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had not this bias possessed him, he would have seen, that, notwithstanding any thing said by Moses, many days might intervene between Adam and Eve's creation, and their breaking the commandment of God.

Our English poet took a view of the subject in a bet ter temper and disposition; and accordingly, though what he supposes is a mere fiction of his own, not at all warranted by Moses, or suggested by any inspired writer; nor do I think it true, in fact; yet I would observe, it seemed natural to suppose that the angel Ga briel had spent half a day with Adam and Eve, after the night in which he represents Eve as having had a troublesome dream, and that the temptation happened the day after the angel left them." He tells us, that on the day when the angel visited them, they had in the morning said,

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Which implies, that he conceived they had had divers mornings, in which they had diversified their devotions. I cannot tell how any one who will think reasonably upon the subject, can be satisfied with the shocking view of it which Dr. Burnet sets before us. But, as I before hinted, what misled him is obvious, namely, his disposition to represent Moses intimating, in his narration, that the works of God's infinite wisdom, displayed for six days together, by creating and forming a wonder

See Milton's Paradise Lost, b. v. &c.
Paradise Lost, b. v. ver. 145.

d Ibid. b. ix.

ful system in the fabric of a world, were all ruined and undone by a low reptile, a serpent, in as few hours." The reflection is so offensive, that if some strange perversion has not seized our hearts, we must hesitate and consider, whether what is thus said was indeed thus done and hence we shall be easily led to remark, that the ruin which happened was not so absurdly precipitate as our author represents it.

Our first parents went out daily to take care of their garden, and made their observations of the things which occured to them. They named the living crea tures as they found opportunity to see and consider them. And upon the serpent's coming in their way, and being observed by them, he, in a human voice, spake unto Eve. They were not now such novices, as not to have remarked, that no other creature could thus speak, which occasioned them to think, what is recorded, that the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord had made. Had the ser pent's speaking to them happened early in the beginning of their life, before they had made observations of the other creatures, they would have had no notion of the serpent's being herein superior to other animals; for they might have expected, that all other animals could speak to them in like manner. Therefore it may reasonably be inferred, that many days had passed between their creation and the serpent's thus speaking to them; as many, as we can judge, must have intervened, before they could know in general concerning the living crea

Burnet, sup. citat.

t Gen. iii, 1.

♪ Ibid.

tures, that none of them, except the serpent, had any power to speak. But we ought to remark, that they were not yet masters of so much science, as to know, that thus to speak could not be within the natural pow ers of a brute creature, for it gave them neither fear nor amazement. Had they apprehended that the serpent's speaking had been an incident miraculous and unnatural, they would, as Moses did, when he saw the bush burning with fire, and not consumed,' have turned aside to see this great sight; and would have been greatly confounded at what could be the meaning of so unnatural a prodigy. But, as Moses represents, they heard what was said to them, as undisturbed and unmoved as they would have been by any other new, but ordinary incident, which could have come under their observa tion. Therefore, agreeably to this, we ought to fix the time of Eve's being tempted, as not happening until she and Adam had observed in general concerning the ani mal creation, that none of them had the gift of speech; and they could not have observed this of the several species of creatures in the world in a very few days. It happened before they knew it to be a miraculous thing for an animal to speak; and therefore it unquestionably did happen early in their lives.

Exod. iii. 3.

* Syncellus cites some minutes of the Book of Genesis, which supposes seven years to have passed, before the transgression. The passage cited by Syncellus is in these words, under the title of Ἐκ τῶν Λίπλων Γενεσέως" Τω έβδομῳ ἔτσι παρέβη (Αδάμ.) και τω ὀγδόω ἐξερρίφησαν τα παρα δείσου, ὥς φησι, μετὰ τεσσαράκοντα πεντε ἡμέρας τῆς παραβάσεως, ἐν τῇ επιτολή των Πλειάδων. Syncellus, p. 9.--What may be the

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Moses calls the serpent w

[nachash;]' it is the

general word for a serpent used throughout the Old Testament, and was, perhaps, the original name which Adam gave this animal, if we make allowance for some variation in pronouncing the word, after words became of more syllables than one." The word signifies an augur, diviner, or foreteller of things to come." It appears that Adam's manner, in naming things, was to consider some particular property in them, and from that to name them. Thus knowing that Eve had been made out of him, himself being aish, man, he called

authority of the antiquity of this fragment, or whether it was originally written in a language more ancient than its present Greek, I cannot say; but by its mentioning the Pleiades, I should think it is not, in any language, as old as the time of Moses. For however early asterisms, or a combined plurality of stars, were formed, as they certainly were, very early, because such are mentioned in the Book of Job; yet as Moses hints nothing like them in his books, I think we must look for this astronomy in times later than his days. This citation then gives no authority to warrant our saying that seven years passed before Adam's transgression; though, in the reason of things, we will allow, that a competent time must have passed, before our first parents could know enough to excite in their hearts even a conceit of desiring to be wise, or a notion of becoming so, without, or in opposition to, their Maker.

I w. Gen. iii. 1.

m See Connect. vol. i. b. ii.

The verb w, from which the word denoting the serpent is derived, signifies, where it is used in the Old Testament, Auguratus est, augurium fecit, divinavit, ominatus est: certas conjecturas habuit.

Gen, ii, 23. See Connect, vol. ii. b. ix.

her aishah, which we render woman.

And thus

he afterwards gave her another name, and called her Chaiah, or Checah, Eve; as soon as he was told she was to bear children, and be the mother of all (chai) living; of all their descendants, who were to derive life from them. So here the serpent speaking, and foretelling that they should have their eyes opened, and be as gods, Adam called him the diviner or foreteller of what was to come, [nachash]. If this may be admitted, it will further hint that Adam had lived some time be fore the temptation; for in the first moments of life, before he had had any kind of practice both of eyes and understanding, to consider the difference between seeing and knowing immediate objects, and considering and pronouncing things, which should afterwards come to pass, he could not in any wise give the serpent a name implying such a determinate sentiment concerning him.

Milton represents Eve as being alone, without Adam present, when the serpent spake to her; but we ought to observe, that Moses does not say this; nor is there any thing any where hinted by the sacred writers, to induce us to admit it. Milton's design was to make

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He took the fact, as Moses related it, for the ground of his poem ; but ornamented it in his own way, by a va riety of episodes, such as he thought might naturally

P Gen. ii. 23.
Gen. iii. 5.

9 Gen. iii. 20.

Paradise Lost, b, ix.

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