Volume I, pages 321–340 of the 1732 edition, from BOO to CAI: everything printed on these pages, in order.
Continued from Book
thing, and Gaffarel1 adds to their opinion the Authority of many celebrated Rabbins, such as Maimonides, Nachman, Aben-ezra, Kimchi, Abrabanel. Among the Antients Origen2 has advanc’d, that what is to come may be written in Heaven, which is as it were a great prophetick Volume; for this reason, adds he, Jacob said to his Sons, Read in the leaves of Heaven what is to befall you and your Children. He says further, that the Book is with difficulty enough legible to Men, but that Angels have the advantage of knowing perfectly this Writing.
Books Sacred, or Canonical, are those printed in our Bibles. See Bible and Canon, and enquire under the names of the several Books and Sacred Writers, for a critical account and Judgment of their Books.
Books Apocryphal. See above Apocryphal.
BOOTY, Spoil. Moses, or the Lord Numb. xxxi. 27.rather, requires in the Law, that the Booty taken from the Enemy, should be divided equally betweeen those who were in the battle, and the rest of the people. That is to say, that the whole Booty should be divided into two parts, the first whereof was for those who had been in the action, the other for the People, who continued in the Camp. Thus suppose the Army which fought consisted only of twenty thousand Men, and they who remained in the Camp, were forty thousand, the former had one whole Moiety of the Spoil, tho’ fewer considerably in number Moses adds, Ye shall likewise separate the Lord’s share, which ye shall take out of the whole Booty belonging to the men of war; and of every five hundred men, oxen, asses, or sheep, ye shall take one, and give it to the High-priest, because these are the Lord’s first-fruits. As to the other moiety which shall belong to the children of Israel, who did not fight, out of every fifty men, oxen, asses, or sheep, or other animals whatsoever ye shall take one, ye shall give unto the Levites, who have the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord. So that Eleazar’s and the Priests share was much larger in proportion than that of the twelve thousand Soldiers who had been in action, and than that of the Levites. And what was practised upon this occasion was a Law for ever after. An Example of this may be seen in what happened under David, after the defeat of the 1 Sam. xxx.24,25.Amalekites, who had plundred Ziklag.
The Rabbins3 pretend, that under the Kings of Israel, another Rule was followed in the distribution of the Spoil. First, Every thing was given to the King, which belonged to the conquered King; his Tent, his Slaves, his Cattel, his Spoils, his Treasure. After this the rest of the Booty was divided into two equal parts, whereof the King had one moiety, and the Soldiers who were concerned in the Engagement the other. This last part was distributed equally between the Soldiers, who were in the action, and those who continued behind to guard the Camp. They assert, that these Rules had been in force ever since the time of Abraham: It is difficult indeed to prove it; but we know that Abraham Gen. xiv. 20.offered to the Lord the tenth of what he had taken from the five Kings, and made a present of it to Melchizedeck.
Almost the same usages with those here taken notice of by us, were observed among prophane Nations. Among the antient Greeks the Spoil was all placed in common, after which the King or General divided it equally among them4. They presented also to the Gods their share of the Spoils won from the Enemy: Numa ordained5, that the first part of them should be offered to Jupiter Feretrius, the second to Mars, the third to Quirinus. Sometimes that part of the Booty which was intended for the Gods, was burnt in honour of them; and at other times it was lodged in their Temples. In the Alcoran, under the Title of Anfal, it is mentioned, that four parts in five of what was taken from the enemy should be the Soldiers share, and the fifth should belong to God, the Prophet Mahomet and his Relations, to Orphans, the Poor and Pilgrims. Several Mahometan Interpreters maintain, that the giving any part of the Spoil to God, is mentioned only out of ceremony and respect; but others on the contrary assert, that this is what they are obliged to, and that this Portion ought to be employed in the Repairs and Ornament of the Temple of Mecca, and of other Mosques. As to the share belonging to the Prophet and his Relations, some say, that it is sunk by his Death and theirs, and that therefore the fifth part of the Spoil belongs intirely to Orphans, to Pilgrims and the Poor. Others are of Opinion, that the Prophet’s Portion ought to be employed in the general affairs of Mussulmen, or given to the head of the Mosque upon the Spot, or in the places where there was most need of it. This is of very little concern to us; but it is visible, that the Impostor borrowed this from the Laws of Moses.
BOOZ, the Son of Salmon and Rahab. Rahab, we know was a Canaanite of Jericho,
richo, Salmon, who was of the Tribe of Judah, married her, and had Booz by her, one of our Saviour’s Ancestors in the flesh. Some say there were three of this name6, the Son, Grandson, and Great-Grandson of Salmon; the last Booz was Ruth’s Husband and the Father of Obed. They pretend that the Scripture can no other way be made reconcilable with itself, since it reckons three hundred and sixty six Years between Salmon’s marriage, and the birth of David, and owns there were but three persons between Salmon and David, viz. Booz, Obed and Jesse. But altho’ it be difficult to fill such a space as that of three hundred and sixty six Years with four persons from Father to Son succeeding one another, and it is uncommon to see four persons in the same Family successively living very long, and having Children in a far advanced age, yet there is nothing absolutely impossible in the thing, particularly at this time, wherein we find that there were persons who had lived above an hundred Years. Salmon at the age of an hundred and twenty might beget Booz, about sixty six Years after the Israelites had entred into the Land of Promise. Booz at that age, suppose of an hundred, might beget Obed, who at something more or less than this age might have Jesse; and lastly, Jesse, when an hundred Years old, might possibly have David: This indeed is all but supposition. However it is sufficient, that there is no contradiction or impossibility, to make it necessary for us to reject this opinion of there being three persons of this name, instead of that one Booz only, whom the Scripture speaks of.
Some Rabbins7 will have it, that Ibzan, who was Judge of Israel, and is mentioned Judg. xii. 8. is the same as Booz. The foundation of this opinion is no more than this, that Ibzan was of Bethlehem, and that there is some relation between this name and that of Booz. But Ibzan having governed Israel from the Year of the World 2823 to 2830. he cannot be the same as Booz, who could not be born later than in the Year of the World 2620. his Father Salmon having married Ruth in 2553. Now supposing him to be born in 2620. he must have been two hundred and ten Years old in 2830. when he died, which does not seem to be at all credible.
Booz, or rather Boaz, the name of one of 1 Kings vii. 21.those two brazen pillars which Solomon erected in the Porch of the Temple. The other Column was called Jachin. This was on the right hand of the entrance into the Temple, and Booz on the left. Jachin signifieth God hath strengthened it8, and Booz strength9, firmness. They were together thirty five cubits high, as is said in the 2 Chron. iii. 15.Chronicles, that is to say, each separately seventeen cubits and an half10. The Text of the first Book of Kings, and of Jeremiah, says 1 Kings vii. 15. Jerem. lii. 21. Jerem. lii. 21. 1 Kings vii. 25. Jerem. lii. 22. 1 Kings vii. 16.eighteen cubits; but it is believed that the Sacred Writer chose to set down a round, rather than a broken number. The thickness of these Columns was, as Jeremiah says, of four fingers, for they were hollow. The circumference of them was twelve cubits, or four cubits diameter. The Chapiter of each was in all five cubits high. These Chapiters in different parts of Scripture are said to be of different heights, of three, four or five cubits; because they were composed of different Ornaments, which were considered sometimes separately, and sometimes as united with the Chapiter. The body of the Chapiter was of three cubits, the ornaments wherewith it was joined to the shaft of the pillar, were of one cubit, these make four cubits; the row which was at the top of all the Chapiter was also of one cubit, in all five cubits.
BORITH. There is mention of the herb Borith in Jeremiah xi. 22. Si multiplicaveris tibi herbam Borith, maculata es iniquitate tua. The herb Borith is thought to be the Kali or Saltwort, of the ashes whereof some make Soap, and a very good Lye to wash Linen withal. It is confidently affirmed, that the leaves of Saltwort bruised and rub’d with the hand, take spots out of the Skin. John Michael Langius has made a large Dissertation on the herb Borith. We have a long discourse on it in our Comment on Jeremiah, Chap. xi. 22.
BOSOM. We put the things which we Job xix. 27.most value into our Bosoms. Job concealed the hope of his restoration in his own Bosom, there he locked up the words and promises of his Job xxiii. 12. Prov. xvii. 23. Luke vi. 38. Luke xvi. 22, 23. Ecclus. ix. 1. 1 John i. 18.God. The wicked Man receives presents taken out of the bosom, things of the greatest value. And Jesus Christ in the Gospel says, that if we do good to others, we shall receive the reward of it, which will be poured forth plentifully into our Bosom.
The Wife of our Bosom; be not jealous over the Wife of thy Bosom, or her who rests in thy bosom, is an expression very familiar in Scripture, signifying a lawful Wife.
Lazarus was carried into Abraham’s bosom, as a favourite Child is received within the Arms and Bosom of his Father. S. John tells us, that the Son of God is in the bosom of the Father, thereby describing his perfect union with him. The well
beloved Apostle lay with his head in our Saviour’s bosom at his last Supper with his Apostles; because it was then customary to lie down at Table with the head turn’d towards it, and the feet from it. Thus S. John who was below Jesus, was near him with his head, and as it were in his bosom.
BOSOR or Bosra, is four days journey southward from Damascus11. There is a very strong Castle belonging to it, a Gate twenty cubits high, and one of the largest Basons or Pools of Water in all the East, as the Persian Geographer assures us. See Bezer, ver. 20. ספרדSepharad.
BOSPHORUS. The Prophet Obadiah speaking of the Jews, and their return from the Captivity, says, And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel, shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, and the captivity of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad, or Bosphorus, shall possess the cities of the South. There are three Bosphorus’s whither the Hebrews might have been carried. 1. The Cimmerian Bosphorus, at the extremity of the Euxine Sea, between this Sea and the Lake Mœotis. 2. The Thracian Bosphorus, which is that of Constantinople, or the arm of the Sea between Chalcedon and Constantinople. 3. The Bosphorus or Arm which separates Spain from Africk: Each of these Streights is called in Greek, Bosphorus, or rather Bosporus, because an Ox may swim over them; and because the Daughter of Inachus, transformed into an Heifer, swam over the Thracian Streights between Constantinople and Chalcedon. This narrow passage of the Sea is not above five furlongs or five hundred paces over.
Interpreters are divided concerning the Streights which Obadiah speaks of. The Jew whom S. Jerom consulted upon such difficulties as occurr’d to him in the Hebrew12, told him, that the Bosphorus mentioned by the Prophet, was the Cimmerian Bosphorus, whither the Emperor Adrian had banished many of those Jews, whom he had taken prisoners during the War in Palestine; which notwithstanding is a circumstance that we have no account of in History. Others believe, with more reason, that the captives taken notice of by Obadiah were such as Nebuchadnezzar had sent away as far as the Palus Mæotis, about which the country is generally thought to be one of the most frightful in the world, and hither the great Persecutors of the Christians sent frequently the Confessors of our Religion. Lastly, There are others, and those in good number, who understand the Hebrew of Spain, and translate Obadiah thus, The captives of Jerusalem which are at Sepharad, that is to say, in Spain, shall possess the cities of the south. Profane Historians, as Megasthenes13 and Strabo14 assert, that Nebuchadnezzar extended his conquests as far as Africk and Iberia, beyond the Pillars which we apprehend to be those called Hercules’s Pillars. Now in this expedition against Spain, some say that he transported many of the Jews thither. Thus they reconcile the Version, which reads Bosphorus, with the opinion of the Jews, and of such Authors as have followed them in interpreting Sepharad to mean Spain.
But we may very well question whether Sepharad signifies Spain. Some suppose France to be denoted by it, and the old Greek Interpreters have kept to the Hebrew term without changing it in the Translation. In S. Jerom’s time, the Hebrews explained it by Bosphorus. The Septuagint read Ephrata instead of Sepharad. I should think some country beyond the Euphrates to be meant by Sepharad, such as that of the Sapires or Saspires, towards Media; or the city of Hippara in Mesopotamia.
