Austin in that famous Saying of his Erat ei in caeteris lignis alimentum in isto autem Sacramentum L. VIII de Gen. ad Lit. cap. 4. In other Trees there was Nourishment for Man but in this also a Sacrament For it was both a Symbol of that Life which God had already bestowed upon Man who was hereby put in mind that God was the Author of his Being and all his Enjoyments and of that Life he was to hope for in another World if he proved Obedient In the midst of the Garden This signifies either its Situation or its Excellence For that which is most Eminent in any place the Hebrews say is in the midst XXIII 10. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. So called as I take it because God intended by this Tree to prove Adam and Eve whether they would be good or bad Which was to be made known by their abstaining from its Fruit or eating of it It is generally thought indeed by Interpreters of which I leave the Reader to judge that it had this Name afterward either because the Tempter pretended it would make them so wise as to know all things for so good and evil may be expounded III. 5. to signifie as much as all things whatsoever or because in the event upon the eating of this Fruit they did actually know by miserable experience which they would not learn without it the great difference between obeying and disobeying God's Commands That is they who did not sufficiently attend to their Duty nor consider what it was to Sin and what the effect of it would be presently upon the eating of this Fruit reflected upon both For they saw how grievous it was to incurr God's Displeasure by believing a Creature rather than Him and by being so ungrateful as not to acknowledge his Bounty in all the Blessings they enjoyed without thinking Him envious in denying them one as a proof of their Obedience Some think it was so called as a Caveat to them not to study Craft and Subtilty but to content themselves in a simple plain way of life wherein God made them without any Curiosity to know more than was needful for them Which they think is confirmed by III. 6. She saw it was good to make one wise i. e. cunning and wily Ver. 10. And a River went out of Eden c. These words afford us such a Key to open to us the Place where this Garden was planted that one can scarce doubt whereabout it was though the precise spot of Ground be not marked out in this description of it For it lay in the Country of Eden and we are directed to find that out by this remarkable Circumstance That a River went out of it Which doth not signifie that the Spring of the River was in Eden but that the River run through that Country into the Garden to water it The Garden therefore it is probable was a part of the Province of Eden and was water'd by that River which came from it The only difficulty is to find what River this was Our Country man Mr. Canver in his learned Discourse of the Terrestrial Paradise chap. VII endeavours to prove that the two great Rivers Euphrates and Tigris having but one and the same Fountain in Armenia the greater run along for some time in one Stream called Tigris Upon which he thinks this Garden was seated before this River parted into two Streams Euphrates and Tigris This he confirms out of the two Epistles of the Nestorian Christians written to Rome 1552 and translated by Masius where they call Tigris the River of Eden And there are indeed some ancient Authors particularly Lucan and Boetius who say that these two Rivers come out of the same Spring But their mistake arose its likely from hence That they sprung as Strabo tells us out of one and the same Mountain viz. Niphates which is a part of Taurus And Euphrates sprung out of the Northern side of it and Tigris out of the Southern as Salmasius observes upon Solinus p. 621 c. Certain it is that the best Authors both Ancient and Modern make them to have different Springs from whence they hold different Courses Euphrates toward the West and Tigris toward the East And do not make one River till after they have run through many Countries they meet and joyn together about Apamia according to Ptolomy And then indeed they make for a long way but one great Stream Which I take to be the River here mentioned by Moses and run through the Country of Eden which perhaps lay on both sides of the River as the Garden it is plain by verse 8. did on the Eastern side of it extending it self to the place where these united Rivers parted again For so it follows And from thence i. e. Below the Garden It parted Or was divided again as it had been before into two other Streams By which words we seem to have found the Place where the Garden ended but being not told where it began nor how far it spread it self Eastward from the River side I will not presume to say what Country or Countries it included Certain it is there was a Country as I observed before called Eden in after times which was part of the Kingdom of Assyria 2 Kings XIX 12. And that Kingdom then comprehended not only the Country anciently called Ashur but Mesopotamia and Babylonia c. In some part of which last Province it is probable this Garden was seated And became into four Heads He doth not say was parted into four Heads but became into four Heads whose Names here follow two before they united viz. Tigris and Euphrates and two after they again parted viz. Pison and Gihon These he calls Heads or Principal Rivers as David Chytraeus I think rightly understands it quatuor illustria magna flumina efficiebant made four famous and great Rivers For all Divisions from the main Stream are called the Heads of a Water as Sir W. Raleigh observes out of Vlpianus And it is indifferent whether the Water come out of a Fountain or out of a River or a Lake For that part of the River suppose where the Branch forsakes the main Stream is called the Head of that Branch which becomes a new River In like manner may Euphrates and Tigris be called the Heads of that River which they made at their meeting As where they part again the beginnings as the LXX translate the word of the other two Rivers Pison and Gihon are properly called the Heads of them Ver. 11. The name of the first is Pison or Phison This is that Branch which runs Westerly and being nearest to the place where Moses wrote on the other side of Jordan is first mentioned by him It is a long time since both this River and Gihon have lost these Names The Greek and Roman Writers calling them still after their parting by the Names they had before they met Euphrates and Tigris But
this List of their Kings that the Kingdom at this time was Elective for the Father did not succeed the Son Which may have been the reason perhaps why it lasted but a while before their Government was altered again verse 40. Maimonides hath an Opinion different from all others that none of these Kings were of the Race of Esau but strangers who oppressed the Edomites And are here set down by Moses to admonish the Israelites to observe that Precept Deut. XVII 15. Not to set a stranger to be King over them who is not their Brother i. e. One of their own Nation Ver. 35. Who smote Midian in the Field of Moab The Midianites perhaps came to invade them and Hadad march'd out and met them in the Frontiers of their Country which joyned to that of Moab Where he got a great Victory over them Ver. 37. And Saul of Rehoboth by the River reigned c. If by the River we should understand Euphrates as it usually signifies near to which stood the City of Rehoboth Gen. X. 11. it may seem strange that one should be chosen from so remote a Country to be King of Edom Unless we suppose him to have been born there but to have lived in Edom And by his great Atchievements to have got into the Throne Otherwise we must take this for some other City which stood by the most known River of this Country Ver. 38. Baal-hanan This Name is the reverse as I may call it of Hani-ball Ver. 39. His Wife's name was Mehetabel c. None of their Wives much less their Pedigree are named besides this alone Which shows she was an eminent Woman in those Times and that Country either for Wisdom or Parentage or Estate or some other Excellence Ver. 40. And these are the names of the Dukes that came of Esau They seem now to have returned to their first Constitution and Kings were laid aside for some time But in future Ages we find they changed again and then Kings reigned successively the Son after the Father as they did in Israel Some think these were the great Men who ruled in Edom in Moses his time According to their Families c. They were the Heads of different Families and lived in different Places and perhaps reigned at the same time in several Parts of the