time behaved himſelf with all the regard and re-
ſpect that was due unto the king; and when he had deli-
vered what he had to ſay, Ietzea mcnim Pharaoh bechari aph:
the words bechari aph, in a fury of anger, belong to Pharaoh,
and not to Mofes; and the place ought to be tranſlated, be
went out from Pharaoh who was in a furious anger.
X
God had before this inftructed Mofes and Aaron to direct
the people to prepare the Paſſovers, the getting all things
ready for which took up near four days; for they were
to begin on the tenth day of the month Abibt, and
to kill the lamb on the fourteenth day in the evening ";
and accordingly on the fourteenth of Abib in the night
the Ifraelites eat the firſt Paffover, and at midnight they
heard a great cry and confufion amongſt the Egyptians;
for Pharaoh and his princes, and his people, found that
there was one perfon dead, and that the firft-born, without
any exception or difference in any one family, in every
houſe of the Egyptians. They came immediately to Mofes
and Aaron in a great fright and terror, and defired them to
get the people together, and to take their flocks and their
Exodus vii. 1.
s The firft verfe of chap. xii. does
not imply that the Lord fpake to
Mofes about the Paſſover after he
came from Pharaoh, for thefe direc-
tions were given before he went; for
he went to Pharaoh the day on which
he told him, that at midnight God
would flay the firft-born, namely, on
the fourteenth of the month Abib:
Nn 4
but theſe directions were given before
the tenth day; for on that day they
began to prepare for the Paffover. So
that the former part of this chapter is
an account of fome particulars that
had paffed, but were not related hif-
torically in their place.
↑ Exodus xii.
" Ver. 6.
x Ver. 7.
3.
herds,
552
Book la.
Connection of the Sacred
herds, and all that belonged to them, and be gone; and the
Egyptians were urgent upon the people; that they might fend
them out of the land in hafte, for they said, We be all dead
men. Hereupon Mofes took the bones of Jofeph, which
his brethren had fworn to him fhould be carried with them
out of Egypt; and the Ifraelites began to journey in the
morning, and on the morrow, after the Paffover, on the
fifteenth day of the month, they travelled from Rameſes to
Succoth, about ten or twelve miles. Here they made a
ftop, reviewed their company, and found that they were fix
hundred thouſand befides children. In this manner the
Ifraelites were brought out of Egypt; a tranſaction ſo won-
derful and extraordinary, that the heathen hiftorians could
not avoid taking fome notice of it. Juftin, the epitomizer of
Trogus Pompeius, gives us hints of it in his account of the
hiſtory of the Jewiſh nation ". He tells us, that ſome time
after the birth of Mofes, "the Egyptians had the leprofy
"amongst them; that, upon confulting their oracle for
(C
66
a cure, they were directed to fend away all the infected
perfons out of the land, under the conduct of Moſes.
"Mofes undertook the command of them, and at his leav-
"ing Egypt ftole away the Egyptian Sacra. The Egyp-
"tians purſued them in order to recover their Sacra, but
"were compelled by ſtorms to return home again. Mofes
"in feven days paffed the defert of Arabia, and brought the
66 people to Sinai." This account is indeed ſhort, imperfect,
and full of miſtakes; but fo are the heathen accounts of
the Jews and their affairs. If the reader peruſes the whole
of what Juſtin ſays of the Jews, he will fee that his account
of them is all of a piece, and that he had made no true en-
quiry into their hiftory: however, after all the mistakes,
which either the mifreprefentation of the Egyptian writers
might cauſe, or the careleffnefs and want of examination of
other hiftorians occafion, thus much we may conclude from
Juſtin to be on all hands agreed; that the Jews were fent
out of Egypt under the conduct of Moſes, that the Egyp-
y Exodus xii. 33.
z Numbers xxxiii. 3.
a Exodus xii. 37.
b Juftin. Hift. lib. xxxvi. cap. 2.
tians
Book IX.
553
and Profane Hiftory.
tians might get free from plagues inflicted upon them by
the divine hand; and that, after they were difmiffed, the
Egyptians purſued them, but were diſappointed in their
purſuit, not by force of arms, but by obſtructions from Pro-
vidence, in the direction of ftorms and weather to defeat
them. Juftin hints fo many points, that are ſo near the
truth, in the feveral parts of the Jewiſh hiftory, that I ima-
gine, if due pains had been taken to examine, he would
have given a truer account of this, and all the other particu-
lars which he has hinted about them, and their affairs.