BOTTLE, a Kag made of Goat’s Skin with the hair on the inside, well pitched and sewed together, wherein Oil and other Liquors were preserved: The mouth of the Bottle is through one of the animals paws, which furnishes the matter of it. There is frequent mention of Bottles in Scripture, and as every one is not acquainted with the nature of them, it may not be unprofitable to say a word or two of them in this place. When Abraham dismissed Hagar, he gave her and her Son bread, and water in a Bottle Gen. xxi. 14, 15.for their journey. The Gibeonites the better to deceive Joshua and the Elders of the people, shewed them their old Bottles, telling them, that they had brought them new from their own homes, thereby hoping to convince them that they came from some remote Josh. ix. 4. 13. Judg. iv. 19. Ps. xxxii. 7. Ps. lxxvii. 13. Ps. cxix. 83.country. Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite opened a Bottle full of Milk, and offered Sisera some of it to drink.
The Psalmist in order to exalt the power of God, says, that he holdeth the waters of the Sea, shut up as it were in a Bottle, or a Portmantle; and speaking of the passage through the Red-Sea, he says in like manner, that he shut up the waters as in a Bottle. He locked them up, drew them back, bound them up. In another place he compares himself to a Bottle exposed to the Frost. Factus sum sicut uter in pruina, or exposed to the smoak, as a bottle dried, blackened, shrivelled. Our Saviour says, that men Matth. ix. 17.do not put new wine
into old bottles, else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out. His Apostles were, as it were, old Bottles before the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them, they were not capable either of comprehending or practising all the perfection which Jesus Christ came to teach mankind.
BOW. Every one knows what this is: It was a sort of Arms very well known among the Israelites, who had many very expert Archers in their Troops. When there is any mention in Scripture of bending the Bow, the verb tread under foot is generally made use of; because in effect it was their custom to put their feet upon their Bow that they might bend it with more ease. David thanks God for giving him the strength of a brazen Bow in his Arms. Posuisti ut arcum Ps. xvii. 35.æreum brachia mea. Their Bows were commonly of wood. When they would say that God will destroy the power of such or such a people, they make use of this expression; God will break their Bow. Confringam arcum Ælam, and Hosea conteram arcum Israel. A deceitful Bow, They are like a deceitful Hos. i. 5. Hos. vii. 16.bow, signifies one that is not well strung, which does not carry strait to the mark. King Uzziah provided good Arsenals, wherein he lodged abundance of Arms, among others a large quantity of 2 Chron. xxvi. 14.Bows and Slings. God is represented in Scripture with his Bow and Arrows, as Warriors and Conquerors are described Hab. iii. 9.with them. Thy bow was made quite naked according to the oaths of the tribes. Thou wilt awaken thy Bow, thou wilt bend it, and put it in a condition to be drawn, &c. The Children of Ephraim, who prided themselves in being such expert Archers, Ps. lxxviii. 9.fled in the day of battle. The Lord promises to deliver up the Nations, like stubble driven by the wind, to the bow of the righteous man, of Cyrus, of the Messiah. The Isaiah xli. 2.Persians, who in the Scripture are called Elamites, were the most expert Archers in the world.
BOWELS. The Bowels are the seat of mercy, tenderness, and compassion. Joseph’s bowels were moved at the sight of his Gen. xliii. 30.brother Benjamin; he perceived himself to be softned, and concerned. The true Mother of the Child, whom Solomon commanded to be divided into two parts, felt her Bowels to be moved at this proposition, and consented, that he should be given to 1 Kings iii. 26.her who was not his real Mother. She was touched with compassion. God through the Luke i. 78.bowels of his mercy, hath visited us by sending the Messiah to us. S. Paul recommends it to the faithful, to have Colos. iii. 12. Philem. 7. Ibid. 12. Job xxi. 24. Vulg. Edit.Bowels of mercy for their Brethren. He praises Philemon for having refreshed the Bowels of the Saints; and begs of him to receive Onesimus as his own Bowels. Et viscera mea suscipe.
Job describing a merciless, hard-hearted, rich Man, says, that his Bowels are loaded with fat. Solomon in his Proverbs, that the Bowels of the wicked are cruel. And S.- Prov. xii. 10.Paul 2 Cor. vi. 12. reproaches, as it were, the Corinthians in a friendly manner, saying, Ye are not straitned in us, but ye are straitned in your own bowels.
Job xxxviii. 36. Psal. li. 10. Isaiah xix. 3.The Hebrews likewise place wisdom and understanding sometimes in the Bowels: Who hath put wisdom in the inner parts, says Job. And the Psalmist, Renew a right spirit in my Bowels, within me. And Isaiah, The spirit of the Egyptians shall fail, shall be annihilated in the bowels, or in the midst thereof, and I will destroy the counsel thereof. It shall fall into disorder, Jer. xxxi. 33.mistake, and uncertainty. And Jeremiah, I will engrave my law in their bowels, or inner parts. And Habakkuk, There is no spirit in the intrails, in the midst of the idol; it Hab. ii. 19.has neither soul, spirit nor understanding.
Wisdom speaks of certain Canaanites, who eat the entrails of men, who were devourers Wisd. xii. 5.of human flesh. See Flesh. Formerly men were sacrificed to Bacchus in the Isle of Chios15, and were torn to pieces alive. They did as much in the Isle of Tenedos. And in the ninth Century16 human flesh was sold at China in the publick markets. As to eating the Flesh and Bowels of living animals, this was common in the feasts of Bacchus17.
BOZEZ. The name of a Rock which Jonathan the Son of Saul climbed up, when he went to attack the Philistines. 1 Sam. xiv. 4.
BOZRA. See Bezer, Bosor.
Dan. iii. 21.BRACCA. It is said in Daniel18, that his three companions were thrown into the fiery furnace with their hozen cum braccis suis. The Hebrew reads Saraballa, which were a sort of Breeches, wherewith the Persians covered their Legs and Thighs19.
BRANCH. The Prophets sometimes give this name to the Messiah, Behold the man, whose name is the Branch, says Zech. vi. 12. Zech. iii. 8.Zechary. And in another place20, Behold, I will bring forth my servant the branch. And so the Hebrew reads, what the Vulgate translates Oriens. Jesus Christ is the Branch21 of the house of David. He is likewise Oriens, the Sun of Righteousness, which is risen in order to enlighten us, and deliver us out of the shadow of death.
The Messiah is called likewise by the same name of Branch in Isaiah, iv. 2. Jeremiah, xxiii. 5. xxxiii. 15. and this denomination is a kind of prophecy of his miraculous birth of a Virgin.
BREAD. In the Scripture style Bread is Gen. iii. 19.taken for every sort of food; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. I will fetch a morsel of bread, says Abraham to his Guests, Gen. xviii. 5.and comfort ye your hearts. If God give me bread to eat, said Jacob when he made his Vow at Bethel. Call him that he may eat Gen. xxviii. 20. Exod. ii. 20. Exod. xvi. 15.bread, invite him to come and eat with us, &c. Manna is called Bread from Heaven; God in giving it says, that he feeds his People with Bread; that he gives them Bread in abundance, &c.
The antient Hebrews had several ways of baking Bread. They often baked it under the Ashes. Abraham served the three Angels, whom he received into his Tent, with Loaves baked upon the Hearth22; the Gen. xviii. 6.Hebrew, Huggoth, signifies Loaves, or little Cakes, much like our broad thin Cakes, which are baked under the Ashes, or upon round Copper Plates well warmed, or in Pans, or Stews made on purpose, and heated.
Exod. xii. 39.The Hebrews at their departure out of Egypt made some of these unleavened Loaves for their Journey. Elijah in his flight found a Cake at his Bolster, which had been baked upon the Coals, and a cruse 1 Kings xix. 6. 1 Kings xvii. 13.of Water. The same Elijah desired the Widow of Sarepta to make a little Bread for him, and bake it under the Ashes. The Hebrew Text of the first Book of Kings, Ch. xix. 6. calls them Huggoth; and the Hosea vii. 8.Prophet Hosea compares Ephraim to these Huggoth, which were not turned, were baked on one side only. Busbequius23 says, that in Bulgaria this sort of Loaves is still very common. They are there called Hugaces: As soon as they see a Guest come, the Women immediately make these unleavened Loaves which are baked under the Ashes, and sold to Strangers; for there are no Bakers in this Country.
The Arabians24, and other eastern People, among whom Wood is scarce, often bake their Bread between two Fires made of Cow-dung, which burns slowly, and bakes the Bread very leisurely. The Crumb of it is very good, if it be eat the same day, but the Crust is black and burnt, and retains a smell of what was used in baking it. Ezek. iv. 9, 10, 12, 13.This may serve to explain a passage in Ezekiel, which is extremely shocking to the generality of Authors. The Lord commands this Prophet to make a Paste composed of Wheat, Barley, Beans, Lentils, Millet, and Fitches, and of this a Loaf baked under the Ashes, and to cover it with human excrements in the sight of all the People. The Prophet expressing an extreme reluctancy to this, God permitted him to cover it with Cow-dung instead of human dung. We are not to imagine that it was God’s design to make the Prophet eat Man’s dung; but he only enjoined him to bake his Bread under such kind of excrements. Afterwards he allowed him to have it baked under Cow-dung, as the Arabians do.
The Hebrews, and other eastern People, have still at this day a kind of Oven called Taanour, which is like a large Pitcher of gray Stone open at top, in which they make a Fire. When it is well heated, they dilute Flour in Water, as we do to make Putty for Sashes; this Paste they apply to the outside of the Pitcher with the hollow of their hand; thus it is baked in an instant, and the moisture of it being dried up, it is taken off in thin fine pieces like our Wafers.
The Easterlings believe Eve’s Oven to have been of this kind, that it was left to Noah, and that the boiling Water which ran over occasioned the Deluge. Strange Extravagancies!
A third sort of Bread in use among the People of the East, is that which is baked in a great Pitcher half full of certain little Flints that are white and glistering, on which they cast the Paste spread in the form of little flat Cakes. The Bread is white, and smells well, but it is good only for the day on which it was baked, unless there is some Leaven mingled with it to preserve it longer. This is the most common way in Palestine.
During the whole Octave of the Passover, the Hebrews use only unleavened Bread, as a memorial, that at the time of their departure out of Egypt, they wanted leisure to bake leavened Bread; and having left the Country with precipitation, they were content to bake Bread which was not leavened, under the Ashes. This is what Ex. xii. 8, 9.they practise still at this day with scrupulous Exactness. See the Article Azuma.
Numb. xv. 20.Moses enjoined the Israelites upon their arrival in the promised Land, to offer up a Cake of the first of their dough for an heave -offering in their generations. These First-fruits of Bread or Dough were given to the Priest or Levite, who dwelt in the place where the bread was baked; and if there was no Priest nor Levite there, the part of the Dough designed for the Lord or his Minister was thrown into
the Fire or the Oven. The quantity of Bread to be given for First-fruits was not settled by the Law; but Custom and Tradition had determined it, says S. Jerom25, to be between the fortieth part of the whole Mass, at most, or at least the sixtieth. Philo26 remarks, that something was set apart for the Priest, as often as they kneaded, but does not say how much this was.
Leo of Modena27 tells us, that the modern custom of the Jews is, when the Bread is kneaded, and a piece of Dough made as big as forty Eggs, to take a small part of it and make a Cake, which is instead of the First-fruits appointed by the Law. It had been a custom to give this Cake to the Priest; but at present it is thrown into the fire, where they let it burn away intire. This is one of the three Precepts which should be observed by the Women, for they generally make the Bread. The Prayer to be recited by them, when they throw this little Portion of Dough into the Oven, or the Fire, is as follows, Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, the King of the World, who hast sanctified us by thy Precepts, and hast commanded us to separate a Cake of our Dough.
