neath the bottom of the fea, than at fimilar depths of land. These have all the force of fire giving expanfion to air, and tending to raise the earth at the bottom of the sea, till at length it heaves above water. These marine volcanoes are not fo frequent; for if we may judge of the ufual procedure of nature, it must very often happen, that, before the bottom of the fea is elevated above the surface, a chafm is opened in it, and then the water preffing in, extinguishes the volcano before it has time to produce its effects. This extinction, however, is not effected without very great refiftance from the fire beneath. The water, upon dashing into the cavern, is very probably at firft ejected back with great violence; and thus fome of those amazing water-fpouts are feen, which have fo often aftonifhed the mariner, and excited curiofity-But of these in their place. SIR, (To be continued.) ANSWER TO QUERY ON ACTS, ii. 3. AM happy to see your correfpondents, by the medium of them have difficulties, for elucidation; it fhews them to have inquiring minds; and in my opinion, he who inquires with fincerity, even though he may come to an erroneous conclu.. fion, is more to be effeemed than the man who receives a truth merely because it is generally acknowledged: but one in authority hath faid, "Seek, and Seek, and ye fhall find." I fhall endeavour to answer the fecond query propofed in your laft number, viz. on Acts, ii. 3. "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire." The difficulty, perhaps, is in the expreffions cloven tongues, and like as of fire. With refpect to the first, I obferve, that the hiftorian uses an Hebrew idiom (no unufual thing with the New Teftament writers) to expreis himself by. If we turn to Ifaiah, v. 24. in the Hebrew, we fhall find the phrafe ws wh tongue of fire, used to exprefs a flame: the tongues, then, which appeared at the day of Pentecoft, were cloven or divided: of which divifion it is eafy to conceive by a flame cleft or divided afunder, according to the natural motion of flames, of which every part, as it afcends, grows more pyramidal, and fo divides from the part next to it; and thefe cloven tongues fat upon each of the apostles, The The hiftorian goes on, fecondly, to fay, that thefe divided tongues were like as of fire; which mode of fpeaking, i. e. by way of comparison, fhews that they were not really fire: for to fay that fire appeared like fire, would be a kind of trifling, which the dignity of the fubject, and the character of the writer, preclude every idea of: neither does there appear any of the effects of fire, as burning, &c. What it really was we cannot tell, any more than we can how it was that the bush which Mofes faw inveloped in fire was not confumed. In fhort, the cause and the effect, in both these cafes, were purely miraculous. I avail myself of this opportunity, as it is not altogether foreign to the fubject, to obferve, that I think it cannot be concluded from Mat. iii. 16. "He faw the fpirit of God defcending like a dove, and lighting upon him," nor from its parallel place, Mar. i. 10. "he faw the heavens opened, and the fpirit like a dove defcending on him," that the spirit came upon Chrift in the body or shape of a dove; but only that the spirit 'defcended, and came or alighted on him, as a dove uses to do on any thing, firft hovering or overshadowing it. But it may be objected, that it is faid by St. Luke, (iii. 22.) "the holy ghost descended in a bodily fhape like a dove. I anfwer, Dr. Hammond removes this difficulty; for he obferves, that owalew eider will be beft rendered in or with a bodily appearance." An apoftle of Deifm, or rather an afperfer of Chriftianity, obferves, that it might as well have been in the shape of a goofe, as of a dove. If the above criticifm be adopted, it will not feem that it appeared in either shape; and the reason why it is compared to a dove, is, perhaps, that no bird fo well known to the inhabitants of Judea hovers about, or overshadows its refting place, fo much as the dove. See St. Luke, i. 35. Mat. xvii. 5. Mark, ix. 7. Luke, ix. 34. where this idea of the hovering of the spirit seems to be continued. The dove being fo common in that country, and its hovering, as above described, may likewife account for the three evangelifts all ufing the fame comparison. There does not appear to me any thing more in the text propofed, which needs explanation. If you think those remarks likely to answer your inquiring correfpondent, they are at your fervice. I remain, &c. W. BURTON. JOB. I JOB. CHAPTER V. ROCLAIM now, who is there to answer thee? PRO And unto whom amongst the faints wilt thou turn? 2 For the wrath of the ignorant will flay, And the jealousy of the fimple will cause death. 1 BE now complainant, the defendant fee. Which angel will efpouse thy daring plea? 2 Learn, learn, that mis'ry is the mulct of fin; In men's own' bofoms all their woes begin. Revenge or envy hurries fools along, Purfu'd by death, to cruelty and wrong. 3 I beheld 3 Such It is but juftice to acknowledge the obligation the tranflator is under to Mr. Scott's excellent Poetical Tranflation of Job; as the whole of the poetry is his, it will be unneceffary to be continually putting his name to it; but as the critical notes are not wholly (although they are principally) taken from bis excellent remarks, his name will be put to fuch as are taken from his work. 1 Proclaim, &c.] The learned Schultens is the firft, if I mistake not, whọ obferved that proclaim and anfwer are here law terms; the former denoting the action of the complainant, the other the part of the defendant, as in chap. ix. 16. xiii. 22. Schultens has proved that the particle frequently fignifies verily; and therefore he would render this line, "Call now; verily there is one that would anfwer thee." Scott. Eliphaz confiders the complaint of his friend as an arraignment of Providence. He now ironically bids him renew the charge, and referreth him to the foregoing vifion for an answer. Scott. When I confider the number of truths that the fpeech of Eliphaz contains, it reminds me of a speech of a late Lord Chief Juftice to a celebrated counfellor True, learned fir; but what are all these words to the purpofe?"Eliphaz and his friends, like many modern divines, feem to confound the fay-ing a multitude of good things, with the fi caking a word to the purpose, as if they were one and the fame thing. Among the faints, &c.] p (Dan. iv. 17.) holy ones-fuch know themfelves to be fallible; which of them, therefore, will countenance thee in juftifying thyself, and complaining againft God? Scott. 