Commentary on the Pentateuch, Commentary 1 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. Verſe 1. I have gotten a man from the Lord]
OR, that famous Man the Lord, as if ſhe had brought forth the Man Chriſt Jeſus. Theſe were verba ſpei, non rei; for Cain was of that wicked one, the Devill, 1 Joh. 3.12. as all reprobates are, 1 Joh. 3.10. Cain the Authour of the City of the World, ſaith Auguſtine, is born firſt, and called Cain, that is, a poſſeſſion, becauſe he buildeth a City, is given to the cares and pomp of the world, and perſecutes his brother that was choſen out of the world. But Abel, the Authour of the City of God, Aug. de civit. D…i. l. 15. c. 1.is born ſecond; called Vanity, becauſe he ſaw the worlds vanity, and is therefore driven out of the world by an untimely death; ſo early came martyrdome into the world: the firſt man that dyed, dyed for Religion. H. Broughton of the 10 patr. ex… Rab. Bochai.In a witty ſenſe (ſaith Hugh Broughton) Cain and Abel contain in their names advertiſements for matter of true continuance and corruption. Cain betokeneth poſſeſſion in this world: And Abel betokeneth one humbled in minde, and holding ſuch poſſeſſion vain. Such was his offering, ſheep-kinde, the gentleſt of all living beaſts, and therefore the favour of God followed him. And the offering of Cain was of the fruit of the earth; as he loved the poſſeſſion of this world, and the ſervice of the body (which yet can have no continuance) and followed after bodily luſts; therefore the bleſſed God favored him not. Thus far he out of the Rabbines. Another Engliſh Divine hath this note upon theſe words, Ya…es his Model of Divin.I have gotten a man from the Lord; Jehovah. Adam and Eve were all about the compoſition of Cain. His ſoul was inſpired pure and holy; yet aſſoon as the vital ſpirits laid hold of it, it was in the compound, a ſon of Adam. A skilful Artificer makes a clock of all his eſſential parts moſt accurately; onelyonly he leaves the putting of all parts together to his unskilful apprentiſe; who ſo jumbles together the ſeveral joynts, that all falls to jaring, and can keep no time at all, every wheel running backwardway. So God moſt artificially ſtill perfects both body and ſoul: but our accurſed parents put all out of frame, and ſet every part in a contrary courſe to Gods will. Sin is propagated and proceeds from the union of body and ſoul into one man. That phraſe, Warmed in ſin, Pſal. 51.5. is meant of the preparation of the body, as an inſtrument of evil, which is not ſo actually, till the ſoul come.
Verſ. 3. In proceſs of time] That diſtance of time between the Creation, and the general Flood, Varro the moſt learned of the Romans calleth foreign obſcure or unknown, becauſe the Heathen had no Records of that, which we now clearly underſtand, to have been then done, out of the holy Scriptures. [Cain brought of the fruit.] Godw. Hebr. Antiq. p. 27.They brought their ſacrifices to Adam, the high Prieſt of the family, who offered them to God in their name. So in the Levitical Law, though a mans offering were never ſo good, he might not offer it himſelf, upon pain of death: But the Prieſt muſt offer it. And the Prieſt was to offer as well the poor mans Turtle, as the rich mans Ox: To teach, that none may preſent his ſervice to God, how good ſoever he may conceit it, but in the hand of the high Prieſt of the New Teſtament Jeſus Chriſt, Revel. 5.the juſt one, who will not onelyonly preſent, but perfume the pooreſt performances of an upright heart, with his odors.
