REP – RIG

Volume II, pages 530–548 of the 1732 edition, from REP to RIG: everything printed on these pages, in order.

Continued from Repast

REPAST, or Food that was set upon the Tombs of the Dead. Cœna mortui. Baruch Baruch. vi. 31.mentions it in these Words. Rugiunt autem clamantes contra Deos suos, sicut in cœna mortui. The Pagans howl in the Presence of their Gods, as in the Repast which is made for the Dead. He speaks of certain Solemnities, wherein the Idolaters us’d to make great Lamentations: For Example, in the Feasts of Adonis. As to the Repasts for the Dead, they are distinguish’d into two Kinds: One was made in the House of the Defunct, at the Return of the Mourners from the Grave. To this were invited the Kindred and Friends of the Deceased; where they did not fail to express their Grief by Cries and Lamentations. The other Kind was made upon the Tomb itself of the dead Person, where they provided a Repast for the wandering Souls, and believed that the Goddess Trivia, who presides over the Streets and Highways, repair’d thither in the Night-time. But in truth they were Beggars and poor People, who came thither in the Darkness of the Night, and carry’d away what was left upon the Tomb.

Sometimes, however, the Relations made a small Repast upon the Tomb of the Deceased. Nonnius Marcell. ex Varrone.Ad sepulchrum antiquo more silicernium confecimus, id est, περιδεῖπνον*, quo* pransi discedentes dicimus alius alii Vale.

The Custom of setting Food upon the Sepulchres of the Dead, was common among the Hebrews. Tobit thus advises his Son; Tob. iv. 17.Pour out thy Bread on the Burial of the Just, but give nothing to the Wicked. That is to say, not to partake in the Repast with the Relations, who perform’d the same Ceremony. And Jesus the Son of Sirach affirms, Ecclus. xxx. 18.that Delicates poured upon a Mouth shut up, are as Messes of Meat set upon a Grave. What is thus set upon a Tomb, is utterly lost as to the dead Person; he can have no Benefit from it. And elsewhere; A Gift hath Grace Ecclus. vii. 33.in the Sight of every Man living, and for the Dead detain it not.

This Custom was almost universal. We find it among the Greeks, the Romans, and almost all the People of the East. It still obtains in Syria, in Babylonia, and in China. St. Aug. Ep. 22. 29. nov. edit.Austin observes, that in his Time, in Africa, they laid Victuals upon the Tombs of the Martyrs, and in Church-yards. The thing at first was done very innocently, but afterwards it degenerated into an Abuse; and the greatest Saints, and most zealous Bishops, as St. Austin, and St. AmbroseAug. Confess. l. 6. c. 2., had much Difficulty to suppress it. St. Monica being at Milan, had a mind, according to Custom, to offer Bread and Wine to the Memory of the Martyrs; but the Porter would not open the Door to her, because St. Ambrose had forbid him; she therefore summitted with an humble Obedience.

Hos. ix. 4.The Repast that was made in the House of the Deceased among the Jews, was also of two Kinds. One was during the Time that the Mourning continu’d, and these Repasts were look’d upon as unclean, because those that partook of them were unclean, as having assisted at the Obsequies of the dead Person. Hosea says; Their Sacrifices shall be unto them as the Bread of Mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted. And in the Form that the Israelites made Use of, when they offer’d their First-fruits, they address’d themselves thus to the Lord; ” O Lord, I have ” not neglected thy Ordinances; I have not ” used these things while I was in Mourning; I have made no Use of them at the ” Funerals of the Dead.” God would not permit Ezekiel to mourn for his Wife. Cover not thy Lips, Eze. xxiv. 17. Jer. xvi. 7.and eat not the Bread of Men. And Jeremiah; Neither shall Men give them the Cup of Consolation, to drink for their Father, or for their Mother.

The other Repasts made in the Time of Mourning, are those which were given after Joseph. de bello, l. 2. c. 1.the Funeral. Josephus relates, that Archelaus treated the whole People in a magnificent Manner, after he had compleated the seven Days Mourning for the King his Father. He there adds, That it was the Custom of his Nation to make great Feasts for the Relations, which could not be done without an Injury to many Families, which were not in a Condition to support such large Expences. St. Pauline commends Paulin. illustrat. p. 29, 30.Pammachius, for having made a great Feast for the Poor, in the Basilicon of St. Peter, on the Day of the Funeral of his Wife Paulina.

REPENTANCE, Pœnitentia; in Greek, Metanoia. This Word is generally taken for that Contrition, Compunction, Regret, or Reluctance that arise in us, after having done something that we ought not to have done; join’d to a sincere Resolution of imposing a suitable Punishment upon ourselves for it. Rom. xi. 22. For the Gifts and Calling of God are without Repentance: And especially for the Sorrow of having offended God. It is also taken for the Works of Penitence or Penance, Fasting, Weeping, Alms, and Works of Satisfaction; and for the Sacrament of Penance, by means of which we obtain Forgiveness of the Sins we commit after Baptism. There is a false Repen-

tance, as that of Antiochus Epiphanes, of Judas Iscariot, of Pharaoh, of Saul, of Ahab. Judas wanted Confidence in the Mercy of God, and therefore fell into Despair. Antiochus had no sincere Contrition. Pharaoh and Saul were terrified, but not moved by a true Repentance; they continued hardned, and changed neither their Minds nor their Manners. Ahab was indeed touched, but he wanted Perseverance in doing good.

In Leviticus it is said, That he that Levit. v. 5. Vulg.shall acknowledge his Sin, shall repent of it, and shall offer the Sacrifices appointed for this Occasion. Agat pœnitentiam pro peccato, & offerat, &c. But the original Text says only, That he that shall have sinned, that shall have acknowledged his Fault, and confess’d it, shall offer the Victims prescribed by the Law. It does not expresly mention Repentance; but enjoins to acknowledge and confess the Fault, and then to offer the Sacrifices of Expiation. This is certainly to repent of it; for if the Offender was not touch’d with Repentance, nothing of this could be done.

Judg. xxi. 6, 15.In the Book of Judges, the Children of Israel repent, and are touch’d with Remorse concerning the Loss of a Tribe of their Brethren: That is to say, they repent at having push’d the War too far against one of their own Tribes. Conversus Israel valde doluit, & egit pœnitentiam super interfectione unius tribus ex Israel. They afterwards consider of means to repair this Loss.

1 Sam. xv. 29.Samuel says to Saul; The Victorious of Israel will not pardon. The Hebrew is, The Strength of Israel will not lye, nor repent, for he is not a Man that he should repent. God has rejected you irrevocably; he will not change his Resolution, as Men that make Resolutions, and then repent of them, and perform them not. He has pass’d his Sentence of Reprobation against you, and will not depart from it.

Wisd. v. 3.St. Paul says in the same Sense,¹ Sine pœnitentia enim sunt dona & vocatio Dei. The Gifts and Calling of God are without Repentance. God does not revoke his Favours, he never forsakes us first. Non deserit, nisi deseratur.

The Author of the Book of Wisdom represents the Wicked to us in another Life, as repenting and bewailing. That is, they are seized with Compunction and Despair, at seeing good Men in Honour, while they themselves are abject and in Trouble. We know that in another Life, Repentance and Remorse are useless. The same Author says, that when God shew’d his Judgments against the Canaanites, and chastised them by degrees, he gave them Time for Repentance. Partibus judicans dabat locum pœnitentia. He says the same thing when he speaks of the Hebrews and the Children of God, to shew us that the Rigour which God exerts against the Elect, as well as against the Reprobate, has no other End but to reform them, and to oblige them to repent of their Faults.

The Word Pœnitentia is sometimes taken for Vengeance or Retribution: For Example, Ecclesiasticus says,² That Elijah gave Unction to Kings for Repentance. Qui unguis Reges ad pœnitentiam. The Greek reads, Who anointest Kings to exercise Vengeance. Elijah received Orders from the Lord, to give the Royal Unction to Jehu and Hazael, to inflict the Vengeance of the Lord upon the House of 1 Kings xix. 15,26.Ahab. But we do not read that Elijah himself performed this Command, but gave Commission to his Disciple Elisha.

The sacred Writers often represent God as a Prince, who is moved with Regret, or Repentance, or Relenting, for having suffer’d or resolved upon certain Things: Gen. vi. 6, 7.For Example, Moses says, that God repented that he had made Man, seeing that the Wickedness of his Actions had proceeded 1 Sam. xv. 11.to such Extremity. ‘Tis elsewhere said, that he repented of having made Saul King over his People. This is not to be understood, as if God had conceived any Regret at any thing that he had done wrong, or that he repents of a false Step that he had made, as a Man does when he perceives he has committed an Error. God is not capable of Repentance in this Sense. But sometimes he changes his Conduct towards those that are unfaithful to him, and after having treated them with Mercy, he corrects them with Severity, as if he had repented of what he had before done in their Favour.

Psal. cv. 43. Jerem. xviii. 8.Also God is said to repent of the Evil he was about to inflict, when moved with Compassion towards the Miserable, or intreated by their Prayers, or disarm’d by their Repentance, he remits the Punishment of their Sins, or does not execute the Threatnings he had made against them. Thus it is said in the Psalms, That he repented according to the Multitude of his Mercies, and that he caused his People to find Favour in the Eyes of those, to whom he had given them up into Bondage. Et pœnituit eum secundum multitudinem misericordia suæ. And in Jeremiah, the Lord declares, that if his People repent of the Evil for which he reproves them, he will also repent of the Evil which he had intended to make them suffer. This is to say, he would shew Indulgence to his People, if his People would return to him, and repent of their Iniquities. But on the

contrary, if his People would not hear his Voice, nor obey his Commands, he would repent of the Good he had intended to do them. Pœnitentiam agam super bono quod locutus fueram ut facerem ei.

Mark i. 4. Luk. iii. 3. Matth. iii. 11. Matt. iii. 8. Luk. iii. 8.The Baptism of Repentance, is that which John the Baptist preached to the Jews, when he baptized them in Jordan, and exhorted them to bring forth Fruits worthy of Repentance. His Baptism did not remit Sins, but it prevailed with Sinners to receive the Pardon of them from the Baptism of our Saviour.

Penitence of the modern Jews. See the Articles EXPIATION and CONFESSION.

The Sacrament of Penance a instituted by Jesus Christ, to abolish Sins that are committed after Baptism, consists in Contrition, or a sincere Grief for our Sins, in the Confession of our Sins, and in the Satisfaction, or in the Exercise of satisfactory Works, and chiefly in the Amendment of our Faults, or in a Change of our Life and Conversation. Our Saviour established this Sacrament, by giving to his Apostles, and by the same Means to the Bishops and Priests their Successors, the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, to open and Matt. xvi. 19.shut it, to bind and loose. He has appointed them Judges of his Church, in his Name to exercise their Jurisdiction over the Souls of the Faithful. He has also at the same time invested them with the Office of Physicians, to administer Remedies to the inward Diseases of Christians, such as their Charity and Wisdom may inspire them with, in order to effect a Cure. See the Conduct of St. Paul towards the incestuous Person of Corinth.

Jonah iii. 5, 6, 7, &c. Matth. xii. 41. Luke xi. 32.The Repentance of the Ninevites is celebrated even in the Gospel. Jesus Christ tells the Jews, that the Ninevites would rise up in Judgment against them, because they repented at the Preaching of Jonah, and the Jews would not be converted at the Preaching of Jesus Christ, who was so far above Jonah. This Prophet speaks of the Ninevites after this manner. The People of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a Fast, and put on Sack-cloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For Word came unto the King of Nineveh, and he arose from his Throne, and he laid his Robe from him, and covered him with Sackcloth, and sat in Ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed, and published through Nineveh by the Decree of the King and his Nobles, saying, Let neither Man nor Beast, Herd or Flock, taste any thing; let them not feed nor drink Water: But let Man and Beast be covered with Sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God; yea, let them turn every one from his evil Way, and from the Violence that is in his Hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce Anger, that we perish not. And God saw their Works, that they turned from their evil Way, and God repented of the Evil, that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not.

