Sir Thomas Browne

Miscellany Tracts Contents

Tract II

Sir Thomas Browne (1683) Certain Miscellany Tracts. Tract I: Observations upon Scripture Plants, pp. 1-.

Sir,¹

hough many ordinary Heads run smoothly over the Scripture, yet I must acknowledge, it is one of the hardest Books I have met with: and therefore well deserveth those numerous Comments, Expositions and Annotations which make up a good part of our Libraries.

However so affected I am therewith, that I wish there had been more of it: and a larger Volume of that Divine Piece which leaveth such welcome impressions, and somewhat more, in the Readers, than the words and sense after it. At least, who would not be glad that many things barely hinted were at large delivered in it? The particulars of the Dispute between the Doctours and our Saviour could not but be welcome to them, who have every word in honour which proceeded from his mouth, or was otherwise delivered by him: and so would be glad to be assured, what he wrote with his Finger on the ground:² But especially to have a particular of that instructing Narration or Discourse which he made unto the Disciples after his resurrection, where 'tis said: And beginning at Moses, and all the Prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.³

But to omit Theological obscurities, you must needs observe that most Sciences do seem to have something more nearly to consider in the expressions of the Scripture.

Astronomers find therein the Names but of few Stars, scarce so many as in Achilles his Buckler in Homer, and almost the very same.⁴ But in some passages of the Old Testament they think they discover the Zodiacal course of the Sun: and they, also, conceive an Astronomical sense in that elegant expression of S. James⁵ concerning the father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning : and therein an allowable allusion unto the tropical conversion of the Sun, whereby ensueth a variation of heat, light, and also of shadows from it. But whether the Stellæ erraticæ, or wandring Stars in S. Jude,⁶ may be referr'd to the celestial Planets, or some meteorological wandring Stars, Ignes fatui, Stellæ cadentes & erraticæ, or had any allusion unto the Impostour Barchochebas, or Stellæ Filius, who afterward appeared, and wandred about in the time of Adrianus, they leave unto conjecture.⁷

Chirurgeons may find their whole art in that one passage, concerning the rib which God took out of Adam; that is, their diairesiV in opening the Flesh, exairesiV in taking out the Rib, and sunqesiV in closing and healing the part again.⁸

Rhetoricians and Oratours take singular notice of very many excellent passages, stately metaphors, noble tropes and elegant expressions, not to be found or parallel'd in any other Authour.

Mineralists look earnestly into the twenty eight of Job, take special notice of the early artifice in Brass and Iron under Tubal-Cain:⁹ And find also mention of Gold, Silver, Brass, Tin, Lead, Iron; beside Refining, Sodering, Dross,¹⁰ Nitre, Saltpits, and in some manner also of Antimony.¹¹

Gemmarie Naturalists reade diligently the pretious Stones in the holy City of the Apocalypse:¹² examine the Breast-Plate of Aaron, and various Gemms upon it, and think the second Row the nobler of the four:¹³ they wonder to find the Art of Ingravery so ancient upon pretious Stones and Signets; together with the ancient use of Ear-rings and Bracelets. And are pleased to find Pearl, Coral, Amber and Crystal in those sacred Leaves, according to our Translation.¹⁴ And when they often meet with Flints and Marbles, cannot but take notice that there is no mention of the Magnet or Loadstone, which in so many similitudes, comparisons, and allusions, could hardly have been omitted in the Works of Solomon; if it were true that he knew either the attractive or directive power thereof, as some have believed.

Navigatours consider the Ark, which was pitched without and within, and could endure the Ocean without Mast or Sails: They take special notice of the twenty seventh of Ezekiel; the mighty Traffick and great Navigation of Tyre, with particular mention of their Sails, their Masts of Cedar, Oars of Oak, their skilfull Pilots, Mariners and Calkers; as also of the long Voyages of the Fleets of Solomon;¹⁵ of Jehosaphat's Ships broken at Ezion-Geber;¹⁶ of the notable Voyage and Shipwreck of S. Paul, so accurately delivered in the Acts.¹⁷

Oneirocritical Diviners apprehend some hints of their knowledge, even from Divine Dreams; while they take notice of the Dreams of Joseph, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and the Angels on Jacob's Ladder; and find, in Artemidorus and Achmetes,¹⁸ that Ladders signifie Travels, and the Scales thereof Preferment; and that Oxen Lean and Fat naturally denote Scarcity or Plenty, and the successes of Agriculture.

Physiognomists will largely put in from very many passages of Scripture. And when they find in Aristotle, quibus frons quadrangula, commensurata, fortes, referuntur ad leones,¹⁹ cannot but take special notice of that expression concerning the Gadites; mighty men of war, fit for battel, whose faces were as the faces of lyons.²⁰

Geometrical and Architectonical Artists look narrowly upon the description of the Ark, the fabrick of the Temple, and the holy City in the Apocalypse.

But the Botanical Artist meeting every where with Vegetables, and from the Figg Leaf in Genesis to the Star Wormwood in the Apocalypse, are variously interspersed expressions from Plants, elegantly advantaging the significancy of the Text: Whereof many being delivered in a Language proper unto Judæa and neighbour Countries are imperfectly apprehended by the common Reader, and now doubtfully made out, even by the Jewish Expositour.

And even in those which are confessedly known, the elegancy is often lost in the apprehension of the Reader, unacquainted with such Vegetables, or but nakedly knowing their natures:²¹ whereof holding a pertinent apprehension, you cannot pass over such expressions without some doubt or want of satisfaction²² in your judgment. Hereof we shall only hint or discourse some few which I could not but take notice of in the reading of holy Scripture.

Many Plants are mention'd in Scripture which are not distinctly known in our Countries, or under such Names in the Original, as they are fain to be rendred by analogy, or by the name of Vegetables of good affinity unto them, and so maintain the textual sense, though in some variation from identity.

1. That Plant which afforded a shade unto Jonah,²³ mentioned by the name of Kikaion,²⁴ and still retained at least marginally in some Translations,²⁵ to avoid obscurity Jerome rendered Hedera or Ivy;²⁶ which notwithstanding (except in its scandent nature) agreed not fully with the other, that is, to grow up in a night, or be consumed with a Worm; Ivy being of no swift growth, little subject unto Worms, and a scarce Plant about Babylon.

2. That Hyssope is taken for that Plant which cleansed the Leper,²⁷ being a well scented, and very abstersive Simple, may well be admitted; so we be not too confident, that it is strictly the same with our common Hyssope: The Hyssope of those parts differing from that of ours; as Bellonius²⁸ hath observed in the Hyssope which grows in Judæa, and the Hyssope of the Wall mention'd in the Works of Solomon, no kind of our Hyssope; and may tolerably be taken for some kind of minor Capillary, which best makes out the Antithesis with the Cedar.²⁹ Nor when we meet with Libanotis, is it to be conceived our common Rosemary, which is rather the first kind thereof among several others, used by the Ancients.³⁰

3. That it must be taken for Hemlock, which is twice so rendred in our Translation,³¹ will hardly be made out, otherwise than in the intended sense, and implying some Plant, wherein bitterness or a poisonous quality is considerable.

4. What Tremelius rendreth Spina, and the Vulgar Translation Paliurus, and others make some kind of Rhamnus, is allowable in the sense;³² and we contend not about the species, since they are known Thorns in those Countries, and in our Field or Gardens among us; and so common in Judæa, that men conclude the thorny Crown of our Saviour was made either of Paliurus or Rhamnus.

5. Whether the Bush which burnt and consumed not, were properly a Rubus or Bramble,³³ was somewhat doubtfull from the Original and some Translations, had not the Evangelist, and S. Paul express'd the same by the Greek word BatoV,³⁴ which from the description of Dioscorides, Herbarists accept for Rubus; although the same word BatoV expresseth not onely the Rubus or kinds of Bramble, but other Thorn-bushes, and the Hipp-briar is also named KunosbatoV, or the Dog-Briar or Bramble.

6. That Myrica is rendred, Heath,³⁵ sounds instructively enough to our ears, who behold that Plant so common in barren Plains among us: But you cannot but take notice that Erica, or our Heath is not the same Plant with Myrica or Tammarice, described by Theophrastus and Dioscorides, and which Bellonius declareth to grow so plentifully in the Desarts of Judæa and Arabia.³⁶

7. That the botruV thV Kuprou, botrus Cypri, or Clusters of Cypress,³⁷ should have any reference to the Cypress Tree, according to the original Copher, ³⁸ or Clusters of the noble Vine of Cyprus, which might be planted into Judæa, may seem to others allowable in some latitude. But there seeming some noble Odour to be implied in this place,³⁹ you may probably conceive that the expression drives at the KuproV of Dioscorides, some oriental kind of Ligustrum or Alcharma,⁴⁰ which Dioscorides and Pliny mention under the name of KuproV and Cyprus,⁴¹ and to grow about Ægypt and Ascalon, producing a sweet and odorate bush of Flowers, out of which was made the famous Oleum Cyprinum.⁴²

But why it should be rendered Camphyre your judgment cannot but doubt, who knows that our Camphyre was unknown unto the Ancients, and no ingredient into any composition of great Antiquity: that learned men long conceived it a bituminous and fossile Body, and our latest experience discovereth it to be the resinous substance of a Tree, in Borneo and China; and that the Camphyre that we use is a neat preparation of the same.⁴³

8. When 'tis said in Isaiah 41. I will plant in the wilderness the Cedar, the Shittah Tree, and the Myrtle and the Oil Tree, I will set in the Desart, the Firre Tree, and the Pine, and the Box Tree:⁴⁴ Though some doubt may be made of the Shittah Tree, yet all these Trees here mentioned being such as are ever green, you will more emphatically apprehend the mercifull meaning of God in this mention of no fading, but always verdant Trees in dry and desart places.