Juftin relates, that the Jews at their departure ſtole the
Egyptian Sacra: we fay, they borrowed of the Egyptians
jewels of filver, and jewels of gold, and raiment. If they
borrowed them, we cannot fay that they had any defign of
returning them again; and therefore the injuftice may be
thought the fame as if they ftole them. Some modern
writers have taken the greateft liberty of ridiculing this
particular, and are pleaſed in thinking that it affords them
a confiderable objection againſt the ſacred Scriptures: for
they infinuate with more than ordinary affurance, that no
one can, confiftently with plain and common honeſty, which
all men know too well to be deceived in, fuppofe God Al-
mighty to direct or order the Ifraelites to borrow in this
manner. "The wit of the beſt poet is not ſufficient to re-
"concile us to the retreat of a Mofes by the affiftance of
(6
an Egyptian loan," ſaid Lord Shaftesbury, amongſt other
things, which he thought might bear hard againſt the
morality of the facred hiftory. Some very judicious
writers have endeavoured to juftify the Ifraelites borrow-
ing of the Egyptians: but I ſhall not offer any of their ar-
guments, becauſe I cannot find, that the facred text does
in the leaſt hint that they borrowed, or attempted to bor-
row, any thing of them. The Hebrew word, which our
tranſlators have rendered borrow, is fhaale, which does not
fignify to borrow, but to afk one to give. It is the very
aſk
c Exodus xii. 35.
d Characteriſtics, vol. i. p. 358. ed.
1711.
e See both Exodus iii. 22. and
xii. 35.
word
554
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
word uſed Pfalm ii. 8. [Sheal-ve Ettenab] Ajk of me, and I
will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utter-
moſt parts of the earth for thy poffeffion: and the fact was this;
God had told Mofes, that the Ifraelites fhould not go out of
Egypt empty, but that every woman fhould ask her neigh-
bour, and the perfon fhe lived with, to give her jewels and
raiment, and that he would diſpoſe the Egyptians to give
them; and thus, when they were leaving Egypt, the chil-
dren of Ifrael aſked the Egyptians for jewels of filver, and
jewels of gold, and raiment. And the Lord gave the people
favour in the fight of the Egyptians, ſo that they gave them
what they aſked for fo freely, as to impoverish themſelves by
making preſents to them. Jofephus repreſents this fact
agreeably to the true fenfe of the facred text.
He fays,
that the Egyptians [δώροις τε τὲς Ἑβραίους ἐτίμων· οἱ μὲν ὑπὲρ τοῦ
τάχιον ἐξελθεῖν· οἱ δὲ καὶ κατὰ γειτνιακὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς συνήθειαν]
made the Hebrews confiderable prefents; and that ſome did
ſo, in order to induce them to go the fooner away from
them; others out of reſpect to, and upon account of, the
acquaintance they had had with them f.
The exit of the children of Ifrael out of Egypt was four
hundred and thirty years after Abraham's firft coming into
Canaan: now Abraham came into Canaan A. M. 2083 %, fo
that counting four hundred and thirty years forward from
that year, we ſhall fix the exit A. M. 2513, and that is the year
in which it was accompliſhed. Our English tranflators have
rendered the 12th chapter of Exodus, v. 40. very juftly; Now
the fojourning of the children of Ifrael, who dwelt in Egypt, was
four hundred and thirty years. The interlinear tranſlation of the
Hebrew Bible, and the Vulgar Latin verfion, do both miſre-
preſent the true fenfe of the place, by rendering it to this
effect; Now the inhabiting of the children of Ifrael, whereby
they inhabited in Egypt, were four hundred and thirty years.
The children of Ifrael did not live in Egypt four hundred
and thirty years; for they came into Egypt with Jacob
A. M. 2298, and they went out of Egypt A. M. 1513; fo
e Exodus iii.
f Jofeph. Antiq. Jud. lib. ii. c. 14.
See Vol. I. Book v. p. 165.
h See Vol. II. Book vii. p. 383.
that
Book IX.