Country So the words seem to import Ver. 43. In the Land of their possession In their own Country whilst the Seed of Jacob sojourned in a strange Country and possessed no Land of their own He is Esau c. He ends as he began This is the Account of Esau the Father of the People who are now called Edomites CHAP. XXXVII Ver. 1. AND Jacob dwelt in the Land c. Having given us an Account of Esau's removal to Seir XXXVI 6 7. and of the Prosperity of his Family there He now goes on to tell us that Jacob still continued in the Country where his Father had sojourned in the Land of Canaan Ver. 2. These are the Generations of Jacob. These words are to be connected with the latter end of XXXV 23 24 c. where he relates how many Sons Jacob had and then gives an account of the Family of Esau in the XXXVI Chapter which being ended he returns to finish the History of Jacob. And the Lad was with the Sons of Bilhah c. These words vehu naar signifie he was very young in the simplicity of his Childish Years and come in by way of a Parenthesis in this manner Joseph being seventeen Years old was feeding the Flock with his Brethren and he was but a Youth unexperienced and therefore called a Child verse 30. with the Sons of Bilhah c. Which last words are an explication of the former showing with which of his Brethren he was Not with the Sons of Leah but with the Sons of his Hand-Maids Particularly with Bilhah's whom we may look upon as a Mother to him now Rachel was dead having waited upon her And Zilpah's Sons are also mentioned in the second place as those it is likely who were thought to have less emulation to him than the Sons of Leah But we see by this how much our greatest Prudence often fails For Reuben and Judah the Children of Leah had more Kindness for Joseph than any of the rest Their evil report What evil Lives they led Ver. 3. Because he was the Son of his old age Benjamin was more so than he and the rest were born not many Years before him But he is so called because he had been married a good while to Rachel before he had him And he was the greatest Comfort of his old Age Benjamin not being yet grown up to give any proof of his future worth He made him a Coat of many colours It is commonly thought to signifie a Garment wrought with Threds of divers Colours or made up of pieces of Silk or Stuff which had much variety in them or wrought as some think with Figures of Fruit or other things See Salmasius upon Flav. Vopiscus p. 396. But Braunius de Vestib Sacerd. Hebr. L. I. cap. 17. hath proved I think that the Hebrew word Passim here signifies a long Garment down to the Heels or Ankles and with long Sleeves down to the Wrests Which had a Border at the bottom and a Facing as we speak at the Hands of another Colour different from the Garment See verse 23. Ver. 4. Could not speak peaceably to him In a kind and friendly manner But churlishly and with evident signs of hatred Aben-Ezra fansies they would not so much as salute him or wish him peace as the Phrase then was peace be to thee or ask him how he did as our Custom is Ver. 5. Joseph dreamed a Dream This was usual among the ancient Patriarchs and others also as appears by Elihu Who shows that all Dreams were not Illusions of evil Spirits Job XXXIII 14 15 c. And long before his time Abimelech was warned by God in a Dream Chapter XX. of this Book verse 3 6 7. Upon which Consideration as Dr. Jackson well observes we should not mistrust the Reports of several ancient Historians who tell us how Princes and Fathers of Families have had Fore-warnings of future Events Either concerning themselves their Kingdoms or Posterity Book I. upon the Creed chap. 9. He told his Brethren This argues his great Innocence and Simplicity that he had not yet Understanding enough to consider how ill this Dream might be expounded or not Prudence enough to conceal what might be ill interpreted by them They hated him yet more The first ground of their Hatred was their Father 's great Love to him and then his informing their Father of their bad Behaviour Which was still increased by the fine Clothes his Father bestowed on him and now most of all by this Dream which they interpreted to signifie his Superiority over them Ver. 7. Your Sheaves stood round about and made obeysance c. Or gathered round about mine
upon its proper Day As he shows Lib. III. de Jure N. G. cap. 19. But the more they laboured to find out this Mystery the more they were puzzled and perplexed in their Thoughts Nor could their Prayers if they went that way to work help them to disclose the Secret Ver. 9. I do remember my faults this day Call to mind the Offences I committed against Pharaoh Or as some will have it my Ingratitude to one who was in Prison with me Ver. 11. Each Man according to the interpretation of his Dream Just according to the Event was each of our Dreams Ver. 13. As he interpreted to us so it was He repeats the thing often to show how exactly Joseph hit the Truth in his Interpretation Me he restored to my Office c. He told me that on such a Day I should be restored to my Office and he told the other he should be hanged Ver. 14. Brought him hastily With all speed that Pharaoh might not continue in suspence Out of the Dungeon It is reasonable to think That though he was thrown into the Dungeon at the first XL. 15. he did not continue there when he lookt after all the Prisoners and did the whole business of a Keeper XXXIX 22 23. Therefore this Part as is usual is put for the Whole Signifying no more than that they brought him out of Prison where he had been in the Dungeon And he shaved himself c. It was the Custom in most Countries when Men were in a mournful Condition to neglect their Hair both of the Head and the Beard And not to shift their Clothes as in Prosperity but to continue in a rueful Dress whereby they expressed the Sence they had of their Calamity Ver. 16. It is not in me A modest answer I do not pretend to more Wisdom than those thou hast already consulted God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace But God I doubt not will direct me to give the King a satisfactory answer Nay an answer that shall be serviceable to him and to his Kingdom Ver. 17. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph c. We may well suppose that Joseph desired to know the Dream Which Pharaoh repeats in this and the following Verses something more fully than it is set down before Ver. 21. When they had eaten them up it could not be known that they had eaten them c. An Emblem of a very grievous Famine Which is represented not only by the lean Kine devouring the Fat as much as to say the barren Years consuming all the growth of the Fertil but by their remaining Lean as if they had eaten nothing Which represents what often happens in Famine that Men eat greedily but are not satisfied Because God breaks the Staff of Bread Levit. XXVI 26. i. e. takes away its nourishing Virtue as Bochart expounds it Hierozoic P. I. Lib. II. cap. 41. But this seems to be a straining of that Phrase break the Staff of Bread Which signifies no more than want of Bread to support Man's Life And all that can be gathered from this part of the Dream is That there should be such exceeding great scarcity that Men should have but just enough to keep them alive Ver. 25. The Dream of Pharaoh is one One and the same thing is represented by two several Figures God hath shewn Pharaoh what he is about to do God hath in these Dreams revealed to Pharaoh what he intends shortly to bring to pass Ver. 26. The seven good kine c. He represents in this and in the following Verse how one thing is signified by two Dreams Seven good Kine and seven good Ears representing seven Years of plenty and seven lean Kine and seven empty Ears as many Years of scarcity Ver. 28. This is the thing which I have spoken c. I have told the King in short what the Divine Providence is about to effect Ver. 29. Behold there come seven Years c. I will repeat it more at large Take notice then that in the next seven Years to this there shall be very great crops of Corn every where throughout the whole Country Ver. 30. And there shall arise after them c. And immediately after they are ended shall follow seven Years as barren as the former were fruitful the Earth bringing forth little or no Corn. Which will make so great a Famine that there shall be no memory of the foregoing plenty for there shall be no Corn left but all eaten up throughout all the Land of Egypt Ver. 31. And the plenty shall not be known c. I say there shall be no mark remaining of the foregoing Plenty by reason of the extream Scarcity in the following Years which will be very heavy Ver. 