The Olive Leaf inGen. 8. 11.
22. When theDove, sent out of the Ark, return’d witha green Olive Leaf, according to the Original: how the Leaf, after ten Months, and under water, should still maintain a verdure or greenness, need not much amuse the Reader, if we consider that the Olive Tree is Ἀείφυλλον, or continually green; that the Leaves are of a bitter taste, and of a fast and lasting substance. Since we also find fresh and green Leaves among the Olives which we receive from remote Countries; and since the Plants at the bottom ofthe Sea, and on the sides of Rocks, maintain a deep and fresh verdure.
How the Tree should stand so long in the Deluge under Water, may partly be allowed from the uncertain determination of the Flows and Currents of that time, and the qualification of the saltness of the Sea, by the admixture of fresh Water, when the whole watery Element was together.
And it may be signally illustrated from the like examples inTheophrastus[195]andPliny[196]in words to this effect: Even the Sea affordeth Shrubs and Trees; In the red Sea whole Woods do live, namely of Bays and Olives bearing Fruit. The Souldiers ofAlexander, who sailed intoIndia, made report, that the Tides were so high in some Islands, that they overflowed, and covered the Woods, as high as Plane and Poplar Trees. The lower sort wholly, the greater all but the tops, whereto the Mariners fastned their Vessels at high Waters, and at the root in the Ebb; That the Leaves of these Sea Trees while under water looked green, but taken out presently dried with the heat of the Sun. The like is delivered byTheophrastus, that some Oaks do grow and bear Acrons under the Sea.
Grain of Mustard-seed in S.Matt 13. 31, 32.
23.The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain of Mustard-seed, which a Man took and sowed in his Field, which indeed is the least of all Seeds; but when ’tis grown is the greatest among Herbs, and becometh a Tree, so that the Birds of the Air come and lodge in the Branches thereof.
Luke 13. 19.It is like a grain of Mustard-seed, which a Man took and cast it into his Garden, and it waxed a great Tree, and the Fowls of the Air lodged in the Branches thereof.
This expression by a grain of Mustard-seed, will notseem so strange unto you, who well consider it. That it is simply the least of Seeds, you cannot apprehend, if you have beheld the Seeds ofRapunculus, Marjorane, Tobacco, and the smallest Seed ofLunaria.
But you may well understand it to be the smallest Seed among Herbs which produce so big a Plant, or the least of herbal Plants, which arise unto such a proportion, implied in the expression;the smallest of Seeds, andbecometh the greatest of Herbs.
And you may also grant that it is the smallest of Seeds of Plants apt to δενδρίζειν,arborescere,fruticescere, or to grow unto a ligneous substance, and from an herby and oleraceous Vegetable, to become a kind of Tree, and to be accounted among theDendrolachana, orArboroleracea; as upon strong Seed, Culture and good Ground, is observable in some Cabbages, Mallows, and many more, and therefore expressed by γίνεται τὸ δένδρον, and γίνεται εἰς τὸν δένδρον, it becometh a Tree, orarborescit, asBezarendreth it.
Nor if warily considered doth the expression contain such difficulty. For the Parable may not ground it self upon generals, or imply any or every grain of Mustard, but point at such a grain as from its fertile spirit, and other concurrent advantages, hath the success to become arboreous, shoot into such a magnitude, and acquire the like tallness. And unto such a Grain the Kingdom of Heaven is likened which from such slender beginnings shall find such increase and grandeur.
The expression also that it might grow into such dimensions that Birds might lodge in the Branches thereof, may be literally conceived; if we allow the luxuriancy of plants inJudæa, above our Northern Regions; If we accept of but half the Story takennotice of by Tremellius, from theJerusalem Talmud, of a Mustard Tree that was to be climbed like a Figg Tree; and of another, under whose shade a Potter daily wrought: and it may somewhat abate our doubts, if we take in the advertisement ofHerodotusconcerning lesser Plants ofMiliumandSesamumin the Babylonian Soil:Milium ac Sesamum in proceritatem instar arborum crescere, etsi mihi compertum, tamen memorare supersedeo, probè sciens cis qui nunquam Babyloniam regionem adierunt perquam incredibile visum iri.We may likewise consider that the word κατασκηνῶσαι doth not necessarily signifiemaking a Nest, but rather sitting, roosting, covering and resting in the Boughs, according as the same word is used by theSeptuagintin other places[197]as the Vulgar rendreth it in this,inhabitant, as our Translation,lodgeth, and the Rhemish,restethin the Branches.
