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A. M. 1336. A. C. 2468; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 2136. A. C. 3275. GEN. CH. 5. AND TO VER. 13.

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as the disproportion between their lives and ours. We stitution, the temperament of the world wherein they think it a great thing, if we chance to arrive at fourscore, | lived, or (what is most likely) the particular vouchsafeor an hundred years; whereas they lived to the term of ment of God, to give them this mighty singular advanseren, eight, nine hundred, and upwards, as appears a by tage above us. the joint testimony both of sacred and profane history. The only suspicion that can arise in our minds upon this occasion, is, that the computation might possibly be made, not according to solar, but lunar years; but this, instead of solving the difficulty, runs us into several gross absurdities.

of life.

Some have imputed this extraordinary length of life in the antediluvians to the sobriety of their living, and simplicity of their diet; that they eat no flesh, and had no provocations to gluttony, which wit and vice have since invented. This indeed might have some effect, but not possibly to the degree we now speak of; since The space of time, between the creation and the flood, there have been many moderate and abstemious people is usually computed to be 1656 years, which, if we sup-in all ages, who have not surpassed the common period pose to be lunar, and converted into common years, will amount to little more than 127; too short an interval, by Others have ascribed it to the excellency of the fruits, much, to stock the world with a sufficient number of in- and some unknown quality in the herbs and plants of habitants. From one couple we can scarce imagine, those days: but the earth, we know, was cursed immethat there could arise 500 persons in so short a time ; | diately after the fall, and its fruits, we may suppose, but suppose them a thousand, they would not be so many gradually decreased in their virtue and goodness, until as we sometimes have in a good country village. And the time of the flood; and yet we do not see, that the were the floodgates of heaven opened, and the great length of men's lives decreased at all during that inabyss broken up, to destroy such an handful of people ? | terval. were the waters raised fifteen cubits above the highest mountains, throughout the face of the whole earth, to drown a parish or two? This certainly is more incredible than the longest age which the Scriptures ascribe to the patriarchs; besides that, this short interval leaves no | room for ten generations, which we find from Adam to the flood; nor does it allow the patriarchs age enough, (some of them, upon this supposition, must not be above five years old,) when they are said to beget children.

It is generally allowed, and may indeed be proved by the testimony of Scripture, that our first fathers lived considerably longer, than any of their posterity have done since; but, according to this hypothesis, (which depresses the lives of the antediluvians, not only below those who lived next the flood, but even below all following generations to this day,) Methuselah, who was always accounted the oldest man since the creation, did but reach to the age of seventy-five, and Abraham, who is said to have died in a good old age, was not completely fifteen.

The patrons of this opinion therefore would do well to tell us, when we are to break off this account of lunar years in the sacred history. If they will have it extended no farther than the flood, they make the postdiluvian | fathers longer-lived than the antediluvian, but will be puzzled to assign a reason, why the deluge should occasion longevity. If they will extend it to the postdiluvians likewise, they will then be entangled in worse difficulties; for they will make their lives miserably short, and their age of getting children altogether incongruous and impossible.,

From the whole, therefore, we may conclude, that the years whereby Moses reckons the lives of the antediluvians, were solar years, much of the same length with what we now use; and that therefore there must be a reason, either in their manner of life, their bodily con

a Manetho, who wrote the story of the Egyptians; Berosus, who wrote the Chaldean history; those authors, who give us an account of the Phoenician antiquities; and among the Greeks, Hesiodus, Hecateus, Hellanicus, Ephorus, &c., do unanimously agree, that in the first ages of the world, men lived 1000 years. -Barnet's Theory, b. 2. c. 4.

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Others therefore have thought, that the long lives of the men of the old world proceeded from the strength of their stamina, or first principles of their bodily constitution; which, if they were equally strong in us, would maintain us, as they think, in being, as long : but though it be granted, that both the strength and stature of their bodies were greater than ours, and that a race of strong men, living long in health, will have children of a proportionably strong constitution; yet, that this was not the sole and adequate cause of their longevity, we have one plain instance to convince us, namely, that Shem, who was born before the deluge, and had in his body all the virtue of an antediluvian constitution, fell 300 years short of the age of his forefathers, because the greatest ́ part of his life was passed after the flood.