555
and Profane Hiftory.
that they lived in Egypt but two hundred and fifteen
years; and therefore the fojourning of the children of
Ifrael muft not be limited to their living in Egypt only,
but taken in a more general fenfe, and extended to the
time of their living in Canaan; for the four hundred and
thirty years here mentioned begin from Abraham's firſt
coming into Canaan. The Samaritan text has the verſe
thus; Now the inhabiting of the children of Ifrael, and their
fathers, whereby they inhabited in the land of Canaan, and in
the land of Egypt, were four hundred and thirty years. The
moft learned Dean Prideaux obferves, "that the additions
"herein do manifeftly mend the text, and make it more
"clear and intelligible, and add nothing to the Hebrew
66 copy, but what muſt be underſtood by the reader to make
"out the ſenſe thereof;" and, therefore, why may we not
ſuppoſe that the ancient Hebrew text was in this verſe the
fame with the prefent Samaritan, and that the words,
which the Samaritan text now has in this place more than
the Hebrew, have been dropped by fome tranſcribers ?
Jofephus fixes the time of the Ifraelites' departure out of
Egypt very exactly. He fays, it was four hundred and
thirty years after Abraham's coming into Canaan, and two
hundred and fifteen years after Jacob's coming into Egypt *,
both which accounts fuppofe it A. M. 2513, the year above
mentioned. If the Paftors came into Egypt A. M. 2420, as
I have fuppofed, then the exit of the Ifraelites will be ninety-
three years after the beginning of the reign of Salatis, who
was the firſt of the Paftor-kings; and, according to Sir
John Marſham's table of theſe kings, Apachnas was king of
Egypt at this time.
tk,
From the time that the children of Ifrael were arrived at
Succoth, to their getting over the Red fea into Midian, it
does not appear that Mofes led them one ftep by his own
conduct or contrivance. They removed from Succoth to
Etham, a town near the border of the wilderneſs of Arabia;
from thence they moved back into the mountainous parts
i Prideaux, Connect. Vol. II. Part I. * Jofeph. Antiq. Jud. lib. ii. c. 15.
Book vi. p. 602. Lond. 1725.
of
556
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
•
of Egypt, on the weft fide of the Red fea, and encamped near
to Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the fea. According to
Mofes's narration of their movements, it was in no wife left
to his conduct where to lead the people. When Pharaoh
had let the people go, God led them not through the way of the
land of the Philistines, although that was near, left they ſhould
repent when they faw war, and return to Egypt: but God led
them about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea.
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to
lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them
light; to go by day and night. And the Lord fpake unto Mofes,
faying, Speak unto the children of Ifracl, that they turn and en-
camp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the ſea, over
against Baal-zephon: before it ſhall ye encamp by the fea'. Our
very learned countryman, Sir Walter Raleigh, reprefents the
conduct of Mofes in this march of the Ifraelites as in fome
meaſure the effect of his own prudence and ſkill in the art
of war; and he gives fome reaſons to fhew how Mofes per-
formed, in the ſeveral ſtations of this march, the part of a
very able commander. I cannot pretend to judge of the
reaſons of war fuggefted by him; but I fhould imagine,
that Sir Walter Raleigh's great military ſkill might lead
him to draw an ingenious ſcheme here for Mofes, where
we have no reaſon to think that Mofes laid any ſcheme at
all. It is indeed probable, that reafon might ſuggeſt to
Mofes, that it could be in no wife proper to lead his people
directly through Philiftia to Canaan. His people, though
very numerous, were a mixed multitude, not uſed to, and
altogether undiſciplined for war; and the Philistines were
a ftrong and valiant people, and could not well be thought
willing to fuffer fix hundred thouſand perſons to enter their
country. Difcretion and prudence therefore might fuggeft
to him, that it would be more proper to lead them about
by the wilderneſs of Arabia, and to retire with them to
Midian, where he was fure he ſhould be well received by
Jethro the ruler there, and there to form them for what un-
dertakings it might pleaſe God to deſign them; and all this
1 Exodus xiii. 17-22. xiv. 1, 2.
may
Book IX.
