The name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be deduced from the Chaldee Radix Touph which signifies to overflow and therefore will be the same as Tipho i. e. one overflown which name well enough fits the men that were drowned in the Lacus Asphaltites 2. This same Typhaeus whether a Man or a Monster was an Enemy both of Gods and Men as the Sodomites and their Neighbours were See Homer's Hymn upon Apollo and Hesiod's Theogonia 3. The beds of Typhaeus are said by Homer Il. 2. to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in Aramaea or Syria for which consult the Interpreters upon Stheph Byzant upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. Lycophron in his Cassandra p. 137. Ed. Steph. places the seat of his Wife in a Lake which seems to have a respect to the Lacus Asphaltites 5. He was slain by Jupiter with a Thunderbolt which Homer in the place above cited and Hesiod in his Theogonia describe after such a manner that they may seem to relate to the Conflagration of Sodom consult the latter from v. 840. to v. 867. 6. In the very place where Typhaeus is said to be overcome and killed by Jupiter Fire and Smoak is reported to break forth which as we have already observed agrees with the the Country about Sodom 'T is true both the Greek and Latin Poets have added several things to this Fable and not knowing where to place the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned by Homer strangely disagree from one another as to that particular especially but agree in those Circumstances we have here taken notice of VIII Since it is most probable that these Cities of the Plain of Jordan were overthrown in the same manner as we have related it However some inquisitive Reader may be still inclined to ask whether we suppose the Ground was burnt and subverted by Miracle or only by the common methods of Nature Seneca was of opinion that the Gods never concerned themselves in any thing of this kind and that the disorders of Heaven nor Earth were occasioned by the anger of the Deities Those things says he are produced by their own Causes neither do they rage because they are commanded so to do but when they are disturbed it proceeds from some failing or irregularity as it happens with human Bodies and then when they chiefly seem to give an injury they receive one But to us who are ignorant of the true Cause every-thing appears frightful and our apprehensions are increased by the rarity of them But to lay aside Rhetorical Figures which only amuse and deceive ignorant People the thing itself if we consider it divested of all Circumstances does not seem to exceed the ordinary power of Nature as we have sufficiently demonstrated from several Instances of Earthquakes In a Soil impregnated with Bitumen which is above may be shaken and swallowed up with a sudden hiatus Thunder-bolts too may fall and set the veins of Sulphur and Bitumen on fire which afterwards breaking out and mingled with the Water may in a low Valley easily cause a Lake full of Asphaltus But if these things were done before the natural Causes were in a disposition to produce this Effect and had not happened at that instant unless it had been for some extraordinary Intervention of God or his Angels it ought to be no less reputed a Miracle than if every particular in the Transaction plainly surpassed the usual order of Nature And that the business happened after this manner the two Angels dispatched by God Almighty upon this important occasion and their Discourses are Arguments sufficiently convincing Nay one of the Angels seems to have intimated this who before the thing happened foretold it to Abraham as we have observed in our Paraphrase of the 18. ch of Genesis and the 19. ver Dissertation X. Concerning the Statue of Salt I. The Original of the Opinion that Lot's Wife was changed into a Pillar of Salt came from the Jews II. This Opinion cannot be made out from the words of Moses III. The absurdity of it IV. The Patrons of it are not to be reli'd on since they can bring no Reasons to support it V. A Solution of the Arguments usually urged in behalf of the common Opinion VI. That Lot's Wife either died of fear or else was suffocated by some pestilential Vapour VII That the Fables of Niobe and Medusa arose from such Expressions as Moses useth in this place which is confirm'd by the Example of the Fable of the Harpies VIII Whether Hoc est corpus meum does not resemble the Mosaical Narration as they have been already compar'd by some Persons I. HAving described the burning of Sodom and the neighbouring Towns more accurately than the common Interpreters are used to do I think it not amiss to examine the celebrated Metamorphosis of Lot's Wife For as we have demonstrated in the foregoing Dissertation that those Cities situated near Jordan were by an unusual divine Power overwhelmed and buried in Ruins so on the other hand we hope we shall be able to convince every unprejudiced Reader in this that some persons out of too fond a regard to Miracles by misunderstanding the words of the Holy Scriptures have improv'd an event which we own to be somewhat uncommon into a mighty Prodigy The Jews who were always a people so sottishly abandon'd to the belief of Miracles that not being content with the Truth they trumpt up a Thousand other Legends absurd of which the Bible makes not the least mention seem to have misled the Christians into this Error and they by following their blind Guides with too implicit a Resignation imagin'd after the Jews that Lot's Wife was turn'd into a Pillar of Salt tho' so wonderful a Change cannot certainly be deduced from the words of Moses Josephus relating this History in the first Book of his Jewish Antiquities ch 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Lot 's Wife in her flight casting her eyes perpetually back upon the City and being too much concern'd about it tho' God had expresly forbid her to do so was turn'd into a Pillar of Salt I have beheld it my self and it continues to this Day Josephus 's Country-men are of the same Opinion and particularly the Author of the Jerusalem Paraphrase where we read that Lot's Wife because she was a Native of Sodom turn'd her head to see what became of her Father's House and was made a Pillar of Salt till the time of the Resurrection The same account of the matter is to be found in Jonathan II. Let us for a while lay aside their Authority of which we shall treat hereafter and examine Moses's words which gave occasion to this Opinion Lot's Wife says he who followed him looked back Vatthebi ntsib melahh and became a Pillar of Salt Now here we find two words of a doubtful Signification which being ill understood were accidentally the causes of this Error 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉
Mediterranean-Sea and the Jordan but by no means brought it thither out of Chaldaea neither can I discover after the severest Examination the least Absurdity in this Opinion for here we have a Chaldean remove himself with his whole Family into another Country and having past the Euphrates and Jordan wanders up and down Canaan for a hundred years enters into Covenant with the old Inhabitants acquires a prodigious Wealth among them marries several Concubines gets Children lives in mighty Credit and Reputation and consequently has frequent Conversations with them Now after all this Can any one think it strange that he learnt a Language which has so great an Affinity with his own Mother-Tongue and that his whole Family conform'd themselves in their Speech to the Natives of the Place Add to this That Isaac passed his whole and Jacob the better part of his Life among them that the Children of them both were brought up in the same Country and had their Wives from thence So that upon a due Survey of the matter it had been a downright Miracle if they had still preserved the Chaldean Tongue so little reason have we to wonder that the Canaanitish Language became familiar to these People And therefore I look upon that Opinion to be ill grounded which supposes that the Israelites spoke a different Language from the People of Canaan 'T is certain that Isaiah plainly calls Hebrew the Language of Canaan Chap. 19.18 In that day says he there shall be five Cities in the Land of Egypt which shall speak the lip of Canaan which is all one as if he had said the Language of Canaan For the word lip both there and in Gen. 11.1 signifies Speech because the Lips are no less serviceable in speaking than the Tongue it self Nor is this Opinion supported by bare Probability or to be called a Conjecture merely deduced from the Name for Bochart in the second Book of his Canaan Chap. 1. has fully demonstrated it to be grounded upon Truth which we shall lay down before the Reader in a few words because in some Particulars we dissent from that admirable Man His first and strongest Argument to prove the Language of the Canaanites to be the same with that of the Hebrews is brought from the Names of Men and Places which are purely Hebrew N. Fuller in the fourth Book of his Miscellanies Chap. 4. maintains the contrary Opinion Though I grant says he all those names to be purely Hebrew yet I deny that any of them were Canaanitish names or given by those People I rather believe that the old names that were imposed by the Canaanites the Primitive Inhabitants of that Country were afterwards pronounced and expounded by the Hebrews who succeeded them in that Land after the Hebrew manner Which Hypothesis were it true no Argument could be formed out of the Antediluvian Names to prove the Antiquity of the Hebrew Language and yet Fuller would not willingly grant this nor indeed any of the Patrons of this Opinion But in truth this is no better than a Chimaera to which the Holy Scriptures give not the least Countenance for though we should allow that some of these words were disguised with a Hebrew Sound and Termination yet who can imagine that all of them were served after this manner and that neither Moses nor Joshua should in one single Line inform us that they changed all the names before the Israelites possessed themselves of the Land of Canaan Now besides that this is altogether Incredible and without President there are two things that demonstrate it to be absolutely False One is That Moses and Joshua give us an account of the Alteration made in several Names by which it appears that this was the particular Case of some few Cities and not common to them all Consult Gen. 23.2 as also Numb 32.38 and Joshua 15.13 14. c. 19.47 The other is That not only the names of those Cities in the Possession of the Israelites are of Hebrew Extraction but also of the neighbouring places which they had not subdued as Gaza Asdod Gâ—th Hekron Ascalon which belonged to the Philistines Tyrus Sidon Barepta c. The Second Argument to prove the Canaanean Original of the Hebrew Tongue is deduced from hence That though the Sacred Writers expresly tell us that several of the neighbouring Nations were of a Language different from the Hebrews yet there is not the least thing like this said of the Canaanites We have already taken notice that this was frequently observed of the Chaldeans The People of Egypt are called Lohez Psalm 114.1 that is to say Barbarous besides there was an Interpreter between Joseph who pretended himself to be an Egyptian and his Brethren see Gen. 42.23 likewise Psal 81.6 In the mean time though the Hebrews maintained such frequent Correspondences with the Canaanites and transacted so much Business with them from Abraham down to Joshua yet we find not the least mention of an Interpreter passing between them The Third Argument arises from the very use of the Interpreter whom Joseph employed for if only Jacob's Family spoke Hebrew How was it possible for Joseph to get an Interpreter He could have no other but some Fugitive Servant who would have soon known both Joseph and his Brethren The Fourth is by Bochart derived from the Remainders of the Phoenician Tongue which in the second Book of his Canaan he emply demonstrates to be purely Hebrew We shall add a Fifth which proceeds from the manifest Footsteps of Paganism that are easily to be traced in this Language For since Tongues are Images of the Sentiments of our Mind and are form'd and modell'd according to the Opinion of those People that use them it cannot otherwise happen but that the common Speech of any Country must derive a great Tincture from the received Opinions of the Inhabitants Thus learned Criticks have observed that the Arabians have more than five hundred names for a Lyon more than a thousand for a Sword two hundred at least for a Serpent and fourscore for Honey The reason of it is because the Arabians use frequently to talk of these things since their Country is so pester'd with Lyons and Serpents is inhabited by a Warlike People and abounds in Honey 'T is an easie matter to observe both in the Greek and Latin Tongues though we were destitute of all other Arguments which are indeed innumerable that the Greeks and Latins were of Opinion that the Gods beheld the Actions of Mankind and were Faithful Witnesses of the Truth from those frequent Forms of Swearing which they used so everlastingly in all their Conversations I will not give my self the Trouble to confirm a Truth which is supported by so many Examples not to mention the Custom of all the Modern Languages but come immediately to the Point The Hebrew Tongue which flourished and was for some time cultivated by the Canaanites a People who had strange Notions of the Divinity and were infected with Polytheism retain'd