The ingenious theorist whom I have quoted, for this reason, imagines, that before the flood, the situation of the earth to the sun was direct and perpendicular, and not, as it is now, inclined and oblique. From this position he infers, that there was a perpetual equinox all the earth over, and one continued spring; and thence concludes, that the equality of the air, and stability of the seasons were the true causes of the then longevity; whereas the change, and obliquity of the earth's posture, occasioned by the deluge, altered the form of the year, and brought in an inequality of seasons, which caused a sensible decay in nature, and a gradual contraction in human life.

'Burnet's Theory of the Earth, b. 2. c. 4. This is a perfectly groundless fancy warranted neither by Scripture nor by philosophy.

"At the creation, the two great lights, the sun and the moon, were ordained, among other uses, to be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years, Gen. i. 14. But seasons and years are produced by this obliquity. If, then, seasons and years existed before the deluge, so must the obliquity. But that they did, is evident from the history; for the duration of time, from the creation to the deluge, is measured by the years of the generations of the patriarchs from Adam to Noah, Gen. v. And when God promised Noah, that while the earth remained, seedtime and harvest, or (spring and autumn), cold and heat, or (winter and summer), and day and night should not cease,' plainly signifying, that the world should go on after the deluge

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A. M. 1656. A. C. 2349; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 2256. A. C. 3155. GEN. vi. 12. TO ix. 20. His reasoning, upon this point, is very elegant. to send into the world before the consummation of all "There is no question," says he, "but every thing upon things, might have a speedier probation. Man's age earth, and especially the animate world, would be much accordingly went on sinking by degrees, until a little more permanent, if the general course of nature was before David's time, it came to be fixed at what has been more steady, and more uniform. A stability in the the common standard ever since. The days of our heavens makes a stability in all things below; and that age are threescore years and ten: and though some men change, and contrariety of qualities which we have in be so strong, that they come to fourscore years, yet is these regions, is the fountain of corruption-the ether their strength then but labour and sorrow, so soon passeth in their little pores, the air in their greater, and the it away, and we are gone.' This is our stated period; vapours and atmosphere that surround them, shake, and and therefore for us, who live in this postdiluvian world, unsettle their texture and continuity; whereas, in a fixed and have the term of our trial so much shortened, the state of nature, where these principles have always the subsequent prayer of the devout Psalmist will always be same constant and uniform motion, a long and lasting necessary, always seasonable; So teach us to number peace ensues, without any violence, either within, or our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.' without to discompose them. We see, by daily experience," continues he, "that bodies are kept better in the same medium, (as we call it,) than when they are sometimes in the air, and sometimes in the water, moist and dry, hot and cold, by turns; because these different states weaken the contexture of their parts. But our bodies, in the present state of nature, are put in an hundred different mediums, in the course of a year; the winds are of a different nature, and the air of a different weight and pressure, according as the weather and seasons affect them. All these things are enough to wear out our bodies soon, very soon, in comparison of what they would last, if they were always encompassed with one and the same medium, and that medium were always of one and the same temper."

This is all very pretty but the author's grand mistake is, that it was not so in the primitive earth. He has no authority to show, that how high soever the waters might swell at the deluge, the centre of the earth gave way or the foundations of the round world were shaken.' The earth, no doubt, had, before, as well as after the flood, an annual as well as diurnal motion. It stood to the sun in the same oblique posture and situation, and was consequently subject to the same seasons and vicissitudes that the present earth is; and if the air was more mild, and the elements more favourable at that time, this we may account the peculiar blessing of God, and not the result of the earth's position to the sun, or any fancied stability in the weather. The truth is, whatever we may attribute to second causes, why bodies that are naturally mortal and corruptible should subsist so long in the primitive ages of the world; yet the true cause of all is to be ascribed to the will of God, who impregnated our first parents with such vigour, and gave their posterity for some time such robust constitutions, as depended not upon the nature of their diet, the stability of the seasons, or the temperature of the air. After the flood, God soon made a sensible change in the length of man's days. For, perceiving the general iniquity to increase again, and thereupon designing to make an alteration in the world's continuance, he hastened the period of human life, that the number of souls he intended

'See Keill's Examination of Burnet's Theory.

as it had done before, and that the same vicissitude of seasons should prevail as of day and night; how is it possible to represent, that God found it necessary to forewarn Noah that he must Expect successive changes of seasons, and vicissitudes of heat and cold, such as he had never yet experienced!”—Hales's Analysis, 8vo, vol. 1. p. 324.-ED.

SECT. VI.

CHAP. I.—Of the Deluge.