9. And they cut down a Branch with one cluster of Grapes, and they bare it between two upon a Staff, and they brought Pomegranates and Figgs.⁴⁵ This cluster of Grapes brought upon a Staff by the Spies was an incredible sight, in Philo Judæus,⁴⁶ seem'd notable in the eyes of the Israelites, but more wonderfull in our own, who look onely upon Northern Vines.⁴⁷ But herein you are like to consider, that the Cluster was thus carefully carried to represent it entire, without bruising or breaking; that this was not one Bunch but an extraordinary Cluster, made up of many depending upon one gross stalk. And however, might be parallel'd with the Eastern Clusters of Margiana and Caramania, if we allow but half the expressions of Pliny and Strabo,⁴⁸ whereof one would lade a Curry or small Cart; and may be made out by the clusters of the Grapes of Rhodes presented unto Duke Radzivil, each containing three parts of an Ell in compass, and the Grapes as big as Prunes.⁴⁹

10. Some things may be doubted in the holy Ointment and Perfume.⁵⁰ With Amber, Musk and Civet we meet not in the Scripture, nor any odours from Animals; except we take the Onycha of that Perfume⁵¹ for the Covercle of a Shell-fish called Unguis Odoratus, or Blatta Byzantina, which Dioscorides affirmeth to be taken from a Shell-fish of the Indian Lakes, which feeding upon Aromatical Plants is gathered when the Lakes are drie. But whether that which we now call Blatta Byzantina, or Unguis Odoratus, be the same with that odorate one of Antiquity, great doubt may be made; since Dioscorides saith it smelled like Castoreum, and that which we now have is of an ungratefull odour.⁵²

No little doubt may be also made of Galbanum prescribed in the same perfume,⁵³ if we take it for Galbanum which is of common use among us, approaching the evil scent of Assa Foetida; and not rather for Galbanum of good odour, as the adjoining words declare, and the original Chelbena will bear; which implies a fat or resinous substance, that which is commonly known among us being properly a gummous body and dissoluble also in Water.⁵⁴

The holy Ointment of Stacte or pure Myrrh, distilling from the Plant without expression or firing, of Cinnamon, Cassia and Calamus, containeth less questionable species, if the Cinnamon of the Ancients were the same with ours, or managed after the same manner.⁵⁵ For thereof Dioscorides made his noble Unguent. And Cinnamon was so highly valued by Princes, that Cleopatra carried it unto her Sepulchre with her Jewels; which was also kept in wooden Boxes among the rarities of Kings: and was of such a lasting nature, that at his composing of Treacle for the Emperour Severus, Galen made use of some which had been laid up by Adrianus.⁵⁶

11. That the Prodigal Son desired to eat of Husks given unto Swine,⁵⁷ will hardly pass in your apprehension for the Husks of Pease, Beans, or such edulious Pulses; as well understanding that the textual word Keration or Ceration, properly intendeth the Fruit of the Siliqua Tree so common in Syria, and fed upon by Men and Beasts; called also by some the Fruit of the Locust Tree,⁵⁸ and Panis Sancti Johannis, as conceiving it to have been part of the Diet of the Baptist in the Desart. The Tree and Fruit is not onely common in Syria and the Eastern parts, but also well known in Apuglia, and the Kingdom of Naples, growing along the Via Appia, from Fundi unto Mola; the hard Cods or Husks making a rattling noise in windy weather, by beating against one another: called by the Italians Caróba or Caróbala, and by the French Carouges. With the sweet Pulp hereof some conceive that the Indians preserve Ginger, Mirabolans and Nutmegs. Of the same (as Pliny delivers⁵⁹) the Ancients made one kind of Wine, strongly expressing the Juice thereof; and so they might after give the expressed and less usefull part of the Cods, and remaining Pulp unto their Swine: which being no gustless or unsatisfying Offal, might be well desired by the Prodigal in his hunger.

12. No marvel is it that the Israelites having lived long in a well watred Country, and been acquainted with the noble Water of Nilus, should complain for Water in the dry and barren Wilderness. More remarkable it seems that they should extoll and linger after the Cucumbers and Leeks, Onions and Garlick in Ægypt:⁶⁰ wherein notwithstanding lies a pertinent expression of the Diet of that Country in ancient times, even as high as the building of the Pyramids, when Herodotus delivereth, that so many Talents were spent in Onions and Garlick, for the Food of Labourers and Artificers;⁶¹ and is also answerable unto their present plentifull Diet in Cucumbers, and the great varieties thereof, as testified by Prosper Alpinus, who spent many years in Ægypt.⁶²

13. What Fruit that was which our first Parents tasted in Paradise,⁶³ from the disputes of learned men seems yet indeterminable.⁶⁴ More clear it is that they cover'd their nakedness or secret parts with Figg Leaves;⁶⁵ which when I reade, I cannot but call to mind the several considerations which Antiquity had of the Figg Tree, in reference unto those parts, particularly how Figg Leaves by sundry Authours are described to have some resemblance unto the Genitals, and so were aptly formed for such contection of those parts; how also in that famous Statua of Praxiteles, concerning Alexander and Bucephalus, the Secret Parts are veil'd with Figg Leaves:⁶⁶ how this Tree was sacred unto Priapus, and how the Diseases of the Secret Parts have derived their Name from Figgs.⁶⁷

14. That the Good Samaritan coming from Jericho used any of the Judean Balsam upon the wounded Traveller, is not to be made out,⁶⁸ and we are unwilling to disparage his charitable Surgery in pouring Oil into a green Wound; and therefore when 'tis said he used Oil and Wine, may rather conceive that he made an Oinelæum or medicine of Oil and Wine beaten up and mixed together, which was no improper Medicine, and is an Art now lately studied by some so as to incorporate Wine and Oil that they may lastingly hold together, which some pretend to have, and call it Oleum Samaritanum, or Samaritan's Oil.⁶⁹

15. When Daniel would not pollute himself with the Diet of the Babylonians,⁷⁰ he probably declined Pagan commensation, or to eat of Meats forbidden to the Jews, though common at their Tables, or so much as to taste of their Gentile Immolations, and Sacrifices abominable unto his Palate.

But when 'tis said that he made choice of the Diet of Pulse and Water, whether he strictly confined unto a leguminous Food, according to the Vulgar Translation,⁷¹ some doubt may be raised, from the original word Zeragnim, which signifies Seminalia,⁷² and is so set down in the Margin of Arias Montanus;⁷³ and the Greek word Spermata, generally expressing Seeds, may signifie any edulious or cerealious Grains beside ospria⁷⁴ or lugminous Seeds.

Yet if he strictly made choice of a leguminous Food, and Water instead of his portion from the King's Table, he handsomely declined the Diet which might have been put upon him, and particularly that which was called the Potibasis of the King, which as Athenæus informeth implied the Bread of the King, made of Barley, and Wheat, and the Wine of Cyprus, which he drank in an oval Cup.⁷⁵ And therefore distinctly from that he chose plain Fare of Water, and the gross Diet of Pulse, and that perhaps not made into Bread, but parched, and tempered with Water.

Now that herein (beside the special benediction of God) he made choice of no improper Diet to keep himself fair and plump and so to excuse the Eunuch his Keeper, Physicians will not deny, who acknowledge a very nutritive and impinguating faculty in Pulses, in leguminous Food, and in several sorts of Grains and Corns, is not like to be doubted by such who consider that this was probably a great part of the Food of our Forefathers before the Floud, the Diet also of Jacob: and that Romans (called, therefore, Pultifagi) fed much on Pulse for six hundred years; that they had no Bakers for that time: and their Pistours were such as, before the use of Mills, beat out and Cleansed their Corn.⁷⁶ As also that the Athletick Diet was of Pulse, Alphiton, Maza, Barley and Water; whereby they were advantaged sometimes to an exquisite state of health, and such as was not without danger. And therefore, though Daniel were no Eunuch, and of a more fatning and thriving temper, as some have phancied, yet was he by this kind of Diet, sufficiently maintained in a fair and carnous state of Body, and accordingly his Picture not improperly drawn, that is, not meagre and lean, like Jeremy's, but plump and fair, answerable to the most authentick draught of the Vatican, and the late German Luther's Bible.

The Cynicks in Athenæus make iterated Courses of Lentils, and prefer that Diet before the luxury of Seleucus.⁷⁷ The present Ægyptians, who are observed by Alpinus to be the fattest Nation, and Men to have Breasts like Women, owe much, as he conceiveth, unto the Water of Nile, and their Diet of Rice, Pease, Lentils and white Cicers. The Pulse-eating Cynicks and Stoicks, are all very long livers in Laertius. And Daniel must not be accounted of few years, who, being carried away Captive in the Reign of Joachim, by King Nebuchadnezzar, lived, by Scripture account, unto the first year of Cyrus.⁷⁸

16. And Jacob took Rods of green Poplar, and of the Hazel and the Chesnut Tree, and pilled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the Rods, &c.⁷⁹ Men multiply the Philosophy of Jacob, who, beside the benediction of God, and the powerfull effects of imagination, raised in the Goats and Sheep from pilled and party-coloured objects, conceive that he chose out these particular Plants above any other, because he understood they had a particular virtue unto the intended effects, according unto the conception of Georgius Venetus.⁸⁰

Whereto you will hardly assent, at least till you be better satisfied and assured concerning the true species of the Plants intended in the Text, or find a clearer consent and uniformity in the Translation: For what we render Poplar, Hazel and Chesnut, the Greek translateth Virgam styracinam, nucinam, plataninam, which some also render a Pomegranate:⁸¹ and so observing this variety of interpretations concerning common and known Plants among us, you may more reasonably doubt, with what propriety or assurance others less known be sometimes rendred unto us.

