tures, are thus described by a late critic.1 "His learning, whether sacred or profane, was not less extensive than Origen's; his judgment and taste were more correct and exquisite. He had a perfect knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages; and was sufficiently versed in the Hebrew. He had correct copies of the Hexapla, if not the Autograph itself before him. He was at no great distance from a famous school (Tiberias) of Jewish Rabbins, whom he might consult as he saw occasion. He had traversed the land with his own feet, and seen with his own eyes the principal places mentioned in Sacred History. He was acquainted with the manners and customs of the country. He knew its plants, its animals, and its other productions. With all these advantages, and his superior talents, it was impossible he should not succeed."

The critical revision of the NEW TESTAMENT he completed in the year 392, or a few years earlier; the Four Gospels having been published before the death of Damasus. This revision of the New Testament, with Jerom's translation of the Old, form the ground-work of the present VULGATE, so far as relates to the Canonical books, except that the Psalms of the Italic version have been retained, and several corrections introduced in other parts, from Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, as well as from the Italic. Jerom also translated the books of Judith and Tobit, from the Chaldee, which form a part of the Vulgate copy of the Apocrypha. His revision of the Psalms is sometimes used in the services of the Roman Catholic church, and has received the name of the Gallican Psalter.

It has been justly observed, that Jerom's version had the fate of many considerable works of genius. It had warm advocates, particularly among the truly learned; and violent enemies, particularly among the ignorant." Lucinius Baeticus, a noble Spaniard, and zealously attached to the Scriptures, sent six short-hand writers or copyists, from Spain to Bethlehem, in 394, to take copies of his version, and of his other works. Sophronius, at whose request Jerom had translated some parts of the Hebrew Scriptures into Latin, re-translated a part of his version into Greek; and Augustin, who at first violently opposed the translation from the Hebrew, afterwards so highly approved of it, that he extracted those passages from it which composed his Speculum or Mirror, a work which contained a selection of the choicest parts of Scripture, designed for those who were too poor to purchase, or too engaged to read the whole of the Sacred Writings. Yet nearly two hundred years elapsed before this translation received the sanction of the church, many of the contemporaries of Jerom regarding a translation from the Hebrew as a dangerous innovation: for, strange as it may appear, the Septuagint version was more respected in the Latin church than the Hebrew original. At that time, the now-exploded story of Seventytwo Interpreters, all translating by divine inspiration, all translating

1 Geddes's Prospectus of a New Translation of the Holy Bible, pp. 46, 47. Glasgow, 1786. 4to.

independently, yet each of them producing the same translation, was firmly believed in the Latin, as well as the Greek church; and this belief, united with a hatred of the Jews and an ignorance of the Hebrew, gave to the Septuagint version a higher rank than to the original itself. At the close of the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great gave to Jerom's translation the sanction of papal authority, by acknowledging that he considered it as superior to any other of the Latin versions, and therefore made use of it himself; and in a short time after, Isidore of Seville wrote, that all churches made use of it. In the sixteenth century, the VULGATE was declared authentic, by the popish council of Trent; and continues to be the only publicly authorised version of the Roman Catholic church. Most of the first European translations were made from it.

Jerom was a rapid and voluminous writer. The translation of Tobit was finished in one day; and the three books of Solomon he calls" the work of three days." And besides his revisions and translation of the Scriptures, he was the author of Commentaries on the Prophets, Ecclesiastes, Matthew, and the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians, Titus and Philemon; of a History of Ecclesiastical Writers; of various treatises on different subjects; and of a number of elegant and useful Epistles. 1 The editio princeps or first printed edition of his Works, was edited by Erasmus, and printed by Frobenius, at Basle, in 5 vols. folio, 1516. The edition of D. Vallarsius, printed at Verona in 11 vols. 1734-42, is usually accounted the best. The genuine version of Jerom, from a beautiful manuscript at Paris, was published in 1693, by D. Martianay and D. Pouget, and forms the first volume of the Benedictine edition of his works, in 5 vols. folio.2

Befence of Revelation.