I. REPHAH, or Rapha, Son of Beriah, and Grandson of Ephraim. 1 Chron. vii. 25.

II. REPHAH, or Arapha, Father of the antient Giants of Palestine, from whom they were call’d Rephaim or Raphaim. 1 Chron. xx. 4. Gen. xiv. 5. See REPHAIM.

REPHAIM, or Raphaim, the antient Giants of the Land of Canaan. There were antiently several Families of them in this Country. ‘Tis commonly thought, that they were descended from one called Rephah or Rapha; but others imagine that the Word Rephaim properly signify’d Giants, in the antient Language of this People. There were of the Rephaim beyond Jordan, at Ashteroth Karnaim, in the time of Abraham, when Chedorlaomer made War Gen. xiv. 5.against them. There were also some of them in this Country in the Time of Moses. Og King of Bashan was one of the Posterity Josh. xii. 4. Josh. xvii. 15. 1 Chron. xx. 4, 5, 6.of the Rephaim. Also in the time of Joshua there were some of their Descendants in the Land of Canaan. Lastly, we hear of them still in David’s time, in the City of Gath. The Giants Goliath, Sippai, Lahmi, and others, were some Remains of the Rephaim. Their Magnitude and Strength are known from Scripture. Our Dissertation upon the Giants may be consulted.

Josh. xv. 8. xviii. 16. 2 Sam. v. 18, 22. 1 Chron. xi. 15. xiv. 9. 2 Sam. xxiii. 13.The Valley of the Rephaim or Giants, was a famous place in Joshua’s time, and also in King David’s. It is mentioned likewise by Isaiah, xvii. 5. The Philistines encamped there more than once. It is also called in the Greek, the Valley of the Titans, and in the Vulgate, the Valley of the Giants. Joshua places the Valley of Rephaim as one of the Limits of the Portion of Judah. It was very near Jerusalem, and may be doubted whether it belonged to Judah or to Benjamin, because of the Proximity of these two Tribes. Eusebius places it in Benjamin, but Joshua xviii. 16. and those Passages of the Books of Samuel where it is mentioned, insinuate that it belong’d to Judah, and was to the South or West of Jerusalem.

Exod. xvii. 1.REPHIDIM, or Raphidim, was a Station or Encampment of the Israelites in the Desart. Departing from the Wilderness of Sin, they came to Rephidim, where the People wanted Water; they began therefore to murmur against Moses, saying to him, Why have you brought us out of Egypt, to make us dye with Thirst in this Desart, we, and our Children, and our³

Cattle? Moses then cry’d to the Lord, and said, What shall I do with this People? they are ready to stone me to death. God return’d him this Answer; Carry the People to the Rock of Horeb, and take some of the Elders along with you, I shall be there upon the Rock before you, and you shall strike it with your wonderful Rod, and Water shall gush out, that the People may drink. Moses in the Presence of the Elders, did what God had commanded him to do. He struck the Rock, and presently the Waters burst forth in abundance, with which the People quenched their Thirst. This Place is called Temptation, because of the Complaints of the Children of Israel, and because they there tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or is he not ?

Rephidim could not be far from Horeb, because God order’d Moses to go from thence to the Rock of Horeb, to give the People Water. And ‘twas this same Water that served the Israelites, not only in the Encampment of Rephidim, and in that of Mount Sinai, but also in their other Encampments, perhaps as far as Cadesh-barnea. 1 Cor. x. 4.St. Paul says, that this Rock followed them in their Journey, and that it was the Figure or Type of Jesus Christ. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. Whether it was that the Stream of Water follow’d them, or that they follow’d the Running of the Water, or whether they always carried of this Water along with them, as Ælian says the Water of Ælian. var. hist. l. 12. c. 40.Choaspes always followed the King of Persia, that is, that it was always carried after him, because he would drink no other : Or, lastly, whether the Rock of Horeb might not be drawn upon a Carriage, in the Manner of a great Tun always full, and always open to whoever had Inclination to drink.

This last Hypothesis is embraced by the Rabbins, and by some of the antient Fathers. Tertull. de Patientia. Ambros. de Sacrament. l. 1. c. 1.For example, Tertullian: Post mannæ scatilem pluviam, post petræ aquatilem sequelam. St. Ambrose, Nonne immobilis petra, quæ populum sequebatur? St. Chrysostom, Ambrosiaster, Phosius, as cited by Oecumenius, Thomas and Cantacuzenus, in their Commentaries upon the Tenth Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, speak much after the same manner. The Jews add, that these Waters being granted for the Sake of the Merits of Miriam, the Sister of Moses, they failed as soon as she was dead ; and hence it is, that at the Encampment of Cadesh-barnea, which was soon after the Death of Miriam, we see the People again fall into Murmurings for want of Water. In Numb. xx. 1, 2, 3, &c.our Commentary upon Exodus xvii. and upon the first Epistle to the Corinthians x. 4. these several Opinions are further examin’d and inquired into ; the judicious Reader will easily form his own Sentiments, by having them barely mentioned here.

This Miracle at Rephidim happen’d in the Year of the World 2513, in the second Month after the Departure from Egypt. Travellers say, that at the Foot of the Mount of Horeb, is still to be seen the Brook of Water that God caused to gush out from thence, at the Instigation of Moses. Others say, that indeed there is a Stream that runs at the Foot of this Mountain ; but as to the Rock itself, there is no Water that runs from it, but there may be seen, as it were, twelve Mouths, from whence Water may have Morizon, Voiage, l. 1. c. 1. Exod. xviii. 8, 9, 10.flowed heretofore. ‘Twas at the same Encampment of Rephidim, that Joshua obtained that famous Victory against the Amalekites, of which we have already spoken more than once. See AMALEK and JOSHUA. While Joshua and the Israelites fought against Amalek, Moses lifted up his Hands towards Heaven, and when he began to be weary, Aaron and Hur, who were with him upon the Mountain, supported his Arms, for they perceived, that while they were elevated, Israel had the Advantage ; but as they began to sink, the Battle declined in favour of Amalek.

REPOSE, or Rest. This was enjoin’d the Israelites on the Sabbath Day, for the Glory of God, in that he rested after the six Days of Creation. See SABBATH.

Deut. iii. 20.Repose also signifies a calm, fix’d, and secure Habitation. You shall go before your Brethren, until the Lord shall give Rest to your Brethren, as well as to you, in the Land which they are going to make a Conquest Deut. xii. 9.of. And again ; For ye are not as yet come to the Rest, and to the Inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you. You are not as yet settled in that Land which you are to possess. And Naomi says to Ruth, My Ruth iii. 1.Daughter, shall I not seek Rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? I shall endeavour to procure you a Settlement. And David speaking of the Ark of the Covenant, which till his time had no fix’d Place of Settlement Psal. cxxxii. 8.; Arise, O Lord, into thy Rest, Thou and the Ark of thy Strength. And Ecclesiasticus ; O Ecclus. xxxvi. 15.be merciful unto Jerusalem, thy holy City, the Place of thy Rest.

In a moral and spiritual Sense, Requies stands for the fix’d and permanent State of Repose of the Blessed in Heaven for all Eternity.

St. Paul makes an Application of what is said of the Settlement of the Israelites in the Land of Promise, to that Repose the Saints are to enjoy in Heaven. Quibus juravi in ira meâ si introibunt in requiem meam. I swore to Psal. xciv. 11.them in my Wrath, that they should not enter into my Rest, or into the Land of Canaan. Therefore, says St. Paul, as they could not enter therein by reason of their Heb. iii. 17. 18, 19. iv. 1, 2, 3.Unbelief, let us be afraid

of following their Steps. For we cannot enter but by Faith, and by a strict Observance of his Ordinances.

REPRESENTATION. The Law of God forbids all Sorts of Representations of Men, Beasts, Stars, or other Things, made in order to pay them a superstitious Worship; whether it be in Relievo, embossed, by Painting or Sculpture, in Wood, Stone, Plaister, Copper, Gold or Silver; every thing that may lead to Idolatry. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image, nor the Likeness of any thing in Heaven above, in the Earth beneath, or in the Waters under the Earth. But the Exod. xx. 3, 4.best Interpreters take notice, that this general Prohibition must be limited agreeably to the express Words of Leviticus xxvi. 1. where the same Command is repeated with the Addition of Ut adoretis ea; you shall make none of these things to worship them. We know that Moses himself made Cherubims, and fixed them upon the Ark; that Solomon also made several Figures of Cherubims in the Sanctuary; that he had Brazen Bulls made to support the Brazen Sea. Therefore, where there was no fear of Idolatry, there God did not forbid the bare making of Images and Representations, when they were only made for Ornament.

70 .כל תמונה Πᾶν ὁμοίωμα. פסלSculptile. 70. Εἴδωλον, alias Γλυπτόν, Sculptile.The Hebrew Word Pesel, which the Vulgate has render’d by Sculptile, Exodus xx. 3, 4. that is to say, a graven Image, is by the Septuagint translated Idolum, a vain Representation: And in Onkelos, by Zelum, which signifies an Image, a Picture. Therefore by this Word we may understand all kind of Figures in Relief; and under the Word omnem similitudinem, which the Vulgate afterwards uses, all kinds of Representations, whether in Painting, Embroidery, Tapestry, Enamel, Engraving, &c.

REPROACH. This Word is used in two Senses; for the Disgrace or Confusion that any one suffers himself, or for that which he is the Cause of to another. Among the Hebrews, to be uncircumcised was a Reproach; and when Joshua circumcised the People that were born in the Wilderness, he tells them, This Day Josh. v. 9.have I rolled away the Reproach of Egypt from off you. Barrenness was also a Reproach. When Rachel had brought two Sons into the World, she said, The Lord has taken away my Gen. xxx. 23. Isai. iv. 1.Reproach. Isaiah says, That the time shall come when Men shall be so scarce in Israel, that seven Women shall lay hold of one Man, and shall say to him, We ask you nothing for our Maintenance, only deliver us from the Reproach of Sterility and a single Life. Take us to Wives, &c. The Lord struck the Philistines with a shameful Malady in ano, and thereby loaded them with an eternal Reproach.Psalm. lxxxviii. 65.

Servitude, Slavery, involuntary Poverty, Subjection to their Enemies, to be struck with any extraordinary Disease, as the Leprosy, &c. all these were reckon’d a Reproach, because it was supposed to be the Effect of Cowardice, or Idleness, or the bad Management of those that suffer’d them; or that they were a Correction sent from God, to punish their Injustice and Impiety. Thus God in an hundred Places threatens his People, to make them a Reproach and a Proverb to Men, and which has also come to pass in an hundred Instances, by the Servitudes with which they have been overwhelmed, and by the Misfortunes which have happened to them. The Psalmist often complains, that God had made him a Reproach to those that were about him, who insulted over his Misfortunes and Disgraces.