557
and Profane Hiflory.
may be confiftent with the Hebrew expreffion of God's
leading them, who is often ſaid to do ſeveral things, by per-
mitting them to be done by the conduct of the perfons
employed to do them. But though all this might reafon-
ably be fuppofed, yet, as I faid, the journeying of the
Ifraelites from Succoth to the Red fea was evidently con-
ducted by God's immediate direction. For, 1. If Mofes de-
figned to carry the people to Jethro's country, he had a
much nearer way from Etham, through the wilderneſs of
Sinai, than to lead the people into the mountainous and
rocky country, on the Egyptian borders of the Red fea, out
of which he could not expect to find any paffage into
Midian, without coming back to Etham again. 2. As far
as I am able to judge, this had been a much fafer, as well
as a much nearer way. When Pharaoh heard that the
people had taken this route, he immediately concluded that
he could easily deftroy them; for he faid, they were en-
tangled in the land, fhut up in the rocky and unpaffable
parts of a wild and uncultivated country ". I cannot poffi-
bly fee why Mofes fhould lead them ſo much out of their
way, and into fuch a diſadvantageous country, but upon the
view of the miraculous deliverance which God defigned
them at the Red fea. But, 3. It is evident, that from Suc-
coth to the Red fea the Ifraelites travelled under the eſpecial
guidance of Heaven; for the pillar of the cloud, and of fire,
which went before them, directed them where to go. Mofes
had no room left him to chooſe the way, for the Lord went
before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them in the
way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light: to go
by day and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud
by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people".
Mofes had only to obferve the guidance of this glorious and
miraculous direction, and to follow as that led him from
Succoth to Etham, to Pihahiroth between Migdol and Baal-
zephon, and to the fea.
After the Ifraelites were gone out of Egypt, Pharaoh
repented of his having given them leave to depart, eſpecially
m Exodus xiv. 3.
Exodus xiii. 21, 22.
upon
558
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
1
upon its being remonftrated to him that the people were
fled; that they were not gone a few days journey merely to
ferve the Lord their God,
return to him any more.
a very fenfible diminution of his grandeur as well as wealth,
and the manner in which they were extorted from him, in-
glorious both to him and his kingdom; and the hearing,
that Mofes had led them into a part of the country where
he thought it would be eafy to diſtreſs them, made him
refolve to follow them, and to try if poffible to redreſs his
loffes, or revenge himſelf upon them. He therefore imme-
diately fummoned together his forces, and with a numerous
army purſued the Ifraelites P, and overtook them at their
encamping near the Red fea. At the approach of Pha-
raoh, the Ifraelites were afraid; they gave over their lives
for loft, and were ready to mutiny againſt Moſes for bring-
ing them out of Egypt : but Mofes exhorted the people to
fear nothing, affuring them, that they ſhould not be expoſed
to the difficulty of a battle, but that they ſhould ſee the ſal-
vation of God: that God would give them a miraculous
deliverance, and deftroy all the Egyptians that purſued
them'. It was night when Mofes thus fpake to them, and
foon after he had done fpeaking, the wonderful appearance
of the pillar of fire, and of the cloud, which went before
them to direct their journey, removed and placed itſelf be-
tween them and the Egyptians, with its fhining or bright
fide towards the Ifraelites, and with its dark or cloudy fide
towards the Egyptians; fo that the Ifraelites had light to
be moving forwards towards the fea, and the Egyptians,
not being able fo well to fee their way, could not follow fo
faſt as to get up with them. When the Ifraelites were
come to the fea, they made a ftop for fome hours. Mofes
held up
his hand over the fea, and God was pleafed by a
but that they defigned never to
The lofs of fo many flaves was
• Exodus xiv. 5.
P Jofephus fays, that Pharaoh's
army, with which he purfued the If-
raelites, confifted of fix hundred
chariots, fifty thoufand horſe, and
two hundred thouſand foot foldiers.
Antiq. Jud. lib. ii. c. 15.
9 Exodus xiv.
r Ver. 11.
s Ver. 13.
↑ Ver. 19, 20.
mighty
Book IX.
559
and Profane Hiftory.
mighty wind to divide the waters, and to make a ſpace of
dry ground from one fide of the fea to the other, for the
Ifraelites to paſs over. Hereupon Mofes and Aaron led
the way", and the Ifraelites followed them into the midft
of the fea; and the waters ftood on heaps on each fide of
them, and were as a wall to them on their right hand, and
on their left, all the way they paffed. The Egyptians came
on after them, and it being night, and they not having the
light of the pillar, which guided the Ifraelites, finding
themſelves upon dry ground, all the way they purſued,
might perhaps not at all ſuſpect that they were off the
fhore; for, I imagine, that if they had feen the miraculous
heaps of waters on each fide the Ifraelites, they would not
ſo eagerly have ventured ftill to prefs after a people faved
by ſo great a miracle. When the Ifraelites were got ſafe
on the land over the fea, towards morning, the Lord looked
from the pillar of fire, and of the cloud, upon the Egyp-
tians, and troubled their hoft, and took off their chariot-
wheels, that they drave them heavily. The Egyptians began
to find their paffage not ſo eaſy; the waters began to come
upon them, and their chariot-wheels to fink and ſtick faſt
in the muddy bottom of the fea, fo that they could get no
further, and Mofes at the command of God ftretched forth
his hand over the fea. The Egyptians began now at day-
break to fee where they were, and to fear their ruin; they
turned back as falt as they could, and endeavoured to get
back to fhore; but the waters came upon them in their
full ftrength, and overwhelmed them. And thus Pharaoh
and his whole army were loft in the Red ſea.