Shew-Bread, or according to the Hebrew Text, the Bread of Faces, was Bread offered every Saturday to God upon the Exod. xxv. 30.golden Table placed in the Holy. The Hebrews affirm, that these Loaves were square, and with four Surfaces, and covered with leaves of Gold. They were twelve in number, in memory of the twelve Tribes of Israel, in whose names they were offered. Every Loaf was composed of two Asserons of Flour, which make about five Pints 1/ 10. These Loaves had no Leaven in them. They were presented very warm every Sabbath day, and at the same time the old were taken away, which were to be eaten by the Priests only. With this Offering there was Salt, and Incense, and even Wine too, according to some Commentators. The Scripture mentions only Salt and Incense, but it is presumed that Wine was added, because it was not wanting in other Sacrifices and Offerings. It is believed that these Loaves were placed one upon the other in two Piles, of six each; and that between every Loaf there were two thin Plates of Gold folded back in a Semicircle for the whole length of them, to let in Air, and hinder the Loaves from growing mouldy. These Golden Plates so turned in, were supported at their extremities by two golden Forks, which rested upon the Ground.
We have remarked, that the Shew-bread was eaten by none but the Priests. Nevertheless David having received some from the High-Priest Abimelech, eat of it 2 Sam. xxi. 3, 4. Mat. xii. 4.without scruple in his necessity; and our Saviour makes use of this Example to justify his Apostles, who eat ears of Corn and bruised them on the Sabbath day. The Priest Abimelech calls those Laicos Panes, which every one was allowed to partake of, and those Panes Sanctos, which the Priests only were to eat of.
Under the Article Offerings, we shall speak of the different sorts of Bread which were offered in the Temple, as well with the Sacrifices as with the Offerings of Flour, Cakes, Loaves, Grains, &c. It appears from several places of Scripture, that Exod. xxix. 32. Numb. vi. 15.there was always near the Altar a Basket full of Bread, in order to be offered together with the ordinary Sacrifices. Panes qui sunt in canistro; & canistrum panum azymorum.
Lev. xxii. 25.Moses forbids the Priests to receive Bread from the hands of Strangers, or any thing else that they would give, because all these Gifts are corrupted.
There are different opinions concerning the meaning of this Law. Some, as Tostatus, Cajetan, and others, pretend, that under the name of Bread we are to understand all sorts of Sacrifices and Offerings, because the Victims that were slain are in Scripture sometimes called the Bread of God. Others, that God forbids the receiving Sacrifices of any kind, or any real Offering immediately from the hands of infidel People, but only Money wherewithal to purchase Offerings and Victims. Lastly, others explain it literally of Offerings of Flour, Bread, or Cakes; that none of these are to be received in the Temple from the hand of an Idolater or Infidel.
God threatens to break the Staff of Lev. xxvi. 26. Ezek. iv. 16. v. 16. Ezek. xiv. 13. Isai. iii. 1. Ps. civ. 16. Numb. xiv. 9.Bread, Baculum panis, or Virgam panis, or Robur panis, or Firmamentum panis; that is to say, to send the scourge of Famine among the Israelites, or to order it so, that the Bread which they should take, should not sustain them, to send them a canine and insatiable Appetite.
To eat, to devour any one like Bread; that is to say, to devour, to destroy him without resistance, without scruple, to make sport, and a diversion of doing so. See Ps. xiii. 4. lii. 5.
Man doth not live by Bread only, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That is to say, God can sustain us, not only with Bread and ordinary Food, but likewise with every thing besides, if he thinks fit to communicate a nourishing virtue to it. Thus he fed the
Israelites in the Wilderness with Manna, and five thousand Men with five Loaves distributed by the hands of Jesus Christ and his Apostles. Verbum is put for thing. In the Hebrew Text of Deuteronomy we do not read verbo, but only, In omni quod procedit ex ore Dei.
Bread and Water are used for all Sustenance in general. Thus it is said, that Deut. ix. 9, 18. Deut. xxiii. 4.Moses continued forty days upon Mount Sinai, without eating Bread, or drinking Water. God complains of the Moabites and Ammonites, because they did not meet the Israelites with Bread and Water; Nabal in answer to David’s Message, said, Shall I take my bread and my water, and give them to men whom I know not? 1 Kings xviii. 13.Obadiah the Governor of King Ahab’s House, fed an hundred Prophets of the Lord with Bread and Water. The chief thing for Life is Water and Bread, says the Author of Ecclesiasticus, xxix. 21.
The Bread of Affliction, and the Water of Affliction in the first Book of Kings, are 1 Kings xxii. 27. 2 Chr. xviii. 26. If. xxx. 20.the same thing as a little Bread and a little Water. Isaiah threatens the Jews with the Wrath of God, and says, that he will give them so little Bread and Water, that they will not have what is sufficient to satisfy them. Dabit vobis Dominus panem arctum & aquam brevem.
As the Hebrews generally made their Bread very thin, and in the form of little flat Cakes or Wafers, they did not cut it with a Knife, but broke it; which gave rise to that expression so usual in Scripture, of breaking Bread, to signify eating, sitting down to table.
It is remarked likewise, that they who undertook Journeys, commonly made Provision of Bread; because in those times there were neither Inns nor Bakers in Palestine, at least they were very rare. Jesus Christ tells his Disciples, that when they went upon any Journey, in order to preach the Gospel, there was no occasion Mark vi. 8.for their troubling themselves to provide Bread; nevertheless they generally had some, while they followed our Saviour; and one day they shewed great concern for having forgotten to carry any with Mat. xvi. 5, 6, 7, 8.them; whereupon Jesus severely reproved them: O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no Bread?
Ps. xli. 4. Ps. lxxx. 5. Ps. cxxvii. 2.The Psalmist speaks of the Bread of Tears, Fuerunt mihi lacrymæ meæ panes die ac nocte; and in another place, Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and again, Thou that eatest the bread of sorrows. We may easily comprehend, that by all this is meant continual Sorrow and Tears, which make us lose the thoughts and desire of eating and drinking.
Prov. iv. 17. Prov. xx. 17. xxiii. 3.The Bread of Wickedness, the Bread of Deceit, is Bread acquired by criminal and fraudulent practices. By the Bread of Mourners in Hosea ix. 4. is meant impure and polluted Bread. Some are of opinion, that this passage of Jeremiah xi. 19. Mittamus lignum in panem ejus, let us put Wood in his Bread, signifies to poison his Bread, by mingling Wood in it of a venomous nature; or let us throw wood upon his Body, overwhelm him with cudgelling; the Hebrew Lechem, which signifies bread, being taken likewise for the Body.
Eccles. xi. 1.Cast thy Bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many Days, says Solomon; that is to say literally, Sow thy Corn in a Soil which is well watered, and thou shalt reap a plentiful Harvest; or in a moral sense, Be liberal of thine Alms, do not refuse thine Assistance to any one, and thou shalt receive a Reward suitable to thy Generosity, and the extent of thy Charity.
The Eucharist or Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, contained really and substantially under the appearances of Bread and Wine , is very often described in the New Testament by the word Bread, the Bread of Life, Bread which giveth Life; the Bread which we break; and the holy Communion is mentioned under the term breaking of Bread. The same Sacrament is represented by Manna, the Bread of Heaven, the Bread of Angels, the Bread which contained all sorts of Delights and Sweets.
Isai. lviii. 7.Breaking of Bread; an Expression familiar to the Hebrews, signifying the eating of Bread, or making a Meal. Frange esurienti panem tuum; and Jeremiah, Neither shall Jer. xvi. 7. Lament. iv. 4.men break bread for them in mourning to comfort them from the dead. And again, the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. In the Institution of the Eucharist, our Saviour broke the Bread which he had consecrated and distributed it to his Apostles; from whence it is, that to Mat. xxvi. 26.break Bread, and the breaking of Bread, in the Books of the New Testament, are used likewise for celebrating the holy Eucharist.
The natural and literal reason for these expressions, arises from hence, viz. That the Hebrews in Palestine, as well as the Syrians, Arabians and Egyptians, generally bake their Bread very thin, so as to have no need of Knives to cut it. They eat it new, and break it with their Fingers.
See what we have remarked upon the word Bread.
BROOK, Torrens; in Greek Cheimarros; in Hebrew Nachal28. A Brook is distinguished from a River; a River flows at all times, a Brook at some particular times only: For example, after great Rains, or the melting of the Snow. As the Hebrew word Nachal signifies a Valley as well as a Brook, one is often placed in Scripture for the other; for example, the Brook of Gerar, for the Valley of Gerar. This Ambiguity is not very dangerous, since generally there are Brooks in Valleys: But it may deserve to be taken notice of, because sometimes that is attributed to the Valley which belongs only to the Brook; for example, to the Valley of Kidron, which should be understood of the Brook so called.
The distinction between a Brook and a River is not always observed in Scripture, and one is often taken for the other; by giving great Rivers, such as the Euphrates, the Nile, and Jordan, and other Rivers which flow the whole year, such as Jabok and Arnon, the name of Brooks. The Euphrates in Isaiah is called the Brook of Willows, Isai. xv. 7.
Joel iii. 18.The Brook of Thorns, mentioned in Joel, is called in the Hebrew, the Brook of Shittim; and in the Septuagint the Brook of Cords29. I take this Brook to be the same as that of Kidron, which discharged itself into the Dead Sea.
The Brook Kidron, runs between the City of Jerusalem to the West, and the Mount of Olives to the East. See Kidron.
Brook of Egypt. This is probably the Nile, or the most eastern arm of this River. See Egypt.
The Brook Besor, is commonly placed between Gaza and Rhinocorura: But S. Jerom, upon the vi. Ch. of Amos, says, it lies between Rhinocorura and Pelusium. See Besor, and 1 Sam. xxx. 9, 21.
The Brook of Grapes, or Cluster of Numb. xiii. 25. Deut. i. 24.Grapes, in Hebrew Nachal Eshcol30. We are of opinion that it lay to the South of Judah, and the Lot of Simeon, not far from the Valley of Sorek.
The Brook Zered, Deut. ii. 13, 14. It is further southward than the Brook Arnon.
The Brook Arnon. This is rather a River than a Brook. See Arnon.
The Brook Jabok. This is rather a River than a Brook. See Jabok.
The Brook or Valley of Gerar, near the City of this name, southward of the promised Land, in Arabia Petræa.
The Brook of Jeruel, or rather the Brook opposite to the Wilderness of Jeruel2 Chr. xx. 16., in the southern part of Judah.
The Brook Kishon, springs up at the foot of Mount Tabor, and falls into the Mediterranean, between Carmel and Ptolemais. See Kishon.
The Brook Cadumim. This, in my opinion, is the same as Kishon. See Judg. v. 21.
Josh. xxiv. 30. Judg. ii. 9. Judith ii. 14.The Brook Cherith, beyond Jordan, towards Succoth. See Cherith, and 1 Kings xvii. 3.
The Brook of Gaash, 1 Chr. xi. 32. was probably in the Tribe of Ephraim, at the foot of Mount Gaash, upon which the City of Timnath-Serah was situated, when Joshua was buried, Josh. xxiv. 30. His Tomb was still shewn on Mount Gaash in Eusebius’s time.
The Brook of Mamre. This is the Valley of Mamre, Genes. xiii. 18. xiv. 13, &c. We have already observed, that the Hebrew Nachal signified equally a Valley and a Brook.
Psal. lxxiii. 15.The Brook of the South. Psal. cxxv. 11. Sicut torrens in austro, signifies probably the Brooks which are to the South of Palestine, or no more than the flux of Water, which was seen when the south Wind dissolved the Snow. The Hebrew word31 is not Nachal, which signifies a Brook, but Aphikim, which signifies drains of Water, Inundations.
The Brooks or Rivers of Ethan. See Ethan.
