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may be pleased to fee a very folid defence of this paffage in Difputat. Placai, Difput. 15.

XII. Memorable alfo is that bleffing, with which Noah bleffed his pious fons, containing many doctrines of the true religion, Gen. ix. 26, 27. "Bleffed be Jehovah the God of Shem, and Canaan fhall be his fervant. God fhall enlarge" (or allure) Japheth, and he fhall dwell in the tents of Shem." When he calls Jehovah, the God of Shem, he gives an intimation of that covenant, which was to fubfift between the fupreme being and the pofterity of Shem, above other men. For, Abraham and all Ifrael were defcended from Shem: Thefe God had chofen to himself for a peculiar people. Whence, with a remarkable compellation, Shem is called the " father of all the children of Heber," Gen. x. 21. that is, of the Hebrews. He also publishes the piety of Shem, who was conftantly to adhere to the worfhip of the true God, and to oppofe, to the utmoft, the spreading of idolatry; teaching, both by his doctrine and example, that he acknowledged none to be God but Jehovah. Generally interpreters alfo obferve, that these words fet forth, that the Meffiah fhould defcend from the pofterity of Shem, fince he does not celebrate fo much Shem himself, on the account of his piety, as he transfers the whole praife to God, faying, bleffed be Jehovah, he fhews, that God is the author of every good inclination of the foul, and pious action of the life, to whom therefore all the glory of them is due. He had denounced a curfe on the guilty in his own perfon, on account of the crime he had committed; because the fuel and fource of evil is in man himself. But being pleased with the piety of Shem, he was willing rather to blefs God; that he might not feem to ascribe too much to his fon, or to facrifice to his own net, and attribute any thing to his good education. He gives thanks to God, who had heard his vows, and had abundantly bleffed the pains he had taken in forming the morals of his fon. Nor is it without a mystery, that though Japheth was the first born of his three fons, yet Noah fhould, by the fpirit of prophefy, prefer Shem before him; to teach us, that, in election, God has no refpect to age, and that the order of grace is not the fame with the order of nature. He was therefore juftly called that is, famous and of a great name, becaufe he was eminent for fo many and fo great privileges above his brethren; and especially becaufe with him and his pofterity "Jehovah put his name," as it is, Deut. xii. 5. Noah adds, and Canaan fhall be his fervant; providing him with a fervant, after he had provided him a Lord. This prophecy was not fulfilled till eight hundred years after, when the Ifraelites,

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who defcended from Shem, invading the land of Canaan, vanquished above thirty kings of the Canaanites, and having utterly destroyed the greatest part of the inhabitaints, made flaves of the reft, laying a heavy tribute upon them. And they em ployed the Gibeonites in cutting wood, and drawing water for the fervice of the tabernacle, down to the days of David who changing their name called them Nethinim, that is, dedititious, or perfons given or offered, Ezra viii. 20. because they willingly furrendered themselves. See Bochart. Phaleg. lib.

2. C. I.

XIII. What is faid to Japheth is variously explained. The verb from whence Japheth is derived, as also the term Japht, which Noah here ufes by an elegant paronomafia, or illufion, fignifies in Chaldee to enlarge. Hence in the Chaidee paraphrafe on Pf.civ. 25. is the wide fea; and 1 Kings iv. 29. largenefs of heart. But in Hebrew, the fame verb fignifies in kal to be allured, in piel to allure, and is generally taken in a bad fenfe, to denote an alluring or feducing into error: tho' fometimes in a good fenfe, as Jer. xx. 7. thou hast perfuaded me, and I was perfuaded, and Hof. ii. 14. or according to another division, v. 16. behold, I will allure her or perfuade her. Both fignifications are applied by great men to this paffage.