32. And for that the Dream was doubled c. The repetition of the Dream signifies the certainty of what I say God having so determined who will shortly justifie the Truth of my Predictions Both here and in the foregoing Discourse verse 25 28. he directs Pharaoh to look up unto God as the Author of all these Events and that not in an ordinary but extraordinary manner For such Fertility and such Famine did not proceed from mere Natural Causes but from an Over-ruling Providence It is observed by Pliny L. V. Nat. Hist cap. 9. that when Nile rose only twelve Cubits a Famine followed When thirteen great Scarcity When fourteen they had a good Year When fifteen a very good And if it rose sixteen it made delicias luxuriant Plenty And the greatest increase they ever knew was to eighteen Cubits Now that this River should overflow so largely for seven Years together as to make vast Plenty and then for the next seven Years not to overflow its Banks at all or very little and so make a sore and long Famine could be ascribed to nothing but an extraordinary Hand of God it being quite out of the course of Nature And indeed the Dream seems to signifie something beyond that for it is unnatural for Oxen to devour one another Ver. 33. Look out a Man discreet and wise One fit to manage so great an Affair He that could foretell such Events was fit to advise what was to be done upon the foresight of them But it 's probable he did not presume to give such Directions till he was askt his Opinion Ver. 34. Let Pharaoh do this When this is done Let him appoint Officers Let that Chief Ruler appoint Officers under him in the several Provinces of the Kingdom Such as the Romans called Praefectos Annonae Take up a fifth part Some have askt why not the half since there were to be as many Years of Famine as of Plenty To which such answers as these have been given by Interpreters That the greater and richer sort were wont in time of Plenty to fill their Store-Houses as a Provision against a scarcer Year which sometimes hapned And Secondly That in time of Famine Men are wont to live more frugally and not
Body else We find Nebuchadnezzar did the same in Babylon Dan. I. 7. And it is still the Custom in the Eastern Countries Where the Mogul never advances any Man but he gives him a new Name and that significant of something belonging to him As not long ago he called his Brother-in-law Asaph Chán the gathering or the rich Lord And his Physician Macrob Chan the Lord of my Health c. as Peter de la Valle relates in his Travels p. 465. where he observes the same of his Wives p. 470. Zaph-nath Paaneah Which St. Hierom interprets the Saviour of the World But the whole Stream of Interpreters carry it for another signification which is the Interpreter of Secrets or the Revealer of future things See Sixt. Amama and Athan. Kirker his Prodromus cap. V. and our Countryman J. Gregory chap. XVI of his Observations Who with Mr. Calvin thinks it is ridiculous to attempt to make this Sence out of the Hebrew Language And yet there are those who think they have done it with success Tzaphan being to hide or cover whence Tzaphnath that which is hidden or secret And Panah signifying to look into or contemplate So that Campeg Vitrigna thinks Josephus and Philo not to have ill interpreted this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Observ Sacr. Lib. I. cap. 5. an Interpreter of Dreams and a finder out of things hidden But as Jacchiades observes upon Dan. I. 7. that the Egyptian and Persian Kings gave Names for Honour and Glory in token of their Supreme Greatness and Authority so it was most for their Glory to give them out of their own Language And therefore if this be the meaning of Zaph-nath Paaneah the Egyptian Tongue and the Hebrew had a great affinity one to the other And he gave him to Wife Either the King then disposed of the great Noble-Mens Daughters when their Parents were dead as our Kings lately did of their Wards or Asenath was of Pharaoh's Kindred and so he provided her a Husband and gave her a Portion Or the meaning simply is he made this match for him The Daughter of Potipherah This is a different Name from his who was Captain of the Guard and was of a different Quality And therefore there is no reason from some likeness in their Names to think that Joseph married the Daughter of him who had been his Master For he would have abhorr'd to match with one that was born of so lewd a Woman as his Mistress as Vossius well observes in the place fore-named Priest of On. Or Prince of On as the Margin hath it for the word Cohen signifies both Priest and Prince See 2 Sam. VIII ult Priests being anciently the Prime Men of the Kingdom for Kings themselves were Priests On was a famous City in Egypt called afterwards Heliopolis Which gave Name to one of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Provinces of Egypt whereof this Poti-pherah was Governor or Lieutenant Concerning which Province and Asenath and Poti-pherah see Mr. Selden L. III. de Synedriis p. 406. And Joseph went out over all the Land of Egypt To see what places were fittest for Stores Ver. 46. Joseph was thirty Years old So he had been out of his own Country thirteen Years for he was but seventeen Years old XXXVII 2. when he was sold into Egypt In which time we may well think he had learnt the Language of that Country and gained much Experience but never sent to his Father In which there is visibly a special Providence of God for his Father might have used means for his Deliverance and then he had never come to this Greatness When he stood before Pharaoh When Pharaoh made him his Prime Minister For the great Counsellors and Ministers alone were admitted into the King's Presence in the Eastern Countries and it 's like the same State was kept here and are said to stand before the King Dan. I. 19. and to see the King's Face Esther I. 14. And went throughout all the Land of Egypt He seems to have only taken a general view of the Country before verse 45. but now a more particular to give Orders for the building of Store-Houses against the plenteous Years came Ver. 47. Brought forth by handfuls Such large Ears that a few of them would make a Sheaf Which our Translation seems here to mean by handfuls For Sheaves are bound up with Mens Hands And so it may be interpreted it brought forth Sheaves or Heaps Or more literally handfuls upon one Stalk i. e. vast abundance Some conceive the Corn was laid up in Sheaves heaped up very high and not thrash'd out For so it would keep the longer Ver. 48. And he gathered up all the Food The fifth Part as he had proposed verse 34. i. e. he bought it which he might do at a small Price when there was unusual plenty And laid up the Food in the Cities It is very probable he laid it up as it was gathered unthrash'd That there might be Food for the Cattle also So the Vulgar In manipulos reductae segetes congregatae sunt in horrea And what was laid up in the first Year of Plenty it is reasonable to think was dispensed in the first Year of Famine c. Round every City This was very wisely ordered for it was less charge to Pharaoh for the present and more easie to the Country when they wanted Provision Ver. 49. Gathered Corn as the Sand of the Sea The following words explain this Hyperbolical Expression And the reason of his heaping up so much was that there might be sufficient to supply the Necessities of other Countries as well as of Egypt Ver. 51. God hath made me forget all my toil The great Affliction and hard Labour he endured in Prison And all my Father's House The unkindness of his Brethren who were the cause of all his Trouble By imposing this Name on his First-born he admonished himself in the midst of his Prosperity of his former Adversity Which he now thought of with Pleasure Ver. 52. In the Land of my affliction In the Country where I have suffered much Affliction Ver. 53. And the seven Years of plenteousness were ended It was beside the intention of Moses to relate any of the Affairs of that Country but what belonged to this Matter And therefore he passes over all other Transactions of these seven Years as he doth all the things that hapned in Jacob's Family ever since Joseph came from it Ver. 54. The Dearth was in all Lands In all the Countries thereabouts Canaan Syria c. It seems there was a general want of Rain But in all the Land of Egypt there was Bread They did not feel the Famine presently because they had much to spare from the former Years of plenty Ver. 55. And when all the Land of Egypt was famished When they had eaten up all their own Stores Which we may suppose failed in two Years time The People cried to Pharaoh c.
