any Iris) and fo in the afternoon when it hath declined unto that altitude again; which height the Sun not attaining in winter,rain-bows may happen with us at noon or any time. Unto a right pofition of fphere they may appear three hours after the rifing of the Sun,and three before its fetting, for the Sun afcending fifteen degrees an hour, in three attainech forty five of altitude. Even unto a parallel fphere, and fuch as live under the pole, for half a year fome fegments may appear at any time and under any quarter,the Sun not fetting, but walking round about them. The natural But the propriety of its Election moft properly appeareth in the natural fignification and prognoftick of it felf; as containing a mixt fignality of rain and fair weather.For being in a roride cloud and ready to drop, it declareth a pluvi- fignification of ous difpofure in the air, but because when it appears the Sun muft alfo fhine, the rain-bow. there can be no univerfal fhowrs, and confequently no Deluge. Thus when the windows of the great deep were open,in vain men lookt for the Rain-bow:for at that time it could not be feen, which after appeared unto Noah. It was therefore exiftent before the flood, and had in nature fome ground of its addition.Unto that of nature God fuperadded an affurance of his Promife, that is, never to hinder its appearance, or fo to replenish the heavens again, as that we should behold it no more. And thus without difparaging the promife,it might rain at the fame time when God fhewed it unto Noah; thus was there more therein then the heathens understood, when they called it the Nuncia of the gods, & the laugh of weeping Heaven; and thus may it be elegantly faid, I put my bow,not my arrow in the clouds, that is,in the menace of rain the mercy of fair weather. Rifus plerantis Cabaliftical heads, who from that expreffion in Efay,do make a book of heaO'ympi. ven,and read therein the great concernments of earth,do literally play on this, Ifa.34.4. and from its femicircular figure,refembling the Hebrew letter Caph, whereby is fignified the uncomfortable number of twenty, at which fofeph was fold, which facob lived under Laban,and at which men were to go to war:do note a propriety in its fignification; as thereby declaring the difmal Time of the Deluge. And Chriftian conceits do feem to ftrain as high, while from the irradiati on of the Sun upon a cloud, they apprehend the myfterie of the Sun of Righteousness in the obfcurity of flesh, by the colours green and red, the two deftructions of the world by fire and water; or by the colours of blood and water, the mysteries of Baptifm, and the holy Eucharift. Laudable therefore is the cultom of the fews, who upon the appearance of the Rain-bow,do magnifie the fidelity of God in the memory of his Covenant; according to that of Syracides, look upon the Rain-bow, and praise him that made it. And though fome pious and Chriftian pens have only fymbolized the fame from the myfterie of its colours, yet are there other affections which might admit of Theological allufions. Nor would he find a more improper fubject, that should confider that the colours are made by refraction of Light, and the fhadows that limit that light, that the Center of the Sun,the Rain-bow, and the eye of the Beholder must be in one right line, that the Spectator muft be between the Sun and the Rain-bow; that fometime three appear, fometime one reversed. With many others, confiderable in Meteorological Divinity, Thaumancias. which would more fenfibly make out the Epitbite of the Heathens; and the expreffion of the fon of Syrach. Very beautifull is the Rain-bow,it compaffeth the heaven about with a glorious circle, and the hands of the moft High have bended it. CHAP. Gen.11. In divine be nedi&ions the younger of ten preferred That Noah and Saturn were the fame perfon. Gen. 9.22. Reading Veiagod abfcidit for Veieg ged & nunci- Bochartus de CHAP. V. Of Sem, Ham and Iaphet. Oncerning the three fons of Noah, Sem, Ham and Iapher, that the order of their nativity was according to that of numeration, and faphet the youngest fon, as molt believe, as Austin and others account,the fons of fapher, and Europeans need not grant: nor will it fo well concord unto the letter of the Text, and its readieft Interpretations. For fo is it faid in our Tranflation, Sem the father of all the fons of Heber the brother of Iaphet