THE HISTORY.

GOD (as we said before) had given mankind a reprival for an hundred and twenty years; but when he saw that all his lenity and forbearance tended to no purpose, except it was to make them more bold and licentious in their sins, he declared to his servant Noah, that within a short time his resolution was to destroy them, and with them all other creatures upon the face of the earth, by a flood of waters; but a assured him, at the same time, that since he had comported himself better, and approved his fidelity to his Maker, he would take care to preserve him and his family, and whatever other creatures were necessary for the restoration of their species from the general calamity.

To this purpose he gave him orders to build a kind of vessel, not in the form of ships now in use, but rather

2 Ps. xc. 10.

a The words in our translation are, With thee will I establish my covenant: but 1st, by the word covenant, we are not here to understand a mutual compact or agreement, but only a simple and gracious promise, as it is likewise used, Numb. xviii. 19, XXV. 12, and in several other places; which promise, though only mentioned here, was doubtless made before, as may easily be gathered from these words, and some foregoing passages, and from the necessity that Noah should have some such support and encouragement during all the time of his ministry. 2dly. This covenant of God might relate to his sending the promised seed, and redemption of mankind by the Messias; and in this sense will import, that as the Messias was to come out of Noah's loins, so the divine providence would take care to preserve him alive. But, 3dly. A learned and right reverend author is of opinion, that this covenant of God relates to his reinstating the earth in its primitive fertility in Noah's lifetime. To which purpose he observes, that as soon as the flood was over, God declares, I will not again curse the ground for man's sake;' from which declaration it appears, (says he) Ist, That the flood was the effect of that curse which was denounced against the earth for man's sake; and 2dly, That the old curse was fully executed and accomplished in the flood; in consequence of which, a new blessing is immediately pronounced upon the earth, Gen. xiii. 22. While the earth remaineth, seed-time, and harvest, and cold, and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.'Poole's Annotations, and Bishop Sherlock's Use and Intent of Prophecy

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A. M. 1656. A. C. 2349; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 2256. A. C. 3155. GEN. CH. vi. 12. TO ix. 20. inclining to the fashion of a a large chest or ark, and himself prescribed the plan whereby he was to proceed. -That to make the vessel firm and strong, and able to endure the pressure of the waves, the wood most proper for that purpose & should be cypress; and that to prevent the waves from penetrating, or the sun from cracking it, as well as to secure it from worms, and make it glide more easy upon the water, his business would be, as soon as it was finished, to pitch it, or rather smear it all These were the instructions which God gave Noah, over with bitumen, (whereof there was plenty in the coun- who accordingly went to work, and being assisted with try), both within and without; that to make its propor- the hands of his family, (for 5 the rest of the world doubttion regular, its length should be six times more than its less derided him,) in the time that was appointed him, and breadth, and ten times more than its height; and to give seven days before the rain began to fall, he had comit capacity enough, the first of these should be d 300 e There are various translations of the word zohar which cubits, that is, in our measure, 450 feet; the second 50 occurs but once in the whole Bible in this sense. It seems to be cabits, or 75 feet; and the third 30 cubits, or 45 feet; derived from a root in the Chaldee, which signifies to shine,' that to make it commodious for the reception of every-orgive light;' and therefore our version renders it a window; thing, it was to consist of three stories or decks, of equal

| height each, and each divided into stalls and apartments proper for the things that were to be put into it; that for turning off the rain, the roof was to be made sloping; that for letting in of light e there were windows to be so and so disposed, or some other conveniency answerable to them; and that, for the more easy induction of the many things it was to contain, a door or entry-port was to be made in its side.

a The word thebath, which we render ark, is only read here, and in another place, where Moses, when an infant, is said to have been put into one made of bulrushes, Exod. ii. 3. It is supposed to come from a root which signifies to dwell or inhabit; and may therefore here denote a house, or place of abode.' And indeed, if we consider the use and design, as well as the form and figure of this building, we can hardly suppose it to be like an ark or chest, wherein we usually store lumber, and put things out of the way; but rather like a farm house, such as are in several countries, where the cattle and people live all under one roof. As soon as men began to hew down timber, and to join it together, for the purpose of making houses, nothing can be supposed a more simple kind of edifice than what was made rectangular, with a bottom or floor, to prevent the dampness of the ground; a sloping cover or roof to carry off the rain that should fall; stalls and cabins for the lodgment of man and beast; and to keep out wind and weather effectually, a coat of bitumen or pitch. Of this kind was this building of Noah's, and may therefore rather be termed a place of abode, than an ark or chest, properly so called.-Le Clerc's Commentary on the Passage.