Prov. xviii. 9. Job xxx. 29.BROTHER. This word is understood, not only in the common and literal Signification of it, but likewise in general for a Relation, a Man of the same Country, of the same Nation, and still more universally for a Man in general, for our Neighbour, in the notion which our Saviour requires us to have of all the World, and whom he hath commanded us to love as our selves.
Brother is likewise used sometimes for one who resembles another in either good or evil; He that is slothful in his work, is brother to him that is a great waster. And Job, I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to ostriches. I have imitated them in their doleful cries, and in their flying from Ecclus. xxxiv. 27.Mankind. And Ecclesiasticus, He that sheddeth blood, and he who defraudeth the labourer of his hire, are brothers. These two crimes are equal.
Brother is likewise to be understood for Friend, or Husband, as Sister, for Wife. O Cant. viii. 1. Cant. iv. 9.that thou wert as my brother that sucked the breasts of my mother! And, Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse.
A nd Job, I said to the worm thou art Prov. vii.my sister. And Solomon in his Proverbs, Say unto Wisdom, Thou art my sister.
According to the Law of Moses, the Deut. xxv.Brother of a Man who died without Children, was obliged to marry the Widow of the deceased, in order to raise up Children to him, that his name and memory might not be extinct in Israel. See lower the Article Widow.
BRUCHUS. A sort of Locusts. The Hebrew Arbe32, is differently translated, by the Septuagint and Vulgate generally Bruchus, and by other Interpreters Locusta. Now Locusta and Bruchus differ, as S. Austin says33, like the Parent and the Child. Locusta is a perfect Locust, Bruchus a young one, as yet without its wings. There were several species of Locusts Lev. xi.which the Hebrews were allowed by God to eat. And we know that this sort of food was the common diet which S. John Matth. iii.Baptist made use of. There were several other people, who eat of them, as is shewn in the Comments on S. Matthew.
BUBALUS. There is frequent mention Deut. xiv. 1 Kingsof the Bubalus in Scripture. Moses suffered the Hebrews to eat of it; and it was served up at Solomon’s Table. The Hebrew Jachmur34, signifies a certain Animal which is found about the Euphrates, with horns like a Stag, and red hair. After this manner the Arabians describe the Jachmur, which the Vulgate has translated Bubalus.
BUBASTUS, a famous City of Egypt. Ezekiel speaks of it under the name of פי בסתPi-bezeth, Ezek. xxx. 17. It is situated on the eastern shore of that arm of the Nile which extends furthest towards Arabia. Ezekiel threatens it with the utmost calamities, which would be brought upon its inhabitants by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon.
BUGEUS; this is the firname which Esth. xii.the Scripture gives Haman the great enemy of the Jews. The Greek Bugeus or Bougaios, signifies a vain Man, one puffed up with pride. We do not read Bugeus in the Hebrew, but in the Greek only. I am of opinion, that it is put for Bagoas, which signifies an Eunuch, an Officer belonging to the King of Persia’s Court.
To BUILD. Besides the proper and literal signification of this word, it is used likewise to signify producing Children and a numerous posterity. Sarah desires Abraham to take Hagar to wife, that so by her Gen. xvi.means she may be builded up, that is to say, have Children to support her family. The Midwives who refused obedience to Pharaoh’s orders, when he commanded them to put to death all the male Children of the Hebrews, were rewarde dfor it, because God built them houses, gave them a numerous posterity.
The Prophet Nathan promises David on the part of God, that he would build his house for him, that he would give him Children and Successors. The Scripture speaking of the formation of the first Woman, says, that God built her with the Rib of Adam. To edify, in the moral sense of the word, is used with relation to the good instructions and examples which we give our Neighbour, in order to inspire him with the love of virtue, to keep him in those sentiments, and improve them in him.
I. BUKKI, the Son of Jogti, of the Tribe of Dan, Numb. xxxiv. 22.
II. BUKKI, High-Priest of the Jews, the Son of Abishua, and Father of Uzzi, 1 Chron. vi. 5.
BUKKIAH, a Levite, who played before the Ark, 1 Chron. xxv. 4.
BUL, the eighth month in the Hebrew Kalender, since called, Marshevan; it answers to our October. It is the second Month of the Civil, and the eighth of the Ecclesiastical Year. It is composed of nine and twenty days. The sixth Day of this Month was a fast, because on this Day Nebuchadnezzar put to death the Children of Zedekiah in the presence of this unhappy Prince, whose Eyes, after they had been witnesses to this sad spectacle, he ordered to be put out. See 2 Kings xxv. 7. We find the name of Bul mentioned only in 1 Kings vi. 38. in the reign of Solomon.
BULL. Bullock. This animal was reputed by the Hebrews to be clean, and was generally made use of by them for Sacrifices. The Septuagint and Vulgate have often rendred that Ox which signifies a Bull,35 under the word Ox comprehending rather the Species than the Sex or Quality of the Animal. The antient Hebrews in general never cut any Creature, and where in the Text we read Ox, we are to understand a Bull by it.
The beauty of Joseph is compared to that of a Bullock. The Egyptians had a particular veneration for this Animal, they paid divine honours to it; and the Jews imitated them in their worship of the golden Calves, that is to say, golden Bulls in the Wilderness, and in the Kingdom of Israel. Jacob reproaches his Sons Simeon and Levi for having dug down the Wall of the Sichemites36; or, according to another Translation of the Hebrew, for hamstringing a Bull. Thus the Septuagint have translated it, and many of the antient Fathers37 have followed their Ver
sion, and explained this passage of Jesus Christ, and his being put to death by the Jews. The Hebrew, Shor, signifies a Wall, and a Bull.
This last word, in a figurative and allegorical sense, is taken likewise for powerful, fierce, insolent Enemies. Fat bulls (in the Hebrew, Bulls of Bashan) kept me in on Pf. xxii. 13. Pf. lxviii. 31.every side, says the Psalmist. And in another place, Rebuke the beast of the reeds, the multitude of the bulls: Lord smite in thy wrath these Animals which feed in large Pastures, these herds of Bulls. And Isaiah, The Lord If. xxxiv. 7.shall cause his Victims to be slain in the land of Edom, a terrible slaughter will he make, he will kill the Unicorns and the Bulls, that is to say, those proud and cruel Princes who oppressed the weak.
BUNAH, the Son of Jerahmeel, 1 Chr. ii. 25.
BURIAL. The Hebrews have at all times been very careful in the burial of their dead; to be deprived of it was thought to be one of the greatest dishonours that could be done to any Man: this last duty was denied to none, not even to Enemies; but it was not allowed to those who were self-murderers38, till after Sun-set, and the Souls of such Persons were believed to be plunged into Hell39. This mighty concern for burial proceeded from the persuasion they were under of the Soul’s immortality40. The Scripture threatens the wicked with being deprived of it, as if it were one of the greatest calamities that could happen to them. If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say that an untimely birth is better than he. Jeremiah threatens the Eccles. vi. 3.Kings, Priests and false Prophets who had adored Idols, that he would have their bones thrown out of their graves like dung upon the Earth. The same Prophet foretold Jer. viii. 2. Jer. xxii. 18, 19.that Jehoiakim King of Judah, who built his house by unrighteousness, and gave himself up to avarice, violence, and all manner of vice; he foretold that this Prince should be buried with the burial of an Ass, that he should be cast out of the Gates of Jerusalem into the common sewer. It is observed that Jason who had denied the rites of burial to 2 Mac. v. 10.many of the Jews, was himself treated in the same manner, that he died in a foreign Land, and was thrown like carrion into the fields without being laid 1 Kings ii. 10. xi. 43. xiv. 31. xv. 8. 2 Kings xxiv. 12, &c. xxxi. 18. 26. John xix. 41. xx. 15. 2 Macc. xiii. 25, 27, 28, 29.even in a stranger’s grave. Good Men made part of their devotion to consist in interring the dead, as we see by the example of Tobit.
There was nothing determined particularly as to the place of burying the dead. There were graves in the town and country, upon the highways, in gardens and mountains. Those belonging to the Kings of Judah were in Jerusalem, and the King’s gardens. Ezekiel intimates, that they were dug under the mountain which the Temple stood upon, since God says, that for the future his Holy Mountain should not be polluted with the dead bodies of their Kings. The Sepulchre which Joseph of Arimathea had provided for himself, and wherein he placed our Saviour’s body, was in his garden. That of Rachel was upon the highway from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. That of the Maccabees at Modin, upon an eminence, from whence it was visible at a distance both by Sea and Land. We have given the description of it under the articles Maccabees and Jonathan. The Kings of Israel had their burying places in Samaria. Samuel was interr’d in his own house. Moses, Aaron, Eleazer and Joshua in mountains. King Saul and Deborah, Rebekah’s Nurse under trees. It is affirmed, that the Sepulchres of the People of Jerusalem were in the Valley of Kidron. There likewise were the burying places for foreigners.
The Jews call what we term a Churchyard, the house of the living41, to shew their belief of the Immortality of the Soul, and of the Resurrection; and when they come thither bearing a dead body42, they address themselves to those who lie there, as if they were still alive, and say, Blessed be the Lord who hath created you, fed you, brought you up, and at last in his justice taken you out of the world. He knows the number of you all, and will in time revive you. Blessed be the Lord who causeth death, and restores life. Their respect for Sepulchres is so great, that they build Synagogues and Oratories near those of great Men and Prophets. For example, They have Synagogues near the Tombs of Ezekiel, Zachary, Mordecai and Esther. They go and pray near them, being persuaded, as we are, of the efficacy of prayers for the dead, and the intercession of the Saints43. The Rabbins teach, that it is not lawful to demolish Tombs, or disturb the repose of the dead, by burying another dead person in the same grave, even after a long time;
nor to carry an aquæduct cross the common place of burial, or through an high-way, nor to go and gather wood there, or suffer cattle to feed there.
When the Jews are come with the Funeral to the Burying place, the blessing directed to the dead, as above mentioned, is repeated; the body is put down upon the ground, and if it be a person of consideration, a kind of funeral Oration and Encomium is made of him; then they walk round the grave, reciting a pretty long prayer, which they call the Righteousness of Judgment; because therein they return thanks to God for having pronounced an equitable judgment concerning the life and person of the deceased. It begins with these words of Deuteronomy, He is the rock, his Deut. xxxii. 4.work is perfect; then a little sack full of earth is put under the dead person’s head, and the coffin is nailed down and closed. If it be a man, ten persons take ten turns about him, and say a prayer for his soul; the nearest relation tears a corner of his clothes, the dead body is let down into the grave with his face turned towards Heaven; and they cry to him, Go in peace, or rather, Go to peace, according to the Talmudists. The nearest relations are the first that throw earth upon the Body; after them, all who are there present do the same with their hands, or with shovels. This done they retire walking backwards, and before they go out of the Burying-ground, they pluck bits of grass three times, and cast them behind their backs saying, They Ps. lxxii. 16.shall flourish like grass of the earth.
I do not observe in all Antiquity, any example of an Epitaph inscribed upon the tombs of the Hebrews; for that which is reported of Adoniram’s found in Spain, and some others of the like authority, do not deserve our notice. Monuments were erected in memory of a King, a Hero, a Prophet, or a Warrior: the tomb itself spoke sufficiently, and the memory of the person was perpetuated among the people. King Josiah destroying the tombs of the false Prophets of Baal, and of the Priests belonging to the Golden Calf, took notice of a sepulchral Stone among the rest, which was said to be the tomb built up for the man of God, who came and declared to Jeroboam, that a King by name Josiah should burn the bones of the false Prophets 1 Kings xiii. 2.upon the Altar at Bethel. There was therefore no Epitaph upon it. Absalom called his tomb, The Hand of Absalom. The 2 Sam. xviii. 18.tombs belonging to the Kings which were in caves dug in a rock, were certainly not adorned with Epitahps.
