OBSERVATION XCI.

Takhtdar, d'Herbelot informs us, is a Perfian word, which properly fignifies a precious carpet, which is made ufe of for the covering the throne of the kings of Perfia; and that this word is alfo ufed as an epithet, by which the Perfians defcribe their princes, on. account of their being poffeffed of this throne: now I would propofe it as a query, Whether it is not as probable, that the term covering, applied by the prophet Ezekiel to the prince of Tyrus, may be explained in a fimilar way, and be as good a folution of a very obfcure epithet as any that has been offered by the learned? It certainly will have the advantage, as appears by this citation, of being truly in the Eastern taste.

The paffage, referred to in Ezekiel, is as follows: Son of man, take up a lamenta❝tion upon the king of Tyrus, and fay unto him, Thus faith the Lord God, Thou feal"eft up the fum, full of wisdom, and per“fect in beauty. Thou haft been in Eden "the garden of God: every precious stone "was thy covering, the fardius, topaz, &c. "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth: " and I have set thee fo: thou waft upon the holy mountain of God; thou haft walked

66

1 P. 847.

"up

66 пр and down in the midst of the stones "of fire, &c. By the multitude of thy mer"chandise they have filled the midst of thee "with violence, and thou haft finned: there"fore I will caft thee as profane out of the "mountain of God: and I will deftroy thee, "O covering cherub, from the midst of the "ftones of fire." Ch. xxviii. 12-16.

The explanation given by the learned of this epithet covering has been, by fome, that it is an allufion to the posture of the cherubic figures that were over the ark'; and of others, that it means the protection this prince afforded to other states, either Judæa, the mountain of God, as it might be styled, or the cities of the heathen in the islands of the Mediterranean, or on it's fea-coafts. What they have faid may, I believe, be reduced to one of these particulars.

But it cannot well be the first, for the prophet evidently refers to a living cherub, not the posture of the image of one made of gold, or of an olive-tree. He cannot be described after this manner, on the account of his being a protector of Judæa, and his covering that facred country from it's enemies, for the prophet represents this prince as an adversary in this very prophecy: "Son of man, because that "Tyrus hath faid against Jerufalem, Aha, the " is broken that was the gates of the people: "she is turned unto me; I shall be replenish

Exod. 25. 20.

2

1 Kings 8. 7. I Kings 6. 23.

"ed,

ed, now fhe is laid wafte: Therefore thus faith the Lord God, Behold, I am against

thee, O Tyrus, &c," ch. xxvi. 2, 3. Nor doth there appear any ground in the prophecy, for believing Tyrus was remarkable for defending their neighbours. On the contrary, the Sidonians are reprefented in the Scriptures as an unwarlike people, Judges xviii. 7, and they and the Tyrians are known to have refembled each other; indeed to have been nearly one people.

But if we understand the word as fignifying having a throne covered with a rich and widelySpreading carpet, it will be explaining the word in a manner conformable to the prefent Eastern tafle, as appears by this article of d'Herbelot; and will answer the reft of the imagery, with fufficient exactness.

Ezekiel appears to have mingled earthly and heavenly things together, in this defcription of Tyrian royal magnificence. Earth and heaven are joined together in the 2d verse of this 28th chapter, "Thou haft faid, "I am a God, I fit in the feat of God," that is in heaven, among the ftars, as the king of Babylon is represented by Ifaiah as boafting, "Thou haft faid in thine heart, I will afcend "into heaven, I will exalt my throne above "the ftars of God... . . I will afcend above "the heights of the clouds; I will be like "the most High ';" yet at the fame time the

Il. 14. 13, 14.

prince of Tyrus is fupposed to speak of his fitting in the heart of the fea. In like manner this prince is fpoken of as having been in Eden the garden of God, (the world of bleffed fpirits appears to have been meant,) yet as adorned with jewels of an earthly nature, the fardius, topaz, diamond, &c. No wonder then that in the next verse he is described as a cherub, which every body knows denotes a kind of angel, and inhabitant of heaven, and yet is reprefented as appearing in the attitude of an earthly prince, Jeated on a throne, covered either with a widely-extended carpet, or with robes with a mighty Spreading train. The heavenly vifion which Ifaiah faw, in the year that king Uzziah died', prefented much the fame appearance, "I faw alfo the Lord upon "a throne, high and lifted up, and his train" (or, according to the margin, the skirts thereof) "filled the temple." After that Ezekiel fpeaks of this prince as upon the mountain of God, magnificent, that is, as if in heaven, for he had no abode on mount Sion; and walking up and down in the midst of the ftones of fire, or ftars, as before obferved concerning the king of Babylon. Then, in the 16th verfe, he is threatened to be caft, as profane, out of this mountain of God, and though a covering cherub, or like a cherub enthroned, to be destroyed from the midst of these metaphorical ftones of fire, the stars above which

; Is. 6. 1.

he

he had as it were placed his throne, fo great was his pomp and magnificence.

Such feems to me the moft natural explanation of the term covering in this defcription. Why the king of Tyrus is denominated a cherub, and why called the anointed cherub, are not matters that come under this Obfervation'. All that I would remark farther is, that it should feem there was a different reading in the Hebrew copy, or copies, that St. Jerome made use of, from what we now find in those of the modern Jews, for he tranflates that word which we render anointed, ("Thou art the anointed cherub,") by the term extentus, which fignifies extended, or drawn out in length, and fo both epithets may be confidered as forming one idea-O thou extended and covering cherub! thou cherub whofe royal carpet extends far and near, and most magnificently covers a very large fpace. Jerome however gives us to understand the Septuagint tranflators read, as

It may not be amifs, juft to hint in a note, that as a cherub is fuppofed to fly with the rápidity of the wind, according to those words, "He rode upon a cherub, and did "fly; yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind;" by which it appears, that the wings of a cherub and the wings of the wind are terms of much the fame import: for that reafon the prince of Tyre, who was a moft diftinguished maritime power at that time, whofe fhips flew about the feas on the wings of the wind, and who might at times. appear in great pomp, in fome ancient bucentaur or royal yacht, flying like a cherub, from whence he might be fo named, as other princes were called angels, from the general great fplendor of their appearance.

VOL. III.

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