The Rod ofAaron. Numb. 17. 8.
24.And it came to pass that on the morrow Moses went into the Tabernacle of witness, and behold the Rod of Aaron for the House of Levi was budded, and brought forth Buds, and bloomed Blossomes, and yielded Almonds.In the contention of the Tribes and decision of priority and primogeniture ofAaron, declared by the Rod, which in a night budded, flowred and brought forth Almonds, you cannot but apprehend a propriety in the Miracle from that species of Tree which leadeth in the Vernal germination of the year, unto all the Classes of Trees; and so apprehend how properly in a night and short space of time the Miracle arose, and somewhat answerable unto its nature the Flowers and Fruit appeared in this precocious Tree, and whose original Name[198]implies such speedy efflorescence, as in its proper nature flowering inFebruary, and shewing its Fruit inMarch.
This consideration of that Tree maketh the expression inJeremyJer. 1. 11.more Emphatical, when ’tis said,What seest thou? and he said, A Rod of an Almond Tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen, for I will hasten the Word to perform it.I will be quick and forward like the Almond Tree, to produce the effects of my word, and hasten to display my judgments upon them.
And we may hereby more easily apprehend the expression inEcclesiastes;Eccles. 12. 5.When the Almond Tree shall flourish. That is when the Head, which is the prime part, and first sheweth it self in the world, shall grow white, like the Flowers of the Almond Tree, whose Fruit, asAthenæusdelivereth, was first called Κάρηνον, or the Head, from some resemblance and covering parts of it.
How properly the priority was confirmed by a Rod or Staff, and why the Rods and Staffs of the Princes were chosen for this decision, Philologists will consider. For these were the badges, signs and cognisances of their places, and were a kind of Sceptre in their hands, denoting their supereminencies. The Staff of Divinity is ordinarily described in the hands of Gods and Goddesses in old draughts. Trojan and Grecian Princes were not without the like, whereof the Shoulders ofThersitesfelt from the hands ofUlysses.AchillesinHomer, as by a desperate Oath, swears by his wooden Sceptre, which should never bud nor bear Leaves again; which seeming the greatest impossibility to him, advanceth the Miracle ofAaron’sRod. And if it could be well made out thatHomerhad seen the Books ofMoses, in that expression ofAchilles, he might allude unto this Miracle.
That power which proposed the experiment byBlossomes in the Rod, added also the Fruit of Almonds; the Text not strictly making out the Leaves, and so omitting the middle germination: the Leaves properly coming after the Flowers, and before the Almonds. And therefore if you have well perused Medals, you cannot but observe how in the impress of many Shekels, which pass among us by the name of theJerusalemShekels, the Rod ofAaronis improperly laden with many Leaves, whereas that which is shewn under the name of the Samaritan Shekel seems most conformable unto the Text, which describeth the Fruit without Leaves.
The Vine inGen. 49. 11.
25.Binding his Foal unto the Vine, and his Asses Colt unto the choice Vine.
That Vines, which are commonly supported, should grow so large and bulky, as to be fit to fasten their Juments, and Beasts of labour unto them, may seem a hard expression unto many: which notwithstanding may easily be admitted, if we consider the account ofPliny, that in many places out ofItalyVines do grow without any stay or support: nor will it be otherwise conceived of lusty Vines, if we call to mind how the same Authour[199]delivereth, that theStatuaofJupiterwas made out of a Vine; and that out of one single Cyprian Vine a Scale or Ladder was made that reached unto the Roof of the Temple ofDianaatEphesus.
Rose ofJericho. Ecclus. 24. 14.
26.I was exalted as a Palm Tree in Engaddi, and as a Rose Plant in Jericho.That the Rose ofJericho, or that Plant which passeth among us under that denomination, was signified in this Text, you are not like to apprehend with some, who also name it theRose of S. Mary, and deliver, that it openeth the Branches, and Flowers upon the Eve of our Saviour’s Nativity:But rather conceive it some proper kind of Rose, which thrived and prospered inJerichomore than in the neighbour Countries. For our Rose ofJerichois a very low and hard Plant, a few inches above the ground; one whereof brought fromJudæaI have kept by me many years, nothing resembling a Rose Tree, either in Flowers, Branches, Leaves or Growth; and so, improper to answer the Emphatical word of exaltation in the Text: growing not only aboutJericho, but other parts ofJudæaandArabia, asBelloniushath observed: which being a drie and ligneous Plant, is preserved many years, and though crumpled and furdled up, yet, if infused in Water, will swell and display its parts.