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XIV. They who contend, that the fignification is to enlarge, infift on the following arguments. First, that Noah makes ufe of the conjugation hiphil, which is never ufed to fignify alluring; nor does it elfe where occur in hiphil but in the Chaldee, where x fignifies to enlarge. Secondly, that nnɔ is a verb of a common fignification, nevertheless it is almost always taken in a bad fenfe, excepting in one or two places. The Greeks generally render it arara by a manifeft allufion, but which rightly expreffes the force of the word. Thirdly, that when it fignifies to allure, always governs an accufative: but here it is joined to the dative, for lamed, prefixed to Japheth is the fign of the dative. Seeing therefore it cannot be faid, God fhall allure to Japheth, we must render it, God fhall enlarge to Japheth place or habitation being to be understood. For, thus the Hebrews fpeak: as Gen. xxvi. 22. the Lord hath made room for us, and to the fame purpofe generally elsewhere. Moreover this explication is very confonant to the event. For, in the divifion of the earth, the largest portion fell to be inhabited by Japheth. For befides Europe in all its extent, Afia the lefs belongs to the portion of Japheth; and Media and a part of Armenia, and Iberia and Albania, and thofe vaft regions towards the north, which the Scythians formerly occupied, and the Tartars poffefs at this day; to fay nothing about the new VOL. II.

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world, to which, it is not improbable, that the Scythians formerly paffed over by the straits of Anian, as Fuller in his Mifcellan. Scar. lib. 2 c. 4. has fhewn at large.

XV. But others, who contend for the fignification to allure can make use of these reasons. 1ft, That Noah did not speak in Chaldee, but in Hebrew, in which language n has fcarce if at all, any other fignification, but to allure. 2dly, That not without reafon he used the conjugating hiphel, though occuring no where else in fcripture; namely, to reer the paronomafia or allufion the more elegant, which in piel cannot come so near to the name Japheth, And that a change of conjugation does not neceffarily infer a change of fignification. 3dly, That from the inftances above alledged, it appears ns is also taken in a good fenfe: and that it is not to the purpose, whether more rarely or more frequently fo. And indeed, the word uw, ufed by the apoftle, 2 Cor. v. 11. when he speaks of the doctrine of the gospel has a greater affinity with no than the verb anata. 4thly, Buxtorf fhews, by many examples, that the change of the dative, for the accufative, with active verbs is frequent. Thefaur, Grommat. lib. 2. c. 12. And more especially, that though verbs of commanding are indeed often conftrued with the accufative yet also sometimes with the dative, as Numb. ix. 8. Ifa. xxxviii, 1. As is alfo sur to feduce, conftrued fometimes with the accufative, Jer. xlix. 16. at other times with the dative, Jer. iv. 10, And why not the same thing hold in an? 5thly, That neither did the event disagree with this explication; feeing upon rejecting the Jews, the gofpel, by which they are allured to the communion of God in Chrift, was more than to all others revealed to the pofterity of Japheth, and that in their own language. And as this was a far greater blefling than the poffeffion of the whole earth, why not rather think, that by thofe words was predicted what they may moft conveniently fignify?

XVI. Now what follows, and let him davell, or he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, may be applied either to God, or tó Japheth, They who apply it to God, as among the ancients Theodoret, in Gen. quæft. 58; among the moderns, Fuller in Miscellan. Sacr. lib 2. c. 4. Mufculus in commentar and others, have a regard to the word whence, Shekinah gunvwors; by which words, the inhabitation of the divine majefty, is generally fignified. The Shechinah was in the tabernacle of the Ifraelites, in mount Sion, and in the temple built there; of which God "faid, that he would dwell in the thick darknefs," that is, in an amazing cloud, the fign of the divine glory, which filled the houfe, Kings viii. 11, 12. And the city, where either

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the tabernacle or temple ftood, was called the "place which the Lord chofe to place his name there;" Deut. xiv. 23. But above all the Shechinah is in Chrift, in whom " dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," Col. ii. 9. and by whom manifefting himself to the Ifraelites, and travelling over their country, God dwelled in the tents of Shem. To which John feems to allude, John i. 14; "the Word was made flesh and" ox tabernacled," dwelt among us," and Rev. xxi. 3. behold, ★ curvn rỡ ✪i, the tabernacle of God is with men, and oxnvwou be will dwell with them. Onkelos, the Chaldee paraphraft, led the way to our writers in this explication: Who fpeaks thus: may God enlarge to Japheth, and may his SHECHINAH, majesty, dwell in the tents of Shem." Hence Erpenius's Arab. interpreter," and may his light," that is, the glory of God" dwell in the tents of Shem." Which is certainly, a beautiful explication, and contains a prophecy of Chrift's walking and dwelling in the land, given to the pofterity of Shem.