translated it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He shall observe thy head E. Castell remarks That this Root in the Arabick signifies observare spectare To which the LXX might have an Eye explained several obscure words out of Chaldee or Arabick rather than the Hebrew Books where sometimes they are extant but once or are read in a different Sence But now if we consider the lamentable Condition of the Jewish Republick on every side oppress'd and over-run by the Kings of Syria and Egypt for many years we shall find they had no opportunity to apply themselves to the Study of Grammar And indeed some Learned Men after a careful Examination of the Septuagint Version which was publish'd in those times have long ago concluded that they neither had any certain fixt Grammar or Glossary or Lexicon of the Hebrew Tongue For they frequently violate all the Laws of Grammar and in the translating of unusual words the meaning of which is not to be gather'd from the Context they are so strangely put to it that it plainly appears they were not led by Grammar Rules had no certain Knowledge of the true Signification of words but guess'd and conjectur'd as well as they could and so blunder'd right or wrong through all the difficult places I am not ignorant that Isaac Vossius and some other Persons who never gave themselves the trouble I suppose to compare it with the Hebrew Original endeavour to defend this Translation and say 't is in many places corrupted by the Negligence or Boldness of the Transcribers where there 's an evident Mistake in the Translating a Hebrew Word But those that examine this Version diligently will soon perceive the contrary nor indeed is it credible that it was every where almost corrupted in the obscure places to omit a hundred other things that may be said against so precarious an Hypothesis In those and the following Ages down to the time of the * A. D 494. Masorites though Jews seem wholly to have employed themselves in the Study of Allegories and Rites but not of Philological Learning which was the reason that they look'd upon this Translation which is far from being perfect not only as the most exact thing of that nature in the whole World but as Divinely Inspir'd See the History of Aristeus Philo in his Book de Vitâ Mosis and Josephus Jud. Ant. l. 12. c. 2. No surer an Argument can be given how far the old Hebrew was neglected in those times than their blind Admiration of these Interpreters who to speak impartially are rather to be pardon'd than commended for their Performance In the mean time we do not say this as if we thought that Translation to be of little use On the other hand we always believed it to be extreamly Serviceable provided we help the Unaccuracy and defect of Method in the Interpreters with Grammar Rules and the assistance of correct Lexicons As their Authority ought not to over-weigh Grammar-Reasons that are deduced from the immemorial Custom of any Tongue so where Grammar does not contradict and where the Sence allows it ought to be in great Esteem with us The Opinions of that Age which arose perhaps from some ancient Tradition nay even Conjectures that are supported by the use of the Syro Chaldaïc Language then in its flourishing Condition are by no means to be dis-regarded by such as are well skill'd in the Sacred Philology But as in those things they are much superior to us so we mightily exceed them in Method for since we have most accurate Grammars and follow fixt establish'd Rules we no longer unriddle the Construction of a Sentence by guessing nor are we carried up and down by uncertain Conjectures as we may observe the Ancients were We have likewise several Lexicons compiled from all places of Scriptures compared together by most Learned Men and Concordances wherein are all the words in the Bible and the places where they are to be found most accurately set forth by which Assistances we are now able more certainly to dâ—â—cover the various Signification of words and with more Reason to defend them Nor have we only very large Glossaries of the Hebrew Tongue but likewise of the neighbouring Languages as Chaldee Syriack and Arabick and out of these can we more conveniently compare these Tongues with one another than those that lived in the days of the Seventy Interpreters Of what prodigious Advantage a certain Method made up of immutable Rules is may for instance sake be soon known from the Latin and Greek Tongues In Cicero's time the Greek Tongue flourish'd in Greece and Asia he not only learnt it at Rome but in Greece it self and both writ and spoke Greek not amiss Who would believe now that in any of his Translations out of Greek any Passages could drop from him that are liable to Censure Yet for all this some Learned Men have discovered several Mistakes in him and the reason is because he acquired the Greek Tongue rather by Custom than Rules for which consult H. Stephens's Lexicon Ciceronianum Nay what is more do not we see that Cicero and Varro the most Learned of the Romans have committed such miserable Mistakes even in the Derivations of the Latin Tongue that we are ashamed of them For though the Latin was their Mother-Tongue and they daily took pains to learn Greek yet they were altogether Ignorant of the Etymologick Art and therefore committed unaccountable Errors The case of the LXX Interpreters is the same for being wholly Strangers to our Grammatical and Critical way of Interpretation they often mistake and unexpectedly fall into those Errors which we may easily avoid VIII If what I have advanced concerning Philological Learning being little minded by the Jews under the second Temple be true as it evidently appears by what has been already said and might be made out by many more Arguments we may probably suspect that the Holy Volumes were not always transcribed with that Exactness and Care by the Copyists then as they deserved 'T is certain the LXX Interpreters whoever they were which 't is not our business now to enquire seem to have made use of a very faulty Manuscript and sometimes were not able to guess the ductus literarum as Learned Men have long ago observed I own indeed that all the various Lections which may be collected in their Translation are not owing to a vitious Manuscript and that several of them perhaps ought to be imputed to their Conjectures As (h) In the second Chapter of Genesis v. 2. the Hebrew reads it On the seventh day God ended his Work but the Septuagint On the sixth day And so Gen. 8.4 the Hebrew is The Ark rested on the seventeenth day of the month but the â—XX say The twenty seventh day of the month and below v. 7. in â—he Hebrew 't is the Raven went forth and returned but the LXX insert a Negation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be did not return Gen. 2.2 Chap. 8.4 7.