to have been the most eminent among Jacob's Children when Joseph was gone as was noted before XLIV 14. To direct his way c. To give Joseph notice of his coming and to receive Directions from him in what part of Goshen he should expect him And they came into the Land of Goshen Into that part of it which Joseph had appointed Ver. 29. Presented himself to him With such Reverence as a Son owes to his Father Who embraced him most tenderly For some referr the next words to Jacob he fell on his Neck c. Which expresses the highest Affection And wept on his Neck a good while We read before how Joseph fell upon Benjamin's Neck and wept which was answered by the like endearments on Benjamin's part XLV 14. But the Affection wherewith Jacob embraced Joseph as Maimonides understands it or as R. Solomon Jarchi Joseph embraced his Father far surpassed that For they continued longer infolded in one another's Arms where Tears of Joy flowed so fast that for a good while they could not speak Ver. 30. And Israel said unto Joseph Some make this an Argument that it was Joseph who lighting out of his Chariot threw himself into his Father's Arms and wept c. Which made Moses now more distinctly mention who said the following words Now let me die c. These words signifie that he now enjoyed the utmost Happiness he could desire on Earth which therefore he was willing to leave because nothing could be added to it These were the first Thoughts which his Passion suggested to him though to live with Joseph and to enjoy his Conversation was far more than barely to see his face Ver. 32. The Men are Shepherds c. He seems to have been afraid lest Pharaoh should have preferred his Brethren and made them Courtiers or Commanders in the Army c. which might have procured them the Envy of the Egyptians And besides have separated them one from another Whereas by professing themselves Shepherds and Traders in Cattle they kept all together in a Body separate from the Egyptians Which two Reasons are suggested by Josephus Ver. 33. What is your Occupation Your way of living For Men did not live idly in those Days Ver. 34. Ye shall say Thy Servants Trade hath been c. He directs them to Justifie what he told them he would inform Pharaoh That ye may dwell in the Land of Goshen A rich Country abounding with Pasturage and also next adjoyning to Canaan as was noted before XLV 10. unto which when the time came they might the more easily return For every Shepherd Not universally without limitation but every Foreign Shepherd For a considerable part of the Egyptian People were Shepherds as Diodorus Siculus tells us L. I. § 2. p. 47. Edit Steph. where he saith the Country being divided into three Parts the Priests had one their King a second and the Soldiers a third And there were three other Ranks of Men under these viz. Shepherds Husbandmen and Artificers The Husbandmen he saith served their King and Priests and Military Men in tilling their Ground for small Wages and spent all their time in it And the like account he saith is given of their Shepherds who from their Fore-fathers followed that way of living Which makes it plain they could not abominate those who were so serviceable to them though they might contemn them as mean People who never rose to any higher Employment But we need not go to him for the proof of this It being apparent from this very Book that the Egyptians had Sheep and Oxen as well as Horses and Asses which they sold to Joseph for Corn in the time of Famine XLVII 17. and that Pharaoh spake to Joseph to make such of his Brethren as were Men of Skill Rulers over his Flocks XLVII 6. which is a demonstration they bred Cattle as well as other Nations And therefore if we will understand this to be true of all Shepherds without exception then by Egyptians to whom Shepherds are said to be an abomination we must not understand all the People of the Country of Egypt Shepherds being a part of them but only the Courtiers and great Men as in XLV 2. the Egyptians are said to hear Joseph weep i. e. those that belong'd to the Court Who it is likely despised Shepherds as Rupertus Tuitiensis long ago expounded this Passage but that is far short of abominating them which the Hebrew word imports But after all this I do not see how they could be contemptible if it be true which the same Diodorus saith p. 58. That when they buried a Corps and made the Funeral Encomium they never mentioned the Parentage of the deceased 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 making account that all the People of Egypt were alike well-born We must confine therefore this Assertion to Foreign Shepherds and it is not easie to give the reason why they were an abomination to the Egyptians who were Shepherds themselves Onkelos and Jonathan with a great many others think that they would not converse for that is meant by abomination with the Hebrew Shepherds because they had no greater regard to those Creatures which the Egyptians worshipped than to breed them up to be eaten But there is no good proof that they worshipped Sheep or Oxen in those Days and on the contrary it appears both out of Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus that they sacrificed such Creatures in their Days and also eat of the Sacrifices when they had done See Herodot in Euterpe Cap. 40 41. And therefore the reason given by others for this Abhorrence is not solid that the Egyptians did eat no Flesh and upon that score could not endure those that did This is the Account which Aben Ezra gives of this Matter who fansies they were like the Indians in his time who abominated Shepherds because they drunk Milk contrary to their Manners who tasted nothing that came from any living Creature But as it cannot be proved that this Superstition was so old as Jacob's time so the contrary is evident from this very Book XLIII 16. where Joseph bids his Steward go home and slay and make ready a Dinner for his Brethren Whom he did not intend to entertain after the Hebrew but after the Egyptian Fashion that he might not be known by them And so Herodotus informs us that in his days though they abstained from some Animals yet they eat of others Both Fish and Birds Euterpe cap. 78. And Diodorus giving an account after what manner their Kings lived saith they used a simple Diet eating Veal and Geese c. L. I. § 2. p. 45. Edit Steph. Jos Scaliger therefore thinks this sort of Men were abominable because they had often raised Rebellion in Egypt and made a King of their own who erected that which is called the Pastoral Kingdom This is embraced by many great Men who have only the Authority of Manetho for it who says these were Phoenician Shepherds as Josephus tells us Lib. I.