The set form of Epitaphs used at this day by the Jews, is as follows; This Stone is placed at the head of N. the Son of N. who was buried on such a day in the year N. May he rest in the Garden of Eden with all the righteous who have been there from the beginning: Amen, Amen, Selah. Or else; Let his Soul be buried in the Garden of Eden. Amen, Amen, Amen, Selah. Or otherwise, This Monument or this Pillar is erected near the head of the most illustrious, most holy, and most pure Virgin Rebekah, the Daughter of Samuel the Levite, who died in good reputation such a day of the month N. in the year N. May her Soul be buried in the Garden of Eden. Amen, Amen, Amen, Selah. But these set forms are neither ancient nor uniform. Benjamin of Tudela says, that as he travelled through Palestine, he observed this inscription on Abraham’s Tomb, Here is the Sepulcher of Abraham our blessed Father. But this had been but lately made.
Exod. iii. 2.BURNING BUSH, wherein the Lord appeared to Moses at the foot of Mount Horeb. Not far from hence Moses was feeding his Father-in-law Jethro’s flocks, when he perceived a Bush all on fire without consuming. Hereupon he said within himself, I will go near that I may see this great vision; but as he approached, God called out to him from amidst the Bush, and said, Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. This nakedness of the Feet is a Ceremony which has been imitated by several people, as a mark of their respect when they enter into their Temples. The Egyptians, Mahometans, Indians, and Ethiopians practise it still at this day, when they go into their places of Prayer. God injoined the Hebrew Priests to wash their feet and hands, when they approached the Altar, and entered Exod. xxx. 19.into the Sanctuary. The Rabbins44 believe, that even the common people among the Israelites left their shoes behind them, when they went into the Temple. Juvenal seems to say the same thing45.
Reges.
But I do not know whether these Authors were rightly informed; for I see nothing like it appointed in the Law.
As to the person that appeared in the Exod. iii. 2, 6, 13, 14, &c.Bush, the Scripture in several places calls him by the name of God. He says himself, that he is the Lord, the God, who is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who was to deliver his people out of bondage in Egypt; Deut. xxxiii. 16.and Moses blessing Joseph, says, Let the blessing of him that dwelt in the Bush come upon the head of Joseph. But in the places of Exodus, which we are examining, instead of the Lord appeared to him, the Hebrew and the Septuagint import, the Angel of the Lord appeared Acts vii. 3.to him. S. Stephen in the Acts reads it in the same manner; S. Paul
Gal. iii. 19.writing to the Galatians says, that the Law was given by Angels. S. Jerom46, S. Austin47, and S. Gregory the Great48 teach the same thing. It was an Angel who represented the Lord, and spoke in his name: Angelorum vocabulo exprimuntur, qui exterius ministrabant, & appellatione Domini ostenditur, qui eis interius præerat, says S. Gregory. It is nevertheless true, that the Ancients generally hold the Son of God to be the person who appeared in the Bush49, and S. Austin50 acknowledges, that both opinions may be maintained without any prejudice to the true Faith. Duæ sunt sententiæ quarum quælibet vera sit, ambæ secundùm fidem sunt.
The Mahometans believe, that one of Moses’s Shoes put off by him as he drew near towards the burning Bush, was placed in the Ark of the Covenant, in order to preserve the memory of this Miracle.
Job xxxii. 2.BUTTER, is taken in Scripture, as it has been almost perpetually in the East, for Cream or liquid Butter. See our Comment upon Genesis, xviii. 8. and the Supplement at the end of the Revelations. Children were fed with Butter and Honey. Isai. vii. 15, 22. that is to say, with Milk-diet, with Cream, and Honey, which was very common in Palestine. Some think that by the name of Butyrum, in the Scripture, we are to understand Cheese. But we cannot be of their opinion. The Hebrews have a particular name to signify Cheese, different from that which they make use of to signify Cream or Butter.
I. BUZ, the Son of Nahor and Milcah, and Brother to Huz, Genes. xii. 21. Elihu one of Job’s friends was descended from Buz the Son of Nahor. The Scripture calls him the Aramean or Syrian; Elihu the Jebusite of the kindred of Ram. Ram is put Jerem. xxv. 23.for Aram. The Prophet Jeremiah threatens the Buzites with the effects of God’s wrath. They dwelt in Arabia deserta.
II. Buz, the Son of Abdiel, and Father of Jahdo, of the Tribe of Judah. 1 Chron. v. 14.
BUZI, a Priest, the Father of the Prophet Ezekiel. Ezek. i. 3.
BYBLOS, a City of Phœnicia, lying between Sidon and Orthosia, and famous for its constant adherence to the worship of Adonis, who was believed to have been wounded by a boar in Libanus, above Byblos. The river Adonis, which descends from Mount Libanus, passes by to Byblos, its waters are sometimes as red as blood, occasioned by the particular sort of earth through which it runs, and carries off with it in great quantities as often as it overflows. This is the time when the inhabitants of Byblos lament Adonis, pretending that their river is then coloured with his blood51. The Egyptians had a custom every year at the Feast of Adonis, to throw a Box into the Sea, made in the shape of a head, which they said was the head of Osiris, and in it was a Letter directed to the inhabitants of Byblos, who lived at the distance of above fourscore leagues from them. They pretended that this Box of itself went to Byblos in seven Isai. xviii. 2.days time. The Prophet Isaiah is believed by some to allude to this custom, when he says, Wo to the land that sendeth Ambassadors by Sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters.
Some are of opinion, that they who in 1 Kings v. 18.the Scripture are called Giblii, and whose dexterity in cutting wood and building vessels is there commended, were the inhabitants Ecclus. xxvii. 9.of Byblos, in Hebrew called Gebal. It was seated at the foot of Libanus, upon the Mediterranean, almost opposite to the place, where we still see some Cedars at this day.
BYSSUS. By this word we generally understand that fine Egyptian Linen to be meant, which the Priests Tunicks were made of. But we are to distinguish carefully three sorts of things, which are generally confounded, and are comprehended under the name of Linen52. 1. The Hebrew, bad, which signifies Linen. 2. Schesch, which signifies Cotton. 3. Buz, which is what we commonly call Byssus, which is the Silk growing under a certain shell-fish called Pinna.
Philo53 says, that the Byssus is the clearest, and most beautiful, the whitest, strongest, and most glossy sort of Linen; that it is not made of any thing mortal, that is to say, of woollen or the skin of any animal, but that it comes out of the earth, and becomes always whiter and more shining, when it is washed as it should be. There is a sort of Pumice-stone in the confines of Arabia, and in the isle of Cyprus54, called Amiantus, or incorruptible which is beaten and dissolves much after the manner of our making paper, then being dried, it is spun like cotton. Of this the Arabians make them socks, stockings and drawers, to defend themselves from the burning heats of the sands in Arabia. This sort of linen cloth is incorruptible, and does not burn, but is cleansed in the flames. Pliny55 calls it Linum vivum, and says, that the Romans made tablecloths and napkins of it, which were clean
ed and became more beautiful by passing through the fire. One would think Moses should not have forgotten this kind of Linen among those mentioned by him. But has he spoke of it under the name of Byssus? This is what no one can affirm certainly without temerity.
In our Comment upon Exodus and the Chronicles, we have declared ourselves in favour of that kind of Silk, which is to be found at the tail of a certain Fish called Pinna, and fastens it to the Earth with a sort of tuft, in colour like a yellow gilded Silk, and of this formerly the richest Mantles were made for Kings56: Procopius says, the Emperor Justinian had a Mantle of this sort of Silk, which he made use of upon occasions of Ceremony.
Nevertheless, I have still some doubt concerning this opinion; for I do not find the name of Buz in the Hebrew Text of Moses, tho’ the Greek and Latin Interpreters have made use of the word Byssus, to signify the fine Linen of certain Habits belonging to the Priests. There is room therefore to believe, that it was not the design of Moses to speak of it. The word Buz is not to be met with in the Bible, excepting in the Chronicles, in Ezekiel, and Esther. In the Chronicles we see David Ezek. xxvii. 16. Esth. i. 6. 1 Chr. xv. 27 and 2 Chr. v. 12. Esth. viii. 15. 2 Chr. ii. 14. and iii. 14. 1 Chr. iv. 21.dressed in a Mantle of Buz, with the Singers and all the Levites. Solomon uses Buz in the Vails of the Temple and the Sanctuary. Ahasuerus’s Tents were upheld by Cords of Buz, and Mordecai was cloathed with a Mantle of Purple and Buz, when King Ahasuerus honoured him with the first Employment in his Kingdom. Lastly, it is observed, that there was a Manufacture of Buz in the City of Beersheba in Palestine. I can hardly persuade myself, that the Silk of the Fish Pinna could have been so frequent in this Country, so early as in the time of David and Solomon. Nevertheless it is certain, that this Buz must have been different from common Linen, since in the very same place, where it is said, that David had a Mantle of Byssus upon him, we read likewise, that he wore a Linen Ephod. See the Article Cotton.
CABBALA. This word, according to the Hebrew Style, has a very different signification from that wherein we understand it in our Language. The Hebrew Cabbala signifies Tradition57, and the Rabbins, who are called Cabbalists, study principally the Combination of particular Words, Letters and Numbers; and by this means pretend to discover what is to come, and to see clearly into the sense of many difficult passages in Scripture. There are no sure and certain Principles of this Knowledge, but it depends upon some particular Traditions of the Antients; for which reason it is termed Cabbala. The Cabbalists have abundance of names which they call sacred; these they make use of in invoking Spirits, and imagin that they receive great Lights from them: They tell us, that the Secrets of the Cabbala58 were discovered to Moses on Mount Sinai, and that these have been delivered down to them from Father to Son, without interruption, and without any use of Letters; for to write them down, is what they are by no means permitted to do. It is said, that there are many of the Jewish Cabbalists in Poland, and other places in the North. See Basnage’s continuation of Josephus, t. 6. l. ix. c. 7.
The manner wherein Maimonides59 explains the Cabbala, or Tradition of the Jews, is as follows.
God not only delivered the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai, but the explanation of it likewise. When he came down, and entred into his Tent, Aaron went to visit him, and Moses acquainted him with the Laws which he had received from God, together with the Explanation of them. After this, Aaron placed himself at the right hand of Moses, Eleazar and Ithamar the Sons of Aaron were admitted, and Moses repeated to them what he had been saying just before to Aaron. These being seated one on the right, the other on the left hand of Moses, the 70 Elders of Israel came in, who composed the Sanhedrin; Moses again declared the same Laws to them, with the Interpretations of them, as he had done before to Aaron and his Sons. Lastly, All whoever pleased of the common People were invited to enter, and Moses instructed them in the same manner as the rest. So that Aaron heard four times what Moses
had been taught by God upon the Mountain, Eleazar and Ithamar three times, the 70 Elders twice, and the People once.
Moses afterwards reduced the Laws which he had received into writing, but not the Explanations of them. He thought it sufficient to trust them to the Memory of the persons abovementioned, who being perfectly instructed in them, delivered them to their Children, and these again to theirs from Age to Age. The written Laws of Moses are to be read in his Books, in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, but the Explanation, Tradition or Cabbala of these very Laws, is preserved to this day in the memory of the Hebrews. This is termed likewise the Oral Law, because it passed from Father to Son, from Mouth to Mouth, in order to distinguish it from the written Laws.
Some of these Traditions, or Cabbalas, the Patriarchs are supposed to be the Authors of, and to have been instructed by their Angels.60 The Angel Raziel was Adam’s Master, and taught him the Cabbala. Raphiel was Shem’s; Zedekiel was Abraham’s, Raphael Isaac’s, Peliel Jacob’s, Gabriel Joseph’s, Metatron Moses’s, and Malathiel Elias’s. Thus the Rabbins endeavour to give great Authority to their Traditions and Explanations of the Law, against which our Saviour appeared with so much vehemence.