17. Whether in the Sermon of the Mount,⁸² the Lilies of the Field did point at the proper Lilies, or whether those Flowers grew wild in the place where our Saviour preached, some doubt may be made:⁸³ because krinon the word in that place is accounted of the signification with leirion, and that in Homer is taken for all manner of specious Flowers:⁸⁴ so received by Eustachius, Hesychius, and the Scholiast upon Apollonius Rhodius, kaqolou ta anqh leiria legetai. And krinon is also received in the same latitude, not signifying onely Lilies, but applied unto Daffodils, Hyacinths, Iris's, and the Flowers of Colocynthis.

Under the like latitude of acception, are many expressions in the Canticles to be received. And when it is said he feedeth among the Lilies,⁸⁵ therein may be also implied other specious Flowers, not excluding the proper Lilies. But in that expression, the Lilies drop forth Myrrhe,⁸⁶ neither proper Lilies nor proper Myrrhe can be apprehended, the one not proceeding from the other,⁸⁷ but may be received in a Metaphorical sense: and in some latitude may be also made out from the roscid and honey drops observable in the Flowers of Maragon, and inverted flowred Lilies, and 'tis like, in the standing sweet Dew on the white eyes of the Crown Imperial, now common among us.⁸⁸

And the proper Lily may be intended in that expression of 1 Kings 7, that the brazen Sea was of the thickness of a hand breadth, and the brim like a Lily. For the figure of that Flower being rounded at the bottom, and somewhat repandous, or inverted at the top, doth handsomely illustrate the comparison.⁸⁹

But that the Lily of the Valley, mentioned in the Canticles,⁹⁰ I am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the Valleys, is that Vegetable which passeth under the same name with us, that is Lilium convallium, or the May Lily,⁹¹ you will more hardly believe, who know with what insatisfaction the most learned Botanists, reduce that Plant unto any described by the Ancients; that Anguillara will have it be the Œnanthe of Athenæus, Cordus the Pothos of Theophrastus;⁹² and Lobelius that the Greeks had not described it; who find not six Leaves in the Flower agreeably to all Lilies, but only six small divisions in the Flower, who find it also to have a single, and no bulbous root, nor Leaves shooting about the bottom, nor the Stalk round, but angular. And that the learned Bauhinus hath not placed in the Classis of Lilies, but nervifolious Plants.⁹³

18. Doth he not cast abroad the Fitches, and scatter the Cummin Seed, and cast in the principal Wheat, and the appointed bBarley, and the Rye in their Place:⁹⁴ Herein though the sense may hold under the names assigned, yet is it not so easie to determine the particular Seeds and Grains, where the obscure original causeth such differing Translations. For in the Vulgar we meet with Milium and Gith, which our Translation declineth, placing Fitches for Gith, and Rye for Milium or Millet, which notwithstanding is retained by the Dutch.

That it might be Melanthium, Nigella, or Gith,⁹⁵ may be allowably apprended, from the frequent use of the Seed thereof among the Jews and other Nations, as also from the Translation of Tremellius; and the Original implying a black Seed, which is less than Cumin, as, out of Aben Ezra, Buxtorfius hath expanded it.

But whereas Millium or kegcroV of the Septuagint is by ours rendred Rye, there is little similitude or affinity between those Grains; For Milium is more agreeable unto Spelta or Espaut, as the Dutch and others still render it.

That we meet so often with Cummin Seed in many parts of Scripture in reference unto Judæa, a seed so abominable at present unto our Palates and Nostrils,⁹⁶ will not seem strange unto any who consider the frequent use thereof among the Ancients, not only in medical but dietetical use and practice: For their Dishes were filled therewith, and the noblest festival preparations in Apicius were not without it: And even in the Polenta, and parched Corn, the old Diet of the Romans, (as Pliny recordeth) unto every Measure they mixed a small proportion of Lin-seed and Cummin-seed.⁹⁷

And so Cumminn is justly set down among things of vulgar and common use, when it is said in Matthew 23. v. 23. You pay Tithe of Mint, Annise and Cummin: but how to make out the translations of Annise we are still to seek, there being no word in the Text which properly signifies Annise: the original being anhqon, which the Latins call Anethum, and is properly englished Dill.⁹⁸

That among many expressions, allusions and illustrations made in Scripture from Corns, there is no mention made of Oats, so usefull a grain among us, will not seem very strange to you, till you can clearly discover that it was a Grain of ordinary use in those parts; who may also find that Theophrastus, who is large about other Grains, delivers very little of it.⁹⁹ That Dioscorides is also very short therein. And Galen delivers that it was of some use in Asia Minor, especially in Mysia, and that rather for Beasts than Men: and Pliny affirmeth that the Pulticula thereof was most in use among the Germans.¹⁰⁰ Yet that the Jews were not without all use of this Grain seems confirmable from the Rabbinical account, who reckon five Grains liable unto their Offerings, whereof the Cake presented might be made; that is, Wheat, Oats, Rye, and two sorts of Barley.¹⁰¹

19. Why the Disciples being hungry pluck'd the Ears of Corn,¹⁰² it seems strange to us, who observe that men half starved betake not themselves to such supply; except we consider the ancient Diet of Alphiton and Polenta, the Meal of dried and parched Corn, or that which was wmhlusiV, or Meal of crude and unparched Corn, wherewith they being well acquainted, might hope for some satisfaction from the Corn yet in the Husk; that is, from the nourishing pulp or mealy part within it.¹⁰³

20. The inhumane oppression of the Ægyptian Task-masters,¹⁰⁴ who not content with the common tale of Brick, took also from the Children their allowance of Straw, and forced them to gather Stubble where they could find it, will be more nearly apprehended, if we consider how hard it was to acquire any quantity of Stubble in Ægypt, where the Stalk of Corn was so short, that to acquire an ordinary measure, it required more than ordinary labour; as is discoverable from that account, which Pliny¹⁰⁵ hath happily left unto us. In the Corn gather'd in Ægypt the Straw is never a Cubit long: because the Seed lieth very shallow, and hath no other nourishment than from the Mudd and Slime left by the River: For under it is nothing but Sand and Gravel.

So that the Expression of Scripture is more Emphatical than is commonly apprehended, when 'tis said, The people were scattered abroad through all the Land of Ægypt to gather Stubble instead of Straw. For the Stubble being very short, the acquist was difficult; a few Fields afforded it not, and they were fain to wander far to obtain a sufficient quantity of it.

21. It is said in the Song of Solomon, that the Vines with the tender Grape give a good smell.¹⁰⁶ That the Flowers of the Vine should be Emphatically noted to give a pleasant smell, seems hard unto our Northern Nostrills, which discover not such Odours, and smell them not in full Vineyards; whereas in hot Regions, and more spread and digested Flowers, a sweet savour may be allowed, denotable from several humane expressions, and the practice of the Ancients, in putting the dried Flowers of the Vine into new Wine to give it a pure and flosculous race or spirit, which Wine was therefore called oinanqinon, allowing unto every Cadus two pounds of dried Flowers.¹⁰⁷

And therefore, the Vine flowering but in the Spring, it cannot but seem an impertinent objection of the Jews, that the Apostles were full of new Wine at Pentecost when it was not to be found.¹⁰⁸ Wherefore we may rather conceive that the word gleuku in that place implieth not new Wine or Must, but some generous strong and sweet Wine, wherein more especially lay the power of inebriation.

But if it be taken for some kind of Must, it might be some kind of aieigleukoV, or long-lasting Must, which might be had at any time of the year, and which, as Pliny delivereth,¹⁰⁹ they made by hindring, and keeping the Must from fermentation or working, and so it kept soft and sweet for no small time after.

22. When the Dove, sent out of the Ark, return'd with a green Olive Leaf, according to the Original:¹¹⁰ how the Leaf, after ten Months, and under water, should maintain a verdure or greenness, need not much amuse the Reader, if we consider that the Olive Tree is aieiqullon, 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 of the 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 saltiness of the Sea, by the admixture of fresh Water, when the whole watery element was together.

And it may be signally illustrated from like examples in Theophrastus and Pliny in words to this effect:¹¹¹ In the red Sea whole Woods do live, namely of Bays and Olives bearing Fruit. The Souldiers of Alexander, who sailed into India, 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 by Theophrastus, that some Oaks do grow and bear Acrons¹¹² under the Sea.

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.¹¹³

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 not seem 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 of Rapunculus, Marjorane, Tobacco, and the smallest Seed of Lunaria.

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, and becometh the greatest of Herbs.

And you may also grant that it is the smallest of Seeds of Plants apt to dendrizein, 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 the Dendrolachana, or Arboroleracea; as upon strong Seed, Culture and good Ground, is observable in some Cabbages, Mallows, and many more,¹¹⁴ and therefore expressed by ginetai to dendron, and ginetai eiV to dendron, it becometh a Tree, or arborescit, as Beza rendreth it.¹¹⁵

Nor if warily considered doth the expression contain such difficulty. For the Parable may not ground itself 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 in Judæa, above our Northern Regions; If we accept of but half the Story taken notice of by Tremellius, from the Jerusalem Talmud, of a Mustard Tree that was to be climbed like a Figg Tree; and of another, under whose shade a Potter daily wrought:¹¹⁶ and it may somewhat abate our doubts if we take in the advertisement of Herodotus concerning lesser plants of Milium and Sesamum in the Babylonian Soil: Milium ac Sesamum in proceritatem instar arborum crescere, et si mihi compertum, tamen memorare supersedeo, probè sciens eis quia nunquam Babyloniam regionem adierunt perquam incredibile visum iri. We may likewise consider that the word kataskhnwsai doth not necessarily signifie making a Nest, but rather sitting, roosting, covering and resting in the Boughs, according as the same word is used by the Septuagint in other places¹¹⁷ as the Vulgar rendreth it in this, inhabitant, as our Translation, lodgeth, and the Rhemish, resteth in the Branches.