Turpentine Tree inEcclus. 24. 16.
27.Quasi Terebinthus extendi ramos, when it is said in the same Chapter,as a Turpentine Tree have I stretched out my Branches: it will not seem strange unto such as have either seen that Tree, or examined its description: For it is a Plant that widely displayeth its Branches: and though in some European Countries it be but of a low and fruticeous growth, yetPliny[200]observeth that it is great inSyria, and so allowably, or at least not improperly mentioned in the expression ofHosea[201]according to the Vulgar Translation.Super capita montium sacrificant,etc.sub quercu, populo et terebintho, quoniam bona est umbra ejus.And this diffusion and spreading of its Branches, hath afforded the Proverb ofTerebintho stultior, applicable unto arrogant or boasting persons, who spread and display their own acts, asErasmushath observed.
Pomegranate in1 Sam. 14. 2.
28. It is said in our Translation.Saul tarried in the uppermost parts of Gibeah, under a Pomegranate Tree which is in Migron: and the people which were with him were about six hundred men.And when it is said insome Latin Translations,Saul morabatur fixo tentorio sub Malogranato, you will not be ready to take in the common literal sense, who know that a Pomegranate Tree is but low of growth, and very unfit to pitch a Tent under it; and may rather apprehend it as the name of a place, or the Rock ofRimmon, or Pomegranate; so named from Pomegranates which grew there, and which many think to have been the same place mentioned inJudges.[202]
A Green Field inWisd. 19. 7.
29. It is said in the Book ofWisedom,Where water stood before, drie land appeared, and out of the red Sea a way appeared without impediment, and out of the violent streams a green Field; or as the Latin renders it,Campus germinans de profundo: whereby it seems implied that the Israelites passed over a green Field at the bottom of the Sea: and though most would have this but a Metaphorical expression, yet may it be literally tolerable; and so may be safely apprehended by those that sensibly know what great number of Vegetables (as the several varieties ofAlga’s,Sea Lettuce,Phasganium,Conferua,Caulis Marina,Abies,Erica,Tamarice, divers sorts ofMuscus,Fucus,Quercus MarinaandCorallins) are found at the bottom of the Sea. Since it is also now well known, that the Western Ocean, for many degrees, is covered withSargassoorLenticula Marina, and found to arise from the bottom of that Sea; since, upon the coast ofProvenceby the Isles ofEres, there is a part of theMediterranean Sea, calledla Prairie, or theMeadowy Sea, from the bottom thereof so plentifully covered with Plants: since vast heaps of Weeds are found in the Bellies of some Whales taken in the Northern Ocean, and at a great distance from the Shore: And since the providence of Nature hath providedthis shelter for minor Fishes; both for their spawn, and safety of their young ones. And this might be more peculiarly allowed to be spoken of the Red Sea, since the Hebrews named itSuph, or theWeedy Sea: and, also, seeingTheophrastusandPliny, observing the growth of Vegetables under water, have made their chief illustrations from those in the Red Sea.
Sycamore.
30. You will readily discover how widely they are mistaken, who accept the Sycamore mention’d in several parts of Scripture for the Sycamore, or Tree of that denomination, with us: which is properly but one kind or difference ofAcer, and bears no Fruit with any resemblance unto a Figg.
But you will rather, thereby, apprehend the true and genuine Sycamore, orSycaminus, which is a stranger in our parts. A Tree (according to the description ofTheophrastus,DioscoridesandGalen) resembling a Mulberry Tree in the Leaf, but in the Fruit a Figg; which it produceth not in the Twiggs but in the Trunck or greater Branches, answerable to the Sycamore ofÆgypt, the Ægyptian Figg or Giamez of the Arabians, described byProsper Alpinus, with a Leaf somewhat broader than a Mulberry, and in its Fruit like a Figg. Insomuch that some have fancied it to have had its first production from a Figg Tree grafted on a Mulberry.
