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Art. IX. 1. The Biblical Geography of Central Asia. By Dr. E. F. C. ROSENMULLER, of Leipzic. Translated from the German by Rev. N. MORREN, A.M., with Notes by the Translator. 2 vols. Edinburgh Clark. 1836.

2. The Mineralogy and Botany of the Bible. By the Same. Translated by T. G. REPP and Rev. N. MORREN. Edinburgh: Clark. 1840.

THE

HESE volumes are the eleventh, and twelfth, and the twentyseventh numbers of that series of works designed to aid in the study of biblical criticism, which is now publishing in Edinburgh under the name of the Biblical Cabinet. Most of the series are, like the above, translations from the works of the Germans, whose diligent labors during the last century entitle their productions to be considered, if not as our chief authorities and guides, at least as our principal sources of information on all points connected with the interpretation of the sacred volume. In recommending the present works to the diligent perusal of every student of the Divine Record, we would make a few remarks on the advantages of an acquaintance with the subjects of which they treat.

The revelation of God's will, under both the old and the new dispensations, has been communicated to us, not in the form of expository treatises on moral and spiritual truths, but in that of historical compositions, accompanied by documents which proceeded from and are illustrative of circumstances detailed in the history. Nothing evidently is more requisite for the correct apprehension of the facts recorded in any history than accurate information with regard to the situation, character, and peculiarities of the countries and places mentioned in it. Hence information relative to these points is usually supplied by the author of an historical account, as an essential part of the work itself. Thus Herodotus and Cæsar, to cite no other examples, give us detailed notices of the foreign nations, to whom the occurrences they narrate may in any way refer, informing us of the nature, extent, and chief productions of the countries which they inhabited. But the Hebrew annals, contained in the Bible, ought not to be considered so much as a professed history, as in the light of a national document, intended to describe the origin, nature, and progress of the Theocratic institutions. Thus we find them distinguished by brevity, and by a systematic omission of everything, however interesting and curious otherwise, which does not bear directly upon the peculiar object of the inspired writers. Such geographical notices, therefore, as in a history we should expect and require, are either entirely passed over or very slightly touched upon. Those for whom the document was originally intended, were supposed to have all the necessary knowledge of

the places alluded to; and not only were very far from being such as would peruse it in a spirit minutely inquisitive on such points, but had it been otherwise, their taste in that respect would assuredly have exerted no influence upon the composition of that which was addressed to them. Yet what they did not require, we may stand in need of; and the curiosity, which in their circumstances would have betokened a culpable indifference to things of higher importance, we in the present day may reasonably seek to gratify. We must, however, as we have said, have recourse to other sources than the Bible itself, when we seek to elucidate the brief hints and allusions to the circumstances of foreign nations with which it abounds, or to obtain that information with regard to their condition which will enable us better to understand in general those parts of their history which are presented to us as being connected with that of the Hebrew people.

It should be remembered that knowledge of this kind is not merely possessed of an historical interest, but lays claim to a peculiar value from the character and bearing of the sacred history. We are bound to inquire into these subjects, not simply as those who are desirous to acquire a correct idea of the physical and political circumstances which modified the conduct of the various actors, whether states or individuals, in the scenes set before us; but in the far higher character of those who would rightly comprehend the purposes of God with reference to our world at large. The Hebrew theocracy, though limited in duration as to its external form, was not of temporary importance, influencing only one age, and the fate of a single obscure nation. It was in fact the type and germ of that great spiritual kingdom of God which is to spread over the whole earth, and to the progress of which all historical events are intended finally to contribute. Consequently, we find that its records embrace details which concern the whole family of mankind, and that matter is introduced into them which was meant to throw light upon transactions of the nation at a period long subsequent, or which may still be requisite to enlighten our minds when contemplating the bearings of the vast scheme of God's providential dealings with our race. It is in this way, doubtless, that we must seek to account for the insertion of such an ethnographic roll as that contained in Gen. x., and for the description of the future fate of many of the nations to whom the prophecies refer. The Hebrews might, indeed, emphatically be said to be a people separated from all other nations, with whom they were forbidden to form alliances and to hold intercourse, by commerce or in any other way. Thus neither embassies nor the pursuit of traffic could give occasion for travelling into other lands, or excite a desire to become acquainted with them, a desire which, had it arisen, they could

not conscientiously have cherished, since they were taught to regard with abhorrence the habits and customs of all foreigners, constantly entwined as these were with idolatrous and degrading superstitions. And we may remark that these facts sufficiently account for the continued prevalence among them of that primitive simplicity of their social condition, which prevented the production of a secular literature, and confined the number of their writings to those annals and oracles which had a reference solely to the ends of the theocracy, and supply no more information than these ends call for. Yet though in this way separated and apparently unconnected with all others, a people who had no common interest with those around them, the fate of all the neighbouring nations was intimately linked with theirs. In the eye of the theocratic seer, the destinies of the mighty kingdoms by whose ambitious struggles they were encircled and within whose wide shadows they lay concealed, all depended on God's intentions with regard to his own people, were regulated in entire subservience to the condition assigned to them, and were of importance only so far as they affected the divine commonwealth, in whose bosom were deposited those seeds that were afterwards to be developed in the growth of that vast community in which 'all the nations of the earth should be blessed.' From this remarkable difference between their outward circumstances and their internal character and destiny, arises the striking contrast which may be perceived between the history and the prophecies contained in the Bible. In the former, the notices of other nations are slight, and extend no farther than to the accounts of their interference with the Israelites; we are told when the latter were defended against their inroads and delivered from their attacks by a faithful adherence to Jehovah, and when, being seduced by foreign superstitions, they were punished by a subjugation to foreign power-but nothing further. However great and important might be the changes that were going on around the borders of the hallowed territory, no hint is given as to the origin of the empires that came in contact with its occupiers, or their subsequent fate when they disappear from the page of the Hebrew history. But in the latter, these nations occupy no inconsiderable part of the field of vision; their habits and manners are touched upon or delineated; their advancement is described; their downfall predicted, and not unfrequently allusion is made to the causes of their ruin. Then we begin to perceive the use and intention of the brief notices and genealogies which occur in the early portions of the history. We find also the need of more exact and extensive knowledge of the situation and condition of the nations spoken of, nor can researches of this kind, for the elucidation of the prophecies, be regarded as mere matters of curiosity, as they might while we are engaged in the considera