There is another Cabbala called artificial, which consists in searching for abstruse and mysterious Significations of a word in Scripture, from whence they borrow certain Explanations, by combining the Letters which compose it. This Cabbala is divided into three kinds, the Gematrie, the Notaricon, and the Temura or change. The Gematry consists in taking the Letters of a Hebrew word for Cyphers, or arithmetical Numbers, and explaining every word by the arithmetical value of the Letters whereof it is composed; for example, Gen. xlix. 10.the Hebrew Letters of יבא שילה Jabo-schiloh,61 Shiloh shall come, make up the same arithmetical Number as משיחMessiach, the Messiah, from whence they conclude, that Shiloh signifies the Messiah.
The second kind of Cabbala, which is called Notaricon, consists in taking every particular letter of a word for an intire diction. For example, of Bereschith62, which is the first word of Genesis, composed of the Letters B. R. A. SCH. IT. they make Bara-Rakia-Arez-Schamaim- Jam-Tehomoth63. He created the Firmament, the Earth, the Heavens, the Sea and the Deep; or in taking the first Letters of a Sentence to form one Diction only with them; for example,64 Atah-Gibbor-Leholam-Adonai. Thou art strong for ever, O Lord. They put the first Letters of this Sentence together, and make the word Agla65, which may signify, I will reveal, or a drop of Dew.
The third kind of Cabbala, called Themurah66, that is to say, change, consists in making different Transpositions or changes of Letters, placing one for the other, or one before the other, much after the manner of making Anagrams in Latin, or any other Language; for example, of the word Bereschith67, with which Genesis begins, they make A-betisri, the first day of the Month Tizri; and infer from it, that the World was created the first day of the Month Tizri, which answers very near to our September.
Among Christians likewise, a certain sort of Magick is by mistake called Cabbala, which consists in using improperly Passages of Scripture for Magick Operations, or in forming Magick Characters or Figures, with Stars and Talismans. Such are the Abraxas so well known among the Antiquaries. Under the same name likewise is sometimes comprehended the hermetical Art, or the search after the Philosopher’s Stone.
CABBALISTS. The Rabbinical Doctors among the Jews are called by this name, who receive not only the Text of Scripture, but also the Explanations of the Talmud, and the Traditions of the Antients, and who besides study to discover mysterious and concealed Meanings in the Scripture, of God’s appointing, and left by him to the enquiries of Men; for, in their opinion, there is not a Word, Letter, or Accent in the Law, without some Mystery in it.
The first Cabbalistical Author that we know of, is Simon the Son of Joachai, whom the Jews, and some Christians glory in mightily, and affirm him to have lived some little time before the ruin of Jerusalem by Titus68; but others allow him
to have appeared no earlier than in the tenth Century, and understand all that is said of this famous person to be fabulous. His Book entitled Zohar is printed; but it is agreed, that many additions have been made to it.
CABBON, a City in the Tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 40.
CABUL. See Chabalon.
CABUS or Cab, an Hebrew Measure, the sixth part of a Seah or Satum; and the eighteenth part of an Epha. A Cab69 contained two pints ⁵⁄₆ of our Corn Measure. A quarter Cab was the Measure of Dove’s Dung, or a sort of chich-pease, called by this name, which was sold at Samaria during the Siege of this City for five Shekels. This quarter of a Cab contained something above half a pint. It is called likewise Log or Robah. A Cab is very different from a Cad or Cadus.
CAD, or Cadus,70 signifies in Hebrew a Pitcher, a Hogshead, a Bucket. But in S. Luke a particular Measure is meant by it. How much owest thou unto my Lord? And he said, an hundred Measures of oyl.71 The Greek reads, an hundred Baths. Now the Bath or Ephah, contains ten Gallons, and some small matter over. A Cad is very different from a Cab, which is no more than the eighteenth part of an Ephah or Cadus.
CADUMIM. The Brook Cadumim is mentioned in Judges, Chap. v. 21. Many are of opinion, that this Brook ran from West to East, from the foot of Mount Tabor into the Sea of Tiberias. But we have no evidence of there being any such Brook in this place. Others think, Cadumim is only a synonymous term for the Brook Kishon: And there is nothing in the Scripture which contradicts this opinion. Torrens Cison traxit cadavera; torrens Cadumim, torrens Cison72. We know there was Judith vii. 3. in Syriaco.a City in these parts called Cadmon, mentioned in the Book of Judith, from whence the Brook Cadumim or Kishon might take its name. Eusebius speaks of a large place, called Cammon, in the great Plain, six Miles northward from Legio.
CÆSAR. This is the name of all the Roman Emperors, from Julius Cæsar to the Destruction of the Roman Empire. In Scripture the reigning Emperor was generally mentioned by the Name of Cæsar, without expressing any other, under which he was more known in History. For example, Jesus Christ calls Tiberius, Cæsar, without adding any other appellation, saying, Render unto Cæsar, the things Mat. xxii. 21.that are Cæsar’s. And S. Paul mentions Nero under the same Title only. I appeal unto Cæsar; that is to say, to Nero, who then reigned.
CÆSAREA in Palestine, before called Strato’s Tower, and built by Herod the Great in Honour of Augustus, was situated on the eastern Coast of the Mediterranean, and had a very fine Harbour belonging to it. Josephus73 says, it was six hundred Furlongs; that is to say, about five or six and twenty common Leagues from Jerusalem. Vespasian, after the Jewish War was ended, settled a Roman Colony in Cæsarea. Its Inhabitants were part Jews and part Greeks, or Idolaters: Hence arose those Seditions which were so frequent between these two People. Cæsarea is often spoken of in the New Testament. There it was that King Agrippa was smitten of the Lord, in neglecting Acts xii. 23.to give God the Glory, when the People were so liberal to him of their Praises. Acts x. 1. & seq. Acts xxv. 10. Acts viii. 40. Acts xxi. 10, 11.Cornelius the Centurion, who was baptized by S. Peter, lived at Cæsarea. There S. Philip the Deacon, with his four Maiden Daughters, had his Habitation. At Cæsarea the Prophet Agabus foretold to S. Paul, that he would be bound and confined by his Enemies at Jerusalem. Lastly, Acts xxiii, xxiv, xxv.the same Apostle continued two years a prisoner at Cæsarea, till he was conducted to Rome, where he had appealed to Nero’s Tribunal. Whenever there is mention of the Cities in Palestine, and Cæsarea is named without the addition of Philippi, we are always to suppose that Cæsarea to be meant, whereof we are speaking in this place.
Cæsarea Philippi, before called Paneas, is situated at the foot of Mount Panéus, near the Springs of Jordan. Its ancient name is believed to have been Dan or Lais; and it is called Paneas by the Phœnicians only.74 But Eusebius distinguishes Dan from Paneas, as if they were two different places near each other.75 Cæsarea was at the distance of a day’s journey from Sidon76, and a day’s journey and an half from Damascus.77 Philip the Tetrarch built it, or at least embellished and enlarged it, and gave it the name of Cæsarea in honour of Tiberius; afterwards,
in respect to Nero, it was called Neronias.78 The Springs from which the River Jordan proceeds, appear near Cæsarea Philippi, and pass through natural and subterraneous Channels from the Lake Phiala, which is at the distance of an hundred and twenty Furlongs, or five Leagues from this City.79 The Woman who was troubled with an Issue of Blood, and healed by our Saviour, is said to Mat. ix. 20. Luke viii. 43,have been of Cæsarea Philippi, and to have returned thither after her cure, and erected a Statue to her Benefactor80. At the foot of this Statue there grew an Herb, which had the vertue of curing several Diseases. Julian the Apostate pulled down this Figure, and set up his own in the room of it. But the Christian Inhabitants of the City took this Statue of our Saviour, and placed it with Honour in their Church, and Fire from Heaven consumed that of Julian.
CAIN, the eldest Son of Adam and Eve. He was born towards the end of the first year of the World’s Creation, some believe, that Eve at the same time produced a Daughter, Cain’s Sister, who is by some called Catmana, by others, Azura or Azrun: But the Scripture says nothing of any such person.
When Cain was grown up, he applied Gen. iv. 2, &c.himself to Agriculture, and his Brother Abel imployed himself in feeding his Flocks. Upon a certain day Cain having offered the first Fruits of his Labour to the Lord, and Abel the Fat or Milk of his Flock, God shewed by some sensible Sign, that Abel’s Offerings were agreeable to him, and that Cain’s were not so; which so inraged Cain, and stung him with envy, that his Countenance was intirely changed; whereupon the Lord said to him, why art thou troubled, and why is thy Countenance so dejected? If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou dost not well, shall not Punishment be the consequence of thy Sin? Abel shall be subject to thee, and thou, as the First -born, shalt rule over him.
But Cain suffering himself to be governed by his envious Passion, said to his Brother, Let us go into the Fields, and when they were there, he rose up against him and killed him. Then said the Lord to Cain, where is thy brother Abel? He answered, I know not, am I my Brother’s keeper? God said, what hast thou done? the voice of thy Brother’s Blood ariseth unto me from the Ground on which thou hast shed it. And now thou art cursed from the Earth, which hath opened her Mouth to receive thy Brother’s Blood from thy hand. When thou tillest it, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her Strength: A Fugitive and a Vagabond shalt thou be in the Earth. Cain replied, My Punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold thou hast driven me from thy Presence, and I shall be a Vagabond on the Earth, and every one that findeth me shall slay me. It shall not be so, said the Lord; for whosoever slayeth Cain, Vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark on Cain,81 lest any finding him should kill him82.
Cain went out therefore from the Presence of the Lord, and retired to the Land of Nod, which lies to the East of the Province of Eden. While he dwelt in this Country, he had a Son, whom he named Enoch, in Memory of whom he built a City of the same name. This is what we learn from Scripture concerning Cain. Several Questions relating to him are proposed by different Persons, which are treated of by the Commentators. For example, what the pretence or motive was, which induced Cain to kill his Brother Abel; what Instrument he made use of; whose Resentment and Revenge he apprehended; to what Country he retired, what the Mark was which God fixed upon him; and what death he died. As to this last Article, it is said, he was killed by Lamech one of his Nephews. Lamech, they tell us, by some accident became blind; but notwithstanding this Misfortune, he sometimes went a hunting; upon which occasions he was led by a young Man, who gave him notice when he saw any Game. One day he heard a rustling in the Thickets, whereupon his Guide thought there was some wild Beast there. In reality it was Cain; and Lamech shooting at the place killed him. As soon as he discovered his Mistake, he was so inraged, that he stab’d his Guide, and returning to his own House, he said to his two Wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. But there is no certainty at all in this Tradition.
Josephus says83, that Cain having settled at Naid or Nod, built a City there for himself and his Family; and instead of being reformed by this State of Exile, wherewith God had punished him, he grew more wicked, and gave himself up to all sorts of irregularities, and violence, and put himself at the head of a band of thieves, whom he had got together, and taught how to grow rich as well as he, at the expence of others. He quite changed the old simplicity and honesty, which reigned in the world, and introduced fraud and deceipt in trade by inventing weights and measures. He was the first, who set particular bounds to the fields, and who built and fortified a City.
We do not know how long Cain lived: Some say he was eight hundred; others seven hundred, others six hundred and fourscore; others again, that he was nine hundred and one and thirty years of Age, when he died. Some say he lived to the deluge. There are some too who believe that he was crushed in pieces under the ruins of an house; others, that he was killed, as we have said, by Lamech; and lastly others, that he killed himself84. There is nothing certain in all this, nor in the generality of those questions, which are proposed concerning other parts of his History. The Reader may hereupon consult the Commentators.
CAINS, or Cainites, certain Hereticks, who appeared in the second Century, and believed Cain to have been produced by some greater and more excellent power than Abel; and that for this reason Cain prevailed over Abel. Upon the same principle they paid extraordinary honours and respect to all those persons, who are represented in the Scripture to be the worst and most infamous of mankind, such as the inhabitants of Sodom, Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, and in particular to the traitor Judas, who knowing that the Salvation of Men was to be procured by the Death of Jesus Christ, delivered him up to his enemies in order to be executed, notwithstanding the resistance of some certain powers, who were ill-wishers to our happiness, and would have prevented him. The Cainites collected, and adopted all that was most impure and ignominious in the Heresy of the Gnosticks, and other Hereticks of those times. See Epiphanius, Heresy 38. Tertull. De Præscriptionibus, c. 47, &c.