Psal. xv. 3. 1 Sam. xvii. 26. Ecclus. xlvii. 4. Jerem. xxxi. 19. Isai. liv. 4.To take up a Reproach against his Neighbour; opprobrium non accepit adversus proximos suos, is not to listen to the Slanders and Calumnies that are brought against him. David took away the Reproach from Israel, by slaying Goliah. Jeremiah says, I was ashamed, yea even confounded, because I did bear the Reproach of my Youth. Thou hast made the Shame of the Faults of my Youth fall upon me, thou hast shew’d me the Horror of them, and hast made me bear the Pain and Confusion that attends it. And Isaiah, Thou shalt forget the Shame of thy Youth, and shalt not remember the Reproach of thy Widowhood any more. He speaks to the Tribe of Judah, after the Return from the Captivity, Thou shalt no longer remember the Reproach thou hast suffered among strange Nations.

Heb. vii. 18.REPROBATION. The Latin Word Reprobatio is often put to express, that one rejects a thing that before one had admitted and embraced; or that we will no longer make use of a Person or Thing that we had before made use of. For example, St. Paul says, that God had reprobated, rejected, or disanull’d the Ceremonial Law, because of the Weakness and Unprofitableness thereof. Reprobatio sit praecedentis mandati, propter infirmitatem ejus & imbecillitatem. We read also, The Stone which the Builders (reprobated, or) refused, is become the head Stone of the Corner.

Psal. cxviii. 22. Matth. xxi. 42. Mark xii. 10. Luke xx. 17. 1 Pet. ii. 4,7. Psal. xxxiii. 10. Ecclus. xx. 20. Jerem. vi. 30.To reprobate, often signifies barely to reject. The Lord (reprobates or) bringeth the Counsel of the Heathen to nought, he rejects and condemns it. A wise Sentence shall be (reprobated, or) rejected, when it cometh out of a Fool’s Mouth; that is, it will be laugh’d at and despised. Jeremiah calls the Princes of Judah reprobate Silver. Reprobate Silver shall Men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them. That is, bad Silver of a coarse Alloy, which will not be taken in Traffick.⁴

Lastly, to reprobate, expresses the Decree of God, to abandon the Wicked to the greatest of Evils, by not taking them out of that Mass of Corruptions, in which we are all involved by our Birth, and in not affording them the Graces necessary to their arriving at eternal Happiness. a There are Reprobates, who at their Baptism receive Remission of their Sins, and afterwards several other actual Graces; but who do not receive the Gift of final Perseverance.⁵ Others are lost, either because of their Birth, which is corrupted by original Sin, or as a Punishment of their actual Sins, of which they have made themselves guilty, and of which they have not repented. But all those whom God reprobates, he does not reprobate them by making them wicked but by not granting them the Benefits of his gratuitous Aug. Ep. 194. nov. edit. p. 719 n. 14. c. 3.Mercy. Merito namque peccati universa massa damnata est; nec obdurat Deus impertiendo malitiam, sed non impertiendo miserecordiam. Quibus enim non impertitur, nec digni sunt, nec merentur; ac potius ut non impertiatur, hoc digni sunt, hoc merentur.

REPTILES; in Latin, Reptilia; in Greek, Ramesh. ἑρπετόν. Reptile.Herpeta; in Hebrew, Ramisim. These are Animals that have no Feet, or at least such short ones, that they seem to creep or crawl upon the Ground. Thus Serpents, Earth-worms, Locusts, Catterpillars, Flies, are taken for Reptiles. The Hebrews put Fishes also in the Rank of Reptiles, whatever Nature or Shape Gen. i. 21. Levit. xi. 46. Psalm lxix. 35, &c.they may be of. This Name is sometimes also extended to such Land Animals, as are not of the Nature of the great Beasts for Service, nor of the larger wild Beasts. In a Word, to creep upon the Earth, is sometimes used for moving, or going to and fro, as all four-footed Creatures do.

REPUDIATION, or Divorce. The Law of Moses allowed Polygamy and Divorce among the Hebrews.⁶ We have already spoke of the Article of DIVORCE, and more at length in a Dissertation upon the same Subject, before our Commentary upon Deuteronomy.Leo of Modena, Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 4. c. 4. We shall only relate here what Leo of Modena says, concerning the modern Practice of the Jews in this Respect. A young Girl under ten Years of Age, whether she has a Father or not, if she is become a Widow, and afterwards marries an Husband by the Consent of her Mother and Brethren, and this Husband should happen to displease her, she may be unmarried again, till she has attained the Age of Twelve Years and a Day, which is the Age at which she commences Woman. It is enough for her to say, that she will not have such an one for her Spouse, of which she must take two Witnesses, who must put down her Refusal in Writing; and by Virtue of this Writing she is unmarried, and may marry again to whom she pleases. He that has defiled a Maid, or who has corrupted her in any manner, is obliged to take her to Wife by the Sentence of the Judges, without having it in his Power ever to put her away, and must give Fifty Shekels to the Father of the Woman. Deut. xxii. 28, 29.

Deut. xxiv. 1.Moses allows a Man to put away his Wife, when he finds her disagreeable to him. When a Man hath taken a Wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find no Favour in his Eyes, because he hath found some Uncleanness in her; then let him write her a Bill of Divorcement, and give it in her Hand, and send her out of his House. What may be meant by the Uncleanness here mentioned, has been great Matter of Inquiry; and the Commentators may be consulted hereupon. But this is the Practice of the modern Jews, according to Leo of Modena. Though a Woman should give Leo of Modena, Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 4. c. 6no Occasion of Complaint to her Husband by her Conduct, yet he may divorce her, if he found her not agreeable to him. However, except in the Case of Jealousy, or of some Misbehaviour with which he could accuse his Wife, he ought not to divorce her. But to prevent any Abuse that might attend this Indulgence of the Law, the Rabbins have contrived many Formalities to be gone through, to make the Affair tedious and troublesome; so that it often happens, that before the Divorce can be compleated, the Parties have chang’d their Minds, are reconciled again to each other, and live together in Friendship afterwards.

The Form of these Letters of Divorce, which they call Get, and which they give to a Woman, is drawn up by a Scribe, in the Presence Get. See the Talmud tract. Gittin.of one or more learned Rabbins. It ought to be written upon ruled Vellum, and to contain neither more nor less than twelve Lines, and this with square Letters, and a Thousand other little trifling Circumstances which must be observed, as well in the Characters and the Manner of writing, as in the Names and Surnames of the Man and Woman. Besides, neither the Scribe, nor the Rabbins present, nor the Witnesses, are to be akin either to the Man or Woman, or to each other. This is the Substance of the Bill of Divorce. Upon such a Day of such a Month, of such a Year, I such an one voluntarily divorce thee, dismiss thee, and set thee free, thee such an one, who hast been formerly my Wife; and I permit thee to marry again with whomsoever thou pleasest. Signed by such and such, as Witnesses.

The Bill being written, the Rabbin examins the Husband with what Subtilty he is able, to find out whether it is with his full and free Consent that he repudiates his Wife. If it can be done, they take care⁷

that at least ten Persons may be present at this Action, besides the two Witnesses that sign, and two others to witness the Date. After this the Rabbin examines the Woman, and then the Husband gives her the Parchment into her Hands, extended and placed by each other, saying at the same time, “ Here is thy Repudiation, I separate thee “ from my self, and leave thee at Liberty “ to marry whoever thou pleasest.” The Woman takes it, and gives it to the Rabbin, who reads it once more ; after which she is at full Liberty. There are besides, several other little Observances, which for Brevity I omit ; they were only invented to create Delay and Difficulty, that the Parties may have the greater Opportunity of an Accommodation. The Rabbin advises the Woman not to marry again in less than three Months, for fear she may already be with Child. When they depart from thence, the Man and Woman separate from each other, and may no longer dwell together ; and each of them may marry again to whom they think convenient. This is what Leo of Modena says of this Matter.

Moses by the Terms of the Law, allows only Men to divorce their Wives ; at least, he says nothing that may give any Colour for Women to take this Liberty with their Husbands : And in the Old Testament we have no Example of any such Divorce, that is plain and explicit. Salome the Sister of Herod the Great, is the first that we know, who made a Divorce between herself and her Husband Costobarus ; in which she acted, says JosephusJoseph. Antiq.l.15. c. 11. Matt. xiv. 3. Mark vi. 17., against the Laws of the Jews, which did not allow Wives to put away their Husbands, and which forbid such to marry others, without first obtaining a Bill of Divorce from their former Husbands. Herodias also, mention’d in the Gospel, had quitted her Husband, Joseph. l. 18. c. 7. Joseph.lib. de vita sua.as may be inferr’d from what Josephus says of her. This Author says, that his own Wife also, whom he married after he had obtain’d his Freedom, quitted him at Alexandria, a little after he had marry’d her. Jesus Christ takes Notice of the same Custom, when he says, If a Woman shall put away her Husband, and be married to another, she committeth Adultery. The three Sisters of the younger Agrippa, King of Trachonitis and Batanea, all usurped this Right of putting away their Husbands. Berenice the Elder, who had first marry’d Herod King of Chalcis her Uncle, afterwards marry’d Polemon King of Pontus, and repudiated him some time after. Ma-riamne the Sister of Berenice forsook Joseph. Antiq.l.20. c. 5. p.693. e. f.Archelaus her first Husband, and marry’d Demetrius the Alabarch, or Head of the Joseph. ibidem.Jews of Alexandria. Lastly, Drusilla, after having been married to Aziz King of Emesa, left him some time after, and married Felix the Governor of Judea.

As to the Practice of Repudiation among Christians, limited, as it is by our Saviour, to the Case of Adultery only, we have already spoke of it under the Article DIVORCE. Our Dissertation may be read upon this Subject, as also Selden’s Uxor Hæbraica, and the Commentators upon Matth. v. 32.

REPUTARE. This Word is, in some measure, consecrated to signify the reputed or imputed Righteousness of Abraham ; according Rom. iv. 3.to that of St. Paul ; Credidit Abraham Deo, & reputatum est ei in justitiam.

Reputare is also put for the Notion or Gen. xxxi. 15.Idea we have conceived of any one. Nonne extraneæ reputatæ sumus ab eo? Has he not treated us as if we were not his Daughters?

Reputare is also used for speaking or 1 Sam. xviii. 17.thinking within one’s self: Saul autem reputabat inter se ; Saul said within himself ; I will not put him to Death, but I will expose him to the Arms of the Philistines. Aman reputans quod nullum alium Rex, nisi se, vellet Esth. vi. 6.honorare ; Haman imagined, that the King thought of honouring none but him.

Jesus Christ, at his Passion, was numbred Mark xv. 28. Mark x.12 2 Chron. ix. 20.with the Transgressors : Cum iniquis reputatus est. Under Solomon’s Government, Gold and Silver were reputed as nothing in Jerusalem. If a Fool did but know how to hold his Tongue, he would be reputed a wise Prov. xvii. 28. Gen.x. 12.Man.

RESEN a City of Assyria, that was built by Ashur, between Nineveh and Calah, upon the River Chaboras in Mesopotamia : we read of a famous City call’d Resine, or Resaine. There are also found some Medals that were struck in this City. See our Commentary upon Gen. x. 12. and Cellar. Asiæ, l. 3. c. 15. p.733.

Hieronym. in Abac. iii. 5.RESEPH. This Word is found in the Hebrew⁸ of Habakkuk iii. 5. where the Vulgate translates it, Egredietur Diabolus antes pedes ejus. And the Septuagint ; Egredietur in campos post pedes ejus. Aquila has translated Reseph by Volatile : Symmachus, Theodotion, and the fifth Edition, by Volucre a Bird, a flying Thing. It may very well be render’d ; Burning Coals shall walk before him⁹ ; and be explain’d by the Fire of the Wrath of God, or by the Distempers with which he afflicts his Enemies ; or by the Carbo, which is a kind of Pestilence. St. Jerom, from the Tradition of the Hebrews, says, that Reseph is a Demon, who exerts his Power over such as are like himself ; in the same manner as Beelzebub Prince of the Devils, mention’d in the Gospel : That the Scripture

gives him the Name of a Bird, because of his great Agility and Readiness: That it was he that tempted Eve in the Garden, and was cursed of God; whence came his Name Reseph, which may signify, to creep upon the Ground¹⁰: And, lastly, that this Serpent presented himself before our Saviour, after he came out of the Water of his Baptism, and tempted him in the Wilderness forty Days.