u Some of the Hebrew writers re-
preſent, that, when Mofes had divided
the fea, the Jews were afraid to at
tempt to go over it, but that the head
of the tribe of Judah led the way, and
that, as a reward for the courage of
this tribe in this attempt, they were
appointed to march foremoft in all the
future journeyings of the Ifraelites :
but the Pfalmift feems to hint that
Mofes and Aaron went before the
Ifraelites into the fea, Pfalm lxxvii.
and this fiction about the tribe of
Judah has no better foundation than
the numerous other fancies of these
writers, one of which, relating to this
paffage over the Red fea, is wonder-
fully extravagant. The fay, that God,
in dividing the waters, made twelve
different paths, that each tribe might
have a path to itſelf. But conceits of
this fort want no refutation.
x Exodus xiv. 25.
Some
560
Book IX
Connection of the Sacred
Some writers have imagined, that there might be no
real miracle in this paffage of the Ifraelites over the Red ſea.
Mofes was a great mafter of all ſcience and learning, and had
lived in Midian, a country near the borders of this fea,
forty years. He had had time and abilities, whilft he kept
the flocks of Jethro in this country, to obferve with great
accuracy the ebb and flow of it. The Red fea at its north-
ern end divides itſelf into two branches, one of which,
namely, that over which Mofes led the Ifraelites, from
Toro, where the two arms divide, up to the fhore upon the
wilderneſs of Etham, is about thirty leagues or ninety
miles in length: at Toro this fea is about three leagues or
nine miles over, and it continues of much about the fame
breadth for twenty-fix leagues or ſeventy-eight miles up-
wards; from thence for about two leagues it is three miles
over, and fo it continues up to the land's end for about fix
miles, three or four miles over all the way. The adjacent
places, Migdol, Pihahiroth, and Baal-zephon, direct us
whereabouts the Ifraelites paffed over this fea, namely,
over this narrow arm, and not above fix miles from the
land's end; and it may be faid, that the flux and reflux of
the fea may perhaps cover, and leave dry every tide, a tract
of land, from the place where Mofes paffed over the Ifrael-
ites, up to the wilderneſs of Etham, as the ebb and flow of
the fea does all the wafh on the borders of Lincolnſhire in
our country; and if fo, Moſes might eafily, by his know-
ledge of the tides, contrive to lead the people round about
amongst the mountains, fo as to bring them to the fea, and
paſs them over at low water; and the Egyptians, who pur-
fuing them came later, might at firft enter the waſh fafely
as they did, but at midway they might find the waters in
their flow, loofening the fands, and preventing their going
further. Hereupon they turned back, but it was too late;
for the flood came to its height before they could reach
the fhore. Artapanus in Eufebius informs us, that the
y Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. ix. C. 27.
Artapanus's words are, Meupíras μèr
λίγων, ἔμπειρον ὄντα τὸν Μωϋσον τῆς
χώρας τὴν ἄμπωτιν τηρήσαντα διὰ ξηράς
τῆς θαλάσσης τὸ πλῆθος περαιῶσαι,
inhabitants
Book IX.
561
and Profane Hiftory.