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 Blossoms, and yielded Almonds.¹¹⁸ In the contention of the Tribes and decision of priority and primogeniture of Aaron, 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 Namea¹¹⁹ implies such speedy efflorescence, as in its proper nature flowering in February, and shewing its Fruit in March.

This consideration of that Tree maketh the expression in Jeremy¹²⁰ more Emphaticall, 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 in Ecclesiastes;¹²¹ When the Almond Tree shall flourish. That is when the Head, which is the prime part, and first sheweth itself in the world, shall grow white, like the Flowers of the Almond Tree, whose Fruit, as Athenæus delivereth, was first called karhnon, 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,¹²² 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 of Thersites felt from the hands of Ulysses. Achilles in Homer, 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 of Aaron's Rod. And if it could be well made out that Homer had seen the Books of Moses, in that expression of Achilles, he might allude unto this Miracle.

That power which proposed the experiment by Blossomes 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 the Jerusalem Shekels, the Rod of Aaron is 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.¹²³

25. Binding his Foal unto the Vine, and his Asse's Colt unto the choice Vine.¹²⁴ 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 must easily be admitted, if we consider the account of Pliny, that in many places out of Italy Vines do grow without any stay or support: nor will it be otherwise conceived of lusty Vines, if we call to mind how the same Authour¹²⁵ delivereth, that the Statua of Jupiter was 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 of Diana at Ephesus.

26. I was exalted as a Palm Tree in Engaddi, and as a Rose Plant in Jericho.¹²⁶ That the rose of Jericho, or that Plant which passeth among us under the denomination, was signified in this Text, you are not like to apprehend with some, who also name it the Rose of S. Mary, and deliver, that it openeth the Branches, and Flowers upon the Eve of our Saviour's Nativity:¹²⁷ But rather conceive it some proper kind of Rose, which thrived and prospered in Jericho more than in the neighbour Countries.¹²⁸ For our Rose of Jericho is a very low and hard Plant, a few inches above the ground; one whereof brought from Judæa I have kept by me many years, nothing resembling a Rose Tree, either in Flowers, Branches, Branches, Leaves or Growth; and so, improper to answer the Emphatical word of exaltation in the Text: growing not onely about Jericho, but other parts of Judæa and Arabia, as Bellonius hath 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.

27. Quasi Terebinthus extendi ramos, when it is said in the same Chapter, as a Turpentine Tree have I stretched out my Branches:¹²⁹ 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 but of a low and fruticeous growth, yet Pliny¹³⁰ observeth that it is great in Syria, and so allowably, or at least not improperly mentioned in the expression of Hosea¹³¹ according to the Vulgar Translation, Super capita montiuym sacrificant, &c. sub quercu, populo & terebintho, quoniam bona est embras ejus. And this diffusion and spreading of its Branches, hath afforded the Proverb of Terebintho stultior, applicable unto arrogant or boasting persons, who spread and display their own acts, as Erasmus hath observed.¹³²

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.¹³³ And when it is said in some Latin Translations, Saul morabatur fixo tentorio sub Mologranato,¹³⁴ you will not be ready to take it 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 of Rimmon, or Pomegranate;¹³⁵ so named from Pomegranates which grew there, and which many think to have been the same place mentioned in Judges.

29. It is said in the Book of Wisedom, 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:¹³⁶ 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 of Alga's, Sea Lettuce, Phasganium, Conferva, Caulis Marina, Abies, Erica, Tamarice, divers sorts of Muscus, Fucus, Quercus Marina and Corallins) are found at the bottom of the Sea. Since it is also now well known, that the Western Ocean, for many degrees, is covered with Sargasso or Lenticula Marina, and found to arise from the bottom of that Sea; since, upon the coast of Provence, by the Isles of Eres, there is a part of the Mediterranean Sea, called la Prairie, or the Meadowy 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 provided this 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 name it Suph, or the Weedy Sea;¹³⁷ and, also, seeing Theophrastus and Pliny, observing the growth of Vegetables under water, have made their chief illustrations from those in the Red Sea.¹³⁸

30. You will readily discover how widely they are mistaken, who accept the Sycamore mention'd in several parts of the Scripture for the Sycamore, or Tree of that denomination, with us:¹³⁹ which is properly but one kind or difference of Acer, and bears no Fruit with any resemblance unto a Figg.

But you will rather, thereby, apprehend the true and genuine Sycamore, or Sycaminus, which is a stranger in our part.¹⁴⁰ A Tree (according to the description of Theophrastus, Dioscorides and Galen) 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 of Ægypt, the Ægyptian Figg or Giamez of the Arabians, described in Prosper 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 grafted on a Mulberry.

It is a Tree common in Judæa, whereof they made frequent use in Buildings; and so understood, it explaineth that expression in Isaiah:¹⁴¹ Sycamori excisi sunt, Cedros substituemus. The Bricks are fallen down, so 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 for Walks, Groves and Shade, but also affording profit. And therefore it is said that King David appointed Baalhanan to be over his Olive Trees and Sycamores,¹⁴² which were in great plenty; and it is accordingly delivered,¹⁴³ that Solomon 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, as Bellonius and late accounts deliver, very refreshing unto Travellers in those hot and drie Countries: whereby the expression of Amos becomes more intelligible, when he said he was an Herdsman, and a gatherer of Sycamore Fruit.¹⁴⁴ And the expression of David also becomes more Emphatical;¹⁴⁵ He destroyed their Vines with Hail, and their Sycamore Trees with Frost. That is, their Sicmoth in the Original, a word in the sound not far from the Sycamore.

Thus when it is said,¹⁴⁶ 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 be Arbor 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 which Zacheus ascended, is still shewn in Judæa unto Travellers; as also the hollow Sycamore at Maturæa in Ægypt, where the blessed Virgin is said to have remained:¹⁴⁷ 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 describer¹⁴⁸ of the Pyramids 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, when Zacheus climbed 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.¹⁴⁹

31. Whether the expression of our Saviour in the Parable of the Sower,¹⁵⁰ and the increase of the Seed unto thirty, sixty and a hundred fold, had any reference unto the ages of Believers, and measures of their Faiths, 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 two Versus or Rows, seldom exceedeth twenty Grains, that is, ten upon each stoicoV, or Row; Rye, of a square figure, is very fruitfull at forty: Wheat, besides the Frit and Uruncus, or imperfect grains of the small Husks at the top and bottom of the Ear, is fruitfull at ten treble Glumæ or 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 centesimal¹⁵¹ fructification may be admitted in some sorts of Cerealia, and Grains from one Ear: if we take in the Triticum centigranum, or fertilissimum Plinii, Indian Wheat, and Panicum; which, in every Ear, containeth hundreds of Grains.

But this increase may be easily 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: As Pliny hath left recorded of the Byzacian Field in Africa,¹⁵² Misit ex eo loco Procurator ex uno quadraginta minus germina. Misit & Neroni pariter tercentum quadraginta stipulos, ex uno grano. Cum centessimos quidem Leontini Siciliæ campi fundunt, aliique, & tota Boetica, & imprimis Ægyptus. And even in our own Country, from one Grain of Wheat sowed in a Garden, I have numbered many more than an hundred.¹⁵³

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 in Gerar;¹⁵⁴ 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 this Pliny seems 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 in Poland; wherein, after the account of Gaguinus,¹⁵⁵ from Rye sowed in August, come thirty or forty Ears, and a Man on Horseback can scarce look over it.

In the Sabbatical Crop of Judæa, 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 of the seventh, and eighth untill the Harvest of that year.¹⁵⁶

The seven years of plenty in Ægypt must be of high increase; when, by storing up but the fifth part, they supplied the whole Land, and many of their neighbours after:¹⁵⁷ for it is said, the Famine was in all the Land about them. And therefore though the causes of the Dearth in Ægypt be made out from the defect of the overflow of Nilus, according to the Dream of Pharaoh; yet was that no cause of the scarcity in the Land of Canaan, 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 of Ægypt; as may be probably gathered from that expression of Joseph,¹⁵⁸ 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 Houshold, and all that thou hast come to poverty.

How they preserved their Corn so long in Ægypt may 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 of Pliny;¹⁵⁹ What Corn soever is laid up in the Ear, 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 of Cappadocia and Thracia.

In Ægypt and Mauritania above 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. And Varro delivereth that Wheat laid up in that manner will last fifty years; Millet an hundred; and Beans so conserved in a Cave of Ambracia, were known to last an hundred and twenty years; that is, from the time of King Pyrrhus, unto the Pyratick War under the conduct of Pompey.

More strange it may seem how, after seven years, the Grains conserved should be fruitfull for a new production. For it is said that Joseph 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 to Theophrastus;¹⁶⁰ Ad Sementem semen anniculum optimum putatur, binum deterius & trinum; ultra sterile fermè est, sexagenos aut septuagenos ad usum cibarium servari posse idoneum. The situation of that Conservatory, was, as he delivereth, uyhlon, eupnoun, euauron, high, airy and exposed to several favourable winds.¹⁶¹ 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: for the great Mists and Dews of that Country might dispose the Corn unto corruption.¹⁶²

More plainly may they mistake, who from some analogy of name (as if Pyramid were derived from¹⁶³ puron, 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 great Towns, according to Scripture expression,¹⁶⁴ 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.