The timber whereof the ark was framed Moses calls gopherrood; but what tree this gopher was, is not a little controverted. Some will have it to be cedar, others the pine, others the box, and others (particularly the Mahometans) the Indian plane-tree; but our learned Fuller in his Miscellanies, has observed, that it was nothing else but that which the Greeks call Κυπάρισσος, οι the cypress-tree; for taking away the termination, cupar, and gopher differ very little in the sound. This observation the great Bechart has confirmed, and shown very plainly, that no country abounds so much with this wood as that part of Assyria which lies about Babylon. And to this we may add the observation of Theophrastus, who, speaking of trees that are least subject to decay, makes the cypress-tree the most durable of all; for which Vitruvius gives us this reason, viz. that the sap, which is in every part of the wood has a peculiar bitter taste, and is so very offensive that no worm or other corroding animal will touch it: so that such works as are made of this wood will in a manner Last for ever. See Universal History; Patrick's Commentary; Bochart's Annotations, b. 1. c. 4; and Bedford's Scripture Chronology, b. 1. c. 9.

e The Arabic translation says expressly pitch it with pitch, but the bitumen (which was plentiful in that country, and as others think intended here) was of the same nature, and served to the same use as pitch, being glutinous and tenacious, and proper to keep things together.-Patrick's Commentary.

A cubit is the measure from the elbow to the finger's end, Futaining six hand-breadths, or a foot and a half: so that 300 cubits make exactly 450 feet. There are some, however, who take these for geometrical cubits, every one of which contain six of the common; but there is no need for any such computation, sire, taking them for common cubits, it is demonstrable (as will appear hereafter) that there might be room enough in the ark for all sorts of beasts and birds, together with Noah's family and their necessary provision.-Ainsworth's Annotations; and Patrick's Commentary.

because it is not likely that there should be but one in so vast a

but if so, it must be collective, and mean several windows,

building, and from the following words, in a cubit shalt thou finish it above,' some have supposed, that the window was to be a cubit square, or but a cubit high, which would have been much too small. But the relative 'it' being, in the Hebrew, of the feminine gender, and zohar of the masculine, these two words cannot agree; and therefore the proper antecedent seems to be the ark,' which was covered with a roof raised a cubit high in the middle. This, however, in the original, may signify no more than an injunction to build the ark by the cubit, as the common measure, by which the work was to be marked out and directed.-See Universal History; Saurin's Dissertation; and Lamy's Introduction,

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What that other conveniency was, we shall have occasion to show when we come to treat of the word zohar, (which we here render window,') in answer to the subsequent objection.

g The Apostle to the Hebrews (xi. 7.) mentions Noah's building the ark as an heroic act of faith; By faith Noah,' says he, 'being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark, to the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith:' for we may well imagine, that this work of his was not only costly and laborious, but esteemed by the generality very foolish and ridiculous; especially when they saw all things continue in the same posture and safety for so many scores of years together; whereby Noah, without doubt, became all that while the song of drunkards, and the sport of the wits of the age.— Poole's Annotations. The Mahometans have a tradition, that when he began to work upon this famous vessel, all that saw him derided him, and said, "You are building a ship; if you can bring water to it, you will be a prophet, as well as a carpenter;" but he made answer to these insults, "You laugh at me now, but I shall have my turn to laugh at you: for at your own cost you will learn, that there is a God in heaven who punishes the wicked." Calmet's Dictionary on the word Noah.

h It is somewhat strange, that the torrent of interpreters should suppose, that Noah was 120 years about this work, when he gives no intimation to that purpose, but sufficient reasons to believe, that he was not near so long as is imagined. It is plain from Scripture that he was 500 years old when he begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth,' (Gen. v. 32), and that when he received the command for building the ark, the same sons were married; for the text says expressly, 'Thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee,' (Gen. vi, 18.) So that all the time between the birth and marriage of the said sons must at least be supposed to intervene before the command to build the ark was given; and between the command and the execution of it, must not be so long as is imagined, without a concurrence of miracles, to prevent that part of it which was first built from being rotten and decayed before the last part of it was finished.-Saurin's Dissertation. If the wood was of the nature described in a preceding note, no miracle would be necessary to preserve it during the period, 120 years, employed in building it; and from its immense size, and great tonnage, as shown before, it is not wonderful that so much time should be occupied in its construction. If this was the case, Noah began it in his 480th year; while he was childless; a striking proof of his

