Commentary on Genesis, Half title – Errata
A COMMENTARY UPON GENESIS.
Imprimatur.
JO. CANT. Lambethae Maii 26o. 1694.
A COMMENTARY UPON THE Firſt Book of MOSES, CALLED GENESIS.
BY The Right Reverend Father in God, SYMON, Lord Biſhop of ELY.
LONDON, Printed for Ri. Chiſwell, at the Roſe and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, MDCXCV.
THE PREFACE.
HAving been perſuaded to put together ſome ſcattered Notes, which I long ago made upon ſeveral Places of Holy Scripture, I began the laſt Year to conſider ſome Texts in the Book of GENESIS. Where I ſoon found there would be a neceſſity of making an entire Commentary, upon a good part of it: And therefore I reſolved to go through the whole, in the ſame manner as I had done the Three firſt Chapters.
After I had finiſhed the better half of my Work, I was informed that Monſ. l'Clerk had publiſhed a Critical Commentary upon the ſame Book: But whether I have concurred in any thing with him, or contradicted him, I am not able to ſay; having wanted leiſure to peruſe his Work, by reaſon of the Publick Buſineſs, which came upon me in the end of the Year. When I likewiſe underſtood that a very Learned Friend and Brother had put into the Preſs, Annotations upon all the Five Books of Moſes. But by communicating ſome of our Papers to each other, we found there would be no reaſon, that either of us ſhould lay aſide our Deſign; but go on, in our ſeveral ways, to make the Scriptures better underſtood, by all ſorts of Perſons: For all helps are little enough in this Age; which ſeems to take pleaſure in being ignorant of the moſt important Truths.
In which we are ſo particularly inſtructed by Moſes, as by no other Author, nor by all the Authors that are, or have been known to be, extant in the World. For to him we owe the Knowledge of the beginning of the World; of the firſt Parents of Mankind; the Inventors of Arts; the Original of Nations; the Founders of Kingdoms and Empires; the Inſtitution of Laws; the Fountain of Religious Rites; Yea, of all the ancient Mythology; and, which is moſt conſiderable, the means of propagating that Senſe of God and of Religion, which Mankind brought into the World with them; and how it came to be corrupted.
There have been thoſe who have taken the liberty to ſay, That it is impoſſible to give any tolerable Account of the Creation of the World, in Six Days; of the Situation of Paradiſe; the Fall of our firſt Parents, by the ſeduction of a Serpent, &c. But, I hope, I have made it appear, there is no ground for ſuch preſumptuous Words: But very good reaſon to believe every thing that Moſes hath related; without forſaking the literal Sence, and betaking our ſelves to, I do not know what, Allegorical Interpretations. Particularly, I find the Truth of what I have noted concerning Paradiſe, very much confirmed by a Learned and Judicious Diſcourſe of Monſ. Huetius; which I did not meet withal till I had made an end of theſe Commentaries: But then took a review of what I had written, and found cauſe to correct what I had noted out of Mr. Carver, concerning the Spring of Tigris and Euphrates. I might alſo have given a clearer Account of the Deluge, if I had obſerved ſome things; which are come to my notice ſince theſe Papers went to the Preſs: But, I hope, I have ſaid enough to evince that it is not ſo incredible, as ſome have pretended. For, having made the largeſt Conceſſions concerning the heighth of the higheſt Mountains, which, according to the old Opinion, I have allowed may be thirty Miles high, Gen. VII. 19. (whereas if inſtead of thirty, I had ſaid not above three perpendicular, I had had the beſt of the Modern Philoſophers to defend me) it appears there might be Water enough to cover the loftieſt of them; as Moſes hath related.
Whoſe account of the Families by whom the Earth was Peopled after the Flood, is ſo ſurpriſingly agreeable to all the Records that remain in any Language, of the ſeveral Nations of the Earth; that it carries with it an uncontroulable Evidence of his Sincerity and Truth, as well as of his admirable Univerſal Knowledge. For as there is no Writer that hath given us an Account of ſo many Nations, and ſo remote as he hath done: So he hath not ſatisfied himſelf with naming them; but acquainted us with their original; and told us at what time, and from what place, and on what occaſion they were diſperſed into far diſtant Countries. And this with ſuch brevity, that he hath informed us of more in one Chapter, than we can find in the great Volumes of ill other Authors: Having ſhown us from whom all …hoſe People deſcended, who are ſpread over the Face of the Earth, from the Caſpian and Perſian Sea, to Hercules his Pillars (as the Ancients ſpeak) that is, all the World over.
In ſhort, whatſoever is moſt ancient in thoſe Countries, which are furtheſt from all Commerce with his own, is clearly explained by Moſes: Whoſe Writings therefore cannot but be highly valued, by all thoſe who will apply their Minds ſeriouſly to the ſtudy of them. For if they, who now have no regard to him, would but compare what he hath written on the fore named Subject, with what they find in thoſe Heathen Writers, whom they have in the greateſt veneration, they would be forced to confeſs him to be a Man of wonderful Underſtanding; and could not reaſonably doubt he had an exact knowledge of the Truth of thoſe things, whereof he wrote. To this purpoſe, I remember, the famous Bochartus ſpeaks; who hath given the greateſt light to the Tenth of Geneſis; wherein theſe things are delivered.