32. For if thou wert cut out of the Olive Tree, which is wild by nature, and wert graffed, contrary to nature, into a good Olive Tree, how much more shall these, which be the natural Branches, be graffed unto their own Olive Tree?¹⁶⁵ In which place, how answerable¹⁶⁶ to the Doctrine of Husbandry this expression of S. Paul is, you will readily apprehend who understand the rules of insition or grafting, and what way of vegetable propagation; wherein that is contrary to nature, or natural rules which Art observeth: viz. to make use of Cyons more ignoble than the Stock, or to graft wild upon domestick and good Plants, according as Theophrastus¹⁶⁷ hath anciently observed, and, making instance in the Olive, hath left this Doctrin unto us; Urbanum Sylvestribus ut satis Oleastris inserere. Nam si è contrario Sylvestrem in Urbanos severis, etsi differentia quædam erit, tamen bonæ frugis Arbor nunquam profecto reddetur:¹⁶⁸ 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 Authour; esti de beltiwn egkentrimoV omoiwn eiV omoia, 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 of Laurenbergius;¹⁶⁹ Arbores domestica 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 apply by a peculiar word scarce to be found elsewhere.¹⁷⁰

It must be also considered that the Oleaster, or wild Olive, by cutting, transplanting and the best managery of Art, can be made but to produce such Olives as (Theophrastus saith¹⁷¹) were particularly named Phaulia, that is, but bad Olives; and that it was reckon'd among Prodigies, for the Oleaster to become an Olive Tree.

And when insition or 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, as Theophrastus observeth, nor well by Seed, as hath been observed. Omne semen simile genus perficit, præter oleam, Oleastrum enim generat, hoc est sylvestrem oleam, & non oleam veram.

If, therefore, thou Roman and Gentile Branch, which were 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 the 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.

33. As for the Stork, the Firre Trees are her House.¹⁷² This expression in our Translation, which keeps close to the Original Chasideh, 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 of Ornithologus in Aldrovandus, that such Storks are often found in divers parts, and that they do in 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 unto Varro, nidulantur in agris: and the concession of Aldrovandus that sometimes they build on Trees: and the assertion of Bellonius,¹⁷³ 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 also be 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.

34. And, therefore, Israel said carry down the man a present, a little Balm, a little Honey, and Myrrhe, Nuts and Almonds.¹⁷⁴ Now whether this, which Jacob sent, were the proper Balsam extolled by humane Writers, you cannot but make some doubt, who find the Greek Translation to be rhsinh,¹⁷⁵ that is, Resina, and so many have some suspicion that it might be some pure distillation from the Turpentine Tree, which grows prosperously and plentifully in Judæa, and seems so understood by the Arabick; and was indeed esteemed by Theophrastus and Dioscorides, the chiefest of resinous Bodies, and the word Resina Emphatically used for it.¹⁷⁶

That the Balsam Plant hath grown and prospered in Judæa we believe without dispute. For the same is attested by Theophrastus, Pliny, Justinus, and many more; from the commendation that Galen affordeth of the Balsam of Syria,¹⁷⁷ and the story of Cleopatra, that she obtain'd some plants from Herod the Great to transplant into Ægypt.¹⁷⁸ But whether it was so anciently in Judæa as the time of Jacob; nay, whether this Plant was here before the time of Solomon, that great collector of Vegetable Rarities, some doubt may be made from the account of Josephus, that the Queen of Sheba, a part of Arabia, among presents unto Solomon, brought some plants of the Balsam Tree, as one of the peculiar estimables of her Country.¹⁷⁹

Whether this ever had its natural growth, or were an original native Plant of Judæa, much more that it was peculiar unto that Countrey, a greater doubt may arise: while we read in Pausanius, Strabo, and Diodorus,¹⁸⁰ that it grows also in Arabia, and find in Theophrastus,¹⁸¹ that it grew in two Gardens about Jericho in Judæa. And more especially whiles we seriously consider that notable discourse between Abdella, Abdachim and Alpinus, concluding the natural and original place of this singular Plant to be in Arabia, about Mecha and Medina, where it still plentifully groweth, and Mountains abound therein. From whence it hath been carefully transplanted by the Basha's of Grand Cairo, into the Garden of Matarea; where, when it dies, it is repaired again from those parts of Arabia, from whence the Grand Signior yearly receiveth a present of Balsam from the Xeriff of Mecha, still called by the Arabians Balessan; whence they believe arose the Greek appellation Balsam.¹⁸² And since these Balsam-plants are not now to be found in Judæa, and though purposely cultivated, are often lost in Judæa, but everlastingly live, and naturally renew in Arabia; They probably concluded, that those of Judæa were 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 of Judæa as well as of Arabia; which because de facto it 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 in Judæa, and still plentifully prospers in Arabia, that which now comes in pretious parcels to us, and still is called the Balsam of Judæa, may now surrender its name, and more properly be called the Balsam of Arabia.

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.¹⁸³ How the Barley and the Flax should be smitten in the plague of Hail in Ægypt,¹⁸⁴ and the Wheat and Rye¹⁸⁵ 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 beside hordeum 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 in Ægypt, and fairly proved to have been also used in Judæa, wherein their Barley Harvest was before that of Wheat; as is confirmable from that expression in Ruth, that she came into Bethlehem at the beginning of Barley Harvest,¹⁸⁶ and staid unto the end of the Wheat Harvest; from the death of Manasses the Father of Judith,¹⁸⁷ 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 in March, and a Cake of Wheat Flower but at the end of Pentecost.¹⁸⁸ Consonant unto the practice of the Ægyptians, who (as Theophrastus delivereth) 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 of Canaan. For the Israelites kept the Passeover in Gilgal in the fourteenth day of the first Month, answering unto part of our March, having newly passed Jordan: And the Spies which were sent from Shittim unto Jericho, not many days before, were hid by Rahab under the stalks of Flax, which lay drying on the top of her House;¹⁸⁹ which sheweth that the Flax was already and newly gathered. For this was the first preparation of Flax, and before fluviation or rotting, which, after Pliny's account, was after Wheat Harvest.¹⁹⁰

But the Wheat and the Rye were not smitten, for they were not grown up. The Original signifies that it was hidden, or dark, the Vulgar and Septuagint that it was serotinous or late, and our old Translation that it was late sown. And so the expression and interposition of Moses, who well understood the Husbandry of Ægypt, might Emphatically declare the state of Wheat and Rye in that particular year; and if so, the same is solvable from the time off the floud of Nilus, and the measure of its inundation. For if they 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.¹⁹¹

Some think the Plagues of Ægypt were acted in one Month, others but in the compass of twelve. In the delivery of Scripture¹⁹² 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 in February: This may be collected from the new and old account of the Seed-time and Harvest in Ægypt. For, according to the account of Radzevil,¹⁹³ the River rising in June, and the Banks being cut in September, 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 in February.

The account of Pliny is little different.¹⁹⁴ They cast the Seed upon the Slime and Mudd when the River is down, which commonly happeneth in the beginning of November. They begin to reap and cut down a little before the Calends of April, about the middle of March, and in the Month of May their Harvest is in. So that Barley anticipating Wheat, it might be in Ear in February, 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 of March, at least their forward Corns, and in the Month of May all sorts of Corn were in.

The turning of the River into Bloud shews 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 hestiation, pass over the translation of Rye, which the Original nameth Cassumeth, the Greek rendreth Olyra, the French and Dutch Spelta, the Latin Zea, and not Secale the 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 the Typha of the Ancients.¹⁹⁵ Cordus will have it to be Olyra,¹⁹⁶ and Ruellius some kind of Oryza.¹⁹⁷ But having no vulgar and well known name for those Grains, we warily embrace an appellation of near affinity, and tolerably render it Rye.

While Flax, Barley, Wheat and Rye are named, some may wonder why no mention is made of Ryce, wherewith, at present, Ægypt so much aboundeth. But whether that Plant grew so early in that Country, some doubt may be made: for Ryce is originally a Grain of India, and might not then be transplanted into Ægypt.

36. Let them become as the Grass growing upon the House top, which withereth before it be plucked up, whereof the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth Sheaves his bosome.¹⁹⁸ Though the filling of the hand, and mention of Sheaves of Haye, may seem strange unto us, who use neither handfulls nor Sheaves in that kind of Husbandry, yet it may be properly taken, and you are not like to doubt thereof, who may find the like expressions in the Authours de Re rustica, concerning the old way of this Husbandry.

Columella,¹⁹⁹ delivering what Works were not to be permitted upon the Roman Feriæ, or Festivals; among others sets down, that upon such days, it was not lawfull to carry or bind up Hay, nec foenum vincire nec vehere, per religiones Pontificum licet.

Marcus Varro²⁰⁰ is more particular; Primum de pratis herbarum cum crescere desiit, subsecari falcibus debet, & quoad peracesat furcillis versari, cum peracuit, de his manipulos fieri & vehi in villam.

And their course of mowing seems somewhat different from ours. For they cut not down clear at once, but used an after section, which they peculiarly called Sicilitium, according as the word expouded by Georgius Alexandrinus, and Beroaldus after Pliny;²⁰¹ Sicilire est falcibus consectari quæ fœnisecæ præterierunt, aut ea secare quæ fœnisecæ præterierunt.

37. When 'tis said that Elias lay and slept under a Juniper Tree, some may wonder how that Tree, which in our parts groweth but low and shrubby, should afford him shade and covering.²⁰² But others know that there is a lesser and a larger kind of that Vegetable; that it makes a Tree in its proper soil and region. And may find in Pliny that in the temple of Diana Saguntina in Spain, the Rafters were made of Juniper.²⁰³

In that expression of David,²⁰⁴ Sharp Arrows of the might, with Coals of Juniper; Though Juniper be left out in the last Translation, yet may there be an Emphatical sense from that word; since Juniper abounds with a piercing Oil, and makes a smart Fire. And the rather, if that quality be half true, which Pliny affirmeth,²⁰⁵ that the Coals of Juniper raked up will keep a glowing Fire for the space of a year. For so the expression will Emphatically imply, not onely the smart burning, but the lasting fire of their malice.