7
inhabitants of Memphis related this tranfaction in this man-
ner. And it may perhaps be thought that Jofephus favoured
this account, and therefore compared the paffage of the
Ifraelites over the Red fea to Alexander's over the fea of
Pamphylia. I have given this cavil all the weight and
ſtrength it can be capable of; let us now fee how it may be
refuted. And I would obferve,
I. That the paffage of Alexander the Great over the fea
of Pamphylia, bears no manner of reſemblance to this of
the Ifraelites over the Red fea. Alexander was to march
from Phafelis, a fea-port, to Perga, an inland city of Pam-
phylia. The country near Phafelis, upon the fhore of the
Pamphylian fea, was mountainous and rocky, and he could
not find a paffage for his army without taking a great com-
paſs round the mountains, or attempting to go over the
ftrand between the rocks and the fea. Arrian obſerves,
that there was no paffing here, unleſs when the wind blew
from the north c. A wind from this quarter was fo di-
rected as to keep back the tide from flowing fo far up the
fhore as the fouthern winds would drive it; and therefore
Alexander, perceiving juft at this juncture that there was a
violent north wind, laid hold of the opportunity, and ſent
ſome of his army over the mountains, but went himſelf
with the reſt of his forces along the fhore. It is evident
that there was no miracle, unleſs we call the wind's blow-
ing opportunely for Alexander's purpoſe a miracle; and
Plutarch justly remarks, that Alexander himſelf thought
there was nothing extraordinary in this his paffage d; and it
was certainly very injudicious in Jofephus to feem to com-
pare this paffage to that of the Ifraelites, when they are not
in any one reſpect like to one another. The Ifraelites croffed
over a fea, where no hiftorian ever mentions any perfons but
they to have ever found a paffage. Alexander only marched
upon the fhore of the fea of Pamphylia, where the hifto-
rians, who moft magnified the providence that protected
him, do allow, that any one may go at any time when the
b Jofeph. Antiq. 1. i. c. 16.
Arrian. de Exped. Alex. lib. i.
VOL. 1.
OO
d Plut. in Alexand. p. 674. ed. Xyl.
Par. 1624.
fame
562
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
fame wind blows which favoured him. It does not appear
from any hiftorian that the Red fea ebbs backward as far as
where the Ifraelites paffed over, fo as to leave a large tract
of fand dry in the receſs of every tide, fix or ſeven miles in
length, and three or four miles over. No one but the Ifrael-
ites ever travelled over dry land in this place, and therefore,
undoubtedly, here is no dry land, unleſs when God by an
extraordinary miracle was pleaſed to make it ſo.
But, II. If the paffage of Mofes and the Ifraelites over
the Red fea was upon a recefs of the tide, then all the par-
ticulars in Mofes's account of this affair are falſe.
1. There
needed no cloud and pillar of fire to direct the journey of
the Ifraelites to the Red fea; for they were, upon this ſup-
pofition, conducted thither by the contrivance of Mofes,
who thought that, by his ſkill in the flux and reflux of the
ſea, he could better eſcape from Pharaoh there than in any
other place. 2. Mofes reprefents, that the waters were divided,
and ſtood on heaps on both fides of the Ifraelites, and were
a wall to them on their right hand and on their left: but this
could not be true, if here was only an ebb or reflux of the
tide. For if the tide was driven back by the ſtrongeſt wind,
the waters could ftand on heaps on one fide only, namely, to
fea
; the land fide would be entirely drained, the water being
driven by the wind down the channel. 3. Mofes repreſents,
that God cauſed a ſtrong eaſt wind to blow, in order to divide
the waters; and this indeed is a proper wind to have, by
God Almighty's direction, ſuch an effect as he aſcribes to it :
but if a reflux of the tide had been the only thing here caufed,
an eaſt wind had not been proper to cauſe it. The Red fea
runs up from the ocean towards the north-weft, and therefore
a north or north-weſt wind would have had the only proper
direction to have driven back the tide, if that had been
what was done in this matter. An east wind blows croſs this
fea, and the effect of it muſt be, to drive the waters partly up
to the land's end, and partly down to the ocean, ſo as to di-
vide the waters, as Mofes relates, and not to cauſe a great
ebb of tide; and the blowing of fuch a wind as this, with a
force fufficient to caufe fo extraordinary an effect for the
opening the Ifraelites fo unexpected and unheard of a paffage
through
Book IX.
563
and Profane Hiftory.
through the midſt of a fea, muſt be looked upon as a mira-
culous interpofition of God's power for their preſervation.
