PART I. ever, it is, I think, certain, that it did so all along the western side of the said river.

3. The text

Gen. xi. 2. explained.

4.

the Flood

The situation and extent of the land of Shinar being, I think, thus truly discovered, hereby great light is given to Gen. xi. 2. and all difficulty about it is taken away. For though the Gordiæan mountains (on which part of the mountains of Ararat it is most probably thought that the Ark rested) lie in a manner north of Babel; yet this does not in the least hinder, but that Moses might truly say of Noah, and the rest, that as they journeyed from the East, they found a plain (or, as it may, more agreeably to the Hebrew, be rendered, a valley) in the land of Shinar. For the plain or valley of Shinar, extending itself up quite to the mountains of Ararat or Armenia, which bound the northern part of Mesopotamia, no sooner was Noah and the rest descended from the Gordiæan mountains, into the level country on the south, but they were full east of the upper or northern parts of the land of Shinar; and therefore, as they journeyed from the said foot of the said mountains toward the upper part of the land of Shinar, it may be truly said of them, and that in the most literal sense, that as they journeyed from the East, they found a plain in the land of Shinar.

To confirm this opinion, that Noah and his sons, Noah after &c. came first, after the flood, into the northern dwelt in the parts of the land of Shinar, among other argunorthern ments that might be alleged, I shall produce but part of the two: one is, that in these parts we find a city menland of Shi- tioned by Ptolemy, under the name of Zama,

nar.

which bears so great an affinity to Zem or Shem, that it may well be supposed, that hereabouts Noah and his son Shem with the rest at first settled. That the fore-mentioned town Zama took its name from Sem, may be further confirmed from this consideration, that, in the Arabic version, Sem is always called Sam or Zam. The other consideration is this: that it is hardly to be doubted, but that Noah, and his son Shem, and also Japhet, if not Ham, were no ways concerned in the building of

CHAP. IV.

5.

the city and tower of Babel, but on the contrary opposed it; and therefore it is reasonably to be conjectured, that the undertakers thereof withdrew themselves from Noah, and the other Patriarchs, and pitched on a place for their intended work at some distance from Noah and the said Patriarchs. Proceed we then to shew, in what part of the land of Shinar, and southward from the settlement City and of Noah, the city and tower of Babel was begun tower of to be built. And that was in the very place, or Babel, else neighbourhood, where the city called Babylon gun." stood, as will appear in the next chapter; and consequently upon the original and natural stream of the Euphrates, at some distance from its joining with the Tigris, as may be best understood by looking on the map hereunto belonging.

where be

6.

when un

It may not be amiss to observe here, about what time, and for what reason, the tower of Babel was Tower of undertaken. As to the time, it is easy enough to Babel, be inferred from Gen. x. 25. where Moses tells us, dertaken. that it was in the days of Peleg, that the earth was divided; which seems most probably to be understood of the time of Peleg's birth, the word Peleg denoting in the Hebrew language, a division, and therefore likely given by Heber to this his son, in reference to the signal occurrence that then happened. Now Peleg was born an hundred years after the flood, as may be computed from Gen. xi, 10-16.

7.

tower of

As to the design of this fabric, some have been so absurd as to think, that the undertakers thereof The design designed to get up to heaven thereby, because of underMoses used this expression; Let us build us a city taking the and tower, whose top may reach unto heaven. Hence Babel. And arose the fable among the poets of the Giants en- first, false deavouring to get up to heaven, by putting one opinions rea mountain upon another. But it is to be rememjected. bered, that it is evident from other places of Scripture, that, by the aforesaid expression, Moses intended no more than to denote a tower of a great height. For thus we read, Deut. i. 28. and ix. 1. of cities, great, and walled or fenced up to heaven,

PART I. And the like expression was familiar to the Greeks, whence the words oipavopnung, reaching to or as high as heaven, and Caros, reaching to the sun, are frequently used by the poets, to denote things of a more than ordinary height. Besides, that such was not the design of this tower, may be reasonably inferred from those words of the text: Now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do. Whereby is plainly intimated, that their design was such as they might have completed, had not God thought fit to have interrupted them: but this cannot be understood of a design to build a tower, which should literally reach up to heaven.. Nor yet do those other opinions seem true; one of which will have this tower designed to preserve them from being destroyed by a second flood, the other to preserve them from the general conflagration, which they are supposed to have had some notice of. For, to omit other considerations, had they a design to preserve themselves from a second deluge, it is likely, they would not have chosen so low a ground to build their tower on; and on the other hand, had they designed to preserve themselves from fire, it seems more rational for them to have secured themselves under ground.