tion of the sacred history itself. Without such knowledge we cannot clearly discern the application of many predictions, and of the fulfilment of most we shall have no established certainty. We shall often be in doubt as to what nations are intended by the Spirit of prophecy; or we shall fail of perceiving the force of many of the expressions, and the accuracy of the entire description. And the accomplishment of many of the events foretold can be ascertained only by consulting the relations of those who in the present day have visited the scenes connected with them. For the proof of this, which is evident enough from the nature of the case, it is sufficient to refer to the prophecies concerning Babylon and Idumea, as illustrated, the former by the accounts of Porter and Rich, the latter by those of Burckhardt and Captains Irby and Mangles, in their Travels. Thus an acquaintance with the geography of the countries mentioned in the Bible is a matter not only of general importance to the student of history, but essential even to any one who would rightly understand the mind of the Spirit as expressed in those oracles, which, next to the doctrinal and preceptive parts of Scripture, are of vast and momentous interest to the people of God. This interest they possess as not only supplying the most striking evidence of inspiration, but abounding also in all that is calculated to encourage and comfort the church in its conflict with the world, and to rouse and animate it to those efforts which it is bound to sustain, until the final triumph and establishment of God's universal dominion on earth be achieved.

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In the study of this most interesting and important branch of biblical antiquities, a noble commencement was made by the illustrious Samuel Bochart in his work entitled Phaleg and 'Canaan,' first published in 1646. The latter portion of this work relates solely to the Phoenicians and their colonies; the former, which derives its appellation from Peleg, in whose days 'the earth was divided,' to the dispersion of nations at the Tower of Babel, the catalogue in Gen. x. being the subject of illustration. The immense erudition, the profound and accurate research, the general soundness of discrimination, and especially the thoroughly pious and modest spirit which he has here displayed, entitle him to our admiration, and attach very great weight to his authority. Yet there may be remarked in him the same defects by which the learned men of that age were characterized at large, defects which are, indeed, incidental to the first stages of literary investigation, and which may be traced in the development of individual minds not less than in the advancement of learning itself. They were too sanguine in expecting to obtain certainty on points where we must be content after all modestly to doubt and confess our ignorance, and were consequently led into a precipitate haste in the formation of theories, and an eager appropria

tion of whatever could be adduced, by extensive learning and perverted ingenuity, to support them. In the inquiries of which we are now more particularly treating, the difficulties with which we have to contend should be well considered. The document from which we elicit part of our information, and upon which we seek to throw additional light, is of an antiquity far surpassing that of the Homeric poems, the very authenticity and coherence of which have been so much disputed; the language in which it is written, a primitive and uncultivated dialect of the Semitic family, is difficult and peculiar, often representing very imperfectly the sounds of foreign appellations; the period treated of is remote, being nearly throughout prior to all other authentic history; and, while great and sweeping are the changes which since then have passed upon the political state and general appearance of the cities and countries referred to, all the knowledge to which we have access to with respect to their former and present condition is necessarily far from complete and satisfactory. The more important countries indeed, and their chief towns, may be sufficiently prominent and easy to be recognized, but not so the districts and places of inferior note, especially those which are mentioned only once or twice, and then but by name, without farther description. In such cases the utmost progress we can make must be within the limits of mere conjecture, possessing a greater or less degree of probability. Concerning some, indeed, no reasonable conjecture even can be formed, except of the most general kind, that they may have been tribes of some particular district, with the name of the inhabitants of which we find theirs associated; thus, for instance, the Ludim and Anamim, who are spoken of as descendants of Mizraim, may be considered as tribes belonging to the north or north-east of Africa. But to what purpose is it to endeavor, as Bochart has laboriously attempted, to prove that the Ludim are the Æthiopians? simply because lud in Arabic signifies to be sinuous or winding (and thus a connexion would seem to be established between Lydia, noted for the tortuous Meander, and Ethiopia where the Nile flows in a winding course); and because the Ludim are spoken of in Isaiah lxvi. 19, and Jerem. xlvi. 9, as famous for archery, though this was an accomplishment which many of the nations of antiquity possessed in as efficient, though perhaps not so renowned a degree as the Ethiopians. Again, he seeks to show that the Anamim (Ghanamim) were the same as the Ammonians (which name he takes for a corruption of the former), because ghanam in Arabic signifies a sheep, and the Ammonians being shepherds, no doubt ate plenty of mutton and dressed in sheep-skins; besides that their idol Ammon had the head of a ram. The waste of learning and ingenuity, which he has expended in endeavoring to prove positions of this kind, which if established would be of no real value, is indeed prodi

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