Verſ. 4. See Num. 18.12. Fat taken for the beſt of all things. foreign, Mark 12.41. Mal. 1.Of the firſtlings of his flock.] He brought the beſt of the beſt, not any thing that came next to hand, as Cain ſeems to have done holding any thing good enough, as did thoſe rich wretches that caſt braſs-money into the treaſury. But curſed be that couzener, that hath a male in his flock, and offereth to God a corrupt thing. Offer it now to thy Prince, will he be content with thy refuſe ſtuff? Behold, I am a great King, ſaith God; he ſtands upon his ſeniority, and looks to be honored with the beſt of our ſub…tance. Mary that loved much, thought nothing too much for her ſweet Saviour. John 12.9.She brought an Alabaſter box of oyntment of great price, and poured it upon him, and he defends her in it againſt thoſe that held it waſte. Among the Papiſts, their Lady of Loretto hath her Churches ſo ſtuffed with vowed preſents of the beſt, Sir Edw. Sands Relation of Weſt. Relig. ſect … Turk hist. fol. 342. 1 Pet. 3.11. Iſai. 66.2.as they are fain to hang their Cloyſters and Church-yards with them. Shall not their ſupe…ſtition riſe up and condemn our irreligion, our ſlubbering ſervices, and dough-baked duties? The Turks build their private houſes, low and homely, but their Moſchces or Temples ſtately and magnificent. [Had respect to Abel and his offering.] The eye of the Lord is ſtill upon the righteous, and his ears are in their prayers: He looks upon ſuch with ſingular delight, with ſpecial intimation of his love; he is raviſhed with one of their eyes lifted up in prayer, Cant. 4.9.with one chain of their graces; when as he was no whit affected with the offer of all the worlds glory, Matth. 4. He ſaith of ſuch to the wicked, as the Prophet ſaid of Jehoſaphat to the King of Iſrael. Surely, 2 King. 3.14.were it not that I regard the preſence of Jehoſaphat King of Judah, I would not look toward th…e, nor ſee thee: Cain here for inſtance.
Verſ. 5. But to Cain and his offering, &c.] Becauſe he brought non perſonam ſed opus perſonae, as Luther hath it; Luth. in Decal.who alſo calls thoſe Cainiſts, that offer to God the work done, but do not offer themſelves to God. Works materially good, may never prove ſo, formally and eventually. Luke 16. Levit. 11.18.That which is fair to men, is abomination to God. He rejected the Swan for ſacrifice, becauſe under a white feather, it hath black skin. Sordet in conspectu Judicis quod fulget in conspectu operantis, ſaith Gregory. A thing may ſhine in the night from its rottenneſs.
Verſ. 6. Why is thy countenance f…n?] Why doſt lowre and look ſo like a dog under a door? Vultu ſaepe laeditur pietas: Cicer. orat. pro Amerin. Ovid. Meta….Difficile eſt animum non prodere vult…. He was diſcontented at God, and diſpleaſed at his brother. He looks but ſowre and ſuffen upon him, and …od takes him up for it. He ſo loves his little ones, that he cannot abide the cold wind ſhould blow upon them. The Sun muſt not ſm…te them by day, nor the Moon by night. Pſal. 121. Cant… ….The North and South muſt both blow good to them. Better, a milſtone, &c. then offend one of theſe little ones, be it but by a frown or a frump. Better anger all the witches in the world, then one of Gods zealous witneſſes: Revel. 11.5.For there goeth a fire out of their mouths to devour their enemies.
Verſ. 7. Reſipiſcenti remiſſio, pertinaci ſupplicium imminet, idque proximum & prae entiſſ. Jun. Neme…s dicitur foreign, quod foreign. nemo eam effugere poſſit.Sin lyes at the door.] Like a great ban-dog ready to pull out the throat of thy ſoul, if thou but look over the hatch. Say this dog lie aſleep for a while, yet the door is for continual paſs and repaſs, and ſo no fit place for any long ſleep. Your ſin will ſurely finde you out (ſaith Moſes) as a blood-hound, and haunt you like a hell-hag, as the Heathen could ſay, Nemo crimen gerit in pectore, qui non idem Nemeſin in tergo.