That passage of Job,²⁰⁶ wherein he complains that poor and half famished fellows despised him, is of greater difficulty; For want and famine they were solitary, they cut up Mallows by the Bushes, and Juniper roots for meat. Wherein we might at first doubt the Translation, not onely from the Greek Text but the Assertion of Dioscorides, who affirmeth that the roots of Juniper are of a venemous quality. But Scaliger hath disproved the same from the practice of the African Physicians, who use the decoction of Juniper roots against the Venereal Disease. The Chaldee reads it Genista, or some kind of Broom, which will be also unusual and hard Diet, except thereby we understand the Orobanche, or Broom Rape, which groweth from the roots of Broom; and which, according to Dioscorides, men used to eat raw or boiled in the manner of Asparagus.

And, therefore, this expression doth highly declare the misery, poverty and extremity of the persons who were now mockers of him; they being so contemptible and necessitous, that they were fain to be content, not with a mean Diet, but such as was no Diet at all, the roots of Trees, the roots of Juniper, which none would make use of for Food, but in the lowest necessity, and some degree of famishing.

38. While some have disputed whether Theophrastus knew the Scarlet Berry, others may doubt whether that noble tincture were known unto the Hebrews, which notiwthstanding seems clear from the early and iterated expressions of Scripture concerning the Scarlet Tincture,²⁰⁷ and is the less to be doubted because the Scarlet Berry grew plentifully in the Land of Canaan, and so they were furnished with the Materials of that Colour. For though Dioscorides saith it groweth in Armenia and Cappadocia, yet that it also grew in Judæa, seems more than probable from the account of Bellonius, who observed it to be so plentifull in that Country, that it affordeth a profitable Commodity, and great quantity thereof was transported by the Venetian Merchants.

How this should be fitly expressed by the word Tolagnoth, Vermis, or Worm, may be made out from Pliny, who calls it Coccus Scolecius, or the Wormy Berry;²⁰⁸ as also from the name of that Colour called Vermillion, or the Worm Colour; and which is also answerable unto the true nature of it. For this is no proper Berry, containing the fructifying part, but a kind of Vessicular excrescence, adhering commonly to the Leaf of the Ilex Coccigera, or dwarf and small kind of Oak, whose Leaves are always green, and its proper seminal parts Acrons. This little Bagg containeth a red Pulp, which, if not timely gathered, or left to it self, produceth small red Flies, and partly a red powder, both serviceable unto the tincture. And therefore, to prevent the generation of Flies, when it is first gathered, they sprinkle it over with Vinegar, especially such as make use of the fresh Pulp for the confection of Alkermes; which still retaineth the Arabick name, from the Kermesberry; which is agreeable unto the description of Bellonius and quinqueranus. And the same we have beheld in Provence and Languedock, where it is plentifully gathered, and called Manna Rusticorum, from the considerable profit which the Peasants make by gathering it.

39. Mention is made of Oaks in divers parts of Scripture, which though the Latin sometimes renders a Turpentine Tree,²⁰⁹ yet surely some kind of Oak may be understood thereby; but whether our common Oak as is commonly apprehended, you may well doubt; for the common Oak, which prospereth so well with us, delighteth not in hot regions. And that diligent Botanist Bellonius, who took such particular notice of the Plants of Syria and Judæa, observed not the vulgar Oak in those parts. But he found the Ilex, Chesne vert,²¹⁰ or Evergreen Oak, in many places; as also that kind of Oak which is properly named Esculus: and he makes mention thereof in places about Jerusalem, and in his Journey from thence unto Damascus, where he found Montes Ilice & Esculo virentes; which , in his Discourse of Lemnos, he saith are always green. And therefore when it is said of Absalom,²¹¹ that his mule went under the thick Boughs of a great Oak, and his Head caught hold of the Oak, and he was taken up between the Heaven and the Earth, that Oak might be some Ilex, or rather Esculus. For that is a thick and bushy kind, in Orbem comosa, as Dalechampius; ramis in orbem dispositis comans, as Renealmus describeth it. And when it is said that Ezechias broke down the Images, and cut down the Groves,²¹² they might much consist of Oaks, which were sacred unto Pagan Deities, as this more particularly, according to that of Virgil,²¹³

— Nemorumque Jovi quæ maxima frondet
Esculus, —

And in Judæa, where no Hogs were eaten by the Jews, and few kept by others, 'tis not unlikely that they most cherished the Esculus, which might serve for Food of men. For the Acrons thereof are the sweetest of any Oak, and taste like Chesnuts; and so, producing an edulious or esculent Fruit, is properly named Esculus.

They which know the Ilex, or Ever-green Oak, with somewhat prickled Leaves, named prinoV, will better understand the irreconcileable answer of the two Elders, when the one accused Susanna of incontinency under a prinoV, or Ever-green Oak, the other under a scinoV, Lentiscus, or Mastick Tree,²¹⁴ which are so different in Bigness, Boughs, Leaves and Fruit, the one bearing Acrons, the other Berries: And, without the knowledge hereof, will not Emphatically or distinctly understand that of the Poet,²¹⁵

Flavàque de viridi stillabant Ilice mella.

40. When we often meet with the Cedars of Libanus,²¹⁶ that expression may be used not onely because they grew in a known and neighbour Country, but also because they were of the noblest and largest kind of that Vegetable; And we find the Phœnician Cedar magnified by the Ancients. The Cedar of Libanus is a coniferous Tree, bearing Cones or Cloggs (not Berries) of such a vastness, that Melchior Lussy, a great Traveller, found one upon Libanus as big as seven men could compass.²¹⁷ Some are now so curious as to keep the Branches and Cones thereof among their rare Collections. And, though much Cedar Wood be now brought from America, yet 'tis time to take notice of the true Cedar of Libanus, imployed in the Temple of Solomon; for they have been much destroyed and neglected, and become at last but thin. Bellonius could reckon but twenty eight, Rowolfius and Radzevil but twenty four, and Bidulphus the same number. And a later account of some English Travellers²¹⁸ that they are now but in one place, and in a small compass, in Libanus.

Quando ingressi fueritis terram, & Plantaveritis in illa ligna Pomifera, auferetis præputia eorum. Poma quæ germiinant immunda erunt vobis, nec edetis ex eis. Quarto autem anno, omnis fructus eorum sanctificabitur, laudibilis Domino. Quinto autem anno commedetis fructus.²¹⁹ By this Law they were injoyned not to eath of the Fruits of the Trees which they planted for the first three years: and, as the Vulgar expresseth it, to take away the Prepuces, from such Trees, during that time; the Fruits of the fourth year being holy unto the Lord, and those of the fifth allowable unto others. Now if auferre præputia be taken, as many learned men have thought, to pluck away the bearing Buds, before they proceed unto Flowers or Fruit, you will readily apprehend the Metaphor, from the analogy and similitude of those Sprouts and Buds, which, shutting up the fruitfull particle, resembleth the preputial part.²²⁰

And you may also find herein a piece of Husbandry not mentioned in Theophrastus, or Columella. For by taking away of the Buds, and hindring fructification, the Trees become more vigorous, both in growth and future production. By such a way King Pyrrhus got into a lusty race of Beeves, and such as were desired over all Greece, by keeping them from Generation untill the ninth year.

And you may also discover a physical advantage of the goodness of the Fruit, which becometh less crude and more wholsome, upon the fourth or fifth years production.

41. While you reade in Theophrastus, or modern Herbalists, a strict division of Plants, into Arbor, Frutex, Suffrutex & Herba, you cannot but take notice of the Scriptural division at the Creation,²²¹ into Tree and Herb: and this may seem too narrow to comprehend the Classis of Vegetables; which, notwithstanding, may be sufficient, and a plain and intelligible division thereof. And therefore in this difficulty concerning the division of Plants, the learned Botanist, Cæsalpinus, thus concludeth, Clarius agemus si alterâ divisione neglectâ, duo tantùm Plantarum genera substituamus, Arborem scilicet, & Herbam, conjungentes cum Arboribus Frutices, & cum Herba Suffrutices; Frutices being the lesser Trees, and Suffrutices the larger, harder and more solid Herbs.

And this division into Herb and Tree, may also suffice, if we take in that natural ground of the division of perfect Plants, and such as grow from Seeds. For Plants, in their first production, do send forth two Leaves adjoining to the Seed; and then afterwards, do either produce two other Leaves, and so successively before any Stalk; and such go under the name of poa, fsymbol Botanh}F, or Herg; or else, after the first Leaves, succeeding to the Seed Leaves, then send forth a Stalk, or rudiment of a Stalk before any other Leaves, and such fall under the Classis of dendron, or Tree. So that, in this natural division, there are but two grand differences, that is, Tree and Herb. The Frutex and Suffrutex have the way of production from the Seed, and in other respects the Suffrutices, or Cremia, have a middle and participating nature, and referable unto Herbs.

42. I have seen the ungodly in great power, and flourishing like a green Bay Tree.²²² Both Scripture and humane Writers draw frequent illustrations from Plants. Scribonius Largus illustrates the old Cymbals from Cotyledon Palustris, or Umbilicus Veneris. Who would expect to find Aaron's Mitre in any Plant? yet Josephus hath taken some pains to make out the same in the seminal knop of Hyoscyamus, or Henbane.²²³ The Scripture compares the Figure of Manna unto the Seed of Coriander.²²⁴ In Jeremy²²⁵ we find the expression, Streight as a Palm Tree: And here the wicked in their flourishing state are likened unto a Bay Tree. Which, sufficiently answering the sense of the Text, we are unwilling to exclude that noble Plant from the honour of having its name in Scripture.²²⁶ Yet we cannot but observe, that the Septuagint renders it Cedars, and the Vulgar accordingly,²²⁷ Vidi impium superexaltatum, & elevatum sicut Cedros Libani; and the Translation of Tremellius mentions neither Bay nor Cedar; Sese explicantem tanquam Arbor indigena virens; which seems ot have been followed by the last Low Dutch Translation. A private ranslation renders it like a green self-growing Laurel.²²⁸ The High Dutch of Luther's Bible, retains the word Laurel; and so doth the old Saxon and Island Translation;²²⁹ so also the French, Spanish and Italian of Diodati: yet his Notes acknowledge that some think it rather a Cedar, and others any large Tree in a prospering and natural Soil.