it is evident was so near to Judah that they were reputed the very same Whence it is that Mordecai who was of the Tribe of Benjamin is called Isch Jehudi a Jew in Esther II. 5. because that Tribe was comprehended under Judah from the time that the rest rent themselves from the House of David When Jeroboam also set up the meanest of the People for Priests who were not of the Tribe of Levi 1 King XII 33. This made the Levites fly to Judah and become one with them And therefore the Maccabees were in effect Jews who held the chief Authority among them till Antigonus was driven out and killed by Herod Who was an Edomite set over them by the Romans From between his Feet The common Interpretation every Body knows which is of his Seed or Posterity But Ludolphus instead of Raglau Feet would have us read Daglau Banners according to the Samaritan Copy Which is well confuted by the fore-named Wagenseil p. 269. of the fore-named Book Where he translates these words thus Even to the last end of that State For so the People at the Feet signifies Exod. XI 8. 2 Kings III. 9. those that bring up the Rear as we now speak And so some ancient Interpreters in the Talmud he shows expound it here of the last Posterity of Judah and the times when their Commonwealth was coming to a conclusion Vntil Shiloh come Let the original of this word Shiloh be what it will which some translate to be sent others his Son or Child or his Seed others Quiet Peaceable Pacifick Prosperous and consequently Renowned August to whom Gifts or Offerings shall be made as R. Solomon takes it others whose is viz. the Kingdom the Messiah or Christ is certainly hereby meant As all the three Targum's agree and the Talmud in the Title Sanhedrim cap. XI and Baal-Hatturim Bereschit-Rabba and many other ancient and modern Jews I will mention only the words of R. Bechai who confesses It is right to understand this Verse of the Messiah the last Redeemer Which is meant when it saith till Shilo come i. e. his Son proceeding from his Seed And the reason why the word beno is not used in this Prophecy but Shilo is because he would emphatically express a Son who should be brought forth of his Mother's Womb after the manner of all those that are born of a Woman Of this Interpretation they are so convinced that to evade the Argument we urge from hence to prove the Messiah is come they have invented a great many Tales of the Power they have still in some remote Parts of the World There is a Book written on purpose called The Voice of glad Tidings wherein they labour to prove they have a Kingdom still remaining Which if it should be granted signifies nothing for this Prophecy is concerning their Government in their own Country the Land of Canaan As they themselves very well know which makes them so desirous to return thither again that the Hand of Judah may be upon the Neck of his Enemies and he may go up from the prey like a Lion and tie his Ass to the Vine and wash his Garments in Wine c. as the words are in the rest of this Prophecy And whatsoever some of them are pleased to say concerning their Power no Body knows where they are sometimes in a contrary humour For in the Gemara Sanhedrim they say Cap. XI § 32. There shall not be the least Magistrate in Israel when the Messiah comes Vnto him shall the gathering of the People be So this Clause is expounded by Abarbinel himself whose words are The People of the Nations shall be gathered to worship him i. e. the Messiah See L' Empereur in Jacchiad p. 164. and Codex Middoth p. 106 107. Wagenseil indeed thinks the most literal Interpretation to be this To him shall be the Obedience of the People Which is the Interpretation of Onkelos and the Hierusalem Paraphrast Kimchi also Lib. Radic so expounds it The People shall obey him taking upon them to observe what he shall command them And in Prov. XXX 17. which is the only place besides this where this word Jikkah is found it seems to signifie Obedience See Confut. Carm. R. Lipmanni p. 295. where Wagenseil after the examination of every particular word in this Verse thus summs up the Sence of it in this Paraphrase That Royal Power and Authority which shall be established in the Posterity of Judah shall not be taken from them or at least they shall not be destitute of Rulers and Governors no not when they are in their declining Condition Vntil the coming of the Messiah But when he is come there shall be no difference between the Jews and other Nations Who shall all be obedient unto the Messiah And after that the Posterity of Judah shall have neither King nor Ruler of their own But the whole Commonwealth of Judah shall quite lose all Form and never recover it again The Truth of this Exposition appears exactly from their History Of which it will be useful here to give an account For from David to the Captivity of Babylon they held the Scepter for five whole Ages and more as I observed above After which when seventy Years were finished in that Captivity they lived by their own Laws in their own Country But had no absolute Authority of their own independent upon others nor ever enjoyed a full Liberty For they were at first under the Persian Monarchs Afterwards upon the Conquest made by Alexander under the Greeks And then under the Kings of Asia Minor and Egypt till the Roman Yoke was imposed upon them Yet all this time while they were under the Empire of others they enjoyed Governors or Rulers of their own Who administred their Affairs under those Monarchs The first was Zerobabel called the Captain or Prince of Judah Haggai I. 1. After him Ezra and Nehemiah And before them it is likely there were some others as Jos Scaliger gathers from Nehem. V. 15. After the death of Nehemiah the Government came into the Hands of the High-Priests as appears from Josephus L. XI cap. 8. where he shows how Jaddus the High-Priest met Alexander in his Expedition against Persia Which Power was confirmed in that Order by the Maccabees as we commonly call them It began in Mattathias and was continued in his Sons The third of which Simon raised it to such a Splendor that he looked like a Prince as the Reader may see it described in 1 Maccab. XIV From whence his Grand-Child Aristobulus seems to have taken occasion to affect the Name of King Though he had but the Shadow of that Power Yet his Posterity kept that Name to the time of Herod Who stript them of all their Power and destroyed their Family After his death the Kingdom was divided by Augustus into Tetrarchies Archelaus being made Tetrarch of Judaea and the rest of the Country divided between Philip and Antipas But Archelaus misbehaving himself he
and all his Brethren He first and they followed him But not content with this some of them adventure to tell us how many Years every one of them lived nay the very Month and Day of their Birth as may be seen in R. Bechai Reuben for instance they say was born the XIV Day of Cisleu and died when he was CXXV Years old c. And he was put in a Coffin in Egypt To be preserved in that Chest or Ark as the Hebrew word is commonly translated till they themselves went from thence Herodotus in the Book above-named Euterpe cap. 86 90. speaks of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chests wherein dead Bodies were inclosed after their Embalming Which they laid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the House or Cell where these Chests were reposited reared against the Wall of it Whether Joseph's Coffin was put into such a common Repository or rather preserved in a place by it self we cannot determine But the Chaldee hath an odd Conceit as G. Schikkard observes in his Jus Regium p. 159. that it was kept in the River Nile Which arose perhaps from a mistake of the relation which that Author had met withal of the Place where they laid their Bodies Which were let down very deep Wells or Vaults some call them some of which were not far from the River Nile and so put into a Cave which was at the bottom of those Wells For so F. Vansleb and others who have gone to search for Mummies describe the Places where they lie And tell us they found some of the