RESHEPH, or Reseph, Son of Rephah, 1 Chron. vii. 25.a Grandson of Sarah the Daughter of Ephraim. The Text seems to say, that Resheph was the immediate Son of Sarah.

RESPECT of Persons. God appointed, Lev. xix. 15. Deut. xvi. 1, 17, 19.that the Judges should pronounce their Sentences without any Respect of Persons; That they should consider neither the Poor, nor the Rich, nor the Weak, nor the Powerful; That they should attend only to Truth and Justice. God has no Respect of Persons; Deus Personam non accipit, 2 Chron. xix. 7. Mat. xxii. 16.nec munera. And the Jews told our Saviour, That he told the Truth, without any Respect of Persons, and without Fear; Non enim respicis personam hominum. Jude, ver. 16.Saint Jude, instead of the Phrase, to have Respect of Persons, makes use of this, to Admire Persons; Mirantes personas quæstûs causâ. Isaiah says it down as one Isai. xxiii. 2.of the distinguishing Marks of the Messiah, that he should have no Respect of Persons.

RESSA, a pretty famous City of Arabia Petrea; probably, the same as Rissah, an Encampment of the Children of Israel in the Desart; of which we shall speak in its Joseph. de Bello, l. 1. c. 12.Place. Josephus mentions the Castle of Ressa in Idumea: And St. Jerom, in the Life of St. Hilarion, says, that this Saint made Converts of the whole City of Ressa, situate between Cadesh and Gaza. Perhaps this is the City of Larissa, mention’d by William of Tyre¹¹; and Arischi an Episcopal City in the Desart of the Children of Israel¹². Laris was a Maritime City upon the Way to Egypt.

RESTITUTION. Natural Justice requires, that we should repair whatever Injuries we do to our Neighbour, whether in his Body, or his Estate, or his Reputation. The Law of Moses prescribed,¹³ That they should give Life for Life, Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth, Hand for Hand, Foot for Foot, Burning for Burning, Wound for Wound, Stripe for Stripe. It also ordain’d, That they should render Exod. xxii. 1,2,3,&c.five Oxen for one Ox, and four Sheep for one Sheep: That the Thief should be sold, to make Restitution for what he had stole: That if the Thief should be found possess’d of any Beast of Service, as of an Ox, or of an Ass, or even of a Sheep, he should restore it twofold: That whoever shall do any Damage in the Field of another, shall repair the Damage, according to the Estimation that should be made of it. He that, by Ignorance, should omit to give to the Temple what was appointed by the Law, for Example, in the Tythes or First-fruits, was obliged to restore it to the Priests, and a Fifth Part beside; over-andabove which, he was obliged to offer a Ram, for the Expiation of his Sin. Nehemiah prevail’d with all those Israelites to make Restitution, who had taken Interest of their Brethren: I pray you let us leave off this Usury. Restore, I pray you, to them, even this Day, their Lands, their Vineyards, their Olive-yards, and their Houses, also the hundredth part of the Money, and of the Corn, the Wine, and of the Oyl, that ye exact of them.

Zaccheus, in St. Luke, promises a fourfold Restitution, to all such as he had extorted upon, in his Office as a Publican: Et si aliquem defraudavi, reddo quadruplum: The Roman Laws condemned to a fourfold Restitution all such as were convicted of Extortion or Fraud. Zaccheus here condemns himself, and imposes that Penalty upon himself that the Laws subjected him to: To which he adds the half of all his Goods; which was what the Law did not require of him.

He that had kill’d a labouring Beast, or any other Beast, as an Ox, was to render another for it, or the Value of it.

The Jews expected Elias, who was to restore all Things: Elias venturus est, & restituet omnia. This is an Allusion to those Words of Malachi; Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. And he shall turn the Heart of the Fathers to the Children, and the Heart of the Children to their Fathers, lest I come and smite the Earth with a Curse. Also St. Peter, in the Acts, calls the Last Day, The Day of Restitution of all Things; Usque in tempora restitutionis omnium. At the End of the World Jesus Christ will unite the Church with the Synagogue, the Jew with the Christian, the Christian with the Gentile: Then all Things will be restored to a perfect Union, and there will be but one Shepherd and one Flock.

RESURRECTION. The Belief of a Resurrection from the Dead, is an Article of Religion in common to the Jew and the Christian: It is found very expresly taught both in the Old and New Testament. I do not speak of that miraculous Resurrection, which consists in reviving for a time, to die again afterwards; as Elijah, Elisha, Jesus Christ, and his Apostles, have raised some from the Dead; but I mean a general Resurrection of the Dead, which

will come to pass at the End of the World, and which will be follow’d by an Immortality either of Happiness or Misery. For Example: Psal. xvi. 10.The Psalmist says, For thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, or in the Grave, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see Corruption. Job; For I know that my Redeemer Job xix. 25,26,27.liveth, and that he shall stand in the latter Day upon the Earth. And though after my Skin, Worms destroy this Body, yet in my Flesh I shall see God: whom I shall see for my self, and mine Eyes shall behold, and not another; though my Reins be consumed Ezekiel xxxvii. 1, 2, 3, &c.within me. Ezekiel also, in his Vision of a great Quantity of Bones in a large Field, and which, at the Breath of the Spirit of the Lord, began to unite, and to be covered with Flesh, Nerves, and Skin, and at last to revive; has left us a Proof and an Assurance of a general Resurrection. See also Isaiah xxvi. 19.

Wisd. iii. 1, 2, 3, &c. & iv. 15.The Author of the Book of Wisdom speaks of it in a very lively manner, when he says, that the Souls of good Men, and such as suffer Persecution in this World, shall receive a Recompence for it in the Day of Visitation: For thus he calls the Resurrection, in more Places than one. In the Second Book of the Maccabees we see the same Truth maintained in a more express manner still. One of the seven Brethren of the Maccabees, who suffer’d Death at Antioch under Antiochus Epiphanes, directing his Discourse to this 2 Mac. vii. 9, 14, 23, 29.Tyrant, tells him, Thou, like a Fury, takest us out of this present Life; but the King of the World shall raise us up, who have died for his Laws, unto everlasting Life. The Mother of these holy Martyrs encouraged them to the Combat, by the same Hope of the Resurrection: And they were so entirely possess’d with it, that they despised Death, Tortures, and all the Menaces of the King.

At the Time that our Saviour appear’d in Judea, the Resurrection from the Dead was received as one of the principal Articles of the Jewish Religion, by the whole Body of the Nation¹⁴, except only the Sadducees, who deny’d it. The Jews then tolerated them; and even there were several of them who held some of the first Employments of the Republick¹⁵; but at this Day they look upon ‘em as Hereticks, Epicureans, and maintain that they have no Share in the Life to come¹⁶. Our Saviour, in his Gospel, has effectually confuted the Error of the Sadducees: He has promis’d his faithful Servants, that they shall enjoy a compleat State of Happiness after the general Resurrection. He arose himself from the Dead, to give us, in his own Person, a Proof, a Pledge, a Pattern of our future Resurrection. St. Paul,¹⁷ in almost all his Epistles, speaks of a general Resurrection; refutes those who deny’d or oppos’d it; proves it to those that had started any Difficulties about it; explains the Mystery, the Manner, and several Circumstances of it: He says, that to deny the Resurrection of the Dead, is the same thing as to deny our Saviour’s Resurrection: If 1 Cor.xv. 13,15,16, 17,19.there be no Resurrection of the Dead, then is Christ not risen: And that, if we were not to rise again from the Dead, we are of all Men the most miserable.

Some Jews teach, that all Men shall not rise again, but only the Israelites; and, moreover, such as have been very wicked among them, shall have no Part in this happy State. But others are of Opinion, that all Men in general shall rise again. Some among them maintain, that when Men are once rais’d again, they shall be no more subject to Death. But others think they shall die again, and that their Souls alone shall enjoy everlasting Happiness. Upon this Subject see Menasse-ben-Israel, in his Third Book concerning the Resurrection of the Dead.

Leo of Modena, in Part IV. Chap. xi. of The Ceremonies of the Jews, expresses himself thus in this Matter: “ There are “ Jews who think, with Pythagoras, “ that Souls pass from one Body to another; this they call Gilghul, or Circulation. They endeavour to support their “ Opinion from several Passages of Scripture, taken chiefly out of Ecclesiastes “ and Job. But this Notion is not “ universal; and whether it be embraced or rejected, it makes no Schism “ or Heresy among them. As to the “ Resurrection of the Dead, ‘tis one of “ their thirteen Articles of Faith, That “ at the End of the World, all the Dead “ shall arise; and that God shall summon all Mankind to his general Judgment, whether in or out of the Body: “ According to that of Daniel; And “ many of them that sleep in the Dust Dan.xii.2.“ of the Earth shall awake, some to everlasting Life, and some to Shame and everlasting Contempt.

Bereshith Rabba, sect. 96.‘Tis also a common Opinion among the Jews, that all Men, at least all the Israelites, shall arise in the Land of Israel; from whence proceeds that ardent Desire they have always had, to be buried in this Country. They believe, those that have this Advantage, will arise first, and, before all others, will enjoy the Happiness of seeing the Kingdom of the Messiah. But then, what shall become of the Just who shall die and be buried out of the Land of

Israel? They answer, That God will open them Passages in the Earth, and subterraneous Conveyances, through which they shall roul into this Country; and when they are come thither, God will give them the Breath of Life, and they shall revive. They think it was for this, that Jacob and Joseph shew’d so much Desire to have their Bodies carry’d into the Land of Canaan. And we read in some of the Books of the Rabbins, that often they carry’d the Bodies of certain Jews, who had shew’d a more than ordinary Devotion, from very distant Countries, to be interred in the Land of Israel.

We have also seen, in the Christian Church, a Variety of Opinions concerning the Resurrection of the Dead. Several of the ancient Fathers¹⁸ have acknowledged a two-fold Resurrection. The first, is that which is to precede the Reign of the Messias, who is to reign a thousand Years upon the Earth. The second, is that which is to follow the Reign of a thousand Years, and is to begin the Reign of the Saints in a State of everlasting Happiness. This is a Sentiment that these Fathers had borrow’d from the Jews; since it is found clear enough in the second Book of Esdras¹⁹, in the Testament of the twelve Patriarchs²⁰, and in several of the Rabbins. We have treated of this Affair of the Resurrection, in a particular Dissertation, printed before the second Tome of our Commentary upon St. Paul’s Epistles.

The ancient Philosophers that believed the Immortality of the Soul, admitted also of a Resurrection. Whether they had received these Opinions from the Eastern People, among whom they had travelled; or whether they inferr’d a Resurrection, from the Immortality of the Soul, as a necessary Consequence; persuading themselves, that a Soul could not long continue, without being united to a Body. But this Resurrection is by some explained after one manner, and by others after another. Pythagoras, who was the first that introduced the Sentiment of the Soul’s Immortality among the Greeks, acknowledg’d a Metempsychosis, or a Transmigration of the Soul out of one Body into another successively. Thales²¹ and Democritus²² held also a kind of Resurrection: But the Manner in which they explain’d it, is not known. As for Plato²³, we are better acquainted with what he thought about the Resurrection: He was pretty much of Pythagoras’s Opinion: He maintain’d, that the Souls that had already animated Bodies, passed from them into a State of Liberty, from whence they afterwards return’d to animate other Bodies.