It is a Tree common inJudæa, whereof they made frequent use in Buildings; and so understood, it explaineth that expression inIsaiah:[203]Sycamori excisi sunt, Cedros substituemus. The Bricks are fallen down, we will build with hewen Stones: The Sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into Cedars.
It is a broad spreading Tree, not onely fit forWalks, Groves and Shade, but also affording profit. And therefore it is said that KingDavid[204]appointedBaalhananto be over his Olive Trees and Sycamores, which were in great plenty; and it is accordingly delivered,[205]thatSolomon made Cedars to be as the Sycamore Trees that are in the Vale for abundance. That is, he planted many, though they did not come to perfection in his days.
And as it grew plentifully about the Plains, so was the Fruit good for Food; and, asBelloniusand late accounts deliver, very refreshing unto Travellers in those hot and drie Countries: whereby the expression ofAmos[206]becomes more intelligible, when he said he wasan Herdsman, and a gatherer of Sycamore Fruit. And the expression ofDavid[207]also becomes more Emphatical;He destroyed their Vines with Hail, and their Sycamore Trees with Frost. That is, theirSicmothin the Original, a word in the sound not far from the Sycamore.
Thus when it is said,[208]If ye had Faith as a grain of Mustard-seed, ye might say unto this Sycamine Tree, Be thou plucked up by the roots, and be thou placed in the Sea, and it should obey you: it might be more significantly spoken of this Sycamore; this being described to beArbor vasta, a large and well rooted Tree, whose removal was more difficult than many others. And so the instance in that Text, is very properly made in the Sycamore Tree, one of the largest and less removable Trees among them. A Tree so lasting and well rooted, that the Sycamore whichZacheusascended, is still shewn inJudæaunto Travellers; as also the hollow Sycamore atMaturæainÆgypt, where the blessed Virgin is said to have remained: which though it relisheth of the Legend,yet it plainly declareth what opinion they had of the lasting condition of that Tree, to countenance the Tradition; for which they might not be without some experience, since the learned describer of thePyramides[209]observeth, that the old Ægyptians made Coffins of this Wood, which he found yet fresh and undecayed among divers of their Mummies.
And thus, also, whenZacheusclimbed up into a Sycamore above any other Tree, this being a large and fair one, it cannot be denied that he made choice of a proper and advantageous Tree to look down upon our Saviour.
Increase of Seed 100. fold inMatt. 13. 23.
31. Whether the expression of our Saviour in the Parable of the Sower, and the increase of the Seedunto thirty, sixty and a hundred fold, had any reference unto the ages of Believers, and measures of their Faith, as Children, Young and Old Persons, as to beginners, well advanced and strongly confirmed Christians, as learned men have hinted; or whether in this progressional assent there were any latent Mysteries, as the mystical Interpreters of Numbers may apprehend, I pretend not to determine.
But, how this multiplication may well be conceived, and in what way apprehended, and that this centesimal increase is not naturally strange, you that are no stranger in Agriculture, old and new, are not like to make great doubt.
That every Grain should produce an Ear affording an hundred Grains, is not like to be their conjecture who behold the growth of Corn in our Fields, wherein a common Grain doth produce far less in number. For barley consisting but of twoVersusor Rows, seldom exceedeth twenty Grains, that is, ten upon each Στοῖχος, or Row; Rye, of a square figure, is veryfruitfull at forty: Wheat, besides theFritandUruncus, or imperfect Grains of the small Husks at the top and bottom of the Ear, is fruitfull at ten trebleGlumæor Husks in a Row, each containing but three Grains in breadth, if the middle Grain arriveth at all to perfection; and so maketh up threescore Grains in both sides.
Yet even this centesimal fructification may be admitted in some sorts ofCerealia, and Grains from one Ear: if we take in theTriticum centigranum, orfertilissimum Plinii, Indian Wheat, andPanicum; which, in every Ear, containeth hundreds of Grains.
But this increase may easily be conceived of Grains in their total multiplication, in good and fertile ground, since, if every Grain of Wheat produceth but three Ears, the increase will arise above that number. Nor are we without examples of some grounds which have produced many more Ears, and above this centesimal increase: AsPlinyhath left recorded of theByzacianField inAfrica.Misit ex eo loco Procurator ex uno quadraginta minus germina. Misit et Neroni pariter tercentum quadraginta stipulos, ex uno grano. Cum centessimos quidem Leontini Siciliæ campi fundunt, aliique, et tota Bœtica, et imprimis Ægyptus.And even in our own Country, from one Grain of Wheat sowed in a Garden, I have numbred many more than an hundred.