8.

the true

opinion abewn.

But to spend no more time in refuting false opiSecondly, nions; the true design of this tower is plainly enough told us by Moses, where he tells us, that they thus encouraged one another: Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth, Gen. xi. 4. Now to make one's self a name, is a Scripture expression for to make one's self famous, as 2 Sam. viii. 13. Isa. lxiii. 12, &c. whence it follows, that the design of these undertakers was, by erecting a tower of so great a height, out of pomp or show, rather than use, to render themselves famous to posterity. By their adding, lest we be scattered· abroad on the face of the whole earth, they seem to have

een, that it would become necessary for

them to separate into distinct parts of the earth, for the better conveniency of subsisting. And it pleased divine Providence to take this very occasion so to scatter them, which it did by confounding their language, so as that they could not understand one another.

CHAP. IV.

9.

A method

observed in

And here it is remarkable, that in the very confusion of tongues there seems to have been a rule observed, God so causing them to speak with di- the confuverse tongues, that their tongues were ordered after sion of lantheir families, and after their nations. So that the guages. tongues of the same branch, though diverse, yet had a greater affinity among themselves, than with the tongues of another branch. Thus, the languages of the branch of Shem in the East agree more one with another, than with the languages of the branch of Japhet in the West.

10.

As to the number of languages then begun to be spoken, they could not probably be, as Mr. Mede The num ber of priobserves, fewer than there were nations, nor more mary lan than there were families. If there were no more guages. than there were nations, or heads of nations, then the number is easily counted; seven in Japhet, four in Ham, and five in Shem. But if there were as many as there were families at the confusion, their number cannot be known; because Moses, as Mr. Mede observes, does not make an enumeration of all the families, or heads of families. However, the common opinion is, that their number was according to the number of families; and this Moses seems to insinuate, because he joins throughout Gen. x. families and tongues together. Hence the number of the original languages is commonly esteemed to be about seventy, according to the number of families mentioned by Moses.

mory of the

I shall only add, that the memory of the confu- 11. sion of tongues seems to have been a long time The me preserved among the Heathen, whence the epithet confusion of Mépores, Meropes, is given to mankind by old of tongues Homer and other poets, the full import of which among the word denotes, that whereas mankind was all once Heatben.

PART I. of one language, their language was afterward divided into several languages.

12.

I shall conclude this chapter, with the account The tower Dr. Heylin gives us of the tower of Babel, as to of Babel's its height, &c. It was reared, said he, five thouheight, &c. sand one hundred forty-six paces from the ground, having its basis and circumference equal to the height. The passage to go up went winding about the outside, and was of an exceeding great breadth; there being not only room for horses, carts, and the like means of carriage to meet and turn; but lodging for man and beast, and, as Vorstegan reports, grass and corn-fields for their nourishment. The reader is left to give what credit he pleases to this relation.

1. Nimrod, probably the young

est son of Cush

2.

The man

CHAPTER V.

Of the Conquests and Kingdom of Nimrod.

MOSES having named the other sons and grandsons of Cush, he subjoins, Gen. x. 8. And Cush begat Nimrod. By this distinct mention of Nimrod, after the rest of his brethren, the sacred historian is supposed to intimate, that Nimrod was indeed the youngest of the sons of Cush, but however the most remarkable of them. And accordingly it immediately follows in the text; he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

By what method Nimrod became thus mighty, the sacred historian is thought to denote by the ner and oc- words subjoined; He was a mighty hunter before the Lord, i, e. he was in reality very well skilled in

casion of

kis becom