This Doctrine of Plato was espoused by the Pharisees among the Jews²⁴, and John ix. 2. Mat. xvi. 14. Wisd. iii. 6, 13. & iv. 15. 2 Mac. vii. 9, 14, 23, 29.by Philo²⁵. It appears also from the Gospel, that many of the Jews admitted of a kind of Metempsychosis among them, at the Time of our Saviour. But we find from other Authorities, taken from the Book of Wisdom, and the Books of the Maccabees, that the Generality of the Nation held the Resurrection much as we do now. And Jesus Christ, in his Gospel, supposes this Doctrine, and teaches it without any Contradiction, except from the Sadducees, who altogether deny’d it. The Apostles have urged it likewise: And notwithstanding the Attempts of some Hereticks who opposed it, the Catholick Church has always constantly embraced it, as a fundamental Article of Christianity.

But there are many Opinions that have been tolerated in the Church, concerning the Time, the Manner, and other Circumstances of this Resurrection. When the Apostles asked of Christ, when the End of the World should happen, and his Coming; He answer’d them, That the Angels themselves did not know it, and he did not think it proper to be revealed Mark xiii. 32. Mat. xxiv. 43, 44. Thess. v. 2, 3, 4.to them: He only informs us, That this Last Day will come as a Thief in the Night, and shall surprize Mankind, when they least expect it. St. Paul says, that at that Time many shall be alive, who shall pass from Life to Death, and from Death to the Resurrection, with such Rapidity, that in the Twinkling of an Eye they shall be changed, and their Bodies shall be invested with Incorruptibility and Immortality.

Heb. ix. 27.There are some Greek Fathers²⁶, and some Rabbins, who believe, that those who shall then be found alive, shall not die at all, but shall only undergo that happy Change, of passing in an Instant from Life to Immortality. But the other Opinion seems to be more generally received, that all Men shall suffer the Sentence pronounced against the Children of Adam: Statutum est omnibus hominibus semel mori; post hoc autem Judicium: It is appointed for all Men once to die; and after Death, Judgment.

Hieron. in Matt. xxvi. 6.St. Jerom assures us, that the Tradition of the Jews is, That the Dead shall rise in the Night-time, or at Break-of- Day, at the same Time as Jesus Christ came out of his Tomb. This Tradition hath passed

from the Synagogue to the Church, as may Chrysost. in Matth. xxv.be seen by Lactantius²⁷, by St Chrysostom, and by such Greek Writers as generally follow him. This Tradition is founded upon those Words of St. Peter; The Day of the 2 Pet, iii. 10.Lord will come as a Thief in the Night: And upon those of Jesus Christ, in the Parable of the Ten Virgins; At Midnight there Matth. xxv. 6.was a Cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Prudentius, whose Words are made use of by the Church Prudent. hymn. cathemer.[of Rome], in one of her Offices, thinks that the World will be at an End, and, consequently, the Resurrection commence, in the Morning. Thomas Aquinas, Tostatus, and Suarez,²⁸ on the contrary, are of Opinion, that it will be perform’d at Mid-day.²⁹ St. Paul informs us, 1 Cor. xv. 52, 53. that it will begin at the first Sound of the Trumpet.

Those, among the Jews, who admit of a Transmigration of Souls, are perplex’d about the Manner in which the Resurrection is to be perform’d. For how can the Soul re-animate all the Bodies through which it has pass’d? If it can animate but one of ‘em, what must become of the rest? Must it have its own Choice, and return to that it likes best? These Difficulties very much gravel them. Some think it must re-animate its first Body; others, that it will be re-united with its last; and that the other Bodies will remain in the Dust, as barren Trees are forsaken and deserted. I should rather conclude, that almost all those who hold the Metempsychosis, do not admit of a general Resurrection; and that this Revolution, or successive Passage of the same Soul through several Bodies, was what they understood by a Resurrection. This I take to have been the Notion of those Pharisees mention’d by Josephus.

‘Tis inquired what will be the Nature of Bodies when raised, what their Stature, their Age, their Sex? Jesus Christ tells us in the Matth. xxii. 30.Gospel, that after the Resurrection Men shall be as the Angels of God; that is, according to the Fathers, they shall be immortal, incorruptible, transparent, light, luminous, and, in some sort, spiritual, yet without quitting the Qualities of Bodies, as we find our Saviour’s Body, after his Resurrection, was tangible, and had Flesh and Luk. xxiv. 39.Bones. But as Jesus Christ laid aside the Brightness of the Glory of his Body, and did not suffer it to shew itself to his Disciples; the glorious and bright Emanations from the Bodies of the Blessed, shall shine as the Matth. xiii. 43.Sun, as our Saviour expresses Some antient Hebrew Doctors³⁰ maintain, that Men shall arise of the same Stature, with the same Qualities, and the same corporal Defects that they had in their Lifetime. That the Blind shall arise blind, the Lame, lame, and so of the rest. They confirm this Conjecture by the Excuse of Samuel, when he appear’d to the Witch of Endor, in the same Shape that he had upon Earth; and by that Passage of Ecclesiastes; One Generation passeth away, and another Generation cometh. Some Christians in St. Austin’s Time maintain’d the same Opinion, which they founded upon Jesus Christ’s Appearance after his Resurrection, with all the Marks of his Wounds. But the holy Father hath confuted this Sentiment;³¹ and undertakes to shew, that if our our Saviour preserved the Marks of his Wounds, ‘twas by an Effect of his Power, and to convince the Incredulity of his Disciples. See also what he says, Enchyrid. de Fide, Spe, & Charitate, c. 9.

The Resurrection of Infants is attended with great Difficulties. If they are to arise little, weak, and such as they went out of this World; of what Use can their Resurrection be to them? And if they are to arise full grown, comely, like those of an advanced Age, they will not be the same as they were, and this will not properly be a Resurrection. St. Austin has treated of this Question with his usual Accuracy and Modesty.³² He will not venture to determine whether Children will arise small or great, but he rather inclines to that Opinion, which supposes them to arise as in a perfect Age. And elsewhere,³³ speaking of the Resurrection of Children Still-born, he says, that the Resurrection will give them all the Perfection they would have had, if they had had time to grow up; and that it would secure them from all such Imperfections, as they might have contracted had they liv’d longer. Many, both Antients and Moderns have thought,³⁴ that Men will arise at the Age at which Jesus Christ died, that is, about the Age of thirty-three or thirty-five Years. So that both Old and Young will all appear to be about that Age, to fulfil Ephes. iv. 13.those Words of St. Paul; Till we all come in the Unity of the Faith, and of the Knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect Man, unto the Measure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ. But the more judicious explain St. Paul, as meaning the Progress which the Faithful make both in Faith and Vertue, till they arrive at the compleat Age of Perfection.

Many Antients have doubted, a whether Women are to rise in their proper Sex. They grounded their Scruples upon those Words of Jesus Christ; In the Resurrection Matth. xxii. 30.they neither marry, nor are given in Marriage; but are as the Angels of God in Heaven. And upon what is said by St. Rom. viii. 29.Paul; To be conformed to the Image of his Son. To this is added, that, according to Moses, Man alone was created out of the Earth, and that Woman was taken out of Man, as an Accident or Accessory. But to this it is answer’d, that if a Distinction of Sexes is unnecessary after the Resurrection, it will be as much so for Men as for Women: That the Woman is not less perfect in her Kind than the Man; that the Manner in which Eve was form’d, is in some Sort more advantageous to her, than the Creation of the Man. He was created immediately from the Earth, but she from him. Lastly, The Sex of the Woman is nothing of a Defect or Imperfection of Nature. Non est enim vitium Sexus fœmineus, sed Natura, saith St. Austin.

Aug. de Civit. l. 22. c. 17.Other Difficulties that have been moved upon this Subject, may be seen treated on at full Length, in the Dissertations composed by us concerning the End of the World, and the general Resurrection.

The Resurrection of the Saints, who arose out of their Sepulchres at the Time of our Saviour’s Death, and who, after his Resurrection came into the holy City, and appear’d Matth. xxvii. 51, 52, 53.to many, is a Subject which deserves to be consider’d here in a few Words. The Names of those that arose upon this Occasion are unknown. Some will have them to have been all the most antient Fathers and Patriarchs. Others, that they were the most modern ones, and such as were most known to the Jews then living. Others, that this Favour was granted only to those that were buried at Jerusalem, or thereabouts.

They dispute also about the Hour of their Resurrection. Some maintain that they did not rise till after our Saviour, who is call’d in Scripture the first Fruits of those that slept. 1 Cor. xv. 20.Primitiæ dormientium & promogenitus ex mortuis. Origen, St. Jerome,³⁵ Gregory the³⁶ Great, Raban-Maur. Paschasius Radbert, Bede, Drutmar, Liran, the common Gloss, and several others, are of this Opinion. But Chrysost. in Matth. xxvii. Hilar. in Matth. xxvii.St. Chrysostome, and the Greek Authors who generally follow him, Hilary, and many others, believe, that they arose at the Moment of our Saviour’s Death; and that Jesus Christ raised them before he raised himself, to display his Triumph over Death in a more remarkable Manner. It must be allow’d, that the Text of the Evangelist St. Matthew, is not decisive for either of these Opinions; but if it be true, (which cannot well be doubted) that the Souls of the Holy Patriarchs did not come out of the Limbus, till after Jesus Christ descended thither; it must also be allow’d, that they did not arise till after this Descent. Therefore it will necessarily follow, that some Space of Time must pass between the Death of our Saviour, and the Resurrection of the Saints.

Hos. xiii. 14. Ps. lxviii. 18.But these Saints being thus raised, did they dye again, and re-enter into their Graves, after the Ascension of Jesus Christ, or did they ascend with him into Heaven? There is a Variety of Sentiments upon this Matter. Those that think Jesus Christ led them along with him into Heaven, as it were in Triumph, quote those Words of Hosea; I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave, I will redeem them from Death; O Death, I will be thy Plague; O Grave, I will be thy Destruction. And those of the Psalmist; Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led Captivity captive. And St. Eph. iv. 8.Paul; When he ascended up on high, he led Captivity captive, and gave Gifts unto Men. Is it probable, that after having restored Life to these Saints and illustrious Dead, God should think fit to make them submit once more to Death and the Grave? Would not this be to plunge them again into Pain and Bitterness, after giving them a Taste of Eternal Happiness? Lastly, Would it not be agreeable to the Justice, the Goodness, and the Majesty of that divine Deliverer, to compleat his Work, and to lead them along with him into Heaven, after he had restored them to Life upon Earth?

We might produce a great Number of the Fathers, who have been of this Opinion. Ignatius the Martyr, to the Magnesians. Origin, upon Matth. xxvii. and upon the Canticles. The Author of the Orthodox Questions, Quest. 84. Clemens Alexandrinus, Strom. l. 6. Eusebius of Cesarea, in his Gospel-Demonstration, c. 12. Hilary upon Psalm. II. Venerable Bede, Raban-Maurus, Drutmar, Paschasius, Radbertus, and a Multitude of modern Interpreters, who maintain in a positive Manner, that the Holy Patriarchs raised with Jesus Christ, enjoy with him the Happiness of Heaven, and were the Partners of his Triumphant Ascension.