the Reader as briefly as we can what is meant by the word Interpret for we do not here design to deliver all the Rules of that Art Now since they that speak make use of certain Words or Forms of Speaking in order to be understood by others and to raise the same Motions and Affections of the Mind in their Hearers as they feel themselves those may be said to interpret other Mens words if we take the word in a large Acceptation whoso express them in another Tongue that they who hear the Interpreter speak think altogether the same things in the very same order and manner as the Person that spoke first would have them If all Languages were equally Copious and furnish'd with words of the same Force and Energy we might safely then render Word for Word and Phrase for Phrase and consequently we should only have occasion for a literal simple Translation But since Languages do not answer one another so exactly 't is impossible to make a Verbal Translation if the Narration is somewhat long Many things must of necessity be explain'd in sewer or more words as the occasion demands if the Interpreter has a mind to be understood and to gain that Point in the Minds of his Hearers as he whose Interpreter he is desires he should Nay sometimes though we increase or diminish the number of words yet the same Notion cannot be express'd in two Languages by reason of the Diversity of the Idiom An infinite number of Words and Expressions whether Figurative or proper are so peculiar to their own Tongues that they can by no means be transfused into another without a long and troublesome Circumlocution which cannot be inserted into a Translation From hence 't is easie to conclude That no Translation can be in all Respects compleat that is to say such a Translation that after the perusing of it the Reader shall think the very same things and be affected after the same manner as if he understood the Language out of which the Version was made and was able to draw for himself out of the Original Fountain And as this holds certainly true in all Languages in the World so 't is most sensibly perceiv'd in the Latin Translations of the Hebrew Books by reason of the vast Disagreement between the Hebrew and Latin Tongues as we shall more fully demonstrate below We know indeed that the ancient Jews and Christians who were ignorant of the Hebrew Tongue thought the Greek Version of the Old Testament but especially that of the Pentateuch commonly said to be done by the LXX Interpreters to be the most absolute thing in its kind that ever was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Whether the Chaldeans learn the Greek Tongue or the Greeks the Chaldean Tongue and light upon both Scriptures the Chaldean and that into which it is translated they admire and adore them as Sisters or rather as one and the same both in words and things not content to call them Interpreters but Prophets and Revealers of heavenly things that happily expressed the genuine Thoughts of Moses with a most pure Spirit These are Philo's words in his Book de Vitâ Mosis which we could heartily wish were as true as they are remote from Truth We should then have the best and surest Interpreters of Moses and the exemplar of a perfect Translation which they were very far from obliging the World with But since 't is evident that what Philo pretends was done by the LXX Interpreters is impossible to be performed by reason of the great difference of Languages as it has been already observed we did not therefore attempt to translate the Old Testament because we hoped that those who were only well skill'd in Latin might be able after the reading of our Translation to reach the meaning of the Prophets as well as those that understand Hebrew and hear them speak in their own Native Tongue we thought 't was enough to aspire towards it as far as the most different Idioms of the two Languages would give us leave and since without taking too great a liberty we could not bend the Hebrew Phrase to the Genius of the Latin Tongue we often express'd the Hebraisms Word for Word especially such as the Christian World has been long accustom'd to or whenever we did not certainly understand the meaning of any place Of which more hereafter But because the Hebrew Phrases and manner of Expression being different from all others would give a great deal of Trouble to those that are only acquainted with Latin we have added a plain Paraphrase more suited to the nature of that Tongue by the reading of which if they cannot attain to the very words of Moses yet since we have in the same order express'd that in Latin which Moses did in Hebrew they will in some measure comprehend his Sense and not as I imagine deviate much from the true meaning of the Text. By this means what we were not able to compass by one single Version perhaps we may perform by the help of the Paraphrase But after all we thought we should not fully satisfie the Curiosity if not of the most Learned yet of those who were not altogether Strangers to Hebrew if we did not in our Annotations explain the Hebraisms Opinions Customs Rites the Allusions to them and the nature of places as far as we could arrive to the Knowledge of them and give an account of our whole Translation and Paraphrase Thus in our Paraphrase we have in a few words shewn what our Opinion was and in our Annotations more at large why we were of that Opinion Nevertheless there is something in the Paraphrase which is not always to be found in our Annotations for in the former the Reader will discover the Connexion and Series of the whole Oration which for brevity sake we could not always attend in our Comments Besides we have observ'd both by our own and the Experience of others that especially in difficult Books notwithstanding the Annotations of Learned Men upon every word the Connexion was very often obscure so that though all the words were well enough understood yet the Force and Order of the reasoning did not appear Therefore we thought our selves obliged to obviate this Inconvenience by making a continued Paraphrase after the Example of several judicious * As the Learned Publishers of the Books in usum Delphini have generally done Authors Which Conduct if it does not seem altogether so necessary in Historical Writings as some who have not duly consider'd the Matter may imagine yet the great Usefulness of it will at least appear in the Hagiographi as they are call'd and the Books of the Prophets However I dare without Vanity affirm that several who after they have read the Translation think they understand the Series of the Oration well enough will if they cast their Eyes on our Paraphrase even in the Historical Books confess that they miss'd several things which they fansied
they understood very well But I had rather the Reader should be convinced of this Truth by the perusal of our Work than by our own Boasting In our Annotations we have only endeavoured to open and illustrate that which is called the Grammatical and by the School-men the Literal Sence We have there laid down no Theological or Theoretical no Moral or Practical Conclusions as well because it would have too much swell'd the bulk of the Work as because after the Grammatical Sence is once fully understood 't is the easiest matter in the World to find out the Theoretical or Practical Doctrines especially to those that have read any Systems of Divinity or Morality We have also meddled with no Theological Controversies because it was not our Intention to gratifie this or that Party but what all good Christians ought to agree in the lovers of the Holy Scriptures and of the Truth As for those Persons that take a delight to know these Squabbles which it were better for the Interest of Mankind that they were extinguish'd they may have Books and Comments more than enough written merely to gratifie a Faction and these they may turn over at their leisure Perhaps some People will censure me that I have not handled every thing more like a Divine but let them