Coffins made of Wood not putrefied to this Day and others of Clothes pasted together forty times double which were as strong as Wood and not at all rotten The Reader cannot but observe That from the time of Joseph's advancement to the Government till the time of his death i. e. for LXXX Years there is no mention of the death of any King in Egypt For it was not Moses his Intention to write the History of that Kingdom or to give us the Series of their Kings But only to acquaint us with the Series of the Patriarchs and give some account of them from the Creation to his own time All other things must be learnt out of other Authors And according to Eusebius whom Jac. Capellus follows the first King of the XVIIIth Dynasty when the Egyptian History he makes account ceased to be fabulous was Amos Whose Dream Joseph interpreted and was by him preferred After he had reigned XXV Years he left the Kingdom to Chebros who reigned XIII Years Next to whom was Amenophis as much as to say a Servant of Noph i. e. Memphis who reigned XXI Years And then left the Kingdom to Mephres who held it XII Years To whom Josephus out of Manetho substitutes Amersis and says he reigned XXII Years And then succeeded Mephramuthosis who reigned XXVI Years In the beginning of whose time Joseph died The END of the Book of GENESIS Books Written by SYMON PATRICK D. D. now Lord Bishop of ELY and printed for Richard Chiswell THe Parable of the Pilgrim Written to a Friend The Sixth Edition 4 to 1681. Mensa Mystica Or a Discourse concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper In which the Ends of its Institution are so manifested our Addresses to it so directed our Behaviour there and afterward so composed that we may not lose the Profits which are to be received by it With Prayers and Thansgivings inserted To which is annexed Aqua Genitalis A Discourse concerning Baptism In which is inserted a Discourse to persuade to a Confirmation of the Baptismal Vow 8 vo Jewish Hypocrisie A Caveat to the present Generation Wherein is shewn both the false and the true way to a Nations or Persons compleat Happiness from the Sickness and Recovery of the Jewish State To which is added a Discourse upon Micah 6.8 belonging to the same Matter 8 vo Divine Arithmetick A Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. Samuel Jacomb Minister of St. Mary Woolnoth-Church in Lombard-street London With an Account of his Life 8 vo An Exposition of the Ten Commandements 8 vo Heart's Ease Or a Remedy against all Troubles With a Consolatory Discourse particularly directed to those who have lost their Friends and Relations To which is added Two Papers printed in the time of the late Plague The Sixth Edition corrected 12 mo 1695. The Pillar and Ground of Truth A Treatise shewing that the Roman Church falsly claims to be That Church and the Pillar of That Truth menâ—ioned by St. Paul in 1 Tim. 3.15 4 to An Examination of Bellarmin's Second Note of the Church viz. ANTIQVITY 4 to An Examination of the Texts which Papists cite out of the Bible to prove the Supremacy of St. Peter and of the Pope over the whole Church In Two Parts 4 to A Private Prayer to be used in Difficult Times A Thanksgiving for our late Wonderful Deliverance A Prayer for Charity Peace and Unity chiefly to be used in Lent A Sermon preached upon St. Peter's Day printed with Enlargements 4 to A Sermon preached in St. James's Chappel before the Prince of Orange Jan. 20. 1688. on Isaiah 11.6 A Second Part of the Sermon before the Prince of Orange on the same Text. Preached in Covent-Garden A Sermon preached before the Queen in March 1688 9. on Coloss 3.15 A Sermon against Murmuring preached at Covent-Garden in Lent 1688 9. On 1 Cor. 10.10 A Sermon against Censuring paeached at Covent-Garden in Advent 1688. On 1 Cor. 4.10 A Fast-Sermon before the King and Q April 16. 1690. on Prov. 14.34 A Thanksgiving-Sermon before the Lords Nov. 26. 1691. for Reducing of Ireland and the King 's safe Return On Deut. 4.9 A Fast-Sermon before the Qeeen April 8. 1692. on Numb 10.9 A Commentary on the First Book of Moses called Genesis 4 to 1695. JAcobi Vsserii Historia Dogmatica Controvers inter Orthodoxos Pontificios de Scripturis Sacris Vernaculis 4to Tho. Pope-Blunt Censura Celebriorum Authorum sive tractatus in quo varia virorum Doctorum de Clariss cujusque saeculi Scriptoribus Judicia Traduntur Fol. Gul. Camdeni Illustrium Virorum ad Gul. Camdenum Epistolae 4to Anglia Sacra sive Collectio Historiarum Antiquitus Scriptarum de Archiepiscopis Episcopis Angliae à Prima Fidei Christianae susceptione ad Annum 1540. in Duobus voluminibus per Henricum Whartonum Fol. Dr. Peter Alix his Remarks on the Ecclesiastical Histories of the Ancient Churches of Piedmont and the Albigenses In Two Parts 4 to The Letters of Father Paul Author of the History of the Council of Trent 8 vo The Character of Q. Elizabeth and her Principal Ministers of State With an Account of Her Policies and Method of Government By Edm. Bohun Esq 8 vo Rushworth's Historical Collections The Third Part. In Two Volumes never before printed From the beginning of the Long Parliament 1640 to the end of the Year 1644. Wherein is a particular Account of the Rise and Progress of the Civil War to that Period Fol. 1692. A Discourse of the Pastoral Care By GILBERT Lord Bishop of Sarum His Four Discourses delivered to the Clergy of the Diocess of Sarum Concerning I. The Truth of the Christian Religion II. The Divinity and the Death of Christ III. The Infallibility and Authority of the Church IV. The Obligations to continue in the Communion of the Church 8 vo His Lent-Sermon before the Queen March 11. 1693 4. on 1 Cor. 1.16 A Sermon preached before the Queen at White-Hall Decemb. 10. 1693. on 1 John 5.4 By Sam. Freeman D. D. Dean of Peterborough His Sermon before the Lord-Mayor in Easter-Week 1694. on Mat. 25.46 An Impartial History of the Late Wars of Ireland from the beginning to the end In Two Parts Illustrated with Copper Sculptures describing the most Important Places of Action Written by George Storey an Eye-witness of the most Remarkable Passages 4 to A Discourse of the Government of the Thoughts By George Tully Sub-Dean of York 8 vo Memoirs of the most Reverend Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury Wherein the History of the Church and the Reformation of it during the Primacy of the said Archbishop are greatly illustrated and many singular Matters relating thereunto now first published In Three Books Collected chiefly from Records Registers Authentick Letters and other Original Manuscripts By John Strype M. A. Fol. Origo Legum Or A Treatise of the Origin of Laws and their Obliging Power As also of their great Variety and why some Laws are immutable and some not but may suffer change or cease to be or be suspended or abrogated In Seven Books By George Dawson Fol. A Brief Discourse concerning the Lawfulness of Worshipping God by the Common-Prayer in Answer to a Book Intituled A Brief Discourse of the Vnlawfulness of Common-Prayer-Worship By John Williams D. D. 4 to A True Representation of the Absurd and Mischievous Principles of the Sect commonly known by the Name of the Muggletonians 4 to A Sermon concerning the Coelestial Body of a Christian after the Resurrection preached before the King and Queen at White-Hall April 8. 1694. being Easter-Day By Thomas Lord Bishop of Lincoln Dr. John Conaut's Sermons 8 vo Published by Dr. Williams The History of the Troubles and Trial of the most Reverend Father in God and Blessed Martyr William Laud Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Wrote by himself during his imprisonment in the Tower To which is prefixed the Diary of his own Life faithfully and entirely published from the Original Copy And subjoyned a Supplement to the preceding History The Arch-Bishop's Last Will His Large Answer to the Lord SAY's Speech concerning the Liturgies His Annual Accounts of his Province delivered to the King And some other Things relating to the History Published by the Order of Arch-Bishop Sandcroft given before his Death to Henry Wharton his Chaplain Fol.