And though many Grains are commonly lost which come not to sprouting or earing, yet the same is also verified in measure; as that one Bushel should produce a hundred, as is exemplified by the Corn inGerar;[210]Then Isaac sowed in that Land, and received in that year an hundred fold. That is, as the Chaldee explaineth it,a hundred for one, when he measured it.And thisPlinyseems to intend, when he saith of the fertile Byzacian Territory before mentioned,Ex uno centeni quinquaginta modii redduntur. And may be favourably apprehended of the fertility of some grounds inPoland; wherein, after the account ofGaguinus, from Rye sowed inAugust, come thirty or forty Ears, and a Man on Horseback can scarce look over it. In the Sabbatical Crop ofJudæa, there must be admitted a large increase, and probably not short of this centesimal multiplication: For it supplied part of the sixth year, the whole seventh, and eighth untill the Harvest of that year.
Theseven years of plenty in Ægyptmust be of high increase; when, by storing up but the fifth part, they supplied the whole Land, and many of their neighbours after: for it is said,[211]the Famine was in all the Land about them. And therefore though the causes of the Dearth inÆgyptbe made out from the defect of the overflow ofNilus, according to the Dream ofPharaoh; yet was that no cause of the scarcity of the Land ofCanaan, which may rather be ascribed to the want of the former and latter rains, for some succeeding years, if their Famine held time and duration with that ofÆgypt; as may be probably gather’d from that expression ofJoseph,[212]Come down unto me [into Ægypt] and tarry not, and there will I nourish you: (for yet there are five years of Famine) lest thou and thy Household, and all that thou hast come to poverty.
How they preserved their Corn so long inÆgyptmay seem hard unto Northern and moist Climates, except we consider the many ways of preservation practised by antiquity, and also take in that handsome account ofPliny; What Corn soever is laid up in theEar, it taketh no harm keep it as long as you will; although the best and most assured way to keep Corn is in Caves and Vaults under ground, according to the practice ofCappadociaandThracia.
InÆgyptandMauritaniaabove all things they look to this, that their Granaries stand on high ground; and how drie so ever their Floor be, they lay a course of Chaff betwixt it and the ground. Besides, they put up their Corn in Granaries and Binns together with the Ear. AndVarrodelivereth that Wheat laid up in that manner will last fifty years; Millet an hundred; and Beans so conserved in a Cave ofAmbracia, were known to last an hundred and twenty years; that is, from the time of KingPyrrhus, unto the Pyratick War under the conduct ofPompey.
More strange it may seem how, after seven years, the Grains conserved should be fruitfull for a new production. For it is said thatJoseph delivered Seed unto the Ægyptians, to sow their Land for the eighth year: and Corn after seven years is like to afford little or no production, according toTheophrastus;[213]Ad Sementem semen anniculum optimum putatur, binum deterius et trinum; ultra sterile fermè est, quanquam ad usum cibarium idoneum.
Yet since, from former exemplifications, Corn may be made to last so long, the fructifying power may well be conceived to last in some good proportion, according to the region and place of its conservation, as the sameTheophrastushath observed, and left a notable example fromCappadocia, where Corn might be kept sixty years, and remain fertile at forty; according to his expression thus translated;In Cappadociæ loco quodam petra dicto, triticum ad quadraginta annosfœcundum est, at ad sementem percommodum durare proditum est, sexagenos aut septuagenos ad usum cibarium servari posse idoneum.The situation of that Conservatory, was, as he delivereth, ἱψηλὸν, εὔπνουν, εὔαυρον,high, airy and exposed to several favourable winds. And upon such consideration of winds and ventilation, some conceive the Ægyptian Granaries were made open, the Country being free from rain. Howsoever it was, that contrivance could not be without some hazard:[214]for the great Mists and Dews of that Country might dispose the Corn unto corruption.
More plainly may they mistake, who from some analogy of name (as ifPyramidwere derived from Πύρον,Triticum), conceive the Ægyptian Pyramids to have been built for Granaries; or look for any settled Monuments about the Desarts erected for that intention; since their Store-houses were made in the great Towns, according to Scripture expression,[215]He gathered up all the Food of seven years, which was in the Land of Ægypt, and laid up the Food in the Cities: the Food of the Field which was round about every City, laid he up in the same.