FAMILIAR EXPOSITIONS OF THE PROPHECIES.

No. I.

GEN. ix. 25-27.

"And he said, cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant."

THIS is the earliest prophecy which we have on record, after the destruction of the old world, and was uttered by the second progenitor of the human race.

The Author has consulted-Hody, De Bibl. Text. Orig. pt. ii. cap. ii. iii. iv. Fabricy, Titres Primitifs, i. pp. 233–237; and ii. pp. 92–124. Calmet, Dissertation sur la Vulgate. Marsh's Lectures, lec. 4.

2 Bibliog. Dict. iv.-Townley's Illust. of Bib. Literature, vol. i. p. 154.

It seems that shortly after the descent of Noah from the ark, in which he had been preserved from the awful and universal destruction brought upon the earth by the deluge of waters, he turned his attention to the cultivation of the land, and became a husbandman. Noah planted a vineyard, and being ignorant of the effects that would be produced by drinking freely of the pressed grape, he became inebriated, and lay uncovered in his tent. While thus exposed, Ham, his youngest son, and the father of Canaan, entered his tent, and observing the situation of his father, cruelly mocked and exposed him. He appears also to have gone out to invite his brethren, Shem and Japheth, to join him in his unhallowed sport; but they, compassionating the infirmity of their aged parent, rebuked the insolence and impiety of Ham. They took a garment and went backward, covering their father's nakedness. When Noah awoke from his sleep, he was informed of what had taken place; and he then pronounced the above prophetic declaration of the future state and condition of his sons and their posterity. That this was the result of a divine influence, and not of any burst of passion, appears in this: that he cursed Ham, not in himself, but in Canaan, upon whose descendants, called after his name, the penalty more directly and immediately fell; and that no ebullition of human wrath could possibly be imagined to foretell events, much less to effect their accomplishment to the very letter whereas this prediction of Noah received a speedy partial fulfilment; and is still fulfilling to the present hour. The circumstance of the prophecy being uttered at such a time need excite no surprise, when we consider that the malediction denounced upon Ham's posterity, and the blessings pronounced upon those of Shem and Japheth, were admirably calculated to inspire feelings that would punish the temerity and impiety of the former, and reward the affection and fidelity of the latter.

Attend we now to the fulfilment of the prediction:

I. As it refers to Canaan.

1. "Cursed be Canaan."

How remarkably was this fulfilled in the sin and punishment of the Canaanitish nations, of which we have an account in the inspired writings!

At a very early period of their history, their morals were most deeply depraved, and their character marked by the commission of the most enormous crimes. In the time of Abraham they were devoted to destruction for their sins, but the measure of their iniquity was not yet full: God, therefore, deferred his sentence; but in the meanwhile, set forth five of their cities for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, Gen. xix. 24, 25; Jude 7. In the time of Moses their character was unchanged, unless, indeed, it were for the worse. They were not only addicted to the grossest practices of idolatry, but to the habitual commission of the most disgusting and revolting crimes. Their children were immolated upon the altars, and burnt to ashes in the presence of their own parents; they were devourers of human flesh; addicted to unnatural lusts; and immersed

in the filthiness of every species of vice. They were a people accursed for the enormity of their sins, and the maledictions of heaven were poured out upon them.

2. "A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."

The descendants of Canaan were to be subject to those of Shem and Japheth. If we understand this literally, it was fulfilled when the Canaanites were subdued by the Israelites, the posterity of Shem, who had been in slavery to the Egyptians. But there is no necessity to contend for this. The phrase is a Hebraism denoting the depth of their degradation - they were to be the lowest and the basest of

servants.