the elder: fo by the Septuagint, and fo by that of Tremelius. And therefore when the Vulgar reads it, Fratre Iaphet majore, the miftake as Iunius obferveth, might be committed by the neglect of the Hebrew accent; which occafioned Ierom fo to render it, and many after to believe it. Nor is that Argument contemptible which is deduced from their Chronology; for probable it is that Noah had none of them before, and begat them from that year when it is faid he was five hundred years old, and begat Sem, Ham and Japhet. Again it is faid he was fix hundred years old at the flood, and that two years after Sem was but an hundred; therefore Sem must be born when Noah was five hundred and two, and fome other before in the year of five hundred and one. Now whereas the Scripture affordeth the priority of order unto Sem, we cannot from thence infer his primogeniture. For in Sem the holy line was continued and therefore however born, his genealogy was most remarkable. So is it not unusuall in holy Scripture to nominate the younger before the elder fo is it faid, That Tarah begat Abraham, Nachor and Haram: whereas Haram was the eldeft. So Rebecca is termed the mother of Iacob and Efau. Nor is it ftrange the younger fhould be firft in nomination, who have commonly had the priority in the bleffings of God, and been first in his benediction. So Abel was accepted before Cain, Ifaac the younger preferred before Ishmael the elder, Iacob before Efau, Iofeph was the youngest of twelve, and David the eleventh fon and minour cadet of fee. Laftly,though faphet were not elder then Sem, yet muft we not affirm that he was younger then Cham; for it is plainly delivered, that after Sem and Iapher had covered Noah, he awaked, and knew what his youngest fon had done unto him tot o vidre, is the expreffion of the Septuagint, Filius minor of Ierom, and minimus of Tremelius. And upon thefe grounds perhaps fofephus doth vary from the Scripture enumeration, and nameth them Sem, tapher and Cham; which is alfo obferved by the Annian Berofus, Noah cum iribus filiis, Semo, Iapeto Chem. And therefore although in the priority. of Sem and Iapher, there may be fome difficulty, thou Cyril, Epiphanius and Auftin have accounted Sem the elder, and Salian the Annalift, and Petavius the Chronologift contend for the fame, yet Cham is more plainly and confef fedly named the youngest in the Text. And this is more conformable unto the Pagan hiftory and Gentile account hereof, unto whom Noah was Saturn, whofe fymbol was a fhip, as relating unto the Ark, and who is faid to have divided the world between his three fons. Ham is conceived to be fupiter, who was the youngest fon; worshipped by the name of Hamon, which was the Egyptian and African name for Iupiwho is faid to have cut off the genitals of his father,derived from the hiftory of Ham, who beheld the nakedness of his, and by no hard miftake might be confirmed from the Text, as Bochartus hath well obferved. facra. CHAP. CHAP. VI. That the Tower of Babel was erected against a fecond Deluge. N Opinion there is of fome generality, that our fathers after the flood attempted the Tower of Babel to fecure themfelves against a second Deluge. Which however affirmed by fofephus and others, hath feemed improbable unto many who have difcourfed hereon. For (befide that they could not be ignorant of the Promife of God never to drown the world again,and had the Rain-bow before their eyes to put them in mind thereof) it is improbable from the nature of the Deluge, which being not poffibly caufable from natural showers above, or watery eruptions below,but requiring a fupernatural hand, and fuch as all acknowledge irrefiftible,we mult difparage their knowledge and judgement in fo fucceflefs attempts. Again, They muft probably hear, and fome might know, that the waters of the flood afcended fifteen cubits above the highest mountains. Now,if as fome define, the perpendicular altitude of the highest mountains be four miles; or as others, but fifteen furlongs, it is not eafily conceived how fuch a ftructure could be effected. Although we allowed the defcription of Herodotus concerning the Tower of Belus; whofe lowest florie was in height and bredth one furlong, and feven more built upon it; abating that of the Annian Berofus, the traditional relation of ferom, and fabulous account of the fews. Probable it is that what they attempted