only in the Land of Seir or barely in Seir to which he invited Jacob at his return XXXII 3. XXXIII 14 16. This Mountainous Country which was richer than the other he got into his possession after that time Esau is Edom. The Father of the Edomites as it follows verse 9. Ver. 12. She bare to Eliphaz Amalek This was necessary to be set down as I observed on verse 1. that there might be a distinction between the Amalekites who were to be destroyed and the rest of the Posterity of Esau Concerning whom it is said Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite because he is thy Brother Deut. XXIII 7. Thus Joseph Albo. For though they made a distinct People from the Edomites and lived in a neighbouring Country yet they possessed that part of Mount Seir which was near Kadesh Barnea as may be gathered from Numb XIII 29. and XIV 43. Ver. 15. These were Dukes The word Allouphe if we may believe R. Solomon Jarchi signifies Heads Chiefs or Rulers of Families Who may be called Princes though their Government was not yet Regal but a kind of Aristocracy in the beginning Ver. 16. Duke Korah He is not reckon'd among the Sons of Eliphaz verse 11. but called the Son of Aholibamah verse 14. and accordingly said to Rule over a Family descended from hers verse 18. We must suppose therefore there were two Korah's one the Son of Aholibamah the other a Nephew of Eliphaz by some of his Sons or Grand-Sons Who came to be a great Ruler and to get the Government of some of these Families And according to the Style of Scripture is reckoned for Eliphaz his Son Ver. 20. These are the Sons of Seir the Horite From this Seir the Country had its Name But from whom he descended is not recorded Who inhabited the Land Who were the ancient Inhabitants of this Country before Esau conquered it And perhaps were the first that possessed it after the Flood Whose Genealogy I suppose is here mentioned because Esau's Posterity married with some of them Particularly his eldest Son Eliphaz took Timna Sister of Lotan one of Seir's Sons for his Concubine verse 22. Yea Esau himself seems to have married one of this Family viz. Aholibamah Whose Father and Uncle are said to be Hivites verse 2. but here plainly called Horites Being descended from Seir the Horite though dwelling then among the Hivites Ver. 21. These are the Dukes of the Horites The Heads of their Families who governed the Country before Esau and his Posterity dispossessed them And setled themselves in the same form of Government which they found among these Horites In the Land of Edom. So it was called in the days of Moses Ver. 24. This is that Anah who found the Mules in the wilderness Not by Accident but by his Art and Industry he invented as we speak this mixture and produced this new kind of Creature So it is commonly interpreted But the word found though used four hundred times in Scripture never signifies as Bochart hath observed P. I. Hierozoic Lib. II. cap. 21. the Invention of that which was not before but the finding that which already is in being Nor doth Jemim signifie Asses in Scripture And therefore others have read the Hebrew word as if it had been written Jamim as St. Hierom observes imagining that as Anah fed his Father's Asses he found a great collection of Waters See Vossius L. III. de Idolol cap. 75. which some fansie to have been hot Waters or Baths as the Vulgar Latin interprets it But then we must read the Hebrew quite otherwise than we do now And Bochart gives other Reasons against this Interpretation and endeavours to establish another Opinion That by Jemim we are to understand Emim a Gigantick sort of People mentioned in Scripture and next Neighbours to the Horites These Anah is said to find i. e. to meet withall and incounter or rather to have fall'n upon on a sudden and unexpectedly as this Phrase he shows signifies in Scripture This Opinion he hath confirmed with a great many Reasons to which another late learned Writer Wagenseil thinks an Answer may be given Though he inclines to it if one thing were not in the way which makes him think here is rather meant some Herb or Plant called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word the LXX retains not knowing how to translate it And thus Aben-Ezra affirms many Interpreters of the Scripture have understood it Which seems to be the most probable Conjecture of all others See Wagenseil in his Annot. upon that Title of the Talmud called Sota p. 217 218 c. As he fed the Asses of Zibeon his Father The Sons of Princes were wont to follow this Imployment in ancient Times as Bochart shows out of many Authors Particularly the Scholiast upon Homer's Odysses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hierozoic P. I. L. II. cap. 44. Ver. 28. The Children of Dishan are these Vz c. From this Man the whole Country or a great part of it is called by the Name of Vz Lament IV. 21. which was in Arabia Petraea in the Borders of the Land of Canaan Ver. 30. These are the Dukes that came of Hori This Hori was the Ancestor of Seir by whom this Country was first planted Among their Dukes Or according to their Families or Principalities Ver. 31. And these are the Kings that reigned in the Land of Edom. It appears by this that after several Dukes as we translate it had ruled the Country the Edomites changed their Government into a Monarchy And here follows a Catalogue of their Kings For I can find no ground for the Opinion of the Hebrew Doctors that Alluph a Duke differed in nothing from Melech a King but that the latter was crowned the former not crowned Before there reigned any King over the Children of Israel Moses having a little before this XXXV 11. mentioned the Promise of God to Jacob That Kings should come out of his Loins observes it as a thing remarkable being a great exercise of their Faith that Esau's Posterity should have so many Kings And there was as yet no King in Israel when he wrote this Book nor as it is commonly interpreted a long time after This Moses might well write without a Spirit of Prophecy nor is there any reason to say this Passage was inserted by some Body else after the death of Moses We might rather affirm if it were needful that Moses his meaning is All these were Kings in Edom before his own time Who was the first King in Israel Deut. XXXIII 5. For he truly exercised Royal Authority over them as Mr. Selden observes L. II. de Synedr cap. 1 2. Ver. 32. The name of his City was Dinhabah Of which he was Governor perhaps before he was made King and wherein he reigned Ver. 33. Of Bozrah Which was afterward the principal City of the whole Country as we read in the Prophet Isaiah XXXIV 6. and Jeremiah XLIX 3. and Amos I. 12. It seems by