A. M. 1636. A. C. 2349; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 2256. A. C. 3155. GEN. CH. vi. 12. TO ix. 20.

pleted the whole. Whereupon God gave him instructions | things return to their primitive chaos. The cataracts that he should take into the ark every living thing of all of heaven were opened, the abyss of waters, in the cenflesh, both cattle, and beasts of the field, birds and fowls tre of the earth poured out, and the sea, forgetting its of the air, and reptiles of all kinds; a of the unclean, bounds, overspread the earth with a dreadful inundation. one pair only, but of the clean seven pair; that when Too late does wretched man perceive the approach of the general desolation was over, they might increase his deserved fate; and in vain does he find out means again, and replenish the earth; and that when every for his preservation. The tops of the hills, the tallest thing was thus settled and disposed of, himself and his trees, the strongest towers, and the loftiest mountains, family should likewise go into the ark, and take up their can give him no relief: it is but a small reprieve at apartments. most that they can yield him; for as the waters swell, and the waves come rushing on, hills, trees, towers, mountains, and every little refuge, must disappear with him. Noah himself cannot help him. Though he might now remember his predictions, and so flee to him for succour, yet God has shut the door of the ark, and it cannot be opened; 2 and so it shall be to every one, at the last great day, who shall not be found in Christ, the only ark of our salvation.

Pursuant to these directions, Noah and his family went into the ark, leaving the rest of the world in their security and sensuality, in the 600th year of his age, much about the middle of September; when in a few days after, the whole face of nature began to put on a dismal aspect, as if the earth were to suffer a final dissolution, and all

1 Howell's Complete History.

implicit faith, both in the divine threatenings and promises: for
his eldest son, Japheth, (Gen. x. 21.) was not born till twenty
years after, in the 500th year of his age, (Gen. v. 32.); and his
second, Shem, two years after, (Gen. xi. 10.) Such is the apostle
Paul's description By faith, Noah, having been instructed
by the divine oracle, concerning things not yet seen, (the ensuing
deluge, &c.) moved with fear, prepared an ark, for the saving of
his house,' or future family, (Heb. xi. 7.)-ED. In what place
Noah built and finished his ark, is no less made a matter of dis-
putation. One supposes that he built it in Palestine, and planted
the cedars whereof he made it in the plains of Sodom: another takes
it to have been built near Mount Caucasus, on the confines of
India: and a third in China, where he imagines Noah dwelt before
the flood. But the most probable opinion is, that it was built in
Chaldea, in the territories of Babylon, where there was so great a
quantity of cypress in the groves and gardens, in Alexander's
time, that that prince built a whole fleet out of it, for want of
other timber. And this conjecture is confirmed by the Chal-
dean tradition, which makes Xisuthrus (another name for Noah)
set sail from that country.-See Universal History, b. 1. c. 1.
a The distinction between beasts that were clean and unclean,
being made by the law, has given some a colour to imagine,
that Moses wrote this book after his coming out of Egypt, and
receiving the law, but to this it may be answered, that though,
with respect to man's food, the distinction of clean and unclean,
was not before the law, yet some were accounted fit for sacri-
fices, and others unfit, from the very first beginning; and then
unclean beasts, in this place, must denote such as are rapacious
which were not to be offered to God. In short, since the rite
of sacrificing was before the flood, we may very well be allowed
to suppose that this distinction was also before it: and to sup-
pose farther, that as the rite was undoubtedly of God's institution,
so the difference of clean and unclean creatures to be sacrificed,
was of his appointment likewise. But there is a farther doubt
arising from this passage, and that is-whether there went into
the ark but seven of every clean, and two of every unclean spe-
cies, or fourteen of the first, and two of the last. Some adhere
to the former exposition, but others to the latter, which seems to
be the natural sense of the Hebrew words, seven and seven, and
two and two. Besides, if there were but seven of the clean beasts,
one must have been without a mate; and if it be suggested, that
the odd one was for sacrifice, it is more than Moses tells us,
who, on the contrary, repeats it, that the animals all went in by
pairs.-Patrick's Commentary; Poole's Annotations; and Uni-
versal History, c. 1.