But the contrary Opinion is maintain’d not with less Authority, or fewer Proofs. Heb. xi. 39. 40.St. Paul says expressly, that the holy Patriarchs, having obtained a good Report through Faith, received not the Promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. Therefore he did not think them yet raised, nor in Possession of the Glory of³⁷

Heaven. He says elsewhere, That Jesus Christ is the First-fruits of those that slept the Sleep of Death, and were to arise one Day, not to sleep any more. Besides, if any one had been to rise with our Saviour, doubtless it would have been the Holy King Ps. xv. 10. Acts ii. 29.David, John the Baptist, the Patriarchs and the Prophets buried at Jerusalem and in Palestine. But St. Peter, speaking to the Jews of Jerusalem, says expressly, That David’s Tomb was still to be seen among them; that David had foretold the Resurrection of our Saviour, but says nothing at all of his own. What Strength must his Reasoning have had, if David had been raised, and had ascended into Heaven with Jesus Christ? We know that the Relicks and the Tomb of John the Baptist have been shewn, as well before as after this Time; it was not therefore believed that they were ascended into Heaven, and admitted into Glory.

The Fathers that have treated upon this Subject with the greatest Care, have declared for the Opinion now proposed. TertullianTertul. l. de Anima c. 55. purposely confutes those who thought, that the Patriarchs and Prophets ascended into Heaven after the Resurrection of our Saviour. St. Chrysostome says, that Chrysost. Homil. 40. in 1 Cor. xv. Idem. Homil. 28. in Heb. xi.they who arose while Jesus Christ was upon the Cross, died again. And writing upon the Epistle to the Hebrews, he owns with the Apostle, that the just Men of the Old Testament have not yet received their Reward. Theodoret also expresses himself after the same Manner. Theophylact and Euthymius, explaining the Twenty-seventh Chapter of St. Matthew, acknowledge, that the Holy Patriarchs arose to be as Proofs of the Resurrection of Christ; but that they afterwards died again, to rise a second Time at the End of the World. St. Austin, in his Epistle to Evodius, expressly treats of this Question, and explains himself clearly enough for the temporary Resurrection of those Saints. Thomas Aquinas, having produced the Reasons upon which each of these Opinions is D. Thom. 3. part. art. 53. art. 3.founded, declares himself for those that hold, that they died again; and this is the Opinion that to us seems to be best supported, both by the Scripture and by the Fathers. The Reader may consult upon this Matter, the Dissertation we have composed and inserted in the new Collection of Dissertations.

REU, or Ragau, or Retui, Son of Peleg,³⁸ was born in the Year of the World 1787. His Father was then thirty Years old. He begat Serug, being two and thirty Years old, in the Year of the World 1819, and died at the Age of two hundred and thirty-nine years, in the Year of the World 2026, before Christ 1974, before the vulgar Era 1976. It is not impossible, but that the City of Ragæ, and the Plain of Ragau, may have taken their Names from Reu, Rehu, or Ragau; for all these are the same in the Hebrew. All the Difference depends upon the Pronunciation of the Letter עAin or Gnain.

REUBEN, or Ruben, the eldest Son of Gen. xxix. 32.Jacob and Leah; he was born in the Year of the World 2246, before Christ 1754, before the vulgar Era 1758. One Day Reuben went into the Field, being yet very young, and there found a Fruit call’d in Hebrew, Dudaim, which is generally interpreted by Mandrakes, which he Gen. xxx. 14.brought home to his Mother Leah. Rachel was curious to taste them, and asked them of Leah, who gave them her upon Condition that Jacob should be her Bedfellow the Night following. Rachel gave her Consent, and Leah became with Child of Issachar. A long Time after this, Jacob being now return’d into the Land of Canaan, Reuben defiled his Father’s Concubine Gen. xxxv. 22. Deuter. xxxiii. 6. Vulg.Bilhah; for which Reason he lost his Birth-right, and all the Privileges of Primogeniture.

When Joseph’s other Brethren had taken a Resolution to make away with him, Reuben endeavour’d by all means to deliver him out of their Hands.³⁹ He proposed to ‘em, to let him down into an old Water-pit, in which there was no Water, that afterwards he might take him up again, and restore him to his Father Jacob. His Brethren therefore having stript him, let him down into the Pit. But while Reuben was gone at some Distance from them, they drew him out again, and sold him to some Ishmaelites that pass’d that Way. Reuben at his Return, going to the Pit, and not finding him there, tore his Cloaths, and said to his Brethren; ” The Child is ” not to be found, and whither shall I ” go?” They deliver’d him out of his Perplexity, and acquainted him, that they had sold him to some People that were going into Egypt.

Jacob on his Death-bed⁴⁰ very warmly reproached Reuben with the Crime he had committed with Bilhah; saying to him, Reuben, thou art my First-born; my Might, and the Beginning of my Strength, the Excellency of Dignity, and the Excellency of Power, unstable as Water: thou shalt not excell, because thou wentest up to thy Father’s Bed; then defiledst thou it. He went up to my Couch. Moses before his Death said also to the Tribe of Reuben; Vivat Ruben, & non moriatur, & sit parvus in numero. Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his

The English reads, let not his Men be few.Number be but small. And indeed the Tribe of Reuben was never very numerous, nor very considerable in Israel. They had their Inheritance beyond Jordan, in the most southern Part of this Canton, between the Brooks Arnon to the South, and Jazer to the North, having the Mountains of Gilead to the East, and Jordan to the West. The Time of Reuben’s Death is unknown.

We read in the Apocryphal Book, call’d, The Testament of the twelve Patriarchs, that when Reuben was at the Age of thirty Years, he happen’d to see Bilhah, Rachel’s Maid, and his Father Jacob’s Concubine, as she was bathing her self naked in an open Place, and conceived such a violent Passion for her, that he could have no Rest till it was gratify’d. He found an Opportunity for it one Day, when Jacob was gone to visit his Father Isaac, and when his Brethren were at Gader, near Ephrata, or Beth-lehem. Then Reuben finding Bilhah to be drunk, and sleeping in her Tent in an indecent Posture, he indulged his Passion, and committed Incest with her. God revealed this presently to Jacob, by the Ministry of an Angel, and punish’d Reuben for it, by afflicting him with a Distemper, which held him for seven Months; and was so violent, that he had surely died of it, if his Father Jacob had not interceded for him by his Prayers. But Reuben at last was so fully sensible of his Fault, and conceived so great a Sorrow for it, that he impos’d on himself, by way of Penance, to eat neither Bread nor Meat, nor to drink any Wine, for the space of seven Years. But it is well known that this Book is of no Authority, being the Work of an Impostor, who would assert, as genuine, the spurious Book of Enoch, and other Jewish Traditions.

REUEL, or Rahuel, Son of Esau and Bashemath, the Daughter of Ishmael. Reuel was Father of Nabath, of Zerah, of Shammah, and of Mizzah. Gen. xxxvi. 4, 17.

REVELATION, in Greek, Apocalypsis. This Name is given in particular to a Book written by St. John, for which see Apocalypse before.

‘Tis also call’d a Revelation, when God makes manifest any thing to Man in an extraordinary and supernatural Manner; whether by Dream, Vision, Ecstacy, or otherwise. St. Paul speaking of his Visions and Revelations, speaks of ‘em in the third Person out of Modesty, and declares, that he could not tell whether he was in the Body, or out of the Body. Elsewhere he says, that he had not received his Gospel by the Ministry of Men, but by a particular Revelation from God; furthermore, that he did not go to Jerusalem after his Conversion by the meer Motion of his own 2 Cor. xii. 1, 7. 12.Gal. i. Gal. ii. 2.Mind, but in Consequence of a Revelation that he had for that purpose.

Lastly, The Word Revelation is us’d to express the Manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Jews and Gentiles,Luk. ii. 32. the Manifestation of the Glory with which God will glorify his Elect, and his faithful Servants at the Rom. viii. 19.last Judgment; and the Declaration of his just Judgments, in his Conduct both towards the Elect, and towards the Reprobate.

Rom. ii. 5.I need not speak of the common Acceptation of the Latin Words Revelatio and Revelare, which signify barely a discovering of what was before conceal’d; as to reveal a Secret, revelare aurem, to tell in the Ear, to tell in secret; revelare turpitudinem, or ignominiam, to discover in one’s near Relation what ought to be hid, not to approach her, not to marry her.

REVENGE, as it includes a Sense of Sorrow and Trouble for the Injuries that are done to us, cannot by any means belong to God. None of his Creatures can disturb his Peace, or cause to him any Trouble or Resentment. Ultio doloris confessio est, says Seneca. Man has recourse to Revenge only because he is gall’d and Senec. de ira. l. 3. c. 5.sensible of Injuries. When therefore it is said in Scripture, that God revenges himself, it speaks after a popular and improper Manner. He vindicates the Injuries done to his Justice and his Majesty, and to the Order he has establish’d in the World, yet without any Emotion of Pleasure or Displeasure. He revenges the Injuries done to his Servants, because he is just, and because Order and Justice must be preserved. Men revenge themselves out of Weakness, because they are offended, because they are too much influenced by Self-love. A great Soul overlooks and despises Injuries; a Soul enlightened by Grace and Faith, leaves the Judgment and Revenge of them to God.

In the Old Testament God tolerated Revenge in certain Cases, to avoid greater Evils. For Example, he would have an Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Exod. xxi. 24.Tooth, &c. He permitted, or rather, he bore with it, that the Relations of a Man who had been kill’d might take Revenge of the Murderer. Propinquus occisi, statim ut invenerit eum, jugulabit. And if a wilful Numb. xxxv. 16, 17,18,&c.Murderer should take Sanctuary in a City of Refuge, he was taken away from thence, and given up into the Hands of the Kindred of the dead Man, for them to take their Revenge on him. Mittent seniores civitatis illius, & arripient eum de loco effugii, tradentque in manu proximi cujus sanguis effusus est, & morietur. Deut. xix. 12.The Relations thought it their Duty to pursue to Vengeance such Murderers, and the Hebrews call’d those Goel or Revengers, to whom this sort of Vengeance appertain’d.

But this Toleration was granted only to the Hardness of the Hearts of the Jews: Ad duritiem cordis vestri, as our Saviour tells them on the Occasion of Divorce. God had sufficiently declared himself, to make it understood by good Men, that Vengeance belong’d only to him. Mea est ultio, & ego retribuam.Deuter. xxxiii. 35. He forbids Malice and Revenge in express Terms; he will not allow us to keep any Resentment in our Hearts against our Levit. xix. 17, 18.Brethren. Non oderis fratrem tuum in corde tuo——Non quæras ultionem, nec memor eris injuriæ civium tuorum. And when God seems to have establish’d the Lex Talionis, he does not thereby allow of Revenge, but sets Limits to it. Non fomes, sed limes furoris est, says St. Austin. He does not intend to provoke Aug. cont. Faust. l. 19. c. 25.to Anger, but to stop the Progress and Consequences of it. Non ut id quod sopitum erat, hinc accenderetur; sed ne id quod ardebat, ultra extenderetur.

The Day of Revenge, or of Vengeance, sometimes expresses the last Day of Judgment, in which God will take Vengeance of all his Enemies; and sometimes the Day of Vengeance stands for the Punishment that God exercises upon his Enemies, when their Iniquities are arrived to their full Measure. See Exod. xxxii. 34. Isai. xxxiv. 8. lxi. 2. lxiii. 4. Luke xxi. 22.