XVII. They who explain this prophefy, not of God, but of Japheth, who was to dwell in the tents of Shem, affirm, that it was fulfilled partly literally, partly myftically. LITERALLY, becaufe it is apparent, that the Greeks and Romans, who defcended from Japheth, invaded a great part of Afia, the lot of Shem; as alfo Balaam prophefied, that Chittim, the pofterity of Japheth fhall afflict Asur, and afflict Eber, that is, the Affyrians and Hebrews, the pofterity of Shem, Numb. xxiv. 24. MYSTICALLY, because the pofterity of Japheth were, by the preaching of the gofpel, brought to dwell in the fame church with the Jews who belived; or to fucceed the unbelieving Jews, who were caft off. And the church is compared to tabernacles ; not only because the patriarchs lived in tabernacles or tents as ftrangers, Heb. xi. 9.; but also because this is the condition of all belivers in this life, 2 Pet. i. 13. 2 Cor. v. I. Moreover, thefe tabernacles are faid to be Shem's, because the church, even to the coming of Chrift, was confined to the family of Shem. And to them the believers of the Gentiles are united by him, who made both one, Eph. ii. 14. In fine, the pofterity of Japheth is the principal part of the church of the Gentiles. For, though God excludes neither the pofterity of Shein nor of Cham from the church, in which " there is neither Greek nor Jew, Barbarian, Scythian; but Chrift is all and in all," Col. iii. 11.: yet it is certain, that the faith of Chrift from the days of the apoftles, has chiefly flourished in Europe, and in thofe parts of Asia, which fell to Japheth's let.

XVIII. But indeed, feeing both these things, the habitation of Ged by Christ, in the tents of Shem, and the habitation of

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Japheth in the fame tents, and having joined not only in time, but alfo that the latter is a confequent and effect of the former, that is no reason why we may not affirm that both are included in the latitude of the words: and the meaning to be, that the time fhould come when God would vifibly dwell by Christ in the church defcended of Shem: and this extraordinary grace be preached through the whole habitable world with fuch powerful perfuafion, that many nations, and among these, chiefly the defcendants of Japheth, fhould by a true faith be united with the church of the Ifraelites.

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XIX. Laftly, it is added, that Canaan fhould also be the fervant of Japheth. And history teftifies, that those parts of Asia, which had been long poffeffed by the Canaanites, were conquered by the Greeks and Romans. And that if any remains of the Canaanites continued, fuppofing Tyre built by the Sidonians, Thebes by Cadmus, and Carthage by Dido, they were all of them deftroyed either by the Greeks or by the Romans. Here I again recommend to the reader Bochart's Phaleg, lib.3.c. 1. XX. Let us now take a fummary view of the doctrines pointed out by this prophecy of Noah. 1ft, We find that the praife of every virtue and of every good action is to be ascribed to God as the fupreme author thereof; whom therefore Noah bleffes on account of the piety of his fon. 2dly, God by a fpecial covenant, laid claim to Shem and his pofterity, as his peculiar people, fo as to be called their God. 3dly, In the election to grace and glory, and in the bestowing of fpiritual benefits external prerogatives are of no manner of avail. For Shem, who was younger than Japheth, is preferred to the elder. 4thly, The heinous crimes of parents are fometimes visited on their defcendants unto feveral generations. For Canaan with his pofterity, is on account of the fin of Cham, condemned to be flaves to the defcendants of Shem and of Japheth. 5thly, Godliness has the promises even of this life, as well as of that which is to come; and obtains for its reward not only bleffings for, the foul, but alfo for the body: for a large part of the earth is promised to Japheth, if we derive his name from enlarging: and a large dominion over the Canaanites to Shem and to Japheth 6thly, The word of grace, published in the gofpel, has a great power of alluring and perfuading. 7thly, Such is the condition of the church on earth, as to refemble tabernacles, expecting a fixed habitation in heaven made without hands. 8thly, The divine majefty fhining forth in the Meffiah, who was to arife from the pofterity of Shem, was afterwards to dwell in his tents. And then, 9thly, the Gentiles, especially the defcendants of Japheth, who were before aliens from the

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