Verſ. 8. And Cain talked with Abel.] What talk they had, is not ſet down. The Septuagint and vulgar Verſions tell us Cain ſaid, Let us go out into the field. The Chaldee addeth that he ſhould ſay, There was no judgment, nor judg, nor world to come, nor reward for juſtice, nor vengeance for wickedneſs, &c. Certain it is, That thoſe that are ſet to go on in ſin, do lay hold upon all the principles in their heads, Rom. 1.18.and impriſon them in unrighteouſneſs, that they may ſin more freely; they muzzle the mouths of their conſciences, that they may ſatisfie their luſts without controul. But had Zimri peace that ſlew his maſter? or Cain that ſlew his brother? hath any ever waxed fierce againſt God and proſpered? Job 9.4. [Cain roſe up againſt Abel his brother and ſlew.] So, Cain was the devils Patriark, and Abel the Churches Protomartyr. Act. & Mon. fol. 814.It is not long ſince Alphonſus Diazius a Spaniard, an Advocate in the Court of Rome, came from Rome to Neoberg in Germany, to kill his own brother John Diazius, a faithful Profeſſor of the Reformed Religion, and a familiar friend to Bu…er, who gives him an excellent commendation. But it is worth the obſerving, Bucbolc.ſaith One, That the firſt quarrel about Religion aroſe propemodùm inter media ſacrificia, in the midſt of the ſacrifices almoſt. Theſe Theological hatreds (as I may call them) are moſt bitter hatreds, and are carried on for moſt part, with Cain-like rage, and bloody oppoſition. No fire ſooner breaks forth, none goes out more ſlowly, then that which is kindled about matters of Religion: and the nearer any come to other, the more deadly are their differences, and the more deſperate their deſignes one 'gainſt another. The Perſians and Turks are both Mahometans, and yet diſagreeing about ſome ſmall points in the Interpretation of their Alchoran; Turk, hiſt.the Perſians burn whatſoever Books they finde of the Turkiſh Sect. And the Turks hold it more meritorious to kill one Perſian, then ſeventy Chriſtians. The Jew can better brook a Heathen then a Chriſtian; they curſe us in their daily devotions, concluding them with a Maledic Domine Nazaraeis. The Pope will diſpenſe with Jews, but not with Proteſtants. See D. Day on 1 Cor. 16.9.Lutherans will ſooner joyn hands with a Papiſt then a Calviniſt. And what a ſpirit had he, that in a Sermon at Norwich, not long ſince, inveighing againſt Puritans, ſaid, If a cup of cold water had a reward, much more a cup of ſuch mens blood? Bucholcer.Mort… eſt Cain, ſed utinam ille non viveret in ſuis filiis, qui clavam ejus. ſanguine Abelis rubent…m, ut rem ſacram, circumferunt, adorant & venerantur. The place where Cain ſlew Abel, is by ſome thought to be Damaſcus in Syria, called therefore Dameſec, that is, a bag of blood.
Verſ. 9. I know not: Am I my brothers keeper?] As if he had bid God, go look. Let not us think much to receive dogged anſwers and diſdainful ſpeeches, from profane perſons. When they have learned to think better, they will ſpeak better. As till then, pity and pray for them. Theſe churliſh dogs will be barking.
Verſ. 10. What haſt thou done?] Here God appeals to the murderers conſcience, which is inſteed of a thouſand witneſſes. As oft as we feel the ſecret ſmitings of our own hearts for ſin, think we hear him that is greater then our hearts, ſaying to us as here, What haſt thou done? And that there is no good to be done by denying or dawbing, for he knoweth all things, 1 John 3.20. and requireth that we ſhould ſee our ſins to confeſſion, or we ſhall ſee them to our confuſion. [The voyce of thy brothers bloods] The blood of one Abel had ſo many tongues as drops; and every drop, a voyce to cry for vengeance. Give them blood to drink, Revel. 16.6.for they are worthy. Charls the ninth of France, Author of that bloody maſſacre of Paris, died of exceeding bleeding. Mr. Camdens Eliſab. 165.Richard the third of this Kingdom, and Q. Mary, had the ſhorteſt raignes of any ſince the Conqueſt; according to that, Pſal. 55.23.Bloody and deceitful men ſhall not live out half their days. Anno 1586. Walſh Biſhop of Oſſery in Ireland, a man of honeſt life, with his two ſervants, were ſtabbed to death by one Dulland, Ibidem 241.an Iriſh old Souldier, whileſt he gravely admoniſhed him of his foul adulteries; and the wicked murtherer eſcaped away, who had now committed fourty five murthers with his own hand. At length, revenge purſuing him, he was by another bloody fellow Donald Spaniah ſhortly after ſlain himſelf, and his head preſented to the Lord Deputy of Ireland.
Verſ. 11. And now thou art c…rſed.] The Pope contrarily bleſſeth and ſainteth Traytors to their Countrey, and murtherers of their natural Soveraigns; as Ravilliac, and other his Aſſaſines, thoſe ſworn ſword men of the Devil. Bucer in Praſat ad Senarclaei hiſter. de morte Diar. Lonicer.Alphonſus Diarius, who killed his own brother for the cauſe of Religion, as above ſaid, fled to Rome, and was there highly commended for his zeal, and largely rewarded, as Bucer reporteth. But, driven thereto by the terrors of his own guilty conſcience, like another Judas, he afterwards hanged himſelf upon the neck of his own Mule, for want of a better Gallows.