III. As to what Artapanus fuggefts, that the Egyptians
who lived at Memphis related, that Mofes conducted the
Ifraelites over the Red fea by his ſkill in the tides, there is
no regard due to this fiction, eſpecially if we confider that
the wife and learned part of the Egyptians rejected it. For
the fame author teftifies, that the prieſts of Heliopolis re-
lated the affair quite otherwife. Their account agrees
with
that of Moſes. The Heliopolitans were always eſteemed to
be the wifeſt and moſt learned of all the Egyptians f; and if
Mofes's authority, or the faithfulneſs of his narration, could
be queſtioned, this agreement of the Heliopolitans with him
would be of far more weight, with all reaſonable inquirers,
to confirm his account, than what is fuggefted from the
Memphites can be of to impair the credit of it.
We have brought the Ifraelites out of Egypt, over the
Red fea into the wilderneſs, the period which I defigned
for this volume. The reader cannot but obſerve from the
whole of it, that, from the creation to this time, God had
been pleaſed in fundry manners to reveal himſelf to mankind,
in order to plant his true religion in the world; and yet, not-
withſtanding all that had been done, this religion was at
this time well nigh perifhed from off the face of the earth.
Every nation under heaven, that were of eminence or figure,
were loft to all ſenſe of the true God, and were far gone into
e Eufeb. Præp. Evang. ubi fup. The
words are ; Ηλιουπολίτας δὲ λέγειν, ἐπι
καταδραμεῖν τὸν βασιλέα μετὰ πολλῆς
δυνάμεως, ἅμα καὶ τοῖς καθιερωμένοις ζώο
οις, διὰ τὸ τὴν ὕπαρξιν τὰς Ἰσδαίας τῶν
Αἰγυπτίων χρησαμένες διακομίζειν του δὲ
Μωϋσῳ θείαν φωνὴν γενέσθαι, πατάξαι τὴν
θάλασσαν τῇ ῥάβδῳ· τὸν δὲ Μωϋσον ἀκό
σαντα, ἐπιθίγειν τῇ ῥάβδῳ τῷ ὕδατος, καὶ
ὕτω τὸ μὲν νἅμα διατῆναι, τὴν δὲ δύνα-
μιν (fome word, perhaps παρασχῆσαι,
feems here to be omitted in the text)
διὰ ξηρᾶς ὁδε πορεύεσθαι συνεμβάντων δὲ
τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ διωκόντων, φησὶ πῦρ
αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἐκλάμψαι, τὴν
δὲ θάλασσαν πάλιν τὴν ὁδὸν ἐπικλῦσαι τὸς
002
δὲ Αἰγυπτίας ὑπό το τῦ πυρὸς, καὶ τῆς
πλημμυρίδος πάντας διαφθαρῆναι. This
account of the Memphites is remarka-
bly agreeable to Mofes's. It indeed
hints, that there were fome lightnings,
which Moſes has not exprefsly men-
tioned; but perhaps it may be con-
jectured from Pfalm lxxvii. 16-20,
that there were lightnings contributing
to the overthrow of the Egyptians in
the Red fea, and very probably there
were anciently many true relations of
this fact, betides that of Mofes, from
ſome of which the Memphites might
deduce their narration.
f Herodotus, lib. ii. c. 3.
the
564
Book IX.
Connection of the Sacred
the errors of idolatry. The Apoſtle feems to hint, that the
defection was cauſed by their not liking to retain God in their
knowledges. But why fhould men not like to retain the
knowledge of God? I can think of no fufficient anſwer to
this queſtion, fuitable to the circumftances of theſe ages,
unless I may offer what follows. God had given exceeding
great promiſes to Abraham and his pofterity; that he would
make of him a great nation; make his name great, and that in
him, or in his feed, all the families of the earth ſhould be
bleſſed; that he would give him northward and fouthward,
eastward and weftward, all the land, which he then ſaw in
the length and in the breadth of it, from the river Euphrates
unto the river of Egypt; that he would make him a father of
many nations; that he would raife nations from him, and that
kings fhould come out of him k. God protected him, wherever
he lived, in fo fignal a manner, that, whenever he was in
danger of fuffering injury, his adverfaries were prevented
from hurting him ¹. His fon Ifhmael was to be made a na-
tion, becauſe he was his feed m; nay, twelve princes were to
defcend from him", and the feed of Abraham was to poſſeſs
the gate of his enemies. Moſt of theſe promiſes were re-
peated to Ifaac P, and afterwards to Jacob 9; and the re-
markable favours defigned this family were not beſtowed
upon them in private, fo as to be little known to the world:
but, when they were but a few, even a few, and ſtrangers in
the land where they fojourned, they went from nation to na-
tion, and from one kingdom to another people, and God fuffered
no man to do them wrong, but reproved even kings for their
Jakes. The name of Abraham was eminently famous in
moſt nations of the then inhabited world; and I cannot but
think it probable, that the kings of many countries might
greatly mistake the defign of God to him and his deſcendants,
as the Jews themſelves afterwards did, when they came to
g Rom, i. 28.
b Gen. xii. 3.
iCh. xiii. 14-17. xv. 18.
k Ch. xvii. 4-6.
