according to the Septuagint in these words, Væ terræ navium alarum quæ est trans fluvios Ethiopia? "Woe to "the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the "rivers of Ethiopia, sending ambassadors by sea, even in "vessels of reeds upon the waters." Væ terræ umbrosæ

oræ ; "Woe to the land of the shady coast," saith Junius. The former translators understand it in this sense; that the waters are shadowed with the sails, which are significatively called the wings of the ships; the other, that the coast of the sea was shadowed by the height of the land.

But to the purpose: that this land here spoken of by the prophet Isaiah is Egypt, no interpreter hath doubted; for they were the Egyptians that sent this message to the Israelites which Isaiah repeateth, and by the former translation every man may see the transposition of kingdoms; for hereby Egypt is transported unto the other side of Ethiopia, and Ethiopia set next unto Judea, when it is the land of Chush and Arabia indeed that lieth between Judea and Egypt, and not Ethiopia, which is seated under the equinoctial line. And of this Beroaldus asketh a material question, to wit, What region that should be of which the prophet speaketh, and placeth it beyond the rivers of Ethiopia? Nam de ignota agi regione dici nequit; for it cannot be said that he treateth of an unknown region. Now if Ethiopia itself be under the equinoctial line, with whom the Jews had never any acquaintance, why should any man dream that they had knowledge of nations far beyond that again, and beyond the rivers of Ethiopia? except we shall impiously think that the prophet spake he knew not what, or used an impertinent discourse of those nations, which were not discovered in two thousand years after, inhabiting as far south as the Cape of Good Hope, commonly known by the name of Bona Esperanza.

§. 6.

That upon the like mistaking, both Terrhaca in the story of Senacherib, and Zera in the story of Asa are unadvisedly made Ethiopians.

AND by this translation is the story of Senacherib ut

For Senacherib

terly mistaken in the cause of his retreat. was first repulsed at Pelusium, at the very entrance of Egypt from Judea when having certain knowledge that Thirrhaca (which all the interpreters call king of 8 Ethiopia) was on the way to set on him, be began to withdraw himself; and fearing to leave his army in two parts, he sent threatening messengers to Hezekiah king of Judah, persuading him to submit himself; the tenor whereof is set down in the second of Kings, in these words: Have any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hands of the king of Ashur? Where is the god of Hamah? &c. By which proud ambassage, if he had obtained entrance into Jerusalem, he then meant to have united that great army before Jerusalem, commanded by Rabsakeh, with the other which lay before Pelusium, a great city upon the branch of Nilus next Arabia. For h Senacherib had already mastered the most part of all those cities in Judea and Benjamin with a third army, (which himself commanded,) being then at the siege of Lebna. But upon the rumour of that Arabian army led by their king Thirrhakeh, (whom Josephus calls Tharsices,) Rabsakeh hasted from the siege of Jerusalem, and found Senacherib departed from * Lachish, and set down before Lebna, which was afterwards called Eleutheropolis, as some have supposed. But while he had ill success at Pelusium, and feared Thirrhakeh, God himself, whom he least feared, struck his army before Jerusalem by the angel of his power, so as one hundred and eighty-five thousand were found dead in the place, as in the life of Hezekiah is hereafter more largely written. And that this army of Thirrhakeh was from Arabia, Josephus himself makes it plain. For he confesseth, in the tenth book the first chapter of the Jewish Antiquities, that it was come to Senacherib's knowledge, that the army which was a foot (both to relieve the Egyptians and the Jews) marched towards him by the way of the desert. Now the desert which

Joseph. 1. 10. c. I. h2 Kings xix.

i Antiq. 1. 10.

k

2 Kings xix.

lay indifferent between Jerusalem and Pelusium, was that of Pharan, or Sur, which also toucheth on the three Arabias, to wit, the Stony, of which it is a part, the Desert, and the Happy; and by no other way indeed could the Arabians come on to succour either Pelusium or Jerusalem. But that there is any desert between Pelusium and the south part of Egypt, hath never yet been heard of or described by any cosmographer or historian. So then this scripture of the second of Kings, verse the ninth, hath the same mistaking as the rest. For here the word Chush is also translated Ethiopia; and in this sense have all the interpreters, but Junius, expressed the beginning of the ninth verse: He heard also men say of Thirrhakeh king of Ethiopia, &c. whereas it should have been thus converted with Junius: Audiens autem de Thirrhakeh rege Chushi; "He heard also of Thirrhakeh king of the Chusites." For they were the Chusites and Arabians whose houses and cities were next the fire, and upon whom the very smoke of Judah flaming was blown, being their nearest neighbours: and so were not the Ethiopian black-moors under the equinoctial, whom neither war nor peace (which discovereth all regions) ever found out, saith m Pliny. For this king was no more king of Ethiopia than Zerah was, who invaded n Asa king of Judah, with an army of a million and three thousand chariots. Indeed, how such an army and those chariots should pass through all Egypt, (the kings of Egypt being mighty kings,) let all men that know how these regions are seated, and how far distant, judge. For princes do not easily permit armies of a million to run through them; neither was there ever any such strength of blackmoors heard of in that part of the world, or elsewhere. Neither are these Ethiopians such travellers or conquerors; and yet is this king Zerah also called king of Ethiopia. But the word Chush being first so converted for Ethiopia, the rest of the interpreters (not looking into the seats of kingdoms, or the possibilities of attempts, or invasions) followed one another in the former mistakings.