know whoever they be that I purposely left that Province to be manag'd by their sublimer Wits We might indeed be justly blamed if we omitted any thing we promised to perform but since it was never in our Thoughts as we have solemnly affirm'd to retail Theological Dogma's it would be hard measure to condemn us for what we never promised Nay they have our leave to despise these our Performances in comparison of Theological and abstruser Contemplations We 'll not disown if they please that we did not penetrate into the obscure meaning of the Holy Writers that lurks under the Cortex Grammaticus Let us be thought to understand no more in the Sacred Books of the Hebrews than the Authors were willing the People should understand which Antonius in Cicero speaking of the Graecian Learning frankly owns of himself If we have been able to attain but to this small Pittance every where we shall mightily congratulate our selves and others of vulgar Understanding to whose Apprehension this was suited But as we had often occasion to doubt whether our Conjectures were right and could not make out the meaning clear enough by the help of Grammar and Criticism alone or else several meanings of equal Probability offered themselves The Reader may observe that both in our Paraphrase and Commentary we use a doubtful and no Dogmatical Stile and perhaps he will there discover frequenter Reasons for suspending his Opinion than in most Writings of this nature But since every Man Believes and Doubts for himself I must inform those Learned Gentlemen that have a greater insight in these Matters that I writ for my self and such as stand upon the same level and may they hug themselves with the sweet Contemplation that they know more than their Neighbours Least we should betray any one into Mistakes we made a scruple to assert some things positively when neither by the assistance of others nor by our own Endeavours we were able to fix any certain Judgment However it does not follow that People do not invent because they do not affirm As we vastly disagree from the Opinion of those Persons who believe that nothing can be made out in Scripture with the help of Grammar alone unless Tradition comes in for a share so we do not believe that it can explain and clear every thing We are sure we have found it so Now where the matter was not evident beyond all possibility of Dispute we have taken care to restrain all rash Determinations which would be an unpardonable Imposition on the World if we should affirm things false or things unknown besides that nothing can be more Scandalous than to let our Approbation run before our Knowledge III. So much we thought our selves oblig'd to say concerning our Manner of Interpreting in general now we shall proceed to lay before our Reader the Difficulties that gave us no little Pain when we first began to set Pen to Paper If we rendred word for word it was apparent that the Version would become unserviceable to those that were unacquainted with Hebrew for whose use it was principally intended For it had been utterly impossible for them to understand it unless they perpetually consulted the Comments where nevertheless many Grammatical Criticisms of small importance are omitted And frequently too those that are unskillful in Hebraisms would have wrested them in a wrong Sence And now if to avoid these Inconveniencies we had follow'd a different Conduct allowing our selves too great a Latitude it was to be fear'd lest in obscure places we might impose our own Conjectures upon the Reader instead of the meaning of the Sacred Writers I know 't will be replied to all this That a middle way is then to be observ'd whereby the Translation shall neither be made so servile and close as to become obscure and mis-lead those that are only skill'd in Latin nor too lax or redundant so as to shew the Interpreter rather than the Writer himself But so severe an Undertaking is much harder to be well perform'd than 't is easie to talk of it as we shall shew by a few Examples 'T is a frequent Hebraism And he lift up his Eyes and saw Et sustulit oculos vidit See Gen. 13.10 18.2 22.4 13. 24.62 31.10 12. 37.25 39.7 43.28 This Phrase with the Hebrews as it appears by the above-mentioned places signifies to look round about one to see things at hand and remote and the like We frequently meet with it in the other Books of the Old Testament in the same Sence so that there is no room left to doubt of its Signification Now the Latins have the same Phrase but then 't is in a different meaning Those that are afraid and ashamed we use to say dare not oculos attollere and on the other hand those People tollunt oculos that are possess'd with no Apprehensions as it were easie to prove by several Instances Therefore this Hebraism we saw was not to be verbally translated There is a like Expression Chap. 29.1 Et sustulit Jacobus pedes And Jacob lift up his feet and went into the Eastern Country Now who could make any thing of tollere pedes The Latins indeed say Efferre inferre ferre pedem but in another Sense The Reader must be forc'd to own that these Hebraisms were so to be rendred in the Translation as to have Latin Phrases substituted in their room But there are other Hebraisms too no less frequent that afford us a juster occasion of doubting The Hebrews often use to subjoyn an Infinitive to any other Mood or Tense of the same Verb as dying thou shalt die seeing I saw and innumerable
others that occurr in all the Hebrew Writers If you translate it verbatim into Latin a Reader that only understands that Language will ask you what 's the meaning of that Phrase or whether 't is a peculiar Emphasis of the Hebrew Tongue or not If you neglect the Hebraism and omit the Infinitive those that have taken some pains about that Language will complain that here 's a notable Emphasis lost Therefore let a Man manage himself as carefully as he can yet he will lie under a necessity of displeasing one or other I know indeed that some of the later Interpreters instead of the Infinitive which the Latin will not bear use some Adverb or other to express the Emphasis which they imagine to lie conceal'd under this Phrase as Gen. 2.17 Instead of moriendo morieris they have utique morieris and Exod. 3.7 where we find videndo vidi they turn it probè vidi But though we should grant there is some mighty force in this Hebrew Phrase if it can at any time be express'd as in the latter Example I would desire to know what is the meaning of utique morieris Sometimes too they use the trusty Adverb omninò as Exod. 21.20 Omninò vindicator 22. Omninò mulctator 28. Omninò lapidator c. Which Phrases after all are not perspicuous to Latin Ears Now for our part we thought it much better to leave the Infinitive wholly out either because it cannot be express'd in Latin or because 't is not Emphatical but only an usual Form in the Hebrew Law like which there are abundance in the Roman Law that are altogether redundant Consult the above-cited Chapter of Exodus and our (a) Thou shalt surely die as we render it but in the Original 't is dying thou shalt die Upon this place our Author observes that the Hebrews frequently joyn a Verb with the Infinitive or with a Verbal but especially in their Laws rather to conform with the Custom of their Language than to denote any Emphasis Abimelech threatens Gen. 26.11 that whoever touches Isaac or his Wife shall die the death So likewise among the Greeks but chiefly the atticks we see that Nouns of the same Signification are frequently joyn'd to Verbs as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And sometimes among the Latins we meet with vitam vivere and several Expressions of the like nature where no Grammarian ever dreamt that a particular stress is to be laid upon the words but continues our Author In sacris haud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acutiores quam opus est sumus Annotations on Genesis 2.17 Sometimes we meet with words that have none of the same Efficacy