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Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them, to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." In 1st of Chron. xxi. 1, it is written, "Satan stood up and provoked David to number Israel." The apparent contradiction between these two passages, arises from considering that the pronoun "he," in the first of these passages, refers to Jehovah, and not to Satan, whom we are informed in the second passage, was he who tempted David. Where now is the difficulty? In the first passage it is said, "HE" tempted David; and in the second passage, it is said, Satan tempted David. Satan, therefore, is the antecedent (understood) to the pronoun "he," in the first passage. Jehovah's displeasure was evidently the effect, and not the cause, of this numbering of Israel; which Satan induced David to do, preparatory to engaging in some contest which his ambition had no doubt in view.

NUMBERS.

It is written in 2 Samuel, xxiv. 9, that "there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah five hundred thousand." Whereas in 1 Chron. xxi. 5, "the number of Israel were eleven hundred thousand; and Judah four hundred-three score and ten thousand," making, to all appearance, a difference of 300,000 Israelites, and 30,000 Benjaminites; yet this has been satisfactorily reconciled by a late eminent writer. It appears from Chronicles, "that there were twelve divisions of generals, who commanded monthly, and whose duty it was to keep guard near the king's person, each having a body of troops consisting of twenty-four thousand men, which jointly formed a grand army of two hundred and eighty thousand; and, as a separate body of twelve thousand men naturally attended on the twelve princes of the twelve tribes, mentioned in the same chapter, the whole will be three hundred thousand; which is the difference between the two last accounts of

as to the number of Israel.

eight hundred thousand, and of one million one hundred thousand. Whence may be deduced this natural solution As to the men of Israel, the author of Samuel does not take notice of the three hunhundred thousand, because they were in the actual service of the king as a standing army, and therefore, there was no need to number them; but the author of Chronicles joins them to the rest, saying expressly, "all those of Israel were one million one hundred thousand." Whereas, the author of Samuel, who reckons only the eight hundred thousand, does not say "all those of Israel," but barely, "and Israel were," &c. It must also be observed, that exclusively of the troops before mentioned, there was an army of observation on the frontiers of the Philistines' country, composed of thirty thousand men, as appears by 2 Sam. vi. 1; which, it seems, were included in the number of five hundred thousand of the people of Judah, by the author of Samuel; but the author of Chronicles, who mentions only four hundred and seventy thousand, gives the number of that tribe, exclusively of those thirty thousand men, because they were not all of the tribe of Judah. And, therefore, he does not say, "all those of Judah',' he had said, "all those of Israel;" but only, "and those of Judah." Here both accounts may be reconciled, by only having recourse to other parts of Scripture treating on the same subject; which will ever be found the best method of explaining difficult passages.""

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Lastly, this great population is sufficiently accounted for, by the undeniable and extraordinary fertility of the soil of Canaan.

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OMISSION. No argument can possibly be more un

wise, unphilosophical, and absurd, than saying, that an omission is equivalent to a denial, or to a contradiction, of what is stated by another. For example, the Roman historians, Tacitus and Valerius Maximus, relate many things about which other Roman historians are silent! Are they therefore, unworthy of credit? Neither Tacitus, Justin, nor Strabo, who have particularly spoken of the Jews, have noticed the existence of the Jewish sect of the Essenes! Did that sect, therefore, never exist? Neither Herodotus nor Thucydides, nor any other Greek writer of that time, have taken any notice of Rome! Has Rome, therefore, never existed? Eusebius, who wrote the life of Constantine, omits one of the most remarkable circumstances connected with that Emperor, viz. the death of his son Crispus! And lastly, Josephus himself omits the banishment of the Jews, by Claudius! Did these circumstances, therefore, never occur? These few instances, out of thousands, may be sufficient to expose the fallacy of considering an omission to be equivalent to a contradiction. But such is the determined hostility of some, to every thing connected with the revelation of the Living God, that they stop at nothing! Common sense, honesty, justice, and truth, are, in this warfare, sacrificed by them. Thus, if historians be silent on any subject related in the Bible, infidels immediately consider this silence a contradiction; and where historians corroborate the Sacred writers, they forthwith exclaim, oh, it is an interpolation! Can any one doubt but that an infernal insanity actuates such men? See Interpolation.

Finally, Seutonius, Tacitus, and Dion Cassius, have all written an account of Tiberius; and each has omitted many things mentioned by the others, yet their credit is not impeached.

Thus, several transactions are recorded by one Sacred

writer, of which another takes no notice! Is this omission to be considered as equivalent to a contradiction? Infidels say, certainly yes! Thus what they admit as honest and true, in any profane writer, they pronounce false and dishonest in the Sacred writers! Why this awful malignancy to the Scriptures? Is it that they testify against their evil acts, and thus convict them? See Gospel. Causes.

OLIVES. See Bethany.

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PAIRS. In Gen. vi. 19, 21, God gives general orders to Noah to take into the Ark, with him, animals of every kind, pairs of each. In Gen. vii. 2, the number of pairs is stated, viz., seven pairs of clean beasts, and two pairs of beasts that are not clean. In vii. 8, 9, 15, the historian relates, what was done, that pairs went into the Ark; and in viii. 20, it is stated, that Noah offered sacrifices of every clean beast, &c. As animal food was not used prior to the flood, the terms clean, and unclean, must have reference to the beasts offered, or not offered in sacrifice.

PARABLE. Infidels often find great fault with the Lord Jesus Christ because he spoke, say they, always in parables, that is, in a way that none could understand what he meant. Now this assertion is not only false, but shows the total ignorance of the objectors respecting the nature of a parable. For, in the first place, so far from Christ always speaking in parables, he did not use a single parable till after he had made the plain

est declarations of the Creator's will, of the duty of man, of the nature of true righteousness, and of the inevitable consequences hereafter, of rebellion against the most High God. Is there a single parable in that master-piece of divine revelation, the Lord's sermon on the Mount, contained in the fifth, sixth and seventh chapters of Matthew? The multitude did not think there was; for, it is written, that at the end of it, "they were astonished at his doctrine." Matt. vii. 29.

If it be asked, why did he ever use parables? We reply, he used them only to those who had already, through their fancied wisdom, rejected the plainest declarations of Christ respecting the will of God. To such indeed, whose hearts Satan had so thoroughly closed to the plainest divine truths, he spoke in parables: that, as they were wise in their own eyes, he might make manifest their folly. Moreover, the passage where it is written, "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables," &c. (Matt. xiii. 34,) refers solely and entirely to what he had said, at that particular time, that is, long after he had, in vain, addressed to them the plainest language: it by no means implies that he always spoke in parables, as Infidels falsely assert. Let any one read John's Gospel, and see how many parables he can discover in that multitude of divine doctrines: there is not one parable in it to every thousand plain declarations. Let not infidels deceive themselves with their delusion.-Their Creator has spoken to mankind all that is necessary for the present and future happiness of man, in the plainest and most unequivocal language. See Jews. Gospel.

PALESTINA, a name given to the land of Canaan or Judea; Pa-Le--S-He-T-H signifying "the land of

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