The words in the text are, In the second month; but, for the better understanding of this, we must remember, that the year among the Hebrews, was of two kinds; the one ecclesiastical, which began in March, and chiefly regarded the observation of their fasts and festivals, of which we read Exod. xii. 2. and the other civil, for the better regulating of men's political affairs, which began in September. Accordingly the second month is thought by some to be part of April, and part of May, the most pleasant part of the year, and when the flood was least expected, and least feared; but by others part of October, and

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For forty days and nights together, without the least intermission, did the clouds continue raining; when at length the ark began to float, and to move from place to place as the waves drove it. And though there might be some short cessations afterwards, yet at certain intervals, the rain continued falling, and the waters swelling, till in process of time, the flood began to cover the mountains, and, by a gradual increase, came at last to

Millar's History of the Church; Patrick's Commentary; and Poole's Annotations.

part of November, a little after that Noah had gathered in the fruits of the earth, and laid them up in the ark: so that the flood came in with the winter, and was by degrees dried up in the following summer. And this opinion seems to be more probable, because the most ancient, and first beginning of the year, was in September; and the other beginning of the year in March, was but a later institution among the Jews; with respect to their festivals and other sacred affairs, which are not at all concerned here.-Poole's Annotations. Dr Hales, however, is of opinion, and from the evidence he has adduced, it seems correctly, that the deluge began in spring, and that the second month was reckoned by the sacred year, which began about the vernal equinox: and as Noah was a year and ten days in the ark, himself, family, and the animals would leave it at the beginning of May, the season most suited for the enjoyment of animal life, and before winter, ample provision would be produced for their support, the heat also would have so dried the moisture from the earth as to make it a healthy and comfortable residence.-See Hales' Anal., vol. 1. 322-332.-ED.

c Ovid, who is supposed to have extracted most of the beginning of his Metamorphoses out of the sacred records, has described both the induction and retreat of the waters in a manner very conformable to the original, from whence he had them. Their induction thus:

The south wind quick on moistened wings darts forth,
Its fearful face in pitchy darkness shaded;
And as its mighty arm the hanging clouds oppress'd,
A crash is made; dense rains rush down from heaven.
The Ocean-king his trident poised and struck the earth,
Which trembled and laid bare the waters' gulfs.
The rivers boundless rush along the plains;
And 'long with crops drag trees, and kine, and men,
And hallowed domes, and shrines, and sacred things.
Their retreat thus:-

The clouds he struck, and rains drove to the north,
When earth to heaven was shown and heaven to earth;
The sleepless ocean now can boast a shore,
The channel too contains its brimming streams,
The floods are lulled, the hills seem to arise,
The ground appears, and with the waves' decrease
All parts increase, when now, the long day done,
The hidden trees their naked tops present,
And on their branches bear the clammy clay.

A. M. 1656. A. C. 2349; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 2256. A. C. 3155. GEN. CH. vi. 12. TO ix. 20. raise its surface fifteen cubits (above twenty-two feet of our measure) higher than the tops of the highest of them, In this elevation the flood continued until the latter end of March: when, as one friend is apt to remember another in distress, (the Scripture here speaks in the style of men, so God,) reflecting upon Noah, and the poor remains of his creation, floating in the ark, caused a drying north wind to arise, the floodgates of heaven to be stopped, and the eruption of the waters out of the womb of the earth to cease; by which means the deluge began to abate, and the waters subside, so that in a short time, the ark, which must have drawn great depth of water, stuck on a mountain, named Ararat, and there rested; and not long after the tops of other mountains began to appear.

sent her forth again; and she, in the evening, brought in her mouth an olive branch, the emblem of peace, and a token to Noah that the waters were abated much. Whereupon he waited seven days more, and then let her fly the third time; but she finding the waters gone, and the earth dry, returned no more; so that he was now thinking of uncovering the roof, and going out of the ark himself; but having a pious regard to the divine providence and direction in all things, he waited 55 days longer, and then received orders from God for him and his family to quit the vessel, but to take care at the same time that every other creature should be brought forth with him.