in other Languages to match them such as Tholedoth Generation for amongst the Latins Generatio scarce signifies any thing else but the Action of getting or the manner how Animals are generated and sometimes perhaps the same as Aetas or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But with the Jews it does not only signifie this but denotes Original Ancestors and Posterity If you are minded to gratifie a Latin Reader and tell him what Generation signifies amongst the Hebrews you must use a long-winded Periphrasis which a simple Translation will never indure We frequently meet with the word Phakad in the Holy Scriptures which uses to be translated visitare to visit and yet that is not the meaning of it as we have (b) The Hebrew word properly signifies curam gerere to take care of and is taken in a two-fold Sence for sometimes it signifies the care of a Friend and sometimes that of a Revenger He that turned the Septuagint Version into Latin before St. Jerom's time has translated several places of it barbarously and unskillfully which St. Jerom by reason it was received in the Latin Churches did not think fit to change Hence it comes to pass that abundance of barbarous or at least improper words have crept into our Lexicons and Modern Versions observed upon Genesis 21.1 The Greeks turn it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Nor does this word signifie different things in respect of the various Conjugations but even in the Conjugation Kal it sometimes signifies a Kindness and sometimes a Punishment A Kindness in the above-mention'd place of Genesis and a Punishment in Exod. 20.5 Nor does any other Language as I know of afford us a word resembling this in signification which may be taken both ways But still it is to be translated and 't is incredible what trouble these and such other words give the Interpreter We have translated it Gen. 21.1 Curam gerere not that it pleased us but beccause we could think of nothing better If we had turned it The Lord as he said visited Sarah Jehovah quemadmodum dixerat Saram visitavit a Latin Reader would have understood nothing else by it but that an Angel visited Sarah in the name of God as the year before Moses tells us three Angels had done the like Chap. 18. Since these and innumerable Idioms of the like nature are every where to be found in the Sacred Volumes an Interpreter must take extraordinary Pains to discharge his Duty Faithfully and Modestly unless he would have his Fidelity call'd in question and his Boldness censur'd We own indeed 't is not so great a Fatigue to translate now after so many great Men whose Translations we have as the first Interpreters to their Cost found it 'T is undoubtedly true that both the Ancient and Modern Translations are mighty helps to us Far be it from us who have found by Experience how great a Task they sustained to detract from the Praises of these deserving Men or to deny the great Service they have done the World by their endeavours to illustrate the Scriptures Nay we are sensible that if they had not carried the Torch before us we had not been able to reach so far as even those that have perform'd the worst in this kind have done But if we may be allowed to speak the truth freely the better part of the Ancients either slavishly follow'd the Track or else digressed too far from it and translated the Hebraisms either with too servile a Superstition or too bold a Freedom nor was it a much less trouble to chuse the best out of their several Versions than to see whether we could not find out a better of our own Generally speaking It was much easier to find what to censure than what to follow To prevent being impos'd upon by the Authority of others every thing was to be carefully weigh'd after the same manner as if we had been the first that undertook such a Work otherwise we had relied on the Credit of other People and neither satisfied the World nor our selves Now what expence of Time and Pains it requires to perform all this only those are able to judge who have attempted something of the like nature for others can never imagine it IV. Nevertheless so many Hardships and Difficulties were to be overcome to attain to a
perfect Translation such as we had conceived an Idea of in our Mind but if we could not reach that heighth we must be content to come as near it as possibly we could Therefore we proposed to our selves constantly to follow a middle way that is neither to render those places that were obvious enough in the Original obscure with the Hebraisms nor out of too nice an Affection of writing Latin to indulge our selves in too bold a Version But this you 'll say a thousand People have threatned to do many years before you were born and yet we do not rest satisfied with their Performances Do you think then that you shall be able to answer our Expectations No I am not so blinded with Self-love as to imagine any such thing but since the Condition of Humane Affairs is such that nothing is perfect in all Respects and nothing pleases all alike 't is sufficient if I do not incurr the Displeasure of all and if my Attempt does not lagg behind the Endeavours of others Cicero formerly translated the noblest Orations of two of the most Eloquent Men that Athens ever bred Aeschines and Demosthenes one against another neither did he literally translate them like an Interpreter as he tells us himself for the Translations are not extant but like an Orator giving them all the Spirit and Life and beautiful turns of the Latin Tongue As this was impracticable in a literal Version he had a greater Respect to the Sence than the Expressions for he did not think himself obliged to tell over all his Authors words to the Reader but to give him them in weight Now since this was not to be done in too strict a Translation of the Holy Books we endeavoured to reach it in a looser Paraphrase that so those Persons that are not delighted with the Barbarousness of a Translation or do not understand Hebraisms may have somewhat to read and understand But perhaps we have departed farther from our Original than Cicero did from his because the Hebrew Language differs more from the Latin than the Athenian way of Writing did from the Roman 'T is true in our Version we have followed the Hebrew closer than the Purity of the Latin will allow us but since it could not be avoided we hope we shall make our Reader some amends by our Paraphrase Therefore though 't is the confess'd Genius of the Latin Tongue to love Perspicuity more than the Hebrew does nay on the contrary endeavours to avoid all Obscurity as much as it can we acknowledge our Translation to be somewhat Obscure but as we are used to commend Pictures not for shewing us a handsom Face but for representing Nature to the Life so a Translation where the Language of the Original is clear ought to be clear and where it is obscure ought to be obscure Now we mean here by obscure not those things that are obscure to the ignorant in Hebrew for then most of the Scripture Expressions would be obscure but those that are not sufficiently understood even by such as are tolerably vers'd in that Language On the other hand by the word clear we do not only mean those things which are obvious to all Understandings not excluding those of the duller sort but which give no manner of Difficulty to the Skillful in that Language or may be so expounded as to leave no Doubt at all in the Minds of the Learned V. Now that we might be able to observe this Method through the whole Work we laid it down for an unalterable Law in translating the Hebraisms which so often occur 1. That all the clear Hebraisms which would bear a Translation should be translated 2. If any of them could not well be rendred into Latin yet if our Ears were accustom'd to them they should be literally translated 3. That all obscure Hebraisms should be retained Which it will not be amiss to illustrate by a few Examples Nothing is more common in Scripture than Speeches and Dialogisms that are