In the time of Joshua, the Canaanites were first brought under the yoke of the Shemites. He invaded their land; smote upwards of thirty of their kings; and most of those who escaped the edge of the sword, were made servants and tributaries to the children of Israel; and Solomon completed what Joshua had begun for "all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel—did Solomon make to pay tribute," 2 Chron. viii. 7, 8. And so has it been through every period of the history of this devoted people. The Egyptians, the descendants of Ham, were subjugated by the Persians, who were of Shem, and the Grecians, who were of Japheth. Tyre, built by the children of Ham, fell successively under the posterity of his brethren. The great struggle between Carthage and Rome, which terminated in the ruin of the former, confirmed this prediction: Carthage being peopled by the posterity of Ham, and the Romans descending from Japheth. This it was that made Hannibal cry out, in the bitterness of his soul, Agnoseo fortunam Carthaginis —“I acknowledge the fortune of Carthage!" And from that period the miserable remainder of this people have been slaves to a foreign yoke; first, to the Saracens, who descended from Shem, and afterwards to the Turks, who descended from Japheth; and under their dominion, they groan at the present moment. The whole continent of Africa was peopled principally by the children of Ham; and how long has that country lain under the dominion of the Romans, and then of the Saracens, and now of the Turks? What is the state of the inhabitants? And of the unhappy negroes, it need not be said, how many thousands are every year sold and bought like beasts in the market, and are conveyed from one quarter of the world to do the work of beasts in another.

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We proceed to notice the other parts of this prophecy.

II. Shem was to be distinguished for spiritual blessings-" Blessed be the Lord God of Shem."

Jehovah is here addressed as the God of Shem, doubtless to intimate, that he was so in a special manner, and as connected with special privileges. In conformity with which, we find, that in his family was preserved the knowledge and worship of God; and of his

seed, "as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever."- Rom. ix. 5.

III. The prediction relative to Japheth, comprises two parts: 1. "God shall enlarge Japheth."

Here is a paranomasia that is frequently met with in the Hebrew Scriptures; the name Japheth signifies enlargement: it is therefore, literally, "God shall enlarge the enlarger." Was this true, then, of Japheth? Yes, both with respect to territory and to children. It appears from the genealogies given in the book of Genesis, that Japheth had seven sons, whereas Ham had only four, and Shem only five and the northern hive (as Sir William Temple denominates it) was always remarkable for its fecundity, and has been continually pouring forth swarms, and sending out colonies into the more southern parts, both in Europe and in Asia, both in former and in later times. If we look to his territory, how greatly was this enlarged! His posterity diverged eastward and westward throughout the whole extent of ASIA, north of the great range of Taurus, as far as the Eastern Ocean; whence they probably crossed over to AMERICA, by Behring's Streights, from Kamschatka; and in the opposite direction throughout EUROPE, to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; from whence also they might have crossed over to America by Newfoundland, where traces of early settlements remain in parts now desert.— Thus did they gradually enlarge themselves till they literally encompassed the earth, within the precincts of the northern temperate zone; to which their roving hunters' life contributed not a little. Their progress northwards was checked by the much greater extent of the Black Sea in ancient times, and the increasing rigour of the climates: but their hardy race, and enterprising warlike genius, made them frequently encroach southwards on the settlements of Shem, whose pastoral and agricultural occupations rendered them more inactive, peaceable, and unwarlike. They dwelt in the tents of Shem, when the Scythians invaded Media, and subdued western Asia southwards, as far as Egypt, in the days of Cyaxares; when the Greeks, and afterwards the Romans, over-ran and subdued the Assyrians, Medes, and Persians, in the east; and the Syrians and Jews in the south; as foretold by the Syrian prophet Balaam :

"Ships shall come from Chittim,

And shall afflict the Assyrians, and afflict Eber:

But he (the invader) shall perish himself at last; "

NUMB. XXIV. 24.

And by Moses: And the Lord shall bring thee (the Jews) into Egypt (or bondage), again with ships, &c. (Deut. xxviii. 68.) And by Daniel: For the ships of Chittim shall come against him, viz. Antiochus, king of Syria, Dan. xi. 30. In these passages, Chittim denotes the southern coasts of Europe, bounding the Mediterranean, called the "Isles of the Gentiles," or Nations, (see Gen. x.

5.) And