2-7 For wrath, &c.] He refumes his pofition, chap. iv. 8. that men reap what they fou--their fufferings are the fruit of their own criminal paffions. The simple the foolish--the filly one.] These are terms in Scripture for impious and wicked men; Prov. i. 7, 32. 1 Kings, xxi. Pfalm cvi. 16, 18.; marking them as perfons of a ftupid understanding, and feduced by their corrupt paffions. Foolish is applied by the prophet Zechariah to an oppreffive ruler, chap. xi. 15, 16. Envy-jealousy. These paffions are specified, because these are two principal fources of injuftice and cruelty. 3 I beheld the ignorant taking root, Then straightway I curfed his habitation. 4 His children are far removed from fafety; In the tempeft they are crushed, and none overshadoweth. 5 Famine fhall devour his harvest, And even from the thorns they shall take it; 6 For affliction springeth not forth from the duft, 7 For 3 Such have I feen with rooted verdure tow'r; 7 Man 3 I curfed his habitation.] I marked it as devoted to destruction; px Ezra, viii. 20. All of them were marked out by name. He defcribeth the ruin of this wicked man's family and fortunes in the 4th and 5th verses. 4 They are crushed in the tempeft.] Doubtless referring to the tragical death of Job's children, i. 18, 19. There is none overshadoweth.] It is a judgment of God--it is inevitable; as good old Homer obferveth, Odyff. п, 447. Θεοσθεν δι' εκ επ' αλέασθαι -There is no efcaping from God. 5 Whofe harvest.] He had compared the oppressive man of power to a tree, olive or palm, striking root, ver. 3.; he here again takes up the image, and extends it, reprefenting the deftruction of his wealth, by the wild Arabs pillaging this guarded tree of all its fruit. He has his eye, I fuppofe, on the incurfion of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, related chap. i. 14--17. From the thorns.] Reprefenting the means of fecurity and defence with which power is armed. likewife fignifieth targets, and may imply, that the famished Arabians became fo daring as to plunder his harveit even in the face of thofe armed troops with which he attempts to defend it. The farveling.] The Chaldee renders the word robbers. Such ftarveling thievifh Arabians are thus defcribed by Volney, Voyage, tom. i. p. 357French edit. These men are finaller, leaner, and blacker than any of the Bedoweens yet known. Their wafted legs had only tendons without calves. Their belly was glued to their back. In general the Redoweens are finall, lean, and Twarthy, more fo, however, in the bofom of the defert than in the borders of the cultivated country." P. 358. " One may even say, that the common Bedoweens live in habitual mifery and famine." P. 259. 7 For man is brought forth to toil, For like the flame they are fwiftly made haughty. 8 Truly unto the interpofer would I feek, Even unto the covenant ones my words I would array. 9 He performeth great things that none can fearch out, Wonderful things beyond enumeration. 10 Upon the face of the earth he giveth showers, And fendeth waters upon the face of the field. II To place the humbled upon exalted stations, And by falvation the mourners are elevated. 12 He 7 Man is to forrow born, if man offend, As furely as the fpiry flames afcend. 8 Inftead of murmur, with repenting tear I'd leave my caufe in God's all-gracious ear; 9 Whofe acts are great, ftupendous, and renown'd, Which no thought fathoms, and no numbers bound: 10 Who, pouring on the fields his genial rain, Turns á burnt defert into foodful plain : 11 Who lifts the lowly, from the duft, on high, And changes into fong the mourner's figh. 12 But 7 The children of lightening, confequently, its flafhes; but as they cannot be faid to fly upward, it is moft probable the word was applied to flame in general. Haughty, I conceive the meaning to be, that man is by nature fo prone to have his mind elevated, lofty, proud, that it becomes neceflary for God, by labour, to keep him low. 8-16 I would feek unto the interpofer, It means that which intervenes or comes between, or mediates. Having proved, as he imagined, that the fufferings of his friend were the juft punishment of his guilt, he now recommends to him fubmiffive application to God for deliverance. To roufe him out of his defpair, and at the fame time fix the conviction that his downfall was caufed by his fins, he fets before him, in one blended view, the aftonishing operations of Providence-- Ut redeat miferis, abeat fortuna fuperbis. To raise the wretched and pull down the proud. Hor. Rofc. 10 He giveth fhowers.] "In thofe hot climates the fpring is of fhort duration all fummer the earth is without rain; every thing is burnt up, and the field is turned into a defert. But when the autumnal rains fall, a few plentiful fhowers produce a fudden refurrection of vegetable nature; the pastures are again clothed with grafs, the trees are covered with green leaves, and all things affume a fresh and delightful afpect." Ruffell's Nat. Hift. of Aleppo, p. 13, 14. Eliphaz feemeth to allude to fuch a great and wonderful operation of Providence, as a fitting emblem of its effecting a like wonderful transition, from a condition of defpairing affliction to a state of profperity and joy. |