But however these Translations differ, the sense is allowable and obvious unto apprehension: when no particular Plant is named, any proper to the sense may be supposed; where either Cedar or Laurel is mentioned, if the preceding words (exalted and elevated) be used, they are more appliable unto the Cedar; where the word (flourishing) is used, it is more agreeable unto the Laurel, which, in its prosperity, abounds with pleasant Flowers, whereas those of the Cedar are very little, and scarce perceptible, answerable unto the Firre, Pine and other coniferous Trees.

43. And in the morning, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry; and seeing a Figg Tree afar off having Leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon; and when he came to it, he found nothing but Leaves: for the time of Figgs was not yet.²³⁰ Singular conceptions have passed from learned men to make out this passage of S. Mark, which S. Matthew so plainly delivereth;²³¹ most men doubting why our Saviour should curse the Tree for bearing no Fruit, when the time of Fruit was not yet come; or why it is said that the time of Figgs was not yet, when, notwithstanding, Figgs might be found at that season.

Heinsius,²³² who thinks that Elias must salve the doubt, according to the received Reading of the Text, undertaketh to vary the same, reading ou|  ga'r h\n, kairo'V ouvkwn, that is, for where he was, it was the season or time for Figgs.

A learned Interpreter²³³ of our own, without alteration of accents or words, endeavours to salve all, by another interpretation of the same, ouj  ga'r kairo'V ouvkwn, For it was not a good or seasonable year for Figgs.

But, because men part not easily with old beliefs, or the received construction of words, we shall briefly set down what may be alledged for it.

And, first, for the better comprehension of all deductions hereupon, we may consider the several differences and distinctions both of Figg Trees and their Fruits. Suidas upon the word ijscavV makes four divisions of Figgs, o[lunqoV, fhvlhx, su'kon, and ijscavV. But because fhvlhx makes no considerable distinction, learned men do chiefly insist upon the three others, that is, o[lunqoV, or Grossus, which are the Buttons, or small sort of Figgs, either not ripe, or not ordinarily proceeding to ripeness, but fall away at least in the greatest part, and especially in sharp Winters; which are also named sukaivdeV, and distinguished from the Fruit of the Wild Figg, or Caprificus, which is named ejrineovS, and never cometh unto ripeness. The second is called su'kon, or Ficus, which commonly proceedeth unto ripeness in its due season. A third the ripe Figg dried, which maketh the ijskavdeV, or Carrier.²³⁴

Of Figg Trees, there are also many divisions; For some are prodromi, or precocious, which bear Fruit very early, whether they bear once, or oftner in the year; some are protericæ, which are the most early of the precocious Trees, and bear soonest of any; some are æstivæ, which bear in the common season of the Summer, and some serotinæ, which bear very late.

Some are biferous and triferous, which bear twice or thrice in the year, and some are of the ordinary standing course, which make up the expected season of the Figg.

Again some Figg Trees, either in their proper kind, or fertility in some single ones, do bear Fruit or rudiments of Fruit all the year long; as is annually observed in some kind of Figg Trees in hot and proper regions; and may also be observed in some Figg Trees of more temperate Countries, in years of no great disadvantage, wherein, when the Summer-ripe Figg is past, others begin to appear, and so, standing in Buttons all the Winter, do either fall away before the Spring, or else proceed to ripeness.

Now, according to these distinctions, we may measure the intent of the Text, and endeavour to make out the expression. For, considering the diversity of these Trees, and their several fructifications, probable or possible it is, that some thereof were implied, and may literally afford a solution.

And first, though it was not the season for Figgs, yet some Fruit might have been expected, even in ordinary bearing Trees. For the Grossi or Buttons appear before the Leaves, especially before the Leaves well grown. Some might have stood during the Winter, and by this time have been of some growth: Though many fall off, yet some might remain on, and proceed towards maturity. And we find that good Husbands had an art to make them hold on, as is delivered by Theophrastus.

The su'kon or common Summer Figg was not expected; for that is placed by Galen among the Fructus Horarii, or Horæi, which ripen in that part of the Summer, called wJra, and stands commended by him above other Fruits of that Season. And of this kind might be the Figgs which were brought to Cleopatra in a Basket together with an Asp, according to the time of her death on the nineteenth of August. And that our Saviour expected not such Figgs, but some other kind, seems to be implied in the indefinite expression, if haply he might find any thing thereon; which in that Country, and the variety of such Trees, might not be despaired of, at this season, and very probably hoped for in the first precocious and early bearing Trees. And that there were precocious and early bearing Trees in Judæa, may be illustrated from some expressions in Scripture concerning precocious Figgs; Calathus unus habebat Ficus bonas nimis, sicut solent esse Ficus primi temporis; One Basket had very good Figgs, even like the Figgs that are first ripe.²³⁵ And the like might be more especially expected in this place, if this remarkable Tree be rightly placed in some Mapps of Jerusalem; for it is placed, by Adrichomius, in or near Bethphage, which some conjectures will have to be the House of Figgs: and at this place Figg Trees are still to be found, if we consult the Travels of Bidulphus.

Again, in this great variety of Figg Trees, as precocious, proterical, biferous, triferous and always bearing Trees, something might have been expected, though the time of common Figgs was not yet. For some Trees bear in a manner all the year; as may be illustrated from the Epistle of the Emperour Julian, concerning his present of Damascus Figgs, which he commendeth from their successive and continued growing and bearing, after the manner of the Fruits which Homer describeth in the Garden of Alcinous.²³⁶ And though it were then but about the eleventh of March, yet, in the Latitude of Jerusalem, the Sun at that time hath a good power in the day, and might advance the maturity of precocious often-bearing or ever-bearing Figgs. And therefore when it is said²³⁷ that S. Peter stood and warmed himself by the Fire in the Judgment Hall, and the reason is added (for it was cold)²³⁸ that expression might be interposed either to denote the coolness in the Morning, according to hot Countries, or some extraordinary and unusual coldness, which happened at that time. For the ame Bidulphus, who was at that time of the year at Jerusalem, saith, that it was then as hot as at Midsummer in England: and we find in Scripture, that the first Sheaf of Barley was offer'd in March.²³⁹

Our Saviour therefore, seeing a Figg Tree with Leaves well spread, and so as to be distinguished afar off, went unto it, and when he came, found nothing but Leaves; he found it to be no precocious, or always-bearing Tree: And though it were not the time for Summer figgs, yet he found no rudiments thereof; and though he expected not common Figgs, yet something might haply have been expected of some other kind, according to different fertility, and variety of production; but, discovering nothing, he found a Tree answering unto the State of the Jewish Rulers, barren unto all expectation.²⁴⁰

And this is consonant unto the mystery of the Story, wherein the Figg Tree denoteth the Synagogue and Rulers of the Jews, whom God having peculiarly cultivated, singularly blessed and cherished, he expected from them no ordinary, slow, or customary fructification, but an earliness in good Works, a precocious or continued fructification, and was not content with common after-bearing; and might justly have expostulated with the Jews, as God by the Prophet Micah²⁴¹ did with their Forefathers; Præcoquas Ficus desideravit Anima mea, My Soul longed for, (or desired early ripe Fruits, but ye are become as a Vine already gathered, and there is no cluster upon you.

Lastly, in this account of the Figg Tree, the mystery and symbolical sense is chiefly to be looked upon. Our Saviour, therefore, taking a hint from his hunger to go unto this specious Tree, and intending, by this Tree, to declare a Judgment upon the Synagogue and people of the Jews, he came unto the Tree, and, after the usual manner, inquired, and looked about for some kind of Fruit, as he had done before in the Jews, but found nothing but Leaves and specious outsides, as he had also found in them; and when it bore no Fruit like them, when he expected it, and came to look for it, though it were not the time for ordinary Fruit, yet failing when he required it, in the mysterious sense, 'twas fruitless longer to expect it. For he had come unto them, and they were nothing fructified by it, his departure approached, and his time of preaching was now at an end.

Now, in this account, besides the Miracle, some things are naturally considerable. For it may be question'd how the Figg Tree, naturally a fruitfull Plant, became barren, for it had no shew or so much as rudiment of Fruit: And it was, in old time, a signal Judgment of God, that the Figg Tree should bear no Fruit: and therefore this Tree may naturally be conceived to have been under some Disease indisposing it to such fructification. And this, in the Pathology of Plants, may be the Disease of fullomania, emfullismoV, or superfoliation mention'd by Theophrastus; whereby the fructifying Juice is starved by the excess of Leaves; which in this Tree were already so full spread, that it might be known and distinguished afar off. And this was, also, a sharp resemblance of the hypocrisie of the Rulers, made up of specious outsides, and fruitless ostentation, contrary to the Fruit of the Figg Tree, which, filled with a sweet and pleasant pulp, makes no shew without, not so much as of any Flower.

Some naturals are also considerable from the propriety of this punishment settled upon a Figg Tree: for infertility and barrenness seems more intolerable in this Tree than any, as being a Vegetable singularly constituted for production; so far from bearing no Fruit that it may be made to bear almost any.²⁴² And therefore the Ancients singled out this as the fittest Tree whereon to graft and propagate other Fruits, as containing a plentifull and lively Sap, whereby other Cyons would prosper: And, therefore, this Tree was also sacred unto the Deity of Fertility: and the Statua of Priapus was made of the Figg Tree.

Olim Truncus eram Ficulnus inutile Lignum.

It hath also a peculiar advantage to produce and maintainits Fruit above all other Plants, as not subject to miscarry in Flowers and Blossomes, from accidents of Wind and Weather. For it beareth no Flowers outwardly, and such as it hath, are within the Coat, as the later examination of naturalists hath discovered.