Verſ. 12. A fugitive and a vagabond, &c.] The Patriarks were Pilgrims, and ſtaid not long in a place. The Apoſtles alſo were hurried about, 2 Cor. 4.11.Rom. 15.19. and had no certain dwelling place. But firſt, God numbred their flittings, Pſal. 56.8. He kept juſt reckoning of them in his Count-book. Secondly, Their hearts were fixed, trusting in the Lord, Pſal. 112.7. They could call their ſouls to reſt, when they had no reſt in their bones: And flie up to Heaven with the wings of a Dove, when hunted on Earth as ſo many Patridges. Facti ſun… a corde ſuo fugitivi, Tertul.So could not Cain the caytiff. He was not more a fugitive in the Earth, then in his own conſcience: Fain he would have fled from the terrors of it, but could not, he was langold to it, and muſt abide by it. Hence the Greek tranſlates this Text, Sighing and trembling ſhalt thou be on the earth; and ſo the word here uſed is applyed elſewhere, to the trembling of the heart, Iſa. 7.2. to the walking of the lips, 1 Sam. 1.13. to the ſhaking of the Foreſt by a violent wind, Iſa. 7.2. to the leaping of the Lintel at the preſence of the Lord, Iſai. 6.4, &c. And this (in all probability) was that mark, that God ſet upon him, v. 15. Not a horn in his forehead, as the Jews fain, but a hornet in his conſcience, ſuch as God vexed the Hivites with, Exod. 23.28. ſtinging them with unqueſtionable conviction and horror. Cicer. orst. pro Roſ. Amer.For aſſuredly a body is not ſo tormented with ſtings, or torne with ſtripes, as a minde with remembrance of wicked actions.
Verſ. 13. My puniſhment is greater then I can bear.] Or, Mine iniquity is greater then can be forgiven. In either ſenſe he ſins exceedingly, and worſe perhaps then in ſlaying his brother, whether he murmur againſt Gods juſtice, or deſpair of his mercy. Mine iniquity is greater, &c. Mentiris Cain, ſaith a Father, Cain did not ſay ſo, becauſe it was ſo: But it was ſo, becauſe he ſaid ſo. Deſpair is Satans maſter-piece; it carries men head-long to hell, as the Devils did the herd of Swine into the deep; Act. & Mon fol. 1908. Gellus in dialog. ſecundo Chimaeric….witneſs Guarlacus, Bomelius, Latomus of Lovain, Johannes de Canis, our Engliſh Hubertus, a covetous Oppreſſor, who made this will, I yield my goods to the King, my body to the grave, my ſoul to the devil.
Verſ. 14. From the face of the earth] That is, of this earth, this countrey, my Fathers family; which in the next words, he calls Gods face, the place of his publike worſhip, from the which Cain was here juſtly excommunicated. And ſurely, Saint Judes wo will light heavy upon all ſuch, as going in the way of Cain, and not willing to hear of their wicked ways, do wilfully abſent themſelves from the powerful preaching of the Word. They that will not hear the Word, ſhall hear the Rod, Mic. 6.9. Yea, a ſword ſhall peirce thorow their ſouls, as it did Cains here; in whom was fulfiled that of Eliphaz, Job 15.21, 22. A dreadful ſound was in his ears, leſt in his prosperity the deſtroyer ſhould come upon him. He beleeved not that he ſhould return out of darkneſs, and he is waited for of the ſword. [Every one that findes me, Petron.ſhall ſlay me] Quàm male eſt extra legem viventibus: quicquid meruerunt ſemper expectant: Fat Swine cry hideouſly, if but touched or medled with, as knowing they ow their life, to them that will take it. Tiberius felt the remorſe of conſcience ſo violent, that he proteſted to the Senate, that he ſuffered death daily: Tacitus.Whereupon Tacitus makes this good note, Tandèm facinora & flagitia in ſupplicium vertuntur. As every body hath its ſhadow appertaining to it, ſo hath every ſin its puniſhment. And although they eſcape the laſh of the Law, yet vengeance will not ſuffer them to live, Acts 28.4.(as the Barbari… raſhly cenſured Saint Paul) to live quietly at leaſt. Richard the third, after the murther of his two innocent Nephews, had fearful dreams and viſions; inſomuch, that he did often leap out of his bed in the dark, and catching his ſword (which alway naked, Daniels Chron. continued by Truſſel. 