The Eastern people assert, that the children of Seth, who were the Sons of God, and the Faithful before the Deluge, had many wars to maintain against the Sons of Cain, in Scripture called the Sons of Men. They add that Caiumaras first King of the East, in the account of the Persians, was very serviceable to the Sons of Seth, as well as his General, whose name was Dudasch85.
In the first Ages of the Church there was an Heresy called Cainians or Cainites, which took its name from Cain, whom they looked upon as their Head and Father. These were one branch of the Gnosticks, who embraced very monstrous errors: they maintained, that Cain, Esau, Lot, the traitor Judas, the inhabitants of Sodom, and in a word all those, who are mentioned in the sacred Books with horror, and whose impious actions are related there, were born of some celestial and very mighty power; that Abel on the contrary, and other righteous men were produced by some weaker power. The examples of these wicked wretches, and the books whereof they are reputed to be the Authors, encouraged them in committing the most shameful actions86, and most excessive debauches.
I. CAINAN, the Son of Enos, was born in the year of the world 325. His Father Enos was at that time ninety years of Age. Genes. v. 9. We know no other particularity of his Life, except that at the Age of seventy, he begat Mahalaleel. Cainan died at the Age of nine hundred and ten, in the year of the World 1235, before J. C. 2765, before the vulgar Æra 2769.
II. CAINAN, the Son of Arphaxad, and Father of Salah, is neither in the Hebrew Text nor in the Vulgate, Genes. xi. 12, 13, 14. But he is named in S. Luke iii. 36. who places him betwen Salah and Arphaxad, which was the Son of Salah, which was the Son of Cainan, which was the Son of Arphaxad.
The Septuagint, Genes. x. 24. and xi. 12. admit him as well as S. Luke. Some have been of opinion, that the Jews suppressed the word Cainan, and expunged it out of their Copies with a design of rendring the Septuagint and S. Luke suspected, who had received it. Others have thought, that Moses purposely omitted Cainan, because he had a mind to reckon ten Generations only from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Abraham. Others will have it, that Arphaxad was the Father of both Cainan and Salah, of Salah in a natural way, and of Cainan according to the Law. Lastly, others have asserted, that Cainan and Salah were the same person mentioned in the Septuagint and S. Luke by the two names belonging to him. This is what some say to support that opinion, which maintains Cainan to be really the Son of Arphaxad, and Father of Salah. We shall not stay here to confute these different
rent opinions; but refer the Reader to our Comment upon Genesis x. 24. and those Authors who have written particularly on Cainan87.
They who assert, that Cainan was surreptitiously inserted into the Septuagint, and from thence was taken by S. Luke, pretend, that the Authority of the Hebrew, Vulgate, Chaldee, and Syriac is much preferable to the Septuagint: that S. Luke having only copied these Interpreters, his Text in this place can be of no greater authority than the Septuagint: that the defalcations and changes which have been made in the years of the Patriarchs, are alone sufficient to destroy their Authority, wherever they contradict the Hebrew: and that upon comparing the Editions of the Septuagint, they are found not to agree with one another. Lastly, there are some, who affirm, that the name of Cainan is new and strange in the Text of the Septuagint; that these Interpreters did not put it there, and the most ancient of the Fathers did not read it there. And indeed neither Josephus, nor Philo knew any thing of Cainan’s being the Son of Arphaxad; and the old Fathers generally reckon no more than ten Generations from Noah to Abraham. But there would be eleven, if Cainan were to be included in the number. If S. Luke therefore inserted his name in the Gospel, which he wrote, it was certainly at that time in some Copies of the Septuagint; and many learned men believe, that this name was not to be met with in the first Texts of S. Luke, but that it is an addition which has been made by the Transcribers.
CAIPHA, or Caïapha, or Hepha88, a Town situated at the foot of Mount Carmel to the North, upon the Gulph of Ptolemaïs. Its ancient name was Sycaminas, or Porphyreon. The name of Sycaminos, or Sycaminon, was derived probably from the Sycomore-trees, which grew there; and that of Porphyreon from catching a particular kind of Fish there, which was made use of in dying purple. We may suppose that of Cepha or Caipha to have been given it, on the score of its rocks, which in Syriac are called Cepha: but the Hebrews write Hepha and not Chepha or Kepha. This City was separated from that of Acco or Ptolemaïs, by its harbour, which is very large and beautiful. From Acco to Cepha by Sea, and in a strait line, is not above fifteen miles or five leagues; but by Land the distance is double this length89.
CAIPHAS, or Joseph Caiphas, High Priest of the Jews, succeeded Simon the Son of Camith in the High Priesthood, and after he had possessed this dignity for nine years, that is to say, from the year of the world 4029 to 4038. he was succeeded by Jonathan the Son of Ananus or Annas. Caïphas was High Priest in the year of the world 4037, which was that of Jesus Christ’s Death. He was deposed by Vitellius Governor of Syria. Caiphas married one of the Daughters of Annas, who also is called High Priest in the Gospel, because he had for a long time enjoyed this dignity.
When the Priests deliberated, whether they should lay hold of Jesus Christ, and put him to death, Caïphas told them, that there was no room for debating on that matter, and that it was expedient for one man to die for all the people, that the whole nation might not perish. This was a John xi. 49, 50.prophecy, which God suffered to be pronounced by the mouth of the High Priest on this occasion, to shew, that the Death of our Saviour would be the Salvation of the World.
After that Judas had betrayed Jesus Christ, and our Saviour, the night before his Passion, had been apprehended and bound in the Garden of Olives, he was first carried by the Soldiers, who had seized him, to the house of Annas, Father-in-law to Caïphas. Annas proposed several questions to him concerning his Disciples, John xviii. 21, 22.and his Doctrine. Jesus answered, that he had taught nothing in secret, and that all the people were witnesses of his Doctrine and Opinions. Whereupon one of Caïphas’s Servants struck him with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the High-Priest so? Annas however was not High Priest this year, but, as we have said, Caïphas. But as he had before been in this office, he still had the title given him.
Annas having thus heard what Jesus had to say, sent him back to his Son-in-law Caïphas, who perhaps lived in the same John xviii. 24.house. The Priests and Doctors of the law were there assembled to judge Jesus, and endeavoured to procure evidences against him, that they might be able to condemn him. The depositions of some false witnesses were heard; but their testimony not being sufficient to justify them in pronouncing sentence of Death against him, and Jesus continuing profoundly silent, Caïphas demanded of him, why he did not speak; but received no reply from him. Hereupon the High Priest said to him, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us, whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus
answered, Thou hast said: neverthe-less I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of Heaven. Upon hearing these words Caïphas rent his clothes, and said, What further need have we of witnesses? behold now you have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? they answered, he is worthy of death. Then Jesus was returned into the Soldiers hands, and the Assembly of the Priests separated, till early the next morning; when Caïphas and the rest of the Priests, the Doctors and the Senate, met again in the Sanhedrim, which was held in the Temple: thither Jesus was brought, and they asked him, Whether he was the Christ? He answered; tho’ I should tell ye, yet would ye not believe me; and if I should entreat you to set me at liberty, ye would not hearken unto me: but I say unto you, that ye shall one day see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of God. They said, Art thou then the Son of God? He answered, I am. Whereupon they concluded instantly, that he deserved death. And as the power of life and death was not lodged in their hands, but reserved to the Romans, they conducted him to Pilate, who was Governor of the Province, that he might confirm their Sentence, and give orders for his execution.
Two years after, that is to say, in the 35th year of the vulgar Æra, and 38th from the Birth of J. C. Vitellius Governor of Syria coming to Jerusalem at the time when the Feast of the Passover was celebrated, was received there very magnificently by the people; and as an acknowledgment for the honour done him, restored the custody of the High Priest’s ornaments to the Priests, remitted certain impositions, which were levied upon the fruits of the earth, and deposed the High Priest Caïphas. Josephus seems to place this deposition among the other favours granted by Vitellius to the Jews. What the end of Caïphas was, and when he died, we cannot tell. His house is shewn still at this day in Jerusalem. But how can we depend on monuments of this kind after so many revolutions, as have happened to the City of Jerusalem?
CAIUS CALIGULA, Emperor of Rome, and Successor to Tiberius. He took upon him the Government of the Empire in the year of J. C. 37, and reigned three years, nine months and twenty eight days. We do not find in the History of the Church, that he did any thing against the Christians. He undertook indeed to procure himself to be adored, and this design he easily accomplished among the Heathens. But having commanded Petronius Governor of Syria to place his Statue in the Temple of Jerusalem, the Jews so vigorously opposed him in the execution of these orders, that he, fearing a Sedition might ensue, and a general rebellion, wrote to Caïus90, informing him, that the Jews could no way be persuaded to receive his Statue, and pay divine honours to it; for by this means he would have exposed himself to certain death, and drawn the utmost calamities upon the Jews; but that hitherto he had had no opportunity to obey his orders, because the Artificers, who were imployed about the Statue, required more time to finish it with all possible perfection, and to make it, if they could, a master-piece of Art. He added, that as yet he had not ventured to press the Jews in this particular, by reason of the season; because if the lands should not be sown, the whole country would be barren and produce nothing, and so the ordinary taxes could not be raised from them; and that want and famine would create an infinite number of thieves.
Caius received Petronius’s Letters, and pretended not to disapprove the reasons of his delay. In a Letter which he directed to be written to him, he commended his prudence; but charged him to consecrate his Statue without farther loss of time. Nevertheless they, who were acquainted with him, and had observed his air, while he was reading these Letters, made no question but that the ruin of Petronius was resolved on.
In the mean while Agrippa returning from Judæa to Rome, without knowing any thing of what had happened, or of Petronius’s Letters, came as usual to make his court to Caius. He found this Prince in great disorder, and not being able to divine the cause of his indignation, he was very much confounded, while he looked on Caius, and saw his Eyes fixed upon him. Hereupon the Emperor seeing him in this perplexity, said to him, Your Jews, a people indeed much to be admired, who alone of all mankind will not allow Caius to be a God, seem to run voluntarily upon their own destruction, by refusing, as they do, to obey me. I commanded the Statue of Jupiter to be placed in their Temple, and they under pretence of begging pardon, and forbearance, have every where rebel’d against me.
Agrippa, when he heard those words fainted away, and was carried home, where he continued till the evening of the next day without motion, or the knowledge of
any thing. At that time he began to open his eyes a little, and look upon those who were about him; then relapsed into the same drowzy state. Upon the third day, his understanding was entirely recovered, and he wrote a long letter to the Emperor, entreating him to forgive the Jews, and that he would not compel them to receive his Statue into their Temple. Caius was moved with Agrippa’s reasons, who invited him to an entertainment at his house in Rome, where he treated him with all the magnificence he could devise. Caius was very well satisfied with his generosity, and in the warmth of his wine told him, that he was determined to make him happy, and heap abundance of favours on him. He afterwards press’d him to tell him, wherein he could most oblige him. Agrippa answered, that the only favour which he asked of him, was, that he would think no more of setting up his Statue in the Temple of Jerusalem. The Emperor immediately granted it, and in the Letter sent by his order to Petronius, commanded him to let his Statue remain in the Temple, if it were already placed there; if it were not, to pursue this matter no farther, adding withal, that he had changed his mind in consideration of Agrippa.
But as if he had repented of the favour which he had so lately shewn the Jews, instead of the Statue, which had been begun at Sidon, he appointed another to be made at Rome, of copper gilt, extremely large, with a design to have it carried privately to Egypt, when he went thither, as he proposed to do, in the beginning of the year following; and so have it placed without noise in the Temple of Jerusalem, before the Jews had any notice of it. He proceeded so far as to send a Letter to Petronius, wherein he told him, that since he had shewn less regard to his commands, than to the presents, which he had received from the Jews, he required him to be himself his own judge, and to treat himself in such a manner, as that man deserved, who had disobeyed his Prince. This was in effect commanding him to kill himself. But it pleased God that this Letter was not delivered to Petronius, till after the death of Caïus.