1 Ch. xx. 3.
m Ch. xxi. 13.
■ Gen. xvii. 20.
• Ch. xxii. 17.
P Ch. xxvi. 4. and 24.
q Ch. xxviii. 13—15.
Pfal. cv. 12-14.
have.
and Profane Hiftory.
565
have a nearer expectation of their Meffiah, and imagined
that he was to be a mighty temporal prince, to ſubdue all
their enemies. In this manner the early kings might mifin-
terpret the promiſes to Abraham, and think that in time his
deſcendants were to cover the face of the earth, and to be
the governors of all nations. I cannot fay whether the Hit-
tites might not in fome meaſure be of this opinion, when
they ſtyled Abraham Nefi Elobims, Bartheùs яaρà Oɛoũ, fay
the LXX, i. e. a prince from or appointed by God; and per-
haps Abimelech might apprehend that Abraham's pofterity
would in time become the poffeffors of his country; and,
being willing to put off the evil for at leaſt three generations,
he made a league with him, and obtained a promiſe, that he
would not afflict his people during his time, nor in the days
of his fon, or his fon's font. Thus the promiſes and the
prophecies to Abraham and his children might be thought
to run contrary to the views and interefts of the kings and
heads of nations; and they might therefore think it good
policy to divert their people from attending too much to
them: and, for this end, they being in their kingdoms the
chief directors in religion, they might, upon the foundation
of literature and human fcience, form fuch fchemes of au-
gury, aftrology, vaticination, omens, prodigies, and en-
chantments, as the magicians of Egypt became famous for,
in order to make religion more fubfervient to their interefts.
And in theſe they proceeded from one ftep to another, in
what they undoubtedly thought to be the refult of rational
inquiry; until, in Mofes's time, the rulers of the Egyptian
nation, who were then the moſt learned body in the world,
beguiled by the deceit of vain philoſophy, and too politically
engaged to attend duly to any arguments that might con-
vince them of their errors, were arrived at fo intrepid an in-
fidelity, that the greateſt miracles had no effect upon them.
I am fenfible that theſe points have been fet in a different
light by fome writers, but perhaps there may be reaſon to
re-examine them. The Pagan divinations, arts of prophecy,
and all their forceries and enchantments, as well as their
• Gen. xxiii. 6.
↑ Ch. xxi. 23.
idolatry
566 Connection of the Sacred and Profane Hiftory. Book IX.
idolatry and worſhip of falſe gods, were founded, not upon
fuperftition, but upon learning and philofophical ſtudy; not
upon too great a belief of, and adherence to, revelation,
but upon a pretended knowledge of the powers of nature.
Their great and learned men erred in theſe points, not for
want of freethinking, fuch as they called fo; but their
opinions upon theſe ſubjects were in direct oppofition to the
true revelations which had been made to the world, and
might be called the deiſm of theſe ages; for fuch certainly
was the religion of the governing and learned part of the
Heathen world in theſe times. The unlearned populace
indeed in all kingdoms adhered, as they thought, to reve-
lation; but they were impofed upon, and received the po-
litical inftitutions of their rulers, invented by the affiftance
of art and learning, inftead of the dictates of true revelation.
In this manner I could account for the beginning of the
Heathen idolatries in many nations. They took their firſt
rife from the governors of kingdoms having too great a de-
pendence upon human learning, and entertaining a conceit,
that what they thought to be the religion which nature
dictated, would free them from fome imaginary fubjections,
which they apprehended revealed religion to be calculated
to bring them under. Length of time, advance of fcience
falfely fo called, and political views, had carried on thefe
errors to a great height, when God was pleafed in a moſt
miraculous manner to deliver his people from the Egyptian
bondage; to re-eſtabliſh true religion amongst them, and to
put the priesthood into different hands, from thoſe which
had hitherto been appointed to exercife the offices of it. But
the purſuing thefe fubjects must belong to the fubfequent
parts of this undertaking.


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