Jahn's Biblical archaeology

391쪽

3 300. OF CESSATION PRO ARMA. 373 NOTE.- The bove sectio is ather uniailsuli abridgo in the original, o much so that it ould e dissiculosor a person, s roma litera translatio oscit, a it there tand8, to obtain an thinglike an adequate dea es ur author' opinion o the subject inquestion Something, heresere, has been adde to is rem theorigina German, and fro Michaelis, ii is there referre to byDr. Jahn, as his authorit O the subjeci. For a fui and ingenious discussion oscit, the reade Would do et to consul Smith' translatio of the COMMENTARIES O THE LAWS OF MOSES, Vol. III.

It was ancienti the practice among the Arabs, bo it ma be observed inherited amea relationsili to the HebreWs, to consider Aurmonilis of the ear sacres during Whicli the made it a potnt of duinto abstain s m the exercise of a s A practice of a similarnature appear to have prevalle among the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, and likeWis amon nationS. Perhaps this praetice ill nable us to explain, ho it happened, that the Hebre territorie remaine free mm invasions, hile ad the adult males three times every year en to the tabernacleo the temple, Without leavinii thei cities and village any guaesto proieci them fro soreigia incursions and that there appear in no instances to have been an hostile attac made pon them a such times It is true ibat e sin in Exod 34 24 that securit from hostile invasions a promised to the Hebrews, heia the had occasion, On the retur of thei solemn estivals to appea in the presenee of the Lord; ut it is neveriheless, clear, that a promise of this hindcouldio have been fulsile to aseople, ho thus lived in tho hearto friendi nations excepi by the interventio of Onstant mira-cles unles there had been a practice of the in here mentioned, Whicli caused among them during certain period a suspension of the

395쪽

377 CHAPTER I. HISTORICA VI E OF THE RELIGION OF

301. RELIGION DO- T THE DELUGE. OCR rs parenis, ho ere insant in polat fanowledge, although the were introduced into the worid, ithout ein suo in respect to Orm, ere instructed by God imself. The were taugh in theanowledge of the Creato any overnor o ali hings, and were lihe se subjecte to a course of mora discipline by the interdiction, hicli a made in respecto the re of goodand evit. The object of this interdiction a to introduce the human in t an aequaintanee With What a right, and What was Wrong, hat,a good, and What Was evit Hene the nam os thetree m n, Vig. of good an evit, i. e. aecordin to the spirit of the Hebre idiom, o mora distinctions Gen. 2 8 20. Isa. 7 15. Henee twOIOinis ere establislied in the religionis ursrst parenis, the one, that God is supreme, and that ad things rose Dom, and are dependent pon him; the ther, that Some things areright, an othera rong, and that thos things are tot done, hichare agreeablerio God, and thos tot avoided whicli are displeasingio him. The punishment, hicli sollowed the eatin of the interdicted fruit, remaine a perpetua monitor, that miser is the conge-quene of the commission O thos things, hie are not accepta-bi in the divine strat, and that sue things, OnSequently Rre Otto e done Comp. Gen. 5 29. Tho example o Cain alSo, hoste his rother, his banishment an his mise , ere a Standingtestimon in the yes of the whole orld that Wiehednescis hale-