249.ſtuck by his ſide) he would go diſtractedly about the chamber, every where ſeeking to finde out the cauſe of his own occaſioned diſquiet. Polydor Virgil thus writes of his dream that night before Boſworth-field, where he was ſlain, that he thought that all the devils in hell, pulled and haled him in moſt hideous and ugly ſhapes; and concludes of it at laſt; I do not think it was ſo much his dream, as his evil conſcience, that bred thoſe terrors. It is as proper for ſin to raiſe fears in the ſoul, as for rotten fleſh and wood to breed worms. That worm that never dyes is bred here in the froth of filthy luſts and ſlagitious courſes, and lyes gnawing and grubbing upon mens inwards, many times in the ruffe of all their jollity. This makes Saul call for aminſtrell, Belſhazzar for his carrouſing cups, Cain for his workmen to build him a City, others for other of the Devills anodynes, to put by the pangs of their wounded ſpirits, and throbbing conſciences. Thuan. lib. 57.Charles the ninth, after the maſſacre of France, could never endure to be awakened in the night without muſick, or ſome like diverſion; he became as terrible to himſelf, as formerly he had been to others. But above all, I pity the loſs of their ſouls, who ſerve themſelves as the Jeſuite in Lancaſhire, followed by one that found his glove, with a deſire to reſtore it him. M. Wards Sermons.But purſued inwardly with a guilty conſcience, he leaps over a hedge, plunges into a Marle-pit behinde it, unſeen and unthought of, wherein he was drowned.
Verſ. 15. The Lord ſet a mark, &c.] Some ſay it was the letter Tau; others, ſome letter of Jehovah: probably, it was the perpetuall trembling of his hands, Totum Cedreni opus eſt ſtabulum quiſquiliarum &c. Scalig.and whole body; the very ſight whereof, made people pity him, till at length he was ſlain, ſay ſome, by his nephew Lamech. Cedrenus tells us (if we may believe him) that Cain took his death by the fall of a houſe in the year of the world, 931. the next year after the death of his father Adam. But however he dyed, ſure it is, he had but an ill life of it. He was marked, 'Ne ſemel morte defungerctur, ſed ut atatem totam moriendo exigeret. Philo.ſaith Philo, but to his miſery; he might not be killed by any, that he might every day be dying; having a hell in his conſcience, and ſtanding in fear of every man he met with. He that would not harken to God, ſo ſweetly inciting and enticing him to doe well, Lactan. Inſtit.verſ. 7. hath now Pavor and Pallor for his gods, as Lactantius reporteth of Tullius Hostilius, who had prophanely derided the devotions of his predeceſſour Numa, as here Cain had done his brother Abels.
Verſ. 16. And Cain went out from the preſence, &c.] But whiter could he goe from Gods Spirit? or whither could he flye from his preſence? Pſal. 139.7. …bi eſt Deus? quid dixi miſer? ſed ubi non eſt? Bern. Act. 17. Coloſſ▪ 1.17.From the preſence of his power he could not: for, Entèr, praeſenter, Deus hic & ubi que potentè. God is not very far from any one of us, ſaith St. Paul. Not ſo far ſurely as the bark is from the tree, for all things conſiſt in him: ſo that a wicked man cannot wag hand or foot, without his privity. But it was the preſence of his grace, and uſe of his Ordinances that this wretch fled from; as did likewiſe Jonas (in that, as wiſe as he) ſo going out of the grace of God into the warm ſun, as we ſay. Jon. 1.3.God fetcht Jonas home again by weeping croſs, Jon. 2.8.and made him feelingly acknowledge (for it had like to have coſt him a choaking) that they that obſerve lying vanities, as he had done, forſake their owne mercies. But Cain ſeated himſelf in the land of Nod, and there fell to building and planting in contempt, as it is thought, of the divine doom denounced againſt him; Sigon.or rather to drown the noiſe of his conſcience, as the old Italians were wont to do the noiſe of the heavens in time of thunder, by ringing their greateſt Bels, and letting off their greateſt Ordnance.
