on its Surface, by Winds, Storms,' &c. Thus far, or how these Actions and Effects were perform'd, all the Antients knew. The Servants of the true Aleim knew what the Heathens imagin'd; and the Heathens knew what the Worshippers of the true Aleim understood and believed; and is no more than what Mofes has in the First of Genefis committed to writing: And all these Substances, Motions, Powers and Effects, were the Product of one Week. But the Heathen Authors intended not to tell when or in what Order these Motions, Powers and Effects, &c. commenced; but when and at what respective Times the Heathens took it into their Heads to make each refpective Power true, imaginary, or a Name, a Deity, and fo when and where they began first with each; and confequently one Author tells you, that fuch a God was born and reign'd, that is, was worship'd at fuch a Time, in fuch a Country: And another, that he was born and reign'd at another Time in another Country. But what they pretend to give us of Names, Times, &c. before writing was, is all guefs'd Work.

מעכה

Exp

בית מעכה

Xplain'd in the second Part of M. P. p. 327. The Word is but a few Times us'd; it expreffes Compreffion; fo putting or keeping the Atoms or Parts of Solids together, or in Form; 'tis the Effect of the Expanfion of the Names, because 'tis us'd for Man's preffing the Breasts of a Woman, inftead of another Word, as is ufually done to avoid mentioning the Occafion, the Rabbies give it an Idea of that Act; 'tis common to that and any other Sort of Preffure. And feveral Names of Perfons were taken from this Word, which would not have been done, if it had been us'd for the real Idea of that Act.

בית צור

Explain'd in the fecond Part of M. P. p. 328, and p. 134. The Word expreffes to comprefs, as an Agent the Compreffer, and is apply'd to the Matter of the Names in that State of Motion, which produced Expanfion, and gave it Strength

to comprefs, and at firft to separate and fix the Parts of Solids in the Earth, &c. And now to form and bind the Solids in Animals, Vegetables, &c. fo the Former Pfalmator and Binder of the Atoms, so the Preferver of all the Orbs, Bodies, Forms, Textures, and confequently of the Firmness or Strength in Rocks, &c. and of the Powers in Animals. The Word gives Name, Pfal. lxxxiii. 8, to a People, fo feveral Places and Perfons are named from it; one join'd with 8, one with, and one with. There are a few Claims out of many inferted. This Power is extended to other Things, which had no relation to the Description of this System, expreffes to give Strength to Men to make War, to befiege, drive or keep others begirt in a small compafs, fo to Befiegers, fo to give Firmness, Strength to Rocks, &c. and thereby protect thofe bound about with Rocks, with Forts, Walls, Towers. Thence 'tis carry'd to the Mind to be comprefs'd with Difficulties, to be, as we fay, in a Strait; and fo as Aleim, to communicate Strength to fplit Rocks, to throw down Towers or Walls, to come at thofe defended, or to thofe befieged, to break through, to cfcape from thofe who befiege them, fo to deliver from Straits. I have

צור

in the second Part of M. P. p. 328, complain'd of the Translators for making this Word, when reclaim'd by Jehovah Aleim, frequently without any Circumlocution as his Name, a Rock, the paffive Thing to which Strength is communicated, and is excell'd in that Ezek. iii. 9, As an Adamant, harder than a Rock; whereas it ought to be what by the Context is reclaim'd from this mechanical Power, or what its Worshippers in Imagination attributed to it. As Deut. xxxii. 37, And he Shall fay, where are their Aleim, their ny in whom they trufted? Here he reclaims the inherent Power in his Effence of performing any or all these Actions, and of communicating it to these Agents by Mechanism, and from thence to Rocks, Men, &c. as I have fhew'd under the Word D p. 107, that the Strength communicated by the Expanfion to the Rocks and all other Things are reclaim'd, fo here God's Servants by this Name attribute, and he by it claims whatever the other had, or his Worshippers pretended to attribute to him. Indeed we have several Accounts in the later Heathen Authors, that a great Stone was a facred Emblem, whether that was antient, and whether an Emblem of the Power of · Dd

VOL. IV.

may

not

not be casy to prove or difprove. If it were, fome of thefe Texts might refer to the Emblem, whether Jacob's anointing the Stone, and vowing that that Stone which he had made a Pillar, fhould be the Temple of the Aleim, were in Oppofition to this, and whether thofe mention'd Dan. ii. 34, 35, 45. Zach. iii. 9. iv. 7. and that upon which Chrift promis'd to build his Church, refers to this Attribute, may be confider'd It would take up more compass than I am willing to allow this Book, to fettle all the Claims from this Deity. But as they doubtless attributed the cracking of the Strata of Stone in the Earth at firft to this Agent, through which Springs rife, Mofes perform'd the fame by Miracle, Exod. xvii. 6. And thou fhalt fmite the Rock, and there shall come Water out of it. Deut. viii. 15, Who brought thee forth Water out of the Rock of Stone. Pfal. lxxviii, 15, He clave the Rocks in the Wilderness, and gave them Drink as out of the great Depths (Abyffes). Ver. 20, Behold he fmote the Rock that the Waters gushed out, and the Streams overflowed. Pfal. cv. 41, He opened the Rock, and the Waters gushed out, they ran in the dry Places like a River. So Nah. i. 6, The Rocks were

rent