Lastly, It was a Tree wholly constituted for Fruit, wherein if it faileth, it is in a manner useless, the Wood thereof being of so little use, that it affordeth proverbial expressions,

Homo Ficulneus, argumentum Ficulneum,

for things of no validity.²⁴⁴

44. I said I will go up into the Palm Tree, and take hold of the Boughs thereof.²⁴⁵ This expression is more agreeable unto the Palm than is commonly apprehended, for that it is a tall bare Tree bearing its Boughs but at the top and upper parts; so that it must be ascended before its Boughs or Fruit can be attained: And the going, getting or climbing up, may be Emphatical in this Tree; for the Trunk or Body thereof is naturally contrived for ascension, and made with advantage for getting up, as having many welts and eminencies, and so as it were a natural Ladder, and Staves, by which it may be climbed, as Pliny observeth,²⁴⁶ Palmæ teretes atque proceres, densis quadratisquæ pollicibus faciles se ad scandendum præbent, by this way men are able to get up into it. And the Figures of Indians thus climbing the same are graphically described in the Travels of Linschoten. This Tree is often mentioned in Scripture, and was so remarkable in Judæa, that in after-times it became the Emblem of that Country, as may be seen in that Medal of the Emperour Titus, with a Captive Woman sitting under a Palm, and the Inscription Judæa Capta.²⁴⁷ And Pliny confirmeth the same when he saith, Judæa Palmis inclyta.²⁴⁸

45. Many things are mentioned in Scripture, which have an Emphasis from this or the neighbour Countries: For besides the Cedars, the Syrian Lilies are taken notice of by Writers.²⁴⁹ That expression in the Canticles,²⁵⁰ Thou art fair, thou art fair, thou hast Dove eyes, receives a particular character, if we look not upon our common Pigeons, but the beauteous and fine ey'd Doves of Syria.

When the Rump is so strictly taken notice of in the Sacrifice of the Peace Offering,²⁵¹ in these words, The whole Rump, it shall he take off hard by the Back-bone, it becomes the more considerable in reference to this Country, where Sheep had so large Tails; which, according to Aristotle, were a Cubit broad;²⁵² and so they are still, as Bellonius hath delivered.

When 'tis said in the Canticles, Thy teeth are as a Flock of Sheep, which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth Twins, and there is not one barren among them;²⁵³ it may seem hard unto us of these parts to find whole Flocks bearing Twins, and not one barren among them; yet may this be better conceived in the fertile Flocks of those Countries, where Sheep have so often two, sometimes three, and sometimes four, and which is so frequently observed by Writers of the neighbour Country of Ægypt. And this fecundity, and fruitfulness of their Flocks, is answerable unto the expression of the Psalmist, That our Sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our Streets.²⁵⁴ And hereby, besides what was spent at their Tables, a good supply was made for the great consumption of Sheep in their several kinds of Sacrifices; and of so many thousand Male unblemished yearling Lambs, which were required at their Passeovers.

Nor need we wonder to find so frequent mention both of Garden and Field Plants; since Syria was notable of old for this curiosity and variety, according to Pliny, Syria hortis operosissima;²⁵⁵ and since Bellonius hath so lately observed of Jerusalem, that its hilly parts did so abound with Plants, that they might be compared unto Mount Ida in Crete or Candia; which is the most noted place for noble Simples yet known.

46. Though so many Plants have their express Names in Scripture, yet others are implied in some Texts which are not explicitly mention'd. In the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths, the Law was this,²⁵⁶ Thou shalt take unto thee Boughs of goodly Trees, Branches of the Palm, and the Boughs of thick Trees, and Willows of the Brook. Now though the Text descendeth not unto particulars of the goodly Trees, and thick Trees; yet Maimonides will tell us that for a goodly Tree they made use of the Citron Tree, which is fair and goodly to the eye, and well prospering in that Country: And that for the thick Trees they used the Myrtle, which was no rare or infrequent Plant among them. And though it groweth but low in our Gardens, was not a little Tree in those parts; in which Plants also the Leaves grow thick, and almost covered the Stalk. And Curtius Symphorianus²⁵⁷ in his description of the Exotick Myrtle, makes it, Folio densissimo senis in ordinem versibus. The Paschal Lamb was to be eaten with bitterness or bitter Herbs, not particularly set down in Scripture;²⁵⁸ but the Jewish Writers declare that they made use of Succory, and wild Lettuce, which Herbs while some conceive they could not get down, as being very bitter, rough and prickly, they may consider that the time of the Passeover was in the Spring, when these Herbs are young and tender, and consequently less unpleasant: besides, according to the Jewish custom, these Herbs were dipped in the Charoseth or Sawce made of Raisins stamped with Vinegar, and were also eaten with Bread; and they had four Cups of Wine allowed unto them; and it was sufficient to take but a pittance of Herbs, or the quantity of an Olive.²⁵⁹

47. Though the famous paper Reed of Ægypt, be onely particularly named in Scripture;²⁶⁰ yet when Reeds are so often mention'd, without special name or distinction, we may conceive their differences may be comprehended, and that they were not all of one kind, or that the common Reed was onely implied. For mention is made in Ezekiel²⁶¹ of a measuring Reed of six Cubits: we find that they smote our Saviour on the Head with a Reed, and put a Sponge with the Vinegar on a Reed, which was long enough to reach to his mouth, while he was upon the Cross;²⁶² And with such differences of Reeds, Vallatory, Sagittary, Scriptory, and others, they might be furnished in Judæa: for we find in the portion of Ephraim,²⁶³ Vallis arundineti; and so set down in the Mapps of Adricomius, and in our Translation the River Kana, or Book of Canes. And Bellonius tells us that the River Jordan affordeth plenty and variety of Reeds, out of some whereof the Arabs make Darts, and light Lances, and out of others, Arrows; and withall that there plentifully groweth the fine Calamus, arundo Scriptoria, or writing Reed, which they gather with the greatest care, as being of singular use and commodity at home and abroad; a hard Reed about the compass of a Goose or Swans Quill, whereof I have seen some polished and cut with a webb; which is in common use for writing throughout the Turkish Dominions, they using not the Quills of Birds.²⁶⁴

And whereas the same Authour with other describers of these parts affirmeth, that the River Jordan, not far from Jericho, is but such a Stream as a youth may throw a Stone over it, or about eight fathoms broad, it doth not diminish the account and solemnity of the miraculous passage of the Israelites under Joshua; For it must be considered, that they passed it in the time of Harvest, when the River was high, and the Grounds about it under Water, according to that pertinent parenthesis,²⁶⁵ As the Feet of the Priests, which carried the Ark, were dipped in the brim of the Water, (for Jordan overfloweth all its Banks at the time of Harvest.) In this consideration it was well joined with the great River Euphrates, in that Expression in Ecclesiasticus, God maketh the understanding to abound like Euphrates, and as Jordan in the time of Harvest.²⁶⁶

48. The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good Seed in his Field, but while men slept, his Enemy came and sowed Tares (or, as the Greek, Zizania) among the Wheat.²⁶⁷

Now, how to render Zizania, and to what species of Plants to confine it, there is no slender doubt; for the word is not mention'd in other parts of Scripture, nor in any ancient Greek Writer: it is not to be found in Aristotle, Theophrastus, or Dioscorides. Some Greek and Latin Fathers have made use of the same, as also Suidas and Phavorinus; but probably they have all derived it from this Text.

And therefore this obscurity might easily occasion such variety in Translations and Expositions. For some retain the word Zizania, as the Vulgar, that of Beza, of Junius, and also the Italian and Spanish. The Low Dutch renders it Oncruidt, the German Oncraut, or Herba Mala, the French Yuroye or Lolium, and the English Tares.

Besides, this being conceived to be a Syriack word, it may still add unto the uncertainty of the sense. For though this Gospel were first written in Hebrew, or Syriack, yet it is not unquestionable whether the true Original be any where extant: And that Syriack Copy which we now have, is conceived to be of far later time than S. Matthew.

Expositours and Annotatours are also various. Hugo Grotius hath passed the word Zizania without a Note. Diodati, retaining the word Zizania, conceives that it was some peculiar Herb growing among the Corn of those Countries, and not known in our Fields. But Emmanuel de Sa interprets it, Plantas semini noxias, and so accordingly some others.

Buxtorfius, in his Rabbinical Lexicon, gives divers interpretations, sometimes for degenerated Corn, sometimes for the black Seeds in Wheat, but withall concludes, an hæc sit eadem vox aut species, cum Zizaniâ apud Evangelistam, quærant alii. But Lexicons and Dictionaries by Zizania do almost generally understand Lolium, which we call Darnel, and commonly confine the signification to that Plant: Notwithstanding, since Lolium had a known and received name in Greek, some may be apt to doubt, why, if that Plant were particularly intended, the proper Greek word was not used for the Text. For Theophrastus named Lolium ai\ra, and hath often mentioned that Plant; and in one place saith that Corn doth sometimes Loliescere²⁶⁸ or degenerate into Darnel. Dioscorides, who travelled over Judæa, gives it the same name, which is also to be found in Galen, Ætius and Ægineta; and Pliny hath sometimes latinized that word into Æra.²⁶⁹

Besides, Lolium or Darnel shews it self in the Winter, growing up with the Wheat; and Theophrastus observed that it was no Vernal Plant, but came up in the Winter; which will not well answer the expression of the Text, And when the Blade came up, and brought forth Fruit, or gave evidence of its Fruit, the Zizania appeared. And if the Husbandry of the Ancients were agreeable unto ours, they would not have been so earnest to weed away the Darnel; for our Husbandmen do not commonly weed it in the Field, but separate the Seeds after Thrashing. And therefore Galen delivereth, that in an unseasonable year, and great scarcity of Corn, when they neglected to separate the Darnel, the Bread proved generally unwholsome, and had evil effects on the Head.

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