And truly, it is ſome wonder, That they who ſo much cry up the Egyptian Learning, ſhould not eaſily grant (unleſs they will believe all Hiſtorians but only thoſe whom we account Sacred) that Moſes muſt needs be qualified, even without the help of Divine Revelation (which he certainly had) to write both of their Original, and of all thoſe who were related to them: Being bred up in their Country; nay, in their Court till he was XL Years old; and well verſed in all the Wiſdom, that was to be found among them, Acts VII. 22. Which Wiſdom of theirs, I doubt not, was much augmented by Abraham's living among them, (as I have obſerved upon XIII. 2.) but eſpecially by Joſeph's long Government of that Country, for the ſpace of LXXX Years: Who was indued with ſuch an incomparable Spirit, that the wiſeſt Men among them learnt of him; for he taught their Senators Wiſdom, Pſalm CV. 22. And, in like manner, Moſes lived XL Years more among the Midianites, where, it appears by Jethro, there wanted not Perſons of great Knowledge. And from thence he might eaſily be inſtructed in all that the Arabians knew: Who were no mean People (it appears by the Story of Job and his three Friends, and Elihu, who is ſuppoſed by ſome to have wrote that admirable Book) and were near Neighbours to the moſt famous Nations of the Eaſtern Countries; From whom, it is evident by this Hiſtory, all Learning, Arts, and Sciences originally came.
I could add a great deal more to this purpoſe; but the Reader, I hope, will find enough to ſatisfie him in the Commentary it ſelf. And therefore I ſhall only make this one Requeſt to him; That he would take his Bible and read every Verſe intirely along with this Commentary: For I have not ſet down every Word of the Text, for fear of ſwelling this Work unto too great a Bulk.
April 10. 1694.
An Advertiſement.
THat the Reader may more readily find any particular Place, in which he would be ſatisfied, the Page where each Chapter begins (which ſhould have been ſet down on the head of every Page) is here noted.
CHAP. I. Page 1
CHAP. II. Page 32
CHAP. III. Page 58
CHAP. IV. Page 85
CHAP. V. Page 111
CHAP. VI. Page 123
CHAP. VII. Page 136
CHAP. VIII. Page 144
CHAP. IX. Page 154
CHAP. X. Page 168
CHAP. XI. Page 218
CHAP. XII. Page 237
CHAP. XIII. Page 247
CHAP. XIV. Page 254
CHAP. XV. Page 267
CHAP. XVI. Page 280
CHAP. XVII. Page 286
CHAP. XVIII. Page 297
CHAP. XIX. Page 309
CHAP. XX. Page 323
CHAP. XXI. Page 330
CHAP. XXII. Page 339
CHAP. XXIII. Page 353
CHAP. XXIV. Page 361
CHAP. XXV. Page 373
CHAP. XXVI. Page 391
CHAP. XXVII. Page 400
CHAP. XXVIII. Page 408
CHAP. XXIX. Page 418
CHAP. XXX. Page 423
CHAP. XXXI. Page 434
CHAP. XXXII. Page 450
CHAP. XXXIII. Page 459
CHAP. XXXIV. Page 465
CHAP. XXXV. Page 472
CHAP. XXXVI. Page 483
CHAP. XXXVII. Page 491
CHAP. XXXVIII. Page 502
CHAP. XXXIX. Page 514
CHAP. XL. Page 519
CHAP. XLI. Page 526
CHAP. XLII. Page 543
CHAP. XLIII. Page 552
CHAP. XLIV. Page 560
CHAP. XLV. Page 566
CHAP. XLVI. Page 572
CHAP. XLVII. Page 583
CHAP. XLVIII. Page 592
CHAP. XLIX. Page 600
CHAP. L. Page 633
ERRATA.
Page 17. Line 16. read propagate them.
Page 18. Line 6. r. habent utique.
Page 45. Line 2. r. Phyſcus.
Page 56. Line 19. del. therefore before ſhe.
Page 80. ult. r. ſeem to be forced.
Page 81. Line 15. r. foreign.
Page 82. Line 22. r. Pherecydes.
Page 110. Line 8. r. Erpenius.
Page 114. Line 8. r. Gaſſendus and Peireskius.
Page 126. Line 14. r. foreign.
Page 128. Line 21. r. V. 32.
Page 141. Line 12. r. all the high Hills.
Page 146. Line 8. r. Cilicia.
Page 160. Line 31. r. never let them thicken.
Page 165. Line 10. r. Nethinim.
Page 180. Line 28. r. Lake Tritonides.
Page 184. penul. r. that very learned.
Page 185. Line 24. r. (or Rhegma).
Page 192. Line 8. r. Eaſt-ſide of Tigris.
Page 199. Line 24. r. Kadmonites.
Page 202. Line 5. r. But we read.
Page 206. Line 6. r. was Aramaei.
Page 215. Line 20. r. we ſhould read.
Page 218. Line 14. r. their Mouth formed.
Page 219. Line 4. r. Gedaliah.
Page 221. Line 10. r. World. The ripeneſs.
Page 241. Line 27. r. Sichem and the plain.
Page 278. Line 20. r. Peleufiacum brachium.
Page 305. Line 20. r. to cry; firſt to ſhow.
Page 351. Line 23. r. poſſeſs the Gate.
Page 369. Line 1. r. conſents.
Page 386. Line 10. r. Euphrates.
Page 403. pen. r. obſerve.
Page 419. Line 22. r. about it.
Page 424. pen. r. foreign.
Page 453. Line 28. r. foreign.
Page 456. Line 18. r. hollow.
Page 464. Line 22. r. Keſita.
Page 473. Line 17. r. houſhold.
Page 497. Line 12. r. their Camels.
Page 606. Line 17. r. too ſtrait for them.
Page 609. Line 31. r. there ſhould continue.
Page 630. Line 31. r. Tribe of Benjamin.
Page 639. Line 20. r. in caſe he ſhould meet.