was deprived of his Government and banished to Vienne in France And then Judaea was reduced into the Form of a Province and ruled by Roman Governors After which there was no King nor Ethnarch of Judaea So that after this time we may safely conclude the Jews lost even their Mechokkim or Governors as they had long ago lost the Scepter And had no Power remaining among them of administring the Affairs of their Commonwealth Now at this time our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the true Shiloh came Who was the Founder of a new and heavenly Kingdom And nothing more was left to be done for the fulfilling of this Prophecy but after his Crucifying to destroy Jerusalem and the Temple and therewith the whole Form of their Government both Civil and Sacred Then all Power was intirely taken from Judah when Christ had erected his Throne in the Heavens and brought many People in several Parts of the Earth unto his Obedience and made them Members of his Celestial Kingdom Till which time this Prophecy was not compleatly fulfilled Which may be the reason possibly that it is not alledged by Christ and his Apostles because the Jews might have said We have still a Government among us Which could not be pretended after the destruction by Titus Which is now above Sixteen hundred Years ago And there is not the least sign of their restitution Which so perplexed R. Samuel Maroccanus that it made him write thus to a Friend of his above Six hundred Years since I would fain learn from thee out of the Testimonies of the Law and the Prophets and other Scriptures why the Jews are thus smitten in this Captivity wherein we are Which may be properly called the PERPETVAL ANGER OF GOD because it hath no end For it is now above a Thousand Years since we were carried captive by TITUS and yet our Fathers who worshipped Idols kill'd the Prophets and cast the Law behind their Back were only punished with a Seventy Years Captivity and then brought home again But now there is no end of our Calamities nor do the Prophets promise any If this Argument was hard to be answered then in his Days it is much harder now in ours Who still see them pursued by God's Vengeance which can be for nothing else but rejecting and crucifying the Messiah the Saviour of the World Ver. 11. Binding his Foal unto the Vine c. This Verse sets forth the great Fertility of Judah's Country abounding with Vineyards and Pastures by two Hyperbolical Expressions First That Vines should be as common there as Thorn-Hedges in other places so that they might tie Asses with their Colts to them Or as some will have it lade an Ass with the Fruit of one Vine Secondly That Wine should be as common as Water so that they should have enough not only to drink but to wash their Clothes in it Which doth not imply that they made it serve for that use but only denotes its plenty Which was so very great that in treading the Grapes and pressing out the Juice their Garments were all sprinkled with Wine which one might wring out of them Choice Vine The Vine of Sorek which we here translate choice and in Jerem. II. 21. noble Vine was the most excellent in all that Country For Sorek was a place not above half a Mile from the Valley of Eschol from whence the Spies brought the large Bunches as a Sample of the Fruitfulness of the Country See Bochart P. I. Hierozoic Lib. III. cap. 13. Ver. 12. His Eyes shall be red with Wine c. This Verse sets forth the Healthfulness and Vigour of the Inhabitants of that fertile Country But Dr. Castell thinks this not to be a good Translation because it can be said of none but a Drunkard that his Eyes are red with Wine And therefore it ought to be translated his Eyes or his Countenance for so Eyes sometimes signifies shall be brighter and more shining than Wine So the word we render red signifies in the Arabick Tongue as he shows in his Oratio in Schol. Theolog. p. 31. and in his Lexicon Yet the same word in the Proverbs XXIII 29. cannot have any other signification than red and the red Colour of the Eyes answers well here to the whiteness of the Teeth which follows and there is no more reason to think he means they should make their Eyes red with drinking Wine than that they should wash their Clothes in it But it may only express the great abundance of Wine to serve not only their necessity but excess And his Teeth white with Milk Milk doth not make the Teeth white but gives such an excellent Nourishment that they who live upon it are healthy and strong And their Teeth not so apt to rot as theirs who feed upon greater Dainties So the meaning is the rich Pastures in that Country should feed great Flocks and consequently they should have abundance of Milk so good and nourishing that the Teeth of the Country-men who lived upon it should be as white as the Milk they drank Or if the foregoing words be translated His Eyes shall be brighter than Wine these are to be translated His Teeth whiter than Milk Out of these three Verses foregoing Bochartus thinks the whole Story of Silenus was forged by the Poets See his Canaan Lib. I. cap. 18. p. 482. Ver. 13. Zebulon shall dwell at the Haven of the Sea Near the Lake of Tiberias called in Scripture the Sea of Gallilee He shall be an Haven for Ships The Lot that fell to him extended from thence to the Mediterranean Where there were Ports for Ships His Border shall be unto Zidon He doth not mean the City of Zidon for the Tribe of Zebulon did not extend themselves beyond Mount Carmel which is forty Miles at least from thence But the Country of Zidon i. e. Phoenicia as Bochart observes in his Phaleg L. IV. cap. 34. which the Zebulonites touched For as the Phoenicians were called Syrians from Sur i. e. Tyre so they were called Sidonians from Sidon as Hesychius tells us Who interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whence the LXX have Phoenicians for Sidonians Deut. III. 9. and Phoenice for Sidon Isai XXIII 2. It is very much to be admired That Jacob should foretell so many Years before-hand the Situation of his Posterity in the Land of Canaan when their several Portions fell to them by Lot and not by their own choice Josh XIX 10 11. This could not have been but by the Spirit of Prophecy And it is remarkable also that he mentions Zebulon before Issachar who was his elder Brother XXX 11. for no other reason that I can discern but because Zebulon's Lot was to come up before Issachar's in the Division of the Land His being the third and Issachar's the fourth Josh XIX 10 17. By this they were taught that their Habitation in the Land of Canaan was the Gift of God and did not come