The Jews of Alexandria at the same time suffered strange persecutions from the Heathens of that City, who being supported by Flaccus their Governor, lost no opportunity of using them ill. Philo the Jew was sent with some other Deputies to the Emperor91, to demand justice against the inhabitants of Alexandria. They presented a Memorial to him, which contained a short account of their sufferings.
Caïum. Caïus at first received them very civilly, and directed his Officers to acquaint them, that he would himself hear them, as soon as he had leisure. All the world believed, upon this favourable reception, that they would gain their cause. But Philo, whom age and experience had made more diffident than the rest, was apprehensive, that this Prince had already been engaged by the Alexandrians, and that these fair appearances would at last terminate in the loss of their cause.
At length Philo had his audience near the City in the pleasure-houses which were called Mecænas’s. Caius ordered all the chambers of these palaces to be opened, that he might see them one after another, and while he was thus imployed he sent for the Jews. Upon his first accosting them, he said with a reproachful smile, Are you then those enemies of the Gods, who refuse to acknowledge me as a Deity, tho’ all other people own me as such; and who choose rather to adore another, whom you cannot so much as name? At the same time lifting up his hands to Heaven, he spoke so blasphemously, that Philo, who relates this whole story, did not dare to mention what he said. Hereupon one Isidorus addressing himself to the Emperor told him, that he would still have a greater detestation for this people, if he knew the aversion which they had to him; for they, said he, are the only people, who have not sacrificed for your health, which all besides have done. At these words, the Jews all cried out together, that this was meer slander, that they had three times offered the most solemn Sacrifices, which their Religion prescribed to them for his prosperity. Grant it, said Caius, but you have sacrificed to another; and what honour have I received, since you did not sacrifice to me?
In the mean time Caius run over his apartments, and gave directions for the particular alterations, which he intended to have made in them. After which he returned to the Jews, and very gravely asked them, why they did not eat swine’s flesh? The Jews represented to him, that every Nation had its peculiar Laws and Customs, and that there were some things, which their adversaries did not eat of. Whereupon one observing that there were many, who would not eat lamb’s flesh; they are in the right, said Caius smiling, for there is no taste in it. After this, he asked them, upon what grounds they pretended to be free of Alexandria? They began to lay before him their right to this privilege; and without waiting till they had done, he broke off the discourse, and ran away into a large Hall, round which
Caius Caligula continues on the next page
Footnotes
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Gaffarel. Curiositez inouies, c. 13. p. 279. ↩
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Origen. apud Eufeb. de præpar. l. 6. c. 11. See the Testament of the twelve Patriarchs. ↩
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Vide Selden. de Jure Nat. & Gent. l. vi. c. 16. ↩
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Homeri Iliad. Δ. ↩
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Servius in Æneid. l. i. ↩
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Quidam in Rab. Salom. Lyran. in Ruth ii. & iv. Catharin. alij. Jerosol. Rabbini Sal. Kimchi, Levi fil. David. Abraham Zaccuta, &c. ↩
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Targum Ruth. Talmud. ↩
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יכיןStatuet. ↩
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בועזFirmitas, Robur. ↩
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Vat. Grot. Sanct. ↩
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Bibl. Orient. p. 211. col. 2. ↩
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Hieronym. Abdiam. ↩
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Megasthenes apud. Euseb. Præp. Evang. l. ix. c. 41. ↩
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Strabo l. xv. ↩
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Porphyr. de abstin. l. iii. ↩
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Voyage de deux Arabes a la Chine. p. 55. ↩
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Arnob. l. v. contra Gentes. Lucian. proslalia. Clem. Alex. Protreptic. p. 19. Theodot. Σαραβάροις Sym. Ἀναξυρίδας. ↩
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בסרבליהיןAqu. ↩
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Vide Brisson. l. i. de Regno Persar. ↩
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צמחTzemach. ↩
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Translators’ note. The Antients were used to call their Heroes Deorum Germina; of this we have frequent examples in the Poets. One is called Ἔρνος Ἄρνος, Germen Martis. Another Διὸς ἔρνος, Jovis germen. And Ζηνὸς θάλος, Jovis ramus. Huet. Dem. Evang. Prop. ix. c. lix. ↩
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Heb. עגותHuggoth, 70. ἐγκρυφίαι. ↩
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Busbeq. Constantinop. p. 36. ↩
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D’Arvieu Coutumes des Arabes, c. 14. ↩
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Hieron. in c. xlv. Exod. Part. ii. c. 9. ↩
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Philo de præm. Sacerd. ↩
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Leon de Modene Cerem. des Juifs. ↩
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נחלNachal χειμαῤῥος, Torrens. ↩
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נחלהשטיםχείμαῤῥον τῶν χοινίων. Torrentem funium. ↩
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נחל אשכלNachal Eshcol. Torrens or Vallis. Botri. Num. xiii. 24. xxxii. ↩
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Hebr. בנגב אפיקיםEffusiones in Austro. t 70 ארבהΒρῦχος. ↩
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ארבה 70. Βρῦχος. ↩
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Aug. in Psal. civ. ↩
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יחמורBubalus. ↩
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שורSchor. Taurus or Bos. ↩
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70 .עקרו שורἘνευροκόπησαν ταύρον. ↩
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Origen homil. xvii. in Genes. Tertull. contra Judæos, c. 10. ↩
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Joseph. de Bello, l. iii c. 25. in Græco, p. 852, 853. Exercent ubi festa mero pede Sabbatha ↩
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Translators’ note. Here likewise we find them in Virgil’s description of this place Æneid. l. vi. 434. Proxima deinde tenent mœsti loca, qui sibi lethum Insontes peperêre manu, lucemque perosi Projecêre animas. Quam vellent æthere in alto, Nunc et pauperiem et duros perferre labores! ↩
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Tacit. Hist. l. v. c. 5. ↩
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Leo of Modena part 5. c. 8. ↩
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Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 35. ↩
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Johan. Nicolai de Sepulcr. Hebr. l. iv. c. 6. Basnage hist. des Juifs, l. 7. c. 24. n 24. ↩
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Rab. Salom. in Levit. xix. 30. Maimonid. in Misna de Benedict. ↩
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Juvenal. Satyr. 6. ↩
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Hieronym. in Ep. ad Galat. c. iii. ↩
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Aug. l. iii. de Trin. c. 11. ↩
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Greg. Mag. l. xxviii. Moral. c. 1. ↩
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Tertull. contra Judæos. Justin. dialog. cum Tryph. Iren. l. iv. c. 16. Basil. l. ii. & iv. contra Eunom. Hilar. l. iv. & v. de Trinit. Theodor. qu. 5. in Exod. ↩
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Aug. Ser. 7. de Script. Vet. & Nov. Test. ↩
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Lucian. de Dea Syria. ↩
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ברLinnen. שׁשSchesch, Gossypium. בוץButz, Byssus. ↩
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Philon. de Somniis p. 592. Λινῶν δὲ βύσσου τῆς καθαρωτάτης πεποιημένον ἀναλαμβάνει, ἡ δὲ ἐπὶ, &c. ↩
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Relation des Caravannes imprimée à Nancy, 1707. par M. Bugnon. Geograph. de S. A. R. ↩
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Plin. l. xix. c. 1. ↩
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Basil. in Hexaëmeron. Orat. 7. Πόθεν οἱ κόχλοι τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τὰς ἁλουργίδας χαρίζονται. ↩
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קבלהCabala Traditio. ↩
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Translators’ note. The first who delivered any thing of the Cabbala in writing was Simon Jochaides, Author of the celebrated Book called Zohar, to which great additions have been since made. The first part of this Work is entitled Zeniutha or Mystery, the second Idra Rabba, or the great Synod, the third Idra Lata, or the little Synod, which is Jochaides’s last adieu to his Disciples. See Histoire des Juifs par Basnage, l. iii. c. 10. where and in the following Book this learned Author is very copious on this Subject. ↩
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Maimonidas’s Preface to the Mishnah. ↩
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R. Abraham-Bendior præfat. in Jetzira. ↩
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יבא שילה: י 10, ב 2, א 1, ש 300, י 10, ל 30, ה 5 = 358. משיח: מ 40, ש 300, י 10, ח 8 = 358. ↩
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בראשיתIn principio. ↩
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ים-ארץ שמים-רקיע-בר’א תהוסות ↩
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אתהגבור לעלם אדני ↩
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אגלאVide Galatin Arcan. l. 2. c. 15. ↩
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תמורהChange. ↩
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1בראשית בתשרי - .אin Tizri. ↩
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See Basnage Hist. des Juifs. t. 6. l. ix. c. 7. p. 317. ↩
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Translators’ note. A Cab contained three Pints ⅓ of our Wine Measure, and two Pints ⅚ of our Corn Mea- sure. Arbuth. Tables of antient Coins, Weights and Measures. ↩
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Translators’ note. Dr. Arbuthnot having enumerated the several Jewish Measures for things liquid, concludes his account of them with these words, In the Scriptures are also found, Nebel, Assa, Nod, Cad, Aboth. Purah, Bacbuc, which some Authors take for certain Measures; but they rather seem to have been the names of Vessels of no determinate Bigness. Tables of antient Coins, Weights and Measures, &c. p. 162. ↩
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Translators’ note. The Vulgate reads, Centum cados olei. ↩
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Ita Versio Vulg. ↩
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Joseph. de Bello, l. i. c. 3. Antiq. l. xiii. c. 19. ↩
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Euseb. Hist. l. 7. c. 16. Sozomen. Hist. l. 5. c. 21. ↩
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Euseb. ad vocem Βηθσαμύς. et ad vocem Δάν. ↩
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Antiq. l. v. c. 2. ↩
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Abulfeda apud Reland. Palest. t. 2. p. 920. ↩
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Joseph. Antiq. l. xx. c. 8. ↩
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Idem de Bello. l. i. c. 16. ↩
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Euseb. l. viii. c. 4. Nicephor. l. viii. c. 15. ↩
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There is great diversity of Opinions concerning this Mark; some will have it, that God produced a Horn upon his Fore-head; and others, that he ingraved a letter on it; for example, the first letter of the word Cain. Others are of Opinion, that God created such a trembling in all his Limbs, as shewed his evil Concience and Remorse for the Sin he had committed. This last Opinion is most followed by the Fathers. The Rabbins say, he had a Dog with him, which went barking continually before him. ↩
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He feared the resentment of Abel’s Children, and of his other Brothers and Relations. He apprehended that they would pursue and kill him, unless he retired to such a distance from them, that it might be never possible for him to fall into their Hands. For at that time, and long after, people looked upon themselves to be obliged in duty to revenge the Death of their near Kinsmen. The Law appointed Cities of Refuge for involuntary Murderers, and in some sort tolerated Revenge in other Cases. ↩
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Joseph. Antiq. l. i. c. 3. ↩
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See Bayle’s Dictionary, in the Article Cain. ↩
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D’Herbolet. Bibl. Orient. p. 323. ↩
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Vide Epiphan. hæres. 38. ↩
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See Usher’s Dissertation on Cainan; Cornel. a Lapide, in Genes. xi. Natal. Alex. Dissert. in V. T. Grot. in Luc. iii. 36. Mill. ibidem. Spanhem. Dub. Evang. Bochart. Phaleg. l. ii. c. 13. and our Comment. upon Genes. x. 24. and Luke iii. 36. ↩
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חיפאHeipha. ↩
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Vide Scherif ibn idris, seu Nubiens. apud Reland. t. ii. p. 819. ↩
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Vide Joseph. Antiq. l. xviii. c. 11. de Bello, l. ii. c. 17. ↩
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See Philo, de Legatione ad ↩