396쪽

378 D302. PRO THE DELEGE O ABRAHAM. os time, hen an crimes received no visibi punishment thedivine command beeam neglected the poWerful oppresse the wea and the OOr, and there a a genera prevalence of levi and sensuali . The e th a filled it violence an flaughter. About the ear 235 after the creation, ichednes Was camedio suci an extent, that the religious thought it necessar to attachio themselves the titie of sons or orshippers of God in contradistinction rom the fons of men, o those, ho ad seriolte God, and were hurrie by the impulse of corrupi passion to very Ortos michedness. The prevalent evit mere increased rom the circum-Stance, that the son or o hippers of Gog marrie the au=ters of men, o the irreligious Wives of this description neglected the right instructio of thei children, and as his devolve onthem, ather than o the athers, the offsprinisollowed the ormer, rathe stan the alter Gen. 4 26 6 1. In his a corruption increased an prevalled o suci a degree, that the warning o God, Whie were ultered by the spirit o prophe , ere Without myavail, Gen. 6 3. The Deluge sollowed in consequene of this state of thingS.*302. FRO THE DELUGE T ABRAHAM. This terribi destructio os ver living thing a predicted 120 years e re iis consummation, Gen. 6 3. So that the familyo Noah might know that it a sent rom God, and that the objectoi it Was, to leavea sueti a signat event, a long toae rememberedimpression that God is the overnor of at things, o hom the Vices O me are abhorrent, and that hoWeve long suffering he illa tengili punish the wiched. A command was ive by God, after the Deluge, that ver homicide hould e punishe withdeath, an a promise also that the deluge liould O more return. Hemade the ainbo a visibi Sig of his promise and a confirmationi iti The posterit of Noah lai u in their ind the principies

397쪽

D303. ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AN IACOB. 379 his conduci, calle him Hr, o the rebel, and made his memor a provere, saying Evenit mrod the exceedingly mighty hunterVAt a later perio stili, men, ein stili uncultivaled, unable Odirect themselves, and OVerned by the promptings of imagination,

attribute a superior an Sublime energ to Various objecta, and began to expect assistance rom them Thu rocks trees, animais,

into divinities. The came sculpture imageS, altarS, and temples. Atiunt the worshipped God a the uteri ali hings, at the sametis that the worshippe idols; ut Oon God as Orgoiten, undine adore the alter lone These false divinities demande nomoralit in thei conduci, an both principies an conduci reWWors and WOrse. The greatest crimes ere committed asci os litile moment, and were even made a partis the orship of their gods. 303 ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB. The corruption, hici has been describe in the precedin section, continuexto spread itself,ide and wider, tili God ave a peculiar callingo Abraham, hos ancestor had rom the eginningsustained during a long period a character sor morat integrit and religion Gen. 5 1-32 11 10 32; ut ad at erigi beeomeidolatrous, Josti. 24 3. It was designe in the Providence of God that Abraham, the Chaldean, an his posterit Sliould preserve an transmithis religion, ill that period, hen it hould e communicaledis ther nations. In Orde to secure these objecis, o promisedio Abraham, ho was a descendant rom he of the tentii generation, hi protection, an ample progeny, OSSe8Sion os theland of Canaan; and that ad nations hould at ast e lessed through his seed, i. e. hould receive the rue religion Gen. 12 13. 18 18. 22 18. He eouple these promise With the me of Abraham an Sarali, hic mere altered Wit a referene to them, an connected, illi the rite o circumcision the obligation to protectreligion Gen. 18 19 so that the ames and the rite might be perpetua testimontes both of the promise in iis favor, and the obligation to defend it. God afterWard repeated the fame promise to Isaac and Jacob,

398쪽

17 20. These promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the fulsimento the corresponding uties o thei part for the prominent and fundamenta principie, the inge, as it ere, of the ANCIENT OVENANV and to them, accordingly eve thing hic sollows aster, is tobe reserred, and wit them also the NE COVENANDiiset is ver inti-

It appears Dom ha has been hitherio stated that the nowledge of the ne rue God, hic is coeuat with the existence of the humanraee, Wa originali communicate by revelation. The patriarchsthemselves ne God to e the creator, OVernor, and judge of the whole arth, o by reasoning ro philosophica principies, whic mere the wholly unknown; ut ecause God ad revealedhimself, as Sueli, to them. The ideas of men in respecto God, whicli ere at Irs ver limited, ecam extended, in the progress of time, by event both ordinar an extraordina . It is Worthyi remain that the figure anthropopatis a very preValentat the early perio of whicli e re speiaing, and that men sed the Same angvage in respecto God, hicli the employed henspeahing of ne nother; ut there a truth, nevertheless hiddenunde the gar of such expressions Gen. 6 6, 7 8 21. 11 5-7.18 1 21. The worshi o God a very unconstrained, uel tis asprompte by conscience an approVed by reason, an consisted chies in tythes and vows an prayers, in the erectioni altar undi sacrifices, Genesis 4 3, 4. 8 20. 12 7 8. 13 4 18 14 20. 15:

With respuet to the consecratio of the sabbath, it a b observed there is no tracem it, an further tha this, viz. that a periodos even dam Oecur a number of times, Gen. 7 4, 10 8 10 12; likewis the wordisines the Hebre so weeh Gen. 29 27. I may be inferred rom these circumstances, stat the eventhdar a distinguishod in ome Way or ther Domither days, ascis

399쪽

ing proo to the Hebrews themgelves that there is indeo a God ad powersu an omniscient, and that Moses by Whom these Wonderi ulmortis had been predicted and persormed was in truth his messenger, Exod. 6 7 7 5. 9 1 16, 29. 10 2. 14 4, 17-28, 31. 16 12.19 4 9 Deut 4 35 39. It was a the fame time hown by the miracles, of hiuli e re speahing that the gyptian Ods, eingallogether unableo proteo thei votaries, ere destitute O poWer, and in a Word, ere nothing, EXOd. 12 12. ut the Hebrews, asterest, i the had notos terwards, heri in Arabia, been confirme bynew miraeses in the belle of the divine omniscience an Omnipotenee, Ouid O have pergevere in the worshipi the tria God, and wouldio have consente to receive thos ceremonte an LaWS, Without hicli, Sur unde a the were by nations, ho regardedidolatry, a consormabie to right reason, the could Ot have Succeede in maintaining their seligious integrity. his is clear Domthe saei that, after at the instructions the had received, and afterat the laWs, hicli,ere enacted the went so Osten bactat VariouS superstitionS.

400쪽

382 D306. OPINION O MOSES IN RESPECTNOΤΕ. Those ho attribute the miraelegis Moses in legerdemain, An undertake to an them in the fame class illi the triclis of jug-glerS ais those, Wh contend that the accounts of them are fabulous, and are tot place o the fame ootin With the wonder of profane mythology, an either reconcile the round Whicli the inhe withthe departur of the Hebre Ws fro Egypt nor illi thei subsequent histo , nor illi the origi of the notionis a God ascit appear in their early rilings. The exodus, the subsequent history, and theirideas in respecto God, ut bear testimony that the miracles ere

That the God o Moses a somethin more than the tutela o nationa God of the Hebrems, is clear rom S many aSSages of Scripture, it is ondersu an Should have adopte a contraryopinion. For e calis hi by the nam Iehovah, ho created heaven an earth Gen. i. Exod. 20 8-12 31 17. Deut 4 23, and wh sent the deluge Gen. 6 17. He is addresse by Abraham an Melchisede a the mos high, the Lord of heaven andearth Gen. 14 18 20. 17 1. 18 16-25. He is achnowledged by Joseph to e the all-wise overnor of the universe Gen. 39 9. 15 5, 8. 50 20. He calis himself ehovali, hocis alWay the fame, Exod. 6 3 wh both predicted an performe those On-derfui,ork in gypt an Arabia, hicli prove him to e omni- Scient an omnipotent, Deut 4 32-36. 10 21. Exod. 6 7 7 5.10 1, 2. 16 12 29 46 who is the author of very living thing, Num. 16 22. 27:16 who is invisibie, sor the descriptions, hichrepresent imis appearingit time in araodii sorm are symbolic, Exod 33 18-23 Deut 4 12 20 39 horis the Lord of heaven an earth, and verythin in them, an the friend of Strangers, aswellis of the Hebrews, Deut 10 1 18. Besides him, there isno thermod Deut 4 39 6 4. 32 39. Moses eve Where exhibit him, a the omnipotent, the uter of ali men, ho anno becorrupted by gist and sacrisces, but horis hind an mercisu to the penitent. He tenelles that he is the true God, hocis orth of beini honored by the HebreWs, nota only bemuses Hoe alone is