Olive Tree inRom. 11. 24.
32.For if thou wert cut out of the Olive Tree, which is wild by nature, and wert grafted, contrary to nature, into a good Olive Tree, how much more shall these, which be the natural Branches, be grafted into their own Olive Tree?In which place, how answerable to the Doctrine of Husbandry this expression of S.Paulis, you will readily apprehend who understand the rules of insition or grafting, and that way of vegetable propagation; wherein that is contrary to nature, or natural rules which Art observeth:viz.to make use of a Cyons more ignoble than the Stock, or to graft wild upondomestick and good Plants, according asTheophrastus[216]hath anciently observed, and, making instance in the Olive, hath left this Doctrine unto us;Urbanum Sylvestribus ut satis Oleastris inserere. Nam si è contrario Sylvestrem in Urbanos severis, etsi differentia quædam erit, tamen[217]bonæ frugis Arbor nunquam profecto reddetur: which is also agreeable unto our present practice, who graft Pears on Thorns, and Apples upon Crabb Stocks, not using the contrary insition. And when it is said,How much more shall these, which are the natural Branches, be grafted into their own natural Olive Tree?this is also agreeable unto the rule of the same Author; Ἔστι δὲ βελτίων ἐγκεντρισμὸς, ὁμοίων εἰς ὅμοια,Insitio melior est similium in similibus: For the nearer consanguinity there is between the Cyons and the Stock, the readier comprehension is made, and the nobler fructification. According also unto the later caution ofLaurenbergius;[218]Arbores domesticæ insitioni destinatæ, semper anteponendæ Sylvestribus. And though the success be good, and may suffice upon Stocks of the same denomination; yet, to be grafted upon their own and Mother Stock, is the nearest insition: which way, though less practised of old, is now much imbraced, and found a notable way for melioration of the Fruit; and much the rather, if the Tree to be grafted on be a good and generous Plant, a good and fair Olive, as the Apostle seems to imply by a peculiar word[219]scarce to be found elsewhere.
It must be also considered, that theOleaster, or wild Olive, by cutting, transplanting and the best managery of Art, can be made but to produce such Olives as (Theophrastussaith) were particularly namedPhaulia, that is, butbad Olives; and that it was reckon’d among Prodigies, for theOleasterto become an Olive Tree.
And when insition and grafting, in the Text, is applied unto the Olive Tree, it hath an Emphatical sense, very agreeable unto that Tree which is best propagated this way; not at all by surculation, asTheophrastusobserveth, nor well by Seed, as hath been observed.Omne semen simile genus perficit, præter oleam, Oleastrum enim generat, hoc est sylvestrem oleam, et non oleam veram.
"If, therefore, thou Roman and Gentile Branch, which wert cut from the wild Olive, art now, by the signal mercy of God, beyond the ordinary and commonly expected way, grafted into the true Olive, the Church of God; if thou, which neither naturally nor by humane art canst be made to produce any good Fruit, and, next to a Miracle, to be made a true Olive, art now by the benignity of God grafted into the proper Olive; how much more shall the Jew, and natural Branch, be grafted into its genuine and mother Tree, wherein propinquity of nature is like, so readily and prosperously, to effect a coalition? And this more especially by the expressed way of insition or implantation, the Olive being not successfully propagable by Seed, nor at all by surculation."
Stork nesting on Firre Trees inPsal. 104. 17.
33.As for the Stork, the Firre Trees are her House.This expression, in our Translation, which keeps close to the OriginalChasidah, is somewhat different from the Greek and Latin Translation; nor agreeable unto common observation, whereby they are known commonly to build upon Chimneys, or the tops of Houses, and high Buildings, which notwithstanding, the common Translation may clearly consist with observation, if we consider that this is commonly affirmed of the black Stork, and take notice of the description ofOrnithologusinAldrovandus, that such Storks are often found indivers parts, and that they doin Arboribus nidulari, præsertim in abietibus; Make their Nests on Trees, especially upon Firre Trees. Nor wholly disagreeing unto the practice of the common white Stork, according untoVarro,nidulantur in agris: and the concession ofAldrovandusthat sometimes they build on Trees: and the assertion ofBellonius,[220]that men dress them Nests, and place Cradles upon high Trees, in Marish regions, that Storks may breed upon them: which course some observe for Herns and Cormorants with us. And this building of Storks upon Trees, may be also answerable unto the original and natural way of building of Storks before the political habitations of men, and the raising of Houses and high Buildings; before they were invited by such conveniences and prepared Nests, to relinquish their natural places of nidulation. I say, before or where such advantages are not ready; when Swallows found other places than Chimneys, and Daws found other places than holes in high Fabricks to build in.