Verſ. 17. And he builded a City] So, many drown themſelves either in ſecular buſineſſes, or ſenſull pleaſures, and all to put by their melancholly dumps, and heart-qualms, as they call them; indeed, to muffle up the mouthes of their horribly guilty conſciences: So Nicephorus Phocas, when Zimri like, he had killed his maſter, he laboured like Cain, to ſecure himſelf with building high walls: After which, he heard a voice telling him, foreign. Cedren.that though he built his walls never ſo high, yet ſin within the walls would undermine all. Beſides that, one ſmall drop of an evill conſcience troubleth a whole ſea of outward comforts and contentments: a confluence whereof would no more eaſe conſcience, then a ſilken ſtocking would doe a broken leg. Silly are they that think to glide away their groans with games, and their cares with cards, &c. [Called the City after the name of his ſon Enoch] That he might be ſtiled, Lord Enoch of Enoch. This is the ambition of worldly men; their names are not written in heaven; they will propagate them therefore upon earth, as Nimrod by his tower, Abſolom by his pillar, Cain by his city, Enoch (which St. Auguſtine fitly maketh a figure of Rome, becauſe both of them were built by a parricide.) Pſal. 49.11.Their inward thought is, ſaith the Pſalmiſt, that their houſes ſhall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; and therefore, they call their lands after their own names. De mali quaeſ… vix gaudet tertius baeres. Lucian….They ſeek to immortalize themſelves upon their poſſeſſions; but the third heire ſeldome ever owns them. Hence houſes and lands, ſhift maſters ſo oft; (Olim eram Menipi, nunc Speuſippi, &c. ſaid that houſe in the Apologie.) God juſtly croſſeth theſe inhabitants of the earth, Rev. 12. Philip. 3.as they are called, in oppoſition to the Saints, whoſe converſation is in heaven, whereof they are Fellow-citizens. Theſe know that they have here no abiding City, they look for one therefore above, not Henochta, but Heaven, Whoſe builder and maker is God, Heb. 11.10.
Verſ. 19. And unto Enoch was born Irad. &c.] Cain had a numerous off-ſpring. Seven generations of his are here reckoned: Se…h is not yet born, that we hear of. The wicked are ful of children, and leave the reſt of their ſubſtance to their babes, Pſal. 17.14. They ſend forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. Job. 21.11, 12, 13.They dance to the timbrell and harp (as here Jabal and Jubul did) but they ſuddenly turn into hell, and ſo their merry dance ends in a miſerable downfall.
Verſ. 19. Lamech took unto himſelf] As his own luſt led him, not caring for conſent of parents: Lamech polygamus unam coſtam in du…s diviſit. Hier.And two wives; as little caring for the com…and of God▪ that two, and no more, ſhould be one fleſh, Gen. 2.24. yea though he had the reſidue of the ſpirit, and ſo could have made many wives for Adam, yet made he but one, ſaith the Prophet. And wherefore one? but that he might ſeek a godly ſeed. Solomons polygamy was puniſhed with barreneſs. Mal. 12.5.We read not of any ſon he had but one, Heroum filii noxae.(and, he none of the wiſeſt neither) Rehoboam. This great King hath but one ſon by many houſe-fulls of wives, when many a poor man hath an houſe Full of children by one wife. Eraſmus tels aſtory of a certain poor Engliſh creeple, lame on both legs, that married a blinde woman, Procreatis ex iſt… conjugio 12. fratrib…, nulo que naevo deformatis. De inſtit. Matr. Deni duodeni que unam uxorem ducebant. De morib. gent. ….1… cap. 1. Vt cui que libitum fuerit, pecudum more laſciviunt. Twini Comment. de reb. Britan. ex H…ron. Act & Mon. fol. 791.and gave this reaſon, We ſhall the better agree, when neither can hit other in the teeth with our ſeverall defects and deformities. Nec f…fellit hominem judicium, ſaith he, It prooved a happy match. They lived lovingly and cheerfully together, and God Almighty bleſſed them with a dozen luſty boyes, that had not the leaſt deformity about them. Sardus tels us, that the old Britains would, ten or twelve of them take one woman to wife: Belike women were ſcarce amongſt them. But yet that was better then the