ted Ways, and to felect one peculiar Nation from all the reft to be ador'd by; à Nation to fpring from one faithful MAN; that is to fay, from ABRAHAM, (d) yet refiding on this Side the River EuPHRATES, and bred up to worship Idols. ------ Canft thou believe it poffible? O that MEN fhould be grown fo ftupid and fenfelefs, while yet the Patriarch NOAH liv'd, who efcap'd the Flood, as to forsake the living GOD, and fall down to worship their own Works in Wood and Stone, and call them Gods! yet the most high GOD vouchfafes to call him by Vision from his Father's House, and from his Kindred and falfe Gods, into a Land which he will fhew him; and from him will raise a mighty Nation, and upon him fhower his Benediction fo, that in his Seed all Nations shall be bless'd: He strait obey's GOD's Call and Promises; firmly believing in them, though he did not know to what Land he was to go. I fee him, (but I know thou canst not) with what Faith he leaves his Gods, all his Friends, and native Country, which is UR (e) of CHALDEA; (f) now paffing the River (d) Abraham. God called him from among the idolatrous Chaldeans, about the Year of the World 2083. (e) Ur; Heb. i. e. Light; because the Chaldeans worthipped the Sun or Fire. A City of Chaldæa, where Abraham was born, about 624 Miles from Jerufalem Eastward; now Orche and Horrea. This was the first Sort of Idolatry, call'd Sebaifm, Gr. from the Heb. i. e. Worshipping the Hofts of Heaven; for Damonolatria, Gr. i. e. WorShipping Damons, Heroes, Beafts, Images, &c. came in long afterwards. (f) Chaldea; Gr. from the Heb. i. e. Like Dæmons, Diftroyers, Robbers: In Scripture it is called Chafed, and the People Chafdin, from Kefed, the Son of Nahor, which the Greeks turned into Chaldæa. Also Shinar, Heb. i. e. Scattered; becaute the Builders of that Tower were scattered over the whole Earth, Gen. 10. 10. 11. 28. and now Chaldar and Curaiftan. Chaldea is a large Country of Afia, bordering upon Affyria, Mefopotamia between the Euphrates and Tigris, whereof Babylon was the Metropolis for many Ages; therefore that Coun◄ try was called Babylonia. River EUPHRATES to HARAN; (g) and after him a numerous Train of Herds and Flocks, and Abundance of Servants; not wandering poorly without his Subftance, but trufting all his Wealth with GOD, who call'd him to an unknown Land. Now he comes to CANAAN; (b) I fee his Tents pitch'd all about SICHEM, (i) and the neighbouring Plain MoREH (k). There he receives a Promife, that all that Lad (g) Haran, or Charran; Heb. i. e. Anger or Wrath; from Haran, the Father of Lot. It is a Country and chief City of MeSopotamia, upon a River of the fame Name, and not far from Uz, 440 Miles from Jerufalem North-Eastward. There Abrabam liv'd fome Years; the Turks pay a great Veneration to it on that Account, and now call it Heren or Charron, A&ts 7. 4. There the great Craffus, the Roman General and Conful, with his Army of 3000 Men, was overthrown by the Parthians, who took it: Afterwards the Perfians ook it, now the Turks poffefs it. It is eleven Day's Journey, or 232 Miles Weftward from Niniveh, now well inhabited, has a good Trade, and is alfo called Opbra. There is a Well of very clear Water, at which Rebecca gave Drink to Eleazar, Abraham's Servant, Gen. 24. 19. They call it Abraham's Well. But Mefopotamia is now render'd very delart and ruinous by the Turks. (b) Canaan; Heb. i. e. A Merchant, from Canaan the Son of Ham, by whom it was firft peopled, Gen. 11. 18. because it lies along the Mediterranean Sea, and gave the Inhabitants an Opportunity of Trade, Mer chandise, and Navigation, over the whole Earth. Such were the old Phænicians, Tyrians, Sidonians, Carthaginians, &c. An (i) Sichem; Heb. i. e. A Shoulder or Back; because it ftandeth out like one; or from Sichem, the Father of Hamor or Emmor, Gen. 34. 2. Aðs 7. 16. Alfo Sychar; Heb. i. e. Hired or Wages, John 4. 5. and afterwards Scythopolis; See Judith 3. 14. Gr. i. e. The City of the Scythians or Tatars; becaufe some of them fettled there. antient City of Samaria in Paleftine, between Mount Garizim and Mount Ebal, belonging to Samaria, 36 Miles from Jerufalem Northward. There Jofeph was buried, Joshua 24. 32. Abimelech razed it, Judges 9. 45. But Jeroboam rebuilt it, 1 Kings 12. Now it is called Naploja, Gr. i. e. The new Town but it is in a very low Condition at this Time. (k) Moreb; Heb. i. e. The Lordship of the Lord: Or from Moreh, one of the old Amorites, who poffefs'd it, Gen. 13. 18. 14. 13. A Piece of Ground near Sichem, where Abraham first settled in Canaan, which Jacob bought of Hamor for 100 Pieces of Money, and gave to Jofeph, Gen. 33. 19. 48. 22. John 4. 5. Land fhould be given to his Pofterity, Northward from HAM AT H, (1) to the Defart South of ARABIA; (I call Things by their Names, though as yet they are not nam'd) and Eaft from HERMON (m) to the MEDITERRANEAN Sea; Mount HERMON that lies there! and yonder Sea! (look at each Place in Profpect, as I point to them) Upon the Shore there is Mount CARMEL; (n) here the River JORDAN, fpringing from two Fountains, is the Boundary of CANAAN 280 (1) Hamath, Hemath, or Chamath; Heb. i. e. Heat or Anger; from Hamath the Son of Canaan, who built it. A City in the North of Canaan belong. ing to Syria, between two Hills, near the River Orontes, at the Foot of Anti-Libanus, Miles from Jerufalem; the utmoft Bounds of the Holy Land on the North, and one of the grand Paffes of it, called also Zin, Numbers 34. 8. Joshua 13. 5. Now the Turks call it Hems. There is a great Hamath and a little Hamath, Amos 6. 2. Some take it to be the antient Apamea; others on better Grounds, for Epiphania or Antiochia. In the Targum it is called Antiochia, from Antiochus King of Syria. Toi was King of it in the Reign of King David, 2 Sam. 8. 9. In the 13th Century it had Princes of its own, which were of the Race of Ayub or Job, from whom defcended Saladin, a Sultan of the Turks, who conquered Palestine, Egypt, Syria, &c. A. D. 1180. Hamath was a City of great Trade, but is now very much decayed. (m) Hermon, or Chermon; Heb. i. e. Snow. An high and fertile Mountain in the North of Canaan, near Mount Lebanon, beyond Jordan to the NorthEaft, 122 Miles from Jerufalem, and frequently cover'd with Snow, because it is very high. It is called Shirjon by the Sidonians, Pfalm 29. 6. Sheniz, by the Amorites, Deut. 3.9. Alfo Sion (not Txion at Jerufalem) Deut. 4. 48. and alfo Baal-Hermon, Heb. i.e. Hermon the Great ; to diftinguish it from a leffer of that Name, near Mount Gilboa and Mount Tabor, in the Tribe of Manafes, 44 Miles from Je rufalem towards the North. At the Foot of it flood the City Nain, Heb. i. e. Pleasant; be cause it stood moft pleasantly on the Banks of the River Chifon. Upon this Mountain grew many goodly Trees; wild Beafts allo abounded upon it, Ezek. 27. 5. (n) Carmel; Heb. i. e. A Vineyard; because there are many Vineyards upon it. Another very high Mountain in the Holy Land, upon the Mediterranean Sea, to the South of Ptolemais, 50 Miles North-Weft from Jerufalem, in the Tribe of Iachar. Here the Prophet Elijah began his Reformation of keli CANAAN on the East Side; but ABRAHAM's Sons fhall dwell as far as SEIR, (o) which is all that long Ridge of Hills! Now confider this well, that all the Nations of the Earth fhall be blefs'd in his Seed: By that Seed, thy GREAT DELIVERER is meant, who fhall bruife the Head of the Serpent; about which, before I depart, I fhall reveal more to thee. This bleft Patriarch (who, by Reafon of his Obedience, fhall be call'd faithful ABRAHAM (p)) leaves a Son, E e call'd Here gion, in the Days of Ahab, a very idolatrous and impious King of Ifrael, 1 Kings 18. Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, and other Prophets; and alfo Pythago ras, the Heathen Philofopher, long afterwards reforted; for the Sake of Devotion, Contemplation, and Retirement. The antient River Kyfon cuts its Way clofe by the Weft Side of it, through the Plains of Efdraelon into the Sea at a Place called Caypha. Upon this Mountain is a Convent of bare-footed Friars, call'd Carmelites, a little Mofque, with feveral Gardens and Vineyards. (o) Seir, Senir, or Saner; Heb. i. e. Rough. A long and large Ridge of Mountains with many Tracts of fertile Lands, which made the Kingdom of the Edomites, on the South Side of the Dead Sea and Canaan, about 46 Miles from Jerufalem. It is a rocky Country; therefore it is called Trachonites, Syr. Chald. i: e. Rocky, rough; Iturea, Heb. i. e. Mountainous, from Jetur, a Son of Ifmael; Petræa, Syr i. e. Rocky; and Idumea, Heb. i. e. Red, from Ejau or Edom ; because he and his Sons did fettle in it: But it was called Seir long before that. (P) Abraham; his first Name was Abram, Heb. i. e. An excel lent or mighty Father; but when God renew'd his Covenant, he chang'd that into Abraham, i. e. An excellent or mighty Father of many People. Abraham was the Founder of the Jewish Nation and Church, efteemed a mighty Prince among the Canaanites, a great Prophet at Pharaoh's Court. The Kings of Egypt, Palestine, &c. courted his Friendship, made Leagues with him, and paid him Homage. Nicol. Damafcenus, Jufin, &c. fay, that he was King of Damafcus; his Name was had in Veneration among both Jews, Gentiles, Muhammedans, and Chriftians; in all Ages: They made religious Pilgrimages to his Oak at Mamre, 'till Conftantine the Great ordered it to be destroy'd; and which is more, he was call'd the Father of the Faithful, and the Friend of God; a Title of Honour never bestow'd on any Man before. He carried the Knowledge of Aftronomy, Arithmetick, and Other Sciences, from Chaldad call'd Is A AC; and of him a Grandchild, call'd JACOв, (q) very much like him in Faith, Wisdom, and Renown. The Grandchild, having twelve Sons, departs from CANAAN to a Land, which will afterwards be call'd EGYPT, divided by the River NILE: See there where it flows, difgorging itself at feven Mouths into the Sea! He comes to live in that Land, being thither invited by a younger Son in a Time of Famine; (call him JOSEPH) a Son, whofe worthy Deeds raife him to be the next in Dignity to PHARAOH in that Kingdom: There he dies, and leaves his Race growing into a Nation; and being thought too powerful, by another King who fucceeded to the Throne of that Kingdom, fome Years after the Death of JOSEPH, he fought to ftop the Growth of their Numbers, looking upon them as too numerous a People to fhare the Land with them: Whence he, inhofpitably, of Guefts made them Slaves; and ordered the Midwives of EGYPT, to kill all the HEBREW male Infants; 'till by two Brethren, (call those two Brethren MOSES (r) and AARON) who fhall be into Egypt, as Jofephus relates: But Geometry was firft found out in Egypt, from the Overflowing of the Nile. He was born A. M. 1948, and liv'd 175 Years. (9) Jacob increased wonderfully for of 70 Souls which went with him into Egypt, in the Space of 215 Years they increased to 600,000 armed Men, befides Women, Children, and old Men unfit for War. At the first numbering of them, in the first Year after they went out of Egypt, they were 603,550, Exodus 30. 11, 12. 38. 25, 26. In the fecond Year their Number was the fame, although the Tribe of Levi was not included, fent Numb. 1. 46, 47. In David's Time Joab mutter'd a thousand thoufand, and a hundred thoufand Men of Ifrael; and four hundred thousand threefcore and ten thousand Men of Judah, that were Soldiers, 1 Chron. 21. 5. And Jofephus reckons three Millions of Men at Jerufalem, affembled at the Paffover. (r) Mofes, Mofheh, and Moyfes, Heb. i. e. Drawn out of the Water: See Exod. 2. 10. Jofephus makes it an Egyptian Word from May, i. e. The Water: But we know not what Name his Parents gave him at his Circumcifion, unless we give into the Fables of the Jews, who |