This happened in the beginning of May, when the summer was coming on apace: but Noah, wisely considering, that although the mountains were bare, the valleys might still be overflowed, waited forty days longer before he attempted any farther discovery; and then opening the window, he let go a raven, as supposing that the smell of dead bodies would allure him to fly a good distance from the vessel; but the experiment did not do; the raven, after several unsuccessful fights, finding nothing but water, returned to the ark again. Seven days after this, he let fly a dove, a bird of a strong pinion, and, from the remotest places always accustomed to come home, and therefore proper to make farther discoveries. But she finding nothing but water likewise, immediately returned to the ark, and was taken in. After this he waited seven days more, and then

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Thus ended Noah's long and melancholy confinement; which, by a due computation from the time of his going into the ark, to that of his coming out, was exactly the space of a solar year.

CHAP. II.-Difficulties Obviated, and Objections

Answered.

How many wise ends the providence of God might have in bringing this destruction upon the earth, it is impossible for us to find out: but even supposing that he had but this one, namely, to rid himself of a generation that was become profligate, and past all hopes of amendment; yet the number of mankind, which, before the

b Mr Basnage (in his Jewish Antiquities, vol. 2. p. 299.) has given us the calendar of this melancholy year of Noah's confine

ment.

The Year of the World's Creation, 1656.

I. September. Methuselah died at the age of 969 years.
II. October. Noah and his family entered the ark.
III. November the 17th. The fountains of the great deep
were broken open.'

IV. December the 26th. The rain began, and continued forty days and forty nights.

V. January. All the men and beasts that were upon the earth were buried under the waters.

VI. February. The rain continued.

VII. March. The waters remained in their elevation till the 27th, when they began to abate.

VIII. April the 17th. The ark rested on Mount Ararat. 18. May. They did nothing while the waters were retreat

ing.

It is very observable, that the words which we render *window' in vi. 16., and viii. 6. of Genesis, are far from being the same: in the former place, the word is zohar, (the nature of which we shall have a proper occasion to explain) in the latter, it is khalon, which signifies indeed an oval hole' or 'window' in any building, but here is a window of a peculiar denomination. That it was customary among the Jews to have a room in the upper part of their houses set apart for divine worship, in Hebrew called Beth-alijah, or simply alijah, in Greek gov, and in Latin oratorium; and that, in this place of prayer, there was always an khalon, an hole or window, which pointed to the la, or place whereunto they directed their worship, is evident from several passages in Scripture. Among the Jewish constitations, in the code, called Beracoth, there is a certain canon grounded upon this custom, namely, That no man shall pray, but in a room where there is an hhalon opening towards the holy rity:' and of Daniel it is particularly related, that when he knew that the decree for his destruction was signed, he went into the house, and his' hhalon, his window being open in his chamber towards Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, as he did aforetime,' Dan. vi. 10. for that this was Bot a common window, but one dedicated to religious worship, is plain from the people's discerning, by its being open, that he was at prayers. Nor is it improbable that this window might I. September the 1st. The dry land appeared. have some visible sign, either of the name of God, or of the holy II. October the 27th. Noah went out of the ark with his city, or of the sanctuary, or the like, inscribed on it; because it family. During this long continuance in the ark, the form of is a constant tradition, that these oratories or rooms for prayer prayer, which some oriental writers make Noah to have offered were always so made as to have their angles answer to such cer- unto God, runs in this manner: "O Lord, thou art truly great, tain points of the heaven, and to have the mark of adoration so and there is nothing so great as that it can be compared to thee; evidently distinguished, that none might mistake it, if they cast look upon us with an eye of mercy, and deliver us from the at their eye upon the wall. Now, as the practice among the deluge of waters. I entreat this of thee for the love of Adam, Jews of worshipping in upper rooms, with their faces towards a thy first man; for the love of Abel, thy saint; for the nighteoushole or window in the wall, was never introduced by any positiveness of Seth, whom thou hast loved. Let us not be reckoned in law, and yet universally prevailed, it is reasonable to believe, that at first it was derived from Noah, and that the windows in their oratories were made in imitation of this hhalon, or point of adoration in the ark.-Bibliotheca Biblica, vol. 2.; Occasional Annotations in the Appendix.

X. June the 1st. The tops of the mountains appeared. XI. July the 11th. Noah let go a raven, which (as Basnage thinks) returned to him no more.

The 18th. He let go a dove, which returned. The 25th. He let go the dove again, which returned with an olive branch. XII. August the 2d. returned no more.

The dove went out the third time, and

the number of those, who have disobeyed thy commandments; but still extend thy merciful care to us, because thou hast hitherto been our deliverer, and all thy creatures shall declare thy praise. -Amen."-Calmet's Dictionary on the words Deluge and

Noah.

K

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