Lib. 10. cap. 1.

m Plin. l. 5. c. 9.

u 2 Chron. xiv.

§. 7.

A further exposition of the place, Isaiah xviii. 1. CONCERNING these words in that 18th chapter of Isaiah, navium alarum, “winged ships," (so the Septuagint turn it,) or cymbalo alarum, (according to the Latin,) "sails "whistling in the winds," or terræ umbrosa oræ, (after Junius,)" the land of a shadowed coast," or "the land sha66 dowing with wings," as our English Geneva hath it. The two first interpretations of the Septuagint and St. Jerome have one sense in effect. For the sails are commonly called the wings of a ship; and we use to say ordinarily when our ships sail slowly, that she wanteth wings; that is, when her sails are either worn or too narrow; and we also use the same phrase of the wind whistling in the sails. And it may be that the Egyptians employed so many of those small ships, as their sails were said to give a shadow over the Red sea. But to make both interpretations good, Pintus, upon Isaiah, affirmeth, that the word sabal doth signify both to shadow and to gingle, which is, to make a kind of cymbaline sound; so as the meaning of this place, saith Pintus, is this: Woe to thee, O Egypt, which dost promise to others safeguard under the shadow of thy wings; which indeed seemeth to agree with the argument of the 18th chapter of Isaiah; and this phrase is often elsewhere used, as in the 16th Psalm, Sub umbra alarum tuarum protege me; "De"fend me under the shadow of thy wings." The boats of reed spoken of are of two kinds; either of basket-willow covered with hides, (as anciently in Britain,) or a tree made hollow in the bottom, and built upon both sides with canes. Of the one sort I have seen in Ireland, of the other in the Indies.

SECT. XI.

Of the plantation and antiquities of Egypt.

§. I.

That Mizraim the chief planter of Egypt, and the rest of the sons of Ham, were seated in order, one by another.

THE second son of Ham was Mizraim, who (according

to the place of a second brother) was sent somewhat further off to inhabit. For Chush first possessed Chaldea on the west side of Gehon chiefly; and from thence, as he increased in people, so he entered Arabia, and by time came to the border of the Red sea, and to the south-east side of Judea. Mizraim's brother, with Phut, passed over into Africa. Mizraim held Egypt; and Phut, as a third brother, was thrust further off into Mauritania. Canaan took the sea-coast, and held the side of Palestina; and these four brothers possessed all that tract of land, from Gehon in Chaldea, as far to the west as the Mediterranean sea; comprehending all Arabia Deserta, and Petræa, all Canaan which embraceth Galilea, Samaria, and Judea, with the two Egypts; whereof the nether is bounded by Memphis on the south, and by the Mediterranean sea on the north: and Thebaida, called the Upper Egypt, stretcheth itself towards the south as far as Syene, the border of the Ethiopians or black-moors. All the rest of the coast of Africa westward, Phut peopled; which brothers had not any other nation or family that dwelt between them. And in the same manner did all their sons again, and all the sons of the rest of Noah's children, sort themselves.

§. 2.

Of the time about which the name of Egypt began to be known; and of the Egyptians' lunary years, which made their antiquities seem the more fabulous.

THIS flourishing kingdom, possessed by Mizraim, changed her ancient name, and became Egypt, at such time as Ægyptus, (otherwise Ramesses, as some think,) the son of Belus, chased thence his elder brother Danaus, shifting him into that part of Greece now called Morea, by whom the Argives were made Danai, abandoning their proper names; which happened 877 years after the flood, in the time of Joshua, as St. Augustine conjectureth out of Eusebius. But in Homer's Odysses it appeareth that the Egyptians were so called at the time of the Trojan war. And before this, Egypt was known by divers other names,