KNOWLEDGE OF SCRIPTURE HISTORY. 



127 



eagles, and sea-monsters, as images of cruel and 

 oppressive conquerors and tyrants. Metaphors 

 ore likewise borrowed from hislory, from the sce 

 nery of the temple and its various utensils and 

 services, and from the ordinary customs and oc 

 cupations of life the meaning and application 

 of which require to be distinctly understood, in 

 order to perceive the spirit and references of an 

 cient prophecy. Those who would wish to stu 

 dy this subject with intelligence, would do well 

 to consult the works of Lowth, Hurd, Sherlock, 

 Kennicot, Newcome, and particularly &quot; New 

 ton s Dissertations on the Prophecies.&quot; 



2. In studying the historical parts of Scripture 

 a knowledge of ancient history, and even of Pa 

 gan Mythology, tends, in many instances, to 

 throw light on the narratives of the Sacred wri 

 ters. We find, from heathen writers, who were 

 strangers to the Jewish religion, that the most 

 ancient tradition of all nations, respecting the 

 early history of the world, is exactly agreeable to 

 the relation of Moses, though expressed in a 

 more abstruse, doubtful and imperfect manner. 

 The description of the origin of the world, in the 

 ancient Phenician history, translated by Philo 

 Biblius from Sanchonialhon s collection, and 

 transmitted to us by Eusebius, is materially the 

 same, with that which is recorded in the Book of 

 Genesis, when separated from the fabulous no 

 tions with which it is blended. The Egyptians, 

 according to Laertius, acknowledged, &quot; that ori 

 ginally the world was a confused chaos, from 

 whence the four elements were separated, and 

 living creatures made ; and that the world had a 

 beginning, and consequently would have an end.&quot; 

 Hesiod, the most ancient writer whose works 

 have reached us, says, that &quot; all things had 

 their origin from a rude chaos ;&quot; and Ovid, in 

 the first book of his &quot; Metamorphoses,&quot; tells us, 

 &quot; that before the seas, and the land, and the ca 

 nopy of heaven existed, there was one appear 

 ance throughout the whole of nature, which 

 they called chaos a rude and indigested mass, 

 in which earth and air, fire and water were in 

 discriminately mixed.&quot; In short, Thales, 

 Anaxagoras, Aratus, Virgil and Homer, speak 

 of the original of all things, comformable to the 

 account given by Mosesfthough in a different 

 phraseology ; and we learn from Josephus, Philo, 

 Tibullus, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Lucian, 

 that the memory of the six days work was pre 

 served, not only among the Greeks and Italians, 

 by honouring the seventh day, but also among 

 the Celts and Indians, who all measured their 

 tune by weeks. Manetho, who wrote the his 

 tory of the Egyptians, Berosus, who wrote the 

 Chaldean history, Hicrom, who wrote the his 

 tory of Phenicia, and Hecatjeus, Hillanicus and 

 Ephorus, who wrote the history of Greece, all 

 agree in asserting, &quot; that those who deacended 

 rom thfl first men, in the first ages of the world, 



lived many of them nearly a thousand vears &quot; 



9 



With regard to the deluge, we find most of the 

 Greek and Roman writers, Ovid, Lucian, Be 

 rosus the Chaldean, Abydenus the Assyrian, and 

 many others referring to that great event, and 

 detailing the particular circumstances connected 

 with it, in language nearly similar to that of the 

 Sacred historian ; such as, the preservation of 

 Noah, the ark in which he was preserved, the 

 mountain on which it rested, the dove and the 

 raven which he is said to have sent out, and the 

 wickedness of the Antediluvians, as the cause 01 

 that dismal catastrophe. We find, also, that the 

 whole mythology of India is full of allusions to 

 the general deluge, which appears to be the 

 commencement of their present era ; and that ac 

 counts of the same event are to be met with in 

 China and Japan.* 



An acquaintance with ancient history is neces 

 sary for enabling us to fill up the blanks left by 

 the Sacred historians. From the time of Ezra 

 and Nehemiah to the birth of Christ, there is an 

 interval of about four hundred and fifty years, of 

 the events which happened during which we 

 have no account, in any part of the inspired writ 

 ings. A knowledge of the events which happen 

 ed during this interval is necessary, in order to 

 complete our views of the scheme of Divine Pro 

 vidence, and to unfold to us the series of God s 

 dispensations in relation both to the Jews and 

 the surrounding nations. During this period, 

 too, many of the predictions of Daniel and the 

 other prophets received their accomplishment, 

 particularly those which relate to the Medes and 

 Persians, the Macedonian empire, the times of 

 Alexander the Great, Ptotemy Philadelphus, 

 Antiochus Epiphanes, Philip of Macedon, and 

 the persecutions in the clays of the Maccabees. 

 In order, therefore, to obtain a clear and compre 

 hensive view of the ways of Providence during 

 this interval, such works as Shuckfoni s &quot;Con 

 nexion of Sacred and Profane History,&quot; and 

 Prideaux s &quot; Connexions of the Old and New 

 Testament,&quot; require to be studied with care, in 

 many parts of which will be seen a running com 

 mentary on Daniel s vision of the &quot; Ram and 

 He-Goat,&quot; and of &quot; the things noted in the 

 Scripture of truth,&quot; which have a reference, 

 among other things, to the kings of Persia, to 

 Alexander and his successors, and the warlike 

 expeditions in which they were engaged. For 

 an elucidation of the general train of events from 

 the Mosaic creation to the establishment of 

 Christianity, &quot; Stackhouse s History of the 

 Bible,&quot; in six volumes 8vo, or in three volumes 

 4to, with the additional notes and dissertations 

 of Bishop Gleig, will be found an invaluable trea 

 sure, and will amply repay the reader who gives 

 it a diligent perusal. f 



* See Maurice s &quot;Indian Antiquities &quot; and Bry 

 ant s System of Mythology.&quot; 



f In Bishop Gleic s edition of Starkhouse s History, 

 along and useful dissertation, cnlitlcd, &quot;An 