old Scots, of whom St. Hierome reports, that they took no wives; but ſatisfied their luſts up and down as they liſted, and whereſoever they liked, after the manner of bruit creatures. I have ſomewhere read, that not many hundreds of years ſince, they had a cuſtome kept up amongſt them, that the Landlord might demand the firſt night of his Tenants wife, as a chie…e rent. And Mr. Fox relates, that the Friars in Germany were grown to that height of impudency, as to require the tenth night of every mans wife, as a tithe due to them. Which to prevent, the Helvetians, when they received any new Prieſt into their Churches, they bargained with him before, to take his Concubine, leſt he ſhould attempt any miſuſe of their wives and daughters. How much better were it, for the avoyding of fornication, if every man of them had his owne wife, 1 Cor. 7.ſaith Paul. Not ſo, ſaith Cardinall Campeius: for if compariſon ſhould be made, much greater offence it is, a Prieſt to have a wife, Ibid. 790.then to have and keep at home many harlots. For they that keep harlots, (ſaith he) as it is nought that they do, ſo doe they acknowledge their ſin. The other perſwade themſelves they doe well, and ſo continue without repentance, or conſcience of their fact. A fit reaſon for a carnall Cardinall. Such another was his brother, Cardinalis Cremonenſis, who after his ſtout replying in the Councel of London, againſt the married eſtate of Prieſts; Ibid. 1065.exclaiming what a ſhamefull thing it was, to riſe from the ſides of a whore, to make Chriſts body, the night following was ſhamefully taken with a notable Whore. This was bad enough: but that was worſe in Johannes a Caſſa, Dean of the Popes chamber, Ibid. 14 17.who ſo far forgot humanity and honeſty, that he ſet forth a book in Italian meeter, in commendation of Sodomitry, ſaying, that he never uſed any other. This might better have become a Turk, then a Biſhop. Blunts Voyage, p. 79. Ibid. 14.Sodomy in the Levant is not held a vice, ſo debauched they are grown. The Turkiſh Baſhaws, beſides their wives, whereof they have ton at leaſt, each Baſhaw hath as many, or likely more Catamites, which are their ſerious loves. For their wives are uſed but to dreſſe their meat, to Laundreſs, and for reputation. OnelyOnly when the great Turk gives his daughter or ſiſter to any Baſhaw to wife, 'tis ſomewhat otherwiſe: For he giveth her at the ſame time a dagger, ſaying, I give thee this man to be thy ſlave and bedfellow. If he be not loving, obedient, and dutifull to thee, Heyl. Geog. p. 583.I give thee here this cun…hare or dagger to out off his head. Yet can ſhe not forbid him to marry more wives to vex her, (Levit. 18.18.) and to fret her, as Peninnah did Hannah, yea to make her to thunder, as the word there ſignifies: For Turks may take as many wives, 1 Sam. 1.6.as they are able to maintain. Hence it is that in jealouſie they …cend Italians; making their women go mo…ed all but the eyes; … 106.and not ſuffe…ing them to go to Church, or ſo much as looke out at their own windows.
Verſ. 20. Adah b… a Jaba… ] Jabal a good husband, I…al a merry Greek, whence the word Iubilo in Latine, and our Engliſh Jo…iall. Jaball that dwelt in tents and tended the herds, had Juball to his brother, the father of ha…d…nd wind muſick. Jaball and Juball, frugality and mirth, good h…sbandry and ſweet content dwel together. Virgil makes mention of a happy husbandman in his time, who
Regum aequabat opes animis ſeraque reverſusVirg. Georg.
Nocte domum, d…pibus menſas onerabat inemptis.
Verſ. 22. And Zillah bare Tubalcam] Perhaps the ſame that the Poets call Vulcan. He was a cunning Artificer in braſſe and iron. To oles they had before, and inſtruments of iron: how elſe could they have plowed the accurſed earth? Vide Natal. Com. Mythol. l. 2. c. 5.But this man, artem jam inventam excoluit ornavitque, ſaith Iunius; and is therefore called, A whetter or poliſher of every Artificer in braſſe and iron. They had the art of it before: but he added to their skill by his invention, he ſharply and wittily taught Smiths-craft; and is therefore by the heathens fained to be the god of Smiths, ſaith another Interpreter.