Vengeance is often express’d in the Hebrew under the Word Consolation; and tho’ St. Jerom has generally put the Word Revenge, yet he has not omitted sometimes to use the Words Comfort and Consolation, in the Sense of Revenge: For Example, Heu! Isa. i. 24.consolabor super hostibus meis, & vindicabor de inimicis meis. And in the Maccabees, 2 Macc. vii. 6.Deus consolabitur in nobis quemadmodum in protestatione cantici declaravit Moyses & in servis suis consolabitur. And again in Isaiah, Is. lvii. 18.Vias ejus vidi——& reddidi consolationes ipsi. But the Examples are much more frequent in the Hebrew.

In Scripture sometimes Revenge is taken for the meer Action of Assault, or for the Injury committed against another; but yet is not without the Colour and Pretence of just Revenge. Thus Nebuchadnezzar swears by his Throne, that he would be revenged of all those foreign States that would not obey his Summons, and submit themselves to his Judith i. 12. ii. 1.Government; as if he had a Right of demanding this Submission from them. In the same Manner the Idumeans wreak’d their Revenge against Judah, Pro eo quod fecit Idumæa ultionem, ut se vindicaret de filiis Ezek. xxv. 12.Judah. By these Expressions we must understand, to satisfy their Hatred, to shew their Ill-will. When it is said, that God grants his Revenge to any one; Deus qui dat vindictas mihi; this intimates, either that God gives up his Enemies to him into his Hands, to take Vengeance of them; or that he punishes them himself for having afflicted his Servants, by some terrible Effects of his Justice.

REVENGER, or Revenger of Blood. This Name is given in Scripture to him that had the Right, according to the Jewish Polity, of taking Revenge upon him that had kill’d one of his near Relations: Ultor sanguinis. If a Man had been guilty of Manslaughter, involuntarily and without design, he fled to a City of Refuge, and he was secured from the Pursuit of the Revenger of Numb. xxxv. 25, 27.Blood. Liberabitur innocens de ultoris manu. And when the Revenger shall pursue him hither to kill him, he shall not be deliver’d up into his Hands. Cumque ultor sanguinis Josh. xx. 5. Gen. xxii. 24.eum fuerit persecutus, non tradent in manus ejus.

REUMAH, or Roma, Concubine or second-hand Wife to Nahor the Brother of Abraham. Reumah was Mother to Tebah, Gaham, Thahath, and Maachah.

REZEPH, Reseph, Resiph, Resapha, or Risapha, a City of Syria, known in the 2d Book of Kings, ch. xix. 12. in Isaiah, ch. xxxvi. 12. in Ptolemy, in the Tables of Peutinger, and in the Eastern Notitia.

REZIA, or Resia, Daughter of Ulla, of the Tribe of Asher. 1 Chron. vii. 39.

REZIN, or Rasin, King of Syria. He made an Alliance with Pekah Son of Remaliah King of Israel, to invade Ahaz King of Judah⁴¹, and to make an Irruption into his Kingdom. The first Year of his Reign they laid Siege to Jerusalem: But not being able to take it, they laid Waste the Country round about, and went back again. The Year following they return’d into the Country of Judah, and the Lord deliver’d up to ‘em the Army and the Country of Ahaz. After this, the two Confederate Princes separated their Armies; and that of Resin betook themselves to plunder every-where, and to carry away the Captives: This they did without finding any Resistance, and carry’d to Damascus the Captives and the Booty they had taken⁴². Pekah also, on his Part, kill’d in one Day and in one Battle an hundred and twenty thousand Men of Ahaz’s Army, and took two hundred thousand Prisoners besides. But when they were brought into Samaria, the Prophet Oded caus’d them to be sent back into the Land of Judah.

About the same time, Rezin King of Syria assaulted Elath, or Ailat, upon the Red-Sea, and took it: He drove out the

Jews from hence, and settled the Idumeans in their Room, who, probably, had engaged him to undertake this War. The Hebrew Text and the Vulgate seem to intimate,⁴³ that Rezin King of Syria made a Conquest of Elath for the Syrians. But the Tenour of the Discourse sufficiently shews, that it ought to be read, for the Idumeans; and that in the Hebrew it should be read Edom, instead of Aram. The Difference between these two Words, in the Original, is hardly to be perceived. Ahaz finding himself not strong enough to withstand Rezin and Pekah, apply’d himself to Tiglath-pilneser King of Assyria, and offer’d him a very large Sum of Money to come to his Assistance. Tiglath-pilneser first marched against Damascus, took the City, and put Rezin to Death: He also carry’d away his People to Kir, probably upon the River Cyrus in Iberia⁴⁴.

REZON, or Razon, Son of Eliadah: He revolted from his Master Hadadezer King of Zobah⁴⁵, while David made War against him, and putting himself at the Head of a Band of Robbers, he began to make Excursions into the Country about Damascus: He at last became Master of this City, and was acknowledged as King there. It should seem that he could not settle here, ‘till toward the End of Solomon’s Reign; for David made a Conquest of Damascus, as well as of the rest of Syria; and Solomon kept up his Command over all the Provinces that David had brought into Subjection. But if Rezon did not rule at Damascus ‘till towards the End of Solomon’s Reign, he must have lived a very long Time: For, from David’s War with Hadadezer, which happen’d at the Beginning of David’s Reign, about the Year of the World 2960, to the End of Solomon’s Reign, who died in 3029, must be sixtynine Years. Rezon must at least be five-and twenty or thirty Years of Age at the Time of these first Wars; since he was then a General of Hadadezer’s Army, and presently became Head to a Troop of Freebooters: So that he must have been about ninety Years of Age when he began to govern at Damascus. If this should seem hardly credible, it may be allow’d, that Rezon might have reign’d at Damascus even in the Time of David and Solomon, but tributary to these Princes; and that he did not begin to revolt ‘till towards the End of Solomon’s Reign.

RHAMNUS, a Sort of Thorn, or prickly Bush, call’d Buckthorn. The Word Rhamnus is found in three Places of the Vulgate. Judg. ix. 14. Miserunt omnia ligna ad rham-

LXX. Ῥάμνος. Vulgate Rhemmum.num : And ver. 15. Egrediatur ignis de rhamno: And, lastly, Psalm lviii. Priusquam intelligerent spinæ vestræ rhamnum. In all these three Places the Hebrew has Atad, which properly signifies a Bramble, or a Thorn. The Scripture speaks of it as of a thing very easily set on Fire, and which gives a very quick Flame. For Example, in the Passage of the Psalms now quoted; Priusquam intelligerent spinæ vestræ rhamnum, sicut viventes, sic in ira absorbet eos: That is, “ Before they can “ know that their Thorns are arrived to “ the Strength of a Shrub, he will swallow “ them, as it were alive, in his Anger. ” But the Hebrew says, “ Before that your “ Kettles can have receiv’d Heat from “ your lighted Thorns, the Wrath of “ God, like a Whirlwind, shall overthrow “ them. ”⁴⁶

Act.xxviii. 12, 14.RHEGIUM, a City of Italy, in the Kingdom of Naples. St. Paul landed here when he went to Rome, in the Year of Christ 61. St. Luke being then of his Company, and having said nothing of those Miracles that are pretended to have been performed by St. Paul in this Place; his Silence ought at least to render them very much suspected.

RHINOCEROS, an Animal thus call’d, because he has an Horn upon his Snout. There are several Animals that have Horns also upon their Snouts, or in the Middle of their Foreheads, which have often been confounded together, and which are not yet well distinguish’d in the Natural History of Animals. See what is said hereafter under the Article Unicorn. The Name Rhinoceros is found in the Vulgate in these Places, Numb. xxiii. 22. & xxiv. 8. Deut. xxxiii. 17. Job xxxix. 9, 10. The Hebrew Word Reem is render’d Rheem. Monoceros, or Rhinoceros.in the Septuagint promiscuously by Monoceros, Unicornis, or Rhinoceros.

The Arabians and Persians name that Animal Kerkhedan, which the Hebrews call Rehem, and we Rhinoceros. It is chiefly found in the Isle of Rami in the Indian Sea, D’Herbelot. Bibl. Orient. p. 708, 959.distant three Days sail from the Island of Serendib. The Kerkhedan is smaller than the Elephant, but larger than the Buffalo. It has a Bunch under its Belly like unto what the Camels have upon their Backs. It has a very thick Horn upon its Snout, which the Indian Kings make use of at Table; for it sweats, at the Approach of any Kind of Poison whatever. This Horn being cloven through the middle, exhibits the Figure of a Man drawn with white Lines, among which are also seen the Figures of Birds.

Father le Compte says, that the Rhinoceros is of the Length of an Elephant ; but its Legs are shorter, and its Hoofs are cloven. ‘Tis one of the most singular Creatures in the World. It has something like a Boar, except that it is much larger ; its Feet are thicker, and its whole Body more unweildy : Its Skin is cover’d all over with blackish Scales, large and thick, which are extremely hard, and divided into little Squares or Knobs a little raised above the Skin, something like that of a Crocodile. Its Legs appear as if they had Boots on ; and its Head as if cover’d behind with a kind of flat Hood, which makes the Portuguese name it The Monk of the Indies.

Its Head is thick ; its Mouth not wide ; its Muzzle long, and arm’d with a thick and long Horn ; which makes it terrible even to the very Tygers, to the Buffaloes, and the Elephants. But what is still more wonderful in this Animal, is its Tongue, which Nature has cover’d with so hard a Membrane, that it differs but little from a File : Thus it fleas every thing that it licks, and eats with great Facility the rough Branches of Trees, tho’ defended all round with sharp Thorns : It bends them easily upon its Tongue, and breaks them in its Mouth without any Trouble. Festus says, that it is hunted for the sake of its Skin, which is very hard and impenetrable, being cover’d all over with Scales, and about four Fingers thick : They make Suits of Armour of it, and Bucklers, as also Shares for the Plough.

RHINOCOLURA, or Rhinocorura ; but the first Reading is the most correct. This Word signifies the cutting of the Nostrils, a because the ancient Inhabitants Diodor. Sicul. l. 1. c. 60.of this City were thus mutilated. Diodorus Siculus relates the Matter thus : Actisarus King of Ethiopia, being desirous to clear his Kingdom of the Robbers that very much infested it, and yet not being willing to put them to Death, he apprehended as many of them as he could, slit their Noses, and banish’d them into a desart and barren Place, where they built them a City, which, because of their Slit-Noses, was call’d Senec. de Ira, l. 3. c. 20.Rhinocolura. Seneca says, it was a King of Persia, probably Cambyses, who made them undergo this ignominious Punishment.

Near the City of Rhinocolura there is a River which several have taken to be the Josh. xv. 4. 47. Isai. xxvii. 12. 1 Samuel xxx. 9, 10, 21. Amos vi. 14.River of Egypt. But we take the River of Egypt to be no other than the Nile ; and the Stream that runs near Rhinocolura, we think to be the Brook Besor, or the River of the Wilderness, which is spoke of elsewhere Hieron. in Vita S. Hilar.in the Scripture. This City of Rhinocolura is ascribed sometimes to Syria, and sometimes to Palestine, to which indeed it formerly belong’d, and sometimes to Egypt⁴⁷, upon which it afterwards depended. Its Bishop was a Suffragan of Pelusium. ‘Tis said,⁴⁸ it was at Rhinocolura that the World was divided by Noah among his three Sons. ‘Tis unknown what the ancient Name of Rhinocolura was, I mean the Hebrew Name that this Place was known by, before the Grecians gave it the Name of Rhinocolura, and before the Story of the Slit-Noses was invented. St. Hilarion, a famous Anchorite or Hermit of this Country, dwelt a long time at Flacidia a City in the Neighbourhood of Rhinocolura.