usher'd in by the Verb Vaijomer dixit or the Gerund Lemor dicendo Now 't is evident that the former may be fully and pertinently express'd by the Latin word inquit the latter by his verbis and yet the Interpreters have generally forborn to use them as if this forsooth had been too great a Liberty to take Now this runs through all the Bible so that you may find an infinite number of Sentences with these words dixit and he said So in Genesis 3.1 And he said to the Woman yea hath c. 2 And the Woman said unto the Serpent we may eat c. 4. And the Serpent said unto the Woman c. 9. And he said unto him where art thou 10. And he said I heard thy Voice c. 11. And he said who told thee c. 12. And the Man said the Woman c. 13. And the Lord God said unto the Woman c. 14. And the Lord God said unto the Serpent c. 16. To the Woman he said c. 17. And unto Adam he said But why we should servilely be confin'd to the order of the Hebrew words as if there was something extraordinary in them we saw no reason and the comparing of our Version with the rest will shew which of us has express'd himself most agreeably to the Genius of the Latin Tongue So Chap. 8.15 And God spake unto Noah saying Et loquutus esi Jehova ad Noach dicendo or dicens is indeed exactly conformable to the Hebrew words but does not express the meaning any better than Alloquutus est Noachum Deus his verbis 'T is certain that many of the Interpreters by their obscure Diligence have made their Translations so insupportable that they are not to be read without Contempt But let not the Reader imagine that this is occasion'd by the over great care they took to render even the least Particles of Scripture as far as 't was possible for if this Scruple had possess'd them they had never translated the obscure places with so much boldness as if it were not an invidious labour we could easily shew 'T is a common Hebraism to call ones name vocare nomen alicujus instead of nomen imponere To give one the name of As in Chap. 5.29 and 't is often in the Book of Genesis alone And she called his name Noah Et vocavit nomen ejus Noach that is Ei Noacho nomen indidit Noachum cum nomine appellavit There 's not the least reason in the World to doubt but 't is so and yet after the vulgar Interpreter's Example several since have translated it Vocavit nomen ejus Noah which is obscure and barbarous when the Hebrew Phrase is plain enough We frequently meet in the beginning of a Narration Et fuit And it came to pass in the Hebrew As Chap. 6.1 Et fuit cum caepit homo multiplicari And it came to pass when Men began to multiply c. which is the same in
By what means says Isaac Vossius p. 398. could that Animal for instance which from the slowness of its Motion is called the Lazy arrive to Noah's Ark and travel so many Miles which after its own natural Pace it could not perform in the space of Twenty thousand years Let the Patrons of an Universal Deluge likewise inform us after what manner Id. p. 186. these Animals leaving Noah's Ark and the ancient World found their way into America and Lands that are disjoyned by a vast Ocean Another Absurdity too would follow which is this that such innumerable sorts of Creatures which were unknown to our World both formerly and now should pass through such mighty Tracts of Ground and not leave any remainders of their several Kinds in their former Habitations Sixthly The very building of the Ark presents us with no less Difficulties if it were true what the generality of Mankind believes viz. That it was a common Receptacle of all Beasts and that we cannot name one Animal whose Posterity did not come out of this Mansion If we only compute those Creatures which are frequently found in the old World yet the room which the Scriptures allow for this Ark could not contain so many different Species and the Food that was necessary to maintain them so long But if we take in the Beasts of the New World and the Southern Hemisphere there will not be room enough for the Animals themselves much less for the vast Provisions to keep them alive there Besides a Man cannot easily comprehend how these Animals after what manner soever they were distributed into their Cells and their several Apartments kept clean could live so long in this close Confinement The Question too may be put whether they generated in the Ark which if any one denies 't is very strange that these Brutes which if you except a few of them are hot for Copulation once a year at least should abstain from it and if 't is affirm'd then as their Off-spring increased there must be of course a greater Consumption of their Provisions Several Persons here have recourse to Miracles which as they might happen so we need not suppose them without urgent necessity But what necessity is there that Countries destitute of Men and the Animals of those Countries should be overflown Seventhly To lessen this Difficulty perhaps it may be objected That no more Creatures were created in every Species than in that of Man But the above-mention'd Learned Man thus confutes them God says he from the Creation fill'd the whole World according to the respective Faculty of every Country and Sea with all sorts of Beasts Fishes and Trees But Man alone is said to be created by himself Now it would be monstrously absurd to imagine That only two Animals of every Species and that only in one place were formed by God Almighty For if we are of that Opinion what will become of those Plants and Animals which only breed in peculiar Continents and which for the above-mention'd reason could not be transferr'd and propagated from our World to theirs IV. These are the Arguments which have been urged to prove That only the inhabited part of the Earth and its Animals suffer'd in the Deluge But because the Maintainers of the contrary Opinion object That when God speaks all Humane Reasoning ought to cease True it is say the Patrons of a Particular Flood and so it ought if the Divine Words would only admit of an Interpretation And thus the most Reverend Bishop of Worcester Dr. Stillingfleet in the third Book and fourth Chapter of his Origines Sacrae where he treats of this Subject with that Learning and Judgment which is so peculiar to him owns that it cannot be proved by any necessary Arguments drawn from the Scriptures that the whole Superficies of the Earth was overflow'd We are at leisure now to examine the Answers they bring to the above-cited Reasons First Though All Creatures are said to be admitted into the Ark yet they observe that the word All is of doubtful Signification and is very seldom taken absolutely but in most places is restrained to the Subject then in hand Even in the Writings of Moses himself where he tell us That a Famine prevail'd in All the Earth our Divines own that 't is to be understood only of a particular part of the World Thus Vossius nay other Writers when they speak of a considerable number of Animals express themselves after the same manner Livy speaking of the Circensian Spectacles as they were exhibited in his Age has the following words Lib. 44. c. 9. It was the Fashion then even before our Modern Vanity was introduced of filling the Circus with the Beasts of ALL NATIONS to divert the People with several sorts of Spectacles Here a few Nations that were either Neighbours or Subjects of the Roman People are called Omnes Gentes In like manner several Birds and Beasts in the Prophet Ezekiel Ch. 31.6 where the King of Egypt is described under the Representation of a Tree are called All. In the Leaves of it All the Birds of the Air built their Nests under its Boughs All the Beasts of the Field did Copulate and under its Shade did dwell All Nations See Daniel 4.18 so likewise Hosea 4.3 where the great Devastation of Judaea is described Therefore says the Prophet the Earth shall Mourn and All dwelling therein among the Beasts of the Field and the Birds of the Air they shall fall Sick yea the Fishes of the Sea shall be destroy'd Therefore All Animals Clean and Unclean that