Balm, inGen. 43. 11.
34.And, therefore, Israel said carry down the man a present, a little Balm, a little Honey, and Myrrhe, Nuts and Almonds.Now whether this, whichJacobsent, were the proper Balsam extolled by humane Writers, you cannot but make some doubt, who find the Greek Translation to be Ῥητίνη, that is,Resina, and so may have some suspicion that it might be some pure distillation from the Turpentine Tree, which grows prosperously and plentifully inJudæa, and seems so understood by the Arabick; and was indeed esteemed byTheophrastusandDioscorides, the chiefest of resinous Bodies, and the wordResinaEmphatically used for it.
That the Balsam Plant hath grown and prospered inJudæawe believe without dispute. For the same isattested byTheophrastus,Pliny,Justinus, and many more; from the commendation thatGalenaffordeth of the Balsam ofSyria, and the story ofCleopatra, that she obtain’d some Plants of Balsam fromHerodthe Great to transplant intoÆgypt. But whether it was so anciently inJudæaas the time ofJacob; nay, whether this Plant was here before the time ofSolomon, that great collectour of Vegetable rarities, some doubt may be made from the account ofJosephus, that the Queen ofSheba, a part ofArabia, among presents untoSolomon, brought some Plants of the Balsam Tree, as one of the peculiar estimables of her Country.
Whether this ever had its natural growth, or were an original native Plant ofJudæa, much more that it was peculiar unto that Country, a greater doubt may arise: while we reade inPausanias,StraboandDiodorus,that it grows also inArabia, and find inTheophrastus,[221]that it grew in two Gardens aboutJerichoinJudæa. And more especially whiles we seriously consider that notable discourse betweenAbdella,AbdachimandAlpinus, concluding the natural and original place of this singular Plant to be inArabia, aboutMechaandMedina, where it still plentifully groweth, and Mountains abound therein. From whence it hath been carefully transplanted by theBasha’sofGrand Cairo, into the Garden ofMatarea; where, when it dies, it is repaired again from those parts ofArabia, from whence theGrand Signioryearly receiveth a present of Balsam from theXeriffofMecha, still called by the ArabiansBalessan; whence they believe arose the Greek appellationBalsam. And since these Balsam-plants are not now to be found inJudæa, and though purposely cultivated, are often lost inJudæa, but everlastingly live, and naturally renewinArabia; They probably concluded, that those ofJudæawere foreign and transplanted from these parts.
All which notwithstanding, since the same Plant may grow naturally and spontaneously in several Countries, and either from inward or outward causes be lost in one Region, while it continueth and subsisteth in another, the Balsam Tree might possibly be a native ofJudæaas well as ofArabia; which becausede factoit cannot be clearly made out, the ancient expressions of Scripture become doubtfull in this point. But since this Plant hath not, for a long time, grown inJudæa, and still plentifully prospers inArabia, that which now comes in pretious parcels to us, and still is called the Balsam ofJudæa, may now surrender its name, and more properly be called the Balsam ofArabia.
Barley Flax, &c. inExod. 9. 31.
35.And the Flax and the Barley was smitten; for the Barley was in the Ear, and the Flax was bolled, but the Wheat and the Rye was not smitten, for they were not grown up.[222]How the Barley and the Flax should be smitten in the plague of Hail inÆgypt, and the Wheat and Rye escape, because they were not yet grown up, may seem strange unto English observers, who call Barley Summer Corn sown so many months after Wheat, and, besidehordeum Polystichon, or big Barley, sowe not Barley in the Winter, to anticipate the growth of Wheat.