RHODA, a young Maid who dwelt in the House of Mary the Mother of John- Mark, who coming to open the Door to a Person that knocked at it, was so transported with Joy, at hearing Peter’s Voice, whom she thought to be in Prison, and who had but just then been miraculously deliver’d from it by an Angel⁴⁹, that, without staying to open the Door, she ran back to acquaint the Believers with it, who were then assembled in the House. They look’d upon her as visionary or mad, but she still maintain’d she heard Peter’s Voice. The Apostle continuing still to knock, she went back, and open’d the Door to him. We know no other Circumstance of the Life of Rhoda ; for, as to her Exile and Martyrdom, which, ‘tis pretended, she suffer’d in the Isle of Sardinia⁵⁰, we place them in the Number of Apocryphal Stories.

RHODES, an Island and famous City of the Archipelago, being an hundred thousand Paces in Compass. Its ancient Name was Asteria, Ophiusa, and Etheria. The Name of Rodes, which in Greek signifies a Rose, came either from the Nymph Rhodia, who was beloved by Apollo, and changed into a Rose ; or rather, from the great Quantity and Beauty of the Roses that are to be seen there. This City is chiefly famous for its Brazen Colossus, which was one hundred and five Feet high, and was made by Chares of Lyndus : It continued perfect only fifty-six Years, being thrown down by an Earthquake, under the Reign of Ptolemy III. surnamed Euergetes, King of Egypt, who began to reign in the Year of the World 3758, before the Vulgar Era 244. The Saracens entirely broke it to Pieces, under the Reign of Constans II. and ‘tis said, they loaded nine hundred Camels with the Brass that it afforded : It was twelve Years in making, and three hundred Talents were laid out upon it. ‘Tis said, this Colossus was so large, that no⁵¹

one could grasp its Thumb with his Arms. The Inside of this great Mass was filled up with large Stones, that being thus made heavy, the Winds and Tempests might not have Power to overset it. It was set up in the Harbour of Rhodes, having its two Legs extended, and fix’d upon two Pedestals, so that when Ships came into the Harbour, they might easily pass between. Suidas, Glycas, Zomar. Eustath.Some pretend, that the Rhodians were the Colossians, to whom St. Paul address’d one of his Epistles: But this Opinion is very ill founded. See COLOSSIANS. When St. Paul went to Jerusalem, in the Year of Christ 58, he went from Miletus to Coos, Acts xxi. 1.from Coos to the Isle of Rhodes, and from thence to Patara in Lycia.

The Septuagint, in Gen. x. 4. put the Rhodians among the Children of Javan. They, probably, read Rhodanim, instead of Dodanim, in the Hebrew⁵². The Samaritan Text reads also Rhodanim in the same Place; and the Hebrew reads it also in the First Book of the Chronicles. Eusebius, St. Jerom, and Isidore, follow the Septuagint, and think the Isle of Rhodes to have been peopled by the Rhodanim, or the Posterity of Javan. Bochart does not reject that Reading that exhibits Rhodanim; but he maintains, that this Word cannot signify the Rhodians in this Place, who are too modern to have been planted there by any immediate Son of Javan: He thinks that, in this Place, Moses rather intended to mark out the People of the Gauls, which are upon the Mediterranean, towards the Mouth of the Rhone, near Marseilles, where we find a Canton call’d Rhodanusia, and a City of the same Name.

Also the Septuagint, upon Ezekiel,⁵³ have translated the Children of the Rhodians, instead of the Children of Dedan, as it is read in the Hebrew. Probably, they read the Children of Redan, or Rodan; but in Gen. x. 7. they read Dedan, as the Hebrew. In the Hebrew Text nothing is easier than to confound the Daleth and the Resh. If the Text of Genesis did not determine us to Dedan, we might admit the Rhodians in this Passage of Ezekiel; for, in the Time of this Prophet, it is very probable that this Island was well-peopled.

RHODIUM, or Rhodiense Numisma. This Name is given, by the Learned, to two Silver Medals, which are preserved, one in the Treasury of the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in the City of Paris, and the other in that of St. John of Lateran at Rome, and are pretended to be such as were given to Judas, as the Price of our Saviour, when this Traytor sold him to the Jews. These Medals are certainly some of the ancient Money of Rhodes, as is seen by the Inscription Rhodion, and the Image of a Rose on one Side, and on the other Side the Head of the Colossus, or of the Sun. Goltzius and Antoninus Piso have had the same Medals in their Hands, and have caused them to be engraved. ‘Tis not impossible but, by Chance, they may have given some Pieces of this Money to Judas, which might then be still current in the Empire, by the Consent of the Romans; but it is much more probable, that Judas was paid in the Current Money of the Country, which was the Roman Money of the Emperor then reigning, Mat. xxii. 20, 21.or of some of his Predecessors. See Selden de Jure Nat. & Gent. l. 2. c. 8.

2 Mac. xiii. 21.RHODOCUS, a Traytor in the Army of Judas Maccabeus, who went to the Camp of Antiochus Eupator King of Syria, to betray the Counsels of his Party. He was afterwards discovered, convicted, and put into Prison, in the Year of the World 3841, before Christ 159, before the Vulgar Era 163.

RHOMPHÆA. This Word is found in the Latin Text of the Book of Ecclesiasticus⁵⁴, the Revelations⁵⁵, and much oftener in the Greek Text of the Septuagint. It answers to the Hebrew Word Chanith, a Lance⁵⁶; and to Cherib, which signifies a Sword f. Rhomphæa properly signifies a large and long Sword, which was formerly in use amongst the Thracians⁵⁷: Thracas quoque rhomphææ, ingentis & ipsæ longitudinis, inter adjectos undique ramos impedierunt. St. Isidore says, that rhomphæa is a long two-edged Sword, otherwise call’d Spatha. Suidas says, that this Name Rhomphæa was also given to the Pike, or to a long Dart.

RIBAI, Father of Ittai, of the Tribe of Benjamin. Ittai was one of the Heroes of David’s Army. 2 Sam. xxiii. 29.

RIBLAH, Rebla, Riblata, or Reblata, a City of Syria, in the Country of Emath. Its Situation is unknown. St. Jerom⁵⁸ has taken it for Antiochia of Syria, or for the Country of Emath or Emmas, which was still, in his Time, the first Stage of those that travelled from Syria into Mesopotamia. We know not what was the ancient Name of the City of Antioch; but we know the Name it bore after the Reign of the Seleucidæ, and what it still bears, is a new Name. St. Jerom had, probably, some particular Knowledge of this Matter, since he assures us so positively, and in so many Places, that the ancient Riblah was Antioch.

Yet however, this lies under great Difficulties. Antioch was at a good Distance from Emesa, or Emath; it was not upon the Road from Judea to Mesopotamia. When Moses describes the Eastern Limits of the Land of Numbers xxxiv. 10, 11, 12.Promise, he says, And ye shall point out your East Border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. And the Coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the East-side of Ain; and the Border shall descend, and shall reach unto the Side of the Sea of Chinnereth, (or, of Tiberias) Eastward. And the Border shall go down to Jordan; and the Goings-out of it shall be at the Salt-sea (or, the Dead-sea). The Name of Daphne is not found in the Hebrew; but the Chaldee Paraphrasts and St. Jerom explain the Fountain of Riblah by that of Daphne, near to Antioch. Ezekiel puts the Northern Bounds of the Land of Promise from the Mediterranean-Sea to Hazar-enan, or Atrium Enan. He says, that Emath is the City that limits the Holy Land towards the North; and that its Southern Limits go through the Middle of Auran, Damascus, and the Mountains of Gilead. He makes no mention of Riblah; but he marks out Emath, in the Territory of which Riblah was situate.

The Habitation of Riblah was one of the most agreeable of all Syria; whence it was that the Kings of Babylon were so willing to make their Abode there. Pharaoh Necho King of Egypt made a Stop there, at his Return 2 Kings xxiii. 33.from the Expedition of Carchemish; and having made Jehoahaz King of Judah to come thither to him, he deprived him of the Royal Dignity, and put Jehoiakim in his Place. Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon continued at Riblah, while his General Nebuzaradan laid Siege to Jerusalem; and after 2 Kings xxv. 6, 20, 21. Jer. xxix. 5. & lii. 9.the Reduction of this Place, King Zedekiah and the rest of the Prisoners were brought to him to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar caus’d Zedekiah’s Eyes to be put out, and made his Sons and principal Officers to be put to Death in the Presence of this unfortunate Prince.

RIF. We have affirmed in this Dictionary, after some Learned Men, that the Egyptians call that Rif, which the Greeks call the Delta of Egypt. But M. d’Herbelot, in his Oriental Dictionary, says, that the Name Rif is given to that Part of Egypt which begins at Cairo, and stretches out towards the North. And that the Arabians give the Name of Giouf to that Part of the Country which the Greeks call the Delta, and which comprehends all that Country inclosed by the Nile, ‘till it discharges it self into the Mediterranean-Sea.

RIGHT-HAND. The Right-hand denotes Power, Strength. The Scripture generally imputes to God’s Right-hand, all the Exod. xv. 6.Effects of his Omnipotence. Dextra tua, Domine, magnificata est: Dextra tua, Domine, percussit inimicum. See Psal. xx. 9. xliii. 4. & alibi passim.

To sit down at the Right-hand of God, is generally put for obtaining an Equality of Glory and Power. The Son of God is often represented as sitting at the Right-hand of his heavenly Father. Dixit dominus domino Psal. cix. 1. Mat. xxvi. 64. Colos. iii. Hebr. i. 3. & x. 12, &c. 1 Samuel xxiii. 19, 24.meo, Sede à dextris meis. And, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the Right-hand of Power, and coming in the Clouds of Heaven.

The Right-hand commonly denotes the South, as the Left-hand denotes the North. For the Hebrews speak of the Quarters of the World in respect of themselves, having their Faces turn’d towards the East, their Backs to the West, their Right-hands to the South, and their Left to the North. Thus Kedem, which signifies before, stands also for the East; and Achor, which signifies behind, marks out the West; Jamin, the Right-hand, is the South; and Shemol, the Left-hand, is the North. For Example; Doth not David hide himself with us in strong Holds in the Wood, in the Hill of Hachilah, which is on the South of Jeshimen? Heb. on the Right-hand of Jeshimen.

Psal. cviii. 6. Zech. iii. 1.The Accuser was commonly at the Right -hand of the Accused; as for Example, Diabolus stet à dextris ejus. And in Zechariah, the Devil was at the Right-hand of the High-priest Jeshua to accuse him. Satan stabat à dextris ejus, ut adversaretur ei.

Psal. xvi. 8. Psal. cix. 31.Often, in a quite contrary Sense, to be at any one’s Right-hand, signifies to defend, to protect, to support him. As for Example: I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my Right-hand, I shall not be moved. And elsewhere, For he shall stand at the Right-hand of the Poor, to save him from those that condemn his Soul.

To depart from the Law of God, neither to the Right-hand, nor to the left, is a frequent Scripture Expression, the Meaning of which is, that we must not depart from it at all, neither by attempting to go beyond it, and doing more than it requires, nor by doing less. But we must observe it closely, constantly, and invariably, as a Traveller, who does not go out of his Way, either to the right or to the left.

Our Saviour, in the Gospel, to shew with what Privacy we should do good Works, Mat. vi. 5.says; That our Left-hand should not know what our Right-hand does. Above all things we should avoid Vanity and Ostentation in all the Good we undertake to do.

Exodus xxxv. 22. Numbers xxxi. 50.Dextralia, or Dextraliola, are Bracelets with which Men, as well as Women, us’d to dress themselves. It was of these Bracelets that Moses spoke, when he enjoin’d the Israelites to have always the Law of God in their Minds; and that it should

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