were let into the Ark are to be understood only of those which that Country produc'd where the first Seat of Mankind was viz. That Fruitful Territory about the Tigris and Euphrates And perhaps the All here does not comprehend those of All Kinds but only All those which are useful to Man Of which Nature are the Cattel they feed upon as Oxen Sheep c. Horses Asses Camels which were there imploy'd in carrying of Burdens but therefore call'd Vnclean because they were not used for Food Of Birds there might be Cocks Geese Ducks Pigeons Ravens c. Nor is it strange that Noah was commanded to preserve these Animals which could not be had out of the neighbouring Countries nor tamed without a long and tedious Trouble As for what relates to Noah the Reasons why he was not ordered to fly to the adjoyning Country where the Deluge did not reach were because other People should not follow him thither Besides it was convenient that the Ark wherein he was to be preserved from the Deluge should be built before those very Persons to whom he foretold it that so they might be convinc'd he spoke to them in earnest God Almighty as Vossius conjectures thought that his Justice was not to be exerted but in a convenient place Now what more convenient place can be imagin'd than this where the Guilty were to be punish'd in Noah's sight and he that was
and Place so that eating of Sheep was held unlawful in the Tanitic Kingdom in Joseph's time and that as the Shepherds did either really feed upon them or at least were suspected to do so the rest of the Aegyptians shun'd their Company Thus they thought they contracted an Impurity if they kissed a Grecian because the latter made no difficulty to eat Cow's Flesh which Animal was mightily ador'd in Aegypt For this reason they cou'd not be brought to use so much as a Knife or a Kettle if it came out of Greece out of a fear that the Flesh of a Cow might have been cut by the former or boiled in the latter Though we are told by Herodotus that the Mendesians used to sacrifice and consequently to eat Sheep yet at the same time he informs us that the Thebans who had a much greater Authority in the Country abstained from it and Diodorus lib. 1. p. 99. reckons Sheep among those Creatures from which the Aegyptians abstained Besides those private Reasons which the Priests assign'd for this Abstinence he says the following ones were used to be given viz. that Sheep brought forth Young twice a year that they cloathed Mankind with their Wool and nourished them with Milk and Cheese And therefore since several of the Aegyptians either for these or some other Reasons abstained from Sheeps Flesh what wonder is it if they expressed an utter Aversion to those Men whom they knew or else suspected to feed upon it if they shun'd their Conversion and obliged to live by themselves in a particular Tract of their Country Indeed some Learned Men doubt whether we can discover any certain Tokens of Idolatry in Aegypt so early as the days of Joseph but what they pretend they can no where find this Moses expresly teaches us Exod. 8.26 and the Israelites became infected with Idolatry in Aegypt as Ezekiel lays it to their charge ch 20. v. 7 8. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren in the land of Rameses ch 46.11 Here cannot be signified that City which is said Ex. 1.11 to be built long after the Death of Joseph by the Israelites nor indeed had these People who lived under Tents and removed from one Place to another any occasion for a City at first Therefore others understand it to be part of the Country of Goshen The Conjecture of the learned Sir John Marsham seems to be the best grounded who supposes it to be the Name of a King and used in the Genitive Case For Diodorus tells us that the third part of all Egypt belonged to the King and therefore 't is all one as if Moses had said that part of the Lands belonging to the Crown was granted to Jacob and his Family The abovementioned ingenious Author has proved out of Syncellus that Ramesses Tubaetes reign'd at that time in Egypt upon Saecul VII Dissertation XIII Concerning the Passage of the Israelites thro' the Red Sea I. The Occasion of this Dissertation II. The Division thereof III. An Explication of the Words of Moses and an Enquiry into the Time when the Wind which divided the Sea began to blow that the Israelites might go over the Sea in a short time IV. That the Wind encreased the Reflux of the Sea towards the Ocean and divided not the Waters so as to heap them up on both sides as 't is commonly believed How easily this could be done V. That the Wind which drove the Waters towards the Ocean was a North-Wind VI. That Josephus understood it so when he compared the Passage of the Israelites with Alexander's Passage through the shores of the Sea of Pamphylia to which he might have added a noble Exploit of P. Scipio VII This Opinion is confirm'd by the Circumstances of the Death of the Egyptians VIII The Memory of that Passage preserved among the Itchthyophagi A Tale out of Paulus Orosius IX That the Passage of the Israelites was a true Miracle X. The Conclusion I. MEN are so fond of Prodigies as to believe often without any Reason that God alter'd the ordinary Course of Nature of which I have given a pregnant Instance in my Dissertation concerning the Statue of Salt Tho' such an Opinion ought not to be approv'd because it fills the Minds of Men with a superstitious Credulity exposes the Sacred History to the Contempt and Laughter of Prophane Men and makes them disbelieve true Miracles and Prodigies yet we ought to bear with those who entertain it because it they add something to the Scripture they take nothing from it and because their Opinion arises from a Mind inclin'd to ascribe whatever is Great and Wonderful to the Divine Power But those who put a false Interpretation upon true and manifest Miracles and dare ascribe every thing to the ordinary Course of Nature can't be endured for they came by this Opinion out of Obstinacy and Pride which Vices allow them not to admire any thing or believe any that 's unusual and extraordinary It may be said further that because they dare not openly deny some Facts grounded upon very good Reasons and undeniable Testimonies they endeavour to undermine the belief of them whilst they can hardly confess that any thing happens above the ordinary Course of Nature Omitting for the present what may be said concerning Prodigies and Miracles in general I shall endeavour to vindicate one of them from the Cavils of some Men by giving a clear Explication of it I mean the Passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea upon the dry Ground as Moses relates it Exod. 14. Those who affirm that all this happened according to the ordinary Course of Nature say that Moses who knew that Country well observed the time of the Tide and that the Sea retiring back as it is wont to do he might easily go from one Shoar to another upon the dry ground and that being a Cunning Man he vented among the ignorant Multitude as a Prodigy what happened according to the ordinary Laws of Nature Were it not so say they the Egyptians had not gone boldly into the Sea as as well as the Israelites and they had not been so bold as to follow them if they had seen the Sea divided by a Miracle lest he who had divided the Waters of the Sea only for the sake of the Israelites should bring them back into their Channel to destroy the Egyptians They add That perhaps the Wind favoured by chance the Design of Moses and wonderfully encreased the Reflux of the Sea as the Writer of that History intimates when he observes that The Lord caused the Sea to go back by a strong Wind. II. 'T is not my business at present to vindicate the veracity of Moses it will be sufficient to shew that their Assertion is contrary to his Words for these Men are so confident of their Ability as to think that they can maintain their Opinion by the very words of the Scripture Wherefore I shall first explain the words of Moses and