Verſ. 23. And Lamech ſaid unto his wives] Who it ſeems were troubleſome to him with their domeſticall diſcords, and led him a diſcontented life. He therefore gives them to underſtand in this ſet ſpeech, what a man he is, if moleſted by them or any other; and what ſlaughters he can make, if provoked by an adverſary. I would ſlay a man, if but wounded, &c. This revenge he counts man-hood, Plutar. in Pelopid….which indeed is dog-hood rather. So Alexander Phereus conſecrated his javelin, wherewith he ſlew his uncle Polyphron (as a monument of his man-hood) and called it his god Tychon. Ne memoria tam pr…larae rei dilueresur.So Sylla cauſed it to be regiſtred in the publicke Records, that he had preſcribed, and put to death foure thouſand and ſeven hundred Romanes. So Stokeſly Biſhop of London, comforted himſelf upon his death bed with this, Act. & Mon.that in his time he had burned fifty Heretickes as he called them. Phil. 3.Is not this to glory in their ſhame, and to have damnation for their end? Is it not the Devill that ſets men a worke to do thus, as he did Saul to ſeek Davids life, and Lamech to domineer in this ſort over his wives, New-Engl. firſt fruits. p. 4.ſeeking ſo to repreſſe their ſtrife? A certaine Indian comming into a houſe of the New-Engliſh, where a man and his wife were brawling, and they bidding him ſit downe, he was welcome: he anſwered, he would not ſtay there; Hobomack, that is the Devill, was there; and ſo departed.
Verſ. 24. If Cain ſhall …e avenged ſevenfold, &c.] Thraſonicall Lamech brags, and goes on to out-dare God himſelf. For it is as if he ſhould ſay, If God will take vengeance on them that contemne him, why may not I on thoſe that contemne me, wives or other? Nay, though God will forgive evills againſt him, yet will not I evills againſt me. Ile have the oddes of him, ſeventy to ſeven; ſo Iunius interprets it. A deſperate expreſſion, and ſomewhat like that of Pope Iulius the third, above-mentioned in the laſt note upon the former Chapter; whereunto may here be added, that the ſame Pope being forbidden by his Ph…ſitian to eat Swine fleſh, as being noyſome and nought for his gout, he called to h…s Steward in a great rage, and ſaid, Act. & Mon. fol. 1417.Bring me my pork-fleſh, al deſpito di dio, In deſpite of God. O wretch!
Verſ. 25. She bare a ſon, and called, &c.] Virgil. The Duke of Florence gave for his Enſign, a great tre… with many ſpreading boughes, one of them being cut off, with this Poſie, Vno avulſo, &c.Sic uno avulſo non deficit alter Aureus. Dead bones may revive, and out of the aſhes of a Phoenix, another Phoenix ſpring. Jana jacet Phoenix nato Phoenice, &c. The two witneſſes that were killed, received the ſpirit of life from God againe, Rev. 11.11. Iobn Baptiſt revivet… in our Saviour, (qui huic ſuccentu…iatus eſt) and Steven in Paul: John Hus in Luther (the Gooſe in the Swan) and the ſuppreſſed Waldenſes in the Proteſtants. The Papiſts gave out that when Luther dyed, all his ſect would dye with him: and when Queene Eliſabeths head was laid, we ſhould have ſtrange worke in England. A falſe Jeſuit in a ſcandalous libell publiſhed it, that ſhe wiſhed that ſhe might after her death, hang a while in the ayre, to ſee what ſtriving would be for her Kingdome. But ſhe both lived and dyed with glory: Camdens Eliſab.her rightfull ſucceſſour came in peaceably, not a dog moving his tongue at him: The true Reformed Religion was eſtabliſhed, and is hitherto maintained amongſt us, maugre the malice of Rome and Hell. It was the Legacy left us by our Anceſtours: the blood of thoſe bleſſed Martyrs was the ſeed of our Church, of which I may ſay, as he of his City,
Victa tamen vinces, everſaque Troja reſurges:
Obruit hoſtiles illa ruina domos.
When the Devill and his Imps had got Abel into his grave, and ſaw Adam without another in his room for an hundred and thirty years ſpace, or near upon, what a deal of joy was there, think we, amongſt them, and ſending of gifts? But God in due time ſets up a Seth, inſtead of Abel, and ſo cuts the devils comb, confutes his confidence. He will have a Church, when all's done. The Pope could tell the Turk ſo much in a meſſage,
Niteris incaſſùm Chriſti ſubmergere navem:Pius 2. ad Imperat. Turc.
Fluctuat, at nunquàm mergitur illa ratis.
Verſ. 26. Then began men to call upon, &c.] Publikely, and in ſolemn aſſemblies to ſerve the Lord; and to make a bold and wiſe profeſſion of his name: foreign, Phil. 2.ſhining as Lamps amidſt that perverſe generation of irreligious Ca…nites, who ſaid unto God, Depart from us, &c. Job 22.17. This Job ſpeaks there of theſe wicked, which were cut down out of time, their foundation was overflown with the flood, Verſ. 16.