And the same may also seem a preposterous expression unto all who do not consider the various Agriculture, and different Husbandry of Nations, and such as was practised inÆgypt, and fairly proved to have been also used inJudæa, wherein their Barley Harvest was before that of Wheat; as is confirmable from that expression inRuth, that shecame into Bethlehem at thebeginning of Barley Harvest, and staid unto the end of Wheat Harvest; from the death ofManassesthe Father ofJudith, Emphatically expressed to have happened in the Wheat Harvest, and more advanced heat of the Sun; and from the custom of the Jews, to offer the Barley Sheaf of the first fruits inMarch, and a Cake of Wheat Flower but at the end ofPentecost. Consonant unto the practice of the Ægyptians, who (asTheophrastusdelivereth) sowed their Barley early in reference to their first Fruits; and also the common rural practice, recorded by the same Authour,Maturè seritur Triticum, Hordeum, quod etiam maturius seritur; Wheat and Barley are sowed early, but Barley earlier of the two.
Flax was also an early Plant, as may be illustrated from the neighbour Country ofCanaan. For the Israelites kept the Passover inGilgalin the fourteenth day of the first Month, answering unto part of ourMarch, having newly passedJordan: And the Spies which were sent fromShittimuntoJericho, not many days before, were hid byRahabunder the stalks of Flax, which lay drying on the top of her House; which sheweth that the Flax was already and newly gathered. For this was the first preparation of Flax, and before fluviation or rotting, which, afterPliny’saccount, was after Wheat Harvest.
But the Wheat and the Rye were not smitten, for they were not grown up.The Original signifies that it washidden, ordark, the Vulgar and Septuagint that it wasserotinousorlate, and our old Translation that it waslate sown. And so the expression and interposition ofMoses, who well understood the Husbandry ofÆgypt, might Emphatically declare the state of Wheat and Rye in that particular year; and if so, the same issolvable from the time of the floud ofNilus, and the measure of its inundation. For if it were very high, and over-drenching the ground, they were forced to later Seed-time; and so the Wheat and the Rye escaped; for they were more slowly growing Grains, and, by reason of the greater inundation of the River, were sown later than ordinary that year, especially in the Plains near the River, where the ground drieth latest.
Some think the plagues ofÆgyptwere acted in one Month, others but in the compass of twelve. In the delivery of Scripture there is no account, of what time of the year or particular Month they fell out; but the account of these grains, which were either smitten or escaped, make the plague of Hail to have probably hapned inFebruary: This may be collected from the new and old account of the Seed time and Harvest inÆgypt. For, according to the account ofRadzevil,[223]the river rising inJune, and the Banks being cut inSeptember, they sow about S.Andrews, when the Floud is retired, and the moderate driness of the ground permitteth. So that the Barley anticipating the Wheat, either in time of sowing or growing, might be in Ear inFebruary.
The account ofPliny[224]is little different. They cast the Seed upon the Slime and Mudd when the River is down, which commonly happeneth in the beginning ofNovember. They begin to reap and cut down a little before the Calends ofApril, about the middle ofMarch, and in the Month ofMaytheir Harvest is in. So that Barley anticipating Wheat, it might be in Ear inFebruary, and Wheat not yet grown up, at least to the Spindle or Ear, to be destroyed by the Hail. For they cut down about the middle ofMarch, at leasttheir forward Corns, and in the Month ofMayall sorts of Corns were in.
Theturning of the River into Bloudshews in what Month this happened not. That is, not when the River had overflown; for it is said,the Ægyptians digged round about the River for Water to drink, which they could not have done, if the River had been out, and the Fields under Water.
In the same Text you cannot, without some hesitation, pass over the translation of Rye, which the Original namethCassumeth, the Greek rendrethOlyra, the French and DutchSpelta, the LatinZea, and notSecalethe known word for Rye. But this common Rye so well understood at present, was not distinctly described, or not well known from early Antiquity. And therefore, in this uncertainty, some have thought it to have been theTyphaof the Ancients.Corduswill have it to beOlyra, andRuelliussome kind ofOryza. But having no vulgar and well known name for those Grains, we warily embrace an appellation of near affinity, and tolerably render itRye.
While Flax, Barley, Wheat and Rye are named, some may wonder why no mention is made of Ryce, wherewith, at present,Ægyptso much aboundeth. But whether that Plant grew so early in that Country, some doubt may be made: for Ryce is originally a Grain ofIndia, and might not then be transplanted intoÆgypt.