was feasible,otherwife they had been amply fooled in fruitless fuccefs of their labours,nor needed God to have hindred them,faying, Nothing will be restrained from them, which they begin to do. Is was improbable from the place, that is a plain in the land of Shinar. And if the fituation of Babylon were fuch at firft as it was in the days of Herodotus ; it was rather a feat of amenity and pleasure, then conducing unto this intention. It being in a very great plain,and fo improper a place to provide againft a general Deluge by Towers and eminent ftructures, that they were fain to make provifions against particular and annual inundations by ditches and trenches, after the manner of Egypt. And therefore Sir Walter Raleigh accordingly ob- Hiftory of the jecteth: If the Nations which followed Nimrod, ftill doubted the furprife of world." a fecond flood, according to the opinions of the ancient Hebrews, it foundeth ill to the ear of Reafon, that they would have spent many years in that low and overflown valley of Mefopotamia. And therefore in this fituation,they chofe a place more likely to have fecured them from the worlds deftruction by fire, then another Deluge of water: and as Pierius obferveth, fome have conceived that this was their intention. Laftly, The reafon is delivered in the Text. Let us build us a City and a Tower, whofe top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name, left we be scattered abroad upon the whole earth; as we have already began to wander over a part. These were the open ends propofed unto the people; but the fecret defign of Nimrod, was to fettle unto himfelf a place of dominion,and rule over his Brethren, as it after fucceeded, according to the delivery of the Text, the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. Cant-7. The vegeta bles in H. Seripture how variou fly expounded. CHAP. VII. of the Mandrakes of Leah. WE For firft from the comparison of one Text with another, whether the Mandrakes here mentioned, be the fame plant which holds that name with us, there is fome caufe to doubt. The word is used in another place of Scripture, when the Church inviting her beloved into the fields, among the delightfull fruits of Grapes and Pomegranates, it is faid, The Mandrakes give a fmell, and at our gates are all manner of pleafant fruits. Now inftead of a smell of Delight, our Mandrakes afford a papaverous and unpleasant odor,whether in the leaf or apple, as is difcoverable in their fimplicity or mixture. The fame is alfo dubious from the different interpretations: for though the Septuagint and fofephus do render it the Apples of Mandrakes in this Text, yet in the other of the Canticles, the Chaldy Paraphrafe termeth it Balfame. R. Solomon, as Drufius obferveth, conceives it to be that plant the Arabians named Iefemin. Oleafter, and Georgius Venetus, the Lilly, and that the word Dudaim, may comprehend any plant that hath a good fmell, refembleth a womans breaft, and flourisheth in wheat barveft. Junius and Tremelius interpret the fame for any amiable flowers of a pleasant and delightfull odour: but the Geneva Tranflators have been more wary then any: for although they retain the word Mandrake in the Text,they in effect retract it in the Margin : wherein is fet down the word in the Original is Dudaim, which is a kind of fruit or flower unknown. Nor fhall we wonder at the diffent of expofition, and difficulty of definition concerning this Text, if we perpend how variously the vegetables of Scripture are expounded, and how hard it is in many places to make out the fpecies determined. Thus are we at variance concerning the plant that covered fonas; which though the Septuagint doth render Colocynthis, the Spanish Calabaca, and ours accordingly a Gourd: yet the vulgar tranflates it Hedera or Ivy, and as Grotius obferveth, Jerom thus tranflated it, not as the fame plant, but best apprehended thereby. The Italian of Diodati, and that of Tremelius have named it Ricinus, and fo hath ours in the Margin, for palma Chrifti is the fame with Ricinus. The Geneva Tranflators have herein been alfo circumfpect, for they have retained the Original word Kikaion, and ours hath alfo affixed the fame unto the Margin. Nor are they indeed alwayes the fame plants which are delivered under the fame name, and appellations commonly received amongst us. So when it is faid of Solomon, that he writ of plants from the Cedar of Lebanus, unto the Hyfop that groweth upon the wall, that is, from the greatest unto the fmalleft, it cannot be well conceived our common Hyfop; for neither is that the leaft of vegetables, nor obferved to grow upon wals; but rather as Lemnius well conceiveth,fome kind of the capillaries, which are very fmall plants, and only grow upon wals and ftony places. Nor are the four fpecies in the holy oyntment, oyntment, Cinnamon, Myrrhe, Calamus and Caffia, nor the other in the holy perfume, Frankincenfe, State, Onycha and Galbanum,fo agreeably expounded unto thofe in ufe with us, as not to leave confiderable doubts behind them.Nor muft that perhaps be taken for a fimple unguent, which Matthew only termeth a precious oyntment; but rather a compofition,as Mark and John imply by V.Mathioli, piftick Nard,that is faithfully difpenfed,and as may be that famous compofition Epift. defcribed by Diofcorides, made of oyl of Ben, Malabathrum,Juncus Odoratus, Coftus, Amomum, Myrrhe, Balfam and Nard, which Galen affirmeth to have been in ufe with the delicate Dames of Rome; and that the best thereof was made at Laodicea; from whence by Merchants it was conveyed unto other parts. But how to make out that Tranflation concerning the Tithe of Mint, Anife and Cumin, we are still to feek; for we find not a word in the Text that can properly be rendred Anife; the Greek being vnov, which the Latines call Anethum, and is properly Englished Dill. Laftly, What meteor that was, that fed the Ifraelites fo many years, they muft rife again to inform Nor do they make it out, who will have it the fame with our Manna; nor will any one kind thereof, or hardly all kinds we read of, be able to an- v. Doi:fwer the qualities thereof, delivered in the Scripture, that is, to fall upon mum the ground, to breed worms, to melt with the Sun, to tafte like fresh oyl, Chryfoftom. to be grounded in Mils, to be like Coriander feed, and of the colour of Magnenum de Bdellium. us. Again, It is not deducible from the Text or concurrent fentence of Comments, that Rachel had any fuch intention, and moft do reft in the determinaon of Austin, that the defired them for rarity, pulcritude or fuavity. Nor is it probable the would have refigned her bed unto Leah, when at the fame time The had obtained a medicine to fructifie her self. And therefore Drufins who hath exprefly and favourably treated hereof, is fo far from conceding this intention,that he plainly concludeth, Hoc quo modo illis in mentem venerit conjicere how this conceit fell into mens minds, it cannot fall into mine; for the Scripture delivereth it not, nor can it be clearly deduced from the nequeo; Text. Thirdly, If Rachel had any fuch intention, yet had they no fuch effect, for The conceived not many years after of Jofeph; whereas in the mean time Leah had three children, Ifachar,Zabulon and Dinah. Laftly, Although at that time they failed of this effect, yet is it mainly questionable whether they had any fuch vertue either in the opinions of thofe times, or in their proper nature. That the opinion was popular in the land of Canaan, it is improbable, and had Leah understood thus much, fhe would not furely have parted with fruits of fuch a faculty; efpecially unto Rachel, who was no friend unto her. As for its proper nature, the Ancients have generally efteemed it Narcotick or ftupefactive, and is to be found in the lift of poyfons, fet down by Diofcorides, Galen, Atius, Ægineta, and feveral Antidotes delivered by them against it. It was I confefs from good Antiquity, and in the days of Theophraftus accounted a philtre, or plant that conciliates affection; and fo delivered by Diofcorides. And this intent might feem moft probable, had they not been the wives of holy facob: had Rachel presented them unto him,and not requested them for her felf. Now what Diofcorides affirmeth in favour of this effect, that the grains of the apples of Mandrakes mundifie the Matrix, and applied with Sulphur, ftop the fluxes of women, he overthrows again by qualities deftructive unto conception;affirining alfo that the juice thereof purgeth upward like Hellebore; and applied in peffaries provokes the menftruous flows, and procures abortion. Petrus Hifpanus, or Pope John the twentieth fpeaks more directly in his Thefaurus pauperum: wherein among the receits of fecundation, he experimentally Rr 2 Manna. |